DOWNLOAD: "Much Ado about Nothing: 2012 and the Maya" [MP3]
After the apocalyptic letdown that was Y2K, we should know better
than to fall for yet another Nostradamus-esque doomsday rumor. However,
the hype surrounding the most recent End of Days prediction, based upon
the unsettling predictions of an ancient Mayan calendar and slated for
the year 2012, has everyone feeling a little uneasy. The impending end
of the world as we know it has certainly captured the attention of
Hollywood. Though, if the recently released Cusack vehicle
2012 is any indication, the whole shebang
is a going to be a bit of a yawn (well, at least until they get to the despair and cannibalism part
The Road forecasts, anyway).
But is there any real merit to the prophecy? According to Marc
Zender, a research associate in Maya hieroglyphic writing at the
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard, the answer is
no. As he told
Phoenix scribe Mike Miliard back in March for "
Epochalypse Soon,"
the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar will turn over in A.D. 2012 "like
an odometer clicks over in a car," only to "restart and circulate
around again." No pillars of fire. No mass suicides. Just an ancient
calendar resetting to zero.
In a recent lecture at the Peabody Museum, Zender -- who's previously weighed in on
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
-- further attempted to suss out the truth amidst the all the 2012
hysteria. A man who clearly knows his ancient Mayans, Zender uses
Shakespeare's comedy
Much Ado About Nothing (and its fondness
for double entendre) as an unlikely platform to systematically pick
apart the 2012 hype and teach us a lesson about counting your
apocalyptic Horsemen before they've, um, galloped. Key points:
-There are "over a dozen" Mayan calendars of interlocking
cycles, and none of them end at 2012 ("unless we define 'end' to mean
'doesn't really end,' in which case, sure").
-Ancient Aztec
prophecy foretells of an army of "bloodthirsty star demons," who'll
descend upon the earth to gorge upon human flesh following a series of
cataclysmic earthquakes -- but there's no indication that this event is
in any way tied to 2012.
-2012 hysteria -- and the way that
it's been "hijacked" by New Age cults -- makes a great example of a
cultural meme, as envisioned by Richard Dawkins.
Bogglingly enough, in this lecture, Zender also manages to namedrop TV's theater-geek dramedy Glee. Want to know how this all ties together? Get clicking.
And if that doesn't slake your thirst for 2012 debunkery, check out this interview between Zender and E.J. Albright, of the blog American Egypt.
DOWNLOAD: Marc Zender interviewed by American Egypt's E.J. Albright [MP3 link]
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