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Top 5 places to watch it all go down End of the World 2012
End of the World 2012: Top 5 places to watch it all go down
Whatever you believe will happen on Dec. 21, 2012, it is an auspicious year to travel to the Mayan heartland.
No matter what you believe will or will not happen on Dec. 21, 2012, the day Mesoamerican astronomers pegged as the end of their 5,125-year long count calendar, one thing is certain: 2012 is an auspicious year to travel to the Mayan heartland.
Though there is no evidence that the Maya foretold any specific earthly event or cataclysm, it is an important cycle-ending nevertheless, and an excuse to celebrate and cleanse.
It’s also a reason to explore the Maya region. The most popular dates to travel to Mundo Maya — the common term for the region that includes southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador — are the summer solstice (June 20), the autumnal equinox (Sept. 21), and, of course, the winter solstice, which the Mayans call “13 b’aktun,” or Dec. 21.
There will be raucous celebrations, solemn fire ceremonies and a curious excitement at all minor and major Maya archaeological sites throughout the year. The biggest challenge is deciding where to begin. Here are the top 5 Mayan hotspots to mark whatever it is that might happen on Dec. 21, 2012.
Uxmal, Mexico
The best gateway to this stunning archaeological site is the city of Merida, a colonial jewel and wonderful destination in its own right. One of Merida’s main attractions is access to the Puuc Route, a distinctive chain of Maya archaeological sites that includes Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil and Labna.
Stay at the wood-creaking Hacienda Uxmal, a stone’s throw from one of the Mayan world’s most detailed, stunning sites. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Queen Elizabeth and the Shah of Iran have all stayed there. This December, Hacienda Uxmal will be the setting for Wilderness Travel’s “World of the Maya: Cycles of Time Symposium and Travel Event,” which will give 80 participants the chance to spend Dec. 21, 2012 with the world’s top Mayan studies scholars.
Riviera Maya, Mexico
Why should the end of the world be a hassle? Flying into Cancun is a breeze from most cities, and there are tens of thousands of beachside rooms from which to watch the calamity, or lack thereof, unfold. Stay in an over-the-top five-diamond, all-inclusive resort like Grand Velas or Hacienda Tres Rios, or choose a more budget-minded place in Playa del Carmen or Akumel. No matter what your thread-count is, you’ll have immediate access to many natural and Maya-related archaeological sites, theme parks and sacred water pits known as “cenotes.”
San Ignacio, Belize
The Cayo District in Western Belize has rivers, ruins and access to vast swaths of forest, including the Peten wilderness of northern Guatemala (and the Guatemalan archaeological sites of Tikal, Yaxha, and Uaxantun).
The whole area revolves around the tranquil town of San Ignacio, where a small, diverse population clings to the hillside and riverbanks. The Mopan and Macal Rivers meet here to form the Belize River, which runs out to the Caribbean. Cayo also boasts the best selection of jungle lodges anywhere in Central America, including many small, off-grid eco-resorts on the upper Macal. Some of these, notably The Lodge at Chaa Creek, are offering special tours and retreats in honor of 2012. There is a large event planned for Dec. 21, 2012 at Xunantunich archaeological site, and special solstice camping permits are being issued at Caracol.
Lago de Atitlan, Guatemala
This long-time escape for budget travelers and Spanish-language students is usually accessed via Antigua, Guatemala, a UNESCO World Heritage town of 35,000. Use Antigua as your base, then head west (and up) to one of the densest populations of living Maya in the world, where modern-day shamans still keep the calendars alive and are performing purification ceremonies throughout 2012. Here, in the volcanic hills surrounding Lago de Atitlan — the deepest, most scenic lake in all of Central America — scores of lakeside and upcountry communities offer tourism opportunities from primitive homestays to small, luxurious spas and resorts. All will have unique 2012 offerings.
Copan, Honduras
Honduras’ contribution to the Maya world consists of a single grand ancient city near its western border with Guatemala. The precision and detail of Copan’s artists and scribes earned it the nickname: “The Athens of the Maya world.”
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Copan does not tower vertically as Tikal does, to the north. But what it lacks in altitude, it makes up for in rich, important history, a gorgeous, tranquil valley, and an interesting selection of health-related retreat possibilities. Access Copan by flying into San Pedro Sula, Honduras, or drive there from Guatemala City or Antigua. You’ll stay in Copan Ruinas, a cozy little tourist town only a 20-minute walk from the main archaeological site. There are also Maya sweat lodges, spas, yoga retreats, and planned 2012 festivals
DOOMSDAY 2012 – The End of the Maya Calendar
The year 2012 is only seven months away.
According to many people, this will mark the beginning of the end of the world as we know it. But what exactly does that mean? What exactly is predicted to happen in 2012?
Does it mean the planet is on the threshold of some galactic catastrophe? Or does it mean that the human race is on the threshold of a positive transformation that will touch our minds, bodies, and even our souls?
Or does it mean something else entirely?
The Controversy Over 2012
At present, there are tons of sites across the web that focus on the 2012 prophecy. These sites can all trace their roots back to the Mayan Long Count Calendar.
This calendar is a non-repeating, base-20 calendar that identifies a day by counting the number of days that have passed since the date of creation. For the Mayan, the date of creation equates to August 11, 3114 BCE on the Gregorian calendar.
August 11, 3114 BCE is the date. This date also was the start of the present 5,125-year cycle which is set to end on December 21, 2012.
This cycle is based on the Mayan study of astronomy. The Mayans realized the earth wobbles as it spins on its axis. This wobbling rotation causes the stars’ patterns of movement to drift gradually in the sky in a 5,125-year cycle.
With this information in hand, along with their knack for mathematics, the Mayan came up with their Long Count Calendar around 355 B.C.
The Translation of the Mayan Long Count Calendar
The Long Count Calendar was rediscovered and translated in the 1950s. However, it was a 1966 interpretation of the Mayan Long Count Calendar that seems to have taken the world by storm.
In 1966, Michael D. Coe wrote in his book, The Maya, that “there is a suggestion … that Armageddon would overtake the degenerate peoples of the world and all creation on the final day of the 13th b’ak’tun.”
According to the Mayan Long Count Calendar, we are currently in the 13th b’ak’tun.
So, the big question is: What happens on the final day of the 13th b’ak’tun?
Theories About Armageddon
It seems everyone has their own idea about what is predicted to happen in 2012.
Since the Mayan were such astute astronomers, many people believe that the earth is doomed to end in a cosmic catastrophe. In particular, an interplanetary crash between Earth and Nirbiru, a planet supposedly discovered by the Sumerians.
However, there is no real science behind this idea or most of the other astronomical predictions related to Mayan prophecy. So much so, that NASA has even created a websitedebunking most of these “predictions.”
However, there are others who believe that December 21, 2012 will not mark the destruction of the planet, but rather some sort of spiritual change.
This idea comes with a lot of criticism. Most Christians seem to believe that there is absolutely no biblical evidence that the 2012 Mayan prophecy represents an accurate prediction of doomsday or spiritual enlightenment.
Many people try to relate 2012 with Hinduism. However, traditional Hindu scriptures do not agree to this linkage either. The 2012 prophecies do not coincide with the Hindu belief of Satya Yuga and Kali Yuga, the beginning and ending of the universe.
Will the World End in 2012?
So, what can we expect to happen on December 21, 2012?
For once, it seems that science and religion is on the same page. Even modern-day Mayans do not apply any real significance to the Long Count Calendar. There are no precautions or preparations being made in the scientific or religious realms.
However, mainstream science and religion has been known to be wrong before. The only thing that is certain is that on December 21, 2012 the winter solstice will occur. Beyond that, we will just have to wait and see.
SuperVolcanoes – This Is the Way the World Ends? Volcanoes Could Darken World
Super-volcanoes have probably caused more extinctions than asteroids. But until now it has been thought that these giant volcanoes took thousands of years to form — and would remain trapped beneath the earth’s crust for thousands more years — before having much effect on the planet.
But new research indicates these catastrophic eruptions, possibly thousands of times more powerful than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, may happen only a few hundred years after the volcanoes form. In other words, they may have a very “short fuse,” according to researchers at Vanderbilt University.
Such an event could make thermonuclear war or global warming seem trivial, spewing untold tons of ash into the atmosphere to block sunlight. The result would be many years of frigid temperatures, wiping out millions of species. A super-volcano that erupted 250 million years ago is now believed to have created the greatest mass extinction the world has ever seen, wiping out up to 95 percent of all plant and animal species. Some renegade scientists believe it was a volcano, not an asteroid, that killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
But is global suicide lurking right below our feet? Is a super-volcano about to blow its top? Not as far as scientists can tell. Such a volcano results from the accumulation of a giant pool of lava just a few miles below the ground, and there is no known formation anywhere on the planet that is expected to erupt in the immediate future.
Scientists, who could be wrong about that, have thought for decades that once that pool forms, it stays there for thousands of years before erupting. But the new study by geophysicists from Vanderbilt, along with colleagues at the University of Chicago and elsewhere, documents several lines of research showing that the trigger could be pulled quickly, possibly within a few hundred years.
“Our study suggests that when these exceptionally large magma pools form they are ephemeral and cannot exist very long without erupting,” Vanderbilt’s Guilherme Gualda said in releasing the study, published in the journal Public Library of Science ONE.
That research, as well as earlier research that led to a very different conclusion, was based on the formation of crystals in the molten magma that decay at known rates and thus provide a geological clock, dating various events in the history of the volcano.
According to Gualda, previous researchers looked at the decay of zircons, which are common in volcanic rocks, and concluded that the giant magma pools could exist for 100,000 years. But his team looked at the crystallization of quartz, the most abundant mineral in volcanic deposits, and concluded that such a pool would have to erupt in one-tenth of that time, and possibly in only about 500 years.
That makes the threat of super-volcanoes a bit more serious, but there’s no reason to panic.
Gualda’s team studied deposits in the Long Valley Caldera in northeastern California, where a violent eruption blew 150 cubic miles of molten rock into the atmosphere, blanketing much of North America with hot ash and dropping the earth’s surface more than a mile as it sank into the area once occupied by the magma. That was about 760,000 years ago, but all these years later the region still keeps a lot of scientists on the edge of their seats.
The Long Valley geology began misbehaving again in 1978 when a 5.4 earthquake struck six miles southeast of the caldera, suggesting that the volcano might be reasserting itself. In subsequent years that was followed by swarms of small quakes, which are closely associated with pending volcanic eruptions.
A couple of decades ago, trees began dying on nearby Mammoth Mountain from large amounts of carbon dioxide seeping from the magma, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Today, the caldera seems to be quieting down, despite several recent bursts of seismic events, but it is probably the most closely watched volcano on the planet. Scientists with the USGS are keeping a close eye on it, monitoring every little belch, and they insist there is no reason for the folks who live in California to be concerned. At least not yet.
Meanwhile, scientists at Oregon State University have been focusing their attention on Yellowstone National Park, where an eruption a couple of million years ago is believed to have been 2,000 times larger than Mount St. Helens. That region also shows constant signs of seismic unrest, and there have been eruptions there several times in the past, according to the Oregon researchers.
Incidentally, researchers at Washington State University in Pullman, who have also been studying Yellowstone, concluded earlier this year that the big eruption 2 million years ago wasn’t one blast, but two, separated by about 6,000 years.
But just because it was split into two parts doesn’t mean it was benign. The Washington researchers believe the first blast was the biggest, and it darkened the sky with ash from California to the Mississippi River.
So super-volcanoes cannot be ignored, and now it seems they can pull the trigger much more quickly than anyone had thought.
Zombie apocalypse prophesied in ancient scriptures
In recent headlines, there have been outbreaks of bizarre, brutal, cannibalistic events that have unfolded over the past few weeks, with an almost daily occurrence of articles written about cannibalism and the “Zombie Apocalypse.” There have been disturbing tales of humans devouring fellow humans, from the bath salts incident, involving a nakedcannibal, to the ‘Cannibal Killer,’ a porn star who allegedly murdered, dismembered and tasted the flesh of his victim. Just Saturday, many newspapers even reported the stomach contents of the Miami cannibal/zombie. Stores are beginning to carry zombie bullets, and college dorms are beginning to hold zombie drills, so students will be prepared for the hoards of zombies that could possibly attack mankind. Unfortunately, all of these stories seem perfectly suited to for horror films, but are real.
Incredibly, though the prospect of zombies and a zombie apocalypse seem purely fiction in the minds of most, the ancient scriptures reveal past, and possibly, future events that significantly resemble zombies or the walking undead. Take for example the death and resurrection narrative of Jesus of Nazareth, though no one would suggest Jesus was a zombie, a portion of the narrative surrounding his death, reveals an incident that most people overlook.
Matt. 27:50-53: And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
One could not even imagine what it would have been like to see all of the past saints walk out of their graves, and appear to those dwelling in Jerusalem. Furthermore, one might ask, what actually happened to the bodies of those who were raised? Are they still among us? Or did they die a second time?
A second past event, found within the ancient scriptures, can be found in Ezekiel 37.
Ezekiel 37:7-10: So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them…and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
Future Zombie Apocalypse
According to certain Christian eschatology, there are two future events that could resemble a zombie apocalypse. The first event, familiar to most, is the resurrection of the dead, in the “last days.” This event is viewed by most, as a time when all the graves of mankind will open, and everyone who has died will come forth for the “final judgment.” In fact, many believe that the dead will be the first judged at the final judgment, and those who are living will witness the event, previous to their judgment. Thus, those who are alive will first witness the dead arising from their graves.
1 Corinthians 15:51- 52: Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
John 5:28-29: Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
The second eschatological or future event, which could be viewed as a zombie apocalypse, is known by most as the “battle of Armageddon.” It is believed that in the final days, the armies of the devil or Satan, will rise up against God, Israel and God’s army, at a place known as Armageddon. When this occurs, it will appear as if evil has won, throughout the entire earth. At that point, most believe that Jesus will return with all the armies of heaven, to finally defeat the devil and his armies, and cast them into the “lake of fire.”
Revelation 16:12-16 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty… And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Revelation 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Now, there are many scriptures that Christians, which hold this view, use as proof of a future battle. However, one scriptural source, which most have not thoroughly considered, could appear as a massive zombie attack.
Zechariah 14:12-13 And the LORD will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. On that day they will be terrified, stricken by the LORD with great panic. They will fight their neighbors hand to hand.
Today, most zombie lore revolves around plagues, which cause the dead to rise, and typically battle with or eat the living. This scripture in Zechariah seems to clearly reveal an event, similar to the most recent zombie lore. One might wonder if ancient Christians also feared and imminent zombie attack as well. At the very least, zombie apocalypse fanatics now have a further argument in their arsenal, which points toward a future attack of the undead, found within the ancient scriptures.
ZOMBIES IN THE BIBLE – THE DEAD COMETH
Zechariah 14:12
And the LORD will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
Zechariah 14:13
On that day they will be terrified, stricken by the LORD with great panic. They will fight their neighbors hand to hand.
There are several other biblical passages that allude to a plague that will decimate mankind in the end times.
Many people take the bible as the truth, and also see it as a book of prophecy. Could we have received warning of the impending rising of the undead from antiquity? We don’t have to go far to rationalize this. Prophets in ancient times may have seen exactly what happened, but didn’t understand the science behind it to describe it accurately. They may have seen the biological cause engineered in a lab and unleashed upon the world, but could only use simple words to describe it.
There are currently so many end times prophecies that it can make your head spin. Almost all of them don’t point to an exact cause of the apocalypse, but the bible seems to point to the undead several times
Revelation 11:6
These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
Revelation 11:8
Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
Revelation 11:11
But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them.
Ezekiel 37:10
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet–a vast army.
The bible is rife with resurrection, the dead coming to life, and stories and illiterations to the end of times. Perhaps, the plague God uses to wipe the earth clean is a plague of Zombies. You can also point to end times prophecy references of Locusts and say that zombies could also be considered as a locust, devouring all life. At this point, all we can do is speculate and prepare. We don’t know how or when the world will end, but we can be ready if it is survivable.
***Notes***
The end of the world can be described several ways:
1. A literal end, where the entire world is destroyed.
2. An end to the way the whole world sees itself.
3. A massive culling of the world’s population so that it is more in balance.
4. A massive culling of the world’s population so that it can be enslaved by those in power.