Exploring Mayan Calendar Prophecy

December 21, 2012 is the date some claim marks the apocalypse predicted by the Mayan calendar. Judith Storniolo is a professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University. She is also a historical and comparative linguist, who says the ancient Maya measured time cyclically, as opposed to in a linear way and there are other interpretations of when the end date will come.  “In Palatka there is an inscription that refers to Oct. 21, 4772 of the Common Era.” She says the Mayan culture viewed time differently than we do. “When they are speaking in a normal way they don’t talk about he past and they don’t talk about the future, they talk about this idea of time that is like a big circle.” Talk about end of the world prophecies comes from misunderstanding, adds Storniolo. “A lot of the frightening end of the world prescriptions comes from a misunderstanding and frankly a cherry-picking of data that is a misunderstanding of an interpretation of the calendar itself.” Storniolo says there is much we can learn from the Maya but not when the world will end. “Their past provides us with a model of how a culture responds and falls from drought, deforestation, warfare and these are things that are very applicable to the kinds of environmental distress that we are under right now.” She explains why people have created end of the world prophecies from the Mayan culture. “To make money, which is unfortunate, so there is a profit margin there and there is also a real desire for new age prophecy, to search for solutions outside our own culture.”