Boom. Ahh. Screeching. These are the sounds of human pain, and pain is what every human fears. In modern times, the idea of a doomsday has always been in the mainstream: raptures, meteors, zombie apocalypses. Some have even been made into TV shows. However, there is one doomsday idea that actually had people scared for the date December 21, 2012. What that day meant to a lot of people was the end of the world according to the Mayan Calendar. While many were genuinely afraid of the end of times, most of them were uneducated about what the end of the Mayan calendar actually signified.
The “end” of the calendar is actually not the end of the calendar. The Mayan Calendar has different cycles. For example, the end of the b’ak’tun cycle, the most recent cycle, was December 21, 2012. The entire b’ak’tun cycle lasted for 144,000 days. It was also the end of a cycle of thirteen b’ak’tuns, the beginning of which was on August 11, 3114 B.C.E. That cycle of thirteen b’ak’tuns is called the Long Count, and according to scholars, this literally defined the Classic Period of the Mayan civilization.1
Since the end of the b’ak’tun cycle and the Long Count cycle both coincided on the winter solstice of 2012, many people thought the sun would also align with the equator for the first time in 26,000 years.2 This eventually caused widespread panic; however, there actually was nothing to worry about. Since many people did not know that the end of the calendar only signified the end of a period, they began to freak out as the Gregorian calendar reached closer to that December 21. They began protesting, screaming at everyone “the end is near,” and some people even began stockpiling candles and essentials, and survival shelter sales were ever increasing.3 People then waited, and waited. Finally, the day arrived… and… nothing happened. People were shocked, and life went on. Workplaces and cities kept on their pace, unfazed by the threatening context behind the date.
Many people truly believed this would happen: this day meant death and doom, something people have always been scared of. These people were ready to be taken, for many people felt this was a prophecy of some sort. They thought the readings of Nostradamus, the Book of Revelation, Hopi Prophecy, and others had some truth to them, rendering this idea of a calendar prophesying the end of the world realistic.4 Some anticipated some sort of pick-and-choose session where Jesus would come back to Earth to save His people (Christians) and leave the rest behind.
The meaning of this 2012 phenomenon, now a debunked theory, is that people fantasize about a doomsday; they fear it, for they see it as a real possibility because of both their fantasies and the plethora of theories to read about. The idea of an apocalypse will always be appealing to some, for the end of times can show who a person truly is. Since most of this was widespread online hysteria, and not taken too seriously by most people, with hindsight now, we can see that it was clear that “this wouldn’t happen.”5
- Robert K. Sitler, “The 2012 Phenomenon: New Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar,” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, Volume 9, Issue 3, (2006): 25; V. Bohm, B. Bohm, J. Klokocnik, J. Vondrak, J. Kostelecky, “Dating of Mayan calendar using long-periodic astronomical phenomena in Dresden codex,” Serbian Astronomical Journal, Issue 186: (2013): 54. ↵
- Sarah McCarry, “Is the World Going to End in 2012?” Scholastic Scope Vol. 61, Issue 5: 18 (2012). ↵
- Nick Allen, Malcolm Moore, and Tom Parfitt, “Mayan apocalypse: panic spreads as December 21 nears,” The Telegraph, (2012). ↵
- Carl Johan Calleman, The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness (Simon and Schuster, March 25, 2004), 1-2. ↵
- Stephanie Pappas, “After Mayan Apocalypse Failure, Believers May Suffer,” Live Science, (2012). ↵
59 comments
Carlos Aparicio
I remember that day as if it were yesterday! I was so scared because the news had made a huge deal about and all my friends would tell me they are ready to die! I had no idea that it was all behind the Mayan calendar! After reading this article, I feel so dumb for exaggerating over something so small! I finally understand what the “end” finally means. I learned a lot more reading this article about the calendar and how it functioned.
Jazmin Pizana
Interesting article! I remember this day years ago. There was a lot of panic from people and social media was blowing up with articles and posts about the world ending. I didn’t think anything of it at the time since I didn’t really understand what was going on. My mom still made me go to school the next day and nothing ended up happening. It’s interesting to find out what the Mayan calendar actually meant and represented.
Valeria Hernandez
Samuel Stallcup picked a wonderful and interesting topic, however, lacks explanations, details, and examples. The topic is way too narrow, although the author remains objective her does not provide us with a story arc that is well developed. The climax, rising action, falling action, protagonist, antagonist, and conclusion. He does incorporate these ideas however Stallcup does not clarify them well. The interesting topic I just wish there was more information.
Gabriela Serrato
I remember this as if it was yesterday, not almost five years ago. I was a freshman in high school, and actually pretty scared that the end of the world was coming. I bought into everyone’s fear around me and I began to feel anxious. I am glad that nothing happened, and I feel silly for being so naive as to believe anything might have happened. I know a lot of people who did take precautions for the world to end, and I even know some people who made “end of the world confessions” which they used as an excuse to tell people how they really felt about them. I was not aware of the calendar being in different cycles, and it really just proves that people so wrapped up in the idea of the world ending were not educated on the subject.
Michelle Falcon
This was a good article that I enjoyed reading. While reading this article I immediately went back to middle school / Jr. High and could vividly remember sitting in class and hear every student talk about how ” the world was going to end”, which it obviously did not. After reading this article I feel as if I now have a better understanding of what was actually going on and why people reacted the way that they did. Over all I believe the author did a good job on shedding some light on what was what was really going on and the meaning behind it all.
Alexandria Martinez
This was a good article that gave me insight into the actual meaning of the end of the Mayan calendar of 2012. I remember during that year that many people were scared because they actually thought that the world was going to end. There were even movies to come out about the whole idea of the end of the world in 2012, so it really was a big deal to many people just like you stated in your article.
Osman Rodriguez
I remember when all of this was happening. People were freaking out and stocking up on food and other things. I personally thought it was funny, and did not think much of the whole controversy going on at the time. Still, it was great informative article. I did not know about the Mayan’s cycle or periods in their calendar.
Deanna Lummus
I remember this very clearly. I remember hearing things on the news and my mom being afraid of me going out alone because of how crazy people were getting. I was younger so I don’t remember much else but I know media made a lot of money off of this. After that whole scare, Doomsday Preppers became the new “it” show. Then several shows with the same theme started to pop up and are still airing today. Even the whole zombie craze is something I think became more popular after December of 2012.
Ryann Cervantes
I remember this event and time very accurately and I’m sad to say I’m one of the many who had no idea what was going on. I was told that the end of the calendar was merely just because it was a piece of the whole, but not necessarily an ending of the cycle. However that didn’t stop that little bit of doubt in my mind to grow and grow with fear, being fueled furthermore by the internet hysteria.
Amanda Perez
This article answers so many questions for me. I on that specific day, I wondered why everyone was so scared. I had heard about theories related to the Mayan Calendar but I didn’t specifically know what it all meant or why so many people were convinced that the world was going to end. All I knew was that grocery store companies and movie industries made a killing off of people’s ignorance.