end of world predictions

Mariss was reading about the Mayan 2012 end of world prediction when she came across an article announcing the recent publication of a letter by Sir Isaac Newton in 1704 predicting the world will end in 2060, exactly 1,260 years after the Holy Roman Empire was founded.

"When you consider Newton's scientific achievements -- working out the laws of gravity and the motion of the planets -- you get very excited about an end of world prediction he made," says Mariss, "but when I looked further and realized he based his prediction on scripture rather than celestial bodies I felt deflated."

"That's not to say, of course, that predicting the end of the world from the Book of Daniel is any more ridiculous than predicting such an event from any other source," explains Mariss, "but I just expected something more scientific from him, especially as he secured a royal exemption from following the teachings of the Church of England in order to carry on his scientific work."

"The letter, along with other papers including a document interpreting biblical prophecies to mean that the Jews would return to the Holy Land before the world ended, was auctioned in the late 1930s after laying in a trunk at the Earl of Portsmouth's house for 250 years," says Mariss. "and it's now held by Jerusalem’s Hebrew University."

"The world ending in 2060 is better than it ending in 2012," laughs Mariss, "but when you consider that Newton predicted it would happen after the Jews returned to Israel and set up a flourishing 'kingdom' I don't feel too happy at all because it means the Jewish state is somehow connected to our demise."

"Anyway, if the Mayans were right and the world ends in 2012 then that would put paid to Newton's prediction," laughs Mariss. "But it's no laughing matter, really,because people need certainty and security in their lives and as interesting as these predictions are, all they really do is fill us with more dread than we have already."

"Will the world end in 2012 or 2060?" asks Mariss. "Of course not. We have lived through many end of world predictions and we're still here, and we'll still be here for the end of time whenever that is."

"Actually, I shouldn't have mentioned the end of time because that is exactly how the Mayans predicted the end of the world in 2012."

"Who are the Mayans? Well, there about 3 million of them today who live in an area around southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize and they had an amazing civilization between the third and tenth centuries AD which they inherited from their predecessors, the ancient Olmec."

"Long before the Spanish arrived on the scene the Mayans had gone into decline, and most didn't know about the great cities in the jungles -- sort of like the end of the Roman Empire," explains Mariss, "but of course they still spoke the Mayan language and maintained parts of their former culture, as they still do."

"It is difficult to imagine how the Mayans managed to calculate a solar year of 365.2420 days -- more accurate than the Julian calendar we use day -- without any instrumentation," says Mariss. "They must have been incredibly clever people -- so clever, in fact that a lot people think they were from Outer Space!"

"It's easy to come to such conclusions when you ask questions such as: why did the culture decline?" says Mariss, "but a massive plague, drought or famine, for instance, can weaken any society and when every day becomes a fight for survival nobody, especially the brainiacs, can afford to waste time stargazing. When this sort of thing prolongs for decades,survival of the fittest often means intellect is sacrificed for brawn."

"To put it bluntly, what good is a book when you're dying or starvation, thirst or plague?"

"We only got to understand the Mayan hieroglyphs in 1880 after a German scholar cracked the code," explains Mariss, "and scientists were astounded by the accuracy of the Mayan calculations of solstices and equinoxes, planetary paths, the cycles of Venus and Mars and other heavenly events."

"Time was the essence for the Mayans, everything in their lives revolved around it and they had three main calendars -- a sacred calendar that works like our weekly system; an agricultural calendar that works like our year (18 months of 20 days); and a 'long count' calendar of 5,125 years, the fourth and last of which began in 3114 BC and will end in 2012."

"According to Mayan mythology, the first Long Count saw the creation of the Earth, with vegetation and living beings. The second and third Long Counts saw two imperfect creations of human beings, and in the current fourth and final Long Count, the modern, fully functional human being was formed."

"This is incredibly interesting because it more or less follows Darwin's evolutionary theory,"says Mariss, "and makes one wonder what, if anything, the Mayans had in mind for what happens after the Long Count cycle finishes. The common belief is that it presages the end of the world, but it could very well presage a new beginning."

"The date of the Mayan end of the world, if you're interested, is December 21, 2012," says Mariss, "but whether or not we should pay attention to what ancient texts say -- be they of the Mayans or the early Jews who wrote the bible -- is really a personal decision."

"As for me, well, nobody in their right mind would want to be treated by a doctor following ancient medical texts," laughs Mariss, "and while I have enormous respect for Isaac Newton, the Mayans, and the early Jews, I choose not to take much notice of their Apocalyptic prophecies of doom."

"Just in case, though, I'm making sure that I do some fabulous end-of-the-world things in the next couple of years," laughs Mariss. "And, like a lot of other people, I'll probably be at an end-of-the-world party on December 21, 2012."

"See ya there!"


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