What follows are the
email exchanges between myself
and the CNN interviewer Agnes Pawlowski, who wrote the piece
that appeared in the Technology section
of the CNN website, at:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/01/27/2012.maya.calendar.theories/index.html?iref=newssearch
John Major Jenkins
January 27, 2009
back to: http://alignment2012.com
(Note that
one of the quotes from me that the interviewer used in her piece actually came from my email comments, highlight in
red below)
-----Original Message-----
From: Pawlowski, Agnes
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 7:41 AM
To: John@alignment2012.com
Subject: Interview for CNN.com
Hello,
I
am a writer for CNN.com and I am working on a story about interest in the date December 21, 2012. Are you available for a phone interview
in the next few days?
Regards,
Agnes
Pawlowski
Agnes,
Sure.
I spoke at length with Dana Garrett at CNN in early December; a film crew was being arranged
for an interview with me before the project was put on hold. Please arrange a time. Tomorrow
before 12 noon Denver time will work. Wednesday and
Thursday anytime, morning preferred. The 2012 topic is complex and often distorted
with hype and misinformation, so feel free to call ahead of time to correctly frame my contribution
to the topic: home line: (xxx) xxx xxxx.
Cell phone: xxx xxx xxxx.
Best
wishes,
John Major Jenkins
http://Alignment2012.com
author
of: Journey to the Mayan Underworld (1989)
Tzolkin (1992/1994)
Mayan Sacred Science (1994/2000)
The Center of Mayan Time (1995)
Izapa Cosmos (1996)
Maya Cosmogenesis
2012
(1998)
Galactic Alignment (2002)
Pyramid of Fire (2004)
Unlocking the
Secrets of 2012 (2007, a 3-CD audio program)
From: Pawlowski, Agnes
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 10:42 AM
To: John Major Jenkins
Subject: RE: Interview for CNN.com
How about
tomorrow at 10 a.m. your time (noon ET)? I am trying to present the
various view points people have about 2012 and I believe your take is that the date will mark a period of change or transformation.
Agnes
Agnes,
That
time will work; I’ll await your call – please call xxx xxx
xxxx.
There’s
a bit more to it than simply the bottom line debate of doomsday vs renewal. But yes, my view is
that 2012 should be seen as a time of transformation and renewal. The primary reason for
advocating this is that the Maya material itself expresses this notion.
The Maya Creation Myth discusses time cycles and cycle endings. Within a cyclic time philosophy, the end of a cycle is always about transformation
and renewal. Not a cataclysm. Interestingly, the idea of apocalypse is derived from our
own Western Judeo-Christian assumptions – a necessary consequence of a linear time philosophy. You will often see the 2012 topic
framed as follows: “The Maya predicted
the end of the world (or a cataclysm) in 2012”. This is
absolutely incorrect. I’ve been offering this
framework of understanding for many years. Feel free to be sure to include it in your write up.
It is the one perspective which, in a nutshell, can help people understand
a core problem in the entire 2012 meme.
What
we have in the exploding cultural phenomenon of 2012 is 1)
box-office-savvy movie makers; 2) doomsday authors who are hammering the
juiciest way to market 2012; 3) well-intentioned popular authors who hijack
2012 as a generic icon for their trendy books. Unfortunately, they all completely distort the authentic
Maya information in doing so. Now, this isn’t to say that the 2012 topic is
therefore meaningless or uninteresting. What is happening in
Maya studies is a revolution in understanding what the ancient
Maya accomplished. At the core of this revolution is my own
pioneering work, which identifies the reason why the ancient Maya picked December 21, 2012 to end a great cycle in their calendar. It involves a rare astronomical alignment to the center of
our Milky Way galaxy, a “galactic alignment” (see description
on my website: http://www.alignment2012.com/whatisGA.htm).
On one level this introduces a profound scientific achievement of the ancient
Maya that surpasses anything accomplished by ancient Egyptian, Greek, or Hindu
astronomers. On another level it invites
modern scientific investigation of the nature of this galactic alignment, which
may indeed be an underlying cause of the great transformations that the world
is currently undergoing. New ideas of this nature always meet with scorn and
doubt, and this lasting contribution to the 2012 meme is very often drowned out
by the trendy doomsday people, who should be treated for what they are: under-informed
opportunists and alarmists who will move onto other things in 2013. These comments can
hopefully guide and frame our discussion tomorrow. Best wishes,
John Major Jenkins
The
interview took place by phone and went about 45 minutes. My post interview follow-up email to Agnes:
Hi
Agnes,
Thank
for your time and good questions – It always seems that reporters
assigned to write a piece on 2012 have their work cut out for them. So, as a
brief note on resources that might be helpful:
The link below to
the galactic alignment
astronomy. http://www.alignment2012.com/whatisGA.htm
The
idea reported in the Cornell piece that the alignment has “no
significance” is misleading and so all-encompassing as to imply a god-like omniscience. It is
misleading because it implies that the alignment had no
significance to the ancient Maya. Is
the statement based on a point-by-point refutation of my reconstruction as elaborated in five books on
the subject? No, it isn’t, even though the astronomical features involved in the alignment are
front-and-center in the Maya Creation Myth. The Cornell comment implies a god-like omniscience because
there has been very little scientific
investigation of these alignments. There might be some link between change on the planet and our changing
angular relationship to the larger galactic framework.
Scientists simply do not know for sure, as they have barely even enunciated an
investigation of it. The fact that the 20th century has seen
unprecedented change while the alignment culminates is likewise compelling. The discussion is
hampered because an open minded investigation (led by independent
“outsiders” such as myself – see my 2002 book called Galactic Alignment) must deal with closed-minded assertions
emanating from the universities.
Definition of the galactic alignment: “The alignment of the December
solstice sun with the galactic equator in
Sagittarius.” It is helpful to refer to the alignment as happening in
“era-2012” to alleviate the misconception
of it happening only on, and precisely on, December 21, 2012.
It’s
very important that the “galactic alignment” is not confused
with the orbital period of our solar system around the galactic center, which is a
widely used misconception of the critics. What is at stake is the
reconstruction of an ancient Maya paradigm that utilized alignments with the galaxy as the armature of
their spiritual beliefs about cycles and change on earth.
The
ancient Maya believed that cycle endings were about
transformation and renewal, not a cataclysmic doomsday.
Another
resource is the bibliography for my book Maya Cosmogenesis 2012: http://Alignment2012.com/bibbb.htm.
These sources are the ones that I studied as I explored the 2012 material in
the 1980s and 90s. If you have any additional questions don’t hesitate to email
or call. Best wishes,
John
Major Jenkins
Ph:
Xxx xxx xxxx
The CNN piece:
(CNN) Agnes Pawlowski
Just as "Y2K" and its batch of predictions about the year 2000 have
become a distant memory, here comes "Twenty-twelve."
Fueled by a crop of books, Web sites with
countdown clocks, and claims
about ancient timekeepers, interest is growing in what some see as the dawn of
a new era, and others as an expiration date for Earth: December 21, 2012.
The date marks the end of a 5,126-year cycle
on the Long Count calendar developed
by the Maya, the ancient civilization known
for its advanced understanding of astronomy and for the great cities it left
behind in Mexico
and Central America.
(Some scholars believe
the cycle ends a bit later
-- on December 23, 2012.)
Speculation in some circles
about whether the Maya chose this particular
time because they thought something ominous would
happen has sparked a number of doomsday theories.
The hype also has mainstream Maya scholars
shaking their heads.
"There's going to be a whole
generation of people who, when they think of
the Maya, think of 2012, and to me that's just criminal,"
said David Stuart, director of the Mesoamerica
Center at the University
of Texas at Austin.
"There is no serious scholar who puts
any stock in the idea that the Maya said anything meaningful
about 2012." Find
out more about the history and culture of the Maya »
But take the fact that December
21, 2012, coincides with the winter solstice,
add claims the Maya picked the time period
because it also marks an alignment
of the sun with the center of the Milky Way galaxy,
and you have the makings of an online
sensation.
Type "2012" into an Internet search engine and you'll
find survival guides, survival
schools, predictions and "official
stuff" to wear, including T-shirts with slogans
such as "2012 The End" and "Doomsday 2012."
Theories about what might happen range from solar
storms triggering volcano eruptions to a polar
reversal that will
make the Earth spin in
the opposite direction.
If you think all
of this would make a great sci-fi disaster
movie, Hollywood
is already one step ahead.
"2012," a special-effects flick
starring John Cusack and directed by Roland
Emmerich, of "The Day After Tomorrow" fame,
is scheduled to be released
this fall.
The trailer shows a monk running to a bell
tower on a mountaintop to sound the alarm as a
huge wall of
water washes over what appear to be the peaks of the Himalayas.
'Promoting a hoax'
One barometer of the interest in 2012 may be the "Ask an Astrobiologist" section of NASA's Web site, where senior
scientist David Morrison answers questions from the public.
On a recent visit, more than half of the
inquiries on the most popular list
were related to 2012.
"The purveyors of doom are promoting a hoax," Morrison wrote earlier
this month in response to a question from a person who expressed fear about the
date.
A scholar who has studied the Maya for 35
years said there is nothing ominous about 2012, despite the hype surrounding claims
to the contrary.
"I think that the popular books...
about what the Maya say is going to happen are really
fabricated on the basis of very little
evidence," said Anthony Aveni, a professor of astronomy, anthropology
and Native American studies at Colgate
University.
Aveni and Stuart are both writing their own books explaining
the Mayan calendar and 2012, but Stuart said
he's pessimistic that people will
be interested in the real story when so many
other books are making sensational claims.
Dozens of titles about 2012 have been published
and more are scheduled to go on sale
in the coming months. Current offerings include
"Apocalypse 2012," in which author
Lawrence Joseph outlines "terrible
possibilities," such as the potential
for natural disaster.
But Joseph admits he doesn't think the world
is going to end.
"I do, however, believe that 2012 will
prove to be... a very dramatic and probably
transformative year," Joseph said.
The author acknowledged he's worried his
book's title might scare people,
but said he wanted to alert the public
about possible dangers ahead.
He added that his publisher controls
the book's title, though he had no issue with
the final choice.
"If it had been called
'Serious Threats 2012' or 'Profound Considerations for 2012,' it would
have never gotten published," Joseph
said.
Growing interest
Another author said the doom and gloom
approach is a great misunderstanding of 2012.
"The trendy doomsday people... should
be treated for what they are: under-informed opportunists and alarmists
who will move
onto other things in 2013," said John Major Jenkins,
whose books include "Galactic
Alignment" and who describes himself
as a self-taught independent Maya scholar.
Jenkins said that cycle endings were all
about transformation and renewal -- not
catastrophe -- for the Maya. He also makes the
case that the period they chose coincides with an alignment
of the December solstice sun with the center
of the Milky Way, as viewed from Earth.
"Two thousand years ago the Maya believed
that the world would
be going through a great transformation when this alignment
happened," Jenkins said.
But Aveni said there is no evidence that the Maya cared about this concept
of the Milky Way, adding that the galactic
center was not defined until the 1950s.
"What you have here is a modern age influence
[and] modern concepts trying to garb the ancient Maya in modern clothing,
and it just doesn't wash for me," Aveni said.
Meanwhile, he and other scholars
are bracing for growing interest as the date approaches.
"The whole year leading
up to it is going to be just crazy, I'm sorry to say," Stuart said.
"I just think it's sad, it really
just frustrates me. People are really
misunderstanding this really
cool culture
by focusing on this 2012 thing. It means more about us than it does about the
Maya."
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Long Count 101
• The Long Count calendar
was one of several created by the ancient
Maya.
• It consists of the following
units of time:
kin = one day
uinal
= 20 days
tun = 360 days (18 uinal)
katun = 7,200 days (20 tun)
baktun = 144,000 days (20 katun)
• The calendar shows the number of days elapsed
since the beginning date: August 13,
3114 B.C. (some scholars think the
date is actually
August 11, 3114 B.C.)
• The dates are written as numbers separated by periods in the following
order:
(baktun).(katun).(tun).(uinal).(kin)
• July
20, 1969 -- the date of the first moon landing
-- would be written as: 12.17.15.17.0
• December 21, 2012, would
be written as 13.0.0.0.0 and the day after that as 0.0.0.0.1
Source: Howstuffworks.com
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