2012

I don't know for you but I'm disappointed, I didn't expect to watch a movie with a great script but at least, some visual effects which would blow my mind !!! Even in this point, the movie doesn't catch my full attention and I get out of the theater “empty”. Personally I won’t recommend anyone and it's best to save your money to watch the new movie of James Cameron “Avatar” in 3D when it will be released in december.

Update November 13, 2009

What this number means ? The end of the world predicted by the maya civilization or the new movie from the director Roland Emmerich with John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet.

The movie is about an epic struggle of some survivors after a global disaster.

In the first trailer, we can see a buddhist monk running on the top of a mountain to ring a bell and suddenly, the sea starts to surround the mountains to flood totally the place !!!

On the other hand, the maya story is more interesting based on real event and full of mystery.

The maya calendar ends in 2012, why ? During the maya period, a man Pacal Votan (603 – 683 AD) predicted that in december 21, 2012, the world will know the closing age cycle. Pacal Votan was the supreme chief of the empire Nah Chan Palenque (known nowadays as Chiapas in Mexico). Not only he was veneered like a king but also like the time sorcerer because of his huge knowledge about numbers and with this knowledge, he helped to build monuments with astronomical and astrological accuracy information during his reign in the 10th Baktun (435 – 830 AD).

Unfortunately we won’t know much about them since their civilization has disappeared brutally and mysteriously in 1200 AD and in 1562, majority of documents have been destroyed during the spanish conquest ordered by the spanish priest Diego de Landa. This one, after to have discovered evidence of human sacrifices, affirmed that everything related to them was from a demon and all things should be erased on this earth.

Hopefully, some documents survived during this inquisition including the most important one called Dresden Codex which contains almanacs, religious references and astronomical and astrological tables of outstanding accuracy. In 1880, a german guy Ernst Förstemann deciphered the code of maya calendar and found out that the year was calculated with 365.2420 days (more meticulousness than our actual calendar - 365.25 days).

The calendar was codified by 3 cycles:

The first one is Tzolkin (the scared calendar) combining the numbers from 1 through 13 with a sequence of 20 day-names.
The second one is Haab (agricultural calendar) consisting of 18 months (1 month = 20 days) plus a 5 day month called Uayeb which gives us more and less 365 days a year.
The third one is Long Count which restarts every 5000 years more and less and it is based on cycle of 13 baktuns ( 1 baktun = 144000 days).

In its mythology, each Long Count cycle represents a world age with a drastic change done by God. The first age began with the creation of our planet with birds and animals, since they didn’t have granted the power of speech and therefore not able to homage God, they were destroyed. The 2nd and 3rd age, God created mud and wood humans but they didn’t fulfill their will and have been destroyed. The 4th age (our actual world) represents the 13th baktun and it will be completed on 13.0.0.0.0 according to maya calendar (december 21, 2012 for us).

A lot of speculations have been done by scientists, philosophers, erudite… and none concludes with the same opinion. Like the mystery disappearance of maya civilization, no coherent theory has been discovered yet so what will happen at the end of this cycle and what will occur for the beginning of the 14th baktun ?

But this 14th baktun has not been predicted and the maya calendar ends at the 13th baktun, does it mean the end of modern human ? Or simply a revolutionary change ?

What I am sure it is that we will know the answer soon but its disappearance will still be a hidden secret until we will be able to go back in time !!! Meanwhile I will go to watch the movie which will be released july 10, 2009 in US and between july 15-17, 2009 in Europe.

November 18, 2008