A 2012 D (Denver Mint) Lincoln Cent or Is It?

Will the year 2012 be our last year, here on Earth? Will a 2012 D, Denver Mint cent similar to this one be the last cent we see circulating in the Unitied States of America? Are we doomed to suffer some apocolyptic event that causes life, as we know it to dissapear from the face of the earth? Will we all go the way of the dinosaur? Will it all end? AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Somehow, when considering the hype surrounding the year 2012, my mind wanders to some of the scenes of a “Mad Max” film starring Mel Gibson in which groups of barbarian like individuals battle each other for turf and the gasoline needed to operate their armored vehicles. The strange vehicles created from leftover automotive junkyard parts were futuristic in design but truly archaic in their use of mechanics and sources of fuel. The point of the film was to illustrate a move ahead into an unfortunate future time while still being able to hang on to the collapsed remnants of the past. The point was well made.

So what is all this 2012 stuff, anyway?

Predictions based primarily upon the end-date of what is known as the Mayan Long Count calendar, which is said to last for 5,125 years lends itself nicely to an “End of Times” phenomenon that is supposed to reach a climax on December 21st or 23rd, 2012. Those are the supposed end-dates of the aforementioned calendar period. The dating is drawn from a mixture of archaeoastronomical speculations, interpretations of mythology, the use of numerology and best of all….supposed phrophecies from other world aliens! I also think that some people have concluded that Nostradamus had something to do with this as well.

New Age interpretations of this end-date transition puts forward the idea that, during this time, the planet and its inhabitants may simply “undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation”. 2012 may mark the beginning of and usher in a new human era. It will be similar to a worldwide New Year’s Celebration but on a grander more cosmic scale! On the other hand, some believe that the 2012 date marks the beginning of an end and they point to current day catastrophes such as earthquakes, floods, and disease to make the point that we are on the road to cosmic ruin.

Some of the predictions pertaining to the end of the world in 2012 include collision with another planet or asteroid, a polar reversal whereby the magnetic field of our planet rearranges itself, a change in the axis of the Earth that would create a wobble of the planet that would ultimately destroy the Earth by completely disrupting our planetary seasons; and the best prediction….The end of the earth will come as we line up with a black hole at the center of the Milky Way Universe. All these scenarios have been rejected by the scientific community since they defy the laws of physics or are contradicted by well known and understood scientific observations.

So, What do Maya sources think?

The truth is that mainstream Mayanist scholars feel that the idea that the Mayan Long Count calendar “ends” in 2012 misrepresents Maya history. Many suggest that the calendar simply completes a time cycle that will simply continue as the calendar is used to represent a new era in Maya culture. The modern Maya place no major importance on the 2012 date and to them, life will go on. There is actually no agreement of classic Maya sources about what the date might mean.

So for those of us who remember that “scary” time period about ten years ago, I strongly suspect that this is another Y2K (Year 2000) episode getting ready to explode. I think I will call it the M2K+D (Maya 2000 + a Dozen) phenomenon and let it go at that. (Remember that you heard M2K+D here first) Do I think that the world will end? Nahhh! But I’ll keep my fingers crossed anyway!