What's so special about the cosmic allignment that will happen in 2012?

Question

Nearly every primative society that engaged in any form of astrology (no matter how seperated from one another they were) predicts that the world will come to any end in the year 2012, when astronomers tell us some rare allignment of planets and stars occurs. However, this allignment has happened before several times in Earth's history, most recently some 13,000 years ago. Did anything significant happen then, or any of the other times when the coming cosmic allignment of 2012 happened in the past?

Answer 1

Simple answer to the second question - nobody knows. Records unfortunately don't go back that far, but chances are (and science suggests) that nothing really earth-shattering will happen. Worst case scenario, we get some tectonic plate shifting... but the axis won't budge or anything world-ending like that...

And yes, you're right. I believe it was the Maya(or Aztecs, I get 'em too easily confused) who said that 2012 will be the final year of life on Earth because it was such a monumental occurrence. I doubt it'll happen, but who knows... they couldn't really see their own impending doom, so I obviously have my doubts.

Wayne

Postscript - Okay, so I'm feelin bad for ya since everyone seems to want to tear you a new one. The reference someone told you about was probably the alignment of the Sun, during the Winter Solstice, crossing perfectly the equatorial plane of the Milky Way. Since our Solar System only enters this plane twice each GALACTIC REVOLUTION, it's a pretty rare occurrence indeed, needless to say. The fact that it happens on what astronomers consider a special day just adds to the hype & excitement.

As for the calendar - they had 20 day "months", 18 a year, revolving every 20 years, or "Katun" (generation, if you will). Each 20 Katuns was called a Baktun, and 13 of these made a "Great Cycle" (about 5125 of our years). The current "Great Cycle" will end in 2012. Nothing really mystical about it, but interesting nonetheless.

Answer 2

Alignment of what with what and what else? This is all my eye and Betty Martin. Nonsense, mumbo-jumbo, twaddle, drivel, balderdash. Promoted to the ignorant by lying attention seekers in garbage television programs and cheap and nasty books filled with misdirection, misquotation and straight out lies. Believed in by the paranoid until the event, as usual, fails to materialise. Get the picture?

How many times in the past few hundred years has the end of the world been predicted by readers of Revelation or some other equally nonsensical ancient material? How many times have people round the world headed for the hills with a Bible or whatever in one hand and a packet of sandwiches in the other? Dozens. What has happened? Nothing.

I suggest you read "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by Dr. Charles Mackay, written more than 150 years ago. Also "The Demon Haunted World" by Carl Sagan from the 1990s. You might also try "How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World" by Francis Wheen.

http://robotics.caltech.edu/~mason/Delusions/epdatmoc.html
http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/sokala/wheenf.htm
http://tal.forum2.org/demon

Don't believe everything you see on television. If it is a Phox program, be very suspicious if it makes odd claims.

Answer 3

1. No "cosmic alignment" is predicted for 2012.
2. What is a "primative society"? The correct spelling is "primitive" and this term hasn't been used by anthropologists for over a century, because it is insulting. Perhaps you mean "non-Western"?
3. "EVERY primative society"? Name them!
4. "Astronomers tell us some rare allignment of planets and stars occurs". What astronomers? Where? I read the two major astronomy magazines every month, and I haven't seen any mention of this.
5. If astronomers aren't predicting anything for 2012, how can we say what happened 13000 years ago?

Answer 4

the mayan calendar doesnt end. it just starts a new count. its like going from years 1999 to 2000, it was all hyped up and then you realize its just a human made date change.

and Nostradamus is just funny. his predictions were ment to be so broad that they almost HAD to happen sometime. several things can fit into a single prediction of his, and in a thousand years some of them are destined to happen.

all in all, nothing is gonna happen. and there is no rare planet alignment. there is one that happens every 20 years where all the planets will be AROUND the same line. no in the same line, not even close to being in a line, but around the same line. its called the great alignment and it happens ever 20 years its nothing special.

Answer 5

"Nearly every primitive society"? Which primitive societies?

"When astronomers tell us some rare allignment of planets and stars occurs"? Which astronomers?

Nobody I know takes this seriously. This isn't a serious debate anywhere in the scientific world. In other words, it's crap.

Answer 6

That is just not true. There will be no special alignment in 2012. There are not predictions of the end of the world from different ancient civilizations for that year. It is all totally false. Since you put no links to online information, I have no way of knowing why you believe things like a special alignment every 13,000 years is true, but it isn't. None of what you said is true.

Answer 7

What's so "special" is that it provides an opportunity for charlatans, hucksters, religious fanatics and publishing companies to make Billions of dollars selling FEAR to people who ought to know better if they paid attention to their third grade science teachers (who hopefully knew more than their students).

Sometimes, I think that WE are the primitive society, believing anything that anyone says about anything.

It has only been a few years since a bunch of fear-mongers made lots of money trying to convince people that the upcoming alignment of the planets was going to cause global disaster. The "END OF THE WORLD!!!" has been predicted by numerous religious groups, both in the undeveloped "primitive" regions of the world, and by "Enlightened" groups in 1st world nations.

What's so special about the 2012 cosmic alignment? Nothing. It's happened thousands of times before, will happen thousands of times after 2012.

As for the Mayans, their world got trashed 500 years ago, long before their calendar ran out.

Answer 8

This cosmic alignment that has been 18,000 years in the making. In 2012, it will all come together === at the London Olympics !!!

27 July - 12 August 2012: 1732 days to go

Answer 9

The earth cleansed her self to start a new , their were violent earth quakes and new lands that came up from the ocean floor as well as some sinking under the ocean, 2012 is the time the thirteenth sign align-es with the milky way and sun which will open a portal , a magnetic pull will cause our Platonic plates to shift in the earth and thus cause our earth to shift in her course , her rotation will start in the oposite direction and time as we know it will be lost the earth will be reborn and time for her will restart over, there saying that the lost continats that sank years ago will rise again and some of ours such as japan and parts of every continate will be submerged under water.signs are shifting towards these events to come our weather and polar caps are signes of what is happening.if you look back in history you will find results of continates lost and great earthquakes that shook the earth, go to history .com it will tell you what you are looking for.

Answer 10

mayan calender comes to an end

but it was designed so when you come to the end you just go back to the begenning. we are about to leave the age of pisces and are entering the age of aquarius. so whats gunna happen? a few people will sell books titled '2012: THE END!'

thats about it.