What’s A Doomsday Blog Without the Mayan Calendar!

The Mayan Calendar is a necessity when discussing doomsday theories. Here’s the thing, I don’t want to begin like every other Mayan Calendar conversation by telling you that the world is going to end on December 21, 2012. That’s just cruel. The Mayan Calendar is a huge subject to tackle. For the sake of your attention span, we’re going to take on this large subject with baby steps. I’m a huge movie buff so it’s only appropriate that we begin by discussing a movie that’s relevant (somewhat relevant) to our topic:

Does Apocalypto have any relevancy when it comes to the Mayan Calendar?

Apocalypto is, in my opinion, an awesomely entertaining movie. However, the entertaining elements of this film cannot be the only factors that vouch for the stories authenticity.  That part will be for you to decide.

The movie follows Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) and his journey to the great Mayan city. The Mayan Kingdom is declining and the only way to bring their civilization back to life is (ironically) to sacrifice many lives. The movie spares no detail when it comes to the ritualistic Mayan sacrifice. Jaguar Paw is next in line to have his heart ripped out when suddenly there’s a sign from the sky… Jaguar Paw is spared, for the moment, and is taken to a field for another test. I don’t want to ruin the ending for you but… he lives. Anyways, GREAT movie and you must buy it or Netflix it.

Ok, so the big controversy with this movie is the representation, or rather the misrepresentation, of the Mayan civilization.  The Mayan culture did practice human sacrifice but it was not something to fear because it was considered a great honor to be sacrificed, unless you were a losing team or a conquered enemy. The Mayan pantheon of deities is another complex subject; so to keep it simple we’ll just say that the human sacrifices were to please their Gods. Mayan leaders were considered descendants of the Gods and their blood was considered the most valuable sacrifice. They would often have a bloodletting ceremony and offer their own blood. The next best thing was for the ruler to have his conquered enemies sacrificed. Brutal.

(Kinich Ahau – The Sun God)

The Complexities of The Mayan Calendar and Mayan Culture

As previously stated, the Mayan calendar is complex and will be an awesome subject to tackle. This blog is just a simple introduction into their culture. I left out some important things though:

Random Facts

• They were gifted astrologers
• They thought it was beautiful to have crossed eyes (They would dangle objects in front of the babies face until the baby was permanently cross eyed)
• They flattened the forehead of a baby with wooden boards. (Giving them a more attractive look?)
• They stitched up wounds with hair
• They used saunas
• Nobody knows what happened to the ancient Mayan civilization (Alien abduction?)

Closing Questions:

1. If you have seen it, what did you think of the movie Apocalypto?
2. How much do you know about the Mayan culture?
3. Do you have any random facts (about the ancient Maya)?

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