VOA标准英语2009年-The Truth Behind the 2012 Prophecy

The coming end of the Mayan calendar cycle prompts apocalypse fears

Faiza Elmasry | Washington, DC 15 December 2009

On December 21, 2012, the 5,125 year cycle of the Mayan calendar will end. The ancient civilization, which reached its peak in the Yucatan and Central America a thousand years ago, predicted the date would be marked with a rare cosmic phenomenon. Some people speculate it will coincide with the destruction of the earth, others hope it will transform the world in more positive ways. But few know the whole story behind 2012.

Hollywood and 2012

"2012:Doomsday" is Hollywood's latest on world's imminent¹ demise²

Hollywood's latest blockbuster 2012 is about the imminent demise of the world. There are also websites, blogs, novels and songs trying to profit from the public's interest in the year 2012.

"The marketplace, the media, the mainstream³ media, is insisting that 2012 should be about doomsday or apocalypse," Maya scholar John Major Jenkins says.

The story behind the legend

In reality, he adds, the date has nothing to do with any of that. Jenkins directs the Center for 2012 Studies, a non-profit research group investigating Mayan timekeeping. In his new book, The 2012 Story, he explains what the year signifies in the Mayan calendar, which goes in cycles based on the moon, sun and other celestial⁴ bodies.

Maya scholar John Major Jenkins says the Mayan calendar was created 2100 years ago

"The long count calendar of the Maya uses different cycles of periods based on 20 and I won't go into the mathematical details of it, but there is a large cycle in this calendar, it's referred to as '13 Baktun cycle' [and] it's 5125 years," he explains. "The calendar was created 2100 years ago, but the inventors of this calendar system projected backwards⁵ to a calculated or extrapolated beginning date of this cycle, which they associated with [their] creation mythology⁶, that [modern] scholars have been able to identify as 3114 B.C. The end of this cycle then was projected forward to 2012 A.D."

Mayans were calculating movements in the galaxy⁷

According to the Mayans, he says, the end of the cycle will coincide with a galactic alignment⁸ of the earth, the sun and the center of the galaxy.

"It has to do with a rare astronomical⁹ alignment - the slow shifting of the stars known as the Procession of the Equinoxes," he says. "This phenomenon is caused by the slow wobbling of the earth on its axis¹⁰. One complete wobble takes 26,000 years. That's really the big news in terms of how impressive the ancient Maya science was."

Jenkins wrote in The Story Behind 2012 that there is no evidence the Maya thought the cycle would end in Doomsday

However, Jenkins stresses, there is no evidence the Maya thought the cycle would end in Doomsday. That, he explains, is a modern notion.

"You know, the whole connection to this imagery of apocalypse or Armageddon can be traced specifically to an academic book, actually," he adds. "One might think that this idea got underway by popular writers or something like that, but actually, it was the great Maya scholar Michael Coe, archeologist, who in his 1966 book, The Maya, mentioned the upcoming cycle ending. It's actually the first time that the cycle ending was mentioned in print as well. He had made the calculation forward to the end of the cycle, and then also interpreted it through the filter of Christian¹¹ Armageddon terminology¹²."

Doomsday interpretation¹³ is relatively¹⁴ recent

That interpretation attracted a lot of popular attention.

"In the mid-1990s, there was a book called The Mayan Prophecies, that talked about how 2012 was supposed to be a time when more solar activity would be happening," he says. "The connection to other things, like invisible planets coming back into the solar system and all these ideas, really started to take off, and especially in the last five or six years, the whole Doomsday thing has really taken root," Jenkins says.

Talk about the end of the days, Jenkins notes, has been going on since the beginning of days.

"I think our own culture, Western civilization, the Judeo-Christian tradition, is steeped in a linear time philosophy that requires some kind of apocalyptic¹⁵ punch at the end of the process," he explains. "Even if you're not Jewish or Christian per se, one is still indoctrinated into this linear time. Also, we are beings who are born and will die. So we all have our own sort of apocalyptic end point, you might say the death process, which is a great mystery and it's probably the source of a lot of fear, whether it is conscious or unconscious, for a lot of people, in terms of their own mortality. So obviously, to utilize¹⁶ something like 2012 as a projection¹⁷ screen for these kinds of things is not that surprising," he says.

Myth offers opportunity to raise interest in astronomy

 

Denver Astronomy Professor Robert Stencel says the uproar¹⁸ over 2012 can be an opportunity to raise awareness¹⁹ about astronomy

But 2012 is not just an ending, says, Robert Stencel, a professor at the University of Denver.

"It merely means that they reset²⁰ the calendar and start again," he says. "So it's not only the end of a cycle, but the beginning of a new cycle."

Stencel says he considers the uproar over 2012 an opportunity to raise awareness about astronomy.

"Much as the current year is known as the International Year of Astronomy, celebrating the 400th anniversary of Galileo using the telescope to discover things in the universe," he says, "maybe 2012 should be another year of astronomy, where we can thank the Mayans for their contributions to knowledge."

Jenkins hopes all the attention will all encourage people to learn more about the ancient Maya and the true story behind the year 2012.
 

1 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

2 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

3 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

4 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

5 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

6 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

7 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

8 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。

9 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

10 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

11 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

12 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。

13 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

15 apocalyptic   

adj.预示灾祸的，启示的

参考例句：

• The air is chill and stagnant,the language apocalyptic.空气寒冷而污浊，语言则是《启示录》式的。
• Parts of the ocean there look just absolutely apocalyptic.海洋的很多区域看上去完全像是世界末日。

16 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。

17 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

18 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

19 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

20 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。