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{{Eschatology}}
[[File:La Mojarra Inscription and Long Count date.jpg|thumb|200px|A date inscription for the [[Mayan Long Count]]|alt=an inscription in Mayan characters set into yellow stone]]

The '''2012 phenomenon''' comprises a range of [[Eschatology|eschatological]] [[belief]]s according to which cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on 21 December 2012.<ref name="Sitler" /><ref name="skepsis" /><ref name="Milbrath" /><ref name="Hoopes2011a" /><ref name="Hoopes2011c" /><ref name="Hoopes2011d" /> This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5125-year-long cycle in the [[Mesoamerican Long Count calendar]]. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae have been proposed as pertaining to this date, though none have been accepted by mainstream scholarship.

A [[New Age]] interpretation of this transition is that this date marks the start of time in which Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or [[spiritual transformation]], and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.<ref name="anasatas" /> Others suggest that the 2012 date marks the [[End time|end of the world]] or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world include the arrival of the next [[solar maximum]], an interaction between Earth and the [[Sagittarius A*|black hole at the center of the galaxy]],<ref name="NASA1" /> or Earth's collision with [[Nibiru cataclysm|a planet called "Nibiru"]].

Scholars from various disciplines have dismissed the idea of such cataclysmic events occurring in 2012. Professional [[Mayanist]] scholars state that predictions of impending doom are not found in any of the extant [[Maya codices|classic Maya accounts]], and that the idea that the Long Count calendar "ends" in 2012 misrepresents [[Maya civilization#History|Maya history]] and culture.<ref name="Milbrath" /><ref name="Stuart">David Stuart, ''The Order of Days: The Maya World and the Truth about 2012'', Harmony Books, 2011</ref><ref name="webster" /> Astronomers and other scientists have rejected the proposals as [[pseudoscience]], stating that they conflict with simple astronomical observations<ref name="NASA2" /> and amount to "a distraction from more important science concerns, such as [[global warming]] and loss of [[biological diversity]]".<ref name="Nibiru and Doomsday 2012: Questions and Answers" />

== Mesoamerican Long Count calendar ==
{{main|Mesoamerican Long Count calendar}}

December 2012 marks the conclusion of a ''[[b'ak'tun]]''—a time period in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar which was used in [[Mesoamerica|Central America]] prior to the arrival of Europeans. Although the Long Count was most likely invented by the [[Olmec]],<ref name="delara2006" /> it has become closely associated with the [[Maya civilization]], whose classic period lasted from 250 to 900&nbsp;AD.<ref name="Population structure of the classic period Maya" /> The [[Maya script|writing system]] of the classic Maya has been substantially deciphered,<ref name="joyce" /> meaning that a [[Text corpus|corpus]] of their written and inscribed material has survived from before the [[Spanish conquest of Yucatán|European conquest]].

Unlike the 52-year [[Calendar Round]] still used today among the Maya, the Long Count was linear rather than cyclical, and kept time roughly in units of 20: 20 days made a ''uinal'', 18 uinals (360 days) made a ''tun'', 20 tuns made a ''k'atun'', and 20 k'atuns (144,000 days or roughly 394 years) made up a ''b'ak'tun''. Thus, the Mayan date of 8.3.2.10.15 represents 8 b'ak'tuns, 3 k'atuns, 2 tuns, 10 uinals and 15 days.{{sfn|Schele|Freidel|1990|p=246}}<ref name="The Astronomical Insignificance of Maya Date 13.0.0.0.0" />

=== Apocalypse ===
There is a strong tradition of "world ages" in Mayan literature, but the record has been distorted, leaving several possibilities open to interpretation.{{sfn|Severin|1981|p=75}} According to the ''[[Popol Vuh]]'', a compilation of the [[Mesoamerican creation accounts|creation accounts]] of the [[K'iche' people|K'iche' Maya]] of the Colonial-era highlands, we are living in the fourth world.{{sfn|Schele|Freidel|1990|pp=429–430}} The ''Popol Vuh'' describes the gods first creating three failed worlds, followed by a successful fourth world in which humanity was placed. In the Maya Long Count, the previous world ended after 13 b'ak'tuns, or roughly 5,125 years.{{sfn|Freidel|Schele|Parker|1993|p=63}}{{ref label|A|Note a|a}} The Long Count's "zero date"{{ref label|B|Note b|b}}{{ref label|C|Note c|c}} was set at a point in the past marking the end of the third world and the beginning of the current one, which corresponds to 11 August 3114&nbsp;BC in the [[proleptic Gregorian calendar]].{{sfn|Aveni|2009|p=46}} This means that the fourth world will also have reached the end of its 13th b'ak'tun, or Mayan date 13.0.0.0.0, on 21 December 2012.<ref name="Sitler" />{{ref label|D|Note d|d}} In 1957, Mayanist and astronomer Maud Worcester Makemson wrote that "the completion of a Great Period of 13 b'ak'tuns would have been of the utmost significance to the Maya".<ref name="makemson1957" /> In 1966, [[Michael D. Coe]] wrote in ''The Maya'' that "there is a suggestion&nbsp;... that Armageddon would overtake the degenerate peoples of the world and all creation on the final day of the 13th [b'ak'tun]. Thus&nbsp;... our present universe [would] be annihilated [in December 2012]{{ref label|E|Note e|e}} when the Great Cycle of the Long Count reaches completion."{{sfn|Coe|1966|p=149}}

[[File:Popol vuh.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The oldest surviving manuscript of the Popol Vuh, dated to 1701|alt=an ancient manuscript page]]

=== Objections ===
Coe's interpretation was repeated by other scholars through the early 1990s.<ref name="carrasco1990" /> In contrast, later researchers said that, while the end of the 13th b'ak'tun would perhaps be a cause for celebration,<ref name="Milbrath" /> it did not mark the end of the calendar.<ref name="milbrath1999" /> "There is nothing in the Maya or Aztec or ancient Mesoamerican prophecy to suggest that they prophesied a sudden or major change of any sort in 2012", said Mayanist scholar Mark Van Stone. "The notion of a 'Great Cycle' coming to an end is completely a modern invention."<ref name="van" /> In 1990, Mayanist scholars [[Linda Schele]] and [[David Freidel]] argued that the Maya "did not conceive this to be the end of creation, as many have suggested".{{sfn|Schele|Freidel|1990|pp=81–82, 430–431}} Susan Milbrath, [[curator]] of Latin American Art and Archaeology at the [[Florida Museum of Natural History]], stated that, "We have no record or knowledge that [the Maya] would think the world would come to an end" in 2012.<ref name="Milbrath" /> Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, said, "For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle", and, "The 2012 phenomenon is a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in".<ref name="Milbrath" /> "There will be another cycle", said E. Wyllys Andrews V, director of the [[Tulane University]] Middle American Research Institute. "We know the Maya thought there was one before this, and that implies they were comfortable with the idea of another one after this."<ref name="The Sky Is Not Falling" /> Commenting on the new calendar found at [[Xultun]], one archaeologist said "The ancient Maya predicted the world would continue&nbsp;– that 7,000 years from now, things would be exactly like this. We keep looking for endings. The Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change. It's an entirely different mindset."<ref name="NG120510" />

Several prominent individuals representing Maya of Guatemala decried the suggestion that the world ends on b'ak'tun 13. Ricardo Cajas, president of the Colectivo de Organizaciones Indígenas de Guatemala, said the date did not represent an end of humanity but that the new cycle, "supposes changes in human consciousness". Martín Sacalxot, of the office of the [[Procuraduría de los Derechos Humanos (Guatemala)|Procurador de los Derechos Humanos]] (Guatemala's Human Rights Ombudsman, PDH), said that the end of the calendar has nothing to do with the end of the world or the year 2012.<ref name="prensalibre" />

=== Prior associations ===
The European association of the Maya with eschatology dates back to the time of [[Christopher Columbus]], who was compiling a work called ''Libro de las profecias'' during the voyage in 1502 when he first heard about the "Maia" on Guanaja, an [[island]] off the north coast of [[Honduras]].<ref name="ReferenceB">Hoopes 2011</ref> Influenced by the writings of Bishop [[Pierre d'Ailly]], Columbus believed that his discovery of "most distant" lands (and, by extension, the Maya themselves) was prophesied and would bring about the [[Apocalypse]]. End-times fears were widespread during the early years of the [[Spanish Conquest]] as the result of popular [[astrology|astrological]] predictions in Europe of a second [[Great Flood]] for the year 1524.<ref name="ReferenceB" />

In the early 1900s, German scholar [[Ernst Förstemann]] interpreted the last page of the [[Dresden Codex]] as a representation of the end of the world in a cataclysmic flood. He made reference to the destruction of the world and an apocalypse, though he made no reference to the 13th b'ak'tun or 2012 and it was not clear that he was referring to a future event.<ref>Förstemann 1906: 264</ref> His ideas were repeated by archaeologist [[Sylvanus Morley]],<ref>Morley 1915: 32</ref> who directly paraphrased Förstemann and added his own embellishments, writing, "Finally, on the last page of the manuscript, is depicted the Destruction of the World&nbsp;... Here, indeed, is portrayed with a graphic touch the final all-engulfing cataclysm" in the form of a Great Flood. These comments were later repeated in Morley's book, ''The Ancient Maya'', the first edition of which was published in 1946.<ref name="ReferenceB" />

== Mayan references to b'ak'tun 13 ==
It is not certain what significance the classic Maya gave to the 13th b'ak'tun.<ref name="Houston1996" /> Most classic Maya inscriptions are strictly historical and do not make any prophetic declarations.<ref name="Houston1996" /> Two items in the Mayan classical corpus, however, do mention the end of the 13th b'ak'tun: Tortuguero Monument 6 and La Corona Hieroglyphic Stairway 12.

=== Tortuguero ===
The [[Tortuguero (Maya site)|Tortuguero]] site, which lies in southernmost [[Tabasco]], Mexico, dates from the 7th century AD and consists of a series of inscriptions mostly in honor of the contemporary ruler Bahlam Ajaw. One inscription, known as Tortuguero Monument 6, is the only inscription known to refer to b'ak'tun 13. It has been partially defaced; Sven Gronemeyer and Barbara MacLeod have given this translation:

<div style="width: 500px">
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
: ''tzuhtzjo:m uy-u:xlaju:n pik''
: ''chan ajaw u:x uni:w''
: ''uhto:m il[?]''
: ''ye'ni/ye:n bolon yokte'''
: ''ta chak joyaj''
{{col-2}}
: It will be completed the 13th ''b'ak'tun''.
: It is 4 ''Ajaw'' 3 ''K'ank'in''
: and it will happen a 'seeing'[?].
: It is the display of ''B'olon-Yokte'''
: in a great "investiture".{{sfn|Gronemeyer|MacLeod|2010|p=8}}
{{col-end}}
</div>

[[File:Bolon Yokte' K'uh.jpg|thumb|The Tortuguero monument connects the end of the 13th b'ak'tun with the appearance of Bolon Yokte' K'uh, shown here on the Vase of Seven Gods.|alt=Vase illustration in which the god Bolon Yukte is seen in profile, kneeling with his head back and his mouth open. He wears an elaborate feather headdress.]]

Very little is known about the god Bolon Yokte'. According to an article by Mayanists Markus Eberl and Christian Prager in ''British Anthropological Reports'', his name is composed of the elements "nine", 'OK-te' (the meaning of which is unknown), and "god". Confusion in classical period inscriptions suggests that the name was already ancient and unfamiliar to contemporary scribes.<ref name="eberl2005" /> He also appears in inscriptions from [[Palenque]], [[Usumacinta]], and [[La Mar]] as a god of war, conflict, and the underworld. In one [[Maya stelae|stele]] he is portrayed with a rope tied around his neck, and in another with an incense bag, together signifying a sacrifice to end a cycle of years.<ref name="hieroglyphic" />

Based on observations of modern Mayan rituals, Gronemeyer and MacLeod claim that the stele refers to a celebration in which a person portraying Bolon Yokte' K'uh was wrapped in ceremonial garments and paraded around the site.{{sfn|Gronemeyer|MacLeod|2010|pp=11, 36–37}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2011}} They note that the association of Bolon Yokte' K'uh with b'ak'tun 13 appears to be so important on this inscription that it supersedes more typical celebrations such as "erection of stelae, scattering of incense" and so forth. Furthermore, they assert that this event was indeed planned for 2012 and not the 7th century.{{sfn|Gronemeyer|MacLeod|2010|pp=24, 35}} Mayanist scholar [[Stephen D. Houston|Stephen Houston]] contests this view by arguing that future dates on Mayan inscriptions were simply meant to draw parallels with contemporary events, and that the words on the stela describe a contemporary rather than a future scene.<ref name="What Will Not Happen in 2012" />

=== La Corona ===
In April–May 2012, a team of archaeologists unearthed a previously unknown inscription on a stairway at the [[La Corona]] site in [[Guatemala]]. The inscription, on what is known as Hieroglyphic Stairway 12, describes the establishment of a royal court in [[Calakmul]] in 635 AD, and compares the then-recent completion of 13 k'atuns with the future completion of the 13th b'ak'tun. However, it contains no speculation or prophecy as to what the scribes believed would happen at that time.<ref name="Stuart 2012">{{cite web | title = Notes on a New Text from La Corona | first = David | last = Stuart | url = http://decipherment.wordpress.com/ | year = 2012 | accessdate = 6 July 2012 }}</ref>

=== Dates beyond b'ak'tun 13 ===
Mayan inscriptions occasionally mention predicted future events or commemorations that would occur on dates far beyond the completion of the 13th b'ak'tun. Most of these are in the form of "distance dates"; Long Count dates together with an additional number, known as a Distance Number, which when added to them makes a future date. On the west panel at the [[Temple of Inscriptions]] in Palenque, a section of text projects forward to the 80th 52-year Calendar Round from the coronation of the ruler [[K'inich Janaab' Pakal]]. Pakal's accession occurred on 9.9.2.4.8, equivalent to 27 July 615&nbsp;AD in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. The inscription begins with Pakal's birthdate of 9.8.9.13.0 (24 March, {{nowrap|603&nbsp;AD Gregorian}}) and then adds the Distance Number 10.11.10.5.8 to it,{{sfn|Schele|1992|pp=93–95}} arriving at a date of 21 October 4772&nbsp;AD, more than 4,000 years after Pakal's time.<ref name="van" />{{sfn|Schele|1992|pp=93–95}}{{sfn|Schele|Freidel|1990|p=430}}

Another example is Stela 1 at [[Coba]] which marks the date of creation as {{nowrap|13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0}}, or nineteen units above the b'ak'tun. According to Linda Schele, these 13s represent "the starting point of a huge odometer of time", with each acting as a zero and resetting to 1 as the numbers increase.{{sfn|Schele|Freidel|1990|pp=81–82, 430–431}}{{ref label|C|Note c|c}} Thus this inscription anticipates the current universe lasting at least 20<sup>21</sup>×13×360 days,<ref name=wagner/> or roughly 2.687×10<sup>28</sup> years; a time span equal to 2 quintillion times the [[age of the universe]] as determined by cosmologists. Others have suggested, however, that this date marks creation as having occurred after that time span.<ref name=wagner>{{cite book|chapter=Maya Creation Myths and Cosmography|author=Wagner, Elizabeth|editor=Grube, Nikolai|title=Maya: Divine Kings of the Rainforest|page=283|year=2000|publisher=Konemann|isbn=3-8290-4150-0}}</ref>{{sfn|Aveni|2009|p=49}}

In 2012, researchers announced the discovery of a series of Mayan astronomical tables in Xultun, Guatemala which plot the movements of the Moon and other astronomical bodies over the course of 17 b'ak'tuns.<ref name="NG120510">{{cite web | last = Vance | first = Eric | title = Unprecedented Maya Mural Found, Contradicts 2012 "Doomsday" Myth |publisher=National Geographic |date=10 May 2012 | url = http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/05/120510-maya-2012-doomsday-calendar-end-of-world-science/ |accessdate=11 May 2012}}</ref><ref name="Saturno et al. 11 May 2012">{{cite journal | journal = Science | date = 11 May 2012 | volume = 336 | issue = 6082 | pages = 714–717 | doi = 10.1126/science.1221444 | title = Ancient Maya Astronomical Tables from Xultun, Guatemala | author = William A. Saturno, David Stuart, Anthony F. Aveni, Franco Rossi | bibcode = 2012Sci...336..714S | pmid = 22582260 }}</ref><ref name="ABC100512">{{cite web | title = No hint of world's end in oldest Mayan calendar |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date= (11 May 2012) | url = http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-11/early-mayan-calendar-found/4004686 |accessdate= 18 May 2012}}</ref>

== New Age beliefs ==
Many assertions about the year 2012 form part of a non-codified collection of New Age beliefs about ancient Maya wisdom and spirituality.<ref name="Hoopes2011a" /><ref name="Hoopes2009" /><ref name="Hoopes2011b" /><ref name="Hoopes2012" /><ref name="carlsonvanstone2011" /><ref name="Gelfer2011" /> [[archaeoastronomy|Archaeoastronomer]] [[Anthony Aveni]] says that while the idea of "balancing the cosmos" was prominent in ancient Maya literature, the 2012 phenomenon does not draw from those traditions. Instead, it is bound up with American concepts such as the New Age movement, [[millenarianism]], and the belief in [[secret knowledge]] from distant times and places.{{sfn|Aveni|2009|pp=32–33, 156–157}} Established themes found in 2012 literature include "suspicion towards mainstream Western culture", the idea of spiritual evolution, and the possibility of leading the world into the New Age by individual example or by a group's joined consciousness. The general intent of this literature is not to warn of impending doom but "to foster counter-cultural sympathies and eventually socio-political and 'spiritual' activism".<ref name="skepsis" /> Aveni, who has studied New Age and [[search for extraterrestrial intelligence]] (SETI) communities, describes 2012 narratives as the product of a "disconnected" society: "Unable to find spiritual answers to life's big questions within ourselves, we turn outward to imagined entities that lie far off in space or time—entities that just might be in possession of superior knowledge".{{sfn|Aveni|2009|p=161}}

=== Origins ===
In 1975, the ending of b'ak'tun 13 became the subject of speculation by several New Age authors, who asserted it would correspond with a global "transformation of consciousness". In ''Mexico Mystique: The Coming Sixth Age of Consciousness'', [[Frank Waters]] tied Coe's original date of 24 December 2011{{ref label|E|Note e|e}} to astrology and the prophecies of the [[Hopi]],<ref name="particular" /> while both [[José Argüelles]] (in ''The Transformative Vision'')<ref name="elles1975" /> and [[Terence McKenna]] (in ''The Invisible Landscape'')<ref name="ReferenceA" /><ref name="mckenna1993" /> discussed the significance of the year 2012 without mentioning a specific day.

In 1983, with the publication of [[Robert J. Sharer]]'s revised table of date correlations in the 4th edition of Morley's ''The Ancient Maya,''{{ref label|E|Note e|e}} each became convinced that 21 December 2012 had significant meaning. By 1987, the year in which he organized the [[Harmonic Convergence]] event, Arguelles was using the date 21 December 2012 in ''The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology''.<ref name="Planets Won't Attend Astronomical Celebration" /><ref name="elles1987" /> He claimed that on 13 August 3113 BC the Earth began a passage through a "galactic synchronization beam" that emanated from the [[Galactic Center|center of our galaxy]], that it would pass through this beam during a period of 5200 ''tuns'' (Maya cycles of 360 days each), and that this beam would result in "total synchronization" and "galactic entrainment" of individuals "plugged into the Earth's electromagnetic battery" by 13.0.0.0.0 (21 Dec. 2012). He believed that the Maya aligned their calendar to correspond to this phenomenon.<ref name="scare" /> Anthony Aveni has dismissed all of these ideas.{{sfn|Aveni|2009|pp=17–27}}

=== Galactic alignment ===
There is no significant astronomical event tied to the Long Count's start date.{{sfn|Aveni|2009|p=83}} However, its supposed end date has been tied to astronomical phenomena by [[esoteric]], [[fringe science|fringe]], and New Age literature that places great significance on astrology.<ref name="Hoopes2009" /><ref name="Hoopes2012" /> Chief among these astronomical ideas is the concept of the "galactic alignment".

==== Precession ====
In the [[Solar System]], the planets and the [[Sun]] lie roughly within the same flat plane, known as the [[plane of the ecliptic]]. From our perspective on [[Earth]], the [[ecliptic]] is the path taken by the Sun across the sky over the course of the year. The twelve [[constellation]]s that line the ecliptic are known as the [[zodiac]] and, annually, the Sun passes through all of them in turn. Additionally, over time, the Sun's annual cycle appears to recede very slowly backward by one degree every 72 years, or by one constellation every 2,160 years. This backward movement, called "[[Precession of the equinoxes|precession]]", is due to a slight wobble in the Earth's axis as it spins, and can be compared to the way a [[spinning top]] wobbles as it slows down.<ref name="prec" /> Over the course of 25,800 years, a period often called a [[Great Year]], the Sun's path completes a full, 360-degree backward rotation through the zodiac.<ref name="prec" /> In Western astrological traditions, precession is measured from the [[March equinox]], one of the two annual points at which the Sun is exactly halfway between its lowest and highest points in the sky. Presently, the Sun's March equinox position is in the constellation [[Pisces (constellation)|Pisces]] and is moving back into [[Aquarius (constellation)|Aquarius]]. This signals the end of one [[astrological age]] (the Age of Pisces) and the beginning of another (the [[Age of Aquarius]]).{{sfn|Spencer|2000|pp=115–127}}

Similarly, the Sun's December [[solstice]] position (in the northern hemisphere, the lowest point on its annual path; in the southern hemisphere, the highest) is currently in the constellation of [[Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]], one of two constellations in which the zodiac intersects with the [[Milky Way]].<ref name="Teapot of Sagittarius points to galactic center" /> Every year, on the December solstice, the Sun and the Milky Way, from the surface of the Earth, appear to come into alignment, and every year, precession causes a slight shift in the Sun's position in the Milky Way. Given that the Milky Way is between 10° and 20° wide, it takes between 700 and 1400 years for the Sun's December solstice position to precess through it.<ref name="What's going to happen on 21 December 2012?" /> It is currently about halfway through the Milky Way, crossing the [[galactic equator]].<ref name="starry" /> In 2012, the Sun's December solstice will fall on 21 December.

==== Mysticism ====
[[File:Milkyway Swan Panorama.jpg|thumb|400px|left|The Milky Way near [[Cygnus (constellation)|Cygnus]] showing the lane of the [[Great Rift (astronomy)|Dark Rift]], which the Maya called the ''Xibalba be'' or "Black Road"|alt=a photograph of the Milky Way, rotated 90 degrees]]

Mystical speculations about the [[precession]] of the equinoxes and the Sun's proximity to the center of the Milky Way appeared in ''[[Hamlet's Mill]]'' (1969) by [[Giorgio de Santillana]] and Hertha von Deschend. These were quoted and expanded upon by Terence and [[Dennis McKenna]] in ''The Invisible Landscape'' (1975). The significance of a future "galactic alignment" was noted in 1991 by astrologer Raymond Mardyks, who asserted that the [[winter solstice]] would align with the [[galactic plane]] in 1998/1999. He wrote that this event "only occurs once each 26,000-year cycle and would be most definitely of utmost significance to the top flight ancient astrologers".<ref>Mardyks 1991</ref> Astrologer Bruce Scofield notes, "The Milky Way crossing of the winter solstice is something that has been neglected by Western astrologers, with a few exceptions. Charles Jayne made a very early reference to it, and in the 1970s Rob Hand mentioned it in his talks on precession but didn't elaborate on it. Ray Mardyks later made a point of it, and after that [[John Major Jenkins|John [Major] Jenkins]], myself, and Daniel Giamario began to talk about it."<ref>Plumb 2010: 59</ref>

Adherents to the idea, following a theory first proposed by [[Munro Edmonson]],{{sfn|Edmonson|1988|p=119}} allege that the Maya based their calendar on observations of the [[Great Rift (astronomy)|Great Rift]] or Dark Rift, a band of dark dust clouds in the Milky Way, which, according to some scholars, the Maya called the ''Xibalba be'' or "Black Road".<ref name="Xibalba or Xibalbe" /> John Major Jenkins claims that the Maya were aware of where the ecliptic intersected the Black Road and gave this position in the sky a special significance in their cosmology.<ref name="Jenkins2012" /> According to Jenkins, precession will align the Sun precisely with the galactic equator at the 2012 winter solstice.<ref name="Jenkins2012" /> Jenkins claimed that the classical Maya anticipated this conjunction and celebrated it as the harbinger of a profound spiritual transition for mankind.<ref name="The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness" /> New Age proponents of the galactic alignment hypothesis argue that, just as astrology uses the positions of stars and planets to make claims of future events, the Maya plotted their calendars with the objective of preparing for significant world events.<ref name="pinchbeck2006" /> Jenkins attributes the insights of ancient Maya [[shamans]] about the [[galactic center]] to their use of [[psilocybin mushrooms]], [[psychoactive toad]]s, and other [[psychedelics]].<ref name="jenkins1998" /> Jenkins also associates the ''Xibalba be'' with a "world tree", drawing on studies of contemporary (not ancient) Maya cosmology.{{sfn|Aveni|2009|p=62}}

==== Criticism ====
Astronomers such as [[David Morrison (astrophysicist)|David Morrison]] argue that the galactic equator is an entirely arbitrary line and can never be precisely drawn, because it is impossible to determine the Milky Way's exact boundaries, which vary depending on clarity of view. Jenkins claims he drew his conclusions about the location of the galactic equator from observations taken at above {{convert|11000|ft|m}}, an altitude that gives a clearer image of the Milky Way than Maya had access to.<ref name="scare" /> Furthermore, since the Sun is half a degree wide, its solstice position takes 36 years to precess its full width. Jenkins himself notes that even given this determined location for the line of the galactic equator, its most precise convergence with the center of the Sun already occurred in 1998, and so asserts that, rather than 2012, the galactic alignment instead focuses on a multi-year period centred on 1998.<ref name="jenk" /><ref name="The True Alignment Zone" /><ref name="meeus1997" />

There is no clear evidence that the classic Maya were aware of precession. Some Maya scholars, such as Barbara MacLeod,{{sfn|MacLeod|2011}} Michael Grofe,<ref name="grofe2011" /> Eva Hunt, Gordon Brotherston, and Anthony Aveni,<ref name="jenkins2009" /> have suggested that some Mayan holy dates were timed to precessional cycles, but scholarly opinion on the subject remains divided.<ref name="van" /> There is also little evidence, archaeological or historical, that the Maya placed any importance on solstices or equinoxes.<ref name="van" /><ref name="Aimers, J. J., and Rice, P. M. 2006 79–96" /> It is possible that only the early Mesoamericans observed solstices,{{refn|{{harvnb|Aveni|2009|pp=54–55}}, citing {{harvnb|Aveni|Hartung|2000}}.}} but this is also a disputed issue among Mayanists.<ref name="van" /><ref name="Aimers, J. J., and Rice, P. M. 2006 79–96" /> There is also no evidence that the classic Maya attached any importance to the Milky Way; there is no glyph in their writing system to represent it, and no astronomical or chronological table tied to it.{{sfn|Aveni|2009|p=57}}

=== Timewave zero and the ''I Ching'' ===
[[File:Timewave 9 11 2001.png|thumb|A screenshot of the "Timewave Zero" software|alt=a greyscale graph with multiple, jagged peaks and troughs and an overall descending pattern, set amidst complex virtual instrumentation]]
"Timewave zero" is a [[numerology|numerological]] formula that purports to calculate the ebb and flow of "novelty", defined as increase over time in the [[universe]]'s interconnectedness, or [[Complexity#Disorganized complexity vs. organized complexity|organized complexity]].<ref name="TMobAB" /> According to [[Terence McKenna]], the universe has a [[teleological]] [[attractor]] at the [[Ultimate fate of the universe|end of time]] that increases interconnectedness, eventually reaching a [[technological singularity|singularity]] of infinite complexity in 2012, at which point anything and everything imaginable will occur simultaneously. He conceived this idea over several years in the early to mid-1970s whilst using psilocybin mushrooms and [[Dimethyltryptamine|DMT]].<ref name="TMobAB" /><ref name="Whitesides2012" />

McKenna expressed "novelty" in a computer program which purportedly produces a waveform known as "timewave zero" or the "timewave". Based on McKenna's interpretation of the [[King Wen sequence]] of the ''[[I Ching]]'', an ancient Chinese book on [[divination]],<ref name="ReferenceA" /> the graph appears to show great periods of novelty corresponding with major shifts in humanity's [[evolution|biological]] and [[sociocultural evolution|sociocultural]] evolution. He believed that the events of any given time are resonantly related to the events of other times, and chose the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|atomic bombing of Hiroshima]] as the basis for calculating his end date of November 2012.<ref name="Dynamics of Hyperspace" /> When he later discovered this date's proximity to the end of the 13th b'ak'tun of the Maya calendar, he revised his hypothesis so that the two dates matched.<ref name="skepsis" />

The 1975 first edition of ''The Invisible Landscape'' refers to 2012 (but no specific day during the year) only twice. In the 1993 second edition, McKenna employed Sharer's date{{ref label|E|Note e|e}} of 21 December 2012 throughout.<ref name="skepsis" /><ref name="Whitesides2012" />

=== Other concepts ===
[[File:Bugarach vue générale.jpg|left|thumb|300px|[[Pic de Bugarach]], [[Camps-sur-l'Agly]], France; a target of "esoterics" who believe that some great transition will occur in 2012|alt=A small village in a green field stands before a low, blue mountain peak]]

In India, the guru [[Kalki Bhagavan]] has promoted 2012 as a "deadline" for human enlightenment since at least 1998.<ref name="montclair" /> Over 15 million people consider Bhagavan to be the incarnation of the god [[Vishnu]] and believe that 2012 marks the end of the [[Kali Yuga]], or degenerate age.<ref name="The Power of One" />

In 2006, author [[Daniel Pinchbeck]] popularized New Age concepts about this date in his book ''2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl'', linking b'ak'tun 13 to beliefs in [[crop circles]], [[alien abduction]], and personal revelations based on the use of [[hallucinogenic drugs]] and [[mediumship]].<ref name="Pinchbeck 2006" /><ref name="The End of the World As They Know It" /> Pinchbeck claims to discern a "growing realization that materialism and the rational, empirical worldview that comes with it has reached its expiration date&nbsp;... [w]e're on the verge of transitioning to a dispensation of consciousness that's more intuitive, mystical and shamanic".<ref name="anasatas" />

Beginning in 2000, the small French village of [[Bugarach]], population 189, began receiving visits from "esoterics"—mystic believers who have concluded that the local mountain, [[Pic de Bugarach]], is the ideal location to weather the transformative events of 2012. In 2011, the local mayor, Jean-Pierre Delord, began voicing fears to the international press that the small town would be overwhelmed by an influx of thousands of visitors in 2012, even suggesting he may call in the army.<ref name="For End of the World, a French Peak Holds Allure" /><ref name="Samuel 2010" /> "We've seen a huge rise in visitors", Delord told ''[[The Independent]]'' in March 2012. "Already this year more than 20,000 people have climbed right to the top, and last year we had 10,000 hikers, which was a significant rise on the previous 12 months. They think Pic de Bugarach is 'un garage à ovnis' [a garage for [[UFO]]s]. The villagers are exasperated: the exaggerated importance of something which they see as completely removed from reality is bewildering. After 21 December, this will surely return to normal."<ref name="hippies" />

== Doomsday theories ==<!-- linked from List of predicted dates of the end of the world -->

[[File:Chandra image of Sgr A.jpg|thumb|[[Sagittarius A*]], taken by the [[Chandra X-Ray Observatory]]|alt=A white, glowing, cloudlike feature lies surrounded by bright blue stars in a brownish, golden nebula]]

A far more apocalyptic view of the year 2012 that has spread in various media describes the end of the world or of human civilization on that date. This view has been promulgated by many hoax pages on the Internet, particularly on YouTube,<ref name="foratv" /> as well as on several cable TV channels.

=== Other alignments ===
Some people have interpreted the galactic alignment apocalyptically, claiming that when it occurs, it will somehow create a combined [[gravitation]]al effect between the Sun and the [[supermassive black hole]] at the center of our galaxy (known as [[Sagittarius A*]]), thus creating havoc on Earth.<ref name="krupp" /> Apart from the fact noted above that the "galactic alignment" already happened in 1998, the Sun's apparent path through the zodiac as seen from Earth does not take it near the true galactic center, but rather several degrees above it.<ref name="starry" /> Even if this were not the case, Sagittarius A* is 30,000 [[light year]]s from Earth and would have to be more than 6 million times closer to cause any gravitational disruption to Earth's Solar System.<ref name="Questions answered" /><ref name="What would happen if a supermassive black hole came close to the Earth?" /> This reading of the alignment was included on the History Channel documentary, ''Decoding the Past''. However, John Major Jenkins has complained that a science fiction writer co-authored the documentary, and he went on to characterize it as "45&nbsp;minutes of unabashed doomsday hype and the worst kind of inane sensationalism".<ref name="How Not to Make a 2012 Documentary" />

Some believers in a 2012 doomsday have used the term "galactic alignment" to describe a very different phenomenon proposed by some scientists to explain a pattern in [[mass extinction]]s supposedly observed in the [[fossil record]].<ref name="fraser" /> According to [[Shiva Hypothesis|this hypothesis]], mass extinctions are not random, but recur every 26 million years. To account for this, it suggests that vertical oscillations made by the Sun on its [[Galactic year|250-million-year orbit]] of the galactic center cause it to regularly pass through the galactic plane. When the Sun's orbit takes it outside the galactic plane which bisects the [[galactic disc]], the influence of the [[galactic tide]] is weaker. However, when re-entering the galactic disc—as it does every 20–25&nbsp;million years—it comes under the influence of the far stronger "disc tides", which, according to mathematical models, increase the flux of [[Oort cloud]] comets into the inner Solar System by a factor of 4, thus leading to a massive increase in the likelihood of a devastating comet impact.<ref name="Perturbing the Oort Cloud" /> However, this "alignment" takes place over tens of millions of years, and could never be timed to an exact date.<ref name="Galactic Plane" /> Evidence shows that the Sun passed through the plane bisecting the galactic disc only three million years ago and is now moving farther above it.<ref name="The Sun's motion perpendicular to the galactic plane" />

A third suggested alignment is some sort of planetary [[Conjunction (astronomy and astrology)|conjunction]] occurring on 21 December 2012; however, there will be no conjunction on that date.<ref name="Nibiru and Doomsday 2012: Questions and Answers" /> Multi-planet alignments did occur in both 2000 and 2010, each with no ill result for the Earth.<ref name="Planetary Alignment" /> [[Jupiter]] is the [[List of Solar System objects by size#Objects above ≈300 km in radius|largest]] planet in the Solar System; larger than all other planets combined. When Jupiter is near [[Opposition (planets)|opposition]], the difference in gravitational force that the Earth experiences is less than 1% of the force that the Earth feels daily from the Moon.<ref name="Plait-alignment" />

=== Geomagnetic reversal ===
Another idea tied to 2012 involves a [[geomagnetic reversal]] (often incorrectly referred to as a [[pole shift]] by proponents), possibly triggered by a massive [[solar flare]], that would release an energy equal to 100&nbsp;billion [[atomic bombs]].<ref name="2012: No Killer Solar Flare" /> This belief is supposedly supported by observations that the Earth's [[magnetic field]] is weakening,<ref name="Rapidly changing flows in the Earth's core" /> which could precede a reversal of the north and south [[Poles of astronomical bodies|magnetic poles]].

Most scientific estimates, however, say that geomagnetic reversals take between 1,000 and 10,000 years to complete,<ref name="Merrill">{{cite book | last1 = Merrill | first1 = Ronald T. | last2 = McElhinny | first2 = Michael W. | last3 = McFadden | first3 = Phillip L. | title = The magnetic field of the earth: paleomagnetism, the core, and the deep mantle|publisher=[[Academic Press]] | year = 1998|isbn=978-0-12-491246-5}}</ref> and do not start on any particular date.<ref name="Geomagnetic Reversal" /> Furthermore, the U.S. [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] now predicts that the [[solar maximum]] will peak in May 2013, not 2012, and that it will be fairly weak, with a below-average number of [[sunspots]].<ref name="New Solar Cycle Prediction" /> In any case, there is no scientific evidence linking a solar maximum to a geomagnetic reversal, which is driven by forces entirely within the Earth.<ref name="2012: No Geomagnetic Reversal" /> Instead, a solar maximum would be mostly notable for its effects on satellite and cellular phone communications.<ref name="goemag" /> David Morrison attributes the rise of the solar storm idea to physicist and science popularizer [[Michio Kaku]], who claimed in an interview with [[Fox News]] that a solar peak in 2012 could be disastrous for orbiting satellites.<ref name="foratv" />

=== Planet X/Nibiru ===
{{main|Nibiru cataclysm}}

Some believers in doomsday in 2012 claim that a planet called Planet&nbsp;X, or Nibiru, will collide with or pass by Earth in that year. This idea, which has appeared in various forms since 1995, initially predicted Doomsday in May 2003, but proponents later abandoned that date after it passed without incident.<ref name="morrison" /> The idea originated from claims of channeling of [[grey aliens|alien beings]] and has been widely ridiculed.<ref name="morrison" />{{sfn|Schilling|2008|p=111}} Astronomers have calculated that such an object so close to Earth would be visible to anyone looking up at the night sky.<ref name="morrison" />

=== Other catastrophes ===
[[File:Pleiades large.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The [[Pleiades (star cluster)|Pleiades]], a star cluster whose supposed influence is sometimes tied to the 2012 phenomenon|alt=The Pleiades star cluster]]

Author [[Graham Hancock]], in his book ''[[Fingerprints of the Gods]]'', interpreted Coe's remarks in ''Breaking the Maya Code''{{sfn|Coe|1992|pp=275–276}} as evidence for the prophecy of a global cataclysm.<ref name="hancock" /> Filmmaker [[Roland Emmerich]] would later credit the book with inspiring his 2009 disaster film ''[[2012 (film)|2012]]''.<ref name="chicagoscifi credits">{{cite web | url = http://chicagoscifi.com/movies/0011/presskit_pages/credits.pdf | title = 2012 (2009)&nbsp;– Credit List |accessdate=25 November 2009 |work=chicagoscifi.com}}</ref>

Other speculations regarding doomsday in 2012 have included predictions by the [[Web Bot]] project, a computer program that purports to predict the future using Internet chatter. However, commentators have rejected the programmers' claims to have successfully predicted natural disasters, which web chatter could never predict, as opposed to human-caused disasters like stock market crashes.<ref name="'Web-bot project' makes prophecy of 2012 apocalypse" />

Also, the 2012 date has been loosely tied to the long-running concept of the [[Photon Belt]], which predicts a form of interaction between Earth and [[Alcyone (star)|Alcyone]], the largest star of the [[Pleiades cluster]].<ref name="morris2" /> Critics have argued that photons cannot form belts, that the Pleiades, located more than 400 light years away, could have no effect on Earth, and that the Solar System, rather than getting closer to the Pleiades, is in fact moving farther away from them.<ref name="Is the earth about to enter the Photon Belt, causing the end of life as we know it?" />

Some media outlets have tied the fact that the [[red supergiant]] star [[Betelgeuse]] will undergo a [[supernova]] at some point in the future to the 2012 phenomenon.<ref name="Connelly 19 January 2011">{{cite news | url = http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/tatooines-twin-suns-coming-to-a-planet-near-you-just-as-soon-as-betelgeuse-explodes/story-fn5fsgyc-1225991009247 | title = Tatooine's twin suns&nbsp;– coming to a planet near you just as soon as Betelgeuse explodes | last = Connelly | first = Claire |work=News.com.au |date=19 January 2011 |accessdate=14 September 2012}}</ref> However, while Betelgeuse is certainly in the final stages of its life, and will die as a supernova, there is no way to predict the timing of the event to within 100,000 years.<ref name="Betelgeuse and 2012" /> To be a threat to Earth, a supernova would need to be as close as 25 light years to the Solar System. Betelgeuse is roughly 600 light years away, and so its supernova will not affect Earth.<ref name="Is Betelgeuse about to blow?" /> In December 2011, NASA's [[Francis Reddy]] issued a press release debunking the possibility of a supernova occurring in 2012.<ref name="Reddy 2011">{{cite web | title = 2012: Fear No Supernova | publisher = NASA | last = Reddy | first = Francis | url = http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-supernova.html | year = 2011 | accessdate = 23 January 2012 }}</ref>

Another claim involves [[alien invasion]]. In December 2010, an article, first published in [[examiner.com]] and later referenced in the English-language edition of ''[[Pravda]]''<ref name="NO Spaceships Headed for Earth" /> claimed, citing a Second [[Digitized Sky Survey]] photograph as evidence, that SETI had detected three large spacecraft due to arrive at Earth in 2012.<ref name="philp" /> Astronomer and debunker [[Phil Plait]] noted that by using the [[small-angle formula]], one could determine that if the object in the photo were as large as claimed, it would have had to be closer to Earth than the Moon, which would mean it would already have arrived.<ref name="philp" /> In January 2011, [[Seth Shostak]], chief astronomer of SETI, issued a press release debunking the claims.<ref name="NO Spaceships Headed for Earth" />

== Public reaction ==
The phenomenon has spread widely since coming to public notice, particularly on the Internet. Hundreds of thousands of websites have been posted on the subject.<ref name="foratv" /> "Ask an Astrobiologist", a [[NASA]] public outreach website, has received over 5000 questions from the public on the subject since 2007,<ref name="morris2" /> some asking whether they should kill themselves, their children or their pets.<ref name="foratv" /> In May 2012, an Ipsos poll of 16,000 adults in 21 countries found that 8 percent had experienced fear or anxiety over the possibility of the world ending in December, 2012, while an average of 10 percent agreed with the statement "the Mayan calendar, which some say ‘ends’ in 2012, marks the end of the world", with responses as high as 20 percent in [[China]], 13 percent in [[Russia]], [[Turkey]], [[Japan]] and [[Korea]], and 12 percent in the [[United States]], where sales of private underground [[blast shelters]] have increased noticeably since 2009.<ref name="Matheny 2010-07-28">{{cite web | title = Doomsday shelters making a comeback | first = Keith | last = Matheny | url = http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-07-28-doomsday28_ST_N.htm | accessdate = 6 April 2012 }}</ref><ref name="Ipsos 2012">{{cite web | title = One in Seven (14%) Global Citizens Believe End of the World is Coming in Their Lifetime | publisher = Ipsos | year = 2012 | url = http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5610 | accessdate = 13 August 2012}}</ref> At least one suicide has been directly linked to fear of a 2012 apocalypse,<ref name="thisisbath 2012">{{cite web | title = Teenager who feared the world was about to end | publisher = Western Daily Press | year = 2012 | url = http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Teenager-feared-world-end/story-16119760-detail/story.html | accessdate = 22 August 2012 }}</ref> with several more anecdotally reported.<ref name="pacific" /> A panel of scientists questioned on the topic at a plenary session at the [[Astronomical Society of the Pacific]] contended that the Internet has played a substantial role in allowing this doomsday date to gain more traction than previous similar panics.<ref name="pacific">{{cite web | title = Cosmophobia and the End of the World|publisher=NASA Lunar Science Institute | url = http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/articles/cosmophobia/|accessdate=22 August 2012}}</ref>

In [[Brazil]], the Mayor of the City of [[São Francisco de Paula]], Décio Colla, [[Rio Grande do Sul]], has mobilized the population to prepare for the end of the world by stocking up on [[food]] and [[Supply (economics)|supplies]].<ref name="Tometto 14 March 2012">{{cite web | last = Tometto | first = Mauricio | publisher = Terra | date = 14 March 2012 | title = RS: prefeito orienta população a se preparar para 'fim do mundo' | url = http://noticias.terra.com.br/brasil/noticias/0,,OI5664841-EI8139,00-RS+prefeito+orienta+populacao+a+se+preparar+para+fim+do+mundo.html | accessdate = 16 March 2012 }}</ref><ref name="vnews 2012">{{cite web | title = Prefeito mobiliza São Francisco de Paula, RS, para 'fim do mundo' | year = 2012 | publisher = vnews }}</ref> In the city of [[Corguinho]], in the [[Mato Grosso do Sul]], a colony is being built for survivors of the tragedy.<ref name="Assumpção 2012">{{cite web | title = Cidade está sendo construída para refugiar sobreviventes de 'tragédia' | last = Assumpção | first = Isabela | url = http://g1.globo.com/globo-reporter/noticia/2012/02/cidade-esta-sendo-construida-para-refugiar-sobreviventes-de-tragedia.html | publisher = Globo Reporter | year = 2012 | accessdate = 16 March 2012 }}</ref> In [[Alto Paraíso de Goiás]], the [[hotel]]s also make specific reservations for prophetic dates.<ref name="Carvalho 2012">{{cite web | title = Hotéis de Alto Paraíso de Goiás já fazem reservas para 'datas proféticas' | last = Carvalho | first = Versanna | url = http://g1.globo.com/goias/noticia/2012/03/hoteis-de-alto-paraiso-de-goias-ja-fazem-reservas-para-datas-profeticas.html | year = 2012 | accessdate = 16 March 2012 }}</ref> On 11 October 2012, in the Brazilian city of [[Teresina]], police interrupted what was believed to have been an attempted mass suicide by up to a hundred members of a cult headed by self-proclaimed prophet Luis Pereira dos Santos, who predicted the end of the world on the feast day of [[Our Lady of Aparecida]]. Santos was subsequently arrested.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shots fired as police swoop 10 minutes before 100 followers of Brazilian doomsday cult were due to commit mass suicide over end of the world |first=Craig |last=Mackenzie |newspaper=Daily Mail |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2216743/Shots-fired-police-swoop-10-minutes-100-followers-Brazilian-doomsday-cult-commit-mass-suicide-world-ended.html |date=12 October 2012 |accessdate=21 October 2012}}</ref>

== Cultural influence ==
{{see also|2012 in fiction}}

The 2012 phenomenon has been discussed or referenced in several media. Several TV documentaries, as well as many contemporary fictional references to the year 2012 refer to 21 December as the day of a cataclysmic event.

The [[UFO conspiracy]] TV series ''[[The X-Files]]'' cites December 22, 2012 as the date for an alien colonization of the Earth and mentions the Mayan calendar "stopping" on this date.<ref name="skepsis" />

The [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]] has aired a handful of special series on doomsday that include analysis of 2012 theories, such as ''[[Decoding the Past]]'' (2005–2007), ''2012, End of Days'' (2006), ''[[Last Days on Earth]]'' (2006), ''Seven Signs of the Apocalypse'' (2007), and ''Nostradamus 2012'' (2008).<ref name="Armageddon series" /> The [[Discovery Channel]] also aired ''2012 Apocalypse'' in 2009, suggesting that massive [[Geomagnetic storm|solar storms]], [[magnetic pole reversal]], earthquakes, [[supervolcano]]es, and other drastic natural events may occur in 2012.<ref name="2012 Apocalypse" /> In 2012, the [[National Geographic Channel]] launched a show called ''[[Doomsday Preppers]]'', a documentary series about [[survivalism|survivalists]] preparing for various cataclysms, including the 2012 doomsday.<ref name="nationalgeographic Doomsday Preppers">{{cite web | title = Doomsday Preppers | publisher = National Geographic | url = http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/doomsday-preppers/ | accessdate = 6 April 2012 }}</ref>

Hundreds of books have been published on the topic.<ref name="foratv" /> The bestselling book of 2009,<ref name="Best-Selling Books of 2009" /> [[Dan Brown]]'s ''[[The Lost Symbol]]'', featured a coded mock email number (2456282.5) that decodes, according to ''[[The Washington Post]]'', as "December 21, 2012".<ref name="Burstein 2010">{{cite web | title = Decoding the mysteries of 'The Lost Symbol' | first = Dan | last = Burstein | publisher = ''The Washington Post'' | url = http://voices.washingtonpost.com/shortstack/2010/01/decoding_the_mysteries_of_the.html | year = 2010 | accessdate = 16 July 2012 }}</ref>

The 2009 disaster film ''[[2012 (film)|2012]]'' was inspired by the phenomenon, and advance promotion prior to its release included a [[stealth marketing]] campaign in which TV spots and websites from the fictional "Institute for Human Continuity" called on people to prepare for the end of the world. As these promotions did not mention the film itself, many viewers believed them to be real and contacted astronomers in panic.<ref name="sony" /><ref name="Relax, the end isn't nigh" /> Although the campaign was heavily criticized,<ref name="foratv" /> the film became one of the most successful of its year, grossing nearly $770&nbsp;million worldwide.<ref name="2009 Worldwide Grosses" />

[[Lars von Trier]]'s 2011 film ''[[Melancholia (2011 film)|Melancholia]]'' features a plot in which a planet emerges from behind the Sun onto a collision course with Earth.<ref name="Sunny Kirsten Dunst is picture perfect at the Cannes photocall for her provocative new film Melancholia" /> Announcing his company's purchase of the film, the head of [[Magnolia Pictures]] said in a press release, "As the 2012 apocalypse is upon us, it is time to prepare for a cinematic last supper".<ref name="Magnolia Picks Up North American Rights to Lars von Trier's 'Melancholia'" />

The phenomenon has also inspired several pop music hits. As early as 1997, "[[A Certain Shade of Green]]" by [[Incubus (band)|Incubus]] referred to the mystical belief that a shift in perception would arrive in 2012 ("Are you gonna stand around till 2012 A.D.? / What are you waiting for, a certain shade of green?"). More recent hits include "[[2012 (It Ain't the End)]]" (2010) performed by [[Jay Sean]] and "[[Till the World Ends]]" (2011) performed by [[Britney Spears]].

In February 2012, American automotive company [[General Motors|GM]] aired an advertisement during the annual [[Super Bowl]] [[American football|football game]] in which a group of friends drive [[Chevrolet Silverado]]s through the ruins of human civilization following the 2012 apocalypse. (When the whereabouts of one of their friends is queried, it is revealed that he died because he drove a [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]].)<ref name="O'Niell 3 February 2012">{{cite web | title = 2012 Mayan Doomsday Inspires Chevy Superbowl Ad | url = http://news.discovery.com/autos/2012-doomsday-reaches-chevy-superbowl-ad-120103.html | publisher = Discovery News | date = 3 February 2012 | last = O'Niell | first = Ian | accessdate = 24 February 2012 }}</ref>

In 2011, the Mexico tourism board stated its intentions to use the year 2012, without its apocalyptic connotations, as a means to revive Mexico's tourism industry, which had suffered as the country gained a reputation for drug wars and kidnapping. The initiative hopes to draw on the mystical appeal of the Maya ruins.<ref name="latimes" /> On 21 December 2011, the Maya town of [[Tapachula]] in [[Chiapas]] activated an eight-foot digital clock counting down the days until the end of b'ak'tun 13, while in [[Izapa]], a nearby archaeological site, Maya priests burned incense and prayed.<ref name="hindustantimes" />

== See also ==
{{Portal|2010s}}
* [[Dreamspell|Dreamspell calendar]]
* [[List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events]]

== Notes ==
{{Refbegin|40em}}
* {{note label|A|a|a}} The number 13 plays an important role in Mesoamerican calendrics; the ''[[tzolk'in]]'', or sacred calendar, was divided into 13 months of 20 days each. The Mayan ''may'' cycle consisted of 13 k'atuns. The reason for the number's importance is uncertain, though correlations to the phases of the moon and to the human gestation period have been suggested.{{sfn|Rice|2007|pp=44, 59}}<ref name="The Origin of the 260-day calendar: the gestation hypothesis reconsidered in light of its use among the Quiche Maya" />
* {{note label|B|b|b}} The Mayan calendar, unlike the Western calendar, used a zero.<ref name="joyce" />
* {{note label|C|c|c}} Rather than "0.0.0.0.0", the Mayan Long Count represented the date of creation as "13.0.0.0.0"<ref name=wagner/>
* {{note label|D|d|d}} Most Mayanist scholars, such as [[Mark Van Stone]] and Anthony Aveni, adhere to the "GMT (Goodman-Martinez-Thompson) correlation" with the Long Count, which places the start date at 11 August 3114&nbsp;BC and the end date of b'ak'tun 13 at 21 December 2012.<ref name="Who's Who in the Maya World" /> This date is also the overwhelming preference of those who believe in 2012 eschatology, arguably, Van Stone suggests, because it falls on a solstice, and is thus astrologically significant. Some Mayanist scholars, such as Michael D. Coe, Linda Schele and [[Marc Zender]], adhere to the "Lounsbury/GMT+2" correlation, which sets the start date at 13 August and the end date at 23 December. Which of these is the precise correlation has yet to be conclusively settled.<ref name="Questions and comments" />
* {{note label|E|e|e}} Coe's initial date was "24 December 2011." He revised it to "11 January AD 2013" in the 1980 2nd edition of his book,{{sfn|Coe|1980|p=151}} not settling on 23 December 2012 until the 1984 3rd edition.{{refn|{{harvnb|Coe|1984}}. This correlation, which differs two days from Sharer's, is repeated in subsequent editions of Coe's book.}} The correlation of b'ak'tun 13 as 21&nbsp;December 2012 first appeared in Table B.2 of Robert J. Sharer's 1983 revision of the 4th edition of Sylvanus Morley's book ''The Ancient Maya'' {{harv|Morley|1983|p=603|loc=Table B2}}.
{{Refend}}

== Citations ==
{{refs
| colwidth = 30em
| refs =
<ref name="'Web-bot project' makes prophecy of 2012 apocalypse">{{cite news | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6227357/Web-bot-project-makes-prophecy-of-2012-apocalypse.html | title = 'Web-bot project' makes prophecy of 2012 apocalypse | author = Tom Chivers|date=24 September 2009|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |accessdate=4 October 2009 }}</ref>

<ref name="2009 Worldwide Grosses">{{cite web | url = http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2009&p=.htm | title = 2009 Worldwide Grosses |work=[[Box Office Mojo]] |accessdate=25 February 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100209125250/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2009&p=.htm| archivedate= 9 February 2010 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="2012 Apocalypse">{{cite web | url = http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/special.html?paid=1.403.26090.0.0 | title = 2012 Apocalypse | year = 2009|publisher=The Discovery Channel|accessdate=8 November 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20091111072151/http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/special.html?paid=1.403.26090.0.0| archivedate= 11 November 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="2012: No Geomagnetic Reversal">{{cite web | title = 2012: No Geomagnetic Reversal|work=Universe Today|date=3 October 2008 | first = Ian | last = O'Neill | url = http://www.universetoday.com/2008/10/03/2012-no-geomagnetic-reversal/|accessdate=27 May 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="2012: No Killer Solar Flare">{{cite web | title = 2012: No Killer Solar Flare | url = http://www.universetoday.com/14645/2012-no-killer-solar-flare/ |work=Universe Today | author = Ian O'Neill|date=21 June 2008|accessdate=14 October 2009|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20100805002810/http://www.universetoday.com/14645/2012-no-killer-solar-flare/ |archivedate = 5 August 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref>

<ref name="Aimers, J. J., and Rice, P. M. 2006 79–96">{{cite journal | author = J. J. Aimers and P. M. Rice | year = 2006 | title = Astronomy, ritual and the interpretation of Maya ''E-Group'' architectural assemblages|journal= Ancient Mesoamerica|volume= 17|issue=1|pages=79–96|doi=10.1017/S0956536106060056}}</ref>

<ref name="Armageddon series">{{cite web | url = http://www.history.com/minisites/armageddon | title = Armageddon series | year = 2008|publisher=The History Channel|accessdate=1 May 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090429183255/http://www.history.com/minisites/armageddon| archivedate= 29 April 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="Best-Selling Books of 2009">{{cite web | title = Best-Selling Books of 2009 | url = http://www.marketingcharts.com/print/top-books-of-2009-11540/|date=4 January 2010|publisher=marketingcharts.com|accessdate=10 May 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Betelgeuse and 2012">{{cite web | title = Betelgeuse and 2012 | author = Phil Plait | url = http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/01/21/betelgeuse-and-2012/|work=Bad Astronomy | year = 2011|accessdate=1 May 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Dynamics of Hyperspace">{{cite web | author = Ralph Abraham and Terence McKenna | url = http://www.ralph-abraham.org/talks/transcripts/hyperspace.html | title = Dynamics of Hyperspace|location=Santa Cruz, California|date=June 1983|publisher=Ralph Abraham|accessdate=14 October 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="For End of the World, a French Peak Holds Allure">{{cite news | title = For End of the World, a French Peak Holds Allure | author = Maïa de la Baume|work=The New York Times | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/world/europe/31bugarach.html|accessdate=8 March 2011|date=30 January 2011| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110408103642/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/world/europe/31bugarach.html| archivedate= 8 April 2011 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="Galactic Plane">{{cite web | author = [[Fraser Cain]] | title = Galactic Plane|work=Universe Today | url = http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/galaxies/galactic-plane/| date=11 May 2009| accessdate=29 October 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20091006034656/http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/galaxies/galactic-plane/| archivedate= 6 October 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="Geomagnetic Reversal">{{cite web | title = Geomagnetic Reversal|work=Universe Today|date=2 November 2009 | author = Abby Cessna | url = http://www.universetoday.com/43824/geomagnetic-reversal/|accessdate=6 April 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Houston1996">{{cite journal | author = [[Stephen Houston]] and David Stuart | year = 1996 | title = Of gods, glyphs and kings: divinity and rulership among the Classic Maya |journal=[[Antiquity (journal)|Antiquity]] |location=Cambridge, UK|publisher=Antiquity Publications |volume=70 |issue=268 |pages=289–312 | issn = 0003-598X |oclc=206025348}}</ref>

<ref name="How Not to Make a 2012 Documentary">{{cite web | author = John Major Jenkins | url = http://alignment2012.com/historychannel.html | title = How Not to Make a 2012 Documentary|date=28 July 2006|accessdate=14 October 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Is Betelgeuse about to blow?">{{cite web | title = Is Betelgeuse about to blow? | author = Phil Plait | url = http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/06/01/is-betelgeuse-about-to-blow/|work=Bad Astronomy | year = 2011|accessdate=1 May 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Is the earth about to enter the Photon Belt, causing the end of life as we know it?">{{cite web | url = http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_042.html | title = Is the earth about to enter the Photon Belt, causing the end of life as we know it?|work=The Straight Dope|date=13 September 1996|accessdate=19 April 2011| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110511115242/http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_042.html| archivedate= 11 May 2011 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="Jenkins2012">{{cite web | url = http://alignment2012.com/whatisga.htm | title = What is the Galactic Alignment? | author = John Major Jenkins|publisher=alignment2012.com|accessdate=11 May 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090505173150/http://alignment2012.com/whatisga.htm| archivedate= 5 May 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="Magnolia Picks Up North American Rights to Lars von Trier's 'Melancholia'">{{cite news | title = Magnolia Picks Up North American Rights to Lars von Trier's 'Melancholia' | author = Borys Kit | url = http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/magnolia-picks-up-north-american-99038|date=13 February 2011|work=Hollywood Reporter|accessdate=27 May 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Milbrath">{{cite news | title = Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse? | author = G. Jeffrey MacDonald | url = http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-03-27-maya-2012_n.htm|work=USA Today|date=27 March 2007|accessdate=14 October 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="NASA1">{{cite web | title = 2012: Shadow of the Dark Rift|publisher=NASA | url = http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-alignment.html | year = 2011|accessdate=28 October 2012| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="NASA2">{{cite web | title = 2012: Beginning of the End or Why the World Won't End?|publisher=NASA | url = http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html | year = 2009|accessdate=26 February 2011| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110222054800/http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html| archivedate= 22 February 2011 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="NO Spaceships Headed for Earth">{{cite web | title = NO Spaceships Headed for Earth | author = Seth Shostak | url = http://www.seti.org/page.aspx?pid=1539|publisher=SETI | year = 2011|accessdate=7 January 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="New Solar Cycle Prediction">{{cite web | title = New Solar Cycle Prediction|publisher=NASA|date=29 May 2009 | url = http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/29may_noaaprediction.htm|accessdate=2 November 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20091116031639/http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/29may_noaaprediction.htm| archivedate= 16 November 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="Nibiru and Doomsday 2012: Questions and Answers">{{cite web | title = Nibiru and Doomsday 2012: Questions and Answers | url = http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/intro/nibiru-and-doomsday-2012-questions-and-answers|publisher=NASA: Ask an Astrobiologist | author = David Morrison | year = 2012|accessdate=28 February 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="Samuel 2010">{{cite web | last = Samuel | first = Henry | title = French village which will 'survive 2012 Armageddon' plagued by visitors|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=21 December 2010 | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/ufo/8217001/French-village-which-will-survive-2012-Armageddon-plagued-by-visitors.html|accessdate=14 September 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="Perturbing the Oort Cloud">{{cite web | title = Perturbing the Oort Cloud | author = Michael Szpir|work=American Scientist | url = http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/perturbing-the-oort-cloud|accessdate=25 March 2008|publisher=The Scientific Research Society}}</ref>

<ref name="Pinchbeck 2006">[[#Pinchbeck2006|Pinchbeck 2006]]</ref>

<ref name="Plait-alignment">{{cite web |date=5 March 2011 | title = Good astronomy: Planetary alignments have relatively little to do with earthquakes |work=Bad Astronomy | author = Phil Plait | url = http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planets.html |accessdate=28 April 2011| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110510082301/http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planets.html| archivedate= 10 May 2011 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="Planetary Alignment">{{cite web | title = Planetary Alignment | author = Abby Cessna|work=Universe Today|date=5 July 2009 | url = http://www.universetoday.com/34076/planetary-alignment/|accessdate=19 April 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Planets Won't Attend Astronomical Celebration">{{cite news | title = Planets Won't Attend Astronomical Celebration | author = Philip J. Hilts and Mary Battiata| url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73839663.html?dids=73839663:73839663&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+16,+1987&author=Philip+J.+Hilts;+Mary+Battiata&pub=The+Washington+Post+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Planets+Won't+Attend+Astronomical+Celebration&pqatl=google|work=New York Post|accessdate=4 November 2009 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20110511123856/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73839663.html?dids=73839663:73839663&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+16,+1987&author=Philip+J.+Hilts;+Mary+Battiata&pub=The+Washington+Post+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Planets+Won't+Attend+Astronomical+Celebration&pqatl=google |archivedate = 11 May 2011|deadurl=no|date=16 August 1987}}</ref>

<ref name="Population structure of the classic period Maya">{{cite journal | title = Population structure of the classic period Maya | author = Andrew K. Scherer|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=132|issue=3|pages=367–380|doi=10.1002/ajpa.20535|pmid=17205548 | year = 2007 | ref = Scherer2007}}</ref>

<ref name="Questions and comments">{{cite web | title = Questions and comments | author = Mark Van Stone|publisher=FAMSI|url= http://www.famsi.org/research/vanstone/2012/comments.html|accessdate=6 September 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="Questions answered">{{cite web | title = Questions answered | author = Sherry Seethaler | url = http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20071206/news_1c06sciqa.html|work=San Diego Union Tribune|date=6 December 2007|accessdate=16 October 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Rapidly changing flows in the Earth's core">{{cite journal | author = Nils Olsen and Mioara Mandea | url = http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v1/n6/abs/ngeo203.html | title = Rapidly changing flows in the Earth's core|publisher=Nature Geocscience|date= 18 May 2008|volume=1|pages= 390–394|doi=10.1038/ngeo203|issue=6|journal=Nature Geoscience|bibcode = 2008NatGe...1..390O }}</ref>

<ref name="ReferenceA">[[#McKenna1975|McKenna and McKenna 1975]]</ref>

<ref name="Relax, the end isn't nigh">{{cite news|url= http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/relax-the-end-isnt-nigh-1804340.html | title = Relax, the end isn't nigh | last = Connor | first = Steve |date=17 October 2009 |work=The Independent |location=London |accessdate=20 October 2009 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20091020091758/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/relax-the-end-isnt-nigh-1804340.html| archivedate= 20 October 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="Sitler">{{cite journal | author = Robert K. Sitler | year = 2006 |month=February | title = The 2012 Phenomenon: New Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar |journal=Novo Religio: the Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=24–38 |doi=10.1525/nr.2006.9.3.024 | issn = 1092-6690|oclc=357082680}}</ref>

<ref name="Sunny Kirsten Dunst is picture perfect at the Cannes photocall for her provocative new film Melancholia">{{cite news | title = Sunny Kirsten Dunst is picture perfect at the Cannes photocall for her provocative new film Melancholia | author = Andrea Magrath | url = http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1388300/Cannes-2011-Kirsten-Dunst-picture-perfect-Melancholia-photocall.html|accessdate=27 May 2011|location=London |work=Daily Mail |date=18 May 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="TMobAB">{{cite web | url = http://www.archive.org/details/TerenceMckennaWithArtBell | title = Terence McKenna with Art Bell | author = Art Bell|date=22 May 1997|publisher=archive.org|accessdate=22 September 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="Teapot of Sagittarius points to galactic center">{{cite web | title = Teapot of Sagittarius points to galactic center|work=EarthSky | url = http://www.earthsky.org/tonightpost/favorite-star-patterns/teapot-of-sagittarius-points-to-galactic-center | first = Bruce | last = McClure|accessdate=3 November 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20091118014827/http://www.earthsky.org/tonightpost/favorite-star-patterns/teapot-of-sagittarius-points-to-galactic-center| archivedate= 18 November 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="The Astronomical Insignificance of Maya Date 13.0.0.0.0">{{cite web | url = http://www.dartmouth.edu/~izapa/M-32.pdf|format=PDF | title = The Astronomical Insignificance of Maya Date 13.0.0.0.0 | author = Vincent H. Malmström|publisher=[[Dartmouth College]]|date=19 March 2003|page=2|accessdate=26 May 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090611163802/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~izapa/M-32.pdf| archivedate= 11 June 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="The End of the World As They Know It">{{cite web | url = http://nymag.com/news/imperialcity/21697/ | title = The End of the World As They Know It | author = Kurt Andersen|work=New York Magazine|date=24 September 2006|accessdate=26 February 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness">{{cite web | title = The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness | author = John Major Jenkins|publisher=alignement2012.com | url = http://alignment2012.com/mayancalendarbasics.htm|date=January 2005|accessdate=26 January 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="The Origin of the 260-day calendar: the gestation hypothesis reconsidered in light of its use among the Quiche Maya">{{cite web | title = The Origin of the 260-day calendar: the gestation hypothesis reconsidered in light of its use among the Quiche Maya | author = Duncan McLean Earl and Dean R Snow|publisher=State University of New York at Albany | url = http://archeometrie.perso.neuf.fr/260%20Day%20Calendar.pdf|accessdate=20 March 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="The Power of One">{{cite web | author = Jagmeeta Thind Joy | url = http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=179407 | title = The Power of One|work= Express India | year = 2006|accessdate=26 February 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="The Sky Is Not Falling">{{cite web | author = Ryan Rivet | url = http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/062508_maya.cfm | title = The Sky Is Not Falling|publisher=Tulane University|date=25 June 2008|accessdate=26 February 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="The Sun's motion perpendicular to the galactic plane">{{cite journal | title = The Sun's motion perpendicular to the galactic plane | author = John N. Bahcall and Safi Bahcall|journal=Nature|volume=316|issue=6030|pages=706–708 |date=22 August 1985|doi=10.1038/316706a0|bibcode = 1985Natur.316..706B }}</ref>

<ref name="The True Alignment Zone">{{cite web | title = The True Alignment Zone | author = John Major Jenkins | year = 1999|month=June | url = http://edj.net/mc2012/truezone.htm|accessdate=14 October 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20091001214914/http://edj.net/mc2012/truezone.htm| archivedate= 1 October 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="What Will Not Happen in 2012">{{cite web | title = What Will Not Happen in 2012 | author = Stephen Houston|date=20 December 2008 | url = http://decipherment.wordpress.com/2008/12/20/what-will-not-happen-in-2012/|work=Maya Decipherment|accessdate=29 May 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="What would happen if a supermassive black hole came close to the Earth?">{{cite web | title = What would happen if a supermassive black hole came close to the Earth? | author = Christopher Springob| url=http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=511|publisher=Cornell University|date=28 March 2003|accessdate=14 October 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20091010215940/http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=511| archivedate= 10 October 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="What's going to happen on 21 December 2012?">{{cite web | title = What's going to happen on December 21st 2012?|publisher=Cornell University | year = 2006 | url = http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=686|accessdate=9 May 2011| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110511094007/http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=686| archivedate= 11 May 2011 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="Who's Who in the Maya World">{{cite web | title = Who's Who in the Maya World|publisher=famsi.org | url = http://research.famsi.org/whos_who/christian_dates.htm | author = Peter Matthews|accessdate=13 April 2011| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110511124646/http://research.famsi.org/whos_who/christian_dates.htm| archivedate= 11 May 2011 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="Xibalba or Xibalbe">{{cite web | url = http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/papers/xibalba.rtf | title = Xibalba or Xibalbe | author = Brian Stross |publisher=University of Texas |accessdate=18 May 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="anasatas">{{cite journal | author = Benjamin Anastas |date=1 July 2007 | title = The Final Days | url = http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~tkeene/apwhAnastasThe%20(Mayan)%20Final%20Days.htm |format=reproduced online, at [[Kennesaw State University|KSU]] |journal=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |location=New York|publisher=The New York Times Company |page=Section 6, p.48 |accessdate=18 May 2009 | ref = Anastas2007}}</ref>

<ref name="carlsonvanstone2011">[[#CarlsonVanStone2011|Carlson & Van Stone 2011]]</ref>

<ref name="carrasco1990">[[#Carrasco1990|Carrasco 1990]] p. 39; [[#Gossen1993|Gossen and Leventhal 1993]] p. 191</ref>

<ref name="delara2006">[[#deLara2006|de Lara and Justeson 2006]]</ref>

<ref name="eberl2005">[[#Eberl2005|Eberl and Prager 2005]], p. 28</ref>

<ref name="elles1975">[[#Argüelles1975|Argüelles 1975]]</ref>

<ref name="elles1987">[[#Argüelles1987|Argüelles 1987]]</ref>

<ref name="foratv">{{cite web | title = David Morrison: Surviving 2012 and Other Cosmic Disasters |publisher=FORA.tv | url = http://fora.tv/2010/04/24/David_Morrison_Surviving_2012_and_Other_Cosmic_Disasters|accessdate=17 July 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="fraser">{{cite web | title = Questions Show: Alignment with the Galactic Plane, Destruction from Venus, and the Death of the Solar System|work=Universe Today|date=10 October 2008|url= http://www.astronomycast.com/listeners/questions-shows/questions-show-alignment-with-the-galactic-plane-destruction-from-venus-and-the-death-of-the-solar-system/|accessdate=14 October 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="goemag">{{cite web | title = Solar Storm Warning |publisher=NASA|date=10 March 2006 | url = http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/10mar_stormwarning.htm|accessdate=14 October 2009 | author = Tony Phillips| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20091014042305/http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/10mar_stormwarning.htm| archivedate= 14 October 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="grofe2011">[[#Grofe2011|Grofe 2011]]</ref>

<ref name="hancock">[[#Hancock 1995|Hancock 1995]], p. 499, ff. 27.</ref>

<ref name="hieroglyphic">[[#Eberl2005|Eberl and Prager 2005]], pp. 29–30, citing Hieroglyphic Stairway E7-H12 at Palenque, plate 104 in Karl Herbert Mayer, ''Maya Monuments: Sculptures of Unknown Provenance, Supplement 4'' [in which the Sajal Niil is depicted in his costume], and Stele 1 from La Mar.</ref>

<ref name="Hoopes2009">[[#Hoopes2009|Hoopes 2009]]</ref>

<ref name="Hoopes2011a">[[#Hoopes2011a|Hoopes 2011a]]</ref>

<ref name="Hoopes2011b">[[#Hoopes2011b|Hoopes 2011b]]</ref>

<ref name="Hoopes2011c">[[#Hoopes2011c|Hoopes 2011c]]</ref>

<ref name="Hoopes2011d">[[#Hoopes2011d|Hoopes 2011d]]</ref>

<ref name="Hoopes2012">[[#Hoopes2012|Hoopes 2012]]</ref>

<ref name="Whitesides2012">[[#Whitesides2012|Whitesides2012]]</ref>

<ref name="Gelfer2011">[[#Gelfer2011|Gelfer 2011]]</ref>

<ref name="jenk">{{cite web | title = Introduction to Maya Cosmogenesis | author = John Major Jenkins | url = http://alignment2012.com/mc-intro.html|accessdate=14 October 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="jenkins1998">[[#Jenkins1998|Jenkins 1998]], pp. 191–206</ref>

<ref name="jenkins2009">[[#Jenkins2009|Jenkins 2009]], p. 215</ref>

<ref name="joyce">{{cite journal | title = The Origins of Mesoamerican Writing | first = Joyce | last = Marcus | journal = Annual Review of Anthropology | volume = 5 | year = 1976 | pages = 25–67 | jstor = 2949303 }}</ref>

<ref name="krupp">{{cite web | title = The Great 2012 Scare|work=Sky and Telescope | url = http://media.skyandtelescope.com/documents/Doomsday2012-lores.pdf | author = [[Ed Krupp|E. C. Krupp]]|accessdate=11 November 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="makemson1957">[[#Makemson1957|Makemson 1957]], p. 4</ref>

<ref name="mckenna1993">(the more specific date of 21 December appeared in the 1993 revision of ''The Invisible Landscape'')([[#McKenna1993|McKenna&McKenna 1993]])</ref>

<ref name="meeus1997">[[#Meeus1997|Meeus 1997]], pp. 301–303</ref>

<ref name="milbrath1999">[[#Milbrath1999|Milbrath 1999]], p. 4</ref>

<ref name="montclair">{{cite web | author = Vasudha Narayanan | url = http://www.montclair.edu/risa/d-kalki.html | title = A "White Paper" on Kalki Bhagavan|publisher=American Academy of Religion | year = 1998|accessdate=26 February 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="morris2">{{cite web | title = NASA Ask An Astrobiologist|publisher=NASA | author = David Morrison | url = http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist|accessdate=11 April 2011| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110503232346/http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist| archivedate= 3 May 2011 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="morrison">{{cite web | title = The Myth of Nibiru and the End of the World in 2012 | author = David Morrison|publisher=[[Skeptical Inquirer]]|date=October 2008 | url = http://www.csicop.org/si/show/myth_of_nibiru_and_the_end_of_the_world_in_2012/|accessdate=2 April 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="particular">See in particular, chapter 6 ("The Great Cycle: Its Projected Beginning"), chapter 7 ("The Great Cycle&nbsp;– Its Projected End") and the Appendix, in [[#Waters1975|Waters 1975]], pp. 256–264, 265–271, 285</ref>

<ref name="philp">{{cite web | title = Giant spaceships to attack December 2012? | author = Phil Plait|work=Discover Magazine | year = 2011 | url = http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/12/27/giant-spaceships-to-attack-december-2012/|accessdate=7 January 2011| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20101230080650/http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/12/27/giant-spaceships-to-attack-december-2012/| archivedate= 30 December 2010 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="pinchbeck2006">For an in-depth look at this subject, see [[#{{sfnRef|Coe|1992}}|Coe 1992]], [[#Miller1993|Miller 1993]], [[#Pinchbeck2006|Pinchbeck 2006]]</ref>

<ref name="prec">{{cite web | title = Precession|publisher=NASA | url = http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sprecess.htm|accessdate=3 November 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20091118001942/http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sprecess.htm| archivedate= 18 November 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="scare">{{cite web | title = The Great 2012 Doomsday Scare|publisher=NASA | url = http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-guest.html | year = 2009|accessdate=27 January 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100125184921/http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-guest.html| archivedate= 25 January 2010 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="skepsis">{{cite web | author = Sacha Defesche | title = 'The 2012 Phenomenon': A historical and typological approach to a modern apocalyptic mythology. | year = 2007|publisher=skepsis | url = http://skepsis.no/?p=599|accessdate=29 April 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="sony">{{cite web | title = Sony Pictures and the End of the World | author = Mike Brown|publisher=Mike Brown's Planets|date=7 June 2009|url= http://www.mikebrownsplanets.com/2009/06/sony-pictures-and-end-of-world.html|accessdate=7 June 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="starry">{{cite web | title = Starry Night looks at doomsday | author = Geoff Gaherty|work=Starry Night Times | url = http://www.starrynighteducation.com/sntimes/2008/06/#art1 | year = 2008|accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="van">{{cite web | title = 2012 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) | author = Mark Van Stone|publisher=FAMSI|accessdate=2 March 2010 | url = http://www.famsi.org/research/vanstone/2012/faq.html| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100210204029/http://www.famsi.org/research/vanstone/2012/faq.html| archivedate= 10 February 2010 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

<ref name="webster">{{cite web | url = http://www.anthro.psu.edu/faculty_staff/docs/Webster_GermanyMaya.pdf|format=PDF | title = The Uses and Abuses of the Ancient Maya | author = David Webster|publisher=[[Penn State University]]|location=The Emergence of the Modern World Conference, Otzenhausen, Germany|date=25 September 2007|accessdate=14 October 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="prensalibre">{{cite web | title = La controversia detrás de la profecía del 2012 | url = http://prensalibre.com/noticias/controversia-detras-profecia_0_191380911.html | author = Àngels Maso | year = 2010 |publisher=Prensa Libre |accessdate=1 January 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="latimes">{{cite news | title = Mexico aims to make end of Maya calendar a starter for tourism | author = Hugo Martín | url = http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/17/business/la-fi-0917-mexico-tourism-20110917 |work=The Los Angeles Times |accessdate=15 October 2011 |date=17 September 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="hindustantimes">{{cite news | title = Mayans launch apocalypse countdown |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=21 December 2011 | url = http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Americas/Mayans-launch-apocalypse-countdown/Article1-785112.aspx |accessdate=30 December 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="hippies">{{cite news | title = Hippies head for Noah's Ark: Queue here for rescue aboard alien spaceship | author = Oliver Pickup |date=25 March 2012 |work=The Independent | url = http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hippies-head-for-noahs-ark-queue-here-for-rescue-aboard-alien-spaceship-7584492.html |accessdate=26 March 2012}}</ref>
}}

== References ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
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| title = Precious Greenstone Precious Feather
| publisher = Labyrinthos
| location = Lancaster, CA
| ref = harv
}}
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| first = Anthony
| year = 2009
| title = The End of Time: The Maya Mystery of 2012
| publisher = University Press of Colorado
| location = Boulder, Colorado
| isbn = 978-0-87081-961-2
| ref = harv
}}
* {{cite book | author = Barkun, Michael | year = 2006 | title = A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America | series = Comparative studies in religion and society series, no.&nbsp;15 | edition = 1st pbk print | location = Berkeley | publisher = University of California Press | isbn = 978-0-520-24812-0 | oclc = 255948700 | ref = Barkun2006 }}
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* {{cite journal | author = Callaway, Carl | title = Cosmogony and Prophecy: Maya Era Day Cosmology in the Context of the 2012 Prophecy | journal = Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union | url = http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=IAU | volume = 7 | year = 2011 | pages = 192–202 | ref = Callaway2011 | doi = 10.1017/S1743921311012622 }}
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* {{cite book | author = Eberl, Markus | coauthors = and Christian Prager | year = 2005 | chapter = B'olon Yokte' K'uh: Maya conceptions of war, conflict, and the underworld | title = Wars and Conflicts in Prehispanic Mesoamerica and the Andes: Selected Proceedings of the Conference Organized by the [[Society of Americanists in Belgium|Société des Américanistes de Belgique]] with the Collaboration of Wayeb (European Association of Mayanists), Brussels, 16–17 November 2002 | editor = Peter Eeckhout and Geneviève Le Fort (eds.) | series = British Archaeological Reports International Series, {{nowrap|no. 1385}} | location = Oxford, UK | publisher = John and Erika Hedges Ltd | pages = 28–36 | isbn = 978-1-84171-706-7 | oclc = 254728446 | ref = Eberl2005 }}
* {{cite book | last = Edmonson | first = Munro S. | authorlink = Munro S. Edmonson | coauthors = ed. and trans. | year = 1982 | title = The Ancient Future of the Itza: The Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimin | series = The Texas Pan American series | edition = Text of ''Chilam Balam de Tizimín'' MS. translated and annotated by Munro S. Edmonson; 1st English trans. | publisher = University of Texas Press | location = Austin | isbn = 978-0-292-70353-7 | oclc = 11318551 | ref = harv }} {{yua icon}} {{en icon }}
* {{cite book | last = Edmonson | first = Munro S. | authorlink = Munro S. Edmonson | year = 1988 | title = The Book of the Year: Middle American Calendrical Systems | publisher = [[University of Utah Press]] | location = Salt Lake City | isbn = 978-0-87480-288-7 | oclc = 17650412 | ref = harv }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Freidel | first1 = David | last2 = Schele | first2 = Linda | last3 = Parker | first3 = Joy | year = 1993 | title = Maya Cosmos: Three thousand years on the shaman's path | publisher = [[William Morrow and Company|William Morrow]] | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-688-10081-0 | oclc = 27430287 | ref = harv }}
* {{cite book | editor=Gelfer, Joseph | year = 2011 | title = 2012: Decoding the Counterculture Apocalypse | location = London | publisher = [[Equinox Publishing (London)|Equinox Publishing]] | isbn = 978-1-84553-639-8 | ref = Gelfer2011 }}
* {{cite book | author = Gossen, Gary | coauthors = and Richard M. Leventhal | year = 1993 | chapter = The topography of ancient Maya religious pluralism: a dialogue with the present | editor = Jeremy A. Sabloff and John S. Henderson (eds.) | title = Lowland Maya Civilization in the Eighth Century A.D.: A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 7th and 8 October 1989 | location = Washington, D.C. | publisher = [[Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection]] | pages = 185–217 | isbn = 978-0-88402-206-0 | oclc = 25547151 | ref = Gossen1993 }}
* {{cite journal | author = Grofe, Michael | title = Measuring Deep Time: The Sidereal Year and the Tropical Year in Maya Inscriptions | journal = Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union | url = http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=IAU | volume = 7 | year = 2011 | pages = 214–230 | ref = Grofe2011 | doi = 10.1017/S1743921311012646 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Gronemeyer | first1 = Sven | last2 = MacLeod | first2 = Barbara | year = 2010 | title = What Could Happen in 2012: A Re-Analysis of the 13-Bak'tun Prophecy on Tortuguero Monument 6 | journal = Wayeb Notes | url = http://www.wayeb.org/notes/wayeb_notes0034.pdf | volume = 34 | pages = 1–68 | location = University of Copenhagen | publisher = European Association of Mayanists | issn = 1379-8286 | oclc = 298471525 | ref = harv }}
* {{cite book | author = Hancock, Graham | authorlink = Graham Hancock | year = 1995 | title = Fingerprints of the Gods | location = New York | publisher = Crown Publishers, Inc. | isbn = 978-0-517-59348-6 | ref = Hancock1995 }}
* {{cite book | author = Hanegraaff, Wouter | authorlink = Wouter Hanegraaff | year = 1996 | title = New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought | series = Studies in the histories of religions series ({{ISSN|0169-8834}}), {{nowrap|no. 72}} | location = Leiden, Netherlands | publisher = [[Brill Publishers|Brill]] | isbn = 978-90-04-10695-6 | oclc = 35229227 | ref = Hanegraaff1996 }}
* {{cite journal | author = Hoopes, John W. | title = Review&nbsp;– ''The End of Time: The Maya Mystery of 2012'', by Anthony Aveni and ''2012: Science and Prophecy of the Ancient Maya'', by Mark Van Stone | journal = Archaeoastronomy | volume = 22 | year = 2009 | pages = 139–145 | issn = 0190-9940 | location = Austin, Texas | publisher = University of Texas Press | url = http://markvanstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Hoopes-2009-Review-of-Aveni-Van-Stone.pdf | ref = Hoopes2009 }}
* {{cite journal | author = Hoopes, John W. | title = A Critical History of 2012 Mythology | journal = Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union | url = http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/attachments/79139/hoopes-2011-critical-history-2012-mythology.pdf | volume = 7 | year = 2011a | pages = 240–248 | ref = Hoopes2011a | doi = 10.1017/S174392131101266X }}
* {{cite book | author = Hoopes, John W. | chapter = Mayanism Comes of (New) Age | editor = Joseph Gelfer | title = 2012: Decoding the Counterculture Apocalypse | year = 2011b | publisher = Equinox Publishing | location = London | isbn = 978-1-84553-639-8 | pages = 38–59 | ref = Hoopes2011b }}
* {{cite journal | author = Hoopes, John W. | title = New Age Sympathies and Scholarly Complicities: The History and Promotion of 2012 Mythology | journal = Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of Astronomy and Culture | volume = 24 | year = 2011c | pages = 180–201 | issn = 0190-9940 | ref = Hoopes2011c }}
* {{cite web | author = Hoopes, John W. | title = What You Should Know About 2012: Answers to 13 Questions | date = 30 December 2011 | work = Reality Check | publisher = ''Psychology Today'' | url = http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reality-check/201112/what-you-should-know-about-2012-answers-13-questions | ref = Hoopes2011d }}
* {{cite journal | author = Hoopes, John W. | title = The Hidden History of 2012 | journal = [[Fortean Times]] | volume = 285 | year = 2012 | pages = 40–43 | ref = Hoopes2012a }}
* {{cite book | author = Jenkins, John Major | authorlink = John Major Jenkins | year = 1998 | title = Maya Cosmogenesis 2012: The True Meaning of the Maya Calendar End-Date | publisher = [[Bear and Company]] | location = Rochester, VT | isbn = 978-1-879181-48-9 | ref = Jenkins1998 }}
* {{cite book | author = Jenkins, John Major | authorlink = John Major Jenkins | year = 2009 | title = The 2012 Story: The Myths, Fallacies, and Truth Behind the Most Intriguing Date in History | publisher = Tarcher | location = Los Angeles, CA | ref = Jenkins2009 | isbn = 978-1-58542-766-6 }}
* {{cite book | author = Joseph, Frank | authorlink = Frank Joseph | year = 2010 | title = Atlantis and 2012: The Science of the Lost Civilization and the Prophecies of the Maya | location = New York | publisher = Bear & Co. | isbn = 978-1-59143-112-1 | ref = Joseph2010 }}
* {{cite book | author = Luxton, Richard N. | title = The Book of Chumayel: The Counsel Book of the Yucatec Maya, 1539–1638 | publisher = Agaean Park Press | location = Walnut Creek, CA | year = 1996 | isbn = 978-0-89412-244-6 | ref = Luxton1996 }}
* {{cite journal | last = MacLeod | first = Barbara | year = 2011 | title = The God's Grand Costume Ball: A Classic Maya Prophecy for the Close of the Thirteenth Bak'tun | journal = Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union | volume = 7 | pages = 231–239 | url = http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=IAU | doi = 10.1017/S1743921311012658 | ref = harv }}
* {{cite book | author = Makemson, Maude Worcester | coauthors = ed. and trans. | year = 1951 | title = The Book of the Jaguar Priest: a translation of the Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimin, with commentary | location = New York | publisher = H. Schuman | oclc = 537810 | ref = Makemson1951 }}
* {{cite journal | author = Makemson, Maude Worcester | bibcode = 1957PVasO...6....1M | title = The miscellaneous dates of the Dresden Codex | journal = Publications of the Vassar College Observatory | volume = 6 | year = 1957 | month = June | ref = Makemson1957 | pages = 1 }}
* {{cite journal | author = Mardyks, Raymond | year = 1991 | pages = 1–4, 47–48 | title = When Stars Touch the Earth: An Astrologer Looks at the New Age Through the Year 2012 | journal = The Mountain Astrologer | ref = Mardyks1991 }}
* {{cite book | last = McKenna | first = Terence and Dennis | title = The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the ''I Ching'' | publisher = Seabury | edition = 1st | year = 1975 | ref = McKenna1975 | isbn = 978-0-8164-9249-7 }}
* {{cite book | last = McKenna | first = Terence and Dennis | title = The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the ''I Ching'' | publisher = HarperCollins | year = 1993 | ref = McKenna1993 | isbn = 978-0-06-250635-1 }}
* {{cite book | author = Meeus, Jean | year = 1997 | title = Ecliptic and galactic equator | series = Mathematical Astronomy Morsels | location = Richmond, VA | publisher = Willmann-Bell | isbn = 978-0-943396-51-4 | oclc = 36126686 | ref = Meeus1997 }}
* {{cite book | author = Milbrath, Susan | year = 1999 | title = Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars | series = The Linda Schele series in Maya and pre-Columbian studies | location = Austin | publisher = University of Texas Press | isbn = 978-0-292-75225-2 | oclc = 40848420 | ref = Milbrath1999 }}
* {{cite book | author = Miller, Mary | authorlink = Mary Miller | coauthors = and [[Karl Taube]] | year = 1993 | title = The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion | publisher = [[Thames & Hudson]] | location = London | isbn = 978-0-500-05068-2 | oclc = 27667317 | ref = Miller1993 }}
* {{cite book | last = Morley | first = Sylvanus | year = 1983 | title = The Ancient Maya | edition = 4th | publisher = Stanford University Press | location = Palo Alto, CA | isbn = 978-0-8047-1288-0 | ref = harv }}
* {{cite book | author = Nuttall, Zelia, ed. | year = 1903 | title = The Book of the Life of the Ancient Mexicans, Containing an Account of Their Rites and Superstitions: An Anonymous Hispano-Mexican Manuscript Preserved at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Florence, Italy. | location = Berkeley, CA | publisher = University of California }}
* {{cite book | author = Pinchbeck, Daniel | authorlink = Daniel Pinchbeck | year = 2006 | title = 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl | location = New York | publisher = [[Tarcher]] | isbn = 978-1-58542-483-2 | oclc = 62421298 | ref = Pinchbeck2006 }}
* {{cite journal | author = Plumb, Mary | year = 2010 | title = Biology, Cosmology, and 2012: A Conversation with Bruce Scofield | journal = The Mountain Astrologer | issue = October/November | ref = Plumb2011 }}
* {{cite book | last = Roys | first = Ralph | year = 1967 | title = The Book of Chilam Balam of Chuyamel | publisher = Forgotten Books | location = Charleston, South Carolina | isbn = 978-1-60506-858-9 | ref = Roys1967 }}
* {{cite book | last = Rice | first = Prudence M. | year = 2007 | title = Maya calendar origins: monuments, mythistory, and the materialization of time | publisher = University of Texas Press | location = Austin | isbn = 978-0-292-71692-6 | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2b_DoSfVKnUC&pg=PR11&dq=prudence+rice+2007+%22number+13%22#v=onepage&q=number%2013&f=false | ref = harv }}
* {{cite book | last = Schele | first = Linda | authorlink = Linda Schele | year = 1992 | chapter = A New Look at the Dynastic History of Palenque | editor = Victoria R. Bricker (Volume ed.), with Patricia A. Andrews | title = Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 5: Epigraphy | location = Austin | publisher = University of Texas Press | pages = 82–109 | isbn = 0-292-77650-0 | oclc = 23693597 | ref = harv }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Schele | first1 = Linda | authorlink1 = Linda Schele | last2 = Freidel | first2 = David | year = 1990 | title = A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya | edition = pbk reprint | publisher = [[Harper Perennial]] | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-688-11204-2 | oclc = 145324300 | ref = harv }}
* {{cite journal | last = Severin | first = Gregory M. | year = 1981 | title = The Paris Codex: Decoding an Astronomical Ephemeris | journal = Transactions of the American Philosophical Society | volume = 71 | issue = 5 | pages = 1–101 | jstor = 1006397 | doi = 10.2307/1006397 | ref = harv }}
* {{cite book | last = Schilling | first = Govert | year = 2008 | title = The Hunt For Planet X: New Worlds and the Fate of Pluto | publisher = Springer | isbn = 978-0-387-77804-4 | ref = harv }}
* {{cite book | title = 2012: Biography of a Time Traveler, The Journey of José Argüelles | author = South, Stephanie | year = 2009 | location = Franklin Lakes, New Jersey | publisher = New Page Books | isbn = 978-1-60163-065-0 | ref = South2009 }}
* {{cite book | last = Spencer | first = Neil | year = 2000 | title = True as the Stars Above | chapter = Love Shall Steer the Stars&nbsp;– The Long Dawning of the Age of Aquarius | isbn = 978-0-575-06769-1 | ref = harv }}
* {{cite web | author = Van Stone, Mark | title = It's Not the End of the World: What the Ancient Maya Tell Us About 2012 | year = 2008 | publisher = FAMSI | url = http://www.famsi.org/research/vanstone/2012/index.html | ref = Stone2008 }}
* {{cite journal | author = Van Stone, Mark | title = It's Not the End of the World: Emic Evidnce for Local Diversity in the Maya Long Count | journal = Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union | url = http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=IAU | volume = 7 | year = 2011 | pages = 186–191 | ref = VanStone2011 | doi = 10.1017/S1743921311012610 }}
* {{cite book | author = Voss, Alexander | year = 2006 | chapter = Astronomy and Mathematics | editor = Nikolai Grube (ed.) |others=Eva Eggebrecht and Matthias Seidel (assistant eds.) | title = Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest | location = Cologne | publisher = Könemann | pages = 130–143 | isbn = 978-3-8331-1957-6 | oclc = 71165439 | ref = Voss2006 }}
* {{cite book | author = Wagner, Elizabeth | year = 2006 | chapter = Maya Creation Myths and Cosmography | editor = Nikolai Grube (ed.) |others=Eva Eggebrecht and Matthias Seidel (assistant eds.) | title = Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest | location = Cologne | publisher = Könemann | pages = 280–293 | isbn = 978-3-8331-1957-6 | oclc = 71165439 | ref = Wagner2006 }}
* {{cite book | author = Waters, Frank | authorlink = Frank Waters | year = 1975 | title = Mexico Mystique: The Coming Sixth World of Consciousness | location = Chicago, Illinois | publisher = [[Swallow Press|Sage Books/Swallow Press]] | isbn = 978-0-8040-0663-7 | oclc = 1364766 | ref = Waters1975 }}
* {{cite journal | author = Whitesides, Kevin and John W. Hoopes | title = Seventies Dreams and 21st Century Realities: The Emergence of 2012 Mythology | journal = Zeitschrift für Anomalistik | volume = 12 | year = 2012 | pages = 50–74 | ref = Whitesides2012 }}
* {{cite book | title = Stolen Continents: 500 Years of Conquest and Resistance in the Americas | author = Wright, Ronald | publisher = Mariner | year = 2005 | pages = 165–166 | isbn = 978-0-618-49240-4 | ref = Wright2005 }}
* {{cite book | author = York, Michael | year = 1995 | title = The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-Pagan Movements | location = Lanham, MD | publisher = [[Rowman & Littlefield]] | isbn = 978-0-8476-8000-9 | oclc = 31604796 | ref = York1995 }}
{{refend}}

{{Maya}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2012}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:2012 Phenomenon}}
[[Category:Pseudophysics]]
[[Category:Eschatology]]
[[Category:Numerology]]
[[Category:Maya calendars]]
[[Category:New Age]]
[[Category:Esotericism]]
[[Category:Internet memes]]
[[Category:2012 phenomenon| ]]
[[Category:Apocalypticism]]
[[Category:Urban legends]]

{{link GA|pl}}
{{link FA|vi}}

[[ ur:2012 ظہور]]

[[ar:ظاهرة 2012]]
[[bn:২০১২ রহস্য]]
[[cs:Fenomén roku 2012]]
[[da:2012-fænomenet]]
[[es:Fenómeno de 2012]]
[[fa:پدیده ۲۰۱۲]]
[[fr:Prédictions pour décembre 2012]]
[[ko:2012년 종말론]]
[[hr:Teorija noviteta]]
[[id:Fenomena 2012]]
[[it:Profezie sul 21 dicembre 2012]]
[[he:תופעת 2012]]
[[lt:2012 m. pasaulio pabaigos prognozė]]
[[hu:2012-es világvégejelenség]]
[[ms:Fenomena 2012]]
[[nl:2012-fenomeen]]
[[ja:2012年人類滅亡説]]
[[no:2012-fenomenet]]
[[pl:Fenomen roku 2012]]
[[pt:Fenômeno 2012]]
[[ro:Fenomenul 2012]]
[[ru:21 декабря 2012 года]]
[[sl:Galaktična poravnava]]
[[sr:Феномен 21. децембра 2012.]]
[[fi:2012-ilmiö]]
[[sv:2012-fenomen]]
[[ta:2012 நிகழ்வுகள்]]
[[te:యుగాంతం]]
[[th:ปรากฏการณ์ 2012]]
[[tr:2012 fenomeni]]
[[uk:Феномен 2012 року]]
[[ur:2012 ظہور]]
[[vi:Hiện tượng 2012]]
[[zh:2012年預言]]

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