[Aztlan] 2012 show featuring someone you know

Tue Jul 7 09:06:59 CDT 2009

Hi Mark,
Congratulations on your prime-time appearance! Personally, I avoided Penn & Teller like the plague, but since you were selected for the "hero" role, your job is easy. All you have to say is "the Maya never predicted apocalypse in 2012." It's kind of ironic that I've been saying the same thing for some twenty years. It's true: the conflation of apocalypse with 2012 is a humongous piece of disinformation foisted upon the public by a stupidity-reinforcing mass media and an exploitative marketplace. However, a second layer of disinformation exists in this discusion, one that Penn and Teller don't care at all about, one  that most Maya scholars have proven unwilling or unable to address. This is the unwarranted subsequent assumption that "the ancient Maya had no concept at all about 2012." As Penn & Teller would say: "bullshit!" This viewpoint assumes that we, as modern thinkers, cannot possibly reconstruct or encounter any evidence in the inscriptions or other Maya traditions that tells us anything about how the ancient Maya would have thought about 2012. This identifies the unenviable place that I have held in this discussion (for longer than there was even a discussion!), as "a researcher who has found evidence that the Maya referenced 2012 (a.k.a., the end of the current 13-baktun cycle) in ways that were  meaningful to them."   I sincerely hope they don't make you seem like a fool; luckily for you this is unlikely as you have been selected to say the obvious and to correct the silliest and most simplistic misconception that exists in the 2012 discussion. I've been handing the same thing to the media repeatedly for years: apocalypse is a concept from a linear time philosophy, and the modern mind tries to jam it into a cyclic time philosophy (2012) --- a place it doesn't belong. "Apocalypse in 2012"  is a projection of our own culture's greatest fear onto the Maya's 2012 date, a projection of a cataclysmic scenario onto a tradition that saw cycle endings as times of transformation and renewal.  Of course, this way of phrasing it probably strikes a little too close to home for the media - it also uses too many polysyllabic words for the expected low-grade demographic of their viewers or readers. 

So, I guess my question to you, Mark, is, do you currently believe that 2012 had absolutely no meaning to the ancient Maya, to the creators of the Long Count, and to the Classic Period Maya, such as those who inscribed Tortuguero Monument 6?  My own view is that, at the very least, the Maya would have thought about 2012, as they thought about all cycle endings, big or small, as a time of transformation and renewal that required sacrifices. In fact, a modern ethnic Maya scholar, Victor Montejo, thinks of it in this way. There are scholars who do suggest ways to think about 2012. David Freidel, for example, encourages the public to think of 2012 as a vehicle's odometer resetting.  Perhaps we can have a vote from the numerous people on this e-list: shall we subscribe to the Maya concept of  transformation and renewal in 2012, or should we think of it with the modern mechanical metaphor of a gas guzzler's gear-clock resetting? I invite everyone to please return your responses, A or B, directly to me. Maybe we can improve the integrity and cogency of this discussion and move it forward a little:

A: The ancient Maya thought of 2012 as a vehicle's odometer resetting to zero. 

B: The ancient Maya thought of 2012 as a time of transformation and renewal requiring sacrifices.

Best wishes,

John Major Jenkins      

-----Original Message-----
>>From: Mark Van Stone <mvanstone at swccd.edu>
>>Sent: Jul 7, 2009 1:45 AM
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>>Subject: [Aztlan] 2012 show featuring someone you know
>>
>>Dear Friends, (And I had forgotten how rich I am in friends, till I started making that list of "Oh *they'll* want to know" people above...), 
>>
>>    Well, the Penn & Teller 2012 episode on Showtime cable network will air, they say, on 16 July.  I am supposed to be at the end, explaining patiently that the Maya never predicted an apocalypse at all... etc., etc.  They call that role "the hero," but I expect as always happens when media people try to explain complex (or even simple) intellectual ideas to the masses, they'll find a way to embarrass me.  (Thanks, Sandy for siccing them on me!)  Now, I know nearly NOBODY out there subscribes to Showtime, but maybe you know someone who does... Anyway, they promised me a DVD when it airs...  
>>
>>Penn & Teller: Bullshit!: The Apocalypse
>>
>>Description:
>>In episode 704, Penn and Teller follow investigators to Mexico where they probe the mysterious, doomsday "Mayan Prophecy" that the world will end on exactly December 21, 2012.
>>
>>Rating: TVMA
>>Duration: 28 Mins
>>Showtime Advisories: Nudity, Graphic Language, Adult Content
>>Audio Format: Stereo / CC / ESP
>> 
>>Ways to Watch:
>>On Showtime
>>    07/16/09 at 10:00 PM (More Airings: click here) 
>>On Demand    Available from 07/17/09 to 10/06/09
>>
>>( The above announcement downloaded from the Showtime website http://sho.com )
>>
>>Sorry about the "global" email... Hope this finds you ALL thriving.
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