From Library Journal
These two works press beyond the boundaries of conventional scholarship to explore the alternative world view offered by Maya culture. Brennan, an artist and longtime student of prehistoric rock inspirations throughout North America and Mexico, examines the hand signs shown in Maya glyphs and art work in search of an interpretation of the Maya system of writing, which has long interested interested and puzzled scholars He contends that the Maya used a sophisticated gesture language similar to that of the Plains Indian groups of North America. Many useful illustrations and compelling examples support Brennan's theory. While the conclusions drawn are equal parts scholarship and hypothesis, this thorough and detailed study of the relationships among writing, art, symbolism, and meaning fascinates. The Maya Long Count calendar, a complex system for measuring time, was developed around 2000 years ago, possibly at the pre-Maya site of Izapa in southern Mexico. Jenkins, an independent researcher, presents a wealth of information about Maya astronomy, mythology, and caledrics in support of his analysis of the Long Count calendar end-date, scheduled to occur on December 21, 2012. Providing evidence that the end-date corresponds with a rare alignment of our solar system, Jenkins contends that the Maya were aware of this celestial event and believed that it portended a dramatic rebirth for humanity. Good illustrations, maps, and an extensive bibliography complement this detailed work. Ultimately, however, Jenkins' well-researched and interesting interpretation remains speculative. [For more on Maya culture, see Linda Schele and Jorge Perez de Lara's Hidden Faces of the Maya, reviewed on p. 87.?Ed.]?Elizabeth Salt, Otterbein Coll. Lib., Westeville, P.L.-?Elizabeth Salt, Otterbein Coll. Lib., Westeville, P.L.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Independent Publisher
Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 belongs to the growing corpus of end-of-millennium books. Jenkins explores why the Maya calendar ends on 13.0.0.0.0 (December 21, 2012), and notes that this enddate marks a rare alignment of our solar system with the Galactic Center. This date marks the end of the "long count" of the Maya calendar, which will then revert back to zero, as Mayan time is cyclical rather than linear. The author then switches to an Aztec myth, writing that this enddate will open the way for celestial demons to pour out of the sky to devour mankind. While he feels this myth can be interpreted either metaphorically or literally, in either case a new world age will begin. One manifestation of this new world age will be that "our basic assumptions and foundational values will be exposed, and we will have the opportunity to embrace values long since driven under the surface of our collective consciousness." Interesting as an end-of-millennium narrative, the text follows a formulaic pattern: the author, a North American male leaves the US to travel on a personal quest to "remote" and "dangerous" spots; listens "carefully to the wind whisper messages of a far off time"; understands the ways of exotic Others because he is "unfettered by the limitations of scholardom." Difficult to follow, backed by dubious scholarship, it is easy to dismiss Maya Cosmogenesis 2012. The author takes information from Hawaiian, Hopi, and contemporary Siberian ethnography to explain Mayan culture 2,000 years past. Too much jargon and a confusing outline make this work a frustrating read. However, the appendices are more coherent and accessible.


Spirit of Change,November-December 1998
Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 is an involving well-research and in-depth perspective on the evolution of the Mesoamerican calendar. According to the Mayan peoples, we are now living in "end time." Decoding the mythological explanation of their long-known "astronomical facts," Jenkins explains how the Galactic center at the central bulge of the Milky Way was understood by the ancients as the pregnant point in the heavens that gave birth to the world. This point coincides with what is just now being discovered by today's scientists to be a black hole. An impending alignment of the sun at that very point, according to Mayan calculations, culminates at the winter solstice, December 21, 2012. The Mayan interpretation of this as an "end point' of our time is said to signify "a World Age shift" indicating a cataclysmic transformation seen as a "prelude for global renewal." The ever-spiritual perspectives of the Toltecs and Mayans on this upcoming cosmic alignment reflect a belief in "the cyclic renewal of the earth and the spiritual unfoldment of humanity." A fascinating and engaging read, Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 offers us a solidly researched invitation to "recognize our place in the great chain of creation."


Nexus Magazine, October-November 1998
Why did the Maya choose the date of 21 December 2012 to mark the end-time of their long-count calendar? And why mark the (northern) winter solstice? Studying the star charts, independent scholar/author John Major Jenkins noted that a very rare alignment in the precessional cycle will occur on the December solstice in 2012, when the sun conjuncts the centre of our Milky Way galaxy. Seasonal alignments occur once every 6,450 years, but this December solstice of 2012 occurs once every 25,800 years! Jenkins surmised that the Maya, like many other ancient cultures, were aware of precessional cycles, but it was no coincidence that they marked this date. Indeed, as he discovered, it was central to their cosmology, mythology and calendrics, as was the idea of galactic centre as the source of life. The Maya even had a glyph to present the black hole at galactic centre--the existence of which has only recently been confirmed by astronomers. In his expansive new book, Maya Cosmogenesis 2012, Jenkins explains how the Maya revered the end-time as a zero point, entered through galactic centre and involving an energy field-effect reversal and rebirth into a new World Age. In explaining his thesis, he takes us on a heady trip through Maya shamanic rites, the origin and development of the long-count calendar at the sacred site of Izapan, the galactic geometry and symbolism of the ball court, and much more. Jenkins' finds not only extend our understanding of Maya cosmology; they have great significance for humanity at the evolutionary crossroads.


Library Booknotes, July 1998
Is Earth approaching cosmogenesis, and does ancient Maya science and religion hold messages to aid us in this era of transformation? Author John Major Jenkins believes that indeed the precession of the equinoxes, as it was understood by the Maya, will be the formative influence of evolving life on Earth: "Being the culmination of an ages-long quest for understanding the nature of time, Maya cosmological insights are reminding us that the Zero Time is upon us." Jenkins beings his thorough and comprehensible account of Maya cosmology by delving back 13,000 years into human history to the origins of Mesoamerican civilization. Logically he progresses through this Mesoamerican timeline to reach Maya civilization at its height of power and wisdom. Interpreting the 2012 end-date of the Maya calendar proved to be an irresistible challenge for John Major Jenkins. It is apparent that his journey toward enlightenment was undertaken with pleasure and an enthusiasm which communicates itself to the reader. This is an authoritative and at the same time exciting voyage of discovery into the past, a return to an ancient understanding of the cosmos that gives meaning to our place in the chain of creation.


Book Description
Jenkins brings to light the mysteries of ancient Mesoamerican cosmology, and shows that the end-date of the Maya Long Count calendar on December 21, 2012, marks the rare alignment of our solar system with the Galactic Center.


From the Back Cover
While researching the 2012 end-date of the Maya calendar, John Major Jenkins decoded the Maya's galactic cosmology. The Maya discovered that the periodic alignment of the Sun with the center of the Milk Way galaxy is the formative influence on human evolution. These alignments also define a series of world ages. The fourth age ends on December 21, 2012, when a large chapter in human history will come to an end. "Maya Cosmogenesis 2012" reveals the Maya's insight into the cyclic nature of time, and prepares us for our own cosmogenesis--the birth of a new world. "Jenkins' "Maya Cosmogenesis 2012" presents a fascinating, meticulously researched, exquisitely reasoned, scholarly yet readable account of the development of ancient Mesoamerican astro-spirituality, and offers an inspiring poetic vision of humanity's future." --Douglas Gillette, author "The Shaman's Secret: The Lost Resurrection Teachings of the Ancient Maya" "With [Jenkins'] scholarly effort of comparative calendric research and investigation into Mayan cosmology, we may all ascend to new levels of insight concerning the wealth of coded messages that remain in the Mayan legacy to modern mankind in this age of transformation." --Jim Reed, "The Institute of Maya Studies" "In the process of reading the account to this fascinating solution to the reason for the famed Mayan end-time date, Jenkins takes the reader through a well-researched psychoarcheological and astronomical excursion of the Mayan mind field of time." --Dr. Jos Argelles, author of "The Mayan Factor"


About the Author
John Major Jenkins is a leading independent researcher on ancient Mesoamerican cosmology.  He has authored five books on the Maya, and has given a presentation to the prestigious Institute of Maya Studies in Miami.  In March of 1998, he was invited by the Indigenous Council of the Americas to speak at their conference in Merida, Mexico.


Excerpted from Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 : The True Meaning of the Maya Calendar End-Date by John Major Jenkins, Terence McKenna. Copyright © 1998. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
The Polar God Goes South: Early Asian Migrations into the New World Scholars generally agree that Asian people migrated from the Far North across the Bering Strait into the New World at various times, depending upon glaciation that formed land bridges. These migrations probably came in distinct waves sixty, thirty-five, and ten thousand years ago. Geographer and historian Paul Shao suggests that more recent migrations from northern China may have occurred along this route. Even trans-Pacific voyages to the New World by ancient Polynesians cannot be ruled out. Basically, however, people primarily moved from the northern latitudes eastward and southward into the Americas. These people originated in or passed through northern China, Mongolia and followed a land route through northeastern Siberia and Alaska. Because indigenous cultures in these areas today are intrinsically shamanistic, and because Neolithic cultures have been shown to belong to an ancient global shamanism, we can surmise that the ancient cultures who migrated into the New World were shamanistic as well. As such, their basic cosmological ideas were probably very similar to those surviving today among Siberian tribes and other cultures in the Far North. Shamans of these groups undertake visionary journeys into the cosmic center, the Pole Star, to retrieve sacred otherworldly knowledge and powers. For them, the North Celestial Pole is believed to be the highest god, the source and center of existence, as well as their visionary destination. The Pole Star is recognized as the undeniable cosmic center because, at northern latitudes, it is very high in the sky and the stars spin around it. In these northern regions, the zenith-as-center concept does not threaten the Polar God for supremacy because, outside of the tropical latitudes, the sun never passes through the zenith. For the shamanistic cultures migrating into the Americas, religious ideas about journeying to the cosmic center were no doubt very time-resistant. The hazards of entering new bioregions, the development of migration myths, and the human fears and worries that accompanied their journeys all required that the shamans retained a strong link with the Polar God. The concept of the Polar God among these shamanistic people already had a long history, probably extending far back into the Paleolithic Era. But what happened as these groups moved southward through the Americas? What happened to their ancient concept of a high Polar Deity as the cosmic center? Clearly, migrations southward must have had some affect on these cosmological ideas. The polar area loses its prominence in the Tropics; as you move further south, the North Celestial Pole gets lower and lower on the horizon. Its declination (angular distance above the horizon) varies from 0 at the equator to 90 at the North Pole. (Interestingly, this means that the North Celestial Pole is in the zenith at the North Pole.) A celestial object's declination always equals the latitude of observation. So, at the 18 N latitude of La Venta, for instance, the North Celestial Pole was observed some 18 above the horizon, resulting in a very different sky than was observed in the Far North. The sky there appears more like a spinning barrel than a revolving upward-pointing merry-go-round. In astronomical terms, the North Celestial Pole is identified by Earth's polar axis. It is the Earth's axis projected onto the celestial sphere; this is why the stars appear to revolve around it. The North Celestial Pole is not always occupied by a star. Precession causes the position of the North Celestial Pole to shift, so sometimes there is a Pole Star but sometimes there is not. Some 4,600 years ago, the Pole Star was Draco. Currently, it is Polaris. Nevertheless, ancient shaman-skywatchers of the Far North continuously recognized the North Celestial Pole, whether occupied by a star or not, as the cosmic source and center. That is, they did until southward migrations threatened the sovereignty of the Polar God with more complex considerations, namely, precession. My model is basically this: With human migrations southward into the Americas, cosmological ideas about the cosmic center changed and evolved. The Polar God went south and was exposed as being an illusion. My model is not without basis in at least one documented migration legend. In his book "Star Trek to Hawa-i'i," Clyde Hostetter describes the legend of Maui, who lengthened the day in order to give the Polynesians more time to do their work. Hostetter argues convincingly that the story of Maui's accomplishment commemorates a time in the ancient past when a seagoing people followed their leader from northern latitudes to Hawaii, a land nearer the equator where the days are never short. In a similar fashion, the Popol Vuh story of the "false" god Seven Macaw, who corresponds with the Big Dipper, illustrates how Mesoamericans determined the ancient Polar God to be untrustworthy. The Hero Twins had to shoot Seven Macaw out of his polar perch, and it is quite clear that this myth reflects astronomy. I will have a lot more to say about the mytho-astronomical fall of Seven Macaw in Part IV.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Why does the Maya calendar end in 2012? In this groundbreaking book, Jenkins shows that the end date of the Maya long count calendar on December 21, 2012, marks the rare alignment of our solar system with the galactic center. This happens every 26,000 years, and the Maya believed this alignment would greatly accelerate human evolution. 200 illustrations.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal