First, let's see what's going with theMaya Calendar
(from WikiPedia)
The Maya calendar is a system of calendars and almanacs used in the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and in some modern Maya communities in highland Guatemala and Oaxaca, Mexico.
The essentials of the Maya calendric system are based upon a system which had been in common use throughout the region, dating back to at least the 6th century BC. It shares many aspects with calendars employed by other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Zapotec and Olmec, and contemporary or later ones such as the Mixtec and Aztec calendars. Although the Mesoamerican calendar did not originate with the Maya, their subsequent extensions and refinements of it were the most sophisticated. Along with those of the Aztecs, the Maya calendars are the best-documented and most completely understood.
By the Maya mythological tradition, as documented in Colonial Yucatec accounts and reconstructed from Late Classic and Postclassic inscriptions, the deity Itzamna is frequently credited with bringing the knowledge of the calendar system to the ancestral Maya, along with writing in general and other foundational aspects of Maya culture.
End WikiPedia.
So, Maya Calendar is kepps time and calendars very cyclical. And, the Mayan cycles were a bit more complex, such that every day in a 52 year period had a unique name from a combination of various different cycles (similar to the idea that there is a Monday 1st January only every 7 years or so) and the the exact date of the end of the current Mayan Long Count is still a matter of debate amongst Mayan scholars, although it is likely to be around Dec 21 2012.
Scholars have struggled to find evidence of ancient Mayans making any predictions about doomsday, the end of the world, 2012, precession of the equinoxes, or anything related to the end of the Long Count. Ancient Mayans did not mark the winter solstice of 2012 as a special moment in their written commentaries. Mayan civilization used an elaborate hieroglyphic system for writing, so historical records are available. None predicts 2012 as the end of the world.
To find more specific information on the 2012 controversy, seek out news and magazine articles, in print and online, as well as seminars, special websites, promotions and expert discussions of the Mayan predictions. New information is being published every day as the Long Count's end approaches, with sources and ideas constantly updating the body of knowledge.
The fact that the winter solstice on 2012 is "aligned" with the plane of the Galaxy has no significance.
- It takes the winter solstice 700-1400 years to cross the plane of the Galaxy.
- The solstice last year (2005) was within 0.1 degrees (or 1/5th the size of the Sun) of where it will be on 2012.
- The Sun crosses the plane of the Milky Way twice every year with no ill effect.
