Legend states how Lord KuKuulKaan arrived here one day to live for a long period of time. He taught the Maya about the structure of the Universe, the stars, sun, moon, and planets. He taught them about the sacred calendar…
-Miguel Angel Vergara, Maya Master Teacher, Leader with Sacred Earth Journeys
El Mayab refers to the Mayan homeland. It is a fairly large territory stretching from northern Honduras to southern Mexico, where we lead journeys into Maya temples of transformation strategically placed in the jungles of the Yucatan. In the Mayalands of Guatamela lived Carlos Barrios, who was a respected shaman and member of the Mayan Elders Council. Part of his life mission was to dismantle fear surrounding an important date on the Mayan calendars: December 21, 2012.
In a previous article, we discuss the 3 Mayan Calendars still in use today. Wisdom keepers, especially in the highlands of Guatamala, are still tracking and revealing wisdom from the calendars to their communities. Their work is a testament to the surviving (and growing) wisdom and traditions of the Maya. One such calendar still in use is the popular Tzolk’in calendar, used especially for personal communal wisdom, divination, and governing human aspects. You can learn a lot about this calendar from our friends at Mayan Majix. We’ll return to this calendar a bit later.
In this piece, we’re going to discuss a cycle of time equally as important to the destiny of humanity. This cycle is none other than Nimahaab, also known as the Long Count. The Long Count contains 5 cycles of 5,200 years for a total of 26,000 years. According to the Maya, we are currently in the fifth cycle of the Long count known as job ajaw.
The Prophecy of 2012 and the Future of Humanity
From Carlos Barrios’ The Book of Destiny: Here’s what Carlos has to say about job ajaw, the fifth cycle of the Long Count that began on December 21, 2021—
“JOB AJAW—The Fifth Sun The fifth cycle of 5,200 years will be governed by both masculine and feminine energy (balance) and the element Ether. December 21, 2012, is the pivotal date that everyone has heard of. According to our tradition, this is when the period of Job Ajaw, or the Fifth Sun, is expected to begin. This period is of great importance because it will be a time when humans ascend to a harmonious, spiritual level.”
To understand the prophecy of 2012 from the perspective of the Mayan Calendars, we must first examine the prophecy of The Fourth Sun, the cycle of 5,200 years that came before this one. Barrios writes about this cycle:
“We believe we are all-powerful, we worship reason and materialism, and we have become slaves of our own marvelous innovations. We must stop and remember what is truly valuable or we are heading toward the destruction of Mother Earth and all of humanity.”
Carlos spends a good deal of the book describing the mess humanity has gotten itself into. From endless wars and strict borders to deforestation and the seemingly endless pollution of the plant, we have surely lost our way. We have sacrificed ancient connections to our Earth, to our higher selves in return for anxiety, wealth, greed, and the endless conquest for “more.” Instead of acknowledging and respecting the gift of life Mother Earth has granted us, we turn our backs on Her. We, many of us, continue to strip her of her precious life-giving resources.
The fifth cycle of 5,200 years we entered around 8 years ago is our opportunity to reverse the destruction we’ve committed against nature and thus, ourselves.
Using the Mayan Calendars to Create a Better World
“It is the responsibility of all humankind to leave behind a better world, to create awareness and unity, to stop the destruction.”
-Carlos Barrios
In our recent interview with Miguel Angel Vergara, a Maya Master teacher who leads our journeys to the Yucatan, Miguel comments on this fifth, job ajaw cycle as a period in which more people will begin to respect, love, and honor life.
The prophecy seems to ignite the idea that we can’t just sit around and expect the universe to do all the work. These times merely provide the energy and insight by which we can bloom into positive action for the good of the planet, including human life. The energies tell us to find and utilize the personal medicine we’ve been brought into the world to use.
Our personal power and medicine bring us back to perhaps the most popular and used Mayan Calendars: the Tzolk’in calendar. This calendar is used for handling personal energies and growth, divination, and for helping us as individuals to awaken our inner knowledge.
Here’s what Carlos has to say about using the calendar to study personal Mayan signs based on the calendar:
“The energy and information in each day’s nawal, both positive and negative according to the different stages of life, is used to guide people, help them find their purpose, indicate aspects that will allow them to achieve this goal, and thus shape their destiny.”
One of Carlos’ teachers, Don Pascual goes as far as calling this sacred calendar “the best gift our Grandfathers could have left us.” He explains that it is an instrument that aids us in finding our place in the world, understanding our inclinations, strengths, weak points, and leading a harmonious life with our individual life purposes fully intact.
One of the deepest wounds we can carry as human beings is not knowing our purpose for being on the planet. According to wisdom keepers of the Maya, we can use the Tzolk’in calendar as a tool to learn more about who we are.
As an example, for those born under the sign Kame—according to the calendar, you have a tendency toward professions such as a philosopher or spiritual healer. You’re more likely to attract fame in your life and are destined to travel a lot.
Such a reading only scratches the surface of what our Mayan signs from the Tzolk’in calendar can teach us. Miguel Angel offers a Maya Destiny Birth Chart reading that teaches you your personal Maya glyphs for the date of your birth and “gives you insight into both your spiritual and physical life, while looking at how to bring them into harmony.”
Another invaluable way to learn the Maya cosmovision with Miguel Angel is to embark on our sacred journey to the Yucatan, Maya Temples of Transformation with Freddy Silva & Miguel Angel Vergara.
It is our hope, along with the wise Mayan calendar and wisdom keepers, that you can use these tools seriously in the process of awakening to your highest potential for the sake of the planet.
~Jacob Lopez, staff writer
