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Hunab Ku is considered the monotheistic "creator" god of traditional Mayanism. Amid a sea of lesser
deities, Hunab Ku is thought to reign supreme. In fact, it would appear that the lesser deities (like
Kukulcan, who taught the Maya civilization, and was depicted with "a black body, large nose and
tongue hanging out to the side") are in fact not gods at all, and instead manifestations of Hunab Ku. His
name translates as "Sole God" and he is said to have no form because he is incorporeal (invisible and
intangible), like the God of the Christians. What a coincidence, right? Or perhaps it attests to the
widespread belief in an invisible creator God among people everywhere? Wrong on both counts.
The earliest known reference to the term "Hunab Ku" appears in the 16th century Diccionario de Motul,
where "Hunabku" is identified as "the only living and true god, also the greatest of the gods of the
people of Yucatan. The term also appears in the Book of Chilam Balam of Chuyamel. Interestingly,
these books were written after the Spanish Conquest, and Hunab Ku is unknown in any preConquest
inscriptions in Maya writing. Mayan scholars today agree there was no Hunab Ku before the Europeans
arrived. Hunab Ku was an invention of the Catholic missionaries. In fact, Hunab Ku was linked to an
indigenous creator god, Itzamna (who was depicted as a living man), in an effort to coopt the
traditional theology of the Mayans. Sound familiar? It was done everywhere the missionaries went. And
this type of deceptions served a very specific purpose. By supplanting the true theology of the Mayans
with an invented monotheism emphasizing the abstract, the European missionaries made excellent
headway in conquering the Mayans on every front. In fact, this teaching made transitioning the native
people of the Americas to Christianity quite easy.
Why is this relevant to the doomsday prophecies of 2012? Because, like Hunab Ku, such teachings have
been ascribed to the Maya, but are actually inventions of the Europeans who hope to profit from their
spread. I realized this when I visited www.theinstituteforhumancontinuity.org, only to soon realize it
was a promotional site for an upcoming disaster movie titled 2012. In recent years, 2012 has become a
buzzword in certain circles, spawning a wealth of books, DVDs, and wildeyed "experts" on the topic.
What's the real story though? Is the whole 2012 prophecy another Hunab Ku farce? And if so, why?
Well, the earliest published reference to any such "endtime" prophecy can be found on p. 149 of the
first edition (1966) of The Maya, by archaeologist Michael D. Coe. Coe wrote:
"The idea of cyclical creations and destruction is a typical feature of Mesoamerican religions, as it is of
Oriental. The Aztec, for instance, thought that the universe had passed through four such ages, and that
we were now in the fifth, to be destroyed by earthquakes. The Maya thought along the same lines, in
terms of eras of great length, like the Hindu kalpas. There is a suggestion that each of these measured
13 baktuns, or something less than 5,200 years, and that Argmageddon would overtake the degenerate
peoples of the world and all creation on the final day of the thirteenth. Thus, following the Thompson
correlation, our present universe would have been created in 3113 BC, to be annihilated on December
24, AD 2011, when the Great Cycle of the Long Count reaches completion."
This is especially important, for many reasons. First, it makes clear that the attempts to arrive at the
very specific date of12/21/2012 are mere numberplay. This reworking goes over especially well with
people looking for magical significance in the numerological workings of the Gregorian calendar. But
as this excerpt shows, the 12/21/2012 date is a recent invention. In fact, there are numerous problems
with the reworking of the date, most of which result from the fact that its proponents simply decided on
the date for marketing purposes. Outside of this, there is little evidence to support the contention that
the end of the Mayan baktun cycle will occur in December, in 2012, or even in the next hundred years.
Another essential element, if we are to believe Coe (who doesn't provide a source), that the "degenerate
peoples of the world" would be destroyed, is that this prophecy doesn't refer to the destruction of all
people. In fact, it appears to refer to a "cleansing" of the world, similar to what occurs at the end of the
Hindu kalpas referenced. In such cycles, the Earth cleanses itself but life continues. The Mayans knew
this, they know this now, and experts on Mayan culture know this. In fact, the most recent edition of
Coe's book says that the Great Cycle would begin again after this destruction. Others are more explicit
in their approach. Susan Milbrath, curator of Latin American Art and Archaeology at the Florida
Museum of Natural History, stated: "We [the archaeological community] have no record or knowledge
that [the Maya] would think the world would come to an end" in 2012." "There will be another cycle,"
says E. Wyllys Andrews V, director of the Tulane University Middle American Research Institute
(MARI). "We know the Maya thought there was one before this, and that implies they were comfortable
with the idea of another one after this."
So why the panic? Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of
Mesoamerican Studies in Crystal River, Florida, said it best: "For the ancient Maya, it was a huge
celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle. [To render December 21, 2012, as a doomsday event
or moment of cosmic shifting] is a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in."
Once again, they've take the traditions of indigenous people and exploited them to their benefit. People
of color (though particularly Americans) are increasingly concerned about the "end of the world," and
are allocating more resources to investigating these fabrications than to actually preparing for the
future. A future that we, who are not 'the degenerate peoples of the world," will live to see.
In solidarity,
Supreme Understandi