December 21, 2012 is the End of a Cycle

A Commentary by Henry Reed
On the Book
Apocalypse 2012: An Investigation into Civilization's End
By Lawrence E. Joseph

What is the meaning of the Mayan's calendar ending on December 21, 2012? Prophecies surrounding that date have been causing much speculation.
Separating the objective information from the mythical is not always easy. One book that stands out because of its exclusive emphasis upon examining the scientific data relevant to that date is Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation into Civilization's End (Morgan Road Books), by Lawrence E. Joseph.
It is a "just the facts" type of book. The author is a science writer for the New York Times. With no agenda to push except for a father's concern for the future of his children, Joseph set out to discover just what we really do know about the circumstances of the planet as that notorious date approaches.
It is an earth cycle that provides the Mayan end date. The earth tilts on its axis, and as the earth revolves around the sun on its annual cycle, that tilt creates the seasons of the year.
Furthermore, the earth's axis wobbles slowly, so that the tilt's direction shifts with the wobble, making its own predictable, cyclical journey that takes 26,000 years for it to complete. That is one, long cycle. To mark the beginning and end of that cycle, the Mayans chose a particular point of reference, based upon their tools of observation.
One's line of sight aimed toward the sun as it rises over the horizon on the winter solstice projects beyond the sun into the Milky Way galaxy, in which our solar system is embedded. The Mayans, and other ancient people, noted that at each winter solstice's observation, the line of sight to the rising sun points to a slightly different spot in the Milky Way.
The Mayan end date was set for when the line of sight was projected to aim at, or to be aligned with, exactly the center of the Milky Way. How they determined where the center was, or why they chose the center as their point, he doesn't explore. He does point out that scientists believe that the center is the site of a black hole.
What might be the impact of the sun blocking earth's view of that black hole once every 26,000 years is uncertain. Nevertheless, that alignment, coming up on December 21, 2012, is the basis for the Mayan's marking point of an end of an age, and the start of a new one.
The author explores many other geophysical phenomena that coincide with this timing. He finds a disturbing number of potentially hazardous phenomena, many of them cyclical and reaching their maximum potential harm to earth around the time of 2012.
The aggregate effect is an objectively stark picture of the possible fate awaiting the planet, as if the Mayans may have had other reasons for choosing to link their calendar to this event.
The earth's magnetic field, for example, has a long cycle of strengthening and weakening, and is in a weakening phase now. A pole shift is preceded by such weakening, so perhaps a polar shift is coming due. In any event, the protection the magnetic field provides, by shielding us from the effects of harmful solar radiation, is weakening.
At the same time, the ozone layer, also a protective sheath, is dissolving. The earth's path around the sun varies, so that sometimes the earth is closer and sometimes farther away from the sun. As the end date approaches, that eccentric cycle will bring earth its closest to the sun. Moreover, sun spot activity, which has enormous influence on events on earth, and follows an eleven year cycle, will be reaching its maximum activity at the same time.
Thus, as our vulnerability increases to disruptive, even deadly, solar radiation, earth will be approaching its closest point to the sun just as the sun is having the worst days of its cyclical upheavals. There are other heavenly events that seem to be reaching maximum danger around the same time, but we will stop here.
The author maintains his purpose is not to scare, but to lay out the facts. Completing a cycle is simply a fact. But facts can have emotional, symbolic overtones. Our New Year's holiday, birthdays, and seasons, to mention a few common cycles, have a deeply embedded meaning in our psyche that an end of a cycle fosters an end to some life circumstances as well, and an opportunity to start anew.
Even though humanity has lived through this 26,000 year cycle before, it's still natural to imagine that as the earth completes the cycle this time, coinciding with many other projected ominous events, some kind of enormous ending in circumstances on earth will occur, while some great new opportunities will appear to allow us to "start fresh."
The author's concluding sentence is the only hint he gives that he's in accord with the consensus among the metaphysically minded that wonderful possibilities for humanity's evolution lie within the coming challenge: "If we can find it in our hearts to look forward to it all, we'll also find a way to rise above the threat."