The blockbuster film “2012” directed by Roland Emmerich, released in 2009, raised many questions: Is the 2012 apocalypse based on science or mere imagination? We present a series of articles on this topic by Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Hoang Hai from the National University of Hanoi.
The Maya: December 21, 2012, is the Day of Apocalypse
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Hoang Hai.
According to the beliefs of the Maya, a civilization that once thrived in ancient Central America, December 21, 2012, marks the end of the 13th cycle of their calendar, the fourth age—the apocalypse that will usher in a new chapter for the world.
They calculated the length of a lunar month to be 29.53025 days, differing by 34 seconds from modern scientific calculations and significantly more accurate than the Gregorian calendar used for the past 500 years.
In addition to the end of the 13th cycle, the Maya predicted that in 2012: daytime would cease, enveloping the Earth in darkness; humanity would not perish but would enter a new era of development, becoming wiser.
The Bible: The Apocalypse as a Great Flood
Revelation 16:13-16 in the Bible mentions the final battle on the fictional hill of Armageddon overlooking the plains of Megiddo in Israel. There, the ultimate confrontation will occur between those who accept Jesus Christ and those who do not. The apocalypse is foretold to be a great flood following this battle.
However, the Bible does not explicitly mention a specific date for the apocalypse. Is there a hidden code within the scriptures? Recently, based on a study by three Jewish mathematicians analyzing characters in the Book of Genesis published in a prestigious scientific journal, the bestselling book “The Bible Code II” by M. Drosnin concluded: “God will destroy the Earth in 2012.”
In addition to the apocalyptic information, the Bible Code reveals other details, including the names of 66 talented scientists mentioned within it. Notably, it foretold the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Rabin in 1995. Drosnin warned Rabin about this, but to no avail. Rabin was later assassinated by a student from Bar-Ilan University (a religious institution) named Amir. Amir’s name was subsequently found in a nearby code.
I Ching: The Apocalypse is One Day Later than the Maya Prediction
The obsession with the year 2012 seems to drive some individuals to seek signs from other civilizations. Researcher T. McKenna dedicated significant time to studying the I Ching of China. He suggested that the 64 hexagrams of the King Wen correspond to a lunar calendar of 384 days once used by the Chinese.
Maya Pyramid.
Each hexagram has 6 lines, and multiplying 64 hexagrams by the number of lines yields 384. This number is the product of 29.53 (the number of days in a lunar month) multiplied by 13 (the number of months in a lunar year). McKenna believes that the I Ching represents the flow of time, from which he established a chart of major historical events where eras of high innovation are represented by peaks and those of low innovation by troughs.
He observed that these peaks and troughs appear repeatedly, but their frequency increases rather than remains constant. He referred to these as time waves. Based on this analysis, McKenna proposed the hypothesis that the end of the world would occur on December 22, 2012, one day later than the Maya’s prediction.
June 6, 2012, is Also Predicted
Kalki Bhagavan, a famous Indian religious activist who claims to be the tenth and final incarnation of the god Vishnu (one of the supreme deities in Hinduism), also announced that 2012 would be a year of suffering and turmoil for humanity, but it would be followed by a golden age.
Kalki Bhagavan linked this prediction to the movements of Venus.
From Earth, Venus can be seen crossing the Sun at least twice every century. The last occurrence was on June 8, 2004, and the next will be on June 6, 2012. According to legends in the Vedas revered by both Hindus and Buddhists, Venus is referred to as Shukra in Sanskrit, meaning “semen.”
Considered to be a man who is feminized, learning to oppose God, Shukra is associated with Friday. In Hindu theology, Venus governs the number 6, thus, Venus crossing the Sun on June 6, 2012 (notably: 12 = 6 + 6) is expected to cause a significant event for humanity.
