Actual Maya speak on "end of the world"

http://ww4report.com/node/11791

By Bill Weinberg 

Tue, 12/18/2012 

Guatemala, of course, is also getting in on the apocalypse exploitation act, with a “World Summit for Humanity” gala planned for the ancient Maya site of Tikal on the 21st, featuring U2, Elton John, Janet Jackson, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen. (NZ Herald, Sept. 2; AFP, Aug. 21) But AFP on Oct. 24 quoted Felipe Gómez of a Guatemalan Maya alliance called Oxlaljuj Ajpop, who said: "We are speaking out against deceit, lies and twisting of the truth, and turning us into folklore-for-profit. They are not telling the truth about time cycles." Huffington Post notes that Gómez objects to the "doomsday tour" packages being organized to exploit Maya cosmology for commercial purposes, and emphasizes that there is no Maya prophecy of an apocalypse associated with Friday's turning (not "end") of the calendar.

A website called Maya Decipherment, overseen by Dr. David Stuart of the University of Texas at Austin, asserts that this week's turning of the 13th baktun will bring the Maya calendar back to the "creation date" supposedly rendered by the Maya as "13.0.0.0.0" (although the Maya didn't use Arabic numerals, obviously), which was last thought to have occurred on Aug. 13, 3114 BCE. This is the first we have heard of this, and it is not explained why the "creation date" would be rendered with a 13 instead of a 1. Nor is any source provided. The text does take issue with the "end of the Maya calendar" misnomer, and decries that this "crazy idea" is the product of "New Age hacks" and "Hollywood producers." It also states, perhaps too dismissively:

Although the 260-day round of the ancient calendar system survived in a few areas of highland Guatemala, the 2012 date has nothing to do with it. It’s only associated with the Long Count, which ceased being used well before the conquest. So, any mention of 2012 by modern Maya peoples is probably an example of media or New Age influence.

We encourage Dr. Stuart to be in touch with an explanation of the 13.0.0.0.0 "creation date." Or why the end of the 13th baktun is rendered thusly.