The Mayans had a sophisticated calendar, losing only one day in 6000 years. Their predictions of solar and lunar eclipses were incredibly accurate. As many have heard, they predicted a date that they believed would be the end of the world. This date, translated to our calendar, is on December 23, 2012. Although unlikely, the world is predicted to suddenly end in about seven years (if we have just translated the meaning of their calendar correctly).

The Mayans did have some rationale behind this number. This date marks the time in the precessional cycle of the earth that we will move out of the constellation of Pisces and on to the age of Aquarius.

What is global precession? I’m glad you asked. Everyone knows that the earth spins on its axis while it revolves around the sun. Most remember from grade 10 science class that the earth’s axis is not perfectly vertical, but rather tilted about 23.5 degrees. However, the axis is not always this way, as it slowly varies from about 24.5 degrees to 22.1 degrees, making a complete cycle every 41,000 years.

While it is moving in this way, due to varying gravitational forces, the axis wobbles (precesses) in a clockwise circle. Just imagine the way the axis of a top spins as it begins to fall. So, the angle of the earth stays the same (or somewhere within its three degree variance), but the direction in which it points changes. For example, our current North Star is Polaris (or Ursae Minoris), as the North Pole points towards this star. However, approximately 13,000 years ago, the North Pole would have pointed towards the star Vega, as it will do again in about another 13,000 years. It takes about 25,776 years to complete one precessional cycle.

Anyone ever heard of the song “Age of Aquarius”? Well, this is in reference to the earth’s precessional cycle. Presently we are in the age of Pisces, which means that when the sun rises on the vernal equinox it rises in the direction that the constellation of Pisces is in the sky. However, due to precession, every 2160 years on the vernal equinox the sun rises in a different constellation. As mentioned above, we will be moving out of the age of Pisces and into the age of Aquarius around the end of 2012.

So, the Mayans figured there was something important to the changing of ages, hence their predicted death date. However, they are not the only ones who seem to have taken certain numbers into account. The perimeter of the Great Pyramid at Giza is approximately 3,023 feet and the height is 481 feet. In addition to exemplifying a ratio of exactly 2p, its measurements are said to possibly represent the Northern Hemisphere of the earth, on a scale of 1 : 43,200. Though controversial, some interpret this number as exactly 20 times the precessional number of 2160, representing the precession of the earth through 20 different zodiac constellations or ‘ages.’