Galactic alignment

n the mid-1990s, John Major Jenkins asserted that the ancient Maya had planned an intentional correspondence of a December 21 date with the winter solstice in 2012. This date was in line with an idea he terms the galactic alignment.^[43]

In the solar system, the planets and the Sun share roughly the same plane of orbit, known as the plane of the ecliptic. From our perspective on Earth, the Zodiacal constellations move along or near the ecliptic, and over time, appear to recede counterclockwise by one degree every 72 years. This movementis attributed to a slight wobble in the Earth's axis as it spins.^[44] As a result, approximately every 2160 years, the constellation visible on the early morning of the spring equinox changes. In Western astrological traditions, this signals the end of one astrological age (currently the Age of Pisces) and the beginning of another (Age of Aquarius). Over the course of 26,000 years, the precession of the equinoxesmakes one full circuit around the ecliptic.^[44]

Just as the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere is currently in the constellation of Pisces, so the winter solstice is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius, which happens to be the constellation intersected by the galactic equator.^[45] Every year for the last 1000 years or so, on the winter solstice, the Earth, Sun and the galactic equator come into alignment, and every year, precession pushes the Sun's position a little way further through the Milky Way's band.

The Milky Way near Cygnusshowing the lane of the Dark Rift, which the Maya called the Xibalba be or "Black Road"

Jenkins suggests that the Maya based their calendar on observations of the Great Rift, a band of dark dust clouds in theMilky Way, which the Maya called the Xibalba be or "Black Road."^[46] Jenkins claims that the Maya were aware of where theecliptic intersected the Black Road and gave this position in the sky a special significance in their cosmology.^[3] According to the hypothesis, the Sun precisely aligns with this intersection point at the winter solstice of 2012.^[3] Jenkins claimed that the classical Mayans anticipated this conjunction and celebrated it as the harbinger of a profound spiritual transition for mankind.^[47] New Age proponents of the galactic alignment hypothesis argue that, just as astrologyuses the positions of stars and planets to make claims of future events, the Mayans plotted their calendars with the objective of preparing for significant world events.^[48] Jenkins attributes the insights of ancient Maya shamans about the galactic center to their use of psilocybin mushrooms, psychoactive toads, and other psychedelics.^[49] Jenkins also associates the Xibalba be with a "world tree", drawing on studies of contemporary (not ancient) Maya cosmology.^[8]

The alignment in question is not exclusive to 2012 but takes place over a 36-year period, corresponding to the diameter of the Sun, with the most precise convergence having already occurred in 1998.^[50] Also, Jenkins himself notes that there is no concrete evidence that the Maya were aware of precession.^[43]While some Mayan scholars, such as Barbara MacLeod, have suggested that some Mayan holy dates were timed to precessional cycles, scholarly opinion on the subject is divided.^[22] There is also little evidence, archaeological or historical, that the Maya placed any importance on solstices or equinoxes.^[22][51]