Reckoning the Maya and Gregorian Calendars A point of considerable historic interest is the conciliation of the Maya and

Gregorian calendars. This amounts to: selection of an origin for the initial long count, selection of the calendar round corresponding to that count, and correlating a specific long-count date on the Maya calendar with the corresponding date on the Gregorian calendar. The Maya reckoned their chronology in great cycles of 13 baktuns (about 5,128 solar years), the beginning of the current cycle 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumk' corresponding to august 13, 3114 BC. No long count date occurs with a Baktn count of more than 12, except that 13.0.0.0.0 occurs. A widely-accepted school of thought holds that in the Maya long count system 13.0.0.0.0 marks the beginning of a new cycle, and so is equivalent to 0.0.0.0.0. In this view, 13 baktuns make up a great cycle or, Maya era, of 13 x 144,000 = 1,872,000 days (approximately 5125.37 solar years). The date 0.0.0.0.0 is equal to August 13 3114 B.C. The date 13.0.0.0.0 is equal to December 21 2012 A.D. "On 13.0.0.0.0, the December solstice sun will be found in the band of the Milky Way. We can call this an alignment between the galactic plane and the solstice meridian. This is an event that has slowly converged over a period of thousands of years, and is caused by the precession of the equinoxes. The place where the December solstice sun crosses the Milky Way is precisely the location of the "dark-rift in the Milky Way...'Xibalb be' - the road to the underworld." On the winter solstice of 2012, the noonday Sun exactly conjuncts the crossing point of the sun's ecliptic with the galactic plane, while also closely conjunction the exact center of the galaxy. Jenkins further proposes that this grand cross in time is symbolized by the Mayan Tree of Life, found at the core of Mayan cosmology. Mayan Culture The Maya civilization was one of the grandest in the history of the world and the reason for its collapse is still shrouded in mystery. The ancient Maya occupied a vast geographic area in Central and South America from around 2000 BC until 1500 AD. The Mayan culture extended to parts of what is now Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador, and most of Guatemala and Belize. During the Classical Period which lasted from the third to the ninth century, Maya civilization built awe-inspiring temples, pyramids and cities and formed a complex social and political order. Many of the remnants in Tikal reveal the culture of this ancient civilization. The Mayan culture excelled in many different fields, and testaments of their achievements are found throughout the area. Today descendents of the old Maya, or the Indigenous as the are locally referred to, account for more than 50% of the Guatemalan population. Their present culture is vibrant and thriving, best shown by the many traditionally dressed woman and children seen along the streets in the entire country. Weaving is one of the outstanding Maya craft, an ancient art that has survived uninterrupted for centuries and is now becoming famous all over the world. The Maya also make baskets, pottery and wood carved of animals, saints and brightly-painted toys and chests. Chichicastenango hosts the traditional handicrafts market every Thursday and Sunday and a more typical Mayan market can be experienced every Saturday in Solola on the way to Lake Atitlan.

The First Hemispheric Indigenous Education Conference was held in Guatemala in July 2001. The conference brought together various aspects of education for indigenous communities of America and facilitated participant's exchange of experiences, practical knowledge, and educational materials that are relevant to the development of bilingual, intercultural education in their respective countries Part of the 2012 mystique stems from the stars. On the winter solstice in 2012, the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years. This means that "whatever energy typically streams to Earth from the center of the Milky Way will indeed be disrupted on 12/21/12 at 11:11 p.m. Universal Time," Joseph writes.