I've been doing some research on 2012 - the alleged Mayan apocalypse, end of the world, we're all gonna die, yadda yadda yadda. Turns out they use a cyclical calendar based on astrological observation (or close enough). The end of the calendar on 21/12/2012 is merely the start of the cycle again, a renewal. However, this whole "we're all gonna die" rubbish stems from an eroded prediction written in a Mayan ruin. It roughly translates as; The thirteenth b’ak’tun will end On [21 December 2012] Darkness will fall Bolon Yookte’ K’uh will descend Now, not much is written about Bolon Yookte K'uh (BYK from now on), except; - he's a "creation lord," present at the birth of time and other creation events including 2012, - he's a god of war, destruction and the underworld, he's guardian of the underworld too, - and in 2012 he will descend to Earth, bringing darkness and conflict when the whole sun, stars and planets line up for the rebirth of the sun. The dark rift at the centre of the galaxy (the nuclear bulge to us normals) is apparently the gateway to the underworld. - Oh, and according to something else I just read, BYK meets a "man-boy" from "the land of sparks and whispers" on the day of reckoning. At that point the carvings are conveniently eroded to nothing. However, this is all scraped together from a few badly translated, eroded carvings in Mayan ruins. My question is...were I to try and organise all this BS into a fairly linear storyline (with spooky prophesies and stuff about destiny and fate), how are the apparent contradictions in Mayan mythology resolved? Reading up on the Mayan underworld, I can find no reference to it's apparent Lord and protector, BYK. In fact it has a whole set of lords quite apart from this bad boy. Going by what is known, how does (or how can) BYK fit comfortably into the 2012 scenario?
For me the question boils down to how "true" to the original material do you wish to remain? If the answer is very then you may have some more research to do. Or.... Given that the translation in question is just that, a translation, you may want to look for alternate translations. The Mayan hieroglyphs are unique in that there appears to be a number of different ways in which the radicals that comprise any single glyph can be represented. Radicals can stand alone as clearly distinct portions of a glyph or it appears that they can also be incorporated into other radicals in various ways which may or may not change the meaning. Unlike the hieroglyphs of Egypt, there is no Rosetta stone to give a definitive guide when it comes to South American hieroglyphic systems and interpretations abound. An alternate interpretation can very well be a plot device within your story. Perhaps your protag devises a way to read the differing layouts of the radicals within the glyphs that makes the "truth" known to him/her. Just throwin' ideas at ya'.
with no literate ancient mayans handy to read the original to us, as it was intended to be read, no one can really know what the bleep it says!
yeah, don't forget they're the ones who played basketball with the heads of their sacrificial victims!
There are actually Mayans around, a few million of them, and odds are there's one or two of them who can explain who this god is. He's not going to have been mentioned once, and then forgotten, if the carving isn't a fake. I'd recommend asking around on the Mayan forums, and seeing if there's a historian on there. I'd also put faith in any oral stories you hear about; I did, and I've got some fantastic information about Gaelic history that was thought to have been lost. I think you'll find that any explanation would be better than that provided by a western translator.
true, but probably few who are full-blooded and likely none of whom can speak ancient mayan, or can read the ancient mayan codices, sorry to say... would be great, if one could, but if so, there still wouldn't be so much dissension as to what they really say, leaving the 'experts' able to only guess...
