John Major Jenkins
John Major Jenkins (born 1964)[1] is an American author and independent researcher, best known for his works that theorize certain astronomical and esoteric connections of the calendar systems used by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. His writings are particularly associated with 2012 millenarianism and the development of Mayanism in contemporary and popular culture, as an outgrowth from the New Age milieu. He is one of the principal people who have promoted the idea that the ancient Maya calendar ends on 21 December 2012 and this portends major changes for the Earth.[2][3][4] Although his controversial views conflict with mainstream science, Jenkins is considered one of the most lucid 2012 authors, with a solid knowledge of the ancient Maya.[5]
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[edit] Alternative view of cosmology
Jenkins considers secular, scientific approaches to cosmology a byproduct of limited thinking. In Tzolkin: Visionary Perspectives and Calendar Studies, he writes, "I primarily wish to promote a visionary approach to these matters, as there is much more to the Sacred Calendar than can be seen with the rational intellect," and that these visionary perspectives "can more closely touch the spirit of the calendar" than does the anthropological literature.[6] He maintains that a higher state of consciousness and universal understanding exists, and that it is subconsciously present in modern humans through a primordial memory, but that these higher planes of thought were more easily accessible to humans of the remote past, such as the ancient Mayans.[7] Jenkins accounts for this access in Maya Cosmogenesis 2012: "From studies in iconography and ethnobotany, we know the ancient Maya radically altered their perceptions in order to have visions of the underlying nature of reality. They achieved this heightened awareness through the use of hallucinogens."[8] Further, Jenkins points to players of the little understood ancient Mesoamerican ballgame as enacting a sacred drama in which they took on the role of “heroic semi-human deities” who, “through a kind of sympathetic magic” maintained the cosmic balance of the universe.[9] Jenkins also maintained that, in order to accept and understand his cosmological theories, one must also accept the premise that the Mayan kings journeyed to “distant places,” and continuously “renewed” their kingdoms at specific points in the Mayan calendar.[10] Jenkins is also a supporter of “The Lost Star”[11] theory which extrapolates the existence of a binary companion of the Earth’s sun based on mathematical discrepancies in “earth wobble.”[12]
[edit] Appearances
In October of the year 2000, Jenkins work was featured on two episodes of Places of Mystery series on the Discovery Channel.[13]
Jenkins was interviewed and appears in the film Manifesting the Mind a film by Andrew Rutajit, executive producer of Bouncing Bear Films.[citation needed]
Jenkins is featured in the documentary/film 2012: Startling New Secrets, hosted by Lester Holt. The film explores the interpretations of the ancient Mayans predictions and Jenkins is speaking about the ancient Mayan site at Izapa, Mexico.[14]
Jenkins was also featured speaking in the film 2012: Science or Superstition, a documentary describing how much of what we're hearing is science and how much is superstition.[citation needed]
[edit] Publications
- Journey to the Mayan Underworld (Four Ahau Press, Boulder, CO: 1989)
- Mirror in the Sky (Four Ahau Press, 1991)
- Tzolkin: Visionary Perspectives and Calendar Studies (Borderland Sciences Research Foundation, Garberville, CA: 1992/1994)
- Mayan Sacred Science (Four Ahau Press, Boulder, CO: 1994)
- Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 (Bear & Company, Santa Fe, NM: 1998)
- Galactic Alignment: The Transformation of Consciousness According to Mayan, Egyptian, and Vedic Traditions (Inner Traditions International (Rochester, VT) 2002)
- Pyramid of Fire, co-authored with Marty Matz, Bear & Company, 2004
- The 2012 Story: The Myths, Fallacies, and Truth Behind the Most Intriguing Date in History (Tarcher/Penguin 2009)
[edit] References
- ^ Date information sourced from Library of Congress Authorities data, via corresponding WorldCat Identities linked authority file (LAF) .
- ^ Dudek, Duane (April. 18, 2009). "Did the ancient Mayans predict the end of the world?". Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/movies/43132752.html. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
- ^ ANASTAS, BENJAMIN (July 1, 2007). "The Final Days". The New York Times. pp. 4–6. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9806E6D71E3FF932A35754C0A9619C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=4. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
- ^ GARNER, DWIGHT (February 5, 2009). "The End Is Near! Now the Good News: It Could Be Groovy". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/books/06book.html. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
- ^ Anastas, Benjamin. 2007. The Final Days. New York Times Magazine (Local reprint). 2007-07-05
- ^ Tzolkin: Visionary Perspectives and Calendar Studies, p. 5
- ^ Chapter 3
- ^ Maya Cosmogenesis 2012, p. 112
- ^ Maya Cosmogenesis 2012”, p. 137.
- ^ ”Maya Cosmogenesis 2012, p. 322.”
- ^ Cruttenden, Walter (2005) Lost Star of Myth and Time, St. Lynn's Press, ISBN 978-0976763116
- ^ The Great Year and the Lost Star by John Major Jenkins, May 2006
- ^ About John Major Jenkins
- ^ John Major Jenkins | Investigators | 2012: Startling New Secrets | Syfy
[edit] External links
- Alignment 2012 John Major Jenkins own website. Accessed April 2009
- John Major Jenkins video interview, John Major Jenkins discusses 2012 in a two-part video interview with his editor at Tarcher Books
