What did the Mayans know 2,000 years ago that we didn't and maybe still don't today?

As we approach the December 21, 2012 that ended the long count Mayan calendar what will happen? Will it be the end of the world? Will it be a movement into aan enhanced consciousness. Or will nothing new happen at all?

That's the $64,000 question that being asked more frequently- "what's up with 2012?

So much of the 2012 discoveries have come out of an area known as Mesoamerica which was originally inhabited by the Omecs and then eventually the Mayans. As the first civilization in Mesoamerica, the Olmecs are credited with a Mesoamerican ballgame, bloodletting and human sacrifice, and the invention of zero and the Mesoamerican calendar.

Archaeologists believe the Olmecs migrated to the area around 1800BCE- and more specifically Izapa.

The December 21, 2012 dating comes from what is called the Long Count calendar which is a non-repeating, vigesimal (base-20) calendar used by several Mesoamerican cultures. The Long Count calendar used by many subsequent Mesoamerican civilizations, as well as the concept of zero, may have been devised by the Olmecs. Six artifacts with the earliest Long Count calendar dates were all discovered outside the immediate Maya homeland, it is likely that this calendar predated the Maya and was possibly the invention of the Olmecs.

It's only been in the last 20-30 years that astronomers, mathematicians, and scientists have been able to understand what the Olmec and Mayan civilizations have known for thousands of years. How could they know such intimate details of the vast universe? How did they know about the "dark rift" or the black hole that our galaxy was birthed from when we've only just recently discovered it's existence? How did they know that our solar system would approach that galactic point and cross it on Dec. 21, 2012?

Did their shamans actually transport their consciousness into the vast universe and came back with such detailed information that we are only now beginning to comprehend? And why is it that we are not asking these greater questions about ancient civilizations than being consumed with such trivial dribble over what Paris Hilton or Britney Spears did last night?

Doesn't where we are, cause you to wonder about the state of our soul- our sanity?

Additionally, for reasons unknown to most, NINE seems to be an interesting number and it has it's talons in the Mayan dynasty as well. In Mesoamerican mythology there are NINE "underworlds". How did they know such things? How did the Mayans and others know the world was billions of years old when the intellectual and religious Western culture felt the world was but 5-6,000 years old? And who was capable of building those pyramids in Egypt anyway?

Of course there are those who still contend the earth is flat, that the sun evolves around the earth, and that this planet is but 6,000 years old. I digress!

Mayan mythology divided time up into nine different creations. And they are not alone. The Hopi Indians have nine worlds. The Norse traditions have nine worlds. The Mayan pyramids have nine levels. But on to the main stuff. Let me not bore you with the details, but just hit the highlights which is where I want to go.

Each of the nine Mayan Underworld creation times gets smaller and smaller. We move from the Mammalian underworld of 16.4 billion years to the Universal underworld that lasts a mere 260 days. And it is this age that seems the most exciting and promising. June 6, 2012 during the Venus transit is where it really gets exciting- not so much Dec. 21st.

It is during this time that we shed the snake skin of duality and begin embracing the unity of our humanity and divinity. Why? How so? Johan Calleman says it like this, "The Ninth Underworld may be seen as a gift of God, since it is not only about creating balance, but also about the enlightenment given humankind as an expression of divine grace! And then there's this "Hero Project"

We are all a work in progress. And, regardless of sex we all fall into the well-known archetype of the hero twins which is especially manifested and demonstrated in the Mayas. They had their ancestral Hero Twins who were believed to have established important features of their social and ritual life. Their myth, constitutes Archaeologists believe the Olmecs migrated to the area around 1800BCE- and more specifically Izapa.

The largest and most important part of Maya mythology to have been preserved in the two

Hero twins whose names are Hunahpu and Xbalanque.

But more universal is the "hero project" within all of humanity which is representative of the masculine face that we all are. For each of us the goal is to become the "king" of our domain, to achieve greatness- which coincidentally we already have. And after we have celebrated our victory over life, we then need to share the spoils with all within whom we touch.

Success cannot be only external though!

The hero project demands that we become the "lover" as well. We must transfer our energies to our true internal nature and then beyond to that collective consciousness or as Carl Jung called it "the collective unconscious". With love, sensitivity and compassion we must move to share our life with those who have not traveled as far into the "I am" as we.

Wherever walls have been built that separate us from anyone, we must dismantle them.

The hero project means the removal of the masks and veils that disguise our true identity.

Maybe 2012 won't be that bad after all!