Changes

The fear of the unknown makes a large part of many mythologies for cultures around the world in ancient and even modern times. The end of the world, or the apocalypse as commonly known, is a genre of mythologies that reflects our deepest fears not only for ourselves but usually our society and culture. This could be, at times, based on some reality or stories of crises for a given culture or society, while at other times it represents a warning that society should heed or even change its ways before it is too late.

====New World Apocalypse Stories====

Many of the apocalypse stories in the Old World deal with righteousness and the failure of humans and their behaviour in the times the occur prior to the end of the world. The Mayan apocalypse is based on a cyclical calendar made of 144,000-day-long cycles, which reflect the length the world lasts. After this time, something that would end the world would happen. However, unlike the other religious mentioned, there is no cosmic battle or contest between good and evil. The world simply ends but is then reborn to start the calendar again (Figure 2). According to some, the last cycle began in 669, which is a date based on a carving found, and was suppose to end on December 21, 2012, which had led some to believe the end of the world in our own time would occur to that date. However, there is no set time that can be derived from Mayan belief, even if the calendar used is believed to start from a given date. Thus, many scholars dispute the idea that 2012 was suppose to be the end of the world in the Mayan calendar.<ref>For more on the Mayan beliefs, see: Hayes, Bernard. 2018.<i> Mayan Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Sagas, Rituals and Beliefs of Mayan Myths</i>. Amazon Digital Services LLC.</ref>