John Major Jenkins
Encyclopedia
John Major Jenkins 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.
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.
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. 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. 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." 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. 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. Jenkins is also a supporter of “The Lost Star” theory which extrapolates the existence of a binary companion of the Earth’s sun based on mathematical discrepancies in “earth wobble.”
Jenkins was interviewed and appears in the film Manifesting the Mind a film by Andrew Rutajit, executive producer of Bouncing Bear Films.
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.
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.
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
of pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
. His writings are particularly associated with 2012 millenarianism and the development of Mayanism
Mayanism
Mayanism is a non-codified eclectic collection of New Age beliefs, influenced in part by Pre-Columbian Maya mythology and some folk beliefs of the modern Maya peoples...
in contemporary and popular culture, as an outgrowth from the New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
milieu. He is one of the principal people who have promoted the idea that the ancient Maya calendar
Maya calendar
The Maya calendar is a system of calendars and almanacs used in the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and in many modern Maya communities in highland Guatemala. and in Chiapas....
ends on 21 December 2012 and this portends major changes for the Earth.
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.
Alternative view of cosmology
Jenkins considers secular, scientific approaches to cosmologyCosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
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. 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. 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." Further, Jenkins points to players of the little understood ancient Mesoamerican ballgame
Mesoamerican ballgame
The Mesoamerican ballgame or Tlatchtli in Náhuatl was a sport with ritual associations played since 1,000 B.C. by the pre-Columbian peoples of Ancient Mexico and Central America...
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. 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. Jenkins is also a supporter of “The Lost Star” theory which extrapolates the existence of a binary companion of the Earth’s sun based on mathematical discrepancies in “earth wobble.”
Appearances
In October of the year 2000, Jenkins work was featured on two episodes of Places of Mystery series on the Discovery Channel.Jenkins was interviewed and appears in the film Manifesting the Mind a film by Andrew Rutajit, executive producer of Bouncing Bear Films.
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.
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.
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)
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