Changes

Many of the apocalypse stories in the Old World deal with righteousness and the failure of humans and their behaviour behavior in the times the they occur prior to before 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>

However, unlike the other religions 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 supposed 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, no set time 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 supposed 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> Aztec beliefs also reflect also a cyclical world. In fact, there There had been five worlds so far, the so-called five suns representing the new suns for each worldplanet. Aztec beliefs and practices have revolved around their fear or belief in end times. In fact, human Human sacrifices were intended to placate appease Tzitzimitl, that is the stars, who can destroy the Sun. Other sacrifices were also intended to placate the gods. If the stars and associated gods are angry and are successful in their assault on the sun, then the world will go black , and there will be a catastrophic earthquake.The Tzitzimitl will slay Huitzilopochtli, their brother, and all of humanity will perish because of this.  However, it is likely another cycle would begin , and another Sun created to spell the beginning of humans once again. The reality for both the Maya and Aztec end times, similar in some way to the Old World, is there are many versions of similar related stories , and the myths are not consistent, making it hard to judge what the 'classic' version would be. Often, these stories were more oral. In fact, other Other surrounding tribes and native groups believed in similar myths with variations. In North America across the United States and Canada, some native groups also believed thought that we are living or have lived in different episodes of the Sun or Earth.  In those cases, different events occurred that led to the destruction of the world, including comets having destroyed the world. It is not so much human behaviour behavior that leads to this end of the world but the gods or spirits creating this fate.<ref>For more on Aztec beliefs and myths, including related cultures and other Native American cultures, see: Johnson, W.G. (Ed.), 2017. <i>End of days: an encyclopedia of the Apocalypse in world religions</i>. ABC-CLIO, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, Santa Barbara, California, pg. 253.</ref>