John Major Jenkins (4 March 1964 – 2 July 2017) was an American author and pseudoscientific researcher. He is best known for his works that theorize certain

astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxi ...

and esoteric connections of the calendar systems used by the

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, a ...

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica ...

. His writings are particularly associated with 2012 millenarianism and the development of

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. Contemporary Mayanism places less emphasis on contacts between the ancient ...

in contemporary and popular culture, as an outgrowth from the

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

milieu. He is one of the principal figures who have promoted the idea that the ancient

Maya calendar The Maya calendar is a system of calendars used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and in many modern communities in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico. The essentials of the Maya calendar are based upon a system which had ...

ends on 21 December 2012 and that this portended major changes for the Earth. He has self-published a number of books through his Four Ahau Press. He died on 2 July 2017 from cancer of the kidney at the age of 53.

Alternative view of cosmology

Jenkins considered scientific approaches to

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

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. 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

. 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 a believed 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. Jenkins is featured speaking in the documentary ''2012: Science or Superstition''. The film explores the interpretations of the ancient Mayan predictions by researchers and scholars. Jenkins is also featured in the documentary/film ''2012: Startling New Secrets''.John Major Jenkins , Investigators , 2012: Startling New Secrets , Syfy

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) *''Three Plumes of Judas (fiction) self-published, 2017

References

External links

Alignment 2012
John Major Jenkins own website. Accessed April 2009

John Major Jenkins discusses 2012 in a two-part video interview with his editor at Tarcher Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, John Major 1964 births 2017 deaths 2012 phenomenon believers Maya calendars New Age writers