Gosporn: A Mayan Pompeii

Sep 7, 2010

A Mayan Pompeii

Archaeologists find new clues why the Maya left

A fascinating article in USA Today about some new archaeology digs in the Yucatan. Apparently the citizens of Kiuic up and deserted their homes in a somewhat orderly but speedy manner back around 880. They left, and they never came back.

The Mayan Mystery Train continues to gather steam as the 2012 end of the Mayan long count draws closer and closer, and I can’t help but notice that Tomás Gallareta Negrón, head of Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, and co-director of the site, named the road to the elevated ruins “The Stairway to Heaven”, admitting he was a Led Zeppelin fan.

Thanks to an intensive education at The Secret Sun, I know that a “Stairway to Heaven” means something quite different to the ancient guild of stone-cutters than a cobblestone road.

“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”

All it takes is 88 mph.

I can’t help but wonder if the Mayans experienced a “rapture” event, much like the senior citizens in the Ron Howard film 'Cocoon'. They also packed quickly but carefully, wrapping up loose ends and saying good byes as best they could before embarking on THEIR stairway to heaven. Terence McKenna predicted that a global UFO event would be the “capstone” of the novelty curve as it heads past infinity and beyond in 2012. Terence ate a lot of mushrooms.

At the same time, the “armageddon” asteroid meme is also ramping up. The carrot and the stick?

I wonder what I would do if a giant UFO suddenly landed on earth in 2012, warning of an immanent asteroid hit and offering a free ride to another planet. Would I go? Well... maybe. But maybe not if the price of admission was a sip of magic Cool-Aid on the tarmac. The Stairway to Heaven might turn out to be Heaven’s Gate.