Mayan timekeeper says end of Mayan calendar does not mean end of the world

A Regina man who trained as a Mayan timekeeper says the end of the ancient Mayan calendar does not mean the end of the world.

Dec. 21, 2012 marks the end of the 5,125-year-long Mayan Long Count calendar.

That has led to dire end-of-times predictions, including hundreds of thousands of doomsday websites and blogs on the internet and even films depicting the end of the world.

But the Global Chair of Journalism at the University of Regina says that’s not an accurate interpretation of the calendar.

Leonzo Barreno, who immigrated to Canada from Guatemala in 1989, was trained by Mayan elders to read the ancient calendars.

He says the end of the next year will start a new calendar cycle.

“This has happened before, and according to the elders this is the fifth time it’s happened,” he said.

Barreno said the beginning of the cycle is something to celebrate, not fear.