The Machine Stops: the Mayan Long Count Through a Western Lens

What is the significance of December 21, 2012? In this groundbreaking book, Tim Lyons offers a multi-faceted answer to that question by applying the principles of western astrology to time measurement that the ancient Maya called the Long Count, a period that began in 3114 BC and that ends on December 21, 2012. Drawing on the historical studies of Lewis Mumford, Arnold Toynbee, and others, Tim Lyons finds connection between the Mayan aeon and our own astrological ages, uses our astrological tools to draw meaning from the Mayan time-measurements, and demonstrates the correlations between the Mayan measurements and the many important historical developments from the past 5125 years. In his last chapter, Tim casts a horoscope for the aeon beginning on the winter solstice 2012, seeking similarities and differences between that horoscope and the one for August 11, 3114 BC. Concluding that the Long Count horoscope symbolizes a type of social development characterized by authoritarian militarism and leading to ecological destruction, and showing how those tendencies have worked themselves out through time in tandem with important transits and progressions to that horoscope, he connects social, psychological, and spiritual elements, to give a clear diagnosis of the problems facing human civilization. Seeing the Long Count as measuring the era of bigness, he suggests that the future will see the development of smaller institutions arising as adaptations to the dominant model that has now run its course. Tim Lyons has been an astrologer for more than 30 years. He has contributed to two of Llewellyn's New World Astrology series (How to Manage the Astrology of Crisis, 1993; Astrology Looks at History, 1995), been a columnist for American Astrology (now Your Daily Horoscope) since 1990, and contributed numerous astrology articles to Welcome to Planet Earth and The Mountain Astrologer. He has also contributed to The East West Journal, The Liguorian, Chrysalis, The Vajradhatu Sun, Bodhi Magazine, ETC., The Vocabula Review, and various newspapers and given numerous lectures both in Colorado and elsewhere. He has a B.A. in English Literature from Occidental College in Los Angeles (1971) and an M.A. in Creative Writing from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (1974). He works as a writing instructor at the University of Colorado and maintains an active astrology practice.