Precessional cycle ending in 2012?

Your birthday marks the beginning of your life. Every year, you complete one cycle.

So it is with our solar system. It would appear that the Mayans somehow learned when (where, actually) its birthday was, and then figured out when it would complete the cycle. Or maybe they just arbitrarily picked a beginning, but given their precision in astronomy, I'd bet they had some inside knowledge somehow.

And yes, you can have circles in space with a beginning and an ending in a particular point in space, in relation to other objects in space. But we're not necessarily talking about a perfect circular orbit or any type of closed loop here, anyway. The precessional cycle relates to our perspective of the constellations from here on earth. I'm not sure how the beginning of the cycle was determined, but I do know that on 12/21/2012 at 11:11am GMT, the sun is situated at 0° 0" Capricorn, so perhaps they chose that event as the start point for some reason.

They never said the world was going to end per se, although I could definitely imagine some interesting things happening if some of what people say about it is true. Guess we'll just have to wait & see. Only 5 years to go...

A cycle is defined as an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs. Therefore the current precessional cycle will end in 2012.

Its just like the never-ending cycle of the seasons. A cycle can last as long as you set the time limit. It can be endless or less than a second.

The question is who determines that cycle?

The "cycle" in question, while dictated by astronomical patterns, actually relates to a more metaphysical phenomenon. You should do some research on the Mayan calendar, which "ends" in 2012. The ending (December 22, 2012) seems to indicate some sort of apocalyptic change in human consciousness.

Check out "2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl" by Daniel Pinchbeck! Hope this helps a bit.

Well, I suppose you can think of a cycle as the completion of a loop. As for where to start the loop, that is a purely arbitrary decision.

Our calendar has its own cycles, with its own arbitrarily selected end points. For example, Dec 31 is the end of the year, or year 2000 was the end of a millenium. The Mayan calendar has its cycles as well, and one 5000+ year cycle ends on Dec 21, 2012. And, that's about all you can say about it -- this cycle is done, and it's time to start the next one.

You already know the correct answer to this one. All the 2012 BS is just that...BS.