When people refer to the Mayan calendar, in most cases they mean a calendar called the Long Count, also sometimes known as the thirteen baktuns. This is a cycle of approximately 5,125 years that is ending, by most accounts, on December 21, 2012. This unique calendar is the subject of several very interesting theories about what may be about to happen in 2012. In the next few chapters, we will explore these and what they are predicting.