The Fifth World:Introduction
From The Fifth World
- In 2012, the Maya calendar ends. The Sun will climb the axis mundi and open the door of Cynosure—and the Fourth World will end. But the shamans have always known that time moves in cycles, and the end of the Fourth World heralds the beginning of the Fifth...
According to North America's Emergence mythology, several worlds preceded our current one; different cultures count them differently, but they all chart a progression of worlds, each one destroyed in a cataclysm brought on when humans forgot their place as part of the living world, and tried to set themselves up as masters or guardians or stewards of it. Then, destruction followed like floods after a storm.
According to some versions, the passing of each world seemed like the passing of years or seasons, just on a larger level. The Maya calendar marked out seasons on an historical scale, in b'ak'tuns and in worlds. They charted 21 December 2012 as the end of the Fourth World. Just as the winter solstice rarely marks any cataclysmic change in the weather from autumn leaves to sudden blizzards, neither did 21 December 2012 seem like such a pivotal date. But just as winter bears its own distinct character, quite different from fall, so has the Fifth World changed greatly from the Fourth World.
The Fifth World Community creates an open source, shared world that imagines that future: a post-apocalyptic, pseudo-utopian world, where feral humans have rediscovered magic, and their connection with the living world.
More Information
Want to get involved? These links will help you understand the Fifth World better:
- An orientation to the setting.
- A tutorial on how to use the website
- Getting started: how to get started with the Fifth World
