I was bored, and this was recommended to me so I decided to watch it. I went in expecting it to be shitty off-brand History Channel shit, but I was actually surprised. A lot of the things explained in this documentary and practiced by the Mayan people and their decedents, I've come across going down various rabbit holes (such as the Vatican, different religions as a whole, the occult, Gnosticism, "pagans", new ageism, even meta-physics & alchemy).

For example, 2012 was supposed to be the beginning of the Age of Aquarius, the age that ushers in the new. The Mayans believe that too, they're just much more specific and descriptive. I also found it really, really interesting how the Calender looks similar to the mandelbrot set, and serves almost the same purpose, just applied to our reality. There's so many more parallels, things they practice that are seen in other cultures and practices.. even down to Religion, Alchemy & the occult, they have the same belief system of East, West, North & South.. Male elements (fire, earth) and female elements (water, air). The Ether. The Demiurge. There's a lot.

It's an interesting watch imho, just sayin'.

Edit: A good tl;dw: they believe "The Story of Man" isn't so much a story of "Good Vs. Evil" (The Almighty Creator Vs. Satan, for example, although they do believe in Gods and Goddesses/deities), they believe "The Story of Man" is a story of "Man Vs. Self" & that's what the calendar actually depicts - we decide where we go as a species by our actions during certain cycles and periods. There are different cycles that repeat aligning with the stars, that offer "different opportunities", good or bad (humanity at the time chooses what path they go down, they don't know how things will end up). That's all they predict - they're not predicting any specific details (such as the end of the world).

It's almost like they're a good version of Satanism; that's an oxymoron, but they align with the concept of "Do what thou wilt, shall be the whole of the Law", and believe there are consequences for what humans (singular) as a whole do, for all of Humanity. Rather than being selfish and materialistic however, they believe we should be the opposite - selfless and free of materials, not be parasites on the Earth, be one with it. That way, as a species, we evolve towards a better world, and write a good story for Man Kind, one is all, and all is one. There are many parallels in their beliefs and practices with things you wouldn't expect, from Freemasonry, to Christianity, to Satanism, to Metaphysics.