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Monday, February 8, 2010

2012 –One Pagan’s Perspective

So, I’m thinking about 2012 a lot, mainly because it’s become a part of so many conversations lately. I watched the 2012 movie when it came out in November 2009 – it was a lot of fun, but that’s about it. I watch the documentaries, but no one can agree on anything more than “The Mayans Said it”. And there are eleventybillion books out there, each contrary to the one before it. /sigh  

The New Age / Metaphysical / Alternative Theology / Pagan communities have long been fascinated with prophecy. Rattling off names like Nostradamus, Carlos Castaneda, Mother Shipton, and Edgar Cayce seems to have become commonplace, and most people are familiar with at least one of these names. Even whole cultures have prophecies, such as the Hopi Nation and the Maya.

It’s funny to think that the general populace knows more about the 2012 prophecies than about almost any other set of prophecies throughout history. We also know frighteningly little about those same prophecies. I guess what I’m saying is that we know just enough about these words to cause a great deal of fear and not a lot of empowerment. Media, television, movies, books, and the internet give us both information and DISinformation on the topic. If we believe the hype, December 21, 2012 will be filled with (a) fire and brimstone, (b) earth pole shifts, giving way to cataclysms, (c) the end of the world on a physical level, (d) alien visitations, (e) humanity being brought kicking & screaming to a higher / fifth dimension either through extraterrestrial intervention or through vibrational evolution, (f) the Elite (whoever they are) will finally control the world or (g) absolutely nothing.

So confusing! So hyped! So scary! So mysterious!

So what!

I am the first person to admit that I’m fascinated by prophesy. But as a tarot reader / intuitive and a teacher of divination, I understand that the future is never set in stone. I, like many of my more spiritually minded friends, know that visions of the future are sometimes shrouded in allegory or symbolism. Sometimes visions of the future are nothing more than a warning; someone saying, “If you continue doing what you’re doing, this is the most likely outcome”.

Back to 2012 and the hysteria that has been going along with it. The bottom line is that no one knows what is going to happen. The Mayan long count calendar ends, but that might means something other than “OMG we’re all gonna die!”. Like most other civilizations (and unlike our own), the Mayans seems to have viewed time as cyclical, not linear. It’s not as if their concept of time is like one big ol’ version of “Groundhog Day”, but about evolutionary cycles. If you look at other civilizations, you will find that time as a series of spirals or cycles is commonplace and this understanding makes up a fundamental tenet in paganism today. Maybe the Mayan grand cycle was ending and they wanted to make sure people knew that this was a time to embark on a new cycle. This new cycle would share some of the same qualities as the old but because of our experiences, it would be evolved. So, and please pardon the pun, why reinvent the wheel?

Maybe the Mayans believed that we as humans are going to change in a fundamental way and their calendars would be superfluous? Maybe it was beyond their understanding at that time to consider whether humans would still be around this long!

But don’t mistake my skepticism for disbelief, either. Anyone who is even vaguely aware of what is beyond their 5 senses realizes that something odd has been brewing for the past few decades. Like a pot of water ready to boil, there’s something afoot on a spiritual and psychic level. I don’t know what it is precisely, but I do listen to theories and speculation – everything is within the bounds of possibility.

I sincerely hope the changes which do come are positive – but that result is wholly dependent on how mature we as a civilization are. We as a society need a good kick in the pants – ethically, socially and spiritually. Continuing in our current way is not going to help us as a whole. But as of right now I don’t think that some of the cataclysmic earth changes are going to happen in the way some people fear it will. What I’d love to see is a moment of spiritual enlightenment for the peoples of this planet, which might mean an end to wars & strife. Maybe that’s my overactive idealistic side rearing its ugly head. Either way, I’m excited to think about the possibilities and to see how this will manifest. So many civilizations have pointed to this time when something significant will manifest – it can’t be coincidence, can it?

I’m sure I’ll be tackling this subject again in the next two years, but I think I’ll still be saying “see you all in 2013”!

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