End of the world

2012

Tonite i'm gonna party like its 1995.


OK.  Late December, 2012, the Mayan calendar resets a 5,000 year gear to
13.0.0.0.0.  Numerous North American writers- noticeably Jose Arguelles and the
late Terrence McKenna - have applied apocalyptic ultimatums towards this date. 
Certain psychedelic, new age and trance techno communities have eagerly embraced
these concepts over the past decade, with visions and promises of galactic
transformation, global healing, spiritual enlightenment and so on.

In 1995 I answered Jose Arguelles 'Planetary Ultimatum' and travelled to the
Yucatan Peninsula to witness the annual Spring Equinox at Kulkulkan's great
pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico.  Every equinox, the afternoon sun casts a shadow
from the corner of the pyramid that clearly becomes the image of a large serpent
slowly entering the earth along one of the pyramid's stairways, a sign that
begins their slash and burn agricultural season, a message from the Gods that the
earth is fertile for planting.  In Chichen Itza- a town of about 1,500
inhabitants- I managed to meet local Mayans of our generation, who have grown up
indoctrinated in their culture.  I met the local DJ who plays the dance music at
their parties, and the local dance promoter.  I asked them about 2012 and they
would explain that whenever some new book comes out, groups of people converge on
them from the North and tell them what the carvings they've grown up with on the
rocks REALLY say.  The locals shrug and gladly do business with the tourists.

I managed to pick up some information on the Mayan calendar at the Pyramid
Bookstore in Chichen Itza, and realized the information I found there contrasted
greatly with the shrill warnings spouted by the likes of McKenna.  The Spanish
text explained that yes, the Mayan Calendar is indeed amazing and can specify the
exact name of a day, hundreds of zeroes in years away, much greater than 5,000
year cycles.  To be clear, the 5,000 year reset of the Mayan Calendar in 2012 is
NOT the end of Mayan time by any means, the date is as prophetically significant
as any old 12 noon Monday.  The Mayan Calendar works with a number of
interlocking gears; the variously toothed wheels keep spinning, without a
beginning or end.  Further, the Spanish texts went on to explain that anyone who
was around on any given day saw the sun come up and go down just the same, so
whatever the day is named is not THAT important.

Digging into Mayan prophecies, I learned that the Mayans are waiting for October
15, 4072, the date Pacal Votan, a Messianic-like ruler, returns.  Pacal Votan's
time-and-space-travel-ascension image is carved into the burial sarcophagus at
the pyramid at Palenque.  I'm not sure how many of you are planning on sticking
around for 4072, or if you're a follower of Pacal Votan or not.  I figure I'll
probably be gone without a trace by then.

From what I have learned, I consider Jose Arguelles, Terrence McKenna, or any of
the other contemporary North American writers using 2012 and Mayan numerology in
association with dogmatic ultimatums to be false prophets.  
Don't drink the kool-aid.