2012: The Coming End of Our Age?
by Donald L. ODell
Perhaps you've heard about an event,
believed to occur in or near Mexico City in six years, which is to
signal the end of time or the end of the world.
The event, scheduled to occur in 2012
(some say 2011), is when the ancient Mayan Calendar ends.
In 2012 the Mayan Calendar simply stops.
Finis. Done. Over.
Do we really just have only four more
years? Is this Mayan event equivalent to the promised biblical
Armageddon? Do we need to be frightened? Nervous? Awed? Anxious? Mildly
or intensely curious? Do we need to re-look at our investment
portfolios? Are we doomed or saved? Just what is this 2012 event?
Let's take a brief look at the Mayan
calendar.
The Mayans - living in the Yucatan
Peninsula in Mexico - are an old culture, dating back to the time of the
early Roman Empire in Europe. Their culture and civilization gave rise
to several subsequent cultures: the Olmecs; the Toltecs, and the Aztecs.
They built pyramids with the same precision as the Egyptians, though not
quite as large. They had a very sophisticated understanding of astronomy
and mathematics, all of which is reflected in the complexity of their
calendar. Then they mysteriously seemed to disappear.
There are nine Underworlds in the
universe of the Maya. They are called Underworlds, not because of a
Mayan concept of Hell, but because of the activated crystalline
structures in the earth's inner core. These crystalline structures were
not "scientifically" known by the Mayans, but were
"sensed" or "intuited" by the spiritual priests and
tribal leaders, chief of whom was Kukulcan - better known as
Quetzalcoatl in the Aztec culture.
Each Underworld consists of seven days
and has a duration - a length of time - that is equivalent to twenty
times the length of the subsequent underworld. These lengths of time are
called "cycles" in the Mayan Calendar. The last day of each
cycle contains all of the following cycles, so all cycles will end at
the same time. Each cycle is divined to accomplish a "greater"
sense of consciousness: Build on the previous cycle and, simultaneously,
lay preparations for the following cycle.
A simplified summary follows (for more
information on this subject, I would recommend The Mayan Calendar and
the Transformation of Consciousness, by Carl Johan Calleman, PhD, Bear
& Company Publishers, Rochester, Vermont).
During the initial cycle, the universal
consciousness moved from the Big Bang and the creation of matter to the
emergence of cell structures. During the second cycle, consciousness
moved from cellular structures to mammalian organisms. Consciousness
shifted from animals to primates during the third cycle and from
primates to humans in the fourth cycle. During the fifth cycle, humans
raised their consciousness with the development of a spoken language and
a community organization. The sixth cycle began with the development of
a written language and a sense of a national consciousness - a
consciousness of being a "people" among other organized
"peoples." During the seventh cycle, beginning about the time
of The Industrial Age, the idea that we were a global people was
germinated. The eighth cycle, which we are currently in, will see that
embryonic sense of a global community come to fruition. The last cycle -
or age - the Mayan Calendar records will begin in early 2011 and end
later that year. It marks the end of our dualistic civilization as we
currently know it - east/west, rich/poor, either/or, us/them, me/you -
and the beginning of a new order of life: Global citizenship; Intuitive
knowledge; Sharing of resources; Cooperation rather than
competitiveness; Spirit-driven rather than materialistic-driven.
As mentioned earlier, each
"cycle," according to the Mayans, is twenty times shorter than
the one preceding. This rather simple fact of the Mayan Calendar very
neatly explains what we have all suspected and often hear: Events not
only seem to be speeding up, events are speeding up.
The first cycle began 16.4 Billion years
ago, close to when astronomers now fix the Big Bang event and the
beginning of the creation of matter. The second cycle began 850 million
years ago, near to the timeframe anthropology and geology use as the
beginning of the first animals.
The third cycle began 40 million years
ago, near to when scientists now believe was the emergence of the first
primates. The fourth cycle began 2 million years ago, near to when
anthropology places the emergence of the first humans.
The fifth cycle began 102,000 years ago
with the probability of the first spoken language, according to
anthropologists. The sixth cycle began 5,125 years ago (circa 3100 bce)
with the emergence of the first written language - the Sumerians. This
sixth cycle, known as the National Underworld, is also the beginning of
the Mayan "Long Count" calendar.
The seventh cycle (known as the Planetary
Underworld) began 256 years ago (circa the mid-Eighteenth Century),
about the time historians place the beginning of the Industrial Age. It
was near the end of this cycle that the 1st Harmonic Convergence
occurred in August 1987, ushering in a countdown to the end of the Mayan
Long Count. The eighth cycle began January 5, 1999 and will last 12.8
years (4680 days). It is the cycle we are currently in and is called by
the Mayans the Galactic Underworld.
The Galactic Cycle will be marked by the
realization of the true impact of information technology on the global
economy, as expressed by the use of the Internet. The marked rise in the
importance and role of intuition and the spiritual unity of the global
community will also be quite evident. The movement will move rapidly
from an either/or (or us/them) mentality to one of true global
cooperation and sharing. This phenomenon is often referred to as one of
higher vibrations or the beginning of a non-dual cosmic consciousness.
Incidentally, the 2nd Harmonic Convergence will occur near the end of
this cycle in May 2010.
The ninth cycle, known as the Universal
Underworld, will begin on February 11, 2011 and will end on October 28,
2011, lasting only 260 days. At the end of this final 260-day cycle, the
Mayan Calendar simply stops. [The date October 28, 2011, the end of the
Mayan Calendar, is based on a more recent understanding of the actual
beginning of the Mayan "long count" calendar, according to
Calleman. The original calculated date marking the beginning of the
calendar defined the end of the "long count" as December 21,
2012, the date we hear most about.] Some believe the end of this ninth
cycle is also known as the birth of the 6th Sun and the 5th Earth - the
beginning of a new 5,125-year cycle.
At the end of the calendar, according to
the Mayans, humankind will have direct divine contact, understanding,
and consciousness. This will not happen all at once, just as the
Industrial Age, which historians generally mark with the invention of
Fulton's steam engine, didn't happen overnight. However, as
industrialism grew, those businesses and industries that refused to
adapt simply didn't survive.
Think of this analogy: Two blacksmiths
are standing in front of their shops, across the road from one another,
when the first automobile comes putt-puff-putting down Main Street. One
blacksmith says to himself, "Harumph! Those 'iron horses' will
never make it! I fix wagon wheel rims and hand-held plows, and I shoe
horses. That's what I'll continue to do." Unfortunately, he
probably went out of business. The other blacksmith says to himself,
" I don't know if cars will last or not, but I do know that it's
made of a lot of iron and I fix iron things. If it breaks, I think I can
make the parts to fix it, along with wagon wheels and shoeing
horses." That blacksmith probably did just fine. Perhaps he was the
grandfather of Mr. Goodwrench.
It's an attitude. It's all in how we
perceive change. If we perceive change with fear, we will resist it,
like the first blacksmith. We recall the axiom: What one resists will
persist. If we welcome change as part of a divine plan (however you
choose to define that), then we will adapt, grow, evolve, and even
flourish.
The end of the Mayan Calendar is not
predicting a physical end of the world - just like a physical end of the
world is not described in the Book of Revelations in the Bible. But,
according to the Mayans, this last Cycle, the Universal Underworld, does
mark an end of the world as we know it - as we have come to understand
how things work. This is similar to the Book of Revelations that
describes an end to the world as the writer perceived it to be at the
beginning of the Second Century. John of Patmos wrote Revelations in
visionary "code," since to be caught with recognized Christian
literature was a punishable offense in his time. In a sequence of
dream-like visions, he perceives the defeat of evil empires and the
establishment of a reign of peace, ruled by God, where we are freed from
pain and suffering.
As these shifts in consciousness or
shifts in perceived reality occur, there will be persons - those in
power, those invested in keeping the things the way they have been,
those immersed in religious systems that assuage people's fears - who
will "fight" to prevent change. So, there will be conflict, as
is always the case with change. Could the conflict become so severe
nuclear weapons could be unleashed and the earth would become
uninhabitable? It certainly is possible. Is it probable? I don't think
so.
We're moving from a level of collective
consciousness: 1) Where others are viewed as competitors, 2) Where we
see ourselves as survivors scrambling to get our share of what we
perceive to be limited (or lack of) resources, and 3) Where we perceive
ourselves working, struggling and fighting within all the elements of a
dualistic view of the world where we see everything in terms of
right/wrong, good/evil, plenty/scarcity, judging/comparing (from our
us/them point of view, of course) and have created a world filled with
fear, guilt, shame and resentment.
We are moving to an Age of Peace and
Harmony, summarized in the ancient Mayan greeting In Lak'ech or "I
am another you." Other spiritual movements have similar traditions.
Egyptian and Vedic traditions describe the transformation of
consciousness. The Incans, the Hopi, and the Keys of Enoch discussed the
return of the Children of Light and the rise in spirituality and decline
in religion.
During the last fifty years, Share
International has been predicting the emergence of Maitrayea, the world
teacher for the new age, and the remainder of a hierarchical of
spiritual masters, including the Christ, the fifth Buddha, the Imam
Mahdi, and the Messiah. There have been recent writings, such as Lee
Carroll's Indigo Children, that describe a higher form of consciousness
and awareness that is emerging today - an emergence that is visible as
an indigo-colored aura surrounding these gifted children, many of whom
are misunderstood today. Astrologers have been predicting our movement
from the Age of Pisces, marked by 5,000 years of idealism and
patriarchy, to the multi-centuries lifespan of the Age of Aquarius. This
new age will be noted by the resurgence of the power of "the total
group" in the raising of consciousness. The Age of Aquarius also
will bring back the divine Feminine to create a balance in
"unity" consciousness - a healing of the energies between the
masculine and the feminine.
Just think what is about to happen:
Peace; Harmony; Sharing; Cooperation; Caring for Mother Earth; A Truly
Global Sense of Community; The Spirituality of Love (or an Honest
Spirituality) Replacing Fear-Based Religiosity. Wow!
Prepare for it. Welcome it.
Rejoice in the end of this world, as we
have known it.
Rejoice in the beginning of the world we
have longed for.
Hallelujah!
About the Author
Donald O'Dell holds a Master of Divinity
from Princeton Seminary and is the author of How the Bible became the
Bible, recipient of the 2006 Royal Palm Literary Award. Both Unity and
Religious Science International recommend his book. Visit http://www.DonODell.com
for more information about his book.
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