On the 2012 Prophecies

By now, most people have probably heard at least something about the year 2012 and the date December 21, 2012 in particular. That is the date that the world will either (a) end, (b) be transformed or (c) experience the shortest day of the year and go on existing as it always has. It all depends on who you listen to.

At the extremes, some people dismiss the 2012 prophecies as some kind of "new age" folly, while others seem to embrace 2012 as a potent excuse to live out their apocalyptic fantasies. But the one thing that is most consistently associated with the period around 2012 is that it portends significant change of some kind.

For some time now, I have resisted writing or even discussing much about 2012, except in situations where others have specifically asked me about the subject, for two reasons. One, I have some, but not a lot, of knowledge about the 2012 prophecies, and so I am in many ways still working out my own perspective. Secondly, beyond the very real and meaningful work that many people have contributed to our understanding of the 2012 prophecies, the potential wisdom of these prophecies is often obscured by both the hype of the overly zealous believer and the derision of the cynical detractor. At times, this has made it more challenging for me to separate what feels real from what is only drama, leaving me with what feels like little more than soundbites and uncertainty.

But, having said that, things do feel different now. Although I still do not have what I would consider a deep understanding of the mysteries or the cosmology surrounding the 2012 prophecies, I do have a well developed sense of the guidance I have personally been receiving for some time now about the times through which we are living.

What I see is that regardless of what I may or may not believe about the 2012 prophesies, our world really is going through a tremendous amount of change. And, perhaps more importantly, that change feels evolutionary because it is affecting all existence at every level of consciousness -- from human to non-human, from sentient to non-sentient alike.

How the world moves through, and emerges from, these changes -- whether we come out in a better place or not -- is sure to depend in great part on the choices that we, as humans and de facto stewards of our planet, make (both personally and collectively) about how we live and, in particular, about how we are in relationship to each other and the world around us. Will we only allow ourselves to be led by the individual, self-serving and materialistic concerns of our ego, or will we embrace and be guided by a broader vision of who we are -- a vision that encompasses the individual but also acknowledges our interdependence and ultimate spiritual unity with all other individuals, beings and life forms that together encompass the many communities of which we are a part?

December 21, 2012 may very well mark some kind of meaningful shift in this evolutionary process -- I genuinely don't know. But I don't think we have to wait till then to see. Change is already here... it's time to choose.