Here and there we’ve all thought about it – the world ending. The moment has (almost) finally arrived. Will it arrive? What IS it exactly? Some 2012 predictions call for total apocalypse at the end of this year while others say it could bring an enlightened age for all of mankind! A renaissance! What exactly brings upon this destruction, you ask? Theories range from natural disasters, political upheaval, unrest between countries, to proclaimed prophesies.
Though infamous foreseer Nostradamus did not predict exactly what type of event would occur in the year 2012, he did say that something would happen. He predicted a significant event and believed that we were able to change the outcome. Pretty vague. Some of his writings have been interpreted to have predicted events such as Hitler’s rise and demise the American Revolution. He foresaw a 27 year war of terrorism which some argue began in 1985 and will culminate in 2012 followed by 1,000 years of peace. Sounds pleasant! His writings could have been applied to fit certain circumstances after the fact, but there’s more of a mystifying quality to prophesies that have the tendency to at least make us wonder.
Natural disaster apocalyptic theories involve super-volcanos, asteroids/comets, and solar pole reversal. Polar reversal causes them to go out of equilibrium and pressure builds to result in events such as floods, fires, and of most notoriously, global warming. According to Mayan belief, series of events over time will lead to an ultimate awakening on December 21, 2012 AD, or the end of their “grand cycle of evolution” as well as the winter solstice. The Milky Way’s center and the sun will be aligned for the first time in 26,000 years AKA the Stone Age. This might mean that something is bound to go down. All we know is that an energy stream will perhaps be disrupted.
Believe it or not, the “Age of Aquarius” is more than just a 1969 pop hit that spent 6 weeks at number 1. It’s supposed to begin when vernal equinox point moves out of constellation Pisces into Aquarius. This is predicted to happen in 2012, but! – In order to reach this ultimate radiation of bliss destruction must occur! Then Aquarius, humanity’s servant, will quench the world’s thirst for knowledge. Believers in this age of wonder believe that a radical transformation will occur this year but that the true reach of the harmony we are soon to experience will go far beyond 2012.
Photo: The Cartoon Utopia by Ron Regé
In his phenomenal The Innocence of Muslims article, Fred Weston of UK Indymedia summed up perfectly how I feel regarding the tumultuous events that have perhaps been all occurring to present a larger purpose (be that purpose negative or positive):
“The crisis of capitalism is relentless. Life for working people in all countries is becoming ever more unbearable. And everywhere the class struggle keeps surfacing. We saw it in Cairo, we saw it in Wisconsin, then New York, then in Athens. At present we are seeing it in a big way in Spain and Portugal. It is spreading everywhere. That is why we can expect more crude attempts to whip up national chauvinist and religious sentiments. But whatever they come up with, they cannot hide the fact that the capitalist system globally has failed. Because it is taking away from workers everywhere all the hard fought for gains of the past, this system is doomed. Class struggle on a global scale is what is being prepared.”
Photo: Apocalypse Tomorrow 2012 Calendar Designed by Andrew Taruso
Any “scientific” theory fully supporting the 2012 apocalypse has been ridiculed as pseudoscience and not able to be tested by the scientific method. Science says it can’t happen, so we probably have nothing to be scared about! We’ve got it narrowed down to: complete destruction of life as we know it (among other various methods of doom), a spiritual awakening of the world, a financial meltdown, the rise of an evil superpower, or a culminated political revolution that will either unite or destroy everyone and everything.
Even if we can’t answer any of these questions, hopefully all of the hype that the world is ending helps remind us that the world is capable of things that we can’t even begin to understand!