Hysteria is once again in the air. We don’t know if we’ll make it to 2012 but, supposedly, another “Y2K” moment is upon us. What I love about these “End of Days” fugue states is that the prophets of doom and gloom are never deterred by the failure of their predictions. They just adjust the date to some other convenient supposedly even more portentous one. I do admire their tenacity and resilience in the face of all that experience!
Well, I just saw the movie that is surely benefitting from all the mania over the end of the Mayan calendar: 2012. If you’re looking for special effects, it’s excellent. If you are looking for acting, dialogue, plot and meaningfulness, take in Pixar’s “Up” instead.
As for the Mayan calendar conundrum, yes, it is ending on December 21, 2012. So what?! Ask a Mayan descendant and you’ll get the straight scoop. I did. I had the distinct honor of meeting one of the Thirteen Grandmothers of the matriarchal Mayan culture. The answer is: One era is ending, and another is beginning.
There is no more chance of cataclysm on December 21, 2012 as on December 21, 2009. Both dates for the end of times are conceivable though improbable. Cataclysmic geological and solar events have and will continue to occur. So, what fascinates me is all this fascination with the idea of terminal dates. What’s behind it?
In large measure, a root catalyst is psycho-spiritual monotony, boredom, and the correlated thirst for adventure and an adrenaline rush. It’s the same motive force that drove Achilles, Agamemmnon, Odysseus, ( and, jumping ahead in time) George Bush and Dick Cheney, and many others.
Without the catastrophic we need to find the thrill inside: in Mind, in imagining, in uncovering the root of mysteries all around us. It seems a more fruitful and salutary source of authentic adventure.
© Brother Anton and The Harried Mystic, 2009. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.
Bon voyage!
The Harried Mystic 