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2012
Re-written and re-posted 8/10/08

by Carissa Conti
© 2008

 

One of the many new-age/metaphysical topics you won’t find covered on this site is 2012. There were a couple of reasons for this. Not only is it a big topic, but it’s just kind of become “metaphysics cliche” by this point. ;D However, an email I received back in 2006 asking my opinions on 2012 and “ascension,” as well as an IRC chat during the same time period with a guy in England who was lamenting some of the same issues that I have with the subject, inspired the original version of this write up. And then an email I received this week (August 2008) making mention of 2012, including what I believe are references to misinformation, inspired me to resurrect this and do a revamping of it all.

A bit of background: Supposedly, the Mayans chose December 21, 2012 as the end of time on their long count calendar. The Mayan long count calendar is supposed to have begun on what would be the equivalent of our August 13, 3114 BC, and ends 5,128 years later — our December 21, 2012. Here is one particular link that summarizes how the Mayans kept track of time. The significance of this date is that apparently winter solstice 2012 will be the culmination of the 26,000 year precession of the equinoxes, and where our sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way galaxy. So as I write this, we’re supposedly in the last five years of the “Grand Cycle” as it’s called.

2012 is a very popular subject in the new age and metaphysics crowds, and quoting from the aforementioned email I received back in 2006, it involves the idea that “…on the 21st of December, 11.11 am this is when there is a shift and the dimension walls become thin enabling us to move into the 4th”…” In other words, humanity is supposed to shift/ascend to a higher realm, 4th density as some call it, on a particular set date and time. Some people believe that all of humanity will shift up to this new and better world, while others believe that only a chosen few will make it…which calls to mind the Christian belief in Rapture and the second coming of Christ. But either way, stuff is going to go down in a big way at that time, and it’s got a lot of people settling into their seats with their bucket of popcorn, anticipating what’s supposed to be one hell of a show. ;)

I’m open to the idea that something big could happen around the time of 2012, for several reasons, but I don’t believe in it all as we typically hear it presented. Now, the reasons why I think this particular time period could be a candidate for “unusual happenings of an interesting nature” include:

  • It’s not just dubious 20th century New Age channeled sources claiming that big changes are in store during this time period, but long-standing Native American prophesies as well. Native American prophesies typically center around global natural disasters that will cleanse the earth and wipe out a majority of mankind, and usually include a set of foreshadowing events which indicate that the time period has arrived. For one particularly good example, see Mary Summer Rain’s Phoenix Rising – No Eyes’ Vision of the Changes to Come. And in the book To Become a Human Being there’s a chapter devoted to Chief Leon Shendandoah’s prophesies, as well as mention of the past catastrophes and how his people had been saved when it happened before. What’s interesting is that there’s a comprehensive checklist summary given at the end of “Phoenix Rising” detailing very specific foreshadowing events…..and pretty much most of them have happened by this point.
  • Climate/weather changes. People debate back and forth about whether global warming is really happening, but there definitely seems to be changes occuring like never before, with the hottest years on record happening over the past ten years, melting polar ice caps, record hurricane and typhoons, cold snaps, floods, droughts, winter storms, etc. Whether it’s natural and cyclical, or unnatural and artificially provoked remains to be seen, but it also fits with what the Native American prophesies have been saying, that we’re in the time of great change.
  • Things getting weird in general/polarization. Back in 1990, Barbara Marciniak wrote a book called “Bringers of the Dawn,” consisting of channeled information about these upcoming times. Chanelling aside, what got my interest about this book back in 2002 when it was given to me was the way her channeled source was describing to a T changes that I myself had been experiencing………almost as if there was a checklist of sorts of things that certain people would be going through as our world/density shifts up to another, higher realm. Very specific things, from changing diet, taking on exercise, getting rid of TV, becoming independent versus co-dependent in relationships, increase in psychic abilities, witnessing parallel timeline bleedthroughs, and a host of other randomness that left me scrunching my face wondering how she could know what I’d been going through those past few years. ;D And related to this is the way in which it seems that the population is splitting apart, or polarizing. Those who are waking up are really waking up, while many continue to fall further asleep at the wheel, which goes along with the whole splitting/shifting realms thing.
  • Time speeding up?/Awakening taking less time for younger generation. Like a vortex of water that spins closer and faster as it approaches the center, before passing through and out to the other side, our reality seems to be speeding up as it nears some possible big changes. Something noted in a research note written by Montalk called Time Speeding Up, is the way in which newbies to the subjects of metaphysics and conspiracies seem to be waking up faster, and taking less time to get to the point where they understand the general “Big Picture” than previous generations. Again, seeming to mimick a vortex approaching the eye. (I think a big part of this involves the internet, giving younger generations tools and opportunities for instant knowledge and awareness like never before. Seems kind of fitting that during the same time period where big changes are apparently upon us, an invention comes along to help facilitate awakening for people on a global level, all at once. But like any tool with the potential for positive, it also has the potential for extreme negative. A trade off maybe, so the dark stuff can’t complain. ;) )

 
However…..“2012” has become an industry in itself, with all the articles and books and videos being sold on the subject. Need a bit of fast cash? Whip something up on 2012, sell it to a new age magazine or get it published with a book company. Guaranteed way to pay your rent. [updated side note: Tonight, 11/14/08 we were at Barnes and Noble and in the metaphysics section, which wasn’t very big mind you, there were six books alone that I saw offhand with “2012” in the title. Including “2012 For Dummies.” o_0 Considering the relatively small size of the metaphysics section in that particular store, that’s kind of a lot I suppose.] There are people out there making a career at the moment peddling 2012 material, writing books and giving speeches. One really famous author/speaker in particular (who shall remain nameless….) was recently brought to my attention by a reader, who emailed me a link to one of this guy’s videos. I could only watch 14 minutes of the mumbo jumbo before having to turn it off. Inundating the viewer’s minds with rapid fire delivery of random bits and blurbs, boom boom boom! which in my opinion, is designed to overwhelm the viewer’s brain until it just zones out and goes into a light trance state, thus absorbing up without question everything that is said; getting particular facts wrong, apparently getting the physics/science of things wrong (according to my boyfriend who knows physics) not citing sources, and so on. I believe in some far out fringe woo-woo stuff, but this guy’s material in my opinion was capitalizing on the 2012 thing. I can recognize sincere people right away who truly know something about something, and are doing what they do out of a sincere desire to teach and share, and this guy is not it, to me. He has his nice little packaged slide show though of rapid fire random bits and blurbs and incorrect facts and wrong conclusions, using all the right current “in” lingo like “quantum” and whatnot (there’s like an interchangeable list of “in” words that all these 2012 books use: Mayan, Consciousness, Code, Quantum, Genesis, Key, Fractal, Prophesies, Transformation, Awakening, Changes, Return, Unlocking, Stargate, Age, Apocalypse, etc. etc. blah blah blah! Just mix and match your own customized 2012 book title: “2012: The return of the Mayan quantum fractal key unlocking the stargate code of global consciousness transformation!” It makes no sense, but it sure sounds all metaphysically cool! :D ) It’s all about learning to differentiate between form and substance.

Newbies to the subject of metaphysics and long standing new agers are being duped with dis/misinformation in my opinion, and even worse, often times are paying money for this silliness. And some of the biggest issues/qualms I have with the idea of 2012, as it’s being presented in many sources, are the following:

  • Where we’re getting this information from;
  • The fact that it’s the other side of the same “Christian Rapture” coin;
  • It promotes an inaccurate idea of what it means to “shift,” and narrows things down to only one magical date;
  • It inadvertently encourages apathy.

 
Let’s examine these ideas more in depth. (and not to sound like my perspective on things is coming from a place of being holier-than-thou and all perfected and saintly (!)……it’s just insight I’ve gleaned over the years, and the things that feel off to me when I read or hear about 2012.)

 
1. Where we’re getting this information from. A big part of the reason for why so many people believe that 12/12 represents an instantaneous shift to a new world is thanks to 30+ years worth of channeling of various entities, as well as the new age movement in general which has been heavily promoting this idea. As noted in the above excerpted email………some are even claiming that it’s all going to happen at 11:11 exactly. (11:11 is a HUGE one within the new age circles.) It just makes me roll my eyes to hear such specific proclamations about it all, down to the exact minute of when it’s going to happen. Have to keep in mind that channeling can be a dubious area, full of disinformation, trickster entities and government infiltration and corruption. Not only that, but you have to factor in the channeler’s own bias and ego into the equation. While I’ve encountered what seemed to me to be a few high quality channeling sources over the past few years of my research, overall I try to remain discerning and analytical with the whole thing. Too often people aren’t aware of the fact that there are higher realm trickster neg entities that like to toy with humans, or the fact that there is government/military infiltration within the New Age scene. So just because channeled entities or new age metaphysics gurus tell us how it is — or how it will be in the future — doesn’t mean it really is. So for me, I’m open to the idea of big changes happening as we approach 2012 and beyond, but I’m not going to believe it solely because channeled sources have said so. I’d like to find my own personal proof that this idea has validity, which is probably always a good idea in general for anything.

 
2. It’s the New Age version of “The Rapture.” Like Sananda, the New Age’s version of Jesus, ( he even looks like Jesus which is amazing considering that nobody knows what Jesus really looked like…) the New Age also has Ascension…..their equivalent of the Rapture. Same product, different package. Possibly some very valid ideas, ie, a great shift during these times, big changes for the planet and Mankind, etc., have been purposely hijacked onto the already existing Rapture ticket (something else that I think is misinformation), and distorted in order to lead people astray. And like the Christian Rapture, the New Age idea of Ascension, as it’s typically promoted, involves a select few being “chosen” to make it to the next level, so to speak, based on varying criteria. But I don’t believe a person’s evolution out of third density is about “judgment” and “chosen ones,” as implied, making it a process that’s determined externally by something “grading us” and giving us the “gold star.” That’s a mindset/belief that stems from a lifetime of programming that conditions us to be children at the mercy of higher authority figures who determine our fates for us, taking responsibility out of our hands. Rather, we as individuals determine our own evolution and whether we move beyond 3rd density. Which leads to….

 
3. Promotes an inaccurate idea of what it means to “Shift” and narrows it down to one date, and one date only. Many people believe that if they make the grade then one morning, namely December 21, 2012, they’re going to just……wake up in a new magical wonderful realm, called 4th density or what have you, and life will be all shiny and perfect. You just sit around until one day boom, you instantly shift over. Then life is 100% fixed and better, cue the happy New Age music and roll the credits, end of story.

Out of everything else, it’s this exact belief that stands out for me as being the most potentially dangerous or damaging, which I’ll get more into in a moment. From what I’ve been gathering, the process of “shifting” seems to be a gradual process, and is more about the idea of which realm/probable future you attract to yourself versus instantly switching over to some new world. Which means everything you do every day influences your future.

I think many people lack awareness of the concept of multiple probable future timelines and the idea of realms, and realm dynamics. It’s not their fault though for not knowing about these concepts. They’re not exactly taught to us in schools or heavily promoted for the average person to know in our society. But what it all means is that the future is not set in stone, there are different versions of it — known as timelines — that you can wind up on, and it’s all determined by the things you are doing in your life right now. Every day, with every choice you make, and every action and every word, you not only draw to yourself what sort of life you’d like to have, but you also determine which of those probable futures you’re going to wind up in.

So if there is some sort of shift occurring within our reality, then “shifting” is going to be an ongoing process that’s determined on a daily basis, eventually leading up to different people winding up in different probable future realties. That’s the simplified version of it anyway. ;) This means it’s also about taking an active responsibility for ourselves…now. Not sitting around for the next four years expecting to be magically rescued by aliens, Jesus, or galactic alignments. Which leads to….

 
4. It encourages apathy and victimhood. Always question the effects that a particular belief has on people. And in this case, what does the belief in overnight “ascension” into a new magical realm do? It promotes ineffectual apathy and lazy victimhood. Why? Because:

a) People are putting their lives on hold, believing that there is no point to anything because it’s all going to be over in a few years. I’ve even seen somebody ask on a messageboard what the point of life is between now and 2012. As if there was nothing worth living for or doing between now and then, such was his understanding that it’s just some instantaneous switcharoo into a new and magical realm, rendering everything in between to be pointless. !!!!!! What these people fail to realize is that it could all be over for them tomorrow. Next week. Next month. We’re all going to die, all of our lives have an expiration date. Does that mean you don’t live in the meantime? No! Of course not. So don’t assume that you’re going to be here next month, or that you’re going to live to be old, and live to see “ascension” and “2012.” You may not. This is a common teaching in many spiritual practices actually — being aware of death, and facing it, right now. We have to take that principle and apply it to the idea of 2012: Live life to its fullest today, in the now, and make the most of every moment you have.

Keep in mind too that “The Powers That Be” (TPTB) would love nothing more than for you to go belly up and put everything on hold in your life, believing in a future “end times” date…because this renders you ineffectual in the present. As just pointed out, many ascension believers seem to experience a lack of motivation or desire to do anything anymore from what I gather, such is their belief in this future end date. They’re technically still alive, and yet they’ve still been “taken out of the picture” you could say, only in a different way. The world can benefit from our help right now, but if we’re just lazing around, thinking, “Why bother? What’s the point?” all because of this — supposed — end date, (which may not even result in anything!) then TPTB win.

b) It encourages the idea of external salvation. People are sitting around waiting to be rescued, be it by aliens, Jesus, a 4th density shift, etc. This mindset of waiting for external salvation advocates not taking responsibility for yourself. But the bottom line is: Nobody else can save you. Only you can save yourself. We’re all responsible for pulling ourselves out of our own hole. There’s always positive stuff around that helps wherever possible, but we have to take the intiative and do our share of the work too. However, we’ve been conditioned over an entire lifetime via school, government, religion, police and society in general to give up our sovereignty to various higher authorities, which keeps us in a powerless, helpless childlike state of mind. So many grown adults out there in the world have trouble with just day-to-day sorts of activities, making decisions, taking charge of navigating through the world from what I’ve seen at my (quite numerous :D ) jobs over the years, to the point of being quite shocking. Let alone helping themselves when it comes to personal growth and empowerment. But this is exactly why “the system” has been set up around us the way it has in my opinion, to create that sort of a situation. Only when people remember and realize “who they are” and reclaim that sovereignty will things ever change.

*****

This past winter I was doing a reading with my Osho Zen Tarot and I was asking about the validity of “The Shift.” As I shuffled the cards I intended for my higher self, if it was interested and felt like conversing, to have a card pop out of the deck at me that answered my question. Is this infamous “Shift” real? Is there really something coming our way that’s going to change our reality as we know it? Or (gulp!) have we already missed that boat?? Is it too late?? Did it already happen?!! I mean, ‘cause there’s a thought you know. The big shift/wave has already swept through and me and everybody else in my reality are going down with the boat. !! I told my higher self that if it did make a card pop out of the deck, I’d do my best to figure out what it was about the card that it wanted me to see. Shuffle shuffle shuffle…….then out pops a card, onto the carpet. Turned it over and it was the card called “Moment to Moment.” To quote an excerpt of the card’s description from the accompanying deck’s book:

“The past is no more and the future is not yet: both are unnecessarily moving in directions which don’t exist. One used to exist, but no longer exists, and one has not even started to exist. The only right person is one who lives moment to moment, whose arrow is directed to the moment, who is always here and now; wherever he is, his whole consciousness, his whole being, is involved in the reality of here and in the reality of now. That’s the only right direction. Only such a man can enter into the golden gate. The present is the golden gate. Here-now is the golden gate…….”

What are the odds, really? Asking if some near-future shift/ascension is real, coming our way, or, if it’s already passed, and to get a card talking about time, and stressing that “the present is the golden gate.” Which ties into something I was told by my higher self in 2002…….that everything we do every day determines what timeline we wind up on. Stressing the importance of the now. The present. So, interesting “coincidence.” ;)

So, imagine what would happen should we start remembering and realizing “who we are” in the big cosmic sense of the word. A situation where we start seeing through the illusion, and going in a different direction from everybody else, living an existence that’s self empowering and in line with higher ideals. As mentioned, not only does that draw to you more positive immediate life surroundings and experiences, but it helps steer you onto the various probable – positive – futures. And it’s within those various future timelines, the ones that are in line with higher ideals, that eventually lead to realms beyond 3rd density. All of which means that if you’re somebody who would like to shoot for something higher, then it starts right now. Not four years from now. So take the initiative right now, and decide how your life is going to go, and make the most of what you can every day.