THE 2012 PHENOMENON

by Ivana Vachkova
(Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria)

Our Beautiful Sun

* The Solstice on December 21, 2012 ~ precisely at 11:11 AM Universal Time marks the completion of the 5,125 year Great Cycle of the Ancient Maya Long Count Calendar. Rather than being a linear end-point, this cycle that is closing is naturally followed by the start of a new cycle. What this new cycle has in store for humanity is a mystery that has yet to unfold...

2012 is also considered the completion of the 26,000 year Precession of the Equinoxes cycle, and some say it also signifies the end of a
104,000 year cycle.

* The 2012 date indeed marks the completion of this World Age Cycle. Rather
than something to fear, we can understand the 2012 prophecy as signaling us that we need to awaken and realize that these times on Earth
are auspicious; we are living in land-mark times in the history of our planet. We are collectively in a cross-roads moment that is calling
out to us to participate in our fullest capacity.

We are each being summoned to bring our inspiration and empowerment to the fore, as we must all take our places in transforming our human culture to be one of Harmony - with ourselves, with each other and with all of Nature.

Together we are in a great initiation process, living in times of unprecedented challenge, transformation and opportunity. This planetary
moment has never existed before as it does right now. Our human population is climbing off the charts, accelerating by the day, as is our
environmental crises and the vast whole-system struggles of peoples worldwide, both physically and spiritually. The old world mentality,
founded in separation, greed, ignorance, and unconscious consumer materialism, has reached dangerous peaks. Simultaneously, there has never
been so much possibility at our fingertips as there is right now. A new paradigm is trying to emerge in our world, through our hearts and minds, like a flower trying to grow through the cracks in the cement sidewalk. New comprehensions and new solutions are emerging in our collective
journey - from new sciences, to new economic models, new healing modalities, new energy technologies, new educational models, new forms of
conflict resolution, etc. These times of crisis are unifying us and catalyzing us to awaken to our personal and collective responsibilities
in this one planetary equation.

* Carlos Barrios said with regard to 2012:

"Our planet can be renewed or ravaged. Now is the time to awaken and take action...The prophesized changes are going to happen, but our attitude and actions determine how harsh or mild they are. This is a crucially important moment for humanity and for earth. Each person is important. If you have incarnated into this era, you have spiritual work to do balancing the planet...The greatest wisdom is in simplicity. Love, respect, tolerance, sharing, gratitude, forgiveness. It's not complex or elaborate. The real knowledge is free. It's encoded in your DNA. All you need is within you. Great teachers have said that from the beginning. Find you heart, and you will find your way."

An important point made by Carlos Barrios, is that in regards to the warnings from the ancients of possible catastrophies yet to come, it is
critical we realize that it is within our power to change the outcome. He says it is within our power to prevent the worst case self-destruction
scenarios from happening, and instead rise to a new level of evolution.

As Mr. Barrios shares: "This is the time people need to know what is the purpose of their own lives. This is a dangerous time because we can go to the next step, to the transition, to the fusion of the polarities, or it is a time when we can be destroyed. This materialistic way of life, all this business about economic and social position in the world, it needs to change and the people need to go inside themselves in order to know what they are and to find harmony with the mother earth, with human beings, with their brothers, with the animals, with the plants. It's an important time because we are in the moment of the prophesies and humanity can be destroyed or we can be saved, all together."

* With all the talk about 2012, there is only one ancient stone monument with Mayan inscriptions that depicts the end of the current 13-baktun era in 2012: Tortuguero Monument #6, erected around 670 AD in Tabasco, Mexico. By
decoding this inscription, archeologists where able to determine the end of the 13 Baktun Cycle Long Count Calendar Cycle is December 21, 2012; 4 Ahau. This ancient monument links our modern world to a larger, mythic story of unfolding. The Tortuguero monument is reported as originally being a T-shaped monument covered with inscriptions. Shown here is the right-hand "wing." Sadly, the left "wing" of the monument is missing, the central section is partly effaced, and the part where the prophecy is recorded has a big crack through it, making full translation virtually impossible!

* The ancient Mayans had many advanced abilities and most importantly
ancient knowledge, probably oroginating from sources that are not immediately apparent at this time. Among these abilities were mathematics,
astronomy, and prophecy based upon past world and astronomical events.

The Mayans knew that nothing ever happens by "chance" in the Universe, even though it often seems like it from a narrow human, temporal
experiential perspective. The Mayans knew that everything happens in cycles of varying lengths, cycles that correspond precisely to past and
future cosmic and world events.

Many of these events are the result of the one factor common to everything in the Universe without exception; Energy, which can manifest
at any level from the Universal to the individual.

* The present-day Maya, as a whole, do not attach much significance to 2012. Although the calendar round is still used by some Maya tribes in the Guatemalan highlands, the Long Count was employed exclusively by the classic Maya, and was only recently rediscovered by archaeologists.23 Mayan elder Apolinario Chile Pixtun and Mexican archaeologist Guillermo Bernal both note that "apocalypse" is a Western concept that has little or nothing to do with Mayan beliefs. Bernal believes that such ideas have been foisted
on the Maya by Westerners because their own myths are "exhausted".4 24 Mayan archaeologist Jose Huch complains that "If I went to some
Mayan-speaking communities and asked people what is going to happen in 2012, they wouldn't have any idea. That the world is going to end?
They wouldn't believe you. We have real concerns these days, like rain".

Regarding the ever-increasing attention on the December 21, 2012 date, the living Maya of Guatemala urgently want it to be known that their ancient prophecies have been distorted and misportrayed as doomsday predictions. They do not advocate all the fear and hysteria that is being generated by the sensationalized 2012 rumors, and they want people to be aware that most of the 2012 (mis)information being put out is not sourced from the Maya or their calendars whatsoever, even though it may appear to be
associated with them. Depending on who you talk to, one can find evidence that some living Maya endorse the 2012 date as being of critical importance, while some may not be aware of it, or do not necessarily agree with its projected significance. Some think it is a matter for the shamans and priests, and do not relate to the westernized apocalyptic themes we've married the 2012 date to.

See other 2012 questions