2012- the end or the beginning?

2012, the apocalypse, Doomsday,....we have been over-fed with these terms in the recent times, and according to some, the beginning of the end is here, as proved by the monstrous tsunami and the series of earthquakes that rocked Japan in March, 2011.

2012- the movie

The Mayan calendar predicts the 'end' of the world in clear terms, by 2012. We live in fear, as the impending doom approaches us, and threatens to erase the very essence of 'life' from the face of the Green planet- our very own Mother Earth. However, what intrigues us, is the eerie feeling of not knowing what the future holds for us, the Earthlings. Will we be obliterated, by a giant meteor grazing against the Earth? Will there be a nuclear catastrophe? Will we be overpowered by a smarter race of extra terrestrial life? Will we perish as a consequence of global warming and the resulting natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, sudden eruption of dormant volcanoes and melting of glaciers? Will there be a pole-shift resulting in drastic climate changes? What is it, that we are scared of? The baffling queries surrounding the myth (?) of 2012 are unnerving. However, that does not stop us from delving deeper into this concept to try and unearth a few plausible answers.

The Mayan calendar

The ancient Mayan civilization  flourished in Central America (in mainland Guatemala and Mexico, to be precise) in the 5th to 9th century AD and was surprisingly gifted in Mathematics and Astronomy. These people were fond of calculations up to 10 decimal points, and predicted the world events in cycles, and subsequently their calendar shows predictions ranging up to a 5,125 year long series of cycles which ends on December 21st, 2012. How the world will end, or whether it will 'end' at all, is however an open-ended query. It is said that the Mayans as well as the lesser known 'Hopi' tribes or Native Americans, both predicted this supposed 'end of the world'. However, the very word 'apocalypse' which means 'revelation' in Greek, perhaps can provide an explanation of this much-feared event. Some researchers feel, what the Mayans and the Hopis were talking about was the end of a world age, not the world itself. Thus, 2012, is being viewed by some as the spark of a new beginning- a world which will be radically different from the one we live in, spiritually and physically.

The Mayan people

Some theories suggest that there could be a marked shift from patriarchy to a matriarchy, since the final 'glyph' or picto-gram in the Mayan calendar suggests the transfer of the staff of power to the female spirit. Some suggest, that a cataclysmic event will wipe out 90 percent of the world's population, while the remaining 10 percent will learn to live in harmony with the Earth, without wasting the world's resources and polluting the environment or destroying nature.

 

Similarly, interesting revelations from the Hindu scriptures suggest that the Hindu God Krishna had predicted in the 'Brahma Vaibarta purana', that the new Golden age is to begin 5000 years after the 'Kali yuga'. This view amazingly overlaps with the Mayan and Hopi prediction of a 'transition' into a new world.

Another theory, is that of the supporters of Michel de Nostradamus, the French pharmacist, who rightly predicted many a world event, including the two world wars. It is believed that Nostradamus predicted that a major comet will wreak havoc on the Earth, as it strikes our planet and creates major natural disasters. This event may also bring about massive chaos on our planet and might be the reason for another world war caused due to the consequent period of anarchy.

Nostradamus

These and many such theories have added to the general guilt of the common man, on this planet, for contributing to the immense destruction of nature, the pollution and the mindless wastage of natural resources. Be it through the depiction of a green world without an ounce of pollution at the end of the contemporary epic movie '2012' or through the ultimate life-saving attempt by countries such as Norway, Israel and of course, the United States of America, who are rumored to be building underground bunkers and shelters for their citizens (Russian firm 'Vivos' has already built nuclear-blast proof underground shelters in the US), the earth-lings have succumbed to the fear of 2012.

An underground shelter constructed by Russian firm 'Vivos'

None of us know what 2012 could be exactly. Similarly, we are not sure if this is all 'much ado about nothing', and merely a re-run of the hype surrounding the '2000 bug' or 'the millennium'. However, something is certain: all we can do, amidst scores of rumors and massive uncertainty is, live our lives to the fullest, today.