The 2012 Story

previously written articles on “human potential” by adding a few references to 2012 here and there. This introduces a problem in the popular treatment of 2012, that of the “insta-expert” who, having gained market share with previous successes, is called upon to comment on 2012 and instantly is hailed as a longtime student of Maya thought and traditions. Or 2012 becomes merely an icon to speak about responsible business practices, with no reference to the Maya or the Maya calendar needed. It’s all a bit strange, I must say. Nevertheless, interviewers, journalists, and anthology publishers who take up the 2012 topic do have a difficult challenge.

The publishing industry has been struggling to figure out how to “brand 2012.” Sounds True invited me to give a presentation to national marketing reps at the International New Age Trade Show in Denver in 2007. I emphasized what I’ve been saying for years: A well-documented reconstruction of the 2012 cosmology has been offered, the Maya material says nothing about apocalypse, cycle endings are about transformation and renewal, there are relevant spiritual teachings in the Maya material that speak to the challenges that arise during cycle endings, the Maya prophecy for 2012 has come true (see Chapter 9), and a Maya renaissance is afoot that bodes a larger shift of consciousness, away from the current dominator style of culture (to use the terminology of Riane Eisler).⁴⁵ It made sense to them that 2012 could, and should, be engaged proactively and doomsday should be relegated to the back burner. Sounds True continues to publish broad-spectrum offerings on 2012 in print and audio formats. They are a good resource for what people are saying on 2012, with which the public can judge for themselves. This process will at least identify how collective humanity is going to engage, internalize, and shape the 2012 meme for good or bad.

QUETZALCOATL RETURNS

Daniel Pinchbeck appeared on the 2012 stage in 2006 with his book 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. The title refers to a basic idea in Mesoamerican religion revolving around the deity figure called Quetzalcoatl (also known as the Plumed Serpent). As Frank Waters explained so beautifully in his book Mexico Mystique, this serpent bird represents the integration of opposites. Pinchbeck applied this idea to 2012 and believes that 2012 signals the development of spirituality beyond being fixated on dualisms. This is, of course, the goal of any spiritual tradition. The appearance of Daniel’s book took me by surprise, as I had communicated with him by e-mail three or four years earlier. When I received the book, I was glad that Daniel had summarized my work on the galactic alignment and at Izapa. He had visited Arguelles in Portland and found Calleman’s theory of interest, and shared a lot of confessional narratives of his personal journey, struggles, psychedelic visions, and observations.

I shared a series of weekend conference events with Daniel in the fall of 2008—in New York, Arkansas, Florida, and San Francisco. Conference engagements can be both intriguing and exhausting, and we didn’t have much time to sit on the sidelines and talk. I try to keep an open mind, and Daniel states he is in service of the development of spirituality. It may be my defect, but there’s something about Daniel that is enigmatic, that I can’t quite grok. He’s popularized the 2012 “meme” but doesn’t really approach it through Maya traditions or teachings. He has good ideas about community building and economic restructuring but thinks Calleman’s problematic system is compelling. He speaks of opening consciousness to transformation, which requires transcending the ego, but wants us to read about his personal history, psychosexual adventures, and visions. He’s about my age and we might have hung out in high school; then again, he might have been the guy to slip LSD in my coffee. This contradictory nature perhaps is his embodiment of Quetzalcoatl, the dual-natured serpent bird.

Daniel has made a name for himself as something of a pop icon, speaking at Burning Man, appearing on The Colbert Report, and embarking on vision trips to South America. He tells us in his book Breaking Open the Head that he was a typical New York City skeptic, suspicious of spiritual things, until his mind was opened with shamanism and ayahuasca (a South American brew made with DMT, a powerful hallucinogen). That book, which appeared in 2002, placed him next in line after Timothy Leary and the late Terence McKenna as an advocate for the transformative power of psychoactive plants. He can be lighthearted, relating the humorous story of his appearance on The Colbert Report, when Colbert said, “Daniel, you’ve been called the next Timothy Leary… We just got rid of the last one, why do we need another?”

One effect of his 2012 book was to shift the 2012 topic away from the need to reference the achievements and perspectives of Maya civilization. The “2012 meme” doesn’t require them. The debates and confusions caused by Calleman’s end date and Arguelles’s Dreamspell day-count were quickly summarized and passed by, as if the question of accuracy in representing the 2012 calendar weren’t that important. And the truth is, for most people it isn’t. So Pinchbeck adopted 2012 as a general icon to springboard the “development of spirituality” with a sense of urgency. His subsequent talks and his Reality Sandwich website have addressed political and economic dilemmas and questions, as well as practical challenges of sustainability. He thus speaks to younger people who are concerned with creating a viable future by adopting sustainable values. This would be, following one of McKenna’s ideas, a kind of “archaic revival.”

To me, this development was inevitable. The market forces that impel the 2012 discussion were destined to eventually detach it from its roots in Maya tradition. Concern for having the correct day-count, understanding how the Long Count works, visiting Maya temples, and studying the Maya Creation Myth would be superseded by developing alternative fuels, learning how to grow seeds, creating community gardens and eco-villages, and practicing neoshamanism. At first this was perplexing to me, but I now feel more inclined to be grateful that proactive efforts to transform the world into a better, sustainable place for human beings to live are happening. Along these lines, James Endredy’s book Beyond 2012: A Shaman’s Call to Personal Change and the Transformation of Global Consciousness is a good guide into these spiritual, shamanistic, and environmental areas of interest. This is certainly much better than evangelizing one’s own inventive calendar system or model of history. And it will free serious research concerned with reconstructing ancient Maya cosmology from having to deal with the impossible question “What’s going to happen in 2012?”

This may all lead to the 2012 Big Event, never mind all the debates and details, and perhaps Pinchbeck will be willing to serve the transformation as the 2012 meme leader. I’m glad someone might be willing to do it. You can “Party Like It’s 2012” at Harmonic Convergence Part 2, in New York City, Amazonia, Chaco Canyon, Mount Shasta, wherever. But take into consideration that, as Dennis McKenna warned, parking will probably be a hassle.

WHO IS CHARLIE FROST?

Charlie Frost? He’s the creation of Sony Pictures, or some subsidiary of them. If you view the trailer for Roland Emmerich’s blockbuster doomsday film, called “2012” and starring John Cusack and Amanda Peet (due out in November 2009), you’ll see the following words appear while the high Hima layas get smothered by a huge tidal wave: “If the world was going to end, what would governments do to warn you? Nothing.”⁴⁶ Wow, it’s a striking scene. And at the bottom of the page, you can click on two links: One is to “The Institute for Human Continuity.” This website appears slick, a cleverly designed backstory about a scientific organization committed to humanity’s survival. You can register, and you’ll be entered into the lotto for the selected few (144,000; sounds a bit crowded to me) who will be protected from the coming cataclysm. Properly understood, this is viral marketing, a rather clever way to create interactive participation with audiences and gather their personal information at the same time. It’s a triple foil: a culture-control operation masquerading as a fake and fun front group that will save you, masquerading as a doomsday movie. A wolf in sheep’s clothing in wolf’s clothing in sheep’s clothing.

The other link (thisistheend.com) will take you to Charlie Frost. You know immediately this is a parody, because it’s Woody Harrelson dressed as a cyber-clever Joe Six-Pack, an “apocalypse prognosticator” who is an amalgam of Sean Penn’s lovable stoner, Spicoli, and a savvy Prophet of Whatever. He is going to help you understand 2012 and other confusing things. Oh, and don’t forget to register your personal information for updates. He’s a radical nonconformist stoner type with a Join the Club subtext. And