The blockbuster film 2012, released in 2009, stated that the world would come to an end on 21 December 2012. The film, thousands of books and fevered speculation on the internet quote the end of the five-thousand year cycle of the Mayan Long Count calendar as prophesying a global catastrophe on this date.
But leaders of the Mayan people of Central America, whose ancestors devised the intricate calendar, disagree.
They say that it marks the end of an era of our materialistic world-view and lifestyles rather than the material world. 2012 is for them, the end of an unsustainable era and offers us the opportunity of a collective breakthrough to a more harmonious and balanced worldview.
Don Alejandro Cirilo Perez Oxlaj the 13th generation leader of the Mayan Council of Elders, and the primary wisdom keeper of the Mayan prophecies relating to 2012, says not to believe the people who are threatening the world with catastrophe – and not to be afraid.
He describes 2012 as a time for us to collectively ‘wake up.’ His message of hope and empowerment is for the world to come together in a new era of co-operation, sustainable development and peace.
But will 2012 herald breakdown or breakthrough? The Mayans say, clearly and with compassion that the choice is ours to make…..
Scientists have now demonstrated that films and especially one as terrifying – and mass marketed - as 2012 can have huge negative psychological impacts.
Fear is much more than a mental state. As neurologists have shown, whilst short-term fear releases adrenaline to stimulate the evolutionary fight or flight response, acute fear and prolonged anxiety not only release other stress-related hormones but condition our brains to continue with this chemical production, even when the cause of the fear stops. Under such conditions, our immune systems are disrupted and chemicals that are toxic to our tissues, especially those of the heart, are released.
And crucially these harmful psychological and physical effects are the same, whether the fear is real or imagined.
But Don Alejandro the leader of the Mayans, says, instead of a time for fear, this should be viewed as a time of hope…We say it is time for the Path for HOPE – Healing Our People & Earth.
And as scientists also now recognize, emotions such as hope, joy and gratitude have a corresponding positive effect on our psychological and physical well-being.
So rather than falling into fear, the Mayans counsel us to leap into love. They say that 2012 can be a new beginning for humanity – the choice is ours to make….Join us. The Momentum is happening. Be a Seed for Change.
