So done with 2012

Alright, let's stop talking about 2012.  Well, not until I've finished this blog post but still.  I was reminded about the end of the world prophecy this morning as I rolled out of bed to get ready for a pretty busy day and was ticked off to be reminded again that supposedly the world will end in December 2012.  I am a skeptic on this whole thing. Really?  End of the world?  Sure some people may get blown up considering the political situation at hand, but I don't think the world is going to end.  

You know who's partially responsible for this?  This guy right here: 

That's right, I'm pinning it all on you Nostradamus, with your vague predictions of the world.  I really don't even think he could predict when he next passed gas, let alone the end of the world.  I doubt there really is a man that can predict when the world ends, especially if they write as vaguely as this guy did.  Look at these interpretations that are supposed to point to the many bad things that are supposed to happen by 2012.   Here is the "prophecy" that is supposed to predict World War Three:

By River Danube and Rhine shall come to drink The great camel which shall not repent Trembling is River Rhone and most violent for for those near River Loire And near Alps the Cock shall ruin them.

Really?  Maybe he was just saying the circus came to Europe for a tour and the elephant tripped near Rhone while the lions got out in Loire.  Alps, I'm sorry guys but I think that means bird flu.  Seriously guys, that is vaguer than my horoscope on yahoo when I check that email every morning. 

"But d20 Sapphire, the Mayans predicted the end of the world too!"  No, they didn't, you're just being silly now.  First of all, December 21-23 (I hear multiple versions of the actual end date) is the end of the calendar cycle that lasts 5,126 years.  Think about how long that is.  Now if you were in a society that didn't have the luxury of carbon dating or didn't have the capacity to figure out how old the universe is (which is pretty damn old) you would probably think that nothing could last that long when the average life span barely goes past 50 years.  Think about it, if you knew of nothing that you could prove was older than the oldest person in your village or city, would you think anything could get any older?  So thinking the world couldn't last that long is actually very logical if you don't have any science to prove otherwise.

Also, the mayan calendar still doesn't suggest an armageddon scenario.  It suggests the end of an era and the birth of a new one.  Here you can find some articles agreeing with that assessment, with varying degrees of legitimacy.  However, all the statement to this new era are a lot more legit than the people saying that in 2012 the end is coming.  The Mayans celebrated the end of a cycle, and didn't fear it.  Also, they were wiser than they realized considering that the date that ends their cycle also is the same time the center of the Milk Way Galaxy aligns with our sun and Earth.  As awesome as that is, I don't think it means the world will end.

I think that the Mayan calendar is getting the same bad reputation that the death card in a tarot deck does.  Not that I believe in tarot... okay I did when I was in high school, give me a break.  But there was one thing I learned that was super important: do not fear the death card.  The death card in tarot is more like Shiva in the hindu faith, in that it represents a transformation.  It's about a life reborn, the coming of a new age.  For those people who are just fearful of change, this could be a scary card.  However there are a lot of people who think that the death card means that they will die.  That's a common misconception, and I can understand why a card that says death on it would make someone think that.  But alas, it really is about change.  It's about a radical difference that will be felt.

When you start thinking about it, I wouldn't be surprised if 2012 is the beginning of a new era.  We have politicians who aren't all slimey in high positions, we have hope being the theme in one of the most powerful countries of the world, and technology is so pervasive there is no way a country will be able to escape it in the long run.  Oh, and an economic crisis that will change the way we think about money.  Don't forget that.  

2012 is not the end, but the beginning of a time we should be eager to see.