2012: Last Bastion of the Disenfranchised

Following is Rick’s opinion of the 2012 phenomenon. As mentioned in the previous post, I have a somewhat different perspective, which will be posted here in the near future. All food for thought — and discussion, should you chose to participate.  ~Whitehawk

                                                      

The 2012 phenomenon can all too easily become a form of archetypal mass possession that has afflicted the West since at least the first millennium, when thousands awaited the end of the world. While I do not discount prophecy, the turning of the ages, or the presence of new vibratory rates on the planet, the hope that some external agency will change the core of who we are is ultimately naïve and disempowering. Apocalyptic consciousness and the concurrent belief that some form of angelic or demonic cataclysm will fundamentally transform the earth, takes on many forms, and the 2012 Mayan/Venus harmonic seems to be the latest version.

What is clear in all too many forms of visionary, prophetic discourse is an effort to escape from current conditions, and a desperate hope that some future event will settle the scores of unjust and inexplicable happenings on earth. What they tend to feature in common is an inability to live in and appreciate the present moment in all of its fullness and glory.  In the biblical sense, any speculation about the future violates the commandment (“Thou shall not bear false witness”), for the future is not given to us to know, and every form of futuristic speculation takes us out of the present moment, where all resolution lies.

So why do people jump in the bandwagons of Y2k, 2012, and the like, as lemmings rush down to the sea? I suspect it has something to do with the poverty of our own lives. The day, with its glorious sunrise and sunsets, is no longer enough. The divine songs of the birds, the rustling of the leaves in the wind, and the beautifully profound faces of people pass us by unnoticed, for beauty does not demand our attention. We are free to ignore its divine calls. Hence, we are afflicted with the fever of becoming, egged on by the media and the economy, our lives become so fast and meaningless, that we need the injections of a cataclysmic hope for tomorrow. And finally, apocalyptic prophecy has always been the last bastion of the disenfranchised, as in the Ghost Dance period of Native America. If I am not getting a piece of the pie now, if oppression becomes overwhelming, I can project a better time to come, and allow my unwavering belief and commitment to it to get me through another day.

This is not to say that visions like 2012 do not have value. They can be tremendously helpful if we do not take them literally, but rather see them as visionary constructs that can allow us to see what kind of world we really want to create, and what legacy we want to pass on to our children’s children. Then, when we wake up on “the day after” and see that the same world is present before our eyes, and that our ongoing challenges remain, we can role up our sleeves and commit to the real work: the step-by-step purification of our lives, the visioning and creation of community, the honoring of the earth, and the humility to accept the life we have been given, receive its gifts, and offer them back to the glorious mystery of life.

Something Different re: 2012

Greetings, All~

This space is going to be featuring something a little different over the coming days; I (Whitehawk) thought I’d send out advance notice re: what to expect, and invite your participation.

Setup:  Several days ago, Rick sent me a little piece he wrote about the 2012 phenomenon, to post here. This is not the same one that was posted last week. When that one went up, the traffic here really spiked, and I mentioned to Rick I suspected it had to do with the “hot” 2012 topic. He then said he had another 2012 piece…  something he wrote for the 2012 website that Sounds True has up in support of their blockbuster book, The Mystery of 2012: Predictions, Prophecies & Possibilities (featuring essays by Gregg Braden, Daniel Pinchbeck, Jean Houston, John Major Jenkins, Jose Arguelles, and others).

Here’s the thing:  Rick was reticent to send me his second 2012 piece, because he suspected I wouldn’t appreciate it.

He was right.

Before continuing with this 2012 issue, it may serve to provide a little backstory about my association with Rick. We have known each other for years. We have shared many experiences and conversations; we know one another quite well. And within this “alembic,” varieties of energies kick up between us… one of them being the occasional spar. We can set off charged reflections in each other. In fact, when we met, he commented that I seem “just like him, but in a concave mirror.” In other words, where he zigs, I zag, in quite an illustrious dance of opposites. Within this context, all manner of themes have received “air time” (not to mention fire, water & earth), and — while we share an overall collegiate connection — the alchemical mix can generate a lively froth on occasion!

Rick’s new 2012 commentary, which I’ll post here in the next day or so, invited some froth. (Appropriate timing: full moon.) When I first read it, I responded in all sweetness and light that I did not appreciate his POV, and he and I obviously come from different universes.

His response: “I didn’t think you would like it.”  He then toned down his attitude a tad in an edit, and that is what will be posted here soon.

Now, here is where the rest of us come in, if anyone else will join the discussion. If not, then I will be a lone soul in the lion’s den (what else is new), because I will be posting my personal thoughts regarding 2012 after Rick’s post has been in the spotlight for a while.

I am a little nervous about this, because this is a space frequented by Jarow fans. I may be mauled here, we’ll see! I know upon whose turf I tread. But letting this one slide by without offering another perspective to the phenomenon generally referred to as “2012″ went against my Aquarian nature.  So… a bit of difference rather than deference on this particular topic.

Stay tuned… and prepare to assume your position at the keyboard to offer your input, if so moved. This is, after all, a community BLOG. I trust we can keep it civil!

Big Frothy Photons,

Whitehawk

2012: The Individual and Interdependence

On the cusp of the 2012 harmonic, we work to integrate our cultural past, to take what can really work for a New Age, and finally let the rest go. Perhaps nothing, in this regard, defines us or confines us, and  also offers us new realities like our over-arching economic systems.  From the point of view of consciousness, however, both capitalism and socialism are states of mind projected outward toward the world, and because these projections have concretized themselves so deeply into our imaginings, histories, and activities, they cannot just be upended. They will not disappear, but they may be transformed.
     
Capitalism may be re-envisioned as more than mindless profiteering. Of course, if individuals acted like some multinational corporations do, they would immediately be imprisoned, by even the most open society. Running around like an elephant in a garden, trampling communities, individuals, and the natural world, and using financial influence to control governments and the like are the extreme manifestations of individualism unchecked by any greater sense of belonging or responsibility.
     
Socialism, on the other hand, may be re-envisioned as more than government-controlled economies and the stifling of individual initiatives to conform to some hardened group concept. The dramatic failure of this approach is visible in the economic and social backwardness of every state-controlled, totalitarian system and in their need to resort to violence to maintain power.   
 

When we look within, however, we see these aspects in ourselves. We are the profiteers, calculating everything in our own life in terms of personal or extended personal benefit. And we are the hardliners who cling to the way things are and castigate the parts of ourselves that may dare to blaze new pathways. On the other hand, the capitalism of inventiveness, awareness of opportunity, and just and free exchange is what has made freedom of expression and hope possible. And socialism, likewise, has offered universal compassion and awareness of the larger ramifications of our actions, along with a genuine inclusiveness that elevates the human spirit.

    
What if we dare to bring these states of mind into the alchemical alembic of our lives, into the vessel of our musings and actions? Might it be possible to hold the opposites of the individual and the group in such a patient and clear way that they ultimately transform one another? Can we create communities that we can depend upon and interact with, and that can yet allow individuals to pursue their own dreams? Can we foster individual strength and initiative that can be simultaneously and joyously responsible to the community, the environment, and the expanse of generations?
     
In many ways, the Advanced Manifestation Groups that have grown out of the Creating the Work You Love seminars are laboratories of future possibilities. We meet in circles, holding a group energy that demands the presence and accountability of every individual. We work on ourselves, clarifying our own intentions and projects, while receiving the support of others, whose experiences and various forms of expertise may be incredibly relevant to and supportive of our own. Everyone is accepted by being listened to, no one is excluded, and with time, a sense of belonging emerges that does not block individual freedom. This, of course, is just one of many like forms that are emerging on the planet, but it is the emergence that is crucial. The life-threatening and oppressive economies of the world cannot be allowed to rob people of their opportunities to live soulfully and truthfully through mindless commoditization, useless productivity, state controlled imaginations, lifeless secularity, and the utter disregard of the natural world.
      
Our lives are too precious to sell out the possibility of true vocation for anaesthetized comfort and fear-based security. Come join us in transforming our work to gift our families and our futures with the best that has been given to us.