Like Francis Ford Coppola’s epic film, this part of my series on how to prepare for 2012 is entitled “Apocalypse Now” to emphasize the fear with which people tend to view the end of the world.
A critic might say that fear is an appropriate response to the thought that the world may end suddenly in 2012. However, I wish to remove that fear from your thoughts. For it is only when we are fearless and unconcerned with this possibility that we can most efficiently prepare for 2012, which is indeed the end of the age, although not the end of the world.
A tiptoe through etymology is helpful here in order to dispel confusion. The phrase which is used in the Holy Bible’s Book of Apocalypse is apokalupsis eschaton, which is translated “revelation at the end of the age”. The revelation suggested by St. John, the writer of the Book, is that Jesus is the Messiah. While both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible are full of suggestions that something drastic will happen when Jesus comes again, there is no surety that this drastic event will signal the sudden destruction of the world. Indeed, in matters of faith, there is never any surety. The seeker must proceed with only his discrimination, discernment and an inner sense of resonance for guidance as he lives his life in faith.
As we found in Part One of this series, three sources agree that this date of 2012 is indeed the end of the age. The Mayans call it the end of the thirteenth baktun of the Age of the Fifth Sun, an age which spans roughly 5, 126 years.
The Mayan Calendar does not suggest that 2012 is the end of the world. It suggests, rather, that on the winter solstice of 2012, the noonday Sun exactly conjuncts the crossing point of the sun’s ecliptic with the galactic plane, while also closely conjuncting the exact center of the galaxy. This event is heralded by increasing solar flare activity and culminates in the dawning of the age of the Sixth Sun.
The classical Western astrologers call 2012 the end of the Age of Pisces, an age which has spanned 2,000 years or so. This figure is 1/12th of 24,000 years. So a round of all twelve signs of the zodiac equals one minor cycle of the Confederation’s Density of Choice. The inference is that it takes three rounds of the astrological signs, from Aquarius to Pisces, to equal the one major cycle of third density, or the Density of Choice. These figures are not exact but approximate, both in astrology and in the Confederation cosmology. But I feel they are close enough to be useful.
Western Astrologers do not suggest that this date represents the end of the world. The association in Aquarius is that of the servant of humanity pouring out the water of love and understanding to quench the thirst of the weary world. Mythically, this Age of Aquarius is expected to usher in an era of peace and brotherhood.
The Confederation sources channeled through L/L Research suggest that 2012 is the end of third density, the Density of Choice, which has spanned somewhat over 75,000 years on Earth. They further suggest that it is the beginning of fourth density, the Density of Love.
If all of this is so, why do people fear 2012? Why fear the dawning of the Sixth Sun, the Age of Aquarius or the beginning of Fourth Density? I believe that the kneejerk response of fear has to do with the deep psychology of our minds. I believe that our fear of the end of the world is a projection into the general of our specific and largely unacknowledged fear of our own coming physical deaths.
The joke is, “I have decided that I will live forever. So far, so good!”
The serious side of that joke is that it is very hard – almost impossible – to know, in the gnostic sense, that our death is inevitable. Our values are all on the side of the continuation of this physical life. We cheer when we evade death in an accident of nature such as a tornado or of human error such as a car crash. We pray most sincerely for the healing of those who are sick. We tend not to pray, “May they be healed into larger life or back into this life, whichever is Your will.
We want them to come back to us, period.
We do not consciously quibble with the apparent truth of the inevitability of our coming death. We see that people always die. As we get older, our personal roster of those who have gone on before us gets longer. And yet we still cannot quite fathom the fact of our coming demise. Do we want to walk this Earth forever? Do we want to hang onto our aging physical bodies for eternity and patch, patch, patch? Apparently.
There are those who practice dying as a means to being freed to live a fuller life. Native American shamans as well as holy men of many other cultures practice the art of dying in vision quests or dreams where the shadow of death overtakes the initiate again and again. Awakening from the dream of one’s own death, the initiate has an emphatically joyful response to the escape and realizes the precious nature of each and every moment of his remaining life.
However most of us let thoughts of death go and concern ourselves with the minutiae of our busy days, making and keeping appointments, raising our children, paying our bills if we can, scurrying after money if we have cannot and dealing with the web of relationships that shapes the tenor of our days on Earth. We give a passing acknowledgment to our own mortality. But if we receive a diagnosis commonly seen to be fatal, it triggers a whole range of deeply felt responses within us, as if our coming death was a complete surprise.
Our religious training does not help us much in becoming fearless before the thought of our eventual physical death. Scriptures are there in every holy work to aid us. But the fact of our coming death is not usually preached from the pulpit, except to terrify the sinner with fire and brimstone and bully him into repentance and obedience to dogmatic demands. So when religion does work to make us aware of death as a part of life, it generally wishes to engender fear within us. And this does not help us to prepare for our deaths. It only helps us to live our lives in fear.
Since I died, briefly, when I was 13, I am fearless before the prospect of my own demise. The after-world was a wonderful place! However, that experience has caused me to relish every single remaining day of this life and to intend to make maximal use of it in service to the Creator and to humankind. I came back from my conversation with the Divine Voice-Over, whose words sparkled in the sky of my after-world, aware that I was a woman on a mission and that I had better stay on task if I wanted to hear, “Servant, well done!” the next time I passed into my after-world.
Perhaps the most convincing argument to lay before you in order to encourage fearlessness when it comes to our own coming deaths is this: let’s say the alarmists of apocalypse and ascension are right. Let’s say that, at 11:11 a.m. on December 21, 2012, the world ends.
One supposition is that after that, we are no more. That sounds painless! Our “strife is o’er, our battle done,” in the words of the hymnist. We are off the hook forever. No more decisions, no more hunger or thirst, no more angst.
Another supposition is that after that, we pass before God in His role as Judge. We are sorted out by God the Librarian into hell and heaven as destinations. I do not believe most people have thought deeply about how ridiculous these option are.
Supposedly, those in hell burn forever in a lake of fire. Or, following Dante’s inventive imagination, they push a rock uphill forever like Sisyphus. There are many ways to picture eternal damnation. However they sound far too much like things that might happen to us while we are still alive. Where is our body for the burning? It is in the grave, or scattered to the winds. Where is our nose for the pushing? It is dust. The myths fall apart upon closer examination.
Supposedly, too, those who make it to heaven sing and play on the harp forever. I love to sing, mind you, and I love to praise the Lord! I always have a song on my lips or in my head. But to sing forever sounds like far too much of a good thing. Again, the myth of heaven cannot outpicture for us a place that has the feel of reality. Upon examination it fades into silliness. How can we relate to these obviously anthropomorphic outcomes of “hell” and “heaven”? How can we take them seriously?
The Confederation suggests that at the time of our death we switch our consciousness to our energy body and walk the steps of light. If the ascension or apocalypse came at the same time for us all, there would be quite a crowd on those steps! Yet it would not be scary. It would be a party! We could take our walk up those steps of light with our companions. I can just see us, walking along happily into the ever increasing light, with our loved ones around us and our guidance by our sides. There is nothing remotely fearful about this supposition. Indeed, were it to occur, I think we would all enjoy the moment thoroughly. And our future would open before us!
Beginning with Part Three of this series, I will talk about the Confederation view of how to prepare for 2012. Their suggestions are based upon our understanding of death as an event which engenders no fear, hence my work in this present article as I try to bring you to a more realistic connection with how you feel about your coming death. Fear plays no part in the Confederation cosmology! Let it play no part in ours!
I open my arms and embrace your spirit! Let us be fearless before the prospect of our deaths, and fearless alike before the prospect of our continued lives within the veil of our present incarnations! Let us rise to meet what comes with hope and faith, and go forth into the passion play of life in joy and thanksgiving! I walk with you into the adventures which lie ahead!