Following upon the previous World View which focused on natural disasters, this time we consider the predicted disasters that loom in human consciousness as prophecies.Various names have been given to these pending catastrophes, such as “Armageddon”, the “End Times”, “Judgment Day”, and the apocalypse.Specifically, we look ahead two years to a prediction which is viewed in some quarters as an impending disaster of epic proportions—the year 2012, culminating on 21 December 2012, or 21-12-2012.This date is derived from ancient Mayan writings, but analyses of what those writings really mean are inconclusive.That hasn’t prevented speculation from growing and the internet is a rich source of commentary and analysis regarding what this date might foretell.

Any prophecies that hinge on a particular point in time seem to provide especially fertile ground for the creation of disaster scenarios, perhaps because human minds innately recoil from the idea of a “Judgment Day”.What may exacerbate this tendency is the growing sense among people throughout the world that something has indeed gone off track in the way we live our lives.There is a widespread realisation that the guiding values and accepted principles which have formed the sign posts of the human evolutionary journey have fallen away with nothing in sight to replace them.The uncertainty arising from this can be seen in a negative light, evoking a sense of fear and dread, or it can be viewed positively, as an opening for a new approach to living more creatively and harmoniously with our fellowmen and with the lives that inhabit the other kingdoms which share our planet.

In modern times, further ideas have become associated with the Mayan writings, notably the suggestion that an important cosmic alignment will take place in 2012, involving either the centre of the galaxy or its equator. This is presumably to strengthen the idea that the end of one cycle in the Mayan Long Count Calendar marks an important moment of change. However, modern astronomy does not support such a physical alignment taking place in 2012.

Whether or not there is any basis for the 2012 prophecy, its real significance may lie in the effect it creates in the human will.The latent power of the little wills of men, as the Great Invocation puts it, is such that even the spiritual Hierarchy* cannot predict with certainty how humanity will react to any likely event, for the freedom of the human will is inviolable. And this unknown factor, this resource of unpredictable power, opens up a possibility that is worthy of consideration by all people of goodwill.

The longing, deep-seated in human hearts, for peace and harmony can only be fulfilled when human minds recognise the interrelationship of spirit and matter, and thus choose to create a fusion of life and form.This evolutionary achievement, when it occurs, will not be realised on a specific calendar date, but the growing awareness that we are entering a new age, with the destruction of the old and outworn revealing an opportunity to build anew, is indeed worthy of celebration.

In fact, 21 December 2012 will inaugurate another Festival Week of the new group of world servers—the network of affiliated servers, humanitarians, and thinkers who are dedicated to the rebuilding of the world on sounder and more inclusive lines.How fitting it is, then, that the Mayan people, whose ancient teaching is the source of the 2012 prophecy, viewed the completion of a “Great Cycle”, as a moment for celebration. They seem to have intuitively understood that there was a cycle previous to this, and that there is every likelihood of another cycle to follow.Let us work so that the end of the present cycle brings not disaster but release from the crystallised patterns of the old and outworn, in preparation for the coming cycle and a deeper realisation of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.

* The spiritual Hierarchy refers to Those Who have mastered the lessons of life in form, and Who stand ready to give spiritual help to all human beings. Christians might refer to Christ and His Church, Hindus to the Rishis, Buddhists to Boddhisattvas.