What does Dec 21st hold for us?

I have never been much of a believer in doomsday scenarios. In all of my years, I cannot remember a major catastrophe that befell mankind that could have signaled an impending apocalypse. And I have certainly had my share of doomsday prophecies growing up. I can still recall a young Filipina woman who, along with her followers, took refuge in an isolated place because they feared the world was coming to an end. Of course, that didn’t happen and she was so forgotten. Her name escapes me now, but much like other doomsday prophets, she generated a lot of interest only to have it fall flat when the world went on spinning. It seems that every few years, someone comes out with a new end of the world scenario. But whether the supposed agent of doom was asteroids, aliens, earthquakes, or floods, the only thing that proved true was the Earth managed to endure. Granted, our planet has definitely been through the wringer in terms of catastrophes, she has always managed to hang in there.

Now, a new doomsday prophecy has been the center of headlines all over the world. The fear that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012 — the end of the great cycle on the Mayan Calendar. I understand the hype since prophecies like these garner a lot of attention. However, it amazes me how much this particular prophecy has gained momentum. Perhaps it is because it pinpoints the actual date of the world coming to an end as opposed to an abstract timetable? In addition, many have pointed out that many of the prophecies of Nostradamus, who accurately predicted many world events, seem to coincide with the Mayan calendar. Could the end of the world be among them?

Of course, as with every prophecy, there are two sides to every story. Many believe that the whole December 21st thing is just another in a long line of crazy end of the world scenarios. Pope Benedict XVI has already assured his Catholic flock that this end of the world prediction will not happen and that life goes on. While many believe him and live their lives normally, a great many others still see the “signs” and worry the end is near.

By signs, I mean the many natural disasters that have been happening. Prophecy says that as the end of days draws near we’ll all begin to see many more natural disasters occurring such as floods, earthquakes, super typhoons, tornadoes, and the like. Although many of these things happen all the time the difference, they claim, is that they will all happen right after the other as December 21st approaches. And granted, as far as this goes, it is pretty disturbing that so many natural disasters have been happening around the world in the past few weeks and months, this could also just be the result of years of environmental damage and shifting weather patterns and not the ushers of the apocalypse.

But the general public interest has certainly been piqued, and as the dreaded date approaches, more and more public awareness is being given to the latest in the long line of doomsday predictions. Widely watched television channels like National Geographic and The History Channel have been running their own television specials on the Mayans, the end of the world, and other such topics to satiate the public demand for knowledge on the “imminent” disaster. National Geographic is even running a five-part miniseries entitled “Apocalyptics” from Dec. 16 to Dec. 20. (Good timing too, because you wouldn’t want viewers to miss the last installment if the world really were to end on the 21st).

Personally, I find all the attention being given to December 21st rather disturbing. Perhaps because there has just been so much hype leading up to this date and to this year in general. In 2009, a movie entitled “2012” was released which was just a two-hour showcase of apocalyptic eye candy with so much death and destruction. My guess is that they took the Mayan prophecy and just ran with it. According to some people the Mayan Long Count Calendar is divided into cycles which last around 5,125 years. One of these great cycles ends on December 21, 2012. This is enough to give some doomsday sayers the ammunition they need to claim the world will end. They also have numerous theories on how this will happen. The most popular of which is (after the ushering in of floods and catastrophes), a mysterious planet known as Nibiru, Planet X, or Eris, or a large meteor will collide with the Earth. Another popular theory is that the Earth’s magnetic poles will reverse causing the planet’s rotation to reverse as well.

Now these scary prophecies will certainly be enough to strike fear into the hearts of those who wish to take them at face value. Scientists have already said these prophecies were “laughable” in terms of scientific facts. In fact, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been addressing end of the world questions on its website through its feature “Ask an Astrobiologist”. David Morrison has been answering questions and there have been thousands about the end of the world heading our way later this month.

They address the concern about some phantom planet heading our way by saying that “If there were anything like Nibiru or Planet X heading our way, we would have seen it by now. Just use your eyes, look up and see for yourself.” As far as magnetic pole reversal, astronomers contend that the magnetic poles do reverse every 400,000 years or so, but this does not affect the Earth’s rotation and will not affect life on this planet. But, of course, as is the case with many beliefs or fads fueled more by passion than facts, these scientific conclusions are not enough to assuage the fears of many people who believe the world is living out its last days.

Perhaps what is most interesting about this current doomsday scenario is that they Mayans themselves don’t believe the world is coming to an end on December 21st. For them it is quite the opposite in fact, this date symbolizes a time of great celebration and luck when the planet completes the current Great Cycle and continues on to begin the next. If we wanted to look at it another way, we could be grateful for being a witness to this amazing event in their history as the next Great Cycle will last for another 5,125 years.

I believe we should take a page from the Mayan’s book. It is their prophecy after all and if they aren’t scared, then I don’t see why we should be. And instead of blaming all of these natural disasters on impending doom, I believe we should see these occurrences for what they really are, caused by our continued pollution and environmental damage and focus our attention on fixing that problem instead of waiting for the world to end. We need to address the damage we’ve inflicted on Mother Earth before it becomes too late to fix. This could mean steps as simple as planting trees, or recycling papers, or even just using eco-friendly bags when we shop. These are far better uses of our time than awaiting the apocalypse. If we focused on this instead, I am sure we could be assured of our planet continuing on, happily and healthily, for many years and Great Cycles to come.