It seems like it’s getting harder and harder for the human race to catch a break.
Every time you turn around, there’s some new potentially apocalyptic event going on: the Euro monetary meltdown, global climate change, Wall Street jitters, peaceful Occupy protesters either getting pepper sprayed or shooting themselves, Tiger Woods in a slump…
The list goes on and on.
This year also saw a couple of end-of-the-world prophecies made. Thankfully, neither came to fruition.
But with all the other crazy stuff going on, even non-apocalyptics could be excused for starting to give them some credence.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m really not ready for the end of the world. I still have some deadlines to meet and some things I actually want to do before I go.
Still, it would cut down on my expenses…
Anyway, here’s the latest thing to worry about, as if you don’t already have enough. Unless you haven’t been paying any attention at all, the Big Thing about next year – 2012 – is that it is supposed to be the last one for we humans.
Didn’t you see the movie by the same name and how only a few lucky people got to save themselves in the giant arks that have been built and are waiting in Tibet?
Oh, you don’t find that believable? OK, don’t say I didn’t warn you…
But it all stems from an ancient Mayan calendar prediction that seems to indicate – according to their reckoning – that the world will end about one year from now on Dec. 21, 2012.
That’s amazing. How could those simple jungle-dwelling people predict the end so precisely? I wonder if they knew it would be a Friday?
That would be one not-so-good TGIF.
But it was revealed recently that a second confirmation of the ancient Mayan prophecy had been discovered in southern Mexico.
It was the second inscription found on a piece of Mayan art that seemed to refer to the same doomsday date. Some believe it is the Mayan prediction of the end of the world, while others interpret it to say that it simply signals the end of one long era and the beginning of another.
Hopefully, the second interpretation is more on target, with my hopes riding on a kinder, gentler era for all.
But the 2012 thing is certainly catching on. I just looked at a website, December212012.com, that is sort of a catch-all for discussions about the date and also has cool 2012 end-of-the-world T-shirts, books, videos and other merchandise to buy.
There’s also a “Celebrity Believers” section, as if that makes it more believable for the rest of us. The list includes Shirley MacLaine (OK, maybe she was a given on a list like this), rock musician Sting, former wrestling governor Jesse Ventura, pop diva Britney Spears, Mel “Apocalypto” Gibson, George “Star Wars” Lucas and Woody “Cheers” Harrelson.
Woody, of course, was the nut job in the 2012 movie babbling about the apocalypse. In real life, he’s a strong conservationist and believer in global climate change.
His belief in 2012, he says, comes from a feeling that – unless things change dramatically – the end could come as soon as next year.
I gotta hope Woody and the rest of the celebs are wrong, but they ARE famous.
So enjoy this coming Christmas.
It could be our last – that is, if you trust the ancient all-knowing Mayans and their celebrity believers.
