is there a pagan postion on 20/12?

[uumomma]

discuss:

[EviesMom]

I think "pagan" is too broad to really have a position. I know of no specific Wiccan position on it. I have Wiccan friends who believe that it will be a cataclysmic time for the earth and people, and the beginning of a new era of consciousness; and I have Wiccan friends who believe it's all just nonsense.

Personally, I believe that all calendars of this sort are mostly irrelevant, particularly when it's not tracking any movements of stars, planets, magnetic poles, or natural phenomena from my understanding. However, I think the power of enough people believing in changes in humanity as a whole can cause those changes, so it might make a difference or it might not.

[Ravin]

I come from a tradition with a very well known mythology of world destruction. Personally, I don't see it as literal, but as metaphorical/mythical. That said, civilizations do end. Ours may well, whether in slow decline or cataclysmic destruction, who knows? I for one have better things to do than worry about when it will happen. I'd rather be here now.

[wombatclay]

I like the Sesame Street episode where Telly is upset that the year is ending... he doesn't "get" the idea that when one calendar ends, another begins. Same thing here... even interviews with Mayan elders have ended with a "what on earth are you worried about" type statement.

Like pp said, "pagan" is such a huge umbrella, covering so many varied and different paths, I don't think you could get a consensus on something like what may or may not happen in 2012 (I'm guessing the "/" was a typo? or is that the convention now?).

[uumomma]

yeah it was a typo...

just wondering what people thought.

[wombatclay]

I think it's going to be so diverse it will really come down to the individual. I haven't heard of any of the more "formal" pagan groups having an official statement on it.

[SunshineJ]

I think it's a fantastic vehicle to induce panic and try to get people to do something. What exactly would depend on the party involved. They Mayans have no clue why people are so freaked about 2012, and in fact, there actually HAVE been things discovered that date well past 2012. It's just that the Mayan people celebrated 13, and 2012 is the 13th year of the 13th cycle (or something like that)- so a pretty big deal back in the day. The interview I read with one of the elders did bring up a good point. He said something to the effect that apocolpyse and mass destruction end-of-days scenario's are western ideas that have never entered into their beliefs. Why would they "predict" something they don't believe it. This whole thing is way out of control. However as an offical "pagan" stance, I think it really depends more on the person you speak with. No one I know is worried at all, they all seem to have more faith in nature than that.