November Spore - The Hague : 2012

The date of December 21st, 2012 has become a mainstream media meme, with History Channel documentaries, CNN specials, and even a Maya 2012 exhibition at the Leiden University museum. This November millions of people will visit cinemas around the world, to see the latest Hollywood disaster flick, '2012'. The movie seems to take every possible armageddon scenario out there, and packs it into two hours of planetary schadenfreude on an epic scale.

Since the first appearance of the 2012 movement in the counterculture more than thirty years ago, countless theories and opinions have sprung up. There are people out there who truly fear the date, while others place great hope in it. Many ridicule the notion that we live in extraordinary times, or that ancient cultures were able to predict such things. Most skeptics, open-minded and dogmatic alike, make little effort to study the origins of all this hype.

The point is, almost everybody has an opinion about the end of the Maya calendar--but who really understands it? Where is the line between hype and fact? What do science and history actually tell us about the Maya and their calendar? Are there any other prophecies or predictions surrounding 2012? If so, what should we do with this information?

In order to investigate, penetrate, and hopefully reveal the origins of the current apocalypse hype, the next Spore meeting in the Hague will be focused on the topic of 2012. We'll begin the evening with a special presentation in which numerous scientific, psychological, and mythological perspectives on the calendar and its end date will be brought to light:

Who started all this 2012 talk?
How do the Maya calendars work?
What were their origins and functions?
What do authentic Maya texts and inscriptions actually predict?
Are we truly living in extraordinary times?
How can we evolve to meet the challenges of era 2012?

The presentation is intended to provide some background information for the discussions that will follow. All other perspectives, arguments, questions, and contributions are of course necessary and welcome for a decent exchange of ideas; an exchange from which all may profit! The End of the World is a highly provocative, personal, and potentially scary subject. So if you're over-attached to your beliefs about time, space, and identity, you may want to sit this one out!

If you have no idea what all this 2012 stuff is all about, don't worry and just come. Though of course you're free to do some studies on your own in advance. Go see the movie, read a book about the Maya and 2012, or Google around to test the waters. Alternatively, do some serious research and blow us away with your Earth shattering revelations! Either way, it promises to be an evening of mystery, wonder, stimulating ideas, and lots of cosmic giggles. See you there!

BYOB (Bring Your Own Brain).

Links:

2012 movie: http://www.pathe.nl/film/4781/2012/
2012 wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon
Maya calendar wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_calendar
Maya exhibition in Leiden: http://www.rmv.nl
J.M. Jenkins website: http://alignment2012.com
C.J. Calleman website: http://www.calleman.com

The above just skims the surface...