Saturday, July 30, 2011

Alternative Interpretations for December 21st, 2012: Spiritual Change Part 1

On a lighter note...
Amongst the prophecies of disaster and ruin, Deceember 21, 2102 has also drawn some more positive, new age predictions. If i had to use one word to describe them, it would be millenarianist.



Millenarianism
What is it? Reference.com says:

"Millenarianism is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming major transformation of society after which all things will be changed in a positive (or sometimes negative or ambiguous) direction"

 The name is based on the word "millennium", as some of these groups base their timeline for change on a millennium cycle. The main point is their belief that a major societal upheaval or change is coming. This term describes those who tell you that December 21, 2012 will herald a "major shift in our thinking and our values", "our waking up to the actual nature of time", or something equally vague.

 Well isn't that nice?
Yes, it is a nice thought, but i wouldn't bet my paycheck on it. These predictions seem to play the "good cop" to the doomsday predictions' "bad cop", and by doing so capture a different segment of the doomsday-curious market. However, like their scarier counterparts, they also seem to contain an uncomfortable amount of unsupported assertions and intentional vagueness.

Market?
The 2009 Film Titled "2012" grossed around $166 million in the US alone, after running a viral marketing campaign with their "Institute for Human Continuity" website. This campaign drummed up a lot of awareness about this particular brand of doomsday prediction, and along came the sharks to cash in. With so many doom and gloom predictions floating around, there are those who have carved out a niche in happy, feelgood predictions. While many of these folks don't appear to be trying to turn a profit; the prominent proponents of a feelgood 2012 are selling harder than a used car salesman on his first day.

I'll talk about some of these proponents in my next post.

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