Gaiam Life - Wellness, Green Living, Spirituality, Fitness, Yoga & Healthy Home
 
Become a fan  |  Follow us  |  Subscribe  |  Videos  |  Newsletter
Login     Register




2012 Doomsday: Science or Superstition?

Q&A with shaman Alberto Villoldo, one expert featured in the new film 2012: Science or Superstition, a featured Spiritual Cinema Circle film.

 

 

A debate is raging over whether Dec. 21, 2012, the end of the Mayan calendar, heralds a doomsday of apocalyptic proportions — or the dawning of a golden age in consciousness. In the new documentary 2012: Science or Superstition (watch a preview below), featured this month by SpiritualCinemaCircle, scientists and experts present both the science behind the Mayan calendar as well as a positive message that we will be ushered into a new age of elevated consciousness and increased awareness.

One of the experts featured in the film is Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D., a medical anthropologist who has researched the healing traditions of the Andes and the Amazon for over 20 years.  Founder of The Four Winds Society and author of more than 10 books including Courageous Dreaming, The Four Insights and Shaman Healer Sage, Dr. Villoldo is dedicated to bridging ancient wisdom with modern medicine and psychology. He recently shared with us his perspective on 2012.

Q. What are the 2012 prophecies?  

Alberto Villoldo photo by Matt Morrissey

A. They are indigenous prophecies of the Americas. You find them among the Hopi, Maya, Inka (the traditional spelling used by tribe elders) and Apache. Dec. 21, 2012, is an astronomical alignment that is going to be the beginning of a new era of a new age. These prophecies are very optimistic. They’re not the apocalyptic prophecies of Christianity about the end of the world. They’re really the beginning of the world. According to the Maya, humanity first appears in the planet on Dec. 21, 2012. So we’re still proto-humans. We’re still half cooked.

Tell us about the isolated group of Inkas in Peru that you work with.
They are part of the lineage of wisdom keepers that’s found throughout the Americas. They came across the Bering Strait originally from the Himalayas around 32,000 years ago. At the time of the conquest, they fled and settled in very high mountain tops where neither the church nor the state could find them. They observed and foresaw the end of the conquistador looting, raping, pillaging, devastating the land and polluting the rivers.

One time, one of them said to me, “Alberto, we’re going to miss our white brother.” They saw the end of a predatory time on the earth and the beginning of a millennium of peace.

How did you come to meet these isolated shamans who live at 18,000 feet?
They were the stuff of legend, and 20 years ago, an old Peruvian archaeologist I knew introduced me to them. I went to their villages and brought Western medications with me because they had been in contact with other Indians who had been in contact with diseased Westerners. They had babies with dysentery and things that their local herbs and nature pharmacies could not heal. I developed a close relationship with their medicine people.

With these people, I learned about luminous medicine where they healed at the level of the luminous matrix that surrounds the physical body. The matrix organizes the body in the same way a magnet organizes iron filings from a piece of glass. These people are able to look at your luminous matrix and tell you how your grandmother died, how you might live, how you would heal and how you might die, because it is all encoded in this information matrix. They are able to also read the matrix of the earth, and that’s where they read the prophecies.These shamans differentiate between information and knowledge. To them, information is knowing that water is H2O, but knowledge is being able to make it rain. The prophecy was the information as to what could happen, what might happen. They saw us growing a new consciousness, downloading the information codes for a new human into our luminous energy field.

What “signs” or evidence support the predictions of the Inka elders?
They have definitive signs that they look for to mark the setting into motion of the great upheaval. One of them was the disappearance of the condor, which almost became extinct around 25 years ago. They talk about the drying of the high mountain lagoons and the melting of the glaciers, among other signs, all of which have begun.

Should we view 12/21/2012 as a potential doomsday?
If you suddenly have a billion people disappearing from the planet overnight, that’s a gigantic cataclysm. If you have it happening naturally and gradually, over a 100-year period, then it’s nature resettling and readjusting itself. I see it as both.

Do you believe there will be a pole shift?
I don’t think it's a “matter of belief.” Off the coast of Chile, there are areas in the ocean where the compass points to Antarctica and tells you that it’s north. There are eight or 10 of these spots, the size of Australia, in the ocean where the poles, the direction of the compass, have already shifted.

What is the opportunity in 2012 for individuals?
It is happening today. We have the possibility to break free from the nightmare of our past of violence and exploitation — to clear the slate both individually and collectively. We can quantum leap into new humans. We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for who can fully utilize our entire brains and not just our stomachs, reproductive organs and mouths. We can have the fullness of the human experience and be fully in the mystery of the human experience. I think this is happening now.


Receive the film 2012: Science or Superstition plus three great short films free when you sign up by July 14, 2009, for a free trial membership in Spiritual Cinema Circle, the only DVD home delivery service dedicated to films about love, compassion and inspiration.

Arielle Ford is a founding partner of Spiritual Cinema Circle and bestselling author of The Soulmate Secret: Manifest The Love of Your Life With The Law of Attraction.

Spiritual Cinema Circle free trial offer banner

Community Voice

 

Whether 2012 is doomsday or a day of new enlightenment still remains to be seen. Arguing about it doesn't prevent it from happening or make it happen faster. I've heard both sides of the theory and believe that meditating, following guided meditation videos, and praying is a very strong tool for the betterment of humanity... whether it be focused on 2012 or not.

Edited by: Sonia Gallagher on Sep 8, 2009 12:46:02 PM

Sonia Gallagher,
Sep 8, 2009 12:44:15 PM

 
Allow me to quote the Doc here as I think that this statement hear takes all credibility from the article and shows a lack of interest in history in grouping all whites as predatory I should think we hardly need the blessing of natives to survive as they didnt do too well on that skill judging by their large numbers.... One time, one of them said to me, “Alberto, we’re going to miss our white brother.” They saw the end of a predatory time on the earth and the beginning of a millennium of peace.

To that I say good luck in the battle which will have to be fought by you people of peace in order to kill off the"white brother" now I will tell you ,having rebutled that, the replacement for "white brother" should be The Latin and Roman influence on the world whcih continues to plague its people to this very day. If you want to throw punches at the white brother and have it justified than learn your history without it we are but a tree without roots and surely will not survive. May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you're dead and with a grudge may you be their sooner than calculated. ;)
MarchHare,
Aug 31, 2009 4:44:38 AM

 
Well I found something obviously irking about this article and that is that it seems to be biased in certain areas and although it contains a great deal of information that I never knew and find it very interesting it is missing some as any writing would because it can't change like the spoken word that is well memorised and known and protected from ears that may misinterpret. However I will stoop to such means as it is already known these people who came from the Himalayan,That will miss "the white brother" which seems to have negative conotations from a people that have a grudge,any way these people worshipped a Deity who was actualyl White a strange mystery Apparantly a man with a long beard and that was white came from the sea thousands of years before the conquistadors who were influenced greatly by ROME and its havoc on the world. So this man apparantly taught them alot of what they know and said hed return. He has yet to return. Any native that knows the history will know this. I'm sure very sure that he will miss his white brother as he did his god. If he was truly a god. Now if you believe everything these natives say than you would also agree with religious Sacrifice which is something these people came up with entirly on their own. Lucky for them they wrote stuff down and werent entirly killed off like Some white brothers called druids across the big sea They didnt have to live thousands of years with the Romans/conquistadors. Druids kept things by word of mouth and so most of what they knew is lost. Yes I will miss them but will I miss the Romans and their conqustadors which are mistakingly called "white broters" not a chance. Bigotry comes in all colors and take it from an Irishman grudges will eat you alive and if it gains foot hold with these natives We will soon say I am goign to miss my native brother.
MarchHare,
Aug 31, 2009 4:30:14 AM

 
I just checked, my calendar ends on December 31st, as it has for years. I simply got a new calendar. The Mayan calendar ends, simply pick up a new Mayan calendar.
Maggotpunk,
Jun 27, 2009 3:51:07 AM

 
This is a gentle approach to the doomsday calendar prediction. There is more mystery in this interpretation than I had expected. Perhaps we will not all be washed away as fleas or scourge of a troubled planet for all that we have done. Perhaps there is hope that some of the best will survive.
mercurymeagan,
Jun 17, 2009 2:42:47 PM

 
Wow, what a load of utter bunk. A calendar nobody uses has a date on 2012 and from that a guy promotes a bunch of bunk. Put this in the category of the numerous doomsday predictions that came to pass without incident. Not that anybody can read this comment because everything blew up when we hit the year 2000. Sheesh, what a joke. If Gaiam promotes this sort of nonsense one should think twice about the claims they make about their products.
Maggotpunk,
Jun 17, 2009 8:19:47 AM


Shop Gaiam.com       My Profile       Contact Us       Privacy Policy       Terms & Conditions       About Gaiam Life       FAQ's       Register       Site Map

Copyright © Gaiam, Inc.