While some religious people believed that the year 2000 would mark the end of the world, some world-renown mayanists believe that the year 2012 is a type of ‘New Beginning’. In 2012 we are told, shift happens, the shift toward a new worldwide consciousness.

Cabaret Voltaire, one of LA’s most inquisitive art endeavors, drifts a bit from its usual artistic vein to veer into the spiritual and transcendental & brings together some of the most important speakers on the 2012 subject:  Alberto Villoldo, Daniel Pinchbeck, Sharron Rose, John Major Jenkins, Jay Weidner & Harijiwan Khalsa.

These thinkers, futurists & philosophers will be discussing the latest developments regarding 2012, a pivotal date according to some indigenous people’s cosmogonies, primarily the Maya & the Aztec but also the Inca. The 2012 Conference happens at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre this coming Saturday March 1^st, 2008.

What to expect at the conference? Lots of insights. And let’s not forget, the word insight implies being on the inside and seeing at the same time so insights on this matter are important if you appreciate the urgency of our times.

‘Throughout History, humanity has looked to chronological signposts to help them predict upcoming events and to make order of the universe. Perhaps the greatest signpost of the past millennium is approaching quickly. This signpost, revealed by the ancient Maya Long Count Calendar is the year 2012’.

Can ancient world traditions contain relevant information for you, a dweller of modernity? Most experts participating in this conference would insist that they do. World traditions from cultures such as the Maya, the Nahuatl (also known as the Aztecs or Mexica) & the Inca speak of the end of a cycle. That end occurs December 21^st, 2012.

The 2012 Conference attempts to show that these ancient traditions are saying that the ‘Great Shift of the Ages’ is at hand.

A bit of History:

The ancient Maya & also the Aztecs –and before them probably the Olmec and the Toltec) used several calendars that were cleverly interlocked together to help them regulate their daily lives: the civic calendar was a very astronomically correct solar calendar 365 days long. This civic calendar was divided into 18 months, each month 20 days long plus a 19^th ‘nameless’ month consisting of 5 ‘masked or empty days’ added at the end to round it off at 365 days. They also used a sacred calendar that was 260 days long plus the famous Long Count Calendar. The sacred calendar or ritual almanac was divided in 13 months, each 20 days long so the year cycled every 13 months, a pivotal number in Mayan numerology. Let’s not forget either that their mathematical system was a vigesimal system, that is, based on the number 20.

To be precise, both the Aztec and the Maya calendars refer specifically to the end of the Fifth Sun when all their calendars –civic and sacred- coincide or converge at the end of the year 2012.

According to the ancient belief of the peoples of Mexico, the Fifth Sun (or fifth age) in which we live now came as a result of celestial mercy when a divinity cast himself into the burning fire of the Fourth Sun sacrificing himself in order to prevent the end of the world at the end of that Fourth Age. The sacrificial rites the Aztecs are known for have relevance here: these sacrifices were meant to keep the sun alive since the Mexicas thought themselves the nation obligated to ‘maintain’ alive the sun and therefore the world at large..

We’re now approaching the end of the Fifth Sun or fifth Age in their ancient cosmogony and some today believe this to coincide with a much anticipated ‘shift of the ages’. Shift in this case refers to a sort of worldwide consciousness shift, a radical departure from the petty ways that characterize our present political systems based on fear and greed. We’re modern sapiens with ancient brain hardware and here’s where attending this important conference can help you: you become part of the shift and therefore the shift becomes larger, therefore affecting others who in turn, also become part of the shift making it subsequently larger until this reaches a point of critical mass. The hundredth monkey. Bam!

Be part of this relevant conference. Become a digit adding to the total. Shift is also you.

**A short note of clarification: the word mayanist used in the opening paragraph of this article applies here to experts in the 2012 phenomenon and not to Mayan scholars in the strict sense of the word.

SATURDAY MARCH 1ST
FOLLOW THE SIGNS
SHIFT

WHAT: 2012 Conference. A day-long investigation into the coming shiftof the ages according to many world traditions of the world. Includes panels, lectures and film.

WHO: A collection of widely regarded scholars, thinkers, philosophersand futurists, including Dr.Alberto Villoldo, Daniel Pinchbeck, Sharron Rose, Jay Weidner, Harijiwan Khalsa, John Major Jenkins.

Presented by Cabaret Voltaire.

WHERE: Ricardo Montalban Theatre, 1615 N. Vine St., Hollywood, CA 90027.

WHEN: Saturday, March 1, 2008. 9 a.m.- 9 p.m.

ADMISSION: Tickets start at $30.

RESERVATIONS: (800) 595-4849.

ONLINE TICKETING: http://2012mysteries.tix.com
WEBSITE: http://2012Conference.org
MORE INFO at 800-984-0897