2012 is associated with strange apocalyptic prophecies, after the discovery of the maya and there prophecy of an end date to our current world age, in their long count calender. The maya were an advanced society intelligent in mathematices and astronomy and lived in the area in what we now call southern mexico, guatemala, nothern belize and honduras. The mayan civilization arose in the yucatan in around 2600bc and collapsed with the arrival of the spanish led by Hernan Cortes in around 1519. Then in 1562 a franciscan bishop named Diego de Landa orderded the burning of thousands of mayan texts, though three codices survived, the dresden codex, the paris codex and the madrid codex. The dresden codex contained almanacs, eclipse table and a mars table. From this we discovered a very advanced society, particularly in astronomy, where the calculations of a calender year and month are very accurate.

The maya used two calanders, the short count and the long count. The long count calender involves transits of planets and there duration of a world age is 5,125,36 years of which we are comimng to the end of and the beginning of another on the 21st december 2012. We know mayans studied the milky way and gave the dark rift or black hole the name ‘xibalba be’. They knew that in the 36 years either side of 21st december 2012 the rising sun on the winter soltice will appear in conjunction with the mouth of the dark rift or Xibalbe be. This is called the galactic alignment. Here are a selection of theories of what might happen on the 21st december 2012.

THEORY ONE – The end of the mayan age – According to the mayan Popol Vuh creation story, mayan gods had three failed attempts at creating humanity. The last attempt was on 13th aug 3114 bc, the next, you’ve guessed it is 21st dec.

THEORY TWO – the pole shift – Some people believe they’ll be a total geomagnetic reversal in 2012, caused by the galactic alignment. Where the earths mantle will slip around it’s core, causing east to become west, causing tsunamis and widespread destruction.

THEORY THREE – planet x and the solar flare – While some believe the polar shift will not be caused by a galactic alignment but the arrival in our solar systen of a planet known to the sumarians as nibiru or planet x, which has an orbit of 3,600 years. This arrival will disrupt the orbits of other major planets, causing a massive solar flare, causing jupiters gases to ignite, creating a second sun.

THEORY FOUR – finger of fate – astronomers have found a saturn/uranus/pluto T – square, scarily similar to the one that heralded the great depression on the 1930’s.

THEORY FIVE – Technological singularity – when the rate of change in technology goes so fast we can’t keep up. And computers will completly take over, making us redundant.

THEORY SIX – Crystal skull – Aztecs, indians and mayan cultutres said there are 13 crystal skulls which are as old as 36,000 years old and when brought together could save us. Made of quartz, people believe they are ancient computers, encoded with wisdom of the ancients, prophecies and teachings of life and death.

THEORY SEVEN – Not just the maya , but the bible, torah, quran and i ching say this date in december is important and beleive we’re leaving an old age and entering another, a spritual transformation, leading us to the next evolutionary leap. My own belief is that 21/12/12 is not going to be a worldwide apocalypse, but more of a concious transformation where the change will be subtle, but inside us all. The mayan civilization is dismissed as backward, but is disrespectful to ancient cultures to not acknowledge there wisdom and intellect. There connection to the stars is awe- inspiring and mind boggling, but still people ignore their calculations. Movies have promoted the apocalypse , but the planet has withstood cataclysms in the past, whatever happens I’ll be standing outside as the time ticks to the 21st and looking at the stars, imagining the ancients doing the same 5000 years ago. The alignment is here and will come again , hopely this age will be better than the last.

What is the real world, am I lost in a virtual reality, consumed by material products and a morally lacking society. I suppose we all have a responsibility to act accordingly, treat others as you would like to be treated. Self control can be difficult when we’re bombarded with a lifestlye which many of us cannot afford. Where is this heading, love is free, the dawn chorus priceless, but still we desire more products to show we fit in to this unknown plan. Yes, some material products are beneficial, but can also be dangerous. Who to trust is the question, what is real here. I hope it levels out with some kind of balance. We don’t need everything they sell, just hope theres some common sense and empathy. Lets share,no need for suffering in the 21st century, just need some peace.

Russian giant Gazprom has shipped the world’s first offshore artic oil into europe. Greenpeace activists were there to protest along with thousands of others. It is show of corporate greed and shows how far these companies will go in there quest for black gold. Also the amazonian rainforest is being endlessly plundered with no conscience, much of the illegally obtained hardwood is used as garden decking and deforestation rose by 28% last year. Land is also converted to enormous farms and fires create this space.

So here we are in 2012 , no flying cars or spaceships, yet! But still the technological revolution goes on. I suppose we’ve become so accustomed to computers, that we’re less suprised when a new phone or computer game comes out. It’s a strange evolutionary process where its more outward than inward, trying to fill this void and fear with material items.

I have a great interest in ancient civilisations and philosophy, it inspires me to write and sometimes influences songs. It is amazing to think in Greece, Egypt and even Britain there was a very different society, based on different beliefs and customs and this mythology has survived to this day.

Every summer millions of birds migrate from afar a field as africa and travel as far as 12,000 miles. But how do they arrive at exactly the same nesting spot every year. It’s just a mystery. In the UK we have many migrants such as chiff chaffs, swifts, swallows and house martins. The summer sky is fall of these amazing birds and there arrival marks the start of summer, as they raise young to prepare to return to far away lands.

In my spare time I like walking in the countryside and enjoy birdwatching. Living in north west wales we are about an hours drive away from snowdonia national park. We are very lucky to spot red kites regularly and also hen harriers , which are quite rare. We also feed the birds in our garden and have many visitors such as house sparrows, blue tits, blackbirds and robins. One of my favourite birds is the swallow, as it signifies the start of summer , as its a migrant from africa and returns there in early september.

The mayans were an ancient civilisation from south america and very knowledgeable on the workings of the solar system and the galaxy. They had many cycles connected to the stars and a cycle called the long count comes around every 5000 years, which is due on the winter solstice , 21st december 2012. on this day the sun will rise within the dark rift of the center of our milkyway galaxy, an event which occurs every 25800 years.

Mayan hieroglyphs describe this dark rift as the cosmic womb or black hole, through which wizard kings entered other dimensions accessing sacred knowledge. The black hole is the cosmic womb from which new stars are born, including ourselves. References to this alignment were encoded in numerous mayan temples and the long count is the result of a shamanistic experiment conducted in secret , where the initiated would enter different states of conciousness. The knowledge and accuracy of there astronomical findings is incredibly accurate and without the help of telescopes or advanced technology. Its interesting to think with the current state of the world, such as ecological problems and religous tensions that we are living on a precipice and 2012 seems strangely significant. So what will happen on this date, maybe nothing, but I do not believe it will be the end of world, more of a shifting of conciousness and hopely a brighter future for planet earth.

I grew up in the nineties , where computers were in an early state of evolution and mobile phones did not exist. Now we seem to be overwhelmed with technology, with corporations in competition for large amounts of money. I’m not against this new age, but wonder where it takes us as human beings. Many sci- fi novels and films take a brave look into the future, such as neuromancer by William Gibson and the animated manga film, ‘Ghost in the shell’. They show a world where technology is so advanced that the virtual reality world is so real that it can’t be distinguished from normal reality. Other films like the matrix, even show that the world we live in is not even real. Will we head in this direction , with technology advancing so quickly it may not be that far away.

Somedays it’s hard to be positive, it’s like our minds are in a prison. Everyday can sometimes feel like a chore, but in the UK we have certains freedoms that come with responsibility. If we oppose a certain war or policy, we have the right to express our opinion that’s democracy. But sometime this can feel like an illusion. We can buy or download any cd, purchase any book, but even this is tightly controlled.