This week’s question comes from Bucky in Saskatchewan:

I know you get this a lot, but do you really think that 2012 will happen? People said it a million times before and they say we should believe them. Should we?

Yes, Bucky, 2012 will happen … right after December 31, 2011. After that, 2013 and 2014 will happen.

OK, sorry for being a smartass, especially with a young person. But what the heck, if you can’t be a smartass with a young person, who can you be one with?

I assume that what you really meant to ask is whether I think all of the dire predictions for 2012 are going to happen. That’s actually a very good question and one I get from people of all ages who are rightfully concerned, given all the hype. My answer is definitely no. I can’t tell you who you should and shouldn’t believe, but I don’t buy any of the end-of-the-world, wrath-of-God-stuff.

The 2012 predictions are based on the calendar devised by the ancient Maya, who were exceptional mathematicians. It might surprise some people to hear that the Mayan Calendar does not say that the world is going to end in 2012. That date simply is the end of the cycle for which they calculated the calendar. The notion that it signifies the end of the world was proposed by several researchers of Mayan culture. Incidentally, they don’t even all agree on the end date.

That’s not to say that we aren’t living in interesting times and that 2011 and 2012 won’t be historic years. Events in 2010 already have a lot of people shaken up. I attribute these events to the cardinal T-square. It peaked over the summer, but it was so powerful that we felt it before and afterward. It was recently triggered by Mercury and Mars and will continue to reverberate into the material world.

There will be another cardinal T-square in 2011, although it will be different than this year’s in many ways. I did a preliminary article on it last year but will have more as we approach significant dates.

The T-square will be dissipated by 2012, but other cosmological forces will be in effect that will make it a landmark year in human history. Among other things, we’ll experience a rare Venus transit. When Venus and the Sun are exactly aligned, they will be on the Descendant in Washington, D.C., and Venus also will be in the seventh house of the birth chart for the United States (Sibly). This is a bit worrisome, as the seventh house rules enemies in mundane astrology, and the Mayans associated Venus with war.

Also, Uranus will begin an exact square with Pluto in 2012. We got close during this year’s cardinal T-square, but Uranus never quite caught up to the degree of Pluto. This square corresponds to extreme political unrest, and my guess is that the protests will be about basic survival – in other words, a class war. This unrest will continue well into 2014 and could be quite violent at times.

If you’d like to explore this topic further, I recommend Alison Chester Lambert’s book, The Future in the Stars: The Astrological Message for 2012 and Beyond (there’s a hint for you), and also a documentary film, 2012: Science or Superstition. I reviewed both of those items and found them very sane and informative.

Thanks for writing, Bucky. I’m gratified to see that people your age are asking about serious topics like this and that you’re taking the time to find reliable information. You’ve got it right.

Pat

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