Book Review

Beyond 2012, Catastrophe or Ecstasy: A Complete Guide to End-of-Time Predictions
Geoff Stray (www.vitalsignspublishing.co.uk)

Review by Jaye C. Beldo

After the let down of countless apocalyptic hopefuls in regard to the fulfillment of prophecies in 2000 AD, many are now training their predictive cross hairs on a cosmic event only a few years away: December 21, 2012. According to the Mayans, this is a most significant date as we align with the 'galactic center' and all hell or heaven will supposedly break loose. Time itself may very well collapse, along with corrupt power structures found within governments, media conglomerates, trans-national corporations and monotheistic institutions. The date has certainly captured the imagination of new agers, astrologers, clairvoyants, entheo-nauts, occultists and even a few cutting edge cosmologists such as John Major Jenkins, author of Mayan Cosmogenesis. Yet, with the dismaying array of catastrophic and retributive possibilities at hand, we are still left with a pervading sense of uncertainty as to what will happen.

Beyond 2012 offers a dizzying smorgasbord of 2012 scenarios that may greet us on the winter solstice of that year. Fortunately, the author doesn't resort to fear mongering in his response to the advanced waves coming in from galactic central. He allows the reader sufficient headspace to contemplate a myriad of potential outcomes. Culled from the writings of well-known authors such as Graham Hancock, Andrew Collins and others, Stray has spent over twenty years compiling information on 2012 mythologies, including Hopi fifth world prophecies, the Dogon-Sirius connection and other indigenous takes on the coming event, as well as more contemporary inventions such as Terrence McKenna's intriguing and brilliant Time Wave Zero. McKenna speculated that the I-Ching functions as a kind of lunar calendar, and he ran the hexagrams through a series of mathematical processes to come up with his theory of time waves. I found Stray's description of the procedure McKenna used to develop his unique software program easy to understand. Time Wave Zero is probably the most sophisticated and user friendly approach to the 2012 mystery and I recommend delving into McKenna's divinatory opus via Beyond 2012.

Also within this profuse end-time encyclopedia, highly dubious spin artists attempt to unveil the true import of 2012, whether it is a retributive dimensional shift into a kind of detergent ecstasy or all out calamity destroying the planet and humanity. One eminent con artist is the pseudo-scholar Zecharia Sitchin, whose suspect misinterpretations of Sumerian cuneiform writings have been exposed by Michael Heisner (www.sitchiniswrong.com). In my opinion, Sitchin gets more page space than he deserves; yet, considering how well his books sell and the obvious need for many people to believe in elliptically scoundrel planets such as Nibiru (Planet X) and humans as Anunnaki-manufactured slaves, this is understandable. I'm also wary of the much hyped crop circle phenomenon, which many interpret as extraterrestrial artistry hinting at the 'positive' transformations to come. According to Brian Desborough, author of They Cast No Shadows and Blueprint for a Better World, most crop circles should be avoided at all costs as many have proved to be radioactive, causing people who have been foolish enough to spend time in them to develop long-term illnesses such as leukemia. I suggest to the reader who may not be aware of such disinformation to use your own intuition and common sense rather than impulsively subscribing to any of the belief systems offered in Beyond 2012.

If we survive whatever emergence and/or collapse that is surely to come, perhaps 2012 will function as a kind of nexus, integrating the past, present and future into a much awaited eternal 'now' that resonates with the core essence of the galactic center, literally, symbolically or both. At this point, it's difficult to ascertain considering the myriad predictions at hand. Geoff Stray's Beyond 2012 can be a useful field guide to orient us in the right direction if we approach it with an open mind and much discretion.

©2005 Jaye C. Beldo. Jaye C. Beldo writes for Associated Content, Central Sun Journal, Deep Fried Rice, Gnostic Liberation Front, PARANOIA and many other publications. He may be reached at netnous@aol.com.