2012, Beyond the Disaster Plotline

Book: (2012): The Return of Quetzalcoatl
Daniel Pinchbeck

By Molly Hall.Com

2012, Beyond the Disaster Plotline
Tuesday December 8, 2009

Daniel Pinchbeck is often billed as a "2012 expert," but he prefers to think of himself as a "generalist, journalist, and freelance philosopher." I've had the random chance to dine with him, and he's a thoughtful, incredibly smart (Gemini Sun) who I see as a translator of culture. He's part of the Pluto-Uranus conjunct in Virgo generation (late 60s), and I see a purposeful humility that I resonate with in his style. He's here to help translate the social revolution, or Next Age, through his many books and awesome site Reality Sandwich.

So right now, with the big movie, the culture at large is fascinated by the 2012 phenomenon. Daniel writes about the surreal experience of hearing his thoughts translated to sound bites by showbiz reporters. It gets even more bizarre, as some see Daniel parodied in the role of crazy conspiracy guy in the movie 2012. From the New York Times movie review of 2012: "Though not much is made of the Mayan angle, the most amusing character, a doomsday prophet and radio broadcaster played by Woody Harrelson, seems in hair, beard and interests to have been drawn along the predictive lines of the real author Daniel Pinchbeck (2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl)."

Here again, someone sees what they want to see....a doomsday prophet. If you've read or listened to his work, you'll know how ridiculous that comparison is. Daniel is smarter and more nuanced than that, as a synthesizer of paradoxes. In an recent article called, After Disaster, he writes, "Despite the intensifying evolutionary pressures we face and the telescoped timeframe in which progress and change now occurs, we remain a half-awake, half-conscious species." He writes that our saving grace lies in somehow harnessing the immense energies of the psychic plane, and unifying our intention toward a better future.

True to mercurial form, in seeing the other side, he ends the article, saying, "An ever-growing segment of humanity is becoming conscious of the culture of domination that has degraded the biosphere, annihilated local cultures, and locked us in a prison of constricted awareness." His article gives the insider's view of the 2012 hoopla, from someone walking the red carpet for the film. And how the blockbuster 2012 is just a projected image of the possible future, one that we're all creating as we go.

Daniel Pinchbeck is a speaker at the Prophet's Conference: 2012, the Tipping Point in Cancun, Mexico from January 22 to 24th, with a Mayan Site Expedition from the 25th to the 28th. I have to admit, I am trying to work some magic to get to go to this conference! The speakers include Christine Page, John Major Jenkins, Jose Arguelles, and many more.

•Media, Movies and 2012: Getting Past the Big Lie by John Major Jenkins

Grant Faint