The time of prophecy: Keeping one eye open

I always think maybe they are wrong.  As the cup tips on the second half of 2012, a most fateful day approaches. We’re churning along while some of us keep one eye on current events. And most news bits are almost unbelievable, as if an over-the-top comic book were being penned in a moment of inebriation. It’s that kooky.

We look at the rising floods, cracked earth, shrinking crops, dying fish, falling birds, melting ice, failing crops and oil spills as if there isn’t really something to the prophecy hype. I refer to two of the foremost, the Mayan and Hopi prophecies. It is not happenstance that these two viewpoints spring from indigenous origins. Coincidence is best not taken at face value.

Prophecies are complex and a little vague by nature. Even so, humans are fascinated by forecasting; it must have something to do with our fascination with the unknown.  Flipping to the back page and reading the end is also human nature. I do it with any novel I read. I can’t stand the suspense.

In the Hopi prophecies, the path is laid out with markers that can be used as guides.  A great blue kachina (guessed to be an alien life form) will remove his mask in front of all, which is now possible with internet bulletins. It will be a game changer, an unveiling of the long suspected. Reading through Hopi prophecy is a rehearsal for cold chills. Case in point: the earth being covered by a spider web (read Internet) in the last days.

Much is implied in the Hopi prophecies. Those with a peaceful heart will fare better than those who strive against it or try to prepare for it, we are told.  Alas, there is no holding back the inevitable. On the bright side, purification is in order. We intuit this somehow as we watch the Earth choke on the backwash of our detachment.

In the high stakes round, the Mayan prophecy is like buying the winning ticket on the mega ball lottery with one chance.  These brutal but brilliant astronomical geniuses devised a calendar that predicted a cataclysmic change on Dec. 21, 2012. They simply don’t have any more time on their calendar after that day.  The Mayans figured the center of the universe was the Sun which has its own cycles. The conclusion of one phase is pinpointed on the upcoming winter solstice. Here, too, is a cleansing time called forth.

Both Indian prophecies predict rebirth. No serious renewal can come without an eradication of the former. By definition it is a wiping clean of the slate so that the new can emerge.  Scoffers say that other ends of time have been called and receded.  The naysayers pick apart the notion that these predictions are credible by quibbling over mathematical discrepancies. So be it.

Still others say that we have a chance to turn from our nonchalance and go back to the all-for-one viewpoint.  Whether it will do any good by now is pure speculation.  It’s unclear if we really want to turn from the error of our ways. Wait. We have shown no collective notion to do so.

But we may be getting a cosmic tap on the shoulder courtesy of the Mayans and Hopis. Native people knew and have always known that the planet is a living thing; sacred, delicate and valuable beyond measure. We are merely the stewards. About now, the old ones’ way of thinking is starting to make a lot of sense.

Greed and avarice has displaced the common sense of preserving that which is under our feet.  It will be a welcome relief when the calendar hits Dec. 22, 2012. If we are spared the apocalypse, will we make amends to the planet or continue to render it senseless? Large scale technological farming, toxic runoff, unfettered fracking and maverick deep sea drilling are all a familiar chorus to indifference.  I think I’ll keep one eye open.



S.E. Ruckman is a citizen of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes in Anadarko, Okla. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma’s School of Journalism and has written for the Tulsa World and is currently a special contributor to the Native American Times. She is a freelance writer who is based in Oklahoma.