The Mayan Prophecy 2012
According to the Mayans, the Earth will reach the end of a cycle on Dec. 21, 2012
by: By Marie-Joleel Parent, SUN MEDIA
Source: http://www.thesudburystar.com

New York City comes with its fair share of odd urbanites.

Among them is Daniel Pinchbeck, 43, an author, journalist, modern-day bohemian, advocate of hallucinogenic drugs and friend of Sting.

He's also the official spokesperson for the doomsday Mayan prophecy of 2012, which predicts the apocalypse's arrival in less than three years.

The following is a discussion regarding the end of the world as we know it.

A strange guy this Pinchbeck.

He has toured the world several times, mixing it up with celebs and members of aboriginal tribes alike, all the while travelling through artificial paradises under the influence of hallucinogens with names that are impossible to pronounce.

Pinchbeck grew up in Manhattan, the birthplace of the Beat Generation, which his parents were a part of. His mother ran with writer Jack Kerouac.

He began his career as a journalist and typical New York capitalist. His work was published in Esquire and The New York Times.

Then one day, his best friend died of an overdose. The incident provoked an existential crisis in Pinchbeck.

"I became profoundly depressed with the situation in the world (and) I discovered other levels of human consciousness," he said of his experience with psychedelic plants in the Amazon and West Africa.

That lead to Pinchbeck's first book, Breaking Open the Head, in 2002.

Sting, who has always been open about his use of psychedelic drugs, was a fan of the book and the two have since become good friends.

"I don't claim to be a shaman, I'd say I am more of a sorcerer!" he says, sitting in a leather chair on the third floor of Collective Hardware, a building that looks much like a 1960's commune, inhabited by artists and hippies with floors that look as though they could collapse at any moment.

Pinchbeck has also, over the last few years, been devoted to researching the Mayan Prophecy of 2012.

He published a book on the subject in 2006 and has sort of become the unofficial authority on the prophecy, which says the Earth will reach the end of a cycle on Dec. 21, 2012.

Many have interpreted this as the apocalypse.

Like Y2K, the date has become an increasingly popular topic of conversation with plans for huge parties under the stars in exotic locations already in the works.

The prophecy has been great for Hollywood, which has already finished a movie on the subject called 2012.

And one of the movie's characters was inspired by Pinchbeck.

Pinchbeck's book previously predicted a major economic crisis in 2008. According to him, there will be another, more significant crash 18 months from now.

"We're creating imaginary money to help the system, but all that does is create more debt," said Pinchbeck.

"We're starting to notice the end of this savage era of capitalism."

Pinchbeck is also working on a documentary on the subject.

"Lots of people in the world already understand that this is a crucial time for humanity, we're living an economic crisis, global warming, the disappearance of many species, the end of our resources, our civilization is very unstable, the system is going to crash," he said.

Pinchbeck toured the planet to research his documentary and interviewed researchers, philosophers, scientists and artists such Ellen Page, Sting and David Lynch.

Pinchbeck said he doesn't necessarily believe that the world is heading towards the end and is not totally focused on the specific date.

He said he is more of the mind that there will be a revolution and the start of a new era -- one he hopes will be marked by a period of kindness.

So where will he be on the fateful day in 2012?

"I could be in a flying saucer, in a cave in Peru or on my roof in New York," he said.