As we continue to go through global energy shifts, our contributing writer Jacques shares this thought-provoking two-part series on Paradigm Shifts in the Age of Polarity. In this series, he illustrates the important influence of Maya katun energy shifts – how they influencer human consciousness and behavior; and how each katun embodies a Spirit of the Age (in Western terms also known as a zeitgeist).
You can read Part 1 here.
Transition Time Frames
When considering some of the actual cultural shifts of past decades by using discussions in the decadeology community as a source (see resources), we can get a feeling for the time frame that cultural shifts took to occur. This may give us a sense of the impact that shifting energy can have on group psychology and group consciousness. On average, energy shifts appear to take between two and four years to complete, due to overlap each way.
The famous Maya calendar symbolic shift point of December 21, 2012 signified both an actual katun shift point as well as a shift point between Great Cycles (which last 5,125 years each). However, the energy of the new katun took until around mid-2014 or, perhaps, a bit later to really show itself.
In comparison, initial the Great Cycle transition from the Maya Fourth World to Fifth World should take 40 years to complete. Instant paradigm shifts are, therefore, very rare occurrences, because even shifts between short 19.7-year katun ages can take as long as three to four years to complete (as will be illustrated in this article).
An Age of Polarity
Today, in 2021, the polarity of Katun 2 Ahau (2012 to 2032) is clear to see, but the arrival of such strong polarity with polarization, as a result, has been counter-intuitive to the expectations that many people had for a post-2012 world, i.e. a linear progression towards harmony. One of the reasons for expectations of natural continuity was that the previous katun, Katun 4 Ahau (1993 to 2012), was relatively well balanced in nature.
However, evolution is not linear; it is cyclical. Having said that, even non-linearity has energetic continuity by design; energetically speaking, Katun 4 Ahau had the natural purpose of preparing us for Katun 2 Ahau. During the balanced and spiritual Katun 4 Ahau, we were being prepared for the volatile dualism of Katun 2 Ahau.
Spiritually speaking, this could also be viewed from the perspective of human souls being in training. The personal development that had been achieved on an individual level during Katun 4 Ahau is now being tested on a group level in Katun 2 Ahau. For example, do we allow ourselves to be swept up in identity politics (which is a form of group-think), or are we able to remain individually autonomous enough to act only in accordance with our personal value systems? (These questions are explored in detail in the Earth Incubator series).
Younger people who have not experienced Katun 4 Ahau can still benefit from both katuns as they have the advantage of learning directly from the volatile energies of the present katun age – while they can also benefit from the Spirit of the Age of the previous katun by selectively accessing the positive elements of that age in retrospect through some of its cultural artifacts which can be found in some of its television series, books, cinema, and art.
Exploring Paradigm Shifts – Shift Point 1993 – Katun 6 Ahau (1973-1993) shifts to Katun 4 Ahau (1993-2012)
Let us now return to what mild paradigm shifts may look like, and let’s imagine the example of someone who had become stranded on an isolated island with no communications from mid-1991 to mid-1995 – a time period of around four years which consists of the shift point in 1993 with an energy overlap of more or less two years each way. On being rescued and on returning to society in 1995, this person would have been under the impression that things were more or less similar to when they left.
In the meantime, while they were away, trends – such as music, fashion, technology, and attitudes – had changed significantly, to the extent that by 1995 they fully embodied the general trends of the 1990s as opposed to those of the late ’80s (and very early ’90s). Our returnee might have been surprised to find that things had changed so much after they left. Nevertheless, having to adapt to this new paradigm on their return would not have thrown them off-balance completely – notwithstanding the probable light culture shock that they were experiencing. Things were different but not completely different.
There seems to be a relatively strong consensus among decadeologists that the actual cultural shift point between the ’80s and ’90s only happened in 1993, and not in 1990 as one would have expected [2][3][4][6]. The year 1993 just happens to be the exact shift point from Katun 4 Ahau to Katun 2 Ahau in the Maya Short Count Calendar.
The Spirit of the Age: Katun 4 Ahau
By 1995, the general atmosphere in the developed world incorporated some or all of the following characteristics:
a general positive outlook for the future and a sense that peace was increasing in the world (it was post-Cold War and politically, culturally and socially the world was warming up again); a relatively good level of civility and courtesy among people and a live-and-let-live philosophy; strong individuality in the sense of personal autonomy; a relatively good level of trust among people; a relatively strong concern for the environment; mostly free-range childhoods; and just the right amount of technology [3][5] so that it did not take over people’s lives completely.
Spirituality seemed to be in revival, and books such as The Alchemist and The Celestine Prophecy were popular. The television series Friends was growing in popularity and would later become one of the most-watched television series of all time. The film Groundhog Day was notable for its depiction of the trials and tribulations of personal development in a humorous and entertaining way.
Exploring Paradigm Shifts – Shift Point 2012 – Katun 4 Ahau (1993-2012) shifts to Katun 2 Ahau (2012-2032)
Let’s return to our example of a castaway with no communications, but this time let’s imagine that the person was away from mid-2010 to mid-2014 – also, a time period of four years. The actual shift point was in 2012, but the transition took a couple of years to manifest and there was some overlap each way.
Upon returning in 2014, our ex-castaway would probably have been surprised to see virtually everyone, young and old, walking around with Smartphones. That trend had already started in 2010, but it was much less ubiquitous back then. However, by 2014, social networking had more or less completely taken overall social and non-professional communications.
As for music, art, fashion, and creativity, there seems to be a consensus on decadeology forums about the lack of many new or original happenings and that there was a general lack of quality in the early- and mid-2010s [6].
The Spirit of the Age: Katun 2 Ahau
By mid-2014, and especially by the start of 2015, the general atmosphere in the developed world already incorporated some of the following characteristics:
a general negative outlook for the future and a growing sense that peace was decreasing in the world (the year 2014 was a record year for world conflicts [8][9]); a much-deteriorated level of civility and courtesy among people, especially online; a victimhood mentality with the attitude that the world and other people owed people something; weak individuality in terms of personal autonomy combined with high levels of group conformity and finding personal identity in group identity; rapidly deteriorating levels of trust among people; a limited (real) concern for the environment; childhoods featuring parents being overprotective on the one hand and outsourcing their parenting to teachers and personal devices on the other; and personal technologies having generally more or less completely taken over people’s lives [5][6][7].
Other impacting features were gender relations taking a turn for the worse; race relations deteriorating; sectarian, cultural, and religious conflicts and their negative effects dominating the news more than ever; and protests, especially in the developed world, visibly increasing – and becoming ever more violent [7]. While some of these protests seemed to have legitimate causes, others seemed to be for superficial or artificial reasons, and it often came across as if people were protesting “for the sake of it” or simply to be part of recreational group activities.
The Book Fifty Shades of Grey crossed the 100 million sales mark in 2014, whilst, amongst others, television series such as Black Mirror and Game of Thrones were getting huge ratings. On the big screen, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 was raking it in at the box office.
The Light and Dark of the Katuns
Naturally, neither of the above katun snapshots tells the whole story – all ages have their positives and negatives and, indeed, their ups and downs. However, the atmosphere of Katun 4 Ahau was well balanced in general, while Katun 2 Ahau is very unbalanced in comparison.
From a Maya calendar perspective, the Spirit of the Age of each of these two examples conforms on a basic level to the symbolism found in their numbers known as tones in the Maya calendars: Tone 4 generally results in a balanced and harmonious atmosphere, while Tone 2 can mean a doubling in the strength of duality and polarity.
That’s not to say that positive things are not also happening during our volatile times, but the positives are clearly less evident than the negatives in the present Spirit of the Age, compared with that of the one before.
Dealing with Duality
On the surface of it then, with having some perspective on how the present Spirit of the Age differs from the one before, it should not be too difficult for us to conclude that there are various things that we can do in order to work with the elevated levels of polarity that are present in this age.
More than anything, a starting point for each individual could be to define their personal values clearly. Continuously shifting energy, a strong feature of Katun 2 Ahau, is likely to test individual integrity and group values on a regular basis by highlighting inconsistencies, double standards, and hypocrisy.
With the influence of the 2020-energy shift in the Vedic Yuga Cycle (please see Darkness Before Dawn – The Lights Along the Way) assisting in exposing inconsistencies, the ideal energetic circumstances have been created by the universe to prompt the clarifying and refining of personal values and personal beliefs, whether ideological or otherwise.
Learning how to clearly distinguish between right and wrong in reference to one’s own conscience is, after all, one of the very objectives of the presence of duality and polarity within our paradigm here on Earth (this subject is explored further in the Soul Incubator series).
Paradigm Balancers and Pillar Raisers
There are also other things we can do to avoid falling into the natural traps of polarization.
We could revert to levels of etiquette and social behavior as practiced during Katun 4 Ahau; we could treat people online in the same way as we treat people off-line; we can set boundaries, show respect, and insist on mutual respect in return; we can wean ourselves off excessive use of personal technologies and set time aside for personal development; we can assume more personal responsibility in shaping our social culture; and we can foster self-responsibility within our children and promote that in society in general, thereby dissolving the all-pervasive victimhood culture present in the developed world today.
The Tzolkin as a Guidance System
Positive values, traits, and characteristics are naturally embedded in the energies of the days in the sacred Maya Tzolkin Calendar. By following the Tzolkin on a daily basis and by paying attention to the higher qualities contained in the combined energies of each day, we can acquire, embrace and come to embody natural, organic, and consistent universal values that would not only serve our own selves but would also serve our communities and our environment, regardless of which katun we find ourselves in.
This process would strengthen conscious personal autonomy and individual identity by getting to know our intrinsic archetypal traits on an individual level. Moreover, it would make us more prepared for dealing with some of the real paradigm shifts that we will be encountering during the rest of this katun and the one that will follow.
Written by J.J. Montagnier
J.J. Montagnier is an independent researcher and writer. He has been studying and writing about Maya calendar-related subjects since 2014. He traveled to Central America in 2015 to familiarise himself better with Maya culture and history.
This article has been written for general consumption and some concepts have been simplified. The views and opinions are those of the author. Creative license has been applied to make some concepts more accessible.
Internet Resources:
[1] http://komonews.com/news/nation-world/thousands-mark-conclusion-of-5125-year-mayan-calendar-cycle-11-20-2015
[2] http://www.city-data.com/forum/history/1729747-did-early-90s-still-feel-like-3.html
[3] http://www.city-data.com/forum/history/1729747-did-early-90s-still-feel-like-5.html
[4] http://www.city-data.com/forum/history/1729747-did-early-90s-still-feel-like-6.html
[5] http://www.city-data.com/forum/history/1729747-did-early-90s-still-feel-like-7.html
[6] http://www.city-data.com/forum/history/1729747-did-early-90s-still-feel-like-8.html
[7] http://www.inthe00s.com/index.php?topic=53991.0http://www.inthe00s.com/index.php?topic=53991.60
[8] http://www.ucdp.uu.se/
[9] http://www.un.org/pga/70/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Conflict-and-violence-in-the-21st-century-Current-trends-as-observed-in-empirical-research-and-statistics-Mr.-Alexandre-Marc-Chief-Specialist-Fragility-Conflict-and-Violence-World-Bank-Group.pdf
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