Nathan E. Lewis

New Years Day is not only a proper time to look ahead but it is also a good time to reflect on the past. Do you remember the Y2K scare of 1999? How about all of the hype about harmonic convergence and the Age of Aquarius dawning as our scientific, if not arbitrary measurement of time turned to a new millennium? As January 1, 2000 neared gun sales sky-rocketed just as they have in the final days of 2008 with news of economic crisis. Fredrick Kunkle opened his October 27, 2008 article in the Washington Post with these words: “Americans have cut back on buying cars, furniture and clothes in a tough economy, but there’s one consumer item that’s still enjoying healthy sales: guns. Purchases of firearms and ammunition have risen 8 to 10 percent this year, according to state and federal data.” Of course, gun sales have also risen this year directly following Obama’s election to the Presidency, many citizens fearing his views on gun control. My neighbors stocked cigarettes, toilet paper, canned and dried food, and ammunition, advised by trusted leaders to prepare for the Crash.
A Canadian publication, “News in Review” reported the following as the hype and fear escalated in the USA and throughout the world: “While some survivalists plan to ride out the year 2000 by themselves in their remote homes, there are many who have established group settlements called Y2K villages. Many of these villages are formed directly as a result of the Y2K problem, while others are religious groups who have been preparing for years for some kind of societal upheaval. Many of them are trying to stay hidden from the public eye because they do not want any more members. One of the most popular Y2K villages is a project called Heritage Farms 2000. Heritage Farms 2000 plans to sell half-acre plots to 500 families in hopes of building an independent, self-sustaining community that will not be disturbed by the disruptions in the rest of society. Located on 1000 acres in remote South Dakota, Heritage Farms 2000 offers plots with gardens for permanent or mobile homes, in addition to a 160-acre community farm and a Main Street with a general store. Heritage Farms 2000 reveals a certain idealism about what type of society is desirable. Its concept and supporters reveal a need for a new orientation of society. Many of them advocate more responsible social relationships and believe this can only happen in smaller communities. In some ways Y2K villages such as Heritage Farms 2000 appear to be similar to the communal back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and 70s.” (I have always been in favor of us spreading out the population - “fill the earth and subdue it…” - and so, some had to eventually move to the Dakotas for some reason or another.) We would do well to remember our late 90’s fears of the Crash. This Heritage Farms is nothing different than the mid-19th century pull-out of Christians who believed that Christ would descend and the Final Day of Judgement had arrived. The denominations and cults born out of this fallacious fervor still remain, some corrected and some still deluded.
While we are remembering, we should note that the delusions at the turn of the millennium did not belong solely to Christian fundamentalists. Many New Age types anticipated the harmonic conversion to occur. As Lynn Hopkins PhD, writes on her website, “The period in history known as Harmonic Convergence was defined by Jose Arguelles as: ‘the point at which the counter-spin of history finally comes to a momentary halt, and the still imperceptible spin of post-history commences.’ It was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Quetzalcoatl, known as the Thirteen Heavens and Nine Hells. The prophecy stated that following the ninth hell, humanity would know and experience an unprecedented New Age of Peace. The Hell cycle ended on August 16, 1987; the Harmonic Convergence began on August 17. Thus began the projected twenty-five year culmination of the 5,125 year Great Cycle of History, as well as the 26,000-year cycle of evolution, both slated to end in 2012.” Apparently, Pre-millennial Dispensational Christians are not the only ones who predict the times, events and end of it all.
Aquarian-Age Network members declared, “While acknowledging the zero point of the zodiac to be defined as the point where the true galactic equator crosses the ecliptic between Taurus and Gemini, and recognizing the J2000 galactic equator defined by the galactic north pole of 12h 51.4m, 27° 8’ to be representative of the B1950 definition of the galactic coordinate system, by virtue of Sagittarius A* being recognized as the dynamical center of the galaxy with the true galactic equator passing through Sagittarius A*, and by virtue of the sun being at 90° 00’ 32” past the point of the crossing of the J2000 galactic equator and the ecliptic at the spring equinox of 20 March 2000, 07:35:35 GMT, we declare the Aqe of Aquarius to have unequivocally arrived.” Many of this persuasion insist that Jesus announced the Age of Aquarius, blending tidbits of Christian belief with heaping spoonfulls of Astrological dogma.
And so, here I am in my bathrobe at noon on January 1, 2009 remembering the stir, the fear, the hype, and the thrill of a New Year’s Day of more significance than this present one.