It has been predicted that at this time in history,we would experience a great awakening of humanity.Are we there yet [over the rainbow]? Or the opposite has happened-we are in some version of an Orwellian nightmare;society has descended into ignorance,materialism and mechanical existence?

Our world hangs in the balance,teetering between breakdown and breakthrough.For many rings of souls,a breakdown has already occurred,as they were not willing to rise above egotism.Although, we live in times of transformation,and opportunities to raise our individual and collective consciousness are abound;human evolution remains a matter
of choice.We rise and fall in accordance with the values we choose to uphold.

I am afraid I must say,that for the majority of humans,life on earth has become an Orwellian Nightmare:
We are all under surveillance.Individual freedoms are diminishing.Individuals are becoming more and more like each other,and indigenous cultures are vanishing.Humanity is becoming more and more homogenous,as the process of globalization progresses.Any simple farmer knows,that diversity is necessary for the survival of plants and animals.Likewise,diversity among human individuals and human cultures,is necessary for the survival of the human species.
It is not just the state that controls the citizens.It is much more insidious.In the Age of Google,it is hard to maintain privacy.It is even harder to maintain individuality,as mass media and commercial propaganda reach everywhere on the globe and bombard the individual mind.

Industrialism and Capitalism have brought prosperity to the western civilization.But,at this point in history,they are becoming increasingly the tools of its downfall.
This is the result of a collective human mentality prevailing now,which places profits over people and over the earth itself.
We live in an age of technology and information.But,with all the tools that we have created,and all the information that we constantly gather and assimilate,we have not been able to improve the relations between man and his soul,man and his fellow man,man and the universe.
Our minds cannot cope with the barrage of information and the great instability in our world.We know,at this point in history,that without paradigm shift,we will not survive as a species.Further more,we are participating in the destruction of countless life forms on earth,through our life style choices.
We can see the decline of a society,when we observe its young generation.The young become physically and mentally weaker than the generation before them.They are not prepared for the challenges of the future.They are educated in exceedingly mindless,mechanical ways.
When a society loses the higher ideals of humanity,its youth becomes retarded in its development.We have to find a better way.

According to the Mayan calender,and also other traditions, in December,21,2012 a great Cosmic Cycle of creation ,which lasted 5,125 years,comes to an end,and a new one begins, marking the dawning of a New Age on the planet.This is an astronomical event.There is an elevation of the earth vibrations,as it realigns itself within the cosmos,and this allows for a quickening in the evolution of human consciousness..So potentially,humanity could reach a great new age of awakening in the near future.However,it remains a matter of whether or not the humans align themselves with the new vibrations of the earth.There is no predestiny for us as individuals or collectively.We create our destiny as we move along.Every little act matters.It impacts the whole.

We have not been successful in birthing the essence of the
Age of Aquarius,which is a smaller cycle of 2,150 years,
within the greater cycle of 5,125 years,of the Maya calender.We are certainly not witnessing the beginning of an age of love and peace on a collective level.There has been too much corruption on earth,preventing it from coming.

The planetary alignment of December,2012,will create new possibilities for the human consciousness to evolve beyond previously known levels,but this will not happen unless we re-prioritize our values.We live in a Patriarchal world, along with all its characteristic inequities,domination
and exploitation.The imbalances of our world go beyond the current economic or political systems.This cycle of violence is thousands of years old.Patriarchy has got to go!Humanity must restore the power of the feminine,in order to balance itself.a power that is naturally life affirming and in harmony with universal principles.

P.S.It should be noted that many astrologers correlate the rise and fall of mighty civilizations and cultural trends,with the cycles of movement of the earth,stars and galaxies.

Author's Bio: 

This article is the intellectual property of Gloria Eagle. Gloria[oracledreamhealer], is a modern sage and healer.As a successor to Carlos Castaneda,she is trained in the ways of The Nagual.She integrates the spiritual traditions of the world.
You can reach her through her email:oracledreamhealer@gmail.com or,through her blog: http://oracledreamhealer.wordpress.com