Bestselling Authors, Musicians and Cultural Leaders Unite in More than 40 Major Events from Mexico to Australia in an Unprecedented Global Webcast, Culminating with a Los Angeles Gala Event.
The end of the long-count Mayan calendar on December 21 has provoked apocalyptic fears, doomsday books and films, parodies, and even triggering outbreaks of panic, as recently reported in a December 1 New York Times article on Russia’s end-of-the-world anxiety.
By contrast, the far more positive and forward-looking Birth 2012 movement, organized by The Shift Network, offers a creative and hopeful alternative. Rather than feed fears, the movement aims to turn this marker point into a “birth day” for a new era that is healthy, sustainable, and peaceful. The conveners recognize the power of this once-in-five-thousand-years turning point to unify people globally around a commitment to create a world that works for all.
Through the Birth 2012 movement and its unprecedented 33-hour global live webcast linking more than 40 major locations, many of today’s top cultural leaders, bestselling authors, religious leaders, and musicians will join together in a call for a collective shift to a new way of living. Livecast locations include Mexico, Egypt, India, Japan, Israel, Ghana, Kenya, Scotland, Guatemala, Brazil, and Canada, plus dozens of locations in the United States.
Led by bestselling author Barbara Marx Hubbard and The Shift Network’s Stephen Dinan, the movement features New York Times bestselling authors and thought leaders such as Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Neale Donald Walsch, don Miguel Ruiz, Jack Canfield, Joan Borysenko, and Lisa Nichols; spiritual leaders such as Michael Bernard Beckwith, Ram Dass, Jean Houston, Shiva Rea, Swami Chidananda Saraswati, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Mayan elders, Oscar Miro-Quesada, and members of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers; social change leaders such as Lynne Twist, Dot Maver, and James O’Dea; journalists such as Lynne McTaggart; academics such as Ervin Laszlo of Global Shift University and Ashok Gangadean of Haverford; business leaders such as Rinaldo Brutoco of World Business Academy; and musicians such as Ozomatli and Rickie Byars Beckwith.
Many of these leaders will participate in a live celebration on December 21 and 22 at Agape International Spiritual Center in Culver City, CA, while others will join the celebration from other locations around the world. Millions more will connect via 12 waves of unity that will be staged every two hours leading up to the “birth moment” at noon Pacific on December 22. These will include synchronized meditations, prayers, songs, and practices worldwide, ranging from a Havdalah prayer from Jerusalem to One Billion Oms led from India to a world peace prayer ceremony from Mt. Fuji and a global Yoga Wave.
An Unprecedented Global Webcast
The major 2012-themed events around the globe will be shared live during an unprecedented 33-hour webcast that begins December 21 at noon Pacific and continues until December 22 (9 pm Pacific). Executive Producer Charlie Gay, who once managed Cher and produced Billy Graham stadium events said, “I’ve managed shows with a high number of locations, but the Birth 2012 broadcast is the longest stretch of programming of this kind ever attempted while also handling the simultaneous challenge of multiple locations worldwide–and all of this is being put together on relatively short notice.”
The first major event will begin in Byron Bay, Australia, featuring Barbara Marx Hubbard in a multi-media piece called Theater of Our Birth. The program continues with a “Three Days of Love” pledge and media campaign inviting participants to commit to actions and words of love from December 20-22. On December 20, a partner initiative called “A Big Project” will focus on activating artistic visions for a better world with a 10-hour webcast from New York. On December 21, many of the large global events will begin, continuing through December 22.
“Birth 2012 is a celebration for the world that helps us build a critical mass of people committed to positive change. Drawing inspiration from visionary Barbara Marx Hubbard and many of today’s bestselling pioneers, we aim to co-create an historic turning point that helps to interconnect the social, spiritual, and technological breakthroughs that can lead us forward out of our current global crises,” shares Stephen Dinan, the co-founder and architect of the Birth 2012 campaign as well as CEO of The Shift Network, which serves 225,000 members with transformational online events, courses, and trainings.
Culminating Gala Event in Los Angeles
Since the Mayan calendar date marks the end of a calendar cycle on December 21, Birth 2012 will designate the Birth Day for a new era on December 22, specifically marking the Birth Moment at noon Pacific time. This moment will be celebrated during a Gala event at Agape International Spiritual Center and include a live global broadcast featuring music, ceremony, inspiring talks, visioning, multi-media, and Shift Awards for peace, sustainability, health, and economics.
“The planetary birthing movement is gaining momentum worldwide, with synchronized spiritual and social events designed to shift global consciousness toward love and harmony. Birth 2012 can connect these events in a way that represents a unification on a scale we have perhaps never seen, ” shares Barbara Marx Hubbard, co-founder and President for the Foundation for Conscious Evolution and former Democratic Vice -Presidential nominee (1984). Hubbard sees this time in history as a critical turning point into the next stage of what she terms “Conscious Evolution” – defined as evolution by choice not chance.
Additional elements in the global program to create longer-term change include a Declaration of Interdependence to be signed in Philadelphia and presented in New York, a Declaration of Commitment to Indigenous Peoples, and promotion of the Pledge 4 Peace to encourage actions for peace in the coming year. Participants will be encouraged to former local hubs and invited into future programs such as the Winter of Wellness, Spring of Sustainability, and Summer of Peace to create longer-term changes.
Media companies that are contributing to the global production include FANetwork.tv, PeaceDay TV, EmpowerMe TV, Agape Media, and Peace of Mind TV. Co-sponsors of the Birth 2012 campaign range from Green America to The Peace Alliance and Humanity’s Team. Unity churches (1 million global members) and the Brahma Kumaris (with 2500 global centers) are actively participating in the movement, as are non-profit groups such as EarthDance.
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For information on detailed webcast schedule and locations: www.birth2012.com
For information on the Los Angeles Gala: www.birth2012la.com
For information on Three Days of Love: www.threedaysoflove.com
The Shift Network, Inc. empowers a growing global movement of 225,000 members who are creating an evolutionary shift of consciousness that in turn leads to a more enlightened society, one built on principles of sustainability, peace, health, and prosperity.
