The novel The Twelve was inspired by my long standing interest in indigenous cultures and their specific references to the concept of a ‘window of time’ during which human transformation and evolution is possible. Of course, the best known indigenous culture that speaks specifically about 2012 is the Mayan culture, which created the long count calendar, which ends on December 21, 2012. It is my belief, based on research which I have carried out in Chiapas, Mexico, that the long count calendar actually pre-dates Mayan settlements and may have originated in the mountain regions of Guatemala and Southern Chipas in the area of what is today Tapachula, Mexico. Izapa, the oldest known Mayan representation of the long count calendar, is in this region and may have been created based on information gained from these earlier indigenous cultures.

One of the reasons I believe this may be the case, is  based on finding specific artifacts that date back  several thousand years in this mountainous region outside of Izapa and Tapachula, which mirror the designs found at Izapa hundreds of years later. The other reason I believe this may be the case, is that so many of the major cultures of South America also speak of “these times” as a time of transformation. I have spent time at Machu Pichu and elsewhere in Peru and Bolivia where these beliefs are just as strong as in Southern  Mexico. Whether talking with Incan descendants from either Quecha or Aymara language backgrounds, it is clear that these cultures also believe that human beings have reached a critical moment in their evolution which requires a return to “nurturing” and not exploiting planet earth.

The ancient culture that emerged around Lake Titicaca was quite specific in talking about the Lake itself as the home of the spirit of the planet and birthplace of human beings and  knowledge. Archeologists have determined that the ancient city of  Tiahuanaco is the oldest human settlement in all of the Americas, if not the entire world. Although shrouded in mystery, oral traditions still speak of the coming “end of the world as we know it”. This end is not necessarily the cataclysmatic apocalypse mentioned by Nostradamus and Christian theology, but the end of a vibration that is no longer sustainable that has encouraged exploitation and been overly focused on egoistic and material concerns.

Going further afield, we find indigenous cultures in the Amazon both in Peru and Brazil, with beliefs similar to those of the Mayan and Incan. Many scholars believe there was no contact between such peoples, and yet the similarities in creation myths and cosmological beliefs are striking. When we look at the 2012  mythology from a global perspective, we start to find that  North American peoples such as the Hopi, Asian peoples including those from Tibet and India and  Pacific Island peoples, including those from Hawaii, also shared beliefs  in the cyclical nature of  human evolution. In a surprising number of instances in each culture, the cycle is ending precisely at these times and the opportunity to ascend from iron to gold or from dense to higher awareness is prophesized.

We may never know for certain the true importance of 2012, but it is clear that  Central and South America, in particular, have an important, if not the major, role in bringing forth the indigenous wisdom associated with 2012 to modern society at this time. There is a reason that the novel The Twelve starts the journey of discovery in Peru and Bolivia and ends in Mexico. This happens to be the actual journey of my life as author, upon whom the main character Max Doff is based. Is it too speculative to believe that my actual life has been lived precisely so that when it came time to write The Twelve these specific locations would be revealed to the world at this specific moment in time? I believe that is exactly the reason my life has unfolded as it has, but you can determine that for yourself as you enter the world of The Twelve.

by:  William Gladstone