S.B. Resident Foresees Festivities, Not Fatalities, at Year’s End 2012

A self-described clairvoyant and follower of Mayan astrology, Santa Barbara native Lisa Star has pioneered a modern interpretation of the Mayan calendar known as “Natural Time,” one that dismisses the doomsday hysteria surrounding December 21, 2012.

The solar Mayan calendar consists of 28-day months with a remainder date in July (“the day out of time”), and from the 21st through the 25th of that month a celebration known as Zuvuya is held to honor a full year’s passing. A Mayan spiritual concept, Zuvuya represents “everything unconscious becoming conscious.”

“It is my modern response to celebrating the end of the year,” said Star. It allows people to follow a new path, rather than the old 12-month [Gregorian] calendar.”

The five-day conference will feature a range of healing activities, including nature retreats, yoga practice, and shamanistic journeys. A $200 admission fee is required for full participation, though the final ceremony will be free by donation from Santa Barbara meditation workshop Yoga Soup. “It’s the first year,” Star said. “It’s going to be workshops as opposed to a festival. There will be workshops with me where I am going to be revealing everything I know, as well as more intimate gatherings.”

Inspired by the teachings of Jose Arguelles, regarded by many as the father of New Age Maya belief, Star has made the calendar and the lore within it her life’s work. “I was kind of raised around it and took it on when I became a mom,” she said. “It has been 12 years since I became a dedicated disciple.” A graduate of Brown University with shamanistic training, Star shares her spiritual teachings year-round. In addition to organizing what will be the first Zuvuya celebration, she runs a Web site, ResonantTruth.com; has a Facebook page where a glyph reading is posted daily; and is currently working on a book about the Natural Time Calendar.

“It is pretty much my entire work and focus. With the 2012 hysteria, popularity is growing and I am meeting that growth,” she said. However, contrary to the popular, apocalyptic interpretation, Star expects 2012 to be a year like any other. “What I routinely say is that the calendar that I teach does not end in that year, it just keeps going. Its simply an ending and beginning … really a changing of cycles rather than an eradication of our lives here on Earth.”

For more information about Natural Time or the conference, go here.