BOOKISH: Julia Alvarez, Apocalypse and the Politics of Pot

This week in bookish: Julia Alvarez comes to town, Penn opens an exhibit on the Mayan 2012 prediction and the library hosts a dope talk about the politics of pot

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BOOKISH: Julia Alvarez, Apocalypse and the Politics of Pot

POSTED: Thursday, May 3, 2012, 4:00 PM

Filed Under: Arts Books

Sunday, May 6

Lords of Time

Almost a year after Christian radio host Harold Camping predicted the coming of the Rapture, we are still alive, planted firmly on the earth. The Heaven's Gate cult of the purple jumpsuits claimed the end of the world would come in the late 90s, and Japan's Aum Shinrikyo pinned it at '97 specifically. Whether predicting the Second Coming or the arrival of alien life, end-of-times fantasies have been a cultural obsession since, well, the beginning of time. Even for those of us who dismiss these claims as hocus-pocus, it just so happens that we are living in the year of the apocalypse as predicted by one of the oldest societies in recorded history. With an intricate calendar based on careful calculations, the Mayans believed December 2012 to be the world's end date. This month, the Penn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology pays homage to the ancient prophecy with an exhibit dedicated to Mayan culture, religion and the lasting impact of the Mayan prediction. The exhibit kicks off this weekend with weaving demonstrations from traditional Mayan artisans, Guatemalan craft workshops and ceremonial dance performances. If this is going to be our last year on earth, it's probably a good time to learn about the people that knew how it would all go down.

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