We all lived through it and now it’s a tarot card: The Millennium!

The Millennium was a really strange event. As Garrett says: “after it happened all of humanity got really embarrassed and stopped talking about it.” But goddamn, was everybody sure worked up about it in the time leading up to it. I myself was never too worried, but then I don’t get too worried about much.

Iworked for like two months in the fall of 1999 in a Whole Foods Market in Baltimore in the grocery section. I remember this one time a creepy fucking guy came in with his real mousy wife, and a couple kids who were obviously scared of anything that moved. It looked like this was probably the first time any of them had left their house in like five years, based on how they dressed and acted. Anyway, the guy was stockpiling. He bought something like 50 boxes of soy milk and rice milk, and I forget what else. Nobody asked him what they were for, but as we helped him load up his mini-van, we all knew it was for some kind of Y2K Apocalypse plan.

I spent that New Year’s pretty low key, just hanging out with some friends. We turned on the tv though, so we could see the carnage unfold when the clock struck. But then nothing happened. Just people partying. Actually, that’s not true. We did hear one super-brief news item about some missiles in Russia launched accidentally because of the so-called Y2K bug. But they made it seem like it was nothing. And since we didn’t plunge into nuclear holocaust, I’ll have to take their word on that.

I remember being kind of disappointed that nothing happened. I mean, even if something bad had happened, it would have been kind of exciting. I mean, let’s admit it, 9/11 was pretty exciting - even if it was a horrible tragedy. I mean shit, we’ve been worked up about that ever since, really. Some of you are probably even worked up because I dared to admit that I was a little turned on by the whole thing. I mean, not sexually, but it was fucking wild. I think there’s some weird part of us that actually hopes for the worst. Like we just go around hoping to be fucking put through the ringer, so we can really test our mettle and see what comes out the other side.

And then there’s this whole thing about the psychological side of the Apocalypse, which I’ve written about pretty extensively. I think a lot of times we get so caught in the world that we build up around ourselves that we can’t see any possible way to grow or change or develop without everything in our lives coming crashing down - literally or figuratively.

The Y2K non-event is a perfect illustration of the function of the apocalypse. In the time leading up to it, we got all pumped up like crazy, preparing ourselves for all kinds of crazy shit. The main demon to be slain was the so-called Y2K bug, a little gremlin who may or may not have even really existed. But what he stood for was our collective psychological bonding with technology. This crazy little bastard was a symbol of how utterly intertwined our lives have become with our technological creations. First was the invasion of the home computer, and then the tidal wave of the internet which caught us all up in it. The Y2K bug was the ritual obsession we polished in order to help us psychologically make the forward transition into the evolving technotopia.

The big problem with Y2K though was not that nothing happened. It was that we didn’t make anything happen. We were all so amped up, and had poured all this ritualized energy around this idea, that when nothing occurred, we suddenly were left high and dry. We’d pulled out too early. We’d had the plane robbed out from under us while flying across the ocean. We all dealt with it in our own way, through partying or scoffing, but we never dealt with it as a culture. And you know what that means, right? When a group of people preps itself for something that doesn’t happen, the preparation doesn’t go away. It simply finds another vessel to unconsciously pin all these feelings to.

And I’d wager that vessel was 9/11. We finally all got to feed our pent-up Y2K bug. We’d merely covered up the symptoms of it before when nothing happened. And thus we were due for a relapse in a major way. For our own psychological health, a major catastrophic event may have been unavoidable. Unfortunately that event came out as a literal fact, rather than as a ritualized psychic event - which would have been a lot safer and more positive. We could have designed something that would have been uplifting, rather than spiritually crushing, and rather than something which has been endlessly twisted and morphed by darkly sinister purposes.

Is it too late though? The Millennium card says that it is not, and that it never will be. In the Bible, Jesus is supposed to have said that the “end of the world” would come while his listeners were still alive.

“….This generation shall not pass away, until all these things be accomplished….But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” Mark 13:30-33

Psychologically, it’s of vital importance that we actually believe “The End Is Near!” in order for the apocalypse fantasy to actually “work.” We must believe that it will happen in our lifetimes, and that we will experience it - we will undergo the ultimate transformation while still alive. As Garrett pointed out, people seem to just casually ignore and forget it when an apocalypse prophecy fails to come to pass. So they invent another one; it’s always just over the horizon. Just another couple years. “This generation shall not pass away…” Just out of reach. Just something to strive for. The most popular one circulating today among the counter-culture is the 2012 Mayan calendar end-date. Or combine that with impending ecological disaster. But what are we going to do if none of this happens either - when we all keep living our lives? Likely we’ll make a new prophecy, or modify an old one, announcing “Here’s why we were off, let’s adjust it for just a couple years in the future…”

The Millennium card says “This is it. It’s happening right now. Do something about it.” The world is both ending and beginning anew at every single second of every day. You don’t need to wait for some arcane artificially imposed deadline. In the Millennium card, we see a hand reach up to seize the Ouroboros:

In alchemy, it represents the spirit of Mercury (the substance that permeates all matter), and symbolizes continuous renewal (a snake is often a symbol of resurrection, as it appears to be continually reborn as it sheds its skin.), the cycle of life and death, and harmony of opposites.

Also in this card we see the underlying layer of computers - the technological fantasy/tragedy upon which the entire Y2K bug rested. From there, it moves upwards to people partying, coming together: the natural response to momentous events and radical change. Just like Prince said: Party like it’s 1999 - all the time (see also Prince as the Hierophant card). Above the party-people, we see the exploding fireworks, and we are reminded that from the distance fireworks and the violent explosions of war are all but indistinguishable. As you get closer to it psychologically, it’s up to you to decide which it will be. Be safe - not sorry.

[Also see Jeremy’s card, The Rapture. And check out the traditional Rider-Waite card Judgement for more traditional information.]