Guest William Gladstone, Author and Indigenous Culture Expert For many years now there has been a growing fascination with the December 21, 2012 winter solstice. Significant meaning has been attributed to this date as the end of a major cycle in the Mayan calendar system and the beginning of what many hope will be a vital new cycle of higher evolution for humankind and our planet. Hundreds of events are taking place on this date, celebrating transition and transformation (see Birth2012.com (http://Birth2012.com), Synthesis2012.com (http://Synthesis2012.com), WorldUnity2012.com and Unify.org). William Gladstone is a literary agent and an expert on Mayan and related indigenous cultures, and author of a novel addressing this theme, The Twelve (http://www.amazon.com/The-Twelve-ebook/dp/B00A3JQKI4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1353260786&sr=8-4&keywords=the+twelve+gladstone). Our conversation provides some stimulating perspectives on why the date has taken on such significance, and how many evolutionary leaders, such as Barbara Marx Hubbard and Ervin Laszlo have embraced the date as symbolic of an energetic shift in consciousness, and potentially a change in the direction of human culture toward a more balanced and ecologically sound civilization.