2012 – the year of the Apocalypse! Doomsday! The end of life on earth as we know it! Or is it??
I’ve been wanting to write about this topic in general for a while now but never got around to it. My love of Doomsday scenarios goes back to my childhood when I first heard of The Garabandal Prophecies. Intense childhood fear of the unknown led to curiosity and over the years I’ve spent much time exploring the subject of Armageddon. I’ll deal with specifics in other areas so let me keep this to a generalized look at what could possibly come in the near future – my own thoughts on the subject that is.
[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]
Not Literally the End of the World
First off, let me strongly state that I in no way believe 2012 to be the end of the world, nor do I believe any other chosen year before or after to signify the end of human life on earth unless you’re referring to thousands, if not millions, of years into the future. The earth has been around for billions of years and there is no reason to think that it’s going to disappear any time soon. There will always be a threat of mass extinction but to dwell on just a thought and a prophetical warning or two can cause such great anxiety that we must not worry too much until the time comes – if it ever does.
And with that said, let me go scaring everyone – hopefully not but what would you expect from an article of this kind?
The Mayan Calendar
Remember just before the year 2000 hit? There was a large doomsday following predicting 2000 to be the end, much like the year 1000 came and went in the millenium before. Other than a few clocks displaying the year 1900, 2000 came and went, laughing at the fear it created. Now the next big date is Dec. 21, 2012, which owes the precise date to the Mayan Calendar which signifies the end of a Mayan method of counting the years, much like Jan. 1 of a new millenium. This date coincides with the alignment of the Earth, Sun and the centre of the galaxy. This is believed to be the exact date the Earth and Sun both pass through one side of the galaxy on to the other much like crossing our own equator, in which case we might need to rewrite all our textbooks to account for our toilets flushing in the opposite direction. Some people believe a huge mistake has been made and the calendar has nothing to do with dates. Others believe that the Mayans possessed an acute knowledge of the celestial patterns and the calendar is a precise timeframe of history and the future – up to 2012. Whatever your belief in the Mayan system, this date has stuck in the minds of Doomsdayists.
I take the predicted date of the Mayans as more coincidence than prophecy. I’m not saying they were wrong in predicting a change in the world, I’m saying that there are so many disasters throughout history that if a major catastrophe were to happen in 2012 we shouldn’t just point to the Mayans and give them all the credit. Was our current Gregorian calendar based on pin-pointing the exact day all the clocks would register the year 1900 then subtract 2000 from it and hope that was Jesus’ correct birthday. The Gregorian calendar is a relatively modern (1582) adaptation of earlier calendars which set the year 0 A.D. as the starting point. The Mayan Calendar, if it proves to be a disastrous crossing of the galactic plane, well…
Natural Disaster?
This doesn’t mean I don’t think anything is to come – it’s already happening. Here comes the old cliches like global warming and natural disasters. I think the more far-fetched the apocalyptic idea, the less of a chance of it happening are. The threat of a scientifically laughable pole shift as suggested by Edgar Cayce, Charles Hapgood and even Albert Einstein would not be as high on the list as a major earthquake, disastrous hurricane or a significant rise in sea-levels in a short period of time, however, a relatively small area targeted by a hurricane or earthquake could not possibly be enough to upset the entire world unless it were combined with other problems. I’ve read enough on Pole Shifts that I pretty much believe them to be possible and that they’ve happened in the past but the chances of something like that happening I can only dream of.
[Satellite image of Antarctica] New York City’s average elevation is only around 30-some feet above sea-level. Florida’s average elevation isn’t much higher and New Orleans already has a large chunk of it below the water line. If you have read Graham Hancock’s Underworld you will be familiar with the fact that there have been hundreds of ancient cities found off coastlines covered by water. There isn’t really a threat of the Arctic ice melting since it’s already sitting in the water and just displacing it. The threat comes from Greenland and Antarctica where the ice sits on land. Should all that ice slide off into the oceans, sea-levels would rise by hundreds of feet, provided all the ice falls off in the first place. As it is, warming temperatures actually make the Antarctic ice sheets grow with more precipitation but what if?
Man-made Disaster?
Yes, what if? World War 3 – man made disaster. I’ve seen predictions of the war starting with Russia and Georgia. Sure enough, these two countries were going at it a few months ago but that has calmed into forgetfulness. Should it progress and the other super-powers around the world step up to the plate we’re in for trouble. The Middle East is already a hot-spot but it’s been boiling since the ancient days. With the financial troubles the world currently has, a large scale war would be financial suicide, which takes another Great Depression as a possible candidate for Doomsday – if you love money, that is. However, if the disaster will be due to a world-wide financial crisis, why didn’t the Mayan calendar end somewhere around 1929?
Sure a natural disaster on a smaller scale is devastating to those in that area but to the rest of the world it doesn’t affect them in a great way. For example, the infamous Christmas tsunami did not affect me in any way besides feeling bad for those in the heart of the disaster. Sure, you may say something like, “But the price of rice went up!” Is an extra 25 cents for a bag of rice really the end of the world? It could be for the poor countries that live off rice hand-outs, but for us it would be a minor inconvenience. In the same way, if New York City were destroyed, it would mean nothing to the Asian rice farmer besides having a few less customers to sell his crops to – which would still sell. For something to be considered Apocalytic it would need to be spread over vast areas of the world in which everyone would suffer in one way or another.
Solar Ejection?
End of the World in All Directions
In Apocalypse: 2012 by Lawrence E. Joseph, he pieces together a puzzle which connects major natural disasters with solar activity. He shows how the Christmas Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina (to name a couple) took place in years with low solar activity. The 11-year solar cycle is ready to peak in 2012. If natural disasters have been increasing during the low points in solar activity, what will happen when this acitivity reaches its peak? Volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. all devastating their own little parts of the world to create one huge natural disaster? This is provided you even believe Joseph’s theory on the connection with solar activity, although, I must say it was a very interesting read and I’ve seen other independant news articles that support his theory, if not elaborate more on it. If you don’t, you can ponder just the thought of 2012 being a coincidental hot-spot of solar radiation pummelling the earth! Could a cross through the Glactic Plane intensify this in some way?
I really do think something is happening – or at least going to happen. If we are about to be blasted by an enormous wave of solar radiation I highly doubt it will happen on the given Mayan date of Dec. 21, 2012 but on some unexpected date with no warning. It might wipe out a few satellites but I don’t think we’ll be microwaved to a crisp. Low-lying coastal areas will eventually diasppear into the water but unless a gigantic avalanche deposits a few million square miles of ice into the southern oceans we won’t need to worry about anything more than tsunamis and hurricane tides in those areas. If an asteroid strike creates mass extinction then I hope I’m one of the first to go so I don’t have to suffer through the aftermath – depending on how bad the aftermath may be, of course. A new super-virus or disease could even be all it will take. We’re long overdue for one!
Apocalypse Now or Never?
The fact is with all these years of reading up on end of the world subjects, I know as much as you do about what the future holds, except probably many more scenarios and possible causes. I still try to keep my usual level-headed way of thinking and take each theory/prophecy with a grain of salt. I think something big is coming but whether it’s world-wide or confined is anybody’s guess. Putting the Mayan date at the end of the year means people can look back and say, “Well, they were wrong on the day but that sure was a huge thunderstorm back in July!” Any huge disaster in 2012 could then be attributed to the Mayan’s sense of prophecy.
[2004 Tsunami – Thailand] Anything is possible and anything has a chance of happening. As we should always brace for the worst, we should also continue on in our lives like it doesn’t matter. Thoughts of the end of the world aren’t as much as fun as… well, fun! If it happens, it happens! I think there is a good chance something large will happen but not large enough to be of Doomsday proportions. Western U.S. tectonic plates plunging California into the ocean, creating giant world-wide tidal waves and raising sea levels by a hundred feet is pretty far-fetched but you never know. Life would still go on after rebuilding. If 2012 comes and goes and we find ourselves doing nothing more than resetting our clocks to 2013 (you know, like 1900…) then we can all sit back, have a big laugh, drink a beer and plan the next date for the end of the world, which isn’t until around 2028 or something like that thanks to an asteroid fly-by around that time.
If I really had to bet money on anything, I would be placing my wager on the possibility of a large-scale natural disaster or a modern plague, however, my hopes would be on a global awakening of the collective consciousness. Imagine if the end of the world turned out to be a good thing! Some strange phenomena triggers the psychic capabilities of each individual on earth, connecting them in a way that humankind has never seen before! Ok, now I’m starting to sound like a cross between John Lennon and some paranormal wackjob but you never know! Again, as I stated earlier, the more far-fetched something sounds the less likely I feel it will happen. I guess that’s my way of saying my safest bet would be on the first 2 choices with 2:1 odds.
Even if 2012 proves to be a disastrous year of Biblical proportions, the years afterwards will still see survivors planning the end of the world dates. Who knows, maybe somebody will misinterpret a Bible passage and we’ll get another one by 2020! If I happen to be one of the unlucky few that don’t make it past the year 2012, I’ll think of it in the words of the late, great comedian, George Carlin. A year or two before his death he was a guest on Coast to Coast AM, in which he was an avid fan. In the episode he spoke to George Noory about the end of the world and stated that those kind of things are entertaining and if it were his own life he would be willing to sacrifice it for the entertainment of everyone.
