The idea that the earth has undergone a succession of catastrophic upheavals associated with cosmic encounters did not originate with the Maya. Legends, myths and stories of these devastating events can also be found throughout the ancient world. They tell of times when dwellings were destroyed and the earth was convulsed by natural disasters which had their source in space.
While these stories vary in the number of ages that have come and gone, they agree that there have been, at periodic intervals, various disasters that have assailed the earth causing widespread destruction. The agents of this destruction have been earthquake, fire, wind and flood. But these stories go further. They claim that as a result of these encounters, our world has repeatedly changed its axis, as well as its orbit around the sun.
The Chinese called these vanished ages Kis, and recorded that ten ages had passed from the beginning of the world up to the time of Confucius.The ancient Chinese encyclopedia Sing-li-ta-tsiuen-chou described these past eras in the following words: “In a general convulsion of nature, the sea is carried out of its bed, mountains spring out of the ground, rivers change their course, human beings and everything are ruined, and the ancient traces effaced.”
The sacred Hindu book Bhagavata Purana called these past ages Kalpas or Yugas, and referred to four previous ages that had terminated through different catastrophes. The Buddhist scripture Visuddhi-Magga, written about 430 BC, contains a chapter on “World Cycles” declaring that: “There are three destructions: the destruction by water, the destruction by fire, the destruction by wind”. Each of these ages is separated from its previous one by a world catastrophe.
Similar references can be found in the Zend-Avesta, the sacred book of the Persians. The Pahlavi Texts quote the prophet Zarathustra referring to “the signs, wonders, and perplexty which are manifested in the world at the end of each millennium.” One of the books of the Avesta, the Bahman Yast, numbers seven world ages or millennia that have preceded the present age.
The Greek philosophers Anaximenes and Anaximander both referred to past world ages in their writings, as did Diogenes of Apollonia in the fifth century BC. Heraclitus (540-475 BC) taught that the world was destroyed by fire at regular intervals, while Aristarchus of Samos claimed that in every period of 2,484 years, the earth underwent various destructions, some by flood and some by fire.
In his work Theogony, the Greek poet Hesiod described the end of one of these ages. “The life-giving earth crashed around in burning . . . all the land seethed, and the Ocean’s streams . . . it seemed even as if earth and wide Heaven above came together; for such a mighty crash would have arisen if Earth were being hurled to ruin, and Heaven from on high were hurling her down.”
Among the peoples of Meso-America, persistent traditions of cosmic catastrophes can be found among the Incas, the Aztecs and the Maya. The Maya referred to these past ages by the names of their “suns”, such as Water Sun, Earthquake Sun, Hurricane Sun and Fire Sun. They substituted the word “sun” for “world age” in order to define a time characterised by a specific orbit of the earth around the Sun.
As H. B. Alexander wrote in his epic Latin American Mythology published in 1920: “The Water Sun (or Sun of Waters) was the first age, terminated by a deluge in which almost all creatures perished; the Earthquake Sun or age perished in a terrific earthquake when the earth broke in many places and mountains fell. The world age of the Hurricane Sun came to its destruction in a cosmic hurricane. The Fire Sun was the world age that went down in a rain of fire.”
The Maya did not record the date of the last cosmic disturbance that led to a change in the orbit of the earth. They did however alter their calendar to match this change, by putting aside the former Long Count calendar, and instituting in its place the 52 year cycle known as the Calendar Round. However another nation, also known for its meticulous record of historical events, has left us with a written record of this event.
When the Assyrians descended on the Jews like “the wolf on the fold”, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah predicted that Jerusalem would not fall into the hands of the enemy, and that their leader Sennacherib who had blasphemed against the Lord would be killed by a “blast” sent by the Lord. (Isaiah 37:7) Isaiah went on to tell king Hezekiah that the Lord would send a sign of this deliverance. As we read:
“And I will defend thee and this city out of the hand of Assyria; and I will defend this city. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken; Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.” (Isaiah 38:6-8)
“And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred four-score and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.” (II Kings 19:35)
In his book Worlds in Collision, Immanuel Velikovsky writes: “The rabbinical sources state in a definite manner that the disturbance in the movement of the sun happened on the evening of the destruction of Sennacherib’s army by a devouring blast.”
Velikovsky also quotes from the work of French scholar Edouard Biot: “The year 687 BC, in the summer, in the fourth moon, in the day sin mao (23rd of March) during the night, the fixed stars did not appear, though the night was clear (cloudless). In the middle of the night stars fell like a rain.”
Although the Maya no longer place any prophetic value on the Long Count calendar, and certainly not on the supposed end date of December 21, 2012, they do believe that the current world age has almost run its course. As with other cultures and all the major religions of our time, they believe that our world will be afflicted by a series of catastrophes that will originate in space and will rain down on the earth with sudden ferocity, as we shall see in the next instalment.
Allan, 2012, June 2, 2011, 1:38 pm
When the comet returned after a lapse of fifty-two years to once again destroy the Mayan cities, the Long Count calendar of the Maya ceased to have any relevance in day-to-day society. That is because, as a result of these two close encounters with the giant comet, the earth had changed its axis and had moved into a new orbit around the Sun. The old solar year of 360 days (Tun) on which the Long Count calendar had been based, was now replaced by a new solar year called the Haab.
As explained in the previous instalment, the Maya adopted a unique 52 year cycle of time that has become known as the “Calendar Round”. When this new system was first adopted, the Maya fully expected that their cities would be wiped out by the return of this comet every 52 years. Even when they found out that the comet was no longer a threat, they still continued to adhere to their 52 year cycle, and it remained in use right up to the arrival of the Spanish conquerors in 1519 AD.
So those Western writers and other prognotiscators who have attached a special significance to the year 2012, believing it to be a date that has prophetic meaning to the Maya, have fallen into the same trap that has ensnared the whole of modern science. The scientists of today have disregarded the written testimony of ancient societies, preferring to believe instead that the solar system has remained unchanged since its formation many billions of years ago.
But because the length of our year has changed, the Long Count calendar of the Maya now has an inherent discrepancy of five-and-a quarter days in every solar year. And any calendar that has a built-in error of over 52 days in every decade has clearly lost its ability to predict anything of significance in the future. And unfortunately, those authors who have incorporated the year 2012 into their apocalyptic predictions, have merely compounded the errors of others and added to the confusion of everyone.
These writers might have spared themselves, and their readers, this confusion had they conducted more rigorous research, and investigated what ancient cultures actually had to say on the subject. And what these ancient societies recorded was that the earth had undergone numerous cataclysms in the past, and had changed its orbit, as well as its axis, many times. These stories can be found among the writings of all ancient peoples.
As Plato recorded in his essay Timaeus, the renowned Athenian statesman Solon (638-558 BC) visited Egypt. While he was there he was confronted by an elderly priest who said to him: “Oh Solon, Solon, you Greeks are all children, and there is no such thing as an old Greek. You are all young in mind. You have no belief rooted in old tradition and no knowledge hoary with age. And the reason is this.”
“There have been and will be many different calamities to destroy mankind, the greatest of them by fire and water, lesser ones by countless other means. Your own story of how Phaeton, child of the sun, harnessed his father’s chariot, but was unable to guide it along his father’s course and so burnt up things on earth and was himself destroyed by a thunderbolt, is a mythical version of the truth that there is at long intervals a variation in the course of the heavenly bodies and a consequent widespread destruction by fire of things on the earth.”
Another famous Greek, this time Herodotus (484-425 BC), who has been called the “Father of History” because he was the first Greek historian to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy, and then reduce them to a written narrative, also had an opportunity to visit Egypt. In his Second Book of History, Herodotus referred to his own meeting with various Egyptian priests, and recorded his conversation with them. As he wrote:
“The priests asserted that within historical ages and since Egypt became a kingdom, four times in this period (so they told me) the sun rose contrary to his wont; twice he rose where he now sets, and twice he set where he now rises.” Obviously, such an event would cause catastrophic effects throughout the earth. Commenting on this Plato wrote in his book Politicus: “There is at that time great destruction of animals in general, and only a small part of the human race survives”.
Early scholars of Mexican hieroglyphics noted that the Sun (Tonatiuh) was considered to have four motions. “The sun that moves towards the east, contrary to the present sun, is called by the Indians Teotl Lexco. The people of Mexico symbolized the changing directon of the sun’s movement as a heavenly ball game, accompanied by upheavals and earthquakes on the earth.” (Seler: Gesammelte Abhandlungen)
As we shall see in the next instalment, different nations had differing traditions about past world ages. Each of these ages was associated with a particular “sun”, since the sun charted a different course across the heavens in each succeeding age. And as has happened in the past, so these nations believe that similar events will occur in the future.
And we shall see how the prophecies of the Maya pose a modern warning to the world.
Allan, 2012, June 1, 2011, 11:46 am
The basic unit of the Mayan Long Count calendar was the Tun. The Tun consisted of a cycle of 360 days. As we have seen from the previous instalment, at the time that the Maya set up their Long Count calendar, this actually was the exact number of days it took for the earth to travel around the Sun.
However, the Maya were not the only culture to use a calendar based on a solar year of 360 days. Ancient texts and sacred scripts show that the same length of year was also used at that time by the Egyptians, Persians, Hindus, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Hebrews, Chinese, Greeks and Romans.
If these ancient texts are to be believed, and there was a time in earth’s history when the length of the solar year was exactly 360 days, then the obvious question that arises is when did it change to its present length of 365 days, 5 hours and 49 minutes, and what was the cause of this change. The answer, according to these same ancient texts, is that some three and a half thousand years ago the earth had a close encounter with an enormous comet.
The effects of this cometary encounter devastated the entire planet, generating mountainous tides that swept away entire cities, exploding volcanoes that incinerated forests, earthquakes that fractured the land, hurricane-force winds and tornados that annihilated man and beast alike, and a darkness that enveloped the world for five days.
The devastation caused by this event was recorded by those few Maya who survived, as we can see from the following excerpts from their sacred books.
“It was ruin and destruction …. the sea was piled up …. it was a great inundation …. people were drowned in a sticky substance raining from the sky …. the face of the earth grew dark and the gloomy rain endured days and nights …. and then there was a great din of fire above their heads.” (Popul-Vuh)
“There descended from the sky a rain of bitumen and of a sticky substance …. the earth was obscured and it rained day and night. And men ran hither and thither and were as if seized by madness; they tried to climb to the roofs, and the houses crashed down; they tried to climb the trees, and the trees cast them far away; and when they tried to escape in caves and caverns, these were suddenly closed.” (Manuscript Quiche)
Similar accounts of destruction raining from the skies were preserved in the Manuscript Troano of the Maya, as well as the ancient Mexican text of the Annals of Cuautitlan. They describe in vivid detail how the land was swamped by mega-tsunamis, and a terrible wind swept the earth. They called the agent of this destruction “Hurakan”, from which our modern word “hurricane” is derived. The Aztecs called the age that ended in a rain of fire from the sky Quiauh-tonatiuh, meaning “the sun of the fire-rain.”
But the Mayan tales of devastation that had swamped their lands and created havoc among their people did not end there. They went on to describe how this terrifying demon of death had returned again after an absence of 52 years, to once again lay waste to their lands and wipe out their cities. Just 52 years after their last “age” had ended in a world-wide cataclysm, another world age now lay in ruins as a result of the second close encounter with this gigantic comet.
And so was born the unique Mayan “52 year calendar cycle” that was to last right up until the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. The “Long Count” method of measuring time ceased to be an important feature of Maya daily life from that point onward. Instead, Mayan astronomers created a new cycle which would repeat itself after exactly 52 years. This 52 year cycle has come to be known as the “Calendar Round”.
Those astronomers and priests of the Maya who had survived the destruction of the previous 52 year cycle, waited in fearful expectation for the fiery comet to return and once again destroy their world. But fortunately for the Maya and for the rest of the world, the comet that had passed disastrously close to the earth on two previous occasions, 52 years apart, no longer returned to threaten the earth.
However, the traumatic memories of those terrible days in their recent past made an indelible impression on those Maya priests who had survived their earlier encounters. As the 52nd anniversary of their last encounter with the comet drew near, so the entire nation became gripped with the fear of imminent death. Religious ceremonies were held, imploring their Gods to rescue them in their hour of peril.
One can imagine the wave of jubilation that engulfed the entire Maya nation when it became apparent that there would be no third appearance of the comet, and that they had been spared to enjoy a new period of peace in the heavens. Yet, as the next 52 year cycle drew to an end, a new sense of impending doom arose. For there was no guarantee that the fiery Gods of the skies might not return once again to destroy them all.
We do not know at what point some city ruler or priest came up with the idea of offering human sacrifices to ward off the return of the comet. But whenever that time was, once it had been found to be successful, it was incorporated as a vital and necessary ingredient of every 52 year cycle from that point onward.
And what the Maya began, the Aztecs perfected, so that when the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez arrived on the shores of Mexico in 1519, he found thousands of unfortunate souls sacrificed in a single ceremony by having their beating hearts torn out of their living bodies.
The outcome of these disasters was that the length of the year had changed. The earth had moved into a new orbit around the Sun taking five more days to complete its annual journey. And so, like all the other cultures mentioned in the previous instalment, the Maya amended their calendar by adding five extra days. Their new solar year was called the “Haab”, and the five extra days were referred to as Wayeb or “nameless days”.
Allan, 2012, May 30, 2011, 1:18 pm
The basic unit of the “Long Count” calendar of the Maya was the Tun, which consisted of a cycle of 360 days. Following on from this were increasing multiples of Tuns such as the K’atun (7,200 days), then the B’aktun (144,000 days), the Piktun, the Kalabtun and so on. However, modern scientists calculate time by the solar year, which is the time it takes for the earth to move around the Sun. Our solar year is approximately 365 and a quarter days.
So the question posed in the previous instalment was why, if the Maya were such renowned astronomers in the ancient world, did they choose 360 days as the basic unit of the Long Count calendar, instead of the 365 and a quarter days that we use today. Surely it would have been natural for them to use the solar year as their basic unit of time. The answer to this riddle is very simple. They did!
According to the Long Count calendar, the fifth world age in which we are now living began on August 11, 3114 BC. The astonishing truth that has escaped Mayan scholars up until now, is that in 3114 BC the solar year actually was 360 days! The earth had a different orbit around the sun. The corollary must be equally apparent and that is, sometime between 3114 BC and the present, the earth has changed its orbit around the sun!
Now this is an assertion that might seem ludicrous in the extreme, and one that the astronomers of today would simply reject outright. But what these scientists do not realize is that the recorded works of societies that lived on earth at that time still exist, and they tell a very different story from what we believe today. It is also the reason why the Long Count calendar has lost its predictive value and is no longer used by the Maya today.
The confusion between the modern length of the solar year and that recorded by ancient cultures has been neatly summarised by the Russian-born American scholar Immanuel Velikovsky. “All over the world we find that there was at some time the same calendar of 360 days, and at some later date, about the seventh century before the present era, five days were added at the end of the year, as ‘days over the year’ or ‘days of nothing’.”
“Scholars who investigated the calendars of the Incas of Peru and the Mayas of Yucatan wondered at the calendar of 360 days; so did the scholars who studied the calendars of the Egyptian, Persians, Hindus, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Hebrews, Chinese, Greeks, or Romans. Most of them, while debating the problem in their own field did not suspect that the same problem turned up in the calendar of every nation of antiquity.” (Worlds In Collision)
As Velikovsky has pointed out, it was not only the ancient Maya who referred to a solar year of 360 days divided into months of 30 days, so too did the Incas of Peru. The ancient Peruvian year was divided into twelve Quilla (or moons), each comprising 30 days. At a later time five extra days were added to their calendar, and were referred to as Allcacanquis.
As author W. Hales noted in his book New Analysis of Chronology published in 1809, the calendar of the ancient Chinese also consisted of 360 days divided into twelve months of 30 days. They too later added five days to their solar year, referring to these extra days as Khe-ying. Similar results have been found by researchers into the Hindu Vedas.
The German scholar Thibaut, writing in 1899 noted: “All Veda texts speak uniformly and exclusively of a year of 360 days. Passages in which this length of the year is directly stated are found in all of the Brahamanas. It is striking that the Vedas nowhere mention an intercalary period, and while repeatedly stating that the year consists of 360 days, nowhere refer to the five or six days that actually are part of the solar year.”
In the Bundahis, the sacred book of the Persians, it was recorded that the year was composed of 360 days divided into twelve months of thirty days each. In the seventh century before Christ, five Gatha days were added to their calendar. These Gatha days were supplementary days added to the original 360 days in order to conform to the length of the new solar year.
Long before their cuneiform script was deciphered, it was known that the Babylonian year had only 360 days. Writing in 1888, the scholar J. Gilmore recorded that the Greek historian Ctesias of Cnidus, who lived in the 5th century BC, wrote: “The walls of Babylon were 360 furlongs in compass, as many as there had been days in the year.” Likewise, the Assyrian year consisted of 360 days, with a decade (called a Saurus) amounting to 3,600 days.
The story is the same in ancient Egypt. The Ebers Papyrus states that during the 18th Dynasty the calendar had a year of 360 days divided up into 12 months of 30 days. The Book of Sothis attributed to the Egyptian priest Manetho, indicated that this 360-day year was later changed, and that in the eighth or seventh century BC five additional days were added, that were referred to as the epagomena, or “inauspicious” days.
Cleobulus, who was considered to be one of the seven sages of ancient Greece, noted in a famous allegory regarding their calendar: “The father is one, the sons are twelve, and each one of them has thirty daughters.” The ancient Romans also counted 360 days to a year. The Greek historian Plutarch, who later became a Roman citizen, wrote in his Life of Numa, that in the time of Romulus in the eighth century, the Romans had a year of 360 days only.
The Bible also confirms that from the fifteenth to the eighth century BC, each month had thirty days and there were twelve months to the year. As proof of this Hebrew scholars quote from the story of the great flood of Noah as found in the Book of Genesis.
The great flood is quoted as beginning on the 17th day of the 2nd month (Genesis 7:11) and ended exactly five months later on the 17th day of the 7th month (Genesis 8:3-4), a period which is given as 150 days. Five months amounting to 150 days is equivalent to a year of 360 days.
So the question posed at the beginning of this instalment needs to be changed. We do not need to ask why the ancient Maya had a year (Tun) amounting to 360 days. We need to ask what exactly it was that occurred to cause them to change the length of their year from 360 days to the present solar year of 365 and a quarter days.
To answer this question, we need to investigate the riddle of the 52 year cycle that was known as the “Calendar Round”.
Allan, 2012, May 29, 2011, 1:59 pm
The “Long Count” calendar of the Maya was constructed according to an escalating number of chronological units. So, for example, a single day was referred to as one K’in, and 20 days as one Winal. Carrying on from there, 360 days made up one Tun, 7,200 days one K’atun, and 144,000 days one B’aktun. But the Long Count calendar was not designed to end at that point. It made provision for yet higher multiples of time, such as the Piktun, Kalabtun, K’inchiltun and the Alautun.
As we have seen in the previous instalment, the Maya believed that their Gods had created four previous ages, or worlds, and that we are currently living in the fifth world. According to Mayan creation tradition, their fourth age ended after a period of exactly thirteen B’aktuns (about 5,125 years). The new (fifth) age began, according to the Long Count calendar, on August 11, 3114 BC.
Now it just so happens that the anniversary of the end of the fourth Maya age falls on December 21, 2012. This represents a span of time exactly thirteen B’aktuns after the beginning of the fifth age. And this is where the sad saga of 2012 begins, for various Western writers have seized upon this date as conveniently fitting in with their various “end of the world” scenarios. Yet they have forgotten one thing.
They have forgotten that there is no record that the Maya believed that their fifth world would end after precisely thirteen B’aktuns. As was pointed out in the previous instalment, the Maya of today attach no special meaning to the end of the thirteenth B’aktun, especially since the Long Count calendar has ceased to be in common usage for some eleven hundred years. So December 21, 2012 would be followed by December 22, 2012, with no special fanfare or significance.
The classic Maya (of around 900 AD) expected that the end of the thirteenth B’aktun would be followed by the beginning of the fourteenth B’aktun, and that the new B’aktun would follow in sequence just as the previous B’aktun had followed the one before. We know this because Mayan stelae (stone carvings) such as those found on the west panel at the Temple of Inscriptions in Palenque have been found with calendar dates far in excess of the 2012 ending of the thirteenth B’aktun.
But although the Maya themselves attached no special prophetic meaning to the year 2012, that has not stopped a host of other proselytes from linking it with a rash of predictions of their own.
In 1975 the American author Frank Waters published a book entitled Mexico Mystique: The Coming Sixth Age of Consciousness. In this book Waters suggested that “the end of the Mayan Long Count cycle” would coincide with a shift in the global consciousness of humanity. This was an idea that found an echo in the works of such writers as Jose Arguellas (The Transformative Vision) and Terence McKenna (The Invisible Landscape). All of these authors are now deceased.
Another American author, by the name of John Major Jenkins, has attracted a vast following as a result of a series of books he has published linking the year 2012 to a unique astronomical alignment. In these books Jenkins has advanced the view that the Maya intended to end their Long Count calendar on December 21, 2012, because this would be the day that the earth would be at a point in space which Jenkins called the “Galactic Alignment”.
According to Jenkins, this would be the date when the Sun and the planets would be precisely aligned with the galactic equator. He also went on to claim that as a result of their shamanistic insights gained as a result of the ingestion of hallucinogenic plants, the Maya anticipated this conjunction and predicted that it would lead to a profound spiritual awakening of mankind.
Critics of Jenkins have argued that the galactic equator is an entirely arbitrary line that can never be precisely drawn because it is impossible to determine the exact boundaries of the Milky Way. In any event, using the calculations for the line of the galactic equator which Jenkins himself had employed, scientists found that the most precise convergence with the center of the Sun had already occurred in 1998.
Furthermore, Maya scholars contend that there is little evidence, archaeological or historical, that the Maya placed any importance on the Milky Way, especially since there is no glyph in their writing system to represent it, and no astronomical or chronological table that is linked to it. So the precise reference by Jenkins to the winter solstice in 2012 seems to them to be arbitrarily contrived.
The year 2012 has also been linked with numerous other astronomical events, including threats of solar flares and CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejections) from the Sun. This idea has also been burned into public awareness through the release of such movies as the 2009 science fiction film “Knowing” starring Nicolas Cage, as well as the Box-office hit “2012” which included references to Mayanism and the Long Count calendar.
Scientists have long known that the Sun has a cycle of sunspots that last about eleven years. During this period solar sunspots vary, as do the number and size of flares and coronal emissions associated with this activity. But because the Sun is believed to be due to reach a maximum (solar max) in its 11 year cycle around the years 2011 or 2012, certain sensationalist writers have suggested that the earth will be exposed to life-threatening solar flares at the time of the winter solstice in 2012.
While our Sun is unpredictable and can certainly eject a massive burst of radiation towards the earth at any time, regardless of the sunspot cycle, it is worth remembering that that periods of intense solar radiation have occurred on numerous occasions in the past, without this being a threat to the existence of humanity. The annual threat from solar activity to people on earth is very small, and the worst that can generally happen is a disruption in power or communications.
Although the various predictions associated with the year 2012 may make gripping reading, and conjure up sensational scenarios of spiritual enlightenment or impending doom, they are invariably based on flimsy logic and slipshod research. One can safely conclude that none of these sombre pronouncements are likely to be realized in the coming year. Certainly, none of them can be attributed to the Maya or their calendar.
That is because the fundamental unit of the Long Count calendar was the Tun. But as explained above, one Tun was equal to 360 days. It does not seem to have crossed the minds of modern Mayan commentators and scholars to ask the question why a culture that has come to be recognized as the most accurate astronomical observers of the night sky, should have picked a cycle of days that bears no relevance to our present scientific knowledge.
The answer to this enigma will be explained in the following instalment.
Allan, 2012, May 28, 2011, 8:47 pm
According to many, the year 2012 will see the fulfillment of a concatenation of events, some of them good while others are undoubtedly bad. The worst of these is the prediction that the world as we know it will end on the date of the mid-winter solstice, on December 21, 2012. However, despite these dire predictions, the reality is that the coming year is likely to be little changed from 2011, and the warnings of these so-called “prophets” are equally likely to be false.
This is not to say that 2012 will be free from troubles. There will certainly be continuing strife, particularly among Islamic nations, as more and more people resist their autocratic masters. And just as in the present year the world will experience yet more natural disasters. There will be more tornados and hurricanes. There will be more earthquakes, firestorms, floods, droughts and the like. But the end is not yet. For as Jesus explained to his disciples:
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all of these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”(Matthew 24:6-8)
So how then did the year 2012 come to be regarded as such a climactic date in prophecy? Most people today are aware that this date has something to do with the Maya, although very few have taken the trouble to investigate whether there is any credence to it all. For many people it is far easier to simply swallow the wild predictions that now abound. And all of this will no doubt grow as the new year approaches.
The Mayan civilization had its origin some 2,000 years before the birth of Christ. Over the years the Maya developed an advanced culture that spread over much of Meso-America, incorporating the modern countries of Guatamala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador, as well as the Yucatan peninsula and the highlands of Mexico. Modern scholars consider that the Mayan cities reached their highest state of development during the “classic” period, from the years 250 to 900 AD.
What distinguished the Maya from other pre-Columbian societies was that they had a sophisticated system of writing, as well as a unique system for measuring time. Just like the modern calendar we use today in the West, they had a system which recorded the length of the year, as well as a linear system which measured longer periods of time. For this reason the linear system has come to be called the “Long Count” calendar.
The Long Count calendar of the Maya was open-ended. That meant that, while they measured time by means of an ever increasing system of chronological units, there was no “end date” to the calendar itself. So just as we can set a date for a time far in advance of our own time (eg 2610 AD), so too could the Maya. But what was significant about their Long Count calendar was that it began on a specific date. That date was August 11, 3114 BC.
Although much of Mayan writing was destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors, what little remains can be found in libraries in such places as Dresden, Paris and Madrid. From these writings modern scholars have learned that the Maya had a strong tradition of “world ages”. They were not alone in this as similar references to successive world ages can be found in the ancient literature of China and India.
According to the Popul-Vuh, a Mayan classic that included their creation myths, four “worlds” had already been created by their Gods. These previous worlds had long since passed into history, and had been replaced by the fifth world, the age in which we are now living. The Long Count calendar began on the date when the fourth world ended (3114 BC). And this is where the association with the year 2012 begins.
The Maya believed that the fourth age, or world, lasted for exactly thirteen B’ak’tuns. This represented a period of about 5,125 years. Although there is nothing in the written Mayan record to support this, some Western writers (such as Graham Hancock and Michael Coe of Yale University) have suggested that this fifth world would endure for the exact span of time as the fourth world. This would mean that our current world age would end exactly thirteen B’ak’tuns after it began.
According to the Long Count calendar, this date would be December 21, 2012. And all of this would have made perfect sense except that it made no sense at all to the Maya who are alive today. The reason for this is that the present-day Maya do not use the Long Count calendar. In fact many have never even heard of it, because it was used exclusively during the “classic” period up to the year 900 AD, and is not in current usage today.
Mayan scholars have also rejected Coe’s ideas, as well as others who have picked up on his theories. Susan Milbrath, curator of Latin American Art and Archeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, has pointed out that we have no record or knowledge that the Maya predicted that the world would come to an end in 2012. Her words have been echoed by the Maya themselves.
Both the Mayan elder Apolinario Chile Pixtun and Mexican archaeologist Guillermo Bernal have indicated that the word “apocalypse” is a Western concept based on Biblical teaching. As such it has little or nothing to do with Mayan beliefs. Bernal also believes that such ideas as “the end of the world” have been foisted on the Maya by Westerners who have their own agendas.
And Mayan archaeologist Jose Huchm has stated: “If I went to some Mayan-speaking communities and asked people what is going to happen in 2012, they wouldn’t have any idea. That the world is going to end? They wouldn’t believe you. We have real concerns these days, like rain”.
Allan, 2012, May 27, 2011, 3:45 pm
When the disciples of Jesus came to him privately, asking when the sign of his return and of the end of the world would be, he responded by warning them not to be deceived. He said that when the time of the end came, many would be misled by people claiming to know the truth, but who would in fact be false prophets. “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:11)
As we have seen, Harold Camping, 89 year-old founder of the California-based ministry known as Family Radio, predicted that Judgement Day would occur on May 21, 2011, and that the earth would be ravaged by a series of world-wide earthquakes. Notwithstanding the failure of this prophecy, Camping was quick to follow up with another date, this time October 21, 2011.
For those of his followers who had believed implicitly in his words, Camping’s false prophecy was not just a matter of minor consequence. These were people whose lives had been dramatically changed, and in some cases ruined. Some members of his ministry had been so convinced of the truth of his predictions, that they had quit their employment. When the appointed Day of Judgement failed to arrive, they had no jobs to go back to.
Others had simply walked out of their homes, leaving all of their possessions behind for anyone who cared to take them. Yet others had abandoned family and friends, isolating themselves in the expectation that they would soon find themselves safe in the arms of Jesus. No doubt these unfortunate souls should have paid more heed to the actual words of Jesus, rather than to the ramblings of Harold Camping.
But while it is easy for skeptics to attack Camping after the event for his erroneous beliefs, and blame his followers for their own gullibility and misfortune, there remain many millions of other people in the world who are equally guilty of allowing themselves to be misled by other false beliefs associated with the time of the end. They form part of the multitudes predicted by Jesus who would be deceived.
We live in an age of rumor, innuendo, gossip and tall tales. The Internet and the Media serve as launching pads for these stories, until they circle the globe in a viral embrace. Before long, almost any story will attract a following, and over time some can become so ingrained in the public mind that millions of people come to accept them as gospel truth. The Camping campaign is merely one example among many.
This surge in wild ideas leading to even more wild belief has increased dramatically in recent years, and now threatens to engulf millions more as the long awaited year of 2012 approaches. It is almost as if every doom-laden cult has emerged from the woodwork to attach its own omens to this fated year of the Mayas, and the world waits fearfully for whatever baleful events the coming year will bring.
Already, vast numbers of people have been caught up in predictions ranging from catastrophic solar flares that will wipe out life on earth, to the arrival of another world (Planet X) which will have equally dire results. The digital world is awash with these and other stories, and every month brings new recruits. Perhaps more than at any other time, now is the time for clear thinking, for as Jesus warned:
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat.” (Matthew 7:13)
While not every believer of false ideas may be willing to imperil their livelihoods or their careers in support of their chosen prophet, there is nevertheless a sinister aspect to this growing scourge of false prophecy. As more and more people become caught up in movements that spout demonstrably false ideas, it is likely that many people who might otherwise be open to true prophecy will become totally disenchanted with the entire subject.
As has been pointed out in an earlier instalment, the purpose of prophecy has always been to warn the unwary, and prepare those who would listen for events that lie in the future. And the test of prophecy has always been to try to differentiate, in advance, between those people who propagate false ideas (false prophets), and those whose warnings turn out to be correct.
In the following instalments, we will comment on some of the more prominent of these wild prophecies, in an attempt to warn their adherents why their beliefs have been misplaced, and why they run the risk of failing to see the real threats that lie ahead, because they have been blinded by these false beliefs.
Allan, False Prophets, May 26, 2011, 4:05 pm
By now there can be few people interested in Bible prophecy who have not heard of Harold Camping. Camping, an 89-year-old retired civil engineer living in California who had built a multi-million-dollar non-profit ministry known as Family Radio, had issued an Apocalyptic warning that God’s Day of Judgement would begin on May 21, 2011, starting with a worldwide earthquake.
 Camping also predicted that on this day Jesus Christ would return to the earth to save all true Christian believers, estimated to be some 200 million people, and that those left behind would suffer through a series of catastrophic disasters that would culminate in the destruction of the world by a fireball on October 21, 2011.
This prediction was publicized through Camping’s network of radio stations, TV channels, satellite broadcasts and website. It was also was picked up by the international media because of its sensational content, and ultimately came to the attention of most of the countries of the world.
As May 21 drew nearer, donations grew, allowing Family Radio to spend millions of dollars on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 recreational vehicles plastered with the doomsday message. They also took out full-page adverts in national newspapers, complete with Biblical quotations supporting their predictions.
When the predicted Day of Judgement finally arrived, millions of people around the world waited expectantly. Some of Camping’s more fearful followers shut themselves inside their homes to pray for mercy as they awaited the end.
Others met for tearful last farewells with family as they prepared to leave behind their homes and pets before being swept up into heaven. Camping himself had recommended that followers surround themselves with their loved ones and not meet publicly.
Once it became clear that they had not been rescued by Jesus, and that the predicted earthquakes had failed to occur, Camping and his followers were faced with the realization that their predictions were false, and that they would have to come to terms with a new reality.
Theirs had been an unwavering belief, the sort that had inspired some to quit their jobs, others to simply leave their homes and walk away from family and friends. For Camping himself, this was a case of the past repeating itself, as he had previously predicted that the Rapture would occur in September 1994.
In 1992, Camping had published a book titled 1994?, in which he proclaimed that Christ’s return might be on September 6, 1994. In that publication, he also mentioned that 2011 could be the end of the world. Camping’s predictions used 1988 as a significant year in the events preceding the apocalypse.
In his later publications, We are Almost There! and To God be The Glory, Camping referred to additional Biblical evidence which, in his opinion and that of others mentioned by him, indicated May 21, 2011 as the date for the Rapture and October 21, 2011 as the date for the end of the world.
Meanwhile skeptical observers and critics lampooned Camping and his apocalyptic predictions, pointing out that he himself had not only failed once before, but that he was merely the latest in a long line of would-be date-setters who had all failed in their attempts to predict the time of future Biblical events.
Other Christian preachers and scholars went further. They used scriptural evidence to show that these apocalyptic events could never be predicted in advance, quoting the words of the disciple Mark: “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father“. (Mark 13:32)
Camping was unrepentant. When he emerged from his home on May 22, saying that he was “flabbergasted” that the Rapture had not occurred, he said he was “looking for answers” and would have more to say when he returned to work on May 23. He also added that he had no plans to return the donations given to him by those followers who had believed implicitly in his words.
On May 23, undeterred by this failure, Camping was quick to counter his critics and issue a revised date. Speaking on his open forum radio show from California he announced: “The timing, the structures, the proofs, none of that has changed at all.” He added: “We don’t always hit the nail on the head the first time. All I am is a humble teacher. I search the Bible.”
As he went on to explain: “Actually there are four days that are very crucial at this point in time. We have talked about all four of these days in the past and we are not making any changes in these four days except for the emphasis … The first part of the end of the world began on May 21, 1988.” The new date for the end of the world he now assured his followers, would be on October 21, 2011.
But even his most ardent followers must now have serious cause for doubt, especially as he had initially predicted that the Rapture would occur in September 1994. After all, Camping was not the first person to set a date for the apocalyptic events described in the Bible. Nor unfortunately, is he likely to be the last.
In the 16th Century, a German Anabaptist prophet by the name of Melchior Hoffman announced to his followers that the Lord would return to the earth in 1533, and that the French town of Strasbourg would be the location of the New Jerusalem.
 Then, some three centuries later, an American Baptist preacher called William Miller wrote: “My principles in brief, are, that Jesus Christ will come again to this earth, cleanse, purify, and take possession of the same, with all the saints, sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844.” When March 21, 1844 came and went without the appearance of the Christ, Miller (like Camping) decided that his calculations had been incorrect.
After further discussion and study, he adopted a new date based on the “Karaite” version of the Jewish calendar, in place of the “Rabbinic” version he had used before. This new date, Miller announced, would be April 18, 1844. When this new date again passed without Christ’s return, he responded publicly, writing: “I confess my error, and acknowledge my disappointment; yet I still believe that the day of the Lord is near, even at the door.”
The failures of men like Miller, and now Camping, are unlikely to deter those Christian followers who look for a precise understanding of apocalyptic events. But predicting the dates of future events is fraught with difficulty, and even so revered a prophet as Nostradamus had his own hits and misses. In a letter addressed to “Henry, Second King of France”, Nostradamus wrote:
“These predictions made with the aid of astronomy and other methods, and even by the Holy Scriptures, cannot not happen. Had I wished I could have put a calculation of time into each quatrain; but that would not have pleased everyone, and my interpretations still less, unless your Majesty grants me enough protection to do this, so as not to give slanderers pretext for attacking me.”
 Yet in spite of these cautionary words, Nostradamus did publish seven quatrains that contained actual dates of reference. They were Century 1 verse 49, Century 2 verse 51, Century 3 verse 77, Century 6 verse 2, Century 8 verse 71, Century 10 verse 72, and Century 10 verse 91.
These quatrains are quoted below. Translations from the original French, together with the accompanying commentaries, are taken from the book The Prophecies of Nostradamus by Erika Cheetham.
Century 1 verse 49 – “Long before these happenings the people of the East, influenced by the moon, in the year 1700 will cause many to be carried away, and will almost subdue the Northern area.”
Cheetham considers this to be a failed quatrain since nothing that occurred in 1700 had the sort of impact in the north that Nostradamus predicted.
Century 2 verse 51 – “The blood of the just will be demanded of London burnt by fire in three times twenty plus six. The ancient lady will fall from her high position, and many of the same denomination will be killed.”
Cheetham considers this to be one of Nostradamus’ more interesting quatrains, for it not only gives an accurate date for the Great Fire of London (1666), but also mentions St. Paul’s Cathedral (dame antique) which was destroyed in the blaze.
Century 3 verse 77 – “The third climate included under Aries, in the year 1727 in October the king of Persia, captured by those of Egypt: battle, death, loss: great shame to the cross.”
This quatrain proved to be uncannily correct, for in October 1727 a peace treaty was concluded between the Turks and the Persians. At the time Egypt belonged to the Ottoman Empire and was ruled by the Turks.
Century 6 verse 2 – “In the year five hundred and eighty more or less one will await a very strange century. In the year seven hundred and three, the skies as witness that several kingdoms, one to five, will make a change.”
Cheetham writes: “A daring quatrain with two dates, both of which seem accurate. In 1580, Nostradamus nearly always leaves out the thousand for reasons of scansion, France was torn by the Civil War called the Seventh War and had little to look forward to. But by 1703 Louis XIV was defying Europe and fighting the Spanish Succession.”
Century 8 verse 71 – “The number of astrologers will grow so great, that they will be driven out, banned, and their books censored. In the year 1607 by sacred assemblies so that none will be safe from the holy ones.”
Cheetham considers this to be an accurate quatrain. In the year 1607 Pope Urban VIII banned Dekkers’ Almanach under pain of expulsion from the church. This act caused considerable controversy at the time.
Century 10 verse 91 – “In the year 1609, the Roman Clergy at the head of the year will have an election; one of grey and black come forth from Campania, never was there as wicked as he.”
Cheetham writes: “Pope Paul V reigned from 1605 to 1621 as Pope. But in the year 1609 he fell ill, and according to contemporary reports, there was a great deal of intriguing going on in the Courts of France and Rome should the Pope die an opportune death.” In retrospect this seems like a less than convincing quatrain by Nostradamus.
Century 10 verse 72 – “In the year 1999, and seven months, from the sky will come the great King of Terror. He will bring back to life the great king of the Mongols. Before and after War reigns happily.”
This is one of Nostradamus’ most intriguing quatrains, implicating as it does his many references to “fire from the sky”. What makes this even more significant is that in July of 1999 the comet Hale-Bopp could still be seen dominating the northern sky, and was of course the subject of numerous end-of-the-world predictions. However, from the point of view of the date quoted by Nostradamus, this quatrain must stand as a failure.
As we have seen, Nostradamus indicated in his letter to Henry that his predictions were made “with the aid of astronomy and other methods, and even by the Holy Scriptures”. And yet despite his avowed confidence that he “could have put a calculation of time into each quatrain”, it is clear that Nostradamus was ultimately as fallible as others have proven to be. That did not necessarily mean that his prophecies were incorrect, but rather that the methods he used to date his predictions were prone to error.
And this should be the lesson that all those (like Harold Camping) who dare to predict “the day and the hour” should take to heart. And those gullible souls who choose to follow blindly the calculated guesses of these savants, do so at their peril. The reason for this is that all “date-setters” proceed from the same mistaken assumption.
They all assume that by careful analysis of the various time periods quoted in the Bible, both in the New Testament and the Old, it is possible to accurately predict the time of the end. Even so august a scientist as Sir Isaac Newton could not resist this temptation, when he predicted that the Apocalypse would occur in the year 2060.
Newton was a devout Christian who believed that the Bible was a revelation from God. He also believed that biblical prophecy predicted the divinely-ordained events of the future, and that the interpretation of biblical prophecy was “no matter of indifferency but a duty of the greatest moment”. As he recorded in his alchemical papers “the holy Prophecies” of the Scripture are nothing less than “histories of things to come.” (Yahuda MS 1.1, folio 16 recto)
There is, however, another way of dating prophecy that has proven to be much more effective and reliable than simply guessing at dates. It was also the method used by Jesus. As Jesus pointed out to his disciples, many would be misled about the days and the time of the end.
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:3-5)
Jesus then went on to teach his disciples the only proven method for understanding his own prophecies, as well as those of other prophets.
“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know the summer is nigh; So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only.” (Matthew 24:32-36)
As Jesus explained to his disciples, the timing of these events lay in the sequence of these events. So, when one thing happened, his disciples should be ready for the next to occur. And this is the basis for the true interpretation of prophecy. For it is one thing to have been granted the gift of prophecy. It is quite another to accurately interpret these prophecies at a later time.
As Jesus explained, if one wanted to have a true understanding of the time of the end, it was necessary to have eyes to see and ears to hear. “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esias, which saith, by hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:” (Matthew 13:13-14)
The events that will precede the Day of Judgement on earth have been clearly laid out by Jesus, and even more clearly described by St John in his Book of Revelation. However modern man remains blissfully unaware of these signs, and of the impending arrival of that terrible day on which all of mankind will be held to account for their actions.
And this is what makes “The Last Days of Tolemac” such a unique book. For the Oracle has not only explained the sequence of events that will lead up to the time of the end, but he actually gives the actual event which will herald the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, which will also be the day on which the souls of the just will join Jesus in rapture.
What the actual date of this cataclysmic event will be, no one can say. But what is increasingly evident is that the circumstances leading up to it are unfolding by the hour. Already it looms ever closer, and can be glimpsed through the fog of the evening news.
Allan, Articles, May 26, 2011, 11:42 am
As we have seen from previous instalments, many people (of whom Harold Camping is the latest) have gone on record to announce the precise date of the Day of Judgement as well as the event known as the “Rapture”. And as everyone who is a student of prophecy is now aware, Harold Camping has been proven to be as fallible as all the rest. And it is possible to predict with certainty that the new date given by Camping (October 21, 2011) will also be incorrect.
The reason for this is that all “date-setters” proceed from the same mistaken assumption. They all assume that by careful analysis of the various time periods quoted in the Bible, both in the New Testament and the Old, it is possible to accurately predict the time of the end. Even so august a scientist as Sir Isaac Newton could not resist this temptation, when he predicted that the Apocalypse would occur in the year 2060.
Newton was a devout Christian who believed that the Bible was a revelation from God. He also believed that biblical prophecy predicted the divinely-ordained events of the future, and that the interpretation of biblical prophecy was “no matter of indifferency but a duty of the greatest moment“. As he recorded in his alchemical papers “the holy Prophecies” of the Scripture are nothing less than “histories of things to come.” (Yahuda MS 1.1, folio 16 recto)
Yet as Jesus pointed out to his disciples, many would be misled about the days and the time of the end.
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:3-5)
Jesus then went on to teach his disciples the only proven method for understanding his own prophecies, as well as those of other prophets.
“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know the summer is nigh; So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only.” (Matthew 24:32-36)
As Jesus explained to his disciples, the timing of these events lay in the sequence of these events. So, when one thing happened, his disciples should be ready for the next to occur. And this is the basis for the true interpretation of prophecy. For it is one thing to have the gift of prophecy. It is quite another to accurately interpret these prophecies at a later time. To do so requires the gift of seeing clearly.
As Jesus explained, if one wanted to have a true understanding of the time of the end, it was necesssary to have eyes to see and ears to hear. “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esias, which saith, by hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:” (Matthew 13:13-14)
The events that will precede the Day of Judgement on earth have been clearly laid out by Jesus, and even more clearly described by St John in his Book of Revelation. However modern man remains blissfully unaware of these signs, and of the impending arrival of that terrible day on which all of mankind will be held to account for their actions.
And this is what makes “The Last Days of Tolemac” such a unique book. For the Oracle has not only explained the sequence of events that will lead up to the time of the end, but he actually gives the actual event which will herald the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, which will also be the day on which the souls of the just will join Jesus in rapture.
What the actual date of this cataclysmic event will be, no one can say. But what is increasingly evident is that the circumstances leading up to it are unfolding by the hour. Already it looms ever closer, and can be glimpsed through the fog of the evening news.
Allan, Doomsday, May 25, 2011, 11:41 am
As explained in the last instalment, Nostradamus published seven quatrains that contained actual dates, allowing subsequent researchers to verify his original prophecies. These quatrains are quoted below. Translations from the original French, together with the accompanying commentaries, are taken from the book The Prophecies of Nostradamus by Erika Cheetham.
Century 1 verse 49 – “Long before these happenings the people of the East, influenced by the moon, in the year 1700 will cause many to be carried away, and will almost subdue the Northern area.”
Cheetham considers this to be a failed quatrain since nothing that occurred in 1700 had the sort of impact in the north that Nostradamus predicted.
Century 2 verse 51 – “The blood of the just will be demanded of London burnt by fire in three times twenty plus six. The ancient lady will fall from her high position, and many of the same denomination will be killed.”
Cheetham considers this to be one of Nostradamus’ more interesting quatrains, for it not only gives an accurate date for the Great Fire of London (1666), but also mentions St. Paul’s Cathedral (dame antique) which was destroyed in the blaze.
Century 3 verse 77 – “The third climate included under Aries, in the year 1727 in October the king of Persia, captured by those of Egypt: battle, death, loss: great shame to the cross.”
This quatrain proved to be uncannily correct, for in October 1727 a peace treaty was concluded between the Turks and the Persians. At the time Egypt belonged to the Ottoman Empire and was ruled by the Turks.
Century 6 verse 2 – “In the year five hundred and eighty more or less one will await a very strange century. In the year seven hundred and three, the skies as witness that several kingdoms, one to five, will make a change.”
Cheetham writes: “A daring quatrain with two dates, both of which seem accurate. In 1580, Nostradamus nearly always leaves out the thousand for reasons of scansion, France was torn by the Civil War called the Seventh War and had little to look forward to. But by 1703 Louis XIV was defying Europe and fighting the Spanish Succession.”
Century 8 verse 71 – “The number of astrologers will grow so great, that they will be driven out, banned, and their books censored. In the year 1607 by sacred assemblies so that none will be safe from the holy ones.”
Cheetham considers this to be an accurate quatrain. In the year 1607 Pope Urban VIII banned Dekkers’ Almanach under pain of expulsion from the church. This act caused considerable controversy at the time.
Century 10 verse 91 – “In the year 1609, the Roman Clergy at the head of the year will have an election; one of grey and black come forth from Campania, never was there as wicked as he.”
Cheetham writes: “Pope Paul V reigned from 1605 to 1621 as Pope. But in the year 1609 he fell ill, and according to contemporary reports, there was a great deal of intriguing going on in the Courts of France and Rome should the Pope die an opportune death.” In retrospect this seems like a less than convincing quatrain by Nostradamus.
Century 10 verse 72 – “In the year 1999, and seven months, from the sky will come the great King of Terror. He will bring back to life the great king of the Mongols. Before and after War reigns happily.”
This is one of Nostradamus’ most intriguing quatrains, implicating as it does his many references to “fire from the sky”. What makes this even more significant is that in July of 1999 the comet Hale-Bopp could still be seen dominating the northern sky, and was of course the subject of numerous end-of-the-world predictions. However, from the point of view of the date quoted by Nostradamus, this quatrain must stand as a failure.
As we have seen in the previous instalment, Nostradamus indicated in his letter to Henry that his predictions were made “with the aid of astronomy and other methods, and even by the Holy Scriptures”. And yet despite his avowed confidence that he “could have put a calculation of time into each quatrain”, it is clear that Nostradamus was ultimately as fallible as others have proven to be.
There is, however, another way of dating prophecy that has proven to be much more effective and reliable than simply guessing at dates. It was also the method used by Jesus, as we will see in the following instalment.
Allan, Doomsday, May 25, 2011, 7:21 am
As we have seen in the previous instalment, Harold Camping’s prediction that God’s Day of Judgement would happen on May 21, 2011 has proven to be incorrect. Not only did the catastophic earthquakes that he predicted would devastate the world not occur, but Jesus also failed to claim the souls of the righteous in the event widely known as the “Rapture”.
Undeterred by this failure, Camping was quick to counter his critics and issue a revised date. Speaking on his open forum radio show from California Camping announced: “The timing, the structures, the proofs, none of that has changed at all.” He added: “We don’t always hit the nail on the head the first time. All I am is a humble teacher. I search the Bible.”
As he went on to explain: “Actually there are four days that are very crucial at this point in time. We have talked about all four of these days in the past and we are not making any changes in these four days except for the emphasis … The first part of the end of the world began on May 21, 1988.” The new date for the end of the world he now assured his followers, would be on October 21, 2011.
But even his most ardent followers must now have serious cause for doubt, especially as he had initially predicted that the Rapture would occur in September 1994. After all, Camping was not the first person to set a date for the apocalyptic events described in the Bible. Nor unfortunately, is he likely to be the last.
In the 16th Century, a German Anabaptist prophet by the name of Melchior Hoffman announced to his followers that the Lord would return to the earth in 1533, and that the French town of Strasbourg would be the location of the New Jerusalem.
Then, some three centuries later, an American Baptist preacher called William Miller wrote: “My principles in brief, are, that Jesus Christ will come again to this earth, cleanse, purify, and take possession of the same, with all the saints, sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844.” When March 21, 1844 came and went without the appearance of the Christ, Miller (like Camping) decided that his calculations had been incorrect.
After further discussion and study, he adopted a new date based on the “Karaite” version of the Jewish calendar, in place of the “Rabbinic” version he had used before. This new date, Miller announced, would be April 18, 1844. When this new date again passed without Christ’s return, he responded publicly, writing: “I confess my error, and acknowledge my disappointment; yet I still believe that the day of the Lord is near, even at the door.”
The failures of men like Miller, and now Camping, are unlikely to deter those Christian followers who look for a precise understanding of apocalyptic events. But predicting the dates of future events is fraught with difficulty, and even so revered a prophet as Nostradamus had his own hits and misses. In a letter addressed to “Henry, Second King of France”, Nostradamus wrote:
“These predictions made with the aid of astronomy and other methods, and even by the Holy Scriptures, cannot not happen. Had I wished I could have put a calculation of time into each quatrain; but that would not have pleased everyone, and my interpretations still less, unless your Majesty grants me enough protection to do this, so as not to give slanderers pretext for attacking me.”
Yet in spite of these cautionary words, Nostradamus did publish seven quatrains that contained actual dates of reference. They were Century 1 verse 49, Century 2 verse 51, Century 3 verse 77, Century 6 verse 2, Century 8 verse 71, Century 10 verse 72, and Century 10 verse 91. Since all of these dates have now come to pass, it is possible to verify these predictions.
As we will see from the following instalment, some of the events which Nostradamus predicted did occur on the dates given, while others did not. That did not necessarily mean that his prophecies were incorrect, but rather that the methods he used to date his predictions were fallible.
And this should be the lesson that all those (like Harold Camping) who dare to predict “the day and the hour” should take to heart. And those gullible souls who choose to follow blindly the calculated guesses of these savants, do so at their peril.
Allan, Doomsday, May 24, 2011, 12:52 pm
By now there can be few people interested in Bible prophecy who have not heard of Harold Camping. Camping, an 89-year-old retired civil engineer living in California who had built a multi-million-dollar non-profit ministry known as Family Radio, had issued an Apocalyptic warning that God’s Day of Judgement would begin on May 21, 2011, starting with a worldwide earthquake.
Camping also predicted that on this day Jesus Christ would return to the earth to save all true Christian believers, estimated to be some 200 million people, and that those left behind would suffer through a series of catastrophic disasters that would culminate in the destruction of the world by a fireball on October 21, 2011.
This prediction was publicized through Camping’s network of radio stations, TV channels, satellite broadcasts and website. It was also was picked up by the international media because of its sensational content, and ultimately came to the attention of most of the countries of the world.
As May 21 drew nearer, donations grew, allowing Family Radio to spend millions of dollars on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 recreational vehicles plastered with the doomsday message. They also took out full-page adverts in national newspapers, complete with Biblical quotations supporting their predictions.
When the predicted Day of Judgement finally arrived, millions of people around the world waited expectantly. Some of Camping’s more fearful followers shut themselves inside their homes to pray for mercy as they awaited the end.
Others met for tearful last farewells with family as they prepared to leave behind their homes and pets before being swept up into heaven. Camping himself had recommended that followers surround themselves with their loved ones and not meet publicly.
Once it became clear that they had not been rescued by Jesus, and that the predicted earthquakes had failed to occur, Camping and his followers were faced with the realization that their predictions were false, and that they would have to come to terms with a new reality.
Theirs had been an unwavering belief, the sort that had inspired some to quit their jobs, others to simply leave their homes and walk away from family and friends. For Camping himself, this was a case of the past repeating itself, as he had previously predicted that the Rapture would occur in September 1994.
In 1992, Camping had published a book titled 1994?, in which he proclaimed that Christ’s return might be on September 6, 1994. In that publication, he also mentioned that 2011 could be the end of the world. Camping’s predictions used 1988 as a significant year in the events preceding the apocalypse.
In his later publications, We are Almost There! and To God be The Glory, Camping referred to additional Biblical evidence which, in his opinion and that of others mentioned by him, indicated May 21, 2011 as the date for the Rapture and October 21, 2011 as the date for the end of the world.
Meanwhile skeptical observers and critics lampooned Camping and his apocalyptic predictions, pointing out that he himself had not only failed once before, but that he was merely the latest in a long line of would-be date-setters who had all failed in their attempts to predict the time of future Biblical events.
Other Christian preachers and scholars went further. They used scriptural evidence to show that these apocalyptic events could never be predicted in advance, quoting the words of the disciple Mark: “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father“. (Mark 13:32)
Camping was unrepentant. When he emerged from his home on May 22, saying that he was “flabbergasted” that the Rapture had not occurred, he said he was “looking for answers” and would have more to say when he returned to work on May 23. He also added that he had no plans to return the donations given to him by those followers who had believed implicitly in his words.
Allan, Doomsday, May 23, 2011, 9:30 am
If the interpretation of the Book of Revelation contained in previous instalments is correct, then at some point in our future, the earth will have a close encounter with a comet, and an asteroid will plunge into the ocean. Such a scenario would lead to destruction on a scale that would devastate the entire earth. For many species of life upon the planet, including man, this would be a life-threatening event, to be compared with the Chicxulub event.
Some sixty-five million years ago, scientists believe that a vast asteroid estimated to be about six miles wide struck the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico near the present town of Chicxulub, creating an impact-crater more than 100 miles in diameter. The resulting world-wide destruction is now considered to have wiped out the entire species of dinosaurs, which were at that point the dominant life-form on the planet. In addition about 80% of all remaining life on the planet perished.
Astronomers today consider that the possibility of the earth being struck by another asteroid or comet is extremely remote. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed by the California Institute of Technology has this to say on the subject: “The most dangerous asteroids, capable of global disaster, are extremely rare. The threshold size is believed to be 1/2 to 1 km. These bodies impact the earth only once every 1,000 centuries on average. Comets in this size range are thought to impact even less frequently, perhaps once every 5,000 centuries or so.”
As comforting as these words may sound, the fact is that scientists have already discovered forty-two impact craters in various locations on the earth over 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) wide. The Chicxulub crater mentioned above is not even the greatest. It is surpassed by the Sudbury crater (155 miles) in Ontario, Canada, as well as the Vredevort crater (186 miles) in Free State, South Africa. Since there is proof that the earth has been struck so many times in the past, it would seem only a matter of time before another large impact occurs.
The greatest indication that such a catastrophe looms in our future lies in the fact that prophets in every culture over the last three thousand years have recorded warnings about such an event. Even ancient Biblical prophets who lived many centuries before the birth of Jesus seemed obsessed with warnings about “the great and terrible day of the Lord”. (Joel 2:31) Detailed references to this global day of terror can be found in the Biblical Books of such prophets as Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Nahum, Habbakuk, Haggai, Daniel and Malachi, all written between 433 and 770BC.
The holy books of every major religious faith speak of a time of tribulation that will culminate in the return to the earth of a divine savior. To those of the Christian faith the savior will be regarded as Jesus the Christ. To the Jews he will be the Messiah. To the Hindus he will be Kalki, the tenth incarnation of Vishnu. To the Muslims he will be the Mahdi, the expected one. To the Buddhists he will be the Maitreya, the Buddha that is to come.
Similar prophecies of a future day of reckoning can be found among the Hopi Indians of Arizona, as well as the Maya, the Incas and the Aztecs. Even though their own civilizations have long since passed into history, their prophecies still speak of a time when their long-awaited saviors will return. To the Incas of Peru he will be welcomed as the return of Viracocha. To the Mayas of Central America he will be Kukulcan. And to the Aztec people of Mexico, the savior will be Quetzalcoatl, the leader of the Gods.
One of the most famous prophets of medieval times was the French seer Nostradamus. Although he composed his four-line verses nearly five hundred years ago, many of them apply to the times that are happening now. They relate to things that will take place during the time of “great tribulation” spoken of in the Bible. Nostradamus deliberately wrote his verses in a confusing style to avoid being accused of witchcraft by the Catholic Inquisition. But in spite of the need to disguise his predictions in obscure language, he was unmistakably clear when it came to his references to a comet in the skies of earth.
Nostradamus described the comet in a variety of ways. Among the descriptions he used were “bearded star”, “great star”, “fire from the sky”, “trail of sparks”, “burning torch”, “long meteor” and “dart from heaven”. He also made frequent references to such things as “false dust”, “raining blood, milk and stones”, “water colored by blood”, “great hail”, “red hail” and “hail larger than an egg”. Among the quatrains that refer to the coming of the comet are:
Century One: Verses 46, 67, 69. Century Two: Verses 15, 18, 32, 41, 43, 46, 62, 70, 81, 91, 92, 96. Century Three: Verses 18, 19, 42. Century Four: 67. Century Five: 62, 90, 98. Century Six: 5, 6, 10, 35, 38, 81, 97. Century Eight: Verses 2, 10, 77. Century Nine: 3, 55, 83. Century Ten: 60, 67, 72, 74.
But we do not need to rely on prophetic warnings alone to know that cataclysmic events lie in our future. Many sensitive souls are experiencing visionary dreams which speak to the current state of the world, as we can see from an example quoted in a previous instalment:
“Back in 1995 I had this dream. It seemed so real and powerful. I was on vacation at the Sand Banks in Picton, Ontario, Canada. I was sleeping in this old stone house which was part of the hotel. Anyway, the dream was of this big huge planet-like sphere in the night sky and it was pulsing and very bright. We knew it was the end of our world as we know it. It was kind of scary, yet most amazing and we were in awe, and this entity was so huge and powerful that you just accepted it. The whole event was so real. It’s like the whole world came together to look up at this thing and we all realized that there was no stopping this.” (Lawrie)
Allan, Babylon, January 2, 2011, 3:35 pm
According to the Book of Revelation written by the evangelist John, our global economc system will be destroyed in a single day. As we have seen from earlier instalments, our economic system was likened by the angel who appeared before John in a vision, to a mysterious woman dressed in fine clothing and adorned with precious jewels, who bore the name “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth“.
The angel revealed to John that in the “last days” this mystery woman called Babylon would be utterly destroyed. It would be destroyed because it had perverted humanity and become the mother of all abominations. According to the revelation of St. John, our global system of international finance and trade will be destroyed by a giant asteroid that will strike the earth and plunge into the sea.
“And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all”. (Revelation 18:21)
The Old Testament prophet Malachi refers to this day as “the great and dreadful day of the Lord“. (Malachi 4:5) He goes on to say: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch”. (Malachi 4:1)
Jesus himself said that this would be a time unlike any in the long history of the earth: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be”. (Matthew 24:21) Another Old Testament prophet named Zephaniah described this day of disaster in the following words:
“The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
“And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither shall their silver nor their gold be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.” (Zephaniah 1:14-18)
And in the words of the prophet Joel: “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come”. (Joel 2:30-31)
If a flaming asteroid should sear through the atmosphere of the earth and then plunge into the ocean, it would create destruction on a scale that would be greater than almost anything we could imagine, depending on the size of the asteroid. In chapter 8 of his Book of Revelation John describes the asteroid as a “great mountain” (verse 8). By an interesting coincidence Nostradamus used these same words in a quatrain he wrote about a future asteroid that would strike the earth:
“The great mountain, seven stadia round, after peace, war, famine, inundation. It will spread far, drowning great countries, even those of great age and mighty foundations”. (Century I: Verse 69)
Nostradamus gives the size of this “great mountain” as “seven stadia round”. The “stadium” was a unit of measurement used by the Greeks and the Romans. One “stadium” was equal to 625 feet. So using this system of measurement “seven stadia round” would make this asteroid almost a mile wide. An asteroid of this size traveling at a speed of many hundreds of thousands of miles an hour would cause global devastation.
The impact of this collision would not only vaporize the asteroid itself, it would also penetrate the ocean floor causing huge amounts of superheated water, melted rock and other matter to rise high into the upper atmosphere, where they would then fall back down to earth in the form of blazing missiles that would set fire to buildings, forests and crops around the entire planet.
Volcanoes would suddenly roar back to life, spewing vast clouds of debris into the atmosphere, adding to the hellish conditions. Forest fires would also create enormous noxious fumes that would stain the sky and cause the moon to appear “blood-red” in color.
In addition to setting off a series of gigantic earthquakes around the world, the impact of this asteroid would also cause a rupture of undersea fault lines that would generate colossal tidal waves that would travel around the world many times, causing immense destruction to coastal cities everywhere. The death toll caused by this disaster would be beyond count, as would the damage to cities, ships and cargo.
As John predicted, it would cause “a third part of the creatures in the sea” to die, as well as “a third part of the ships” to be destroyed. (Revelation 8:9) And because there would be no refuge above the ground from the fiery misiles raining down from the skies, men and women everywhere would try to hide underneath rocks, or seek safety underground.
“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”. (Revelation 6:15-17)
Allan, Babylon, December 16, 2010, 2:37 pm
All of humanity is governed today by an economic system that is based on money. All human enterprise is based on a system that is required to generate money in order to survive. Yet as we have discovered in the last few years, our economic system has become corrupted to the point where the lust for money on the part of the few, has placed the livelihood of millions of people around the world in jeopardy.
Not only is this desire for material wealth now the major economic motivator around the planet, but it has assumed the character of a religion. This world-wide religion of materialism has captured the minds and hearts of humanity just as much as if it were a traditional faith. Yet far from enhancing the planet and ennobling the minds of men and women everywhere, it has become an avaricious monster that has come instead to debase our hearts.
We are not just captives of this lust for money and the things that it can provide, but like Esau, we have sold our souls for a “mess of pottage”. (Genesis 25:29-34) We have allowed our immortal birthright to be tarnished by the lure of superficial trinkets, and our characters to have become corrupt, just as St. Paul predicted. In his second epistle to Timothy, the apostle wrote:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” (II Timothy 3:1-4)
Anyone following the contents of a daily newspaper, or the features of the evening news, can bear witness to the truth of these words. The “last days” that St. Paul was writing about do not refer to some future time. Those days are here now. And it is this world-wide corruption of the human heart that is the reason why our modern economic system must be completely destroyed, if humanity is to emerge from this “slough of despond”, and regain again its spiritual birthright.
And this is what St. John has described in Chapter 17 of his book of Revelation. As we have seen from earlier instalments, our economic system was likened by the angel who appeared before John in a vision, to a mysterious woman dressed in fine clothing and adorned with precious jewels, who bore the name “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth“.
The angel revealed to John that in these last days, this mystery woman called Babylon would be utterly destroyed. It would be destroyed because it had perverted humanity and become the mother of all abominations. As St. John wrote, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird”.
There are many who scoff at the idea that our modern system of international finance, commerce and trade could be utterly destroyed. While they would no doubt agree that it is currently in a state of turmoil, and undergoing a crisis whose end is not yet in sight, they would be quick to ridicule the thought that the entire system could be brought to its knees. Too many countries, they would argue, and too many corporations, have an integral stake in its continuity to allow it to fail.
Besides, even though the world is afflicted today by numerous natural disasters that have had devastating economic consequences for all those who are involved, the economic system itself has remained untouched. It continues to reign supreme, unaffected by regional strife or sudden catastrophe. It is this very continuity in the face of disaster that would seem to render it immune from destruction.
Investors around the globe continue to have confidence in the power of the market to transcend human frailty, and in its ability to ride out the storms of life. Yet this confidence could well be misplaced. For if the revelation of St. John is correct, then the entire world-wide economic system will soon collapse, despite the scorn displayed by skeptics. And if the angel who appeared before St. John is to be believed, this collapse will occur in a single day.
“How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her”. (Revelation 18:7-8)
The above words penned by St. John provide the clue to the nature of this catastrophe, for it will appear suddenly when humanity is not expecting it, and it will manifest in the form of fire and famine causing great loss of life and suffering. The angel goes on to reveal the exact agent of this destruction:
“And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all”. (Revelation 18:21)
According to the revelation of St. John, our global system of international finance and trade will be destroyed by a giant asteroid which will strike the earth and plunge into the sea. And the name of this asteroid is “Wormwood”, because it will not only be the agent of world-wide destruction, but because it will also poison the waters of the earth.
“And the third angel sounded, and and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters, because they were made bitter. And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many died of the waters, because they were made bitter”. (Revelation 8:10-11)
Allan, Babylon, December 9, 2010, 10:45 am
In the 18th chapter of his Book of Revelation, St. John described how an angel came to him in a vision and revealed a series of events that would unfold upon the earth at a time that would coincide with the physical return of Jesus – the once and future Christ. Among the events that the angel described was the destruction of a mystery woman who bore the inscription on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth“.
According to the angel, this mystery woman would be utterly destroyed in the great and terrible day of the Lord, because it had become “the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird“. There is little doubt that the angel was referrring here to the international system of finance and trade that now dominates the world. Not only would it be destroyed, but this destruction would take place in a single hour.
St. John graphically describes the reactions of merchants and financiers around the globe to the sudden destruction of everything that they had labored so long and so hard to achieve:
“And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
“The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.” (Revelation 18:9-13)
It is clear from the above list of commodities that the “great city Babylon” refers to everything that is bought and sold, and that were St. John have been able to write from the hindsight of the modern era, he would no doubt have included such “delicacies” as stocks, bonds, debentures, investment funds, credit default swops and the like! And a disaster of global proportions that was capable of destroying the entire system of international finance and trade in a single hour would devastate merchants everywhere.
“The merchants of these things, which were made rich by these things, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
“For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every ship-master, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many trade by sea , stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, what city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate” (Revelation 18:15-19)
The lamentations so vividly described by St. John clearly refer to a global disaster that not only devastates the land, but affects the oceans as well, leading to an imense loss of cargo and shipping. The cause of such a sudden world-wide catastrophe would appear to come from the heavens, such as would occur if the earth were to be struck by an asteroid, and this is what St. John describes:
“Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.” (Revelation 18:20-21)
Allan, Babylon, December 2, 2010, 2:35 pm
In the Biblical Book of Revelation, an angel appeared before St. John in a vision and showed him the judgment that would be visited upon “the great whore that sitteth upon many waters”. This “whore” was described by the angel as a woman arrayed in purple clothing and adorned with precious jewels, and upon whose forehead were written the words “Mystery, Babylon the Great“. (Revelation: Chapter 17)
Students of the Bible have long disputed the symbolism of the mystery woman, and the meaning of the term “Babylon”. As we have seen in earlier instalments, mainstream Christianity today interprets these as the rise of a future one-world religion that will be founded by, and presided over by a future Anti-Christ, who is predicted to appear on the world stage during the “last days” spoken of by St. John.
But in the book “The Last Days of Tolemac“, the Oracle makes it plain that the angel who appeared before St. John was not referring to a one-world religious movement, but to a future economic system that would be worshipped world-wide as a religion. The subsequent words recorded by St. John clearly illustrate this.
“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power: and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
“For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” (Revelation 18:1-3)
The references above to “the kings of the earth”, “merchants of the earth” and “waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies” should make it obvious that St. John is not writing about a religious movement led by some future Anti-Christ. Instead he is referring here to a mercantile system that has grown to world-wide proportions, but has become totally corrupted by materialistic pursuits and is devoid of spiritual qualities.
There is little doubt that our modern economic system comprising commerce, finance, investment and trade now fits the description of the mystery woman described by St. John. For it has not only seduced nations and kings, but has enriched merchants in every nation with its “abundance of delicacies”. But what makes this “Babylon” such an obvious threat to the true welfare of humanity, is that our entire economic system has now become irretrievably corrupt.
Not only has our modern economic system been subverted from within by greed and the lust for wealth, but it has been exploited by powerful interests whose main purpose has been to entrench themselves in positions of power, so that they might insulate themselves from accountability. This system has become so convoluted and complex that no single nation or institution has the power to reform it. And as has happened in the past, when the institutions of humanity become corrupted from within, they become ripe for destruction.
The destruction predicted by St. John will be terrible indeed. For just as our economic system has tentacles that reach out to the farthest corners of the globe, so the destruction that will be inflicted upon “Babylon” will also be universal in scope. As the angel described to St. John, this destruction would come at a time when the merchants of this world “glorified themselves and lived deliciously”, believing themselves to be secure in their wealth.
But according to the Bible, our entire system of finance and investment, relying as it does on a worldwide electronic web of communications together with an interlocking system of transportation and trade, will be destroyed in a single hour. The devastation will be unimaginable and it will leave merchants everywhere paralyzed in horror. As St. John wrote:
“Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned by fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning.
“Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come.” (Revelation 18:8-10)
Allan, Babylon, November 23, 2010, 5:01 pm
According to the vision experienced by St John the evangelist while he was in exile on the island of Patmos, an angel came to him and revealed that a time of great tribulation would afflict the world prior to the return of the Christ. As one of the signs that this tribulation was near, the angel indicated that all the nations of the world would choose to worship a single religion. This world-wide religion would be called “Babylon”.
As we have seen from the previous instalment, the Oracle of Tolemac describes the meaning of the term “Babylon” and the nature of this world-wide religion that would attract followers from all the nations of the earth. As he explains in “The Last Days of Tolemac”:
“According to the Book of Revelation, this time of tribulation will come at a time when the entire world worships the same religion. But this shared religion will not be one of the traditional religions of the world. It will be something much more subtle. It will be a religion based on desire.”
“This religion of desire will have an overwhelming appeal to men and women of every age and of every culture on the earth. It will not only attract individual people, it will attract entire countries. It will entice Kings, Presidents and rulers, just as much as it will lure the poor, the weak and the needy.”
“Although this religion will appeal to all the people of the earth, it will have no leader. It will not have any churches. It will not have any ceremonies or rituals. Yet it will qualify as a religion because the hearts and minds of men and women everywhere will be committed to it.”
According to the disciple Matthew, Jesus began his ministry by ascending a mountain and preaching to the assembled multitude. He began his sermon on the mount with a series of “beatitudes”, sayings which formed the essence of his spiritual message to mankind. His first beatitude was: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3) For those who did not understand the meaning of his words, he went on to explain:
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
The message that Jesus brought to his followers was that the heavenly world of which he spoke was separated from the world of material wealth by a vast gulf that could not be breached. One could not gain the riches of this world and at the same time attract the blessings of heaven. As he went on to explain:
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)
And when a young man approached Jesus asking him what he should do to gain eternal life, Jesus replied that he should obey the ten commandments. When the man assured Jesus that he had adhered to these commandments since his youth, and asked what else he needed to do, Jesus replied:
“If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had many possessions.
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:21-24)
Yet modern man has not heeded the words of Jesus. Rather than build up treasures in some heavenly world of the future, most men and women alive today prefer to strive for material wealth, and to enjoy the pleasures which this wealth can bring. In fact most of their waking hours are devoted to this quest.
So when the angel of God revealed to St. John the events that would precede the return of the Christ, it is hardly surprising that that the great economic system which now dominates our times, would be characterised as “the great whore that sitteth upon many waters” (Revelation 17:1)
Allan, Babylon, November 18, 2010, 1:05 pm
As we have seen in the previous instalment, in his vision of revelation, St. John the evangelist predicted that in the end times most of the population of the world would worship a single religion. This religion would be universal in scope and would attract rich and poor alike. In the book “The Last Days of Tolemac” the Oracle describes what this one-world religion will be.
This religion is called “Babylon” . Babylon is not just the name of a place. It is a symbol of everything for which the original city of Babylon was once famous. At the height of its glory Babylon was the envy of the world. It was a place of great luxury and wealth. Its hanging gardens were among the wonders of the ancient world.
In his vision, John saw a woman wearing royal clothes adorned with fine jewelry. “And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written,
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (Revelation 17: 4-5)
The woman of mystery that John saw in his vision was called the “Mother of Harlots” because she had seduced all the nations of the world. Her cup of gold symbolized the excesses of all those who had worshipped her.
“For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” (Revelation 18:3)
The religion symbolized by the woman called “Babylon” is the religion of materialism. It is the desire for material wealth ahead of all other values in life. Babylon is a very old religion. It has seduced people since the earliest days of civilization. It continues to seduce people to this day. It is now the dominant religion on the earth. All nations and cultures have fallen prey to its seductive lure.
Babylon lies at the heart of all the sorrows of this world. Those who lust after money and wealth may appear to be successful in life, but they are pursued by sorrow. In striving for material gain they are stalked by spiritual loss.
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (I Timothy 6:10)
It is the love of money and the single-minded pursuit of wealth, luxury and pleasure, without regard for the spiritual values of life, that has brought people and nations to the crisis that now confronts the world.
It is the love of money that has caused so much sorrow among so many people on the earth over so many centuries.
The quest for material security has become the established way of life for people and societies in all parts of the world today. Those who have material wealth are universally admired. They are considered to be among the successful people of this world. Most people who lack wealth yearn for it, and are willing to resort to any form of enterprise, legal or illegal, in order to get it.
But this blind search for material wealth by nations, corporations and people has been the source of endless human anguish. Down the centuries it has been the cause of countless wars. It has led to the destruction of nations and the death of millions.
The religion of Babylon can no longer be resisted because it is so pervasive. It can no longer be defeated because the laws of every land support it. The mighty creation that Babylon has become today, with its modern world of investment, commerce, finance and trade, will soon come to an end. It will be destroyed because it has replaced the spiritual values of life with the pursuit of material wealth.
The religion of Babylon has lost its soul.
Allan, Babylon, November 6, 2010, 12:52 pm
When the evangelist John was exiled to the Greek island of Patmos, he experienced a series of visions about events that would happen at some distant time in the future. These events would be a prelude to the return of the Christ and the dawn of a new golden age on the earth. The last book of the Bible entitled The Revelation of St. John the Divine described the cataclysmic events that John witnessed.
In the course of these visions John claimed that he was visited by an angel who explained to him the sequence of events that would occur during the “end times”. In Chapter 17 he wrote:
“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
“And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (Revelation 17:1-5)
The symbolic language used by John not only confounded the readers of his time. It has continued to confuse readers to this day. Over the centuries various factions within the church have interpreted them in different ways, and Biblical scholars continue to debate the meaning of these words and the significance of the symbolism. Very few seem to have grasped the true meaning of these words.
In 1970 a book was written about these prophecies which became an immediate best-seller. It was the first book on Christian prophecy to be picked up by a national publisher, and to date more than thirty million copies have been sold. In 1979 it was adapted into a movie narrated by no less a person than Orson Welles. This book was co-authored by Hal Lindsey and Carla Carlson, and was entitled The Late Great Planet Earth.
Under the chapter entitled “Revival of Mystery Babylon”, Lindsey and Carlson confessed that it was not their intention to be shocking or offensive. However, they added: “When God’s word is clear, it was never intended that man should dilute what He has to say.” As the authors went on to explain: “Babylon is another term used for the one-world religion. The Bible outlines very specifically that there would be a one-world religion which would dominate the world in the time before the return of Christ”.
The authors then went on to describe the new one-world religion that they believed would come to dominate the world. They noted that the use of the term “religion” should not be confused with Christianity itself. As they wrote: “Christianity is not a religion. Religion is the process of man trying to achieve goodness, perfection, and acceptance with God by his own efforts. Christianity, on the other hand, is God taking the initiative and reaching for man.”
Rather than represent one of the existing faiths of the world, Lindsey and Carlson believed that this new religion would grow out of a combination of practices that were becoming apparent throughout the world in the late 1960s. “But the scene has changed rapidly in the intellectual community in the past few years” they wrote. “Many of those who scoffed at “religion” have become addicted to the fast-moving upsurge in astrology, spiritualism, and even drugs.”
“We believe that the joining of churches in the present ecumenical movement, combined with this amazing rejuvenation of star-worship, mind-expansion, and witchcraft, is preparing the world in every way for the establishment of a great religious system”. It was clear to the authors that the new world religion prophesied by St. John would be Satanic in nature, and would involve the use of occult practices and drugs.
Hal Lindsey remains one of the most illustrious American interpreters of Biblical prophecy, and he continues to command an international following. Through his website he maintains updates of his prophetic interpretations. Yet to this day he appears unmoved in his belief that the predicted one-world religion will be associated with drugs and esoteric practices, because the use of the term “Babylon” by Old Testament prophets was invariably linked with references to “sorcerers”, “magicians” and “astrologers”.
While no one can deny that the use of narcotics has grown over the last forty years into an international scourge, the irony is that while mainstream believers continue to look for Satanic influences in such things as witchcraft, magic and astrology, most Christians seem oblivious to the fact that a one-world religion that exactly matches that prophesied by St. John, has grown up under their very gaze.
This new religion now encompasses the entire world. No man or woman alive on earth today is free from its spell. It not only attracts converts from every major faith, it now embraces every country on the globe. As the Oracle of Tolemac has explained, this new religion not only attracts Kings, Presidents and rulers, it also lures the poor, the weak and the needy, as we shall see in the following instalment.
Allan, Babylon, November 4, 2010, 1:23 pm
When the evangelist John was exiled to the Greek island of Patmos, he experienced a series of visions about events that would happen at some distant time in the future. These events would be a prelude to the return of the Christ and the dawn of a new golden age upon the earth.
In the last book of the Bible St. John recorded how an angel appeared before him in a vision and showed him the judgment that would be visited upon “the great whore that sitteth upon many waters”. This “whore” was described by the angel as a woman arrayed in purple clothing and adorned with precious jewels, and upon whose forehead were written the words “Mystery, Babylon the Great“. (Revelation:Chapter 17)
The symbolic language used by John not only confounded the readers of his time. It has continued to confuse readers to this day. Over the centuries various factions within the church have interpreted them in different ways, and Biblical scholars continue to debate the significance of the symbolism. Yet very few seem to have grasped the obvious meaning of these words.
Mainstream Christianity today believes that the mystery woman Babylon refers to the rise of a future one-world religion that will be founded by, and presided over, by a future Anti-Christ who is predicted to appear on the world stage during the “last days” spoken of by St. John.
In 1970 a book was written about these prophecies which became an immediate best-seller. This book was co-authored by Hal Lindsey and Carla Carlson, and was entitled The Late Great Planet Earth. Under the chapter entitled “Revival of Mystery Babylon”, Lindsey and Carlson described the new religion that they believed would come to dominate the world.
“We believe that the joining of churches in the present ecumenical movement, combined with this amazing rejuvenation of star-worship, mind-expansion, and witchcraft, is preparing the world in every way for the establishment of a great religious system”. It seemed clear to the authors that the new world religion prophesied by St. John would be Satanic in nature, and would involve the use of occult practices and drugs.
While mainstream believers continue to look for Satanic influences in such things as witchcraft, magic and astrology, most Christians seem oblivious to the fact that a one-world religion that exactly matches that prophesied by St. John, has grown up under their very gaze.
This new religion now encompasses every country on the globe. It attracts converts from every major faith, and appeals equally to every culture, creed and race. No man or woman alive on earth today is free from its spell. This new religion not only attracts Kings, Presidents and rulers, it also lures the poor, the weak and the needy.
This religion is called “Babylon”. Babylon is not just the name of a place. It is a symbol of everything for which the original city of Babylon was once famous. At the height of its glory Babylon was the envy of the world. It was a place of great luxury and wealth. Its hanging gardens were among the wonders of the ancient world.
The religion symbolized by the woman called “Babylon” is the religion of materialism. It is the love of money. It is the desire for material wealth ahead of all other values in life. Babylon is a very old religion. It has seduced people since the earliest days of civilization. It is now the dominant religion on the earth. All nations have fallen prey to its seductive lure.
All of humanity is governed today by an economic system that is based on money. All human enterprise is based on a system that is required to generate money in order to survive. Yet as we have discovered in the last few years, our economic system has become corrupted to the point where the lust for money on the part of the few, has placed the livelihood of hundreds of millions of people around the world in jeopardy.
Not only is this desire for material wealth now the major economic motivator around the planet, but it has assumed the character of a religion. This world-wide religion of materialism has captured the minds and hearts of humanity just as much as if it were a traditional faith.
There is little doubt that our modern economic system comprising commerce, finance, investment and trade now fits the description of the one-world religion described by St. John. For in describing the influence of this mystery woman Babylon he wrote:
“For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” (Revelation 18:1-3)
The references above to “the kings of the earth”, “merchants of the earth” and “waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies” should make it obvious that St. John is not writing about a religious movement led by some future Anti-Christ. Instead he is referring here to a mercantile system that has grown to world-wide proportions, but has become totally corrupted by materialistic pursuits and is devoid of spiritual qualities.
Not only has our modern economic system been subverted from within by greed and the lust for wealth, but it has also been exploited from without by powerful interests whose main purpose has been to entrench themselves in positions of power, and at the same time insulate themselves from accountability and justice.
This system has now become so convoluted and complex that no single nation or institution has the power to reform it. And as has happened in the past, when the institutions of humanity become corrupted from within, they become ripe for destruction.
The destruction predicted by St. John will be terrible indeed. For just as our economic system has tentacles that reach out to the farthest corners of the globe, so the destruction that will be inflicted upon ”Babylon” will also be universal in scope. The devastation will be unimaginable and it will leave merchants everywhere stupefied with terror.
According to the angel, this mystery woman would be utterly destroyed in the great and terrible day of the Lord, because it had become ”the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird“. (Revelation 18:2) St. John goes on to describe the reactions of merchants around the world to the sudden destruction of everything that they had labored so long and so hard to achieve:
“And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.”
“The merchants of these things, which were made rich by these things, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!”
“For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every ship-master, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, what city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate” (Revelation 18:9-19)
The lamentations so vividly described by St. John clearly refer to a global disaster that not only devastates the land, but affects the oceans as well, leading to an immense loss of cargo and shipping. This sudden world-wide calamity would come at a time when the merchants of the world believed they were secure. Yet if the revelation of St. John is correct, then our world-wide economic system will be destroyed in a single day.
“How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her”. (Revelation 18:7-8)
The angel revealed to John that in the “last days” this mystery woman called Babylon would be utterly destroyed. She would be destroyed because she had perverted humanity and become the mother of all abominations. According to the revelation of St. John, our global system of international finance and trade will be destroyed by a giant asteroid that will strike the earth and plunge into the sea.
“And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all”. (Revelation 18:21)
The Old Testament prophet Malachi refers to this day as “the great and dreadful day of the Lord“. (Malachi 4:5) He goes on to say: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch”. (Malachi 4:1)
Jesus himself said that this would be a time unlike any in the long history of the earth: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be”. (Matthew 24:21) Another Old Testament prophet named Zephaniah described this day of disaster in the following words:
“The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
“And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither shall their silver nor their gold be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.” (Zephaniah 1:14-18)
And in the words of the prophet Joel: “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come”. (Joel 2:30-31)
If a flaming asteroid should sear through the atmosphere of the earth and then plunge into the ocean, it would create destruction on a scale that would be greater than almost anything we could imagine, depending on the size of the asteroid. In chapter 8 of his Book of Revelation John describes the asteroid as a ”great mountain” (verse 8). By an interesting coincidence Nostradamus used these same words in a quatrain he wrote about a future asteroid that would strike the earth:
“The great mountain, seven stadia round, after peace, war, famine, inundation. It will spread far, drowning great countries, even those of great age and mighty foundations”. (Century I: Verse 69)
Nostradamus gives the size of this “great mountain” as “seven stadia round”. The “stadium” was a unit of measurement used by the Greeks and Romans. One “stadium” was equal to 625 feet. So using this system of measurement ”seven stadia round” would make this asteroid nearly a mile wide. An asteroid of this size traveling at a speed of many hundreds of thousands of miles an hour would cause global devastation.
The impact of this collision would not only vaporize the asteroid itself, it would also penetrate the ocean floor causing huge amounts of superheated water, molten rock and other matter to rise high into the upper atmosphere, where they would then fall back down to earth in the form of blazing missiles that would set fire to buildings, forests and crops around the entire planet.
Volcanoes would suddenly roar back to life, spewing vast clouds of debris into the atmosphere, adding to the hellish conditions. Forest fires would also create enormous noxious fumes that would stain the sky and cause the moon to appear “blood-red” in color.
In addition to setting off a series of gigantic earthquakes around the world, the impact of this asteroid would also cause a rupture of undersea fault lines that would generate colossal tidal waves that would travel around the world many times, causing immense destruction to coastal cities everywhere. The death toll caused by this disaster would be beyond count, as would the damage to cities, ships and cargo.
As John predicted, it would cause “a third part of the creatures in the sea” to die, as well as “a third part of the ships” to be destroyed. (Revelation 8:9) And because there would be no refuge above the ground from the fiery missiles raining down from the skies, men and women everywhere would try to hide underneath rocks, or seek safety underground.
“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”. (Revelation 6:15-17)
And just a reminder for those people who would like to read my book, it can be reached here
Allan, Articles, October 10, 2010, 9:11 pm
While living in exile on the Greek island of Patmos, the disciple John had a series of revelatory visions about a future time when Jesus would return in triumph to the earth. In his book of Revelation he described in dramatic fashion a sequence of events that would unfold at that time. This book has since become one of the most enigmatic books of the Bible, and religious scholars still cannot agree on exactly what it was that John was describing.
We also have to remember that if John really did foresee events that would happen on the earth several thousands of years in the future, he would be ill-equipped to describe those events in terms that would be understandable to us today. He would also be forced to use symbols where his technical expertise was lacking.
For example, in Chapter 8 of his Book of Revelation John described seven angels to whom were given seven trumpets. As each angel sounded their trumpet, the earth was assailed by a specific disaster.
“The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all the green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
“And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
“And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.” (Revelation 8:7-12)
For most readers of the Bible, the identity of the great mountain of fire called “Wormwood” remains cloaked in mystery. Yet if John had limited his predictions to just these verses, scholars might have had an easier time in deciphering them. But to complicate matters, he went on to describe seven more angels, each of whom were given vials of the wrath of God to pour upon the earth. As John wrote:
“And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea“.
“And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.”(Chapter 16:2-4)
“And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given to him to scorch men with fire”. (Chapter 16:8)
“And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness: and they gnawed their tongues for pain“. (Chapter 16:10)
The reason why Biblical scholars have had so much difficulty in interpreting these passages is that these plagues are described in separate chapters of the Book of Revelation, and because John attributes them in one case to angels with trumpets and in another to angels with vials of the wrath of God. Because of this scholars have naturally assumed that John was referring to different events occurring at different points in time.
It is only when we recognize that all of these different plagues described by John in separate passages are related to one single event that they become understandable. Most of these plagues occur in a single day which the Bible calls “the great and terrible day of the Lord“. (Joel 2:31) And in the process the true meaning of the great star from heaven called “Wormwood” becomes clear.
The enigmatic writings of John could have held little meaning for the people who lived at the time his words were penned. Today however, their meaning stands revealed as the clear imprint of a heavenly harbinger of doom. The tribulations predicted by John are a vivid illustration of exactly those disasters that would befall the earth if it were to have a close encounter with a comet.
Suppose a large comet was to pass in orbit around the sun. As it sped away from the sun back into the dark void of space, its luminous tail of particles would travel ahead of it, blown by the force of solar radiation. If the earth should happen to lie in the path of this comet after its perihelion (or closest approach to the sun), then our world would first come into contact with the tail of the comet, which would extend ahead of it in space for many millions of miles.
If the dust particles in the tail of the comet were ferruginous (containing iron oxide or rust), then the earth would be showered by particles of fine, red dust. As this cosmic dust (or “false dust” as Nostradamus described it in his quatrains) began to fall from the sky, it would settle on the skin of people and animals causing irritation and infection.
The presence in the atmosphere of these tiny particles of dust would also spawn torrential downpours of rain, which would be characterised by a blood-red color. As the earth continued to be showered by poisonous dust this bloody rain would soon contaminate the rivers and the seas, causing them to become blood-red in appearance. Those who drank from these toxic waters would die.
As the earth drew closer to the nucleus of the comet, larger particles in the comet’s tail would fall as blazing meteorites. This torment of fiery hail would then set fire to large portions of the land. Entire forests and countrysides would be engulfed in blazing infernos that would destroy crops, which would later lead to widespread famine.
Should a part of the comet, or even the nucleus itself plunge into the sea, this flaming asteroid would create unparalleled havoc, not just to those creatures in the sea, but also to those craft which happened to be travelling upon it. Coastal cities would be ravaged by tumultuous tidal waves. Hundreds of millions of people would die in a matter of minutes.
The resulting collision would devastate the land and decimate all forms of life on the planet. A cloud of dust and debris would soon circle the earth, blotting out in places the light of the sun, moon and stars. The impact of this cometary collision would severely jolt the earth, perhaps even causing it to tilt on its axis and change the alignment of its poles.
The reference by St. John to a “great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp” is a clear reference to a comet. And when he later refers to “a stone like a great millstone that was cast into the sea“, it should be obvious that he is writing here about an asteroid that plunges into the ocean.
The interpretation of the “great millstone” as an asteroid, which St. John called “Wormwood”, is confirmed by his predictions regarding the destruction of the “mystery woman Babylon” contained in Chapter 18.
“Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned by fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning.”
“Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come.” (Revelation 18:8-10)
The lamentations so vividly described by St. John clearly refer to a sudden (in a single hour) global disaster that not only devastates the land, but affects the oceans as well, leading to an immense loss of cargo and shipping. This is exactly what would occur if the ocean were to be struck by an asteroid, and this is what St. John describes:
“Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.” (Revelation 18:20-21)
If such a sequence of disasters were to assail the earth, pious churchmen and women everywhere would see in these events the wrath of God, and the fulfilment of Biblical prophecy. To the scientific community however, they would simply be the predictable consequences of a rare and unfortunate astronomical encounter, which would no doubt be attributed to the random effects of chance.
And just a reminder for those people who would like to read my book, it can be reached here
Allan, Articles, October 5, 2010, 9:12 pm
While living in exile on the Greek island of Patmos, the disciple John had a series of revelatory visions about a future time when Jesus would return in triumph to the earth. In his book of Revelation John described in dramatic fashion the sequence of events that would unfold at that time. This book has since become one of the most enigmatic books of the Bible, and religious scholars still cannot agree on what exactly John was describing.
“The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all the green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
“And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
“And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.” (Revelation 8:7-12)
The florid writings of John could have held little meaning for those people living at the time these words were penned. Today however, their meaning stands revealed as the clear imprint of a heavenly harbinger of doom. The tribulations predicted by John are a vivid illustration of just those disasters that would befall the earth if it were to have a close encounter with a comet.
Suppose a large comet was to pass in orbit around the sun. As it sped away from the sun back into the dark void of space, its luminous tail of particles would travel ahead of it, blown by the force of solar radiation. If the earth should happen to lie in the path of this comet after its perihelion, or closest approach to the sun, then our world would first come into contact with the tail of the comet, which would extend ahead of it in space for many millions of miles.
If the dust particles in the cometary tail were ferruginous (containing iron oxide or rust), then the earth would be showered by particles of fine, red dust. The presence in the atmosphere of these tiny particles would then spawn torrential downpours of rain, which would be characterised by a blood-red color. This bloody rain would contaminate all the rivers and the seas. Those who drank from these toxic waters would die.
As the earth drew closer to the nucleus of the comet, larger particles in the comet’s tail would fall as blazing meteorites. This torment of fiery hail would then set fire to large portions of the land. Should a part of the comet, or even the nucleus itself plunge into the sea, this flaming asteroid would create unparalleled havoc, not just to those creatures in the sea, but also to those craft which happened to be travelling upon it. Coastal cities would be ravaged by tumultuous tidal waves.
The resulting collision would devastate the land and decimate all forms of life on the planet. A cloud of dust and debris would soon circle the earth, blotting out in places the light of the sun, moon and stars. The impact of this cometary collision would severely jolt the earth, causing it to tilt on its axis and change the alignment of its poles.
If such a sequence of disasters were to assail the earth, pious churchmen and women everywhere would see in these events the wrath of God, and the fulfilment of Biblical prophecy. To the scientific community however, they would simply be the predictable consequences of a rare and unfortunate astronomical encounter, which would no doubt be attributed to the random effects of chance.
Yet according to the teachings of the sages, such an awesome cataclysm would be neither the result of chance, nor the retribution of divine wrath. It would instead be the precise response in physical experience to those violent thoughts and feelings that gave it birth. The encounter with the comet would be an event conjured up in karmic response to the contents of the minds of all the peoples now living on the earth.
Our thoughts and emotions do not just influence the events that unfold in our daily lives. They reach out to the farthest domains of the heavens. They not only influence the earth, but the entire universe as well. This mystical insight has been understood by sages, and shared by those with sympathetic minds. As the English poet Francis Thompson once wrote:
“Thou canst not stir a flower, without troubling of a star.” (The Mistress of Vision – 1913)
Allan, Global Warning, October 4, 2010, 12:35 pm
Our universe of thought and the manifestations of weather are inextricably interlinked. Since the universe is a projection of our minds, and since our minds are composed of thoughts and feelings, it is our own thoughts and emotions that are the ultimate determinants of the atmospheric conditions of our world. Each one of us contributes to the weather patterns of the planet by those very thoughts and feelings that we create.
We are therefore the true creators of our weather, just as we are the architects of the events of this world. What we think, desire and feel comes ultimately to reflect itself in the weather conditions of the planet, and our weather is a direct barometer of the thinking of mankind at any particular time. As the thoughts, desires and fears of mankind change in character, so the character of our weather comes to change in harmony with ourselves.
This is one of the truths that enlightened beings throughout history have sought to pass on to humanity. For as the mental climate of our minds becomes more stressful and violent, so the weather conditions of the planet becomes more turbulent in consonance with our thinking. If we wish therefore to to improve the climatic conditions of our world, we can only do so by harmonising the attitudes of our minds.
When in the ebb and flow of life there come times of crisis that impact the whole of humanity, these inner crises are inevitably attended by catastrophic disruptions of the physical forces of nature. These disruptions not only affect the planet in the form of floods, droughts, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, they also affect the very functioning of the heavens as well.
The cosmos that lies beyond the earth is as much a product of our minds, and is as senstive to our basic thoughts and feelings, as the cells of our bodies. As the 20th century sage Nisargadatta Maharaj replied to a visitor who enquired about the mysteries of the world: “What you do not know is that the entire universe is your body and you do not need to be afraid of it.” He went on to say: “Your little body is full of mysteries and wonders which you do not know. Both anatomy and astronomy describe you.” (I Am That)
When Immanuel Velikovsky was researching the global legends of mankind in developing his revolutionary cosmological ideas, he was struck by the fact that so many societies retained in legend, dim memories of cataclysmic changes which had destroyed entire societies and changed the face of the earth. He found that these legends were common to many societies which otherwise were remote in time and geography from one another.
According to these legends, the earth appeared many times to have been shaken in its course, altering not only its polar alignment, but also its orbit around the sun. Periods of relative physical stabilty on the earth were interrupted at irregular intervals by cataclysms of overwhelming ferocity. The agents of these catastrophes were described in the legends as emanating from the heavens themselves. They appeared to be what we know today as comets and asteroids.
According to these legends the history of the earth was reckoned by successive ages. Each age was a period of relative stability between cataclysms. Each age was in turn characterized by a particular “sun”, which represented the path traversed by the sun through the heavens during that particular age. As Velikovsky noted in his book “Worlds in Collision”:
“The sacred Hindu book Bhagavata Purana tells of four ages and of pralayas or cataclysms in which, in various epochs, mankind was nearly destroyed; the fifth age is that of the present. The world ages are called Kalpas or Yugas. Each world met its destruction in catastrophes of conflagration, flood and hurricane.”
Velikovsky found similar references to past catastrophes and vanished ages in scriptures of such nations as the Greeks, Persians, Chinese, Incas, Aztecs, Mayas, as well as in Iceland, Tibet and Pacific Polynesia. He went on to add:
“The Chinese call these perished ages kis and number ten kis from the beginning of the world until Confucius. In the ancient Chinese encyclopedia Sing-li-ta-tsinen-chou, the general convulsions of nature are discussed. Because of the periodicity of these convulsions, the span of time between two catastrophes is regarded as a ‘great year’.
“As during a year, so during a world age, the cosmic mechanism winds itself up and ‘in a general convulsion of nature, the sea is carried out of its bed, mountains spring out of the ground, rivers change their course, human beings and everything are ruined, and ancient traces effaced’.”
Jesus predicted that a time would come on earth when nations would rise up against nations, and kingdom against kingdom. These troubles would be attended by famines, pestilences and earthquakes. (Matthew: 24:7) He said it would be a time when”the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.” (Mark: 13:12)
According to Jesus, this affliction and tribulation would encompass the entire earth and would culminate in a cataclysmic event that would bring to an end our current cycle of civilization. In his book of Revelation, the disciple John described the disasters that would herald this event.
Allan, Weather Wizards, September 30, 2010, 2:22 pm
The interaction between an enlightened being (a person who has discovered his or her true state of being) and nature is not limited to those occasions of conscious intervention, such as when a person decides to influence the weather in one way or another, as we have seen in the ability of Jesus to calm a storm and still a raging sea (Matthew 8:24-27). There is a subtle and ongoing relationship between the two that takes its character from the mind.
Because mind is the foundation of the entire universe, of which nature is a part, the mind of an enlightened being is constantly in harmony with the weather, as well as all other aspects of nature. It should therefore come as no surprise to find that when an enlightened being is put to death by violent means, that the forces of nature would rise up in harmonic fashion at the moment of their death.
St. Matthew wrote that at the very moment that Jesus gave up the ghost: “The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom: and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.” (Matthew 27:51). The apostle Mark noted that from the sixth to the ninth hour while Jesus hung on the cross, “There was darkness over the whole land.” (Mark 15:33). It was this awesome display of nature that so impressed the Roman centurion and caused him to confess: “Truly this was the Son of God”. (Matthew 27:54)
The strange events that attended the death of Jesus find an interesting parallel in the life and death of the prophet Ali Muhammad, who was one of the founders of the Baha’i faith. Born in 1819 in the Persian town of Shiraz, the young Ali was renowned for his austere practices and religious understanding. He grew into a man endowed with remarkable qualities, allied to a quiet dignity and purity of character. He spoke with rare beauty and power.
It was not long before Ali attracted a group of followers who revered him as a prophet, and the bearer of a new religious revelation. He became known as the Bab, a title meaning “Gateway of God”. By the year 1849, the signs and wonders attributed to the Bab generated a religious fervor throughout the whole of Persia. It even reached Tehran, much to the dismay of the ecclesiastical dignitaries.
Alarmed at the intense loyalty demonstrated by his followers, and their public displays of faith and devotion, the ministers of the Shah ordered the Bab to be arrested and brought to Tabriz to account for his actions. At his trial, he was asked who he claimed to be. In response the Bab announced: “I am, I am, I am the Promised One”. This claim of divine status infuriated the assembled elders.
When asked to provide proof of his claim to be the Promised One, the Bab replied: “Is it not enough for them that we have sent down to Thee the Book? The power to produce such evidence has been given to me by God. Within the space of two days and two nights I declare myself able to reveal verses of such number as will equal the whole of the Koran.” (Modern Mystics: Francis Younghusband)
The Bab’s reply so enraged the gathered Mullahs that he was ordered to be severely beaten. But the treatment that he received at the hands of the authorities so inflamed his followers that there were further outbreaks of insurrection. Finally, for the safety of the state, he was ordered to be put to death. He was delivered to Sam Khan, a colonel of the Christian regiment at Urumiyya, who was instructed to carry out the execution.
In the early hours of July 9, 1850, the Bab, together with one of his devoted followers who had pleaded to be allowed to remain with his master, were tied to a pillar in front of selected marksmen. At the command of Sam Khan they opened fire. As the smoke from their rifles cleared, the soldiers were astounded to see that the Bab’s companion remained standing before them, alive and unhurt. The Bab himself was nowhere to be seen.
An immediate search of the barracks was conducted and the Bab was found to be engaged in quiet conversation with one of his disciples. Stunned by what he had witnessed, Sam Khan refused to have anything further to do with the Bab. In his place another colonel of the bodyguard offered to carry out the execution. The Bab was again led outside and tied to the pillar. This time, when the rifles rang out, the shattered bodies of the Bab and his companion hung limply from the mast.
It was at this moment that the skies erupted in fury. In the words of the noted British army officer, explorer and writer Sir Francis Younghusband:
“A gale arose and swept over the city. A whirlwind of dust of incredible density obscured the light of the sun and blinded the eyes of the people. The entire city remained enveloped in darkness from noon till night.”
Allan, Weather Wizards, September 23, 2010, 12:17 pm
The aboriginal rain dances of shamanistic societies are testimony to mankind’s ability to manipulate the elements by means of sympathetic rituals, conceived and carried out with a particular objective in mind. Through the repetition of these time-worn ways, conducted in the confident belief that their avowed objective will come to pass, these rituals achieve their desired results.
Skeptical westerners, groomed in their heavy cloak of scientific conditioning are seldom capable of grasping, let alone exploiting, the degree to which a sympathetic mind can harness the powers of lightning, wind and rain. But while it does not form part of customary western education, manipulation of the weather can occasionally be intuitively acquired. In his book entitled Mysteries, the British author Colin Wilson related the extraordinary tale of the American psychic Ted Owens.
As a child Ted Owens became aware that he could read other people’s minds. He did not pay particular attention to this at the time as he assumed that all children possessed the same ability. Apart from this unusual facility, he led a normal although adventurous life. However one night in 1965, when he was forty-five, an unusual incident occurred which was to herald a new era in his life.
Owens was driving near Fort Worth, Texas, when he noticed a huge cigar-shaped object in the sky which was illuminated with flashing lights. This sighting had a profound effect on him, and he later claimed that it was this encounter that led to the acquisition of his subsequent powers. Not long after this occurrence he happened to be caught in a violent thunderstorm. His daughter was beside him in the car.
To entertain her and to ease her apprehension, Ted told her that he had the power to cause lightning to strike whenever he wished. To his own surprise the lightning seemed to respond to his thoughts. During the weeks that followed, Owens repeated his experiments with other storms, and soon became convinced that he did actually possess the power to influence the weather.
Owens later moved to Phoenix, Arizona, which at the time was experiencing a severe drought. Thinking that he might be able to put his new-found talent to good effect, he announced to his family that he intended to will it to rain. A powerful storm erupted soon afterwards, drenching the surrounding countryside. Encouraged by this success, Ted decided to bring his talent to the attention of the media. He wrote to several newspapers declaring his intention to cause a succession of storms to strike the area. Eight storms were recorded in the next few days.
Colin Wilson first encountered Owens when he spoke at a Parascience Conference held at London University in August, 1976. The weekend of the conference was oppressively hot, as the entire country was locked in the grip of one of the worst summer droughts on record. At the conclusion of his talk, Owens said that he proposed to use his powers to end the searing heat wave. Wilson related in his book what took place when he and his wife left the conference.
“My wife and I wandered out into the stifling air of late afternoon, our minds now occupied with the question of what time the pubs would open. The sky clouded over. Ten minutes later, as we walked in the direction of Holborn, the first large drops of rain splashed on the hot pavement. Ted Owens proved to be right. Not only was the drought over, it proved to be the beginning of one of the wettest winters on record.” (Mysteries)
Now few people would be prepared to grant Owens credit for the long, rainy English winter, or even for the storm which heralded its arrival. Yet Wilson himself found it hard to dismiss this as a mere random occurrence. As he wrote in his book:
“What is any rational person to make of all this? The obvious explanation, I suppose, is coincidence. But if you keep on applying it to case after case in the Owens dossier, it begins to look a little thin.”
Allan, Weather Wizards, September 16, 2010, 2:29 pm
The entire universe, including the so-called “forces of nature”, rests upon the foundation of the mind. Man is not a pawn of nature. It is nature that is subservient to man. This is the truth that Jesus revealed when he calmed the storm at Galilee. He then went on to point out to his disciples that even so vast a natural feature as a mountain could be moved, merely by using the power inherent in the human mind. (Mark 11:23)
We are not accustomed to using our minds to influence the weather, simply because we do not believe that we can, nor do we have the faith to try. Yet every power that exists in nature, whether it be wind, tide, rain, storm or fire, is subject to the power of mind, for it is the mind that has given these forces birth. As Nisargadatta Maharaj responded to a skeptical enquirer:
“Man’s five-fold body (physical, mental etc) has potential powers beyond our wildest dreams. Not only is the entire universe reflected in man, but also the power to control the universe is waiting to be used.” (I Am That)
Not all societies regard the forces of nature as hostile agents over which they have no control. During her travels in Tibet, French explorer Alexandra David-Neel wrote of a certain Lama of Chorten Nyima who was regarded as a magician by local inhabitants. This Lama was said to have possessed the power to cause rain or hail storms, and to be able to stop them at will. (Magic and Mystery in Tibet)
Other aboriginal cultures have harnessed these natural forces, and obliged them to dance to the rhythm of their drums. When Harold Wright visited the African country of Dahomey (now called the People’s Republic of Benin), he was invited by his host Prince Aho to witness a ritual dance ceremony conducted in the courtyard of the royal palace. As Wright later described in his book Witness to Witchcraft, a tall man stepped forward brandishing a staff with a head of polished brass.
The man swished his wand to and fro, and began to dance in sinuous undulations to the beat of the accompanying drums. As the drumbeats increased in tempo the dancer revolved in ever more rapid gyrations until he moved like a man possessed. Soon other dancers joined in this trance-like frenzy. In his book Wright went on to describe the unfolding scene.
“The day had been bright and clear when the dance started, but suddenly I looked up and the heavens were overcast. The dance continued, with the rumble of thunder quickening the pace, and the dancers were now shrieking and distorting their faces while they made seemingly impossible leaps high into the air. I found myself gradually under the spell of the strange frenzy that possessed them, and all the while I was aware of the ominous gathering of clouds overhead.”
While Wright became increasingly concerned about the imminent storm, and the fact that it threatened to interrupt his picture taking, Prince Aho leaned across to him and whispered into his ear: “It will not rain because we will not permit the rain without the rain dance.” Although Wright tried to continue filming the dance, the sky soon became so dark that photography became impossible. As he described in the pages of his book:
“The air was hot and humid – well over a hundred degrees; and in the sky there was the distant clap of thunder, mingling with the roar of the drums. I expected to see lightning and then a downpour, but after a second clap of thunder the dance stopped. The man carrying the staff made a final gyration and toppled forward to the earth, almost at the Prince’s feet. His thick lips were covered with fine white foam, and the manner in which he plunged to the ground left no doubt that he was not faking exhaustion. He had danced himself unconscious.”
As the frenzied dancer collapsed on the ground, Harold Wright noticed with astonishment that the impending storm had simply vanished from the sky. In its place the blue sky had returned, together with the sun and the heat. It was then that the Prince turned to him, his lips wreathed in a smile as he pointed to the sky, and said: “We do this for our amusement.”
Allan, Weather Wizards, September 7, 2010, 1:17 pm
Some two thousand years ago a group of men entered a boat on the edge of an inland sea and set sail for the farther shore. It had been a tiring day, and as they sailed the leader of the group fell asleep. As they made their way across the lake a hot wind began to stir, causing the waves to slap against the timbers of the boat. The gusts of wind increased in strength and the waves became more turbulent.
Soon water began to pour over the shallow sides of the vessel as it heaved and plunged in the angry sea. Fearing for their lives the group turned to their leader in alarm, begging him to save them. The man awoke from his slumber and asked them why they were so afraid. Then turning to the raging sea and the wind he rebuked them. The storm was immediately stilled and a great calm settled on the waters of the lake.
For the disciples who witnessed this miracle on the Sea of Galilee, the quelling of the storm seemed further proof of the divine nature of Jesus and of his God-like powers. What they had just seen seemed clearly beyond the power of any normal human being. Anyone who could tame nature in such a dramatic fashion surely had to be divine. The attitude of those early disciples continues to prevail to this day. We still believe that we are powerless in the face of the overwhelming forces of nature.
Yet as we have seen from the previous instalment, the New Physics as described by Quantum Mechanics makes it clear that everything that we see and experience in nature is actually a product of our minds, and not of some outward force. The American physicist Fritjof Capra sums up this view of the New Physics:
“Physicists have come to see that all their theories about natural phenomena, including the “laws” they describe, are creations of the human mind; properties of our conceptual map of reality, rather than of reality itself.” (The Tao of Physics)
The 20th century Indian sage Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj continually stressed to his followers that the world that appears so real to us, and that appears to exist outside of ourselves, is actually a subjective phenomenon that is created by the mind, and is tailored to the mind of each individual observer. As we find recorded in his answers to questioners in his book I Am That:
“You create the world in your imagination like a dream. As you cannot separate the dream from yourself, so you cannot have an outer world separate from yourself.”
“The mind and the world are not separate. Do understand that what you think to be the world is your own mind”.
“As long as the mind is there, your body and your world are there. Your world is mind-made, subjective, enclosed within the mind.”
Because the world we see around us, including the world of nature, is mind-made, it can always be remade by any individual who has the knowledge and the power to do so. And this is what Jesus did when he rebuked the wind and the waves and stilled the raging storm. But the power that enabled Jesus to do what he did resides within every human being, and every person alive today has the potential power to do the same.
But we who have been schooled within the classical tradition of science find it almost impossible to deny the validity of our senses. We argue, like the skeptic who once confronted another 20th century Indian sage Ramana Maharshi, that the world must have an objective reality because it continues to exist for others even when we ourselves are asleep. In response Ramana replied:
“Such a world mocks you for knowing it without knowing yourself. The world is the result of your mind. Know your mind. Then see the world. You will realize that it is not different from the Self.” (Talks With Ramana Maharshi)
The power to control the weather has been exhibited by numerous other sages. One day Paramahansa Yoganada was asked by his Guru Sri Yukteswar Giri to lead his disciples on a parade across the beach at Puri, on the eastern shore of India. It was a scorching day and the disciples would have to walk barefoot over the fiery sands. Yoganada appealed to Yukteswar to intercede. As he later wrote in his autobiography:
“No sooner had we left the hermitage than the sky became filled with clouds as though by magic. To the accompaniment of astonished ejaculations from all observers, a light shower fell, cooling the city streets and the scorching seashore. The soothing drops descended during the two hours of the parade. The exact instant at which our group returned to the ashram, the clouds and rain disappeared”. (Autobiography of a Yogi)
The revered Muslim saint Sai Baba of Shirdi was also known for his power to influence the weather. On one occasion fierce monsoon rains lashed the village of Shirdi flooding the streets with incessant rain. Prayers to to the local Hindu deities to stop the downpour were in vain. Finally the villagers gathered around the mosque where Sai Baba lived and implored him to intervene.
Sai Baba commanded the wind and the rain to cease. Immediately the storm abated and the air was filled with a tranquil sweetness. (Sai Baba: The Saint of Shirdi)
Allan, Weather Wizards, September 2, 2010, 12:25 pm
Since the purpose of this Blog is to validate the prophecies contained in the book “The Last Days of Tolemac“, some readers have asked what relevance recent posts on such subjects as The Mystery of Consciousness and The Power of Thought have to do with the subject of prophecy. The answer is that because we have misunderstood the nature of the universe we see and sense around us, we are unaware of the part we play in the creation of the circumstances that arise in the context of our daily lives.
When we explored the latest findings of Quantum Physics we found that the conclusion to which leading scientists were led was that there was no actual universe that existed as an outward reality in space. Furthermore, even if there was such a thing as an external universe, science could say nothing about it because all the empirical data they had acquired in their laboratory experiments ultimately resolved itself into impressions in consciousness.
Modern physics has thus confirmed the teachings of the ancient Rishis and mystics, who taught that the universe is nothing more or less than a projection of consciousness. And because each one of us is a conscious sentient being, everyone who is alive on earth today is not only a witness to the world we see around us, but is actually a co-creator of this world in consciousness.
The outer world that appears to exist outside of ourselves is an illusion which the ancient Hindu mystics referred to as Maya. It is a reflection in consciousness of our inner thoughts and beliefs. We have been conditioned since birth into believing that everything we see and sense inside our minds exists as an outward reality in space. And because we believe that we are small and puny compared to the infinite size of the universe, we have been conditioned into believing that we have little control over the events that dominate our world.
In reality, each one of us is a point of consciousness operating within an overall matrix called Supreme Awareness. For as long as we choose to operate as a single point of consciousness we are limited in what we do and what we can achieve. But if we choose to align our consciousness with that of Supreme Awareness, then the very forces of the universe are ours to command.
What this means is that each one of us not only has the potential power to control the events that occur in our daily lives, but we also have the inherent power to control the forces of nature, including the weather. The lives of the great Avatars throughout history have borne testimony to this truth. It is our ignorance of our true nature and of the world that we have projected upon ourselves that makes us refute our noble heritage.
We simply cannot bring ourselves to believe this fundamental truth. When a visitor to the 20th century Rishi Nisargadatta Maharaj was confronted with this possibility of the mind he exclaimed incredulously:
Visitor: “The world is so rich and complex – how could I create it?
Maharaj: Do you know yourself enough to know what you can and cannot do? You do not know your own powers. You never investigated. Begin with yourself.” (I Am That)
Those who are convinced of the existence of, and necessity for, a personal God, and who find their lives comforted and guided accordingly, do not need to give up this belief. But it remains a belief, a limit which prevents them from understanding their true prowess. For as the American pioneer into the nature of consciousness John Lilly has affirmed, every form of belief, no matter how lofty or noble, serves only to limit the free expression of our lives.
“In the province of the mind, what is believed to be true is true or becomes true, within limits to be found experientially or experimentally. These limits are further limits to be transcended. In the province of the mind, there are no limits.” (The Center of the Cyclone)
Unless the limits of these beliefs are transcended, we will never come to know our unlimited potential.
Those people who believe implicitly in the existence of a personal God will find evidence in their lives to verify this belief. This is not proof of the reality of God, but of the efficacy of their own belief. As the mystics have revealed, the phenomenon of belief is self-serving. We experience in life what we expect to experience, as well as what we have been conditioned to believe. The universe is merely a mirror to our inward thoughts and beliefs, and this varies from person to person.
For as Nisargadatta Maharaj has pointed out: “God is only an idea in your mind. The fact is you. The only thing you know for sure is: ‘here and now I am’. Remove the ‘here and now’ the ‘I am” remains unassailable. The world exists in memory, memory comes into consciousness; consciousness exists in awareness and awareness is the reflection of the light on the waters of existence.” (I Am That)
All that we see around us, from the stirrings of primal life beneath our feet to the pulsing beat of cosmic quasars in distant space, remains a picture painted in consciousness by our thoughts. The atom and the galaxy both describe our inherent nature. If we seem to inhabit a universe born of divine decree, its creator is that divine principle that resides within the heart of every one of us.
Allan, Weather Wizards, August 12, 2010, 11:42 am
Scott: My name is Scott Paton. I am talking today with Allan Colston. He is the author of the book “The Last Days of Tolemac”. This is a book dealing with prophecy.
For those listeners who may be new to this topic, this Podcast is another in the series “Signs of the Times”, and is titled “Arabian Entropy”. Hello Allan and welcome to the Podcast.
Thanks Scott. It’s great to chat to you again.
Scott: Allan, I notice that in recent Podcasts you have been focusing on Iran and their attempts to develop nuclear weapons. Why is that?
Well Scott, the reason I have been talking so much about Iran lately is because I believe that, according to Bible prophecy, they are the trigger for what is about to happen in the Middle East.
Scott: Why do you say that Allan?
Well let me just recap how we got onto the subject of Iran in the first place.
You will remember that in my earlier Podcast entitled “The Invasion of Israel”, I pointed out that according to the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, there would be an attack on Israel during the end times leading up to the return of the Christ.
This attack would be undertaken by a coalition of Islamic nations, and would include countries like Persia, Ethiopia and Libya. Because Ezekiel specifically singled out Persia, or to give it its modern name Iran, I indicated that it is to Iran that we should look if we are to understand the true measure of our times.
In that Podcast, I outlined the different countries that would be involved, and explained why they would choose to undertake a land invasion of Israel, rather than an indiscriminate attack on Israeli territory by means of aircraft, missiles and rockets.
Scott: So Allan, are you saying that various Arab nations, together with Iran, are planning a land invasion of Israel?
Well Scott, up until a few years ago, I would have said that the possibility of such a thing happening was extremely remote. But over the course of the last two years there have been dramatic changes throughout the Arab world.
We are now witnessing a process of change that I have chosen to call “Arabian Entropy”. And I am convinced that, as a result of these changes, the process that is under way in the Middle East will soon lead to the exact scenario predicted by Ezekiel.
It may seem strange to use a word like “entropy” in this context, but the association does seem to me to be singularly apt. Entropy is of course a scientific term referring to a process of change from order to disorder. In fact one of ways that entropy can be defined is “a steady deterioration of a system or society”.
It is evident that this deterioration of Arab society, which has been growing steadily in country after country throughout the Islamic world, began some two and a half years ago with the events that have come to be described as the “Arab Spring”.
When a young Tunisian street vendor set himself ablaze in December 2010, in a protest against police corruption and oppression, he started a chain of events that has shaken the entire Arab world to its core.
Prior to this event, all the countries of North Africa and the Middle East were ruled by leaders who had been entrenched in power for the better part of a generation.
Yet since that time, the Governments of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen have all been overthrown, and insurrection has broken out in countries like Algeria, Lebanon, Iraq and Morocco. Even Western backed countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey and Bahrain have not been immune from these protests.
And of course, during the last two years a civil war has broken out in Syria that now threatens to destabilize the entire region, as well as draw in the major powers of the East and West in a potential conflagration.
This convulsion of change has not made any of the Arab countries involved demonstrably stronger or more united, but has instead fragmented them into opposing factions that now have the motivation and the ability to settle their differences at the point of a gun.
Another significant change that has taken place within each of these countries has been the move towards a more militant Islamic style of government, which has tended to be fundamentalist, autocratic and repressive. And of course none of this bodes well for future peace in the region.
So we now find ourselves in a far more dangerous world than before, and one in which extremists everywhere have become empowered to pursue their ideological aims, and to do so with ever increasing amounts of firepower.
So Scott, there are two things that have become apparent over the last few years as a result of this growing Arabian entropy. The first is that all of the countries that have been affected by these changes have become more volatile, and therefore more unpredictable in terms of their future course of actions.
And the second significant change in the Middle East today is that these countries have become significantly more hostile towards Israel which has, as a result, become more isolated throughout the region.
Scott: So Allan, what role do you think Iran will play in the future?
Well Scott, the reason why Iran began their romance with nuclear weapons in the first place was out of fear. They were afraid that the United States would invade their own country in the same way that they had previously invaded Afghanistan and Iraq.
Iran reasoned that if they could develop nuclear weapons, this would provide them with a powerful deterrent against outside aggression. And as we have seen recently in the case of North Korea, the success of having a nuclear threat as a deterrent has been validated.
And notwithstanding the recent election of Hassan Rossani as the new President of Iran, there is little reason to suppose that there will be any change in Iran’s policy regarding the development of nuclear weapons, especially as Rossani has already gone on record to stress that there will be no change under his watch.
In any event, Iranian nuclear policy is and always has been the sole decision of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. So what this means is that Iran will continue to enrich uranium until they have accumulated sufficient fissile material to detonate a nuclear device.
And as I have mentioned previously, when President Obama visited Israel recently, he announced that the United States would never allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. The reason being that this would spark nuclear proliferation throughout the region, involving countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey.
So as you can see Scott, if Iran continues to pursue its nuclear dream, and the United States insists that it will deny them the fruition of that dream, then both countries are on a collision course that can only end in conflict. It is just a matter of when.
Scott: And do you think that Israel will also attack Iran?
That’s a good question Scott. In recent discussions on the subject of Iran, Prime Minister Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel reserves the right to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
And when asked whether Israel had received the “green light” from the United States to initiate a military strike against Iran, Netanyahu’s response was: “Israel’s right to defend its existence is not subject to a traffic light”.
In fact a number of people close to him have remarked that stopping Iran from getting an atom bomb has now become Netanyahu’s main mission in life. And this should come as no surprise to anybody, for he has been saying the same thing himself ever since he was elected Premier.
Of course it is still an open question as to whether Israel actually has the capability to knock out Iran’s underground uranium enrichment facilities, even if it wanted to. We know that back in 2009 the US supplied Israel with 55 bunker-busting bombs.
But these bombs were 5,000 pound Laser guided bombs that were designed to be fired from F-15 fighter jets, and it is doubtful whether these bombs could penetrate the Iranian underground facilities at Fordow outside the city of Qom.
The US has since developed larger bunker-busting bombs, including the recently tested 30,000 pound version called M.O.P. (Massive-Ordinance-Penetrator) which could certainly do the job.
However, the only aircraft capable of carrying a bomb of this size that possesses the stealth qualities necessary to avoid Iranian defensive surface to air missiles, are the American B-2 bombers based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
But ultimately Scott, I don’t think it matters much whether Israel is involved or not. If the Iranian nuclear facilities are attacked, whether by the U.S. or Israel, or both, there is little doubt that Israel will be the country that will bear the brunt of Arab fury.
And the reason for this will not necessarily be for their involvement in an attack on Iran, but because of their perceived intransigence in their negotiations over the future of Palestine.
Scott: How does Palestine fit in with all this?
To answer that Scott, we really need to go back in time to the end of the 19th century. Because there had been widespread persecution of the Jews throughout Europe at that time, there was a feeling among the international community that a homeland should be set aside for the Jewish people.
At the end of the first World War, when the British conquered Syria, a new state was established that was given the name of Palestine. In 1922, under a mandate issued by the League of Nations, the British were formally given the authority to govern the region.
This British Mandate, as it was called at the time, continued up to the end of the second World War, when the British Government announced that it wanted to terminate this mandate.
So in 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution dividing the land of Palestine into two states. One state was to be reserved for the Jews, with the other state to be set aside for the Arabs, while the city of Jerusalem was to be under the direct control of the United Nations.
The unfortunate part about this arrangement was that the population of Jews and Arabs at that time were intermingled together throughout the land, and there were no clear lines of demarcation between the two states.
This was clearly an unworkable arrangement, and it is hardly surprising that a civil war broke out immediately. The outcome of that war was that the Jews took over most of the territory, leaving the Arabs to settle in two areas where they continue to live today, namely the West Bank of the Jordan river and the Gaza strip.
And in the meantime, as a result of subsequent wars, more and more Israeli settlements have been built in the areas originally set aside for the Arabs. Not only that, but the Israeli army fought for control of the city of Jerusalem in 1967, and Jerusalem is now the declared capital of Israel.
So the net result of the last 65 years has been that while the Jews now have a land of their own, including their own capital city in Jerusalem, the Arabs have little to show. They have no state of their own with borders that have been recognised by the world community, nor do they have an official capital city.
Palestinians not only continue to live in the same two widely separated areas, Gaza and the West Bank, but in their day-to-day lives they find themselves dominated to a large extent by the state of Israel in what they can and cannot do.
So what we have here Scott is a social, political and economic cauldron that grows ever more critical, and is waiting to explode.
Scott: So what are the United Nations doing about this?
Well here’s the rub Scott. The United Nations aren’t really doing anything about it at all at this time. Although they were responsible for the original Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947, they have pretty much left it up to the Jews and the Arabs to sort out who lives where.
And here’s the fundamental problem that stands in the way of a solution. The West Bank is dominated by the political faction of Fatah, and is currently ruled by the leader of the Palestine National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.
The Gaza strip meanwhile is under the control of Hamas, which overthrew the Fatah forces in 2007. Since Hamas refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of the state of Israel, the United States, Canada and the European Union have branded Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
So in recent years, all attempts to negotiate some sort of agreement between the Palestinians and the Jews have ended in failure. But the differences between these two sides go much deeper than that, since both of them lay claim to Jerusalem as the sole capital of their respective states. And two into one doesn’t go.
At present, the American Secretary of State John Kerry has been trying to get both sides to the bargaining table, but so far with little success. The Palestinians insist that their state must be based on pre-1967 borders, while the Israelis are equally insistent that these preconditions make a return to negotiations impossible .
Then there is the testy matter of Jewish housing. The Palestinians say that Israel must first stop all construction of new houses on land that it wants for a future state, while Israel says that this issue can only be resolved through face to face negotiations – a catch 22 situation.
The danger of this impasse Scott, is that if the Arabs are blocked at every turn in their efforts to negotiaite a Palestinian state, they are bound to look for other ways of doing so. And one doesn’t have to be an Old Testament prophet to figure out what they might decide to do next.
So there you have it Scott. The situation in the Middle East boils down to this. Over the last two years the entire region has become more militant and more volatile, as a result of the process I have called Arabian Entropy.
Then there is Iran’s obsession with acquiring nuclear weapons, contrasted with Israeli and United States insistence that they will never be allowed to do so, under threat of a military attack which now seems inevitable.
And when such an attack does take place, it will unleash an enormous backlash, not just against the United States, but against Israel in particular. Islamic nations everywhere will unite against the Jews.
Then add to this mix the growing sense of Arab futility that they will ever be able to negotiate a Palestinian state with the Israelis, and you have an perilous situation that only needs a spark to explode into war.
So Scott, will the Arabs come to launch a land invasion of Israel as the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel has predicted? You can almost see the dominoes lining up as we speak.
And just a reminder for those people who would like to read my book, it can be reached here
Scott: Thanks Allan. You have been listening to Allan Colston, author of the book “The Last Days of Tolemac”. Do join us for our next Podcast in our series called “Signs of the Times”.
Allan, AUDIO, Signs of the Times, July 20, 2010, 9:28 pm
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