Podcast # 5: The Doomsday Prophecies
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, today’s podcast is the fifth in the series, and is titled “The Doomsday Prophecies”. Hello Allan and welcome. The title of today’s Podcast sounds ominous.
Hello Scott. Actually it is not quite as bad as it sounds. But what I want to discuss today goes to the root of prophecy, and the reason why there are so many sceptics in the world.
The reason why so many people no longer believe in prophecy these days is because they invariably predict bad things. First of all, people don’t like hearing bad news. And secondly, they don’t like being taken for a ride.
So when somebody comes along who predicts a future disaster, or something like “the end of the world”, the response of most people is to say, “Oh no, not again”. They are not willing to believe because so many other people who have predicted similar things in the past have turned out to be wrong.
Scott: Has this happened recently?
Certainly. It was only last year that a California preacher by the name of Harold Camping announced that God’s Day of Judgement would be on May 21, 2011, starting with a worldwide earthquake.
He also predicted that this would be the day Jesus Christ would return to the earth to save all true Christian believers, and that those who were left behind would suffer a series of catastrophes, that would end in the world being destroyed by a fireball.
But when May 21st came and went, and there were no catastrophic earthquakes, and Jesus did not return to claim the souls of the faithful, Camping was unrepentant. He simply came up with a new date, this time October 21st 2011, saying, and I quote:
“We don’t always hit the nail on the head the first time. All I am is a humble teacher. I search the Bible“.
Scott: And I’m sure he wasn’t the first person to get it wrong.
He certainly wasn’t Scott. People have been predicting the end of the world and the return of Jesus, ever since he was crucified. And in almost every century since that time, sincere people have come forward to predict a new date. And so far they have all turned out to be wrong.
But this sad record of failure has not stopped others from announcing their own prophecies of doom. In fact, the year 2012 has been a watershed year for predictions of bad things that will happen to us, and to the world.
For example, according to some, the year 2012 will see the fulfillment of an ancient Maya prediction that the world as we know it will end on the date of the mid-winter solstice, on December 21, 2012. This is the date on which the so-called “Long Count” calendar of the Maya is supposed to end.
Others say that 2012 will be the year that will see the return of Planet X, or Niburu as it is often called. Others say that the earth will be hit by a (quote) “killshot” in the form of a radiation blast from the sun.
But, as I pointed out last week, we already have enough real problems to worry about on this planet, and we don’t need more – especially if – like the prophecies of Harold Camping – these other ones also turn out to be wrong.
So I would like to devote the rest of this Podcast, as well as the next two Podcasts, to looking at some of the things that have been predicted for this year.
Scott: Well Allan, I’m curious to know what you think.
As I said before, Scott, there have been numerous predictions associated with the year 2012. Here are some of the most popular.
In 1975, an American author by the name Frank Waters published a book called “Mexico Mystique: The Coming Sixth Age of Consciousness”. In this book Waters suggested that the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar would coincide with a shift in the global consciousness of humanity.
This idea found an echo in the works of other writers like Jose Arguellas (in a book titled “The Transformative Vision”) and Terence McKenna (who wrote “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 linking the year 2012 to a unique astronomical alignment. In these books Jenkins explains 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”.
Scott: What does a Galactic Alignment mean?
Well according to Jenkins, this would be the date when the Sun and the planets would be precisely aligned with the galactic equator.
He also claimed that, as a result of shamanistic insights gained from hallucinogenic plants, the Maya knew about this conjunction, and predicted that it would lead to a profound spiritual awakening of mankind.
However, critics of Jenkins theory have argued that the galactic equator is a completely arbitrary line that can never be known precisely, because it is impossible to know the exact boundaries of the Milky Way.
In any event, using the calculations for the line of the galactic equator which Jenkins himself had given, scientists found that the most precise convergence with the center of the Sun had already happened in 1998.
Furthermore, other Maya scholars argue that there is little archaeological or historical evidence 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 these scholars believe that the idea of a Galactic Alignment happening on December 21, 2012, is an idea that Jenkins made up, and has nothing to do with the Maya or their calendar.
But this has not made these ideas any less popular, and Jenkins books continue to fly off the shelves. His ideas have also inspired all sorts of other predictions associated with this so-called Galactic Alignment.
Scott: Such as?
Some people claim that this alignment will somehow create a combined gravitational effect between the sun and a black hole at the centre of our galaxy, which will create havoc on earth.
In response scientists say that the sun’s apparent path through the zodiac, as seen from the earth, does not take it anywhere near to the true center of the galaxy in 2012. And even if it did, our solar system would have to be millions of miles closer for it to cause any gravitational disruption to the earth.
So I think we can safely discount that prediction. However, there have been other threats that have been associated with a Galactic Alignment. Some people believe that it is linked to a pattern of mass extinctions of species on the earth, as shown by the fossil record.
According to them, these extinction patterns are not random. Instead they happen at regular periods in the history of earth, and that the year 2012 happens to coincide with another mass extinction event.
Other doomsday predictions suggest that on the 21st of December this year there will be a unique alignment of planets which will cause great destruction on the earth.
In response, scientists point out that similar planetary alignments happened in the years 2000 and 2010, without anything seriously damaging the earth.
Scott: Weren’t there also predictions involving Pole Shifts?
Yes Scott there were. In fact many people believe that the earth is about to experience a Pole Shift, possibly triggered by a massive burst of radiation from the sun.
The reasons given for this is that the earth’s magnetic field is weakening, and that this could be a sign that the earth’s South and North magnetic poles are about to switch. However, critics of these ideas point out that geomagnetic reversals take many thousands of years to occur, and do not simply happen on one specific date.
The year 2012 has also been linked with numerous other astronomical events, including threats of solar flares and CMEs, or Coronal Mass Ejections from the Sun.
This idea has been popularised by movies like the 2009 science fiction film “Knowing” starring Nicolas Cage, as well as the Box-office hit “2012″, which also included references to the Maya and their Long Count calendar.
Of course scientists have long known that the Sun has a cycle of sunspots. Each cycle normally lasts about eleven years. During this period the number of sunspots vary, as do the number and size of flares and coronal emissions associated with them.
But because the Sun is believed to be due to reach a maximum (called the 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 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 small, and the worst that generally happens is a disruption in power or communications.
Now it is certainly possible that a very powerful CME directed at the earth could knock out orbiting satellites if they were not shielded from solar radiation. However, most of them already are.
Scott: What about Planet X and the Mayan Calendar?
Once again you have hit the mark, Scott. There are thousands of people today who are worried that some type of cataclysmic event will happen at the end of this year. What this event will be tends to vary from one set of believers to another.
Some are convinced that the earth will have a close encounter with a planet- like object. This object is often referred to as Nibiru, or Planet X.
Others are convinced that the Mayan Long Count calendar will end on December 21st, 2012, and that the world will end with it. These predictions may make gripping reading, and conjure up sensational scenarios of spiritual enlightenment or impending doom.
However my own belief is that none of these dire predictions are likely to happen during the remainder of this year. And the reason for this is that all of these theories are invariably based on flimsy logic and slipshod research.
Certainly, none of them can be attributed to the Maya or their calendar, as I will explain in a future Podcast.
Scott: So where does that leave us?
There is no doubt that public interest, even hysteria, will grow as we approach the winter solstice on December 21st of this year. In my view, the rest of this year is likely to be little changed from last year, and the warnings of these “doomsday prophets” are equally likely to be false.
This is not to say that we will be free from trouble. There will certainly be continuing strife, particularly among Islamic nations, as more and more people resist their autocratic masters.
And just like last 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 so on.
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.”
In my book “The Last Days of Tolemac”, I outline where our world is headed, and what we really do have to worry about in the coming years. But I will have more to say about this in my next Podcast, which will be titled “Planet X – Fact or Fiction?.
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, which will be titled “Planet X – Fact or Fiction?”.
