Until what?

Until the end of the world as we know it, that’s what.

If we could count on it, we retirees could start spending money that we’d squirreled away. If that money wasn’t necessary to keep beans on the table for the next ten or twenty years or so, why not spend it? We can’t take it with us. And the result of that explosion of spending would be a financial kick in the pants for our economy.

Who knew … that all it would take was the end of the world to provide an economic boost to all of the economies on the planet?You can believe that the next four years would be different if we came to believe that on the twenty-first of December in 2012, our world would end.

Why would we need extended warranties? Twenty-year guaranteed water heaters or roofing shingles are no longer a good buy. Why not get married? It’s no longer a lifetime commitment. We wouldn't need term limits or 30-year mortgages, why diet, why exercise, why abstain from anything? If it feels good - DO IT! This could go on and on.

We’ve always had the “soothsayers” saying all manner of sooth about the imminent end of the world, so what’s different about this new year, 2012, and a specific date, December 21?

Probably more than you wanted to know – but surely enough to run a chill up your spine.

The following predictions/statements/facts, etc. do have a consistency of referencing the same year for all manner of catastrophes, with the mother of all catastrophes – the end of the world – as the centerpiece.

The Maya civilization, known for advanced writing, mathematics and astronomy, flourished for centuries in Mesoamerica. They developed a number of extremely accurate calendars, including a “long count” calendar which was used to identify dates far into their future – the calendar has been extremely accurate for 5,128 years since its beginning … only it ends on December 21, 2012. No more dates after that … it just stops … on December 21, 2012 (cue spooky music here).

On the Mayan Long Calendar the day designated as 4 Ahau 3 Kankin (13.0.0.0.0) falls on December 21, 2012 and this day will mark "El Fin de los Tiempos" or the end of the long cycle at which time humanity will experience a new beginning. On this day, according to the Mayas and subsequent Meso-American civilizations, the return of Kukulcan (Quetzalcoatl) will take place.

There is an incomplete inscription (Tortuguero Monument 6) that records this date. It is also to be found carved on the walls of the Temple of Inscriptions in Palenque, where it functions as a base date from which other dates are computed.

The ancient Mayan astronomers accurately predicted, over 1500 years ago, the precise alignment of the Earth, the Sun, the star cluster Pleiades and of the center of our Galaxy (Hunab Ku) that will take place at the end of the present long cycle on the Gregorian year 2012, on December 21^st, at 11:11 universal time.

Note that according to the U.S. Naval Observatory (the official timekeeper for the United States), the winter solstice in 2012 will occur at 11:11 UT on December 21 … exactly (more spooky music).

The Hopi Indians have a prophetic tradition dating back thousands of years. They believe that there were three previous worlds and the accounts of the ending of each of those worlds were as prophecy foretold. We are currently living in the “Fourth World” which the Hopis believe is the last world, and will be purged by fire (called the “Great Purification”). According to Hopi elders, events have already occurred that were said to be part of the “final stage” leading up to the Purification and end of the Fourth World. They say, the end is nigh.

The date December 22, 2012 is the End of the I Ching calendar according to Ethnobotanists and fractal time experts Terrence and Dennis McKenna. They present their ideas in “Invisible Landscape: Mind Hallucinogens and the I Ching” (1993). The McKenna brothers, by matching the levels of patterns with key periods in history, have identified the end of the I Ching time scale as December 22, 2012. This is the only point in which the level of novelty reaches its maximum, and everything that happens from that point on is new.

The term “novelty” is characterized as a culmination of multiple events, each of which is unusual and rare, coming together into an entirely new and unique event – never having before occurred.

Nostradamus and the Book of Revelations reference similar events that culminate in the 2012 timeframe – although not specific to the December date. These have to do with a comet or planet (or parts thereof) impacting with the earth, raining down fire from the sky. Nostradamus includes a reference to 45 degrees latitude in his “fire from the sky” quatrain – incidentially, New York City happens to be at 45 degrees latitude.

The Book of Revelations (chapter 8) speaks of a comet or planet that brings great destruction upon the world and triggers WW III. Revelations gives no specific date as to when this event will happen. But, the BIBLE CODE does seem to give a date when a previously unknown comet/planet will impact the Atlantic Ocean and flood NYC, between 2010 and 2012 AD.

According to the prophecies of St. Malachy, who was born in 1094, the line of Pontiffs has come to an end. St. Malachy, canonized by by Pope Clement III on July 6, 1199, undertook to list in advance the proper succession of Roman pontiffs from Celestine II to "the end of the world". St. Malachy prophesied that there would be 112 Popes after Celestine II. John Paul II was number 110. Pope Benedict XVI is the current pope at number 111. The next pope would be the "False Prophet" mentioned in St. John's Revelation and who will deliver the Roman Catholic Church to Satan. Number 112 will NOT be a legitimate Pope. He will be the "Grand Anti-Pope" or the Anti-Christ who is also known as the "Abomination that Causes Desolation" mentioned in Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11 and Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14.

In a recent report, NASA predicts a sharp increase in the number of sunspots and sun flares, peaking in 2012, said to surely cause electrical failures and satellite disruptions. The sun is currently near minimum on its 11-year activity cycle, the report explains, but is expected to produce solar storms that will increase in intensity and frequency as it approaches peak activity levels in 2012.

The NASA report warns that if the sun's activity over the next few years flares to the level of the May 1921 "superstorm" or the so-called Carrington event of 1859, a "perfect storm" that Space.com called "the most powerful onslaught of solar energy in recorded history," the U.S. may not be equipped to handle the damages.

The report listed possible cascading effects of a major solar storm as "disruption of the transportation, communication, banking and finance systems, and government services; the breakdown of the distribution of potable water owing to pump failure, and the loss of perishable foods and medications because of a lack of refrigeration." In addition, the researchers warn, "Emergency services would be strained, and command and control might be lost."

And what about the “coincidental” alignment of Sun, Moon and the earth - centered in the Milky Way galaxy on December 21, 2012? This is the alignment that was predicted by the Mayans over 1500 years ago. It is significant because gravitational release of hidden asteroids can take place.

That means that if there is a lose asteroid in a stealth path, it could deviate from its path and come towards the earth. The biggest problem with the terrestrial science is that we cannot see these stealth asteroids till they hit us or go past us.

There’s lots more from Edgar Cayce, Albert Einstein, and even Merlin (the sorcerer) but their predictions about polar shifting and fire raining down from the sky can be interpreted to fall into a 2012 timeframe, but there are no specific mentions of the year 2012.

Is any/all of this true?

It is true that these people actually said these things, that’s pretty well documented. It is not true that we can be assured that all of these predictions will happen. If you are intrigued by these theories, the Internet is a source of unending information (over 71,000,000 hits on “December 2012”).

I found the “coincidence” interesting – that so many had zeroed in on December, 2012 (never mind the 21^st) as a time of catastrophe on earth.

Will December, 2012 end up being like January, 2000 – a non-event?