Dutch Apocalypse
Adam Elenbaas
A recent Dutch Newspaper, De Volkskrant, released an article saying that thousands of Dutch citizens are preparing for the end of the world in 2012. Although the numbers are greater in the United States, the particular buzz of this article is fascinating.
While most Dutch citizens cite the Mayan calendar as the source of the end-times prophecy, according to De Volkskrant, there are many cataclysmic theories circulating.
Perhaps most startling is the mention of Dutch citizens already buying survival equipment (even a life raft) and feeling enthusasitic about the prospect of armageddon (one man interviewed felt irritated by what he called the growing immigration problem in the Netherlands and said he wouldn't mind seeing the country destroyed in 2012).
The sensationalized article should stimulate healthy dialogue. As we approach 2012, will the popular media choose to cover the story in a manner that provokes fear, and will the apocalyptic glamor cause people to stock up on survival supplies like Y2K all over again?
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RS survey question?
There was a RS survey recently with a question along the lines of "do you believe something will happen in 2012?"
Any chance that someone could divulge the outcome of that question??
Thanks
B
Art Apocalypse
2012
I agree that the ancient Mayan calender is central to the source of end-times prophecy. I have been exercising some critical thinking on the Mayan prophecy. At first I thought it would be easy to dismiss this prophecy as ancient myth. I have not been able to do this yet. The Mayan prophecy definitely merits a scientific investigation. I am not trained in the sciences required to give a credible analysis. However I have been sifting through all the hype, here our a few links worth looking at.
First check out this site http://www.jupitersdance.com/ Notice the planetary alignments...could the tidal forces within our solar system cause a solar storm that dooms the earth? Add the tidal force of the super massive black hole at the center of galaxy to this equation and the solar maximum...hmmm Now how foolish do I, the Mayan, or the Dutch seem? We are not talking about a computer glitch here guy. Here are some reference sites http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/sunspots/ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_Alignment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_A%2A
P.S. If you have any relevant information please share it with me.
That Loud Sucking Noise
"Add the tidal force of the super massive black hole at the center of galaxy to this equation..."
Hmmm. And just how much force would you calculate that to be?
That black hole is 25,900 ± 1,400 light years away!
I don't know.;.
I'm not sure if anybody has given it much thought? What's spooky to me is the fact that the Mayans where aware of the black hole. The black hole at the center of galaxy is something that has only been recently aknowledged by modern astronomer's. The equator of the milky way was called the dark road to the underworld by the Mayan's. Our solar system is currently moving through the equator or "dark road" of the milky way. It was estimated that the crossing takes 36 years. Lets quess that the tidal force of this black hole is equivalent to the tidal force of Jupiter or Saturn, I have no idea? Something spooky to me is the fact that the Mayan calender has a very specific beginning and ending date. The start of the calender begins at what some would say was the rise of human civilization. How could the Mayan's have knowledge of such things? What do you know about Quetzalcoatl? legend has it that Quetzalcoatl was a bearded white man with blue eyes, he was called plumed serpent. It is possible that the plumed serpent was a cobra with it's hood expanded and that Quetzalcoatl was a traveler from Egypt. Is it possible that the Mayan's and the Egyptian's made contact and shared knowledge? Is it a coincedence that both civilization's were pyramid builders and master astromer's? Mayan legend has it that every 5,125.25 years a world wide catastrophe occurs followed by a renewal. Ancient stories about flooding are well known even today. Let's let our imaginations run wild for a minute, let's say that every so often perfect gravitational conditions in our solar system and galaxy cause a massive solar eruption. This solar eruption causes a strong solar wind...let's compare this wind to the winds of a hurricane, category five...Then let's say that the earth takes a direct hit from this cat five solar hurricane. Gaia has a hurricane shutter it's called the magnetosphere...but lets say it fails this time because Gaia is not feeling so well...and we all get a lethal dose of radiation...game over...or let's say Gaia responds by shifting her magnetosphere so that the strongest part of magnetosphere is facing the sun blocking the solar wind out...this shifting of magnetosphere causes a shifting of the earths rotation...this causes the equator to shift...did you know that sea level is 15+ nautical miles higher at the equator than it is at the poles? It's because of equatorial bulge. Now all that sea water is going to move towards the new equator where ever that happens to be. Most of the world's population is concentrated along coast lines...coast lines that could be covered in water because of a shifting equator...is this the flooding the ancient world was warning us about? Who knows for sure? The solar maximum occurs in 2012 along with some planetary alignments that may influence the weather on the sun...right now the sun is very calm...this could be the calm before the storm? Let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
a bit more reason for concern than Y2K...
People Ranting
What was most startling to me was this part:
"De Volkskrant interviews Petra Faile, who along with her husband has bought a life raft and other survival equipment.
"When her husband comes home from his construction job and starts complaining again about the Poles she answers: ‘Don’t let it bother you. In another four years it will all be over.’
"‘You know’, Petra says, ‘maybe it’s really not that bad that the Netherlands will be destroyed. I don’t like it here anymore. Take immigration, for example. They keep letting people in. And then we have to build more houses, which makes the Netherlands even heavier. The country will sink even lower, which will make the flooding worse.’"
It seems that 2012 mythology is becoming an excuse for xenophobia. Given its existing associations with racism, we should probably expect more of the same.
(By the way, does De Volkskrant translate as "the people ranting"? That would be appropriate.)
Spiritual Y2K
"As we approach 2012, will the popular media choose to cover the story in a manner that provokes fear, and will the apocalyptic glamor cause people to stock up on survival supplies like Y2K all over again?"
Do you really need to ask? From ABCNews (7/3/08):
Will the World End in 2012? Thousands Worldwide Prepare for the Apocalypse, Expected in 2012, by Christine Brouwer
http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/Story?id=5301284&page=1
I've been using the phrase "spiritual Y2K" to describe the 2012 hype. Just because Y2K was a bust doesn't mean the mythology didn't play a central role in the inflation of the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s. Expect phrases such as "sunspot maximum safe" to be used for marketing cell phones, computers, and HDTVs. People will, as they always have, make and lose fortunes thanks to widespread gullibility.
Some other worthwhile articles:
The Final Days, by Benjamin Anastas (New York Times Magazine, 7/1/07)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/magazine/01world-t.html
Five Years: 2012 and The End of the World As We Know It, by Tom King (Lawrence.com, 12/10/07)
http://www.lawrence.com/news/2007/dec/10/five_years/
The Fat Lady's Aria? Humanity's Last Stand? Or Just Another Apocalypse Soon? by Mick Farren (Los Angeles CityBeat, 6/18/2008)
http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/the_fat_lady_s_aria_humanity_s_last_stand_or_just_another_apocalypse_soon/7137/
Required Reading for the Apocalypse
Adam Parfrey is a visionary who made some valuable compilations in the lead-up to Y2K which are (of course) even more relevant now:
Apocalypse Culture edited by Adam Parfrey (Amok Press, 1988, ISBN 0-941693-02-3)
Apocalypse Culture: Revised and Expanded edited by Adam Parfrey (Amok Press, 1990, ISBN 0-922915-05-9)
Cult Rapture: Revelations of the Apocalyptic Mind by Adam Parfrey (Feral House, 1995, ISBN 0-922915-22-9
Apocalypse Culture II edited by Adam Parfrey (Feral House, 2000, ISBN 0-922915-57-1)
Here's a wonderful Dutch website:
Exit Mundi: A Collection of End-of-World Scenarios
http://www.exitmundi.nl
A Solar mega-eruption is likely this september 2008!