Nanny Pam said:
Isn't there an asteroid heading right for us? Gonna kill us all in 2036, or something like that?
I thought that was 2012.
Apocalyptic beliefs about 2012
2012 is sometimes claimed to be a great year of spiritual transformation (or apocalypse). Many esoteric sources interpret the completion of the thirteenth B'ak'tun cycle in the Long Count of the Maya calendar (which occurs on December 21 by the most widely held correlation) to mean there will be a major change in world order.
Accordingly, several eclectic authors claim that a major, world-changing event will take place in 2012:
The 1995 book The Mayan Prophecies linked the Maya calendar with long-period sunspot cycles.
The book 2012:Mayan Year of Destiny claims the Maya may have been instructed in their wisdom by discarnate entities from Orion and the Pleiades. Contact was maintained through shamanic rituals conducted in accordance with the movements of planets and stars.
The 1997 book The Bible Code claims that, according to certain algorithms of the Bible code, a meteor, asteroid or comet will collide with the Earth.
The book The Nostradamus Code speaks of a series of natural disasters caused by a comet (possibly as above) which will allow the third anti-christ to disperse his troops around the globe under the guise of aid in preparation for a possible nuclear war, although in the strictest sense it is unspecific as to nuclear war or some other natural or man caused distraction.
The book The Orion Prophecy claims that the Earth's magnetic field will reverse.
The 2005 book Beyond 2012: Catastrophe or Ecstasy by Geoff Stray reviews all the theories, prophecies and predictions concerning 2012 and finds where authors have used faulty information or have bent the truth to fit their theories.
The 2006 book 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck discusses theories of a possible global awakening to psychic connection by the year 2012, creating a Noosphere. It also discusses many other aspects of the 2012 phenomenon from a neutral perspective.
Other prophecies and apocalyptic writings and hypotheses for this year include:
Terence McKenna's mathematical novelty theory suggests a point of singularity in which a great number of things could happen, including "hyperspatial breakthrough", planetesimal impact, alien contact, historical metamorphosis, metamorphosis of natural law, solar explosion, quasar ignition at the galactic core, or nothing. [8]
The Prophecy of the Popes, attributed to Saint Malachy, speculated that Pope Benedict XVI would reign during the beginning of the tribulation of which Jesus spoke, and sometime later a future pope described in the prophecy as "Peter the Roman", the last in this prophetic list, would appear, bringing as a result the destruction of the city of Rome and the Last Judgment.
Many new age spiritualists and philosophers ("new-agers") believe humankind will enter an age of enlightenment in 2012.[citation needed] There are a range of varying, generally positive, beliefs shared by a subset of spiritualists from the mundane to exceptional -- including a positive social shift and age of peace, mankind becoming psychic and connected by a collective, and/or an evolution of the human race into non-corporeal beings made of "spiritual" energy, or light energy, i.e. 'ascension'.[citation needed] An alternative view is that we are already thought-forms (see also idealism) and will be realizing our true selves in this year.[citation needed]
Some alien-enthusiasts, along with some new-agers, believe 2012 to correspond approximately with the return of alien "watchers" or "caretakers" who might have helped the first human civilizations with developing their technology and may have been waiting for us to reach a higher level of technological and/or social advancement.[citation needed] Beliefs range from the extra-terrestrials having benevolent purposes -- such as to help human society evolve -- to malevolent purposes -- such as enslavement of mankind and/or manipulation.[citation needed]
The ascetic Buddhist monk Ram Bahadur Bomjon reportedly told his followers that he will return around 2012.
Some proponents of a peak oil catastrophe place major events in 2012. Richard C. Duncan's book The Peak of World Oil Production and the Road To The Olduvai Gorge claims that the Olduvai cliff will begin and permanent blackouts will occur worldwide. Several studies predict a peak in oil production in or around 2012. [9] [10] [11]
Self-proclaimed time traveler John Titor predicts that a catastrophic event "similar to the parting of the Red Sea" will occur.
[edit] Astrological predictions
Several authors have predicted a special astrological/astronomical alignment between the Galactic center in the constellation of Sagittarius, the Winter Solstice point, and the open cluster of the Pleiades. Factually, the coincidence of the Winter Solstice point (due to the precession of the Equinoxes) and the galactic center is basically true.
However, the opposition of the Pleiades is not true. The Pleiades are located in the constellation of Taurus, and lie at an angle of about 150 degrees to the Galactic Center. The Pleiades would have to be located in the constellation of Gemini to be close to being in opposition, or a 180 degree angle.
Further, the proper motion of the stars in the Pleiades Cluster is such that they move across the sky relative to Earth. This takes place quite slowly as seen on the human time scale. Three million years ago the Pleiades were seen near the constellation of Cassiopeia. Three million years in the future, they will appear near the feet of Orion. This is easily validated using freeware programs such as Move A Star[12], which allows one to see the proper motion of stars over an extended period of time.
The Pleiades have never been, and never will be, in 'opposition' to the galactic center as seen from Earth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012