Tag Archives: DOomsday

Pope’s Resignation—Doomsday Herald?

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Resigning Pope Brings Doomsday Prophecy

Feb 13, 2013 12:12 PM ET // by Rossella Lorenzi

Is the world only a Pope away from the End? Yes, if you believe a chilling 12th-century prophecy.

Attributed to St. Malachy, an Irish archbishop canonized in 1190, the Prophecy of the Popes would date to 1139. The document predicted that there would be only 112 more popes before the Last Judgment — and Benedict XVI is 111.

The list of popes originated from a vision Malachy said he received from God when he was in Rome, reporting on his diocese to Pope Innocent II.

The story goes that St. Malachy gave the apocalyptic list to Innocent II and that the document remained unknown in the Vatican Archives some 440 years after Malachy’s death in 1148. It was rediscovered and published by Benedictine Arnold de Wyon in 1590.

The prophecy consists of brief, cryptic phrases in Latin about each Pope. It ends with the 112th pope, named “Petrus Romanus” or “Peter the Roman.”

According to the premonition, Peter the Roman would “feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the City of the Seven Hills shall be utterly destroyed, and the awful Judge will judge the people.”

Often highly enigmatic, several prophetical announcements in the document appear to have come true.

For example, Malachy prophesied the first pope on his list would be “from a castle on the Tiber.” Celestine II, elected in 1143, was born in Toscany on the shores of the Tiber River.

Malachy predicted another pope would be “elevated from a hermit.” Nicholas IV, pope from 1288 to 1292, had been a hermit in the monastery of Pouilles.

The 45th pope in the prophecy is described as coming “from the hell of Pregnani”. Indeed, Pope Urban VI (1378-1389) was born Domenico Prignano and came from a village near Naples called Inferno (hell).

Most scholars consider the document a 16th-century elaborate hoax. Until 1590, when the prophecy was published, the mottoes were easily derived from the pope’s family, baptismal names, native places or coats of arms.

After 1590 the epithets become much more vague. According to the Catholic Pages, “the inclusion of anti-popes would also appear to militate against the authenticity of the prophecies.”

Yet, uncanny similarities also appear when reading the mottoes associated to modern-day popes.

For example, the 109th pope is described as “of the half of the moon.” John Paul I, elected pope in 1978, “lasted about a month, from half a moon to the next half,” the Catholic Pages noted.

As for his successor, the late Pope John Paul II, Malachy described him in Latin as “de labore solis,” meaning “of the eclipse of the sun, or from the labor of the sun.”

“John Paul II (1978-2005) was born on May 18, 1920 during a solar eclipse… His Funeral occurred on April 8, 2005 when there was a solar eclipse visible in the Americas,” the Catholic Pages wrote.

Finally, “Glory of the Olives” is the motto for Benedict XVI, the 111th pope in the list. A branch of the monastic order founded by St. Benedict is called the Olivetans.

As for the doomsday pope, one would think we are quite safe: according to church tradition, no pope can take the name Peter II.

However, one of the favorites to succeed Benedict XVI is Ghanaian Cardinal Turkson. His first name is Peter.

from:    http://news.discovery.com/history/resigning-pope-brings-doomsday-prophecy-130213.htm

Ticking Doomsday Clock

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‘Doomsday Clock’ May Tick Toward Destruction

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer
Date: 09 January 2012 Time: 01:31 PM ET
The doomsday clock nears midnight.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ “Doomsday Clock” is set at 6 minutes to midnight but may tick forward or backward on Jan. 10, 2012.
CREDIT: Galushko Sergey, Shutterstock

Humanity will soon be getting an update on how close we are to catastrophic destruction, as scientists and security experts decide whether to nudge the hands of the famous “Doomsday Clock” forward toward midnight — and doom — or back toward security and safety.

The clock, in use as a symbol of imminent apocalypse since 1947, now stands at six minutes to midnight. On Tuesday (Jan. 10), the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) will announce whether they will nudge the minute hand forward or backward to reflect current trends in world security. The last time the clock hand moved was in 2010, when the group moved the hand from five minutes to midnight back to six.

In making the decision, the Bulletin considers the current state of nuclear weapons, climate change and biosecurity, along with other issues that could influence humanity’s survival. The closest the clock has been to midnight has been 11:57 p.m., set in 1984 when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were in a diplomatic stand-off and tensions were high. The farthest humanity has ever been from destruction, according to the clock, was in 1991, when the Doomsday Clock stood at 17 minutes to midnight. That year, the Cold War over, the U.S. and Russia began cutting their arsenals.

The clock ticked back toward midnight at the next update in 1995, however, when hopes of total nuclear disarmament began to fade. That update set the hands at 14 minutes until midnight. In recent years, the clock has ticked closer to destruction as the Bulletin has focused on concerns about nuclear terrorism and climate change.

The 2010 shift away from doomsday was due to nuclear agreements between the U.S. and Russia and productive climate talks at Copenhagen.

The announcement of the new “doomsday time” will come at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday. The Bulletin is expected to consider factors ranging from Iran’s nuclear program to the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster to the state of policy on climate change.

from:    http://www.livescience.com/17810-doomsday-clock-moves.html

Monsters, Doomsday, & UFO’s for 2012

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Monsters and UFOs to Watch For in 2012

Benjamin Radford, Life’s Little Mysteries Contributor
Date: 28 December 2011 Time: 07:56 PM

The Flying Saucer movie poster
Promotional poster for the 1950 film ‘The Flying Saucer.’
CREDIT: Colonial Productions

2011 was a year of weird news, and sitting on the cusp of 2012, it’s time to look back on the odd year that was — as well as look ahead to a year that promises a new level of strangeness.

Monster sightings in 2011: Researchers looking in Siberia for the yeti — the Asian version of North America’s Bigfoot — claimed in October to have found “indisputable proof” of the long-sought mystery beast. The Russian team, which included several American scientists, located some odd footprints, as well as some gray hairs in a cave. About a month later, a member of the expedition, biologist John Bindernagel, claimed his group found even more evidence, including nests and shelters made of tree branches twisted together. However, another member of the same group reported finding evidence of hoaxing and branded the whole expedition a publicity stunt.

2011 was also the year that the mystery of the chupacabra, the Hispanic vampire beast, was solved, after some 15 years of mystery. DNA testing on dead “chupacabras” found in Texas and elsewhere revealed them to be mostly dogs and coyotes afflicted with mange, and the legendary creature’s origin was traced back to a 1995 monster movie instead of any real-life encounter.

Monsters to look for in 2012: Will the yeti footprints and hair samples finally reveal the truth? If the claims made by the Russian expedition are not hype or hoax, then perhaps the world will finally get definitive proof of the long-rumored creature. Surely after so many decades of ambiguous sightings and searches, hard evidence of Bigfoot or the yeti is long overdue. As for the chupacabra, people in North America and elsewhere will continue to find mangy dogs and coyotes and assume the unfortunate beasties are chupacabras.

Doomsday predictions made in 2011: The year began on an ominous note when fundamentalist Harold Camping, leader of the ministry Family Radio Worldwide, concluded after careful study of the Bible that the world would end May 21. The announcement made national news, and concerned many believers. Camping and his followers were embarrassed when May 21 came and went without a hitch, and he eventually admitted there must have been a miscalculation somewhere. Camping moved the date back a few months, concluding that October was the real month Armageddon would begin. That doomsday date came and went, as well, and the only thing destroyed was Camping’s credibility.

Doomsdays to prepare for in 2012: The upcoming year is certain to bring more concerns about doomsdays and apocalypse — not necessarily from Bible-thumping evangelicals but (supposedly) from the ancient Mayans, whose calendar “ends” next year. Some New Agers think the world will end along with the end of the Mayan calendar cycle; others believe a new age of global peace and harmony will emerge. For other groups, the concern isn’t so much the calendar date but a collision between Earth and the mysterious (and nonexistent) planet Niburu. Of course, people have been predicting doomsdays for millennia, and while nary one has come to pass, one day, sooner or later, the prognosticators will be right.

UFOs and aliens spotted in 2011: The summer of 2011 was an especially busy period for UFO sightings, according to an organization that tracks such reports. The Mutual UFO Network noted that sightings in some states more than doubled their usual numbers. The group could not explain the apparent increase, saying that it could be real, or possibly just a computer error.

As the reports of sightings soared, so did the lights in the skies. In early October more than a dozen strange lights were seen over the northern Utah city of Washington Terrace just after 11:30 p.m. They emitted a strange, fiery glow as they headed north at an estimated speed of about 70 mph, according to one eyewitness. The lights puzzled the public and police and had the UFO community buzzing. Finally, students at the local Bonneville High School admitted they had launched 16 lit Chinese lanterns that night; the lanterns had been reported as UFOs.

Even close-up views of alien spaceships proved to be of something else. That was the case of a “flying saucer” spotted being hauled down a main street in a Kansas town; it turned out to be a (comparatively mundane) military spy plane.

UFOs and aliens to look out for in 2012: There’s some reason to believe UFO sightings will continue at the same rate, or even increase, through 2012. UFO reports historically occur in clusters or “flaps.” And reports could be on the rise because more and more people carry cellphones with built-in cameras, making it easier than ever to report a potential sighting.

A few sightings tend to encourage even more sightings. Will extraterrestrials finally make their presence clearly known, landing on the White House lawn or staying still long enough to get some clear, sharp photos or videos? That’s been the hope and promise of UFO believers for decades now.

from:   http://www.livescience.com/17669-monsters-ufo-doomsday-2012.html

11/11/11, 12/20/2012, And All That Jazz

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11/11/11: Maya Scholar Debunks Doomsday Myths

ScienceDaily (Nov. 3, 2011) — University of Kansas anthropologist and Maya scholar John Hoopes and his students are watching predicted doomsday dates such as 11/11/11 and Dec. 21, 2012, with considerable skepticism.

Hoopes is regarded as one of the major go-to guys to separate fact from fiction about the Maya calendar and a prediction that the world would end Dec. 21, 2012.

He has written scholarly articles debunking the 2012 myth, including a chapter in “2012: Decoding the Counterculture Apocalypse,” edited by Joseph Gelfer and scheduled for release this month by Equinox Publishing. In addition, Hoopes contributes to Wikipedia as a 2012 skeptic and is featured in at least three documentaries on the topic (“Apocalypse 2012” airing on CNBC, and two more scheduled for release next year). In his fall course on Archaeological Myths and Realities — An Introduction to Critical Thinking, the 2012 myth works as a dynamic teaching tool.

This fall, Hoopes and his students have watched two predicted cataclysmic dates — Oct. 21 and 28 — come and go with little fanfare. Oct. 21 was a date selected by California evangelist Harold Camping after his original May 21, 2011, prediction passed without calamity. Swedish pharmacologist, self-help advocate and self-taught Maya cosmologist Carl Johan Calleman was among those predicting that Oct. 28 would usher in a worldwide unified consciousness.

The next big date to consider is 11/11/11, when many in the New Age movement plan celebrations to receive emerging energies in preparation for a transformation of consciousness on Dec. 21, 2012.

Whether these dates mark a time for transformation of consciousness or a catastrophic end, they are part of a 2012 eschatological myth that originated with Christopher Columbus and Franciscan missionaries, not the ancient Maya calendar, Hoopes emphasizes.

In a paper presented in January at the Oxford IX International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy in Lima, Peru, Hoopes tracks the 2012 Maya myth origins through various revivals into the 21st century. The myth is rooted in an early 16th-century European combination of astrological and biblical prophecies to explain the new millennium. Columbus believed that his discovery of the world’s “most remote land” would lead to Spain’s re-conquest of Jerusalem and fulfill world-end events described in the Book of Revelations.

To validate his convictions, Columbus wrote his own Book of Prophecies that included an account of his interview with a “Maia” leader in 1502. The reference inspired early speculation by explorers and missionaries, indirectly influencing crackpots as well as scholars to link ancient Maya — before any contact with Europeans — with the astrological and religious beliefs popular in Europe in the 1500s.

Misinterpretations and distortions flowed with each revival of interest in Maya culture. In the 1960s, the myth re-flowered as the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, enjoyed a resurgence in Y2K and thrives today. Hoopes adds that the Occupy Wall Street movement clearly reflects a nostalgia for the progressive culture of the 1960s.

More than 1,000 books have been published on the 2012 myth, not to mention a plethora of Web sites on the topic. Hoopes expects the hype won’t hit its peak until well into 2012. Fear and fantasy both sell well, especially in uncertain times, he notes.

End-of-the-world and transformative beliefs are found in many ancient cultures but have been a fundamental part of modern times since 1499, Hoopes point out. They are also fundamentally American, he adds.

“The United States has always embraced religious freedom. Peculiar religious sects, including occult beliefs, have always been part of America,” he says.

Astrology, Ouija boards, séances, channeling, spiritualists, extraterrestrial life and a host of pseudosciences all have had acceptance in parts of America, he adds. Mary Todd Lincoln used séances to contact her son. Nancy Reagan consulted astrologists.

Wishful or magical thinking help perpetuate myths and beliefs that have no basis in science. Hoopes uses the 2012 myth and others to teach students to think critically and learn to distinguish science and myth.

“If a narrative has a moral message, then it probably is not a scientific story. Stories based in science ideally should be objective, not subjective,” Hoopes says.

The persistence of the 2012 myth may reflect a fear of mortality that has nagged ancient and modern civilizations.

“It’s much easier to discuss mortality when we’re all in the same boat,” Hoopes said. “Creating a concerned community allays people’s fears and allows us to project individual morality onto the world.”

Hoopes’ interest in the 2012 phenomenon began as an academic hobby and has evolved into an anthropological study of contemporary American culture. At the very least, he says, the 2012 phenomenon “has made a huge audience aware of Maya calendrics and the winter solstice.”

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided byUniversity of Kansas.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

from:    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111103143255.htm

 

NOW, you decide…..