29 Nov 2012

HMM, 26 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS BUT ONLY 22 UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD.

Well, if this isn't a dilemma I don't know what is. With Christmas in 26 days and, if the ancient Mayan's are to be believed, only 22 to the end of the world do I do my Christmas shopping now OR wait until after December the 21st?

Seriously though, with just about every culture and religion (major and otherwise) having its own Doomsday story, it's not just the ancient Mayan's who had myths about the end of time.

Supported by a giant ash tree, Yggdrasil, which grew from the dead body of the evil giant, Ymir, at the beginning of time, according to Norse mythology the death of the ash heralds the end of mankind, so ......

Combine this with the fact that 80million of the UK's ash tree population are faced with being wiped out by a deadly fungus and it doesn't look good.

Then there's the ancient Aztec mythology which, heavily based on the Legend of the Five Suns,  has it that on the death of a Sun, each of which is destroyed in its own distinctive way, the world is destroyed by the Gods only to be renewed by the next Sun, thus .......
  • Sun 1:  Sun of Precious Stones. Destruction method: jaguars. God involved: Tezcatlipoca (depicted right)
  • Sun 2:  Sun of Darkness. Destruction method: large hurricane. God involved: Quetzalcoatl
  • Sun 3:  Sun of Fire. Destruction method: rain of fire. God involved: Tezxatlipoca
  • Sun 4:  Sun of Water. Destruction method: flood. God involved: Tlaloc
  • Now living under Sun 5: Sun of Movement. Destruction method: The Aztec's predict the world will be torn apart by an earthquake. God involved: not given.
Not so according to the ancient Greeks who believed that Zeus, his powers diminished by lack of belief, would ultimately destroy the race of mortal man.

Not that it hasn't happened before ..... according to the myths just as there have already been several 'generation of man' (as with the Aztec's according to the ancient Greeks we are now in the fifth stage, The Iron Age)  there have also been several apocalypses, each ending a period of man's existence on earth.
  • The Golden Age ( First Generation of Man): Destroyed by fire when Zeus became afraid that man, loyal to Cronos, would rise against him
  • The Silver Age (Second Generation of Man): Also destroyed by fire. Zeus became concerned with man's lack of maturity.
  • The Bronze and Heroic Age (Third and fourth generation of Man): Destroyed by floods and war.
Or, to come full circle, how about Nancy Leider, a self-proclaimed psychic, who, on her website, claimed to have received messages from extraterrestrials saying that the world would end in December 2012 (originally it was 2003) when the mysterious Planet 'X'/Nibiru would collide with Earth?

Sources: The Sun newspaper, National Geographic News, Woodworks Ezine, AllExperts, World Of Lucid Dreaming.

16 comments:

Mary (Bookfan) said...

LOL, so what you're saying is that I can put off Christmas shopping until a few days before the 25th??

Karen said...

I say hedge your bets and hold off on shopping until the 22nd.

Although I guess none of it really matters if we're all dead. It's not like you wasted money lol

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

Karen's got a great point. :)

Eh... the way the holidays have been going, I'll vote for death by jaguars! :) We can pick our destruction, right?

Kelly said...

We have a page-a-day "countdown to the end of the world" calendar we've been using all year. It's been fun and silly, yet it's also included some interesting information regarding end of the world traditions/scenarios. I've peeked and the calendar does go beyond the 21st. :)

Suko said...

Thanks for this "countdown". Let's hope the extraterrestrials are fibbers.

Marinela said...

Lovely post, interesting information :)

Tracy said...

LOL I don't believe any of it to be quite honest! HA HA. Hope you've had a great week so far! Happy Friday eve! :)

Shooting Stars Mag said...

haha I like to get gifts for christmas way in advance. It's fun for me to have plenty of time to brainstorm and find the best items. But anywhooo...this end of the world thing is crazy. I swear, if I wasted all this precious time in school just to die in 22 days, LOL

Alexia561 said...

Hmmmm.....if the end of the world is before Christmas, then I can go nuts with the gifts and look like the best gift giver ever! And bonus is that I won't have to worry about paying the bills! Off to price Lamborghinis for the nephews! ;)

Joan said...

Hiya, i'm with Alexia,go overboard with the presents, max out the credit cards and have a bit of fun for a change

roll on 2013

Stephanie@Fairday's Blog said...

I have been hearing about December 21st for so long. It is my husband's birthday and we are going to have a big party this year (he never wants to celebrate). It can double as a birthday party/end of the world party. :) I guess some people might go a bit crazy!

Blond Duck said...

Well, I guess I won't bother with lesson plans for my writing classes in January.

NRIGirl said...

Set! Ready! Go!

See you up there Tracey! :)

anilkurup59 said...

You are giving me such short notice. "Miles to go before I sleep".
Well then let me brace for the end of time on Dec 21 st 2012.

Time- does it have a beginning and an end?

Jenners said...

I just hope the Mayans are wrong … or that we misinterpreted their stuff because they were like "Oh … that is enough tracking. Let's just stop here."

The Bookworm said...

Yes, I have heard about the December 2012 date. Ahhh....how am I supposed to finish reading all the books on my Mt. TBR now? A few weeks is not nearly enough time.