I suppose it depends on whom you ask. The Mayan 5,000 year calendar ends on December 21st, 2012. Some people feel that means the world will also end on this date. The American Hopi Indians believe the Earth has been destroyed three or four times (I can't remember which number it is) and then rebuilt thus far in history and that December 21st, 2012 represents another 'End Time' in their belief structure. And the well-known prophet Nostradamus halted his predictions of the future in the year 2012. So what does all this mean to us?

Scientifically (and this IS true), on December 21st—which is the Winter Solstice in 2012—the Sun and our solar system will line up exactly with the Galactic center of the Milky Way Galaxy for the first time in some 25,000 years. This is a big deal—really—and we will be amazingly lucky to be alive to see it happen. But what will really happen? Er...well, nobody knows, actually. Maybe nothing, but, well, on the other hand...?

The Mayan were skilled astronomers and predicted solar activity hundreds of years into the future. They knew about the upcoming Galactic alignment over 600 years ago. They also believed that their lives—and time itself—ran in cycles, and the Winter Solstice in 2012 would be the end of the cycle we now live in. But what does the 'end of a cycle' mean? The Mayan (as well as the Hopi) felt that an 'End' of a cycle meant a new beginning would follow, so if you believe in the Indian cycle theory, all that will happen in 2012 will be a new beginning--much like a New Year's celebration—Maybe.

On the other hand, science has proven that the Earth's axis has changed a number of times during its history. At one time Antarctica was a temporal forest, which means that at least once during our planet's history Antarctica was situated near the Earth's Equator, while the poles were in northern Africa and somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Just 7-8 thousand years ago the Sahara was a vast wetland, so we know that extreme climate changes are possible and have occurred in the past. What does that mean to us now?

Well, it is possible (although highly unlikely) that the alignment which is going to occur in 2012 will cause the Earth to shift on its axis. Even if this does happen it would not occur overnight, but would probably take thousands of years to happen, if not longer. So, would there be any warning signs that this horrific and life changing event was going to occur? We can assume that there would be some huge stresses put on the Earth far before 2012, with more and more of these stress factors occurring as the time of our alignment approaches. Stress factors such as an increase in large and deadly earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions, along with wild and unusual freak weather patterns. Something along the lines of the many large earthquakes which have occurred in the South Pacific lately, and the three major typhoons that have hit southeast Asia in the past month. Keep an eye out for more earthquakes, killer storms and large volcanic eruptions during the next couple of years. The more of these catastrophes the Earth experiences between now and 2012, the more outward stress is apparently being put on our planet.

Just some thoughts, eh? But what do you think about it? Let us know, and be sure to check back with me on December 22nd, 2012.

Peace.

The above blog entry was written in late in 2009. During the first three months of 2010 the Earth has experienced a number of big earthquakes, the largest of which was in Chile on February 27, and was an 8.8 magnitude. Aside from that quake, there was the 7.0 Haiti quake, a 7.0 quake in Japan on the same day in February as the big Chile quake, a 6.9 tremor along the China Russia border on February 18, a 6.0 in the Indian Ocean in March, a large aftershock in Chile, also in March, with a magnitude of 6.7, and just before I finished writing this, there was a 6.2 quake in Papua New Guinea on March 20th. On March 21st a volcano erupted in Iceland which has been dormant since 1841. Counting this new volcano, there are currently 20 volcanoes worldwide which are now either erupting or are having seismic warnings of pending eruptions.

Of course, all of these rather large earthquakes in just a few months could be a coincidence, as most geologists actually report them to be, but then, “I don’t believe in coincidences”—Leroy Jethro Gibbs, NCIS.

There have actually been thousands of smaller earthquakes across the globe since the beginning of the New Year, which is nothing unusual, but the location of some of these quakes could make one wonder just a bit. For instance, during the thirty or so days between February 15th and March 15th of this year, there were some 10 earthquakes in the state of Oklahoma of all places. That is right in the middle of the United States, where frequent earthquakes are, while not completely unknown, are certainly unusual. The ten earthquakes in OK ranged in magnitude from 2.5 to a pair of 4.4 tremblers within two days of each other. True, these quakes were not overly large on the magnitude scale, but it is the number of quakes which may be significant, not the size.

So what does this earthquake activity all mean, if anything? Well, ask me again in another five or six months (perhaps in the September issue), and we’ll see together what, if anything, is going on.

Once again, Peace…