Every so often, the doomsayers come up with a date when the world is going to end, when the rapture will begin, when the world will start to unravel at the seams, shaken apart by massive earthquakes, floods, eruptions. God is always responsible, of course, and supposedly has left us clues in the Bible, particularly in the new testament. December 21, 2012 is one such date. Another target date is today, May 21, 2011. According to this article, at 6 PM local time, a massive earthquake will hit the rim of fire and all the true believers will fly toward heaven and everyone else will suffer 153 days of torment until the universe and the planet are destroyed. Harold Camping, who made the prediction, has predicted the end of the world before, in 1994. Obviously, that prediction didn’t happen.
Here’s a list of the best 10 failed predictions about doomsday.
Gypsy woman asked us the other day if we were going to do a post on the planetary alignment for today. Since we’ve been busy with work and Megan’s graduation, I hadn’t been following the weird news on the internet and hadn’t even looked at what’s coming up astrologically. So after we got her email, I put up some astro charts and took a look.
The alignment the doomsayers are referring to occur in earth signs – Taurus and Capricorn. The planets involved are: Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Pluto. I’ve circled them in the chart above. The three planets together in that slice of the chart labeled 9 (9th house) are Mercury, Mars, and Venus. That loner in the slice labeled 5 (5th house) is Pluto.
The first three planets are closely conjunct in Taurus; that means they are within a degree or two of each other. The fourth planet, Pluto, forms a beneficial angle called a trine (120 degrees) to these three planets. Jupiter is in there with these three, but it’s in the latter degrees of fire sign Aries, It could figure into broader picture, but not until June, when it enters Taurus.
Just five days earlier, on May 16, I actually noticed this configuration when I was looking at Rob’s solar return chart for his birthday on that day. I thought: wow, this looks really good for him, since he’s a triple earth sign. I didn’t look at this configuration and think: Holy crap, the world is going to end, the sky is falling, god is sending thunderbolts and chaos and havoc our way, head for safety. Here’s why:
Mercury governs communication and travel. Venus governs romance, love, beauty and art, and money. Mars governs sexuality, aggression, the ways in which we pursue what we desire. Venus is yin, female; Mars is yang/male. Pluto governs irrevocable change, transformation, the underworld, the power structures in our world.
Taurus, the sign in which three of these planets now reside, is the most stubborn in the zodiac, both resolute and sensual, and usually finishes what he starts. He may not move any faster than a snail, but one way or another, he finishes the marathon. Taurus is dependable, steady, a rock. Capricorn, the sign in which Pluto now resides, is one of the more focused signs of the zodiac.
In 2008, when Pluto entered Capricorn, the financial markets collapsed, the U.S. elected its first Afro-American president, the health care debate ensued. Big, profound changes. This was Pluto doing his thing, transforming stuff from the bottom up, then asking us to rebuild from the ashes. Pluto will be in Capricorn until 2024 when Pluto moves into Aquarius, the structures we see now in our societies, cultures, and countries, either won’t exist anymore or will exist in some new and hopefully improved form.
On May 21, Pluto forms a beautiful, exact angle with Mars. This aspect should energize all of us. We become aware of just how powerful we are as individuals and if there are enough of us, we create a collective voice, a momentum, and become like a force of nature, capable of bringing about profound change.
On the 21st, Pluto also forms close and beneficial angles to Mercury and Venus…wow, are you kidding me? The only world that may fall apart that day will be social media. Your twitter account overloads, you get so many hits on your facebook page, blog or website that the server can’t sustain it. Your love life soars through the roof, your muse is breathing down your neck, you could be ’re locked into some sort of obsessive/compulsive thing in a relationship where personal power issues surface. In terms if travel, you miss your flight to Madrid, Madagascar, Monaco. But hey, so what. You write the great American novel while hanging around the airport.
If all these planets were in Aries, the sign of the warrior, or if an eclipse were involved, then maybe we would be talking about potential earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Yes, Taurus and Capricorn are earth signs, but that doesn’t mean they rule the planet. This May 21 stuff, like the 2012 hype, like Y2K, seems to be mostly about fear. Be afraid, be very afraid…by now, we all recognize this mantra and its purpose.
So, astrologically, it doesn’t look as if the end of the world is imminent. But I can’t speak for the biblical predictions. Even if the doomsayers are right, what can you do about it? Nothing at all. Sure, we live in weird, uncertain times. But if the planet is about to crack open beneath your feet, if the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are rushing into your state and town, if the sky is falling, the only thing any of us can do is to live our lives moment to moment, doing our best, harming no one, and embracing those we love.
In the end, isn’t that what our journey is about on the third rock from the sun?
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There’s a funny postscript to this story. A group of atheists – who will definitely be left behind in the Christian doomsday scenario – have formed a business: they will rescue the pets of those who ascend in the rapture. They already have 259 clients who paid $135 for the rescue of their animal companions.
I am curious as to what Camping needed with $79 million he collected toward doomsday. Was he planning on paying to be among the raptured?
Ray
I was kinda wondering the same thing, Ray!
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the doomsday prophet now says that he didn’t make a mistake about may 21 – that his prophesy was right – but that the return and judgment were spiritual and not physical and that the world is now under judgment – we’ve all been warned – and now, the new date with doomsday is OCTOBER 21, 2011 – and will be sent by a massive earthquake – so is he reading the usgs site and making bets, or what? oh, and he’s not about to return any of the money that followers “donated” –
We figured he’d wiggle out of it somehow. The man is worth $73 million – was THAT all donations??
It is now Monday, 5-23-2011. Unfortunately, there have been major, natural cataclysms around the globe over this past weekend and through today, some with multiple deaths, some not.
A 6.1 quake rattled New Zealand Saturday, the day of the supposed Rapture, a few minutes before 6pm their time; a volcano began to spew in Iceland that day and is now sending “fire and ash” (brimstone?) 12 miles into the air….no loss of life in either event yet.
But the 68 tornadoes that ripped the midwest…that is hell on earth. Those storms killed many folks and decimated a big hospital facility. Along with all of us, I too laughed at the prediction of doomsday and certainly give no credence to the crazy prophet whose absurd preaching caused lots of gullible and vulnerable folks (by their own free will) to do things they wouldn’t ordinarily have done.
But Mother Nature seems to be taking a huge toll all over the place. Not on any specific date, simply increasingly and with much greater force than at any time in recorded history. (I wondered if the thought-forms and powerful convictions of the mass consciousness of so many people about The Rapture may have helped create the disasters.)
I think we must somehow try to be more kind to Gaia, and to each other, and even to ourselves. These events are, for me, a wake-up call to pay attention and to be as loving and as peaceful as possible in my tiny corner of the Universe….and to try to “pay it forward”. Perhaps then Mother Nature may be more kind to her inhabitants.
As it is, her on-going rampages are unprecedented. Sad, sad events. So much loss for so many of our human sisters and brothers. I try to remember that at any moment, it could be us, and try to send healing to those affected. What a mess of troubles.
Natural disasters seem to be happening weekly. I like your theory about mass consciousness and the disasters this past saturday, math. Makes sense to me.
I’m still here! May 22. Made it! No fire & brimstone, no earthquakes, no need for tapping into my supply of bottled water & duck tape. I wasn’t vaporized & taken up, no sitting on a cloud for me playing a harp, no relaxing – feeling endless love, no rubbing elbows w/cool people like Elvis & Gandhi. Wait a minute! I’m still here!!! Doesn’t the rapture take the good ones while the others are left to deal w/the sh*t hitting the fan?
CRAP!
( you are all here too – good to know I am in good company)
On a side note, very interesting Trish, I don’t know how you understand all of that but I am glad that you do. You will let me know however if you see trouble, won’t you? 🙂
Just for the record: ”No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Matthew 24:36
Seriously I think more people should just focus on living peacefully and the present moment.
Oops – since we’re still here…ah, well. I’m with you, Nicole. Living peacefully.
uh, it’s almost 7:30 pm where i am – and i’m sitting here munching on ghirardelli’s intense dark midnight reverie [now, how’s that for symbolism???] – and sipping something something almost as intense and almost as dark – i’ve always lived in the moment, myself, too!
thanks so much for such a comprehensive outline of what the planetary alignment means this go ’round – i love it when you talk astrology!!!
oh, and cousin! yeah, i split the whole hellfire and brimstone scene when i was a bit younger than you – and haven’t looked back!
here’s to creating that collective voice, the momentum, and to becoming like a force of nature, capable of bringing – and bringing – about profound change!
great post and thanks again!
I’m right there with you, Toshiba. Am listening to Liszt and Chopin with a little Gershwin thrown in for good measure, just to drown out all those harps. 🙂 Sorry, guys. Today, humor for me is medicine for the soul.
Well, it is now 6:05pm EDT, May 21, 2011, and no Jesus descending in clouds of fire and glory from the heavens. However, a 6.1 earthquake hit New Zealand at 5:17pm our time, and a volcano began to erupt in Iceland a few hours ago. Do these events count?
they may count toward why my left ear was going crazy the past few days etc! 😉
This is the type of “gloom and doom” preaching that precipitated my leaving the Christian faith at the age of 18, and beginning my lifetime spiritual journey of discovery in love and light….as far away from that darkness as I am able to stay!
Debra, your cryptic little comment was so on spot: “PROFIT or prophet’? Love it!!
My Christian friend who spent the night didn’t disappear – and doesn’t believe in all this stuff anyway. She believes in the Rapture, but says the bible states that no man will know the date and time. I wonder how much money Harold Camping made on this?
NowPlaying ♫ Its the end of the world as we know it ♫ … Need to get into Doomsday mood MyRapturePlayList
Hi Trish….Great post. Very clear. I agree with you ~ “No doomsday”. Besides, I don’t think we are “supposed” to know when it happens. I live in the moment 🙂 and enjoy the journey…..
This is beautiful:
“On May 21, Pluto forms a beautiful, exact angle with Mars. This aspect should energize all of us. We become aware of just how powerful we are as individuals and if there are enough of us, we create a collective voice, a momentum, and become like a force of nature, capable of bringing about profound change.”
The Harold Camping prediction has been on the UK television news but, after seeing him interviewed, he hardly looked to be a profit, or whatever. Not that I’m exactly sure I know what a profit looks like, but I figure they would give off a special aura … but I’ll keep my fingers crossed at six o’clock, just in case!
Mike-
profit or prophet?
Whoops! And to write it wrong twice … must try harder.
Thanks for that, Trish! Not that I was worried at all…….
In keeping with the Arabic saying of “trust in God, but tie up your camel’ , I dyed my hair in case I was to be a corpse. I wanna be a good looking one. ♥
Me, too, Natalie. Made sure the red was real bright in my hair. I wanted to look good, too.
That is why I think you are the Bees Knees, Debra! It is surely the redness of your hair.!! *wink*.♥