Ancient Prophecies for Modern Times

According to ancient prophecies worldwide, we are now living in a time of intense transition and change. This time has been called Judgment Day, The Time of Great Purification, The Quickening, The End of Time as We Know It, and The Shift of the Ages. The prophecies speak of the completion of one cycle, and the beginning of a new one. Among those who have foreseen this time of destruction and regeneration are the Mayans, Hopi, Egyptians, Essenes, Qero elders of Peru, Navajo, Cherokee, Apache, Iroquois, Aborigines, and the Hindus.

According to the ancient Mayans, we are at the close of a 26,000 year cycle in which the Earth transits through each of the twelve signs of the zodiac for about 2152 years each. Each of these astrological ages represents one month of the Cosmic Year. The Sumerians, Tibetans, Egyptians, Cherokees, and Hopi all refer to this same 26,000 year cycle... In fact, each of their civilizations have developed calendars based on this great cycle.

This cycle also corresponds to the 26,000 year relationship of our Sun orbiting Alcyone, the central star of the Seven Sisters Pleiades constellation. According to the prophecies, the "future" which lies beyond this end date is literally a new world age.. Or a new creation.

Scientifically speaking, our cosmos is thought to have been birthed when a pinpoint of compressed potential hurtled outward at unimaginable speed. Had this explosion been slightly less violent, the universe's expansion would have been too slow to sustain itself. Had it been slightly more violent, the universe would have dispersed into a thin soup. If the ratio of matter and energy to the volume of space at that moment of the big bang had been one quadrillionth of one percent less than ideal, creation wouldn't have happened. We wouldn't be here. It's as if the universe consciously desired the life that one day it would cradle.

The genesis of stars began in nurseries of towering dust and gas. Life as we know it arose form the waters of a universal kitchen, nurtured through experiment after experiment until the right combinations occurred for producing the forms that, through the process of incarnation would enable intelligence to expand. From the very beginning, life has evolved as if there were a goal to attain. And perhaps, in this, one of many universes, on this tiny planet, that goal is the evolution of human consciousness.

This goal, the human part in the creation story, has been mapped and defined by native people all over the world who, through prophecy, ritual and relics, passed on the knowledge to future generations.

The most famous of these sacred legacies is the Aztec-Mayan sun stone, completed in 1479 B.C. by astronomer priests. Among the different calendar systems they devised was the long count, calculated specifically for detailing immense passages of time--literally charting creation from the big bang to the year 2012 C.E.

Most commonly referred to as the Mayan calendar, this mathematical masterpiece is so accurate that modern day astronomers are at a loss to understand how it was done. It is imagery based, and an important key to decoding the symbolic glyphs is the way the number thirteen in used in conjunction with the planet Venus

Chief among the many surprises the calendar holds is what appears to be it's purpose, which is to track the development of human consciousness as creation unfolds. And it does this through the depiction of nine progressive growth stages or levels from the emergence of one-celled organisms to the emerging Universal consciousness, whose emphasis seems to becoming more and more based upon the recognition of consciousness and intent as the driving forces of life.

It would seem that evolution speeds up with the passing of each stage. This does not mean that time is speeding up.. It means that we are evolving at an accelerated rate. As consciousness evolves, so does the vibratory speed of the very planet we live upon and vice versa.

The internet, text messaging, cell phones, computers, digital cameras, TV, fax, lasers, fiber optics and robotics all bring the world to our doorsteps instantaneously. We are speeding up as the world around us explodes in a technological evolution.

The long count of the Mayan Calendar ceases on December 21, 2012. On that day, the center of our galaxy will complete another 26,000 year journey around the great wheel of the zodiac. As that year closes, the new year waits in readiness. The Mayans described creation as consisting of five worlds, suns, or eras.

Each sun is shown ending in catastrophe, a transitory period of crisis and upset which we now understand as chaos. Chaos is necessary for new forms and new growth to emerge. This "death of the old, birth of the new" echoes the idea of the phoenix rising from the ashes of destruction, ensuring by its flight not only a fresh start, but a world better than the one before. The Mayan fifth sun or fifth world is slated to end in 2012.

More to consider here is that the spiritual levels of the Jewish Kabala, the cycles called the Yugas in Hinduism, and the time-keeping traditions of the Hopi Indians, which are eerily similar to the Mayan calendar's suns, also predict the fifth world as soon to come. This galactic alignment that heralds the start of the fifth world can be found in most sacred traditions, including Mithraism, Vedic astrology, Islamic astrology, European sacred geography, Christian religious architecture of the Middle Ages, and in various hermetic traditions to name a few. Incan lore masters named the period to come pachacuti meaning "the time beyond time when the Earth turns over." Ancient Egyptians knew it as the onset of the "flight of the fifth phoenix." A Hopi prediction says that the Blue Star Kachina, a sky being, will dance for the first time in the plazas of their pueblos when the fifth world arrives.

These cycles of creation and destruction are also very important in Hindu belief. These cycles follow a pattern of four periods of time or yugas. These four yugas; Krita, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali, represent the cycles of degeneration and regeneration of humanity. The cycles start with the Krita yuga of perfect harmony and end with the Kali yuga, a time of darkness and immorality. Many Hindu's believe we are in the last stages of the Kali Yuga at this time.

The avenger of this final cycle is named Kalki. He will emerge on a white horse with a flaming sword to destroy the wicked and save the righteous in order to restore the world to a state of purity and virtue once again. Because of the immense power Kalki welds this period of destruction will not last very long, as he can kill millions at a time with one thrust of his sword. Thus, the Krita yuga will start once more.

What if Kalki and his flaming sword is actually a metaphor for the sacred fires of creation which burn away the overgrowth to allow the new seeds of life to start their journey skyward once again?

The Hopi are one of the oldest existing tribes of indigenous people on Earth. They live at the four corners where New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Meet. According to their stories, they lived in a place under the ground after great destruction had occurred upon the Earth. When it was safe to come up and live on the top of the Earth once more, they emerged and settled where they are now. Their story is recorded on Prophecy Rock, a sacred place within Hopi country.

According to their prophecy, first came the cycle of the mineral or rock, then there was the cycle of the plant. And, now we are in the cycle of the animals which is coming to an end. The next cycle will be the cycle of the human being. It is in the cycle of the human being that the highest and greatest powers that we have will be released to us.

At the beginning of the cycle of animals, a very long time ago, the Great Spirit gathered the people of the earth together on an island that is now beneath the water. He told them that he was going to send them to the four directions and over time he would change them into four colors. He would give each of these four colors of humans teachings which would be called the Original teachings. When the four colors came back together once again, they would share what they had learned so that they would live in peace on the earth, and a great civilization would come about.

The Great Spirit gave each race two stone tablets, and told them not to cast the tablets upon the ground. He warned them that if any of the brothers and sisters of the four directions and the four colors cast their tablets on the ground human beings would have a very difficult time, and the earth itself would almost die. So, he gave each color of humans a responsibility which he called the Guardianship.

He sent the Indian people, the red people to the East to hold Guardianship of the Earth. They were to learn about the plants, foods that were safe to eat, and healing herbs.

To the South, he sent the yellow race of people to hold Guardianship of the wind. They were to learn about the sky and the air that we breath and how to use that air to advance themselves spirituality.

He sent the black race of people to the West to hold Guardianship of the water. They were to learn the teachings of water. Water was chief of the elements, being the most humble and the most powerful.

And, to the North he sent the white race of people to hold the Guardianship of the fire. In the center of many things there is fire. The light bulb became the white man's fire. Cars, airplanes and trains use fire as combustion. Fire consumes but also moves. That is why the white brothers and sisters began to move first upon the earth to reunite the human family.

According to the Hopi, each of the four races still have their two stone tablets that were given to them by the Great Spirit. The Hopi have theirs at the Hopi Reservation in Arizona, the black race has theirs at the foot of Mount Kenya, held by the Kukuyu Tribe, the yellow race has theirs in Tibet, and the white people have theirs in Switzerland. All of the tablets are held by people who live in the mountains.

Before the four races went to their directions they were given a sacred handshake that would be used when they came back together to show that they still remembered the teachings. So the four races left and began to learn their lessons.

The Hopi Prophecies have predicted the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors to their villages, the invention of the automobile, airplane and train, both World Wars, the dropping of the Atomic bomb, the around the world communication system of the internet, and the Eagle landing on the moon.

They have repeatedly asked to be included in discussions in the League of Nations and the United Nations, in fact, had they been allowed to do so, they would have been able to warn the world of the upcoming disasters. But, unfortunately, even had they been allowed to speak, it most likely would not have made a difference.

So, it is, that the four colors of humans have yet to sit down in peace and share the lessons they have learned about the four directions. But, according to the Hopi, this is the only way to save the world from a third shaking by the Great Spirit.

The prophecies continue, speaking of a time when the people on the earth will move faster and faster. Grandchildren will not have time for grandparents, and parents will not have time for children. It will seem like time is going faster and faster. The Hopi elders advise that when things speed up, each of us slow down.

The first and second world wars were the first and second time that the Great Spirit shook the earth, to remind us that we should have greeted each other as brothers and sisters. After each war we had the chance to come together once more as a circle of colors that would have brought peace upon the earth. But, we did not.

The sign of the third shaking of the earth is when a house in the sky falls. The Hopi say that at this time there will be villages made of stone. And, the stone will grow up from the ground, and no one will be able to see beyond the village. They say that there will be a time when the sun will rise and the village of stone will be there, but in the evening there will be just steam coming from the ground.

The people who have not lost respect and understanding of the Earth will survive the third shaking. And it will be then that the four races will once more come together to share what they have learned. Many of the Native people feel that this time is close by.

Can the prophecies be changed? According to the Hopi, the answer is yes.

The prophecies of all these ancient people are always either/or. We could have come together as the four races to speak in peace at any time in the past. We have always had the choice of ending racial and religious disharmony. And, most importantly, we have always had the choice of being the right kind of Guardians of the earth, living in respect and harmony with nature, and not destroying everything in our pathway. If we work together as a world to clean up the mess we have made, we might be able to avoid or at least cushion the third shaking.

As the Hopi say, we are the ones we have been waiting for.

If the four races of humans sat in peace and discussed what they have learned, perhaps we could start to build a world based on the rhythms of the earth. We have the understanding and the technology to build a world based on solar, wind, water and earth power. But, in order to do that, it would require giving up many luxuries that we consider to be necessities.

No one can doubt that the time in which we are currently living truly is unlike anything else in memory of record, and not just because of the incredible toys we have, which are supposed to make our lives easier, of the progress we have made as a society. That's a given. Yet, the era we live in-- where rapid change has become the norm-- was foreseen, mapped, detailed, and described thousands of years ago by our ancestors, people who understood the difference between evolution of creation and consciousness and the passing of hours and days. They recognized purpose, that the human family was no accident upon this earth, that there was a plan created by a Source above and beyond things visible and invisible.

Not enough remains of these ancient cultures, especially the Mayans, to tell us more about what they knew. What we can be absolutely certain of, however, is that the closing date depicted on the Mayan calendar is not necessarily doomsday. It illustrates a gateway we will cross through--like a time-space portal into new ways of living and new worlds of opportunity.

Consider our passage a birth, if you will. And, as with all births, there exists now and will continue to be pain and discomfort, loss on innocence, challenges that sweep us off our feel and slam us on our butts. We will change because we have to.

James Lovelock is currently president of the Marine Biological Association, and in 1990 was awarded the first Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for the Environment by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. An independent scientist, inventor, and author, Lovelock works out of a barn-turned-laboratory in Cornwall, England.

According to Lovelock, the Earth or Gaia, relies on the interconnectedness of all the mutually dependent networks of life in order to survive. As each new species evolves so does the earth, and vice versa. And, those species of life which diminish the habitability of their shared environment reduce their changes of survival. Thus, human kind is systematically reducing the likelihood of it's species survival, let alone evolution.

Lovelock warns that we might be approaching tipping points when heating suddenly escalates because of an imbalance within the systems. At the current rate, global temperatures will rise by nearly three degrees in the next 50 years. At this point, the rainforests begin to die, releasing vast new amounts of carbon dioxide. Algae fail in the ocean and stop generating cooling clouds and absorbing carbon. The Greenland glacier goes into meltdown, releasing enough water to flood many of the world's cities. Crop failures, human migrations, the emergence of "brutal war-lords" follow. We know the story, but not in our "real world" minds. Global heating is not yet part of our collective unconscious.

This brings us to the final ancient prophecy. It is my belief that the four horsemen of revelations represent the four races of humankind and also the four elements. They are the lessons that we should have learned. In order to stop the horsemen from riding and wreaking havoc and destruction in their wake, we have to understand how to use their power to help and heal, not to destroy and maim.