Predictions and Prophecies

I was going to discuss sweet potato pie, a Thanksgiving favorite, but the media is so taken with the Mayan Prophecies that I thought they deserved mention.
Once again we have reached a time when the Internet is flooded with dire predictions of future misfortunes, namely The End of the World.

The ancient Mayan Prophecies prediction that their fourth calendar year will end December 12, 2012 is gleaning a lot of attention lately because they were remarkably learned about a lot of things, and their predictions were uncannily accurate. You can learn more on the Internet.

Remember the “experts” who would, for a price, prepare us to survive the change to the Second Millennium and avoid disaster? There were predictions that computers would crash.  The electronic cash register in my store was an older model unable to handle a year date ending in a double zero. I had an employee scared almost to death to come to work the first day of 2000 because she thought it would explode. Not to worry. At midnight, Jan. 1, the machine simply posted the date as 1949 and stayed that way until 2001.

This blog is about the remarkably accurate predictions of the North American Hopi Indians. They also use the 2012 date and, so far, have accurately told of events on this continent. I describe them in my book, Accidental Alien. The premise of the book is that the Supreme Creator is so disgusted with the way humans have evolved that He has decided to order a sixth mass extinction on Earth and start over with new life. When humans appeared they were designed to become the caretakers of the Earth. Instead, something went wrong and they evolved into killing machines with no regard for any life, including human. My newly germinated plant alien, Daniel, learns this while maturing into his human persona. He would like to find a way to change things.

Here is an excerpt from the conversation he and his companion female, Aine, are having with their mentor, Professor Masters. He is speaking.

"This sounds like the Native American Indian Prophecies, borrowed by the Hopi from the Mayan. They had a vast knowledge of the heavens. Their calendar divided time into 'Worlds,' of about 5,000 years. This is the Fourth World, due to end by December 21, 2012, after certain 'signs,' or predictions are fulfilled."

"And these signs," Daniel asked, "What are they?"

"For one thing, the Hopi predictions are surprisingly accurate. Most of the prophecies have been fulfilled. We are waiting for the last.”

“Tell us of that one,” Aine said.

“They foretold the coming of the white man, the covered wagons of the Western migration, the introduction of longhorn cattle, the railroads, the highway system, and recently, the Seventh Sign, which says the sea will turn black and many living things will die because of it."

"That's already happened," Aine said. "What are the rest?"

"The Eighth sign predicts that many youth, who wear their hair long, like the People, will join the tribal nations to learn their ways and wisdom. Some scholars believe it describes the ‘hippie’ movement.”

"And the last? The Ninth Sign?"

"As I recall, it says something like: ‘You will hear of a great dwelling place in the heavens above the earth, that will fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of my people will cease.’"

"The Mass Extinction of the Second Millennium," Daniel whispered.

"Yes, you might be right," Wally said. "The prophecy ends with words something like . . . um, 'These are the signs of the Great Destruction. The world will rock to and fro. The white man will battle people of other lands.'

“I remember a prediction about white columns of smoke like those the Indians have seen in the desert. I can only think of an atomic bomb. ‘They will cause much disease and great dying.’

“The summation, as far as I'm concerned, is that the earth will go through a great purification process. How drastic it will be depends on humanity coming to its senses before it's too late. It seems every day there is a new disaster to warn us."

Daniel accepts this prediction. He has already decided that extinction might be a good thing. Something went very wrong when humans emerged from the primordial mist. Instead of fulfilling their role as caretakers of life on the planet, they evolved into monstrous killing machines with no regard for any living thing including them. They enjoy human slaughter.

The book has a happy ending. We’ll have to see about 2012.