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If you happen to be in India or Nepal you may be preparing for the Makari Sankrati festival and promising to be as sweet as a candy ball for the forthcoming year; If you find yourself in Antarctica you may be either celebrating or preparing for the December solstice that will take place sometime between 19th & 23rd December; If you are in Iran you may be preparing to acknowledge the longest night of the year by sharing pomegranates and water melons with family and friends at the festival of Yalda; or .....You just might just be collapsed in an armchair somewhere, feet up, eggnog in one hand, TV remote in the other, wishing it was all over.

Well, this is 2012 we are talking about so be very, very careful what you wish for!  Many believe that   21st December 2012, will mark the’ end of days’ for planet earth as we know it! But, where does all of this doom and gloom come from? Will the world really end on 21st December 2012; is this date really significant; who says the world will end and what evidence is there to support the theories that currently abound? Let us examine some of the most popular sources.

The ancient Mayan long count calendar
This ancient calendar has become one of the most popular sources. The ancient Mayans appear to have been near obsessive about time and made highly accurate prophesies thousands of years into the future, about solar and lunar eclipses.

The end of the Mayan calendar is scheduled to occur on the day of the December solstice at 11.11am, December 21st 2012 AD. This date has become infamous for this one single reason.

Whilst many believe that this date and time signifies the ‘end of days’, some modern day Mayans remain unperturbed by the apparent ending of this 5125 year cycle, one of 5, marking a total of 25,625 years. They do not see this date as some linear point in the future where our fate will be determined by one all encompassing event. They acknowledge that yes, this is the end of one cycle, but they also believe that it will naturally be followed by another new cycle, and an era that will signify the dawning of a new ‘age of transition and transformation’!

The galactic alignment, the polar shift, sun spots and solar storming
On the 21st December 2012, a series of especially rare events will occur in space whereby the planet earth will be in exact alignment with the sun, and with the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way. This event last took place 25,800 years ago, so, it is, therefore, an unknown and unprecedented event to us? Nobody really knows what the consequences of this event, will be, if any?

Environmental scientists and climate experts speculate that such never before experienced galactic events, could result in what has become known as a ‘polar shift’? This means that the axis of our planet earth will move significantly, therefore causing the North and the South Pole to reverse in a matter of days, or even in a matter of hours. As a result we could be facing winds of over 300 mph that could last for a month or more, indeed, some speculate that we are already seeing the beginning of these effects with hurricanes increasing in intensity and force, huge 100ft high tidal waves occurring at a rate of one per month as reported by sea going ocean liners, and winters visibly becoming colder and longer.

Also occurring at this time, the sun is scheduled to conclude the end of a not so rare, eleven year sunspot cycle? This could cause solar storming which may subsequently cause damage to the earth’s magnetic shield, weakening the earth’s natural defences and making a polar shift somewhat more likely. Should this polar shift actually happen the resulting effect could be catastrophic!  A plethora of natural disasters would occur as a result, particularly earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.

Planet X or Nibiru collision
The planet Nibiru apparently last passed through mars and Jupiter some 7200 years ago, an event which is now thought by some modern day scientists, to have been the cataclysmic trigger of Noah’s flood. This planet, that is said to be four times the size of our earth only came to the attention of our earth scientists, in 2003, but those who believe in its existence, believe it may be on a collision course with our own planet earth.

The circumstances used to loosely support this theory are the increased frequency of natural disasters and huge glacial melt downs, and other evidence of climate change that has become more pronounced and frequent in recent years. It is said that these could be indications of the Planet Nibiru’s ever growing closeness to the earth?

The Prophesies of Nostradamus
Michel de Nostradame was a 14th century apothecary and astronomer. He is now more widely known as Nostradamus and has achieved global notoriety for his predictions of future people and events, long after his death in 1566. He is said to have made at least 25 predictions that have been realised, of these are included the comings of Hitler, Napoleon and the events of nine eleven.
Nostradamus has predicted that something from space will fall into the Aegean Sea resulting in a huge tsunami that will be at least the size of mount Olympus (2917 metres high) and this will result in the ‘end of days’. He has also predicted the coming of the third antichrist who he says, may be responsible for whatever it is that is coming from space.

Major Religions
Both of the very Holy books of Islam and Christianity, the Holy Qu’ran and the Holy Bible, foretell the return of Jesus and the removal of all true believers before the end of the world occurs. However, it is the events in between these two that differ according to the religion.