2012 Nostradamus Predictions

Did Nostradamus Predict Doom in 2012 Apocalypse ?

Several respected Nostradamus scholars believe that the famous seer did in fact predict World War III around this time.

One of the more active proponents of a Nostradamus-predicted World War III in 2012 is Dr. Michael Rathford, author of the book The Nostradamus Code: World War III 2008-2012.

In his book, Dr. Rathford claims the between the years 2008 and 2012, World War III will erupt and transform the world forever. Nuclear bombs will be dropped, the Catholic Church will be ravaged and destroyed and the antichrist will arise.

Specifically, in Dr. Rathford’s analysis[12], war erupts in the middle east, ostensibly after Iran, or a similar nation, decides to drop a nuclear bomb on Israel. Israel responds in kind. Europe then interferes to protect precious oil supplies in this era when resources and food are so critical. This causes Iran, or the middle-eastern nation, to attack Europe with nuclear weapons, most of which land in Italy. The Catholic church is ravaged, and the Pope is forced to flee into hiding. The stage is set for the rise of the antichrist.

Rathford continues his depiction of the height of the war with volcanoes, earthquakes, floods and droughts, especially affecting the United States, which will bankrupt itself during this time.

The antichrist rises to power in the middle east, taking over Iran.

Rathford completes his cataclysmic war with a helping of the following, in chronological order:

* A communication breakdown between two superpowers leads to cataclysmic consequences.
* A third world leader causes significant problems.
* A war simulation in England backfires and results in real-world action.
* The US electorate system fails to produce a president, and civil war is narrowly averted through a new election.
* Rathford eventually wraps up his analysis of Nostradamus by stating that the current world will fall away, and a new enlightened world will take its place.

It’s important to understand that this is just one interpretation of the predictions of Nostradamus. Other students of the famed seer, such as John Hogue, don’t predict such a detailed turn of events. Hogue, however, has been on record saying that a third world war is predicted for the next decade.[13]

In October of 2007 The History Channel aired a program entitled “The Lost Book of Nostradamus."[14] In this two hour documentary the idea is put forth that a lost book has been discovered, and the illustrations depicted therein warn of great cataclysm, even the end of the world, for the winter solstice in 2012.

The show follows both the history and content of an obscure collection of illustrations, long hidden in the National Library of Rome. The book was inscribed with Michel de Notredame, or Nostradamus.

Within the book were several watercolor illustrations depicting strange events, and often symbolic objects.

The show claims the book was tucked away within the Vatican until such time as it should be discovered, and its secrets revealed.

The show interprets one picture toward the end of the book as showing the alignment between the solstice sun and the galactic center, scheduled for December 21st, 2012.

Ultimately, the show cannot, with certainty, attribute the book to Nostradamus, and ultimately, their interpretations of the images are just speculation.

Did Nostradamus predict the end in 2012? It is hard to say he did. But with all things Nostradamus, until the event happens, the prescience of his knowledge won’t be revealed.
Timewave Zero

Timewave Zero is a theory that suggests time, or rather the novelty of existence within time, follows a series of self-similar patterns, or a fractal. This timewave, so to speak, has exhibited a fractal series of peaks and valleys, and through calculation, reaches a singularity in 2012.

Terrence McKenna is credited with forming the Timewave Zero theory based on his correlations between the King Wen sequence of I Ching hexagrams and events in world history.

The theory is somewhat difficult to grasp, but the key points are that the I Ching, when graphed, displays an uncanny similarity to the novelty of events throughout human history. Furthermore, this pattern shows up again and again when applied to smaller sections of time, such as the history of a civilization, or even the events of your day.

McKenna himself did not predict doomsday in 2012, but rather thought that some monumental event would forever transform humanity.
Christian Prophecy

The world of Christian Prophecy has grown very crowded over the last two thousand years ago. The earliest Christians looked to the Apocalypse of the Apostle John, written in his exile on the Island of Patmos after divine revelation. This mysterious book is the most comprehensive biblical treatment on matters of the end, but additional prophecies appear in several books of the old testament, and also in the eschatological discourse of Jesus in the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

No prominent Christian groups predict with any sort of certainty the return of Christ in 2012. But nearly all traditions look around the world today, behold the abominations therein, and wonder if we are nearing the end.

In the world of Catholic eschatology, which has been studying the Scripture for two thousand years, there exists some variation in beliefs or predictions regarding the end times. While the basic premise is the same, when one tries to pluck out very precise interpretations variations do occur. There is, however, some commonly believed events that will precipitate the end of history(from EWTN, full note at[15]):

The Catechism provides us with a general order of events at the End [CCC 673-677]. Chronologically they are,

1. the full number of the Gentiles come into the Church

2. the “full inclusion of the Jews in the Messiah’s salvation, in the wake of the full number of the Gentiles” (#2 will follow quickly on, in the wake of, #1)

3. a final trial of the Church “in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth.” The supreme deception is that of the Antichrist.

4. Christ’s victory over this final unleashing of evil through a cosmic upheaval of this passing world and the Last Judgment.

As Cardinal Ratzinger recently pointed out (in the context of the message of Fátima), we are not at the end of the world. In fact, the Second Coming (understood as the physical return of Christ) cannot occur until the full number of the Gentiles are converted, followed by “all Israel.”

Approved Catholic mystics (Venerables, Blessed and Saints, approved apparitions) throw considerable light on this order, by prophesying a minor apostasy and tribulation toward the end of the world, after which will occur the reunion of Christians. Only later will the entire world fall away from Christ (the great apostasy) and the personal Antichrist arise and the Tribulation of the End occur.

The books Prophecy for Today by Edward Connor, and Vincent Miceli’s The Antichrist are two good sources for end times discernment.

In more recent time the notion of a Rapture, a great tribulation, and a thousand year reign of Christ on earth has become popular. This theory, largely promoted by John Nelson Darby in the 19th century, is relatively new given the two thousand year history of the Church.

This idea has been expanded by many evangelicals, with some discerning very specific predictions based on the Scriptures in Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation. For example, Joel Rosenberg, author of The Ezekiel Option, believes the war of Gog and Magog, as spoke of in Ezekiel, will come to fruition as Russia and Iran attacking Israel.

The most comprehensive (and popular) of these scenarios was illustrated in the wildly popular Left Behind series, and similar series such as The Christ Clone Trilogy. Both of these series start off with the Rapture of Christians into heaven and a seven year period of tribulation here on earth. The Antichrist rises to power, deceives man, and triggers the return of Christ who reigns for a thousand years.

Despite the differences between older Christian eschatology and more recent interpretation, there are several consistencies within all Christian traditions, namely a great deception caused by the Antichrist that leads many souls astray, a trial of ultimate evil, and the return of Christ.

An excellent treatment of the end times is achieved in the novel Father Elijah by Michael D. O’Brien. The novel follows a Catholic priest who is a convert from Judaism, and his role in the final days. It is a beautiful work of literature.
Peak Oil

Perhaps the most staggering of all scenarios, and by far the one most realized in today’s daily headlines, is the notion of peak oil.

Peak oil is the idea that worldwide oil reserves are limited, our use of them has skyrocketed over the last century, we’re running out, and as we do, civilization is going to collapse. While the complete and total collapse of industrial civilization may seem preposterous, the peak oil theorists have done their homework. This is one idea that is actually unfolding in today’s headlines and has already impacted your life. Up for debate among peak oil theorists is when exactly the peak occurred or will occur, how fast society can replace its source of energy (if it even has time), and what the ramifications on our lives will be.

The sources of oil are drying up. Worldwide oil production, depending on the source of data, has either just peaked, or is about to peak. According to Kenneth S. Deffeyes, oil production stopped growing in 2005[16]. But oil consumption hasn’t. Basic economics states that when demand for a product rises, yet supplies don’t, the price of the product will go up. The price of oil has skyrocketed to heights never before seen. Even adjusted for inflation, the price of oil is higher than it has ever been. For most of the 20th century oil maintained a 2008 inflation-adjusted price between $20 and $35 per barrel. In the late 1970s oil briefly ran over $100 per barrel in 2008 dollars. But over the last few years prices have soared, with oil hitting $145 in July 2008[17].

Oil consumption is greater now than ever before. World population is greater now than ever before. These two items combine to form quite a problem. Consider what has happened to oil prices just over the last couple of years as supplies have just peaked. What will happen to the price of oil when supplies are half of what they are today, yet consumption and demand are even greater? If just a small setback in supply can have shocks on the price, what about dramatic setbacks in supply? Just passing the peak in oil will have enormous ramifications in all aspects of life.
Everything is Tied to Oil

You might not care about the price of oil. Maybe you don’t even drive a car, or you work at home, or you live in the city and walk everywhere you need to go. In our modern society, everything is tied to oil. Matt Savinar, who runs the site Life After the Oil Crash, points out quite well how everything we do in this modern world is tied to petroleum. The vast majority of our food supplies are subject to pesticides and fertilizers that come from oil. They are harvested using machines that not only run on oil, but nearly all of their parts are manufactured (and the raw materials mined!) with the aid of oil. Food is packaged and shipped to your supermarket, often across thousands of miles, using oil-powered transport. Savinar successfully makes the case that modern medicine, water distribution, and national defense are all powered by oil. Plastics? Yes. Computers? Yes. Ironically, even alternative fuel implements such as solar panels and windmills rely heavily on a traditional petroleum-based manufacturing process.[18]
The Collapse of Civilization: Blackouts in 2012

So if the engine that powers the world is breaking down, what happens? In short, a lot of bad things could happen. In a paper entitled “The Peak of World Oil Production and the Road to the Olduvai Gorge,” Richard Duncan describes the lifetime of industrial civilization as being limited to 100 years. For us, the 100 years began roughly in 1930, and will come to a dark closure around 2030. The Olduvai theory predicts widespread, permanent blackouts to begin in 2012.[19]

To envision what this new oil-parched world might look like, Savinar quotes journalist Paul Salopek[20]:

…the consequences would be unimaginable. Permanent fuel shortages would tip the world into a generations-long economic depression. Millions would lose their jobs as industry implodes. Farm tractors would be idled for lack of fuel, triggering massive famines. Energy wars would flare. And carless suburbanites would trudge to their nearest big box stores, not to buy Chinese made clothing transported cheaply across the globe, but to scavenge glass and copper wire from abandoned buildings.