On December 21, 2012, the world as we know it will end.
“We are soon to be confronted with the greatest challenge ever in our history. Within the next several years an indescribable super catastrophe will wipe out our civilization in a matter of one day and one night,” said Patrick Geryl, author, researcher, and leader of a 2012 survival group.
Geryl is not alone in his opinion. Thousands if not millions of people around the world believe that December 21, 2012, will be the end of mankind.
Fact and Theory
There is no concrete knowledge of what will or will not happen in 2012. What is known is that December 21 of that year is the end of the Mayan calendar. According to December212012.com, one of many Web sites devoted to the date, the Maya had three calendars: a 365-day solar year calendar, a 260-day ritual year calendar and a 5,126-year world calendar. The long calendar which reportedly began on August 11, 3114 BC, ends on December 21, 2012.
Some think the end of the Mayan calendar will be simply that – the close of a typical calendar’s cycle. The final year will end, and mankind will flip back to year zero to start over again. Nothing bad or sinister will happen to wipe out the human race. However, there is a large faction of people who believe the end of the calendar will bring catastrophe, though no one is quite sure what type.
A popular theory revolves around the poles. It is thought that on that day, there will be a polar shift or polar reversal. In his book, The Orion Prophecy, Geryl concludes “the magnetic field of the earth will reverse in one go, resulting in catastrophic consequences for humanity. Immense earthquakes will sweep away all buildings on earth; while continents will shift thousands of kilometers and an all-demolishing tidal wave will leave billions of dead people behind.”
Others believe that an event will occur but that it will be less consuming and deadly than a polar shift. Dennis McClung, owner of 2012supplies.com, an online survival goods store, thinks there will be a worldwide loss of electricity.
“Hopefully nothing happens,” he said. “But every year the situation gets worse, so I think something may. What’s most plausible is a disruptment in the electrical grid. There will be a lot of casualties, as we are very dependent on electricity.”
Preparation
Whatever happens, believers of the 2012 theories are busy preparing. McClung’s store is proof. Online since 2007, it sells to thousands of individuals a day. They are buying everything from water purification systems to survival books to food supplies and power generators. According to McClung, people are also buying land.
“Some people believe in having a retreat they can take their family to,” he said. “It’s usually outside of urban areas – if anything does happen with the [electrical] system, an urban area will be a pretty scary place to be. But they’re being tight lipped about where exactly the land is.”
Even McClung himself is in the process of moving from his apartment in Phoenix to a house he can modify to suit his family’s needs. He and his wife hope to be completely off the grid by 2012. This means they won’t have to rely on the electrical grid for power. They are also aiming to create a self-sustaining garden. If anything happens electrically on December 21, 2012, they won’t be too badly affected.
Survival groups are another popular method of preparation. McClung has several set up through his Web site. There are groups based in the United States, Western Europe and Australia, he said. Additional groups are popping up on their own throughout the world. Geryl leads one.
“People that want to survive will have to rely on their own resources. They will also have to have a firm faith in the objective they want to reach,” he said. “There will not be many, but that doesn’t make a difference as long as there are a few thousand. We will end up being the only people left in a destroyed world, a remnant of what was once the most unique and most highly developed civilization in the whole universe. Together we will form an organized group that will be the foundation for a new civilization.”
Geryl’s group is collecting books so as to pass on the knowledge of today’s civilization. They also are preparing to protect themselves, aware that the trauma of 2012 may lead others who survive to violence. And they are mentally readying themselves for the hardships ahead.
“Our world will be filled with many pitfalls, impossible missions, unexpected setbacks, attacks from outside, illnesses, hunger and pain,” he predicts. “Our hearts will be torn apart when we have to make difficult decisions. Exhausted children will die in our arms, adults will suffer from grief. Our minds will be tortured with sorrow…"
“And yet we will go for it despite the difficult circumstances because we took this task, this great responsibility, upon our shoulders. However unbelievable this all may sound, the fact remains that, if we don’t do this, nobody will.”
It is completely possible that December 21, 2012 will pass with no more event than any other day. But if it doesn’t, if Geryl and McClung are right, is that a risk you’re willing to take? You have little more than 1,200 days to decide.
