End of Days. Almost here?

Steve

Member
I was wondering if any doom mongers among you share the view of my Bible spitting friend that the 'end of times' as predicted in the good book is all but upon us?
 
I was wondering if any doom mongers among you share the view of my Bible spitting friend that the 'end of times' as predicted in the good book is all but upon us?

I think that in any vibrating structure there are certain modes and harmonics that tend to reoccur. If the cycles of history are thought of as vibrations and the mechanics of the structure are human nature and group dynamics, then the apocalypse is a mode of vibration that is likely to reoccur periodically on different scales and to different degrees.

The "apocalypse" just means revelation and the Bible talks about the "end of the age" and the "day of the Lord" and the "day of days" and a day in which all the elements will be burned with fire and only those things of value will remain.

But to my knowledge the Bible doesn't talk about an "end of days" as in a complete hard stop to human history. That interpretation seems to be only a recent invention. The Bible actually talks about a chaotic and terrible transition ending one age and initiating us into the next which will be another long period of stability and order.

Many Christians believe the End of the Age is any time now because of the recreation of the state of Israel, and because the technology now exists to make the Mark of the Beast global banking system described in Revelation 13 a possibility and because nuclear war and the fragility of the systems we depend on could lead to the catastrophic events described. Additionally the recurring pattern of 7's would imply the 7th thousand year period of human history is about to begin if following the Bible's chronology.
 
What is "the recurring pattern of 7s"?
7 happens a lot in the bible. The idea is that there are 2000 years from Adam to Abraham, 2000 years from Abraham to Christ and 2000 years to date (there abouts) The bible talks of a one thousand year reign of Christ before the devil is let loose for a short time, so that would resemble a sabbath rest.

Jesus said that not even he knows the time of his return so it is doubtful that anybody else would. Much of bible prophecy seems to be fulfilled now but I am so cautious about this stuff. The JWs believe that he returned invisibly in 1914 and is reigning exclusively through the Watchtower organization (ROTFL)
 
We live [in] interesting times, that's for sure.

I place my hopes in believing when people who are in their teens and younger grow up to run the world it will thereby become a better place where past conflicts like religious vs. materialist fundamentalism are faded. This might be a world that is easier to re-enchant.

Sri Aurobindo has suggested we had to pass through a skeptical phase to prepare ourselves for the re-enchanted world, lest we become easy prey for charlatans...and worse things.

For me, not sure "enchanted" means magical in the fantastical sense of my old D&D games. It might simply mean something closer to the philosophical position of a world where consciousness, specifically human consciousness, is said to be a fundamental aspect of reality. Psi might be near useless, as some proponents have suggested (Eric Wargo's blog comes to mind, as it gets brought up there from time to time), but it might confirm the ascendancy of human causal power.

That would be enough for me personally, give me freedom even if there's only oblivion at the end of my exercising of it on this planet.
 
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I've heard a bit of pagan lore relating to something I think was called the "Fall of the Veil"?

That the mundane and magical levels of reality would come back together?

Anyone else familiar with the term? Trying to find the old Youtube video by a pagan vloggin their practice but can't seem to...

edit:

Some introductory stuff on the Veil idea...

There is one book on the Veil I can recommend: The Veil’s Edge: Exploring the Boundaries of Magic (2003) by Willow Polson. It’s a good intermediate level book that deals with more than just the Veil, and it’s about the only book out there that spends more than a page or two on the subject.

The Veil is a metaphor – the boundary is real

In Celtic traditions, it’s not a veil but mists that separate the two worlds. I like that imagery better, and it more closely matches my first-hand experiences. While a veil – a curtain – has thickness, it’s essentially a two-dimensional object. Mists have both density and depth. Sometimes the morning fog is so thin you can barely tell it’s there – other times it’s so thick you can barely see taillights in front of you. Sometimes you drive though it into clear skies in a mile, other times it obscures a whole city.

Likewise, sometimes the mists between the worlds are so thick we cannot see or hear our beloved dead. Other times they’re so thin we can practically touch them. And when we wander into the mists – as some of us have been known to do – sometimes we can get through quickly, while other times they’re so dense we can’t find the first landmark.

Mists are a better description than a veil, but they’re still a metaphor for an Otherworldly reality – the boundary between this world and the next.

Boundaries are an important feature of life, both spiritually and materially. If I drive east into Louisiana, all I see is a sign that says “Welcome to Louisiana.” But if I drive north into Oklahoma, I have to cross a real boundary – the Red River. One boundary is arbitrary, the other is tangible. We can argue that the difference between Texas and Oklahoma is also arbitrary, but whether it is or it isn’t the Red River is real, as you’ll learn first hand if you attempt to cross it without a bridge in place.

The boundary between the ordinary world and the Otherworld is real, regardless of which metaphor we use to describe it.

Why I think it’s shredded

Modern Pagan tradition says that the Veil Between the Worlds is thinnest at Samhain and Beltane, at the liminal times when Summer changes to Winter and vice versa. At these times we can most easily communicate with the dead, and various spiritual beings can more easily cross over into our world.

But many of us are seeing this kind of crossover year-round. In June, I saw a creature that could not exist, but there it was. There have been reports of ghosts, spirits, and demons. There have been accidents with no good explanation. There have been more reports of missing items turning up in impossible places than I can count – including one in my own office.

There’s a meme going around Facebook that says “killer clowns are terrorizing the streets and a billionaire villain is running for President. Batman, we need you!” Stop and think about how much truly weird stuff is going on. Once or twice is random chance. A few times is a short-term trend. But read the comments to The Otherworld Is Bleeding Through – you’ll see report after report after report. This has been going on for at least five years and it’s getting stronger all the time. That’s not random chance. Otherworldly beings and influences are bleeding over into the ordinary world at an ever-increasing rate and many of them aren’t particularly pleasant or benign.

What caused the shredding and can it be reversed?

I’ve seen some people speculate that malevolent magicians are working spells to shred the Veil and allow more spirits to cross over into our world. That sounds too much like opening the hellmouth on Buffy the Vampire Slayer to me. Very few people who would do malevolent magic have the focus and discipline to develop the kind of skills it takes to be truly dangerous… not that they can’t make a nuisance of themselves from time to time.

I tend to think that like much in Nature, the Veil waxes and wanes in natural cycles… albeit very long cycles. The stories of our ancestors tell us that the Otherworld used to be much closer to the ordinary world. If the Veil became thicker and harder at the same time as the rise of civilization, perhaps it’s time for it to become thinner and softer again.

If it’s a natural cycle, then it can’t be reversed, and what we’re seeing is only the beginning.
 
I've heard a bit of pagan lore relating to something I think was called the "Fall of the Veil"?

That the mundane and magical levels of reality would come back together?

Anyone else familiar with the term? Trying to find the old Youtube video by a pagan vloggin their practice but can't seem to...

edit:

Some introductory stuff on the Veil idea...
Not familiar with the term but in Jerusalem in the temple there was a curtain that separated the Holy Of Holys from everything else and only the priests were allowed inside. During Christ's crucifixion, this curtain was said to have been torn in two from top to bottom, symbolising that man no longer needs priests but has direct access to God.

In Dion Fortune's "Glastonbury, Avalon Of The Heart" she says that at Glastonbury, the veil is thin. I have sensed that myself when I have been there.
 

It's interesting that there seems to be this "Return of Magic" theme going on in media. As top down authority breaks, having lost our trust due to things like materialist evangelism/bigotry from academia, it does seem like re-enchantment of the world hasn't held such promise in years...
 
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