With apocalyptic beliefs, who’s normal?

Source: www.vancouversun.com

Brad Carrigan "presents well," as they say in psychological circles. The Vancouver resident dresses smartly, has an athletic physique, neatly cropped hair and a friendly, well-spoken demeanour. He looks like many happy, healthy West Coast middle-aged guys.

Carrigan earned a solid living for 12 years as a financial consultant, has played with some of the country's top musicians, wrote a sacred music concert performed at the Queen Elizabeth theatre, hosts a program called The Eternal Wellness Show and runs Blue World Lifestyle Multimedia Corporation, which has a stylish website.

Like millions in B.C. and elsewhere, Carrigan is also a fan of a recent Vancouver-filmed blockbuster movie that has so far earned $800 million, made by big-name director Roland Emmerich (creator of Independence Day) and actor John Cusack.

The movie is titled 2012.

It's a special-effects-filled disaster movie. Its plot revolves around a cataclysm that wipes out most of the Earth's almost seven billion population in the year 2012.

Highly presentable Carrigan only begins to take on the persona of a "character" when he says he believes the movie is more than a fiction.

Following the lead of the marketers of 2012, Carrigan says the disaster film is pointing to something that is soon to become terribly real.

His book on the subject is called 2012 Enlightened. It is one of about 20 titles on the "2012 phenomenon." Countless spiritual seekers are convinced 2012 will usher in both global cataclysm and a new spiritual era.

Based on a prophecy embedded in the ancient Mayan calendar, the 2012 phenomenon is an apocalyptic scenario of the most horrifying order.

You could call it a New Age version of the Biblical apocalyptic beliefs widely held by many evangelical Christians and others.

I talked to Carrigan about 2012 this week at a busy Vancouver coffee shop, where he is a fondly welcomed regular.

The coffee shop displayed Carrigan's book, as well as leaflets for his often well-attended multimedia lectures, one of which will take place this Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Hollywood Theatre on West Broadway. The jacket of Carrigan's book describes him as an Ottawa-born "spiritual visionary and teacher, author, recording artist and playwright" versed in meditation, Indian spirituality, yoga and devotional music. The book jacket adds that he frequently experiences powerful visions and dreams.

When I asked Carrigan his age, he wouldn't answer, saying, 'I'm timeless. Ageless."

He acknowledged, nevertheless, he moved to Vancouver at age 19 and ever since has found the city "delightful." It is where he continues to raise two teenagers as a single parent. However, in December 2012, Carrigan will be driving far out of Vancouver. He'll be heading to a mountain top.

Carrigan and many others are convinced that on Dec. 21, 2012, Vancouver and much of the planet will be virtually destroyed.

Havoc will come through a combination of earthquakes, tsunamis and oceans rising hundreds of metres. Those who might hope to survive will be on higher ground.

"Forget Haiti. Forget Katrina," Carrigan said, calmly.

The end of Vancouver and the rest of the world as we know it is described in vivid detail, with video, on Carrigan's sophisticated-looking website, www.2012enlightened.com.

The imminent destruction of Earth hinges on a planet called Nibiru, which Carrigan and many New Age adherents believe will pass close to our solar system in 2012.

They firmly expect Nibiru to create a gravitational effect that will cause the Earth to stop revolving on its axis for several disastrous months.

A spiritual golden age will follow for survivors. Carrigan and many others predict the new dawn on Earth will begin on March 28, 2013. It's not possible here to explain the convoluted logic that goes into the 2012 phenomenon as expressed by Carrigan and many authors.

Suffice to say Carrigan's version involves planetary science, quantum mechanics, Nostradamus, Hopi Indians, aliens, Bible revelations, Edgar Cayce, the Vatican, crop circles, Atlantis, Moses, kundalini yoga, Hindu gods and goddesses, Akashic teachings, the anti-Christ, the swastika, the Age of Aquarius and much more.

Why has the general public not heard of this looming disaster?

Carrigan said the official silence is a plot orchestrated by NASA, the White House, the Illuminati, the Freemasons and the world's multinational corporations and mass media, all of which he said, have a vested interest in not distressing the population. This economic elite has already, he said, built underground cities in the U.S. and Scandinavia as its safe havens.

If readers are wondering whether I'm drawn to or convinced of this 2012 apocalyptic scenario, I will have to disappoint many and say … no.

I bring it to wider attention only because it is a general New Age belief apparently held by tens of thousands of people, possibly millions.

Apocalyptic thinking is not at all rare. An Angus Reid poll found 46 per cent of Americans and 20 per cent of Canadians believed the world would end in their lifetimes in some sort of divine catastrophe.

Remember the global outpouring of apocalyptic fear that rose up over the year 2000? That's when computer specialists and evangelists such as Jerry Falwell and Canada's Grant Jeffrey proclaimed God's judgment was about to fall on Earth via the Y2K bug.

Biblical teachings about the apocalypse, often called Armageddon, the Last Judgment or the Rapture, are held today by many conservative religious denominations, including the Church of Latter Day Saints, the Seventh Day Adventists and many evangelical denominations. A Biblical apocalypse, based on the Book of Revelation, has been popularized through the best-selling Left Behind novel series.

U.S. president Ronald Reagan believed Armageddon could happen in his lifetime.

And an apocalyptic scenario involving the second coming of Christ is part of the doctrine formally taught by the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, the evangelical denomination to which Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper belongs.

So-called "secular" people are not immune to apocalyptic scenarios either, as portrayed in movies such as Terminator 2 and Avatar. Apocalyptic beliefs often emerge from people anxious about atomic warfare, population explosion, economic collapse, uncontrollable viruses and environmental devastation.

What is at the root of apocalyptic thinking?

It is based on a belief the world is engaged in an all-out struggle between good and evil, which could end in the triumph of one side.

The dominant form of apocalyptic thinking today grows out of a despairing conviction that most people and institutions are irredeemably corrupt, fit only for destruction.

Personally, however, even though I worry people in power are leading the planet in many dangerous directions, I don't find myself switching into apocalyptic mode. Call me hopeful.

Carrigan resides in another category entirely regarding 2012.

"It's not a question of 'if' I'm right about what's going to happen. I know I'm right," he said.

His demeanour remained placid throughout our conversation, even though the tempo of his speech rapidly rose as he described his data for destruction.

"What I'm saying is not doom and gloom," he said. "It's just what's going to happen."

As strange as it may seem to many of us, it is quite possible millions of New Age people share Carrigan's views about a 2012 cataclysm, while tens of millions more North Americans hold to a Biblical version of apocalypse.

If being part of a large movement makes one "normal," perhaps it wasn't incorrect for Carrigan to quietly declare:

"I'm not a radical."