a climate crisis widespread illness the
threat of nuclear war it certainly seems
like we might be approaching the end of
times
this sense of impending disaster is not
a new phenomenon though many cultures
throughout human history have predicted
the doom and gloom of apocalypse and
while some have been proven wrong others
could be omens for things to come
should we be worried let's look at seven
civilizations that predicted the end of
the world
the hopi let's start out in the americas
many indigenous cultures in both north
america and mesoamerica believe the
world would end their apocalypse
narratives were typically cyclical
though meaning that the destruction of
the world would lead to a new one part
of a cycle of creation and destruction
that has been going on for millennia and
will continue far into the future
that doesn't mean we humans will be
around for the new worlds however
according to the hopi an ancient native
american tribe who have lived in what's
now arizona for more than 2000 years we
are currently living in the fourth world
in each of the three previous worlds
humans effectively went crazy destroying
each other and the planet through war
and ruinous technology
towards the end of each world a gateway
or portal is said to appear called a
sipapu which leads a select few on into
the next incarnation of earth
representations of the sipapu are dug in
the ground in hopi ceremonial spaces
called kivas where they would perform
rights and rituals as part of their
worship
hopi elders today believe that we are on
the verge of entering the fifth world
with the destruction of the fourth
resulting from our lack of respect for
the planet
sounds awfully familiar
the aztecs
in fact there are a few cultures in the
americas that share this fifth world
mythology the aztecs were another their
story was called the five sons the first
world began with a god ometiato who
emerged from the void of the universe
and being both male and female birthed
four children quetzalcoatl qutillo
pakhti zipetate and tescalipoca these
gods then created the first world and
people on it were giants but then
quetzalcoatl became jealous of his
brother tescalipoca who was the sun god
and knocked him out of the sky
and angry tescalapoca responded by
having all people on earth eaten by
jaguars
the second world didn't go too well
either kutsukado became the new sun and
created normal sized humans
these humans eventually became less
civilized though and forgot to honor the
gods as much as tesca lepoka would have
liked so he turned them into monkeys
quits a coddle didn't like this so he
sent a hurricane to drown all the
monkeys and in that world
for the third try the gods decided to
make the ring got talalak the new son
but then tesca lapoca seduced talalock's
wife
and upset talalah created a severe
drought and all the people praying to
him for rain made him angry so he
instead rained fire destroying
everything except the birds which
managed to fly away
in the fourth iteration of the world
talalak's new wife chao chiyut lakue
became the sun but tescalapoca upset her
and she ended up crying blood for 52
years only the fish survived this time
which brings us to the fifth world the
aztecs believed they were living through
the fifth and final son embodied as the
god quitzilla poxley
to give this final sun the strength to
fend off the apocalyptically minded
tescalipoca the aztecs practiced human
sacrifice on a scale perhaps unrivaled
in history
all to make sure the sun would continue
to rise and fend off the fifth and final
apocalypse
but all that human sacrifice didn't stop
the spanish from coming in the 1500s an
apocalyptic event that effectively ended
the fifth world for the aztecs
the mayans
we can leave the americas without
addressing one of the most famous
doomsday prediction of modern times
the mayan prediction that the world
would end on december 21st 2012.
the mayans were astute astronomers and
used some of the most accurate calendars
in the world they actually had three
different calendars two of them worked
together simultaneously these two were
called the haab and tazolkin
the hub was a civil calendar consisting
of 365 days divided into 18 months of 20
days each and that zulkin was a sacred
calendar consisting of 260 days divided
into three groups of months each month
divided into 20 days
the two combined to form the calendar
route it was an incredibly accurate
system but it couldn't account for dates
farther than 52 years into the future so
the calendar round would repeat every 52
years
to measure farther backwards and
forwards in time the mayans used what is
called the long count calendar the
beginning date for this calendar was
august 11 3114 bc and the end date was
december 21st 2012.
this
5126-year period was divided into 13
segments called baktuns of 144 000 days
each
obviously the world didn't end in 2012
but did the mayans think it would
maybe not
there is actually no evidence that the
mayans believe the end of their calendar
meant the end of the world the calendar
was most likely just a way for them to
measure the greatest span of time as
accurately as possible
and that accuracy reached its limit on
december 21st 2012 to the mayans the end
of their calendar may have simply
represented the start of a new cycle
the hindu yugas
our next cyclical type of apocalypse
story took place half a world away
hinduism has been the central religion
for civilizations throughout india for
thousands of years
great and powerful dynasties like the
guptas mauryans and the cholas all
worship the pantheon of hindu gods
praying to and building temples for
deities like shiva vishnu and krishna
but hinduism also predicts an apocalypse
according to the puranas a set of
ancient hindu texts all of creation goes
through four stages called yugas they
are the satya yuga the treta yuga
duwapara yuga and the kaliyuga
these four yugas make up one cycle or
mahayuga which supposedly lasts about
4.3 million years
we're currently in the fourth and final
yuga of the cycle the kaliyuga
unfortunately over the course of each
yuga the human condition gradually
declines
from the golden age of the first yuga we
become less wise weaker physically and
emotionally more prone to violence and
corruption
the kali yuga ends with the destruction
of the world brought about by vishnu's
final incarnation as the god kalkin now
vishnu is considered a supreme being who
creates protects and transforms the
universe
he is said to enter our worldly realm
through different incarnations in order
to restore order and preserve dharma
which roughly translates as
righteousness
but by the end of the kali yuga things
are prophesied to become so bad that
humanity will need a reset
vishnu will descend as culkin riding a
white horse and holding a sword can
destroy everyone and everything save the
last few who have managed to preserve
their dharma
the exact date of culkin's wrath is a
bit cloudy though conventional
interpretations of the piranhas set the
end of the kaliyuga around 429 000 a.d
so maybe we have enough time to make our
dharma right and save the world
other interpretations say that kali yuga
has already come and gone though so who
knows
either way this is only a reset and the
cycle will continue into another
mahayuga back into the golden age of the
first satya yuga
good for the universe for sure but bad
for most people
the vikings
in norse mythology the apocalypse
follows a more linear path the vikings
call the end of the world ragnarok norse
for doom of the gods
because even the gods will die in this
end of time scenario
three harsh winters will portend a final
chaotic collapse where the war and
bloodshed consume the world
then the god loki will descend upon the
earth in a ship of the dead wolves will
eat the moon and the sun the stars will
disappear and earthquakes and tidal
waves will pummel the earth
most of the gods die fighting giants and
the undead who have risen from the
underworld and finally the earth sinks
into the sea
all is not lost however a new age dawns
as the earth rises anew from the sea
there are a few gods still alive and a
man and a woman named liff and lyft
farseer have survived after hiding in
yggdrasil a tree that connects the nine
worlds of norse mythology
they go on to repopulate the world much
like the biblical story of adam and eve
so when is this all set to happen
well according to the experts at the
jurvik viking center in york england it
was supposed to end on february 22nd
2014
after supposedly hearing the sound of an
ancient horn warning that ragnarok was
on its way
some recalculations may be necessary
the apocalypse of peter
we did just mention the bible so let's
dive into the biblical apocalypse it's a
popular one for sure
most people in the west have probably
heard about the second coming of christ
at some point
this is told in the book of revelation
at the end of the new testament written
by the apostle john
there is also an old testament version
written by a prophet named daniel
in both versions jesus lifts all those
who are worthy up into heaven in an
event known as the rapture
then an antichrist descends to earth to
battle it out with jesus
the battle of armageddon ends with jesus
defeating the antichrist and restoring
the world to a pure uncorrupted state
all sorts of theories and dates for
armageddon have been floated out there
over the years and it would take a whole
other video to get into these but one
interesting thing to note here is how
the apocalypse story was folded into
greek and jewish mythology possibly so
certain empires could convert pagans
into christians
the apocalypse of peter is an obscure
text though it was widely read during
early christianity and was almost added
to the new testament written around 100
a.d it has two versions one in greek and
one in ethiopic
in the greek version the world is
destroyed by an angel named urael who
opens the gates of the underworld and
releases the greek titans and biblical
giants
god jesus angels moses abraham and other
hebrew patriarchs then come down to
earth in a judgment day rewarding the
faithful and punishing the wicked
this hybrid style mashup of mythologies
certainly sounds like a good recipe for
attracting followers or at least for
striking fear of the wrath of god into
the hearts of as many people as possible
the iranians
the history of iran islam very long it
is one of the oldest continuously
inhabited civilizations with settlements
dating back more than 7 000 years
iran is certainly a muslim country today
but that wasn't always the case
zoroastrianism was the state religion of
empires in iran for over a thousand
years from 600 bc until the islamic
conquest of persia in 650 a.d
powerful civilizations like the acamenid
parthian and sasanian empires all
adopted the faith
like iran zoroastrianism is very old it
is one of the oldest organized religions
still practiced today with roots going
back to 2000 bc
it is also the world's oldest
monotheistic religion although it
incorporates elements of dualism many
later religions can trace their roots
back to it
based on the teachings of the prophet
zoroaster zoroastrians believe in a
supreme being called ahura mazda much of
the faith focuses on the dualistic fight
between good and evil and so it's no
surprise that there is an apocalyptic
judgment day folded into the fabric of
this religion too
the zoroastrian apocalypse is called
frasier kereti or the final renovation
of the universe
with evil far outpacing goodness ahura
master sun fire will flow through the
universe destroying everything and
separating good from evil
then a jesus like savior named sausian
will resurrect the bodies of those who
are good ushering in a new golden age
so are we doomed
will we be able to avert the end of the
world or will we suffer the calamities
predicted in some of these ancient
stories
humans have been fascinated and
horrified by the possibility of collapse
for as long as we've been around
maybe there's beauty in being aware that
things could end and maybe learning the
lessons within some of these stories can
help us build a better world