For your information, if this original "word" document were printed out on business letter-size paper, it would be 34 pages in length. This treatise consists of three parts: the first, some personal observations relating to my view of the impending Crossover of Planet X Nibiru (9 pages); the second, a commentary on Zecharia Sitchin's latest book The End Of Days, in which he discusses "Armageddon and Prophecies of the Return" (16 pages); and the third, several excerpts from a new book by Lawrence E. Joseph titled Apocalypse 2012 (9 pages). Both these books were published in New York in 2007 and are readily available. To read through this treatise carefully will take you about an hour's time, no more than an ordinary television program.

We are reaching a most critical juncture in our study of the chronology of Planet X Nibiru. Let me present various facts for your consideration. And to be honest with you, after this current "formal" message is sent, I shall not really have much more to write about the coming Crossover of Planet X, not at least until it starts to unfold. I have already said it all. There is little, if anything, left to add. At present, we are simply playing a waiting game - no more, no less.

I. The 12th Planet's 12th Hour

According to the 2007 World Almanac, the Earth was at orbital perihelion (closest to the Sun) on January 3 and at orbital aphelion (farthest from the Sun) on July 6. These dates vary little from year to year. The Sun crosses the same celestial longitude (or right ascension) as does our brightest Star Sirius on July 3. This was an important conjunction to the Ancient Egyptians, and I remember it by thinking "Fourth of July", America's Independence Day. The Sun's conjunction with Sirius is thus "coincidental" with Earth's orbital aphelion.

Also, on about December 18, the Sun enters the Constellation of Sagittarius along the plane of the Ecliptic. (This is not to be confused with the date for the astrological "Sign" of Sagittarius. See my previous essay Crossover & The Drifting Zodiac, which many of you have already received and which will be available at my website in August 2007.) The Galactic Center is located in the "Dark Rift" of the Constellation of Sagittarius, along the so-called "Milky Way" or "Equator" of the Galaxy, a few degrees into the Constellation of Sagittarius. In 2007 the Sun will go into alignment with the Galactic Center on about December 21. Then, about two weeks later, the Earth will move into its usual orbital perihelion in early January 2008.

Our orbital aphelion is aligned with Sirius, and our orbital perihelion is aligned with the Galactic Center, almost exactly opposite Sirius.

When our Sun is in conjunction with Sirius, the Sun's glare blocks our view of Sirius. Thus, for about three weeks on either side of July 3, we cannot see Sirius in the nighttime sky. As the Sun moves away from Sirius, the star reappears in the early morning dawn sky. This reappearance of Sirius is called the "heliacal rising" of Sirius, and this phenomenon was what was important to the Ancient Egyptians. This event would thus occur on about July 24, or perhaps a couple of days earlier than that. Since this essay is being written to be distributed on 21 July 2007, it more or less coincides with this year's heliacal rising of Sirius.

As of 5:11 AM today, 21 July 2007 (see below), in Texas time to me, the 11th Hour of Planet X's New Year's Eve ended, and its 12th Hour commenced. This 12th Hour will end at Nibiruan High Noon on 21 December 2007. (5 Earth Months = 1 Nibiruan Hour, 2.5 Earth Days = 1 Nibiruan Minute & 1 Earth Hour = 1 Nibiruan Second. See Chapter 17 of my book Osiris, Isis & Planet X : Chasing The Centuries [OIX] for further details.)

The Egyptian New Year began with the heliacal rising of Sirius. Traditional scholars would have us believe that this heliacal rising signalled the start of the annual Nile Flood, when rain-waters from the Ethiopian Highlands would fill the Blue Nile River and eventually flood the Egyptian riverbank agricultural areas hundreds of miles downstream. Yes, that meteorological phenomenon does indeed happen every July, but it does not necessarily and automatically coincide with the heliacal rising of Sirius. I have lived in Ethiopia. Ethiopian rainy seasons are not on a predictable schedule, so this flooding could begin at any time in July. There is no "regularity" about the exact start of the rainy season. Other Egyptologists who have written about the "Sothis Period" as determined by the heliacal rising of Sirius/Sothis have also noted this same idea. There is "nothing new" in what I am writing here. Thus, the importance that the Egyptians placed upon the heliacal rising of Sirius ultimately was not intended to indicate the yearly flooding of the River Nile. Instead, it had to do with a regular, cyclical celestial event occurring with the early summer morning rising of the legendary Star Sirius or "Sothis" which was connected to the worship of the Goddess Isis.

With all that in mind, let us now return to the subject of Planet X Nibiru. We are informed by Enuma Elish (see below in connection with the discussion of Sitchin's new book) that Planet X Nibiru becomes visible to the naked eye in the "Station of Jupiter". This coordinates with the idea set forth by the late Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky in his landmark work Worlds In Collision that the "object" causing the devastation at the time of the Israelite Exodus from Egypt and the eruption of the volcanic Greek Island of Thera/Santorini came from the direction of Jupiter. Thus, we can draw the conclusion that when Planet X becomes visible, it will be in conjunction with Jupiter, making it appear to the ancients that it was "ejected" from the "Station of Jupiter". On the other side of the world, the Ancient Mayas recorded that this "object", which eventually makes its way along the celestial "Black Road" to its resting place atop the "Sacred Tree" of the north, arrives from the "Dark Rift" in Sagittarius, that is to say, from the direction of the Galactic Center. And (see Part II) Sagittarius is a southern constellation and fits the ancient assertions that the "Planet Of The Crossing" makes it first appearance from the south.

So we find ourselves as having two variables to consider when we contemplate the time and place for the Return, the Crossover, of Planet X Nibiru. It arrives from the "Station of Jupiter", and it arrives from the direction of the Galactic Center. To satisfy both these variables, then Jupiter would have to be aligned with the Galactic Center when Planet X arrives from Jupiter's "Station".

The Planet Jupiter will be moving into conjunction with the Galactic Center on about 21 December 2007, a few days after it enters the Constellation of Sagittarius: High Noon Nibiruan Time! Where is Jupiter right now? According to the daily "Skywatch" information provided by the University of Texas McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis (far West Texas) to The Dallas Morning News, on June 4 the Planet Jupiter lined up opposite the Sun all that week, rising in the east at sunset and remaining in view all night.

One orbit by Jupiter around the Sun requires 11.862 Earth Years, or 4,332.595 Earth Days.

11.872 X 365.25 = 4,332.595

Like all orbits, Jupiter's requires 360° to travel around the Sun.

4,332.595 / 360° = 12.035 Earth Days per Jovian orbital degree

Between June 4 and December 21 there are 200 days.

26 (left in June) + 31 + 31 + 30 + 31 + 30 + 21 (in December) = 200 days

From today, July 21, only 153 days remain until December 21.

153 / 12.035 = 12.713° movement by Jupiter through the Zodiac

Thus, as of today, Jupiter is about midway through the Constellation of Scorpius (probably in that short transit of Ophiuchus, which in astrology is normally included with Scorpio), inexorably moving towards Sagittarius and the Galactic Center. It has 12.713° left in its orbit this year before it moves into alignment with the Galactic Center.

This alignment on 21 December 2007 will fuse the two elements of the Sumerian and Mayan prophecies, prior to the projected Crossover of Planet X at the Mayan End-Time Date of 21 December 2012, exactly 3,600 years after the cataclysms that accompanied the Exodus and Santorini, as documented by Dr. Velikovsky in Part I of Worlds In Collision. And both these dates coincide with the Solstice, a moment that was highly significant to the builders of ancient monuments like Stonehenge, England. Jupiter will then remain in alignment with Sagittarius and thus the general vicinity of the Galactic Center until about 16 December 2008. This alignment of Jupiter with the Galactic Center will not occur again until about 2 November 2019, seven years after 2012.

30° Sagittarius X 12.035 Earth Days per Jovian Degree = 361.05 Earth Days

A year from now, the Planet Jupiter will still be aligned with the middle of Sagittarius, around the M22 globular cluster, from which direction on 29 June 2001 NASA announced the discovery of a pack of microlensing wandering "rogue planets". Was that cryptic announcement from NASA, which was never repeated again or followed up on at least in public (google for more info if you like), an allusion to Planet X Nibiru and its "Host" of "rogue planets"? We shall see. For more discussion of M22 and "rogue planets" in general, see Chapter 11 ("Rogue Planet Crossings") of my 2004 book Planet X Nibiru : Slow-Motion Doomsday [SMD].

As now, after one more year, the Sun will again be aligned with the general vicinity of Sirius, approaching its "rising" in the morning sky, opposite Sagittarius; and Jupiter will again be rising in the east at sunset. Will next July's heliacal rising of Sirius signal that Planet X Nibiru is about to "decloak" in the vicinity of Jupiter as it passes the Galactic Center? Again, we shall see.

"My cloak I shed in the light of my reflection. My grand entrance I make after the serpent appears. Then they will know me." Old Greek Samian Riddle

Thus, considering all of the variables involved in my Crossover scenario, we can pinpoint the next 12 months as being extremely critical in Nibiruan Crossover chronology. And the fact that this may start occurring at High Noon on Planet X (21 December 2007), exactly five Earth Years ahead of 21 December 2012, is most intriguing, to me at least.

Now please let me play the Devil's Advocate for a moment. As much as I dislike doing this, I feel that it is necessary. After all, truth itself is necessary. People might ask: what if nothing happens between now and the end of 2008? That may simply mean that a conjunction of Jupiter with the Galactic Center is not an automatic condition for the Crossover framework. We shall still be within the period before the Mayan End-Time Date of 2012, and no conclusion about it should be drawn prematurely.

What will happen if 2012 comes and goes and there is still no sighting of Planet X Nibiru? In that case, we should perhaps allow the process a few more years to play itself out, until Jupiter once again comes into conjunction with the Galactic Center in 2019-2020. If Crossover is a bit "late" and doesn't occur until after 2012 but in or before 2020, it would be easy enough to bring Exodus/Santorini down by about 8 years to accommodate this chronology. There is enough "leeway" within the Hebrew history to allow for this slight adjustment.

However, after 2020, as each year passes, it will soon become impossible to further adjust the Hebrew chronology and along with it to bring the Santorini Cataclysm forwards. At some point in the 2020s, if nothing has happened, then the conclusion will be forced that whatever happened during the two cataclysmic periods discussed by Dr. Velikovsky in Worlds In Collision had nothing to do with Planet X. And since some of us never completely agreed with Dr. Velikovsky that these times of chaos and catastrophe were caused first by Venus and later by Mars, if they were also not caused by the arrival and departure of Planet X, then we shall be forever left with the enduring mystery of what exactly did cause these cataclysms! Dr. Velikovsky himself believed that these events were totally random and were not connected to repetitive "cycles" of catastrophe, so perhaps he may have been right. We shall simply have to wait and see as the next 20 years unfold.

What if 2020 comes and goes, and still there is no sighting of Planet X Nibiru? By that point I shall be 78 years old and be glad to "give up" on all of this. My predictions will have clearly come to naught. Then we "LuLus" (as the Nibiruans refer to us) shall have to wait another 1,024 years until 3044 CE, which is Sitchin's predicted time as derived from his last "Return" date of 19 May 556 BCE in his book The End Of Days. See Part II below.

What if 3044 CE comes and goes, and still there is no sighting of Planet X Nibiru? In his book Dark Star, The Planet X Evidence (which I have reviewed in Appendix A of OIX), Andy Lloyd of England has proposed that the last Crossover of Planet X manifested its visibility as the so-called "Christmas Star" which appeared at the time of the birth of the Hebrew Jesus Christ in 3 BCE. In Andy's scenario the next Return would occur in about 3597 CE.

And finally, what if 3597 CE comes and goes, yet still nothing has happened? It would be absurd and pointless for us to speculate about that. A thousand years from now, certainly 1,600 years from now, no one alive at that time will remember any of us; and our collective books will have long ago disappeared into the dustbin of history, so what difference will any of this make? We would be vain to think otherwise!

However! I have been researching and writing about these matters for almost 35 years. I consider myself to be one of the world's leading authorities on Planet X and The Cosmic Tree (regarding which, apparently, I am the only world authority!), as well as the chronology of the ancient Middle East, and I firmly believe that we are on the brink of the next Crossover. There are just too many "omens" converging at present, indicating that the time is nigh. In fact, why else would an American President continue to pursue an obviously lost war in Sumer & Akkad if it were not to establish the military presence of the world's premier space power in the "land of the gods"? Even Sitchin indicates, as quoted below, that those in control of the land of the original space facilities (Eden and Sippar) will be "favored" by the Gods on their Return. In Enuma Elish we read that at the time of Crossover, the King of Akkad will prosper! And who is the "King of Akkad" at present? None other than U.S. President George W. Bush, son of former President George H.W. Bush, the cohort of Queen Elizabeth II and others in their "secret cabal" that convenes at Windsor Castle. In Prelude To Crossover I have discussed the involvement of the Bush Administration and the Queen with respect to the impending Crossover of Planet X and shall not go into all of that again here. If any reader would wish to know more about this, the reader can find this essay at my website after 1 August 2007.

Such being the present situation facing us, then I suggest that each of you start immediately to stock up on food, water, batteries, candles, and other essentials to get through the days and weeks of darkness and chaos that will accompany the onset of Crossover. And I would suggest that you store a minimum two-months' supply of food and water for each person. I have discussed these possibilities in great detail in Chapter 1 ("Doomsday, Then & Now") of SMD. If you are careful to stock up on items that you can use anyway, if they are not required by an emergency, this canned food, water and other items will last for years and not end up as a "waste" of money. As that old adage reminds us, better safe than sorry!

In all the ancient traditions and tales about this horrific event, there is a common theme that once it starts, with little advance fanfare, it proceeds quite rapidly. The "celestial trumpet" will sound, and all hell will break loose. To paraphrase The Bible, "The Lord will come like a thief in the night!" One hopes that in our modern age of computer technology, we shall have more warning than in earlier epochs and thus additional time to prepare. But don't count on it. We don't want to be caught up, off-guard, in that inevitable, mad frenzy of last-minute emergency shoppers and even looters! Be prepared!

"NASA held a press conference last week to make a rather strange announcement, that an eccentric 10th planet may - or may not - be orbiting the Sun. But unnoticed went the fact that the news conference was called under the auspices of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Ames Research Center, and NASA headquarters in Washington. This meant that whatever had to become known bore the stamp of approval of the topmost space authorities. The message was hidden in a final comment by Dr. Anderson. Asked when Planet X would be found, he said, 'I wouldn't be surprised if it is found in 100 years, or it may be never found ... and I wouldn't be surprised if it's found next week.'" Newsweek Magazine, 13 July 1987

That is fairly old news, but it came to my attention as I was preparing this treatise. More information about Dr. John Anderson and several news articles from the 1980s can be found at this excellent summary page regarding Planet X.

http://www.halexandria.org/dward236.htm

Also, earlier this week I was informed of another new book about Planet X Nibiru: The Return Of Planet-X : Wormwood by Jason Q. Rand. Here is what Amazon.com has to say about this book:

"The Return of Planet-X is an educational, informational source examining all aspects of this controversial subject including the record of X's Ancient Science of Prophecy, its Phantom Astronomy, Forbidden Archaeology and the Signs Of Its Approach. This book examines the history and prophecy of Earth's many cultures throughout the millennia and their voluminous references to the reality of X's periodic passages. The most current hypothesis used to examine X's next return through the solar system centers around the fact that X's extended orbit (approximately every 3,600 years - first passing through the solar system then back out again), suggests that its 'destructive cycle' occurs in two phases. The 'first phase' begins with X's initial pass-through in 2009 separated by three years until its 'second phase'. This passage marks X's return leg back into deep space, beginning again its 3,600-year-long trek through the heavens. X's last return visit through the solar system most likely coincided with the Hebrews' Exodus from Egypt estimated around 1447 BC - roughly 3,459 years ago. Did God somehow come to Moses' aid by staging a cosmic event that no one today understands? The Mayan Celestial Calendar Codex inexplicably ends 21 December 2012. According to ancient Mayan cosmology, 'time' as we know it on Earth will reach its climax on that date. Written across the scroll of time and space, the author believes Planet-X will first return in 2009 and again in 2012. X's power is real. Its story is forever. Its time is soon.

"Dr. Jason Q. Rand received his Honorary Ph.D. in the field of Energy Informative Sciences at the Academy of Energy Informative Sciences through Moscow University, Russia. His contributions in the study and pursuit of Extraterrestrial Communications, research into UFO phenomena, cosmology, and his representing the United States at The First World UFO Congress (Tucson, AZ, 1991), earned him distinctive recognition and his Doctorate from the Russian Academy of Sciences. In support of Rand's creative writing projects based on his Planet-X education and entertainment concepts, he's written three teleplays designed as television pilots for weekly series or adaptation to feature films. He travels widely, establishing close ties with his fellow UFOlogists and paranormal researchers worldwide and especially in Russia where Rand has close ties to Lt. Col. Marina Popovich and her former husband, 3-Star Army General Pavel Popovich."

Unfortunately, I did not have time to read this book in advance of completing this treatise, although I certainly intend to do so promptly and am looking forwards to it. Yes indeed, "its time is soon!" Rob Solàrion

"There is another Sun in the sky, a Demon Sun that we cannot see. Long ago, even before great-grandmother's time, the Demon Sun attacked our Sun. Comets fell, and a terrible winter overtook the Earth. Almost all life was destroyed. The Demon Sun has attacked many times before. It will attack again." American Indian Legend, Quoted By The Late Dr. Carl Sagan, Cornell University

II. The End Of Days

Following are some personal comments about the latest book (April 2007) by Zecharia Sitchin, The End Of Days. What I find absolutely appalling about Sitchin's writings is the abject absence of any reference to Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky by name, or the citation of any of Dr. Velikovsky's works. Unless Sitchin has an ulterior motive for avoiding all reference to Dr. Velikovsky, then, as curious as it may seem to be to think it, Sitchin is simply oblivious to the very existence of Dr. Velikovsky. Dr. Velikovsky and Zecharia Sitchin were both Russians by birth, both Jews, both lived in Israel, both eventually moved to the NYC metropolitan area, and both wrote about "cataclysms" in ancient history. So, you cannot tell me that Zecharia Sitchin never heard of Dr. Velikovsky!

But nowhere in all his discussion of history does Sitchin pause to write something like this: "Oh, and incidentally, yes, I am indeed familiar with the historical reconstruction presented by Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky in his Ages In Chaos series; but I reject those ideas and shall adhere to the traditional chronology." Consequently, most of Sitchin's dates are incorrect, and this in turn affects the accuracy of his interpretations of events connected to Planet X Nibiru. It was difficult even for me to sort out some of Sitchin's chronology in The End Of Days, so the ordinary reader of Sitchin's book, even his die-hard fans, will probably be quite confused by some of this material. Overall, however, Sitchin presents an excellent sequence of events in the history of Planet X; only his dating is flawed.

Throughout all ten of his books, Zecharia Sitchin repeatedly refers to the Sumerian word DUR.AN.KI which means "Bond.Heaven.Earth". He defines this word to mean the Nibiruan Spaceport facilities where gods and goddesses travelled to and from their "home world" and the Earth. I think that Sitchin has misinterpreted the meaning of this. DUR.AN.KI undoubtedly refers to the electromagnetic tethering beam linking Earth's North Magnetic Pole (positive) to Nibiru's South Magnetic Pole (negative): "The Golden Pole with the Golden Cage on Top"; "Bifrost, Rainbow Bridge to Asgard" (Heaven); "Nail of the North"; "The Totem Pole" with "Thunderbird" on top; The Cosmic Tree!

Sitchin's date of 2160 BCE for the start of the Age of Aries is completely wrong. The Age of Aries commenced in 1588 BCE, at the time of the last Crossover (Passover) of Planet X. See my previous Crossover & The Drifting Zodiac. I stand by every word and calculation in that essay.

Now, subtract 1588 from 2160 and you get a period of 572 years. That is coincidental with the Velikovskian 600-year period of historical duplication or "ghost correlation"! See Chapter 18 of my book Osiris, Isis & Planet X : Chasing The Centuries. Clearly Sitchin had not read or did not believe what Dr. Velikovsky wrote in his Ages In Chaos series. And Sitchin divides the Zodiac into 12 equal parts of 2,160 years for each "age" of the Zodiac. 2,160 X 12 = 25,920. So his number of years is conveniently one exact age between 2160 BCE and 0 BCE/CE. If his intent is to compare the Age of Aries in 2160 BCE with the Messianic time of "Jesus Christ" at year 0, and then add another "Age of Pisces" (Christian fish symbol) of 2,160 years to that, then Sitchin's next "end-time" date (or change of "age") would fall in 2160 CE, about 150 years from now. This is poor math on Sitchin's part, and it contradicts even his own Crossover scenario of 556 BCE and 3044 CE.

And Sitchin completely incorrectly dates the era of the Egyptian Papyrus Ipuwer, failing to note that its content is an Egyptian rendition of the Biblical history of the Israelite Exodus from Egypt. Sitchin's ideas make sense ONLY if you pull his general chronology forwards in time by 600 years! It would be practically impossible to refute Dr. Velikovsky's analysis of the Papyrus Ipuwer; and the correlation of that papyrus from the end of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom with the Exodus automatically links the two events together, forcing all of the subsequent Egyptian chronological changes so minutely detailed by Dr. Velikovsky. As I have often mentioned before, Dr. Velikovsky will ultimately be remembered more for his historical reconstruction than for his astronomy.

Here's a bit of "esoteric" commentary on Sitchin's Chapter Two. Sitchin writes that Sargon I of Akkad was a demigod, whose mother was Nibiruan Princess-Royal Inanna in the disguise of an Akkadian priestess. She installed Sargon I as ruler of Akkad, a country newly established for this purpose. Think of Akkad as modern-day Kurdistan in northern Iraq, the area formerly known as Assyria (which extended west and included Tyana, Cappadocia). Assyrian Empress Semiramis, who founded Tyana (Tuvananna) in about 850 BCE, was a descendant of Sargon I. Sitchin dates the rise of Sargon I at about 2360 BCE, a rather traditional sort of year.

Now, if you look on page 401 of my Osiris, Isis & Planet X, you'll see that I have dated Sargon I at 1100 BCE, an apparent discrepancy of 1,260 years. As Dr. Velikovsky has demonstrated and as I have mathematically proven to be correct, the histories of certain parts of the Middle East, notably Egypt, are duplicated by a period of about 600 years. But in the case of Assyria and Babylonia (and I am the only one who considers this!), some of these periods of history are triplicated; and if you count the Hittites, they are quadruplicated. Thus, I have brought Sargon I down by two periods of about 600 years from Sitchin's traditional date of 2360 to my Velikovskian reconstructed date of 1100.

NOTA BENE: If the last Crossover of Planet X was in 1588 BCE, and if the "gods" are active here on Earth only during the 900 years of The Cosmic Tree and subsequently depart for 2,700 years, then theoretically they were not here in 2370 BCE, as Sitchin proposes. They left the previous time (before 687 BCE) in 4287 BCE. However, if Sargon I is brought down by two periods of Assyrian duplication or "ghost correlation", then his reign falls within the last "golden age of the gods" from 1587 till 687 BCE. Sitchin and I could have a most fascinating discussion about this, and I formally challenge him to debate me!

Also, on page 399 of OIX, you'll find that I dated Naram-Sin in Chaldea at 1482 BCE, prior to the founding of Assyria. Sitchin writes that Naram-Sin was the grandson of Sargon I, and his reign came to an end in about 2260 BCE. So it could well be that I have misplaced Naram-Sin in my own synchronology and that he should follow my placement of Sargon I in 1100. Thinking back 28 years, I am not quite sure exactly how I came to that conclusion about Naram-Sin; but if you have ever tried to work with the complex and interconnected "kings lists" of Babylonia & Assyria (Sumer & Akkad), you will understand what a complicated chore it can be, especially when you know in advance that the history has to be broken apart into sections at several places, with these sections then moved to "duplicate" other sections. There are a lot of variables and details which factor into this; but conveniently in a lot of cases, there are already short "dark ages" during which the chronology becomes obscure. Usually the presence of a "dark age" will indicate the exact point at which a section of history can be removed and reshuffled. All of this, of course, is complete heresy to traditionalists. If I were to suggest to an Assyriologist that he should consider triplicating parts of that history, he would look at me as if I'd lost my mind.

Here are some direct quotes from The End Of Days with my comments interspersed. The italic and bold type faces in Sitchin's text are his. Rob Solàrion

Pages 199-223 (Excerpts)

The changes in Assyria [compared to Babylonia, RS] were more geopolitical; historians consider the time - circa 960 B.C.E. - as the start of the Neo-Assyrian Imperial period. [This should actually be a date of about 1050 BCE. See Chapter 18 of my book OIX. RS] In addition to inscriptions on monuments and palace walls, the main source of information about Assyria in those days is the annals of its kings, in which they recorded what they did, year by year. Judging by that, their main occupation was Conquest. With unparalleled ferocity, its kings set out on one military campaign after another not only to have dominion over the old Sumer & Akkad, but also over what they deemed essential for the Return: Control of the space-related sites.

That this was the purpose of the campaigns is evident not only from their targets, but also from the grand stone reliefs on the walls of Assyrian palaces from the ninth and eighth centuries B.C.E. (which one can see in some of the world's leading museums); as on some cylinder seals, they show the king and the high priest, accompanied by winged Cherubim - Anunnaki "astronauts" - flanking the Tree of Life as they welcome the coming of the god in the Winged Disc. A divine arrival was clearly expected!

Historians connect the start of this Neo-Assyrian period to the establishment of a new royal dynasty in Assyria, when Tiglath-Pileser II ascended the throne in Nineveh. ...

[COMMENT: According to my chronology in Chapter 18 of OIX mentioned above, Tiglath-Pileser II ascended to the throne of Assyria in the year 980 BCE, which is fairly close to Sitchin's date of 960 BCE. Thus, in general from here on down through the chronologies of Assyria and Babylonia, Sitchin and I usually agree on the dates. In the 9th and 8th Centuries BCE, the Tree of Life with the Winged Disk on top, was still in place above our North Pole - Hyperborea, or "the land beyond the mountains where the North Wind rises". Thus, Sitchin's assertion that the Assyrians were anticipating a Return of the Tree of Life and Winged Disk is absurd. The last departure sequence, not arrival sequence, occurred during the years 762-687 BCE. RS]

The task of capturing the remaining space-related site fell to Sargon's successor [referring here to Sargon II, not I, RS], Sennacherib. The assault on Jerusalem in 704 B.C.E., at the time of its King Hezekiah, is amply recorded both in Sennacherib's annals and in the Bible. But while Sennacherib in his inscriptions spoke just of the successful seizing of Judean provincial cities, the Bible provides a detailed tale of the siege of Jerusalem by a mighty Assyrian army that was miraculously wiped out by Yahweh's will.

Encircling Jerusalem and entrapping its people, the Assyrians engaged in psychological warfare by shouting discouraging words to the defenders on the city's walls, ending with vilification of Yahweh. The shocked king, Hezekiah, tore his clothes in mourning and prayed in the Temple to "Yahweh, the God of Israel, who rests upon the Cherubim, the sole God upon all the nations", for help. In response, the Prophet Isaiah conveyed to him God's oracle; the Assyrian king shall never enter the city, he will return home in failure, and there he will be assassinated.

"And it came to pass that night that the Angel of Yahweh went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty five thousand. And at sunrise, lo and behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, departed and journeyed back to his abode in Nineveh." 2 Kings 19:35-36 ...

[COMMENT: Dr. Velikovsky discussed this event at great length in the second half of his book Worlds In Collision. Although Dr. Velikovsky couches these catastrophes in terms of close encounters of Earth with the Planet Mars, clearly these events were related to the departure sequence of The Cosmic Tree. The "planet in question" made several "fly-bys" of Earth in 15-year intervals starting on 15 June 762 BCE and ending with the destruction of Sennacherib's army on 23 March 687 BCE. See Part II, Chapter 2, of Worlds In Collision. This event marked the final and last departure of the Gods of Planet X Nibiru from our Solar System. RS]

The Bible speaks of prophets from Moses on, but only fifteen of them have their own books in the Bible. They include the three "majors" - Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel - and twelve "minors". Their prophetic period began with Amos in Judea (circa 760 B.C.E.) and Hosea in Israel (750 B.C.E) and ended with Malachi (circa 450 B.C.E.). As expectations of the Return took shape, geopolitics, religion, and actual happenings combined to serve as the foundation of biblical Prophecy. ...

[COMMENT: It is puzzling to me why Sitchin put the date of 760 BCE in bold type. The Vision of Amos occurred in 764 BCE, two years before "The Great Eclipse" of 15 June 762 BCE, a date that is well established by both history and astronomy. However, Sitchin makes no reference to it. On that date, The Cosmic Tree began to "dissolve" (that is, the electromagnetic "tethering beam" from Earth's North Pole to Nibiru's South Pole began to "loosen its grip" allowing the two planets to separate from one another). Then, propelled by forces as yet not understood, Planet X Nibiru looped around the Sun and Earth 5 times, in intervals of 15 years, gaining "slingshot" momentum for its return to its orbital aphelion. 762 - 687 = 5 X 15. Everyone alive during that time would have witnessed these events and known with certainty that "The Golden Age" of the Gods was coming to an end and that these Gods, along with their "Heaven", were leaving. They would also have known that at some point in the future, these Gods and their world would return to Earth, as they've "always" done. Thus, speculations and expectations of this Return would have started immediately and continued on through Malachi in 450 BCE, and even into our own time. RS]

The arrival of Nibiru and the celestial collision, leading to Nibiru's great orbital circuit, were celebrated in the majestic Psalm 19:

"The heavens bespeak the glory of the Lord; the Hammered Bracelet proclaims his handiwork. ... He comes forth as a groom from the canopy; like an athlete he rejoices to run the course. From the end of the heavens he emanates, and his circuit is to their end."

[COMMENT: Psalms were written by King David, his poems, if you will. King David ruled for 40 years during 1035-995 BCE, when The Cosmic Tree was in place. King David saw The Cosmic Tree with his very own eyes, as did every other monarch from 1587-687 BCE, a period of 900 Earth Years, or 1 Nibiruan Season. David didn't actually witness the previous arrival of Planet X, but certainly he'd heard legends about it. It wasn't something that people would've neglected to bequeath to subsequent generations. This knowledge has been passed along, time and again, and is still known today, as the reader can well appreciate from just this single treatise! RS]

It was the nearing of the Celestial Lord at the time of the Deluge [of Noah, that is, the prior Crossover of Planet X Nibiru in 5187 BCE, RS] that was held to be the forerunner of what will happen next time the celestial Lord will return (Psalm 77:6, 17-19):

"I shall recall the Lord's deeds, remember thine wonders in antiquity. ... The waters saw thee, O Lord, and shuddered. Thine splitting sparks went forth; lightnings lit up the world. The sound of thine thunder was rolling; the Earth was agitated and it quaked."

The Prophets considered those earlier phenomena as the guide for what to expect. They expected the Day of the Lord (to quote the Prophet Joel) to be a day when "the Earth shall be agitated, Sun and Moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withhold their shining ... A day that is great and terrifying." ...

The Prophets brought the word of Yahweh to Israel and all nations over a period of about three centuries. The earliest of the fifteen Literary Prophets was Amos; he began to be God's spokesman ("Nabih") circa 760 B.C.E. His prophecies covered three periods or phases: he predicted the Assyrian assault in the near future, a coming Day of Judgment, and an Endtime of peace and plenty. Speaking in the name of "the Lord Yahweh who reveals His secrets to the Prophets", he described the Day of the Lord as a day when "the Sun shall set at noon and Earth shall darken in the midst of daytime". Addressing those who worship the "planets and star of their gods", he compared the coming Day to the events of the Deluge, when "the day darkened as night, and the waters of the seas pour upon the earth"; and he warned those worshippers with a rhetorical question (Amos 5:18):

"Woe unto you that desire the Day of the Lord! To what end is it for you? For the Day of the Lord is darkness and no light."

[COMMENT: Amos wrote his prophecy two years before "The Great Earthquake", which occurred during the Solar Eclipse of 15 June 762 BCE. This is undisputed fact. Thus, Amos was not anticipating the arrival of Planet X Nibiru but the impending departure of The Cosmic Tree, a sort of "mini" Day of the Lord, since clearly from history the arrival sequence is much more devastating than the departure sequence. Sitchin, despite all that he has contributed to this field of Nibiruology, simply has misinterpreted these events, because Sitchin is following a traditional historical time-table that is inaccurate in the first place. I never cease to be amazed at Sitchin's "indifference" to Dr. Velikovsky! And again I ask, why did Sitchin use bold-face type for the date of 760 BCE? RS]

A half-century later [by Sitchin's chronology, in about 710 BCE, RS], the Prophet Isaiah linked the prophecies of the "Day of the Lord" to a specific geographical site, to the "Mount of the Appointed Time", the place "on the northern slopes", and had this to say to the king who had set himself up on it: "Behold, the Day of the Lord cometh with pitiless fury and wrath, to lay the earth desolate and destroy the sinners upon it." He, too, compared what is about to happen to the Deluge, recalling the time when the "Lord came as a destroying tempest of mighty waves", and described (Isaiah 13:10,13) the coming Day as a celestial occurrence that will affect the Earth:

"The stars of heaven and its constellations shall not give their light; the Sun shall be darkened at its rising and the Moon shall not shine its light. ... The heavens shall be agitated and the Earth in its place will be shaken; when the Lord of Hosts shall be crossing on the day of his wrath."

[COMMENT: This idea of "the northern slopes" clearly refers to the fact that Planet X Nibiru is stationed above our North Pole as The Cosmic Tree for one "season" of each Nibiruan year, or "Shar" ("Sar"). By the time that Isaiah wrote his prophecy, The Cosmic Tree per se had already been dissolved; and Planet X was circling about the Sun and Earth, gaining slingshot momentum for its ultimate journey back to aphelion. From the first "Passover" in the spring of 1587 BCE until the destruction of the Assyrian Army in the spring of 687 BCE was a period of exactly 900 Earth Years, one "Season" on Planet X! RS]

Most noticeable in this prophecy is the identification of the Day of the Lord as the time when "the Lord of Hosts" - the celestial, the planetary lord - "shall be crossing." This is the very language used in Enuma elish when it describes how the invader that battled Tiamat came to be called NIBIRU: "Crossing shall be its name!"

[COMMENT: After Planet X Nibiru was first captured by our Solar System, during one of its early stabilization orbits about 500,000 years ago, one of its moonlets crashed into what is now our Pacific Ocean. The Nibiruans refer to Earth as "Tiamat" and this collision as a "celestial battle". Debris from the collision formed the Asteroid Belt, referred to above as a "Hammered Bracelet". All of this is discussed at great length by Sitchin in several of his books. RS]

Following Isaiah, the Prophet Hosea also foresaw the Day of the Lord as a day when Heaven and Earth shall "respond" to each other - a day of celestial phenomena resonating on Earth.

[COMMENT: This idea that they "respond" to each other may be an allusion to the electromagnetic tether beam that forms between Earth's North Pole and Nibiru's South Pole, during a close encounter of the two (perhaps at a distance of about 60,000 miles/100,000 kilometers). This sudden magnetic attraction slows Planet X Nibiru to a stop, tethering it for 900 years to our North Pole. On the other hand, as I have been careful to state elsewhere in my writings, what tethers to our North Pole may be a sort of gigantic Mother-Ship, which Sitchin mentions in some of his earliest books. Nevertheless, whatever is tethered as "Hyperborea" is large enough to be considered as "another world" by those on Earth, a super-technological abode of the gods. RS]

As we continue to examine the prophecies chronologically, we find that in the seventh century B.C.E. the prophetic pronouncements became more urgent and more explicit: the Day of the Lord shall be a Day of Judgment upon the nations, Israel included, but primarily upon Assyria for what it has done and upon Babylon for what it will do, and the Day is approaching, it is near -

"The great Day of the Lord is approaching - It is near! The sound of the Lord's Day hastest greatly. A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of calamity and desolation, a day of darkness and deep gloom, a day of clouds and thick mist." Zephania, 1:14-15

Just before 600 B.C.E. the Prophet Habakkuk prayed to the "God who in the nearing years is coming," and who shall show mercy in spite of His wrath. Habakkuk described the expected celestial Lord as a radiant planet - the very manner in which Nibiru was depicted in Sumer & Akkad. It shall appear, the Prophet said, from the southern skies:

"The Lord from the south shall come ... covered are the heavens with his halo, His splendor fills the Earth. His rays shine forth from where his power is concealed. The Word goes before him, sparks emanate from below. He pauses to measure the Earth; He is seen, and the nations tremble." Habakkuk 3:3-6

The prophecies' urgency increased as the sixth century B.C.E. began. "The Day of the Lord is at hand!" the Prophet Joel announced; "The Day of the Lord is near!" the Prophet Obadiah declared. Circa 570 B.C.E the Prophet Ezekiel was given the following urgent divine message (Ezekiel 30:2-3):

"Son of Man, prophesy and say: Thus sayeth the Lord God: Howl and bewail for the Day! For the Day is near - the Day of the Lord is near!" ...

[COMMENT: Immediately following the fifth departure slingshot orbit by Planet X around the Earth and Sun in 687 BCE, the planet quickly resumed its pathway back towards Jupiter, Saturn and beyond into aphelial invisibility. Certainly by the year 685 BCE, it could be seen no more; and those on Earth would feel as if they had been "abandoned" by their Gods. They would know from legends that this Heaven of the Gods would someday return, and they would be anxious for it to happen again, sooner rather than later. But they understood nothing of the astronomy and science of this cycle, so they soon began prophesying incorrectly that the next Day of the Lord was nigh, which prophecy still exists today. The Christian Cross has replaced the Totem Pole, the Winged Disk and the Celestial Thunderbird as the "modern" symbol of The Cosmic Tree. RS]

In anticipation of the great event, the cadres of priests observing the skies in Nineveh and Babylon were mobilized to note celestial phenomena and interpret their omens. The phenomena were meticulously recorded and reported to the kings. Archaeologists have found in the remains of royal and temple libraries tablets with those records and reports that in many instances were arranged according to subject or the planet they were observing. ...

At first the observations were interpreted by comparing the phenomena to astronomical records from Sumerian times. Though written in Akkadian (Babylon's and Assyria's language), the observational reports extensively used Sumerian terminology and mathematics and sometimes included a scribal note that they were translated from earlier Sumerian tablets. Such tablets served as "astronomers' manuals", telling them from past experience what a phenomenon's oracular meaning was:

"When the Moon in its calculated time is not seen: There will be an invasion of a mighty city. When a comet reaches the path of the Sun: Field-flow will be diminished, an uproar will happen twice. When Jupiter goes with Venus: The prayers of the land will reach the gods." ...

And so, by the seventh century B.C.E. [that is, the 600s BCE, RS], Assyria was ready for the anticipated Return of the planet of the gods. Discovered texts - including letters to the kings by their chief astronomers - reveal anticipation of an idyllic, utopian time:

"When Nibiru will culminate ... The lands will dwell securely. Hostile kings will be at peace: the Gods will receive prayers and hear supplications. When the Planet of the Throne of Heaven will grow brighter, there will be floods and rains. When Nibiru attains its perigee, the gods will give peace. Troubles will be cleared up; complications will be unravelled."

[COMMENT: Note the use of the word "perigee" here. It would seem that the word should be "perihelion", and this may be merely due to inadvertent misuse of the word by a non-astronomer. "Perihelion" refers to a planet's closest approach to the Sun ("helion"), whereas "perigee" is used to describe our Moon's closest approach to Earth ("gee"). So if Nibiru attains a "perigee" with Earth, that might well refer to its reaching its stationary point of "Hyperborea" above our North Pole. RS]

Clearly, the expectation was of a planet that will appear, rise in the skies, grow brighter, and at its perigee, at the Crossing, become NIBIRU (the Cross Planet), and as the gateway and other construction indicated, with the returning planet a repeat of the previous visit to Earth by Anu was expected. It was now up to the astronomer-priests to watch the heavens for that planetary appearance; but where were they to look in the celestial expanse, and how would they recognize the planet when still in the distant skies? ...

Among the purely astronomical texts translated and, undoubtedly, carefully studied, were guidelines for observing Nibiru's arrival and for recognizing it on its appearance. A Babylonian text that retained the original Sumerian terminology stated:

"Planet of the god Marduk: Upon its appearance SHUL.PA.E; Rising thirty degrees, SAG.ME.NIG; When it stands in the middle of the sky: NIBIRU!"

While the first-named planet (SHUL.PA.E) is deemed to be Jupiter (but could be Saturn), the next one's name (SAG.ME.NIG) could just be a variant for Jupiter, but is considered by some to be Mercury. A similar text from Nippur, rendering the Sumerian planetary names as UMUN.PA.UD.DU and SAG.ME.GAR, suggested that the arrival of Nibiru will be "announced" by the planet Saturn, and after rising 30 degrees will be near Jupiter. Other texts (e.g., a tablet known as K.3124) state that after passing SHUL.PA.E and SAG.ME.GAR - which I believe mean Saturn and Jupiter - "Planet Marduk" will "enter the Sun" (i.e., reach Perigee, closest to the Sun) and "become Nibiru".

[COMMENT: Here, Sitchin himself is confusing "perigee" with "perihelion", and I am a bit surprised to see it. RS]

Other texts provide clearer clues in regard to Nibiru's path, as well as to the time frame for its appearance: "From the station of Jupiter, the planet passes toward the west. From the station of Jupiter the planet increases its brilliance, and in the zodiac of Cancer will become Nibiru. The great planet: at his appearance: Dark red. The heaven he divides in half as it stands in Nibiru." ...

[COMMENT: The preceding bold type was added by me. Clearly Planet X Nibiru will become visible in the "Station of Jupiter" meaning from the direction of the Planet Jupiter. By "the heaven he divides in half as it stands in Nibiru" could well be implied that once Nibiru is tethered to our North Pole by its electromagnetic beam, at a distance of about 60,000 miles, the "Golden Pole" itself, the "Nail of the North", seems to "divide" the heaven into an eastern section and a western section, with Nibiru positioned at the "center" of the sky, precisely aligned with the North Star Polaris. RS]

Such clues regarding the orbital path of the Celestial Lord and its reappearance, sometimes using the constellations as a celestial map, are also found in biblical passages, thereby revealing knowledge that must have been internationally available:

"In Jupiter will thy face be seen," states Psalm 17. "The Lord from the south shall come ... his shining splendor will beam as light," predicted the prophet Habakkuk (Chapter 2). "Alone he stretches out the heavens and treads upon the highest Deep; he arrives at the Great Bear, Sirius and Orion, and the constellations of the south," The Book of Job (Chapter 9) states; and the Prophet Amos (5:9) foresaw the Celestial Lord "smiling his face upon Taurus and Aries, from Taurus to Sagittarius he shall go." These verses described a planet that spans the highest heavens and, orbiting clockwise - "retrograde," astronomers say - arrives via the southern constellations. It is a trajectory, on a vaster scale, akin to that of Halley's comet. ...

[COMMENT: Note the mention of the Constellation of the Great Bear. The Great Bear is the Big Dipper, one of the northernmost Constellations. Elsewhere in other traditions there are also references to the Great Bear in connection with Planet X Nibiru and The Cosmic Tree. The Celestial Bird nested in the branches of The Sacred Tree near The Great Bear, for example. When Planet X Nibiru is stationary above our North Pole, it will seem to conjoin the Big Dipper. Its size will probably occlude the entire Constellation of the Little Bear or Little Dipper. Even the ancient astronomers would not have been so ignorant of the Zodiac as to include the Great Bear in the usual ecliptical arrival path of other planets, unless they wanted to make an exception for Planet X. But not until we ourselves see it happen again shall we be able to chart its exact path to and from "Hyperborea". RS]

Uncannily foretelling the future of Babylon and other nations, the Prophet [Habakkuk] asked Yahweh when the Day of the Lord - a day of judgment upon the nations, Babylon included - would come, and Yahweh responded, saying:

"Write down the prophecy, explain it clearly on the tablets, so that it may be quickly read: For the vision there is a set time; in the end it shall come, without fail! Though it may tarry, wait for it; for it will surely come - for its appointed time it will not be delayed." Habakkuk 2:2-3

(The "appointed time", as we shall see, arrived precisely fifty years thereafter.)

[COMMENT: Sitchin then goes on to try to describe how Nibiru last returned and quickly left during a total Solar Eclipse on 19 May 556 BCE. Yes, there was indeed a Solar Eclipse over the Mediterranean region on that date; but if something so momentous as a Crossover of Planet X Nibiru had also occurred on that date, when the Gods abandoned Earth, we would have much more direct evidence about it in our records, because by the 550s BCE, numerous societies were keeping quite accurate and detailed historical accounts of solar eclipses. After all, 556 follows the renown Eclipse of Thales on 28 May 584 BCE, ending the Media-Lydia War, about which much is known. Moreover, 556 even contradicts Sitchin's proposition in his previous books that the last Crossover occurred around 160 BCE. Why has Sitchin moved the prior Return backwards in time by 400 years? And, needless to say, a mere solar eclipse is nothing so catastrophic as the prophets, who are cited by Sitchin, related, as, for example: "The heavens shall be agitated and the Earth in its place will be shaken." Nothing of that magnitude was recorded by anybody as having happened in 556. What was Sitchin thinking, for crying out loud? RS]

Pages 265-267

Mankind's recollection of landmark events in its past - "legends" or "myths" to most historians - includes tales deemed "universal" in that they have been part of the cultural or religious heritage of peoples all over the Earth. Tales of a First Human Couple, of a Deluge, or of gods who came from the heavens, belong to that category. So do tales of the gods' departure back to the heavens. ...

And so it was, by the middle of the first millennium B.C.E., in one part of the world after another, that Mankind found itself without its long-worshipped gods; and before long, the question (which has been asked by my readers) began to preoccupy Mankind: Will they return?

Like a family suddenly abandoned by its father, Mankind grasped for the hope of a Return; then, like an orphan needing help, Mankind cast about for a Savior. The prophets promised it will surely happen - at the End of Days.

[COMMENT: Yes, the gods left the Earth in the middle of the first millennium BCE, but their final departure occurred in 687 BCE, not 556 BCE. Regarding my question above, as to why Sitchin moved the last Return from 160 to 556 BCE, that point is discussed in his Chapter XV, Jerusalem: A Chalice Vanished, although no specific reason is ever given. In my opinion that entire chapter was completely irrelevant to Sitchin's book. The time of "The Jesus Christ" had nothing to do with the comings and goings of Planet X Nibiru or the shifting "ages" of The Drifting Zodiac. RS]

Pages 311-313

This cyclical element of the biblical Prophecies of the Return leads us to one current answer to the question of WHEN.

A cyclical revolving of historical time was found, the reader will recall, in Mesoamerica, resulting from the meshing, like gears of wheels, of two calendars, creating the "bundle" of 52 years, on the occurring of which - after an unspecified number of turns - Quetzalcoatl (alias Thoth/Ningishzidda) promised to return. And that introduces us to the so-called Mayan Prophecies, according to which the End of Days will come about in A.D. 2012.

The prospect that the prophesied crucial date is almost at hand has naturally attracted much interest, and merits explaining and analyzing. The claimed date arises from the fact that in that year (depending upon how one calculates) the time unit called Baktun will complete its thirteenth turn. Since a Baktun lasts 144,000 days, it is some kind of a milestone.

[COMMENT: The Mayan period for the Precession of the Equinoxes is evenly computed at 26,000 years, which is 80 years longer than the scientific period of exactly 25,920 years. As Sitchin correctly states, the Mayan Calendar was based around the number 52. 52 = 13 X 4. 26,000 = 13 X 2,000. 26,000 = 52 X 500. Other than providing those essential facts, the Mayan Calendar is far too complex for full analysis here, beyond what Sitchin has written. If the reader googles for the Mayan Calendar, you'll find literally thousands of websites with information, including John Major Jenkins' essay at mine. RS]

Some errors, or fallacious assumptions, in this scenario need to be pointed out. The first is that the Baktun belongs not to the two "meshing" calendars with the 52-year promise (the Haab and the Tzolkin), but to a third and much older calendar called The Long Count. It was introduced by the Olmecs - Africans who had come to Mesoamerica when Thoth was exiled from Egypt [See Sitchin's book The Lost Realms for details. RS] - and the count of days actually began with that event, so that Day One of the Long Count was in what we date as August 3113 B.C.E. Glyphs in that calendar represented the following sequence of units:

1 Kin = 1 day
1 Uinal = 1 Kin X 20 = 20 days
1 Tun = 1 Kin X 360 = 360 days
1 Katun = 1 Tun X 20 = 7,200 days
1 Baktun = 1 Katun X 20 = 144,000 days
1 Pictun = 1 Baktun X 20 = 2,880,000 days

These units, each a multiple of the previous one, thus continued beyond the Baktun with ever-increasing glyphs.

[COMMENT: Sitchin omits the Atautun, the longest period, from his table. If I recall correctly, the Atautun consists of 20 Pictuns; and at the end of each Atautun, the entire cycle repeats itself, starting with 0.0.0.0.0, much as what the odometer of an automobile would look like when turning over 100,000 miles. There will be just such a "rolling over" of cycles on 21 December 2012, on which day the cycle will be numbered 13.0.0.0.0. The next day, that is, 22 December 2012, will be Day 0.0.0.0.0 of a new Mayan calendrical cycle. And according to some researchers, 21 December 2012 also portends an end to an overall period of 26,000 years. The end of a 13th Baktun could easily mark the end of a single Atautun. RS]

But since Mayan monuments never reached beyond 12 Baktuns, whose 1,728,000 days were already beyond the Mayan existence, the 13th Baktun appears as a real milestone. Besides, Mayan lore purportedly held that the present "Sun" or Age would end with the 13th Baktun, so when its number of days (144,000 X 13 = 1,872,000) is divided by 365.25, it results in the passage of 5,125 years; when the B.C.E. 3113 is deducted, the result is the year A.D.2012.

This is an exciting as well as an ominous prediction. But that date has been challenged, already a century ago, by scholars (like Fritz Buck, El Calendario Maya en la Cultura de Tiahuanacu) who pointed out that as the above list indicates, the multiplier, and thus the divider, should be the calendar's own mathematically perfect 360 and not 365.25. That way the 1,872,000 days result in 5,200 years - a perfect result, because it represents exactly 100 "bundles" of Thoth's magical number 52. Thus calculated, Thoth's magical year of the Return would be A.D. 2087 (5200 - 3113 = 2087).

One could stand even that wait; the only fly in the ointment is that the Long Count is a linear time count, and not the required cyclical one, so that its counted days could roll on to the fourteenth Baktun and the fifteenth Baktun and on and on.

[COMMENT: Well, I must admit to some surprise here. Sitchin obviously doesn't completely understand the idea that at certain points in time the Mayan calendrical count reverts to 0.0.0.0.0, and that this is what will occur on the Mayan End-Time Date of 21 December 2012. As for the idea that we may need to wait an additional 75 years from 2012 until 2087, it is my understanding that since the Mayan Calendar is still in use today by Maya remnants in Guatemala, and is the same Mayan Calendar that was already in use when the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, its End-Time Date is clearly known with certainty by those who use this calendar; and it is only a matter of counting the number of remaining days between the present date and the End-Time Date to arrive at 21 December 2012. The "start date" of 3113 BCE was originally determined by working backwards from the End-Time Date of 2012 CE, not the other way around. There are absolutely no surviving records of Mayan history and astronomy from 3113 BCE. Thus, when Sitchin starts at 3113 BCE and works forwards, then Sitchin is merely going the other way from the original retroactive projection! That is Sitchin's flaw here. Sitchin should have added those 75 years to 3113 BCE, not 2012 CE! Moreover, using a date of 2087 for the Mayan End-Time would require that the period from the Exodus to King Saul be shortened by 75 years, which is a mathematical impossibility! The span of time from the Israelite Exodus and the Santorini Cataclysm in 1588-87 BCE, as described by Dr. Velikovsky in Worlds In Collision, until the traditionally established Mayan End-Time Date in 2012 CE is exactly 3,600 years or one "Shar" ("Sar"), orbit, of Planet X Nibiru. In conclusion, we don't have much longer to wait to find out the truth about these matters! Rob Solàrion]

III. Apocalypse 2012 : A Scientific Investigation Into Civilization's End

A fiery dragon will cross the sky
Six times before this Earth shall die.
Mankind will tremble and frightened be
For the sixth heralds in this prophecy.
For seven days and seven nights
Man will watch this awesome sight.
The tides will rise beyond their ken
To bite away the shores and then
The mountains will begin to roar
And earthquakes split the plain to shore.
And flooding waters, rushing in
Will flood the lands with such a din
That Mankind cowers in muddy fen
And snarls about his fellow men.
Mother Shipton

Lawrence E. Joseph's book is an excellent work, a truly well-written, fresh, novel and engrossing approach to analysis of the Mayan End-Time Date of 21 December 2012. I highly recommend it! The author didn't write it from any pre-existing bias either for or against these catastrophic possibilities. The following are some excerpts from the book. The ten summary items on pages 16-17 have been augmented by random quotes, taken out of order from the rest of the book and interspersed amongst the numbered list as appropriate. The use of the word "against" in the heading of Joseph's ten theses initially puzzled me, as it may also puzzle some of you. This word "against" is used not in the sense of "debunking" 2012 but in the legal sense of "versus" 2012, with the author's presenting a case as would a prosecutor in court. Rob Solàrion

GUILTY OF APOCALYPSE: THE CASE AGAINST 2012

The thesis of this book is that the year 2012 will be pivotal, perhaps catastrophic, possibly revelatory, to a degree unmatched in human history.

1. Ancient Mayan prophecies based on two millennia of meticulous astronomical observations indicate that 12/21/12 will mark the birth of a new age, accompanied as all births are, by blood and agony as well as hope.

"Between now and 2012, we all will have an opportunity to face, and overcome, the challenges to our personal evolution. Those who pass their tests will move on to enjoy an enlightened new era. ... The year 2012 is a seam in time, the juncture of two different ages. Death, possibly a great deal of it, will be part of that transition. ... The change will be gradual, more like the deepening of twilight than the flick of a switch. ... The elders say that in the new time coming, after 2012, pain and happiness will be shared more and more. Mass communication makes us more like brothers and sisters, more like a family. In 2012 there will also be collective tests in harmony and understanding. ... 2012 is very important because it is a time when the elders from the past will return to make a communication between the heart of humanity and the heart of the Earth. It's the beginning of a new era of peace, harmony, love, and union. But at the same time there exists the possibility for manipulation. Evil enters where there is space for it to squeeze in. In order to defend against evil, we have to do a lot of ceremonies to determine the right path."

2. Since the 1940s, and particularly since 2003, the Sun has behaved more tumultuously than any time since the rapid global warming that accompanied the melting of the last Ice Age 11,000 years ago. Solar physicists concur that solar activity will next peak, at record-setting levels, in 2012.

Sunspots occur in cycles of nine to thirteen years, most often eleven years, which is the usual amount of time from one solar maximum (the greatest number of sunspots) to the next. There's also an eleven-year cycle from one solar minimum to the next. It follows that the time period from solar maximum to solar minimum, from peak to trough, is usually in the five-to-six-year range. The current cycle, 23, will bottom out late in 2006. The next cycle, 24, will peak in 2012. Sunspots have been monitored by eye for thousands of years, by telescope since shortly after Galileo invented it in 1610, and by satellite since the mid-1970s. Astronomers still have no idea why they occur in roughly regular eleven-year cycles. "It is their nature to do so," Aristotle's pat explanation for otherwise inexplicable phenomena, is about as far as we have gotten. ... "Except possibly for a few brief peaks, the Sun is more active currently than at any time in the past 11,000 years." [And, 3 X 3,600 = 10,800 years, almost 11,000 years. RS]

3. Storms on the Sun are related to storms on the Earth. The great wave of 2005 hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma coincided with one of the stormiest weeks in the recorded history of the Sun.

The next peak in the planetary tidal force, essentially the sum total of the planets' gravitational pull on the Sun, will come late in 2012, according to Burgess's calculations. The sunspot maximum, coincidentally also due in that year, will compound the situation, subjecting the Sun to maximum stress. The Sun's magnetic poles, which reverse every twenty-two years, at the peak of every second cycle, are also expected to switch in 2012, adding further volatility to the situation. The resulting synergy of gravitational and electromagnetic pressure on the Sun cannot help but distort and distend its surface, releasing megabursts of imprisoned radiation, quite possibly ones that are far deadlier than any the Earth has encountered since homo sapiens has been around. ...

Is there any relationship between September 2005's extreme solar activity and the subsequent megacrack in the Earth's crust [at Boina, Ethiopia]? ... No one knows for sure. Suppose someone did know. Suppose a competent team of researchers discovered that the seven days of unusual solar activity, from September 7 through 13, 2005, caused and/or contributed to the September 14 Boina earthquake and to the eventual splitting of the African continent. Would these findings reach the light of day? Should they? Is there a global censorship mechanism, a covert oligarchy that suppresses such potentially volatile news? For the record, I have no present knowledge of any such cabal, as evidenced by the fact that you are able to read this book. Although I could certainly see the rationale for suppression - to preserve social stability. Maybe they'll call me a nut, and I'll be discredited by research organizations around the planet. That could be their tactic.

4. The Earth's magnetic field, our primary defense against harmful solar radiation, has begun to dwindle, with California-sized cracks opening up randomly. A pole shift, in which such protection falls nearly to zero as the North and South magnetic poles reverse position, may well be under way.

"The more advanced the community is, the more vulnerable it is to the effects of outer space."

5. Russian geophysicists believe that the Solar system has entered an interstellar energy cloud. This cloud is energizing and destabilizing the sun and all the planets' atmospheres. Their predictions for catastrophe resulting from the Earth's encounter with this energy cloud range from 2012 to 2020.

"Increasing solar activity is a direct result of the increasing flows of matter, energy, and information we are experiencing as we move into the interstellar energy cloud. New demands are being placed upon the Sun, and we are experiencing the impact of these demands on our own planet. The time until central scenarios of the global catastrophe will become a reality does not exceed two or three dozens of Earth turns around the Sun. There is no exaggeration: in fact, we believe this prediction is rather 'soft'. ... There are absolutely unambiguous and reliable signs of this threatening phenomenon [this heliospherical shock wave, RS], related both to the Earth and the adjacent space. ... What really matters for us is to understand and accept them and endeavor to survive. ... Effects here on Earth are to be found in the acceleration of the magnetic pole shift, in the vertical and horizontal ozone content distribution, and in the increased frequency and magnitude of significant catastrophic climatic events. The adaptive responses of the biosphere, and humanity, to these new conditions may lead to a total global revision of the range of species and life on Earth. ... The global catastrophe - hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes synchronizing and amplifying each other in a positive feedback loop that will spin out of control, threatening the very existence of our modern civilization - we have been talking about should probably happen in ones, not tens, of years. ... Physicists cannot solve the problem of why living organisms have pre-information about catastrophic events. This forces us to change our picture of the world. The world is not simply matter and energy, but also information [that is, thought: "All is mental. The Universe is mental," wrote Darío Salas Sommer. RS]."

6. Physicists at UC Berkeley, who discovered that the dinosaurs and 70 percent of all other species on Earth were extinguished by the impact of a comet or asteroid 65 million years ago, maintain with 99 percent certainty, that we are now overdue for another such megacatastrophe.

Absurd proliferation is what population biologists identify as one of the precursors to extinction. It turns out that some species go extinct by dwindling slowly down to nothing, while others start with a population explosion, overrun their resources, develop warfare or disease, and then crash to levels lower than when the explosion began. This is the time-honored rationale for much of the hunting that is done. Thinning the herd, like pruning the tree, is a healthier alternative than simply awaiting a die-off. The human population explosion is generally pegged to the Industrial Revolution, which began around the middle of the nineteenth century. Historians believe that up until then the planet's population was pretty steady at the 2 billion mark for a millennium or so. That figure has more than tripled in the past century and a half, to almost 6.5 billion today, and that's not all. People are living longer. In the West, where most of the heaviest consumption is done, lifespans have almost doubled since the Industrial Revolution, rising from roughly forty to roughly seventy-five years. So the net human impact on the planet has almost sextupled in what, by historical and ecological standards, is the blink of an eye. Are we due to be culled for our own good in 2012? Pruned back to nubs so that we may one day flourish as never before? The resulting combination of catastrophe and enlightenment would certainly fulfill the essence of the Mayan prophecies.

Muller responded with his now-famous Nemesis hypothesis, that the Sun, like most stars of its age and ilk, has a companion, probably a barely visible star such as a red or brown dwarf or possibly a black hole. Muller hypothesized that Nemesis's orbit would bring it by every X million years, gravitationally jostling the Sun and destabilizing the Solar System. ... But thus far the lack of any direct observational evidence has kept the Nemesis hypothesis from gaining much traction. So what, if not Nemesis, keeps whacking the Solar System? Planet X, considered by some to be the tenth planet, discovered in 2005 and officially known as 2003UB313 [not the "real" Planet X, RS]. It could indeed be the "x factor". Believed to be about 18 percent larger than Pluto, Planet X currently lies about three times farther out from the Sun. However, it follows a very strange orbit that transgresses the other planets' orbital planes and occasionally brings it as close to the Sun as some of the other outer planets. Such an orbit could, theoretically, have unanticipated gravitational and electromagnetic repercussions. Sumerian astronomers may have anticipated Planet X some 5,000 years ago, naming it Niburu [alternate spelling, RS]. The reappearance of Niburu during the recent war in Iraq, where much of Sumeria was located, has prompted some feverish end-times speculation. But among scientists, Planet X is seen much more as a new child than as a threat to the planetary family.

7. The Yellowstone supervolcano, which erupts catastrophically every 600,000 to 700,000 years, is preparing to blow. The most recent eruption of comparable magnitude at Lake Toba, Indonesia, 74,000 years ago, led to the death of more than 90 percent of the world's population at the time.

"Of the roughly thirty active hotspots on Earth, almost all except Yellowstone are beneath oceans or near coastlines or other boundaries between tectonic plates. The best known of the other hotspots are those that produced Iceland, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Galapagos Islands." ... "There is evidence that there have been several episodes of increased volcanism worldwide in the past and a possible link with climate change. Whether climate change is a cause or effect of variations in the rate of volcanism remains an intriguing question."

8. Eastern philosophies, such as the I Ching, The Chinese Book of Changes, and Hindu theology, have been plausibly interpreted as supporting the 2012 end date, as have a range of indigenous belief systems.

"For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror."

The Indians are the Super Bowl champs of cosmic consciousness and aren't about to be upset by no Yucatán yahoos. Indian culture has lots of money and prestige tied up in its philosophy, and to have somehow missed out on the fact that Time will end in 2012 would be downright embarrassing. Hindu scholars date the beginning of the current age, known as Kali Yuga, to the day of the death of Lord Krishna's physical body, at midnight on February 18, 3102 BCE, startlingly close to the Mayan starting point of August 13, 3114 BCE. At the end of Kali Yuga, or the Degenerate Age, Kalki, the Hindu equivalent of the messiah, will come. ... However, that [next new, RS] golden age is not supposed to start until the year 428,898 CE, so no one has been too concerned. That is, not until Sri Kalki Bhagavan arrived on the scene several years ago and founded his own ashram. ... Kalki, as he likes to be known, proclaimed himself the tenth and final avatar of Vishnu and announced that the golden age will start, after much pain and turmoil, in 2012. Kalki gives credence to the Mayan prophecies, much to the displeasure of the Brahman spiritual establishment ... but Kalki is undaunted. ... Kalki ties his 2012 prediction to the transit of Venus. Venus transits the Sun, that is to say, crosses its face as seen from the vantage point of Earth, less than twice a century. The last time it did so was for a six-hour period on June 8, 2004, and it will do so again on June 6, 2012. ... Virtually every cosmological system accords some special status to Venus. In Mayan astrology, the 260-day Cholqij calendar is tuned to approximate a woman's pregnancy and also the number of days Venus rises in the morning each year. And Mayan astronomers as early as 400 BCE had determined that Venus's synodic year is 584 Earth days, commendably close to the 583.89 Earth days we now judge it to be. ... Just enough of a coincidence to cause a few double takes. But 2012 is that kind of year.

"Maya insignia almost precisely duplicated those of the Old World: fan bearers, scepters, tiger throne, lotus staff and lotus throne, canopies, palanquins, and the blown conch shell as royal trumpet [Gabriel's Horn or the Gjallar Horn, RS]. Astonishing similarities also exist in the basic content of the mythologies of these supposedly isolated-from-one-another Old and New World cultures. Common mythic figures include THE COSMIC TREE OF LIFE HAVING A BIRD WITH OUTSTRETCHED WINGS AT ITS SUMMIT AND A SERPENT AT ITS ROOTS [emphasis added, RS], the four sacred colors, the four sacred directions, the four primal elements (fire, water, air, earth)." ... "As we approach A.D. 2012, as if there is a strange time-attractor in the sky, we feel this pull instinctively. Like caterpillars undergoing metamorphosis and eventually becoming butterflies, we may actually be time-coded to change into new forms."

Did Maximón, the playboy saint of Santiago Atitlán, have it right all along? Is 2012 just one big excuse to party like it's 1999? The logic is pretty powerful. If 12/21/12 does indeed represent the end of time, or some awesome approximation thereof, what better way to ring out the old than with a bottle of champagne in one hand and your main squeeze in the other? Whether the moment is wonderful, horrible, or a big, fat dud, we can keep the party going through Christmas and New Year, and then sober up some time in January, when we're all fat, broke, and cold. That's when the realizations might really start slithering out of our ears. Were we partying to ward off catastrophe, or were we secretly hoping for a divine end to it all? ... Still, doomsday is doomsday, and with the very real possibility that everything we know and care about may be coming to an end, we need to find faith that something, anything, is coming next.

We've spent centuries violating the common-sense rule "Don't shit where you eat", and if it takes a world-threatening cataclysm for us to change our ways, well, that's what it takes. But if this is somehow Mother Earth's way of telling us not to venture beyond her apron strings, then she, like all other overly possessive parents, must be lovingly put in her place. ... Look at it this way. If this 2012 thing pans out, and the year is fraught with catastrophe, or even scary near misses, the Mayans, having seen it all coming two millennia ago, will be in the driver's seat for centuries to come. So between now and 12/21/12, common sense says hear them out, lure those elders out of their caves, get them on talk shows, hire them as consultants. The result, I guarantee, will be both confusing and uplifting. Confusing because of language and culture gaps, because their standards of logical rigor and consistency are inferior to ours, because our standards of metaphor and simile are inferior to theirs. Uplifting because the heart of the Mayan 2012 prophecies is about transformation, not about the catastrophes that seem destined to accompany it. They really, truly believe that 2012 is the best shot in the past 26,000 years for humanity to become enlightened and more closer to the gods.

9. At least one scholarly interpretation of the Bible predicts that the Earth will be annihilated in 2012. The burgeoning Armageddonist movement of Muslims, Christians, and Jews actively seeks to precipitate the final end-times battle.

The Western world has got to kick the Middle East habit. True, much of the world's oil comes from the Middle East, but they need to sell it as badly as we need to buy it, so that all can be managed. Trillions in profit potential ensure that, one way or the other, the oil will flow. The addiction we need most urgently to break is our slavish codependence on the region's horror and perversion, injected daily into our homes. We must understand that some dark collective need to prove that our particular deity has the biggest - do I have to say it? - is being falsely fulfilled by the Middle East melodrama, and so rid ourselves of the superstition that that conflict has a stranglehold on the fate of humanity. But sometimes it's easier to live with primitive, frightening beliefs than to calmly and maturely accept responsibility. ... Those who believe we deserve the Apocalypse because we are evil and must be destroyed, because we need redemptive violence in order to reunite with the Almighty because the Antichrist/Dajjal is upon us, or for any other benighted reason are frightening not just because of their bloodthirsty ideology but because of the self-righteousness that drives their prophecy to become self-fulfilling. They can't wait for the ultimate fireworks display, and given a match and some access, they won't.

Not that it would be worth it, but if some great cataclysm and/or revelation does befall the world on 12/21/12, I for one would take at least a moment's consolation in the utter astonishment that the whole Bible-Quran crowd would feel at having been aced out of the most important prophecy in the history of humanity by a bunch of pagans from the boonies of Central America. Diehards would point to the Bible code's prediction that the Earth will be annihilated in 2012, but the fact of the matter is that 12/21/12 is, first and foremost, Mayan prophecy. May the good Lord protect us from any such catastrophe, but not from a near miss, not from the scare of our collective lifetimes. We could all use a wake-up call, and no one more than the hate-filled, conflict-obsessed Middle Eastern-harkening religionists who have somehow concluded that they are the ones closest to God. [Hear, Hear! RS]

Take 2012 seriously, but don't panic. Make contingency plans, but do nothing rash. We've got some work to do between now and then, lots of preparation, societal and personal, for the test that is to come. If we can find it in our hearts to look forward to it all, we'll also find a way to rise above the threat.

All the level heads and the cool-calm establishment intellectuals are going to pooh-pooh 2012. To the extent that they are just trying to keep a panic from spreading, okay, that's fair. ... As the time draws nigh, and people begin to realize that something major, unprecedented, is going to happen in 2012, I want to be there to help people behave responsibly in the face of the threat. And do my best not to smirk.

10. Have a nice day.

*

Postscript: As some of you know, recently in southern Chile (around the area where I position the next South Pole, I might add) a glacial lake vanished, seemingly overnight. It was there in March, but when the same scientist returned in May it had disappeared. No one knows what happened to it. Fortunately it was in an unpopulated area and no people were hurt or killed. But if that had been Lake Michigan, for example, all of Chicago would have been sucked into the Earth along with the water. People elsewhere would not have been directly affected. The same argument can be made for those who were killed by the Asian tsunami or Hurricane Katrina, or an earthquake in Türkiye or Iran or China, or a volcanic eruption in Indonesia. Over the past years there have been scores of these "local cataclysms", which may only get worse, and sooner rather than later. Ten thousand years from now Earth scientists may look back on our time as an "age of cataclysm" because there is evidence from all over the world that catastrophic events occurred. Ten thousand years from now those scientists won't be able to differentiate between an earthquake in 1995 and a tsunami in 2005; these data will be "approximate" in that regard. And as scientists inevitably do, they will begin to speculate about what sort of "event" could have caused all this devastation. Perhaps a comet or an asteroid struck the Earth. What they won't realize is that all of these events were not simultaneous! And perhaps that is a problem that we today have in our understanding of cataclysms of the ancient past. Perhaps certain devastation was local only, as now. Today we know that it is "local" due to all of our 24/7 modern communications technology. In ancient times, people would have "generalized" that what they experienced locally was a worldwide phenomenon, leaving us with "exaggerated" myths and legends. So what we are facing today may indeed be, perhaps as before, Slow-Motion Doomsday! Rob Solàrion