Many New Age thinkers are seeking higher ground -- literally. They believe oceans will rise and tsunamis will hit on Dec. 21, 2012
Brad Carrigan "presents well," as they say in psychological circles. The Vancouver resident dresses smartly, has an athletic physique, neatly cropped hair and a friendly, well-spoken demeanour. He looks like many happy, healthy West Coast middle-aged guys.
Carrigan earned a solid living for 12 years as a financial consultant, has played with some of the country's top musicians, wrote a sacred music concert performed at the Queen Elizabeth theatre, hosts a program called The Eternal Wellness Show and runs Blue World Lifestyle Corp, which has a stylish website.
Like millions in B.C. and elsewhere, Carrigan is also a fan of a recent Vancouver-filmed blockbuster movie that has so far earned $800 million, made by big-name director Roland Emmerich (creator of Independence Day) and actor John Cusack.
The movie is titled 2012.
It's a special-effects-filled disaster movie. Its plot revolves around a cataclysm that wipes out most of the Earth's almost seven billion population in the year 2012.
Highly presentable Carrigan only begins to take on the persona of a "character" when he says he believes the movie is more than a fiction.
Following the lead of the marketers of 2012, Carrigan says the disaster film is pointing to something that is soon to become terribly real.
His book on the subject is called 2012 Enlightened. It is one of about 20 titles on the "2012 phenomenon." Countless spiritual seekers are convinced 2012 will usher in both global cataclysm and a new spiritual era.
Based on a prophecy embedded in the ancient Mayan calendar, the 2012 phenomenon is an apocalyptic scenario of the most horrifying order.
You could call it a New Age version of the Biblical apocalyptic beliefs widely held by many evangelical Christians and others.
I talked to Carrigan about 2012 this week at a busy Vancouver coffee shop, where he is a fondly welcomed regular.
The coffee shop displayed Carrigan's book, as well as leaflets for his often well-attended multimedia lectures, one of which will take place Saturday, Jan. 30 at 1 p.m. at the Hollywood Theatre on West Broadway. The jacket of Carrigan's book describes him as an Ottawa-born "spiritual visionary and teacher, author, recording artist and playwright" versed in meditation, Indian spirituality, yoga and devotional music. The book jacket adds that he frequently experiences powerful visions and dreams.
When I asked Carrigan his age, he wouldn't answer, saying, 'I'm timeless. Ageless."
He acknowledged, nevertheless, he moved to Vancouver at age 19 and ever since has found the city "delightful." It is where he continues to raise two teenagers as a single parent. However, in December 2012, Carrigan will be driving far out of Vancouver. He'll be heading to a mountain top.
Carrigan and many others are convinced that on Dec. 21, 2012, Vancouver and much of the planet will be virtually destroyed.
Havoc will come through a combination of earthquakes, tsunamis and oceans rising hundreds of metres. Those who might hope to survive will be on higher ground.
"Forget Haiti. Forget Katrina," Carrigan said, calmly.
The end of Vancouver and the rest of the world as we know it is described in vivid detail, with video, on Carrigan's sophisticated-looking website, www.2012enlightened.com.
The imminent destruction of Earth hinges on a planet called Nibiru, which Carrigan and many New Age adherents believe will pass close to our solar system in 2012.
They firmly expect Nibiru to create a gravitational effect that will cause the Earth to stop revolving on its axis for several disastrous months.
A spiritual golden age will follow for survivors. Carrigan and many others predict the new dawn on Earth will begin on March 28, 2013. It's not possible here to explain the convoluted logic that goes into the 2012 phenomenon as expressed by Carrigan and many authors.
Suffice to say Carrigan's version involves planetary science, quantum mechanics, Nostradamus, Hopi Indians, aliens, Bible revelations, Edgar Cayce, the Vatican, crop circles, Atlantis, Moses, kundalini yoga, Hindu gods and goddesses, Akashic teachings, the anti-Christ, the swastika, the Age of Aquarius and much more.
Why has the general public not heard of this looming disaster?
Carrigan said the official silence is a plot orchestrated by NASA, the White House, the Illuminati, the Freemasons and the world's multinational corporations and mass media, all of which he said, have a vested interest in not distressing the population. This economic elite has already, he said, built underground cities in the U.S. and Scandinavia as its safe havens.
If readers are wondering whether I'm drawn to or convinced of this 2012 apocalyptic scenario, I will have to disappoint many and say ... no.
I bring it to wider attention only because it is a general New Age belief apparently held by tens of thousands of people, possibly millions.
Apocalyptic thinking is not at all rare. An Angus Reid poll found 46 per cent of Americans and 20 per cent of Canadians believed the world would end in their lifetimes in some sort of divine catastrophe.
Remember the global outpouring of apocalyptic fear that rose up over the year 2000? That's when computer specialists and evangelists such as Jerry Falwell and Canada's 
Grant Jeffrey proclaimed God's judgment was about to fall on Earth via the Y2K bug.
Biblical teachings about the apocalypse, often called Armageddon, the Last Judgment or the Rapture, are held today by many conservative religious denominations, including the Church of Latter Day Saints, the Seventh Day Adventists and many evangelical denominations. A Biblical apocalypse, based on the Book of Revelation, has been popularized through the best-selling Left Behind novel series.
U.S. president Ronald Reagan believed Armageddon could happen in his lifetime.
And an apocalyptic scenario involving the second coming of Christ is part of the doctrine formally taught by the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, the evangelical denomination to which Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper belongs.
So-called "secular" people are not immune to apocalyptic scenarios either, as portrayed in movies such as Terminator 2 and Avatar. Apocalyptic beliefs often emerge from people anxious about atomic warfare, population explosion, economic collapse, uncontrollable viruses and environmental devastation.
What is at the root of apocalyptic thinking?
It is based on a belief the world is engaged in an all-out struggle between good and evil, which could end in the triumph of one side.
The dominant form of apocalyptic thinking today grows out of a despairing conviction that most people and institutions are irredeemably corrupt, fit only for destruction.
Personally, however, even though I worry people in power are leading the planet in many dangerous directions, I don't find myself switching into apocalyptic mode. Call me hopeful.
Carrigan resides in another category entirely regarding 2012.
"It's not a question of 'if' I'm right about what's going to happen. I know I'm right," he said.
His demeanour remained placid throughout our conversation, even though the tempo of his speech rapidly rose as he described his data for destruction.
"What I'm saying is not doom and gloom," he said. "It's just what's going to happen."
As strange as it may seem to many of us, it is quite possible millions of New Age people share Carrigan's views about a 2012 cataclysm, while tens of millions more North Americans hold to a Biblical version of apocalypse.
If being part of a large movement makes one "normal," perhaps it wasn't incorrect for Carrigan to quietly declare:
"I'm not a radical."
| Spirituality | |||||
|
Brad Carrigan -Visionary author, spiritual teacher, recording artist will share deeper insights into humanity’s ancient journey, spiritual ascent, and civilization on the brink of 2012 - through an informative “2012 Enlightened Seminar” / multi-media presentation - based on his book 2012 ENLIGHTENED http://www.2012enlightened.com
Thursday, 25 March 2010 7:30pm 20$ The Cultch 1895 Venables. TICKETS or 604-251-1363
|
|||||
 |
 Brad Carrigan, author of the book 2012 Enlightened and the speaker at an upcoming seminar exploring 2012 phenomena, says a significant change to humanity will come in the year 2012. (PHOTO SUBMITTED) |
The year 2012 and the prophecies surrounding it aren’t just plotline from Hollywood blockbusters, according to one local personality.
Brad Carrigan, author of the book 2012 Enlightened and the speaker at an upcoming seminar exploring 2012 phenomena, says the portentous year will indeed bring significant change to humanity.
“I look at it as a regeneration period,” he said, referring to a “great revealing” that will allow civilization to learn “the deeper knowledge of who we are.”
“We haven’t been told the truth about our history. We’ve allowed ourselves to become the sheep.”
Carrigan, who has been researching theories surrounding 2012 for the last 25 years, claims that government and religious organizations are hiding pertinent information from the general populace, such as alien contact, and that 2012 will be “the age of Aquarius” when such deceit becomes transparent.
While he believes that some sort of natural disaster may occur Dec. 21, 2012, the day the Mayan calendar ends its 5,125-year cycle, he doesn’t want the spiritual relevance of the event to get lost.
|
“2012 covers a wide spectrum … there’s a lot of elements to it,” he said, adding the “doom and gloom” aspect is only “a part of it, to a degree.”
“I think it’s a beautiful time of transformation,” Carrigan said. “There’s a deep spiritual desire of society to really come together. We want truth. We want love.”
While he wouldn’t hazard a guess as to the number of human casualty to be expected during 2012, he said the recent devastating earthquakes in Chile and Haiti are evidence that something is coming.
“Something’s causing that change,” he said.
In the meantime, he said, no fear is necessary.
“It’s nothing to be afraid of,” he said. “It’s a reawakening. We all die anyway…we can rebuild and make the world a better place.”
Carrigan’s seminar takes place next Thursday at The Cultch.
What do Hopi Indians, crop circles and the ancient Sumerians have in common? Brad Carrigan, author of the book 2012 Enlightened, will trace the connections between these and many other ideas in his upcoming lecture of the same name.
Taking place Saturday, March 27 at 8 p.m., Carrigan’s multimedia presentation at ArtSpring will address a variety of topics that include Biblical revelations, Nostradamus and chemtrails, among others. The unifying thread is the major changes prophesied to occur around December 21, 2012 with the end of the Mayans’ Long Calendar.
Beliefs about 2012 have gained prominence in the new age community during the last couple of decades and recently burst into mainstream popular culture with a blockbuster movie starring John Cusack. For Carrigan, however, there are very real changes afoot, which he says he’s been selected to share with humanity.
During a telephone interview from his home in Vancouver, Carrigan explained that while most people associate the 2012 date with the doomsday scenario, he believes there are far greater ramifications in store than just physical disaster.
“It also represents a time of great revealing, an understanding of our current condition as well as the past, our connection to the stars and the divine,” Carrigan said. “It will also be a time of great spiritual truth.”
Carrigan said all three elements are important and he will help explain how they integrate with each other.
As a practitioner and teacher of Kundalini awakening for close to 25 years (including a year’s study in India), Carrigan said his meditative state has opened him to receive information and connect with the “divine light consciousness.” He then expands on this information through research in “the physical realm.”
“The information comes from many sources. There’s a lot of good information from very credible sources,” Carrigan said of his book and lecture.
Carrigan said he references top scientific experts to back up his theories, which involve the collision of a tenth planet, Nebiru, with the Earth’s orbit. This is expected to lead to a shift in the magnetic poles that will stop the Earth from rotating on its axis for days or months, and produce cataclysmic volcanic and seismic activity.
The event is not singular in history, but part of a cycle said to occur every 25,800 years with a galactic alignment. The weakening of the Earth’s magnetic fields and increased solar flare activity are signs of the cycle coming to its end.
Carrigan sees one of his main tasks as presenting a wide spectrum of concepts and showing how they all fit together. Sacred geometry, he said, can reveal patterns in the microcosm of the cell or the macrocosm of the universe. It can also translate the messages being sent to us by aliens via crop circles, meant to help us with the transformation.
The message Carrigan believes he has been selected to share is not one of doom and disaster, in fact. He is more concerned with teaching people about how humanity’s spiritual journey intersects with the coming changes.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of, but we should be afraid of not having the knowledge or understanding of what’s coming — because there is something happening,” Carrigan said.
“The spiritual side is very important. There’s an abiding connection. We’re all connected to this light consciousness.
“Surviving all this transformation starts within. It’s about our pure connection — letting go of ego, letting ourselves really feel, because then we’ll let ourselves be guided.”
Following Saturday night’s seminar, Carrigan will appear for a book signing at Windflower Moon on Sunday, March 28 from 1 to 3 p.m.
