The Little Book of the End of the World (5 page)

EGYPT

The Egyptians had an equally complicated relationship with their deities and even used a similar story about gods and their wives to explain a specific geographical cycle.

The River Nile would flood every year, and the Egyptians attributed this to the excessive tears shed by the goddess Isis as she mourned for the apparent death of her husband Osiris; in an incestuous twist that was practised by the Greek gods as well, Osiris was recognised as Isis’s brother.

Like many myths and legends, Osiris moved through an ongoing stage of temporary death and rebirth, but this element of eternal life is not limited to the Egyptian deities. Many other gods have mirrored such stories of returning from their own deaths.

THE LEGEND OF THE FIVE SUNS

Although Aztec mythology has its origins several thousand miles away from the Mediterranean, there are many similarities in the interactions between gods. But Aztec mythology goes even further to addressing the End of the World.

Like the Greek and Egyptian stories we’ve looked at, Aztec mythology pays close attention to cycles, suggesting that there were eras of history ruled over by different gods. We are currently living in the fifth of these eras, with four such ages having already ended and mankind resurrected each time.

During the First Sun, the gods created a race of giants and demigods, but a rivalry arose between the sun god Tezcatlipoca and his rival Quetzalcoatl, who deposed the sun and ordered that the giants be consumed by jaguars.

Quetzalcoatl took control of the Earth during the age of the Second Sun, overseeing the creation of humans, who became less respectful of the gods as the era continued. In anger, Tezcatlipoca turned the people into a race of monkeys who were blown away by hurricanes.

Tlaloc ruled the Third Sun, but after his wife was stolen – by the trouble-making Tezcatlipoca, no less – Tlaloc refused to look after the Earth. He let humanity die in a drought before wiping the Earth clean in a rain of fire.

Chalchiuhtlicue took over for the Fourth Sun, but Tezcatlipoca caused strife between her and humanity, suggesting that she didn’t care for her human charges as much as she suggested. A heartbroken Chalchiuhtlicue cried tears of blood, causing a great flood that wiped the Earth clean a fourth time.

Humanity was resurrected one final time under the Fifth Sun of Huitzilopochtli. However, Huitzilopochtli’s siblings, the gods of the night, became jealous of his glory, staging nightly attacks on his sun. The Aztec peoples worshiped Huitzilopochtli and prayed for his success in these battles, knowing that if they failed, the world would fall into eternal darkness and end in a great earthquake.

RAGNAROK

The Aztecs were not alone in their specific beliefs about the End of the World: Norse mythology went one step further to develop a complicated theory about the war that would accompany the Endtimes of their own mythology, and exactly how that battle would play out. With so many myths and legends about water and fire, it should come as no surprise that the Norse Apocalypse, or Ragnarok, is a story overflowing with elemental references, whether it’s the crashing waves caused by the sea serpent Jormungandr or the flames breathed by the dragon Surtr.

Ragnarok details an epic battle between the Norse gods and their enemies, with humanity caught in the middle. There are also references aplenty to flaming skies, floods and Earth being plunged into darkness. It doesn’t take much to draw a line between the image of a flaming sky and the meteors we’ve already mentioned, nor a darkened Earth as an explanation for an eclipse.

Do we then believe that Ragnarok is a theory about a possible future or, as with these other religions we’ve discussed, a proto-scientific attempt to explain events as and when they happened?

It’s probably the latter: the events of Ragnarok, as outlined in the
Edda
collection of stories and poetry, are strangely specific about the death count amongst the Norse gods, right down to lost limbs, who fights whom and how many steps Thor takes after being poisoned while killing a giant snake.

The comic-book version of Thor that has been appearing in recent movies is a different, fictional take on the same character, but there have been plenty of references and interpretations to Ragnarok and other pieces of Norse myth throughout his lengthy publishing history.

Not only do some of the gods survive Ragnarok, but Norse mythology even has its very own human survivors to repopulate the Earth, Lif and Lifthrasir. Their existence echoes the original role held by the mythological progenitors of humanity, Ask and Embla.

Any similarities to Adam and Eve are just pure coincidence, right?

4

THE GOOD BOOK: ORIGINS OF THE APOCALYPSE

Despite the intricacies of Ragnarok, Norse mythology is not unique: it is not the only belief system to embrace the Endtimes and is certainly not the only one to have specific stories about how, when and why the End of the World might happen.

Most of the religions we discussed in the previous chapter are no longer practised as major religions: some elements have been adopted as part of New Age worship, with other aspects reduced to inspiration for various works of fiction. Nevertheless, these myths and stories have become so pervasive that words and phrases are used without reference to their origins.

Many of the lessons at the heart of these beliefs can still be seen in modern religions: the most widely practised religions around Europe and the United States are the Abrahamic religions with their common origins, beliefs and literature. Although the similarities between these religions are often underplayed for political purposes, these shared origins to Judaism, Christianity and Islam are made even more obvious with reference to the origins of life and to the End of the World.

Census figures from 2011 indicate that the Abrahamic religions are practised by approximately 65 per cent of the population of the United Kingdom, which is a significant decrease on the figure of 75 per cent in 2001. For both of these surveys, Christianity is the largest single religion recorded, accounting for 59 per cent in 2011 and 70 per cent in 2001.

Befitting such widely practised religions, most of the language and imagery we use to discuss the End of the World in religious terms comes from the beliefs of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Fire, floods and natural disasters are a primal fear that we all share, regardless of beliefs or location, but these religions specifically tie these into a series of events that will relate to the End of Days.

Although they are known under different names, the books of the Old Testament are common to all three religions and provide the foundations for the modern view of the End of the World. Much of this comes from the first five books of the Old Testament: these are known as the Torah in the Jewish faith and include the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Muslims also venerate these books as part of the divine revelation upon which their religion has been built, although less emphasis is placed on these than on the later parts of the Quran.

The Torah outlines God’s creation of the world and its inhabitants, along with the early days of the Jewish peoples.

DIVINE JUDGEMENT

The God of the Old Testament is known for His divine judgements and vengeful ways, and the Abrahamic religions feature as many stories about this as Greek mythology. One of the best-known examples of biblical condemnation comes from the Book of Genesis and involves the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Sodom and Gomorrah were amongst five cities located on the plains beside the River Jordan, just north of the Dead Sea, the other cities were Admah, Zeboim and Bela. The Bible isn’t overly explicit about how these cities were corrupted, but Sodom lends its name to the act of sodomy and should give some indication of the stories associated with the area.

After Abraham had visited the area – the same Abraham from whom the religions earn their name – God made clear His intention to destroy the cities. Abraham negotiated with God to save some of the area’s more virtuous inhabitants, and his nephew Lot endeavoured to find such people.

Unable to find any virtue within Sodom and Gomorrah, the angels sent to destroy the cities told Lot to flee the area with his family, warning him not to look back at the cities’ destruction. As they rained down fire and brimstone, Lot’s wife turned back to look at their former home and was turned into a pillar of salt as punishment.

Noah

The concept of the Abrahamic God wiping out whole civilisations is not unique to Sodom and Gomorrah: the Book of Genesis also recounts the story of Noah and the Flood, a story that introduces water in world-ending style in the same way that Sodom and Gomorrah feature fire.

The events of the Flood occur before Sodom and Gomorrah, at a time when God’s judgement was directed at the entirety of mankind rather than specific communities. Believing humanity to be corrupt and beyond saving, God planned to flood the Earth, returning it to the primordial state it had been in during the Creation. God made Noah aware of His plans, suggesting that the devout and righteous man should save his family and others that he deemed worthy.

The story of Noah has become well known, especially because of the suggestion that Noah saved two of each animal to help repopulate the Earth. This element in particular has led many different interpretations of whether this episode truly occurred or is meant as a symbolic entry to highlight God’s power.

Most modern scholars believe that the story of Noah is more of an attempt to explain natural disasters, reconciling them with the existence of God and suggesting that His good will has led to our continued existence. This interpretation of the story of Noah only serves to highlight the similarities between this and the stories about Ragnarok and the Fourth Sun of Aztec mythology, as well as references to floods throughout other mythologies and epic tales.

Fragments of the Noah story suggest that God’s anger might not have been directed at humanity, but rather at a race that was successfully eliminated during the Flood: the Nephilim.

These were born of the unholy union between the sons of God and the daughters of men, but there are different interpretations of what this means: at their most simple, the Nephilim are simply a corrupted rival tribe to Noah’s family; at their most fantastic, they are the children of fallen angels taking the form of giants and monsters.

The Book of Daniel

While the books of the Torah provide accounts of the creation and destruction of the Earth, another book in the Old Testament becomes an important feature in discussions about the End of the World, and for good reason.

The Book of Daniel includes dream-like prophecy and revelations as written by the wise man Daniel; this book is treated differently by the Jewish and Christian faiths, with the Christian Bible placing the Book of Daniel alongside books of prophecy, while Judaism treats Daniel as a biography.

The Book of Daniel suggests that, even in hardship, God will save his people: the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar has sacked the Temple in Jerusalem and taken Daniel as an advisor, but by adhering to his faith, Daniel is able to provide insight for the king, and ultimately save both his life and the lives of his friends.

Much of the Book of Daniel takes the form of dreams and prophecies that Daniel interprets and provides guidance on: there are references throughout the book to four kingdoms, with a divine fifth kingdom that is yet to come – similar to the five eras of Aztec myth. The book also features beasts and the discussion about future events that resurface throughout the rest of the Bible.

The Book of Daniel is rarely discussed in its own right with regards to the End of the World, but scholars believe it is key to understanding some of the later books of the Bible, especially the Book of Revelations in the New Testament. By combining the two books together, we see a wealth of thought and theories about the Endtimes, and much of Christian eschatology has built on these books.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Throughout the Old Testament, there are several references to the ultimate fate of mankind, and these have become the basic foundations of how the modern world looks at the End of the World. Due to the sheer numbers practising the Abrahamic religions, these events and images have become engrained in how we think about the Apocalypse: it’s nearly impossible to think about the End of the World without reference to these religions.

The fact that Judaism, Christianity and Islam have such common roots serves to entrench these thoughts about the Endtimes, and a whole wealth of art, culture and political thought has developed around some common themes. In fact, most of these themes can even be found in other religions and beliefs.

The Torah outlines some of the events that are at the heart of the End of the World for the Jewish faith. We’ll discuss these elements in a lot more detail over the next few chapters, but you’re probably aware of these, regardless of your faith. The Jewish people believe that as part of the End of the World the following will happen: