Right now, the state of the world is laughably terrible. It can feel like the lead up to the end times, what with the consistently tragic events that batter our beings day after day. It’s an exhausting way to live, just being inundated with signs of the apocalypse on a daily basis. In fact, a lot of what’s happening holds some unsettling similarities to how various religious texts have described the end of the world.
Coronavirus has ravaged humanity and reset our existence, not unlike the plague described in the Bible. That one involved a lot more of septic boils and uncontrollable diarrhea though.
What’s most noticeable though is how it’s thrown our lives into disarray, destroyed social and economic order, and wreaked havoc with our way of life. So many have died, while others suffer on hospital beds. Pretty biblically plaguey.
Then there’s the damn locusts. Billions of them attacked East Africa earlier, and now there’s massive swarms destroying crops in several parts of India. In fact, locusts are mentioned in the Bible 36 times and twice in the Quran.
We’re losing food, and farmers are losing livelihoods as these voracious feeders consume everything in their path. In the Bible, countless locusts devour the fields, starving humanity. The Quran also mentions releasing floods, lice, and of course, locusts on the sinful. The bugs are a common religious sign of devastation, fuckin’ assholes.
The Quran talks about a final earthquake that will split the land, and that the frequency of earthquakes before that will increase. There have been 11 earthquakes since April in Delhi alone, and many the world over.
The frequency of these earthquakes over just a month in Delhi could signal that a major one may hit in the near future. This is according to top geologists across the country. There have also been earthquakes in California, Myanmar, Utah, and the Caribbean.
In Buddhist scriptures, the apocalypse is brought about by unjust rulers (of which the world has many), social inequality (migrant labourers, anyone?), and starts with your sense of taste disappearing (which also happens to be a symptom of coronavirus).
Time is cyclical in Buddhism, which means there are periods of harmony, followed by periods of destruction (which could appear apocalyptic), which are again followed by a new age of peace and calm. However, all the symptoms of the end are pretty similar to what we’re going through right now. They too, mention a plague.
In Hinduism, the Kali Yuga describes the appearance of plague, famine, pestilence and natural calamities in the lead up to the destruction of humankind.
Considering we have the coronavirus, starving migrants across India, locusts destroying crops, and earthquakes and cyclones hitting us, I’d say we’re ticking all the boxes that the Hindu gods talk about. Of course, life is cyclical in Hinduism as well, so there’ll be a new crop of happy and healthy people after the entire shitshow is over.
In Zoroastrianism, they believe that the earth will be devoured by a river of fire. Look at what happened in Australia recently – massive wildfires that took countless lives and left people broken.
Coincidence? Yeah, probably. But still pretty scary.
As terrifying as the world seems now however, with all of these prophetic signs seemingly coming true every day, it’s also important to remember that even in these texts – life went on. So while 2020 might be the year many things end, it also might be a chance for new beginnings.
