10 Doomsday Cults

Posted by Miss Cellania in Religion on October 7, 2009 at 12:53 pm

Many religious cults are based on apocalypticism, the belief that the world is going to end. Check out ten such beliefs, their founders, and followers. One such cult is the Panacea Society.

In 1792, part-time fortune teller Joanna Southcott started collecting “divine revelations” and had them sealed in a box with strict instructions to open it only for Jesus. Her followers called themselves Southcottians and were mostly early-19th century Spiritualists. Southcott dramatically announced that she was pregnant with the messiah, Shiloh, whose birth would kill all but her followers. However, Southcott was a 64-year-old virgin who showed no signs of pregnancy. To Southcott’s credit, she began doubting her beliefs when she failed to give birth but died before she was able to do anything about it. The sudden power vacuum among the Southcottians brought out all sorts of leadership, all of whom claimed they could psychically communicate with Southcott’s box, and transformed the Southcottians into a bizarre cult that refused to bury Southcott’s corpse, believing that she would be resurrected. They renamed themselves the Panacea Society under the belief that they had healing powers, and still believe that Shiloh will descend from heaven to reboot the world at a later date.

There are nine other cults profiled at Ty.rannosaur.us. Link

 
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Waiting for the End of the World

Posted by Miss Cellania in Architecture, Pictures on August 24, 2009 at 8:03 am


Many folks built small bomb shelters to survive a nuclear attack during the Cold War, but others took the idea to great lengths. Good Magazine has a pictorial taken from the book Waiting for the End of the World by Richard Ross, in which you’ll see the interiors of shelters meant to house people waiting out the apocalypse. From Switzerland to Texas, you’ll see how people prepare for the end of the world as we know it. The underground dining room shown is in Sanpete Country, Utah. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend

 
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Choose Your Apocalypse

Posted by John Farrier in Paranormal, Science & Tech on August 4, 2009 at 3:50 pm

How will the world end in the immediate future? Slate has a both serious and fun look at this question, allowing users to suggest up to five of one hundred forty-four possible problems that could bring about the end of America and/or the world. These include alien invasion, a swine flu epidemic, and Vermont achieving independence, among many other options.

The application focuses primarily on the United States and its demise, but many problems you could throw into your chosen apocalypse would impact the entire world (e.g. asteroid collision).

What nightmare scenario do you choose?

Interactive Feature Link

Article Link

 
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Post-Apocalyptic Disney World

Posted by Queuebot in Arts & Crafts on August 2, 2009 at 12:56 pm

Disney comissioned artist former Deus Ex designer Warren Spector to come up with his interpretation of a very twisted Disney World as concept art for the Wii game Epic Mickey.

…images from both Gambino and Glover, covering rotted Epcots, foreboding Cinderella castles, terrifying scorpion-like mecha-Country Bears, and more — all of which come with the obvious caveat that they may or may not reflect anything of the current state of the project.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by xpresscm.

 
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A Monument of Post-Apocalyptic Instructions

Posted by John Farrier in Architecture on April 26, 2009 at 8:37 pm

In 1979, an anonymous group erected a massive stone structure in Elbert County, Georgia. This modern-day stonehenge is more than twenty feet tall and arranged to serve as a calendar and a clock. Its slabs have instructions in eight languages for reconstructing society after the collapse of civilization. The instructions are more philosophical than technological, but perhaps nonetheless prudent:

PROTECT PEOPLE AND NATIONS WITH FAIR LAWS AND JUST COURTS. LET ALL NATIONS RULE INTERNALLY RESOLVING EXTERNAL DISPUTES IN A WORLD COURT. AVOID PETTY LAWS AND USELESS OFFICIALS. BALANCE PERSONAL RIGHTS WITH SOCIAL DUTIES. PRIZE TRUTH—BEAUTY—LOVE—SEEKING HARMONY WITH THE INFINITE. BE NOT A CANCER ON THE EARTH—LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE—LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE.

If you were composing brief instructions for survivors of the collapse of civilization, what would you write?

Link via Instapundit

 
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