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End Times. Apocalypse. Armageddon. "The Rapture"

Open any newspaper, browse any bookstore, turn on your television – we are bombarded by images and stories of end times, apocalypse and “The Rapture”. This is a world-wide phenomenon.

But what does it mean? What is this fascination? What makes these subjects into bestsellers and hit TV shows? We designed this website as a resource to explore. The tools we have chosen are web research, conversation and entertainment products (we think humor is a great catalyst, especially when approaching difficult subjects).

On the following pages we have compiled our ongoing research about these phenomena – we encourage you to browse and think and examine.

What do you believe?

To get the conversation started, we offer an educational product, Rapture Robe, an imaginal, entertaining concept designed to stimulate conversation and inquiry around these themes. For more details see the Rapture Robe page.

Buy it now
Here are some of the questions we are asking ourselves:

Are we in the End Times? Are the prophecies coming true in our lifetime? Are they symbolic? Are they real? Internal? External? Should we be afraid? Should we prepare? Do we not have to worry about it because we’ll be taken up in the Rapture? What might we do about what we see happening?

These kinds of questions inspired the research you will find through these pages. We began by following some widespread themes through different cultures and religions:
* Going up, ascending to heaven, leaving the earth
* Being chosen and special
* Dematerializing the physical body
* The world as we know it coming to an end
* A new world rising up out of the ashes of the old
* The return of a Messiah who will judge mankind

Although not every culture subscribes to an End Times, not every religion envisions an Ascension and not all Ascension teachings are linked to an Apocalypse—at least one of these motifs is present in every tradition we studied.
Where do these beliefs come from?
What sustains these beliefs through time?
What do we believe?
What have others believed?

Why are we being bombarded with images and thoughts about the End Times by real-time news coverage of ecological disasters, rampant viruses, and endless war as well as by books, films and television specials on the Rapture, End Times prophecies and Apocalyptic visions.

We have chosen not to take a point of view in presenting our research, but rather to let you have your own journey through what is often intense material. Our deeper intention is to open up a conversation about these beliefs, so that we can explore together. Please see our Guidelines for Use page for suggestions for initiating inquiry and conversation with friends, family and community.

We are not the first generation in history to think we are in the End Times. According to Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts (1979), an Assyrian clay tablet dating to approximately 2800 BC was unearthed bearing the words "Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end."

What does it mean that these streams of beliefs run through all of human culture and have from time immemorial? Why are these images so prevalent now and seeming to come from every different cultural direction? Are we to have any different relationship with them than our ancestors did? Do we have any choice in what happens or is it pre-ordained? Does anything we do have an impact on how life on our planet unfolds?

Join us as we explore these themes through a myriad of traditions, religions and cultures. Join us in asking the questions of what these themes mean to us in our time. Join us for a journey into what we believe, where the beliefs come from, and what else might be possible.