WARNING:  tongue-in-cheek sarcasm ahead!

As you may know, the Rapture is scheduled for 6 pm tonight with a bang and a big earthquake, according to Harold Camping, leader of Family Radio Worldwide.

“Because the year 2011 AD is exactly 7,000 years after 4990 BC when the flood began, the Bible has given us absolute proof that the year 2011 is the end of the world during the Day of Judgment,” the website of Family Radio says.

“Amazingly, May 21, 2011 is the 17th day of the second month of the Biblical calendar of our day.

“Remember, the flood waters also began on the 17th day of the 2nd month, in the year 4990 BC,” it adds.

Camping claims that come 6pm, a powerful earthquake will be felt before all the noble spirits are transported off the earth.

Everyone left behind will then suffer until October 21, when God will pull the plug on entire planet.

I wonder if Camping has been reading Johan Calleman, whose research suggests that the end of the Mayan calendar is not December 21 2012,  but instead October 28, 2011.  I wonder what transpires between October 21st, when God pulls the plug on the planet, and October 28 when the world ends.

It’s also an interesting synchronicity that Comet Elenin will be at its closest to earth in mid-October, and some websites hypothesize that as the earth passes through the tail of the comet we will encounter some doomsday scenarios.  (NASA, of course, disagrees.)

In any case, Christian leaders are up in arms against Camping since Jesus made it very clear in the Bible (and everyone knows the Bible is nothing if not consistent) that no one knows the day or hour when Jesus will return.

Beth Turnage gives us a well-researched piece on the history of the Rapture here.    She makes an excellent astrological point:

Since we are talking about death, destruction and transformation ultimately we are talking about a Pluto process. That certain leaders are willing to exploit fear talks about a Saturn process. If we take a look at Saturday, May 21, 2011 we see Pluto at the apex of a T-Square, challenging Saturn, and also Uranus which represents sudden and unusual events. But as an aspect configuration it is not especially ominous. We’ve seen over the past few years the Saturn/Uranus opposition, the movement of Pluto in Capricorn and the Cardinal Grand Cross. The best we’ve seen is the meltdown of the world wide financial system and a nuclear reactor meltdown in Japan. Serious, but hardly world ending.

I would also like to point out that today we have a triple conjunction in Taurus that includes Mercury, Mars and Venus, and these three planets trine Pluto.  This is a very stable planetary configuration that suggests grounding and preservation.  Not the best day to raise the dead out of their comfortable in-ground homes.  The Sun has just entered Gemini, so there is an openness to ideas and a willingness to explore a variety of concepts and experiences, which could be of use in the Great Ascension.

At 6 pm tonight, when the Rapture is supposed to occur, the Moon has just completed a closing square to Jupiter.  In itself this could mean a release of some kind, but since the Moon has passed the point of the exact square (at 5:04 pm EDT)  it will be “void of course” which is not the best time to plan a big event like the Rapture.

So if the Rapture does not occur as planned, you can blame it on the void moon!

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