If you remember a couple of columns ago, I quoted from a book titled “End of Days,” by the late Sylvia Browne, in which she wrote on pages 250 and 251, “In around 2020 a severe pneumonia like illness will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and the bronchial tubes and resisting all known treatments. Almost more baffling than the illness itself will be the fact that it will suddenly vanish as quickly as it arrived, attack again ten years later, and then disappear completely.” That’s the last accurate prediction she has made in the book, which I am certain was by sheer accident. I promised to get the book and report on it. Here goes:
The paperback book has 321 pages, and until page 240, it is as highly informative as any I have ever read. Beyond page 240, she is as nutty and balmy as any prognosticator I have ever heard of or read about. Examples: On page 244, “Before the end of 2010 the common cold will be a thing of the past.” “In 2010, diabetes will be significantly reduced and ultimately cured through brilliant advancements in the use of proteins.” Page 248: “In about 2013 or 2014, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and Lou Gehrig’s disease will be defeated through some highly specialized use of the human growth hormone.” “Blindness will become a thing of the past by 2020 at the latest.” Page 252: “By 2013 we’re going to see an amazing development in the treatment of mental illness. There will be a device, used exclusively by highly trained psychiatrists and neurologists that will employ electromagnetic impulses to treat and often cure these brain malfunctions.”
Page 258: “The year 2020 will mark the end of the U.S. presidency and the executive branch of the government.” “By 2020 we’ll see the end of IRA’s, mutual funds, pension and retirement plans, and yes, it’s true, the stock market.” Page 260: “In around 2018 worldwide seismic activity will result in a rash of volcanoes and earthquakes. The resulting atmospheric dust will create enough pollution to cause disastrous crop failures in the early 2020’s.” Page 262: “No later than 2015 all newly built houses will be solar powered and prefabricated.” From pages 269 -277, she waxes eloquently on ‘global warming,’ and all the utter nonsense that goes with it. From there till the end, she speaks about ‘Extraterrestrials,’ ‘Mystical travelers,’ ‘The dark side at the end of days,’ ‘The cosmic other side,’ and ‘Leaving Earth, going home.’
The first part of the book analyzes every known religion on Earth, and goes into great detail about its founding, beliefs, and even the number of adherents. She was raised Catholic, and she dwells on that one at great length, but if you want to know about Hindus, Mormons, Muslims, Jews, Incas, Mayas, Aztecs, Aborigines, Buddhists, Rastafarians, Zoroastrians, Pentecostals, Baptists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc., this is your book. The first chapter is great, as it goes through history, telling about all the end of the world predictors from 2900 B.C. through Rasputin, and down to Jim Jones. She quotes dozens of scriptures and those Biblical characters’ foretelling the end of the world also. Really, I found the first part of the book excellent, even though at the end, she places herself in the same class as those in the first part. I got a used one through Amazon, for a few bucks, and found the first two thirds of it great.
Don Stott
don@coloradogold.com