boxing day 2012: Forget the Mayan Apocalypse, the new date for doomsday is January 1 2017, claim Sword of God cult

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Forget the Mayan Apocalypse, the new date for doomsday is January 1 2017, claim Sword of God cult

New date for annihilation is January 1, 2017, according to followers of The Sword of God Brotherhood

The gloomy prediction comes as people around the world gathered in anticipation of annihilation yesterday

PUBLISHED: 04:35 EST, 22 December 2012 | UPDATED: 05:43 EST, 22 December 2012

The world may have escaped Armageddon yesterday but the actual Apocalypse is nigh on four years away, Doomsdayers have claimed.

The new date for annihilation is January 1, 2017, according to followers of The Sword of God Brotherhood.

They believe the 'Prophet Gabriel' told the Brotherhood that the 'dying time' will come on this date and only members of the cult will survive, while everyone else perishes in 'hellfire.'

End of the world: Three women dressed as aliens in anticipation of the Apocalypse in Bugarach yesterday

Take me to your leader: Pranksters flocked to the 'safe haven' of Bugarach ahead of 11.11am

The gloomy prediction follows yesterday's scenes of people around the world preparing for oblivion at 11.11am, when the 5,126-year calender of the ancient Mayan civilisation ended.

It proved particularly anti-climactic for the few dozen people who climbed a mountain in Bugarach, south west France, where they believed they would be rescued by aliens hidden inside the rock.

The site was believed to be the only safe haven to survive the pending doom, which was supposed to include a giant tsunami covering the earth and wiping out everything in its path.

We're doomed: Gloomy predictions of Armageddon did not come true, but there are plenty more left

Oblivion: Bugarach's mayor had pleaded with the world not to descend on the small town

Bugarach's mayor Jean-Pierre Delord had described the situation as no laughing matter and pleaded with the world not to descend on the small town.

Ian Napolitano, 47, from Southport, Merseyside, arrived with a dinghy as he braced himself for the apocalyptic wave.

He told The Sun: 'I don't know what to say. But I'm sort of glad the world hasn't ended.'

French civil servant Michel Pous, 47, from Paris, said he knew the world would not end, but remained defiant about the mountain's extra terrestrial inhabitants.

He added: 'An Egyptian god came here thousands of years ago and went into the mountain where he keeps his virgins.'

End of an era: Mayans marked the end of the 5,200-year solar cycle at Guatemala's Gran Jaguar Temple

Iconic: The ancient temple became a focal point for those expecting the Apocalypse yesterday morning

Live to see another day: Students in Taichung, southern Taiwan, jump for joy as they survive Armageddon

Doomsdayer: Self-styled prophet Lauro Gonzales performs a 'prayer for the end' in Manila, Philippines

Elsewhere, Mayans marked the end of the solar cycle at Guatemala's Gran Jaguar Temple, while there was a bumper crowd at Stonehenge, where end of the world onlookers joined Druids celebrating the winter solstice.

Other predictions for oblivion include 2023, when Judgement Day will be upon us according to theologist Ian Gurny.

But with some luck of the Irish, man will be around for a little while longer. Irish saint Malachy foretold in 1143 that there would be 112 more popes before catastrophe - and we are on 111.

A more realistic forecast, however, is approximately 4,500,000,000 AD, when the Sun will swell into a giant star, engulfing Mercury, Venus, Earth and possibly Mars.