And again the end of the world?

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Slavic mythology of ancient Ukrainians was closely connected with nature, and nature in the subconscious of ancient people was eternal. Therefore, we did not think about the end of the world. Of course, in the pantheon of the gods was not a very kind Chornobog, who could do a little evil, but the world could not destroy. But still from somewhere in the people there was a saying "There will come a month of blacks - there will be an end to the light."

However, the concept of "the end of the world" was still brought to Ukraine. First, the Varangians, who believed that Rangharak would come and the world would die. Secondly, the Greek Christians introduced the eschatological motives of their religion to the Ukrainians. And after the adoption of Christianity, Kievan Rus, like the whole Christian world, re-read with reverence the "Apocalypse" of John the Theologian.

The first end of the world Christians expected in 1000, when the 1000th anniversary of the birth of Christ was fulfilled. But the second coming did not happen, although a large number of people in Western Europe sold their property, giving all the money to the church. Then the doctors of theology announced that it was necessary to count from the date of Christ's death and endure the end of the world for 1033. In this case, if previously sent to the text of John the Theologian, now - on the apocryphal text of the "Revelation Methodius of Patarsky." At the same time, they claimed that the devil would break out of hell and reign on the Earth for three and a half years. In consequence, the second coming will take place in 1037.

We can consider the preparation for the end of the world the reading by Metropolitan of Kiev of Illarion of his work "The Word of Law and Grace." It took place in 1038, when the Great Saturday coincided with the Annunciation (as to the word and in 2018), it was a prediction of the end of the world, which should come when Easter falls on the Annunciation. Therefore, the Metropolitan said that for baptism enough baptism and observance of rituals.

But the end of the world did not happen again. In Rome they declared that this was a mistake. And 1000 years before the end of the world should be considered not from the birth of Christ and his crucifixion, but from the date of the official founding of the Catholic Church. This is the year 325 when the so-called "Bone gift" took place, that is, the transfer of Rome, property and tax collection to bishops. The new end of the world was appointed in 1325. But Ukraine kept farther away from the western church, and it was not so interesting to her. So, already very far from Ukraine was the end of the world, which Nostradamus predicted in its centenary from 1555. The seer wrote that the end of the world will be in the year in which Good Friday falls on the day of St. George (April 23), Bright Week for the day of St. Mark (April 25) and the feast of the Body of Christ coincides with the day of St. John (June 24). But such a combination, surprisingly, is collected in about 80 years (1886, 1943). And the world is still intact.

Russian Orthodoxy, which began to orient in Kiev, also had its own calculations of the end of the world. The Apocalypse was awaited in 1492. It was until this year that Paschalia was calculated, and then there was a postscript that this was the last year before the second coming. In 1491, many people did not sow the fields, because there will still be no harvest. Waited for the end of the world in 1584 and 1604, when the great planets were approaching in the sky. Next was 1666, which was associated with the "number of the devil." In this year, London burnt, and in Moscow Nikon began his reforms, and there was a church split. But the world survived. The Moscow Cathedral ordered the calculation of Paschalia until 2492. And there will be seen.

But people have already rasproboval adrenaline in anticipation of the end of the world, and in Ukraine from time to time rumors spread about the Last Judgment and the second coming. Often such expectations fell on common misfortunes. For example, during the pestilence and hunger, or with some unusual phenomena akin to a solar eclipse or a meteorite fall. In Ukraine, the expectation of the Last Judgment was caused by sea and famine, which raged from 1710 to 1712. The people "thought that the end of the world was coming, praying, preparing for death, and little worried about their unbearable life."

In 1840, a total solar eclipse led to panic in Chernigov. At that time there was a fair, the peasants who traded there, abandoned everything, ran off to where the eyes looked. Immediately the preacher appeared and turned to the frightened crowd with a proposal to repent on this last day. But when the sun shone again in the sky - the panic ceased.

Sometimes messages about the end of the world were distributed in writing, when some wise guy wanted to indulge his pen. For example, in 1785 the governor-general Kharkov Chertkov sent out a circular for the police, in which he ordered the eradication of rumors among the people that in the years 1788-89 there would be an end to the world. And the reason was the manuscript with verses that were "written off" from the grave of the old Bernardine monk and translated from Latin. The governor-general was concerned that the rich could sell their property, and the poor would stop working.

The message about the end of the world has appeared more than once on the Ukrainian lands. This was mainly due to the existence of various sects. In 1900 in the Russian Empire members of the "Red Death" sect were awaiting Armageddon. Hundreds of sectarians committed an act of self-immolation. At the beginning of the XX century, the sect of Kiselevites dug catacombs to sit there until the Last Judgment. But the work of the Orthodox Inquisition, and then of the State Security, reduced almost to zero the eschatological expectations. But perestroika, and then independence, allowed many of the preachers to come out into the light of God, who began to fish in troubled waters after the collapse of the USSR.

The greatest response was made by the actions of the "White Brotherhood" sect. The pseudo-religious organization, created in 1990 on the technologies of the KGB special laboratories, quickly abandoned its Krishna roots and set foot on the path of preaching eschatology. The leaders of the sect Tsvigun, Krivonogov and Kovalchuk with their endless sermons preached the heads of thousands of people who gladly gave their property to the leaders. First acting in the suburbs, the sect on the orders of curators and with the financial support of Moscow in the spring of 1993 transferred its activities to Kiev. The city was filled with posters with Mary the Virgin Christ and a group of faithful who cursed those who did not believe in the new messiah.

The "Last Judgment" was first appointed on October 24, 1993, then postponed to October 10. On this day, 25 sectarians led by Tsvigun and Krivonogov broke into St. Sophia Cathedral. They were preparing to self-immolation. In the cathedral were to come 144 thousand of those who would like to be saved on the day of the second coming. Fortunately, extremes were avoided. It was arrested 800 sectarians, who were under the influence of psychotropic technologies.

Thanks to the development of the Internet, Ukrainians were waiting for the end of the world along with all progressive mankind. In 2000, users with fear expected an error in computer technology, which was supposed to lead to a global catastrophe. Then they expected the launch of the hadronic collider and the appearance of a black hole. In 2012, the ancient Mayans intimidated everyone with their calendar. More than once asteroids and the tenth planet Nubir flew up to Earth.

Even the latest events taking place in Syria and those associated with the onset of Armageddon. After all, IGIL did not immediately become a haven for murderers and world terrorism. The war was to be conducted in order to subjugate all Muslim territories in the Middle East and establish a caliphate on it. The soldiers of IGIL were to become soldiers of the army, which was to enter the last and decisive battle with the devil Al-Malham al-Kubra. Armageddon was to occur near the Syrian city of Dabik. But it was not as it should be. And the "end of the world" fighters turned into diabolical terrorists.

If without jokes, there were also in Ukraine visionaries who talked about the end of the world. In the 80s of the last century, Alipia's mother lived in Kiev. Her predictions have often come true. Before her death in 1988 she predicted the third world war and the end of the world for the 30th year after her death. And this is just 2018. One can also recall the murdered religious fanatics of the mothball Michael Nechai. He also predicted the world war more than once. Truth without indicating the exact date ...