Earth changes

Earth changes, a brand of apocalyptic woo coined by alleged "prophet" Edgar Cayce, has become popular among some segments of the New Age movement. Cayce, who died in 1945 after issuing hundreds of channeled writings, prophesied the Earth's axis would shift, California would fall into the ocean, and other major changes in the Earth's ecology and atmosphere would occur.

Variations on Cayce's prophecies have since been issued by other "channelers," among them Ramtha/J.Z. Knight, and in some cases linked to the Gaia hypothesis, as a kind of "Mother Earth strikes back at humanity" scenario. Just about anyone anticipating some New-Age apocalypse will point to alleged Earth changes — increased numbers of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and so on — as a sign that the end is near. Evidence of such increases is not usually forthcoming.

The more extreme believers in Cayce's prophecies have, unsurprisingly, taken up survivalism to prepare.