More than 100 small earthquakes shook the Mediterranean island of Sicily yesterday as Mount Etna spewed fountains of ash and magma up to 650ft into the air. Rivers of molten rock moved down the side of Europe’s highest volcano, igniting the forests like parched timber and destroying everything in their path. (AFP photo)...

Edgar Cayce prophesied that great earth changes would begin with the eruption of Mt. Etna

John WorldPeace
October 31,  2002

     For forty-three years of his adult life, Edgar Cayce demonstrated the uncanny ability to put himself into some kind of self-induced sleep state by lying down on a couch, closing his eyes, and folding his hands over his stomach. This state of relaxation and meditation enabled him to place his mind in contact with all time and space. From this state he could respond to questions as diverse as, "What are the secrets of the universe?" to "How can I remove a wart?" His responses to these questions came to be called "readings" and contain insights so valuable that even to this day individuals have found practical help for everything from maintaining a well-balanced diet and improving human relationships to overcoming life-threatening illnesses and experiencing a closer walk with God.

     Though Cayce died more than half a century ago, the timeliness of the material in the readings is evidenced by approximately one dozen biographies and more than 300 titles that discuss various aspects of this man's life and work. These books contain a corpus of information so valuable that even Edgar Cayce himself might have hesitated to predict their impact on the latter part of the twentieth century. Sixty years ago who could have known that terms such as "meditation," "akashic records," "spiritual growth," "auras," "soul mates," and "holism" would become household words to hundreds of thousands? Further details about his life and work are explored in such classic works as There Is a River (1942) by Thomas Sugrue, The Sleeping Prophet (1967) by Jess Stearn, Many Mansions (1950) by Gina Cerminara, and Edgar Cayce-An American Prophet (2000) by Sidney Kirkpatrick.

Three volcanoes are mentioned in the Cayce readings as having what can be called "indicator" functions for warning people of upcoming, historically unprecedented Earth changes. The Mt. Etna area in Sicily, along with other portions of the Mediterranean area, will experience "sinking or rising" of Earth's crust. This will indicate the beginning of significant "changes in the Earth's activity." Also, Mt. Vesuvius, in Italy, and Mt. Pelée, on the Caribbean island of Martinique, are to be watched for "greater activities." When such activities occur at one or the other of these volcanoes, they will indicate that the southern coast of California -- and areas between Salt Lake and the southern portions of Nevada -- will experience, within three months, "an inundation by the earthquakes." (270-35, 1/21/36)

When there is the first breaking up of some conditions in the South Sea (that's South Pacific, to be sure), and those as apparent in the sinking or rising of that that's almost opposite same, or in the Mediterranean, and the Aetna (Etna] area, then we may know it has begun.

MORE than 100 small earthquakes shook the Mediterranean island of Sicily yesterday as Mount Etna spewed fountains of ash and magma up to 650ft into the air.

Rivers of molten rock moved down the side of Europe’s highest volcano, igniting the forests like parched timber and destroying everything in their path.

The tremors, which measured between 1.1 and 3.5 on the Richter scale, were accompanied by clouds of hot ash and soot which choked the skies, making day seem like night.

To thousands of Sicilians, the second day of violent geological activity on the 3,350m volcano meant significant disruption to their daily lives. To an unfortunate few, it also meant the loss of businesses and homes.

The eruptions began in the early hours of Sunday, after several small tremors shook the island’s eastern edge and parts of mainland Italy. The epicentre was located just one mile south of the centre of Etna’s crater.

Yesterday, Italian rescue teams sent water-carrying planes into the skies to try to stem the rivers of boiling magma which snaked down the mountainside to an altitude of about 5,000ft.

While no towns on the slopes have been endangered so far, officials evacuated several areas in the flow’s path on Sunday after a new vent opened.

By late Sunday afternoon, the eruption had destroyed a line of ski-lift pylons to the volcano’s summit, as well as a considerable area of pine forest.

Yesterday, residents of Linguaglossa, a popular ski resort on the northern side of the island, whose name means "big tongue of lava", nervously eyed the glowing rocks and boiling liquid as it continued to stream down the mountainside.

The earthquakes which accompanied the eruptions were recorded by Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology.

Bulldozers worked throughout the day to divert the lava from the buildings and surrounding roads. Two schools were shut down but the parish priest decided to keep open the main church to allow the area’s faithful to pray.

"What can I say?" Felice Stagnitta, the town’s mayor, told reporters as pine trees crackled with fire behind him. "Just look at it. My heart is bleeding."

Another local, Graziella Pappalardo, wept on a friend’s shoulder as she realised her family’s restaurant, Racabo Refuge, had been engulfed in lava further up the mountain.

"The emergency services are a mess. The lava has already arrived here. They’re just a mess," she said, blinking back tears as the mountain continued to roar behind her.

People in the town prayed before a statue of Padre Pio, asking the Italian monk who was made a saint this year to stop the lava flow.

On the southern side, as many as 15 cracks opened up, feeding one stream of lava.

The lava was just over two kilometres away from the Piano Vetore astrophysics observatory, said Antonino Mostaccio, of the Vulcanology institute.

The main airport for the eastern part of the island, Catania’s Fontanarossa, has been ordered to shut down until at least dawn today.

Officials had hoped to reopen it yesterday, following the closure on Sunday, but a thick cloud of black ash that has hampered vision and coated runways with slick ash made that impossible. The ash clouds can also choke the engines of any aircraft that tries to fly through them.

Alitalia, Italy’s national airline, diverted many of its flights to Palermo.

Motorbikes, considered too dangerous to be permitted on the ash-coated streets, were also forbidden to circulate for at least two days.

Etna is almost constantly rumbling, but has not produced any serious activity since a series of eruptions in July and August last year, which experts described as one of the most erratic and complex displays in 300 years. Its last major explosion was in 1992.

Analysts said the eruption was expected to continue for several more days.

"There are no signs of a decrease in the eruption, but the situation is expected to remain stable," said Stefano Cresta, a geology professor with Catania’s university.

The city of Catania was almost completely reconstructed in the mid-1700s after the twin cataclysms of Etna’s 1669 eruption and one of Europe’s most destructive earthquakes in 1693.


When nature takes a dangerous turn

COMPARED with some examples on other continents, the eruptions of Mount Etna are small fry.

In 1985, the eruption of the Nevado de Ruiz volcano, in Colombia, killed approximately 25,000 people when it triggered an enormous mud-slide which buried the neighbouring town of Armero. The government gave instructions to people likely to be affected by an eruption as volcanic activity built up in the preceding months, but people were reluctant to leave their homes and consequently died.

When Mount St Helens, in Washington State, quite literally blew its top in May 1980, it was a minor miracle that more than the official figure of 57 people did not die. With a force equalling 24 megatons of thermal energy, the mountain was reduced by some 1,300ft in height in a matter of seconds.

The blast covered more than 230 square miles, with 3.7 billion cubic yards of rock and earth, and knocked down enough trees to build 300,000 two-bedroomed homes. The eruption cloud reached a height of 80,000ft in just 15 minutes.

In January, 1951, three days of tremor preceded the eruption at the Mt Lamington volcano, in New Guinea. Landslides, ash emission, glowing volcanic bombs and lightning were witnessed and ignored by the people living around the volcano.

Officials decided not to tell the vulcanologists about the activity and discouraged locals from leaving the area. When the eruption occurred, a roar was heard 320km away and a catastrophic avalanche ripped apart the side of the mountain.

Everything in a 325kmsq radius of Mt Lamington, including between 3-4,000 islanders, died.

 

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