John Pickering

I grew up in a small English market town with ducks flying up the walls and my greatest achievement at Secondary School was locking the Headmaster in the toilet for two hours! In spite of this I survived to go onto art college and study design, art therapy and later: theology and comparative religion.

My favorite place as a child was either to be in a wood or in the library; interestingly both of which are bigger on the inside than they are on the outside! Although that had nothing to do with why I liked them - at the time it was just simply better to be some place else other than at school!

It was being some place else that got me into using my creative skills and interest in astronomy to work with the London Planetarium and other semi-educational science based projects. All of which stood me in good stead for ascension to the next level of being self employed and then transmogrifying into a part-time cartoonist and writer!

About 5 years ago, Katie and I joined our local Unitarian Chapel. They seemed a decent enough bunch; a cup of tea and two biscuits only costs 80p!

Unitarians have no doctrines or dogma; they are simply united by values: Compassion, Truth, Liberty, and acceptance that everyone is on their own spiritual journey. Anyone that is a free thinker, or fed up with religion, or just plain weird, would fit in!

A typical Unitarian meeting can include theists, atheists, humanists, pagans and everyone in between. As a movement they are socially active and in general promote the view that this one world on which were are all united in our common humanity is greater than all the religion and politics that divide us! This seemed something worth supporting. But they are not very good at promoting themselves so you may have to dig around to find your local Unitarian chapel or meeting place.

Katie and I are also members of the 'Unitarian Society for Psychical Studies' - always worth a look, as is the 'Unitarian Earth Spirit Network' - and you don't even have to be a Unitarian to join either of those.

Some of you may know of me from our book 'BEYOND PHOTOGRAPHY' which Katie and I wrote together in 2006! (Published by O Books) You may also have seen 'THE ZEN OF BEN' which Mike Oram and I produced together.

Both books are available on Amazon. If you bought them - Thanks!

I hope you enjoyed them!

My latest book, and the very first book I've put on Kindle is:

2012: PROPHETIC MELTDOWN!

Even though this is the 11th hour, I felt impelled to attempt some kind of rational perspective on this subject. Although I must admit I have not been able to refrain from a bit of humor here and there; especially as one half of the 2012 enthusiasts are expecting the End of the World and the others expect to Ascend to some higher level of existence!!

Certainly with any prophetic date setting we have to be duly careful.

But if you dare to tread where angels fear to go - please do read on:

As a boy of fourteen I discovered my Grandmother's Bible and was immediately captivated by all the fantastic illustrations of the gruesome creatures and many headed beasts portrayed in the books of Daniel and Revelation. The language of the text was exotic, symbolic and mysterious and I've been interested in Biblical prophecy ever since. I find the history of prophecy interesting because it reflects humanity's unconscious leanings towards belief in something beyond the material world; the idea of fate, and the possibility of predicting the future; perhaps even the possibly winning the Lottery!

Back in the 1950's SF writer Eric Frank Russell wrote about the 3Bs: "Baloney Baffles Brains!" Like most of the Doomsday movements of the past, in the 2012 prophetic package I discovered that there is certainly a dollop of baloney mixed in with all the glittering ingredients!

My KDP book, 2012: PROPHETIC MELTDOWN! Although complete in its self, forms part of a more comprehensive book on prophecy & prediction entitled 'THE DOOMSDAY EXPRESS', which will be published later this year by O Books.

With a bit of luck (Non-End of the World permitting) some folks may be reading it in 2013 or beyond!

Certainly the past few years spent researching our preoccupation with Doomsday prophecies has certainly given me a whole new perspective on the phenomenon of prediction.

I hope that you may find this new contribution both entertaining and enlightening!

Thank you for making it this far!

And I hope you will enjoy reading 2012: PROPHETIC MELTDOWN!

John