The phrase "Earth Changes" was coined by the American psychic Edgar Cayce (1877–1945) to refer to the belief that the world would soon enter on a series of cataclysmic events causing major alterations in human life on the planet.
This includes "natural events" (such as major earthquakes, the melting of the polar ice caps, a pole shift of the planetary axis, major weather events, solar flares and so on[1]) as well as huge changes of the local and global social, economical and political systems.
Cayce himself also made many prophecies of cataclysmic events involving the whole planet.[2] [3] He claimed the polar axis would shift and that many areas that are now land would again become ocean floor, and that Atlantis would rise from the sea.[3] In more recent times, self-proclaimed psychic Gordon-Michael Scallion has issued a variety of prophecies centering on the concept of "Earth Changes" and publishes a monthly newsletter, The Earth Changes Report.[4]
Cayce's term has been taken up in certain segments of the New Age movement,[5] often associated with other predictions by people claiming to have psychic abilities.[6] These beliefs have occasionally been associated with Christian millennialism and beliefs about UFOs.[1] Some New Age adherents believe that Earth changes will preface a "Golden Age" of spirituality and world peace.[2] [5]
In the late 1980s, Lori Toye published the I Am America Map, based on several visions that she claimed to have beginning in 1983.[7] [8] The I Am America Map sold over 40,000 copies, and was followed by subsequent maps: Freedom Star World map, Golden Cities map, and an Earth Changes Progression series of maps. These maps represented the earth's future geography after climatic earth changes.[9]
Prophecies of Earth changes have been described as a form of pseudoscience, in which terminology and ideas borrowed from science are used to rationalize non-scriptural apocalyptical thought based on visionary experiences.[6] David Spangler, a leader of the Findhorn Foundation spiritual community, described prophecies of Earth changes as an expression of collective fear and anger, rather than as foretelling of actual future events.[10]