Mystical peak oil forecasts

[Extend a Hand]

I just thought this was interesting...

http://www.peakoil.ie/newsletters/553
<snip>...
Connected with this linguistic history is a quasi-religious curiosity. It appears in an old list of papal labels called the "Prophecies of Saint Malachy" (Prophetiae Sancti Malachiae), a catalogue of slogans in Latin which purport to allude to the reigns of Popes from 1143 until "the end of time." According to this list, the new Pope, Benedict XVI, elected on 2005 April 19, is the penultimate pontiff, after whom will come the last Pope, coincidentally named "Peter," a Roman (Petrus Romanus), in a time of persecution and a dreadful apocalypse of some undefined sort which will include the destruction of the "seven-hilled city" (usually thought of as Rome, but perhaps, with "Romanus," a metaphor for the West generally as opposed to the Greek East).
The "Prophecies" assign to Benedict XVI the quizzical label "Gloria olivae," normally translated literally as "Glory of the olive." If one were to interpret the Latin in an updated manner appropriate for today, however, one might go back to the ancient root of "oliva" and understand the word as a metaphor for oil - specifically, petroleum. "Gloria" (literally, "glory," "fame") might then be viewed as the "height of popularity" - connoting, essentially, the cresting of oil's use by mankind. In other words, the phrase "Gloria olivae" could be interpreted as a reference to the Pope of the time of Peak Oil: the Pope who is here, now

[greyl]

1. Brian Regan's source of information is his imagination.

The coolest thing about imagination is that it is beyond present "reality" and inspires us to create a better future.

Brian wants us to believe that his imagination trumps the imagination of his readers. He's totally full of shit.

I think apocalyptic prophecies in salvationist religions are best interpreted as a metaphor for the end of that religion, rather than the end of humanity at large. The writers had a woefully inadequate comprehension of humanity at large, so who else could they be speaking for?