TOWARDS END: Will it be the end of everything? Or will it be th...

TOWARDS END: Will it be the end of everything? Or will it be th...: "So at least claim the Maya's, that ancient civilization that lived in the Mesoamerica's since 2,600 BC. The Maya's had an extremely complica..."

The Year 2012

The Year 2012.

Maya Prophecy? The End of an Ancient Calendar? The End of the World as We Know It? Global Cataclysm? A Cosmic Change of Consciousness? The return of Quetzalcoatl?

What is this all about?

So, we’re hearing a lot about what the ancient Maya prophesied for us, far in their future...our year 2012.

The din is rising. What did they actually tell us?

The short answer from the Maya is,

It’s not the end of the world!

Indeed, current debate about 21 December 2012 results from contemporary confusion from projections, assumptions, and misunderstanding about the science and beliefs of several ancient cultures of the Americas.

The Maya were one of many cultures of the Americas who employed a solar calendar of 365 days. However, while the Maya calculated and utilized cycles of ~5125 years, other cultures, including the Aztecs, focused on shorter cycles of only 52 years.

Although the Aztec adopted many aspects of the Maya calendar, the milestone of 21 December 2012 is significant only in terms of the long cycles of Maya time. (For an introductory explanation of the Maya Calendrics, download Part IV – Appendix: Technicalities of the Calendars.)

The Maya Long Count notation for 21 December 2012 is 13.0.0.0.0 which completes a cycle of 5125.366 years (3114 BC – 2012 CE).

More later about the Maya. Let’s look now at current prophecies for 21 December 2012.

Some of the events proposed to come together on the winter solstice, 21 December 2012:

On that morning, the Earth and Sun will align with the “Dark Rift” near the Galactic Center. This event last happened about 25,800 years ago.

The magnetic poles of the Earth may reverse, leaving us unprotected from cosmic radiation for a time. The effect of magnetic fields on human creativity, initiative, mood, etc., is still unknown.

There will be a Venus Transit, an eclipse‐type alignment when Venus crosses between Earth and the Sun. We witness a pair of these about once a century: the last few were 1518 & 1526; 1631 & 1639; 1761 & 1769; 1874 & 1882; 2004 & then on 6 June 2012.

NASA predicts an unusually powerful “Solar Maximum” (sunspot season) for 2012 (though it may peak as early as late 2011). This happens every 11 years, and disrupts satellite and other electromagnetic communications.

The usual disasters loom: food shortages, cataclysmic storms due to global warming, gasoline prices going through the roof, looming chaos in the Middle East – site of Biblical Armageddon and Eden – which will disrupt oil production and bring civilization to a grinding halt (some like to call it Mess‐o’‐potamia).

Maya Prophecies for 21 December 2012

According to ancient records, the Maya Long Count Calendar will reach 13.0.0.0.0. Due to the cyclic nature of Maya calendars, this date appears to replicate the same number as at the beginning of this Creation in August 3114 BC/BCE (which the Maya also wrote as 13.0.0.0.0). The interval is 5125 years & 133 days, or 5125.366 years.

The return of Quetzalcoatl (one of the great gods of ancient Mesoamerica), according to Aztec and Maya prophecies.

The “13” in the Maya date 13.0.0.0.0 indicates “13 Bak’tuns.” A Maya Bak’tun or Pik is 144,000 days, the same number as the number of devotees taken up in the Rapture, according to the Book of Revelation. Coincidence?

There have been five Creations according to the Aztec records. Five times 5125.366 years is 25,626.8 years. Coincidence?

9 Reasons why the “Maya Prophecies” should be read very critically:

1. Very fragmentary. What we have is only a handful of passages from a lost, and much longer, story.

2. Contradictory. Though Aztec, Mixtec, and Maya sources provide us a number of narratives, different versions disagree. The calendar dates associated with Maya “end date,” Aztec “end date,” and “return of Quetzalcoatl” all vary.

For example: the Aztec predict that this Creation will end on a 4‐Movement day in a 2‐Reed year, if it ends at all. The next possible Aztec end‐date will be in 2027. Maya literature does not explicitly predict any end at all, and their so‐called “end date” in 2012 is a 4‐Ajaw [4‐Flower in Aztec cycle], not 4‐Movement. Mixtec Creation stories mention 2‐Deer in year 13‐Rabbit, and other dates.

3. Manipulated. Tlacaélel, Machiavellian minister to three Aztec emperors, had no illusions about the propaganda power of history, and saw to it that history was rewritten completely to exalt the Mexica and denigrate rivals. He was neither the first or the last to do this. At his behest, the Aztecs burned their own libraries as well as their enemies’, in order to start with a clean slate. They even changed Quetzalcoatl’s birthday. Likewise, Maya dates and intervals of time were manipulated for their numerological and augural significance.

4. Misunderstood. 21st‐century Western world‐view is very different from that of ancient Mesoamericans. We tend to project our own ideas and beliefs on others.

• For example: their distinction between truth and myth, and between various individual gods, were nowhere near our categorical boundaries. Gods did not have distinct personalities, they blended into each other, they split into gangs of 4 or 5. The days, and even the numerals in their calendars were living, powerful entities. Some Maya texts (below) appear to have indicated “myth time” with “unworkable” calendar days.

5. Errors. Maya monuments, particularly dates and distance numbers contain errors, both of transcription and of calculation. I count something over 50 numerical mistakes carved in stone. Apparently the Maya, believed that “a card laid is a card played” and never, ever, erased and fixed a mistake.

6. No mention of destruction nor of renewal, nor improvement, connected to the coming 13.0.0.0.0 Maya “end date”.

7. Implication that Life and the calendar will continue without interruption beyond 2012.

8. The Mesoamerican concept of “cyclic time” is not that cyclic. To both the Maya and the Aztec each Creation was

an improvement on the previous era.

9. Solstices were of very minor importance. Though they record hundreds of ceremonies, anniversaries, jubilees, dedications, offerings, astronomical events, etc., inscriptions almost never mention events on solstices or equinoxes. However, especially very early, during the Middle Formative, the Maya built “E‐ Groups,” architectural alignments to the Solstices and Equinoxes. (Archaeoastonomers have long been puzzled by the fact that most E‐Groups do not align to these risings. Recent investigation suggests that E‐Groups may have been aligned to the solar Zenith Passages and Nadirs, events more highly esteemed than Solstices. The First Zenith Passage coincides with the onset of the rainy season in much of Mesoamerica.)

What is supposed to happen in 2012?

Some predictions for 2012

Four predictions

“An imminent polar reversal that will wipe our hard drives clean.” Daniel Pinchbeck

“The rare celestial alignment of our solar system, our sun, and our planet with the center of our galaxy—an event that will not happen again for another 26,000 years.”Gregg Braden

The “dawning of a Wisdom Age ... standing on the shoulders of the Information Age.”Peter Russell

“The December 21, 2012, date will likely be a “nonevent” similar to

... the widely anticipated Y2K phenomenon.” Robert K. Sitler

Cultural Diversity

The next 2 maps will show how diverse Mesoamerica is ‐ both culturally and linguistically.

The Maya, and the later Mixtec and Aztec cultures, are only a few of many.

Mesoamerica has greater linguistic diversity than Europe.

Just the Mayan area (light blue), for example, comprises 22 living

languages even today. .

Culture Areas and Dates

The next 4 maps display the dates and areas of the Olmec,

Early and Late Classic Maya, and the Aztec cultures.

These groups were as different from each other as Egypt, Greece, and Medieval Spain. Nevertheless, like Greece and Spain, the later cultures respected, and built on their forebears.

They also felt free to adapt as well as adopt. Ancient Mesoamericans had no compunctions about changing or even inverting stories, just as Christmas traditions vary around the world.

Cultures worldwide suffer cycles of Rise and Fall. But those in Mesoamerica apparently lived in a more fragile environment; when they fell, they fell hard. Unlike Rome, Baghdad, and other Old World cities who rebuilt after a collapse, most of the great Mesoamerican capitals were completely abandoned after their respective Falls.

The Mesoamerican People suffered Multiple Collapses

900 BCE/BC

400‐300 BCE/BC

100 BCE/BC

200 CE/AD 600/650 CE/AD 600‐800 CE/AD

900 CE/AD

1100 – 1250 1350 – 1450

1500‐1540 CE/AD

The major Olmec city of San Lorenzo was abandoned, and La Venta rose. (Gulf coast)

The Middle Classic Collapse snuffed the Olmec Horizon, and fertilized dozens of Late Formative city‐states. (pan‐Mesoamerica)

Multiple Collapses

Cuicuilco, buried by a volcanic eruption (southern Valley of Mexico),

coincides with rise of Teotihuacán (northern Valley of Mexico)

The abandonment of great cities in the Mirador Basin. (Northern Guatemala)

The burning of Teotihuacán marks the boundary between Early and Late Classic.

The Late Classic saw not only a dramatic florescence of Maya cities, but also the appearance of new civilizations: Tajín, Huasteca, Xochicalco, Cacaxtla.

The Classic Collapse: Maya, Zapotec, Veracruz, etc. (pan‐Mesoamerica)

The rise of the Mixteca city‐states. The Aztec/Mexica establish an empire.

The Conquest: Introduced disease; the fall of Tenochtitlán (1521), and then the rest of the Americas. (pan‐Mesoamerica)

The 2012 Galactic Alignment: How rare is it?

Some researchers claim that the Maya Calendar was set,

The Galactic

originally devised, specifically to reach its “end” (the Long

Count date 13.0.0.0.0) coinciding with this very special event.

Alignment – How Rare is It?

So how rare is this “galactic alignment,” that occurs every

26,000 years?

The 2012 Galactic Alignment: How rare is it?

The Galactic Center is about here: X

Here is a sky chart showing the sun on the morning of 21 Dec., 2012. The line marking the Ecliptic is green, and the Galactic Equator is violet.

The 2012 Galactic Alignment: How rare is it?

The Galactic Center is about here: X

Here is a sky chart showing the sun on the same day, three years earlier in 2009.

The 2012 Galactic Alignment: How rare is it?

The Galactic Center is about here: X

Here is a sky chart showing the sun on the morning of Dec. 21, 2006.

The 2012 Galactic Alignment: How rare is it?

The Galactic Center is about here: X

The sky chart showing the sun on the morning of Dec. 21, 2003.

To see the slight movement of the sun at these three‐year intervals, click back and forth through the last three slides a few times. You will notice that the sun has been in virtually the same spot every Dec. 21st for many years.

In fact, the sun has already crossed the Galactic Equator in 1999. The edge of the sun first touched that Equator in the early 1980’s, and will be in contact with it each 21st of December until about 2019. Again, this “rare” alignment has already been happening for twenty‐five years and will continue for a decade more.

The 2012 Galactic Alignment: How rare is it?

The Galactic Center is about here: X

The sky chart showing the sun on the morning of Dec. 21, 1999.

The next slide shows the sky chart showing the position of the sun on the morning of the solstice in 1941, seventy-one years before 2012. It is approximately one degree, or two solar diameters, away from the Galactic Equator. This slow movement is what astronomers call “Precession of the Equinox.”

The 2012 Galactic Alignment: How rare is it?

The Galactic Center is about here: X

Sky chart showing the position of the sun on the morning of the solstice in 1941, seventy‐one years before 2012.

The 2012 Galactic Alignment: How rare is it?

The Galactic Center is about here: X

This shows the sun’s position at dawn of the solstice 71 years earlier still, when it was two degrees short of the Galactic Equator.

The 2012 Galactic Alignment: How rare is it?

The sun’s position on 21 Dec., 2012 and on 23 Dec., 1870.

The Galactic Center is about here: X

Here we show the sun’s position on mornings two days apart, in 1870 and 2012. The sun in 2012 occupies precisely the same positions as it did 142 years and two days earlier. They are two degrees apart, or four solar diameters.

The 2012 Galactic Alignment: How rare is it?

The Galactic Center is about here: X

However, two days later in 1870 on Dec. 23rd, the sun did cross the Galactic Equator. And in 1941 it crossed on the 22nd.

The 2012 Galactic Alignment: How rare is it? Not very.

The Galactic Center is about here: X

Allow us to repeat, the sun has crossed the galactic equator every winter solstice since 1983, and will continue to do so until 2019.

In fact, the sun has aligned annually (on other days) since time began. (It precesses a solar diameter in 36 years.)

This is an annual event, is not rare at all.

However, the Maya did celebrate the Sun’s almost‐imperceptibly slow progression through the

The Maya did celebrate

Zodiac (or “around the sky”) called the Precession of

the Equinox.

The Precession

Barbara MacLeod has been working with an unusual Maya concept, a significant interval of time they called “3‐11‐Pik” (or “3‐11‐Baktun,” to use the traditional epigrapher’s name for the 144,000‐day/400‐year period). 3 x 11 x 144,000 days is 4,752,000 days, or 13,010.5 years, half the length of the Precession cycle.

Maya rulers celebrated a micro‐cycle of this huge interval: every 8660 days (about 24 years) was an “11‐Pik station” in the Long Count, (it would have the same Calendar Round as 11 Piks later would have). If a king lived long enough, he would witness three of these in succession (taking 25,980 days, about 71 years; 3.12.3.0 in Maya numerals) and be given the title “3‐11‐Pik Ajaw.” This 71 years is the length of time for the Equinox sun to precess one day. In other words, the sun’s position against the backdrop of stars would have shifted to the adjacent day’s position 71 years before.

...Not only did the Maya occasionally celebrate the Precession, they observed and measured its progress sufficiently to calculate with it.

If a lord saw 3 successive 8660‐day periods (about 71 years), he was given the title “3‐11‐Pik Ajaw.”

(71 years is the time it takes for the sun to precess back one day. Thrice 8660 is also 25,980 days, microcosmically reflecting the full Precession cycle of 25,800 years. Perhaps.)

Premier archaeoastronomer Anthony Aveni is not at all convinced by Barbara MacLeod’s evidence, which he calls coincidental. (We scholars are not at all monolithic.)

Solstices: How important were they?

Observatory, Palenque Palace

So far, we have found no glyphic inscription that refers to a solstice or an equinox per se. The only events recorded in inscriptions that consistently fall near one of these dates are the “Flapstaff Dance” lintels at Yaxchilan. The Maya called this baton/banner Jasaw‐Chan, and the handful of records of this dance always happen a couple days after the summer solstice: June 25, June 26, etc. (GMT+2 correlation; two days earlier in the GMT correlation).

Further, Maya rulers could choose the date of their inauguration. They had substantial leeway for it; a typical Maya Ajaw‐to‐be had between a month and about two years after his predecessor’s death to set a date.

Examining 80 recorded coronations for Maya lords, I found only one (in each correlation) that fell on either a solstice or an equinox, which is precisely what chance would predict. In fact, I found four that coincided with February 14th, but that does not prove that the Ancient Maya celebrated St. Valentine’s day. Remember that!!

When faced with a choice of an auspicious day on which to schedule an important event, Maya almost never chose a solstice or an equinox.

21.12.2012 - The end of the world??

21.12.2012 - the end of the world??

There are many opinions about what, if anything is going to happen on winter solstice 2012 and what is the real meaning of Mayan end date.

It has been predicted that on the Winter Solstice of 2012 at exactly 11:11 UT - a Trans-Dimensional Event (T-DE) will occur. The Mayan Day-keepers view the December 21, 2012 date as a rebirth, the start of the World of the Fifth Sun. It will be the beginning of a new era according to the Mayan Calendar. On this day the solar meridian crosses the galactic equator, and the Earth aligns itself with the center of the galaxy.

At sunrise on December 21, 2012, for the first time in 26,000 years the Sun rises to conjunct the intersection of the Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic. This cosmic cross is considered to be an embodiment of the Sacred Tree, The Tree of Life - a tree remembered in all the world's spiritual traditions. This alignment will bring massive energy waves and particles which will impact our consciousness, and will soon have an even greater impact on our planet. This vortex of energy will afford us a great opportunity to bring enlightenment to the Universe.Some observers say this alignment with the heart of the galaxy will open a channel for cosmic energy to flow through the Earth, cleansing it and all that dwells upon it, raising all to a higher level of vibration.

Metaphysical predictions

2012 is claimed by some to be a great year of spiritual transformation or an apocalypse. There is disagreement among believers as to whether 2012 will see an end of civilization, or humanity will be elevated to a higher level. Many esoteric sources[interpret the completion of the thirteenth B'ak'tun cycle in the Long Count of the Maya calendar -which occurs on December 21 by the most widely held correlation- to mean there will be a major change in world order.

Astrologers have determined that on this date, there will be "an extremely close conjunction of the northern hemisphere winter solstice sun with the crossing point of the Galactic equator and the ecliptic", an event that will not be repeated for thousands of years.

The Astrology of December 21, 2012

According to many prophecies something important is about to happen in 2012. In 2012 the centre of the Galaxy is at 0 degree of the Western zodiacal sign Capricorn. 0 degree Capricorn is the point of the zodiac where the Sun is during the December solstice.

Highlights of the Astrological chart for 21 December 12.12

The planetary pattern will be the same for all locations only the ascendant and house division will be different.

The Sun is at 0 degrees Capricorn, the point of the December solstice. It makes a sextile to Neptune, right at the beginning of Pisces. This is an almost exact sextile. The orb is less then half a degree. This aspect can point towards a spiritual experience, a loss or both. The most important configuration is a yod which we find in the chart. This is also called the Finger of God.
The yod consists of:
1. A quincunx (150 degree aspect) between Jupiter and Pluto.
2. A quincunx between Jupiter and Saturn.
3. A central opposition (180 degree aspect) made between Jupiter and the Mercury/Venus conjunction.
The two quincunxes are almost exact, they have an orb of less then half a degree. In fact the quincunx between Jupiter and Pluto is exact at December 21 2012.

1)Pluto is the planet of radical transformation, death and rebirth.
2)Saturn is the planet of the earthly realm and of learning experiences.
3)Jupiter is the planet of expansion. It is the focus of the yod, the planet which receives the strong energy of the other planets involved. It also expands the energy of the other planets involved.

Will it be the end of everything? Or will it be the dawning of the age of Aquarius? No one really knows. One thing's for sure, though. December 21st o

So at least claim the Maya's, that ancient civilization that lived in the Mesoamerica's since 2,600 BC. The Maya's had an extremely complicated method of keeping track of time, based on three separate calendars. The most important, most encompassing of these calendars holds the `Long Count': the period from the beginning until the end of time. And on December 21st 2012, the Long Count expires. It will be point zero. Time will be up for the Universe. It will be, literally, the end of days.

Big deal, you might say. Still, there's a couple of very interesting (and disturbing) facts about the Maya calendar's end. Most intriguing, 21-12-2012 is not a day like any other. Up in the sky, an extraordinary and incredibly rare event will take place. The Sun will move to a unique spot in the sky -- and hold still for a while, since it is solstice day. The Sun will sit precisely on the heavenly crossroads between the Milky Way and the galactic equinox, forming a perfect alignment with the center of the galaxy.

Er... what?

Well: the night time sky is crossed by several mathematical lines. One is the axis of the Milky Way -- the Milky Way, as you may know, being that bright band of stars you can see running across the heavens on a clear night. Another important line is the cosmological ecliptic: the axis along which the constellations travel, the line that defines coordinates in space.

You can say a lot about the Maya, but you've got to hand it to them: they knew a hell of a lot about stars. For instance, they calculated the exact duration of a year to a thousandth of a decimal point, much more precise than any Greek or enlightened philosopher ever did. Also, they were able to predict every solar and lunar eclipse until this day. And obviously, they knew where the galactic equinox and the exact middle of the Milky Way lay: they called this crossing `the Sacred Tree'.

More disturbing, the Maya's were awfully good at astrology, too. Mysteriously, they predicted in what year their civilization would be overrun by foreigners coming from over the seas. Legend has it they even predicted the world wars. So if a Maya tells you the world will end in 2012, you'd better take it seriously.

But actually, the Maya's never predicted anything concrete about 2012. That may have something to do with our ill knowledge about Maya culture: when the Spanish ransacked the land, they burnt literally every Maya book they could find. Only a handful of scriptures survived. And in them, there's not a clue about what happens when the Maya calendar ends.

So what awaits us in 2012 basically is an open question. And as with so many open questions, countless doom preachers, semi-prophets and other crackpots pop up to provide an answer. The interpretation you hear most: 2012 will mark the coming of a new, glorious age of wisdom and peace. It will be Age Of Aquarius at last, with a world full of peace, love and understanding.

The reasoning behind this is actually not that stupid. The Maya's didn't really believed in endings: their conception of time was circular, with every end being the beginning of something new. So, 2012 shouldn't be an exception.

Also, the Maya's had a highly developed philosophy of the cosmos. They saw the cosmos as the true mother of things. Consequently, the Maya's thought the cosmos is all around us, and within us. Every plant, every animal, every man is sheer Cosmos.

So, New Age philosophers say, December 21st 2012 will be the day on which this inner cosmos is reconnected to the divine outer cosmos. The Sun will mount its unique position to form a `gateway' between the Universe and the souls of every living creature on Earth. Our linear conception of time will crumble, and with it, fear and hatred will vanish. It will be purification at it's very best, when everyone is soaked in cosmic understanding and divine love.

So there it is: on December 20th, you'll kick your dog, yell at your spouse and cheat on cards. But a day later, you'll be calmed down into a peaceful dude with nothing but love and understanding to guide you in life. Even though it's mid-winter, it'll be summer of love for all humanity.

Other doomsayers foresee doom and destruction. December 21st will be the day the Earth will be destroyed. Some think it will be because of some nuclear war, some say it will be because it's biblical judgment day. Even others take the ending of the Maya calendar more literally, and claim the Universe will just cease to exist. Zzzzp!, gone.

There's something to be said in favor of such sinister scenario's, too. The Maya divided their Long Count into five lumps of time, called Great Cycles. And every cycle had a well defined end. For example, after period number one, a Jaguar came by and ate everyone on Earth. Well, it's the Maya saying this, not me!

The second cycle ended in air, the third in fire, the fourth in flood. And what about the last period, the stretch of time we're in? The Earth will be destroyed by earthquakes, is the interpretation some scholars give to the etchy-sketchy remains of the Maya culture. That needs emphasizing, because the last word on Maya timekeeping isn't said yet: almost every year new books on the issue are published.

MAYAN CALENDER

Mayan 2012 Connections

This picture is The Temple of Kukulcan at the Chichen Itza Maya ruin site located in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Occupied during the Terminal and Late Classic periods of the Maya empire (roughly 600-1000 AD), Chichen Itza rose to prominence during a time when most Mayan cultures were in decline.

The Temple of Kukulcan (also known as El Castillo) is said to be a physical embodiment of the Maya Calendar. For instance, there are 91 steps on each of the four sides of the pyramid (totaling 364) plus the top platform giving us 365 to match the days of a solar year. There are many other representations of time within the construction of the pyramid as will be pointed out later.

One of the more interesting aspects of the Kukulcan pyramid is the famous decending serpent illusion which can be seen on the Spring and Fall equinoxes. An equinox occurs when the Sun is located in the middle of the transit between solstices. A solstice occurs when the tilt of the Earth's axis is either closest to or farthest away from the Sun. It is on these days when the Sun's apparent movement north and south through the sky appears to halt and reverse direction, signaling the changing of seasons. An equinox is the midpoint between solstices (usually March 20 or 21 and September 22 or 23). Equinox and Solstice dates can be found here.

The serpent represented is one of the 13 symbols within the Mayan Zodiac. It is the descent of the Rattlesnake. Maya decendents today believe the Snake decends upon the temple every year (as evidenced by the illusion) however the rattles have yet to descend. These descendents believe according to the Mayan Calendar 2012 is the year when the rattles will descend. The Rattles are the Pleiades Star Cluster. You can verify this by looking further into the Mayan Zodiac.

In addition to the Kukulcan pyramid Chichen Itza is also home to The Great Ball Court. It is at the Great Ball Court where the Maya would re-enact the creation of the world and the subsequent destruction and rebirth that followed. The game involved 6-7 players on each side competing to get a ball through a round stone carving, intertwined by stone serpents, some 10-12 meters off the ground. The captain of the winning team was honored through sacrifice as depicted on carvings surrounding the court. Mayan Calendar 2012 cont.

REACTORS

In a SHTF scenario, safety features of nuclear reactors might be significantly incapable of preventing a meltdown. As we have seen in Japan, a country that gave us the word tsunami, their backup plan of diesel generators failed because the tsunami took them out. If your home or safe spot is within 50-100 miles of a nuclear reactor, you need to be aware of the risks. Not everyday risks, I’m sure the authorities have them covered. I mean rare events, any of which could be occurring in a 2012, end of the world situation.

Earthquake - anywhere in the world can have an earthquake. In 2012, a global cataclysm could be setting off earthquakes globally. Authorities saying “we don’t get earthquakes around here” does not equal safety.

Tsunami - your local reactor is only safe if it is a substantial distance from the coast. In the past mile-high tsunamis are known to have occurred. Even a smaller 200 metre tsunami will reach 50-100 kilometres inland, or further if the terrain is flat.

Asteroid – if a large asteroid or comet strikes the ocean, a tsunami will result. If it strikes land, a reactor will be safe unless there is a direct hit. There is twice as much ocean as there is land…

Coronal Mass Ejection – storms from the Sun can take out satellites, and render power-grids inoperable. Unless a reactor has all of their equipment inside a Faraday cage, the instrumentation they need could also be wrecked.

Volcano – aside from a direct hit by a volcanic block (or bomb), ash can shut down power grids and make it very difficult for emergency services to reach the site.

War / Terrorism – a direct strike by a missile would most likely be something that cannot be protected against. A nuclear reactor would certainly be a target during war, or by terrorists.

Hurricane – I would like to think that most facilities could withstand a hurricane, but you never know…

Tornado – I can picture a twister ripping up power cables (if they aren’t underground), destroying a control room and damaging a diesel generator.