page 100 of Paul LaViolette's Earth Under Fire
Reference to an ancient celestial catastrophe can also be found in American Indian legends. The Vilela Indians of Argentina have a myth that tells of how an offended spirit caused the Earth to be enveloped in an absolute darkness that lasted for an entire year. The people starved to the point of eating their dogs. Finally the spirit summoned a strong wind, which blew away not only the darkness but the thatched houses as well. Afterward, the people were so weak that they crawled on all fours.
The neighboring Toba indian tribe also has a tradition about great darness occurring long ago. It tells of how the sun one day disappeared, bringing starvation to the world. As the people ran out of food, they resorted to eating their children to stay alive. The Toba say that the cataclysm was brought about because the world had become overpopulated and needed to be saved.
The Codex Chimalpopoca, of the Toltecs of Mexico, relates a time in the distant past when a cosmic catastrophe brought a long period of darness. In his History of the Suns, the author of the Chimalpopoca relates that the third sun, named the Sun of Rain brought a rain of fire and gravel in which all that existed burned. This was followed by a great deluge and by frightening celestial phenomena in which Earth was twice plunged into darkness, one episode lasting for 25 years.
The Popul Vuh, the sacred text of the Quiché Mayan of Mexico and Central America, tells of a catastrophe accompanied by fire and tremendous earthquakes, from which only a few escaped: "They were inundated and a thick resin fell from the sky; men were seen running about, pushing themselves, full of despair; they tried to climb on top of their houses but the houses would collapse, they tried to climb the trees but they would shake them far away, they tried to enter caves but they would close before them."
Yesterday i received my copy of Earth Under Fire. One of the reasons i ordered this (again) is because of the above text. Together with Velikovsky's When World's Collide the above book collects ancient accounts of what we might actually expect in the way of how severe a threat is looming. "People eating their own kids?!" Ya don't make that kinda stuff up... But when stories of extreme severity make it down through the millennia from different sources, it's time to take their warnings seriously.
I'll see if i can dig up my When Worlds Collide and add to this post what it states therein about ancient accounts of how bad things will likely become.
