abstract:The Photon Belt (also called the Photon Band, Photon Ring, Manasic Ring, or Golden Nebula) is a spiritual belief, largely linked to some parts of the New Age Movement. It postulates that a belt or ring of photons is going to envelop the Earth, causing a cataclysm and/or initiating a spiritual transition, with the time period leading up to "the Shift" referred to as "The [The concept of the Photon Belt also ties into various phenomena including belief in extraterrestrial intelligence] and [[2012 millenarianism.