Heaven and earth now stand upon the cusp of the Autumn Gaebyeok, the transition from the current cosmic summer to the coming cosmic autumn. The Autumn Gaebyeok (or ‘gaebyeok’) is the most pivotal time of the cosmic year—the time when nature’s order brings fruition to everything. Thus, the impending gaebyeok is that very time of glorious renewal for which humankind and spiritkind have so long yearned.

Yet, gaebyeok is also the time when cataclysmic change will sweep across the world:

When gaebyeok arrives, the mountains will be overturned and the ground will split open, swallowing up everything. Such a sight will be utterly horrifying. Some people will be buried underneath the rubble of overturned mountains, some will fall into the gaping fissures of the splitting ground—the world will descend into chaos. When you return to the place where a house stood just the day before, you will find a mountain instead. (Sangjenim, Dojeon 7:17)

 At the coming of the time, a world war will erupt. At that time, war will not be stopped by human actions—it will be stopped only by a disease.
Of all the disasters, the disaster of disease will be the most devastating.
If a magnificent world is to be, the world’s illnesses must first be cleansed away by the catastrophic disease. Only through the catastrophic disease will the world be united. (Sangjenim, Dojeon 2:107)

At the outbreak of the catastrophic disease, all the world’s arts of medicine will become useless. (Sangjenim, Dojeon 7:31)

A disciple asked Sangjenim, “When the mysterious disease sweeps across the world, which country will it afflict first?”
 Sangjenim revealed, “It will break out in [Korea] first, because it is in [Korea] that the dao of deliverance from this catastrophic disease lies.” (Dojeon 7:32)

There will be three years of utter chaos. (Sangjenim, Dojeon 7:26)

After the passage of gaebyeok, a magnificent world will arise, ushering in the destiny of the Later Heaven’s fifty thousand years. It will be the age of the Paradise of Immortality, in which humans and spirits will live in the company of one another. (Taemonim, Dojeon 11:92)

Ultimately, gaebyeok signifies renewal, maturation, and fruition on many levels and in varied contexts, such as nature, civilization, humanity, and the spirit realm.