For the masses in the ruins, Dec. 21 sparked celebration of what they saw as the birth of a new and better age.
Dec. 21 started out as the prophetic day some had believed would usher in the fiery end of the world. By Friday afternoon, it had become the punch line of countless Facebook posts and at least several dozen T-shirts.
The doomsayers who had predicted apocalypse were nowhere to be seen. Instead, people showed up in T-shirts reading "The End of the World: I Was There."Vendors eager to sell their ceramic handicrafts and wooden masks called out to passing visitors, "Buy something before the world ends."
One thing, however, became clear to many by Friday afternoon: The world had not yet ended.
According to findings, At the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza, thousands chanted, danced and otherwise frolicked around ceremonial fires and pyramids to mark the conclusion of a vast, 5,125-year cycle in the Mayan calendar.
The boisterous crowd included Buddhists, pagan nature worshipers, druids and followers of Aztec and Maya religious traditions. Some knelt in attitudes of prayer, some seated with arms outstretched in positions of meditation, all facing El Castillo, the massive main pyramid.
Ceremonies were being held at different sides of the pyramid, including one led by a music group that belted out American blues and reggae-inspired chants. Others involved yelping and shouting, and drumming and dance, such as one ceremony led by spiritual master Ollin Yolotzin.
"The world was never going to end, this was an invention of the mass media," said Yolotzin, who leads the Aztec ritual dance group Cuautli-balam. "It is going to be a good era. ... We are going to be better."
But it was unclear how long the love would last: A security guard quickly came over and asked him to stop blowing his conch shell, enforcing the ruin site's ban on holding ceremonies without previous permits.
Similar rites greeted the new era in neighboring Guatemala, where Mayan spiritual leaders burned offerings and families danced in celebration. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla attended an official ceremony in the department of Peten, along with thousands of revelers and artists.
Despite all the pomp, no one is certain the period known as the Mayas' 13th Baktun officially ended Friday. Some think it may have happened at midnight. Others looked to Friday's dawn here in the Maya heartland. Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History even suggested historical calculations to synchronize the Mayan and Western calendars might be off a few days. It said the Mayan Long Count calendar cycle might not really end until Sunday.
One thing, however, became clear to many by Friday afternoon: The world had not yet ended.
John Hoopes, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Kansas, was at the ruins, using the opportunity to talk about how myths are created.
"You don't have to go to the far corners of the earth to look for exotic things, you've got them right here," he noted.
End-of-the-world paranoia, however, has spread globally despite the insistence of archeologists and the Maya themselves that the date meant no such thing.
Dozens of schools in Michigan canceled classes this week amid rumors of violence tied to the date. In France, people expecting doomsday were looking expectantly to a mountain in the Pyrenees where they believe a hidden spaceship was waiting to spirit them away. And in China, government authorities were cracking down on a fringe Christian group spreading rumors about the world's end, while preaching that Jesus had reappeared as a woman in central China.
Gabriel Romero, a Los Angeles-based spiritualist who uses crystal skulls in his ceremonies, had no such illusions as he greeted the dawn at Chichen Itza.
"We'll still have to pay taxes next year," he said.
As if to put the final nail in the coffin of such rumors, Bob McMillan of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory confirmed Friday that no large asteroids are predicted to hit anytime soon.
And Bill Leith, a senior science adviser at the U.S. Geological Survey, noted that as far as quakes, tsunamis and solar storms for the rest of the day, "we don't have any evidence that anything is imminent."
Still, there were some who wouldn't truly feel safe until the sun sets Friday over the pyramids in the Yucatan peninsula, the heartland of the Maya.
Mexico's best-known seer, Antonio Vazquez Alba, known as "El Brujo Mayor," said he had received emails with rumors that a mass suicide might be planned in Argentina. He said he was sure that human nature represented the only threat Friday.
"Nature isn't going to do us any harm, but we can do damage to ourselves," he said.
Authorities worried about overcrowding and possible stampedes during celebrations Friday at Mayan sites such as Chichen Itza and Uxmal, both about 1 1/2 hours from Merida, the Yucatan state capital. Special police and guard details were assigned to the pyramids.
Yucatan Gov. Rolando Zapata said he for one felt the growing good vibes, and not just because his state was raking in loads of revenue from the thousands of celebrants flooding in.
"We believe that the beginning of a new baktun means the beginning of a new era, and we're receiving it with great optimism," Zapata said.
In Nigeria, we are busy making jokes out of it. for instance, "Reports say, the world will end today! Please, has the trumpet sound in your area? Because my neighbor's generating set is depriving me of hearing the trumpet sound!
Mayan Calendar and Planet X
Will the world end in
the year 2012? The Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012. Did the
Mayans know something we don’t know? The rumors began. ‘Planet X’ was
rumored to collide with the earth sometime in 2012. It was said that a
planetary alignment will pull the earth out of orbit in 2012. The rumors
gathered momentum. Movies and books exposed us to the idea of 2012, end
of the world, a polar shift and an increase in natural disasters. Are
these catastrophic theories all hype, or is there something to it?
Bible Disasters
The prophecies of the
Bible never fail. And the Bible does predict disasters, such as a time,
just before the Second Coming of Christ, when the waves will roar and
the sun will heat the earth and scorch mankind. The Bible also says, for
example, that the heaven will be rolled up like a scroll and every
mountain and island will be moved.
Biblical Evidence of the End of the Age
The Bible is replete
with examples of current events that fulfill prophecies that place this
generation in the last days of human government on earth. Consider the
rebirth of Israel, as prophesied in the book of Ezekiel. The creation of
a world government (United Nations) is described in Daniel 7 and
Revelation 13. An account of the rebirth of the Holy Roman Empire
(European Union) is given in Daniel, chapter 2. The Mark of the Beast of
Revelation 13, without which no one will be able to buy or sell, has
not been possible until now, with the invention of the computer, the
birth of the Internet, and the use of credit cards.
What About 2012 Prophecies?
First of all, we know
from the Bible, that the world is not going to end in 2012, because the
Bible says very clearly, in Revelation 20, that there is yet another one
thousand years of human existence upon the earth. But, does the Bible
have anything else to say about 2012?
A War that Kills One-third of Mankind
There is this one
bothersome prophecy in Revelation 9, verses 13 through 21, that
describes a war that will kill one-third of mankind. 2012 is one of the
most likely years that this could happen. Does the Bible say it will?
No. Does the Bible say it is going to happen? Absolutely. Does it appear
to be the next major fulfillment on God’s prophetic time clock? Yes, it
does. This war will start in the area of the Euphrates River in the
Middle East.
Turmoil in the Middle East
Things in the Middle
East are boiling. The government of Egypt has collapsed, and Syria is
next. The government of Iran is developing nuclear weapons, which Israel
and the United States won’t allow. There are rumors that Israel, or the
United States, or NATO is going to attack Iran. Can we tell you for
sure that it will happen in 2012? No, we can’t. But the likelihood is
high.
Beginning of the Final Seven Years
The event that marks
the beginning of the final seven years to the Battle of Armageddon has
already been determined by the world community. The Palestinians have
applied for membership to the United Nations, so far unsuccessfully.
However, the International Quartet, assigned to bring peace to the
Middle East, has come up with a plan, re-launched peace talks, and set
the goal that these peace talks would be accomplished, with a
comprehensive peace agreement, by the end of 2012. The Bible says that
this is the event that will mark the beginning of the final seven years
to Armageddon.
The Cry for Peace
Three and one-half
years after that event, the Antichrist will come to power, and the Great
Tribulation will begin. Will the Quartet accomplish their task? We do
know, firstly, that the world is not going to end in 2012. But,
secondly, it is very likely that this war will wipe out one-third of
mankind. Then the cry for peace and safety will be absolutely deafening.
The world community will put all of its pressure on Israel and the
Palestinians to accomplish the peace agreement, as foretold in the
Bible. Will all of this happen by December 2012? We don’t know that for
sure. We do know that we are in prophetic territory right now. It is an
exciting time to live in, if you are right with God. If you are not
right with God, it will scare you to death.
Warnings of the end of
the world in 2012 are driven by the supposed ending of the Mayan
calendar and fears that “Planet X” or a planetary alignment will cause
catastrophic destruction on earth. In “2012 in Bible Prophecy,” Irvin
Baxter demystifies the hype surrounding the 2012 doomsday rumors, in
light of the real Bible prophecies likely to be fulfilled in 2012.