Widespread panic greets purported Mayan Apocalypse

By Greg Goodsell
12/9/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Many believe this coming December 21 will be the end of the world

For some, there is no need to buy Christmas presents this year. This December 21 marks the conclusion of the 5,125-year "Long Count" Mayan calendar. People the world over are stocking up on doomsday supplies as they did in the year 2000. There are reports of panic shopping in China and Russia, along with an explosion in sales of survival shelters in America.

In the French Pyrenees, in the tiny town of Bugarach, population 179, has attempted to prevent pandemonium by banning UFO watchers and light aircraft from the flat topped mount Pic de Bugarach. According to New Age lore, the area is an 'alien garage' where extraterrestrials are waiting to abandon Earth, taking a lucky few humans with them.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The fact that the Mayans NEVER predicted the end of the world falls on deaf ears to the frightened faithful. As such, the cause of Armageddon remains especially vague. Some predict a celestial collision between Earth and the mythical planet Nibiru, a.k.a. "Planet X."

NASA has been aggressively seeking to dispel doomsday fears. It says there is no evidence Nibiru exists, and rumors it could be hiding behind the sun are unfounded.

"It can't hide behind the sun forever, and we would've seen it years ago," a NASA scientist said.

Other predictions include a crash with a comet or the annihilation of civilization by a giant solar storm.

"We've gone from one a month to one a day," Ron Hubbard, an American manufacturer of hi-tech underground survival shelters. "I don't have an opinion on the Mayan calendar but, when astrophysicists come to me, buy my shelters and tell me to be prepared for solar flares, radiation, EMPs (electromagnetic pulses) ... I'm going underground on the 19th and coming out on the 23rd. It's just in case anybody's right."

In the French Pyrenees, in the tiny town of Bugarach, population 179, has attempted to prevent pandemonium by banning UFO watchers and light aircraft from the flat topped mount Pic de Bugarach. According to New Age lore, the area is an "alien garage" where extraterrestrials are waiting to abandon Earth, taking a lucky few humans with them.

In Russia, in Omutninsk, in Kirov region, people are rushing to buy kerosene and supplies after a newspaper article, supposedly written by a Tibetan monk, confirmed the end of the world.

"I don't believe in the end of the world," Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian Prime Minister declared. Then he added, "At least, not this year."

Even in China, which has no history of preoccupation with doomsday, a wave of paranoia about the apocalypse can be traced to the 2009 Hollywood blockbuster "2012." The film was a smash hit in China, as viewers were seduced by a plot that saw the Chinese military building arks to save humanity.

A post on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, predicted that there will be three days of darkness when the apocalypse arrives. Thusly, a wave of panic buying of candles has been reported in Sichuan province.

"At first, we had no idea why. But then we heard someone muttering about the continuous darkness," one grocery store owner said.

In Mexico, where the ancient Mayan civilization at onetime flourished, the end time has been seen as an opportunity. The country has organized hundreds of Maya-themed events, and tourism is expected to have doubled this year.

While viewed by some as wacky, many are taking the hysteria very seriously.

NASA astronomer David Morrison is among those who are not amused. "At least once a week I get a message from a young person, as young as 11, who says they are ill and/or contemplating suicide because of the coming doomsday. I think its evil for people to propagate rumors on the internet to frighten children."

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Maya, apocalypse, NASA, panic, comet

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1 - 8 of 8 Comments

judy claar
6 months ago
Fr. Bill and Eric, Who are the two peas in a pod? I am a Catholic and a poet! Blessings....
Annie
6 months ago
Mayu, you have rendered a very good explanation... I wish people would do some research, before jumping to unnecessary and non-existent conclusions. The Mayans predicted the end of an "era," and the beginning of a new one... a new period of change, true renewal, collective transformation... a new era for all people of the earth to achieve great things: love, respect, harmony and peace for self, for creation and for one another. I was born and raised in Guatemala, the land of the Mayan empire, and I am proud to see Mayan descendants and expert scholars from different parts of the world, working together to dispel this ridiculous rumor, and educate the public about the true meaning of December 21, 2012. It is unfortunate though that many people throughout the world, are not getting the same reassurance. As for us, people of faith, this is all we must believe: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." (Matthew 24:36)
Mayu
6 months ago
Drahicr9Truthurt - I don't know where you were in 2000 but in 1999 there was a LOT of doom and gloom. People thought the end of the world was coming. Computers wouldn't recognize the changing of the date, and everything would go to (you know where) in a hand-basket. people thought rockets and missiles would launch destroying countries, killing millions, planes would crash, survivors would be headed back to the dark ages, Nostradamus was being thrown around as having predicted the world would end in flames in the year 2000 (which he never did, nor did he have 2012 predictions. that was all made up by the history channel) but yeah... there was about the same hysteria. People were buying batteries, there were bomb shelters being built, people canceled travel plans, people stock piled on water and canned goods. It was pretty much the same thing. But again... it's all for nothing. Not even the Maya believed the world was going to end. They believed they would be celebrating their king Pakal in 4772. Obviously they believed their ancestors would be around for the great celebration because if the world ended, even if it was recreated there would be no one to remember the king. So the whole 4772 would be pointless. So even the Maya saw a future for this world.
Drahicr9Truthurts
6 months ago
"People the world over are stocking up on doomsday supplies as they did in the year 2000. "

Actually the year 2000 thing was simply an idea that older cpu's would not recognize the millenium and stop working - so your phone might have stopped working or your alarm clock would not go off on new years day (no big deal !).. I don't remember anything about doomsday, no one was queing for petrol or supplies and no-one even took it seriously except the media. Perhaps the title line of this article should have read:

"Media attempt to cause doomsday panic as they did in 2000 and at the rapture in 2011 - resulting in suicides"

At least its honest and portrays the real danger: believing this stuff could kill you.
Wulfrano Ruiz Sainz
6 months ago
Those nutballs have hit the panic button. Bad move!
Mayu
6 months ago
Putting aside any religious opinions... a lot of this end of world stuff with the Maya calender comes from the lack of understanding of the Popol Vuh (their story of creation), the Dresden Codex and the misinterpretation of what they believed because people lump the Maya, Aztecs and Hopi into one group. Their beliefs are similar, yet they are not similar enough so that when meshed together, it causes a skewed vision of what the Maya really believed. So there is a lot of confusion. However, here's the short version.

1. The Maya do not necessarily believe the world is meant to end every cycle. They believed the inferior creations were destroyed after each cycle because their gods were not happy. however, the creation in which we live is considered a success. They believe they were the creations the gods were trying to make. The first men were clay and wood. the clay became distorted and couldn't praise the gods and the wood men were soulless and wouldn't praise their gods. when this creation came around, they had souls and hearts and properly worshiped the gods who created them. The gods were pleased.

2. The Dresden Codex is partially degraded in places and cannot be properly translated, so it's a guessing game. The last page that people think depicts a great world ended flood could actually be interpreted in a few ways. 1. it's an artistic rendering of the part of the creation story where the 2nd creation was destroyed by flood, and not a prophetic page at all. 2. it's depicting a struggle between status quo and true renewal. The woman in the picture is the goddess of life and renewal. The god she's pouring water over is the god of wealth, war and black magic. He's the god of the underworld. When this goddess's water pours out of her jug, it is believed there will be someone special born, or it is a method of cleansing. Since she is pouring it over the god of the underworld's head it could denote she is calling an awareness to the people to become renewed and turn from war and darkness. in fact, very little water is spilled in this codex. The only water spilled is over the god's head, and the water spewed by a dragon that the god is trying to hold at bay. The rest of the page is "dry". That does not sound like an earth ending flood to me.

3. There are artifacts that show the Maya believe the world would be here long enough to celebrate the anniversary of one of their great king's birthday in the year 4772. If they believed the world ended, their king's birthday wouldn't be mentioned since the "next" creation would not know who that king was.

This site has good information for the fearful. http://www.famsi.org/research/vanstone/2012/index.html
Eric
6 months ago
I would think any solar flares would be blocked out by Mercury and Venus. Poetic, don't you think ?
Fr Bill
6 months ago
How can a comment here be more humorous than the article itself?
I am reminded of the old saying: " If you don't believe in something, you'll believe in anything."

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