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What Did ‘Doomsday’ Look Like Around the World?

Dec. 21, 2012 9:11pm Jason Howerton

Children gesture in front of a replica of a Mayan pyramid before a count-down ceremony organized by the National Museum of Natural Science to help ensure the public it is not the end of the world, in central Taichung on December 21, 2012. A digital ‘doomsday clock’ on top of a two-storey replica Mayan pyramid erected at a museum in central Taiwan’s Taichung city completed its countdown for the end of the world at 0600 GMT — midnight in Mexico. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

(TheBlaze/AP) — As the sun rose from time zone to time zone across the world on Friday, there was still no sign of the world’s end – but that didn’t stop those convinced that a 5,125-year Mayan calendar predicts the apocalypse from gathering at some of the world’s purported survival hot spots.

Many of the esoterically inclined expected a new age of consciousness – others wanted a party. But, in some places said to offer salvation from the end, fewer people showed up than officials had predicted – much to the disappointment of vendors hoping to sell souvenirs.

Here are some key places being marked by the fascination over doomsday rumors:

MEXICO

In an area of Mexico that was once the ancient Mayan heartland, spiritualists gathered in the darkness before dawn on Friday to prepare white clothes, drums, conch shells and incense. They believed the sunrise would herald the birth of a new and better age as a vast cycle in the Mayan calendar comes to an end.

Many people who came to Yucatan for the occasion were already calling it “a new sun” and “a new era.”

FRANCE

According to one rumor, a rocky mountain in the French Pyrenees will be the sole place on Earth to escape destruction. A giant UFO and aliens are said to be waiting under the mountain, ready to burst through and spirit those nearby to safety. But there is bad news for those seeking salvation: French gendarmes, some on horseback, blocked outsiders from reaching the Bugarach peak and its village of some 200 people.

Eric Freysselinard, head of local government, said the security forces had “partially stopped the new age enthusiasts as well as curious people from coming to the area.”

Meanwhile, some Bugarach residents dressed up like aliens, with tinfoil costumes and funnels and fake antenna on their heads, strolling around their village Friday to make light of the rumored UFO prophecy.

RUSSIA

Doomsday rumors have prompted some people across Russia to stock up on candles, water, canned foods and other non-perishable foods. The apocalypse has proven a good business, with some shops selling survival aid packages that include soap and vodka.

In Moscow, salvation has also been promised in the underground bunker for the former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin – with a 50 percent refund if nothing happens. An underground stay was originally priced at 50,000 rubles ($1,625) but dropped to 15,000 ($490) a week ahead of the feared end.

The bunker, located 65 meters (210 feet) below ground, was designed to withstand a nuclear attack. Now home to a small museum, it has an independent electricity supply, water and food – but no more room, because the museum has already sold out all 1,000 tickets.

BRITAIN

Hundreds of people have converged on Stonehenge for an “End of the World” party that coincides with the Winter Solstice.

Arthur Uther Pendragon, Britain’s best-known druid, said he was anticipating a much larger crowd than usual at Stonehenge this year. But he doesn’t agree that the world is ending, noting that he and fellow druids believe that things happen in cycles.

“We’re looking at it more as a new beginning than an end,” he said. “We’re looking at new hope.”

Meanwhile, end-of-days parties will be held across London on Friday. One event billed as a “last supper club” is offering a three-course meal served inside an “ark.”

SERBIA

Some Serbs are saying to forget that sacred mountain in the French Pyrenees. The place to be Friday is Mount Rtanj, a pyramid-shaped peak in Serbia already drawing cultists.

According to legend, the mountain once swallowed an evil sorcerer who will be released on doomsday in a ball of fire that will hit the mountain top. The inside of the mountain will then open up, becoming a safe place to hide as the sorcerer goes on to destroy the rest of the world. In the meantime, some old coal mine shafts have been opened up as safe rooms.

On Friday a New Age group called “The Spirit of Rtanj” was holding a conference there. Participants, however, said they expect not the end of time but the start of a new time cycle. Locals turned out to sell brandy and herbs.

“There will be no tragedy, no doomsday,” said resident Dalibor Jovic. “It was supposed to happen at 12:12 and I think that time has passed. So, we can now go on with our lives and be happy to be alive.”

TURKEY

A small Turkish village known for its wines, Sirince, has also been touted as the only place after Bugarach that would escape the world’s end. But on Friday journalists and security officials outnumbered cultists. This outcome disappointed local business people who had prepared a range of doomsday products to sell, including a specially labeled Doomsday wine and Turkish delight candy whose “best before” date was Dec. 21, 2012. One restaurant prepared a special “last meal” menu that included a “heaven kebab” and “forbidden fruit dessert.”

ITALY

Another spot said to be spared: Cisternino, a beautiful small town in southern Italy in an area of trulli, traditional dry stone huts with conical roofs. The notion that Cisternino could be a safe haven at world’s end derives from an Indian guru, Babaji, who said “Cisternino will become an island” at world’s end. His followers built a community in Cisternino centered on an ashram built in 1979. Hotel bookings are up this weekend.

Mayor Donato Baccaro told the AP that the beauty of the place has inspired many foreigners to live there. “This confirms that this place has a special energy,” he said.

CHINA

A fringe Christian group has been spreading rumors about the world’s impending end, prompting Chinese authorities to detain more than 500 people this week and seize leaflets, video discs, books and other material.

Those detained are reported to be members of the group Almighty God, also called Eastern Lightning, which preaches that Jesus has reappeared as a woman in central China. Authorities in the province of Qinghai say they are waging a “severe crackdown” on the group, accusing it of attacking the Communist Party and the government.

U.S.

Dozens of Michigan schools canceled classes for thousands of students to cool off rumored threats of violence and problems related to doomsday. The fears were exacerbated by the recent shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, which “changed all of us,” the school system in Genesee County said. “Canceling school is the right thing to do.”

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

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Comments (54)

AbrahamsSheepdog
Posted on December 22, 2012 at 11:57am
Well besides a few small signs.. an uneventful year really. Slavery- secret word of the year.

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RIGHTWINGHATEMACHINE
Posted on December 22, 2012 at 8:55am
No doubtly this was a sad day for Beck. His apocalyptic goods he sells on this site dropped significantly when people realized they were being dooped.

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- ndmOB
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 9:38am
  That’s duped, Dope! No doubtly!
  
  Report this comment
- pdw
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 1:18pm
  I see you slander monger will never learn.
  
  Report this comment
- flattop
  Posted on December 23, 2012 at 1:17am
  What a maroon.
  
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steve-in-pa
Posted on December 22, 2012 at 8:19am
Pfft… calender, smalender… I’m waiting for a comet with my new Nikes on, lol!

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ItsAllCrap
Posted on December 22, 2012 at 8:04am
If anyone is interested, I’ll buy unused doomsday prepper stuff for one penny on the dollar. Everything from arms and ammo to bug out locations and long term food storage. The meteor didn’t smack us but there are still great problems ahead. Problems not related to the Mayan calender end. The very soul of the US is at stake as is the soul of our entire civilization. We have a long hard road ahead. So if you were only prepping for doomsday and are now pi$$ed off and ready to liquidate your preps, let me know.

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Pitcher
Posted on December 22, 2012 at 5:58am
What the Mayan’s really knew was the date (as Glenn speaks of) that if we haven’t gotten it right by now then the ship has sailed and there is no righting the ship now. They were so wise.

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- December22
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 6:24am
  The Mayans were a bunch of savages that practiced infanticide. But people impart some great honor to them because they werean ancient civilization that built things, big woop.
  
  Report this comment
- AbrahamsSheepdog
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 12:03pm
  We just sacrificed 20 lambs you Fing jackass. And you kick the corpse for change..
  
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SaturdaysWarrior76
Posted on December 22, 2012 at 4:38am
To think I spent the last day of the world, going to work as usual. Man I have no life. :( That’s sad!

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mlip
Posted on December 22, 2012 at 12:58am
Hey dopes! Actually read the article(and think about it.) And when you are done, read again the last paragraph. Then think about it again.

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- Trigus
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 2:42am
  @MLIP Do they still teach reading and comprehension in America?
  
  “U.S.
  Dozens of Michigan schools canceled classes for thousands of students to cool off rumored threats of violence and problems related to doomsday. The fears were exacerbated by the recent shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, which “changed all of us,” the school system in Genesee County said. “Canceling school is the right thing to do.””
  
  Great catch – what more could we expect from a state run newspaper?
  
  Report this comment
- Soulfire1975
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 4:13am
  there are times I am ashamed to be living here, like yesterday
  
  Report this comment
- old white guy
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 6:50am
  the world ends for about 150 people every minute of every day.
  
  Report this comment
TH30PH1LUS
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 11:58pm
It’s like the Obama prediction: “It’s here that companies like Solyndra are leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future.”

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- TH30PH1LUS
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 12:00am
  and also: “I’m pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office.”
  
  hahahaha….. :-(
  
  Report this comment
- Balpit
  Posted on December 23, 2012 at 2:47pm
  Don’t forget this little nugget: “Under my cap and trade plan, electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket.”
  
  Report this comment
- Balpit
  Posted on December 23, 2012 at 3:10pm
  Oh wait…
  
  Report this comment
LibertyOrDeath12
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 11:57pm
The Mayans never said anything about it being the end of the world. Man… are people stupid.

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- RIGHT_WHERE_IT_HURTS
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 7:14am
  The end of one world and the beginning of another. All we need to do is get doomsday and his friends out of the White House.
  
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Metallicat
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 11:37pm
The Mayan calendar is a cycle,so yes all those doomsday predictions are renewed,and we can begin at the start of their calendar with all their predictions for our demise in our future. The only thing the Mayan calendar teaches us is that man cannot learn from his past mistakes,and that history will repeat itself,because man is a faulty creature and all are corrupted by the same desires,no matter what civilization he raises from. we may still be here,but the civilized man is in decline,and the barbarians will soon be at the gate.

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urrybr
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 11:26pm
Baktun 12 ended. We will be in 13 Baktun tomorrow. Ah well . . . another 144,000 days.

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FaithfulFriend
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 11:24pm
With nearly a terabyte of data storage space, you’d think my computer’s calendar would go farther into the future than it does. But since the Mayans had to store their calendar on rock engravings… can’t say I blame them.

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GhostOfJefferson
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 11:10pm
They’ve replaced everything in my house with an exact replica! Those bastards!

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- ICRedifURBlue
  Posted on December 21, 2012 at 11:18pm
  Dang it!!!!!!………..Now what am I going to do tomorrrow????………..
  
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Displacedsoutherner
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 10:35pm
11/6/2012 It already happened, but like the dust cloud from the meteor strike that killed the dinosaurs, it’s going to take a while for the ever-expanding, choking cloud of Lib Think to envelope the world and destroy life as we know it.

T. S. Eliot was correct: …not with a bang but a whimper.

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Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 10:33pm
Today was the END of the Mayan calendar, tomorrow marks the new beginning.

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- oldguy49
  Posted on December 21, 2012 at 10:41pm
  yep……party like it was 1999…………………..boy do i have a lot of post dated checks to pay…………
  
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Tigress1
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 10:25pm
It seems like the Mayans were a bunch of practical jokers! Let’s start a joke for people to freak out about in 5000 years. I predict the world will end on 07-07-7000. They won’t know that those are lucky numbers!

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B.Salty
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 10:06pm
We must be pretty hardy, we have survived the Killer Bee invasion, Y2K, the Avian Flu, the Rapture, and 12/21/12. It’s getting a little anti-climactic at this point.

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dealer@678
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 10:04pm
I got left behind : (

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- TH777
  Posted on December 21, 2012 at 10:43pm
  @Dealer@678: Your comment was short but very funny! Thanks for the laugh!
  
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Ballot_Box_Revolution
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 9:56pm
They were not predicting dooms day, we modern people were….I was never into the whole 2012 dooms day theory, but it’s pretty obvious to anyone who understands that ancient cultures took symbols seriously. Much was to be said in a symbol, and circles do not ever end. they represent cycles. If they wanted to predict an end to something they it would have been a liner calender. A line has a beginning and end.

Our modern clocks are round and the world doesn’t end at 12

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SovereignSoul
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 9:45pm
I’m sure the world ended for some people.

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ProgressiveDeist267
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 9:33pm
I’m alive! Thank God! I cannot believe how many people believed in the 2012 doomsday conspiracy theories. Hopefully a lot of people will wake up and realize the Mayans didn’t predict the end of the world and that their religion is best left to them compared to conspiracy believers.

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Dan
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 9:29pm
Being a Friday, in the U.S., there are “End of Days” and “End of the World” parties going on in bars and taverns across the country. Those in the distribution area of Unibroue Brewery of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, may be serving the brewery’s Belgian Triple-style Golden Ale, “La Fin du Monde” (French for “The End of the World”) to further lighten the mood in which the whole non-event has unfolded, or failed to unfold.

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momrules
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 9:29pm
I am so glad this nonsense will end now. It amazes me that there are those that will believe a Mayan calender but will ignore the many Bible prophecies that have come true.

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- Nlitend1
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 12:55am
  That is very insightful. Which mountain does the bible say that I should hide under?
  
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- Sol Invictus
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 4:50am
  How can you ignore a prophecy that’s come true? An example would help. Thanks.
  
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- momrules
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 8:36am
  Nlitend1……….May God smile on you as we celebrate the birth of His Son, our Savior and King, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas.
  
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- Sol Invictus
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 9:23am
  Please supply example of prophecies which have come true. Thanks.
  
  Report this comment
- momrules
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 10:28am
  Sol……….The list is too long, that is why reading the Bible is a good idea but the two I will mention are the birth and sacrifice of Jesus and the return of the Jews to their homeland, Israel.
  
  Merry Christmas to you too.
  
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- Sol Invictus
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 11:04am
  Fail. We’re still waiting for the Messiah, no-one predicted the crucifixion and if you mean that an old testament prophet foretold the Balfour declaration by 2,500 years I fear you are subscribing to the Nostradamus school of predictions where you adapt the prophecy to fit later events. Thanks for your good wishes and a Merry and peaceful Christmas to you and yours.
  
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- momrules
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 11:15am
  Sorry Sol………You may still be waiting for the Messiah, I am simply waiting for His return.
  
  Report this comment
- Greenwood
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 1:08pm
  Sol Invictus………………God foretold through the prophet Isaiah that the city of Babylon would be destroyed and gave details just how it would happen. Isaiah’s prophecy even named the king who would conquer Babylon-Cyrus some 200 years before it happened. A Persian King named Cyrus invaded Babylon without a battle, as foretold. It was also foretold “She will never be inhabited, nor will she reside for generation after generation.
  Isaiah 13:19,20 14:22,23 44:27-45:2
  
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- Greenwood
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 1:28pm
  NLITEND1………”Which mountain does the bible say that I should hide under?”
  
  Mountains in the Bible sometimes refers to kingdoms or governments so hide under what ever one you want it won’t protect you. Just look at the storm Sandy. They’re still calling for the government to help. FEMA’s doing a real fine job don’t you think.
  
  Revelation 6:16 And they keep on saying to the mountains and to the rock-masses: “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
  
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- Greenwood
  Posted on December 22, 2012 at 5:53pm
  @Sol Invictus……..”still waiting for the Messiah, no-one predicted the crucifixion”
  Prophecy
  Genesis 49:10
  Isaiah 7:14, 9:7, 53:1-3
  Psalms 2:7, 41:9, 22:18, 22:7,8 34:20
  Zechariah 9:9, 11:12
  
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chips1
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 9:28pm
I must have dozed off. Guess I’ll just have to catch it the next time it comes around. Do I hear anymore predictions?

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skippy6
Posted on December 21, 2012 at 9:19pm
We’re still here!!!

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