Mayan priests arrange flowers for a ceremony Thursday at the Iximche site in Tecpan, Guatemala.
The Associated Press
Merida, Mexico -- The crystal skulls have spoken: The world is not going to end.
American
seer Star Johnsen-Moser led a whooping, dancing, drum-beating ceremony
Thursday in the heart of Mayan territory to consult several of the
life-sized crystal skulls, which adherents claim were passed down by the
ancient Maya.
The
skulls weren't the only inheritances left by the ancient civilization
that have been making waves this week: The supposed end of the Maya
long-count calendar on Friday has prompted a wave of doomsday
speculation across the globe.
See Also: Doomsday safe havens
"This
is not the end of the world, this is the beginning of the new world,"
Johnsen-Moser said at a gathering of hundreds of spiritualists at a
convention center in Merida. "It is most important that we hold a
positive, beautiful reality for ourselves and our planet. ... Fear is out
of place."
The supposed 5 a.m. Friday doomsday hour already had arrived in several parts of the world with no sign of the apocalypse.
The
social network Imgur posted photos of clocks turning midnight in the
Asia-Pacific region with messages such as: "The world has not ended.
Sincerely, New Zealand."
A new age
In Merida, the celebration of the cosmic dawn began with a fumbling of the sacred fire meant to honor the calendar's conclusion.
Gabriel
Lemus, the white-haired guardian of the flame, burned his finger on the
kindling and later had to scoop up a burning log that was knocked out
of the ceremonial brazier onto the wooden stage.
Still,
the white-clad Lemus was convinced that it was a good start, as he was
joined by about 1,000 other shamans, seers, stargazers, crystal
enthusiasts, yogis, sufis and swamis at the convention center about an
hour and a half from the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza.
Events at the conference
Set
up in the conference's exhibition hall were dozens of booths, where in
addition to having your aura photographed with "Chi" light, you can buy
mandalas, get a shamanic cleansing, develop your "golden light" and buy
sandals, herbs and whole-grain baked goods. Cleansing here is done
studiously and repeatedly, and usually involves have copal incense waved
around one's body.
Visitors
also could learn the art of healing drumming with a Mexican Otomi
Indian master who calls himself Dabadi Thaayroyadi and says his slender,
hand-held, plate-sized drums are made with prayers embedded into them.
Warning of 'mass psychosis'
Not all seers endorse the celebration.
Mexico's
self-styled "brujo mayor," or chief soothsayer, Antonio Vazquez Alba,
warned followers to stay away from all gatherings on Friday, saying, "We
have to beware of mass psychosis" that could lead to stampedes or "mass
suicides, of the kind we've seen before."
"If
you get 1,000 people in one spot and somebody yells 'Fire!' watch out,"
Vazquez Alba said. "The best thing is to stay at home, at work, in
school, and at some point do a relaxation exercise."
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