Doomsday fetishists have been let down by the fact the world is still around, but fact that the world hasn't exploded into a apocalyptic fireball at the end of the 13th bak'tun of the Mayan calendar is offering people relief and hope for a new age.
People convinced that the world was going to end Friday, Dec. 21, flocked to several key hotspots around the world that were said to provide more shelter and chances of survival.
In Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula was a go-to spot for those who wished to spend the end of days close to the Mayan heartland. People hailed from various countries and religions to take part in ceremonies and revel in the nativity of the occasion.
In Britain, Stonehenge became a popular destination, attracting people with its mystical folklore. Other areas in countries like Turkey, Italy, and Serbia were deemed hot spots due to local lore proclaiming the land safe against the apocalypse. Argentina even had to close down Uritorco Hill in fear a mass suicide was going to take place.
Despite the general mood of doom that had scratching at the backs of everyone's minds, people are now beginning to look forward to the next 5,125-year cycle on the Mayan calendar.
"The world was never going to end, this was an invention of the mass media," Ollin Yolotzin, leader of the Aztec ritual dance group Cuautli-balam, told CBS. "It is going to be a good era. ... We are going to be better."
And in fact, Yolotzin is completely correct. The end of a bak'tun doesn't mean the world is going to end, and the Mayans certainly had more in store for mankind.
"In the Maya scheme of time, the approaching date was thought to be the turn of an important cycle, or as they put it, the end of 13 bak'tuns. The thing is, there are many more bak'tuns still to come," explains David Stuart, a Mayan scholar from the University of Texas at Austin.
So sorry folks, there's still going to be plenty of bills to pay.
Watch NASA debunk the Doomsday 2012 prophecies:
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