Rumor had it the world would vanish early Friday morning, but here we are, reading the news over coffee and toast.
The interpretation of an ancient prophecy that suggested the world would cease when the Mayan long-count calendar drew to a close sorely lacked in execution.
And while Earth remains, the prophecy isn’t going away.
Many people did fear the world would terminate — news reports said Russians were gripped by a fear of the apocalypse, and NASA felt compelled to create a Web page called “Why the World Won’t End” — but more people think the end of the calendar signals a change in consciousness, in spirituality, in humanity.
“It’s a shift of energy,” said Becky Meitin, 62, a swim coach and former National Center for Atmospheric Research meteorologist in Boulder.
“It will be a new time, but for most people, it won’t even be noticeable. I’m sure there are people who are oblivious to it and don’t believe in it,” she said. “But I would be surprised if they weren’t experiencing something.”
To mark the change, Meitin is getting together with a group of friends Friday night to celebrate the winter solstice — a verifiable astronomical event — and to talk about the Mayan calendar and what it might really mean.
Regardless of the belief particulars, the focus on Dec. 21, 2012, hinges on the conclusion of a 5,125-year cycle in the Mesoamerican long-count calendar, one used by different cultures but best known for its embrace by Mayans.
The calendar has captivated people around the world. For some, it foretold mass extinction. For others, another kind of profound change. For some, the beginning of a more peaceful era.
Doom for dancing
It’s the threat of mass destruction that has proved the most marketable. While Mayan scholars have long argued that Dec. 21, 2012, was never a date to fear, that didn’t stop authors, speakers and websites from latching onto selling books, talks, calendars, videos and much more.
But on the date itself, Front Range revelers are ditching the doom for dancing — the calendar has spawned “end of the world” parties galore at bars and clubs across the region. A zombie wedding, too. And at least one Caribbean cruise hosted by a Colorado scientist.
Friday night, at the McNichols Building in Denver’s Civic Center, promoters expect 2,000 people to drop $21 for what they are calling ” three levels of Armageddon.”
“We have aliens running around, Mayans running around, there are more than 40 performers in full costume, full theatrics, full light show, 10 different DJs spinning,” said event promoter Kevin Larson
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The space will contain Aztec dancers, a rain forest, pyramids, an asteroid that appears to be crashing through the ceiling — and there will be much beer.
“We are just celebrating that the Mayans didn’t get it right,” Larson said. “We all are around for at least another year.”
For recently married Theresa Rinker, 49, and her husband, Jim McGee, 46, the date is an excuse to throw a zombie-themed wedding reception at an Aurora bar.
“It’s an end-of-the-world, zombie, apocalypse wedding party,” Rinker said. “I went to Chichen Itza, the Mayan ruins, 15 years ago. They were talking about the calendar, and I was intrigued. We decided to go along with the whole thing for the wedding party. It’s just fun. Remember Y2K? We had a New Year’s party and killed the power at midnight.”
“Great story either way”
Zombies probably won’t figure into Faith Wilson’s 29th birthday party at her home in Lakewood on Friday night. But Mayan stuff? No doubt.
“We are trying to tell everyone to make complete fools of themselves because they won’t be around the next day,” said Ryan Wilson, 38, Faith’s husband and the party organizer. “And if the world is still around, you will have to deal with the embarrassment. It makes for a great story either way.
“We will do some secret games that I can’t disclose. End-of-the-world stuff. But, to be honest, it’s just a bunch of friends getting together to have a good time.”
Some people get parties, others get cruises. Douglas Duncan, the director of the Fiske Planetarium and Science Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, is in the Caribbean now, near the conclusion of a weeklong “Not the End of the World” cruise featuring astronomers, Maya scholars and science-fiction authors. Cruisegoers have visited Mayan ruins, learned about Mayan history and culture, and even got a crash-course in Mayan hieroglyphics. Writers are studying with accomplished science-fiction authors. Island frolicking? Sure, some of that, too — thank you, Mayan prophecy.
Duncan, an astronomer, expects to be back on campus next week.
“What I tell people is our calendars run out every Dec. 31. It’s like that,” he said. “It’s like when your car goes from 99,999 to all zeroes.”
Douglas Brown: 303-954-1395, djbrown@denverpost.com or twitter.com/douglasjbrown
