Fears of the world coming to an end has urged Russian authorities to put an end to the “mystical thinking” gripping the country. According to a Maya prophecy, the world will end on December 21, 2012, when what is known as the Long Count in the Mayan calendar will end.
Russia’s government decided to put an end to the “collective mass psychosis” tied to the Mayan prophecy with an appeal made on TV by the country’s minister of emergency. In the speech, the minister said he had investigate the claims regarding the end of the Mayan calendar and through attentive monitoring he claimed with confidence the world would not end on December 21, 2012.
The NY Times reports:
In Yucatán State in Mexico, which has a large Mayan population, most place little stock in end-of-days talk. Officials are planning a Mayan cultural festival on Dec. 21 and, to show that all will be well after that, a follow-up in 2013.
Russians, however, can be powerfully transported by emotions, as the Rev. Tikhon Irshenko witnessed during his visit to Prison Colony No. 10 in the village of Gornoye. In an interview with the Data news service, Father Tikhon said he was summoned to the prison in November.
The wardens told him that anxiety over the Mayan prophecy had been building for two months, and some inmates had broken out of the facility “because of their disturbing thoughts.” Some of the women were sick, or having seizures, he said.
Russia’s government also warned that the prophecy is taking its toll on people’s nervous system. Leonid Ogul, a member of the Russian parliament, said each person’s nervous system acts diferently to problems and the kind of information being conveyed to many Russians could be affecting them. “Information acts subconsciously,” he said. “Some people are provoked to laughter, some to heart attacks, and some – to some negative actions.”