World won't end in 2012, feng shui expert says

MANILA, Philippines – Contrary to an earlier interpretation of the Mayan calendar, the end of the world is not near, according to a feng shui expert.

“The feng shui chart does not suggest [that the world will end on December 21],” Marites Allen, who is now based in the United Kingdom, said in a press briefing during her visit to Manila on Tuesday. “Basta the feng shui chart says no.”

Allen, however, discouraged people from traveling anytime from December 17 to 23, saying that disasters may happen during these dates.

“From December 17 to 23, especially December 17, all of the four pillars of the chart have very strong water,” she said, referring to some feng shui principles as she mentions the possibility of water-related calamities.

“I just flew in from Singapore and that’s one of the biggest discussions we had,” she added.

While most people do not believe that the world will end on December 21, several others are worried about the doomsday myth. There was even a 2009 Hollywood movie titled “2012,” which depicted a series of cataclysmic events unfolding in the said year.

Several experts have noted that the date in the Mayan calendar merely refers to the end of a cycle, not the end of the world.

“According to the cycles, panglima na ito. This is the end of the fifth sun na sinasabi ng Mayan calendar. ‘Yung rotation na ‘yan ng mga procession ng mga equinoxes magtatapos sa December 21. So pagdating ng December 21 this now begins a new cycle,” astrologer Paloma told ABS-CBN News.

Catholic priest Fr. Glenn Paul Gomez, SVD, meanwhile, believes that no one but God can determine when the world will end.

“Sa simbahan pinag-aaralan nga ‘yan eh. May kurso na ang title ay eschatology. The study of the end,” he explained. “Pero ‘yung sasabihing eksakto, walang nakakaalam kung kalian magwawakas ang buhay sa daigdig.”