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| Mayan apocalypse: songs and a shrug at French village in media glare | Mayan apocalypse: songs and a shrug at French village in media glare |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| As the village bells struck noon, the moment at which the Mayans had supposedly predicted the world would end, Sylvain Durif was calmly playing the panpipes for a vast crowd of jostling camera crews. "I am Oriana, I embody the energy of cosmic Christ," he said. "When I was five I was abducted by a flying saucer belonging to the Virgin Mary. I'm here to get my message to the world, that there will be a regeneration." | As the village bells struck noon, the moment at which the Mayans had supposedly predicted the world would end, Sylvain Durif was calmly playing the panpipes for a vast crowd of jostling camera crews. "I am Oriana, I embody the energy of cosmic Christ," he said. "When I was five I was abducted by a flying saucer belonging to the Virgin Mary. I'm here to get my message to the world, that there will be a regeneration." |
| He had predicted a feeling that was "something like 10,000 orgasms". By 12.11pm, the Earth still hadn't moved for him. But he said he wasn't disappointed. "I had no great expectations of an external event. It's all a question of inner alchemy." He marvelled at the dozens of international television crews that had filmed live footage of him after he hitchhiked here each day from a local village. "At least I managed to transmit my message to the world," he said. | |
| Bugarach, a tiny French village in the foothills of the Pyrenees, was – according to an internet rumour no one has ever got to the bottom of – said by Mayans to be the only place on Earth to survive the 21 December apocalypse. | Bugarach, a tiny French village in the foothills of the Pyrenees, was – according to an internet rumour no one has ever got to the bottom of – said by Mayans to be the only place on Earth to survive the 21 December apocalypse. |
| Two years ago the mayor wondered at a council meeting whether lots of new-agers might descend on the village and try to climb the nearby mountain peak, creating a safety risk. A local newspaper picked it up and the story quickly became a media phenomenon, an irresistible yet totally preposterous rural armageddon saga whereby UFOs descending from a landing pad on the local mountaintop would save people from the end of the world. It is the 183rd end-of-the-world prophecy since antiquity. | Two years ago the mayor wondered at a council meeting whether lots of new-agers might descend on the village and try to climb the nearby mountain peak, creating a safety risk. A local newspaper picked it up and the story quickly became a media phenomenon, an irresistible yet totally preposterous rural armageddon saga whereby UFOs descending from a landing pad on the local mountaintop would save people from the end of the world. It is the 183rd end-of-the-world prophecy since antiquity. |
| At least 250 reporters, more than twice the population of the village, gathered on the narrow main street for armageddon. But almost no one else had turned up. There were at most three or four "believers" who had made the trip over the course of the week. Many of the journalists felt ill at ease about mocking anyone who believed in a cosmic event and seemed vulnerable. Off camera, one of the believers said he had clung to the notion of a cosmic end of the world since his father died. "I feel grim exploiting people who might be very fragile," said one French photographer, summing up the mood. | At least 250 reporters, more than twice the population of the village, gathered on the narrow main street for armageddon. But almost no one else had turned up. There were at most three or four "believers" who had made the trip over the course of the week. Many of the journalists felt ill at ease about mocking anyone who believed in a cosmic event and seemed vulnerable. Off camera, one of the believers said he had clung to the notion of a cosmic end of the world since his father died. "I feel grim exploiting people who might be very fragile," said one French photographer, summing up the mood. |
| Others seemed cheerful. One English man had come from a nearby village and had been photographed with an inflatable dingy in a field, "just in case" there was a tsunami. Then he had gone home to get some clean underpants for the end of the world, but never made it back. (It wasn't clear how in the event of a tsunami Bugarach's modest peak of 1,320 metres would be saved while the nearby much higher Pyrenees drowned, but that seemed like nit-picking.) | |
| The French authorities' main fear was that terribly let-down people might go into deep depression at the anti-climax when the end of the world didn't happen. France's national sect watchdog had ensured psychological support was in place. But in the event, even the few visitors didn't even feel that disappointed. | The French authorities' main fear was that terribly let-down people might go into deep depression at the anti-climax when the end of the world didn't happen. France's national sect watchdog had ensured psychological support was in place. But in the event, even the few visitors didn't even feel that disappointed. |
| Frederic, who had come from Marseille with a friend, had predicted this week that an "inter-dimensional door would open between 12 noon and 2pm", a "passage to another dimension" that he wanted to be the first to step through. But then he headed off home around 10am. "I've already felt enough," he said. What exactly had he felt? He and his friend, with bleary red eyes, said they had camped out and "woken in the middle of the night, with a strange light". He said he had heard revving from the mountain, which for decades has been said by some to be an alien centre or "UFO garage". | |
| Gendarmes on horseback patrolled the village, and police manned road checkpoints in the surrounding area. The local prefect's office had outlawed rave parties or open-air gatherings, roadside camping and hunting. | Gendarmes on horseback patrolled the village, and police manned road checkpoints in the surrounding area. The local prefect's office had outlawed rave parties or open-air gatherings, roadside camping and hunting. |
| Camera crews were scouring for subject matter. When two men dressed entirely in tin foil with silver bobbles on their heads walked into the village swigging beer, TV reporters immediately surrounded them. Aged 25 and 40, the men said they had driven down from Lille as a bet with friends that they could get on to the top of the world news bulletins. It worked. | |
| Georges Tricoir, 72, a villager and retired artisan, complained of prank calls at 1am. "I rushed out of bed thinking something was wrong with someone in my family, but the person at the other end hung up." Others in the village had had calls in the middle of the night warning of an alien invasion. "I'll be glad when this fuss dies down. I've been going up the mountain for 50 years, I know all the stones, geology of this place, and I'm telling you all of this is lies and nonsense," Tricoir said. | Georges Tricoir, 72, a villager and retired artisan, complained of prank calls at 1am. "I rushed out of bed thinking something was wrong with someone in my family, but the person at the other end hung up." Others in the village had had calls in the middle of the night warning of an alien invasion. "I'll be glad when this fuss dies down. I've been going up the mountain for 50 years, I know all the stones, geology of this place, and I'm telling you all of this is lies and nonsense," Tricoir said. |
| Some felt there was a festive atmosphere. Opposite the tiny town hall the local mountain club sold hot wine and cakes, and portable eco-toilets had been put up. In one window a Santa balanced on a homemade flying saucer. | Some felt there was a festive atmosphere. Opposite the tiny town hall the local mountain club sold hot wine and cakes, and portable eco-toilets had been put up. In one window a Santa balanced on a homemade flying saucer. |
| "It's like a festival, I'm just enjoying chatting to everyone," said Susie Harrison, from Glastonbury, who has lived in the village for 10 years. She had made a commemorative mashed-potato mountain with local artists, and carried it around the village on Thursday night. "It livens up what could have been a boring winter." | |
| Jean Raymond, a builder and hunter, shrugged: "It's just all stoked by the media, isn't it?" | Jean Raymond, a builder and hunter, shrugged: "It's just all stoked by the media, isn't it?" |
| Michel David, a farming trade unionist who has 25 beef cows and farms apples and chestnuts in next valley, was making the most of the captive media presence by waving banners to make a point about protecting the countryside as well as protesting against a new airport in Nantes, a growing controversy in France. "Of course I don't believe a word of this end-of-the-world story, but it's a good backdrop to make a point about protecting rural areas like this from concrete and building plans." | |
| An American musician, Jeff, based in Belgium, had driven from Luxembourg and was planning to set up outside in the village and perform his act as a one-man piano and trumpet band. "I came because it's the only place in Europe anyone's talking about," he said, talking of an "astronomical event that should bring light to the world, open people up". He added: "I might get some gigs out of it." | An American musician, Jeff, based in Belgium, had driven from Luxembourg and was planning to set up outside in the village and perform his act as a one-man piano and trumpet band. "I came because it's the only place in Europe anyone's talking about," he said, talking of an "astronomical event that should bring light to the world, open people up". He added: "I might get some gigs out of it." |