It’s NOT the end of the world, and everyone knows it

Mayan experts reaffirmed that fears over the end of world this December 21 are unfounded.

At a meeting of scientists who specialize in Mayan culture Friday, most agreed that Mayan prophecies were extensive, yet none predicted the end of the world.

"The Mayas did make prophecies, but not in a fatalistic sense, but rather about events that, in their cyclical conception of history, could be repeated in the future," said Alfredo Barrera, of the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico, reported the Associated Press.

It is still unclear how the apocalyptic visions were attributed to the Mayans but experts said that it was likely the influence of Christian thought, which has been linked to similar predictions.

The Daily Aztec reported that the predictions resurfaced recently with the 2006 book by Daniel Pinchbeck, “2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl,” which claimed the Mayas predicted that 2012 would end in death and destruction.

More from GlobalPost: Mayan Calendars: Will December 21, 2012 be the end of the world? [INFOGRAPHIC]

Needless to say, the story was subsequently picked up by Hollywood producers and the rest was pseudo-history.

Indeed, the number 2012 does surface in Mayan carvings, say experts, but never as the year the world would end, said the Daily Mail.

"This is thinking that, in truth, has nothing to do with Mayan culture," said Alexander Voss, an anthropologist at the University of Quintana Roo, reported the Associated Press.

"This thing about looking for end-times is not something that comes from Mayan culture."

Experts said that the Mayan calendar resembled a car odometer, which does not mean the car is going to explode when it reaches the end of the available numbers.

For its part, GlobalPost has tried to explain infographically to those who fear the end of the world that they will live to see another day.