Victor Ruiz Garcia / Reuters

A tourist raises her hands during a group meditation ceremony near the pyramid of Kukulkan at the Chichen Itza archaeological site on Dec. 21. Hundreds gathered to greet the sunrise on a day that marked a new age on the Maya calendar.

Tourists, mystics and Maya priests accentuated the positive this morning at Mexico's best-known Maya monument, the El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza, on a day that some thought would bring catastrophe.

For years, doomsayers warned that the end of a grand 5,125-year cycle in the Maya timekeeping system would signify the end of the world as well. Some feared that Dec. 21 would be marked by solar blasts, earthquakes, superstorms or other planetary disruptions. But the hundreds who flocked to El Castillo took a different message to heart.

"It's not the end of the world, it's an awakening of consciousness and good and love and spirituality — and it's been happening for a while," Mary Lou Anderson, a 53-year-old information technology consultant from Las Vegas, told Reuters.

Reuters reported that the rituals at Chichen Itza began just before the winter solstice, as dawn was breaking. A spotlight illuminated the western flank of El Castillo, a 100-foot-high pyramid that was built sometime between the 9th and the 12th centuries to serve as a temple to the Maya serpent god Kukulkan. Then a group of five English-speaking tourists, dressed in white,  made their way across the plain, dropped their bags and faced the pyramid with their arms raised. 

As the sun climbed into the sky, a man with dreadlocks played a didgeridoo at the north end of the pyramid, while a group of tourists meditated on brightly colored mats.

The visitors said they came to Chichen Itza not to face the world's end, but to make a new beginning. "I hope something happens to make me a better person," said Graham Hohlfelde, a 21-year-old student from St. Louis, Mo. "If I can get a little cosmic help, I won't turn it down."

Israel Leal / AP

Visitors and the El Castillo pyramid are silhouetted by the rising sun at Chichen Itza on Dec. 21, a day that some feared would bring disaster. Ceremonial fires burned and conches sounded off as dawn broke over teh steps of the pyramid, marking what many believe is the conclusion of a 5,125-year cycle in the Maya calendar.

Victor Ruiz Garcia / Reuters

Traditional costumes as well as T-shirts were worn by those attending Friday's rituals at Chichen Itza's El Castillo pyramid.

Pedro Pardo / AFP - Getty Images

Hundreds of onlookers - some holding mobile phones - raise their hands during rituals at Mexico's Chichen Itza archaeological site.

More about the non-apocalypse

• New, doom-free era begins
• What about doomsday preppers?
• French doomsday haven goes bust
• Year-end cartoon laughs at doomsday
• The Maya calendar's Big Day dawns
• Why NASA jumped the gun on doomsday
• Doomsday hot spots around the globe
• Video: 'We're very respectful of traditions'
• Cosmic Log archive on 2012 and doomsday fears

This report includes information from Reuters.

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

LONDON -- When the 2012 Olympics comes to London this summer, thousands of athletes, coaches, officials and tourists from all over the world will descend upon East London, home to some of the poorest boroughs in Britain’s capital.

The factories, warehouses and busy docks that once made it the industrial hub of the city have for decades been morphing into derelict buildings and abandoned scrap heaps as the industries dry up and move overseas – creating the perfect blank canvas for the Olympic sites, the Games’ organizers say. But a vibrant community sprung up in place of the old industrial center, and not everyone is happy about the Olympics becoming a neighbor.

Gideon Mendel / Corbis for msnbc.com

Construction workers take a break from their task of building the Olympic site to enjoy a substantial lunch at The Griddler, a local cafe very close to site of the games.

Frank and Rosie Aviatti, owners of The Griddler café near the Olympic stadium in Stratford, almost sold their business a few years ago when construction workers closed off part of their road for Olympics-related building projects. “Business went down 90 percent,” Frank Aviatti told msnbc.com.

However, other residents and businesses laud the transformative development of the area. Lance Forman, proprietor of H. Forman & Son smoked salmon purveyors, had to move his factory because it was on land that the Olympic organizers wanted for the new stadium. “We did a deal early,” he told msnbc.com, explaining that the 105-year-old company realized it would be a waste of time and money to dispute the compulsory purchase order.

They bought land across the river from what is now the Olympic stadium, designed a factory – in just one month – and built it in under a year. To take advantage of what Forman knew was going to be an opportunity for his business, the company opened a restaurant, bar and event space in its new building. Although business suffered at first, Forman is optimistic because of the higher traffic East London is getting because of the Olympics.

Gideon Mendel / Corbis for msnbc.com

Salmon is sliced and processed at H. Forman and Son, a fourth-generation family business, at its new location directly across the River Lea from the Olympic Stadium.

“People now come to the restaurant and say they didn’t know East London existed before,” he said. “And they say they didn’t realize how close it was.”

As the Olympics fast approach, photographer Gideon Mendel has sought to capture the diversity of life within one mile of the main Olympic site.

Himself an East London resident, Mendel says he is struck by how many different people from different parts of the world live and work in the area – and is intrigued by the idea that the international participants in this summer’s games will be greeted by such an international community. To see some striking images of the people, places and businesses that will be welcoming the world this summer, take a look at the slideshow below.

Slideshow:

Gideon Mendel / Corbis for msnbc.com

When the Olympics is your neighbor

Launch slideshow

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