Aethyric Occult and Paranormal Research

A Secret History of Consciousness by Gary Lachman

2011-10-29T04:23:00.000-07:00

A Secret History of Consciousness is a fascinating book. I came across this book browsing Borders a few years back, sounded interesting, then I noticed it was written by the former bass player from Blondie. This made me a bit skeptical of the quality of the book. Nothing against Blondie, but 80's rockers are not often known for their intellectual prowess. Luckily, it wasn't something that made me NOT want to read it. Plus the Intro by Colin Wilson didn't hurt.

It took a while, but eventually I sat down and started to read this. It took a while to get through the whole thing due to my reading habits of jumping from book to book, but none-the-less, I was never disappointed in this. I do think it started better than it ended, it was more, open, at the beginning. Overall it is a wide exploration of various ideas in consciousness and metaphysics. From Blavatsky to Kant to Colin Wilson, do not enter into this reading unless you have a very open mind and a willingness to at least try some very unusual ideas. It even got me to accept Julian Jaynes work a bit.

Overall, the book explores the way consciousness may have evolved over time... and for that matter, where it may be going. It suggests the various ways consciousness may have perceived reality over time, and the aspects of perception that have changed over aeons. It goes into purely speculative realms, as well as exploring things in a more scientific, or at least philosophical manner. Near the end, he seems to be trying to pull some of the stranger ideas together as a true history, and that is the only part which I feel wasn't as interesting. The ideas are speculations, interesting ones, to be sure, but just ideas. There is no reason to validate them over any others.

I think Gary does an excellent job at least engaging your ability to think about where consciousness has been, and where it may be going. Not to mention the various states of consciousness that we are already capable of, even if we aren't aware of them. I haven't read the works of people like Blavatsky and Immanuel Kant in many, many years, and, as least in the case of the latter, it reminded me of just how much I liked his work. In the case of the former, it allowed me to re-consider the value of her work, and also enlightened me to other thinkers are authors that I have not known as of yet.

Overall, this is highly recommended, and I am glad that I decided to pick this up. The thing about the physical book store, is that you can find things like this, things you weren't looking for. Things you didn't know you wanted. I love being able to find just about anything on a site like Amazon, but it is far less likely that I will come across something like this.

Near Death, UFO's, and The Rethinking of Reality...

2011-05-19T00:47:00.000-07:00

“I believe there is an perichoresis, an interpenetration. It is possible, indeed, that we three are now sitting among desolate rocks, by bitter streams.

…And with what companions?”

- Arthur Machen

When most people think of Near Death Experiences, they think of a tunnel of light, meeting heavenly beings, etc. A good number of people also think it’s bullshit. Those are the people who have never actually researched the subject. Does a NDE prove life after death? No. Absolutely not. However it is a genuine mystery that a few brave scientists over the years may have finally made some headway into.

Make no mistake NDE’s are a joke among conventional scientists, not because there is nothing to them, but because they fall into that fringe that they stay far away from. That fringe starts to unravel accepted theories, and is really just inconvenient. So the mainstream scientists stay far away. There are however, doctors who often starting out as skeptical, eventually admit that there seems to be something to the experiences. Michael Sabom wrote a book back in the late 90's called, Light and Death about a particular case that can’t be explained by accepted theories. But this case is not unique, often people who are dead on the operating table find themselves hovering over their bodies and can describe in detail what was happening on the operating table, or in other rooms nearby. The standard explanation for this is that they are just hearing it and their brains are making up the rest. There was a cardiologist, whose name escapes me at the moment, who after hearing numerous stories of NDE’s, and being completely skeptical, decided to mount his own study. What he did was this, over the coarse of a year or so, every patient he worked on was asked to fill out a questionnaire. Said document asked IF the person had a NDE, as well as questions about what happened during the procedure. What he discovered after many 100’s of patients was interesting, and turned him away from being a skeptic (a common thing for cardiologists who actually do any research on the subject). He found that, as we already knew, not everyone who died had a NDE. BUT, he also discovered that some people who did not die, and weren’t even near death, DID have a NDE. He also found that the people who had NDE’s could describe in clear and precise detail what was happening in the operating room, not just conversations, but actions, tools, etc. The people who did not have NDE’s, also filled out this portion, and he found that what they thought was happening could not have been more wrong. This disproved the idea that people were just making up what was happening in the operating room or just dreaming about it. Every indication is that these people were seeing what was going on in the room, even when all brain activity had ceased. There is, of course, also the famous story of the woman who, while having a NDE, floated out of the operating room, was able to recount a conversation, that was verified, happening in the waiting room, and then finally floated outside the building. In the last part, she saw a red shoe sitting on the ledge. When she woke up and told the doctor about it, she decided to check it out. She went to where the shoe was supposed to be, and sure enough, there it was, just as described. What was more, the shoe was not in a location anyone would have been able to casually see it.

All of this, however, does not say anything about an afterlife, what it displays is the probability that consciousness can move without the body. Now that we have established certain facts about NDE’s, we have to look at other research.

There were studies done at a certain point using Ketamine, and it was shown that under certain conditions, the drug could create visions similar to NDE’s. The problem with this, however, is that there is no known mechanism for the body to create Ketamine naturally. This did not stop various skeptics from latching on to the theory that somehow Ketamine explained away NDE’s. After all, when your only goal is to dismiss something, and you have already made up your mind, any explanation will do. Skeptics don’t use facts, they use belief. The very people who did the study said that they did not believe that this explained NDE’s in any way. Yet it was sighted repeatedly as the solution to NDE’s.

On the other hand, Dr. Rick Strassman, who was the only doctor since the 70’s allowed to do research on hallucinatory drugs, found that DMT, which is naturally occurring in the human body, also created experiences similar to NDE’s. Not exact, but he theorized that the circumstances may also be a factor, and that we don’t know what a natural release of DMT may do. Some of the experiencers also reported encounters very similar to alien abduction scenarios. He was not prepared for any of this, and after years of research he finally concluded that DMT didn’t cause hallucinations, per se. He felt that what was more likely happening was that DMT was re-tuning the brain, allowing consciousness to interact with a different reality. He termed our reality, channel normal, comparing the re-tuning to a TV set. In his book, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, he shows, in detail, why he doesn’t feel that what people were experiencing on DMT were mere hallucinations. There was too much consistency between trips, and between the patients. Hallucinations simply don’t work like that.

But this makes a strange connection, that of alien abductions and NDE’s. Oddly enough, Dr. Kenneth Ring made the same connection back in his 1992 book, The Omega Project: Near-Death Experiences, Ufo Encounters, and Mind at Large. Originally, Dr. Ring’s research was into the NDE. In this book, he expanded his research to not only explore the after effects of the Near Death Experience, but also to explore the alien abduction phenomenon. What he found was stunning, and rather confusing. He found that the aftereffects of both experiences had similar effects on the experiencer. Dr. Ring identified various value and belief changes associated with people who have had either experience. Some of these changes in personality involve having a greater appreciation for live, higher self-esteem, more compassion, a better understanding of life, as well as a sense of purpose, a desire to learn new things, an increase in spirituality (do not confuse this with religion), and many other things, including a raising of IQ. On the other hand both experiences can also create negative effects, where people have trouble dealing with the experience and life afterwards. But what stands out in this research, aside from the similarities, are the verifiable changes in the people who experience these things. Hallucinations do not cause core changes in a person, these experiences do. The late John Mack also dealt, on the abduction side, with these personality changes in great detail. He was, of course, ostracized for even attempting to study such a field. Again, his research confirms what Dr. Ring discovered. That there are changes to the individual, and that both experiences seem to have some common core.

One of the things that Dr. Strassman did not find, were any kind of long lasting personality changes in the individual. It is possible, however, that the amount of DMT, or the setting may have been to blame. Or maybe DMT is not the catalyst. But there is more.

As I said at the start, not everyone who dies has a Near Death Experience. This would seem to be a puzzle. On explanation may be, that only some remember it. Like dreams. Everyone dreams. Everyone. However, it is not hard to find people who rarely or never remember their dreams, or who believe they do not dream. Dreaming is also an altered state of consciousness, so perhaps there is a connection. Dr. Ring’s research led him to the idea of the Encounter Prone Personality. The EPP is someone who is more likely to have a paranormal experience. Could this be connected to DMT? Dr. Strassman wonders the same thing. Could it be that some people have more DMT running through their systems than others. Or maybe some people’s bodies create DMT more easily, then allowing them to access another reality. It could even be an environmental factor that sets it off. Consider that UFO sightings often happen in flaps, or flap areas. Paul Devereux has his Earth Lights theory (Earth Lights Revelation: Ufo's and Mystery Lightform Phenomena : The Earth's Secret Energy Force), which shows that such lights, perhaps generated by the Earth itself, happen most often along fault lines. All of these things may be connected. The same mechanism that causes Earth Lights, may have an effect on certain people, whose brains then release a dose of DMT, allowing them to access another world, or have an alien abduction experience, whatever it really is. This theory seems rather effective. There is only one problem. There are many UFO encounters with physical evidence. Granted never enough to fully claim the UFO Phenomenon as real to many people, but take for instance, there was a UFO landing case, where the witnesses watched a bright object come down and land in their woods. They went out to investigate. When they got there, it shot off and disappeared. It broke some of the tree limbs, and left a white circle on the floor of the forest. The mother of the group, reached out and touched the circle, and lost all feeling in her hand. It never returned. The area where the circle was is now, still, dead, decades later. Nothing can grow there. What does this prove? Nothing but that something odd happened. There are enough of these cases, enough radar traces, and other tantalizing pieces of evidence to rule out a purely mental phenomenon. At the same time, there is no evidence that UFO sightings like this are in any way extra-terrestrial. What they are is a total mystery.

I could go on for days about examples to back up all of the above. What it boils down to, though, is that there is more going on here than we currently can comprehend. A Near Death Experience may have nothing to do with what actually happens when we die, any more than UFO’s looking like saucers mean they come from outer space. They may have more to do with each other than most suspect. There is a legitimate mystery here, and one that may need a complete reorganization of our view of reality to even begin to process.

One take could be this. These experiences allow us access to another world. Another dimension. Under the right circumstances, we can interact and access that world. The above DMT theory would allow for this to happen. However, the inhabitants of that world, may also be able to come here, maybe not fully, but just enough to create the type of odd UFO sightings and such that occur, occasionally leaving puzzling evidence. This would account for all the evidence. It is not currently provable, and may be completely wrong, but at least it takes everything into account.

Lets look at one more piece of the puzzle. In his book Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind, Graham Hancock suggests that the alien abduction scenario, the fairies and elves of the past, and shamanic experiences are all of the same ilk. Jacques Vallee had previous, in Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds, and DIMENSIONS: A Casebook of Alien Contact, shown the link between fairies, UFO’s, Fatima, and more. Graham goes a bit further and shows how the ancient cave paintings are not of hunted animals, but of shamanic journeys. All of these factors collide to create a rich and varied picture. Vallee shows that this phenomenon, whatever it truly is, has been with us throughout history. Graham adds into the picture the Shamanic element, which then aligns with the DMT research. When all is said and done, we are looking at something that has interacted with and been of part of the foundation of mankind throughout time. Some, like John Keel, feel that this phenomenon may not have our best wishes at heart. Mack and Hancock show that with bad experiences, growth comes, so maybe what Keel sees as dangerous, may eventually be beneficial. Or maybe, like us, some of what is there is helpful and some is not.

So let us look again at the NDE, in this new light. What do we know? Well, the out of body experiences suggest that consciousness is not confined to the body, and MAY survive death. It does not, however, necessarily show us what death is like. This reminds me though, of another strange connection between the UFO phenomenon and NDE’s. One of the common elements of the NDE is meeting of dead relatives when they go towards or reach the light. There have been numerous abduction accounts of people on ‘ships’ meeting dead relatives aboard. Whether or not these are their actual dead relatives in either case, is an open question, but the appearance of said factor in UFO accounts is very strange. Whatever is happening has a common factor. The experiences may be different, but yet, not so much at times. The other interesting thing is the personality changes that NDE and UFO experiencers have. As mentioned above, a simple hallucination does not cause this, nor does the DMT doses that were given by Strassman. I find the raise in IQ especially interesting, as being dead should not expand your intelligence, if anything, one would think small amounts of brain damage would likely be more common. Current science can not explain any of this. Nor will it even address the subjects. Death may have nothing to do with NDE’s, but the near death state may open up doors in some people.

It is easy for the skeptic to dismiss this data, they will never accept it anyways, so proving anything to skeptics is pointless. They have made up their minds. Luckily, there are those open minded skeptics, who are willing to do open and honest research and not dismiss things out of hand. It is because of these people that we may have finally reached something NEW about these types of experiences. For the foreseeable future, I suppose we will all find out when we do die. What happens will happen. I often wonder how these closed minded skeptics (and atheists for that matter) react when they die and their consciousness continues. Do they stop and look back, realizing how ignorant they were? On the other hand, if they are right, and when you die that is it, well, we won’t know anyways, now will we. I believe that there is more than enough evidence to suggest the independent nature of consciousness without the body, as well as the idea that consciousness is not a by product of matter, but that matter is a creation of consciousness. A very eastern idea, that western science is slowly finding itself having to deal with. Ah, but that is another subject...

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

- Teilhard de Chardin

Book Review: DMT - The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman, M.D.

2011-04-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences by Rick Strassman M.D.

There are people who feel that science and the paranormal cannot co-exist, usually forgetting that many things were paranormal until explained by science. In today's world, talk of things like Alien Abductions and Near Death Experiences often get one ridiculed by people who are more, scientific. In DMT, The Spirit Molecule, Dr. Strassman proceeds in a completely scientific manor to investigate the effects of DMT on various volunteers. The results though, may help to identify certain mechanisms that may be involved in such ridiculed events such as Alien Abductions. Make no mistake, this is not a New Age book. Dr. Strassman is an accredited and peer reviewed scientist, who did not set out to deal with the subjects that he eventually did. Like any good scientist, he followed the data. It led him to very surprising places.

DMT Experiences, although often unique, also have certain common qualities to them. One of them is meeting ‘beings’, and experiencing some of what happens in an Alien Abduction. Dr. Strassman, as much as he seems to have resisted it, eventually had to admit that the experiences did not bear the markings of being just an hallucination. The fact that DMT occurs naturally in the body, being secreted by the Pineal Gland, makes it even more interesting. The book itself is very well, written, very scientific, and quite enjoyable. Just reading about all the hoops he had to jump through to get to do the research in the first place is amazing.

It has made me wonder about paranormal experiences in new ways. For example, anyone who studies UFO’s seriously will point out that DMT can’t explain multiple witness sightings, radar tracking, and physical traces. But what if we are dealing with two different things. What if the only connection between the odd lights in the sky and the alien abduction scenario is that whatever causes the ‘physical’ UFO, sets off a release of DMT in the observer, who then has an internal experience? I think this could be a potential breakthrough in the study of UFO’s. It doesn’t explain what causes the lights, but if whatever does, affects people in the right way, it may lead to an encounter that is not ‘of’ those lights. Like a heavy wind blowing open a door you didn’t know was there. The wind and the room beyond may not be directly related, but one unlocked the other. It could also be that the beings that are contacted via DMT are also trying to come here, and they do so in what appear to us as UFO’s (and possibly other unexplained phenomena).

I have never been sure what to make of implants in UFO abduction cases, but people in DMT studies receive implants. There is no physical implant in these people, but plenty of abductees have claimed to have found physical implants right where they say they were implanted. Some of these implants, when removed, seem to be, at the very least, odd. Now, as I said, I am not sure what to make of this. There isn’t enough conclusive evidence one way or another, but I would say that Dr. Strassman’s research into DMT may be a very important clue in understanding the UFO Phenomenon, as well as consciousness and the human condition in general.

If any of this even vaguely interests you, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book. You can look at it as DMT causing hallucinations or as DMT tapping into another realm, either way, the book is very interesting and opens up all new avenues of questions. Personally, I believe that it retunes us to another world. How much so probably depends on the situation and amount of DMT received, either naturally or by design. Dr. Strassman uses the analogy of the brain as a television, tuned by default to ‘channel normal’. DMT tunes it to other wavelengths.

I would like to thank Dr. Rick Strassman for the courage to see this study through and the strength it took him to actually get to do it. If you read this, you will understand what I mean. His research may have broken new ground in various fields, but only time will tell.

The Light and the Moon...

2011-03-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

Standing at the end of the path, fields surround. The moon, bright in the sky, casts everything in a beautiful glow. Quick moving clouds skirt across the sky, in patches dimming the glow occasionally, but none the less, there is a beauty to it all. A breeze, comes across from the West, guiding the clouds on their way. As I watch, I notice a light in one of the fields, strange that, as there is nothing out there to create a light. It is at first, though, only a passing interest. Despite my severely clear sense of consciousness, things start to happen... First a flash, like someone taking a picture. The flash is there, but without a sharp climax, and then an odd decay. Interesting, and hard to focus on, like it comes from somewhere we don't normally have access to. Then, oddness becomes outstanding. As I gaze up at the clouds starting to cover the moon, the lunar body suddenly bursts through the thick clouds and shakes wildly. Clearly a hallucination. I look away, at that odd light in the field. It blinks on and off at regular intervals. I look up and the moon is normal again, for a moment, then it starts its impossible dance. Bewildered I look away. I look inward to examine my seeming clarity of mind, and find that it still seems to be intact. That light is still there. I stare at it, and it goes out and doesn't come back on. Odd. I look at the bizarre lunar dance again, and once again, it seems like it should at first, then it performs it's convulsion. If it was an optical illusion, would that not be there as soon as I look? I notice the light is back, I look at it, trying to determine something, anything, about it. It goes out and stays out. Frustrating. I wait and it fails to relight. I look away, and from the corner of my eye, it returns. Like a game. I watch it from the corner of my eye, and it blinks on and off every seven seconds. Fine, I think, so there is a pattern to this seemingly out of place luminosity. As it ignites, I look at it, it stays on seven seconds, goes out, and does not come back... Till I look elsewhere, then it resumes it's blinking. Now how can that be. It is a good distance away, yet it seems to be interacting with me. It is not unusually bright and it stays perfectly still. What sense can be made of this. If I look when it is out, it stays out till I look away. Subtle, yet, so striking in it's action. I look up, the moon, free of clouds seems like it should, but the flashes on the landscape remain on occasion. I wonder if I should feel scared by all this? Worried about my own sanity, yet I know, this is something that is definitely there, this is not a mental hallucination.

I recall that at Fatima, the sun was said to fall from the sky and fly around. I think about our need to believe in ghosts or aliens, or something else that we can somehow fit into our idea of logic. Perhaps, though, the world does not play by those rules. Perhaps that light is always there, but it takes a certain state of mind, or state of earth, or alignment with something, somewhere, for me to see this. And there it is. And more than anything, it wants contact. And maybe it has caused these other things, the flashes and the dancing moon, only to direct my attention to it. But what then. If a person were to sit in that lonely field and wait for perhaps me to wander this way, even with some nice night vision goggles and motivation, they could not detect the slight change in my vision that provokes the light to respond. It knows when I am looking at it, and it is telling me so. The clouds are passed, and the sun is coming soon. The light remains. I bid it farewell and return from where I came, with a great sense of wonder, invigorated by something so simple, yet so profound. Not a ghost, nor an alien, nor anything else we can fully comprehend in our world of logic and order. Perhaps, though, something that seeks contact, something so strange to us, that we can't yet see what it truly is. Perhaps we lack the facilities to, the senses to. And if it is so strange to us, how can we even guess it's motivation? It's awareness is likely to be so foreign and alien to ours that how can we hope to really communicate. We are closed minded and arrogant. Yet it tries. We can not hope to apply to something our limited views and behaviours to it and hope to make any sense of them. It has been here, trying, for as long as we know. We have assigned it different faces, angels, demons, aliens, ghosts, fairies... But these were the illusions, which we provided as it tries to get through on some level. A light in a field, where there is no light, that responds in ways it can't. It's seems so trivial and small.

Clearly, though, it is patient.

Books I am Reading Right Now...

2010-11-28T22:11:00.000-08:00

I read too many books at once, and I always want to do reviews of them, but never get around to it. Actually, sometimes I can't even remember the beginning of a book once I get to the end cause it may have been a year or so since I started it. Seriously. It's not from lack of interest, it is just that I will suddenly decided I want to read one thing or another and jump around, so I figured maybe I would just comment on some of the stuff I am reading now.

Lost Cities of North and Central America (The Lost City Series) by David Hatcher Childress. You can see David as a regular on Ancient Aliens currently (History Channel I believe), and I really have to say I love his books. He is a story teller and explorer. He is not out to prove anything, and he is no armchair theorist. He has traveled the world, and his books relate those travels with both personal stories, legends, theories, and just pure speculation. His books are just filled with crazy amounts of information about ancient cultures, and legends of pre-history, and, well, fun. He will often just run off on rides of wild speculation, and they are enjoyable rides. I am about halfway through this book, and the first half deals mostly with Central America as David travels about and explores ancient ruins, and relates legends about them. He often spends time off the beaten path trying to track down some of the more obscure legends, and never fails to enlighten me to something that I have never heard of before. That is one of the things that most books fail to do, and when an author can repeatedly do such a thing to me, they quickly become one of my favorite authors, as David Hatcher Childress has.

Our Haunted Planet net by John Keel. Published back in 1971, the late John Keel is easily one of my favorite authors. Like Childress, he has traveled the world, has related odd legends and little known information, and is a fantastic story teller. What sets them apart is that Keel does have theories that he supports, and they were way ahead of his time. His primary focus has always been the UFO Phenomenon, but he is one of the very early proponents of the idea that UFO does not mean Extra-terrestrial. Keel very much believes that UFO's are Ultra-Terrestrial, and may very well not be benevolent. Over the years I find myself agreeing with Keel less than I used to, and in some cases it is just a matter of time having proven some of his theories wrong. On other things however, he has shown himself to be dead on. Our Haunted Planet is a collection of strange events and research. Keel is never one to shy away from High Strangeness, and instead feels that the key to things lie in the strangest accounts, not the more 'acceptable' one. This is the second time I have read this work of his, and I find that I am enjoying it the second time through far more than the first for some reason. I lent my first copy to someone and they never returned it, so getting my hands on another I felt it deserved a re-read, and it has been well worth the time to do so.

DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences by Rick Strassman, M.D. I haven't gotten very far in this one, but my interest was peaked while reading Graham Hancock's Supernatural. So far, this is a fascinating book talking about the odd properties of DMT, and recounting the history of research into psychedelic drugs. Very thorough and interesting as Rick relates the accounts of DMT experiments that he was able to conduct, and his theories on what they may really mean. DMT is particularly interesting in that it is produced in the human body, and yet still an illegal substance. Even slightly higher than normal doses of DMT have been shown to cause hallucinogenic states. The question that Rick eventually starts to address, is if these states may have some reality of their own, and not just be in the mind. His theory is akin to retuning a Television set from what he calls 'Channel Normal' to another channel using drugs like DMT. Since DMT is also produced in the human body, another theory is that people who are 'sensitive' may already have slightly elevated levels of DMT, allowing them to tune into alternate realities while still connected to a normal consciousness level. As I said, haven't made it too far into this book, but so far, well worth the read.

The Murder of Christ by Wilhelm Reich. A truly brilliant man. I have never read any of his stuff before. Published back in 1953, Reich was highly persecuted in his time, eventually dying in prison and having all his books burned. Reich suggested that there is another energy field called Orgone, and it is powered, in essence, by sexual energy. In the 1950's, you can see why this may not have gone over so well. He had various experiments proving his theories, and his history and ideas are well worth checking out. This book, however, is not so much about that. In a deep, and slightly hard to read way, Wilhelm explores the life of Christ through his eyes, seeing the repression of sexuality and other psychosis as the main problem in today's society. A view WAY ahead of it's time. The Murder of Christ is the repression of the life force, which Christ wanted us to revel in, not repress as our Western culture in particular does to such a huge degree. Reich was a strange man, and his work is fascinating. I haven't read very far into this yet, in part because it's not such an easy read, he writes in a slightly tedious manner, but it is worth slowly working through so far.

Invisible Residents: The Reality of Underwater UFOs by Ivan T. Sanderson. The Reality of Underwater UFO's is the subtitle to this book, originally published in 1970. USO's as they have often been called are a little known variation of the UFO Phenomenon. There are actually a very large number of UFO sightings where the UFO has been seen to come from or go into the water. Ivan recounts many variations of these, and theories as to what it may mean. It is a bit tedious at times, but interesting none-the-less. The book opens relating a story of an Antarctic expedition where a long silvery object suddenly burst through "no less than 37 feet of ice" causing huge chunks of steaming ice to come crashing down all around them and the water from whence it came to boil. There are quite a lot of interesting stories, and Ivan's theory that there may be a vast underwater civilization that pre-dates ours seems a bit outrageous at first glance, but you never really know. I mean, we have explored so little of our oceans, that we really don't know what is down there. And if there was a civilization down there, and they wanted to not be found by us, they may be able to hide well, especially if they have such a high technology. I don't personally think that is the answer to the UFO mystery, but I also find the idea worthy of thought. This is considered a classic and has been republished by David Hatcher Childress' book company, Adventures Unlimited Press.

A Secret History of Consciousness by Gary Lachman. Gary is the former bass player for Blondie. He is also a intriguing author. I picked this up not sure what to expect, and have been blown away by the novelty of information contained. On the one hand, it is an exploration of the history of theories on the nature of consciousness, but on the other hand, it takes a different turn and looks at the idea that perhaps consciousness was not always what it is today, and where it may evolve to. In parts it suggests that consciousness has evolved in ways we can't even imagine, and not in far antiquity, but even in the last few thousand years. For example, perhaps the reason we can not understand the way the pyramids were built, relates more to the consciousness that built them, not just the technology. It is fascinating and unique. A pleasant surprise for something that I picked up spontaneously at Borders one day. Some of the book reminds me of metaphysics that I have not read in 20 years, and other stuff I have never encountered before. Until I read this, I had all but forgotten the theories of Immanuel Kant, but the reminder was refreshing. I would say, though, there was more stuff here that I have never heard of before than stuff I have. Awesome book.

This isn't all of them. but these are the books I am reading most recently. I may do a full review when I finish them, or maybe just another blog of this sort as I start reading more, or pick up some that I have neglected lately. I also signed up as an Amazon affiliate, so if you think you may buy any of these through Amazon, please use my links.

Olmecs and The History Channel

2010-08-08T06:34:00.000-07:00

The Olmecs were an ancient South American civilization that predates the Mayans and Aztecs. We know almost nothing about them aside from aside from the fact that they made these enourmous stone heads, that have distinctly negroid features. So lets take a look at how both archeologists and The History Channel take this subject on.

First up, archeology. What do they deduce from the Negroid features? Well, since they know, yes, know, that people from Africa could not have crossed the Atlantic, then the features must not be Negroid. Yes, that is how it works, denial is king. They know no such thing, and instead of looking at this as potential proof of such a journey, they go the other way, the illogical way, because they don't like to have to rewrite history. Now, the history channel's narrator states that the Olmecs are the first structures society in south America, that they just walked out of the jungle and there they were. They state this as fact, despite knowing nothing about them. What I mean by that is this, we have no idea if there were earlier cultures. To be factual, it should be stated that the Olmecs (and if I remember right, we have no idea what they called themselves, we named them the Olmecs) are the earliest South American Culture that we know of. Oftentimes in this field, and especially when the media gets involved, 'facts' are thrown around that simply aren't facts. There may have been earlier cultures that we have yet to discover, or may never discover, that the Olmecs may have evolved from. If all we have from them are their megalithic heads, then who knows how many cultures were there before them that may not have made such lasting structures.

Now, since all we have are the heads, how do they make this subject last an hour? Well, speculation of course. So they have these huge heads, they know they moved them to where they are, and they have no idea how. So they start by talking to archeologists who tell them that we don't know how the Olmecs moved their heads. We have absolutely no idea. Followed by, well, maybe to speculate we should look at how other cultures moved large stones. Well the Egyptians moved their large stones with large amounts of slave labor. (Ok, problem number one. They did not. This is a theory that is thrown around but has been disproved over and over, in fact the idea that there was widespread slavery in Egypt is wrong, much less that they were used to move their massive stones. Simply wrong) So now let's take this wrong assumption and bind it to our current dilemma. Now let's test this on much smaller stones. Hey, large amounts of people can move much smaller stones. Great, really doesn't prove or explain anything, but they can treat it like a discovery because it's TV. So, they come back from commercial doing just that, they state that they now know that the Olmecs moved these large heads with large amounts of human labor, as they have now proved. The wording is so important. If you don't know much about this stuff, you will walk away thinking that you know something you don't, because in essence, they are lying to you. They are telling that, that because a whole lot of people can pull a 1/2 ton stone a ways, that the Olmecs did this to move their 20 ton heads, they just used more people. There is no evidence that this is what they did. None. Yet, now, according to this show, Digging for the Truth, we now know how it was done. They don't state that MAYBE it could have been done this way, the narrator says, "We now know that they used many people to pull the stones along..." But we don't. That is simply a lie.

When they come back, they are talking to an archeologist about how they moved the stones across the water. He tells them, clearly, that they have no idea. They speculate that MAYBE they used boats, but since absolutely nothing of said boats has survived, they can only guess. So with this guess, they make a boat out of the resources that the Olmecs would have had available to them. They barely get their ½ ton stone on three boats lashed together. On the up side, they did not claim that this is definitely how they did it, this time. But they then ‘did the math’ and stated that it would only take 14 much larger boats lashed together to hold one of the 20 ton heads. Yeah, only 14 boats. On top of this, they could barely get the ½ ton rock on the boat, yet clearly you just need more people to get a 20 ton rock up on a boat, right?

I admit, I find these shows interesting. They talked about a dig where they found the heads, and some floors of buildings they found and how one the heads was intentionally buried, a fact that I knew, but had forgotten. The problem with archeology, and oftentimes cosmology, is assumption. For example, the place where they found the heads is the center of the Olmec culture. This is what they state, yet, having found no trace of it anywhere else, how can you really say that. The same with saying that they were the first real culture in South America. They state this as if they know for sure, because it fits with their other theories about human migration. They, however, ignore the facts that don’t fit, like the distinct negroid cast to the heads, implying that they are not part of the typical migration into the area. This is the same behavior that causes Egyptologists to ignore the water damage to the Sphinx, because it disrupts their theories with those pesky facts. And then you let the media get a hold of this information, and it gets cast into a whole new light, despite the FACT that we know little to nothing about the Olmecs, we now have discovered all this new stuff while filming this show. We now know they dragged them like the Egyptians (didn’t) and they made incredibly massive boats to float them down rivers. Yet, despite having the know how to make these massive vessels, they never ventured off into the oceans or anywhere far from home, because people back then simply couldn’t. Despite the fact that I sometimes enjoy these shows, the problem with the misdirection of information, the lying, the assuming, makes them pretty useless. A casual viewer won’t know that, and then they will further on these lies and such. Some of these shows are worse than others. Some episodes are worse than others. So really, if this type of thing interests you, pick up various books on the subject, from various sides. Compare the information and make your own decisions. Sadly, like most other television, even the ‘historical’ documentaries are flash and garbage for the most part now.

Five Points...

2010-08-04T18:55:00.001-07:00

So, I happened across this article on Digg earlier.

I felt after reading it, that it needed some commentary.

Number One, Lake Monsters. More often than not, I dismiss Lake Monsters. If one exists, ok, but evidence against them is rather strong, at least as far as what we expect them to be. That does not mean that people aren’t seeing monsters, just that perhaps they are not flesh and blood creatures, there may be a very good, and possibly more interesting explanation. However, number one holds some merit, good.

Number Two, Hoaxes. Also, good point, hoaxes at this point in time are so easy, not to mention the amount junk we have in our environment that may be misinterpreted. I find the UFO (read that as Unidentified Flying Object, NOT as Space Ship) sightings prior to our ability to fly sometimes more interesting because we know it couldn’t be us. There are plenty of those. Nowadays, hoaxes are so damned easy, and easy to make them look really good. So they are right that hoaxes are a problem, but they don’t argue against paranormal phenomenon, just a fact of culture and technology that it becomes a problem in determining real from fake.

Number Three, Unclaimed Large Cash Rewards. Here is where they lose ground. The problem with said cash awards is this, the die hard skeptics that offer them, make sure that no one will ever pass their tests. Of course they are unclaimed, they are more of a publicity stunt than anything else. If you live in New York City, and one day offer $100,000 to anyone who can bring you a live Moose in the next 5 minutes, good chance no one will, but that doesn’t mean that Moose are not real. Yet that is the logic of such cash prizes. Closed minded skeptics, like James Randi, mentioned in the article, will never see anything as proof. Nothing. Period. They have already made up their minds. No one will ever get the money, because no matter how much someone proves, it will not be enough. So on this point they fail miserably. This is not evidence against the paranormal, this is more a psychological exercise for the closed minded. Being an open minded skeptic is probably the best way to be, but a closed minded one will never learn anything new because they think they know it all already. It is not doubt that they have, but certainty.

Number Four, The Fermi Paradox. If we were to argue that space aliens were here, this may or may not add or detract from the argument. Basically, it is hypothetical. Everything in this point is hypothetical. What if. Sure, Richard Dawkins will tell you he is right, but that’s because he falls into that closed minded skeptic category. He already knows he is right about what he believes, so you can’t really make a point to such a person. Anyways, this is obviously an attempt to dismiss UFO sightings. Not only doesn’t it work on various levels, but any real analysis of the phenomenon does not point to ET, but something altogether stranger and more passive. And when that is comprehended, this whole point is, well, pointless.

Number Five, The God Helmet. This one is interesting. It proves that electromagnetic energy can produce interesting effects on the brain. This is a good point against the paranormal. Other things must be considered, though. Ok, so using this helmet can replicate certain paranormal mindsets. Feelings of others in the room with you, for instance. Two things must be worked out. One, are there? Just because we can’t see them in a normal state of being, by tweaking our brain, the brain in the case assumed to be a receiver, like a television, we tune to something outside the ‘norm’. Two, by pressing on certain nerves, you may feel like a part of you, which is not being touched at that time, is being touched. Does that mean that when it is really being touched it is just an illusion? Of course, you could go deep with this question, but I think we will stay on the shallow side for now. Research has been done that suggests that Ketamine can induce something that resembles a Near Death Experience. That is interesting. However, when someone has a real NDE, there is no trace of Ketamine in their system, so it really doesn’t work as a explanation, now does it? Just because something resembles the effects of something else, doesn’t mean that it is now explained. The people who did the initial research were pretty clear at the end that they did not think that Ketamine was in any way responsible for NDE’s, but that didn’t stop the skeptic army from eating that up and spitting it in everyone’s face. So, is the God helmet interesting? Hell, yes. Does it explain all spiritual states and paranormal experiences? Not even remotely. It is, however a tool that may be used for further understanding about the way our brain interacts with this reality that we share.

The problem with the paranormal is, for us to begin to understand it, takes a whole new concept of reality. As long as people try to squeeze it into our current conceptions of how things are, we will not understand. Our narrow belief in how things are does not accommodate many of these phenomenon, which is why you have people arguing that UFO's are space ships, while others arguing, that, despite the evidence of something going on that is causing these experiences, they are somehow not real (aka hoaxes, or hallucinations, or whatever). Both sides are operating in a narrow band of which the true UFO Phenomenon supersedes. That is what the term paranormal means, really. Outside the norm. Someday we may evolve the wisdom to understand many of these things, and then we will look back on what we believe now and laugh at how primitive we were...

Pieces and Perceptions

2010-08-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

We perceive the world in pieces. This is something that doesn’t occur to most, but it is very true of everyone. We don’t see a complete picture, our brain selects what it will show us, and ignores 99% of the rest. It does this to avoid an overload of information. It is a useful thing, as we would never be able to process everything around us all the time. Because we process everything in pieces, though, we all perceive different things. There is an old story of the three blind men and an elephant. I forget now an exact version of it, but the basics will do. Three blind men are asked to describe an elephant, and one touches the trunk, one the body, and one the tail. They all describe three completely different animals. Yet, despite the fact that their descriptions seem completely wrong to each other, they are all correct in their perceptions. The large snake like trunk is just as right as the bulky large animal, which is just as right as the wispy tail. All three are correct for the pieces they are examining, and oftentimes arguments break out over differences like this. We may say that the one feeling the body is most correct, but that is not actually true, he is only correct for his piece. For someone with vision, their piece is different, they see the whole animal. It doesn’t mean that what they see is any more correct. People get caught up on things like this. People like to be right. And on some level our perceptions are always right. If someone says, “Hey, I heard something…”, and someone else says, Well, I didn’t.”, neither person is wrong. One did hear something, whether it was something outside them or something generated internally, they heard something. They are not wrong, but neither is the person who heard nothing. In another way, if I was to describe what I see, being someone very familiar with the insides of computers, when I open up a desktop computer, versus someone who has never opened up a computer and knows nothing about them, the descriptions would vary greatly. In fact, so greatly, that if you didn’t know we were describing the same thing, you may never realize it. I would be looking at something familiar and ordered, whereas the other would be looking at something strange and messy. Their brains would not isolate out what is important simply because they don’t know. This is true of all facets of life. Life is a selection of pieces. No one sees everything. We can’t.

If you want to take it a step further, what we all really see is waveforms. Vibrations. The physical objects we think we see are not what are really there. And since we can’t jump behind someone else’s perceptions, we don’t know if what we call a couch looks anything like what they call a couch. Their red may be our green, we just agree that such a vibration is the same. If we were behind their perceptions, we may see what we see as green when looking at something red. If that makes sense. Reality is agreement. Those vibrations are red. That is a chair. Somewhere inside our brains convert perceptions of waveforms to vision, sound, feel, smell, etc. We have no idea how this happens, but it does. Our reality is a loose agreement between us. Right and wrong perceptions mean that much less in that understanding.

We all know the type of people who think they know everything. You bring up a subject and they will comment or criticize despite their obvious lack of knowledge. Once again, though, this is a perception. When someone, lets say, less than very self aware, which is most of the planet, gets enough information to form an opinion, they then think, quite innocently, that they now know something about said subject. With some people, this is enough for them to comment, argue, whatever, but it falls to a level of perception again. There are subjects for which, if you look at them for the first time, one may say, well there is not much to learn about that. So they learn a little and feel like they have a grasp of it. The problem comes when the initial perception is wrong. They may have learned 5%, not realizing that there is another 95%, and will readily argue with someone whose knowledge of said subject encompasses 50%. No one can ever be at 100%. The assumption that ones knows more than they do it common. It usually takes a certain amount of wisdom to truly understand how much we all don’t know. This comes with age, sometimes. Too often, it never comes. A 22 year old who has some life experience thinks they know it all. It is common, and understandable from their perspective. They don’t realize that instead of 90%, they experience encompasses 2%. From their perspective, they have experienced a lot. From a 50 year olds’ perspective, they have experienced nothing. Schooling is not a substitute for life experience, but from the perspective of one who has had lots of schooling, they may see it that way. Look at all they know! Look at all they have been told and remembered! Unfortunately, only experience can gain a level of wisdom, remembering what someone taught you does not. Ever. We often dismiss elderly people, we think they have nothing of value to us, because they don’t get that the young already know everything. Culture may change, but that doesn’t invalidate experience and wisdom. Someone in their 50’s may really not understand why there are people who post their entire lives online. In detail. They may also believe this is a very bad thing to do. A kid doing it thinks that they don’t get it. That they are just out of touch. Until someone robs their house when they post online that they won’t be home for a week. Until someone starts easily stalking them because they are posting where and what they are doing every minute. Until they get turned down for a good job because of their facebook page. Until they get their identity stolen. Suddenly the wisdom of the 50 year old who clearly didn’t get it becomes a bit clearer. They’re had much more time to learn their lessons in this world. Good and bad. Their perspective is wider and richer than a 20 year olds’. You can’t skip that part of life, there is no shortcut. Life is pieces, at 20, your piece of perception is so much smaller than at 60.

For anyone who truly wants to understand other people, these things are mandatory. Understanding the difference in pieces and perception, and not trying to force yours on others. People care about different things, perceive differently, assess differently. The trunk of the elephant is very different than the body, but describing either still correctly describe part of an elephant despite their obvious contradictions. There would be far less arguing in the world if we truly sought to see the others perspective. To see what part of reality they are focusing on. One may say, hey that is red, and someone may pipe up and say, no, it’s magenta. Neither is wrong. The former is just focusing on the general color, the latter on the specific shade of that color. Yet an argument may break out about it. We share this reality, on loose agreement, and that is something we need to understand and accept, and remember.

In Silence...

2010-01-18T02:50:00.000-08:00

Names have power. You can call those names again and again, and no one answers. The key is, it's not just the names, it's the passion behind them. The vibrations are different, and that is where the power is. Many things have been misunderstood through the ages, castrated in some cases. Turned into meaningless rituals, all passion carefully and completely removed.

It seems at times that the vibrations are stronger in the darkness. Maybe it is just a trick of the mind, perhaps it’s the absence of those burning rays from the sun. You call the names into the pitch blackness, powerful, and sometimes the black becomes liquid. To touch it, to feel that new substance is unique, yet comforting... At least to some of us. It can be a door, but beyond that door, there is no simple way back, not as you are.

It can be that demons torment us in our sleep. No, they torment us in our dreams. There is a difference. They chase us down dark hallways, through ever narrowing passages, and we think we manage to escape. We are the intruders though, not they. We are the ones reaching out our minds, they are not coming to us. What is it that we really fear in them?

I sat once, at the shore of a dark lake, full moon above, reflecting the cool perfect surface. I could hear them sing, faintly, off in the vast distance. I lost part of myself, crashing down to the rocks I sat upon. I watched omni-dimensional beings poke through the surface, begging me to feel, and lose a bit more...

Led into a cave, where the music was loud. So loud. They sang in such mesmerizing beauty, such perfection, and such sounds, like nothing one can really hear. They resonate with your soul. Reminding you of something long lost, long forgotten.

There is a tipping point. Between here and there. A tightrope to be walked. You can call the names, and bring it closer to you. You can risk it all, and move closer to them. Risky, though, as the demons are always lurking. Any doorway will do.

The moon can shake the sky, and balls of fire drip down like rain. Images in the sky are never what they seem, they are always hiding another dimension, another reality to themselves. There is a magnificent view from the tightrope. Startling. Ineffable. Our minds are limited, more so than we know. There in lies the pleasure of it all, the expansion, the limitless creativity and exploration. So often one in the same. From that tightrope, up so high, there also lie the trappings of madness. You have to be mad, to walk across at all. The fall, drops you to the furthest reaches of the abyss.

So call the names all you want. It is stale and hollow without the spirit of the thing. Without the fire and passion. Without the understanding. A dragon’s breath, however, opens doors, and a trek through the underworld is good for the soul. Torn to shreds, assailed from all sides, and worn through. Ripped away and left, dead and dying… as it should be. Learn the gates, learn the names, and learn the proper meaning of sacrifice. Else, say nothing. In silence. Remain.

Book Review: Graham Hancock "Supernatural"

2009-12-10T03:55:00.000-08:00

Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind by Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock never ceases to impress me. That is not an easy task, and Supernatural, again, does the trick. I wasn't sure what I was getting into with this book, I had read very little about it, but knew that it had little to do with his previous works. One of the things that I admire about Graham is that he approaches things so open, with respect and wisdom. A sense of wonder is always present. He never gets so caught up on a theory that he starts losing his balance, he is very aware that he may change his mind further on down the road as more information comes to light. This is what is lacking in so much paranormal and fringe work. This piece starts off a bit slow, working its way through the various cave art around Africa and Europe, and discussing the various theories on what they mean. Where he goes from there is fantastic. I have always held that there are strong connections between the fairy faiths, UFO’s, angels and demons, etc., as well as occult experiences. However, I had never thought to add into that Shamanic and trance experiences. Graham manages to strip back yet more of the disguise, and show the connections between them all (not so much on the occult side of things, though). It expands on the ideas of researchers like Jacques Vallee, and manages to tie in even more of the puzzle. At no point does he, however, present you with a set theory or idea. He is not someone to push things, and that continues here. Graham explores the various ideas and research conducted on altered states of consciousness, and pokes around in some DNA theories, and tries to show, more than anything, the connections, and possible correlations between what seem like widely separated subjects. Also, not one to sit by and use other people’s work as a substitute for direct experience, he travels to see said cave paintings, just as he dove on undersea ruins, and traveled to lost cities for past books. He also experiments with various mind altering drugs, in order to really understand what he is writing about. His experiences and conclusions make it all the more valuable. Once again, he antagonizes the dogmatic, however unintentional, in an honest and open exploration of ideas. It’s something that science as a whole could benefit from. You don’t have to agree with anything he concludes here, or anywhere else, but he pursues his course with honesty and integrity. He is open minded and logical. He doesn’t shun science, but isn’t afraid to speculate, either. Well worth the hefty read. You may walk away with a new way of looking at the world...

Ancient Children

2009-06-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

Age is such a strange thing in our society. It really is meaningless. I truly wonder if we were all unaware of our ‘age’, how it would affect us. Would two people the same physical age, be very different? Would one 70 year old be bent and decrepit and another still be somewhat youthful and energetic, simply because they didn’t have that definer to force them into a behavior? I mean, even with our age obsessed culture, you see people like William Shatner or Terry Funk doing things that people half their age can’t do, while other people hit 40 or 50 and look like they’re dead. What if we didn’t know? We all go through the opening for our lives, childhood, where we learn how to function and interact. Some of us do it better or quicker than others. And there is a point, where the body fails to reproduce the cells needed to survive any longer and we die of old age. But the mind is the power behind it, and a strong mind, creates a strong life and body. Some people seem to WANT to be old, so they can… I don’t know. They hit like 26 and start complaining that they can’t do things like they used to. In what sane world is 26 old and feeble? Seriously, at 26 you have only just begun your adult life, if you are having problems functioning, you are probably doing something wrong.

Then there are age limits. If you are 16 you can drive a car. You know, there are some 13 and 14 year old’s that I have met that could probably drive a car responsibly. On the other hand, there are people 40+ that should not be allowed near the driver’s side of a car. It’s ok though, cause they are old enough to drive. There shouldn’t just be a driver’s test, but a competency test, and maybe one that has to be repeated here and there just to make sure, because I am pretty sure that behind the wheel of a car is where some of the most stupendously stupid decisions are made. Age is not a factor. Age does not make you a good driver. How long you’ve been driving does not either. Yet, here is another example of how age obsessed our culture is.

I think what really ages us, is not years, but what we do with them. I look around, and I see the people who are ‘old’, regardless of their physical age, are the people who stopped learning. Stopped creating. Just stopped. Many of them as soon as they were done with whatever schooling they were involved in. The minute you stop delving into the new and novel, is the moment you start to die. So many people are caught up in their past. They still look at the world the same way they did in college or high school, and still listen to the same music, and even watch the same movies. Nothing against nostalgia, but if that is all your life is, you are on your way out. No matter how old you live to be. The people who keep going are the ones who don’t stopping learning and creating things. They have something to drive them forwards. They want more out of life, and age doesn’t present that much of an obstacle to them.

Grow up. A coupling of words people throw around easily. I think, however, the best definition of this, is that of responsibility. Not the responsibility of a house or kids or anything like that, but simply the responsibility for ones actions. A grown up is someone that is responsible for what they say and do. Most people never grow up, and in this respect, that is part of the problem with the world. Most people won’t accept blame when they screw up. It’s an insecurity that does no one any good. I find that no matter how angry I may be about something, if the person who is responsible just owns up to it, it tends to dissipate that anger… unless of course it’s something they do again and again, in which case it doesn’t mean much. It’s hard to be angry with someone who comes right out and admits they screwed up or made a mistake and apologizes for it. Being ‘Grown Up’ is not about what clothes your wear or what you do with your life. Being ‘Grown Up’ is taking responsibility for your life, and what you do with it. Really, that is all it is.

Unfortunately, we seem to live in a land of old children…

Lost as Ritual

2009-05-04T02:18:00.000-07:00

Most people see only the small picture. Even when they think that is not the case, because really, most people won’t say that they only see the small picture, because it doesn’t sound complimentary. However, it is an accurate way of describing life, day to day. It is how human beings develop normally. Our day to day existence preoccupies us, and most people don’t look beyond it.

In order to truly be able to see any kind of BIG picture, you need a lead, someone to bring you along and initiate you. The reason being, is that with rare exception, you can’t find the big picture alone. It’s invisible. You can’t see the forest for the trees, oftentimes because you need help to get that full view. Initiation and Ritual are means to show that big picture. Now, today, mostly, these things are trivial. They lead to nothing more than people feeling special because they are part of a group. Often it’s used as an ego boost, to make individuals feel like because they belong to said group, they are better than others who do not belong. This is the draw of the secret society, or the religious group. The rituals are banal, and there is not concept of a big picture.

Lost. The TV Show, however, works as an analogy to this. The show starts small and ends big. At the start, there is no real hint of where the story will be a couple seasons down the road. You’re only seeing the trees. As the story evolves you learn new perspectives and new ideas, and eventually you realize that where you started was just a small tree. It is so rare to see something like this on a popular television show. Such media has always been relegated to short attention spans, but over the last decade or so, more shows have worked on this idea, but none with the ritualistic perfection of Lost. What so many people do not understand, is that you can’t skip to the end. Just like you can’t pick random episodes of Lost and understand them, true initiation, true ritual, prepares you to understand bigger concepts. Concepts that you can’t just skip to the point and understand, concepts that require those steps, because they ARE the initiation. Thus Lost becomes a symbol of what has been lost in our world. The big picture. Shamans and wise men who can really initiate someone into the bigger picture, are few and far in between any more. Wisdom isn’t dispensed like belts in Karate. Wisdom is absorbed and becomes a part of who you are. There are no awards or grades or certificates of Wisdom. There are no titles. In the end, seeing the big picture, comes only to the wise, who can not directly impart this to the people still lost in the trees. The gap is too big, and the road not seemingly relevant to day to day life. It is not something that can be labeled.

So to most, Lost is the closest they will come to understanding how that works. They may not realize it, but it’s there. Lost doesn’t just tell a story, it initiates you, it works in a ritualistic fashion to reveal the many secrets the story possesses. Secrets that would make no sense from watching just the first few episodes. And just like a true teacher, it brings up more questions than it answers. Of course, in our world, obsessed with gratification as it is, that can aggravate people. Questions are the key, being able to ask questions is key. Earning the answers makes them mean something.

Earth Day Thoughts

2009-04-22T02:10:00.000-07:00

Earth Day Thoughts

Perhaps the biggest thing that people seem to miss when it comes to environmentalism, is what the real problem is. Quite simply, there are WAY to many of us. Everyone is so concerned about 'going green' and protecting the planet, but the truth is, it's too late to stop things. The tipping point was reached quite some time ago, and as we always do, we missed the big picture then, just as we are now. I don't think that anyone can honestly say that our filthy, polluting ways are good, but the biggest problem is how many of us there are polluting. We are over polluting because we are overpopulated. If we all died tomorrow, the planet would recover. In the end, no matter what we do, the planet will recover. So let's be more specific. The planet does not need us to save it, we need to save ourselves... from ourselves. And maybe, from the planet. There is currently not enough food and water to sustain the population that exists on this planet. With an exponentially increasing population, that fact is going to become more and more clear. This is not something that our reliance on technology can save us from. In the next few decades, this will be all too clear, and the next wars will not be over oil, but water and food.

Humans are still in the mindset that we have to reproduce as much as possible. This was true 6000+ years ago when the end of the ice age wiped out most of the human population. But in the last 100 years, we have gone way to far. And it's not that hard to fix in short periods of time. Consider, if every two people have one child. And of those children, every two have one child, ect., by the time we all start dying off, the population level will start to drop. We can't reverse global warming, but we can affect how many people are here at once. The problem is that so many people have multiple kids, because they want to, because they think they are supposed to, because they are too stupid to use birth control, because they love children, because they want a big family, and so on. But does anyone want a big family that will starve in a couple decades? Global warming is reducing our food and water supplies, and we keep making more and more people who are going to need said supplies. I get seriously upset when I see people with multiple kids, and people mistake that for me not liking kids, but that is not it at all. It is simple math. Too many people, too few resources, not enough space. I don't want future generations to pay for our selfishness. Unfortunately, they will. Because we will continue to act just the way we do, with people having 6 and 8 kids, because they want to, or are too stupid to figure out how not to. And within 10-20 years, overpopulation will be the big issue, just like environmentalism is today, and once again, it will be far too late to do anything about it, because we never learn to see the big picture.

Appreciation

2009-04-14T04:23:00.000-07:00

Why the lack of appreciation. We have a fascinating world that we have created for ourselves, and most of us seem to only look to the horizon or beyond, and never look around at the wonder they have around them. Progress is always good, but to forsake the present for a phantom future is silly, just as silly to close future progress in the present. But a balance is not hard, not really. Appreciate what you have and move forward. Life should be lived, that is why we are here, after all. Christians live for Heaven, Buddhists for the non-existence of Nirvana, and on and on it goes. All looking for a reward later. Sad to waste what you have for something that does not exist. Religious or otherwise. To move forwards with blinders on will cause you to miss all the wonderful things that abound around you. Focused on just one idea, one goal, rather than the experience of what comes. As a society, we are failing, our leaders and others, conspire to limit our choices and freedom, to control all they can, and we, blindly, follow their path. Change starts within, we need to break the shackles inside that have created this reality, and make something better. Appreciate what you have. Live you life. Not so hard, really...

Dhamra

2009-03-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

We are surrounded by rules and laws. Taught what is right and wrong. And yet, these things can never be absolute. No law covers all situations, no rule allows for all things that could be happening. Yet, the simple truth is, that inside we all know what is right. And by right, I do not refer to a simple black and white separation of things, because all things are relative. There is an old Sanskrit word, Dharma. There are volumes of ancient literature written about this in India. And in the simplest form it means 'Right Action'. That is an individual perspective in all cases, and something that does not always follow logic. We all have access to this sense, yet most people are taught to ignore it. Perhaps because it can not be controlled by written laws and rules, and that is what those in power want to use to keep their power. It doesn't matter in the slightest, however, what they want, you can always open yourself up to it.

In any situation, you have that sense of what is the right thing to do. Sometimes it may logically seem like the wrong thing, however, it is the thing that takes you where you need to be. Crowley coined a phrase; Do As Thou Wilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law. Simpletons made this to be you can do whatever you want. Wiccans corrupted it to be; Do as you Will, but Harm None. But that is not what it means in either case. It means to follow Dharma, in this case identified as Your Will. Crowley also said that Every Man and Woman is a Star, in this case meaning that everyone has their own Will to follow, and that we all follow our own orbits and paths.

Staying true to this path is what one needs to be truly satisfied in this existence. It does not mean you will be happy all the time, it is not some magic formula that unlocks paradise, life is about contrast, and experience, of all kinds. You can get knocked down, and you can keep getting up, ideally, one more time that you can get knocked down, and although it may be hell during the time you experience it, you learn much about yourself in the aftermath, you can even feel good about it after the fact. We exist here, inside time, but outside of this world, we also exist, and there, we are outside of the confines of time. That part of us knows what it wants and where it wants to explore, and it can see from a much wider perspective. But that part of us, is not conscious here. However, we can get a sense of which way we should go from it, from that part of us that can see so much more, that can see to a further horizon. Dharma. And, what it truly becomes, more than any dogma or organization can create, is faith. It is true faith, because you know, in a sense that can not be spoken, in a sense that can not be taught, where to step.

Even sensing it does not mean that we will not cave into our egos now and again and do what we know we should not, that is also a part of life. Our lower selves conflicting with our higher selves. I think that a big part of the problem our society now faces is that lack of connection to a higher self. Without that, we will fall to ruin. Written laws can not help us. Obeying material, lower senses does not help us, it does not take us where we should go, and it does not allow us to grow. We all need to be able to trust in ourselves with a faith that can't be shaken. All of us. No matter how much you feel that that description fits you, you can always be more connected than you are. The conflict between above and below is meant to be, it is healthy, it is where we find out strength and our weaknesses. It is where we learn more about this being that we have spent our lives creating. Are you proud of your creation? You should be. But it can always be made better. There can always be more. There are always new heights, new challenges, new mysteries... There is always something more to create.

See, it is simple. It is honesty with yourself, honesty with others follows that naturally. It is the faith to close your eyes and jump, because you know you should, rather than giving into the fear of not knowing what is there that you are jumping into... Rather than having to look to a church or organization to see what they recommend. It is freedom personified. We make our world what we make it. I don't think it would be hard to make it more interesting than it is now, do you?

Love Under Will. The separation of opposites below the abyss, the contrast that brings the world into being.

Seriah Azkath
Demonic Host Lurking in the Shadows...

"I need to be alone tonight
Smother me or suffer
Lay down I'll die tonight
Smother me or suffer
When I'm gone, wait here
Discover all of life's surprises
When I'm gone wait here
I'll send my child my last good smile

If you pass through my soul tonight
Gather all his troubles
Tomorrow's long eternal night
Gather for tomorrow
When I'm gone wait here
Discovers all of earth's surprises
When I'm gone wait here
I'll send my child my last good smile"

- Fields of the Nephilim "Love Under Will"

Book Review: Alien Energy: UFO's, Ritual Landscapes, and the Human Mind by Andrew Collins

2009-03-03T02:26:00.000-08:00

Alien Energy: UFOs, Ritual Landscapes and the Human Mind
by Andrew Collins

This is actually an early book from Andrew Collins, re-released a few years ago. Overall, WELL worth the read. We'll start with the negatives, though. The typeset in the book is horrible. The font is tiny, and there is a lot of extra space. The photos, which play such a part in the research also look pretty bad. Finally, being that so much of it is recounting details of research, you can find yourself getting a bit tired of drudging through some of the text.

As for positives, however, the material is fantastic. He starts off talking about William Reich's Orgone Energy Theory, and the various experiments conducted. This ties in to some of their experiments later on. He follows that we fascinating research on Crop Circles. At this point, most Crop Circles are fakes, but there are some that are not known to be fake, and he goes back on the history of the subject, all the way back to the middle ages. The thing that he finds most interesting is the unusual effects that are experiences inside the crop circles, whether that be increased radiation traces, or physical symptoms that even the most skeptical people can suffer.

He poses a theory. That there is something in the field of energy of the earth, which in certain locations, can be a sort of window area, where other dimensions can overlap. He suggests that certain areas where crop circles are made are prone to this type of bleed through, and that somehow the crop circle amplifies it.

Beyond that, he then reviews Paul Devereux's Earth Lights research, which shows a correlation between fault lines and paranormal or UFO encounters. When he overlays this data with Crop Circles, he sees more possible correlations. And finally, he explores the nature of the earth below various ancient sites, to see of there is something they share, that may, again, enhance this energy.

After working through these various pieces, they then conduct 2 experiments based on these theories, using a lot of sensitive instruments, Geiger counters, IR Photography, and various other tools. They combine that with various locations, and ancient sights, orgone accumulators, and a host of meditations. This is the part of the book that drags the most. And it doesn't help that there is nothing that definitively proves or disproves anything. Collins is a good researcher, he doesn't jump at any anomaly and claim it proof. He looks for patterns, and they do find some intriguing ones to be present. There are also some really interesting personal experiences that he relates from the experiments.

I believe, not just based on his research, but also on my personal experiences, that he may be on to something. This has brought light unto some very strange things that have happened to me over the years, as Collins seems to do with many of his books. His work suggests that what we see as UFO's and mysterious lights in the sky, may not only be real, but far stranger than most people imagine. As with John Keel, his work leans towards an Ultra-Terrestrial explanation for these things. Collins admits to being an ardent believer in the nuts and bolts UFO theory for many years, but now has seen enough to suspect that our conscious minds play as much a part in their manifestation as the beings themselves.

If you want an open minded and original piece of work, this is it. But, as I said, it is a bit of a chore to work your way through. If you are serious about exploring these connections, though, read this.

Kundalini

2009-03-03T02:21:00.000-08:00

Kundalini is a tricky subject. There are two main forms of it, and it can be very easily mistaken for something else. Basically, Kundalini is an energy force that exists in everyone. In Eastern traditions it is seen as a Serpent, coiling, sleeping, at the base of the spine, just inside the tailbone. Some have called it the supreme force of Magic in man, others an spiritual evolutionary force. However you look at it, it is a powerful force when awakened. And that is when the two main forms come in. One is voluntary awakening. This is done most commonly through Kundalini Yoga, and is, if done right, slow and gradual, and mostly positive. Emphasis, on ‘if done right’. Kundalini can be a very unpleasant, and potentially deadly force if not controlled correctly. Thus, Kundalini Yoga should never be entered into lightly.

The other main form that Kundalini manifests as, is an involuntary awakening. No one knows why, but in some people, it just wakes up and wreaks havoc on them, mainly due to the imbalanced nature in which it awakens, and the lack of understanding in what is occuring. There are some known triggers. Certain types of injury, especially to the lower back have been known to awaken it. Also, Kenneth Ring in studying Near Death Experiencers and UFO Experiencers, found that one of the common aftereffects of both experiences was Kundalini Awakening. And there are some people, in which it awakens without any specific cause, it just wakes up, and it can make you think you’re going crazy.

The symptoms of it’s awakening are diverse and many. The following are some of the more common symptoms...

* Muscle twitches, cramps or spasms.

* Energy rushes or immense electricity circulating the body.

* Electro-Sensitivity. Sensitivity to electro-magnetic fields, or the ability to intentionally or unintentionally affect electrical devices (making computers crash just by touching them, for example).

* Itching, vibrating, prickling, tingling, stinging or crawling sensations.

* Intense heat or cold. These can alternate or be either. In example, you may find yourself very hot when it is cold out, to the point of giving off massive amounts of heat, or freezing, even in extremely hot environments.

* Involuntary bodily movements (occur more often during meditation, rest or sleep): jerking, tremors, shaking; feeling an inner force pushing one into postures or moving one's body in unusual ways. (May be misdiagnosed as epilepsy, restless legs syndrome (RLS), or PLMD.)

* Alterations in eating and sleeping patterns.

* Episodes of extreme hyperactivity or, conversely, overwhelming fatigue (some Chronic Fatigue Syndrome victims are experiencing Kundalini awakening).

* Intensified or diminished sexual desires. Kundalini is strongly associated with sexual force.

* Headaches, pressures within the skull. Cracked feeling in the head, as if your skull is shattering into pieces. The pressure sensation can be very intense.

* Racing heartbeat, pains in the chest.

* Digestive system problems.

* Numbness or pain in the limbs (particularly the left foot and leg).

* Pains and blockages anywhere; often in the back and neck (Many cases of FMS are Kundalini-related.)

* Emotional outbursts; rapid mood shifts; seemingly unprovoked or excessive episodes of grief, fear, rage, or depression.

* Spontaneous vocalizations (including laughing and weeping) -- are as unintentional and uncontrollable as hiccoughs.

* Hearing an inner sound or sounds, classically described as a flute, drum, waterfall, birds singing, bees buzzing but which may also sound like roaring, whooshing, or thunderous noises or like ringing in the ears.

* Mental confusion; difficulty concentrating.

* Altered states of consciousness: heightened awareness; spontaneous trance states; mystical experiences (if the individual's prior belief system is too threatened by these, they can lead to bouts of psychosis or self-grandiosity).

* Heat, strange activity, and/or blissful sensations in the head, particularly in the crown area.

* Ecstasy, bliss and intervals of tremendous joy, love, peace and compassion.

* Psychic experiences: extrasensory perception; out-of-body experiences; past life memories; astral travel; direct awareness of auras and chakras; contact with spirit guides through inner voices, dreams or visions; healing powers...

* Increased creativity: new interests in self-expression and spiritual communication through music, art, poetry, etc.

* Intensified understanding and sensitivity: insight into one's own essence; deeper understanding of spiritual truths; exquisite awareness of one's environment (including "vibes" from others)

* Enlightenment experiences: direct Knowing of a more expansive reality; transcendent awareness.

* Poltergeist activity, or other strange, paranormal-like activities.

As you can see, the list is long, complicated, and open to interpretation. Oftentimes Kundalini is misdiagnosed by ‘modern’ doctors as Epilepsy (as it may cause some similar brain patterns), Psychosis, or much worse. Sometimes, a victim of unintentional Kundalini awakening can become extremely frustrated by the lack of help for their symptoms that the medical profession can provide. There are good and bad sides to the whole awakening process...

It may be useful at this point to explain a little about how this energy affects us. For some of us, this takes an adjustment of how we look at things. In order for this to make sense, the concept that the body creates consciousness must be released. This is partially why the medical profession does not acknowledge Kundalini, Chakras, or anything of the like, despite the fact that it can be measured and tested. Kundalini only makes sense if you look at it the other way around, as the body created by consciousness (not that much of a stretch for anyone that realizes how consciousness interacts at a quantum level, now is it?). As Kundalini awakens and rises up the spine, it encounters ‘blocks’ in the body, usually located around the various chakras. These ‘blocks’ are really manifestations of mental blocks. As Kundalini ‘burns’ through them, it often causes a great deal of pain. The most common description, and the most painful, is the feeling like someone is stabbing you with a red hot knife, and slowly twisting it. It can create other sensations as well, but that is one that I’ve personally heard quite a few times and experienced myself. This burning, attempts to bring up whatever the block is made of and can cause a release of both thoughts and emotions that are associated. When you know what you are dealing with, you can work with it and try and ease the process as much as possible. When you don’t know what’s happening, well, you naturally tend to fight it, and that just makes matters worse. This situation is often just exasperated when you go to a Doctor and they tell you there is nothing wrong with you or that they can’t figure out what’s wrong. Not what you want to hear when in intense pain. But an understanding of what is happening only comes through time and open-mindedness.

I said in the beginning of this, that Kundalini can be deadly, and this is rare, but true. There are some cases of Kundalini where when the energy is not freed to rise and fall along the spine the illnesses that it can cause can be life threatening. A good book to pick up on this overall is John White’s “Kundalini, Evolution, and Enlightenment”. It is a compilation of stories and articles on the subject and reveals a lot of different sides to The Serpent. The other danger is in Spontaneous Human Combustion. It is entirely possible that the cause of this mysterious phenomenon may be an overload of Kundalini. To date, there has been no satisfactory explanation of what causes SHC, and this is a very likely candidate, especially since it can physically raise body temperature drastically and suddenly.

As I said, there are good and bad sides... The bad sides are pretty obvious, but the positive is more than worth it. It can bring you to a sense of self-awareness and enlightenment beyond words. It can bring a sense of peace and calm and ‘oneness’ that is ineffable. It can strengthen you, both mind and body, and completely revitalize your world view. The negative is worth the positive, but it’s getting there that is a major battle.

Obviously, if you don’t know what’s happening to you, there is little you can do about it aside from suffer. That’s one of the reasons that I wanted to create this page. I have met enough people who have at very least some Kundalini energy problems, and in some cases major problems, to know that it’s probably a much wider phenomenon than anyone is really expecting. Below are some links to other on-line resources that may be of help. Working through it is a matter of patience, meditation, self-exploration, self-awareness, and control. Everyone is different and there is not really a set method for dealing with it. I am very interested in hearing from other people who have had this experience, and anyone that has any questions or is looking for help is welcome to contact me as well. I will do what I can to answer based on my knowledge and experience.

Seriah Azkath
February 20, 2002

The Journey...

2009-03-03T01:54:00.000-08:00

The journey is what matters. All the answers leave you empty. It doesn’t matter if it is as trivial as a TV show, like Lost, or as deep as a spiritual journey. To have all the answers means that the journey is over. There isn’t anything more. The story has been told. The journey is the wondrous part of the whole thing. I realize that people want all the answers just handed to them, right now. Why is that? Why do so many people not know how to live? People go to school and memorize all the answers, and once they have them, they walk out into what they think is life, only to dully exist day to day. There is no journey. There may be the acquiring of money. There may be the goal of retirement, but it is all a safe, well-traveled road. And at that point, why bother? The dynamic vividness of life is smothered. If you know all the island’s secrets, why bother watching the drama of finding them unfold? There is no excitement in that. Life is not safe, and we should embrace that. We should embrace its dark hidden areas, because that is where the wonder lies, untouched. New. To walk in circles is lunacy. To stay on the most well worn areas of the path, is tedium. To not explore the wonder, is blasphemy. The journey always ends, so why not see as much as you can, while you can? Why not tread right where you fear to? Sometimes you need to, to live. To remind yourself that you are alive, because even walking down the middle of the path is only an illusion of safety. Fear is the killer and the thief, stealing your life away. Find your own way, and you find yourself. And you truly live your life.

“When living your life like an arrow in flight, you must always accept that the end is in sight. Be grateful at least, for the fact that you knew that you came to death – He did not come for you. You are like targets who sit and await, patiently suffer the arrows of fate, saying ‘I am but mortal and destined to die, I can change nothing, so why should I try?’”

- Sabbat “The Best of Enemies”

Nibiru and Sirius

2009-02-11T22:52:00.001-08:00

Sitchin makes some interesting points in his books. There is, however, lots to be debated. I find that one of the things that’s impressive is his translations of the Sumerian texts describing the planets accurately. An accuracy that was against scientific thought o the time, but later proven correct by the Voyager probes. What this says, is that to some degree he was either lucky or his translations were accurate. Which would mean, the Sumerians knew more about our own solar system than we did. Just like most ancient cultures. Not to mention the absolutely mind boggling possibilities that recent discoveries like Nabta Playa in Egypt bring up. If the data is correct and Egyptians 8000+ years ago could create an accurate map of the Milky Way, then... I guess the question, “How?”, just opens up some incredible answers. It doesn’t mean ET’s were here, either. Maybe they understood the connection between consciousness and reality far better than we do, which wouldn’t be hard, and could go where they wanted. Maybe the map is of an inner space that is as above. Maybe they had a technology more advanced than ours, after all, to this day we could not build the great pyramid, even with all our technology. The Dogon tribe knew of Sirius and it’s Triary nature before we even knew it was a binary star, and we can’t even confirm the Triary star system yet, we just suspect it now. The examples go on and on. It occurred to me, though, that although Sitchin’s theory of Nibiru is likely wrong, maybe it was just mistranslated wrong. It has been suggested that Nibiru is Sirius. But what if Nibiru is merely a planet around Sirius? Ok, so let’s think this out, one of the main problems with the theory is that any planet with a 3600 year orbit is unlikely to support human like life, of which the Annunaki are supposed to be. But, if said planet was in a different star system, it’s ability to support life would be different. What if, Nibiru orbits Sirius. And Sirius, well, there is a GOOD amount of evidence to prove that we are a gravitational binary of Sirius, aka, Sol and Sirius make a binary system of their own, both orbiting a shared center of gravity. This connection successfully explains the precession of the equinox, which current science can not, although they pretend otherwise (kind of like how they can’t explain the existence of the moon). So, maybe, just maybe, the Annunaki do exist, and they do exist on a planet called Nibiru, it just isn’t orbiting our Sun. Just a thought.

I am myself unconvinced in any ancient astronaut theory, as I believe it is unnecessary to explain things. I think a thriving ancient culture existed that was more advanced by far than we are now. I think to understand that you have to open your mind as to what constitutes an advanced culture. Their line of progression may have been far removed from ours, which would explain how they knew so much more. What we see in Egypt, India, and almost everywhere else in the distant past is a record of that. Information to be kept for the future when it could be understood again. And to every moron who says something like the following; “Well, if there was some advanced culture in our past, why don’t we find their coke cans and other garbage?” I think the simplest answer is, they didn’t have any coke cans to find. We are stupid. We are wasteful. We put money and commerce over enlightenment and wisdom. There is no reason to believe that they were the same way. They were clearly smarter than we are, so why demean them with such a question. I am sure they had their own problems, but just because we make a horrid mess of the place, doesn’t mean they did.

A Moment

2009-02-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

What are we, that exist in a temporal illusion of waves of probability? We are everywhere, everyone, connected by the very fabric of consciousness, yet we forget, and believe the illusion of separation, of time, distance. It is nothing but an adventure, a chance to create something new, to expand beyond, which sometimes requires a different focus. Too often, dead eyes stare out into a seemingly hostile world, unable to understand their own creation. They mire themselves in the muck of money and ego, and wonder why they feel so lost. It is so easy to lose sight of the shore when you are overwhelmed by a commercial society aimed at guiding everyone down the same few paths. People become inundated by feelings of inadequacy, and insecurity, to the point of not even being able to see what is outside themselves. This makes the masses easy to corral into one place, and destroy their spirits. It is society based survival instincts perverted to the extreme. We can be so much more, if we can just shake the shackles that abound today. Life is limitless, we can create what we want, but we have to want something better. And to do that, is to first appreciate what we have in this existence. The sheer wonder of it. For until we do that, why should we care? To look deep inside and see without with new eyes. To take a forward step in the spirit of adventure and creation, not to cower and wait for someone to tell us what to do next. Not everyone is meant to be a leader in society, but everyone has it inside to lead themselves. Life is morphic and death, is most certainly, not what it seems. We die all the time, your bodies are not what they were 10 years ago. Every cell has died and been replaced, yet we continue, because we control the forms of this existence, even if we do not know it. We die when we are done. Not based on the importance we have made here, but on something higher, that may be rather ineffable here. Nothing is what it seems. The transient nature of reality seems all too real when you are down it in, but we need it, that reality, to build anew... We suffer, and move beyond. Opposition is grace, the petty tyrants inspiration to overcome, and life itself, life itself can be an adventure. Within, as much as without...

2012

2009-02-11T19:42:00.000-08:00

December 21, 2012 is the date the world ends. You have most likely heard this before. So says the Mayan calendar. So why should they know, and why should we care. Actually, there are hints of this date in various ancient cultures, but the Mayan calendar is special. It is more accurate than any other calendar, till very, VERY recently. As far as we can tell anyways. As we advance, we then notice that they were already there, we just aren't advanced enough to see it. So how did the Mayans get to that level? In all likelihood, they didn't. The Mayan's didn't really invent much. They never even invented the wheel. The calendar was passed down and kept, as were many other books and records which were destroyed by the Spanish. So...
Who gave the Mayans a calendar of such an advanced nature? Evidence, of which there is a good amount, suggests that it was a very advanced culture that existed on this planet before the end of the last so-called Ice Age. More on that in a moment. The one thing all ancient cultures share that was passed down to them is very advanced astronomical knowledge. The Zodiac and all long count calendars come from this culture, as well, seemingly as some architectural knowledge. Most ancient cultures seem to devolve, which is often overlooked. The best pyramids and such, were built first, then the art was lost. But that is not this point. Evidence of where the structures were built gives us more of a clue as well. Research has shown that most, if not all, major ancient structures, all over the world, point to, at very least, the last two positions of the north pole.

So does that mean the magnetic north pole? Yes, but there may be more to it. We know that they point to the old pole, and we know where that was because of the magnetism left in rock. This is accepted by current science. What is not accepted is a physical pole shift, yet evidence points to that, too. If you look at an accurate map of the last ice age, there are two interesting things... One, Siberia, which is now frozen, was ice free, and as a matter of fact, temperate, during the last ice age. The Mammoth’s that were found there led to the misconception that they were cold weather creatures, which they are not. Two, also ice free, was lesser Antarctica. Now, logically, how could that be? Two areas that are pretty frozen now, were ice-free during the ICE AGE? It does make sense, if you tip the globe so that the Hudson Valley Pole is the North Pole. Siberia moves south, and lesser Antarctica moves north. Ice builds up more on land than on water, hence the large Ice cap that covered North America and Europe back then. New geology has discovered that the ice caps, when they melted, melted internally first. They even have a name for the large lake that it formed. Then, one day, the whole glacier collapsed, and all that water came rushing out, causing not only worldwide flooding, but also earthquakes and volcanic activity as the huge weight of the ice suddenly dissipated. Again, that part is slowly becoming accepted science. But a pole shift is snubbed. Why? Well, when evidence was being discovered back in the late 1800's that suggested a worldwide flood, the last thing that the fledgling science wanted to do is announce that they found evidence of the biblical flood. That would give the bible thumpers the ability to say that the bible was now scientifically proven, so what do you need science for, it's all in the bible. So, using the evidence available, they came up with the ice age theory. It works to an extent, but it has many failings, and does not explain many things that a flood does. And this war between science and the bible continues to this day, as I am sure you have noticed. Sadly, science lends that same attitude to anything ancient. They reduce them to simple, stupid, superstitious beings. When new data reveals that they knew what they were talking about, that, and only that piece is accepted. Basically, it's a mess. And it's not likely to get any better any time soon.

So what does this have to do with 2012? Well, the calendar starts after the end of the last world, interestingly, just around the time the last Ice Age ended. Aka, the flood. The Hopi Indians, who also acknowledge the 2012 date, say that this world will end in Fire, just as the last ended in Water. The calendar, the alignment of buildings, these may be warnings to us, from 10,000 years ago. Perhaps from a culture who saw their end coming, but didn't know what to do about it. So, then, how would they know ours?

Well, the one thing I think we can assume that they had, was very advanced astronomical knowledge. So, using that, would there be something that could happen that such knowledge would be able to predict. Obviously, yes, but there are so many factors.

"In 2012 the plane of our Solar System will line up exactly with the plane of our Galaxy, the Milky Way. This cycle has taken 26,000 years to complete. Virgil Armstrong also says that two other galaxies will line up with ours at the same time. A cosmic event!"
From http://www.2012.com.au/unlimited.html

Ok, so what? Let's look at two other things. One, Fire. Over the last few years, when the Sun is supposed to have entered it's 'quiet' phase, it has actually been more active than ever. And now it is coming out of it's 'quiet' phase and we are seeing sunspots and solar flares bigger and more severe than anything we have seen before. Perhaps it's a coincidence. I do, however, believe that the peak of this cycle is around 2012.

The other odd thing. The entire solar system is getting brighter. This is a scientifically accepted piece of information that science cannot explain. I think it is not a stretch to connect this to the activity the sun is going through. We are also aware that lately there have been a bunch of gamma ray bursts coming from the center of the galaxy. Possibly nothing unusual, but maybe it is all connected. If the Sun blasts us with enough energy that it completely disrupts our magnetic field, it could cause a shift, like pushing to magnets against each other, the stronger wins. We also know that the magnetic north pole is moving, very quickly, towards Siberia. Again, science has no idea why or how, but at this juncture, I think it is worth a serious look to see if what is happening in our solar system and galaxy could be related to the 2012 date, since things seem to be increasing in that department as time moves on. And if it is related, and we know the ancients knew they astronomy if nothing else, could it cause a pole shift, and what would happen if it did. Since science buried any evidence that does not support the ice age theory, and ignores evidence of past pole shifts, we are not in a good position to know what would happen, nor how fast.

This is, of course, all speculation. I do think it is worth looking at, and keeping an eye open about, though. Too many things add up. Unfortunately, most of the time when 2012 is brought up nowadays, all you get is new age crap about new levels of consciousness being ushered in... And at that point, why not just call it The Rapture... Not that I don't have a spiritual bend, but it has a far more grounded notion of reality behind it. Just tossing out random happy nonsense about world peace happening suddenly, is not spiritual to me. It's escapism in a sense...
"...We will have gone beyond technology as we know it. We will have gone beyond time and money. We will have entered the fifth dimension after passing through the fourth dimension. Planet Earth and the Solar System will come into galactic synchronization with the rest of the Universe. Our DNA will be "upgraded" (or reprogrammed) from the centre of our galaxy."
Also quoted from http://www.2012.com.au/unlimited.html

That is the typical stuff that people spout on about when talking of 2012. The actual information that we have is very limited, and only through extrapolating what we do know can we see if any of it makes sense. Someone recently stated that the world will end at 11:11 on December 21st, 2012. And how did he deduce this? Well, he sees 11:11 everywhere, and he has been studying 2012. Oh, and it sounds nice. Very scientific stuff. Can't imagine why scientists don't take people like that seriously. Honestly, if he is seeing 11:11 everywhere, that probably has a personal meaning that he is overlooking, instead deciding that the universe must be telling him when the world will end... Ug.

Ok, so to sum up. When will the world end? Who knows, time is only an illusion anyways, it all happens at once, in every direction, but our consciousness and brains filter it and can only process so much at once. Hence, time flies when you are doing a lot, and drags when you are bored. Go figure. Anyway, the 2012 date, of any prophecy, may have science behind it. Ancient science that we don't understand yet. I doubt in that case, if the date itself is the point, as much as the time period. Things could happen tomorrow, or maybe we will get through all this without Florida moving to the equator... The one thing you can be sure of, if something does happen, we will not be ready for it. Our world will end. Is this what happened last time? Is that why they perished? Is that why we have so little of their world left? And what would remain in 10,000 years of us, if all this were to fall.......