More Evidence of Cataclysm

Researchers have found new evidence that a massive comet or asteroid exploded over Canada about 12,000 years ago, setting off a global cataclysm and nearly extinguishing mankind. They have found microscopic diamonds in Ohio and Indiana that originated in Canada's diamond-bearing fields and were blown across the northern hemisphere by the force of the explosion. The implications of this are huge for our knowledge our planet and the history of its earliest civilizations, some of which may have been highly sophisticated and all of which were wiped out by the cataclysm.

Click here to read more in my blog Ancient Tides.

Friday Eclipse May Shed Light on Campaigns

Friday’s total solar eclipse is at 6:12 a.m. EDT, at the time of the New Moon, with some interesting astrological implications for the political scene. (See my post An Astrologically Troubled Election Day for an overview.)

Most of the astrological attention right now is on Barack Obama because of his August 4th birthday and corresponding birth chart.

North Carolina astrologer Lynn Hayes is among the astrologers making some prognostications on the eclipse’s impact on the U.S. political scene. This is from her blog, Astrological Musings:

This eclipse could bring out some interesting facets of the US presidential candidates, since it is exactly square to Uranus in McCain's chart and very close to a square to Neptune in Obama's chart. This is interesting because these are the two planets that cause the candidates the most trouble. Uranus (radical behavior) is square to McCain's Mars, the astrological dynamic that results in McCain's "maverick" status that he is trying so hard now to keep under wraps. Neptune (redemption and illusion) is square to Obama's Sun, and this is the chart factor that results in the adoration of Obama that some find so frightening. Perhaps during this eclipse period some of the real substance that underlies these factors may be revealed.

Teri Parsley Starnes of Minneapolis writes in her Stardance Astrology blog:

During an eclipse, light gives way to shadow suddenly and then returns just as quickly. Eclipses set us upon new pathways. They have the potential to be quite dramatic . . . Both candidates share planets at the same degree of Leo. Obama’s Sun is at 12 Leo and McCain’s Mars is also at 12 Leo. This month’s eclipse is at 9 Leo. I usually do not consider a 3 degree orb [the difference between 9 and 12] to be applicable to an eclipse transit, however there is too much coincidence here to ignore. Something is up. Both of these candidates are experiencing this eclipse . . . Something important is happening in our nation’s history and destiny with the candidacy of these two men. The current transit of Uranus in Pisces and Saturn in Virgo are poised to expose what this is.

British astrologer Deborah Houlding, in a column entitled Traditional Rules for Judging Eclipses, quotes this statement regarding those in the sign of Leo, such as Friday's eclipse: "Eclipses in Leo portend death or misfortune for royalty, nobility and 'persons of quality'; the ruination and destruction of ancient buildings, palaces and churches; division amongst the clergy, the besieging of towns, and a scarcity of horses and grain."

Moving Beyond Neanderthal

Shaman's mountaintop ritual in southern Siberia.

Meditation and shamanic ritual may have been a factor provoking the genetic change that, about 200,000 years ago, separated Neanderthal man from the modern human.

That’s a profound statement, if you stop and think about it. Anyone who reads this blog knows I deeply believe in the benefits of meditation – not necessarily spending hours sitting uncomfortably on a tiny cushion, rather a few minutes grabbed here and there from our hectic schedules to simply stop.

Stop and let your mind unwind. 

Doing it periodically throughout the day can change your life, or actually give your life back to you.

Anyway, back to the scientific proposition put forth by psychologist Matt J. Rossano in a recent issue of the Cambridge Archaeological Journal and written up on Smithsonian.com (click here for the article). 

“We have decent evidence that shamanistic rituals may go very deep into history, and that these rituals might have had positive psychological effects,” Rossano says.

Strengthening the Brain

Shamanic rituals – often involving groups sitting for hours or days at a time – strengthened parts of the Neanderthal brain. As the neural areas associated with attention and memory grew stronger, the brains of descendent generations were better able to hold information and to make connections such as we do with modern working memory. This led to the ability to comprehend complex symbolism, and presumably, a genetic change in the structure of the brain.

Symbolism became apparent by 50,000 years ago in cave paintings. “If you’re going to use symbols, you have to be able to think abstractly and hold one thing in mind while recognizing that the literal thing is not really its meaning,” Rossano says.

Even today, practicing meditation has measurable effects on our brains. Harvard neuroscientist Sara Lazar discovered in 2005 that the brains of meditators were generally more developed in certain parts, especially those pertaining to attention, according the Smithsonian article.

Let Go. Just let go.

Here's a 2-minute clip from a man I greatly admire. Peter Russell is a physicist and author of a handful of spiritually sound books. In this YouTube clip he talks about finding the Divine within ourselves. There are three or four other clips in this series, each of which is a gem of wisdom.

Excerpt: Hide and Seek and Stunned (from A Dowser's Diary)

I dreamed up an experiment to test my newfound dowsing ability in hopes of advancing it somehow. I’d been successful at getting my L-rods to tell me yes and no, at reacting to water on the basement floor and locating the water lines in our neighborhood. Then I got thinking about what Hamish Miller wrote about finding hidden objects and figured that would be a good next step. I’m still stunned over what happened.

To read the complete post in my A Dowser's Diary blog, please click here.

Patience: The Watchful Waiting

While as individuals we may still regard patience as a virtue, much of society is structured to ignore it, in fact to disdain it: Do it now! Don’t wait! He who lingers misses the big rewards; e.g., big paycheck, big house, big SUV.

In my recent re-reading of the American psychic Edgar Cayce (1877-1945), I’ve been reminded of the extraordinary emphasis he put on patience. In his trance state where he channeled thousands of health readings, prophesies and instructions on spiritual guidance, he clearly put patience high on the list of necessary human qualities. In fact, he regarded it as part of a metaphysical triad, along with the dimensions of time and space.

This quote from one of his trance readings illustrates how highly he ranked patience:

Then begin now to sow the seeds of the spirit in your mental attitudes. And the first of these is patience. For in patience you possess your soul. In patience you become aware that the body is but a temple, but an outward appearance; that the mind and soul are that with which you dwell constantly.

With Time and Space

In his book The Essential Edgar Cayce, Mark Thurston, a longtime affiliate of the Association for Research and Enlightenment that Cayce founded, writes, “In Cayce’s scheme of an orderly universe, humans live in a three-dimensional state of consciousness. Time and space, two of the dimensions, are complemented by patience, allowing us to effectively meet the demands, paradoxes, and limitations imposed by time and space.”

That’s a complicated yet profound concept – that patience is what enables us to function in the time/space construct in which we physically exist. The wrinkle is that patience is also what allows us to perceive beyond time and space. Gina Cerminara noted this in her book Many Mansions: The Edgar Cayce Story on Reincarnation:

Patience is not merely a passive thing … It is a watchful waiting, a positive rather than a negative virtue. It is the attitude of a soul that knows time and space to be, in a sense, illusory restrictions. When consciousness becomes unfettered by time and space, then is patience made perfect.

Practicing Patience

There’s the type of patience we usually associate with the word – accepting or tolerating things, situations and people who disturb, disrupt or annoy us – but Cayce’s brand of patience makes larger demands, and bestows larger rewards.

With it, we look beyond the petty annoyances and contemplate our lives with a cosmic proportion, sensing how the spiritual reality intersects with the physical reality. We “understand the purposefulness” of time and space, while accepting that our spiritual existence transcends them.

Here’s how Thurston explains it:

Patience and tolerance force us to shift gears and to look at life in a new way, requiring that we go beyond appearances. In other words, our consciousness shifts and we see and feel things in a different way. When we’re patient, we have a new sense of time. When we’re tolerant, we see the behavior of other people in a way that leaves room for understanding and forgiveness. Neither quality makes much sense from a materialistic point of view; for example, the appearance we’re going to miss the boat if we don’t hurry up, or that people are going to get the best of us if we let them get away with it. But even though patience and tolerance don’t always seem very logical, they are qualities that awaken us to the realization that we are indeed souls. It’s that awareness that is so very key to our mission here on earth.

Well put.

Excerpt: Dowsing Around the Block (from A Dowser's Diary)

I was elated with having dowsed the water in my basement. More or less. It’s true that the water was in plain view, but the fact that my rods had signaled “yes” when my foot touched the water meant something. But deep down I wondered: “Was I cheating? Does this count?”

(From my A Dowser's Diary blog. For the complete post, click here.)

An Astrologically Troubled Election Day

Elections are prime fodder for astrologers, though the more skilled and conscientious of them tend toward caution in their prognostications. Pinning down specific “birth” locations and times is subjective and prone to error when it comes to creating the astrological charts.

Nevertheless, a number of notable astrologers were surprisingly accurate in their forecasts for the 2000 and 2004 elections, especially regarding the protracted, confusing and unscrupulous activities surrounding 2000’s presidential results.

That being said, Election Day 2008 is proving difficult and disturbing for many astrologers. As writer Barry Orr recently stated, “This year, something doesn’t seem right. No one feels good about the astrological conditions on election day, nor the conditions on inauguration day. There is a shadow looming over the charts.”

Alignment of Opposites

Part of the shadow is the Saturn-Uranus opposition. Those two astrologically influential planets will be exactly 180 degrees opposite one another at 8 a.m., Washington DC time, on election day, November 4. It’s a rare alignment, occurring every 45 years, and is marked by social upheaval and tinges of revolution as the rebellious aspects of Uranus tear into Saturn’s rigid conservatism. This particular instance is the first of five planetary oppositions that will end in July of 2010. The last Saturn-Uranus opposition was 1965-67, and some of you may be able to recall the amount of societal change embodied in those years.

Shadows Over Results

Adding to the discomfort are some of the 2008 election interpretations voiced by prominent astrologers in May at the United Astrology Congress in Denver. Most of them reportedly focused on the Saturn-Uranus opposition, Mercury moving into Scorpio, Mars and Neptune at 90-degree separation and some lesser influences.

One astrologer, Robert Hand, said the solar eclipse in two weeks, August 1, highlights the aspect of George Bush’s chart dealing with behind-the-scenes power structures. “The period of time at least a month before and after this date (August 1) should be watched carefully,” Orr writes. Such details are fueling the fears of conspiracy theorists who note that the Bush administration has quietly put laws into effect empowering Bush to postpone or cancel the election in the event of a “national emergency,” such as a terrorist attack. This in turn fuels the supposition that the Bush administration has laid the foundation for Bush serving a third term.

Another astrologer, Gary Christen, sees a dark-horse candidate emerging after an “unfortunate event” befalls either the nation or one of the candidates, resulting in one or more of the candidates leaving the race. Astrologer Jacob Scwartz, who accurately predicted much of the 2000 election turmoil, sees Democratic Senator Joseph Biden as the Democratic candidate for president. This is consistent with fears that Obama will be assassinated or that some tragedy will befall McCain, since neither of them emerge clearly when the election results are charted.

Cosmos and Psyche

Is it all nonsense? A couple of years ago I would have thought so. But reading the book Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas dramatically changed my regard for astrology. I heartily recommend his book to people even remotely curious about the patterns of history. Here’s what Tarnas wrote about the Saturn-Uranus opposition:

Historical periods in which Saturn and Uranus moved into dynamic aspect were marked by certain distinctive themes that were readily intelligible in terms of the archetypal principles associated with these two planets: the exacerbation of tensions between authority and rebellion, order and freedom, structure and change. Often the two archetypal principles combined and interpenetrated in contradictory ways: repressive revolution, erratically unpredictable authority, and so forth, as evident during the Terror in revolutionary France and the Cultural Revolution in communist China... Especially frequent with this cycle were crises and the sudden collapse of structures, crashes, and accidents, grim awakenings, and sudden breakdowns, whether political, economic, or psychological.

Just remember, this alignment occurs at 8 o’clock on the morning of Election Day.

Excerpt: Why I Started This Blog (from Ancient Tides)

It’s time to come clean. Here is my personal motivation for starting this “Ancient Tides” blog a couple of months ago. I read a book in late spring entitled Cataclysm!: Compelling Evidence of a Cosmic Catastrophe in 9500 B.C., authored by D.S. Allan and J.B. Delair. It sent my mind reeling with huge questions about how and what we are taught regarding the history of this planet.

(From my Ancient Tides blog. For the complete post, click here.)

Living Your Life

I was re-reading Gina Cerminara’s Many Mansions: The Edgar Cayce Story on Reincarnation a couple of nights ago and found, in startling brevity, her list of the core spiritual truths gleaned from 2,500 readings the famed psychic gave on the universe and man’s relation to it.

• God exists.
  
• Every soul is a portion of God.
  
• Life is purposeful.
  
• Life is continuous.
  
• All human life operates under the law of karma/reincarnation.
  
• Love fulfills that law.
  
• The will of man creates his destiny.
  
• The mind of man has formative power.
  
• The answer to all problems is within the self.

Based on these truths, she also summarized Cayce’s instructions on how to live one’s life.

• Realize first your relationship to the Creative Forces of the Universe, or God.
  
• Formulate your ideals and purposes in life.
  
• Strive to achieve those ideals.
  
• Be active.
  
• Be patient.
  
• Be joyous.
  
• Leave the results to God.
  
• Do not seek to evade any problem.
  
• Be a channel of good to other persons.
  

Excerpt: Background (from A Dowser's Diary)

In late April, right about the time I cracked my skull, I ordered Dowsing: A Journey Beyond Our Five Senses by Hamish Miller, from Amazon.com. I must have seen or heard or read something about dowsing, but for the life of me I cannot recall what it was that prompted me to place the order. Why dowsing? Why that book?

(From my Dowser's Diary blog. For the complete post, click here.)

A Declaration in Tatters

It’s the Fourth of July.

Independence Day.

As a lifelong student of American history, I consider this as one of the calendar’s great days. It celebrates the assembly of a group of profound thinkers who penned brilliant words that inspired a war that, five years later, turned a handful of Old World colonies into a vibrant new nation.

At the heart of the new nation were two philosophies: government by democracy, and economics by capitalism.

Today, in that nation, both democracy and capitalism are in serious trouble.

Democracy depends on an intelligent and informed electorate. If the voters are ignorant—unaware that much of what they are told about and by their government rests on lies and falsehoods—they cannot vote with the insight democracy demands. If their elected representatives do not represent them, but instead represent entities who have contributed heavily to electoral campaigns, then the very spirit of democracy is not served.

Today the nation is involved in a horrific and senseless war, and it was launched on lies. The nation is slaughtering innocent people, torturing many others and spying on its own citizens. Our news people—so vital to an informed electorate—are restrained from routinely exposing these wrongs by the huge corporations that employ them. We watch as “news” is trivialized into celebrity-watching and “reality TV” that has no basis in any reality we would want to be part of.

Capitalism is dependent on growth. We see our economic and governmental leaders interpreting it as “growth at any cost.” Countless people are purchasing countless things large and small without the money to do so. Citizens and government alike are so over-extended with credit that if our creditors were to call in the loans, citizens and government alike would be immediately and irreversibly bankrupt.

We cannot blame those founders who argued, compromised and finally reached agreement in Philadelphia in 1776. We have read their thoughts on the need for an informed electorate, for separation of church and state, for civil liberties, for personal privacy, for an honorable presence in the world. And our so-called leaders — politicians and corporations — have decided they know better. They have shredded the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and are doing great damage to the Constitution.

We have one hope.

This is election year.

We can try our best to identify the candidates who are closest in spirit, philosophy and integrity to those great men in Philadelphia and then vote for those candidates … and hope the voting machines aren’t rigged.

The Blind Man & the Cub ~ Aesop Fable #37

There was a blind man who was in the habit of identifying any animal that was placed in his hands by touching it. Once they gave him a wolf cub. Even after stroking the animal he was not sure of its identity, so he said, "I'm not sure whether it is the cub of a wolf or a fox or some similar creature. But I do know this is not the kind of animal that should accompany a flock of sheep!"

Moral: In the same way, bad people are revealed by their features.