The new season kicked off with surprising new supporting actors and even a few deadly serious and tragic plot twists, including weather disasters (possibly even far more destructive than we're even being told – thanks Marcus), looming financial Armageddon and maybe even World War III. It would be breathtakingly suspenseful if it weren't being played out in the real world, so it ends up just being frighteningly depressing for many people.

I'm trying to ignore some of what passes as news these days, like lipstick, up-do hairstyles and designer eyewear. (Though I found a really good blog on that whole thing, not to mention an occasional objection to the propaganda.) But I can't ignore the feeling of dread when I see them broadcast financial aftershocks around the world, including the largest expansion of government since the Great Depression, not to mention the hawkish rhetoric and veiled threats in recent international exchanges that continue to haunt the background. The issues confronting us during this election season are most certainly being manipulated, and very well, I might add. Using fear to manage the outcome is genius, if not old hat. I for one am on the edge of my seat.

Awhile back during Act I when the primaries were in full swing, I noted that despite the frustration of feeling manipulated by the whole show, I still hoped there would be an election and a changing of the guard, superficial though it may be. I still feel that way, and with good reason considering the current very dangerously evolving issues. I can't help but imagine GW's trigger finger hovering over his newly created extraordinary emergency powers, NSPD-51.

The World War III rabbit hole is very deep, from videos on YouTube to radical articles that shock one out of the mainstream propagandist trance into some very agonizing considerations. Wars and rumors of war, and all that. It's hard not to smell the noxious odor of tensions rising between certain countries. Don't let the current financial crisis or candidate mudslinging cause you to take your eye off the ball on this one – pay attention. It's all connected, and wars are not accidental – evidence is strong that the sparks of war are fanned into flames by those most likely to profit.

The recent economic chaos just throws more fear and instability into the mix, not to mention a convenient increased consolidation of resources and control for the powers-that-be. That rabbit hole is deep and wide. For a basic lesson on how this imaginary money is being created, and who benefits from it, check out Money as Debt, here's the film on YouTube. Another longer one with a lot of information is called The Money Masters. Clearly more research and thought on alternative ways to manage economies must be considered. We would be well-advised to take a clue from our ancestors and create smaller, sustainable and more manageable communities, like the Ahupua'a in Hawaii, combined with new technologies like Aquaponics. Other intriguing alternative economic ideas I came across are Open Money and possibly the Global Reserve Bank.

There is no time to lose. Frankly mainstream news is bad enough, but I suspect the real truth of the matter is far worse. Be careful for China, for one thing. This Hit & Run post points out the subsequent rise in gold prices, something to pay attention to for lots of reasons (and be very careful if you're investing – could be They're planning to crash that too). Check out this Coast to Coast clip from last year about the collapse of the world economic system. In this video, Ron Paul accuses Fed Chairman Bernanke of deliberately destroying the dollar. According to some more radical sources, this has all been malevolently preplanned. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. One might take note that NSPD-51 defines a "Catastrophic emergency" as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions." [author's emphasis.] Could it be that our “hero” will come in the form of a unified North American currency, the Amero? Will They let it get so bad that we'll literally beg for it, classic problem-reaction-solution?

Finally we have the issue of the election itself, which is as suspicious as anything else. The manipulation of the hearts and minds of an unwitting population is hard to watch, knowing the powers-that-be have likely got it all sewn up already, either way. However I recently came across an independent documentary well worth watching, called Free For All, about the theft of the election and the democratic process altogether. Watch the film, check out his blog, pass it on. I've linked to documentaries on this subject before and feel it's important for people to be aware of the reality of hackable electronic voting systems and voter caging. Even mainstream news is picking up on these stories now. The makers of Free For All encourage participation and involvement from the people, including citizens observing elections (videothevote.com). Also check out Steal Back Your Vote.

Whether we really have a choice is up for debate. Watching all these issues swirl around, I remain unconvinced, though I am a little dizzy from all the spinning. It's time to be prepared for anything. We're living in important times, I believe.  Bring on Act III.

The master allows things to happen. She shapes events as they come. She steps out of the way and lets the Tao speak for itself. -Tao Te Ching # 45

Please check over at Labyrinth of the Psychonaut for more on Soundlessdawn‘s excellent new video, Cosmic Keys, Archaic Man, and The ShapeShifting Lizard Kings, which I have embedded here. He mentions the new article over at Project Camelot about a Norwegian scientist’s fright at discovering what’s really going on in those underground “seed vaults” – and why.

My friend Kingsley over at Between Both Worlds picked up on this recently as well, wondering why governments are so busy building these underground bases. I’m happy to find others sensitive to the topic and including it in their eclectic and discerning research.

On the same note I must admit feeling suspicious when many who claim to be so well-connected to certain alternative topics such as extraterrestrials, clairvoyance, channeling, and the “new consciousness” are unwilling to bring up the subject of Planet X, a polar shift or global catastrophe, or simply claim the 2012 enigma is only and ever a positive transformation. I’m not saying let’s all run around like Chicken Little; such a catastrophe could be exactly what ushers in a new consciousness for those who are prepared. In other words; the very thing that destroys, also creates, ala Shiva. The sister sun flies by more or less around the same time the 12/21/12 galactic alignment beams psychedelic energies from the “Tree of Life” at the center of the galaxy. Simultaneous? Or will the consciousness trip “save” us before, or even after if we survive, like some kind of ‘rapture’? Not sure. Perhaps be prepared for both?

It need not be something to be afraid of. And of course I’m willing to admit the whole Planet X scenario may be total crap – or even an event hundreds or thousands of years away (though I tend to think otherwise). But any responsible eso-researcher should at least discuss the issue, whether they believe it or not; there is plenty of strange evidence out there to support that, at the very least, including mysterious reports of the object in the Washington Post in 1983, secret Vatican space probes, not just global warming but the warming of our entire solar system, increased earthquakes and volcanic activity, warnings in ancient texts and even from Native Americans and certain ETs – just to name a few. Without mention of the otherwise shunned topic, I tend to be suspicious of their motives, which then seem, at least to my own personal sense of discernment, to be nothing more than eerie echoes of the dead silence from our world leaders and their cabals, comfortably ensconced in their underworld. Maybe somewhere in Paraguay, like GW. (On the other hand, let’s not forget what happened to Phil Schneider after he talked about his experience with ETs, underground bases and the gov’t.)

In May, there is scheduled a conference entitled “New Science, Consciousness & Contact” – which serendipitously is taking place right here in Kona. Whether I will go or not remains to be seen. David Wilcox is speaking, as is Dr. Elizabeth Rauscher, whose work has long been of interest to me, having quoted her work on mind control in my book published four years ago. In fact I recently discovered Dr. Rauscher is involved in another somewhat fringe yet fascinating scientific group here on the island, The Resonance Project, which I had heard of a few years ago through friends. Kind of strange how things seem to come full circle.

Did you see the crazy picture of a supposed man on Mars someone found, from a photo taken there four years ago? What do you think? I think it looks like a statue; my husband thinks it’s something akin to the Tusken Raiders.

As far as what and how to think about all of this; please check out this excellent article by Neil Kramer over at The Cleaver. Neil has managed to put a lot of powerful thoughts and concepts together that I believe will resonate with many people, particularly those who spend time researching alternative topics.

And not that you’ve missed it by now, Heath Ledger was found dead today. What went through my mind was how much his make-up as the Joker in the upcoming Batman movie (which role apparently gave him some anxiety, thanks Adam at Inside the Cosmic Cube) reminded me of Brandon Lee in The Crow, who was also 28 when he died. BTW Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin were 27 when they died just days apart in 1970. Kurt Cobain was also 27. Here’s a list of other famous people who died before age 30.

• Foster & Partners is building the spiraling pyramidic mega-structure called Crystal Island in Moscow. Sir Norman Foster‘s company is also responsible for the planned World Trade Center replacement, as well as various other designs all over the world which seem to incorporate very interesting geometry. Check out their various projects, especially the Spaceport America, the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, the EXPO Station, and the controversial Wembley Stadium in London.

• Speaking of architectural geometry, they’re building solar pyramids in the UK (amid great controversy) and India…not sure why but just paying attention to uses and misuses of this powerful energetic structure…

• Benjamin Fulford, the anti-Illuminati journalist, interviewed David Rockefeller last month. Watch it (full length, 38 minutes) at Google or Youtube (Part 1 of 4). Fulford seems to be in an interesting position, supported and protected by the anti-Illuminati Asian secret societies, and says to us about Rockefeller and his cronies, “These guys are finished. You will be free soon.”

• Don’t get too happy yet, though. Scientists create machine that knows what you are thinking.

• On that note, good to see Daniel Pinchbeck’s new article, Military Mindfields, has him thinking about HAARP and other mind control issues as per researchers like Dr. Nick Begich. Anyone researching consciousness needs to be aware of this subject matter.

• The Russian military is accusing HAARP of potentially causing a polar shift/global catastrophe, among other things…

• …like, maybe, Bhutto assassination by laser beam?

• Thanks to Covert History for pointing out Hillary’s recent comments about alien invaders. For other comments made by past presidents on the subject, check out Presidential UFO.com. That reminds me – the BBC reports that Japan admits UFOs exist.

• Good compilation of 2012 material at December212012.com, including a countdown clock. 1806 days from today.

• Pope tells astronomers to pack up their telescopes. I always wondered, why priests seem to be so involved in astronomy; on the other hand, let’s not forget the Vatican’s Siloe space probe, rumored Jesuit contact with aliens, and a supposed secret telescope in Antarctica which some claim has the only good view of Planet X, allegedly heading towards us via the South Pole. Wonder what tales of cyclical planetary destruction lurk in that private Vatican library.

• The Hopi Indians won’t be surprised. The Hopi Blue Star: Comets, Supernovae, and the Coming Catastrophe by Gary A. David

• And now to finish with a little levity: what idiot steals a GPS?

What’s causing the apparent changes is up for debate everywhere except in the mainstream, which insists global warming is our own fault and that reducing emissions and going green is the only answer. Those who dare debate this anymore are accused of creating propaganda for the oil industry, or being mean-spirited Al Gore-haters; or perhaps, of just being crazy paranoids. Certainly I would never argue with going green; fossil fuels are dangerous and polluting, not to mention ridiculous (free energy, anyone?) and very expensive nowadays – which also makes me wonder; why would these guys push the cause if they’re only going to lose their precious oil dollars? Are they all looking to make their next fortunes in corn-based ethanol instead (or poised to rake it in on wheat futures when world food supplies are depleted), or just falling onto the politically-correct bandwagon; or, is there some other agenda lurking in the background?

Usually, if there’s hype, there’s also cover-up. Here is a site that lists articles about many other climate change opinions which I found it interesting, especially the articles about cosmic rays, the sun and other planets in our solar system also heating up. Could it be, perchance, something much larger going on? Something that might cause global panic if it made the news? Better sweep those notions into the lunatic fringe – no room for that in the mainstream. Too messy.

However, as this gentleman points out in The Times, “chaos theory rules.” With all the various potential contributors to climate change, how to know for sure what the exact cause is, especially since we’ve only been keeping records for a relatively short period, compared to vast geologic time? Even a large volcanic eruption can throw off the climate, as evidenced by this slice of history picked up by The Economist about the extraordinary summer of 1783. Or how about this article about ancient global warming?

So, maybe it’s just a minor blurp in the climate cycle; an exchange of gases or just a combination of elements that’s causing only slight deviations which seem larger due to our limited scope in time, or the huge population now present on the planet.

Or, maybe it’s not.

Maybe there really is a Dark Star, a Nemesis sister sun, an extra planet or some other celestial body on it’s way towards us, threatening our Earth’s delicate balance like a spinning top. Laura Knight-Jadczyk’s intriguing article caught my eye, especially her point involving the fractal and multidimensional structure of space-time and the concept of cosmic, quantum jumps within it. And yet, it’s only part of the lunatic fringe, at this point, to be sure. All I’m suggesting is – pay attention. Read up on everything, and don’t be fooled. Sure; buy a hybrid, recycle and install solar panels. Head off to the hills, if you must. But notice unusual puzzles, like comets going missing, controversial pyramids in Bosnia or Russia, and even the Mayan calendar 2012 end date. Just be prepared, be wise to the hype and resistant to the propaganda. Maybe the ancients were trying to tell us something – something the powers-that-be don’t want us to know.

From the Kolbrin Bible:

MAN:3:1 Men forget the days of the Destroyer. Only the wise know where it went and that it will return in its appointed hour.

MAN:3:4-6 When blood drops upon the Earth, the Destroyer will appear, and mountains will open up and belch forth fire and ashes. Trees will be destroyed and all living things engulfed. Waters will be swallowed up by the land, and seas will boil…The people will scatter in madness. They will…seek refuge within dens in the Earth. Terror will eat away their hearts…They will be eaten up in the flames of wrath and consumed by the breath of the Destroyer.

MAN:3:7 Thus it was in the Days of Heavenly Wrath, which have gone, and thus it will be in the Days of Doom when it comes again. The times of its coming and going are known unto the wise. These are the signs and times which shall precede the Destroyer’s return: A hundred and ten generations shall pass unto the West, and nations will rise and fall. Men will flying the air as birds and swim in the seas as fishes. Men will talk peace one with another’ hypocrisy and deceit shall have their day. Women will be as men and men as women; passion will be a plaything of men.

GLN:4:24-26 …There, riding on a great black rolling cloud, came the Destroyer, newly released from the confines of the sky vaults, and she raged about the Heavens, for it was her day of judgment. The beast with her opened its mouth and belched forth fire, hot stones and a vile smoke. It covered the whole sky above and the meeting place of Earth and Heaven could no longer be seen. In the evening, the places of the stars were changed, they rolled across the sky to new stations; then, the floodwaters came…The pillars of Heaven were broken and fell down to Earth. The skyvault was rent and broken; the whole of creation was in chaos. The stars in the Heavens were loosened from their places, so they dashed about in confusion. There was a revolt on high; a new ruler appeared there and swept across the sky in majesty.

CRT:4:5-9 Then came the day when all things became still and apprehensive, for God caused a sign to appear in the Heavens, so that men should know the Earth would be afflicted, and the sign was a strange star…The star grew and waxed to a great brightness and was awesome to behold…He was clothed with smoke and fire. He carried lightnings in His hand, and His breath, falling upon the Earth, brought forth brimstone and embers…the sun and moon hid themselves in fear and there was a heavy darkness over the face of the Earth…Great fires and smoke rose up from the ground and men gasped for air. The land was rent asunder and swept clean by a mighty deluge of waters. A hole opened up in the middle of the land; the waters entered, and it sank beneath the seas.

The focus it takes to stay upright and balanced is not easy, especially as the noose tightens. And the sharks are circling. (thanks for the warning, Cadeveo) But what choice do we have? We must remain, trapped in this physical drama, until the ending unfolds. And yet there is no reason for fear, at all. For those hungry for more insight, check out this great discussion between two of my favorite thinkers, William Henry and Daniel Pinchbeck, at YouTube. Or how about an article on the New Pyramid Age by Phillip Coppens? Perhaps a thoughtful entry on 2012 at The Cleaver, or an insightful word on humans as transmitters by Kingsley. One thing these many minds seem to agree on: the coming transformation will be fully realized only as a result of the work we do within ourselves. It’s an inner revolution, perhaps aided by galactic alignment, cosmic rays and/or altered states – but it won’t be televised. This is a very difficult realization for many people – there can be no excuses, and no shifting the workload. We all must take responsibility, and it starts today, with love and being true to yourself; I know for myself, it can be very, very difficult indeed. And yet in the depths of my spirit, I know it is a task I can’t put off. Our future depends on it.

Our planet is shouting out hints as to our present state with dire emphasis. Must we cry hurriquake, again and again? Typhoons lay waste to the Philippines, while earthquakes rattle there as well as Chile and Indonesia, but it seems to be much more than that now. Freak tides and floods are swamping many areas of the globe, including Indonesia, Algeria, Vietnam, England, Brazil, and Oregon, while heat waves and droughts threaten water supplies and infrastructure in Tennessee, Australia, Chile, North Carolina and Georgia. While it may be part of a much larger catastrophic cycle, in our recent history it is not considered par for the course; Reuters reported that weather-related disasters have quadrupled in the past 20 years. Take heed, Planet X scoffers. I recently reread Stalking Wolf’s prophecies about the Night of the Red Sky; take note one of his Second Sign in terms of this shocking garbage news. (And don’t forget the oil spills recently in Russia, San Francisco, the Gulf of Mexico, and Long Island.)

Our financial and economic crises are certainly no fun to contemplate either. Tired of hearing about the North American Union? And yet, Asia is moving towards its own unification too. Remember, political boundaries are irrelevant; economics holds all the power. The Amero is coming. Our dollar is doomed. Again, Cadeveo points out even rappers are flashing Euros in their videos now, as if to say, better get hip and move with the times. There is no escape in entertainment – there’s so much propaganda, so many inside jokes, it only passes for entertainment for ignorant minds. Synchromystics, you know this path. Fantasy worlds, fantasy treasures and fantasy futures; superpowers, superbugs, and superinanity. One to keep us entranced, one to dull our brains – and don’t forget the really far-fetched one to keep us firmly convinced they are only Stories. Somewhere, something evil laughs softly.

The list goes on. Cell phone towers hidden inside religious symbols. (thanks, Through The Looking Glass) Or how about Comet Holmes merely hiding another object? Yellowstone going to blow? Secret fairy tales coming out? In many ways, we are already prisoners of our co-opted reality. The only respite we have is within ourselves. And who are we? Ask Puppetji.

Yet there too, the Powers-that-be seek to control. Mandatory vaccinations, here and there; our food supply is polluted and re-engineered to what end we cannot even imagine. And don’t forget the water, or the air – They haven’t. What enters our being is contaminated from here, there and everywhere.

And if you think our minds and spirits are free – think again. Generations of rigid belief; tradition; complete and total lack of awareness and training and ignorance of our true history, coupled with stubborn egos: for many, there will be no truth. There will be no release, no final answers. Millions – billions, even – are already trapped in Their webs – both spiritual and physical.

Only by disconnecting will we finally heal. Only by giving everything up will we be fulfilled. It seems, only in the loss of all we know will we finally be shown the truth.

And still, I Surf.

The Master’s power is like this.

He lets all things come and go

effortlessly, without desire,

He never expects results,

thus he is never disappointed.

He is never disappointed;

thus his spirit never grows old. -Tao Te Ching #55

Whether this transformation will occur in one simultaneous event on December 21, 2012 remains to be seen. However Mr. Pinchbeck threw himself to the wolves in this book, revealing not just his own relationship issues, self-doubt and twisted shamanic journeys, but a full-on prophetic experience of Quetzalcoatl himself and a vision of our future perhaps only a very small handful of people are willing to consider.

He calls this book an “extravagant thought experiment”, explaining his dual lines of investigation from philosophical groundwork to his own “process of discovery”, which led us from psychedelic trips all over the world, to crop circles, alien abduction, occult manifestations, time vs. consciousness theory, global environmental and economic collapse, and back to his own frustrating and comparatively two-dimensional Manhattan habitat. Through these various means, he points out our general unwillingness as a species, in these post-modern times, to recognize the ever-increasing void of spiritual awareness; our cultural blinders have rendered us more or less incapable of recognizing the signs of our own imminent demise, which come to us through journeys into a level of consciousness few seem prepared to take.

While his writings and experiences differ greatly in style, organization, and attitude, I found the skeletal framework somehow reminiscent of my own, as if there were some great field of knowledge to be tapped into whose messages are passed on through one’s own particular experience, research, circumstances, filters, lexicon, allegory, etc. – the flesh, as it were. Granted, the subject matter stems from the same genre, though our intentions are arguably dissimilar; however I couldn’t help but notice how much of this work resonated with my own in Surfing the Tao. After much agonizing over whether to share what I found to be synchronous lines of thought, I have decided to note some here humbly, knowing my own self-published, obscure volume will likely only make it into a handful of minds. I ask the reader not to misinterpret the following as any folly of ego; I recognize my own small work can never be compared to Pinchbeck’s literary talent, however critiqued he may be. I do this only in the spirit of noticing how similarly the Tao can touch the thought patterns of an open mind and heart, and that the synchronicity of it all could raise a few eyebrows as to what may or may not be truer than we realize…

DP: “Throughout my early life and into my thirties, I lacked a metaphysical view of any sort.” (p. 19) AVM: “For the first thirty-odd years of my life, I wandered in ignorance.” (p. vii)

DP: “…I concluded, sadly, that our current civilization is not a machine built to last. (p.8) AVM: “As time and technology progresses, general knowledge is actually regressing…A system based on money instead of love will eventually falter.” (p.7)

DP: “…the modern materialist sees myth as antiquated and simpleminded – at best, metaphoric or symbolic.” (pp. 9-11) AVM: “..we have been taught to think of the ‘gods’ as mythological or symbolic…”(p. 31)

DP: “…a text can only act as a scaffolding of concepts, a ladder for others to climb.” (p. 15) AVM: ““Though some texts can be used to help guide us, no one ever entered the actual ascended state through the pages of a book.” (p. 210)

DP: “Real knowledge of what I am saying must be earned, and lived, by each individual, in his or her own way.” (p. 15) AVM: “This is a highly personal experience…little things will pop up in everyday life that will start to ‘prove’ it to each person in their own way.” (p. 14)

DP: “Few of us have time to make our own investigation of such abstruse realms as psychic research – and why would be bother, when our ‘experts’ assure us they have the situation wrapped up?” (p. 38) AVM: “…those who control the leading educational and intellectual institutions of our day have settled on the general public view of non-supernatural evolution…Many would rather accept the lives they have been taught…and not bother with anything more.” (p. 5)

DP: “…modern physicists…were surprised…[to find] that matter was largely composed of empty space. At this quantum level, physicists discovered that their attempts to measure the phenomena they were studying affected that phenomena…” (p. 47-8) AVM: “…inside an atom, there really isn’t any substance at all; just tiny sparks of energy…physicists are surprised to discover you can’t measure sub-atomic activity without influencing it.” (p. 15)

DP: “I found that attuning myself to synchronicities…required the development of a kind of intuitive skill…some of these synchronicities involved conjunctions between personal episodes and world events that seemed to me both numinous and inexplicable.” (p. 55) AVM: “My life became filled with so many bizarre synchronicities and small daily miracles that few people would even believe them.” (p. vii)

DP: “It is only as a fully self-reflective individual consciousness that one can make the choice, out of free will, to reconcile with the Divine, through sacrifice, or supercession, of the ego.” (p. 117) AVM: “Choose love: use your free will to seek His will, and soon it will coincide with your own and your life will be truly blessed.” (p. 20)

DP: “In the popular culture of our secular age, the gods, demigods, fairies and gnomes of the old mythic realm have returned as extraterrestrials.” (p. 121) AVM: “Author John A. Keel wrote in his work Operation Trojan horse, “The UFO manifestations seem to be, by and large merely minor variations of the age-old demonological phenomenon.” (p. 50)

DP: “According to this hypothesis, Christ ‘redeems’ us only when we follow his lead. We still have to save our own souls.” (p. 117) AVM: “It is a bit of a paradox – we must first save ourselves, by refusing to be fearful, and maintaining a positive state of mind.” (p. 199)

DP: “Our conventional notion of history, like our conventional understanding of space and time, supports a linear, evolutionary and causally deterministic view of events.” (p. 189) AVM: “Most people alive today probably think our world is just the result of natural evolution…” (p. 1)

DP: “As represented in the Tai Chi symbol, one pole does not negate its antipode, but reflects and includes it.” (p.209) AVM: “Yin and yang are not opposites – yinyang is the essence of the oneness of all things.” (p. 28)

DP: “The superstrings, quantum jumps, and wormholes through space-time described by contemporary physicists might prove the basis for shamanic techniques of visiting other realms…” (p. 245) AVM: “The passageways between [black and/or white holes] are referred to as wormholes, gateways through space/time…This concept mirrors our ancients’ views about our reality [re. origins of 'the gods'.]” (p.42)

DP: “’EVERYTHING IS SAFE IN GOD’S HANDS.’ This telegraphed answer [to a question regarding the fate of humanity] was startling – and reassuring…It has liberated me from fear and anxiety.” (p. 259) AVM: “God’s plan is great but complicated…only know that He loves us and everything will be ok in the end…Stop worrying…never give in to fear.” (pp. 250-1)

DP: “As it says in the Tao Te Ching, ‘Non-Tao is short-lived.” (p. 375) AVM: “’That which goes against the Tao comes to an early end.’ – Lao Tzu” (p. 14)

DP: “Such a shift would not be the ‘end of the world,’ but the end of a world, and the opening of the next.” (p. 15) AVM: “Far from being the end of everything, this event could trigger our ascension into a higher realm…” (p. 249)

But whereas many of my own thoughts seem mirrored in his book, I found it interesting how his own particular circumstances, and journey towards this consciousness, manifested in such different ways. While I’m no stranger to psychedelics and have indeed had some prophetic experiences thereby, my most profound revelations were actually not drug-induced but rather brought about during moments of startling clarity during deep meditation. What truth I believe I stumbled upon comes from within; our own atoms already contain the necessary ingredients for wisdom, transcendence and enlightenment. Mr. Pinchbeck does not hesitate to tell of his terrifying psychedelic foray into the realm of the trickster daimon and the occult; he does indeed admit the inherent dangers therein, “The initial visions had been seductively Luciferic.” (p. 72) While he does admit the inherent dangers of the “daimonic reality”, I might suggest the best protection there, as anywhere, is love. And love is something he seems to have struggled with, on a personal level, throughout – though he does recognize the necessity and power of positive thinking, something he was not afraid to comment on during a recent and much-discussed argument with Whitley Strieber on his radio show.

But he is on a very different journey than I am; for many, psychedelics offer a way to, in Pinchbeck’s own words, ‘break open the head’ in a way they might not otherwise be able to, in a world that seeks to keep this kind of knowledge hidden. Certainly one cannot help but be mystified by the profound and strikingly similar types of inferences made by the likes of McKenna, Burroughs, Narby, Pinchbeck himself and others in these altered states. To seek knowledge of another realm, consciousness or dimension, you have to somehow travel there.

Towards the end, Pinchbeck shares the transmission he received from Quetzalcoatl. I read it umpteen times, my sense of discernment on high alert, as if searching for a way to Know…I am left with the overwhelming sense that he did intuit truth and wisdom, the sort of truth one gleans from Knowing with the Spirit; in the intellectual world, nothing like this could ever be proven. I suffer the same dilemma. Somehow I find solace knowing that if these revelations indicate mental illness according to western psychiatric theory, at least I would be in good company in the psych ward. So, knowing how difficult it is to write about these things in a secular materialist culture, he does win my respect and admiration for even coming out with this material. As I said before – the wolves are eager to tear it apart, and he has laid bare his jugular, “Even if it required isolation from the mainstream, I preferred to sacrifice my beliefs and preconceptions, along with the comforts and status they afforded, rather than cling to a set of inherited values that I increasingly suspected to be false.” (p. 40) At the risk of repeating myself, again I find evidence that our many diverse paths have the potential to converge onto the Great Path – that singular Truth of Being which seems to so deftly escape our waking consciousness.

2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl was published in hardback in 2006 and paperback in 2007. Mr. Pinchbeck can be found online at Breaking Open the Head, Reality Sandwich, Whole Life Times, featured in a video at Postmodern Times, his Amazon blog and MySpace among others.

I was listening to one of the alternative radio talk show hosts the other day, and he and his guest were discussing how some young people, though fully aware of the coming ‘new order’ and all its controversial agendas and organizations, agree to join the powers-that-be rather than be on what they think will be the ‘losing side.’  I’m not sure which is more difficult to assimilate:  that there are people out there that Know,  yet consciously choose to join the bad guys, and that they actually believe it will be the ‘winning side’; or that the ones who decide to remain and fight against the machine will have a very, very difficult time indeed. 

Yes, our future will be full of misery and chaos.  But we are already living in the future.  From microchipping to prophetic warnings; from droughts to floods, earthquakes and fires; from secret cabals and wars to chemicals in our food and air, our world is very quickly becoming a difficult place to live purely, simply and at peace – and it will surely become progressively worse in the next few years.  I have no illusions about that, and I spend quite a bit of time meditating on remaining in a place of serenity despite the chaos.  There are still pockets of truth and warmth, we just have to find and then protect them.

When we got married, my husband and I had this short phrase inscribed inside our wedding bands, a phrase that meant a lot to us spiritually then, and still means a great deal to us today.  It’s one of the ways we’ve gotten through some hard times.  Trust me, I know the arguments; many say, it can’t be ‘all good’ – there has to be bad to be good.  Or, then that would mean evil is good, and so forth.  Philosophically, yes, one can go around in circles on this one.  But the phrase has taught me some very simple yet sturdy spiritual lessons that have aided me in my daily life.  First, I have had to learn to trust that God, the Tao, has got it all worked out.  He’s perfectly aware of what’s going on, and there is a Plan – even if most of it is beyond me.  I can’t prove this; I just know it from my own personal experiences of synchronicity and spontaneous knowledge.  It’s not my job to worry about anything: not about money or health, not even about global catastrophic destruction or a global police state.  Worry is the opposite of faith and will get me nowhere.

Another lesson for me is that whatever seems ‘bad’ now can often turn into something good; the silver lining philosophy.  This is very much a tenet of Taoism, and even Christianity; “turn your scars into stars” is a favorite teaching I heard from a minister awhile back; the thought can give you hope even if it seems impossible at the time.  And lastly, that we all have a choice every moment to act either with love or with evil intent – this is how the wheat is separated from the chaff.  God, the Tao, wants us to choose love, to choose Him; without that choice, we wouldn’t be able to love so strongly, or Know Him as completely, because we wouldn’t know the difference.  So in the end, even evil has its purpose.  I know, it’s a difficult notion to absorb and certainly I don’t claim to be an authority on this; I’m just sharing how I get through the day.  I imagine we all have a way to explain the evils of the world so we can make it though.  Those who don’t are likely having a very hard time indeed.  Whatever works for you, I like to say.

Surfing the Tao is about how you live your life even though all this crazy stuff is going on.  It’s about being nice to your neighbor even though you just got fired.  It’s about raising your children with wisdom and respect, even though you suspect the future could be bleak.   It’s about recycling even if the End is Near.  It’s about lending a hand, teaching the truth and spreading love and awareness, lest Hosea ring true, “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”.  Though there are sure to be many truly bloody battles ahead of us, the most important battle is in our hearts, in our spirits; that part of us which is connected to the eternal.  Be a spiritual warrior: stay strong, stay wise, stay grounded.  Be aware but not afraid.  Know, but be at peace.  Teach, yet be gentle.  Remember, the future has already happened: it is done, and the good have won.  A better world is already waiting for us.  We just need to keep walking towards it.  As Lao Tzu wisely suggested, “accomplish the great task by a series of small acts.”  We all have a role to play in this final act; deep in your heart, you probably already know what yours is.

Love is the answer; love is the why, the how and the what.  In the end, love really will be all we need.  In the end, love will be all that is left.  Practice it now, today, and every moment.  Spread the word and have no fear, for love is not just soft and tender, but also ferocious and determined, like a lioness defending her cubs.  God is with us and He has not left us in the wilderness to perish.

The Great Year references the 24,000-26,000 year cycle of time during which our solar system completes its precession through the equinoxes. Generally considered to be more important to astrologers than astronomers, there is evidence that many ancient cultures were aware of precession – which suggests that not only is civilization is far older than is now accepted, but that awareness of this cycle may be more relevant than we presently understand. According to Cruttenden, we are mid-way along in the cycle, apsis having been around 500 A.D. and periapsis not expected until 12,500 A.D. He suggests our very consciousness is affected by where we are along the path, “Both the ascending and descending cycle are made of four “ages” analogous to the four seasons: the two poles are the dark age or winter of man, called the iron age by the Greeks and Kali yuga by the Indians; and the age of enlightenment or summer of man, called the Golden age or Satya yuga…”

Cruttenden theorizes that this vast cosmic cyclical dance between our sun and its supposed sister, a distant and probably very dim brown dwarf, is what actually causes the precession of the equinoxes and our elliptical amble around the heavens. I found it most interesting that the math surrounding our planetary wobble can be explained and simplified if a sister star is part of the equation. A similar theory has been suggested by Richard A. Muller; this binary sister is also known as Nemesis or the Death Star, whose cycle of destruction is counted in the millions of years.

When I considered a theory about a rogue member of our solar system, the first thought I had was about Planet X. Could this sister star be Zecharia Sitchin’s Nibiru? Sitchin talks in terms of a 3600-3700 year cycle for Nibiru, however, which is at odds with the 24,000-26,000 precession (the natural harmonic ideal from quantum math is 25,920 years); also according to Cruttenden this sister star is about as far away as it can get at the moment. One researcher, Burak Eldem, wrote a book 2012: Appointment with Marduk in which he suggests the orbital cycle of Planet X (“Marduk”) is actually 3661 years and that it’s scheduled return date is indeed 2012. According to Eldem and Wikipedia, “3,661 is one-seventh of 25,627, which he believes is the total time span of “Five World Ages” according to the Mayan Long Count Calendar. The last orbital passage of Marduk, he adds, was in 1649 BC and caused great catastrophes on earth, including the Thera eruption. Sitchin has recently put forth his own date in the year 2085 for the next passage of Nibiru, but the date most talked about is 2012, which marks the end of the Maya calendar.”

In my recent post on 2012 I cited a USA Today article which stated, “On the winter solstice in 2012, the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years. This means that ‘whatever energy typically streams to Earth from the center of the Milky Way will indeed be disrupted on 12/21/12 at 11:11 p.m. Universal Time,’[journalist Lawrence] Joseph writes.” Some believe this shift will affect our consciousness. For example, researcher David Wilcock remarks that at the end of each 25,920 year cycle there is a frequency or energetic shift, “the Earth and Solar System’s position relative to the Galactic Center has a penultimate effect upon the hyperdimensional physics of its systems. When we conjoin with the Galactic Center, a flood of energy is received – energy that fundamentally changes the vibratory rate of all bodies of matter in its vicinity.” He posits this would cause our consciousness to vibrate from the third dimension to the fourth.

Rumors swirl that the Vatican has a secret space probe called “Siloe” (which by the way is the name of a pool outside Jerusalem where Jesus gave a blind man his sight) used to monitor anomalous celestial bodies approaching the solar system via a secret telescope in Alaska. Researcher Cristoforo Barbaro claims a Vatican secret service insider gave him video of a rapidly approaching body, presumably this “Planet X”. Another rumor suggests that technologies such as chemtrails and HAARP could interfere with our ability to raise our consciousnesses, as the Powers-That-Be are perfectly aware of what’s coming and don’t want to lose their cattle; but this is another post. Still others claim global warming, the increase in frequency of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, and the sensation of ‘quickening’, including the debated increase in the Shumann resonance, is actually due to the approach of this rogue body.

The synchronicity found in all of these tidbits is startling, however there are still questions. If Cruttenden and others place us barely out of the ‘dark ages’ of the Kali yuga, or even still in it, how is it that yet others claim this amazing transformation is just around the corner? I’m also curious about any relationship between Planet X and a potential sister star; not only does the math work out, but it seems that binary star systems are actually quite common Out There. It’s hard to know for sure what is really going on – but rumors of Vatican involvement raise my eyebrows, as does the evidence of cyclical catastrophes from archeological records. There is enough to warrant further investigation; I feel there are some important puzzle pieces still missing. Everyone has their own interpretation – one would be hard pressed to read even just all the books out there on Planet X. We must listen to our spirits and pay attention when truth rings its bell, but also not panic or rush to judgment.

Voegelin used the term in reference to what he saw as a Gnostic influence on modern politics. He recognized various political movements, particularly communism and Nazism, were set forth by an elite group of people who believed they possessed special, secret knowledge and even attempted to ‘create heaven on earth’ – or immanent-ize the eschaton. A grab for power based on totalitarianism and social alienation, as he saw it.

From the back cover of my book, “A secretive and selfish elite has kept spiritual knowledge as well as Earth’s true history and science hidden from the masses for centuries. Today, technology, religion, politics and apocalyptic scenarios continue to serve their agenda of ultimate global control.”

End Times scenarios are scattered liberally across our cultural landscape. Are we simply reacting to a growing sense of unease in our Orwellian nightmare, or is our subconscious trying to tell us something? 2012 and the end of the Mayan calendar cycle has brought other prophecies, Earth-shattering weapons technologies and astronomical warnings to the forefront. I devote a chapter in my book to such concepts, because I find them all strangely synchronistic. Aside from galactic alignment, devastating solar flares and the possibility of Planet X making its swing by our solar system and hastening a polar shift, our own weapons technologies are perhaps among the scariest to fathom. From Tom Beardon’s Fer-de-Lance, “If significant scalar effects are produced on Earth in a ‘pulse’ mode…the coupled resonant response from the Sun could be disastrous. The simplest Doomsday simulation would be for a violent expulsion of solar electromagnetic energy and particles…In that case, the fiery destruction of the Earth, strongly indicative of Biblical prophecy, would result. Particularly sensitive are the resonances of Sun-Earth, Sun-Moon and Earth-Moon systems.” Interesting to note the recurrence of such a fiery doomsday in over a dozen books of the Bible, the Koran, Zoroastrian scripture, Native American prophecy, and others. If such weaponry were the cause of our ultimate destruction, I would say someone has indeed done a very good job immanentizing the eschaton. Tesla would be mortified.

And there are other prophecies to be aware of. Christian End Times prophecy predicts Israel becoming a nation again and Hebrew returning as a spoken language; we take this for granted now, but this might have seemed impossible to our grandparents in their youth. Another prophecy involves rebuilding Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, which is tricky since the Temple Mount is currently occupied by the Muslim Dome of the Rock. But you can be sure, there are groups ready with the blueprints. Also the rise of a great peacemaker/Anti-Christ figure; popular nominees include Maitreya (and more recently, Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda) who will unite the world in one government and one religion. Back to Herr Voegelin and the Powers-That-Be; some point to certain US foreign and internal policies as being generated by the “New World Order”, the as-of-yet unrealized goal (?) of the world’s leading politicians and businessmen. I touch on this in my book too – make Machiavelli proud; manipulate the masses into misery and chaos, then offer to fix it. They’ll never know the difference. Fnord.

Lao Tzu wrote, “The master observes the world, but trusts his inner vision.” From my book, “Be aware of these forces, but never give in to fear. The battle is not fought in the outer world, but in our minds and spirits…Learn to create a new reality in harmony with the Tao. Just by changing our minds, we can change the world.” Whatever happens, this is the Way to peace. It’s Surfing the Tao. Immanentize the Eschaton? Bring it on, I’m ready!

The End of the World As We Knew It

The world we knew ended long ago.

Didn’t we know a place of peace before?

Perhaps it was only a dream.

Our planet suffers now

As a child left alone in the wilderness

Ignorance leads to starvation.

I cannot grieve for this doomed existence,

Yet I will know the sound of its final demise.

Not World War III.

Not a giant asteroid.

Not another ice age.

Not the anti-Christ.

Not the Battle of Armageddon.

Not the slaying of the dragon.

When every child’s tears turn to laughter,

This is the beginning of the world as we knew it.