According to Japanese myth “good fortune follows a child conceived under the fiery plasma emanating from the Earth’s magnetosphere.” On the other hand western scientists and theologians might argue that it is not possible to know the precise correlation between “expelling billions of electrons funnelling to and from a pole,” and mitosis, immersed in a field of magnetically charged particles under the Aurora Borealis.

A peaceful place, calm and harmonious, where the energy of the planet is as vibrant and subtle as the stars flickering  through the  aqua red  sky of the northern lights, an ideal place to think about philosophy, religion or contemplate the breath of Japanese myth and the Ho Ho Ho of Old St. Nick.

Unfortunately, busy professionals are often unable to travel to the Arctic regions to find the northern lights to breed a child of good fortune. For them, a unique solution has been devised to bring the lights to their location by thinkgeek.com called the Aurora Projector. “This unique object uses three colored LED’s and a frosted lenses to simulate the ice of the northern region that is now melting due to global warming from the products of the industrial revolution,  to project twisting swirling misty lights on your wall or ceiling. Four triple-a batteries power it for up to 20 hours to avoid any interruptions in a thoughtful conception. The controls are simple to master - On, Off, and  a Timer  which  shuts it off after 30, 60, 90 and  120 minutes, especially thoughtful  for those who are in the geriatric age range. Plus, the lamp is hinged, so if you are concerned about straining your neck muscles or pinching the wrong nerve to stare at the light show on the ceiling, you can tilt it vertically, and project the pretty colorful lights on the wall instead. The size of the contraption: H13 x W18.5 x D11 cm. The 4 AA batteries it takes to run this thing are not included and it doesn’t appear to have any plug in components.”

Now for the right yen and $39.00 you too can conceive a child of good fortune that will make parenting as easy as baking a souffle.

It was the ancient ones who first recognized the nature of cycles,  passing down the knowledge, gifted in written text and oral traditions to the chosen of each generation to keep records of what was meant. The task for them was to create an atmosphere where harmony exists without interfering with choice.

The ancient ones were aware that cosmic forces are immense and subtle, remaining invisible until sensitivity to them is developed much as knowledge is often hidden among the clutter of pointless facts noticed before a truth is revealed.  On the other hand they contended that “nothing is useless as long as its appropriately prioritized.” An approach no different than subjecting students to a multiple choice test who are given more information then they need to choose the correct answer, a way of encouraging the development of  knowledge by also sharpening the ability to use a sound process of elimination (guessing).

Who the ancient ones were is less important than what they said about the universe describing it as “a lot of space with ‘things’ suspended within, in constant motion  as everything moves in relation to their previous position and/or mutual gravitational effects on each other.” They were aware of the closest and farthest currents although they attracted less attention by being silent and occasionally leaving inspiring hints along the way, sometimes misinterpreted, becoming the basis for cults.

According to them, the universe could be interpreted as a conduit for the cosmic pulse, while the veil is defined as “anything that is not known,” frequently misunderstood as a symbol for whatever prevents revelation, neglecting to consider its dual purpose as a protection from the knowledge one is not ready to receive. They indicated, “the ability to verify existence or calculate cycles is not necessary to understand the imperceptible.”  Only a rudimentary comprehension of mathematics is important as one silently listens to the cosmic breadth and reads the poetry of light, sound and motion.

Fragments of fable and myth  have been passed down revealing some things about the first ancient one, said to have been born in a small town in the Himalayan Mountains.  Originally the youth, like the other men of the village, was a peaceful farmer. However, an elder villager held in great respect somehow gained certain  knowledge which he shared with the one who later became the first of the ancients. Both began exploring the secrets of the universe learning how to harness cosmic energy for their own uses, although their motives were quite different. While the elder focused on  building a vast empire, the youth wished to use it for the benefit of his fellow villagers. A great struggle ensued between the two, symbolic of the battle between selfishness and selflessness, as  the legacy of the ancient ones remains a contemporary theme about power.

Another reminder of cycles are found in  remnants of The Mayan civilization, which constructed the most mathematically accurate calender ever devised, informed with future astronomical events which influenced their culture along with paganism and human sacrifice. Survival they realized depended on planting crops at the right time and understanding the forces that effected their growth much of which involved cycles of climatic regularity and change. They found ways to ensure a continuation of their society until they vanished, leaving only mystery and myth for scientists to fathom, although their calender and some written hieroglyphs remain.

The Mayan calender calculates the end of one cycle and the beginning of another at 11:11 am GMT on December 21, 2012.  All they contended was that the transformation from one to another would be characterized by “great changes,” as the Sun and its planets approach the center of the galaxy, an event that occurs once in twenty eight thousand years.

What happens after this date is unwritten suggesting that it must be left to those who are now alive to determine the shape and intensity of the change.

In Hinduism, Avatar is a  Sanskrit word referring to the conscious descent of a deity from heaven to earth often translated into English as “incarnation,” but a  more appropriate term is “manifestation.” Its meaning is the basis of James Cameron’s visual epic that took fourteen years to complete depicting native life of Pandora, a planet that takes several years to reach in suspended animation. The film is an artistically stunning adventure in 3D worth seeing  even if the story, written in two weeks, is a bit derivative with a  screenplay that borrows heavily from some of the directors previous work and brings to mind too many similarities to Dances With Wolves.

The military look of the film is so reminiscent of  Aliens that it distracted me from  becoming immersed in the film. Aliens is the 1986 classic that Cameron directed about the bugs that gestate in the chest of its living host and have acid for blood. As in Aliens, the company or corporation features prominently as the prime antagonist of evil instigating  the invasion force that plans to drain Pandora’s natural resources for the benefit of Earth. Our planet is now an ecologically depleted waste land, a victim of economic greed that Weavers character, Dr. Grace Augustine, a Bio-Anthropologist opposes as passionately as she did as Ellen Ripley in Aliens.

The feel of the film’s technology including a cargo loader machine similar to the one Ripley uses to defeat the queen bug at the end of Aliens is featured in facsimile in a major battle scene at the end of Avatar. This similarity is an annoying element of this new film which was written, directed and produced by Cameron with a running time of 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Although the 3D nature of the films construction is groundbreaking, the plot is predictable and the characters are too two dimensional drawing  heavily from other science fiction/ fantasy films. The premise that all living things emanate a common energy also known as “the force”  fills everything in the universe is perhaps a reference to the  Star Wars universe , not that there is anything wrong with imitation, but even the forests of Pandora,  a magical place  with luminescent creatures and large revered trees  evokes the image of Lothlorien the mystical home  of the elves of Middle Earth. Add to all this the notion of cloning a personal avatar and a neural link, then  Alien Resurrection and The Matrix comes  to mind. But despite all its flaws, Avatar is worth seeing if only to make one realize that Star Trek (2009) is a much better film.

Disaster films are most engaging when they convey the immediacy of an unexpected catastrophe that is about to happen at the moment its first perceived. No way out and little time to think, absorbed more with the survival struggle of the main characters, usually portrayed by an array of high profile actors unwilling to accept their fate.

The threat, if caused by something from outer space is relegated to science fiction, possible but not probable when scientific evidence to think creatively is obscured by disbelief - a meteor hitting Earth, or a rogue planet out of orbit as portrayed in When Worlds Collide, a 1933 science fiction novel. A story about two planets, one on a collision course with Earth, the other coming close enough to be a haven for survivors if a rocket ship could be built in time to shuttle to the new planet. The continuity of humanity depends on constructing this ark to transport two of every species to a place that may not even have the climate to support Earth’s biodiversity.  A tale filled with uncertainty and biblical drama as portrayed in the 1951 film of the same name. An end of the world scenario inspiring a string of disaster films with a cast of billions and numerous sub plots. The survival of each character depends on luck and the ability to minimize shock, control fear and be able to act quickly while experiencing catastrophic events. But wait, doesn’t this   sound like 2012, the movie?

The fourth cycle of the Mayan Calender culminates at 11:11 am GMT on December 21, 2012 . An anthropological examination of other cultures and their belief systems independently mark this day for some impending change. As the date approaches, prognostications from many sources will become increasingly quoted from the Hopi, I Ching, and Nostradamus to name a few. What will really happen on this date if anything is unclear. Here is where science can speculate on the possibilities of a sudden planetary event such as the reversing of Poles which would cause a ripple in gravity effecting the very atmosphere of Earth.

The basis of Mayan belief is that time is linear and cyclical simultaneously. They looked towards the sky for architectural landmarks which lies at the heart of the structures they built and their cosmological science expressed in surviving records. The sophicated mathematics of its calender are universally recognized for predicting eclipses thousands of years before they occurred. The ancient texts described knowledge of sudden shifts in the climate and references to the dark center of the Galaxy referred to as the cosmic womb identified long before telescopes found evidence for a black hole as the core of The Milky Way.

Many legendary prophecies continue to be credible as long as they remain generic and open to interpretation. Then if something happens it can neatly fit withing the guidelines of what was foretold, but they can also contain ironic twists associated with understanding their meaning in the context of contemporary thought. Some of the great oracles in history such as the one at Delphi went into trances and gave readings in cave dwellings usually connected to fault lines that exposed gases such as ethylene known to have hallucinogenic effects. The one’s that have some basis in science and mathematics, are not as easy to dismiss even after the anointed interval surrounding the date passes because the factors involved that could make the events happen are noticeably present such as global warming and global dimming.

What is agreed upon is that The Sun, Earth and the other planets of the solar system will be at the center of the milky way in an alignment that only happens once in 25,800 years on the winter solastice of 2012. An increase of solar and magnetic energy from the sun is anticipated, but how all this will impact on the crust of Earth, volcanic activity, movement of the oceans and shifting of the continental plates is hard to assess.

Predicting a great change doesn’t necessarily mean annihilation, and all the remaining records of Mayan civilization indicates is that the end of a cycle will occur on that date. The fact that they associate great disaster and upheaval with the transition between one cycle to another is where all the doom and gloom theories are emanating, and yet no one really knows what will occur at 11:11 am GMT on December 21, 2012.

Wrestling with mortality is never easy, part of exploring personal destiny, an empirical approach, shedding identity of what has been learned while retaining memory and self-awareness. It also provides an opportunity to weigh preconceived notions enabling a co-measured response to whatever is encountered. On the other hand, a nihilistic approach is a way to dismiss the whole process by rationalizing that everything simply stops, so why waste time speculating?

The only thing necessary for a spiritual path is recognizing the divine spark individual to all and realizing it’s the same spark. Once that connection is felt, thought elevates, encouraging a balanced respect for oneself and others although it’s almost never effortless - a combination of risk - chance and confidence.

Choices that are based on experience or the lack of it have patterns if only by being interrelated. When something is learned, the cycle spirals rather than move in circles, but that depends on the ability to remember and take the memories wherever the path leads, using familiarity as an advantage, fostering objectivity and balancing emotions or else lessons are forgotten, then one is destined to make the same mistake more than twice.

Inspiration rarely appears without conscious sacrifice, requiring exertion, which is not an easy thing, otherwise one would either be unfocused by the surrounding chaos,  distracted and self-absorbed to preclude noticing, a daunting challenge to developing balance.

Reincarnation is not as consoling a path as western theological thought. The enlightenment it offers is not reassurance of continuity but the realization that the best way to evolve is to learn the lessons life has to teach, transcend this level and go on to the next expression of existence retaining conscious awareness and memory without having to come back to be reborn again, freed from the struggle with the tests imposed by rebirth and living another cycle grappling with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Spirituality creates an opportunity to set lofty goals by recollecting mistakes made in past lives while teaching that reincarnation is a sacrifice, to return to help the rest of humanity evolve off the wheel of karma.

It was a clear sunny day, a cloudless sky with sunbathers lying on the beach reading the newspaper as the grains of sand reflected radiant light from the sun, a deity central to myth and legend. Then, eyeful of the sky a change was noticed as birds disappeared and sounds of the shore were silenced. A chill filled the air as instinct informed something was approaching. The tide moved out, then a rush of surging wind and finally above the horizon was a suffocating sight, a wall of water fifty stories high, moving towards the shore. There was nowhere to run as awe and disbelief paralyzed the moment of this disturbing vision.

The tsunami on December 26, 2004, began as an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia in the Indian Ocean creating a wave that killed 300,000. The height of the wave was within the range commonly caused by the movement of the continental plates. Similar waves can only be caused by a landslide of immense proportions or from an asteroid hitting Earth.

Off the coast of Africa, toward the west, on the Isle De La Palma - last in the chain of Canary Islands - is Cumbre Vieja, an active volcano. Scientists are concerned it is showing signs that a landslide is near although when it will occur is uncertain.  The displacement of water by such an event could generate a massive wave as high as 2 km, moving thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean, hitting the East Coast of North America, Mexico and parts of Central and South America, destroying everything in its path and changing the face of the coastline.

“The Mega Tsunami” as it is known has not received much attention and the thought of a wave the size of a sky scraper is not something anyone is prepared to envision, let alone prepare for. Up until now, it’s been left to special effects artists, but the coming of 2012 when the Mayan calender ends, the predictions of Nostradamus and others describing natural disasters  - although expressed in cryptic language - are a cause for reflection. Many foretold catastrophe for this year. Add to this, prolonged drought, unusual flooding and documented melting of the ice caps to realize that perhaps the signs have arrived.

From an astrophysical perspective, on December 21, 2012 - the Winter solstice - the Sun will touch the Great Rift, the center of the galaxy, seen as a large black hole considered by the Mayans and other cultures as the cosmic womb, a symbol of transformation and rebirth, a place of immense spiritual energy. This is when the calender ends and a new cycle begins. The alignment of planets and energies influencing Earth’s crust will be unique, placing stress on the continental plates argue prognosticators and Vulcanologists but no one really knows what the effects these spacial events will have on the planet. Perhaps the impact will be physical as soothsayers portend or a subtle shift in consciousness. Only time will tell as 12/21/12 approaches and films depicting the end of the world increase as the sirens are sounded to take cover and move to higher ground, assuming there is a place to go to be safe where solace can be found. Otherwise, a final embrace from the cosmic womb and surrendering to the infinite pulse perceived as evolution can’t hurt.

Recommended reading: http://eclecticcommons.telldat.net/2009/09/13/when-science-fails/

There is a notion in philosophy that life is perceived as frozen moments of chaotic motion unfolding the sum of all that is present, emerging from choices with unknown potential. The affirming nature of growth over time needs not be explained since its effects are keenly felt. Interpretation is a private matter when facing the truth about one’s life - The successes that build confidence or the results of failure and weakness that encourage denial and delusion, elements that effect future possibilities.

Often, so many things are going on at the same time, they all become distractions of each other, interfering with the ability to discern what is important and what is not. A talent for setting priorities could be useful here by preventing a chaotic situation and averting the emotional paralysis of procrastination. Frequently, so much thought and consideration is wasted thinking about opportunities, forgetting that timing is as important to the outcome of a choice as the choice itself. Here, balance with a co-measured response could be helpful even when events seem to unfold so quickly that by the time they are noticed, it’s already too late. On the positive side, it’s also possible to realize that a missed opportunity can become a chance to rethink what’s needed to be learned to avoid making the same mistake again, the one’s remembered longest.

Things that have an emotional impact are more easily noticed, evoked by some pre-verbal sense that can be completely unrelated. Some might call this intuition, an instinct with free will to resist listening. The most likely three places emotions are strongest is at either the positive or negative extreme, or the center, a point so balanced that it can lead to indifference.

All of this, objectively understood as a lifetime can be perceived as a Zen experience, individually observed from a bird’s eye view as a collection of points on a level plane moving through space together, defined by periods of stillness and interaction, self-conscious at the same time, learning lessons from those who leave footnotes of their frozen moments of chaotic motion unfolding, yielding the sum of all that is present.

In The Holy Grail Of The Unconsciousness, an article appearing in the the September 20th, 2009, New York Times’ Magazine section, Sara Corbett describes the fascinating and unknown history surrounding Liber Novus (L), the unpublished work of Carl Gustave Jung (1875-1961), the founder of Analytic Psychology. These are the handwritten pages of the thinker as he descended into what has been described as severe psychosis for six years.

The text is also known as The Red Book and was penned in German and ornately described as “pages of thick cream-colored parchment, filled with paintings of otherworldly creatures and handwritten dialogues with gods and devils evoking images of medieval times.” Release date is October 7, 2009.

The drama surrounds the reticence of the Jung family, unsure for decades of what to do about publishing this unusual book, fearing it will adversely impact Jung’s legacy. Some who have read it claim it is intensely private and describes it as either the descent of Jung into the underworld of insanity or a transcendental diary of a man chronicling his search by defining his innermost soul.

Over the course of his life, Jung came to see the psyche as inherently spiritual. There is no doubt his thought was greatly influenced by Eastern mysticism, also adopted by The New Age Movement and Theosophy - the school of thought generated by H. B. Blavatsky who wrote Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine. Reincarnation and karma have traditionally been fundamental to Eastern thought, often seen as “on the fringe” by the Western academic world, as was  Jung, especially considering mythology and paganism are also themes threaded throughout his work.

Early on, Jung was a disciple of Sigmund Freud but later wound up as his chief rival. Freud contended that the subconscious was a collection of repressed desires that could be interpreted, classified as pathological and treated in analysis. Jung had a much broader sense of analysis than did Freud, describing it more as a soul’s trans-formative experience then a form of treatment. His approach took him to the border of mystical philosophy and, some say, over the edge into divine madness.

The publication of his Red Book, kept under lock and key for decades by his children and grandchildren, may reveal new insights on the schism between the two foremost thinkers of the Twentieth Century. Some of his descendants have claimed that it’s too private, containing so many unsavory descriptions, part of what could be his dementia, while those from the mystical community might see it more as his unfolding soul’s search as he confronts his dark side. This may change how history views Carl Jung. In any event, it should be an interesting read.

For more information on C.G. Jung, visit this Amazon.com web page.

Inhaling the breath of Qi, (pronounced key), is the primal energy that serves as psychic glue to connect all suspended bodies moving within the fluid currents of space. Still, it’s a subjective perspective focused more on the impact of those things close enough to be noticed, often oblivious to the pulse of distant objects that also exert powerful force.

Add the quiver of everything seen, speculate about what isn’t, listen for the cosmic sigh and it’s possible to consciously become one with the universe, thought of as a cliche for the New Age Movement that acknowledges whatever is learned, there are things that will still remain concealed because infinity, although approachable, is unknowable.

Some consider oneness with the cosmos a collective term, perhaps overused to include the interactions of cause and effect (karma), thoughts and deeds (also karma), as well as the gravity of celestial objects that glimmer at night, endlessly moving from one place to another, indistinguishable from those that appear stationary, an inspiration for poets, philosophers, mystics and scientific investigators describing different aspects of Cosmology, the study of the Universe in its totality and humanity’s place in it.

Any individual approach is inconsequential compared to an infinite perspective since events pass so quickly, often accumulating yet overlooked in favor of  something more obvious. It becomes ordinary, invisible until sensitivity to the surroundings is precipitated by curiosity encouraging the search for a connection between individual events and universal principles. Even then, it’s easy to neglect the significance of what has already been revealed by personal and collective history as being so redundant it generates apathy and boredom, causing distorted interpretations that are anything but objective, common more to prejudicial thinking and a justification for using substances that distract attention by clouding perceptions.

Ignorance is wisdom when accompanied with confidence that whatever is not known, can be if and when it’s perceivable. A trained eye with the inner vibration of OM that extends beyond the vocal sound into the soul, not only helps by creating physical harmony, health and solemnity concentrating thought in meditation, while inhaling the breath of Qi, dispelling the tension that exacerbates physical and mental pain.

Eventually, the ritual of meditation becomes nothing more than a focal technique to listen to the cosmic pulse, then life begins to speak clearly to those willing to listen, as if existence itself becomes the meditation. But, whatever lies beyond the known, is only useful if it is remembered, providing landmarks to measure future events whatever their nature, strengthening free will.

The challenge of refining the senses requires discipline and focus, but the reward is a steady evolution to prepare an awakened consciousness for the influx of new energies, now consciously absorbed allowing what is learned to be retained.

Promises are commitments that are frequently made before the full range of possibilities are known, especially when the ‘minds eye’, is distracted by anxiety.  External pressures lead to some movement, hopefully unaffected by subjective fear, encouraging a path that does not include procrastination.

Moral judgements can affect the type of alternatives  perceived and the extent of those that remain invisible, since many options will not be noticed until the psyche allows,  just another reason to cultivate  sharp observation for what exists in the surroundings. Adding more information can increase the odds for making better choices by clarifying  existing blind spots.

Right or wrong has little to do with good or bad, effected more by interpretation based on learned upbringing and cultural backround influenced by emotion. Ethics requires credible logic with diligent  reasoning, a more important factor when defining the position taken while  faced with a moral dilemma.

Ideally, marriage for example, was originally conceived as a religious institution based on a pledge intended for the duration of life, based on  how one feels at the time its proposed. A commitment binding one to another until death. However somewhere along the line, divorce and annulment became  a political tool to deal with a change of feelings that occurs over time.

In the past, social constraints on women have stressed the need for marriage because for them, options were limited and inhibitions were placed on their citizenship that influenced personal opportunities in favor of men. However, as barriers fall and changing circumstances alter conditions by balancing the playing field, perhaps women will become less willing to bind themselves to perpetual unalterable commitments, relegating reproduction as lower on the list of priorities to justify marriage.

Although biology has defined physical differences between men and women, culture and society have varying expectations of husbands and wife’s, assuming we are talking about heterosexual marriage. Even then, the question arises, is social maturity defined by whether one is prepared to commit to a future shaped by events that is not possible to know, or feelings that will motivate judgment in the future differently?

When secular governments point to the equality of partners as fundamental proof of equal citizenship, they cannot then create a legal imbalance in favor of one group over the other by using  religious doctrine to justify it, since the purpose of a secular government is to eliminate favoring one faith over the other  by finding the balance between ethics and universal religious principles that are inclusive,  especially when faced with the issue of same sexed marriage.

Since the US Constitution makes no mention of committed unions, it’s irrelevant to citizenship and cannot then be used by government to justify restricting the benefits of equal citizens  based on  a majority plebicite influenced by the religious right,  such as in Proposition 8 in California.

Although committed unions are for example not mentioned in the Federal constitution, the economic benefits afforded married citizens  are glaring, nor can any democratic  government justify denying some groups from those same advantages while acknowledging them to others.

Perhaps secular societies should eliminate the term marriage altogether and replace it with civil partnership, affording everyone equal rights and make all the divorce lawyers happy. Religions can do what they want as long as they make no attempts to infringe of the rights created by secular society.