Oriental Year of Dragon 2024 & Lunar New Year Zodiac

ORIENTAL YEAR OF DRAGON 2024 & New Year ZODIAC ANIMALS

Oriental Year of the Dragon Ranks 5th in Great Mythical Animal Race

Animals of the Oriental Calendar, image below rt., are counted from l. of Zenith aka ‘midnight’: Rat, and count counterclockwise thru Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse to finish with Pig [at 1 o’clock].

Ancient Oriental Zodiac Tells of Mythical Animal Race & Origin of the World

In Oriental myth on the origin of the World, [China, Taiwan, parts of Japan & Indonesia] the Universe was dark and without form, before Earth and Heaven were separated, with only the mythical Egg of Creation hanging from the Tree of Life in the cold darkness. To bring life to the Universe, the Creator—the Great Jade Emperor—decided he would create the animals, but it meant he had to choose their order of rank. As he contemplated, the rat bit a crack in the Cosmic Egg and let the air in.

Immediately this happened, the Jade Emperor made his decision to call for all animals to meet at a Gathering Place for a race. He announced that he would designate the first twelve across the finish line as calendar signs in his Cosmic Zodiac and that the first twelve to arrive would be selected in order.

Cat & Rat Were Friends; Agreed to Help Each Other; But Rat Ratted…

The Cat & Rat were friends. So the Cat-who said he always slept late-asked the Rat to wake him, so they could get there early. Rat [conveniently] forgot, so when Cat arrived, the Race had already begun. Cat & Rat forever dislike each other. Elephant also dislikes Rat, as on the starting line, Rat squeezed into his trunk to distract him & Elephant ran away, sneezing, and missed the start.

Rat cheated by asking Ox 2carry him over water, but slid ahead of him at the end. Dragon selflessly helped rabbit in the water thus allowing him 2finish ahead of him. Rat 1st of 12 animals in order at finish line.

Order of Winners:Rat,Ox,Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake;Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig

The animals all knew that Ox, Tiger, Dragon & Horse could outrun them, and were surprised to learn of Rat’s performance—until they heard how he cheated both Elephant & Ox. So, while Rat symbol holds [Zenith] first place, top pix, lower rt., he is shunned/disliked/killed by many animals in present world.

Because of Dragon’s kindness 2rabbit who was flailing in water til the great beast blew wind 2carry him ashore, all animals respect his [mythical] status as supreme, even tho in Chinese Zodiac he is in 5th place.

Dragon people make good friends because they listen attentively/sincerely to others.

Dragon years: 2024, 2012, 2000, 1988, 1976 1964, 1952, 1940, 1928…

Dragon’s Other Companions—Character & Characteristics of Zodiac Animals

Year of Rat: 2020, 2008, 1996, 1984, 1972, 1960, 1948, 1936, 1924. Rat people are popular.They like to invent things & are good at art. They like saving & collecting, but don’t like opening their wallet 4others.

Year of Ox: 2021, 2009, 1997, 1985, 1973, 1961, 1949, 1937, 1925. Oxen are dependable & calm. They are good listeners, but have very strong opinions/ideas.

Year of Tiger: 2022, 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962, 1950, 1938, 1926. Tiger people are brave. They are independent & respected by others for their courageous acts & deep thoughts.

Year of Rabbit: 2023, 2011, 1999. 1987, 1975, 1963, 1951, 1939, 1927 People born this year are nice 2B around; they like to talk & are trusted by many. [Year of Dragon: above]

Year of Snake: 2025, 2013, 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965, 1953, 1941, 1929 Snake people love good books, food, music & theatre. They have good luck w/money/gambling!

Five Elements—Qualities in Oriental Zodiac Denoting A Specific Year

In addition to twelve animal signs, each creature is symbolized by one of five elements: fire, earth, wood, water & metal. Specific years are denoted as “metal” or “water” years, e.g. 2023 Water Rabbit

Year of Horse: 2014, 2002, 1990, 1978, 1966, 1954, 1942, 1930 work hard, popular don’t surrender Year of Goat/Sheep: 2015, 2003, 1991,1979, 1967, 1955, 1943, 1931, 1919 artists, wise, ask questions; Year of Monkey: 2016, 2004, 1992, 1980, 1968, 1956, 1944, 1932 make ppl laugh, funny Year of Rooster: 2017, 2005, 1993, 1981, 1969 1957, 1945, 1933, many talents, works hard, punctual, reliability.

Fire Tiger symbol [above 3rd in Race] 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962, 1950, 1938, 1926 independent

In addition, each year is designated either Yin or Yang. 2023 was Yin; 2024 is Yang.

Year of Dog: (2030), 2018, 2006, 1994, 1982, 1970, 1958, 1946, 1934, 1922 frank, funny, loyal

Year of Boar/Pig: (2031), 2019, 2007, 1995,1983,1971,1959,1947,1935,1923 happy but stubborn

Chart of Elements in Five-yearly Cycle of Sixty Zodiacal Years

Each of the Five Elements—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water—is associated with personal traits and behavioural patterns, which add richer dimension to the personality in Tibetan/Korean astrology matrix. 12 zodiac signs overlaid with five elements complete a 60yr cycle, e.g. last Wood Dragon year=1964!

As Zodiacal years begin & end on Japanese/Tibetan/Korean New Year with new moon end-Jan/early Feb-approx Celtic Candlemas [Gregorian February 2nd; U.S. “Groundhog Day“], it can be confusing to calculate using both calendars. Below calendar relates to current world [W. Hemisphere] dates.

Above chart uses Dragon images, top of page, as example: Pink dragon:end Old year Dec.thru Feb; Green dragon:March thru May New Year, spring; Brown dragon 2nd row l. summer June thru Aug; top rt.Blue Dragon Sept/Oct/Nov all Dragons but spread over two Caucasian years+. Calendar mix, separated by Candlemas.

Essentially, all five elements follow the same pattern. So, for instance, someone born May 1980 is a Metal Monkey while another in January next year [1981] is also a Metal Monkey until calendar changes early February.

To bring it right up-to-date, a baby born this year after new moon February 9-10th, 2024 has a Wood Dragon twin born January next year 2025. Same applies e.g. mother b. May 1940 & son b. 1976 are both Dragons, but 1940 is Metal Dragon & 1976 is Fire Dragon.

No Bear took part in the Great Race, even though in China they are believed to have divine powers and are revered as sacred animals. Both Panda and Black Bear represent resurrection/eternal life, because of their habit of winter hibernation & re-emergence in spring.

In Chinese myth, Constellation of the Great Bear, is known as Dou. Its guardian star in the Northern sky is nearby Red Giant Arcturus in constellation Bootes, below pic rt. Ursa Major, w/tail curving2 Arcturus.

Ptolemy named Ursa Major & Ursa Minor Gk. Aρκτος μεγάλη (Arktos Megale) & Aρκτος μικρά (Arktos Mikra)(mega & micro). Arcturus follows the bear’s tail.

Many children worldwide have teddy bears —stuffed cuddly toy bear lookalikes—1902 nickname given when 26th U.S.President T.R. (Teddy) Roosevelt refused to shoot a captive American black bear tied to a tree.

Teddy Bears are immortalized in the children’s song ‘Teddy Bears’ Picnic’ & other stories like Winnie-the-Pooh, Goldilocks & Three Bears. U.S. Forestry Service’s Smokey Bear is used as ‘cuddly’ Wildfire prevention icon.

As we prepare 4unprecedented step into a new quarter of a new Century [2024 is 25th year of 21st C Gregorian]; New Moon of Muharram 1446 Islam [July 7th 2024]; Tibetan Losar Feb.10th [Wood Dragon, 2151]; Chinese Guo Nian Feb.10th New Moon; Jan. 24th [full moon] Jewish 15th of Shevat aka New Year of the Trees 5785, we feel gratitude towards the Great Jade Emperor in his Eastern kingdoms for showing the animals [& us] the Way to win.

It seems appropriate, therefore, to share a little gratitude similarly to those of his helpers of our acquaintance in the Western hemisphere, such as Angels of our tribe created by Findhorn Foundation‘s Joy Drake in 1977 to show us our way forward.

As we draw on the wisdom of our Angels, it is a blessing to know that—at our inner core—we all have similar needs & desires: to be happy; to laugh at our struggles & to know that we are loved by someone somewhere-even when the Universe seems dark. And, remembering that laughter is the best medicine.

And that we shall [probably, with any luck] awaken tomorrow to a new day, a new plan/guidance, a new way forward. @siderealview ©2024MarianC.Youngblood

Time to Tempt Humans to Act like Telosians—Delving Deep Within to Discover our Origins As Star-People

MARDI GRAS—FAT TUESDAY— IN NEW ORLEANS, THE “BIG EASY” ECHOES BRAZIL’S CAR-NA-VAL, LONDON’S NOTTING HILL CRAZIES LATER IN SEASON—ALL FOCUS ON JOY WHATEVER THE WEATHER

Mardi Gras in New Orleans, below featured floats of multiple facets of fantasy l. & far rt., with yum-yum food like NOLA specialty King Cakes pic 2, while many threw private balls 2nd rt, with individual gowns created for such a special occasion.

NOLA-‘Big Easy’ Leads World Celebrating Mardi Gras-Fat Tuesday in Joyful Parades, Happy All-Nighters & Loadsa Food despite winter weather, while Rich Nations’ Powerful Leaders’ Boast their ‘Nuke-em’ Attitude

While rain & wild winds battered the North Pacific & huge low pressure throw winter rains, bitter ice balls & heavy snowfalls at New England and cities in central United States, like Denver, Las Vegas, many cultures on both sides of the Atlantic & deep into Brazil—original Carnival country-threw caution to the winds and celebrated as if it were their last day on Earth.

In spite of deep flooding in Gulf states, Arizona, California & Mississippi basin, unusually high temperature fluctuation in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, the Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba and the Caribbean experienced hotter-than-usual (winter) highs. New England, along with D.C. New York & Michigan froze solid.

Europeans—Britain, Scandinavia and Finland suffered deep low pressure, although this is more ‘normal’ for them, and their icy road clearance vehicles and sand-gritting lorries were out getting plenty of exercise.

Stretching farther north into Alaska, the Siberian Arctic and (presently high-profile) Ukraine, Poland and Russia their native tolerance of bitter weather seems not to deter their warlike tendencies—especially Russia & Ukraine continuing to batter each other with (borrowed) weapons, their perseverance encouraging weakling U.S. President Biden & distant N.Korea & China to promise MORE.

Through all the pain & suffering experienced by (non-warring) families in Turkey—with two recent earthquake disasters claiming 40,000 lives so far, it seems that four leaders of some of the world’s richest nations—U.S.A, Russia, China, & N.Korea have lost perspective in promising to “solve the problem” with NUCLEAR armaments, rather than by family-focused humanitarianism.

The dilemma is—for any rational everyday person-on-the-street—unfathomable.

$500 Million Funding for Nuclear-bearing Aircraft Weaponry can feed World’s Poor & Homeless Masses, with Some to Spare

Instead of moaning on about how difficult it is to “find appropriate housing” for the poor, homeless & underpaid voluntary sector-[traveling hospital staff, volunteer social workers, families in temporary vehicles/mobile campers], U.S. President Biden & Russia Head of State Putin declare war on one another—not perhaps in news bulletins, but in ‘unofficial trips to neighbor nations. With a quick speech for United Nations European members in between. U.S. President, cleverly ordered AirForce One to transport him secretly from D.C. to Germany; then commissioned an overnight sleeper to Warsaw, in order to arrive ‘fresh’ for a televised speech.

China & North Korea respond—as they don’t like to appear laggards in the nuclear ‘game’, having had their baby surveillance balloon shot down by U.S. jets over the Atlantic. They hastily gathered support from other small neighbours in the East; sprucing up their nuclear weaponry and preparing for war.

Turkey, meanwhile, languishes between, grateful for any help: money, food, vehicle response, care-givers, life-support professionals from anywhere in the world which supports their plight.

Turkey/Syria earthquakes (second occurred Monday night, February 20,2023) have created a crack in Earth’s crust 186 miles/300km long-not easy to patch up!

Animals & some stalwart hooman owners have survived 10 days or more beneath the surface of the rupture, without water or sustenance & yet were alive when rescued.

Dog & cat-owners are overjoyed at their pets’ return.

Food parcels & non-perishable donations are being accepted & distributed in shelters hastily erected to house lost individuals and families still searching for loved ones.

In Sadness there is Joy in Pain/Sorrow there is Hope—Message from Light Beings

Reminiscent of Star Trek Four: the Voyage Home, with Spock, Capt Kirk, Pavel Chekov & Scotty’s surprise appearance in their stolen Kingon ‘wessel’ complete with recyclable whale family, pic left; our brothers and sisters in the light appear as if by magic from an unknown realm to help us learn new attitudes to life and express joy, humour and gratitude instead of worry & despair.

When on Earth they keep counsel inside Mt. Shasta, pic l. my book touching on their story. They live within their own secret kingdom inside the mountain, emerging when humans summon them in need. They encourage us to find places where we feel joy-beach bottom rt. Richardson’s State Beach Park, Hilo, HI; and encourage us to plant more beautiful greenery—preferably trees, bottom l. to help our planet thrive in troubled times.

There is always Hope.

Elderly humans a generation ago conscious of maintaining a positive attitude to see them through hard times, would use this attitude in a difficult situation – loss of a loved one, misbehaving child, even the onset of age in their own bodies.

Now, with amazing timing, Light Beings of Other Worlds beyond ours—Telosians their own name for themselves— have miraculously entered our timescape with a spectacular array of pointers to guide us off the “inevitable” course we were on, and along a totally new path to-[pick one-happiness, enlightenment, Salvation (biblical), problem-solving, truth, LOVE, the answer: empowerment]!

Telosian Truth Has a Different Ring to it—or When Life Gives You Lemons, make Lemonade

When all else fails, Humans have had a habit of looking on the bright side. The New Age emphasizes this thinking by the adage ‘If Life gives you Lemons, make Lemonade.’ Telosians take this feeling even further, with a positive attitude to everything from automobile breakdown to missed rail/air connections, to burning supper on the kitchen stove. It’s all going according to Plan, i.e. don’t worry the small details, the bigger picture has a better solution in store.

Sure enough, with a firm belief of something better to come lining our pocket, a surprise solution will suddenly appear and the problem will go away.

Recent World Meditation Initiative Fire-the-Grid 2/21/23 pulled People of all Nations & Faiths together to Create a One-Mind Gathering for Thousands

Fire-the-Grid, pic below rt. uses symbols unknown to us in the ‘real world’ but which trigger a space deep inside where their shape and simplicity mean something intangible—for which we have no words.

In a religious context, the Gk.word Telos is used by many New Testament bibles to denote the physical form of a human-Jesus-as a result of INTENT by a Creator who has no physical form aka God.

Fire-the-Grid, below rt. shows us the way, even if only our subconscious mind gets the message.

Anael, early guide to making this series of “letters” mean something to our subconscious, describes them as words without a known language. She says our soul understands their message, even if our conscious mind does not.

As earthling guide sent by Telosian Light Beings, she begs us to trust that inner knowing to bring the Light forth into day.

Symbolic of an inner language we know in our hearts & rarely used parts of our subconscious mind, Fire-the-Grid shapes are familiar, but we can’t express why.

Telosian Light Beings sent out a “Wake-up Call” the night before World Meditation trial, February 19, this year. It was followed by 24 hours of psychic support 2/20-2/21, 2023, with a full hour exercising our ability to meditate tuned in on every part of the globe.

Telos Allows Change on Day-to-Day Basis, Just as Human Intentions Change

Humans gathering to share in a mind-meld (tku Spock) in the spirit of gratitude, joyful expectation and in some cases the use of prayer was enough to form one of the first events in 2023, following many years of practice after original Fire-the-Grid exercises at the end of the last century. Light Beings from a different Universe at that time helped Earthlings understand their mission on Earth was similar in belief, but different in content, from messages received by other cultures like the Maya Elders who have long expected a change—the SHIFT—from physical earthbound living to belief in the coming of the Light to end human darkness.

According to Daykeeper Hunbatz Men, Elder of the Guatemalan Maya, 2013 was the year set for a change earthwide from selfish hateful treatment of one’s fellow men to one of loving understanding.

He says there will be no Apocalypse.

Humans will prepare for the coming of the Light in their own way within their own cultural limitations. The Maya, he affirms, will assist in that transition to feelings of caring and love, of friendly sharing of wealth and protection of the innocent and young families by gentle persuasion and the support of elders within their own community who already believe the change is happening.

So now, ten years after the predicted date—the Maya had known of this for at least fifty years prior—their ancient ritual gatherings at solstice and the equinoxes when the sun climbs the staircase of Chichen Itza in the Yucatan are evidence of their brothers’ faith in the Feathered Serpent Kukulkan-great god of ancient Central American race whose monuments built over one thousand years ago predict the path of the Serpent-god each year. It is he who has foreseen humanity’s impending change from dark to Light.

Kukulcan, great Feathered Serpent god of the Yucatan, pictured bottom of page rt. is known to be capable of wildly astronomical feats-like climbing the temple stairs on solar ascension on solstice and descending when our Sun declines on autumn equinox. His knowledge of the galaxies is understood to be beyond human comprehension & therefore immortal.

If Not Apocalypse, What Can We Expect?

Four minutes before Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) 11:11 a.m. February 21, 2023 converted to world time zones—East Coast U.S. five hours prior; Central CDT 6 hours, California PDT 8 hours prior; Hawai’i central Pacific a day before @ Midnight + 7minutes.

Western time zones prepared. We had practised feeling joy in the pleasure of simple things, laughing at our own childish attempts at grown-up seriousness. We were learning to release worries and doubt; we knew it was time to be counted along with those who could lay down fear & doubt; pick up the sword of true ‘reality’. To laugh, cry with joy, dance, play & be grateful for all that life has already given us—our family, friends, cats, birds, garden veg, herbs, fruit—with the expectation of more to come in the future. Even love we never thought would reach us in our rapidly advancing world.

Linguistic aside: in Indo-European terminology—study of language from its first ancient roots common to Latin, French, German, Dutch, Polish, Jewish, Flemish, even Islamic variables & to tribes along the Road to Marrakesh the word Telos denotes point of a spear, dagger or arrow. Just making a point!

Plus the knowledge that we are capable of creating anything in a world we choose. Laughter the best medicine; joy, happiness, pleasure and humour are tools of our trade.

“Find a place of comfort and calm; release all feelings of urgency, guilt or worry-anything negative which might hamper one’s mind from entering that special place within where all is light.

“Move away from FEAR conversations; move away from FEAR thoughts; TRUST in a bright and beautiful future. Hold your frequency high, so that you are part of all that moves forward. The darker the time, the more you look for the light”

They added this message the following day: “If you joined us last night/day before, bless you. There is more to come.”

Telosian Future Vision is Variable—Dependent on their own Group Mind

It is comforting to realize Telosian Light Beings are themselves subject to their own Group conclusions.

Telosians predict the “Collapse of the Fourth Field”—their name for our current world culture of war & legal battles, embezzeling, stealing, murder & rape: our unloving treatment of our fellow men & women.

Whilst conceding the Group Mind is capable of making decisions for themselves along with us, their followers, these are subject to change along the way, because Group Consciousness is constantly on the move too, changing shape/direction with each new day.

Other (S.American) cultures—like Machu Picchu, in the Peruvian Andes above Cuzco, have found unique methods of switching into non-time. as actress and Academy Award winning author, Shirley MacLaine discovered in her own search for enlightenment.

Shirley’s book ‘Out on a Limb’ charts her search in Earth’s highest mountains for ‘other’ consciousness ‘closure’.

Expectations for a Future Without Sadness/Crime or Disappointment

With our new arsenal of pleasurable thoughts, funny & satisfying life changes, expecting the unexpected—and thanking our lucky stars we are the recipients of such daily surprises, we remind ourselves to show gratitude and love to those who bring such new surprises into play.

Light Beings enjoy continuously—anything & everything that comes their way. As in their realm there is no such cataclysm as death. The physical body renews and becomes more beautiful as our genetic structure is in balance and so physically we cannot “age” after 35.

They constantly repeat—so it becomes our belief too—that we are immortal; that there is no dying in that place beyond…

Encouraging, n’est-ce pas?

Especially if after the collapse of our so-called Fourth Field, life will re-open like a concertina-form instrument to reveal love and blessings we never dreamed we deserved. The love of our life awaits us on the other side. That’s the spirit, my friend, Enjoy. ©2013 Marian C. Youngblood

Lobo and the Future of Mankind

from chapter two SHASTA: Critical Mass,

Canis lupus, Lobo the Wolf

Lobo’s wisdom would guide them

Book cover by Joris Amerlaan for SHASTA: Critical Mass by Marian Youngblood

SHASTA: CRITICAL MASS
The following is an excerpt from the new back-to-the-Earth spiritual novel by MARIAN YOUNGBLOOD

A video presentation of the novel’s story and setting can be seen on YouTube here.

… or a shadow over my grave…

The wolf pack had been gathering all day under the watchful eye of Tawnia, the mother, and were about ready to head out. Her mate Lobo, the tribe’s great white alpha male, experienced in the ways of Men and the natural world, would lead them. If they walked all evening and most of the night, they would travel beyond the perimeter and out of danger. In the Park they were protected; out there their lives were not safe because Man and they didn’t always get along, It was a risk they had to take. Staying behind was for the aged or sick. The young were hitching rides with cousins, allowing aunts to carry them in their mouths. Never in Tawnia’s time had she seen such cohesion and trust within the pack: young warriors were cowtowing, behaving like wise old beasts, just this once. They knew something big was afoot.

Lobo’s instinct was pure; his decision contained wisdom beyond their own limited view. They trusted him to lead them to safety. He called the Elders together and they agreed.

They had to leave the camouflage and protection of their Yellowstone home and take their chances in desert night temperatures because Lobo had read the signs and Yellowstone was telling them to leave: west across the desert, through the badlands lay sanctuary. There a new home beckoned. Lobo knew. Now the young had practiced and could imitate and howl the name of their destination.

Three Sisters.

Back at daybreak, Lobo called together and addressed a conclave of Elder wolves, experienced in the ways of canis lupus. They all agreed. Craters of the Moon was close, but barren; lava beds had a familiar smell but supported little wildlife. They would have to go farther to find the perfect place.

 

Lobo's wisdom would guide them

They may be of Wyoming stock, their strength in their connection to volcanic timber slopes and grassland, but their experience was gained in richer territory. Expert and lethal at trapping niche animals in a familiar shared habitat. Specialists in foraging as a posse. Community skills handed down, kept their tribe alive and strong for ten generations. Lobo’s direct ancestor founded the dynasty. Nine-times-great grandfather had been a traveler, himself: descended from New Mexico’s original and celebrated Lobo, the great wolf emulated by teenagers; one of whom even human beings had heard. He, a son of the Great Wolf Spirit, inspired respect.

 

Much had changed since Man created the first National Park in their hunting grounds; some Elders believed and hoped that ethos of the original parks was alive and active in the human young.

More senior Elders felt Man had not yet learned to put aside his ancient fear of Wolf. It was even said their Ranger friends in the old homeland were persecuted in their stead for allowing Wolf to return.

Elsewhere in this great country, canis lupus was, if not extinct, definitely rare and there were few areas where they and domestic animals shared territory. But Yellowstone was a milestone park, even if it was about to die, and there was talk among humans of giving wildlife a fairer portion, a more sensitive sharing of habitat, of a new kind of park where the lion might lie down with the lamb.

Even Abuela had heard such talk and encouraged Lobo before departure to head for the most dreamed-of location because dreams come true. Oregon had volcanoes, people there were also descended from original pioneer stock and a place would be found.

After Lobo patiently explained her words, they listened thoughtfully to her opinion and came to a consensus. There was no doubt about the Elders’ decision. They were agreed their aim was for Three Sisters. There the Great Wolf Spirit would provide a place for them.

A couple of hours later, the pack was on the move.

Only Abuela, the old grandmother, stayed in her den. If Lobo’s guidance proved less than accurate or the crisis was somehow averted, they would return to her. Age gave her resignation. She watched without blinking from her rock ledge, head between outstretched paws. As she saw the last straggler leave, her eyes closed.

LOBO is an excerpt from my forthcoming spiritual novel:
SHASTA: Critical Mass by Marian Youngblood
 

Book cover by Joris Amerlaan for SHASTA: Critical Mass by Marian Youngblood

Update:April 2010
When I wrote this, who would have known that the Bush administration would cancel the US Endangered Species Act and allow wholesale murder of Wyoming and Yellowstone wolves. Wolf killing continues as a ‘sport’ in March and April 2010-2012 in Wyoming and Idaho.

I entered SHASTA: CRITICAL MASS in James Twyman and Robert Evans’ 2010 spiritual author competition, Nexttopauthor.com. The video presentation was created at that time. Another excerpt –which gives more of the novel’s volcanic flavor– can be accessed here.

‘SHASTA: CRITICAL MASS’ has been picked up by AllThingsThatMatterPress for publication during 2012. I continue to encourage all genuine interest from agents who may wish to represent the novel with its déjà vu scenario and may feel its publication is prescient. I may be contacted via this page. Thank you.

Dabbling in the Quantum Field

Spiritual novel 'SHASTA: Critical Mass'

 

In quantum physics, the act of Observation changes the object observed.  

 

Writers, especially novelists, beware. 

 

It is a truth worth remembering when knuckling down to the synopsis.  A necessary evil, some say;  but it is really important to remind yourself, when you lift your head up again after you’ve sent the ‘hook’ off to your editor/publisher/reading group that it was an exercise in stepping into the quantum field.  That’s all.  It isn’t really you.  You were acting as a mere observer presenting an object as you saw it to an outside agency.  The real you in still in there, champing at the bit, ready and waiting to get back to REAL writing.

 

I’ve been asked a few times: ‘So, what is your novel about?’  an open-ended – but natural – question from a reader.  The answer varies with the mood of the request.  Which got me thinking about queries in general and query letters in particular: oh, no, not again, sounds the imaginary chorus of rejected authors in the agent/publisher debate.

 

Any excuse will do.

 

There IS a case to be made for the poor, maligned, ever-hopeful, endless optimist writer; she does have to lay down all tools of the scribe and pick up tools of the adman to get her subject noticed.  Her query letter, synopsis and an impeccable first chapter are all she’s got.

 

But not today.   If she’s a trooper, then her Muse will return, the pen or keyboard will beckon and the wild ride will begin once more.

 

So what is my novel about?  The thing is: I didn’t think I was writing a fantasy adventure; I thought it would turn out to be an historical romance with some realtime spiritual insights; a kind of James Redfield-style handbook set in both past and present Scotland with a respectful nod to the New Age, California style.  I spent my childhood in Scotland, some early adult years in California and now swing between the two.  It made sense that I should draw on my own history to create an authentic atmosphere; I spent 20 years writing and giving lectures on the suppressed, unwritten history of my country. It wants to be told.

 

But my spirit soars when I step into the wild country of the Pacific Northwest and I guess my Muse knows that at her core.  So, let’s face it, after setting the romantic framework of ancient Scotland, my Muse was itching to get in there and change it all around.

 

As I began to relax and allow my characters to speak, Muse Girl (MG for short, thanks to S.King for his male version) wasn’t standing for any nonsense.  If it was authenticity I wanted, she would show me what the real message was in the book:  I am the instrument and she directs as the movie unfolds.  Drop the dry historical facts, castle interiors, ancient hunting forests, family lineages;  enter a succession of vivid past lives intermingled with a present day drama of a family caught up in cataclysmic events precipitated by a planet in environmental crisis.   

 

Even my title got changed:  it became SHASTA. You don’t want to know what it was before.  That got relegated to short-story-dom.

 

In some awesome way I could not (didn’t want to) control,  the 14,000-ft mountain colluded with MG to become the dominant presence.   And, gradually the historical corridor of my original vision morphed into a capsule which faded in and out, while a dormant volcano in the present-day Cascades proceeded to take over; create a tectonic miracle, and develop a scenario with potential to disrupt national and international communications. 

 

All right.  It’s true: a lot of writers see their novels as movies in their heads: it’s the way the right hemisphere transmits information.  Yet I was carried along on this visual current like a swollen river of ash and mud within a backdrop that was more than real. Daily reports issued by NOAA and the Global Volcanism Program were mirroring my scenes: Yellowstone, Mauna Loa, Kamchatka, Vesuvius.  There was no way I could put this down.

 

When each morning I went back to edit what I’d written the day before, the left hemisphere often had punctuation and grammar to correct, but the right hemisphere was right there (along with MG), ready to pick up where we left off.

 

Naturally Shasta saw to it that I learned Native American respect for her, researched her early history, became immersed in her volcanic past.  In process I discovered the difficulty humans faced constructing highways and railroads  in trying to tame her; her influence on local tradition, myths and legends surrounding her, filtered through New Age groups and sects that inhabit the valley at her feet. 

 

She is a rumbling giant; she never sleeps.   With or without a volcanic murmur, northern California suffers annual forest fires and spring deluge.   It’s what people live with all the time.  What I was being asked to do was to give it a little tweak to up the ante.  It all fit.  I had to move with the story.  It was telling itself.  And by setting the scene over one long weekend I simply brought the elements together to make it believable – in a fantastic sort of way. 

 

Ancient Scotland plays a part.  It has to.  In a quasi-science fiction way it becomes a timeline thread, interjected into the future-present narrative, meshing the background of the principal characters with a deeper element – I like to think.  Past meets present creates future earth where all is possible… of course I’m an idealist.   

 

So what is it about?  We should be grateful for the gentle reader, the well-meaning questioner.  It makes us look at genre (the agent/publisher’s tool) and in observing, perhaps changes us the writer from quantum instrument to quantum fly on the wall.

 

SHASTA made the decision for me: molded my characters, attached me to the project, wouldn’t let me go.  My historical journeys became woven through and around her, creating more substance than I originally planned.  But what story is not improved by a mystery weaving a web to pull one in, to keep up the pace, to NOT give away the ending?   

 

Quantum field? Personal movies or Images of this scale are beyond quantum physics, in my humble opinion.  A project guided from beyond? A spiritual adventure? Particle or wave, it chose me to put it into print, and I am the first to say that I, the observer, was changed by it. Not the other way around.  

The Timeless Art of Getting Back on the Horse

We’ve all been there.

I got rejected by a BIG publishing house editor around 10 days ago and I haven’t really been able to share the information until now.

Some of us use the dear joan letter as a springboard for our next plunge into an alien world and rebound with a kitbag of ideas; others take rejection (from an agent, a publisher, an editor – they all hit hard) very personally and never surface again.

But there is part of me that uses the kick of the mule of rejection – timelapse included – as a way of getting back up on the animal; I think I come to terms with my own vulnerability, start to look at the wounded soft centre as a way through, as a tool to create a gentler version of a particularly difficult character, or to be ruthless and throw out a superfluous scene.

For me that’s a better way  than to allow the rejection process to gag and bind me into hardening and toughening and ‘becoming the adversary’.

Been there; done that.  And it doesn’t work because I’m still me inside. I live with me and my characters, my story are part of me.  Something phenomenal came from my keyboard and I’m not going to let it go.

It’s not easy to say this.  But I have slept on it.

Writers are traditionally loners by definition.  I think the part of this writer who feels most miffed is the invisible self-critic, the one on alert all the time; so being told by the ‘expert’ what I already know: that’s a little of a let-down. 

The thing is, the other comments were really helpful, constructive, even complimentary.  I liked having my writing style compared with Sheri Tepper; Barbara Kingsolver;  and yet sustaining a ‘fast pace which manages to stay just the right side of chaotic’ (?)

 I like chaotic.

But putting it out there, stretching out the young shoot and having it nipped by frost – again:  that is the hardest to handle.  It implies not good enough. Compromise, adaptation, tailoring required.

There are those who react to a negative response by thinking their work is somehow mediocre, not complete; needs re-grouping, splitting into two separate books; compromising the original idea which was to write a great big exciting blockbuster to end all blockbusters.  

Why then let the dream die?

Why shouldn’t the original dream  be more real than the  ultimate short story mini-format adaptation the publishing industry thinks it wants?  We know it’s the reader who counts : s/he’s the one with desire to read our book in the mindset we originally conceived it: holed up in the imagination, carried along by the story, wanting to see what happens next.

It’s the reader that keeps us in the novel business.  The publisher is incidental.  Heavens, don’t let them know I said that.  I might get rejected – again.

I don’t intend to offend the big publishing houses – if indeed there are personalities left to offend.  They are necessary to the whole works.  There are, however, one or two little things they should know: people have, do, and will continue to read. The book business isn’t going to die.

Like the rest of us it’s currently going through a process of change.  

One thing a new-age spiritual discipline teaches me is change can make or break me: make or break any enterprise. It’s up to the individual to see change (in this instance, rejection) as failure or potential success. And no outside critic is more valid than my own fierce inner censor.  

But a writer has to lay down his tools when it comes to the query letter  because it requires a different mindset to write, a commercial approach that’s usually foreign to the novelist, the romance author, the passionate thriller-writer.  Unlike the industry:  they have the edge on us. They get to use tools – like arbitrary filtering, rejection – that have kept them in business: it allows them to do what they do best: publish books. They get to shut out the best, the middling and the bad at the first hurdle, just because that’s what they have to do.

I like what Randy Pausch says in The Last Lecture: 

‘The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.’

I agree.  I’m not other people.  I’m going to make this one work.