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’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]
Yearof 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
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!
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.
Many early saints who converted pagan inhabitants of North Britain to early Christianity had roots in Ireland, were influenced by Candida Casa in Whithorn, Galloway or, like Columba, by the Abbey of Iona. Surprisingly, in contrast, St. Patrick [patron saint of Ireland] was a Britonnic monk, taken captive and transported to Irish territory—where he escaped, preached widely, thus gaining the country’s idolatry.
Christianity had a foothold in early Rome—St. Valentine a prime example of a martyr killed before the end of Roman rule in Britannia, A.D.420. But military occupation of Britain-including forays into Scotia beyond Hadrian & Antonine Walls were conducted under the protection of legionaries’ beloved god Mithras. Derived from Assyrian-Greek Mithra worship, he was purely pagan himself; born under the Tree of Life already bearing arms; able to ride-& slaughter-the sacred Bull whose blood fertilized earth.
Legend tells that c.565, St Columba/Columcille, travelling with fellow Celtic monk Drostan aka Drust macCosgreig wound up in Old Deer in Buchan Aberdeenshire, where they founded a monastery, above. When Columba left, Drostan shed tears [Deira], giving the name to later Abbey built there. The Book of Deer,(Gael. Leabhar Dhèir) below pix top l. was written here:a Latin 10thC Gospel Book, with early12thC additions in Latin, Old Irish and Sc.Gaelic, it contains the earliest surviving Gaelic writing from Scotland; now in Cambridge Univ.Library [MS.ii.6.32].New archaeo discovery has unearthed original monastic cell
Top pix ‘beast’ Church of Clatt; salmon & dolphin; lower rt Rhynie Barflat & Picardy Stone at Dunnydeer, Insch, Aberdeenshire. See Pictish symbols below.
Early Saints’ Names and their Regional Variations
Adamnan, Abbot of Iona, d. A.D.704; Feast Jan.27th.Attended Council A.D.697 where he proposed Iona should come into line with Rome on Easter date. Also that women be spared from waging battle. Other forms:Aunan, Arnty, Ennan, Eunan, Ounan, St.Eunan (Teunin), Skeulan, Eonan, Ewen, Arnold, Ardeonaig, Ardeonan, Kilmaveonaig (Perthshire), Damsay (Orkney), ‘Adamnan’s Isle,’ Killennan (Argyll), Kirkennan (Kirkcudbright).
Adrian or Odran, Bishop & Martyr A.D.875, Oronsay (‘St. Oran’s Isle’), Killoran (Colonsay), Scour Ouran (St.Oran’s Hill), Inverness. Aidan, Bishop, A.D. 651. Inchaddon, Kilmadock (Perthshire). Andrew, Apostle, Patron of Scotland: St. Andrews (Fife), Kirkandrews (Roxburgh). Feast Nov.30th Angus, a disciple of St. Columba: Clach Aenais (‘Stone of Angus’), Balquhidder. Aseph, Bishop, A.D.590. Tobar Asheg (‘St. Asaph’s Well’), Loch Rannoch. Augustine(fromPopeGregoryI) Brit.St.A.D.596 instruction not2 destroy pagan sites; only [Pictish]stones within, as they shouldB ‘converted from dowership of demons to the true God’ -aka Class-I 6thC inscribed stones now in e.g. kirkyards Kintore, Bourtie, Clatt, Dyce, Huntly, Inverurie ABD
Book of Kells (Codex Cenannensis; Irish Gael. Leabhar Cheanannais); also known as the Book of Columba), an illuminated MS & Celtic Gospel book in Latin, contains four Gospels of the New Testament with texts and tables. Originally thought to have been written at Iona, it is now believed to have come from a Columban monastery in either Ireland or Scotland, and contributed to by both regions. Created c.A.D.800.
Bathan, Bishop, A.D.639 Abbey St. Bathan’s (Berwickshire), Bowden (Bothenden), Roxburgh. Baldred, Hermit, A.D.608 St. Baldred’s Cave, Cradle, and Well (Haddingtonshire). Barr or Finbar, Bishop, 6thC: Barra (‘St. Barr’s Isle’), Dunbar (Haddington), Barr (Ayrshire). Baya, Beya, or Vey, Virgin, c.9thC: Kilbag Head (Lewis), St. Vey’s Chapel (Cumbria). Bean, Bishop, A.D.1012: Kirkbean (Dumfries). Begha or Bez, Virgin, c.A.D.660: Kilbucho (Biggar), Kilbagie (Clackmannan). Berach, Abbot: Kilberry (Argyll). Berchan, Bishop: Kilbarchan (Renfrew). Blane, Bishop, A.D.590: Kilblane (Argyll), Dunblane (Perth), Blane (Bute).
Jan 12: Feast of Benedict, Bishop & Abbot A.D.628-89. Founded A.D.674 St Peter’s, Wearmouth, & sister monastery St Paul’s, Jarrow, in 682. Both foundations benefited from his trips2 continental Europe where he inspired2 bring back books, masons & other craftsmen, to work both monasteries
Feast Peter & Paul June 29th
Boisil, Prior of Old Melrose, A.D.664: St. Boswell’s (Roxburghshire). Brandon, Abbot, A.D. 577: Kilbrandon/Kilbrennan (Oban), Kilbirnie (Beith), Birnie(Elgin), Balbirnie (Fife). Bridget/Brigida or Bride, Virgin, A.D.523: Brydekirk (Annan), Kilbride(Arran, Argyll, Dumfries) Lhanbryde (Lhan: Brittonic/Welsh=church)(Moray). Brioc, Bishop, A.D.500: Inchbrayock (near Montrose), Kirkmabreck (Kirkcudbright). Buite or Boethius, Monk, A.D. 521:Carbuddo (Caer Buido, ‘Buite’s fort’), Kirkbuddo (Forfar), ‘Byth Market’ (Aberdeen).
Colmán of Lindisfarne (†676), Bishop A.D.661-4. Chief Bishop instrumental in dating of Easter at A.D.666 Synod of Whitby, after which he resigned. Withdrew to Iona w/his followers then founded monastery on Inis Bó Finne (Inishbofin) in his native Ireland c.667. Feast day February 18th. Patron Lindisfarne, Farne Is. N.umberland, pic.l.
Coivin or Kevin, Abbot, A.D.618: St. Coivin’s Chapel, Kilkivan, and ‘St. Kevin’s Bed’ (Argyll). Colluoc, Bishop, A.D.500: Portmahomack (Tain, Ross), Inchmahome (Lake of Menteith). Colmonel, A.D.610: Kilcalmonell (Argyll), Colmonell (Ayr). Columba or Colum Cille, Abbot, A.D.563: Kilmacolm (Greenock), Inchcolm (Fife), Colonsay (Argyll), Icolmkill (Iona), Kirkcolm (Wigtown). Congal, Abbot, A.D.602: Dercongal (near Dumfries). Comgan or Congan, Abbot, 8thC: Kilchoau (Argyll, Ross&Cromarty), St.Coan (Skye), Kilcowan (Wigtown). Comman, A.D.688: Kilchoran (Islay). Conan, Bishop, A.D.648: Kilconan (Perthshire), St. Conan’s Well (Argyll). Constantine, King & Martyr, A.D.811-820 pix 3. above Dupplin Cross Lat. Custatin filius Forcus =
Lat.trans=Constantine son of Fergus; viz important ogham inscription both edges & Xtian cross-side of Class-II Rodney’s Stone at Brodie Castle, Forres, MOR, rt., seat of Brodie family constructed 1567 moved frm. previous site kirkyard Dyke-Moy 1/2mE on bend R.Findhorn: in 1208-15 records as Logyn-Fithenach, link2 local placenames on John the Baptist, e.g.Ihons-logyfr. Pont’s 1590 Nairnshire map (q.v), Meads of St John & St John’s Pool.
Custatin: Kilclousland (Kintyre), St. Cousland Fair (Forfar), Chousland (Midlothian). King of Picts 811-820, buried St.Andrews crypt, guardianship St.A Cathedral Museum
Conval, c. A.D.612: St. Conall’s Chapel, Ferreness (Renfrew), Kirkconnel (Dumfries). Cormac, Abbot, A.D.6thC: Kilmacharmaig (Kintyre), Kirkcormac (Kirkcudbright). Cumine, Abbot, c. A.D.668: Kilchuimein (Scots Gael.= Fort Augustus) and also= St.Cumin’s Seat Cuthbert, Bishop, A.D. 687: Kirkcudbright (Cuthbert’s Church) Churches dedicated to St. Cuthbert throughout Scotland from Wick to Kirkcudbright [originally Northumbrian/Tyneside]. Cyricus, aka Grig, King & Martyr, A.D.880-889: Ceres (Fife), St. Cyrus and Ecclesgrig (Kincardine) King Grig built first Harbour of Aberdeen.
Dabius or Davius, Priest: Kildavie (Bute & Mull) Denis or Dionysius: Dennis Head (Orkney), Dennistoun (Glasgow). Devenic, Saint A.D.887: Banchory Devenick (Kincardine), St. Devenick’s Fair (Aberdeenshire). Donan, Martyr, A.D.616: Kildonan (Wigtown, Argyll, Ross, Sutherland & Bute), ‘Donan Fair’ ABD Eilean Donan (Ross & Cromarty). Draighen: Kirkmadrine (Wigtown). Drostan, Abbot, see Abbey of Deer, top, 6thC; Craigrostan (Ben Lomond), Drustie’s Well (Forfar), St. Drostan’s Croft (Inverness). Duthac, Bishop, A.D.1068: Kilduich, Arduthie, Kilduthie (Kincardine), Duthie Park, ABD.
Class-I inscribed Pictish symbols
Because Pictish pagan belief in sacred salmon & dolphin [l. ‘beast’] was strong, [pix.top lower rt.panel] early Saints like Fergus [Dyce], below, used Gk.acronym ICTHYS=[trans.Jesus Christ son of God], Lat.’piscis’=fish 2explain Xtianity 2converts.
Ebba, Abbess, A.D.683: St. Abb’s Head (Berwickshire). Englatius/Tanglan, Saint & Abbot, A.D.966: Tanglan’s Well & Ford (Aberdeenshire). Ernan, Abbot, A.D.640: Killearnan (Sutherland), Kinnernie, ABD. Ethernan, Bishop/Martyr Iona or Isle of May? A.D.669 mentioned in Annals of Ulster Itarnan et Corindu apud Pictores defuncti suntThos.Clancy trans. as ‘killed by Picts’ rather than simply ‘died among Picts’: hence martyr; ‘St. Ethernan’s Den’ (Aberdeenshire), ‘Tetheren’s Fair”(Forfar); Isle of May (Fife coast) believed to be site of his original burial, as his tomb was site of worship 4pilgrims until Reformation. His name in ogham inscribed on Rodney’s Stone at Brodie Castle above2rt, orig.frm nearby Dyke/Moy ABD.
Fergus, Bishop, 8thC: ‘Fergan Well’ (Banff), St. Fergus (ABD,pix l.) Dalrossie-Sc.Gael. dal Fhearghuis, ‘Field of Fergus’.
St. Fergus Chapel off Tyrebagger road at Recumbent stone circle [RSC] Dyce above Aberdeen [Dyce] Airport, contains magnifi- cent ‘teaching stone’, l., w/Class-II cross & rear marked in ogham in shape of fish, to appeal to Pictish converts whose Salmon was a sacred creature.
St.Fergus attended Rome council A.D.721 on behalf of Pictish king Nechtan 2make connection which marked way forward for Pictland as 1st Xtian nation in N.Britain
Fiacre, Abbot, AD. 760. St. Ficker’s Bay and St. Fittack’s Well (Kincardineshire). Fillan, Abbot, A.D.8thC: Strathfillan (Perthshire), Kilphillane (Wigtown), Kilellan(Inverness), Killallan (Renfrew), St. Fillan’s Cave (Fife), St. Fillain’s Well (Ayr).c.f. Fillan, Faolan, or Fuelan (‘the Stammerer’), A.D.6thC:’ St. Fillan’s, Dunfillan, and ‘St. Fillan’s Chair’ (Perthshire); Findchanus, Kilfinnichen and St. Finnichen’s Chair (Argyll); also c.f. Finan or Finian, Bishop, c.A.D.575: Kilfinan (Argyll and Wigtown), Glen Finan (Argyll), St. Finan Chapel and Finzean Fair at Finzean [pron. Fing’an] (Aberdeenshire).
Dardanus Stone or Corsedardar rt. 5ft/1.5m megalith/remnant Neolithic circle, Finzean/Feughside, Birse nr.Aboyne ABD access Cairnamount to Strachan/Finzean; broken 18thC, repaired 2 stand nr roadside war memorial. Banchory 5mi ENE; 1/2mi frm Finzean Long Cairn 33mx3m 26m wide W end/of several [Neolithic] longcairns/ burial mounds. Former boundary Kincardine. Finzean Fair 3rd Tues Lent feeing & circus event fair Migvie, Tarland ABD local tradition assoc.w/St Finnian of Moville
Findoc, Fyndoca, Virgin ? Killintag (Argyll); Findo Gask and St, Phink’s Chapel (Perthshire) Flannan: Flannan Islands (W of Lewis). Fumac: St.Fumac’s Well and Fair (Banff and Caithness).
Gervadius or Gernadius, A.D.934: ‘Gerardin’s Cave’ and Well (Elgin). Giles/Egidius, Abbot, A.D.714: St. Giles’ Cathedral (Edinburgh), St. Giles’ Fairs (Aberdeen, Dumfries, and Elgin). Glascianus or Glass, Bishop: Kinglassie and St. Glass’s Well (Fife), Kilmaglas (Argyll). Griselda: Ecclesiamagirdle, Pitkeathly (Perthshire). John, Apostle: Ihon’s Logy & Meads of St.John, E of R.Findhorn; Johnstone (Renfrew & Dumfries)
Custatin filius Forcus= [King] Constantine son of Fergus, king of Picts 811-820 (pix. top 2nd rt.Dupplin cross) held his court in Fortriu aka Forteviot (where Dupplin cross in museum; replica on hillside) & founded ancient Abbey/Cathedral of St.Andrew’s, Fife where he retired fr kingship-see Brodie His 9thC sarcophagus inSt.A Abbey church
St.Andrew, Greek born in Holy Land, patron saint of Scotland, whose flag shows how he was crucified=sideways—#saltire.
Saint Lucy (283–304)( Latin: Sancta Lucia) of Syracuse, Sicily was a Roman Christian martyr d.304 during Diocletian Persecution; patron saint of blind, eyes, sight [“lucid”= see or think “clearly”] feast of Light December 13th celebrated Sicily annually during Lent
Macceus or Mahew, c.A.D.460: Kilmahew (Dumbarton), Kirkmahoe (Dumfries). Machan, Bishop, c. 6thC: Ecclesmachan: ‘Church of Machan’ (Linlithgow). Machar, Mauritius or Mocumma, Bishop, 6thC: founded monastery, site of St. Machar’s Cathedral Old Aberdeen on bend of River Don: Machar parishes & Haugh (Old Aberdeen). Machalus or Mauchold, Bishop, A D.498: Kilmaichlie (Banffshire). Machutus/Malo, Bishop, A.D.565: Kirkmahoe (Dumfries), Lesmahagow (Lanarkshire), corruption of ‘Ecclesia St. Machuti’: [from which French town St. Malo (Brittany) derives its name.
Martinmas Feast-prior2 Nov.11 “Veteran’s /Remembrance Day”celebrated w/goose or chicken in Holland/Germany/Austria with lanterns [made of sugar beet, beetroot or turnip; now paper] children’s parade visit to homes like current Hallowe’en/Guy Fawkes; Germanic prelude to U.S. ‘Trick-or-treat’.
Ancient ‘feeing day’ marked end Harvest start of Winter in Europe/N.hemisphere. Saint cut off 1/2his cloak to give 2beggar.
Martin tried to avoid being canonized by hiding in goose pen; geese raised the alarm-hence goose feast! Cult spread to U.S. from France, Ireland via continental Europe & Wales where Cŵn Annwn, spectral Hounds who escort souls2 Otherworld engaged in a Wild Hunt led by Odin-Hallowe’en mix.
Mary, Virgin Mother: Gilmerton (Midlothian), Kilmarow, Kilmorie, Tobermory (Argyll), Kilry (Fife & Perth), Kilvarie (Perth), St. Mary’s Loch (Selkirk), St. Mary’s Holm (Orkney), Maryculter (Aberdeenshire). Medan or Middanus, Abbot?:St. Medan’s Knowe and ‘Maidie’s Well’ (Forfar). Maelrubha or Mulruy or Mury, Martyr, A.D.722: Loch Maree (Rossshire), Kilmaree, Kilarrow (Argyll), Amulree (Perthshire); Samareves Fair (Culsalmond, Aberdeenshire), St. Mariers, (Forres), Summaruff (St. Maruff, Fordyce/Banffshire/Aberdeenshire)
Magnus, Martyr, A.D.1116: St. Magnus Cathedral (Kirkwall, Orkney), St. Magnus Bay (Shetland). Margaret, Queen, A.D.1093: widow of Malcolm III Canmore St. Margaret’s (Edinburgh), St. Margaret’s Hope/bay), Queensferry (Orkney), St.Margaret’s School for Girls, (Albyn Place, Aberdeen) Marnan/Marnoch, Bishop, A.D.625. Kilmarnook (Ayrshire), Inchmarnook (Bute), Dalmarnock (Perth), Ardmarnook (Argyll), Aberchirder & Leochel, Lumphanan ABD Feast: Marnoch Fair 2nd Tues, March. Maura, Virgin: Kilmaurs (Ayrshire). Mayota/Mazota, Virgin, A.D.6thC: Drumoak/ Dalmoak (‘Field of Mayota’), and St. Maikie’s Well, ABD. Medana/Edana, Virgin, A.D.518: Kirkrnaiden or Maidenkirk; St. Medan’s Chapel & Cave (Wigtown), Pitmedden (Aberdeenshire) AA [Archangel] Michael: Kilmichael (Argyll), Kirkmichael (Perth, Dumfries, and Ayr). Moack/Moucus: Portmoak (Kinross), Drumoak (Aberdeenshire). Molios/Laserian, Abbot,A.D.639:Lamlash(Sc.Gael, lann Lais, Church of Lais) St.Molio’sBed (Arran) Molocus, Moluoc, or Lughaidh, Bishop, A.D.592:St. Molloch’s Fair, ‘Luoch Fair’ (Aberdeenshire), ‘St. Malogue’s. Fair’ (Perthshire), Kiimoluag, Kilmallow (Argyll). Modan, Abbot: Balmodhan (Ardchattan), and Kilmodan (Argyll). Monan, Bishop, A.D.571: St. Monans, Kilminning (Fife), St. Monon (Ross), Minnan Fair (Caithness); Feast Feb.4th Monoch or Monachus: ‘Sam Maneuke’s’ (St. Monk’s Day) and Auchmannoch (Ayr). Moroc, Bishop: Kilmorick and St. Muireach’s Well (Dunkeld), Kilmorack (Beauly). M’indus/Fintan Munnu, Abbot, A.D.635: Eileanmunde (M’s Island), and Kilmun Mund’s Church, (Argyll). Mungo or Kentigern, Bishop, A.D.603: St. Mungo’s (Dumfries), St. Mungo’s Isle (Inverness), St. Mungo’s Cathedral; Strathbungo (Glasgow), Balinungo (Fife)-see Thenog below. Murdoch, Bishop: Kilmorich (Argyll), Chapel Dockie (Forfar).
St. Nicholas of Myra A.D.270-343 Gk.Bishop Asia Minor [modern-day Demre,Turkey] patron saint in Europe of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, unmarried ppl, & students; his cult brought to New York/New Amsterdam by 1st Dutch settlers; known4 miracles & secret gifts to children. Festival: St.Nicholas Day December 6th, developed into Christmas reindeer cult w/gifts to children & focus of “12 days of Christmas” which begin Christmas Eve climb down chimney. In Pacific NW Indigenous Americans celebrate “rain season” when reindeer shed their antlers. Aberdeen South St.Nicholas church, Belmont St. known4 20thC gift-giving Rev. Chas. Edwin Forster, on whose d.1956, kirk converted in2 nightclub [rolling in his grave]; nearby kirks of E & W St.Nicholas guard main ABD cemetery; No N.St.Nicholas exists but Back Wynd tunnel leads2 pedestrian Geo.St.
Nathalan or Nachlan, Bishop, A.D.678:St. Nathalan’s Fair, Oldmeldrum & Nachlan’s Well (ABDshire). Ninian or Kingan, Bishop, A.D.432: Kilninian (Argyll) St. Ninian’s (Stirling), North Ronaldsay or Rinansay ‘Isle of Ringan'(Orkney), Kilrenny (Anstruther, Fife), St. Innian’s Well (Lanark), St. Ninian’s Chapel (Linlithgow), Ringan’s Dean (Roxburgh), Kilninian (Argyll), St.Ninian’s Den & Chapel (Kincardine).
Obert?:’St. Obert’s Eve,’ (Perth). Olaf/Olav or Ollow, King of Norway & Martyr, A.D.1030: Ollaberry=Olaf’s burgh(Shetland), St.Ole’s Fair (Lewis), St. Ollowe’s Bridge (Kirkwall, Orkney). Osborne? Ooseburn: ’till Osbern’ (Dumfries & Galloway). Oswald, King & Martyr, A.D.642: Kirkoswald (Maybole, Ayrshire) Kirkoswald, (Penrith, Lake District). Palladius, Bishop, A.D.430: Aberfeldy (Perthshire), Paldy’s Well (Fordoun), ‘Paldy Fair,’ (Kincardine), St. Palladius celebrated Inverurie & Kintore (Aberdeenshire). Patrick, Britonnic Bishop, captive taken to Ireland A.D.493: Patron saint of Ireland [Eire] celebrated U.S. St. Patrick/Paddy’s Day, March 17th; Kilpatrick (Dumbarton), Ardpatrick (Argyll), Dalpatrick (Lanark), Kirkpatrick (Dumfriesshire), Kilpatrick (Arran), Kilspindie (Perthshire).
Apostles St.Peter & St.Paul joint feast June 29th; early3rdC Peter celebrated as martyr crucified Rome upside down(1stC) by Nero symbol upside-down cross; founder Roman church; & iconic Pictish Peterkirks of 8thC King Nechtan. Paul, a Roman, could not be crucified; was beheaded by emperor Nero A.D.54-68 ‘reponsible 4Rome’s great Fire’
St. Peter, Apostle: Peterculter (Aberdeenshire), Kilfeather (Wigtown). Nechtan Peterkirks throughout Scotland, Northumbria & parts of Cumbria, Yorkshire & N.England Regulus or Rule, Bishop: ‘Trewell Fair’ (Aberdeenshire), St. Regulus’ Tower (see St. Andrews, pic above). Ronan, Bishop, A.D.737: Ronay (Skye & Lewis), Port Ronan (Iona), St. Ronan’s Well (Peebles), Kilmaron (Fife), Kilmarnock (Dumbarton), Kilinaronog (Argyll). Serf/Servanus, Bishop,6thC: St.Serf’s Isle (Loch Leven), St.Sear’s Well (Dumbarton), St.Serf’s Fair Perth (& Linlithgow), Dalserf (Lanarkshire), St.Sair’s Fair, Colpy, Culsalmond ABD, & Monkeigy, KeithHall ABD.
St. Stephen, patron saint of stonemasons, deacons, altar servers, bricklayers, casket makers, patron of Hungary, c.A.D.5-34, Hellenist Jew appointed after conversion by Apostles 2distribute food &aid 2poor; at address2 Jewish Sanhedrin council re his faith, called blasphemous & stoned d.A.D.34-1st Xtian martyr Gk.Stephanos=wreath/crown=reward/honor/fame ‘Feast of Stephen’ Europe=Boxing Day, Dec.26th. Jewish 8-day Festival of Light Hanukkah Dec.18th-26th
Suibhne & ‘Sweeney’, Abbots of Iona, A.D.657 and 772: Castle Sween (Argyll). Talarican/Talorcan Bishop, A.D.616: Kiltarlity (Inverness), Tarquin’s Well (Banff, Stirling) Talorcan kirk & belltower, Fordyce, Banff N.coast, now ABD. Ternan, Bishop, A.D.431 [viz St.Ernan above A.D.640] BanchoryTernan (Kincardine, now Aberdeenshire) Thenew or Thenog, A.D.514 (Mother of St.Mungo).St. Enoch’s formerly SanTheneuke’s Kirk, (Glasgow). Triduana or Tradwell, Virgin, 6thC: Kintradwell (Caithness), Tradlines (Kincardine), St. Tredwell’s Loch & Chapel (Orkney), ‘St. Trodlin’s Fair’ (Forfar). Vigean/Fechin, Abbot, A.D.664: St. Vigean’s (Forfar), Ecclefechan (Dumfries). Volocus/Wallach, Bishop, 5th? or 6thC: St. Wallach’s Baths, Wallakirk, patron of Glass nr. Huntly & St. Wallach’s Well (Aberdeenshire). Wynnin/Finian or Frigidian, Bishop, A.D.579: Kilwinning, Caerwinning & St. Wynnin’s Fair (Ayrshire), Inchinnan (Renfrew), Kirkgunzeon (Kirkcudbright), Lumphanan (Aberdeenshire), Lumphinnan (Fife). Yrchardus/Merchard, Bishop, 5th or 6thC: Merchard’s Seat, Well, and Churchyard (Invernessshire).
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.
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…
Approaching another #Stargate has us reflecting on 2012. Then we thought the world as we knew it was ending.
Thoth, Ibis god of writing & learning; god of the Moon; sacred scribe
A decade later we confront ourselves again now—humans becoming superhuman—Egyptians, Assyrians, Scythians knew this would happen—we are their gods.
Ancient texts, such as (much-maligned) Hebrew/Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls, and Egyptian ‘Knowledge of Thoth’, insist that we humans are destined to become gods; that from their Zep Tepi—Dawn of Time—literally First Time—we were programmed to evolve beyond our present terrestrial form.
The Egyptian god spoke of the Star Walkers—individuals who, like Enoch, traveled beyond the Great Eye of Orion [out of the program] and returned—to walk like gods amongst men. Such evolved humans are comparable with the ‘Lords of Light’ of the Maya, Sumerian Nephilim or Anunnaki—”those who from Heaven to Earth came”—and the Tibetan Dakini—Shining Ones.
Inca portal of Amaru Muru at Hayu Marca, which is believe to give access to the world of serpent wisdom and interdimensional travel Last weekend the sun stood, as it does on both equinoxes—March 21st, September 22nd—directly overhead on earth’s equator, before making its (apparent) journey southward towards the tropic of Capricorn, where it will stand on winter solstice—S.hemisphere midsummer—on December 21st, 2012. For one day and night, everyone on planet earth experienced a twelve-hour day* and twelve-hour night, with sunrise due east and sunset due west. From now on, days in the northern hemisphere will appear dramatically shorter. If that were not enough to make the most avid outdoorsman turn inwards for consolation, the end of the British crop circle season would appear to be a done deal.
*allowance is made for sunrays appearing before ‘dawn’, giving longer daylight at some latitudes.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) on Hawai’i’s Mauna Kea and Atacama’s Large Submillimeter Array (SMA) answered some cosmic prayers this week.
Event Horizon Discovery by Global AstroSci Team
Summit of Mauna Kea at 13,000ft has ideal microclimate for Harvard-Smithsonian Event Horizon 8-telescope array
The Submillimeter Array of eight radio telescopes alongside the James Clerk Maxwell Observatory on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawai’i have sent earthling skywatchers skyrocketing with delight, as they released their first picture of Messier-87—a super-dense neutron region or ‘black hole’ in Virgo galaxy this week.
Hawai’i is crucial to Event Horizon (EHT)’s world network. Its high volcanic setting provides cloud-free receiving/bending of its own multiple signal—from three points in an array of eight new [radio]telescopes, top, with Mauna Kea Observatory’s James Clerk Maxwell 49-foot dish telescope, and reusing CalTech’s nearby CSO ‘redundant’ observatory.
Previously co-funded by Great Britain, Canada and Netherlands, EHT is presently co-sponsored by Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts with the Academia Sinica, and a consortium of astrophysics interests from Taiwan, China, Japan, South Korea and Chile. EHT is in international partnership with the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan, together with NRC (Canada), NSC and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea). Vital cooperation is the link with the Republic of Chile—where ALMA‘s 66 high-precision antennae are located on the Chajnantor plateau, at 5000 meters altitude/one mile high in northern Chile.
(ALMA)=Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
Event Horizon Telescope —EHT— world’s 1st super-array captures its first picture of ultra-dense neutron region M-57 in constellation Virgo
The Event Horizon Telescope—EHT—is a global array of radio telescopes involving dozens of institutions and astrophysicists round the world. Breakthrough discovery by the EHT is an image of Messier 87 (M-87)’s supermassive neutron black hole at the center of the Virgo galaxy cluster, 55 million light years away. This neutron-dense region contains 6.5 billion times the mass of our Sun.
Affectionately named ‘black holes’ are extremely compressed cosmic objects, containing extraordinary amounts of mass packed densely into a tiny region of space. This mass is shrouded by an event horizon—a boundary beyond which nothing—not even light—can escape its electromagnetic/gravitational pull.
They affect their surroundings in extreme ways, including warping spacetime and heating surrounding material to hundreds of billions of degrees. Albert Einstin in his 1915 Theory of General Relativity predicted that a black hole would cast a circular shadow on its bright, glowing material. The newly-released image of M87 from EHT reveals this shadow.
Light emitted from inside the event horizon can never reach the outside observer. Likewise, any object approaching the horizon from the observer’s side appears to slow down and never quite pass through the horizon—its image becoming more and more redshifted as time elapses. This means that the wavelength of the light emitted from the object is getting longer as the object moves away from the observer. The traveling object, however, experiences no strange effects and does, in fact, pass through the horizon in a finite amount of ‘proper’ time.
As high as the Swiss Alps, Mauna Kea hosts climate-immune radiotelescope array for worldwide science cooperative
Black hole event horizons are widely misunderstood. Common, although erroneous, is the notion that black holes vacuum up material in their neighborhood, where in fact they are no more capable of seeking to consume than any other gravitational attractor. As with any mass in the universe, matter must come within its gravitational scope for the possibility to exist of capture or consolidation with any other mass. Equally common is the idea that matter can be observed falling into a black hole. This is not possible either.
Astronomers can detect only accretion disks around black holes, where material moves with such speed that friction creates detectable high-energy radiation. Matter from these accretion disks is forced out along the axis of spin of the black hole, creating visible jets where the streams interact with matter—such as interstellar gas—or if they happen to be aimed directly at Earth.
J.A.Peacock Cosmological Physics, 1999
A distant observer—or world-class telescope array—will never actually see something reach the horizon. Instead, while approaching its edge, the object will seem to go ever more slowly, while any light it emits will be further and further redshifted.
Earth-size Telescope Dish
In order to see a black hole for the first time, the Event Horizon Telescope team hooked up an array of radio telescopes in Hawai’i, Central and South America (Atacama), Europe, Greenland and Antarctica, with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) dish in Cambridge, MA.
EHT signals from global telescope network create earth-size dish receiver, beamed Mauna Kea HI to Cambridge MA for image resolution by the EHT team
Using a technique known as very long baseline (vLBI) interferometry, the CfA-MIT team took precisely-timed data from each radio telescope, combining them to produce images comparable with what an Earth-hemisphere-sized dish would capture. The resulting virtual telescope has the highest resolution of any instrument ever built on earth, in orbit within the Solar System—or even beyond the Heliopause where Voyagers I & II entered Interstellar Space.
We’re a melting pot of astronomers, physicists, mathematicians and engineers. That’s what it took to achieve something once thought impossible.
Katie Bouman, PhD CfA elec.engineer/computer sci
Co-author six papers in Astrophysical Journal Letters
EHT’s image reveals that this enormous black hole—large enough to engulf the solar system—anchors a jet that extends outwards for tens of thousands of light years.
Hawai’i’s Mauna a Wakea—white mountain—multiple telescope array at 13,803feet on the dormant volcano played crucial role in Event Horizon success
There are already plans to expand the EHT: to enable the team to make time-lapse movies of the dynamics of this (newly-discovered) living system, and to discover how the jet draws its energy from this negative source.
Creating the EHT was a formidable challenge which required upgrading and connecting a worldwide network of thirteen pre-existing telescopes deployed at a variety of challenging high-altitude sites. These locations included volcanoes in Hawai`i and Mexico, mountains in Arizona and the Spanish Sierra Nevada, the Chilean Atacama Desert, and Antarctica.
All Very Baseline Interferometry
Event Horizon observations use a technique called very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) which synchronizes 13 telescopes around the world, using earth’s rotation to form one huge, Earth-size telescope observing at a wavelength of 1.3 mm. This lets EHT achieve an angular resolution of 20 micro-arc-seconds—enough to read a newspaper in New York from a sidewalk café in Paris.
From Chile’s Atacama high desert to Spain’s Sierra Nevada to Mauna Kea’s multiple array, telescopes worldwide combined to bring new images beyond human expectation and belief
Resolution of the EHT image depends on separation distance between the telescopes—the baseline—and the short-millimeter radio wavelengths captured around the world. EHT’s finest resolution is achieved by the longest baseline, which for M87 stretches from Hawai’i to Spain and Greenland to Antarctica. To optimize long baseline sensitivity—or make detection possible—the team developed a specialized system which combines all signals from Mauna Kea’s SMA dishes, letting Hawai’i act as a single EHT station.
Beaming-coordinating signals from night-time (western) half of the globe employs optimum use of precious telescope time when the other—Asian—hemisphere is in daylight.
After separately recording signals at all thirteen telescopes, data are flown to a single location and combined by computer to create an image by a virtual Earth-size telescope—first of its kind.
Petabytes, Raw Data and Red Shift
Lindy Blackburn, EHT data processing team leader and coauthor explains that EHT holds millions of gigabytes of data from many telescopes that weren’t originally designed to work together. ‘We developed multiple pathways to process and calibrate data, using new algorithms to stabilize the Earth’s atmosphere and to align the signals from all sites within trillionths of a second precisely.’
Rapidly spinning supermassive hole surrounded by its accretion disc of rotating leftovers from Sun-like star ripped apart by the hole’s tidal force, courtesy ALMA Large Array, Atacama
Telescopes contributing to this result were ALMA*, APEX, the Spanish IRAM 30-meter telescope, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, the Large Millimeter Telescope Alfonso Serrano, the Submillimeter Array, the Greenland Submillimeter Telescope, and the South Pole Telescope. Petabytes of raw data from all telescopes were combined by highly specialized supercomputers hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Munich, and MIT Haystack Observatory, Cambridge, MA.
*Atacama Large Millimeter-Submillimeter Array in Andes high desert, Chile
Global teamwork meant a close collaboration by astrophysicists, technicians and researchers around the world—and a first for science.
Construction of the EHT and this week’s observations represent the culmination of decades of close technical theoretical work. Thirteen partner institutions worked together to create the EHT, using both pre-existing infrastructure and support from a variety of world agencies. Key funding was provided by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), EU’s European Research Council (ERC), and funding agencies in East Asia, above.
On a planetary level, we sci-fi addicts thank the team for rising above national barriers and creating something previously only dreamed of.
The three witches—current version—in forecourt of Glamis Castle, ancient thanage in Angus, Scotland
Andrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun (c.1350-c.1425), was a Scots poet, canon and prior of Lochleven & St Serf’s Insch, Aberdeenshire, where he is thought to have written this poem to his hero, Macbeth—11thC King of Scots, who died at Lumphanan fifteen miles distant. Wyntoun then became canon at St. Andrews, a most hallowed position for a cleric of his time. His greatest work (1420) is his Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland
‘All night he thought in his dreaming
That sitting he was beside the King
At a seat in hunting where his sire
Unto his leash had greyhounds two
He thought while he was seated thus
He saw three women going by
And those women then thought he
Three weird sisters most likely be
MacBeth cairn, Lumphanan, where the King of Scots was slain by Malcolm in 1057
A nycht he thowcht in hys dreamyng,
That syttand he wes besyd the kyng
At a sete in hwntyng; swa
Intil his leisch had grewhundys; twa
He thowcht, quhile he wes swa syttand,
He sawe threw wemen by gangand;
And thai wemen than thowct he
Thre werd systrys mast lyk to be.
*The first he hard say, gangang by,
‘Lo, yhondyr the Thane of Crumbawchety!’
The tothir woman sayd agane,
‘Of Morave yhondyre I se the thane!’
The thryd than sayd, ‘I se the kyng!’
All this he herd in his dreamyng…
Sone eftyre that, in his yhowthad,
Of thyr thanydoms he thane wes made;
Queen/St. Margaret’s arms—Lion Rampant & sacred Martlets around Christian cross
The fantasy of his dream
Moved him most to slay his overlord
…And Dame Gruoch, his sovereign’s wife
He took and left with her his lands
And held her both as his wife and queen
Which, before then, she had been
To his sovereign—queen living Queen
—who was Kyng with Queen Regnant
For few honours then had he (Macbeth)
Only the grace of lineage affinity
Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor
Shakespeare’s stirring predictions by the three witches to a dreaming king reaching for the throne describe the cauldron scene magnificently. Macbeth will not only become thane (mormaer) of Glamis (Forfar, seat of current Earl of Strathmore), thane of Cawdor (Cawdor Castle is Nairn seat of Campbell Thanes of Cawdor since 1320), but King of Scots—whose royal court in MacBeth’s time was the Palace of Scone, Perthshire.
Dupplin 6thC Pictish Cross Forteviot before removal to museum names Constantin son of Fergus King of Picts
Syne neyst he thowcht to be king,
Fra Dunkanyis dayis had tane endying.
The fantasy thus of his dreme
Movyd hym mast to sla his eme;
As he dyd all furth in-dede,
As before yhe herd one rede,
And Dame Growky, his emys wyf,
Tuk, and lef wyth hyr hys ly,
And held hyr bathe hys wyf and queyne,
As befor than scho had beyne
Till hys eme qwene, lyvand
Quhen he was kyng with crone rygnend
For lytil in honowre than had he
The greys of affynyte.
*Wyntoun’s Cronykil refers to Cawdor in Morayshire, as Moravia, but the closest the first witch comes to Glamis? is the Thanage of Glenbuchat? in nearby Donside as his Crumbuchaty. The second sees him as Thane of Moray, leading to the third witch’s prediction: ‘I see the King’.
Wyntoun clarifies: “Soon after that, still in his youth,
“Of those thanedoms he Thane was made.”
All this when his Lord was dead
He succeeded in his stead;
And seventeen full years he reigned
As King, as he was then, of Scotland.
During his reign were times of plenty
Abounding both on land and sea.
He was in justice right lawful
His laws fair to all.
When Leo X was Pope of Rome
As pilgrim to his court he came
And in his alms he gave silver
To all poor folk who had none
And always tried he to work
Profitably for Holy Kirk
Illuminated apostles: 10thC Iona Book of Kells, now in Trinity College, Dublin show Matthew as Man, Mark winged Lion, Luke surgeon winged Bull, John as Eagle
All thus quhen his eme was dede,
He succeedyt in his stede;
And sevyntene syntyr full rygnand
As kyng-he wes than in-til Scotland.
Corgarff Castle on the Lecht pass military route between Braemar Castle, Ft.George and Cawdor
All hys tyme wes gret plente
Abowndand, bath on land and se.
He was in justice rycht lawchful,
And till hys legis all awful.
Quhen Leo the tend was Pape of Rome,
As pylgryne to the court he come;
And in his almus he sew sylver
Till all pure folk that had myster;
And all tyme oysyd he to wyrk
Profitably for haly kyrke.
Wyntoun extols the virtues of his hero, Macbeth, who claimed the throne of Scotland through his mother’s kinship with Duncan—whom he killed in Elgin (Moravia, Moray). Rival Malcolm also claimed the throne through the female line. In Lumphanan, he succeeded in killing the wounded Macbeth and, (after stepson Lulach’s pitiful six months as king), took the crown to become Malcolm III (Canmore) of Scots in 1058. He married Saint Margaret of Scotland (1070-1093), bringing peace and prosperity to northern lands during his (long) reign of 35 years.
WHALES, NUCLEAR WESSELS AND OCEAN CLEAN-UP
ALAMEDA—Chequered History or Check-Mate?
Alameda—where they keep the Nuclear Wessels, according to Pavel Chekov, in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, 1986
With a flourish of ceremonial shovels, construction began last week on the site of the (closed) U.S. Naval Air Station, on what will become Alameda’s first major market-rate multi-family development in four decades. Alameda Point sits on the North shore of San Francisco Bay, with strategic connections to Oakland, the Sacramento River and the Bay Area.
Manila Bay whale sculpture made entirely from plastic beach waste in Philippines, image courtesy Greenpeace
It will be familiar to vintage Star Trek fans for its connection with whales, nuclear generators and Space. Alameda has tolerated empty lot syndrome since the ‘nineties—vast spaces where appropriate development could enhance the former NAS site, but records of clean-up procedures are causing concern. The Navy contractor’s method of landfill and dumping radio-active soil and ground liquids has been questioned.
Developers for the project assure that testing and re-certification will continue, as old naval buildings and pavement are torn up to make room for the new 70-acre development, known as Site A: it will include 800 residential units, up to 600,000 square feet of commercial space and a ferry terminal that will connect to San Francisco—plus parks and open space.
According to U.S. Navy’s Environmental Coordinator for the Alameda cleanup, Cecily Sabedra:
“Tetra Tech was the contractor who performed environmental investigation and cleanup tasks throughout the former NAS Alameda, including Site A. The Navy’s internal-review safeguards and the regulatory-review process indicate Alameda data are accurate and the work completed to date at Alameda is protective of human health. Quality assurance and quality control measures, including field oversight and data review by Navy personnel and regulatory agencies, have been and continue to be in place at Alameda to verify data are representative of site conditions.”
From Cold War Seaplane Landing to Wildlife Reserve
Old Alameda Naval Air base runways for U.S. fleet flight deck and seaplane landings, now rare bird lagoon
Tetra Tech was deeply involved at another portion of the 2,800-acre Alameda Naval Air Station property, Site 2, which is deemed a toxic Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The station was an active military installation for fleet aviation activities from the 1930s to the 1990s. Former jet runways, and anchorage for Cold War sea planes and Navy submersibles can still be seen.
In Tetra Tech’s 200-page remedial action work plan, submitted to the Navy and other U.S. government agencies in 2013, Site 2 contained radium-226 and other radioactive materials. In the 1940s, workers coated instruments such as dials using a radio-luminescent paint containing the isotope. Rags and paint brushes were then discarded at the site.
Over a period of sixty years, the land had been a dumping ground for other materials like asbestos, pesticides, sandblasting grit, medical waste and tear gas agents. In ‘cleaning’ the area, Tetra Tech bulldozed in a multi-layer soil mix, to cover the old landfill.
Wilderness will Find a Way—Wildlife Move Back In
Osprey landing on rusty light-stand nest to feed young, in former Seaplane Lagoon
Site 2—owned by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs—will remain closed for the ‘foreseeable future’.
Since becoming redundant in the 1990s, Mother Nature has stepped in to reclaim such wasteland: now home to several endangered species of birds. Harbor seals have moved back into the lagoon and this is third year a pair of ospreys have nested on the old light stand at the entrance to Seaplane Lagoon.
After an impasse was reached in 2004 between the U.S. Navy and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (aka Fish & Game) for creation of a national wildlife refuge, the property was offered to the Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.). The V.A. plans to build an outpatient clinic and columbarium on 112 acres of its land, but the other 511 acres of V.A. land will remain undeveloped. The undeveloped area is where egrets and endangered California Least Terns come to nest early April to mid-August each year.
Wild Mountain Lion Migrate Across 101
Baby cougar faces future from her den in Thousand Oaks, Santa Monica mountains
Megalopolis concerns are with a family of cougar kittens in Thousand Oaks, CA.—being monitored/tagged by National Parks Service researchers—where as grown wildcats they will have to cross Highway 101 to find new breeding grounds—the nearest wild forest being several hundred miles to the north. Cougar have had to adapt to urban sprawl before. Most famous is Parks’ Service favorite, “P-22” who crossed several freeways in Santa Monica, headed south into Los Angeles and took up residence in downtown Griffith Park.
He’s still there. What a Cool Cat.
San Francisco’s former military HQ, the Presidio, with its unparalleled view of the Golden Gate Bridge, has become a model for native plant species and habitat restoration since 1994. That year, the U.S. military machine turned its back on war and handed the land over to the National Parks Service. It subsequently created the Presidio Trust which now oversees 80% of the park. Here endangered and indigenous plant life is being nurtured back to profusion by Parks’ botanists, with a little nightly help from vole, gopher, racoon, fox and coyote. The bears left a long time ago—ages before it was a military stronghold.
Chernobyl nuclear hazard sign after April 26, 1986 explosion blanketed Europe in radio-active fog for a week
Encouragingly, wildlife in Chernobyl, a former 50,000-population density town in Ukraine within a 1,000-sq.mile forest (4300km2 Chernobyl Exclusion Zone) are moving through the irradiated landscape in droves, and showing little sign of becoming mutants. European research teams have been tracking population growth of wolves, bear, mountain lion and multiple migrating birds for over a decade, and proclaim so far no adverse genetic change.
Nuclear warning by crop circle? Latest to appear in Wiltshire field near Stonehenge, drone shot courtesy Nick Bull
Even our crop circling Alien friends seem concerned for our welfare. The latest—July 8th, 2018—depicting a nuclear device—appeared overnight in unharvested wheat in Coneybury Hill, near Stonehenge, Wiltshire. Whereas Salisbury farmers were formerly stressed over public trespass and crop trampling, they now tolerate drone fly-overs and crop circle photography has taken an upswing.
There are positive aspects to our human concern for proliferating the planet with our own waste. As we become aware of our past destructive habits, like dumping plastic in the ocean—the city of New York only stopped dumping municipal waste by barge into the Atlantic in 1992—we discover alternative methods of clean-up.
Within the last five years Woods Hole, Massachusetts marine microbiologists have recorded a reduction in marine plastic waste in world oceans.
They are convinced it is being eaten.
Leave it to the Micro-Plankton NOAA has recorded a massive 90% drop in ocean pollution statistics worldwide since 2011, declaring there is no Pacific garbage patch.
Marine bacteriologists are convinced, however, that, as plastic degrades through sunlight and the wave action of salt water into the tiniest fragments, this plastic confetti becomes the preferred diet of micro-organisms who attach to such clustered ‘reefs’ of food, extracting toxins in their digestion.
Casualty on Huntington Beach—at least he pecked his way through the bag
”Plastic-eating bacteria help explain why the amount of debris in the ocean has levelled off, despite continued pollution. But researchers don’t yet know whether their digestion produces harmless by-products, or whether it might introduce toxins into the food chain.”
Tracy Mincer, Marine Microbiologist Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
If NOAA’s “missing 90%” of microscopic plastic fragments in the oceans is being eaten—mostly by bacteria and other microbes—these little microscopic helpers will continue to eat the plastic. If we can reduce the amount of plastic going into the oceans, via our beaches, they may eventually eat it all up.
Wouldn’t that be a world initiative worth achieving?
If we continue with responsible water cleanup worldwide—as some humanitarian philanthropists are currently showing the way—we ‘oldies’ may emerge from the “Plastic Age” unscathed, sooner than our grandchildren predict.
Santiaguito volcano, Guatemala, September equinox 2012; Earth stirred in transition from summer to autumn
Serpentine Mind disentangles from branches of confusion uncoils its knowledge to greet the dawn and sees In the growing light
Great Colored, feathered wings
That grew unnoticed in its sleep
Understanding perfectly
In a single rush of joy
It flies above the ancient promises
Beyond where the forest lies to the Sea
The open sea
As rings around the Morning Star
Light corridors through the air
Kukulkan
During classic harvest time, a crop circle appeared on new moon August 17th/18th, predicting thirty-six days stretching from then until autumn equinox, September 22nd; and coincidentally twenty days backwards to Lammas and the Avebury masterpiece, more below.
According to some Maya present-day research, Equinox is the famed day for witnessing the serpent of light creep down its light staircase at Chichen Itza. Equinox ceremonies there are attracting increasing numbers each year on that day, and it added to the excitement this year that seven “triangles of shadow and light” appeared on the northern staircase. The August crop circles appeared to reinforce this appearace of Kukulcan.
Today, one hundred days farther on, the full moon in Gemini/Sagittarius—plus a partial lunar eclipse——may be closing one door——the end of an astronomical sky show and spectacle which the Heavens have been giving us all year—
2012 Astromical Highlights
May 4 Partial lunar eclipse, off Mexico
May 14 First standstill Venus during retrograde loop
May 20 Annular eclipse of Sun
June 6 Transit of Venus (above) and Inferior Conjunction
November 13 2012 Total solar eclipse, in which Sun and Moon align with head of the Serpent (constellation Serpens)
November 18 Solar system conjunct dark ridge Galactic Center
Nov 28 Partial (penumbral) lunar eclipse
—or a preparation for what is —more energetically— to come.
We are told by all Cultures that moments of experiencing the “Shift” are individual: that we will be taken by the Light, know if it is meant for us, that it matches our own inner right-ness, intent, and it will allow us to move on down the new path. Our spiritual senses are being honed. It is thrilling to believe the crop circles—particularly later in the 2012 seson—are showing us a kind of starmap of consciousness: in the essential original meaning of the Maya calculation of time: they appear to be more a calendar to consciousness.
Sadly, out there in television land there is a war being waged to capture our attention “in fear” and to distract us from what is happening in our inner-spiritual world.
Avebury forecast solstice dawn to precision limits; photo M.Etchepare
Human consciousness is rapidly transitioning to a new state, a new intensity of awareness that will manifest as a different understanding, a transformed realization, of time and space and self.
Daniel Pinchbeck
Several years ago Michael Glickman suggested some crop circles were representative calendars or ‘maps of time’. A square within a circle in 1997, itself made up of twenty-six rows of 30 squares, the total number of squares coinciding with the number of weeks remaining from its appearance date until the end of 2012. Glickman and Pinchbeck both believe that the focus on the end of this year too marks a dimensional shift and the purpose of crop circles is to key us in to this change, and to give us clues as to how this shift in dimension will manifest itself in our world.
Thankfully, help from the crop circles has only continued to manifest and inspire us—with the magnificent series of serpent formations all summer, and the Avebury culmination, commented on in so much detail by astronomer Miguel Etchepare.
More sigificant than the development of language…
We are all aware that there is a Shift going on. In physical terms, it has taken some by storm; continents have upheaved, hurricanes have raged; and the December portal beckons.
The great day of purification has begun—a short but essential division that will gather those who promote fear and volence and separate them from from this Season of the World like chaff is separated from wheat at binding.
During these next two and one half decades [written in 1988] humankind will experience this separation, a transformation in human consciousness more fundamental than the development of language, more significant than the shift to agriculture, more meaningful than any historical revolution.
The dawn approaches.
What if they are all right?
Returning to Galactic Birth Canal
There has been such a plethora of celestial events, from Mars lander, to Voyager breaking through the heliosheath, to Venus transit, and potent crop circle reflections in autumn fields have echoed events, even after the crop crowd had closed down group hopes and expectations for the year.
Venus's Heliacal Rising, November 2011, her return from the Underworld presaged solstic dawn 2012
Something in between dreaming and doing
Something arching down from there to here
We are the arching
We are neither here nor there
We are the hope that lives between
The continual blooming outward and upward
of something we want
but cannot see
– Author unknown
The Etchepare series of videos is important to view—especially for budding astronomers or those less aware of the movement of the skies. On the Maya count, above, November 13th’s total solar eclipse brought the sun and moon to co-align with head of the Serpent (Serpens caput); while last week on November 18th, the Solar System became conjunct with the dark ridge of Galactic Center. Please read various back up blogs on Venusian cycles, significance of Galactic Center, the Maya Sacred Tree.
Each year we spin in and out of this Dark Rift: it is a cosmic sign of our balance in the system, a prelude to our annual rendezvous with Galactic Center—that dark patch in the Milky Way—when the Sun, including us, microscopic specks of energy clinging on to the plane of the ecliptic, all nine planets of our system as one, aligned again with our Motherboard-birth canal, the Creator-energy-vortex, on November 18th in the middle of our Galaxy. The portal is still open—our consciousness is being assisted before the sun spirals away one more time, and we shall head off for another year of peripatetic searching through infinite realms of space.
What is significant about Etchepare’s starmap—interpreted solely from his inspired reading of the Lammas Avebury crop circle, above, is that by associating each planet as it rises ahead of the sun just before dawn on solstice, December 21st, 2012, not only do the planets—led by Saturn, Mars, Venus guide the solar rays ahead like a plough or cosmic train of starlight and planetary bodies—along the line of the Ophiuchus’ [Serpent-bearer] arms, holding both ends of the Serpent—Serpens:caput, head, above November 13th led by Spica and the edge of constellation Virgo; pulling serpens cauda (serpent tail) after him.
But … when all these miracles have been witnessed all over the planet —various earth views are given, making it easier to understand the sky program from any earth location, including Antarctica—the dawn sun … rises from the very mouth of the Galactic Rift.
For the Maya to calculate so far in advance of their own time and to see this train of heavenly bridal veil enticing the light to re-emerge from its birth-hole—was indeed unprecedented. It is still difficult for some to comprehend such detailed knowledge of the heavens so vastly ahead in time. However, their predictions for solstice are phenomenal—to an exact celestial degree: Saturn joins Spica/Virgo to ensnare Ophiuchus, who, wrestling forever with the head and tail of the Serpent, drags—alongside Venus and Mars—the reluctant Sun at the exact moment of dawn from his cosmic birth cavity at Galactic Center to be reborn for a new cycle.
Indeed a spectacle worth keeping predictive records of witness for over three thousand years. And we are the civilization alive to witness it.
In the eyes of the Ancestors, we are the ones we have been waiting for. We need to get our heads round this soon: and … before solstice would be good.
Above all, group consciousness, or combined intuition is clearly the way to perceive what is happening to us.
Eyjafjallajökull erupts during the strongest geomagnetic storm to hit Earth in 3 years; photo Albert Jakobsson
Tomorrow morning, April 19th, 2010, at around 5a.m. PST the Space Shuttle Discovery is due to reenter Earth’s atmosphere on a trajectory that takes her over the Pacific Northwest, and then on a southeasterly heading towards Cape Canaveral, Florida. She undocked from the International Space Station at the weekend in preparation for reentry.
Early birds in the states of Montana, South Dakota, Missouri and Mississippi and those driving to work in the cities of St. Louis, MO, Memphis, TN and Columbus, GA may catch a glimpse of the descending craft as it prepares for landing at the Kennedy Space Center, ETA 8:48a.m.
Trajectory of space shuttle Discovery on her way home tomorrow
Viewers in continental U.S. will be able to see Discovery as a blazing fireball in the dawn sky on first reentry over Northern California, Oregon, Washington and BC, and then, when daylight progresses, as a bright high-altitude object, as the craft heads east. Those who may not be sure of what they are seeing will hear a double sonic boom about a minute after the shuttle passes overhead.
Discovery’s appearance in the skies over continental USA is unusual, to say the least.
NASA is normally super-cautious, not only to schedule reentry on a trajectory over ocean (south Pacific or Atlantic) – to avoid potential conflict with commercial air traffic or the complication of an accident over such an important landmass – but also does not issue a specific schedule beforehand – for ‘security reasons’.
In the case of tomorrow’s landing, another issue has complicated NASA’s plans: the volcanic cloud emanating from Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland. Because the eastern hemisphere is affected by dust and volcanic ash in the atmosphere resulting in the grounding of all European airlines, the shuttle’s choices were drastically reduced.
It is perhaps our present crazy world’s greatest irony that tomorrow, when the whole continent of Europe has not a single aircraft in the skies, except for patrolling military Tornadoes or light prop craft which can fly below radar, United States air traffic controllers will be overworked as they reroute planes so as not to provoke a chance encounter with the spacegoing shuttle on her way home.
Air travel all over northern Europe has been disrupted, with flights grounded or diverted due to the risk of engine damage from sucking in particles of ash from the volcanic cloud. Even the usually noisy skies of helicopter traffic to and from North Sea Oil fields are silent.
Eyjafjallajökull sub-glacial eruption
And what of Eyjafjallajökull?
What series of convoluted circumstances caused her to erupt just when airlines the world over were pulling in their horns in response to global recession, cutting frills and flying fripperies to an absolute minimum?
Eyjafjallajökull is merely responding to a ripple in the mid-Atlantic ridge.
Iceland can’t help it: her island kingdom sits astride a large tectonic anomaly, where two plates meet, and – rather like Hawaii – has confounded scientists for centuries in their ability to ride the volcanic storms and still maintain buoyancy as islands. Icelanders have benefited in cleverly channeling underground heat from natural hot springs to provide comfort – even luxury – to every home, but, like Hawaiians, their tiny population (300,000, about the same as a medium-size British city) is not unaware of the fragility of their situation.
Eyjafjallajökull has erupted five times since human settlement in the ninth century and its most recent eruption has been going since March 20th this year, but it is only in the last week that ash from this eruption has reached the stratosphere of its continental neighbour.
And Europe is freaking out.
In terms of aviation, when almost all transport is presently airborne – people, freight, goods and services – it is understandable that Eyjafjallajökull’s blasting through its surface glacier and spewing dust and ash into the airlanes should cause concern. Health and safety have become buzzwords in industry: the natural reaction for air traffic regulators was to close everything down. So soon after Easter, when many were starting to enjoy the prospect of spring following a very hard winter, holiday travel numbers were high and planes fully booked.
Those airplanes are now dead in the water.
And, with no change in the foreseeable future, Europeans are stranded in remote locations worldwide, unable to get back home; British-based airlines may not take off and US-based airline traffic may not land in Europe.
Europe – the northern portion of it, certainly – is like a plague zone.
They’ve always said character comes to the rescue when crisis descends or hard times rule. And the other thing they say: Necessity is the Mother of Invention.
During the hard snows and frosts of winter – that in northern Scotland and pockets of Europe lasted until spring equinox – Britain went through a series of threats from companies in conflict with employment unions – with aviation and transportation strikes imminent – until intervention by a well-meaning Icelandic volcano moved the goalposts.
Suddenly, within the last week, other means of transportation – bus, taxi, train, ferry, tube, metro, hot air balloon, microlite, bicycle – have reared their heads again and a dumbed-down population re-creates, starts to think outside the box, begins to invent.
In early ‘seventies ‘3-day-week’ Great Britain, share-a-ride became an everyday occurrence, nobody drove a car without at least two other passengers, public transport was in full use and the struggling population again became aware of their parents’ post-war attitude of ‘conserving’ energy. It is possible that the present crisis may bring about a similar respect for alternative means to get from A to B, and consequently even more respect for the entity which caused the hiccup in the first place: Mother Earth.
Many of us have blogged over last winter about impending changes the Earth may put us through: for most of us those earth-changes were remote: reports from Haiti, Chile, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Turkey. But changes are starting to happen closer to home (Home being the First World).
large swathes of Amazon rainforest under threat
The First World has not traditionally reacted well to being threatened by Nature. It has acted (particularly over the last two generations – fifty years) as if nature were subservient to Man. It has turned a blind eye to decimated rain forests, depleted habitat for endangered species, global poverty, substandard housing and polluted drinking water in those ‘other’ worlds. It’s not accustomed to having its toys taken away and told to go home.
With the grounding of aircraft run by some of the world’s most elite flying operations, those ‘toys’ are getting a shakedown. And Big Business doesn’t like it.
Already on shaky ground over fears of recession, many airlines are already in debt or about to seek bail from world governments. Now governments themselves are questioning whether there are funds in the coffers to cover planetary transportation meldown. Big Business has traditionally used London, Paris, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Amsterdam as staging posts in its hops between hemispheres. Suddenly their wind-up toys aren’t working. No immediate replacement in sight, they’re having to think of ways around the situation.
Fortunately, continental Europe has remarkably efficient waterways, rail links, passenger liners, trains and autobahns. Every one of them has suddenly become remarkably important as an artery of communication in an atmospherically-deprived world. But if Icelandic ash continues to spew forth it will take some really revolutionary thinking for Big Business to survive. Seven million passenger-journeys have been cancelled in a few days. There’s talk right now of losses in the millions – Emirates Airlines calculating 25 million dollars per day in lost revenue, British Airways losing one million pounds every hour. Pretty soon those losses will be billions and thereafter . . . if Eyjafjallajökull doesn’t let up – or worse, if her neighboring volcanoes on the Ridge join in – figures will be incalculable. ‘Business’ as a concept will have no meaning.
None of us wants the approach to ‘End Times‘ to come suddenly. But there have been warnings; we have had clues; our history is littered with references to ‘preparing’ for when those ‘decline and fall’ times will come. So should we be surprised when the Earth herself is the instigator?
It is a well-known phenomenon that spacecraft engineers, pilots and scientists, on their return to Earth after a space mission, express feeling ‘transformed, changed, uplifted’ and ‘born-again’ by their experience outside Earth’s atmosphere. From liftoff as hardened scientists, electrical engineers, they return as philosophers, enlightened spirits.
It might be seen by some that Discovery’s reentry to Earth coinciding with the Earth’s growling northern latitudes indicate a sign of impending doom; for others it may signal the onset of liberation from earthly institutions which were beginning to cripple creativity; a top-heavy bureaucratic mechanism that smothers the budding creative spark.
Heaven knows, now is the time for creativity to surface and be recognized: time for the toys to come alive and play for real: our future and our future home – the planet Earth – depend on it.
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.
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.
View from the Stars: whichever way you look at it, we are present in Sidereal time, Space is our growth medium, and stardust and water our constituent particles. When electromagnetically charged, our solar-powered circuitry is capable of Creating Anything We Choose.
Siderealview's Blog 
Recent Comments