"Beyond Awakening" Free Teleseminar sponsored by ISSEEM

I received an email from The International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM) (www.issseem.org) announcing a Free series of seminars, available via Internet or telephone. I was impressed with the teachers who are participating,so I wanted to pass on the information to any who may wish to also register. The event's sponsors, who are providing funding for this event free to the public, are impressive too. I look forward to following it, and copy from the announcement I received below:

Beyond Awakening: Registration and Information

What is emerging today at the leading edge of human transformation? How can our spiritual practice help us evolve toward planetary citizenship? Join 27 of the world’s most dynamic spiritual teachers for a groundbreaking series of dialogues. Some of those you'll meet:

Jean Houston

Ken Wilber

Barbara Marx Hubbard

Brother David Steindl-Rast

Ram Dass

Gangaji

Michael Murphy

Dan Millman

Living on this earth has never been easy. The Buddha famously taught that "life is suffering," and that the way out was to get enlightened. That alone was challenging. But the Buddha lived 2500 years ago... before email, cell phones, airplanes, television, computers, global terrorism, environmental disasters, economic recessions, and the expectation that you be a "peak performer", a "super-mom" or just plain "super". Now it's a whole new story — not only do we suffer, get sick, and die, like other humans throughout history—but we're doing so in a world that's seriously out of whack. We face stresses and demands—despite our amazing comforts and opportunities—that the Buddha never dreamed of, beyond our age-old human condition.

Our spiritual practice needs to occur IN this world—with our families, at our work—and in relation to all the world's problems. That's our mission.

Albert Einstein famously said, "We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them."

We—as a society, as a culture, and as individuals—need to transform our consciousness, change our frequency, be the future that we want, and that the world desperately needs. These can't just be empty slogans...Just as we must awaken to the timeless truths of love, Spirit, compassion, and peace, we must also go beyond awakening to embody those truths in an embodied, engaged, evolving spirituality that is true to who we are, here and now — and that can empower us to co-create a sustainable human future. Exactly what that "evolving spirituality" looks like—and how to live it—is what we'll be exploring in this groundbreaking series.

There is no cost to participate in this live, interactive event. Thanks to our generous sponsors, and to all the luminaries who have volunteered their time, we are able to offer this event to you for FREE. All you need is a telephone or a computer to participate and explore:

• How to turn the fast pace of life into a profound practice to experience clarity, purpose, and yes, inner peace.
• How to find community in our fragmented, virtual world and get the support you need.
• What neuroscience can teach us about skillful, effective (and efficient!) personal practice, and how you can apply this research in your everyday life.
• How to question our inherited spiritual wisdom, and at the same time rescue the light of that wisdom, like precious jewels, from being dimmed down and fragmented.
• How you can help catalyze the transformation of our culture as well as your own consciousness.

We're committed to making each teleseminar as interactive as possible. Each week, you'll be able to ask questions and interact with these teachers.

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**The International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM) is an international non-profit interdisciplinary organization dedicated to exploring and applying subtle energies as they relate to the experience of consciousness, healing, and human potential. ISSSEEM is in a unique position, acting both as a bridge builder between communities and a leader in the field, offering a community with a widespread appreciation of the energetic component within many disciplines including quantum physics, therapeutic modalities, healing, psychology, consciousness, psi and the understanding of our multidimensional existence.
Founded in 1989, ISSSEEM studies systems and energies that interact with the human psyche and physiology, either enhancing or perturbing health. The organization: Interconnects persons who work with or conduct research about subtle energies and human consciousness, encourages an exchange of information through conferences, seminars, and workshops, informs and Interfaces with members and the broader scientific community through Bridges, a quarterly magazine, and Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine, a peer-reviewed, scientific journal, cooperates with other organizations that have common interests and goals, enhancing the use of available resources.

ISSSEEM • 2770 Arapahoe Rd Suite 132, Lafayette,CO 80026 • 303-425-4625

Aphrodite

A friend said that I never talk about love and I'm too grim; just to prove she's wrong, I pulled out this poem, and the mask of Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love, born from the ocean. See (name with held to protect the innocent)? No crop circles, solar flares, or environmental degredation! Just the Great Goddess Aphrodite, trying to come to terms with post-modernism.

Aphrodite in Brooklyn

Please allow me to take off my shoes,
this faux marble pose
and this modern, pragmatic mask.

Permit me my ruin.

Please, let us not consider this therapy
or revolution, do not ask me

to give you space.

Let us not discuss those who came before,

or those who might follow. Let us not talk of past lives.

This moment,
this moment is all I know.

I have fallen on hard times.

If you come to my temple, just
let me make for you an ocean.

Half seen in the darkness
your body is a Mystery
true, tangible, radiant,
lined with the rings of your life.
You are beautiful,
beautiful to be a man.

Darling, even in this era,
even now, I will not believe

that love is disposable,
that sex is safe
that lovers are trains
rolling past each other
to some certain station:

I remember,
I almost remember
my river source

My skin forms the word anew,
yes
enter me

as if
you were coming home.

(1999)

La Mariposa

LA MARIPOSA 

by Lauren Raine (1997)

Once upon a time, in a dusty village like any other village, a village with three good wells, fields of blue and yellow corn, a white church, and a cantina, there lived a woman who was neither young, nor old. She was brown of skin, and eye, and her hair was as brown as the sandy earth, and her clothes were brown and gray as well.

She was neither beautiful nor ugly, neither tall nor small, and she walked with a long habit of watching her feet. 

One day, she saw a tree alight with migrating butterflies. Their velvet wings fluttered in the wind of their grace, and one circled her, coming to rest upon her open hand. She thought that her heart would break for the power of its fragile beauty, and she held her breath for fear of frightening it.  La Mariposa was as orange and brilliant as the setting sun falling between indigo mountains, as iridescent, as black and violet as the most fragrant midnight. 

 At last the butterfly lifted from her hand to rejoin its nomad tribe, and its wings seemed like a whisper that called to her: "Come with us, come with us..."

The next morning they were gone. She held her hand out to the empty tree, as if to wave farewell, and saw that where the butterfly had rested, there remained a dusting of color, yellow, like pollen, the kiss of a butterfly wing. And she thought something had changed. 

She went to the well to draw water, and saw her face reflected there. She was not the same - there were now minute lines, hairline cracks, along the sides of her face, at the corners of her eyes. Later, she noticed little webs of light beneath the sturdy brown skin of her hands, barely visible except in the dim twilight. This was a frightening thing. She drew her skirts more closely around herself, pulled her scarf over her eyes. But as time went on, there was something that kept emerging, something that would not be denied. She was peeling open. 

At first, it simply itched, like a rash, like pulling nettles.  But as weeks went by, what had been easily born, what could be endured, became painful, became an agony. Try as she might, as tightly as she wrapped herself in her cocoon of shawls and skin and silence, as tightly as she wrapped herself within the comforting routines of her life, still, colors emerged from her hands. Colors spilt from her mouth. Colors and tears, deep waters that seeped from within, washing away the dust of her life. 

Soon, sleep became impossible. Standing by her window one day, shivering, she shook with fear. "Please help me", she cried, "I'm not the same". 

Then she noticed a beam of sunlight that fell across the floor of her little room like honey. Motes of dust gathered in the golden light, becoming a flurry of butterflies. Butterflies, dancing through an open window, a window opening into a sky as blue and as vast as forever. 

And La Mariposa opened her arms, took the gift of wings, and rose. 

When her neighbor came to walk with her that evening, she found only a dusty shawl and an old brown skirt upon the floor, the early stars glimmering through an unshuttered window.

Time is changing?

My friend Fahrusha (the name means "Butterfly" in Arabic) is a well known psychic in New York City. She has a fascinating blog, Fahrusha's Webblog that often deals with issues and controversies of the paranormal, consciousness, as well as contemporary issues and culture. In the midst of my recent flurry of "Butterfly" synchronicities, Fahrusha sent me this article about the sun affecting the decay of radioactive matter - in essence, certain scientists are saying that the rate of decay is speeding up. I know this post is far from being about art, but I was so stunned by reading I felt I should share it.

"In fact, some evidence of time dilation has been gleaned from close observation of the decay rate. If particles interacting with the matter are not the cause—and matter is being affected by a new force of nature-then time itself may be speeding up................Researchers have correlated the anomalies in the decay rate to a 33-day period. That time frame matches the 33-day rotation of the solar core. Such a match strains credulity as being a mere coincidence."

Sun Activity is Affecting Time?
by Terrence Aym on August 29th, 2010

Here are some other articles about this phenomenon, for anyone who might be interested:

Is the Sun Emitting a Mystery Particle, Ian O’Neill, Discovery News

The Sun Influences the Decay of Radioactive Elements,Tudor Vieru, Softpedia

Mysteriously, Solar Activity Found to Influence Behavior of Radioactive Materials On Earth, Rebecca Boyle, POSCI

Mabon

I am a lover of the steady Earth
and of Her waters

"Let the light be brilliant" She says,
"for those who will cherish color."

What if there be no heaven?

"Touch my breasts", She says,
"the fields are golden."


From "The Song of Mabon" by Robin Williamson

Mabon is a time to give thanks for the bounty of the harvest, to give thanks to Mother Earth, and falls on the day of the autumnal equinox. In 2010, the equinox falls on September 22 in the Northern Hemisphere. Bright blessings on this auspicious day to all!

Another note on the "Butterfly Man"

Well, darn, this is getting interesting! Here I am thinking about butterflies again, and wouldn't you know Alan Moore (the Butterfly Man) leaves a message on my voicemail to call him. Haven't spoken to Alan in about 4 years.

I'm fascinated with the "Butterfly Man" gigantic crop circle that occurred last August in the Netherlands. There is controversy as to who made it; I can't seem to get any clear answers in my Internet search, although have found lots of mystical types who are having a great time with it. But whether "The Da Vinci Butterfly Man" was made as a work of art by a group of very determined and inspired people, who somehow managed to create it in the dark, or it was made by artists from rather farther away with a bit more technology.......it is amazing.


It's interesting that the same month (2009) a new book was released by Dr. Bruce H. Lipton
called "SPONTANEOUS EVOLUTION", and the same image is on the cover of the book. If this isn't a miraculous synchronicity (or symmetry), then it's certainly a heck of a good advertisement for the book.

"According to pioneering biologist Bruce H. Lipton, (rapid evolution on a cellular level) is not only possible, it’s already happening. We are surrounded by the proof that we are poised to take an incredible step forward in the growth of our species. In Spontaneous Evolution, this world-renowned expert in the emerging science of epigenetics teams up with political philosopher Steve Bhaerman to offer a new and hopeful story about humanity’s evolutionary destiny."

Dr. Lipman is one of the keynote speakers on the 25th of this month, at the International Conference in Moscow, Russia, "New Human, New Earth". That would be a fascinating event to attend!

Here is Jose Arguelles modification of a Mayan symbol, "Hunab Ku". According to Arguelles and colleagues, the glyph represents the "Galactic Butterfly". I personal love this symbol, because it represents the spiral union (to me) of light and dark, an integral symbol.

Arguelles and others have asserted that Mayan cosmology was based on, or included, the existence of Hunab Ku at the center of the galaxy, and that the Mayans were able to demonstrate the location of the galactic center; as a result of his book "The Mayan Factor", this symbol has become associated with the Mayan Calendar, which predicts the end of a cycle in the year 2012. There is, of course, a lot of controversy concerning "2012"**, from the Apocalypse to the New Age to the "Rapture".

I don't actually care whether the "Butterfly Man" was man made or not, and I don't think it matters whether Jose Arguelles, a fantastic visionary and artist who has been very influential in creating new spiritual perspectives, is correct in his ideas and scholarship, or not. He is a true visionary - and has done what artists (I think) are supposed to do - be a myth maker. In an other time and place he would have been called a "seer". The point for me is that this is significant for our time, important mythos for our time. "2012" and the "Cosmic Butterfly" are perfect metaphors for our evolutionary crisis. Whether we speak of our environmental crisis or the proliferation of nuclear weapons, we do indeed stand poised at the edge of unprecedented disaster, not just as little tribes or even unique civilizations, but globally. We also have unprecedented possibility for physical, technological, social, intellectual, and spiritual transformation and evolution. The "5th World" is already here.

According to Wikipedia:

"The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21, 2012 which is said to be the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mayan Long Count calendar. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae related to this date have been proposed.

A New Age interpretation of this transition posits that during this time Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era^. Others suggest that the 2012 date marks the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios posited for the end of the world include the Earth's collision with a passing planet (often referred to as "Nibiru") or black hole, or the arrival of the next solar maximum. Scholars from various disciplines have dismissed the idea of catastrophe in 2012. Mainstream Mayanist scholars state that predictions of impending doom are not found in any of the existing classic Maya accounts, and that the idea that the Long Count calendar "ends" in 2012 misrepresents Maya history."

Green Caterpillar Synchronicity

(it looked kind of like this)

9/18/10

This morning I went to my mother's house to prepare her breakfast, and beside the door, on a "cat rug", was a strange looking fat green thing, curled into a little spiral. At first I thought it was a bit of plastic the cat had dragged home, but then it moved! Keep in mind that I live in Southern Arizona, where it is currently about 102 degrees, and there are very few leafy trees. I've never seen a caterpillar like this here, although obviously they must be  around.

I put it on a potted plant, the only thing I could find it might like to eat, although, sadly, the poor thing looks none too well for its encounter with a cat.

Can't get over the fact that just yesterday I was writing about, and reading about, "The Chrysalis Effect" by sociologist and visionary Phillip Slater in my previous post!

Here's from the Harvard Magazine Review of Slater's last book (he died in 2009).  It is ultimately a hopeful book, a visionary book, from the premiere American sociologist who wrote The Pursuit of Loneliness: America's Discontent and the Search for a New Democratic Ideal   so many years ago, pointing out the continuing drift toward isolationism, distrust, and loss of community in American culture in the early 1970's.  

"Always adept at spotting patterns before others notice them, Slater here describes cultural styles that play out on a macroscopic, Toynbee-like level, while stitching these massive systems closely to the facts of daily life.  Many of today’s jarring dislocations, he asserts, stem from the clash between the ancient system of control culture and a newer pattern: integrative culture. “Incivility and chaos arise when an old system is breaking down and a new one hasn’t yet fully taken hold,” he writes. The “chrysalis” of the title refers to the transitional state between one life form and the successor that grows out of it.

The ethos of control culture has dominated human societies for millennia, Slater writes, ever since the advent of agriculture: it embraces “a static vision of the universe, a deep dependence on authoritarian rule, a conviction that order was something that had to be imposed, and a preoccupation with combat.” Integrative culture, in contrast, breaks down mental walls and boundaries and celebrates interdependence. “It has a dynamic vision of the universe, a democratic ethos, and sees order as something that evolves, as it does in Nature, from spontaneous interaction.”

It was suggested that I consider what this synchronicity might mean symbolically.  Caterpillars represent, to me, what we are as a global humanity, adolescent, trying to mature, to transform, to become winged creatures. We're presently, like a caterpillar on a leaf, mindlessly gobbling up our world, eating up everything in sight. We confront the "imaginal cell" time, the time when what we as a common humanity are about to become deconstructed.  The hopeful thought is that there is an impulse, a greater force, within our collective instinct that will lead us into, like the force that drives the caterpillar, to the  Chrysalis, the "imaginal" stage. So that we might become, at last, become beautiful Pollinators.......such is my hope.

"Butterfly Man" Crop Circle, Netherlands, August 2009