Author Archives: marcia

Latest Solar Activity

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SOLAR ERUPTION: A teepee-shaped magnetic prominence that solar astronomers had been monitoring for days erupted this morning. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the action:

Although much of the prominence fell back to the sun, some of the structure did fly into space, producing a coronal mass ejection. SOHO coronagraphs of the CME show that it is propagating up and out of the plane of the solar system: movie. Probably no planet will be hit by the expanding cloud

ANd then, there is this to consider also:

CALM BEFORE THE STORM? Solar activity remains generally low, but the quiet is unlikely to persist with so many sunspots turning toward Earth. NOAA forecaters estimate a 30% chance of M-class solar flares during the next 24 hours.

this is all from:   spaceweather.com

German Satellite is Due to Hit October 22/23

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Falling German Satellite Poses 1-in-2,000 Risk of Striking Someone This Month

by Leonard David, SPACE.com’s Space Insider Columnist
Date: 12 October 2011 Time: 07:41 AM ET
Artist's impression of the ROSAT satellite in space
Artist’s impression of the ROSAT satellite in space
CREDIT: German Aerospace Center

A big German satellite near the end of life is expected to plunge back to Earth this month, just weeks after a NASA satellite fell from orbit, and where this latest piece of space junk will hit is a mystery.

The 2.4-ton spacecraft, Germany’s Roentgen Satellite (ROSAT), is expected to fall Oct.  22 or 23.

The satellite will break up into fragments, some of which will disintegrate due to intense re-entry heat. But studies predict that about 1.6 tons of satellite leftovers could reach the Earth’s surface. That’s nearly half ROSAT’s entire mass.

There is a 1-in-2,000 chance that debris from the satellite could hit someone on Earth, though the likelihood of an injury is extremely remote, German space officials say. For German citizens, the risk of being struck is much lower, about 1 in 700,000.

All areas under the orbit of ROSAT, which extends to 53 degrees northern and southern latitude, could be in the strike zone of the satellite’s re-entry.

The bulk of the debris is likely to hit near the ground/ocean track of the satellite. However, isolated fragments could descend to Earth in a 50-mile (80-kilometer) swath along that track. [Photos: Germany’s ROSAT Satellite Falling to Earth]

The satellite will be the second large spacecraft to make a pre-announced fall from space in as many months. On Sept. 24, NASA’s 20-year-old Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) crashed into the Pacific Ocean in a widely publicized death plunge.

The ROSAT project was a collaborative venture among Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It was developed, built and launched on behalf of and under the leadership of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Germany’s space agency.

ROSAT undergoing tests in the space simulation chamber
The ROSAT satellite undergoing tests in the space simulation chamber at Dornier.
CREDIT: Dornier (now Astrium Friedrichshafen).

The uncontrollable ROSAT

ROSAT was placed into Earth orbit on June 1, 1990. The highly successful astronomy mission ended after nearly nine years, with commands sent on Feb. 12, 1999, to shut the spacecraft down.

The spacecraft does not have its own propulsion system, so it could not  be maneuvered into a controlled re-entry at the end of its mission.

Moreover, the satellite is zipping through space in deaf and silent mode. That is, ROSAT is no longer able to communicate with DLR’s control center in Oberpfaffenhofen, nor is it possible to establish contact with the spacecraft.

Still, the DLR says the probability of ROSAT coming down over an inhabited area is extremely low.

to read more, go to:    http://www.space.com/13261-german-satellite-falling-earth-rosat-risk.html

10/11 7th Day of 9th Level of Consciousness

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FROM kASHONIA’S  BLOG — Read & Decide for Yourself:   

By KASHONIA on OCTOBER 4, 2011

Hello,

The following is a very important and relevant article to read at this time.  It is from Dr Carl Calleman whose extensive research of the Mayan Callendar and Culture suggests that the Mayan Calendar actually ends in just 3 weeks time, on October 28th.

My article  http://www.kashonia.com/summary/callemans-9-mayan-levels-consciousnessexplains Dr Calleman’s research and fully explains what the 9 levels of consciousness are all about and their timelines.  You’ll see from the timeline table that at this moment we are in the “7th Day” of levels of consciousnesss, or waves – 1 – 8.  We are also in the 6th Night of Level 9.

We will be entering the 7th Day of the 9th Level of consciousness next Tuesday, October 11th.

All 9 levels of consciousness are timed to end on October 28th.

In the following article, which Carl says will probably be his last before the completion of all 9 levels, he demonstrates how so many of the events happening around the world at this time have indeed occured because the cosmic energy is such that they were destined to occur at this time.

He completes the article with three possible scenarios of what might happen after October 28th, 2011.

Carl says he leans towards scenario 2.  Personally, I think number 3 is more likely.

This really is a fascinating, must read article.

Love, Kashonia

***********

The “End” of the Mayan calendar, Solar Flares and Earth Changes

by Carl J. Calleman

 

We have now celebrated the Cosmic Convergence and there is less than one night and one day before the fulfillment of the evolutionary plan for all of creation (or at least the attainment of the top level).

As predicted the Ninth wave of this plan, which is coming to a close together with the other waves of the Mayan calendar on October 28, 2011, has brought a tremendous energetic frequency increase to the world. This has been experienced on a personal level by many, but it has also been easily visible in the spread of political and economical chaos in large parts of the world. The current instability is evident not only in what is actually happening, but also in the constant shifts in how events or developments are perceived and reported.

Greece, for instance, is one day said to be bankrupt, another fully afloat with the help of the troika, and the next day it is again said to be bankrupt. One day the Ghaddafi regime has fallen and another it is again fighting only to have fallen the next day again.

In this world of uncertain interpretation of news alternative media on the Internet have gone in to try to fill the gap sometimes speaking with total certainty about impending catastrophes. There, one day the comet Elenin is said to create earthquakes and to set an end to the world, the next it does not exist and then it is back again (or was it planet X?).

Anything, no matter how crazy or farfetched, can today find an attentive audience on YouTube and be presented as if it was serious information.

To the instability of the world has thus been added information chaos and it is a common feeling among many that they do not know who or what to believe anymore. The mental framework within which people have understood the world is eroding and this, as much as the actual course of events, is a sign of our times. Some reject the meaningfulness of mental understanding altogether.

This erosion prepares the ground for a new opening and radical shift in our ways of thinking and relating and attests to the fact that much of the world has been shaken off its previous balance by the Ninth wave.

Underlying all of this we may find a somewhat nervous expectation of something unknown and dramatic that is to happen. It is not surprising that in the minds of many people this expectation has been largely negative. After all, the development of the Ninth wave has been essentially predictable according to Revelation 16, where it is the seven days that bring the most destruction to the old structures of the world.

Thus, progress along the old routes has step by step been blocked and the experience of a dead end to our current civilization has spread widely with little to yet show in terms of alternatives. The novelties that have been generated by the Ninth wave have thus in the world at large been few and far in between. While many may have had inner awakenings of oneness, the external manifestations of these have been very marginal.

As part of the erosion of the current world I had predicted at a relatively early point, quite correctly, that the fifth day of the Ninth wave would be the energy that would precipitate the economic downturn (And the economy may be the best mirror of how humans relate to one another).

This was in fact also the time when the so called “markets” truly started to be affected by the global loan crisis, which has since with every new shift point of the Ninth wave continued to deepen. The drawn out nature of this crisis does not change the fact that we are going towards a collapse of the economical and political system of the world and there are no signs that this could be averted.

Growth in key countries such as the US and Germany has come to a halt (not to mention Greece and Italy), which in practice blocks all attempts for the repayment of debts.

The economic downturn has displayed some surprising elements such as the expressed desire of a choir of some of the super rich to be taxed more heavily and the possibility that China will buy debt from Italy or other Euro countries to keep them afloat.

I however find it hard to believe that any of this would actually happen and the feeling one gets is that the rulers are running out of tricks.

Despite the dead end, it can however probably be said that life in much of the world still appears much like business as usual.

Thus, no occurrence has yet been powerful enough to precipitate the collapse that many are expecting or fearing and it now seems that this will not happen until in the seventh day of the Ninth wave, October 11-28.  If so, the end of the calendar may become a very marked discontinuity.

What we are witnessing is thus not another recession, but the end of the world capitalist system and the protests in the US against “Wall Street” may be an indication as good as any of this.

One however gets the impression that as long as the old system survives, there is no real opening to create a new world to replace it. To do so would be too much in conflict with the legality of the current dualist power structure.

Only after some kind of full collapse has occurred would people in general be compelled and inspired to create a new way of living and relating in the realms of politics and economics.

to read more, go to:   http://www.kashonia.com/summary/mayan-calendar-scenarios

October 28, 2011 as End of Mayan Long Count

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Why the Creation Cycles do not end
December 21 2012, but October 28, 2011
by Carl Calleman

Over the decades much discussion has focussed on finding the exact correlation between the Mayan Long Count and the Gregorian calendar. Most researchers in the field have now come to agree that the so-called GMT correlation, placing the beginning of the Long Count 4 Ahau 8 Cumku on the Julian day 584 283, August 11, 3114 BC, is correct. This means by consequence that it will end on December 21, 2012 and most students of the calendar of the Maya, such as Jose Arguelles, John Jenkins and Terence McKenna, have endorsed this date as the end of the current cycle.

I do not dispute that the GMT correlation for the Long Count with the Gregorian calendar is the correct one. And clearly, the Long Count is an approximately (within a year or so) correct reflection of the divine process of creation. There are however strong reasons to believe that the Mayan Long Count itself does not exactly reflect the shifting energies of the divine creation cycles that we today are interested in. What in this regard is most compelling is that the exact Long Count beginning date ultimately is calibrated based on the date of solar zenith in Izapa, which occurs on August 12. (Izapa is the ancient Mayan site in southern Mexico where the Long Count was first devised.)

This solar zenith day was since long, long before the Long Count was implemented, considered as the day of the year when “time began” and considered as a holy date in the location of Izapa. There is thus every reason to believe that the solar zenith was the reason the initial day in the Long Count, 4 Ahau 8 Cumku, was set on this day, although obviously the date of solar zenith in Izapa has nothing to do with the real beginning of the corresponding divine creation cycle. (Not to use the solar zenith date as the beginning of the Long Count would have been considered as heresy. We may make the comparison with the date of Christmas, which was taken from old solstice celebrations, and has not been changed, despite the fact that few, if any, believes that Jesus was born then).

That the end date of the Long Count falls on December 21, 2012 is thus just a necessary logical consequence of the beginning date chosen by the Izapans and not something that the Maya had intentionally targeted. The creation cycles described by the Maya, including the tzolkin, are fundamentally of a spiritual, non-astronomical, nature. Thus, any theory that implies that the Mayan Long Count would have been designed to reflect astronomical phenomena, be it the precession of the earth or a solar zenith, is a warning signal that its originator is off the mark. It should be obvious that if the Mayan calendar is a prophetic calendar describing cosmic energy cycles of a universal nature then the particular date at which the sun was in zenith in the particular location of Izapa is totally irrelevant for us who live today and must be considered as nothing but a result of a tradition too strong to be changed.

Another equally compelling reason why December 21, 2012 cannot be the true date of completion of creation is that this day is 4 Ahau in the tzolkin count. Since the Long Count consists of exactly 7200 tzolkin rounds then the true end of creation must fall on a day that is 13 Ahau in the tzolkin count so that the tzolkin rounds even out. If we want to find out what is the real date of ending of the creation cycles we must therefore look for a day around the year 2012, which is 13 Ahau in the tzolkin count. The inscriptions in Palenque, written about a thousand years after the Long Count was devised in Izapa, seem to indicate that the date of relevance is October 28, 2011, which in fact is 13 Ahau in the tzolkin count.

The issue of the exact correlation between the creation cycles and physical time may not have been as critical in the age of the Maya as it is to us, since creation is currently operating at a 400 times higher frequency. A discrepancy of a year or so may have meant less earlier than it does to us who live today. If we make a mistake of 420 days in calibrating the end date of the creation cycles we will be totally out of phase with the rapidly evolving Galactic Creation Cycle where the Yin/Yang dualities in the cosmos are switched off and on every 360 days. These energy changes are what a spiritual calendar should reflect if it is to serve humanity in its current phase of evolution.

It should be said also that those who propose December 21, 2012 as an end date, such as Terence McKenna and John Jenkins, are basing their entire interpretations of the Mayan calendar on this particular date of ending, as if this was what the entire calendar was about. I feel however that what is most important for us to know today is the processes leading up to the completion of creation and the attainment of Cosmic Consciousness. This process is driven forward by the roller-coaster-like Galactic Creation Cycle, and for those seeking to understand this process and its many manifestations an exact calibration of this cycle is imperative. This is now available in calendar form.

Baktun no
 Duration (Corrected)
1.
3115-2721 BC
2.
2721-2326
3.
2326-1932
4.
1932-1538
5.
1538-1144
6.
1144-749
7.
749-355
8.
355- AD 40
9.
AD 40-434
10. 434-829
11. 829-1223
12. 1223-1617
13. 1617-2011

Corrected durations of the Thirteen Heavens baktuns of the Long Count

from:    http://www.calleman.com/content/articles/end_of_creationcycles.htm

you might also want to check ou this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_JQCn-xeMM

Undersea Volcano Near Canary Islands-Eruption Effects

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El Hierro. Google Maps

El Hierro. Google Maps

Spain’s Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN) confirmed on Tuesday that an underwater eruption has occurred five kilomtres off the southern coastline of El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Island. The eruption is Spain’s first since the eruption in 1971 of the Teneguía volcano on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands).

Scientists Monitor Underwater Volcano Eruption Near El Hierro

By MARK DUNPHY – Tue Oct 11, 2:53 p

The IGN says all three of its seismic stations on El Hierro in the Canary Islands have registered a volcanic tremor of low frequency in the south of the island at La Restinga (population 547), the southern-most village in the Canaries.  Residents of the town were summonsed to a local football field on Tuesday afternoon to be briefed on provisional evacuation procedures in the event of another eruption closer to the shore.

Scientists from IGN and CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), meanwhile, have conducted a reconnaissance flight over the sea to the area south of the island, where they have located dead fish floating on the surface five kilometres from the coast. The dead fish were identified in an area where lower seismic magnitude occurred on October 9, at a depth of approximately 2 km.

The present volcanic activity is understood to be occurring at a depth of 600 metres (just under one kilometre) below sea level, in the Las Calmas sea.

Scientists from IGN, CSIC and the University of Cadiz have established their monitoring base at La Restinga. Efforts are underway to determine if the subsea volcanic vent is widening and if so, in which direction (away or toward El Hierro).

Initial reports of the eruption were received from crews on board four separate ships. Local media agency Canarias7 reported on Monday that Government authorities have suspended ferry activities to and from the 285 square-kilometre island.

English language newspaper  islandconnections.eu reported: “The martime chief for the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife Antonio Padrón has issued a recomendation that boats should not sail closer than four miles off El Hierro. Divers have also been told to suspend all activities.

 

 

 

El Hierro (highlighted) on Google Earth

El Hierro (highlighted) on Google Earth

The eruption takes place amidst an unprecedented earthquake swarm in El Hierro. The number of earthquakes recorded since July 17, 2011 on El Hierro has now exceeded 10,000.

Hierro, a shield volcano, has had a single historic eruption from the Volcan de Lomo Negro vent in 1793. The eruption lasted approximately one month and produced lava flows.

The recent surge in the number and intensity of earthquakes prompted officials from the IGN and The Canary Islands Government to raise the alert level for the Hierro volcano to ‘Yellow’ late last month. The alert remained in place on Monday, but the estimated 11,000 residents of El Hierro were being reassured not to be alarmed.

The majority of the earthquake activity shifted from El Golfo in the island’s northwest to beneath the Las Calmas Sea in the south earlier this month. Surface deformations exceeding 35mm have also been recorded on the island in recent weeks.

Evacuations

A dramatic rise in recorded earthquakes on El Hierro prompted officials to evacuate some local residents, shut El Hierro’s main tunnel, and close local schools on 27 September.

The Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) advised almost 50 residents of the municipality of La Frontera to leave their homes because of landslide fears. Two units of the Spanish military’s emergency intervention unit (EMU) were also placed on standby to depart the nearby island of Tenerife to assist in the possible evacuation of hundreds of other El Hierro residents.

Meanwhile, the island’s main tunnel (Tunel del Golfo), which links Frontera to Valverde, was shut forcing motorists to travel across the 280-sq-km island via a mountain road. The Cabildo de El Hierro also ordered the closure of schools.

to read more, see the graphs and the videos, go to:    http://www.irishweatheronline.com/news/earth-science/geology/scientists-monitor-underwater-volcano-eruption-near-el-hierro/41346.html

3 New Galactic Portals Open

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Late last night or early this morning, three new portals to the interstellar areas opened up.  They sent out bursts of energy that ar coming into our solar ayatem at this time.  The energies that they portend are new energies, while at the same time begin very old.  They radiate out from the very center of the Universal Constant, that which the Universe truly is, its very essential nature, and they have passed through our energy flux vortex twice in the past.  This is the third passage of these vibrations, and being a third they bring with them a completion that has not been felt before.

In the historic periods of your early Earth, when these energies first traversed this system, they brought with them bursts of light and invention.  In those energies there were times of great seeding and flourishings on the earth.  Then some of the energetic  sustenance that they carried moved away, and actually some of it was taken away by those from other areas who felt that your development here needed to be gradual and controlled and not instantaneous and of increasing and never ending creativity.  This new burst brings with it a new kind of connection to the Universe, to the Mind of The Universe.  Moreover it is driven and intentional.  It falls within the great time of things.  There is a propriety and rightness of when things happen, and in that proper timing what is meant to be happen will be.  It cannot be changed.  This is not a kind of determinism, for there are may layers and levels on which this is working out, rather it is a choosing of where one wishes to be actualized.  It comes about through a choice of connection.

This connection allows people to know and understand their place in the greater whole and their part of Universal Consciousness.  As such, the illusion of the physical is revealed to be what it is, illusion and not truly real. The sense that this is more of a game, and we use the word somewhat guardedly, for we do not wish to use in in the sense of winning and losing, but more in the sense of this being a kind of experimentation, one that you have chosen to play out.  It allows one to see through the activities of daily life to the greater schemata behind the whole thing.  Is it not Beautiful and wondrous?

This Earth is a most marvelous plave.  It is one of the best places within the galaxy to view the wonder of All That Is.  There is a potential that is now becoming real on your Earth, and it is time to seize that potential;.  Three new portals are now opened for those who are sincere and desirous of seeing their place as part and one with Universal Consciousness, of becoming actualized in their very WHO, of moving on within the Ascension process. As Jacob with his ladder, these portals are gates to the new knowledge and potential of each and every person. The challenge is there.  It is important to be aware that with this new energy now streaming in from the opened portals, things can become more chaotic as individuals do a push and pull dance within its vibration.

There are so many who have become stuck in the illusion of this dimension, of this earthly plane, and it will be ever more difficult for them to accept what is streaming forth from these new portals.  More and more dimensions will become obvious to those who are alert, and it is time to know that what you are seeing is what you are seeing.  As you are energized and as these portals continue to pour forth their energies, your very senses will begin to respond to more and more dimensions.  You can feel yourselves with odd physical blips and charges. These are your ordinary senses expanding and opening up to the expansion of the energy field around you. Where once the ground was firm, it is now both firm and soft at the same time.  This can cause some confusion and dis-orientation at first, but know that with time, you will begin to recognize when your senses are responding to the opening of the dimensions, and with time, you will learn to enjoy, expect, and even desire this new connectivity piece.

Be well, and know that in all cases you have the power, the wisdom, and the ability to open and be part of the changes that are happening.  It is time for meditation, for seeing through the little concerns, and for you to know your power.  You can create and do create.  It is the intention, choice, and connection that you are needing to keep you centered and at one in all things.,  We are here and we hear you.  Call on us and we will answer.

Transmission terminated at this time.  Lines always open.

Grassroots Movements Everywhere

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by Stephen Lendman

Ordinary people across the Middle East, Europe and America are fed up and want long denied social justice.

Londoners are enraged about growing social pain, government in the pockets of monied interests, and endless imperial wars they want ended – NOW!

On October 8, The London Guardian headlined, “Stop the War Coalition demo in London marks 10th anniversary of Afghan war,” saying:

Protesters read aloud names of fallen UK soldiers, sacrificing their lives for war profiteer gains.

Masses “attended the Stop the War Coalition demonstration in Trafalgar Square, led by a former soldier who refused to fight and a 106-year-old peace activist.”

Court martialed and jailed for refusing to serve, Lance Corporal Joe Glenton read a letter to Prime Minister Cameron signed by other former US and UK servicemen, saying:

“We are making this statement in defiance of the propaganda and lies in support of the so-called war on terror for the last 10 years.”

“We know these wars have nothing to do with democracy or security or women’s rights or peace or stability. They are fought for money and power and nothing else.”

Precisely so! Wars are never for liberation, humanitarian reasons or democratic values. They’re for imperial dominance, colonization, resource and people exploitation, and war profiteering enrichment, no matter the body count to achieve them.

…

Spreading US Protests

At the same time, Occupy Wall protests spread in weeks to nearly 1,000 cities and towns nationwide. They’re the first national uprising in decades. Nothing like them has been seen since earlier civil rights and anti-Vietnam war activism.

Global justice demonstrations since Seattle 1999 lasted several days then ebbed. Today’s rage against the system shows promise provided spirited energy doesn’t wane, leaders emerge to sustain it, and focus concentrates on what matters most – money power in private hands to make more of it at the public’s expense.

Wall Street controlled money can’t co-exist with democracy and social justice. It bribes political Washington to get what it wants. It buys members of America’s duopoly like toothpaste.

Americans have the best democracy money can buy. Addressing Freedom Plaza activists on October 8, Ralph Nader said:

“It is time for citizens to push their elected officials to break the corporate stranglehold on our country.”

“Congress has done more to bail out Wall Street than Main Street.” Infinitely more, in fact, with sustained trillions of dollars of handouts. At least, $16.1 trillion but very likely much more unreported.

“Wall Street crooks have avoided penalties and prosecution and continued to receive bonuses and excessive compensation while pensions and saving have been looted.”

Record corporate profits belie a growing Main Street Depression. Unemployment is over double official numbers. America’s worst ever housing crisis continues with no end in sight. Millions lost homes. Millions more will before it ends. Washington is doing nothing to help or create jobs.

“(I)income inequality in this country” is unprecedented. (T)he top 1% of the population has financial wealth equal to the combined financial wealth of the bottom 95% of the people.”

Protests across America are “way overdue (to make) the president and Congress listen.”

They hear, but they don’t care. They know, but they do nothing. They talk, but they don’t act.

Business as usual won’t end until people power replaces fossilized duopoly power with progressive government of, by and for the people.

Its main focus must be on returning money power to public hands where it belongs. Without it other objectives will fail, including ones Occupy Wall Street (OWS) adopted on September 29.

They stress:

to read more, go to:   http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/10/10/social-justice-protests-head-everywhere#more19020

Spirituality & Society

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Pythia Peay

Author and writer on spirituality, psychology and American psyche

 Spirituality And Social Change: An Interview With Corinne McLaughlin
Posted: 5/18/11 08:38 AM ET

Those who despair over the gap between their vision of a more environmentally sustainable, just and peaceful planet and the world as it is can find inspiration in Corinne McLaughlin’s call to become practical visionaries: Those activists, she says, who remain steady in their work over time by keeping their “eyes on the horizon, their feet on the ground, and their hearts on fire.”

McLaughlin, a spiritual and political activist who has taught politics at American University, is coauthor of “Spiritual Politics”with her husband Gordon Davidson (author of the forthcoming “Joyful Evolution”). They are as well founders of The Center for Visionary Leadership and The Sirius Community, and are fellows of The World Business Academy and The Findhorn Foundation.

The following is an edited version of my interview with McLaughlin on her recent book,“The Practical Visionary: A New World Guide to Spiritual Growth and Social Change”.

Pythia: I’d like to start with a simple question. What is your definition of a “visionary”?

Corinne: A visionary is someone who sees the future with both insight and foresight: Insight into the deeper causes and meaning of events in the world, and foresight, or an intuitive grasp of the big picture, such as the trajectory of politics and popular culture.

Pythia: You write in your book that you’ve seen many visionaries fail to manifest their inspiring visions. What do you find is the biggest obstacle most visionaries face?

Corinne: The problem I find with a lot of visionaries is that they’re too far ahead — perhaps their vision won’t happen for another hundred years. That’s why I like to help people focus on “next step” visions that are more doable.

Pythia: Why is being too far ahead of one’s own time a problem?

Corinne: Thinking that something that is far in the future can come sooner leads to unrealistic expectations, as well as rigid and dogmatic perspectives. It can also prevent visionaries from seeing what’s possible right in front of them. Our work is to translate what we might receive from a flash of insight into things that are useful today.

Take for example the recent uprising in Egypt. I could hold a positive vision of how this could all turn out, but I know it’s not going to be as simple as that. It’s one thing to get rid of a dictator. The harder part is to create a viable democracy that empowers people. But what I found inspiring in Egypt is how, during the revolution, the people organized their neighborhoods, created street clinics to help the wounded, and cleaned up after their demonstrations. These may seem like small things, but to me they are examples of practical, effective visionaries at work.

Pythia: You write that as a young woman in the sixties you were inspired by people in government and their dedication to public service — such as President Kennedy and Robert Kennedy — to enter government service yourself. You then went on to work at various Federal agencies, such as the Social Security Administration and President Clinton’s Council on Sustainable Development; you’ve even taught meditation to some government agencies. How did these first-hand experiences shape your development as a practical visionary?

Corinne: I believe strongly that social change isn’t just about demonstrations in the street against the wrongs in society. There is also the path of the social innovator who creates new institutions and the path of the reformer who goes within an institution and makes incremental changes. Based on my own experience, I learned that implementing a vision in an institutional setting involves working with conflict resolution and a whole systems perspective. It’s important, for instance, to have a multi-stakeholder perspective — in other words, you can’t just go charging in with your own ideas, you have to appreciate people’s different perspectives, then work to find common ground and bring the various parties to the table in a respectful dialogue.

Because I frequently encountered obstacles such as old, entrenched ideas, ongoing power struggles, or the lack of staff and money, I also learned to develop patience and detachment. In federal, state and local governments, administrations, philosophies, and policy initiatives change. If your vision aligns with the values of the current administration you’re working with, you can make some progress — but that could all change in four or six years.

Pythia: Together with your husband, Gordon Davidson, you’ve also taught the path of “Ageless Wisdom” for many decades. What has this spiritual perspective brought to your calling as a practical visionary?

Corinne: What I’ve taken from my spiritual study is the wisdom of living a balanced life. My spiritual path has also helped me to be more emotionally centered, to be more understanding of those that disagree with me, and to learn how to let go of some of my power issues so that I can be more effective and bring a sense of humility to my work — while still having the self-confidence to be effective.

Pythia: You write about how easy it is for activists to burn out, and list different ways that they can stay “spiritually sane.” What contemplative practices do you teach activists that can help prevent disillusionment?

Corinne: Many activists just see what’s wrong: they want to stand up to injustice and educate people about it. But I think it’s equally important for activists to hold a more positive vision of what’s right with their country: what’s going well, and what they’d like to grow or see more of. I also like to encourage activists to take some time each day to sit silently or take a walk in nature as a way to be in touch with their inner wisdom and peace — and to remember why they are on this path in the first place.

to read more, go to:   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pythia-peay/spirituality-activism_b_859918.html?ref=spirituality

Canary Islands Volcano Yellow Alert

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El Hierro Volcano (Canary Islands) : October 10 : PEVOLCA latest report

Last update: October 10, 2011 at 9:49 pm by By 

Read also : Scientific paper reveals massive historic Tenerife volcano flank collapse

Parador de El Hierro, gives a good idea on the coastline – Click on the picture to watch a video

Update 10/10 – 21:31 UTC : Fishing vessels have been ordered not to throw their nets in the expected eruption area.  As far as now, no gases or bubbles have been detected in the area which is supposed to be the eruption area. This does not necessarily mean that there is no eruption, but that the depth of the magma vent is at least several hundred meters below sea level.
In the meantime, the harmonic tremors are unchanged  (see link below).
Emergencia El Hierro has not published a new report tonight.

Update 10/10 – 17:01 UTC :  Ramon Ortiz, a vulcanologist specialized in Canary Island volcanoes and currently advising the authorities, says in ElMundo that  today’s eruption will be probably at a depth greater than  600 meter below sea level and about  5 km to the southeast of El Hierro.
Ortiz also said that the the  Harmonic Tremors which started this morning showed that the eruption had started.  They were reported in this site only hours after they started (see link and description below).
The latest eruption on the Canary Islands took place on La Palma Island in 1971 (see the video below from this eruption).

IMPORTANT UPDATE 14:31 UTC : PEVOLCA has just published a Press Statement that it is still unsure that an eruption is going on  in the Las Calmas Sea. Scientists of IGN which make part of the PEVOLCA committee have stated that IGN has recorded the emission of volcanic gases at the south side of the island. The committee stresses that the gases are NOT dangerous for the population.
Additionally IGN reported that the emission might also be an eruptive phase but at the present time there is no 100% proof for it. A certainty however, IGN reported, is that “purely volcanic harmonic tremors” have started.

to read more, go to:    http://earthquake-report.com/2011/09/25/el-hierro-canary-islands-spain-volcanic-risk-alert-increased-to-yellow/

Grassroots Groundswell

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Award-winning filmmaker, speaker, and advocate

This Is What a Groundswell Looks Like

Posted: 10/9/11 09:30 AM ET

In my travels across the country, I’ve been speaking about a rising generation ready to emerge from the shadows of the last decade and enter a new era of social change. Now we are seeing something emerge — a grassroots campaign has caught fire, turning out thousands of people, young and old, to create a free democratic space called Liberty Square on Wall Street.

All kinds of people are protesting that Wall Street has been rescued but there has been no help for most Americans. And city after city is joining them. Their statement:

We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we are working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent.

This is what a groundswell looks like. This is a moment that could spark a broader movement that reaffirms the human dignity of all people. In a time when the top 1 percent have as much income as the bottom 60 percent — a level of inequality not seen since before the Great Depression — it’s a matter of moral imperative to help fix a broken system.

Oct. 4 was a major day of action in New York, where an estimated 15,000 people marched for reform. I’m inspired by Jesse Jackson’s editorial in the Chicago Sun-Timesabout the protesters:

“The discipline of their demonstrations, the clarity of their moral voice, has touched a chord. Occupy Wall Street is in that tradition of nonviolence with a moral voice organizing to challenge entrenched power and privilege, a movement that stands with the majority against a powerful elite.”

But let’s be clear: This isn’t about bad people, it’s about a broken system that isn’t working to encourage opportunity for all Americans and rewarding hard work with decent pay.

Last month, our country marked the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 as the end of one chapter of history and the beginning of a new one has yet to be written. At Groundswell’s teach-in at The Jerome L. Green Performance Space in September, I shared a vision of what a groundswell feels like. I said, “A groundswell is a broad swell in the sea, due to a distant storm or gale. It’s a response to something. A groundswell is not self-generated but comes out of the zeitgeist.”

We did not know what would come next or how it would happen — we only knew that we were hungry for a movement that wasn’t about a political party or a single issue, but a shared moral vision for a better world. We have taken the first steps together, now let’s keep walking.

 

from:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/valarie-kaur/this-is-what-a-groundswel_b_1000501.html