Why So Sirius? Part 1

After going public with one of my most profound personal experiences in a talk with Mike Clelland, I began to think about it more and more. Sirius seems to come up in my life at major moments and resonates with many integral parts of who I am. So often and so much so that it was my intention to begin to get all this down and start the year with a post collecting some of my Sirius connections and experiences.

In late December I found a big piece of the puzzle. And yet, it seems to have only made the mystery a bit deeper.

You see, I was born on New Year's Eve, late in the evening...

Days before my birthday, this article began from EarthSky.org began to spread across the interwebs like wildfire:

Sirius in the constellation Canis Major – the legendary Dog Star – should be
called the New Year’s star. This star – the brightest one in our sky –
celebrates the birth of 2012 and every new year by reaching its highest point in
the sky around the stroke of midnight. That’s the case this year, and every
year.

So Sirius is highest in the sky at midnight every New Year’s.
Astronomers call this a midnight culmination of Sirius. As the New Year rings
in, Sirius is at its highest.

For the whole week leading up to New Year's Eve, as that article spread, the word "Sirius" seemed to be on everyone's lips in a wide-scale way I've never seen before. Undoubtedly, the success of that story and the internet's ability to make an idea "go viral" had a hand in it, but there was more to it than social networking. Much more. It was the sense about an ideological contagion that I get from watching patterns spread via "sync" and the collective unconscious. In the last few hours of 2011, I knew Sirius was making itself known.

On January 2nd at 9:27pm I get an email from Michael over at Gosporn:

We watched Best In Show on new years eve. Film is about the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show in Philadelphia ("where the dogs are the stars"). I had all these ideas and odd dreams that night, about getting a message from Sirius, or something. Just as that idea comes into my head, my dog jumps off the bed and pukes on the carpet? So... I remember it, because the dog woke me up right then.

Less than 40 minutes later, at 10:06pm, this video comes across my Facebook feed (thanks to a group that calls themselves The Secret Moon) with the description: "Kirsten Dunce [sic] plays a girl seduced by the sounds of Sirius" ... your homework while I work on Part 2 of this post is to watch all 44 minutes of this episode of The Outer Limits from 1997. It's not "good" (as in "enjoyable") but it syncs like hell.

Oh, and anyone interested in the Masonic angle to the Sirius mystery should pay close attention to the 13 minute 50 second mark where the main kid is placing a call to Japan via a Skype-like teleconference system called "Handshake." Of course, the Handshake program doesn't "start" or "load" ...No, the Handshake is for the Initiated.

“It [Sirius] is the first and most exalted object that demands our attention in the Lodge.”

-William Hutchinson

“The Ancient Astronomers saw all the great Symbols of Masonry in the Stars. Sirius glitters in our lodges as the Blazing Star.”

-Albert Pike (Morals and Dogma)

Now, as Kotze used to say, this is where things get a little weird. If one were to continue reading that EarthSky.org article, you'd see another line that reads:

Because the stars rise and set two hours earlier with each passing month, Sirius will be highest up for the night around 10 p.m. local time on February 1.

I'm not sure what "local" is for the person who wrote the article (it isn't very well written mind you), but that just happens to be the day I was going to do the NYC Sync Book event (before it got pushed back a day to January 31st. You should go by the way. It is going to be awesome. Get your tickets here. Siriusly. You should go.)

One of the things we are planning for that night is after the event ends-after everyone leaves the theater, to go on a group Sync Walk with the authors and the attendees. Since the theater is pretty close to the Dakota, I thought that might make an interesting pit stop for our big Sync Walk.

Since thinking about it, the Dakota has been on my mind, somewhere near the back but persistently there. Yesterday I was at the library and I spotted a movie called Jupiter's Wife. Even though Jupiter is not as big a sync resonator for me as it is for many of the g8ors, I was wondering if there might be some sync magic contained within and so I picked it up. Lo and behold, the Dakota was featured on the front:

In addition to all the weird history surrounding the building, there is the word "Dakota" itself. Here in the states, the Dakotas are the land of the Bison (read: Bi-Sun or Twin Stars of Sirius), home to a massive Masonic shrine (remember: Masons revere "the blazing star" aka Sirius), and my own travels to the Dakotas were insanely in sync with all of this. It was in the Dakotas that I first dreamt of my wolf--a connection which has reoccurred profoundly--to the point that I see it as some sort of animal guide. I had this dream that I was playing with and had befriended a wolf-- a wolf that, though massive and powerful, was not frightening in any way. The next day I found myself at an unplanned locale: the territory of the Lakota people. The Lakota are perhaps most famous as the tribe featured in the movie Dances with Wolves.

The wolf is of course a wild dog. Sirius is the Dog Star. The Dog Star is most high during the 12 days the Magi were said to be following a "star in the East" (or an Eastern Star).

The film Jupiter's Wife, tells the story of a homeless woman named Maggie (Magi) and her many dogs. No joke: the dogs are a really big part of this movie.

Kinda joke: Aside from Maggie having once lived in the Dakota, the movie holds another slight connection to the Dakota lore. Mark David Chapman shot Lennon outside the Dakota while holding a copy of Cather in the Rye and claimed to be on a similar quest as Holden in the book, in his railing against "phonies." Well, this movie is chock filled with phonies. The director/narrator nauseatingly tries to act as if he cares and is sympathetic to this woman, when the whole time you can tell he thinks she's crazy and just hopes she says some more crazy sh9t that he can catch on film.

While the movie is hard to watch because of the phoniness of those pretending to care, Maggie shines true. Yeah, a little crazy, but very true.

Plus, the director credits a very cool "meaningful coincidence" for him deciding to make the film about her. So, after wondering if there was any sync magic to be found within, I realized that a big sync is responsible for the film being made.

But there is a much much bigger sync in me watching this movie while working on a post about transmissions from stars and all that... Maggie believes she is receiving radio signals from Jupiter and that she is in direct constant telepathic communication with the planet.

That is why the movie is called Jupiter's Wife.
Here's the kicker. As the guy is doing his wrap up narration, basically saying how crazy she is, he ho-hum drops in there that she had predicted the exact date and time that his child would be born -- and that she was correct!

He says (I'm paraphrasing): "maybe if I had taken her more seriously, I wouldn't have ended up delivering my child in the back of a taxicab."

Let me tell you something... If you're making a movie about a person who predicts the day and time of something, and it happens at that exact day and time, you'd better change the name of your movie to "Holy Sh!t, The Crazy F-ing Jupiter Lady Was Right!"

With that I bid you all goodnight. Don't forget, if you haven't already, scroll back up and watch that Outer Limits episode. I think it is the most perfectly strange note to start off 2012.

The St. Louis StarGate Part 2

"Architect Eero Saarinen and long-time collaborator Dan Kiley, a master of modern landscape architecture, designed the landscape surrounding the Gateway Arch. The tree-lined walks, rolling hills, reflecting ponds, and grand staircase descending to the Mississippi River mirror the shape of the Arch."

"Neither an obelisk nor a rectangular box nor a dome seemed right on this site or for this purpose. But here, at the edge of the Mississippi River, a great arch did seem right." - Eero Saarinen, 1959

(Recall that 1959 was at the center of the Watchmen=Sirens of Titan post, taking us back to the stargate as symbol of death/rebirth)

The St. Louis Gateway Arch is "the centerpiece" of a monument to Thomas Jefferson's role in the Louisiana Purchase - it's full name is the "Jefferson National Expansion Memorial."

Since I had connected the St. Louis Arch to the WhiteSun/WhitSun, better known as Pentecost - which was a fire-in-the-mind event - I am reminded that Thomas Jefferson's fellow revolutionary, Samuel Adams, said "It does not take a majority to prevail...but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."

(Note the 3 pyramid motif in this Pentecost image from Thailand)

On our trip, we stopped off at another national monument: Mount Rushmore. It is here that they make it explicitly clear that Jefferson is being honored "not for his role in drafting the Declaration of Independence, but for his role in negotiating the Louisiana Purchase." As usual, the empire praises its own growth - I guess it's to be expected. But, that makes Rushmore another Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The original plans even call for a cut-out of the constitution in the shape of the Louisiana Purchase!

It's not surprising that crafters of grandiose sculptures, who are probably overcompensating for something, would constantly pull out the ruler and compare sizes of their obelisks. But this large display at Mt Rushmore beautifully places the Giza pyramids inside the Gateway Arch.

For some reason Egypt was all over the place as I toured "America's heartland." On the flight out to Minnesota, we found a replica of King Tut's throne for sale inside the Skymall magazine. Then we found another replica of Tut's throne on the grounds of the Lakota (TwinSun Nation). If I went into all of the weird places that Egypt popped up in big bold letters, that could be its own post. But, I should mention that when we stopped at Thomas Jefferson's house at Montecello, there was a replica of the Great Pyramid sitting on his mantel. Oh, on a side note: Boy is there a big painting of a beheaded St. John in the "family room."

Speaking of which, the guy who designed Mt Rushmore also sculpted "saints and apostles for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York." Here are some pictures I took of the front of that Cathedral last year on June 21st, right around St. John's Day. What's with the destruction of New York motif?

Just above the Norway Spiral shape, we see that rams-head horned vagina which makes me think of Bulova - the watch company that has its corporate headquarters very near my house. I always assumed it was a reference to the Masonic Jahbulon and that was confirmed when I was in North Dakota, the self-proclaimed "Peace Garden State." The Peace Garden is an international Masonic Shrine, located half-and-half on US and Canadian territory. I didn't get to go that far north, but I picked up a brochure for it - here's two close-ups showing the placement of the Bulova company's floral clock and the (Jachin and Boaz) twin-tower looking "Peace Tower".

Oh sweet Jesus, Wikipedia just informed me that "Some building remains of the World Trade Center attacks of September 11th, 2001 have been placed in part of the garden." Now that we're looking at 9/11 resonating twin towers, let me take you to the Tom Petty concert I went to last night here in NYC (at Madison Square Garden, which is located on 33rd street). First off, before the show started, the big screens kept advertising an upcoming live performance of the score to "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." That should have been a hint as to what would happen. Melissa and I jotted down a setlist during the show and here it is:

1: Listen to her heart

2: You don't know how it feels

3: I won't back down

4: Free falling

5: ?

6: Mary Jane's last dance

7: Honey Bee

8: Breakdown

9: Jefferson Jerricho Blues

10: Good Enough

11: Running Man's Bible

12: First Flash of Freedom

13: I should have known it

14: Learning to fly

15: Don't come around here no more

16: Refugee

Encore 1: Running down a dream

Encore 2: American Girl

Do you see what I see? Tom Petty is performing in NYC. The 9th song is about Thomas Jefferson. The 11th song is about the Running Man (who is enshrined next to Thomas Jefferson's Gateway Arch, as we noted in a previous post).

This further evidence of a connection between the Gateway Arch and the 9/11 event is probably the biggest sync of the night. But I also like the presence of the Honey Bee and the fact that the 9/11 resonating songs are followed by the First Flash of Freedom.

But there was another interesting thing that happened. Though I often find the chosen imagery fascinating, I try to avoid watching the graphics they put up on the screens - and instead watch the musicians. However, right at the end of "I should have known it" there was a static-like series of white-gray abstractions flashing on the screen that caught my eye. Now, I saw an image that was either a cow-skull or a Baphomet in that static. I told myself that I was probably imagining it, but right then the song ended and Tom Petty says "Let's bring some light in here. Can we turn the lights on?" And the house lights turn on for ten seconds or so. Very, very interesting.

Some will see that, or even the Masonic connections I have pointed out, as something sinister. I don't see it as such (or only as such). Especially since he followed the light bit up by immediately playing "Learning to Fly," a song that I think perfectly encapsulates what we're trying to do with Synchromysticism.

This may be my last post before the Cardinal Climax and the first two weeks of August, especially since I've lost internet access in my home (I guess my Smoke Signal patterns caught up to me). Since all the signs are pointing us to something BIG (whether in that time frame or not), I want to leave you with a reminder from Labyrinth of the Psychonaut's Cracks in the Wall, where Steve's guest/co-host Will said, "Doomsday is Dome's Day." We have the power to make this world heaven or hell - we can embrace our natural divinity or succumb to fear - it's up to us to stay strong and stay positive. August 1st is the next marker on the Wheel of the Year and it's a harvest festival. Well, you reap just what you sow.

Much love to you all.

Smoke Signals of the Fire Bird

When I had first connected Smoke Signals to communication, I had done so in a mostly one-sided fashion. I saw smoke as something that obscured - and contemplated that it may be a harbinger of an internet shutdown. In that sense, at least on a micro-scale, I was correct. You may recall that I ended up losing my own internet connection for a while. However, there is that flip-side that I only touched on briefly: though smoke itself clouds our eyes, when it is harnessed, it can facilitate communication. A Smoke Signal is just that.

There's a ton of fire symbolism flying about lately, not the least of which was the manufactured Terry Jones 9/11 Koran-burning fiasco.

So let us peer into the smoke and try to read what it's telling us, eh?

Back in July we traveled through South Dakota, and stopped at the Crazy Horse Memorial. I had a dream the night before that I befriended and was playing with a wolf. I didn't know that I would end up on the land of the Dances with Wolves Lakota the next morning.

Alongside artwork featuring men communicating via smoke signals, there were images of peyote ceremonies. Not only did I see our old friend the Blue Bird, but he was there as a very literal representation of the smoke itself talking to us.

Since we're now looking at plant consciousness that is talking to us from the smoke, we see that these two patterns have a lot of overlap. And, just a few weeks ago, the peyote bird came back into my sights again. Melissa received a wedding gift via the mail from a friend that could not attend. I just thought it was a very pretty necklace and nothing more. But a few days ago, she asked me to help her put it on and the clasp caught my eye.

The bird shape, with the bird's head being used for the loop, gets cut down into the shape of a mushroom, does it not?

That reminds me, I looked into the etymology of the word "Ombudsman" the other day, for unrelated reasons. This bit struck me:

"The origin of the word is found in Old Norse umbuðsmann (accusative) and the word umbuds man, meaning representative (with the word umbud/ombud meaning proxy, that is someone who is authorized to act for someone else)"

Ask any hippie what they would consider to be "the Om-Bud," and I'm pretty sure I know what their answer would be. I'll give you a hint, it starts with 4 and ends in 20.

Now, cannabis and mushrooms are two different creatures and I don't want to over simplify the issue at hand, but "proxy, that is someone who is authorized to act for someone else," sure sounds a lot like words spoken by Terence McKenna and others. I used this quote once before but it bears repeating:

I couldn’t figure out whether the mushroom is the alien or the mushroom is some kind of technological artifact allowing me to hear the alien when the alien is actually light-years away, using some kind of Bell nonlocality principle to communicate. The mushroom states its own position very clearly. It says, ‘I require the nervous system of a mammal. Do you have one handy?’

-Terence McKenna

My own theories take "alien" to be the same as "other." That is not to say that alien intelligences may not exist off-world, simply that they are still a component of the universe (or myself) which I associate as being separate. It is no different if I speak of a man living down the block, or a lifeform living across the galaxy, or a mushroom spore or you the reader of this text right now. There is me AND there is you.

Our commonly recognized ampersand character is a typographic ligature - the combination of two very loaded letters.

ET is the other. This AND That.

"ET phone Om"

We have spent much time looking over the fire-in-the mind pentecost symbolism, but these images remind us that is just as important that we talk of a fire in the heart, as well as a fire in the mind.

"Paranoia happens when you start getting messages via the third eye chakra

with out opening the heart first."

-A Few Shots to Shaman, May 25th

Of course we want our synapses to FIRE....

But what of other elements? WATER on the brain is something we are told we surely do not want. And no one likes being called an AIRhead.

But, EARTH is also seen as positive. While "Healing The Divide," Tom Waits and the Saturnian Kronos Quartet tell us we should always keep a diamond in our mind:

In another song, Get Behind The Mule, he mentions the importance of keeping "a Sapphire in your mind." The sapphire is something I've been collecting notes on for months, but I'm not ready to say what it means yet. I'm thinking it goes back to this image from the first time I wrote about the blue bird:

Another thing that hit me the other day was that the flaming tongues sprouting from the heads of those in the Pentecost images...

...sure look like they've got an idea as to what's going on.

Is the lightbulb, as symbol of our modern flame, a hint to a new sort of divine light, aided by our technological advancements? The internet and computer intelligences have helped me get to the point where I am now. How about you?

Maybe it's a little bit of everything. All of the others. Maybe we're being aided by plant intelligence, and computer intelligence, and extra-terrestrial intelligence, and animal intelligence - even insect.

"Holy Spirit, Batman, my cosmic awareness is tingling."

Now, if you ask me, I'd say we basically have two possibilities. One, is that we're all one infinite consciousness and all these seemingly different entities are an illusion (as are you and I). The other option, is that we are all intertwined, yet separate - and that we need to start looking at ways to coexist in symbiotic relationships.

Spider-Man, the comic character who should know better since he's got those flaming tongues sprouting from his head, put a dangerous spin on the term "symbiotic" for a whole generation if not more.

In the third movie, the black costume just basically lands in Spider-Man's lap with no explanation. It was an alien lifeform that was carried here on a falling meteorite, just like mushrooms may actually have been. (This also syncs nicely with the Flaming Hare, Fiery Birth, iCrator and Step-Ember posts as well as a powerful dream I had two nights ago).

The original comic version of the "symbiotic costume" is a little different. He gets the new alien costume during Marvel's "Secret War"

Interesting that we should be having this conversation while we are currently in the midst of our own Secret War, as narrated by Christopher Knowles.

An interesting factoid from the comic run, the symbiotes were harmed by two things, Fire and Sonics, both of which have become increasingly important symbols in my work.

Click here if you really need a fix of super-geeky symbiote history, but suffice it to say that Spider-Man comics make symbiotic relationships seem evil. Parasitic even.

We've all been in relationships that were one-sided, we've all been taken advantage of. But we should never confuse that with a symbiotic relationship. True symbiotic relationships are founded on trust and love, they provide us with the opportunity to live in harmony.

Whether we are one single universal awareness, or an intricately connected web of individuals who then make up something larger, or a seemingly paradoxical combination of the two - is not something we need to argue over at the moment, since the moral is really the same either way.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."