At times like this I think E.M. Forster had it right in his short story The Machine Stops. (Bear with me, I do have a point.) A science fiction story (a novella, really) written in 1909, it's about a future Earth where people live in honeycomb like cells in a kind of hive, isolated from one another, communicating through video screens and instant messages. All their needs are met by The Machine. They press buttons for food, drink, music, etc. They've lost the ability to live on the surface of the earth; these cells are below ground. The story focuses on a mother, Vashti, and her son, Kuno who lives on the other side of the world. Vashti loves her life, Kuno is a rebel who managed to get to the surface without permission, saw the stars, as well as other humans living outside the world of the Machine. He was captured and threatened with 'homelessness' (expulsion to the surface). He wants his mother to visit him in person (via airship) in case he's thrown out. It's an excellent story - use the link above to read it.
My point is: on mornings like this I sometimes wish we did all live in a hive and I could stay in bed and participate in these Meet Ups virtually. We're in danger of living that way as it is with Skype, etc., but it is a nice thought, occasionally, especially when one wakes up with the very fuzzy headed beginnings of a cold.
This event was a talk, here's the blurb:
Oracles 2012 -- The World Is Not Coming To An End; You Only Wish It Were!
Hear about how we will experience more change, more upheaval with two crucial disruption points in June and September. The irrational overcomes reason and a new virtual force infiltrates the year -- and the next 13 years. Hear how these energies influence trends in economics, politics and consciousness. Learn about 1848 and its implications for outcomes in the Middle East as well as how the Occupy movements reflect both Neptune's energies and Pluto's impact on the US Constitution. Impact on many areas of life from politics, technology, fashion and weather to marriage, money and your own personal life for 2012.
We met in the basement of a wellness center that was once an old house. First, though, I drove right past the place because the signage faced the other direction, not the road itself. When I turned around and drove back, I saw the sign and pulled over. Approaching the house I saw there were several entrances. I went to the main one, but apparently another entrance was being used because I found that door locked. A woman coming up the steps behind me said it must be the lower entrance we wanted so I followed her. Good thing, too, because there wasn't any signage.
Is that a sign that there weren't any signs - for the building or the entrance? Not a good thing for an astrology talk.
The room could barely hold us. Nothing like being jammed together with 50 or so people without clear exit lines (I chose a seat on the far edge of the room away from the door - not doing that again) to make you feel like you're going to have a panic attack. Especially when the room grows very warm from all the people and the windows don't open. Awesome.
First we had to take off our shoes (the room wasn't carpeted - fake hardwood - so that was strange).
As a result, my feet were cold, though the room was warm. Made me very distracted, longing for my shoes.
Now I know I said I was going to stay away from large events because there wouldn't be a chance to really connect, but I thought the talk would be interesting and I didn't feel like connecting due to the fuzzy headedness, the heat (from the room and perhaps a fever), and COLD feet. The attendees seemed to be middle aged women. I might have been the youngest there. There were a lot of scarves and beads, corduroy pants and matching folky woven jackets, long hair in ponytails, or very short hair. Many had clipboards with astrological charts and also notebooks to write in.
I hadn't been to a meet up in two weeks - technically - since I drove to the Venus Ritual but didn't get out of the car and go in. I felt very out of the flow of this project. Very much a stranger. Before I'd been feeling like a welcome stranger, a social adventuress and explorer. These ideas about myself gave me momentum. The missing of a meet up and my pre-cold symptoms were dragging me back.
What I noticed right away was how noisy these women were. The meeting was called to order, announcements started and still most chattered away, not even in sotto voice, turning their heads to each other, not even facing the speaker. So rude!
I wanted to clap my hands the way teachers do to quiet a classroom, the 1-2 (slow) 3-4-5 (fast) clap that the kids mirror back to show they're paying attention. I wonder if that would have worked?
And the talk began. The speaker was funny but very cynical. No New Age Optimist this one! I suppose if you're an astrologer and can see stuff coming optimism might be hard to come by, but still! She would shoot down every positive comment people made. With a smile, but shoot them down she did. It became rather grating.
So let me summarize the basics:
1) the world isn't going to end when the Mayan calendar ends
2) there will be two major forces in 2012: continued revolution and upheaval of established forms and a new collective energy that will dissolve boundaries.
3) two key dates of big change: June 24th (possible natural disaster on this date) and September 19th (this one more spiritual/religious in effect) - but also a possible shut down of the Internet due to solar activity. Apparently when the same conjunction took place in 1859 that will take place on September 19th, the same solar activity occurred and knocked out the telegraph - called "Coronal Mass Ejection."
Check it out, the Solar Superstorm where telegraph operators were shocked and telegraph paper spontaneously caught fire.
I don't know about you, but a day off from the Internet would be fine with me.
The speaker framed her talk by going over the five or six planets that would factor the most in the year. For each one another woman played a tone for the planet - the sound it makes, apparently. (Well, she played three of the six. For some reason she didn't bring all of them (?)).
Although I don't know that I believe a planet has a tone/sound, I'm all for musical notes! Imagine a note played on a Xylophone.
The Neptune tone was soft and high. I felt it between my eyes and it intensified my fuzzy feeling. The Saturn tone I felt in my legs. It sounded like the tolling of a bell. Kind of dissonant. Pleasant but unpleasant. She told us Saturn is the planet that forces you to do what you have to do, imposes structure and discipline. So perhaps that accounts for the dissonance.
Some other forces at work this year: globalization versus the rights of the individual/region/culture. But no end of the world.
So go ahead and eat that Spam you've been hoarding. It's all going to be okay.
I'll give the group credit, they asked a lot of questions during the Q&A about politics and the global economy. Yawn.
Did no one want to know if Jennifer Aniston will find true love this year? Apparently not. Well, I didn't either, actually, but it would have been more interesting. There's only so much politics and economy freak out I can take. I get enough of that on "All Politics and Wars Considered With An Occasional Annoying Art Story or Supreme Court Update With Susan Stamberg."
The talk was over two hours without a break and was still going when I left to drive home and fall into bed. Poor me.
On the way to the car I took a picture of the luscious sky (it was fifty or so degrees, lovely):
Despite feeling dreadful, I went to a tarot Meet Up the next day because I'm that dedicated to this project. More on that soon.
WHERE: Wellness Center
WHO: 45-50 women (mostly fifties)
COST: $15
MILES: 17.92 miles RT
RATING: 6.5/10
THEME: Metaphysical
A friend pointed out to me how beautifully written the article was that appeared in 1859 in the Baltimore American about this event, so sharing part of it here:
ReplyDelete"On September 3, 1859, the Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser reported, "Those who happened to be out late on Thursday night had an opportunity of witnessing another magnificent display of the auroral lights. The phenomenon was very similar to the display on Sunday night, though at times the light was, if possible, more brilliant, and the prismatic hues more varied and gorgeous. The light appeared to cover the whole firmament, apparently like a luminous cloud, through which the stars of the larger magnitude indistinctly shone. The light was greater than that of the moon at its full, but had an indescribable softness and delicacy that seemed to envelop everything upon which it rested. Between 12 and 1 o'clock, when the display was at its full brilliancy, the quiet streets of the city resting under this strange light, presented a beautiful as well as singular appearance."