Fear and uncertainty abound with regard to the end of the year 2012. Predictions are contradictory and range from complete destruction to a new era in which we will lead glorious lives. Some predictions say the changes are happening now, others only expect them to happen in the far distant future. To help us understand these times and our role in them, I have taken the following notes from two of Gregg Braden’s works – “Fractal Time” (March 2009) and “Awakening to Zero Point” (Video 1984). In “Fractal Time”, Braden combines recent scientific findings of nature’s patterns with the predictions of ancient people like the Mayans and Aztecs to predict as accurately as possible coming changes, and to show us how much we can do to influence them in a positive way. It is easiest to look at this in three sections: 1. Cycles – the idea of a cyclic universe. 2. The expected changes and their effects. 3. What we can do to lessen the effects of the changes. CYCLES – THE IDEA OF A CYCLIC UNIVERSE.
Ancient people knew that the universe keeps itself going by following patterns which repeat as cycles, and they regarded time as an essence which also moves in cycles across the universe. Scientists are now confirming this view and they tell us that both the universe and time “are made of little cycles, within bigger cycles, within bigger cycles and so on. In other words they are fractal.” A fractal is a pattern which repeats itself in similar, but not identical, ways on different scales. For example, if we compare an atom, a solar system and a galaxy we see they are each expressions of a common pattern, but on vastly different scales. It seems that nature uses similar patterns to build energy and atoms into everything in the universe, ourselves included.
There are cycles in everything – in the circadian cycle of light and dark, the seasons, the weather, the motion of the planets, the rise and fall of civilisations, the economy and human moods - to name a few. These cycles are the programmes of nature and looking at their endless repetition will help us to understand the present. There are two cycles we need to look at in more detail – the precession of the equinoxes and the doctrine of world ages.
The Precession of the Equinoxes The end of 2012 marks the completion of two cycles of time – the 5,125 year ‘world age cycle’ and the larger 26,000 year precessional cycle. The world age cycle is part of the bigger 26 000 year cycle – a little cycle within a bigger cycle. Ancient people understood our journey through the heavens to be a circular path that passes through the twelve zodiac constellations. They saw that as we travel this path, familiar stars and constellations seem to change their positions in space. This cycle is called the precession of the equinoxes. Historical records show that our speed through the heavens has varied over time; at the moment it takes 2 160 years to pass through one constellation, so our entire journey through all twelve will take approximately 26 000 years, and this is one of the cycles that is now drawing to a close. The Doctrine of World Ages The Mayans, without the aid of modern technology, calculated the movement of the earth and the entire solar system in relation to the core of the Milky Way Galaxy. They knew that the earth’s orbit around the sun was part of a larger cycle that carried us around the energy radiating from the core of the Milky Way.
They knew that every 5 125 years, natural changes in the earth’s position in this cycle, created an astronomical alignment that marked the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next. They also knew that this transition from one cycle to the next would be accompanied by changes which would affect our lives and that of the planet and thus they divided the 26 000 year cycle into 5 cycles or world ages, each lasting 5 125 years. 2012 marks the end of the fifth world age, and at this time there is a rare alignment of our solar system with the core of the Milky Way. This alignment last occurred approximately 26 000 years ago. Modern scientists acknowledge that this galactic alignment is happening, and also the Mayan’s prediction of it. It is rare for both cycles to complete simultaneously. CHANGES THAT COME WITH THE ENDING OF A CYCLE AND THEIR EFFECTS ON US. No one really knows the nature and the extent of these changes. Braden makes the point that although the conditions of nature and human events do repeat in cycles, and each repetition becomes more intense, IT IS ONLY THE RETURN OF THE CONDITIONS, RATHER THAN THE EVENTS THEMSELVES, THAT CAN BE PREDICTED.
Past shifts have been accompanied by cataclysmic changes, which ancient people saw as a necessary cleansing or purification. We have to live through the death of an old order for the new one to come into being, and this is what we are doing right now. Recent data from ocean sediment and polar ice confirm that the planet has undergone a cyclic history of cataclysm from fire, ice and water, as well as having periods of recovery. This is consistent with the records of people like the Mayans and Aztecs, for example, who talk about the different ages ending with fire, ice, floods and great winds. THE FACT THAT THESE PEOPLE COULD DOCUMENT THESE CHANGES SHOWED THAT THEY SURVIVED THEM, ALBEIT THE CHANGES WERE DEVESTATING. WE MUST REMEMBER THAT WHAT WE ARE SEEING IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD, BUT THE END OF A CYCLE OF TIME AND THE WAY OF LIFE WE HAVE KNOWN DURING THAT TIME.
The transition from one cycle to the next is not an instantaneous event but rather a process. The current change started in 1980 and is predicted to end in 2016. During these 36 years we will be crossing the equator of the Milky Way, and towards the end of 2012 will be aligned with the energy at its core. Thus we have been experiencing the effects of this change for the last thirty years. “In the first years of the twenty-first century, tornados, hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, massive flooding, earthquakes and droughts have taken an unprecedented toll on human life, property and a major portion of the world’s infrastructure.” But we have coped well with all of this. Historical records show a strong link between the physical changes in climate that come with a shift (temperature, rainfall or drought, sea levels and the depletion of resources) and cycles of war, falling economies and the decline of civilisations. Humans are feeling the effects physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Changes in magnetic fields are most significant. The magnetic fields of the earth protect us from the constant emission of radiation and high energy particles that stream towards us from the sun.
They prevent the dangerous effects such radiation would have on our bodies. When these fields weaken, more of the sun’s energy reaches the earth and a period of global warming starts. The land, the ocean and the atmosphere heat up and as polar ice melts, the salinity and temperature of the oceans change. These two factors affect weather patterns across the planet. Magnetic fields are declining rapidly. This decline can precede a magnetic reversal of the poles i.e. a magnetic flip-flop. This has not happened in the last 5 000 years, but geological records show that such reversals have happened 171 times in the last 76 million years, and 14 of these have happened in the last 4.5 million years. In the 1980s, Braden thought we would experience a complete reversal, but very fortunately this is not to be. The Antarctic ice cores have given us a continuous record of the magnetic fields.
They show that the strength of our fields must drop below a reading a 2 units on the VADM Scale (Virtual Axial Dipole Moment) before there can be a polar reversal. Historical patterns suggest that, unless something really unexpected happens, a magnetic strength of 7.5 units will prevail at this time. Thus it is highly unlikely that a polar reversal will happen. The magnetic fields have declined enough to bring about changes in weather and life, but not enough to cause a polar reversal with its massive destruction. Using his knowledge of codes, the endless repetition of nature’s cycles, and the golden ratio, Braden has devised the Time Code Calculator.
This had enabled him to look at past cycles and predict when the same conditions will return in the future. Using this system, he has looked at a previous 5 125year cycle and a previous 26 000year cycle, and has shown us what we can expect around December 21, 2012: a. A magnetic intensity between 5.5 & 10.5 on the VADM scale. (The present reading is 7.5) b. No indication of a 180 degree polar reversal, barring special circumstances. c. An increase in global temperature of 1 – 2 degrees centigrade. d. A sharp increase in the amount of radiant energy we receive from the sun. e. The melting of polar ice and a collapse of the ice caps. The warming we are seeing at present will be quick, brief and followed by a period of general cooling. He feels the changes we are experiencing now are just what we would expect for the end of a world age. He agrees with the Mayans, that human beings will have to go through emotional and spiritual transformations in keeping with the changes on earth. Like the Mayans, he feels prayer and meditation are wonderful ways to help us transform.
WHAT WE CAN DO TO LESSEN THE EFFECTS OF THE CHANGES LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE The message we are getting from the past is that the choices we make now can change the frightening outcomes predicted for 2012. We need to make sweeping changes in our relationships to the earth, to one another and to ourselves. We know that everything, from the way we live each day, to the way we use our fast-disappearing resources, must change for us to survive, and the best way to bring about these changes is to start living loving, compassionate lives. Scientists are now proving this.
They have shown that all things begin in the realm of quantum energy and that this realm is influenced by our thoughts, feelings, emotions and beliefs. It is here that atoms of matter are influenced to become the reality of our world. We know that consciousness is made of energy and energy includes magnetism. The human heart generates the strongest magnetic field in the body. This field responds to our emotions – the more positive, i.e. the more loving our emotions, the stronger and bigger this field. This field can stretch for miles. Conversely, the more negative our emotions the smaller and weaker the magnetic field of the heart. Also, the more coherence between our hearts and brain, the stronger the field. We know that the magnetic fields of earth sustain life. They influence everything from stabilising the climate to keeping peace between nations.
They protect us from too much radiation from the sun. New evidence suggests these fields also connect us to each other and to the planet. Scientists at Princetown University and the institute of HeartMath have done amazing work which shows the correlation between heart-based emotions and the magnetic fields of the earth. Their monitors show that a strong collective emotion has a measurable impact on the earth’s geomagnetic fields. Human stress creates an incoherent global stress wave, while positive emotions create global coherence waves. The collective outpouring of grief when Princess Diana died created a big spike in the graph of the magnetic waves, as did the fear so many people experienced when the Twin Towers were attacked. So at a time when we are facing the greatest challenges of recorded history, we are also being shown that we can harmonise our bodies with the life-sustaining fields of the earth and thus lessen the suffering these challenges could bring.
THUS WE ARE BEING SHOWN THAT THERE IS A TWO WAY RELATIONSHIP HERE – THE EARTH’S FIELDS SUSTAIN OUR LIVES BUT THEY DEPEND ON OUR LOVE TO KEEP THEM STRONG. Some schools of thought say that there are only two emotions – love and fear – and that all other emotions fall into these two categories. THUS WE CAN SEE THAT OUR GREATEST CHALLENGE IS NOT TO SUCCUMB TO FEAR IN THE FACE OF THE PRESENT DIFFICULTIES. The more we fear, the less we love, and the weaker the magnetic fields will become. Every loving thought, every kind word, every caring action that we perform will send out a strong magnetic impulse which will help to strengthen the magnetic fields.
Strong fields will in turn keep us alive. But the caring actions must come from a caring thought and a caring heart – i.e. there must be harmony or coherence between our emotions, thoughts and actions, i.e. between our hearts, our minds and our hands.
THE GREATEST GIFT OF THIS TIME IS THE INNER CHANGE THAT WILL COME BY RESPONDING TO THE PRESENT CHALLENGES WITH EMOTIONS THAT COME FROM A HEART-BASED WAY OF LIVING. WE NEED TO FILL OUR LIVES WITH LOVE, COMPASSION, GRATITUDE, PEACE, JOY, TRUTH, NUTURING AND CO-OPERATION. Perhaps it is fitting to end with these words – “There is a power that holds life and all the planets on their courses, and humanity cannot shake this infinite and eternal power. The Great Being, the Divine Intelligence, holds all life in love, in the heart.” (On Living in Harmony with the Spirit, White Eagle, July 2005)
