|
August 11, 1999 -- May 2000  (click on image for enlargement) F or 30 years, the planetary phenomena at the end of the 20th century has fascinated me. Amidst the frenzy of Earth change predictions over the last several decades, I have stood my ground: If there were ever a fertile period for big shifts, they would come around "The Window ." Two celestial events of unprecedented magnitude indeed line the passageway to the 21st century: The Great August 11, 1999 Total Solar Eclipse and the Grand Planetary Alignment of early May of 2000. This period is charged with evolutionary promise as Earth frequencies elevate, though I see things unfolding differently than the popular literature sensationalizing pole shifts, ice ages, massive rearrangements of land masses, and other cataclysm's portray. I certainly expect a geological, psychological, and evolutionary surge at this time, though in much milder form than most doomsayer's speculate. The Window is a flashpoint for LightShift : A 9-month planetary pregnancy birthing a new cycle of momentous metamorphosis, as the Earth and humankind are born into their next turn on the evolutionary spiral. This period has astrological/psychological, astrophysical and cosmological ramifications, which I will illuminate and integrate to stimulate your views of these potent times. From ancient times, eclipses have been considered significators of powerful changes ahead. Because the luminaries block each other and distort or darken the light, eclipses take on an ominous flavor. Though there are usually four eclipses every year -- two solar and two lunar; major eclipses are viewed as clear demarcations between a former cycle and a dawning new one. They are boosts of energy escalating consciousness over an evolutionary bridge. Thirty years after the Moon Landing and Woodstock, on Wednesday, August 11, 1999, the new millennium will be signified by a Total Solar Eclipse (TSE) of truly millennial proportions. Astrologically, this eclipse forms a powerful Grand Cross formation in all four 'gates of power ,' or middle of the fixed signs -- Taurus, Leo, Aquarius, and Scorpio (representing the four Sacred Beasts of the Apocalypse, of Ezekiel's chariot, and the final card of the Tarot, The World -- the Bull, Lion, Man, and Eagle). This directly links the energy of the aligned New Moon and Sun in opposition to Uranus, with each body squaring Mars and Jupiter. Neptune in Aquarius and Jupiter in Taurus are also in a square, though slightly out of "orb." The grand cross is an aspect of dynamism, and the fixed signs are powerful. This is one incredibly potent eclipse which opens the charged period of The Window . The 19th century magus Elipas Levi once said,"the grand symbols of the past are the prophecies of the future." Just as the Earth is being crossed by the planets in space, we find ourselves at a critical crossroads -- a simultaneous christing and crucifixion, as we cross the threshold into the 21st century and Aquarian age. The eclipse first shadows land in Southwestern England at Cornwall, the mystical land of Arthur, Merlin, the Holy Grail, and recently the mysterious crop circles. It will be visible within a narrow corridor traversing the Eastern Hemisphere, with the Moon's umbral shadow beginning in the Atlantic, crossing central Europe, the Middle East, and India where it ends at sunset in the Bay of Bengal. A partial eclipse will be seen within the much broader path of the Moon's prenumbral shadow, which includes northeastern North America, all of Europe, northern Africa, and the western half of Asia. How fascinating that this fixed polarity eclipse would focus on the Leo/Aquarius axis, just as the astrological age shifts into Aquarius. For 13000 years ago, half way back around the 'Great Year' or galactic precessional cycle, the Earth entered the opposing Leoneon Age: Often considered the time of the Great Flood -- and quite possibly the last geopolar shift and secondary ice age. Many archaeo-astronomers are now dating the Great Pyramid on the Giza Plateau to this time, and feel the Sphinx (a composite being of the 4 sacred beasts) was encoding the birth of this age in stone in grand Leonine symbology. In one of his most specific, yet least understood prophecies (Century X, Quatrain 72), Nostradamus states: The first day of the last year of the bimillennium, January 1, 1999, exhibits a unique configuration of numbers with powerful metaphysical significance. Writing out the numbers of this date, we get 111999, or two trinity's of the first and last number. The number one represents unity, and the beginning or alpha portion of a cycle, while the number nine represents the omega, end, or eternal phase. Implicit in January 1, 1999 is both alpha and omega, marking the beginning of the end of a two thousand year calendrical cycle -- signaling both a completion and an initiation. Here, the plot suddenly thickens as we examine the space-time segment of this eclipse. The Total Solar Eclipse of 8/11/1999 aligns precisely 222 days after 1/1/1999. Now the peak of TSE intersects 45 degrees North latitude and 22'30" East longitude in Romania. A division of the Northern hemisphere by 2 gives 45 degrees, and the Eastern hemisphere by 2 -- three times (2,2,2) gives 22 1/2 degrees, the very heart of the eclipse. Now, If this weren't coincidence enough, Dr. Frank Espenak, director of the Nasa Goddard Space Flight laboratory points out that an atomic timing of the eclipse calculates it will last precisely...2 minutes and 22 seconds! This is just too much: The odds of these synchronisms are so rare they give me a gogol of goosebumps. And TSE comes 144 (12X12) days before the Year 2 000! What does this obvious charge around the number 2 mean? Perhaps it has to do with the need to balance the 2 elements of being into wholeness: Masculine and feminine, yin and yang, positive and negative. In essence I think it boils down to the interconnectedness of you and I, together: A signal of the basic Aquarian impulse of "we" instead of "me." It brings up the image of Noah and his arc in the face of the flood, loading up two by two . A return to union is the Aquarian Grail -- with ourselves, with God, and each other. Another fascinating 2 -related circumstance is the two digits left out of mainframe computer codes which has created the infamous Y2K computer problem. Speculation abounds on the severity of Y2K from being sparsely disruptive to thouroughly apocalyptic. It is certainly a wake up call about the vulnerability of technology and civilization's dependence on it. For as Big Ben tolls in the 21st century, astrologers will take note of a rare, precise, and powerful Chiron - Pluto conjunction at 11 1/2 degrees of Sagittarius in their ephemerides. Like most aspects, this cuts two ways: A healing crisis for humanity either rising above or succumbing to adversity. The year 2000 arrives near a "solar maximum," that time in the 11-year sunspot cycle when there is a preponderance of solar activity -- solar flares, prominences, coronal holes, an intensification of the solar wind, and an increase in the number and size of sunspots. The peaks in the sunspot cycle have indeed proven to be times of accelerated Earth change, and intensified weather. The previous solar maximum around 1990 was memorialized by the vicious Loma Prieta Earthquake in San Francisco, devastating hurricanes Iniki on Kauai and Andrew in Florida, unprecedented flooding of the Mississippi River delta, the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, among much other heightened activity. Eleven years earlier, the preceding solar maximum again coincided with the furious eruption of Mount Saint Helens, hurricane Ewa on Kauai, the most severe weather of the century in Northern California, the Midwest, and the Southern US, devastating storms throughout Europe, and a 400 percent increase in overall seismic activity on the planet. Periods of increased solar activity also seem to be times of expansion or jumps in human consciousness. Several studies have investigated the influence of solar radiation on humans to attempt to understand the mechanisms involved. Research indicates that the endocrine system is affected, which in turn influences hormonal activity, including the production of the "fertility hormones" estrogen and progesterone, the "enlightenment hormone" serotonin, and the "timing hormone" melatonin. Altogether, a complex interaction occurs between the solar cycle and hormonal activity, which seems to affect everything from human fertility to heightened states of consciousness. This magnified activity around solar maximum is further amplified when in synchrony with significant planetary alignments (as the last two cycles have been). Strong planetary alignments seem to increase solar tidal activity, intensifying the solar wind as the planets orbit the Sun -- in a similar manner as the Moon causes tides on the Earth. Though the planets exert far less gravitational force on the Sun than the Moon exerts on the dense physical mass of the Earth, the Sun is composed of light multi-million degree exploding helium gas -- which responds to far more subtle influences. In addition, the "forces" at work may not be just gravitational, but magnetic and hydrodynamic. Whatever the precise mechanisms, planetary alignments exacerbate solar activity by increasing the solar wind -- a constant gale of atomic particles spiraling out of the Sun's magnetic field, ejecting some thousands of tons of mass at over a million miles per hour into space. Some of this material gets caught in the Earth's ionosphere, slowing down the speed of the Earth's rotation enough to put increased stress on the tectonic plate margins, thus increasing the likelihood of earthquakes, volcanoes, and strange weather. In addition, when massive Jupiter (with a volume 1300 times the Earth's), with its 16 satellites, is part of such an alignment, the trigger mechanism seems to be set in place. Indeed, by the morning of May 3, 2000, all 7 visible planets (8 counting the ascendant) -- the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn all align within (see illustration) a tight geocentric sector of 27 degrees of the fixed feminine Earth sign Taurus -- with massive Jupiter right in the middle of the configuration. This describes the alignment from an Earth-centered view, which is highly significant for analyzing astrological/psychological influences on humans. From a Sun-centered or heliocentric framework, which explicates physical influences on the Sun, and in turn, the Earth, the planets still align, yet within a less severe 53 degree arc in space. I feel The Window period will indeed be a time of accelerated Earth change, with many overdue seismic and volcanic zones releasing their stress. This is not to be feared. Hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, and tornadoes are all part of nature's way; challenges humans have always survived. We may wish to get centered on where we want to be and with whom we wish to be with. As we have witnessed from past cataclysm's, these events only serve to knit the human community closer together, as people awaken from their programmed agendas into the service of the moment. I have never seen a more catalytic outpouring of love as service in action as during catastrophe. In the face of adversity, true spirituality is born. Neighbors can suddenly elevate their relationship from not even knowing each other's names, to living together! I also believe that these phenomena have been overblown by many sensationalists wishing to cash in on the financial formula of peddling fear. Multiply this by the advent of the millennium, and we are confronted with wild scenarios from geophysical pole shifts, to radical new maps which bear only vague resemblance to our current planet. Changes in the dense mass of the physical structure of the planet are usually the last place they transpire. They manifest first in Spirit and Mind before the body. I consider Earth changes as cosmic chiropractic adjustments. This should also be a nova period for a vault in human consciousness to new levels of awareness. Our ease of passage through The Window will depend on our evolution: If we are ready, our passage will be smooth and graceful, yet if we resist change or charge forth with blind masculine drive, it may be like crashing through broken glass. Our future lives in our vision, our hearts, and our hands. This is another reason why Spirit called for the manifestation of LightShift 2000 and the gathering of a critical mass of humanity merged in focused intent and radiant spirit on January 1, 2000. You may have noticed that this date is almost precisely at the midpoint of the Great Eclipse and Grand Alignment. Prepared with this knowledge, it seems that the ideal human activity we can engage in is to raise the collective vibration of the unified field of consciousness from the inner plane to yield the most positive result. In astrology, the conjunction is the most powerful of aspects, representing a blending and magnification of the archetypal qualities of the planets involved. Since every new Moon forms a conjunction with the Sun, understanding the initiatory energy of this monthly point in the lunar cycle is a practical way to experience the energy of the conjunction. The Grand Alignment is a conjunction of all 7 visible or "conscious" planets in the fixed feminine Earth sign of Taurus. The key to each of our individual responses to this intensified force field will be our level of evolution or "vibration." For at the evolved level, this time represents a spiritual opportunity for a great evocation of the powers of the soul: A grand remembrance and awakening of the eternal feminine or goddess energy within the collective psyche of humanity. We will experience an unparalleled global metamorphosis and acceleration in human development. In this powerful portal of The Window , the divine feminine is giving birth to a New World, elevating and awakening humanity into a more advanced evolution, where the nurturing of spiritual qualities brings us back into balance with our sacred source. Taurus is ruled by the planet Venus, representing the feminine principle, the Goddess archetype, the anima, or internal creative source. In mythology, Venus was Aphrodite, goddess of love and mother of Cupid, god of love. This powerful concentration of Venusian energy during the Grand Alignment has the potential of opening the heart of humanity and unleashing an unprecedented surge of love and light -- unlike anything this planet has ever experienced! Every zodiacal sign has a higher and a lower evolution. The classic astrological keyword for the sign Taurus is I Have , representing the Great Harvest. The higher evolution of this sign signifies that the greatest possession of all is Love or Holy Spirit -- the only thing which, in fact, is real. And with this gift of Great Harvest comes all its abundance -- vibrant health, creativity, devotion, service, selflessness over selfishness, and the balance and alignment of personal desire with the greater good. As the past has shown, our current predicament has been caused largely by the indiscriminate scramble for wealth and power at the cost of the quality of human life. An evolved humanity, uplifted by this evolutionary jump, may now come together through vision, inspiration, devotion, and passion to create the channels for Spirit to flow into the world in myriads of miraculous manifestations. As evolutionary frequencies escalate during the flashpoint of The Window , there will be critical choices for each of us during this world transition: A choice of wisdom over ignorance, love over fear, the spiritual over the material, the big picture of Divine Order over the drama of our own little worlds. This will indeed be a catalytic period of great cleansing and global purification, with Spirit empowering us to live large and make bold and wise choices. The cocoon harboring the emerging butterfly is unraveling in order to make way for the new creation about to take flight. In my last book, The Grand Catharsis , I fully outlined the succession of planetary shifts which demarcated the transition point from the Piscean to the Aquarian age in the Spring of 1996. The movement of Uranus into the radiant air of Aquarius until 2003 from Capricorn, and Pluto into fiery truth-seeking Sagittarius until 2008 from Scorpio, were the primary planetary significators. This combination occurred only one other time in the last millennium, a time history records as The Enlightenment. This movement of outer planets from earth and water signs, to air and fire signs marks a lightening and brightening of unconscious energies, and mixes the alchemical formula for the awakening of humankind to enter the True Age of Consciousness . To my own surprise, astonishment, and delight, the Spring Equinox of 1996 found comet Hyukatake gleaming blue in the night skies, bringing forth the ancient Hopi prophecy of a Blue Star Kachina delineating the shifting of the ages. Precisely one year later, the amazing blazing comet Hale-Bopp, celebrated gloriously in the pre-dawn skies. In my mind, this framed a bold and distinct cosmic signature for the change of the age. In 1997, Jupiter also moved from the Earth sign Capricorn to the charged air of Aquarius, and in January/February of 1997, Jupiter and Uranus merged in a magnificent conjunction, supported by a stellium of planets in the sign of the new Aquarian period -- forming a magnificent six pointed star with all the other planets. In 1998, Neptune entered Aquarius for the first time in 165 years, where it will transit until 2012. This outer planet of the unconscious mind is attuned to galactic power and focuses on mass consciousness. The higher evolution of Neptune is compassion, universal love and unity, and the sign Aquarius, is ruled by Uranus, the Awakener. With about two thousand religions on Earth and only one God described by most as love , there is much common ground to be found. This next phase promises to see many dogmatic walls come tumbling down on humanity's evolution toward universal truth and divine love, and the realization that within our diversity, we are all children of God in the family of human. Also in 1999, after 20 years of 'interception,' the orbit of Pluto moves outside of Neptune's-returning to its usual, more potent position as the outermost planet in our solar system, and conduit with the rest of the galactic spiral. Many galactic linkages synchronously align to further awaken our consciousness. For at this time, Pluto conjoins the first magnitude star Antares, the red heart of the scorpion, a portal to the sacred heart center of our Milky Way galaxy. Simultaneously, Alycone, the central Sun of the Pleiades, moves over the Taurean cusp into Gemini, signaling a boost in consciousness and communication out of the ego circle into the galactic spiral. This all points to some intense final episodes of cleansing, healing, awakening, integration, and mastery, challenging the passageway through the flashpoint of The Window into the new millennium. It also appears that numerous ancient monuments and sacred sites all over the planet were specifically constructed to encode this turning of the ages in stone and activate in astronomical alignment: Stonehenge in England, Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, Callanish in Scotland, Chimney Rock in Colorado, among many others. For with the ages changing in this potent cuspal vortex, marked by the alignment of the solstices on the same plane as our galaxy, we are simultaneously shifting many powerful cyclical gears. Sure enough, the next solar maximum peaks during the much heralded year of the end date of the calendar of the Maya in the year 2012. End time speculation abounds around the close of this 13th and supposedly final Baktun of the Mayan calendar. The Maya were also deeply absorbed in sunspots and their relationship to Earth and consciousness changes, relating the cycles of Venus to sunspots and shifts in the magnetic field. I have seen incredible calculations tracking the Mayan "super-number" of 1,366,560 or 20 Venusian sunspot cycles of 68,328 days, to mark a powerful and transformative solar magnetic field shift at the completion of this 26,000 year cycle in 2012. I have also witnessed amazing work in decoding the ruins of the Temple of Inspirations at Palenque, exhibiting the stellar alchemy of a magical culture leaving a message in stone of a journey of solar return in 2013. The communication of this last calendrical fractal seems to be a clear signal for us to release any fear, and enter surrendered and wonder-struck to the dawn of a new solar reality. Much of the world of the past may indeed be well on its way to passing away. What crashes into ashes and rises from the remains will form the foundation of the world of tomorrow on more evolved and sacred ground. Our ability to come together as a human family will be at the very core of this transformation. For in the language of the Tzolkin -- the sacred round and harmonic module representing the infinite permutations of the universal principles of Hunab Ku, the Creator, the number 13 has a most sacred significance. In the galactic memory circuit of the Zuvuya, all things return to themselves. The number 13 is the highest heaven of the Maya, where every ending births a new beginning. By 2012, I hope to see a flourishing human culture where our children are experiencing both Heaven on Earth, and "a return path to the stars," both in the magnificent skies, and their sparkling eyes. "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science." --Albert Einstein This is a specially edited excerpt from Ken Kalb's new book LightShift 2000 : Let's Turn on the Light of the World by Ken Kalb, Ph.D., available from your local bookstore, by calling 1-800-969-4401, from amazon.com, or from LightShift 2000 at http://www.lightshift.com. If you wish permission to publish this article or post on a website, simply email us. Thanks! Ken Kalb does electrifying workshops on "The Window;" Please email or call us if you'd like to host one. Please see the Vital Information Section for the Quantum Total Solar Eclipse Meditation on August 11th. |
[The Eclipse of the Millennium -- August 11, 1999]
[Inspiration | Lucky Star | World Illumination Day | LightShift | The Eclipse of the Millennium | LightShift 2000 - The Book]