The Fifth Earth (Part 1)

 

Lake Yaxhá, from the Main Temple at Yaxhá, Petén Province, Guatemala. Photo: JJM, 2015.

The Original Mayan Prophecies

The original Mayan prophecies originate from within various aspects of this ancient civilization’s rich history and culture, a culture that has spanned more than 12000 years by Mayan estimations [1]). Today, many of their prophecies are still accessible and can be found in various places, (a) such as in the Mayan Codices that had survived the Spanish conquest, for instance in the books of Cilam Bilam; (b) in ancient Mayan mythologies, for example in the Mayan creation story, and on various stone stellae at archeological sites in Mesoamerica; (c) on murals in excavated Mayan pyramid inner rooms and (d) on preserved ceramics displayed or found in museums and private collections and (e) several of the ancient Mayan calendar systems have prophecies naturally embedded within them by design.

Serious modern day scholars and archaeologists would usually refer to some or several of the above mentioned sources. There are also prophecies that had been passed down from generation to generation through folklore and by word of mouth and they would usually be unknown to those outside the Mayan culture.

This article and the one following it will selectively focus on accessible Mayan prophecies from authentic sources that are specifically relevant to our discussion. Our purpose is to consider the prophecies which can be correlated with real events that have taken place in the not too distant past while we will look at the symbolism of the prophecies for the near and intermediate future:

The Fifth Earth – Energy Transitions – Part 1

By Jean-Jacques M.

Read more…

Copyright © 2017 · All Rights Reserved · Gypsy Café

The Fifth Sky

Lake Yaxhá, North-East Petén, Guatemala. Photo by JJM (2015)

Excerpts:

Mayan Mythology and Symbolism

The Mayan Calendar constitutes at least three calendars in contemporary terms and they are used to map different cycles. For the sake of brevity and simplicity we can summarize that the most important thing to know about the Mayan calendar system is that time is cyclical. As cycles return they tend to have the same characteristics and features. In that sense similar events can be expected to happen again. Mayan shamans can therefore make reasonably accurate forecasts within symbolic and archetypal contexts. Western scholars can attempt to do the same, but with varying results. Some of the symbolism can be misinterpreted by them, or taken too literal, or the cycles and dates are sometimes mixed up.

The Rise and Fall of Consciousness

In the Mayan creation story , the Popol Vuh [7], the sky “drops” (“falls”) at the end of each world cycle. It is then raised again. So far the sky has been raised four times and we are currently in the space between ages before the next sky is raised. As a thought experiment: if we take “the sky” as a metaphor for human consciousness, then the sky “falling” takes on significant meaning: At the end of each 5200 year world age, as consciousness diminishes; systems, structures and thought processes related to it, become unstable or “challenged”. Subsequently they start to show strain or start to crumble. The consciousness aligned to the old energetic direction would be out of sync with the new incoming direction.

Interpretations:

We could speculate that generally speaking, the outward and inward moving energies contain more or less the following characteristics in terms of identity, and that we have already observed some of these (surprising to some) movements in recent world events such as Brexit and in the United States’ presidential elections:

Continue Reading

The full article is published at GypsyCafe.org

The Fifth World

Yaxhá five level pyramid, North-East Petén, Guatemala. Photo by JJM (2015).

*For background on the Mayan Fifth World and the Fifth Element, please see: The Mayan World Tree.

Post 2012 and The Fifth World

Prior to December 2012, scores of Mayan calendar enthusiasts, authors and scholars had put forward a plethora of predictions, forecasts and interpretations about what would or could happen around certain dates in 2012. The dates, when they finally arrived,  were accentuated by the fact that nothing of note happened. There were no signs that the long awaited and highly anticipated new golden age was about to commence, as had been fervently predicted. Neither did major earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes or floods occur worldwide (all at once!)

Transition stages between 5200 year world ages are meant to take approximately 120 years [1].  Changes happening during such long transition periods are therefore very unlikely to become apparent “on day one”. However, such were the expectations in December 2012 that something was going to happen, that there were people who took the day or week off from work, while others headed to the countryside “just in case” [2]. The majority of people, however, took a sober view and brushed it all off as superstition.

In retrospect, a lot of people may be wondering why so many people responded so “irrationally” in 2012. From a depth-psychology point of view, the 2012 “mass psychological event” was much more than just mere superstition. It was a reflection of the power of the “archetype of the end”. This archetype was identified by well known Swiss psychoanalyst, C.G. Jung back in the 1950’s. [3]

There must have been something that had made a major impression upon the human psyche (repetitively) for this archetype to be so deeply embedded in the collective subconscious (aka collective unconscious) and to make such a strong mass appearance every now and again. From a Jungian perspective all archetypes have purpose and in this case, the archetype was a message from the collective subconscious of humanity that major change was upon us (within a decade or two). Continue Reading…

Full article with references is published at GypsyCafe.org

By Jean-Jacques M.

Copyright © 2016 · All Rights Reserved · Gypsy Café

The Fifth Element

Lake Petén Itzá – El Remate, Guatemala. Photo by JJM (2015).

The Fifth Element

 *For background on the Mayan Fifth World and the Fifth Element, please see: The Mayan World Tree

Enter the Fifth Element

Five years have passed since December 2012; we are five years into the Mayan Fifth World and the Fifth Element has entered the scene. We are in a new age of transparency and below-the-surface shadows are bound to be illuminated while submerged debris is likely to float to the top. Whatever is hidden may be exposed and the only way to deal with this alchemical process, is to put one’s own inner house in order.

While there are people who have already been introspecting by way of traditional or spiritual practices, serious self-observation or deeper inner reflection may be something relatively new to others. However, as time passes, not exposing one’s true self will become increasingly difficult. This may be positive news for people who already live from their authentic selves, while it could turn out to be a somewhat uncomfortable experience for those who have not developed their natural identity.

Typically, individuals and groups who avoid facing their inner shadow(s), tend to project them onto others. The objective is to divert attention away from their shadows (and what they are up to). This is a well-know psychological phenomenon. However, in an age of added transparency, such projections would become more obvious. As one finger points to others, four fingers point back. This causes the emperors to wear no clothes by exposing themselves, while remaining oblivious of the fact.

This is the first part of a ‘miniseries’: an article published in parts. To be continued soon…

Also see: The Shift of the Stages

—

J.J. Montagnier is an intuitive creative writer. He is a student of mythology, ancient cultures, philosophy, psychology, sociology, politics and metaphysics. His writings are inspired and influenced by his extensive world travels, personal observations, life experiences and research.  

Copyright © 2016 · All Rights Reserved · Gypsy Café

Originally published at: GypsyCafe.org

Choose Conscience

Peace Mural, Belfast, N. Ireland (2004). Archive photo by JJM.

When faced with difficult choices, especially amongst bad options, conscience can always show the way. Needless to say, what the planet needs right now, more than ever, is a return to conscience. Conscience lends itself to a variety of peaceful solutions.

Moral relativity does not fit well into the realm of a well developed and active conscience. Conscience intuitively knows the difference between right and wrong. What is appropriate or correct within a given context or what is not. What is creative and what is destructive. What is life-giving and what is life-killing. What is nurturing and what is eroding. What is authentically (not superficially) progressive and what is truly regressive.

Not all situations call for distinctions to be made, but when they do, a healthy conscience would normally step in automatically. Of course, conscience interacts with ethics, etiquette, morality, religion and other frameworks for rules of conduct, but personal conscience can and does act autonomously, and will override externally imposed morality, where necessary. As long as conscience is maintained, conscience is the only inner guiding system which has almost full  independence and autonomy. It is independent from the ego-self and the group-self and it is autonomous in prompting one to correct one’s course.

Conscience will override questionable morals and will adjust approaches and actions accordingly. Conscience is an autonomous guidance system within, whereas morals depend on customs and norms without. The more relative morals become in a society as a whole, the more consciousness dims collectively and the more unconscious society becomes as a group. It is during such times that inner conscience is especially needed to guide individuals.

Only a very small percentage of individuals are born without any conscience at all – and they are considered to be “disabled” (psychologically), meaning that they don’t have the full range of emotions and feelings that would usually be accessible to the average person. They are also unlikely to ever develop (a) conscience. Other than these exceptions, conscience holds much more universality than ethics or morals do, and therefore we would be much better off aspiring to universal conscience than universal morals or ethics. A healthy conscience leads to expanded consciousness on an individual level, which is expressed on a universal level.

The small percentage of conscience-less (without conscience) individuals we find in society are naturally the proverbial  “foxes” as described in the Chicken Little fable (See Parts 5 & 7) and we find them in all walks of life. However, there is a significant percentage of average individuals who eventually revert to similar behaviors after having lost (or given up) their consciences as they went along. Very often a conscious decision was made to do so, in order to gain certain advantages. The nature of conscience itself does not allow for it to be given up unconsciously, so the suppression of conscience is certainly a conscious process initially and subsequently the decision is swiftly put out of mind and henceforth avoided at all costs.

If the majority of individuals in a society learn to suppress their conscience – to the extent that a general moral relativity sets in – and once the virtues of conscience are lost by adults in general, they are unlikely to be instilled, cultivated or strengthened within children either. When a society has more “foxes” than “chickens”, parasitism, prejudice, projection, exploitation, bigotry, double standards, hypocrisy, abuse of power, corruption and the active destruction of old value systems ensue and a general regression leading to potential repression sets in. A strong accompanying feature of such a scenario is often decadence.

It has been determined that historically mass decadence (and sometimes war) has almost always preceded the collapse of civilizations. In other words, the idea of the destruction of values on the basis of them being “old fashioned” or “conservative” in order to facilitate decadence (boundary-less living) often have unintended consequences, because all systems need structure in order to function, externally and (importantly) internally – structure being what value systems are meant to provide in societies and civilizations. No limits, no restrictions, no boundaries, means no structure, which results in a vacuum. In a big enough vacuum, collapse is inevitable.

Therefore, going forward, decisions and choices based on conscience may be the only available tool to rescue (individuals in) a declining civilization from internal (and external) collapse. Conscience can save individuals, and in the present-day context, the world.

By Jean-Jacques M

Originally published at gypsycafe.org

Copyright © 2016 · All Rights Reserved · Gypsy Café

Happy-Go-Lucky Faster

It’s All Theatre

Tabloid press, reality TV, TV talk shows, social networking and, perhaps, increasingly also, modern-day politics have all got something in common – they contain similar ingredients to those found in soap operas. A trademark of soap opera is that the less exemplary elements of human behaviour are exaggerated and dramatised for effect. A hallmark of the tabloid press is the use of emotional and sensational language which draws readers into the drama.

Gossip and the lives of others had always been of interest to people, but tabloids converted sideshows into the main show. This growing preoccupation spread into other mediums, too, and eventually it went well beyond the lives of only the officially rich and famous. Despite, perhaps, a few protestations to the contrary, those designated as celebrities hardly shy away from being in the limelight. As the saying goes: “All publicity is good publicity”, and over time being famous has taken on major significance in modern societies.

By introducing “real-life” elements into the mix, reality TV took the soap opera concept a step further. Selected members of the public could now become famous, too. They would brush shoulders with genuine celebrities and, just like them, have large audiences observe and follow their every move. Taking a cue, perhaps, from soap opera, participants could spice up and dramatise their actions and activities for effect, bringing greater audiences and improved ratings with regard to the shows and themselves.

In these shows, participants were becoming adept at promoting themselves by sometimes being outrageous, controversial or provocative. Audiences were lapping it up and learning from it, too. Reality TV was hugely popular for its novelty value at first but, in due course, the concept influenced and was blended in with various other genres. Some of these shows, at least to a small extent, contain(ed) educational elements such as the celebrity chefs series. A particular type of TV talk show – which came to be known as “Trash TV” – preceded reality TV by a couple of decades already and was based on outrage creation and stirring up animosity amongst participants.

Initially, as with the tabloid genre which slowly spread around the world, not everyone considered the depiction of the lowest common denominator on television as being optimum entertainment. Many viewers actively avoided soap opera, trash TV and reality TV. The majority of professionals preferred to continue reading their broadsheets and magazines. Likewise, discerning television viewers continued to opt for quality TV programmes. On the other hand, more than enough readers and viewers were becoming eager consumers of dramatised and sensationalised entertainment and news media.

That humans have always been intrigued by the weird, the outlandish and the obscure is not in doubt, and an apt analogy would be that the modern-day version of “freak shows” increasingly came to town in some of these shows on a screen and in a newspaper near you. In the press, the tabloid media formula continued to spread and, eventually, even organisations once-known as conservative and well-established news publications adopted the model or blended it in.

Tabloid newspapers had already been using “tabloid headlines” for decades to prompt people to buy the paper. The “tabloid language” used in news content contained special “tabloid vocabulary” (short, emotional and ambiguous key words) to create intrigue which draws readers into the emotional drama. These days, online tabloid-style headlines are referred to as “click-bait”.

Read Further

By Jean-Jacques M

Full article is published at gypsycafe.org

Download Pdf: Full Article (12 Pages)

Copyright © 2016 · All Rights Reserved · Gypsy Café

The Yin and Yang of Spirituality

The Yin and Yang of Spirituality

Carl Jung is famous for having brought the concept of working on shadow elements within the psyche into Western psychotherapy, although the process of self-therapy, self-transformation and psychic self-evaluation with subsequent spiritual elevation is indeed a very ancient practice. Advanced practice was perhaps considered to be found mainly in the realm of shamanism, priesthood and other high level spiritual roles. However, ancient civilizations and cultures integrated the identifying and processing of shadow characteristics also into their general spiritual and cosmological belief systems, but we find that these aspects are often not featured in popular spirituality today.

By having become relatively unconscious of the depth and nature of the individual shadow (which, according to Carl Jung, is a back-door to the collective shadow), behaviours and tendencies related to it have become more socially accepted. Unfortunately, the commercialization of spirituality means  that the positive, pleasant and easy elements of being spiritual are usually focused upon. The deeper, underlying issues often remain unexplored, so the necessary (challenging) transformation processes are not always engaged in and the shadow elements remain submerged and active or are only temporarily resolved until it appears again later. This means that modern forms of spirituality often serve predominantly as forms of spiritual entertainment or as vehicles for spiritual escapism without reaching its full depth or potential.

Perhaps if we had been paying more attention to the collective shadow elements within our societies (as a priority) since the end of the Second World War, as Carl Jung had strongly suggested, we may have been more prepared for some of the crises we are experiencing at present and those yet to come. However, as Jung also said: large portions of society remain blissfully unaware of how world peace and stability hang on a fine thread (then and now). We have never been this connected as a species in our entire history and so distracted at the same time, mostly by choice.

The awareness that all citizens of the world are responsible for contributing towards world peace and maintaining it is somehow lacking. We are living in one of the most prosperous periods in time in the history of the world, but with the developed world being far ahead. In terms of power and influence, countries which possess the most of it, carry the highest responsibility. With power comes responsibility and it is the duty of the citizens of powerful countries to remind their politicians and leaders of the responsibility to act peacefully for the greater good of humanity, not least because virtually all powerful nations put themselves forward as democratic and peace-loving.

On a personal level: Dr Jung explained in a documentary interview, Matter of Heart, that we are all uniquely born with certain characteristics and attributes within a certain historical and cultural context. That means that we each have a personal responsibility to reach the highest state possible as an individual person within that context. By doing so we participate fully and play our part to the best of our ability as individual elements within the large organism that is humanity, in the theatre of life and the universe.

The very first step towards that process is having respect for yourself (your Self, not your ego) and that process starts within. The nature of that respect is respect for your higher-self and that higher self can take a third person view to approaching and resolving internal and external conflicts. The advantage of the third person view is that almost everything can be viewed as “theatre”, (but) with a proactive, problem solving objective in mind. In other words, the spectator is observing in order to learn how to improve, adjust, or resolve his or her own approach or behaviour by comparing with what is being observed. Without taking the third person point of view, what is being observed is often copied instead of transcended.

The higher-self is beyond the ego and has a much wider perspective and expanded vision. By living our lives from that position we are the closest we can get to non-duality on a permanent basis. A person who is peaceful within, will shun conflict. A person who comes from the heart, won’t have the heart to harm another – and will motivate others not to do so either. Those who have maintained (and have respect for) their own traditions and values within their own communities and countries, will have respect for other nations and groups who have likewise maintained theirs within their own countries or regions.

A tradition-less, value-less, culture-less world is a world with sails falling in the winds, a world drifting without an anchor. It is a destabilized world with no direction, no heart and no spirit. It is a world without a stable core, without balance – the balance within missing.  That balance within the world can only be found within each individual person. The more balanced all of us become, the more balanced the world outside will be. 

Within the framework of international cooperation and conflict resolution, in the context of a balanced world, nations who come from histories of dominance would do their best to refrain from returning to or repeating such history – and take the High Road. Nations, cultures or groups with histories of having been harmed or persecuted or wronged, would refrain from enacting retribution or turning to the same methods as those who have harmed them – and take the High Road.

The above is, of course, a tall order, but when we observe and learn from the theatre of history, taking the high road is the only road which will lead to genuine progress, harmony and balance, as opposed to a false sense of progress that focuses on a narrow view of who is the most powerful or “progressive” and therefore the most “exceptional”. This approach is usually at the disadvantage of others and tends to contribute to the perpetuation of the cycle of violence indefinitely.

Mutual respect amongst nations is the bedrock of international peace and stability, but it relies on everyone participating equally. Similarly, for democracy to work a respect for its institutions is required. Over and above that, democracy relies on a certain level of moral responsibility and conscience-based ethics being present within those that ascribe or commit to it and it naturally relies on a basic understanding of what democracy means in the first place.

By considering the rights of children, within the context of various conflict zones around the world and also within our own societies in relation to what they are exposed to, we may be able to reflect on how far we have drifted away from our claims of being humanitarian, peace-loving, democratic and a force for good.

Perhaps it is time for all peace-loving peoples to request their governments to kindly de-escalate all tensions which could potentially lead to major conflicts and the harming of civilians and children. We owe it to the future of a stable and balanced world. We owe it to the future of our children and to their children’s children. Not least, we owe it  to our higher-selves and the legacy that we wish to leave behind.

“The human being who starts by withdrawing his own shadow from his neighbor is doing work of immense, immediate political and social importance.” – Carl Jung (as quoted by Sir Laurence v.d. Post)

Photo by JJM: Mural, Belfast, N. Ireland (2005).

By Jean-Jacques M.

Also see: Shift Of The Stages

This article was originally posted at GypsyCafé.org

© 2016. All Rights Reserved.