Conference hydra::dejavu

    Well, I woke Saturday morning and said to *myself* my new home will
    be in the paper today and no-one else will see it - and it will
    be perfect.  (This follows four weeks of affirmations and a recipe
    for my new home).  I had to be at the hairdressers at 8am, take
    my daughter to work by 8am and have copied any appropriate places
    before 8am.  
    
    Up at 6am, all the preliminaries, read the paper and ......
    there was *the* place.  Four bedrooms, nth, east, west, aspect,
    light and sunny, includes all electricity and just a tad more than
    I really could afford to pay.  I wrote it down, and went off to
    my appts.
    
    My hair took longer, and by the time I reached the agents it was
    9.15 on a Saturday morning.  I waited while they accepted three
    more calls, then was taken around to see it.  It was great.  A few
    minor problems, but we could live with it....the only drawback was
    it was only available for 18 months.  I thought, with the way my
    life is changing 18 months was okay.
    
    I took it, and would you believe - nobody else either rang  or called
    in about this place.  I signed the lease at 11am and move on Wednesday.
    
    I went to the pictures in the afternoon, saw Outrageous Fortune,
    came home, and my two daughters and I packed our hearts out.
    
    Sunday morning four of us arose and made our way across the Harbour
    Bridge to Bronte beach for the most glorious sunrise (which kept
    throwing rainbows across the water - I thought I was dreaming, but
    my friend saw it too).  The four of us then had morning tea which
    lasted five hours on the promenade at Bondi beach. 
    
    I came home, did some more packing, did a private meditation at
    10pm (which was the 12noon GMT equiv).  Wow!!!! It was fantastic.
    I went to our local beach this morning but the sun didn't actually
    rise (visably) and will do another meditation this evening.
    
    I feel great - so do people I spoke to today.  After an incredibly
    stressed week, ALL of us noticed the change.
    
    Aparently at Bronte last night there was a satelite coverage with
    London and I think Boulder Colerado. 
    
    One thing that was mentioned, and I agree with is, we all feel more
    spiritual, more positive, at peace.  
    
    ....dale

    RE: .0
    
    My car battery went dead.
    
    
    
    JOhn M.

    Re .2:
    
    ...but _my_ car's tire, with a slow leak, held its air better than
    before. :-)
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    Well, went out to a Harmonic Convergence gathering in Elbert, Co.,
    and caught cold, and possibly will have my picture in the newspaper.
    
    Elizabeth
    

    I found myself up at 5 am Sunday morning reading the printouts about
    the Age of Flowers and Harmonic Convergence.  Enjoyed reading them
    thoroughly.  I would comment on the "cleansing and purging" that
    must go on as a result of the coming of this age; I was told by
    a friend years ago, who speaks with his Guides, that "the old
    civilization must be torn down in order for the New Order 
    to come about, for you cannot build a new house on the rubble of the
    old, but the old house must be torn down so the foundation for the new 
    one will be solid".  This guy also said that the Antichrist will
    be God's instrument for tearing down the old civilization; think
    about it.
    
    There is definitely a heightening of vibrational frequency; I could
    feel it Sunday morning; believe it or not I seem to be able to reach
    out with my mind to other places and pick up vibrations (i.e. picking
    up on emotions and the "atmosphere" of a place; I haven't really
    tried to control it yet) and I felt something very special going
    on; there must have been a lot of gatherings out in the wilderness
    and there must have been one somewhere where people were wearing
    dark grey-brown robes because I think I saw it.  Very interesting
    personal experience for me.
    
    I would like to think that the plane crash here in Detroit had nothing
    to do with the intensified vibrations;every one of those people chose
    at a higher level that this was the time for them to leave this incarnation,
    and the plane was a convenient means for them to do this.  This
    is my belief.  Absolutely terrible tragedy; many of us up here are
    a bit shook up by it.

    Well.  Late Saturday night we watched the meteor showers, watched
    the moon rise, and swam, together with some friends, communing with nature
    at Walden Pond.  Then we went home and, since we live on a 1-block
    hill, at the end of which are two lovely old churches, we enjoyed
    watching the sun rise between the spiresfrom the roofdeck of our
    building.  I closed my eyes as the sun rose and decided not only
    to give out positive energy, but also to bind some of the energies
    I was sure other people were feeling to my own to strengthen and 
    empower me.  In return I focused my wellwishes outwards.

    No, Rome wasn't built in a day....life will go on with all the gruesome
    aspects it has for so long.  But it was a positive experience, and
    I feel that although the world may not have changed, it can't have
    gotten worse for the effort.
    
    -Jody
    

    I greeted the sun at Mt. Wachusett with my closest friends and the
    man I love.  I met new people and enjoyed conversation with them.
    When we formed a circle at the top of the mountain, I felt
    "electrified".  I could actually feel the energy passing through
    our hands.  I also felt the presence of my daughter who died two
    years ago.  I feel her presence every day but it was *much* stronger
    yesterday morning than it has been in some time.  I had a wonderful
    day!
    
    Peace and hugs,
    
    Marie
    

    I slept (sort of) both Saturday & Sunday nights, despite exhausting
    weekend work on Saturday and Sunday at the Newport Jazz Festival.
    Dream states were _very_ active both nights (but they often are
    for me around the 3rd quarter moon) but _unlike_ my usual 3rd quarter
    moon dreaming, I awoke refreshed and exhilarated.  I am writing
    down the dreams and plan to muse a long while on the meaning of
    all the symbols, many new.  A rebirth of sorts in my subconscious?
    A nice thought, and possible, since Mercury was conjunct my natal
    Pluto.
        
    What I did Sunday:  something I never did before.  Never have
    wanted to sit on a beach with 10k other people listening to an outdoor
    concert, but I _loved_ it, especially watching the people.  I felt
    like the caterpillar in a child's book I have, who, after he had
    seen his first butterfly, looked at all the other caterpillars with
    new eyes, seeing the butterfly inside each one.  I have spoken with
    many people about the detrimental effect of crowds, about exhaustion
    from mingling one's psychic space with so many others, but the crowd
    Sunday felt wonderful to me.  Besides, George Benson was terrific.
    
    I did mark the time I rose (5:44), and will cast the appropriate 
    chart today.  I also laid out a Tarot reading just after sunrise 
    which I will muse a long time over also, but I was startled and 
    encouraged by it--the positive cards of the cup suit (as well as 
    the Empress and High Priestess cards) were the most prominent, 
    something not characteristic of my personal readings (usually
    overloaded with swords and pentacles).
    
    Don't know what all the final significance of my personal experience
    is, but I sense I've made an important inner stride this summer.
    Part of it is my time of life; but perhaps the energies of the days
    made it more possible to access the positive side of it.
    
    And as I sat this AM with my coffee, listening to news reports of
    the usual tragedies and irritations stuff, the internal sensation
    I had (unlike the dismay and depression that I've normally felt)
    was of a sailor at sea, on a stormy, tossing, deck, powerfully
    sure-footed, competent and aware, guiding the ship through the 
    storm.
    
    Marcia

    My birthday was on Sunday and I could feel the vibs better than
    ever.  I had the BEST day ever.  I think there is something to this 
    after all. 
    
                 
    lb

RE: .5 (USFHSL::WETHERINGTON)


I'm glad you had a nice Sunday, and hope you won't take too much offense at
this reply.  But a statement made in .5 really rubbed me the wrong way.
It is an outlook that I think is one of the negative things about the "New
Age" movement: 


    >  I would like to think that the plane crash here in Detroit had
    nothing to do with the intensified vibrations;every one of those people
    chose at a higher level that this was the time for them to leave this
    incarnation, and the plane was a convenient means for them to do this.
    This is my belief.  < 


And it is absolute poppycock!  People do not choose...at any supposed level...to
die in ways they cannot control.  A starving child in Ethiopia does not
choose to die that way.  Victims of an earthquake, flood, or whatever do
not choose to have their lives snuffed out.  Although you recognize a plane
crash for the tragedy it is, to suggest that the victims chose to die that
way is at best ludicrous.  At worst, it's just another way of saying "well,
they must have had it coming."

I'll be the first to admit that I am less than impressed with the New Age
movement.  As someone has said, it is "a skyscraper of speculation built on a
few scraps of fact."  I don't believe in magic crystals, channelers, or the
hundred monkey myth (just so you know where I'm coming from).  However, if
these things make people happy and don't harm anybody or any thing, then fine.
But the outlook that we choose to die a certain way is just a cop-out.  It's
just a way of rationalizing misfortunes we cannot prevent or worse, that we
choose to do nothing about. 

This is probably fodder for another topic.


John M.

    re .11
    
    >>...incarnation, and the plane was a convenient means for them to do this.
    >>This is my belief.  < 
     
    >And it is absolute poppycock!  People do not choose...at any supposed
    >level...to die in ways they cannot control....
    
    This is your belief.  Could we keep an attitude of tolerance for
    whatever anyone else believes, even if it is absolutely opposed
    to whatever you believe.  How do you (or anyone else) know why
    tragedies occur to some people?  Random chance, outside (God)
    intervention, pre-destination, pre-destination that they chose before
    this life.  There is no evidence for or against any of these
    speculations.  If any of them make you feel better, that's fine,
    but don't attack someone because believing something else makes
    that persons life better.
    
    Elizabeth

    Re .10, .11, .12:
    
    As gently as possible, I'd observe the last few notes (plus a note
    or two of mine) hardly show the heralding in of the Age of Flowers,
    unless those flowers be poison ivy blooms (if they have any).
    
    Peace be unto all of ye within this Conference!
    
    
    In short, let's chill out. 
    
    With malice towards none,
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    This is in reply to note 453.5 usfhsl::Wetherington.
    
    "You said you could see people in dark grey or brown hooded robes."
    
    I was at Mystery Hill in Salem NH. for the Sunrise on the 16th,
    and there were indeed people in Dark grey and brown hooded robes.
    They were part of a group of people who were doing a meditation.

    Hope this helps...
    
    Carole Anne    
    

    You don't have to worry about me. My robe isn't made yet. It will
    be a royal purple hooded robe made of fine cordory.
    

    Praise be to Nero's Neptune-The Titanic sails at dawn
    And everybody's shouting"Which side are you on"?
    And Ezra Pound and T.S Eliot fighting in the captain's tower
    While calypso singers laugh at them and fishermen hold flowers
    Between the windows of the sea where lovely mermaids flow 
    And nobody has to think too much about Desolation Row
                                                        Bob Dylan
    My thoughts (exactly) on sunrise at Mystery Hill and
    The Age Of Flowers
                           JIM

RE: .12 (Elizabeth)

I am sorry if anyone took offense at what I wrote, but I was just calling a
spade a spade.  The notion that people choose their own deaths regardless of
how horrible is absurd for the reasons I cited.  I fully realize that this may
be a cherished belief to some, but then white supremacy is a cherished belief
to some. I reserve the right to speak out on any topic I find abhorrent in the
fashion warranted.

It is not necessary to add the phrase "in my opinion" after anything I say;
anything ANYBODY says boils down to opinion.  I simply refuse to couch my
phrases in a fake patina of flowers and care-bear rainbow light (as you
must know from following my responses in other conferences).

I do not attack beliefs and notions lightly or for the sake of stirring
up trouble (if I do, I add the appropriate symbol ~/~).  And please note
that simply because I disagree with something a person says does not mean
I think less of the person!

John M.

    Well, guess I'll add my .02 worth.  I also believe
    that individuals 'choose' their time of birth and
    time and means of death.  This is not negative.  It
    is simply a matter of control over one's own life
    and destiny.  I am not suggesting that these people
    had conscious control, but simply that they 'chose'
    to be at a particular place at a particular time.
    
    The real tragedy is the grief of the surviving friends
    and relatives.  Death is seldom easy for those 'left
    behind.'
    
    

    Humanity grew weary of it's doubtful state of mind
    So it summoned from far, and called from near
    the wise men thought to be sincere
    To heal it's wounds and make it whole
    And lead the way back to the soul.
                           Steppenwolf   
    
    Well, well...I didn't mean to start a debate.  Steve, the New Age
    will not be popular with many; as is evidenced by the life of Christ,
    many people get very upset when you rock the boat they are riding
    with new thoughts and ideas that make their boat look rather ugly.
    With a healthy dose of love and rememberance of when we were at
    that point, we must deal with the criticism that will inevitably
    come; it should not be avoided, in my opinion, but vigorously, lovingly
    and directly dealt with head on.  They certainly don't flinch at
    going for the jugular when they critisize us...I am extremely pleased
    to hear points of view like 453.11, because at least people have
    intelligent points of view that they care to DISCUSS, rather than
    writing the opposing point of view off completely; see, he at least
    gave me enough credit as a human being to talk to me, tell me he
    basically thought I was full of it, and leave his ears open to hear
    my reply.  I respect that, and am impressed by it.
    
    ******************************************************************
    I have said somewhere in this conference before to "not write things
    off until you feel you COMPLETELY understand what you are writing
    off".  I will not attempt to convine you of my point of view, although
    I will reply to your criticism.
    
    Any time, sir, that you have a spiritual awakening of a great number
    of people at once, you will inevitibly have charlatans and others
    who will try to exploit what is going on for their own ends.  I
    recognize c**p just as quickly as you do, for I am extremely
    perceptive.  I reserve the right to seperate my point of view from
    everyone elses, because they have not had my experiences, and I
    can't expect them to believe what they have not been convinced of.
     Everything I say, has been proven to me, in a way that causes me,
    as an intelligent, thinking, educated American, to believe it, but
    my proof might not mean anything to you, because it may have been
    given to me in a very personal way so that I would understand it
    as proof of something, whereas it might not mean anything to you.
    
    "A skyscraper of speculation built on a few scraps of fact"????
    What a cruel, uninformed, ignorant (meaning unaware, not stupid;
    I'm being nice) classicly Western statement.  No wonder it is the
    Western civilization, in its unbridled rampage to make money, obsession
    with youth,  and attempting to CONTROL the universe rather than working
    with and within it, has brought this planet to the brink of
    environmental and nuclear death.  The New Age is about love, working
    in harmony with yourself and the world about you,and trying to bring
    about a more pleasant, sane world.  Even if I didn't believe a hoot
    about monkeys, I would admire these goals and the people who risk
    ridicule in order to bring them about.
    
    When I said people choose these things, I did not mean on a concious
    level; whether or not you believe it, we do choose our parents,
    our time of birth, and our time of leaving on a higher level, the
    level of the Higher Self, or the Master Within.  Understand these
    concepts before you question the content of my letter; otherwise
    you won't know where I'm coming from.
    
    "A planet of playthings we dance on the strings of powers we cannot
    perceive
    
    Kicked in the face you can pray for a place in heaven's unearthly
    estate                       (RUSH)
    
    No, I don't buy this either, and if this where I seemed to be coming
    from, I'm a poor communicator; I wish I had more time to explain
    my way of thinking; let's just say karma has a large part to do
    with what happens to people; what goes around comes around, as a
    man sows so shall he also reap, etc.  I have to catch a ride home
    or I would continue; your criticisms deserve a better answer than
    I have time to lay out right now; anyone else care to comment? 
    I'll be back, believe me.
    
    Doug Wetherington
    brought this planet to the brink of

I too believe that we chose our time and method of death. I believe
that life is to teach, and many lessons are very painful. Also
I believe that death is not evil it's a necessary part of the whole.
Without death there could be no birth, no change. 

This does not mean that I do not mourn for my loved ones, or fear
my own death, indeed I do, it's just that I have come to accept the 
part that death plays.

-vicki

    RE: Last couple
    
    Please see topic 455 for my reply.
    
    Thanks,
    
    John M.

         I guess we all want to see your picture, Elizabeth.  Do you
    think there could be money in it?
     
         I had a great weekend, working and playing in Sonoma on Saturday
    then going to a Lazaris workshop on Sunday followed on Sunday evening
    with Lazaris' special talk and ceremony on the Harmonic Convergence.
    I will reprint that in topic 418 for that is where I think it belongs.
    (I am half-way done but the node I'm writing the notes into is down,
    so it'll have to be tomorrow.)  I will say that it was a joyous
    and very different-type of "Lazaris event" than I've gotten used
    to.  Over 1200 people participated in the sold-out event and the
    ceremony was due to be repeated tonight in LA.  There was a tremendous
    meditation done between 9-10 p.m. PST where we all put all the energy
    we could into ourselves, others on the planet, the planet, and to
    those who are not physical.  Did you feel it?  Sure was good over
    here!  The emphasis was/is on loving.  What this time represents
    is an opportunity to give/receive that love.  While many have already
    been participating in the New Age, this time made it more accessible
    to others who hadn't availed themselves to it before.  Anyway, for
    me it was a very nice, pleasant weekend and as such I look forward
    to having some more, similar.
      
    Frederick
    

    Ok guys, ... here goes:
    
    I was on Mount Wachusett at 3:00 on the sixteen with some old friends
    and some strangers.  When we arrived there was a long line of cars
    waiting to go up.  The mountain was shrouded in fog and the crowds
    of people were shadows moving through the mist.  A local Indian
    tribe arrived to conduct a dawn ceremony.
    
    My life and my self have totally changed since that dawn.  Habits
    and hang-ups of ten years crumbled into dust.  One of the "strangers"
    who went up the mountain with me also experiences the intensity
    of the experience... we have been together ever since.  
    
    If the "new age" stands for anything, it stands for bringing the
    experience of feeling back into balance with the experience of 
    thinking.  I never expected my own personal life to physically alter
    on the 16th ... but it did.  My "old" life has ended, I will never
    be the same again.  I greet this new age as a totally new person
    ... one who has experienced a love that I thought existed only in
    fantasy.  I only wish that the "new aeon" will find happiness
    manifesting in everyones lives as it has in mine.  

    
    I managed to locate my scratchy 5th Dimension album last Friday
    night, and listened to the "Age Of Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In".
    Very appropriate.  I highly recommend that everyone go back and
    listen to the words - over 10 years later, I finally understood
    them for the very first time.
    
    The beginning of my own 'new age' actually started the evening of
    May 18th.  Since that night, I feel like I've lived at least 50
    lifetimes (....well, maybe...:^).  Anyway...
    
    I managed to catch the sun both mornings about 10 minutes after
    sunrise.  This in itself was a major feat, because it is probably
    the first time I'd gotten up that early in 10 years!  I happen to
    live up on a hill, so I had a good view from my dining room window,
    and it was a beautiful sight indeed - a big orange morning sun.
    
    The only thing I recall is that the actual days were filled with
    a bit of emotional turbulance, and that the end product was a final
    saying goodbye of the past and saying hello to the future - one
    I hope will be filled with peace, love, trust, acceptance and
    understanding.  We are all one.  World peace is possible.  The process
    to make it happen begins with every person, and the first step is
    to tear down the walls which separate us from our neighbors.
    
    Will leave you with some verses from selected songs:
    
    	"Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me."
    
    	"Harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding." 
         
    Cindy
    	"

    On Sunday I mounted a thermometer outside the kitchen valence
    window. When my wife got home and noticed it, she said "Isn't
    the window going to run into the thermometer when you open it?"
    
    Sure enough...

    	-< There's some deep hidden meaning here >-
    
    >>>On Sunday I mounted a thermometer outside the kitchen valence
    
    ouch!

    
    I decided to use the energy available to "baptise" myself into the
    new world. Ignoring the _I Ching_'s advice to "go with the multitude,"
    I hiked alone up Mt. Wattatic in Ashby MA on the evening of the
    16th (the "last" day of the old age).
    
    Once I made the summit, I set up a magic circle with candles at
    the cardinal points, lit the candles (boy, was *that* a
    trick...constant wind on mountaintops!), and invoked the spirits
    of the four winds to protect and guide me in my effort. I purified
    the circle and myself with sage burnt in a silver chalice
    (hmm...combining traditions a bit...).
    
    I faced the setting sun, and felt the last rays of sunlight hit
    the old age. I held a cleansed quartz crystal to each chakra and
    transferred the energies that felt "disharmonious" from each into
    the crystal. This exercise allowed me to recall all of the things
    in my life that I felt were holding back my spiritual progress.
    
    I said goodbye to the old world, and to my old self, and buried the
    crystal as the sun dipped below the horizon. In this way I symbolically
    "killed" Perry.
    
    After a bit of stargazing and meteor-watching, sleep came in fits
    as the wind howled around me. Being dead, I felt it appropriate
    to sleep "in the earth" and crawled under a shallow outcropping
    of stone.
    
    As the sun slowly climbed over the horizon Monday morning, I was
    resurrected into the new world...I cloaked myself in the raw power
    of the sun and stretched my own power out to other sites around
    New England, then around North America, and on out to the entire
    world. I became a conduit for the energy that passed through me
    from the earth back into the heavens.  I even have been given a
    new name to use in the new age.
    
    Now, most of the ritual I performed served the purpose of all ritual:
    It gave me a structured environment in which to evaluate minute
    details of my life. I don't claim that all of my old patterns were
    literally buried on that mountain, but I do have new resolve to
    work on correcting those patterns. I even discovered patterns that
    had been hidden to me previously.
    
    I *do* feel reborn. I have renewed energy, and feel truly cleansed
    spiritually.
    
    Tananda/Perry
    

    Re .28:
    
    >Once I made the summit, I set up a magic circle with candles at
    >the cardinal points, lit the candles (boy, was *that* a
    >trick...constant wind on mountaintops!), and invoked the spirits ...
     
    For what it's worth, where candles are impractical for outdoor
    ceremonies, the herb Mullein can be substituted [don't light the
    herb].
    
    It would be easier that way.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    

    re .28, .29:
    
    Another way to make outdoor candles work, is to make candles in
    1 lb. coffee cans, and use something very *thick* for wick.  It
    won't usually blow out.
    
    Elizabeth

    I've hesitated to enter this conference and am not sure why the
    hesitation...perhaps don't want to get involved in what seems to
    be an open ended, no resolution, discussion of the New Age.
    
    But here goes...much against my analytical side, I awoke at
    dawn, exactly as the sun began to rise.  My window faces the East
    and I was able to see the entire sky glow with sun light.  But
    even more amazing (!?) is that my *cat* (yes, cat) was standing
    on his hind legs, front paws on the window sill, looking out at
    the sun rise...(perhaps looking for birds!? sorry...)
    
    Anyway, although I analyze it as the "cat looking at birds"; I
    obviously woke up to see the entire show, for whatever reason.
    
    But even more amazing or puzzling, is that although I have not 
    found any semblance of "peace within"; I have insights and
    *willingness* to face the truth now (since Sunday actually) that
    I never had before...suddenly, I'm serious with myself and have
    decided to *act* on my life, rather than *wish* it away.
    
    SO for what it's worth, something is happening...

    For what its worth, one can buy low-cost, light-weight, foldup
    "lanterns" (I believe they're called camping lanterns) which are
    designed to hold a small candle and protect it from the wind.
    Any camping supply store should have them.
    
    				Topher

    
    Re.-1  Welcome!
          
    Based on my own recent experiences over the last 3 months, I predict
    (:^) that you will find the following list of things take place
    in your life.  Of course, if they do, then this might be taken as
    a self-fulfilling prophecy. Be that as it may...here goes:
    
    	- You will begin to find your time more valuable and will
    	  be spending less and less time watching the junk on TV
    	  which is sorely lacking any real substance.
    
    	- You will seek out people with open-minds who are tolerant
    	  of other people's views and will begin to become increasingly
    	  impatient with those who complain about their lives but 
    	  are doing just that - complaining - without trying to 
    	  assess the situation and make the necessary changes 
    	  to avoid such situations in the future
    
    	- You will begin to read more non-fiction books and will do
    	  your best to seek the truth, or get as close to the truth
    	  as humanly possible.
    
    	- You will become happier, having taken control of your life
    	  and your situation, and by doing this, you will be able to 
    	  help other people along their paths.
         
    	- You will be able to draw conclusions that for the last X 
    	  number of years seemed impossible and will begin to know
    	  that everything is dependent upon everything else.
                                                              
    	- You will begin to take better care of yourself by exercising,
    	  quitting harmful habits, eating well, reducing stress, etc.
    
    Happy Trails!
    
    Cindy

RE: .28

Interesting...  Ritual has it's place and I have no doubt that yours really
marked a starting point.

You see?  I'm not all THAT analytical. ;-)


John M. 

    Re: .28 & .34
    
    I tend to agree.  I feel that rituals can be used to help one focus 
    ones on the tasks we set for ourselves.  Rituals that we invent
    to symbolise new beginnings for ourselves can feel especially potent,
    helping us to feel that we've at least gotten off the mark, begun
    our personal journey, whatever it might be.  How many of us also 
    treat New Year's Eve/Day with this kind of thinking?  I know I do, 
    and I also do something on my birthday.  Of course when I get up 
    the next day, it's still the same world.  But in the last few years, 
    since I started focusing on "ritual beginnings", I find that I 
    _feel_ different, and I am also finding that if I feel different, 
    I begin to act different.  More like the person I want to become.
    Takes time, but any rituals I perform to help me renew my resolve
    also help cement my progress toward my goals more firmly into place.
    
    As I wrote in another note:
    
    	"All I want from tomorrow
    	 Is to get it better than today
    	 Step by step, one by one . . ."
    
    			(from Jacob's Ladder, by Huey Lewis & The News)
    
    Marcia

    I haven't noticed any difference in myself or the world since the
    convergence but there is enough of the hippy left in me from the
    70's to hope that the world gets more peace, love, and good 
    vibrations in the next 23,000 years.

    Mike

    Oh yes, I've seen a picture of Elizabeth from her elementary school
    days.  Very nice.

		< Or, How I spent my 58 Hour Summer Vacation >

    Because of a very busy last few weeks, and having problems getting
    to this NOTES file, I finally got caught up with this Topic.  I
    decided to post this (which was also posted in Tem Noon's Cabin).
    Since the posting, I have spent more time thinking about the future
    of myself, mankind, and the Earth.  It is all intertwined.
    
The weekend started early Saturday morning.  I got in late from Toronto the
night before and hit the sack without even unpacking.  I got out of bed and
walked into the kitchen to examine my domain for subsistence.  Aside from a
mostly-empty carton of orange juice and a wrinkled zucchini, the
refrigerator was empty from one week of disuse, I grabbed the carton and
mumbled to myself while I remembered my next problem for the day.  I
finished drinking the orange juice as I walked to the circuit box in the
bedroom.  I turned on the circuit breaker for the well pump to find out why
it was running so often when I got home last night.  It shouldn't have been
running at all since no faucet was on in the house, but the pump was
kicking in every two minutes.  I went outside and looked into the wellhouse
next to the house and saw water spurting out near the lower back of the
water tank.  Great.  I turned off the breaker for the pump and double
checked the water heater to make sure it was off.  Forget about that hot
shower for today.

I listened to the assortment of calls on my answering machine accumulated
over the week.  The first was a message from airline services saying that
my first chance to ride in a helicopter was canceled last Monday.  Then
there was a couple of beeps, a head hunter who finally got my resume that I
sent him seven months ago, a few more beeps, and a message on Friday from
Deb.  She said that Chuck and Jack wasn't going to make it to Maine this
weekend.  I thought about the tank and wondered if I was going myself.

I decided to call Deb in Bar Harbor.  The long distance connect had a
"country ring" to it:  a little static and a far-off echo.  After a few
rings Deb answered the phone.

"Hi Deb, it's Dave.  How is it up there."

"Oh, hi.  It's beautiful.  It's a little browner than in June, but the
weather's great.  I didn't realize how big the house was until I spent last
night alone here.  It's really creepy."

Being alone in a new place can get on your nerves.  I thought about last
March when I was laid off, living in a new place, and knowing little
about the area.  It gets to you in ways you never expected.

"Are you coming up?"

I knew she was going to ask.  It was different going up to visit an
ex-girlfriend with a few friends.  It's another thing going up alone. "I'm
not sure yet, probably.  The well pump is busted and has to be fixed, I'm
not sure what it will take to fix.  I'm not even sure if it can be fixed
this weekend.  I'll give you a call if I can't make it.  It depends on what
happens with the pump.  I'll talk to you later one way or another."

"Okay, bye."

I hung up the phone and thought about the talk that Deb and I had about
August 16th.  It happened in early July when I asked her to come over for a
swim in the lake.

-------------------
I pulled myself onto the small raft, almost pushing the edge into the
water.  I turned myself around around so my legs could hang in the water as I
sat myself down.  Deb swam up to the raft and pulled herself up.

"Are you still keeping in touch with the psychic stuff?" I asked.

"Ya, a little.  Why?  What's up?"

"What have you heard about August 16th and 17th?"

"Oh, not much.  Aside from my vacation in Maine."

"Really?"

"Ya, that's the second week that I'll be renting the house near Arcadia
national park.  Do you know there is a mountain in the park that is the
first place on the continental US to see the sun rise?"

My mind though back a few months, long before I knew about Deb going to
Maine and just after I read at work about August 16th in the DEJAVU notes
file.  I played with the idea of going someplace to see the sunrise, I
thought about going to Provincetown, then thought someplace in Maine would
be better.  They would see the sunrise earlier in Maine than anywhere on
the cape.  I stored the idea in the back of my mind under "Those ideas that
would be nice to do but probably not have a chance to do" and didn't think
anything more about it, until then.

"There is suppose to be something big occurring on that day.  Every Psychic
and Spiritualist worth their two cents is planning something for that day,
especially sunrise."  We talked about what was going on in the Notes files
about the day.  She was interested in what was happening and thought she
would go see it that day.  Before she left I gave her a hard copy of the
notes from work.

It was interesting that Deb would be there that day.  I remembered she
asked if I would like to show up a while ago, but didn't say anything that
day.  I decided I wasn't going to push it, unless I got a "sign".  Hey, if
there is anything to this psychic stuff, then I'll find my own evidence.
-----------

I wondered who to call next, Chuck or the pump company.  When I thought
about Chuck, I also thought about the "sign" that I encountered a few weeks
ago.  Was it evidence, or was it only coincidence?

----------- 

Chuck shifted the Celica GT down to fourth gear and hit the gas.  He
swerved the Celica into the right lane and passed the car that was blocking
our way.  The Celica closed in on the car in front of us to less than a
yard away before we cut into the left lane again.  He shifted back to fifth
and we pulled away from the cluster of cars on route 9 as we headed east to
route 128.  I sat in the passenger seat holding onto the grip above the
door.  Now I understood why some people complained about my driving, it's
different being a driver or passenger in a car weaving through traffic.  At
least as a driver you feel more in control of the situation.  In fact, I'll
confess, it can be fun.

"You know, we should go away for a weekend this summer," Chuck said.

"Well, we can go when I get back from Toronto," I replied. "How about going
to the Cape or something like that?"

Chuck paused for a minute, "Naw, I was thinking about going to Maine or
something,  How about Arcadia National Park?"

I thought about Deb, August 16th and the Twilight Zone theme.  I thought of
no particular reason why Chuck would say that.  At that point I committed
myself to go that weekend, assuming that we would camp out at the part and
maybe drop in to see Deb while she was up there.

I thought about telling Chuck about all this at this point.  He would think
that I was crazy.  I'd tell him on the way up. "Sure," I replied. "Let's do
it."
--------

I open up my briefcase and found my address book hidden underneath the
manuals from class.  I glanced at the clock, it was 9:00 am.  Still early
for some people, but I wanted to make some decisions before it got too
late. I took a gamble and called chuck next.

"Heallow," A semi-conscious human replied on the other end, I lost the
gamble.

"Hi Chuck.  It's Dave, I'm sorry I woke you, but I was wondering what's up
for the weekend?  Are we going to Maine or not?"

"Well, Jack's gone to Buffalo and my sister's part of a fashion show in
Boston today.  It's six hours to Bar Harbor and it's not worth going up if
we get there tonight.  We can go another time."

"Ya, I'm having problems with the well, I gotta give someone a call before I
decide what to do this weekend.  I might end up staying home all day."

"How about stopping off up here tonight, We can rent a video or something."

"Sure, sounds good.  I'll get back to you later, Bye-bye."

"Bye-bye, click."

I leafed through the yellow pages and found the Well company that worked on
my well earlier this year.  He made comments about installing the well in
the house about fifteen years ago, and he did good work for me too.  I
called him and got his answering machine.  A thought passed through my
mind...What if HE was on vacation?  I left a message saying I was going to
be gone for the weekend and I have severe pump problems.  Maine started
looking good again, but I wasn't sure.  No matter what, I wasn't going to
be around here much if I didn't have any water.

Screw it, I just wasn't ready to cope with reality yet.  I unpacked my
clothes and put anything clean into my duffle bag, then rummaged through my
drawers to find anything else.  I grabbed a couple of tapes, including a
few Tangerine Dreams, and jumped into my car and drove off to Maine.  It
was a little after 10am.  I remembered I didn't call Chuck, so decided to
stop off in Framingham on the way.  I also decided to stop off and talk to
Ed Bernstein about publishing the cabin notes.  New Hampshire was on the
way to Maine right?  ;-)

Chuck wasn't at home so I left a Post-it on the door to his apartment and
headed to New Hampshire.  I made it to Ed's house around noon, long before
anyone else was expected.  Ed and I talked about what we really wanted to
see happen with Tem Noon's cabin.  It wasn't necessarily that we wanted to
see Notes published, but have something that is beyond the scope of Digital
and privately owned by the members of the system, and also make it
available to others around who don't work for Digital.  I left around 2:00
with a good feeling about getting something done.

I expected to get to Bar Harbor about four or five hours from Ed's, I
didn't expect to get lost in New Hampshire and Lower Maine.  I didn't mind
it much since I had a full tank and I enjoyed a drive through the
backroads.  I spent most of the time thinking about the Harmonic
Convergence.  Ya, there have been some times that I over did it, like the
posting in this notes file a few weeks back.  I thought that I became
over-aware of a situation, and my imagination rushed in to fill the blanks
that reason and evidence left behind.  I was still worried about the
Persian Gulf crisis, but one week in Toronto without watching the news gave
me a chance to cool myself down.  As one of the earlier postings said
"Things will work out."  I like that attitude, it's like a positive
corollary to Murphy's law.  Besides, if we go off and kill ourselves it
will be our fault, nobody else's.  People have to learn to take care of what
they can, and leave the rest to God/fate/destiny/Whatever.  It's too common
to see people either trying to do too much and burn out, or too little and
then expect a miracle to get them out of the mess they got themselves into.
It's amazing what goes through your head when you sit in a traffic jam on
route 1 and you know you still have four hours of driving to go, if the
traffic ever starts moving again. . .

By the time I reached Portland, it was almost 6:00, I reached Bar Harbor in
darkness, I drove down route 230 with my highbeams on, swerving to the
wrong side of the road so I could read the numbers on the mailbox.  I was
looking for the a mailbox numbered 345 across the street from a dirt road.
The problem was that every mailbox was across the street from a dirt road.
By the time I reached the house it was after 9:00.  I was exhausted and
hungry.  Deb offered a chicken lobster that I consumed in a matter of
minutes while I talked about the ride up.  After I ate we both went to
sleep since we wanted to get up early to see the sunrise.  The old house
creaked wherever I walked upstairs, It was a big house, the walls were made
of pine boards and thin enough to see the light of the adjacent room
through the cracks.  Deb and I talked a little more from one bedroom to
another before I fell asleep.

My watch alarm chirped its digital charm at 4:10am.  I questioned my sanity
for a few minutes before Deb came into my room to see if we were still
going.  I stretched my muscles to force my body awake and said yes.  Within
ten minutes I threw on some jeans, my eagle shirt, windbreaker, splashed
some water on my face, and we drove away towards Cadallic Mountain.

It took about a half hour to drive to the mountaintop.  We had to park well
before the top of the mountain since a row of cars filled both sides of the
road.  As we walked up to the summit I saw license plates from every State
in New England, and also Colorado, Ohio, and other states.  When we got to
the summit, a man was passing out two-page pamphlets.  I grabbed a copy while
we where directed to one of the two summits of the mountain (The lower one
which was further west I might add).

It was going to be a cloudy morning so there wasn't going to be a chance to
see the sun, but the view from the summit was breathtaking.  Fog filled the
area below the mountain, the taller hills poked their tops above the fog
below us.  Bar Harbor rested quietly below, the streetlights glittering
through the haze.  I could see the boat to Yarmouth docked in the port, the
nearby parking lot empty.  I though about the last time I was in Bar
Harbor, a year and a half ago, taking that boat to my grandfather's
funeral in Nova Scotia.  I was glad I made it up here.

When we reached the gathering all was quiet.  Sunrise was not for another
fifteen minutes but there was enough light to see.  The top of the summit
was crowded with people, many who seemed to have slept here overnight.  The
place was quiet, everything, aside from the humans, seemed to be
asleep.  There were no chirps from bugs or birds.  In fact, a silence
covered the summit.  People talked in whispers, the children would rather
sleep and let their parents have their fun.  I felt as if I was walking
through an old Cathedral instead of a mountaintop.  Deb and I also talked
in whispers while we found a place to sit, it seemed that the attitude was
contagious.  I glanced through the papers that were passed out.  My eyes
caught the line "We will sing chant #3 in this ritual."  Some people gave
up organized religion for *THIS*?  We decided to find a place away from the
crowd to meditate on our own.

We found an open but unoccupied area near the crowd.  The path to the
crowd was behind a line of trees beside us.  We could hear more and more
people walking up to the summit.  I put a Tangerine Dream tape into Deb
tape deck to listen to quietly while we meditated.  While I was meditating,
I couldn't help noticing the talk from the people around us.

"Hey, you made it!  I like that shirt you're wearing."

"Thanks, it's not often you dress for Armageddon."

This was the way I pictured it would be and hoped it wouldn't come to.  I'm
not into the large groups or organizations when it comes to spiritualism, I feel
that everyone has their own path, and my path led me to this place, at this
time.  What I learned that morning was that we're not alone.  Even though
I would have preferred a fraction of the number that showed up, literally
hundreds of others made it to the top of the mountain for this.  I think we
should also learn that we're not alone on a Global scale, and that includes
all life on Earth.  We have to learn to live with each other or else we may
end up killing ourselves.  Mankind is too advanced to have many other
alternatives.

When the group started singing "Morning has broken" Deb and I decided to
move on.  We walked around the major summit, enjoying the view and
listening to the crowd's songs echo through the still air.  We where
sitting, talking about the sunrise when I heard a few drops fall on the
rocks around us.  Within a minute it was raining.  I made a comment that they
confused the chants and did the chant for rain instead of Harmonic
Convergence.  We joked about the rain while we headed back to the car.
The sunrise was over for us, now I was looking forward for a big breakfast,
a cup of coffee and a hot shower.