ARTICLE 1
The following article will be published in the June/July issue of Aura
Magazine in Cardiff.
www.aurapublications.co.uk
2012:
Co-Creating a New Future
Merlin’s Visions, the Mayan
Calendar,
and Peruvian Teachings for Planetary Healing
By
Edie Stone, MA
Photo ©2007 Edie Stone
Visions of Merlin
A primal Welsh Merlin emerges from the shadows of history to speak to
our times. Quite different from the magician of Arthurian romance, we
see him first as a young boy and prophet, and later as an old man, wild
hermit, and stargazing philosopher.
Young Merlin, facing the fate of a sacrificial victim, challenges King
Vortigern to find the true cause of the king’s collapsing tower. The
cause lies deep in an underground lake. When the water is drained, red
and white dragons emerge from two stones and fly into battle. Merlin
goes into trance and predicts the defeat of the red dragon (Celtic
Britain/Wales) by the white dragon (Saxons). He then describes in
prophecy hundreds of years of English history to come, ending in a
great cataclysm.
Old Merlin, mad with the grief of war, leaves his kingdom to live in
the wild woods with his wolf, pig, and stag companion animals. At the
end of his life, he is not trapped in a glass tower, tree, or stone by
a seductress. Rather, he chooses to live in an observatory, studying
the movements of the stars.
Young Merlin embodies the power of visionary experience, and the
courage of speaking truth to power. Old Merlin embodies the madness of
war, the cleansing of grief, the healing power of nature, kinship with
animals, and the wisdom of cosmic knowledge.
Maya Cosmovision and 2012
As Merlin was studying the stars, the rest of Europe was slipping into
the Dark Ages. But at the same time, Maya civilization was coming into
its height, celebrating the precession of the equinoxes and the cycles
of Venus on detailed stone carvings and precisely aligned architecture.
For sky watchers in Central and South America, the dark areas of the
Milky Way are as significant as bright star constellations, especially
the dark area within the big bulge of the Milky Way. (This bulge near
Sagittarius is the central hub of our galaxy. It’s also where the
ecliptic path of sun and planets cross the Milky Way.)
Within the mythic imagery of the Maya, the dark-rift in the Milky Way
has been perceived as a Cleft in the Cosmic Tree, a Canyon in the River
of Stars, the Mouth of the Cosmic Serpent, and the Birth Canal of the
Great Mother. It is named Xibalba Be, the Black Road, the Road to the
Underworld.
Early Maya astronomers realised that the sun’s position at the winter
solstice was slowly moving toward Xibalba Be.
The Maya also studied the movement of time, which they experienced as
alive with energies of gods and goddesses. The Maya created several
complex, interlocking calendars, including the famous Long Count
calendar. Each Long Count is a new “Sun” or “World Age” of 1,872,000
days (~5125 years).
The current Long Count ends with the Mayan date 13.0.0.0.0, which in
our Gregorian calendar is December 21, 2012.
Is it by coincidence or by deep knowledge of the future, that the Maya
Long Count ends on the very day that the sun will enter Xibalba Be on
the winter solstice, 2012? And that 12/21/2012 is the Long Count
13.0.0.0.0 endpoint of the current World Age?
Dire predictions
Merlin’s prophesies end in environmental and social upheaval, followed
by chaos on a cosmic level. Interpretations of 2012 range from
widespread catastrophe, such as massive slipping of tectonic plates,
and reversal of the magnetic poles; to a speeding up of space-time
until it explodes in a big-bang of consciousness; to just another year
of human suffering. There are rays of hope, as well, if we view the
Maya imagery as the rebirth of a New Sun of consciousness from the womb
of the Cosmic Mother.
Paths of personal and planetary healing
How can we cope with these confusing predictions? A new path of
transformation and healing is being offered to the world through the
legends and practices of Peruvian shamanism. We can also find wisdom in
ancestral Celtic legends and British mysticism.
An ancient legend,
revealed by tribal elders from the Andes in the early 1990’s, says that
when the Condor of South America and the Eagle of North America unite,
the spirit of peace will re-awaken on Earth. According to Inka
prophecy, we are in the Pachakuti Era, a time of world reversal and
healing.
The Q’ero and other
elders are now sharing healing practices, which were held secret since
the Conquest, in order to support a shift into heart-centered
consciousness that is needed to heal Mother Earth. Our collective
transformation will lead to the return of the Sapa Inka and Qoya or
“high king and queen” of illuminated consciousness.
Oscar Miro-Quesada,
one of the “Condors,” is a master shaman from Peru who has brought the
Pachakuti Mesa tradition to the land of “Eagles” (N. America and
Europe). Oscar's teachings include healing techniques, ceremony, and
reverent use of the Pachakuti Mesa. A mesa is a floor altar; it is also
an energetic map of the universe. It serves as a catalyst to focus
healing energy for individual, community, and planetary transformation.
Earth stewardship projects, pilgrimages to sacred sites, and spiritual
practices that help rebalance Earth’s energy system are also important
tools in the Pachakuti Mesa tradition.
British wisdom traditions
There is a Welsh
legend, “The Marriage of Eagle and Owl,” which deeply resonates with
South American teachings of the Marriage of Eagle and Condor.
The Eagle is the King
of the birds. He embodies patriarchal power, hierarchy, and ego -- some
of the qualities that have brought us to this time of crisis. But as he
travels in search of a bride, he learns to trust the voice of the wind,
and he listens to animals who are as old as the hills. By the end of
his journey, he comes into alignment with the wisdom of the ancient
feminine, embodied in Mistress Owl, the oldest of the birds.
Our
task is similar: to trust our inner voices of inspiration, to bring our
egos back into alignment with deep feminine wisdom (found in both men
and women), and to embrace Earth-centered teachings and practices which
are as old as the hills and vitally important for our world today. By
honouring and rebalancing sacred masculine and feminine energies, we
can build a foundation to honour and heal our Mother Earth.
Merlin returns
The prophecies of Merlin are quite dark. But the character of Merlin is
quite strong as he goes through an initiation of shamanic dismemberment
and restructuring of consciousness. We can learn from his story to
speak truth to power, to grieve destruction, and to seek star knowledge.
As for his prophecies… in dream therapy, creating a new ending to a
dream can lead to a new beginning in one’s life… so may we embody new
mythic visions, in order to co-create a new future for our beautiful
planet.
Author Information
Edie Stone, MA, from Boulder,
Colorado, will give presentations on 2012 themes in Cardiff in July and
August. She will teach courses in North Wales 1-3 August, and at Coed
Hills, 8-10 August.
Contact information
Theosophy
Comics
Thanks to Dave Marsland at Theosophy Cardiff for comic relief
for when things get too heavy while pondering the future.
"Our telly ran on steam when this series was first shown. Those
were the days."