Welcome to the 9th gate and a new Tzolkin!

Today is the 9th of 13 gates leading up to the 2012 event. (The 13th gate is 12-21-2012.) Today another new burst of energy will permeate our universe. I wonder what it will be? Has everyone finished integrating gate 8's energies?
Advertising is increasing for the 2012 movie. It's good, I guess, to make more people aware that something is going to happen in 3 years, but at the same time I hate that what the movie is spreading/advocating is a bunch of lies.
12.19.16.12.1 19 Mol 1 Imix

Are you a pagan? Take the pagan census and pass on the word!

The Pagan Census - Revisited

Take the survey here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=WYCq4kaxG_2bYrJ8xnemeR3A_3d_3d

We are conducting an international survey of contemporary Pagans. If you
are a Pagan we would appreciate your taking the time to complete this survey.

This survey builds on an earlier one completed over twenty years ago,
primarily in the United States, which was conducted by Helen A. Berger and
Andras Arthen (of the EarthSpirit Community) entitled the Pagan Census. At the
time it was hoped that we could do a census of the entire Pagan population.
Although that was not possible the data that was collected was the largest
of it type and served as the basis of a book, Voices from the Pagan Census
by Helen A. Berger (with Evan Leach and Leigh S. Shaffer). The survey data
is now available on line at Murray Research Archive at Harvard University.

A number of scholars have noted that it would be helpful to have a
follow-up of that survey to see if and how the community has changed or remained
the same. The survey that follows uses many, although not all of the same
questions that were in the original survey to provide that comparison. There
are also new questions, for instance about the Internet, something that was
of little interest 20 years ago but is now, and some from other studies,
that again permit a comparison. This has resulted in the survey being
somewhat long--we appreciate your taking the time to complete it.

We realize that the categories found in questionnaires like this one
frequently do not do justice to the complexities of real life. For this reason,
a number of open-ended items have been included that allow for more nuanced
responses. You are also welcome to contact Helen A. Berger directly at
HBerger@wcupa. edu

Please inform other Pagans about this research project and feel free to
pass it along via e-mail or to post a link on appropriate blogs or websites.

Thanks for your help.

green burials

I hate modern death rituals.  I hate the waste of space of cemeteries, the overpriced and unnecessary accouterments of death, the fact that when you get buried, you don't decay--you grow mold and just sit there.  My grandpa died in 1987 and I know he is still there in his coffin, covered with mold and yuck, not nicely reduced to bones (or less) by nature.  Thinking of him like that--moldy--makes me want to cry.
That's one of the reasons why I pushed so hard to have my dad cremated.  All my pets have been cremated (their ashes are on my "pet cemetery shelf") and I want to be cremated too.  Me and all the pets who have gone before are going to get turned into an artificial reef.
I was browsing cnn.com earlier and on the front page they had a link to an article about green burials.  I clicked on it, thinking to read about cardboard coffins and parklike cemeteries, but instead it was mostly about the reefs. And biodegradable coffins.
Even if you aren't anywhere near dying, consider doing a non-traditional burial.  Maybe by the time you do die, the non-traditional will be traditional.  We can only hope.

(Picture source: Eternal Reefs)
(screenprint of original article)
12.19.16.9.15 13 Xul 7 Men

Mayan crop circle found in England

A supposed Mayan apocalypse crop circle was found this week in England. A picture of it from the original article is above. How exactly this shape predicts the end of the world, I don't know. I am so sick of all these people who wouldn't know the Mayan calendar if it bit them on the ass talking about it. A supposed crop circle expert gushes: "This is one of the most interesting crop circles I have ever seen. It is definitely a Mayan symbol and we are sure it is linked to the Mayan calendar, which ends in 2012. It appears to be a warning about the world coming to an end when the calendar does. For the ancient Maya, reaching the end of a cycle was a momentous event, so we are taking this crop circle very seriously as an indicator of a possibly huge event in 2012."
Show me where ANY of that is on that crop circle. The Pi one, well, I might not exactly understand how it shows Pi, but I can see that it shows some sort of math thing.(Ironically, the Pi circle was found just about a year ago and not far from where this Mayan one is.)

Screenprint of original article

happy 04:05:06 07/08/09 (and happy birthday to me)

Numerology can be fun.  Even more fun when, for once, one's birthday is part of a cool number combination.  I had always wished I was born a day earlier (7/7) but this works too, just for today.