(Originally published in The Proceedings of the Aquarian Age 2001 Spring Equinox Conference)
It has been only in the last 100 years that western civilization has become aware of the fact that our solar system exists within the context of a galaxy. It was only in the 1950s that our astronomers first identified the approximate physical center of our galaxy. However, there is clear evidence that the Mayan people knew of the relationship between our sun and our galaxy at least 2000 years ago. Western scientific cosmology is still only slowly realizing the significance of what the Mayan people have known since well before the dark ages of European history.
In 1993, I met a man from the Yucatan Peninsula named Hunbatz Men. Hunbatz is a Mayan elder. At the time, he was traveling through the United States teaching about his culture and making many friends. One of the cosmological concepts he spoke of was what he called Hunab Ku. Hunbatz said that "Hunab Ku" is the Mayan word for the creative energy emanating from the "great central sun of our galaxy." Hunbatz said that Hunab Ku was known to us through the "form and movement" of all our experiences.
The area of the sky that Mayan cosmology recognizes as the source of all life and creativity is the same part of the sky that western astronomy identifies as the center of our galaxy. This seems an unlikely coincidence. The story is even more interesting when we note, as John Major Jenkins points out, that the Mayan Long Count Calendar ends with the date (December 21, 2012) on which the winter solstice Sun closely aligns with the galactic center.
Some critics insist that the position of the winter solstice on the Mayan Long Count Calendar end date is not exactly aligned with the galactic center. While it is a fact that the winter solstice sun's closest approach to the exact galactic center is about 200 years in the future, the 2012 alignment is precise in several respects.
First of all, the 2012 position for the winter solstice is very exactly aligned with the galactic equator, or the centerline of the galaxy. The path of our sun (the ecliptic) does not exactly align with the galactic center, however, the galactic equator does. As John Major Jenkins points out--the sun, the position of the winter solstice, and the galactic equator are all precisely together on December 21, 2012 (Maya Cosmogenesis 2012).
Secondly, the central bulge of our galaxy has a radius of roughly 15,000 light years. Considering that our solar system is roughly 30,000 light years from the center of our galaxy, this means that if we could clearly observe the middle bulge of our galaxy it would be approximately 50 to 60 degrees wide from our point of view. An object with a diameter of 50 degrees covers an area 10,000 times bigger than that of the moon in our sky. On December 21, 2012 the winter solstice sun aligns visually very precisely with the heart of the greatest cosmic structure in our sky.
As I'm composing this article in the Fall of 2001, another type of cosmic alignment is appearing in our sky. Jupiter and Saturn are forming a rather striking pentagon together with the fixed stars Aldeberan, Rigel, Sirius, and Procyon. This formation is very large--approximately 60 degrees wide--and interestingly, the position of this formation places it almost exactly opposite in our sky relative to the great central bulge of our galaxy. The culmination of this formation happens December 30, 2001 when the full moon aligns Jupiter, Moon, Earth, and Sun with our galaxy's immense heart.
What does it mean that the winter solstice is aligning with the galactic equator? Is there any significance to a formation of stars and planets that reflects to us the proportions and position of the heart of our sky? Modern scientific analysis alone can provide no answers to such questions--other than to suggest it's all just a big coincidence. Our scientific tools are not designed to help us understand events such as these. Our analytical faculties help us to tear phenomena apart--by itself, empirical analysis is poorly suited to the study of the complex relationships involved in how all the parts of our galaxy function together.
Since the time of Galileo, western scientific inquiry has increasingly focused only upon information that can be measured quantitatively. Since its inception, science has been disillusioned with questions about our relationship to the center of our universe. In part, our current empirical models were born as a reaction against the geocentric conception of the universe.
Unfortunately, with this reaction our ancestors jumped to another extreme conclusion--imagining our place in the cosmos to be, at best, an accident. To perceive the meaning inherent in our cosmic relationships doesnıt require that we abandon our rationality. However, it does require that we utilize more of the available data than that which our scientific models and measurements can currently handle.
To reach a fuller understanding of what's going on we need also consider a lot of qualitative information--the type of information that is available to us directly from our own sensations and feelings. We need to attend to everything thatıs happening--not only materially and quantitatively, but also spiritually. For the Mayan people, their astronomy and their spirituality are not separate things. It seems likely that we would benefit by examining the cosmos and our situation through the lens of such an integrated perspective.
In his recent book, The Key, Whitley Streiber presents insights relevant to this discussion. The book is the transcription of a conversation that Whitley had with a mysterious man who paid him a visit in 1998. The man told Whitley, "It's all part of the plan of your evolution. Pisces, the little fish, will be poured out onto dry land by the stream of Aquarius. Then how will you live? How will you breathe? How will you make the leap of evolution? You will square the circle or die."
The zodiacal references in this passage point to the fact that as the winter solstice aligns with the galactic equator, the spring equinox is simultaneously moving into the constellation of Aquarius. The movement of the solstices and equinoxes are backward relative to the normal movement of the sun through our sky (this is also what is referred to as precession). Thus the spring equinox is moving backward from the constellation of Pisces into Aquarius. The quote suggests that as this change happens we are facing a profound challenge--perhaps, so profound that we will not successfully meet it.
Another quote from The Key seems very relevant: "God is like a hologram. The whole is fully present in every fragment no matter how small. The whole of God is in a grain of sand, in a single electron, in a quark. Infinite consciousness is in everything. All knowledge is present in every cell, every spark of fire, every bit of trash." Neither of these statements is of any importance to us if we are only interested in understanding our situation through a perspective of empirical analysis.
However, if we are open to a wider range of possibilities, a synthesis emerges from these various data. Our relationship with the greater whole of our cosmos is becoming increasingly important to us. At least, it is becoming increasingly noticeable. We are rapidly disabusing ourselves of the notion that our existence is a big cosmic accident, and that we are aimlessly floating around a star anonymously alone in the vastness of space. Instead, we are discovering the reality that we are part of something much greater than our own star system. We can observe that we are an integral part of a great galactic whole who's immensity and beauty are beyond all of our concepts and quantifications.
If we allow this reality to make its full impact upon us, our experience is forever changed. At the same time we are becoming aware of a greatness that also exists within. As we become aware of this inner magnificence we are realizing that it is naturally also the inner reality of everything we behold.
Simultaneously, we are learning of the reality of greatness that is both internal and all around us. One perspective of the situation is that the greatness within is emerging to greet the greatness that exists without. It seems to be working like resonance--the vibration of the greatness in one place is moving in empathy with the greatness in the other. Greatness is awakening to its sameness in everything.
If such greatness abounds, one might wonder why the situation we are facing presents such a difficult challenge. The passage tells us, "It's all part of the plan of your evolution. Pisces, the little fish, will be poured out onto dry land by the stream of Aquarius. Then how will you live? How will you breathe? How will you make the leap of evolution?" The metaphor is astrologically interesting. Pisces is a water sign. Aquarius, an air sign, is also known as "the water bearer." The constellation of Aquarius is often depicted as a man pouring water from a large jar. The metaphor suggests that we have been inhabiting the water of Pisces and now we are in transition to a new experience.
When I read this quote, I see two different images. The first is the literal image of a fish out of water struggling to breathe. The second image is that of a baby being born. I'm reminded that when we emerge into this world we are making a transition from a watery environment to a gaseous one. The radical transition being described in the metaphor is not unlike the one that each of us made when we arrived in this world. That transition is something we successfully negotiated without any empirical study, without quantitative analysis, without a conceptual framework. It is a task that we accomplished with nothing more than the essential resources of our nature.
The Mayan people say that the center of our galaxy is the source from which the energy of our life and experience emanates. Mayan mythology suggests that the alignment of the winter solstice with the heart of our galaxy indicates a time of rebirth for our world. Perhaps "the key" to understanding our situation and responding appropriately within it involves remembering the resources of our nature. Human nature is part of the greatness of all nature together. In the same way, our intellectual and analytical capacities are only part of the greater intelligence and consciousness of our cosmos.
Human is an adjective
It modifies a being
Modified is not rectified
Modified is not more alive
Modified is not necessarily wise
Human is an adjective
Life is what we are
Shifting our attention beyond the sphere of our familiar concepts allows us to become aware of the greater portion of everything that's happening both inside and all around us. Centuries ago, we abandoned the geocentric notion that our planet exists at the center of the universe. Perhaps it is now time to recognize our true relationship with the heart of our galaxy. Perhaps, simultaneously, we will rediscover something of the essential greatness within ourselves and within the living experience of everything we behold.
AJ McGettigan is a shamanic astrologer, author of A Voyage in Consciousness and Ecstasy of the Everyday Experience, and host of the weekly Vibrational Voyage Radio Program. His web site address is www.ncrising.com.
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Original text of Journey to Deep Freedom
Copyright 2001 AJ McGettigan