Sidereally speaking,I'm a two-minded fishnot a crabby ram.

Updated once more on 10.24.2006, after I posted "Making the case for astronomology -- and what's this about Ophiuchus?"

"Sidereal astrology is the practice of some Western and all Indian astrologers to base their study of the sky on the actual position of the planets in relation to the starry background. Most astrologers in the Americas and in Western Europe have adopted the tropical zodiac approach. They base their study on a notional view of the heavens that does not match the actual positions of the stars.



"Sidereal astrology is more closely related to the actual constellations. Precession of the equinoxes moves the astrology signs forward through the years. Thus, sidereally, Aries begins in April instead of March. As an example, if you are a March Aries in tropical astrology, then you are a Pisces in sidereal astrology."



These are the current dates
for the Sun's transit through the zodiac:

Capricorn: January 19 to February 15
Aquarius: February 16 to March 11
Pisces: March 12 to April 18
Aries: April 19 to May 13
Taurus: May 14 to June 19
Gemin: June 20 to July 20
Cancer: July 21 to August 9
Leo: August 10 to September 15
Virgo: September 16 to October 30
Libra: October 31 to November 22
Scorpius: November 23 to November 29
Ophiuchus: November 30 to December 17
Sagittarius: December 18 to January 18

I was born on the 12th of April, so a sidereal plot
(as well as direct observation) will show the Sun in Pisces:

versus...

What's of equal if not greater importance than the Sun sign
is the sign of the ascendant. My AC does the ecliptic slide
back to Gemini, which must explain my two blogs.

"About 2,000 years ago, the sidereal and tropical zodiacal systems were in approximate agreement. However, the tropical zodiacal system assumes that the constellations are all the same size, which they are not.

"Also, the tropical zodiacal system neglects the constellation of Ophiuchus*, which was recognised as a constellation of the sidereal zodiac at least 1,700 years ago. Finally, due to precession of the equinoxes, there is a difference of about one zodiacal sign between the two systems."

* - Aside from the fact that the ecliptic intersects Ophiuchus (and the Sun spends more than twice as much time in that constellation than it does in Scorpius), cosmic symmetry would seem to require that there be 13 stations through which the Sun passes. There are, after all, 13 Moon cycles in a solar year: 13 lunations x 28 days in a lunation = 364 days.

And while we're on the subject of the zodiac:

"Because of their inclination from the ecliptic, the planets are not restricted to the 13 constellations of the ecliptical zodiac. Seven of the eight planets pass through 21 constellations (Pluto is excluded because of its highly inclined orbit). Thus, there are 21 [nitpicky] astronomical constellations of the zodiac.* These are: Aries, Taurus, Orion, Gemini, Cancer, Hydra, Leo, Sextans, Crater, Virgo, Corvus, Libra, Scorpius, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, Scutum, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pegasus, Pisces and Cetus."

* - However, most of the planetary transits through those secondary constellations are the equivalent of a butterfly fluttering past and then back over a fence: fleeting.

"They can't believe it's Buddha."

I read the first story about Ram Bomjon soon after it was released. There were nothing but wire-repetitions for several days, so this one is the only "new" thing I've read.

Personally, I'd say that there are people doing this all over the world right now, it's just that this young man is doing it in public view. Can he really be doing it? Of course. Is he? I have no idea.*

The history, legend and practical manuals of the Hindu/Buddhist meditative arts are full of such stories and outcomes. I can't make any judgment as to the veracity of this activity, but there was a story from the BBC a year or two ago about medical tests that were done on another yogi who said he'd not eaten or drunk for, well, lemme see... "decades."

Prahlad Jani submitted himself to 10 days of medical observation. The doctors' response: We don't understand. If Ram were to agree to such tests, and if they bore out his followers' claims, then I think that the medical folks might say "the results were inconclusive" or "we need to do more tests," because it might rock their pardigm a little too hard.

However, I am interested to know what other practitioners will say after observing him.

* And to paraphrase his brother's retort: "It's hard enough to sit in meditation for six minutes..." And sitting [following this boy's example] is what it's all about.

'Bout to get phyllotaxic on ya...

"Many plants display Fibonacci Phyllotaxis, featuring Fibonacci numbers and the Golden Angle. The Golden Angle is related to the Golden Mean, itself a limit of quotients of Fibonacci numbers."

via AG, again

Message to Earth people:Take a deeper view [part two]

This is part one.

"Life can be looked at from two points of view: from the point of view which sees the outline, and from the point of view which sees the detail. With the point of view by which one sees the general outline of life, one soars upwards continually and one attains to the knowledge of life's synthesis. This is the view of life of the one who is looking from the top of a high mountain.

"As to the one who sees into life's details, naturally his horizon becomes smaller, his outlook narrower. He makes the analysis of life and so becomes acquainted with the details of life.

"The former point of view gives insight into a wider horizon and lifts the consciousness to a higher realization, whereas the latter point of view gives knowledge in the details of life, which one calls learning. Therefore learning is one thing, knowing is another thing. Learning without knowing is incomplete knowledge, knowing without learning is not satisfactory either. The knower can best explain his knowledge if he has learning...

"In these modern times, people consider an intellectual life or a life of manual labor a normal life. A practical man is considered a man of common sense, and common sense reaches no further than its limited boundaries. A practical man is the one who knows best how to guard his material interests in the continual struggle of life. Common sense sees no further than it sees. Many call it positivism only to believe in all that proves to be realistic to our higher senses and in all that can be perceived, felt and experienced by our mind.

"For this reason, in spite of great and unceasing progress in the material world, we have closed the doors to another world of progress, a progress that can only be made by opening the doors to the deeper side of life. Man, by his form and features, by his physical construction, looks at one side and covers the other side with his own self. Man sees before him, but not behind him. As he is made so by nature and it happens to be his nature, he therefore cannot look into the deeper side while absorbed in the life on the surface...

"The man who is not yet awakened to the inner side of life has not experienced life fully. He has only seen one side of life, perhaps the more interesting side, but the less real. The one who has experienced both sides of life, the outer and the inner, has certainly fulfilled the purpose of his life on Earth."

From "The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan,"
by way of Amelopsis' Garden

It's too bad there's no feed from the surveillance cameras inside the Great Pyramid...

...although such images (obviously) wouldn't be able to convey the scale and the feeling of being inside that structure.

As I wrote to people after my ascent into what's called the burial chamber, "it was equal parts Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Exorcist." This is because you' have to walk along this long, dusty/musty, steep, narrow and dimly lit flight of stairs in the Grand Gallery for 100-some yards to get to the chamber... and then you have to squat down or even go on all fours to pass through the small, square opening into the room. I just felt as if I was going to encounter something once I looked around that corner.

The photos that you can find online don't represent the space well, since they are all lit by electronic flash.* This room is dark... and then, as my Lady Friend mentioned, it dawns on you that you're in the middle of this ancient, tightly engineered, granite behemoth. You'd forget that you were still in proximity to Cairo and all of its millions of lives.

* Which reminds me: I don't know when it was that people took these photos, because the site staff at the pyramid's entrance ask you give up any kind of photographic device you might have. I even got a little pat-down because one of the men thought my light meter was a camera. Of course, folks do manage to get camera phones up there, for whatever use those might be.

Before the big blue eye in the sky

From a Usenet post or something
from HotWiReD that I saved years ago:

"About 1966 or so, a NASA team doing work for the Apollo moon mission took the astronauts near Tuba City, AZ, where the terrain of the Navajo Reservation looks very much like the lunar surface. Amid all the trucks and large vehicles were two large figures that were dressed in full spacesuits.*

"Nearby, a Navajo sheepherder and his son watched the strange creatures walk about and occasionally be tended to by personnel. The two Navajo people were noticed and approached by the NASA personnel.

"Since the sheepherder did not know English, his son asked for him what the strange creatures were. The NASA people told them that they were just men that were getting ready to go to the Moon. The sheepherder became very excited and asked if he could send a message to the Moon with the astronauts.

"The NASA personnel thought this was a great idea, so they rustled up a tape recorder. After the man gave them his message, they asked his son to translate. His son would not.

"Later, they asked a few more people on the reservation to translate. Every person they asked would chuckle and then refuse to translate. Finally, with cash in hand, someone translated the message: 'Watch out for these guys, they come to take your land.'"

-- Charles Phillip Whitedog, Ojibway, Network Manager, Multi-Mission Ground Systems Office, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

* See also: Astronaut Training at USGS Flagstaff

The big blue eye in the sky

Something from the Astrology forum at Tribe.net

"On the Moon, all the stars circle around you every 28 days instead of [every] 24 hours, and the Sun moves around you the same way. Yet the Earth stays right in the same spot. I remember thinking if ancient man had been born on the Moon, he would have had much more difficulty determining what was going on because things would have been slow in motion. But I felt pretty sure ancient cultures would have worshipped the Earth and thought it was an eye, because it would change from blue to white and you could see something moving up there that did look like a coloured eye. No doubt they would think that was a god up there watching them. There's no telling the [number of] virgins they would have sacrificed to that thing."

-- Alan Bean, Apollo 12 astronaut. "Bean works in acrylic and paints themes from lunar exploration and, as of October 2005, was still painting."

The tsunami

"One year ago Monday, a magnitude 9 earthquake -- the most powerful in 40 years -- ruptured the sea floor off Sumatra, sending waves [at least] 33 feet high across the Indian Ocean.

"They crashed ashore in a dozen countries, sweeping entire villages away in Sumatra and Sri Lanka, swamping resorts in Thailand, and surging into coastal communities from India to east Africa.

"At least 216,000 people were killed or disappeared, The Associated Press found in an assessment of government and credible relief agency figures in each country hit. The United Nations puts the number at 223,000, though it says some countries are still updating their figures.

"The true toll will probably never be known -- many bodies were lost at sea and in some cases the populations of places struck were not accurately recorded."


Thai Buddhist monks recite prayers during a multi-religious candlelight vigil for tsunami victims in the Thai town of Takua Pa in this January 19, 2005, file photo.

Eclipse 06: decisions, decisions, decisions...

"Turkey is one of the best locations to view 29 March 2006 Total Solar Eclipse. There are 2 cities to view this incredible astronomic event. One of them is Cappadocia - Hacibektas (Central Anatolia). The total eclipse will begin at 09:40 am and we will be able to see it until 12:20pm. The complete solar eclipse will be at 11:04am. Cappadocia is one of the most interesting regions of Turkey with its lunar landscape and we believe the best place to see total solar eclipse. Some scenes of Star Wars Episode I is recorded in Cappadocia's lunar landscape.

"The other city to see 2006 Total Solar Eclipse is Antalya which is the biggest tourism city of Turkey visited above 10 Millions tourists every year. We will see the total solar eclipse in Manavgat, a small town near Antalya famous with its wonderful waterfall. The total solar eclipse will begin at 09:36am in Antalya and finish at 12:16pm. The complete solar eclipse will be at 11:00am."

The lenswork of Wladimir Winter

How is it going, in regard tobecoming who you're meant to be?

"If you stroll through a large art museum, you will notice that Van Gogh does not paint the same world as Rembrandt, Picasso does not see things the way Goya did, Georgia O'Keeffe doesn't much resemble Rivera, Salvador Dali looks like nobody but himself, and, in general, no world-class artist became a 'classic' by doing what somebody else had already done or even what everybody else in his or her own era did.

"And in science, the names of Einstein, Dirac, the Curies, Bohr, Heisenberg, Schroedinger, John Bell et cetera live on because none of them took Newton as The Holy Gospel. They all made unique and unpredictable innovations in basic theory [which is all that modern science is: theory, or research and results that seem to prove theories -- Ed.].

"In case you think this applies only to 'arts and sciences,' consider some of the most successful people in industry. Henry Ford did not get rich copying Fulton's steamboat. He made a car so cheap that anybody could afford one. Howard Hughes produced movies that nobody else would have dared to back, and then went on to revolutionize the airline industry. Buckminster Fuller did not copy the cubical form of previous architects, but invented the geodesic dome. At last count, over 3OO,OOO of his buildings existed, making him the most visibly successful architect in history. Steve Wozniak did not copy the computers of his day, but invented one that even an 'bloody eejit' [like me] could use [and even enjoy]. Bill Gates created new kinds of software [and if I remember correctly, he dropped out of college -- Ed.].

"We all need constant reiteration of these truism because we live in a world where a multitude of very powerful forces have worked upon us, from birth through school to work, attempting to suppress our individuality, our creativity and, above all, our curiosity -- in short, to destroy everything that encourages us to think for ourselves."

From "Becoming What You Are,"
by Robert Anton Wilson

Hallucinogens and evolution

From an interview with Graham Hancock
in The Daily Grail's online mag, Sub Rosa:

"It's just amazing the way the archaeological record 'lights up' after 40,000 years ago with incredible symbolism, the appearance of the first art, evidence across a whole spectrum of activities of exactly what we would recognise as completely modern human behaviour, and it seems to switch on very suddenly. I realised that this is where the mystery lies, this is the mystery that I want to explore. Whatever it was, this process that made us human, right there at the very beginning was art, and incredible symbolism...the art of the painted caves of Europe for example, going back 35,000 years.

"When I started to look around in this field, I found that cave art specialists had been squabbling for the best part of a century, but since the 1980s one very powerful and increasingly well accepted theory has been put forward, which suggests that this amazing adventure of art and religion at the beginning of modern behaviour was inspired by taking plant hallucinogens, by inducing altered states of consciousness, and painting the visions that our ancestors saw in those states. Once I realised that was a real possibility, then it opened the door to all the other areas of inquiry in Supernatural: Meeting with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind [Hancock's latest book, which is available now in the UK; US release in 2006]."

We were cleared for landing 10 years ago, as far as the realization our cosmic destiny is concerned.

"Have you felt the deep inner calling of hidden truth? Do you feel sacred knowledge is just waiting for you to grab it? The Mayans believe [that the spring of 1995 was] a time when you would begin to remember.

"In the spring of 1995, we entered a new cycle of time that the Mayans believed would be deeply profound and exceptionally transforming, far surpassing what we have experienced to date. By the use of ancient calendar cycles based on the cosmos, the Mayans understood that the Spring Equinox of 1995 was the completion of a Mayan prophesy that marks the end of two cycles of K'altun (two cycles of 260 years), bringing us to the time when ancient and hidden knowledge is to be reawakened in the human DNA.

"The Mayas understand it to be the end of the 'age of belief' and the beginning of 'the age of knowledge.' The Mayas called it the Itza Age -- or, as our Western world says, the Age of Aquarius. With the initiation of this new cycle of time, we will no longer be veiled by illusion. We will remember all that has been forgotten. The limitations of the unconscious will be wiped away."

"The next three days mark the Solstice window."

From Carolyn Brent's Shamanic Astrology--

"Dec. 20, Tuesday: The Moon moves into Virgo today, transmitting the mysteries that include the benefits of ceremonially honoring the natural cycles and rhythms of Earth and Sky. Ceremonial honoring of Solstice was highly important to ancient cultures around the world... This is a time for completing with what has been and preparing the seeds for what is emerging.

"Dec. 21, Wednesday, Winter Solstice: As the Sun approaches solstice today (crossing zero-degrees Capricorn) at 1:35 pm EST, 11:35 am MST and 10:35 am PST, it is interesting to note that the Moon is at apogee -- its farthest distance from Earth -- in during the current lunar cycle. Apogee marks with the period when the tides are at their least prominent, and the pull of the Moon on the Earth is diminished. This feels significant as the Sun is reaching one of its four major seasonal gates...

"The Solstice window lasts three days (yesterday, today and tomorrow) as the Sun stands still and rises in the same place along the horizon on all three days. Currently, this is occurring near the galactic center, the area of space in which the Milky Way intersects the ecliptic. This area of the sky is known as Hunab K'u by the Mayans.

"The Mayan Elder Hunbatz Men reminds us: 'It is up to us to work with Hunab K'u, giver of movement and measure, and honor the Spirit so it does not disappear [and with it, our physical reality]. Let us ask Hunab K'u to show us the way and, through meditation, come to understand the calendric cycles.'"

The River Project

"Inspired by folk singer and storyteller Utah Phillips, the healing effects of being witnessed, and the Quaker tradition of shutting up and listening, the River Project harnesses the personal narratives of friends and strangers to create a river of words. These stories have been collected from various cities in the U.S., and with the structure of this installation, I hope to enable the words to 'flow away' from their origins and exist in different phases of cohesion and disassembly."

The lenswork of Dusianna

A path through these turbulent times

"From our perspective there are no certainties, only possibilities and probabilities. And, yes, if the collective vibration does not rise, then you can expect ever intense climatic and Earth changes. But these can be decreased and even averted, even at the 12th hour, for it all has to do with consciousness.

"Let us say that it would be wise to operate in your life as if this elevation of collective consciousness will not take place. Plan accordingly. And yet even as you plan for your safety and that of your loved ones, make the paradoxical choice to live upward in joy, appreciation, and ecstasy, even if those around you are experiencing horror, sadness, anger and loss. We cannot stress this enough...

"Find ways to create more joy and ecstasy in your life. This truly is the best thing you can do for yourself and for the future of your species. Don’t let the mind-manipulation taking place on your planet dissuade you from finding a path that leads upward into these higher states of mind and feeling. Then, the portals will open before you and reveal to you a dazzling universe beyond your expectation."

Embryonic stars

"The Hubble Space Telescope plucked out an underlying population of embryonic stars embedded in the nebula NGC 346 that are still forming from gravitationally collapsing gas clouds. They have not yet ignited their hydrogen fuel to sustain nuclear fusion. The smallest of these infant stars is only half the mass of our Sun."

The Soul(s) of Creativity

A friend sent me a passage -- an artist's creed -- from the first book linked below. In the process of searching for the publication of origin, I linked to the second resource, which was very intriguing because I've had a passage by Oriah Mountain Dreamer woven into this site and into my mind for years.

Anyhow, here is a snippet from the creed:

"I believe that the time I spend creating my art is as precious as the time I spend giving to others.

"I believe that what truly matters in the making of art is not what the final piece looks like or sounds like, not what it is worth, but what newness gets added to the universe in the process of the piece itself becoming.

"I believe that I am not alone in my attempts to create, and that once I begin the work, settle into the strangeness, the words will take shape, the form find life, and the spirit take flight..."

From "The Soul of Creativity: Insights into the Creative Process," which I originally mis-Googled as "The Soul of Creativity with Oriah Mountain Dreamer." Which was just as well.

Mountain Dreamer's site is here.

"If this is the Age of Aquarius,then why is the Sun in Pisces?"

Post updated 2.22.2006

The answer relates to precession.

"...The Earth's axis not stable. The Earth is not a perfect sphere, but flattens out at the poles and bulges at the equator. It reacts to the the gravitational influence of the Sun and Moon like a spinning top whose rotation is distorted by some external force.



"This causes what has been termed the Earth's precession, which means that the Earth's axis itself rotates in a circle, leading to a conical movement around the fixed pole of the ecliptic. One complete rotation around this cone takes roughly 26,000 years. This shifting of the Earth's axis causes the celestial equator to shift so that the point of intersection between it and the ecliptic -- the Vernal Equinox -- moves from east to west along the circle of the ecliptic, i.e. in the opposite direction to the standard zodiac.



"The Vernal Equinox is the point of reference from which both astronomers and astrologers begin their measurement of the ecliptic, and it marks the beginning of the division of the zodiac into twelve equal segments. This is why the segment of the zodiac known as 'Aries' is situated where the fixed star constellation of Pisces is seen. On 30th March, the sun is situated at roughly 10°of the astrological segment of the ecliptic known as Aries, but if one were to look up into the night sky, one would see the fixed star constellation of Pisces.

"It takes about 26,000 years for the Vernal Equinox to make one complete revolution around the ecliptic, i.e. through all of the twelve constellations. It takes around one twelfth of this time -- about 2160 years -- to traverse one sign of the zodiac. In antiquity, the Vernal Equinox was situated between the signs of Pisces and Aries, and because of its retrograde movement through the zodiac, it is at present situated in the border zone between the constellations of Pisces and Aquarius, moving slowly towards Aquarius. Because the constellations lack clear boundaries, it is difficult to say exactly when the Vernal Equinox will move from the constellation of Pisces into that of Aquarius, i.e. when the so-called Age of Aquarius will begin. Depending on where the boundary is drawn this will occur somewhere between 2100 and 2500 AD.

"Western astrology no longer uses the background of fixed stars as a point of reference. Modern Western astrology uses the same system of reference as that of astronomy, i.e. it divides the ecliptic into segments starting at the Vernal Equinox. Although these segments have been given the same names as the fixed star constellations, the Earth's precession means that they are no longer in line with the constellations of the same name [and thus, the Sun-sign association used in Western astrology can be considered invalid].

"It is only in certain specialist areas of astrology -- such as mundane astrology when studying larger epochal changes -- that the relationship between these constellations of fixed stars and the ecliptic has any significance. References are then made to the 'ages' of Pisces, Aquarius, etc."

from Astro.com

Also refer to: Sidereal Astrology: The Tropical and Sidereal Zodiaks & The Cycle of the Holy Cross

Back to Saturn

"W00012430.jpg was taken on December 12, 2005, and was received on Earth on December 12, 2005. The camera was pointing toward PALLENE."

OK, one more about the Moon;this time, from two months ago

The Moon once more...

"In the philosophy of Aristotle (384-322 BCE), the features on the Moon's surface presented somewhat of a problem [since it was believed that the Moon, planets and stars were fixed, perfect spheres]...

"The medieval followers of Aristotle, first in the Islamic world and then in Christian Europe, tried to make sense of the lunar spots in Aristotelian terms. Various possibilities were entertained. It had been suggested already in Antiquity that the Moon was a perfect mirror, and that its markings were reflections of earthly features, but this explanation was easily dismissed because the face of the Moon never changes as it moves about the Earth.

"Perhaps, then, there were vapors between the Sun and the Moon, so that the images were actually contained in the Sun's incident light and thus reflected to the Earth. The explanation that finally became standard was that there were variations of 'density' in the Moon that caused this otherwise perfectly spherical body to appear the way it does. The perfection of the Moon, and therefore the heavens, was thus preserved.

"The telescope delivered the coup de grace to attempts to explain away the Moon's spots and to the perfection of the heavens in general. With his telescope, Galileo saw not only the 'ancient' spots, but many smaller ones never seen before. In these smaller spots, he saw that the width of the dark lines defining them varied with the angle of solar illumination. He watched the dark lines change and he saw light spots in the unilluminated part of the Moon that gradually merged with the illuminated part as this part grew. The conclusion he drew was that the changing dark lines were shadows and that the lunar surface has mountains and valleys. The Moon was thus not spherical and hardly perfect."

via Moon River

Tonight's Full Moon, besides being at its highest until 2023, is also a reminder of our ancestors' understanding of the cosmos.

This is a follow-up to an earlier posting about the Snow Moon.

"This Gemini Full Moon is the 13th Full Moon in the year, if we begin counting from December Solstice 2004 to December Solstice 2005.* The Gemini Full Moon reminds us to not to take ourselves too seriously while also creatively finding ways to have fun. If what you are doing is not fun, is there a way to make it fun, or is it time to do something else that is more creative?

"In addition, the Moon is setting tonight and tomorrow night [Dec. 15/16, 2005] near its 19-year maximum extreme. This means the Moon will rise and set about 5 degrees beyond the bounds of where the Sun rises and sets at the Solstices.

"This is called the Major Lunar Standstill, and it was an event so significant that many ancient cultures built structures to track this cycle. Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, Chimney Rock in Colorado, Fishlake Valley [scroll down page] in Nevada, Callanish in Scotland, and the Temple of the Moon at Lake Titicaca are just a few sites around the world where people tracked this important event.

Do check out Earth & Sky's lunar standstill page

"If you are near a site that marks Solstice sunrise or sunset, then this is [or was, at this point] a good time to be there to witness the rising Full Moon near the galactic anti-center, or the place where we look into deep space. This is where the June Solstice is currently aligned along the Galactic Plane, signaling a grand shifting of the ages."

"We are in a rare time that can only happen every 13,000 years when the Moon is going through its Lunar Extreme and rising on the Galactic Plane. It would have been nearly 26,000 years ago when Earth experienced the Lunar Standstill in the configuration happening now. So in that sense, we will experience the rarest possible [seasonal] Blue Moon phenomenon in 2006. This is truly worthy of our consideration when we remember that our conscious participation with these events helps to inform the unfolding mysteries as much as they are informing us."

* - See "Understanding the Blue Moon" at the bottom of this linked page. That article and the bulk of this post came from Shamanic Astrology.

The Snow Moon has risen.

I just left our building across from the NTU campus -- our last night there, as it happens -- and I was gawking and walking with my head thrown back at the near-full Moon that is riding high in the sky tonight (alongside Orion). It's 20 past 11 p.m. here in Taipei, but my people in Chicago and Seattle (and all of you Canadian readers) are probably just getting up or settling in at work.

So to set the mood for y'all's evening, here's something from Spaceweather.com about what is alternately called the Cold, Long Nights or Snow Moon:

"According to folklore, tonight's full moon is the 'Long Nights Moon,' so-called because it occurs near the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere.

"Tonight's Moon also happens to be the highest-soaring Full Moon in 18 years. As seen from most parts of North America and Europe, it will be above the horizon for more than 15 hours -- a long night indeed." [I didn't know a thing about lunar standstills before I read the article quoted above, so I posted more about them several hours and then several months later.]

I've got Steve Roach's Midnight Moon on full repeat, as is my habit during the Full Moon phase. See you on the darkside.

"Maybe snowflakes are stars falling."

Mayan origin-story mural quite unintentionally discovered in Guatemala

"Archaeologist William Saturno said Tuesday he was awe-struck when he uncovered a Maya mural not seen for nearly two millennia. Discovered at the San Bartolo site in Guatemala, the mural covers the west wall of a room attached to a pyramid, Saturno said at a briefing.

"In brilliant color, the mural tells the Maya story of creation, he said. It was painted about 100 B.C., but later covered when the room was filled in.

"'It could have been painted yesterday,' Saturno said in a briefing organized by the National Geographic Society, which supported his work and will detail the finding in the January issue of its magazine.

"Saturno, of the University of New Hampshire, first reported discovery of the site in 2002 when he stopped to rest in the jungle, taking shelter in an old trench that turned out to be part of the ancient room."

Between the Stealth base at Holloman, the UFOlogists, the artists and whoever else, southern NM could become a very interesting place to be.

I watched Fight Club again a couple of nights ago. If you've seen it, you'll recall Edward Norton narrating about how "when deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything: the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks."

Well, mes amis here we go with:

"Virgin Galactic, the British company created by entrepreneur Richard Branson to send tourists into space, and the government of New Mexico announced an agreement Tuesday for the state to build a $225 million spaceport.

"Virgin Galactic also revealed that up to 38,000 people from 126 countries have paid a deposit for a seat on one of its manned commercial flights, including a core group of 100 'founders' who have paid the initial $200,000 cost of a flight upfront. Virgin Galactic is planning to begin flights in late 2008 or early 2009.

"New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans said construction of the spaceport, to be built largely underground in the south of the state near the White Sands Missile Range, could begin in early 2007, depending on approval from environmental and aviation authorities.

"Virgin Galactic said it had chosen New Mexico as the site for its headquarters because of its steady climate, free airspace, low population density and high altitude. All those factors can significantly reduce the cost of the space flight program.

"The spaceport, to be located some 25 miles south of the town of Truth or Consequences [!! wow, that's really going to change that town], will be constructed 90 percent underground, with just the runway and supporting structures above ground."

The symbol of the cosmic egg

"In ancient times, the primeval universe -- or the Great Mother -- took the form of an egg. It carried all numbers and letters within an ellipse in order to show that everything is contained within one form at the beginning," from Barbara G. Walker's Women's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects, which I just found here at the National Taiwan University library.

People don't seem to have a whole lot of good to say about Walker's overall content, however.

La Guadalupana

"On December 12th, 1531, the Virgin of Guadalupe is said to have appeared to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill, bridging two worlds, that of the Aztec who saw her and that of the Spanish conquerors who now ruled his land. She has since become the patron and symbol of Mexico, a country born of this fusion of cultures... The place [at which the apparition was seen], called Guadalupe Hidalgo since 1822, is three miles northeast of Mexico City. Pilgrimages have been made to this shrine almost without interruption since 1531-1532."

"The Virgin of Guadalupe is the most loved and revered of all santos (saints) in Mexico. She is the one who reached out to and claimed the native people of Mexico as her own.

"Millions of the faithful will gather on December 12 for processions, prayers, songs, dances, and fireworks to honor 'La Reina de México.'"

"Why we are putting every effort into, and paying attention to, material development?"

HH the 14th Dalai Lama
in Washington, DC, July 2, 2000

"We must not neglect our inner values. If we become slaves of money, we can't be happy people. And if we expect all our problems to be solved through external means, that's a mistake. That's unfortunate. It's impossible.

"So therefore, while we are enjoying or making efforts to further develop material facilities through science and technology, it is very essential, very useful, to think, occasionally, inward."

The Ocean of Wisdom is now online.

"Self-exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, yesterday launched a personal Web site to spread his message of world peace and take questions via e-mail. The Web site, www.dalailama.com, was inaugurated on the international Human Rights Day and the 16th anniversary of his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize.

"'The Web site is not to promote the Dalai Lama himself. It is to reach out to the world with his message of love, peace and compassion and universal responsibility,' a team member who designed the Web site said. His messages have been posted both in English and Tibetan, and questions can be e-mailed directly to the Dalai Lama."

from the Taipei Times, Dec. 12

In other herbalism news...

"A veterinary hospital has become the first facility of its kind to treat pets using Chinese medicine, a media report said yesterday.

"The hospital, set up at a cost of HK$2 million (US$256,410), is 'the only clinic of its kind on the planet,' the South China Morning Post reported. Consultants cost HK$180 and are available seven days a week. Health consultant Hermie Lee said slight changes have been made to the herbal medicine to make it more attractive to the animals. Gone are the bitter taste and pungent odor of many of the herbs.

"Instead, 'we just take out all the bitter ingredients and add things like sugared dates,' she said. Lee, who has a physiology degree and is studying Chinese medicine, already runs two human clinics."

Bird flu and herbalismin Hong Kong

"Tamiflu is the hot drug now as people prepare in case a deadly super-flu outbreak should sweep around the world. But herbalist Wong Chi-sun is putting his trust in what looks like a plastic zip-lock bag full of some really bad weed [ah, the cheekiness: the AP slug for this story was 'pandemic potion' -- Ed.].

"Wong sells a blend of some classic Chinese fever-fighting remedies: squiggly yellowish buds of honeysuckle flowers, brown seed shells from the weeping forsythia, crumpled black Dyers Woad leaves and dried chips of Isatis root.

"It's not a bunch of mumbo jumbo and quackery, the Chinese medicine practitioner says at his storefront clinic filled with the earthy, musky smells of herbs and other things like dried sea horse and deer antlers.

"'Western medicine is about treating symptoms,' says Wong, who wears his hair slicked back and walks around in flip-flops. 'Chinese medicine is about treating the person.' Wong's treatment for the flu is meant to cleanse the body and reduce fever. The herbal mix smells like a blend of tobacco, mulch and dried apricots.

"Leung Ping-chung, a Chinese medicine researcher, agrees, saying Western medicines target only specific parts of the body.

"'If there is bacterium, kill it. If there is a virus, get rid of it. If there is a cancer, remove it,' says Leung, director of the clinical trial center for Chinese Medicine Research at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

"Dr. Alvin Yee Shing Chan, a physician who follows Western practices, says there is little scientific proof that Chinese medicine works.

"'Western medicine is based on scientific evidence,' says Chan, a council member of the Hong Kong Medical Association, [in what is one of the lamest counterpoints I've read in recent months -- Ed.]

"Chan says that through scientific trials and studies, doctors know that Tamiflu works against human flu viruses. In Asia, it appears to be helpful in treating victims of bird flu, and many scientists are hopeful it can help thwart any mutated flu strain that might set off a global epidemic among humans. But there is no scientific proof Tamiflu would work against such a super-virus, Chan says.

"Li Wae Zhun, a 57-year-old convenience store clerk, says if she had symptoms of a severe cold, she would go to the Western hospital first, and then to the Chinese medicine doctor.

"'Western doctors are quick and effective, but Chinese medicine is better for the body,' she says.

"Hong Kong's government isn't taking sides. It is stockpiling Tamiflu and running hospital drills in case of an outbreak. But officials have also urged Chinese medicine practitioners to be ready to help prevent the spread of any pandemic.

"The Health Department also is handing out pamphlets that tell Hong Kongers to drink teas with herbs such as ginger, mulberry leaves, mint and dried chrysanthemum, which could help build up immunity.

"Wong, the herbalist, is also willing to give Tamiflu a little plug. 'It probably is somewhat useful,' he says."

How's the weather[in low orbit]?

Alchemycal Monkey

Meteorological mystery solved

...at least, in regard to where this photo and other repeatedly downloaded and emailed images like it came from.




"Some of the worlds most circulated photos. These are likely the most circulated storm photos. They have been (and still are) very mysterious to large numbers of people. No one knows where they came from or any story behind them (this sentence isn't saying I don't and they aren't mine, as some have missunderstood it... they ARE mine)." -- Mike Hollingshead

Neave Lab's Flash Apps

Simply crazy. Just go see.

Himalayan Art Resources

"The mission of the Himalayan Art Resources is to create a comprehensive research database, a virtual museum, of Himalayan and Tibetan art.

"Firstly, the website exhibits images of art from museum, university and private collections around the world. Secondly, the website catalogs all Himalayan art objects that are known through past or present collections or publications.

"The database identifies and catalogues paintings, sculpture, prints, initiation cards and murals. When a digital image of an object is not available, the database uses a placeholder image. Book cover images are used for publications and generic placeholders for collections."

Crabbiness on a cosmic scale

"Between October 1999 and December 2000, the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 imaged the Crab Nebula frame by frame, providing the fodder for this 6-arcminute-wide false-color mosaic."

The week in pictures[of volcanoes]

"An aerial view of Mount Karthala volcano, taken in April 2005 at the Grand Comore, Comoros' largest island. Nearly 120,000 people on the main island of the Comoros archipelago have been left without safe drinking water after November's eruption of the Mount Karthala volcano, an official said."



"A view of Popocatepetl volcano, Dec. 1, 2005, as it sent a plume of ash of five kilometers (three miles) into the sky. Popocatepetl, a volcano one hour southeast of Mexico's capital, kept up its pattern of erupting in December, which it has done for ten years."


"In this photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, 44 acres of lava shelf is seen falling into the ocean on Nov. 28, 2005, exposing a 60-foot cliff and a 6-foot-diameter stream of lava shooting from the cliff face."

"A finger of surface lava is seen in this aerial photo taken on Dec. 5, 2005, in Hawaii Volcano National Park, near the area where 40 acres of lava shelf collapsed into the sea. A steady flow of lava is rebuilding the same area.


"The Ambae island's Manaro volcano [in Vanuatu], which has shot steam, gas and ash up to 1,500 meters into the air for more than a week, is seen in this image made from television on Dec. 7, 2005."

No rocks or rockets;sounds like Merc Retwas in effect.

"A Japanese space probe thought to have landed on an asteroid last month may not have collected a surface sample, calling into question the success of the unprecedented mission to bring the extraterrestrial material back to Earth, an official said Wednesday.

"Data from the Hayabusa probe, now hovering several miles from the Itokawa asteroid, did not indicate that the vessel had fired a metal projectile onto the asteroid's surface during its landing as previously thought, said Seiji Oyama of Japan's space agency, JAXA.

"'Now we just won't know till Hayabusa comes back to Earth, and we open it up,' Oyama said."

Alice's Magic Samurai Singer

All recent additions
to Aya Kato's
Cheval Noir site.

Cultivate your health:plant organic seeds

"Organic Seed Suppliers Search: This database provides sources for organic seed of both agronomic and horticultural crops. Some national, mail-order suppliers of untreated seed are included, with the emphasis on small alternative seed companies offering open-pollinated vegetable, flower, and herb seed."
-----
Organic seeds, heirloom seeds, un-treated seeds, open-pollinated seeds, and organic seed suppliers
-----
"Garden Medicinals has been serving gardeners, herb growers, and herbalists with a fine selection of seeds, plants, supplies, and books since 1983. We offer over 210 varieties of herb, vegetable and flower seeds and plants, together with the cultural information needed to successfully grow, harvest, and enjoy your crops. Our new vegetable seed selection offers only select culinary varieties, including some from our breeding program. All our seeds are untreated and are grown organically, ecologically, or conventionally. All seeds are open-pollinated, non-gmo varieties."

Always bet on black (cumin).

"Nigella sativa is one the most revered medicinal seeds in history. The best seeds come from Egypt [oh, looks I've got to make a phone call...] where they grow under almost perfect conditions in oases where they are watered until the seed pods form.

"The famous Greek physician Dioscorides used black cumin seeds to treat headaches and toothaches. The Prophet Mohammed said that black cumin cures every disease but death itself. The reason might be found in the complex chemical structure of the seeds. These little seeds have over one hundred different chemical constituents, including abundant sources of all the essential fatty acids. Though it is the oil that is most often used medicinally, the seeds are a bit spicy and are often used whole in cooking curries, pastries, and Mediterranean cheeses.

"Nigella sativa seeds have very little aroma but are carminative, meaning they tend to aid digestion and relieve gases in the stomach and intestines. They aid peristalsis and elimination. The essential oil of black cumin is antimicrobial and helps to rid the intestines of worms.

"Black cumin is regarded by many as a panacea and may therefore not be taken seriously by some, but for those inclined to dismiss folklore it should be noted that these humble seeds have been found superior to almost every other natural remedy when used for autoimmune disorders, conditions in which patients suffer greatly because their own systems attack their bodies.

"Black cumin, especially when combined with garlic, is regarded as a harmonizer of the imbalance which allows immune cells to destroy healthy cells. The technical language to describe this property is 'immunomodulatory action.' The difference between black cumin and interferon is that there are no known side effects with black cumin when administered in normal dosages. The saying goes that the beauty of black cumin is their capacity to restore harmony."

The title link features Nigella products for sale.

Mountains of cosmic creationin the visible and infrared spectrums

visible light


infrared

"While the infrared view, dubbed 'Mountains of Creation,' reveals towering pillars of dust aglow with the light of embryonic stars (white/yellow), the visible-light view shows dark, barely-visible pillars. The added detail in the Spitzer Space Telescope image (on bottom) reveals a dynamic region in the process of evolving and creating new stellar life. The visible-light image is from the California Institute of Technology's Digitized Sky Survey.

"Why do the pictures look so different? The answer has two parts. First, infrared light can travel through dust, while visible light is blocked by it. In this case, infrared light from the stars tucked inside the dusty pillars is escaping and being detected by Spitzer. Second, the dust making up the pillars has been warmed by stars and consequently glows in infrared light, where Spitzer can see it. This is a bit like seeing warm bodies at night with infrared goggles. In summary, Spitzer is both seeing, and seeing through, the dust."

Six Saturnian satellitesand something more

"In a rare moment, the Cassini spacecraft captured this enduring portrait of a near-alignment of four of Saturn's restless moons. Timing is critical when trying to capture a view of multiple bodies, like this one. All four of the moons seen here were on the far side of the rings from the spacecraft when this image was taken; and about an hour later, all four had disappeared behind Saturn.

"Seen here are Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) and Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across) at bottom; Prometheus (102 kilometers, or 63 miles across) hugs the rings at center; Telesto (24 kilometers, or 15 miles across) is a mere speck in the darkness above center.


"A trio of moons hovers over Saturn's rings during this pass taken by the Cassini spacecraft. From left to right are the moons Dione, Tethys and petite Pandora.

"At Dione, the remains of a 205-mile (330-kilometer) wide impact are can easily be spotted on the moons bottom right, while Tethys sports the scar-like Ithaca Chasm across its surface. Small Pandora only hints at the secrets locked within its surface.

"While all three satellites appear in a line, appearances are deceiving. Only Dione and Pandora are on the near side of the rings and much closer to Cassini than the centrally situated Tethys, which sits on the rings' far side.

"For comparison's sake, Dione is 700 miles (1,126 kilometers) wide, while Tethys is about 665 miles (1,071 kilometers) in diameter and Pandora a mere 52 miles (84 kilometers) wide."


"N00044174.jpg was taken on December 03, 2005, and was received on Earth on December 04, 2005. The camera was pointing toward SATURN from a distance of approximately 2,418,964 kilometers."

Mindfulness is spellede-a-r-t-h-q-u-a-k-e.

Update on Dec. 6: "TAIPEI (AFX) - An earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale hit the capital and surrounding area, causing buildings to sway, seismologists said.

"The quake struck at 6.15 pm (1015 GMT) with an epicenter around 7.3 kilometers southeast of the capital, the Seismology Center said. The tremor, which originated 64.3 kilometers below the earth, was strongly felt in Taipei, although there were no immediate reports of damage."

So I was standing in class, talking some 5th and 6th grade students through the production cycle of rice, when I heard these surprised "Auooo!" sounds come out of some mouths. I had my back to them while writing on the board, and then I realized that under the sound of the air circulation system was a deeper rumble... and then the room, no, wait, the whole building was gently rocking side to side.

By the time I realized just how undeniable and persistent the vibration was (and my body began to brace), it was over. And then my knees felt tingly and soft, and one of the girls piped up: "Exciting!"

And so now I get to mention the story that was in Friday's Taipei Times, about how some local researchers think that Taipei 101, currently the tallest tower in the world, might be applying too much stress on a fault line in the Taipei basin.

Meanwhile, in Zanzibar...

"Bit by bit, Zanzibar's fabled Stone Town is crumbling. Every year, a few more buildings collapse, leaving yawning gaps in the narrow, winding alleys lined with Arab palaces, Persian baths, British colonial offices, Indian shops and one-time slave chambers.

"Relentless sun, rain, wind and neglect have taken a toll on one of the world's cultural treasures -- the former capital of a trading empire stretching from Africa to the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the United States.

"About 85 percent of the more than 1,000 buildings show signs of structural decline, says Abdu Sheriff, a historian and former curator of national museums. Conservationists estimate at least 200 have fallen in recent decades, including three so far this year.

"Zanzibar, a semiautonomous archipelago off the cost of Tanzania, was once the center of a vast empire of Swahili city states stretching from Somalia to Mozambique.

"Through the centuries, the islands were colonized by the Portuguese, Omani Arabs made their capital here, and the British established a protectorate. They built fortunes on the slave trade and spices, making Zanzibar the leading exporter of cloves during the 19th century.

"Stone Town remains Zanzibar's commercial and cultural center, the seat of government, its main port and a major tourist attraction drawing more than 100,000 visitors annually.

"Its varied cultural heritage is preserved in coral stone walls and imposing wooden doors, whose intricate carvings reveal their owner's religion, wealth and status. It has been home to Arab sultans, Indian and Chinese merchants, European explorers and the late rock star Freddie Mercury."

What an odd footnote.