Humanity at the Crossroads (Part 3) – Humanity at a Turning Point ** These essays are written for individuals who have a spiritual interest in Navigating the Greatest Shift. They contain futurology based on cycle science and the mystical sciences. Readers are encouraged to read…
Humanity at the Crossroads (Part 2) – The Cyclic Reordering of Civilizations ** These essays are written for individuals who have a spiritual interest in Navigating the Greatest Shift. They contain futurology based on cycle science and the mystical sciences. Readers are encouraged to read…
Humanity at the Crossroads (Part 1) – A World Out of Balance ** These essays are written for individuals who have a spiritual interest in Navigating the Greatest Shift. They contain futurology based on cycle science and the mystical sciences. Readers are encouraged to…
Navigating the Greatest Shift: 2022 to 2032 (Part 2) – Creating Structure Through Consciousness Note: This series follows on from the Darkness Before Dawn series Oneness and separateness exist at the same time. There will never be only separateness, neither will there ever be only oneness. At…
Navigating the Greatest Shift: 2022 to 2032 (Part 1) – Raising Consciousness Through Truth Note: This series follows on from the Darkness Before Dawn series — We will be witnesses to the confrontation of the Negative and Positive forces, the eternal fight among polarity, the…
August 8, 2021: A life and travel update from your host at GypsyCafe.org South Africa: Cape Winelands and Cape Town In January of 2020, two months before the first Covid-lockdowns were implemented world-wide, I arrived back in Cape Town, my city of birth. I had…
Darkness Before Dawn (Part 1-E) – The Lights Along the Way Note: This Chapter was first published at EnergyShifts.net The Seasons of the Yuga Cycle Just like with the Maya cycles, the 24,000-year Vedic Yuga Cycle consists of fractals, which are smaller cycles within the…
Few people expected so much turmoil to arrive so suddenly in 2020, whereas if it happened just after 2012 it might have been less surprising. However, it always takes a while for shifts to build momentum, and the larger the shift, the longer the delay. It would seem, though, that the real shift is now finally underway.
The Maya creation myth depicts a battle between the forces of dark and light in the story of the Hero Twins, two brothers who are summoned by the Lords of Xibalba for a ballgame with them in the underworld. What follows is a classic and rich example of The Hero’s Journey.
The objective is to identify patterns of events that occur whenever a particular katun is active. Through this method, what typically happens during a katun becomes sufficiently clear to make predictions for what would or could happen when that katun is active again in the future.
How can we deal with the pressing problems facing the world today in the midst of so much polarisation and why is there so much polarisation in the first place? Answers to these question are more accessible when taking a metaphysical view while keeping an open mind is also essential.
Higher Bodies of Water Just over a year ago, on April 16, 2019, I visited the port city of Puno on the shores of the famous Lake Titicaca in Peru. Titicaca lake is widely known as the “highest navigable lake in the world” at 3,812…
Group participation or affiliation is not required to experience a deep sense of unity that stems from understanding that we all suffer from the human condition. We are all in the same boat together here on planet Earth as human souls residing in physical human bodies.
Darkness Before Dawn (Part 5) – The Lighthouses That Make a Difference (UPDATED) In this 6-part series, we are exploring the purpose of polarity and the nature of truth. Please see index at the bottom of the page for chapter selection. Introduction If – hypothetically…
In June of this year while visiting Iguazu Falls in Misiones Province in Northern Argentina, I decided to do a side-trip to a recommended site in the region. This ended up being a very informative and enjoyable day trip which I am now finally posting…
Darkness Before Dawn (Part 3) – A Heart Monitor (UPDATED) In this 6-part series, we are exploring the purpose of polarity and the nature of truth. Please see index at the bottom of the page for chapter selection. A Heart Monitor “The test of any…
Darkness Before Dawn (Part 2) – An Incubator for the Soul (UPDATED) In this 6-part series, we are exploring the purpose of polarity and the nature of truth. Please see index at the bottom of the page for chapter selection. The Purpose of Polarity It…
(1) Iguazú National Park – Argentina June 14, 2019 Gallery *** (2) Iguaçu National Park – Brazil June 15, 2019 Gallery *** All photographs by J.J. Montagnier 14 – 15 June 2019 © Copyright. All Rights Reserved. Gypsy Café
Unity in Diversity vs. Disunity in Ideologies (UPDATED) Introduction Ethnocentrism: Evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one’s own culture [1] – Oxford Dictionary Ethnocentrism is inherent in all human beings. It has advantages and disadvantages. Since it…
‘All in a Days Trip’ On Sunday the 14th of April, a day after I arrived in Cusco on the weekend before Easter, I did one of the many excursions that are available from Cusco city. It’s always a good idea to select a smaller…
The Keys to Conscious Co-Creation (UPDATED) We are destined to be co-creators – and free will is the key. The interesting thing is that the source (the Source) and force of creativity (creative energy) flow through humans, which then leads to the creation of new…
Two hundred kilometres north of Lima lies the recently discovered remnants of one of the most ancient centres of a civilisation yet to be unearthed in modern times. The Caral civilisation is the oldest know of civilisation in the Americas and one of the oldest…
Barranco Murals – Lima, Peru. Taken on February 26, 2019. — All photos were taken while on a walking tour in Barranco, the bohemian neighbourhood of Lima. The tour was lead by local expert Gabriel Braun who also offers gourmet food tours of some of…
Energy Shifts (Part 6) – Going Beyond Limits To Growth [UPDATED] ** [Final Revision and Update Performed on September 4, 2022] — The overall message of this essay is about returning to a more spiritual way of life that is less resource intensive, due to…
In front of them lie the bright foundations of a New World. Those who have managed to traverse the Valley of Shadows in advance have become transformed by the process. They are now able to add their unique individual building blocks to the foundations of…
[click to enlarge] Buenos Aires is a paradise for street art enthusiasts and artists alike. One of the reasons is that unlike most large world cities it has an open and relatively unrestricted approach to urban art. This means that abandoned and derelict as well…
Santiago Murals. January 2018. Photography by JJ Montagnier. © Copyright. All Rights Reserved. Gypsy Café. — Also see: SANTIAGO STREET ART
Visiting The Chilean Lake District – January 2018 Photography by JJ Montagnier [click to view slides] These photographs were taken in the Los Lagos region of Chile, bordering North Patagonia: The lakeside towns of Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas are ideal places to take excursions…
(Note: Updated information about the prophecy has been published in Darkness Before Dawn – Part 1-B) — “It was halfway famine, it was halfway feast” [1]. This is the translation of the original Maya prophecy for Katun 2 Ahau (2012-2032). In the next chapters, we…
A visit to San Cristóbal Hill – Santiago “The Sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception on San Cristóbal Hill is one of the principal places of worship for the Catholic Church of Chile, as well as being an icon of Santiago, Chile. It is notable in…
Note – this article refers to the Original Mayan Prophecies listed in Part 1 (updated) ** Paradigm Shifts in the Age of Polarity Mild Paradigm Shifts An example of a mild paradigm shift happened for many people during and after the unexpected global financial crisis of…
After Dark So-called “dark ages” are not only dark; they are also light. Although we tend to view dark ages with some trepidation or, perhaps, even with fear, they serve an important role. It is during dark times that we seek out our own light…
** *For background on the Mayan Fifth World and the Fifth Element, please see: The Maya World Tree Introduction The first five years of the new Great Cycle, the Mayan Fifth World, turned out much less apocalyptic than initially forecasted, considering the dire predictions for…
*For background on the Mayan Fifth World and the Fifth Element, please see: The Maya World Tree Mayan Mythology and Symbolism The Mayan Calendar constitutes at least three calendars in contemporary terms which are used to map different cycles, but there are at least twenty…
*For background on the Mayan Fifth World and the Fifth Element, please see: The Maya World Tree The Fifth World 2012 Revisited Prior to December 2012, scores of Mayan calendar enthusiasts, authors and scholars had put forward a plethora of predictions, forecasts and interpretations about…
*For background on the Mayan Fifth World and the Fifth Element, please see: The Maya World Tree ** Introduction The Fifth Element Five years have passed since December 2012; we are five years into the Mayan Fifth World and the Fifth Element has entered the…
When faced with difficult choices, especially amongst bad options, conscience can always show the way. Needless to say, what the planet needs right now, more than ever, is a return to conscience. Conscience lends itself to a variety of peaceful solutions. Moral relativity does not…
This essay continues the discussion from: What is Progress? Introduction Tabloid press, reality TV, TV talk shows, social networking and, perhaps, increasingly also, modern-day politics have all got something in common – they contain similar ingredients to those found in soap operas. A trademark of…
The Yin and Yang of Spirituality Carl Jung is famous for having brought the concept of working on shadow elements within the psyche into Western psychotherapy, although the process of self-therapy, self-transformation and psychic self-evaluation with subsequent spiritual elevation is indeed a very ancient practice.…
Introduction In this series we are exploring reasons for humanity going in repetitive negative loops and we are looking at ways in which we can spiral upwards out of our unhealthy and destructive patterns, onwards into a more balanced future. Theatre Theatre has many objectives.…
“All the world’s a stage” – Shakespeare We are all actors in the theatre of life and we all play our parts, consciously or unconsciously At this moment in time – in space and time – we find ourselves in a shifting paradigm In the…
What is Progress? In the 1993 film, Groundhog Day, we saw Bill Murray’s character calling the weather bureau from a pay phone at a filling station during a blizzard. He needed urgent weather information, but could not access the internet via his Smartphone. At the…
Peru planning: I patched together an itinerary by working out a route which would connect the main places I was going to visit (Arequipa & Colca Canyon, Puno & Lake Titicaca, Cusco & Inca Trail) with coach journeys in-between, which would include stopping at various…
The Classic Inca Trail Peru, South America Part 2 Things we learned on the Inca Trail: It is not a competition. It is not about fitness, but endurance. It is not so much about endurance of the body, but of the mind. The speed of…
The Classic Inca Trail Peru, South America Part 1 (January 7 – 10, 2016) The Inca Trail is not what you think it is. Or rather, it was not what I thought it would be. I had no expectations. In fact I was slightly apprehensive…
Inca Design, Architecture and Technology Machu Picchu & Ollantaytambo Peru, South America While in Peru in January I found myself at two sites where examples of Inca architecture and design could be observed in its finest form. Here below follows a visual tour. [click to…
Uros Floating Islands, Lake Titicaca, Peru Uros islands are floating reed islands found on Lake Titicaca, the largest fresh water lake in South America, situated between Peru and Bolivia. At 3800 metres above sea level Lake Titicaca is considered to be the highest navigable lake…
Tikal National Park, Petén, Guatemala, Central America Tikal is the largest excavated Maya site in the Americas and once was one of the greatest and most prominent cities in all of the Maya world. Besides general sightseeing, of interest to me during my recent visit…
Copán Maya Ruins, Honduras, Central America “Archaeologists believe that the Maya culture in Copán collapsed because the land could no longer support it. As the valley of the population grew, so did the need for wood, cooking and construction. Deforestation caused the valley to heat…
In Mesoamerican theology, the sacred World Tree stands in the centre of the world, vertically connecting three horizontal levels – namely, the heavens above, the earth in the middle and the underworld below. It has its roots embedded deep in the underworld, with its trunk…
Travelogue: Rapa Nui – Highlights of Day 5 (continued) + Days 6 & 7 Te Pito Kura the magnetic stone, Manavai plant enclosures, Hare Moa stone chicken coops and Anakena Beach. Right next to Paro (the toppled moai) I found a stone enclosure with a…
Travelogue – Highlights of Day 5 – Rapa Nui: Rano Raraku Crater and Lake, Papa Vaka Petroglyphs and Garden and Paro the fallen Moai at Te Pito Kura Day 5 (Part 1) I woke up at about 3am and something was amiss. It was quiet…
Travelogue: Rapa Nui – Day 4 Highlights In the morning I went to the tourist information office to pick up some maps and brochures. When inquiring about the weather staff assured me that it would be raining for 3 or 4 days and that the…
Travelogue: Rapa Nui – Day 3 Highlights The following morning I set out early. It was raining all night and the clouds were just starting to clear. I came across a lonely horse next to a small moai, but soon encountered more. I passed by…
Travelogue: Rapa Nui – Days 1 & 2 (June 2015) Day 1: After about five hours of flight time from Santiago, we were nearing our destination. Serious turbulence started up during our descent in the stormy weather. Just before touch-down a very strong tug to…
June 9 – 12, 2015. Santiago de Chile. Photography by Jean-Jacques M. Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved. Gypsy Café.
In this second half of the analysis of the film Groundhog Day [1], we will look closely at Phil’s transition and personal transformation. The first half can be read here: Part 6. Shortly before Phil decides to “check-out of life” multiple times over, we see…
‘Espacio de Arte Contemporáneo’, situated in Uruguay’s oldest (ex-)prison. Montevideo, Uruguay, March 2015. Photography by Jean-Jacques Montagnier — Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved. Gypsy Café
Cordón, Montevideo, Uruguay, 12.04.2015. Photographs by Jean-Jacques Montagnier © 2015. All Rights Reserved. Gypsycafe.org / Travelosophy.org
Street art is big in Montevideo, with interesting styles. Here are a couple of examples which I took pictures of recently in one of the older neighborhoods, Cordón. – Jean-Jacques Murals, Montevideo, Uruguay, March 2015 Photographed by Jean-Jacques M. Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved.…
I arrived in South America 3 weeks ago and spent 5 days in Buenos Aires. I got these shots with my Film SLR and then as usual I had to wait for them to be developed. I might take most of my future shots with…
In the context of Groundhog Day, after having reviewed the first part of the film, it is worth contemplating at this point where we are right now, as a society. Or rather, who we are right now. And it’s not too difficult to come to…
Hogsback “Hogsback is a magical world of mountains and forests. It is situated high up on the Amathole mountains of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, and is surrounded by centuries-old indigenous Afro-montane forests.” Quoted from: http://www.hogsback.co.za/ Hogsback in a Nutshell – Read More…
In the 1993 film, Groundhog Day, by writer Danny Rubin and director Harold Ramis, Bill Murray plays the role of a television weatherman, Phil Connors, who gets stuck in a small town due to strange circumstances, a situation which ultimately leads to his individuation and…
Just over a year ago I returned from Ireland. For me this is so recent that I could just as well still be there, but I’m not. I could just step out of my Irish Sea red brick sea-facing house (in which I rented a…
Folklore has the purpose of educating us about the real world as we grow up. It helps children become aware of archetypes in relation to the nature of people. When they then come across such characters in real life, they won’t be completely new…
This brings us back to the story of Chicken Little and the metaphors within. Chicken Little is merrily strolling in the forest when something (an acorn) falls on her head. She doesn’t look up. She doesn’t investigate to see what it is. She gets frightened…
“Having resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die” — Malachy McCourt.
What is individuation? In a nutshell, it is purposeful personal growth. According to Jung, individuation is a lifetime’s work while being at the same time a natural process of maturing. The idea is for an individual to enhance and deepen this process by consciously working…
When we explore folklore and mythology we realize that history is replete with symbols and images of cataclysm, disaster, wholesale destruction and apocalypse. Let’s consider the ancient and well known tale of Henny Penny also known as Chicken Little, found in many countries around the…
People are like trees. Depending on the forest, they are all similar, yet different. In very many forests the trees are so similar that the odd trees really stand out. These are the trees we are drawn to, to find shade under, or talk to,…
Introduction “World without end”. We find this phrase in various religious scriptures and prayers, including Catholicism and Rastafarianism. It is a Doxology and it means forever. “Forever” is not dependent on the planet or the solar system or the galaxy. Neither does it depend on…
“Emancipate yourself from mediocrity” – JJM
* We are in the Liminal Space A Dangerous Place Where predators lay and tricksters play Where good people pray then look away … “Though shalt not enter the fray” Bless the lambs that are slain It is not our pain They are weak We…
LOUGHCREW, COUNTY MEATH, IRELAND Megalithic rock engravings at Loughcrew Megalithic Cairns, County Meath, Ireland. Photographed by Jean-Jacques Montagnier (06.10.2012) © 2012 – 2014 All Rights Reserved. — Loughcrew dates back to between 3500 and 3300 BC (older than the pyramids at giza in Egypt at 2560 BC)…
It could be said that our life cycles include Circles and Spirals. Circles can become Spirals and Spirals can become Circles. There are two types of Circles: The ones we need to transcend: Circles which need to become Spirals. The ones we have already transcended:…
“What lies beneath or beyond composition?” – JJM
NEWGRANGE Neolithic rock art at Newgrange, Co. Meath, Ireland (11.02.2012) Photographed by Jean-Jacques Montagnier © 2012 – 2013 All Rights Reserved. ** Related Post on Gypsy Café: Megalithic Circles and Spirals
— Graffiti along the Liffey, Dublin, Ireland (01.02.2012). Gypsy Café © 2012 All Rights Reserved.
Pechory Monastery, Pskov Region, Russia, 2006. We were told on arrival not to address the monks directly, not to stare at them or attempt to take photographs of them under any circumstances. Along with a few local pilgrims, our small group had already been waiting…
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. – Mohandas Gandhi Happiness belongs to those who are sufficient unto themselves. For all external sources of happiness and pleasure are, by their very nature, highly uncertain, precarious, ephemeral…
Carl Gustav Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist, was quoted as saying: “Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.” We certainly live in interesting times. No matter our place, position or status in society, we are now…
You have to return eventually, To see everything differently. To see what you see differently. And how you see it differently. Due to having gone away. Old points of reference Faded through absence Return to conscience And highlights the essence Of what you have…
From a bleak Pskov city we were transported by bus into the rural Russian countryside. On the way, we were asked not to consume liquids as it may be detrimental to the activity we were soon to engage in. Miles of winding forest roads decorated…
We all have our own personal journey, yet I would like to propose that evolving is part of everyone’s path. Going beyond geographical borders is as easy as buying travel tickets, but not everybody is affected by the process in the same way. We don’t…
The long term traveler makes short term investments in short to medium term experiences. During the investment period, short term loss of income may occur, but the long term profits are immeasurable and immense. Even the shortest experiences yield high returns of knowledge and continuously…
DUBLIN I arrived on a shoestring and found this little youth hostel on top of Doran’s Pub in Marlborough Street. It was downtown North Side, the area was seedy, but the place was affordable and reasonably clean. I ended up in a dorm room with…
Early in 2004 I was about to start my first blog. I had already been on the road for a few years and was trying come up with an appropriate title. It had to describe quite closely what travelling really meant to me. I knew…
It’s a wind-blown Saturday afternoon in Belfast in the north of Ireland. A new restaurant called Ratz, with an international theme has opened on Bradbury Place. The display menu boasts a wide variety of exotic dishes from around the globe. The exterior has an attractive…
The ability to think freely could prove to be more important than a high level of intelligence. There is apparently more than one type of natural IQ, although conventionally only one type is measured. Others are emotional intelligence, social intelligence and spiritual intelligence. There may…
I’m standing on the access road to a German motorway, close to the Polish border. I crossed over about an hour ago by train and a fellow passenger offered to drop me off. It’s absolutely freezing and I reflect on how I’ve misjudged the sting…
The Road to Travelosophy The word traveller covers a broad spectrum of people on the move. Most people associate the word with short-term travellers, as in tourists or backpackers. Certain types of travellers would fall into a more long-term category. They would practice travel as…