** *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 Where we have come from, where we are now, and where we are going to 2012 Revisited Prior to December 2012, scores of Mayan…
*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…