Real Encounters with the Supernatural

Whether it’s the howling werewolves, the flying silhouettes of witches and bats, or the eerie glow, all eyes are on the (somehow spookier) moon every Halloween.  But this Halloween, let’s not forget an equally eerie celestial body—Mars. In The Martian Codex: More Reflections from Mars George J. Haas and William R. Saunders carefully document the similarities between the famous Face on Mars as well as other formations on the planet and icons of ancient Mayan creation mythology. From the Face resembling pre-Columbian masks to a formation resembling a horned owl there is no denying the parallels between Mars’ topography and the icons of the ancient civilizations of Earth. Read about one of the many examples Haas and Saunders reveal in The Martian Codex:

When the right side of the Key formation is duplicated along the opposite side of the broad demarcation, a horned owl head is revealed (Figure 4.10a). Notice the large eyes, parted beak, and antenna-like feathers protruding from the top of the head. The head exhibits two large round eye orbits surrounded by a dense feathered pattern that terminates at an extended beak. The beak appears to be parted with the lower jaw extended, exposing a flailing tongue in a screeching manner. The top of the beak displays two small teardrop-shaped holes near the “cere,” which is a common feature seen in birds of prey.13 Notice the area around the large eye orbits is elevated and highly textured, while the area around the lower beak is smooth and occupies the same level as the mouth of its companion head. Just as we saw in the softer THEMIS version of the Flayed Face (Figure 4.4b), the facial features of the Horned Owl are also observable (Figure 4.10b).

In Mesoamerican iconography the horned owl signifies death and is associated with caves and subterranean passageways connected with the underworld realm know as Xibalba. Being a bird of keen sight, the owl is also associated with the darkness of the night and is the faithful companion of the death god (God L), who often wears an owl in his headdress.14 The head of a similar horned owl is seen within the crowned tongue on the feline side of the Face, as discussed in Chapter 2 (Figure 2.8).

In 1968 anthropologist Dr. David Grove investigated a series of Olmec wall paintings discovered deep within a cave located in Oxtotitlan, Mexico. 15 One of the wall paintings depicted a beautifully rendered image of a horned owl produced by an Olmec artist (Figure 4.11). The contoured features of this horned owl are simple and distinct. Notice the oval head, the large round eyes, and extended beak, complete with cere.

When the duplicated image of the Horned Owl found on the right side of the Key formation is compared to the facial design of the Olmec horned owl, the similarities become quite evident (Figure 4.12).

From The Martian Codex: More Reflections from Mars by George J. Haas and William R. Saunders, published by North Atlantic Books, copyright © 2009 by George J. Haas and William R. Saunders. Reprinted by permission of publisher.

If you are interested in meeting the authors of The Martian Codex and learning more about these strange connections, attend one of these book signings!

Virginia Appearances:

Books-A-Million
59 Catoctin Cir NE # B
Leesburg, Virginia
October 17 (2:00-4:00pm)

Borders Express
11713 Lee Jackson Hwy, Fairfax
Fair Oaks Mall, Virginia
October 24 (1:00-3:00pm)

Barnes & Noble
Spectrum Center 1851 Fountain Drive,
Reston, Virginia
November 11 (7:00pm).

Borders
2420 S Pleasant Valley Rd
Winchester, Virginia
November 21 (2:00-4:00pm)

New Jersey Appearance:

Barnes & Noble
4831 US Hwy 9
Lanes Mill Marketplace
Howell N.J.
November 7 (2-4)

Health Is Simple Wins Living Now Book Award!

James Forleo, author of Health is Simple Disease is Complicated: A Systems Approach to Vibrant Health has received a Gold Medal for Living Now Best Book of the Year in the First Annual Living Now Book Awards. The awards are given to celebrate the innovation and creativity of newly published books that enhance the quality of our lives, from cooking and entertaining to fitness and travel. The gold medal books best represent the spirit of living now, and illuminate aspects of the mind, body, spirit, home, and community in order to improve them.

Forleo’s book takes a unique look at the body in order to help readers find their own way to multidimensional health. The body has its own internal intelligence, a way of letting you know what it wants or doesn’t want. Health is Simple helps us interpret that language so that along with the insights and practices from the book, we can create “a self-styled program for creating vibrant health and well-being.” The reader designs his or her own prevention-focused health regimen, which leads to thinking in tune with the body.

This book is unique and deserves this book award because it helps readers to help themselves by encouraging a personal awareness of the individual’s body. Other health books will simply impose a diet and exercise regimen that may or may not be appropriate for all readers. Forleo inspires people to mentally and physically enrich their lives based on their own body’s needs. His methods have been used to treat a variety of mental health problems, such as depression and exhaustion, as well as physical health problems such as headaches, allergies, and autoimmune disorders.

The Living Now Book Awards honor the books that help readers live natural and healthy lives, especially important at a time when convenience often takes priority in our stressful, fast-paced world. It is so easy to ignore or damage our bodies with stress, fast food, and no exercise, and a book that truly inspires its readers to change their lifestyle is a gem. Congratulations to James Forleo for his award and the recognition of his inspiring work!

Click HERE to read the full article on the awards and winners.

Click HERE to learn more about Health is Simple.

Click HERE to visit the author’s website

Learning from Matthew Wood

Matthew Wood, author of the upcoming Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants, will be teaching several courses this year on herbs, herbal medicine and herbal practice. Wood runs the Sunnyfield Institute of Traditional Western Herbalism, an institute of holistic herbalism that believes there is a spiritual side to the plants as well as a medical side. In his essay Philosophy of Healing, Matthew Wood describes the concepts on which his work and his classes are based:

“We view the person and the medicine as having both a spiritual and material level of existence. This infers that we look upon Nature in a similar manner. In doing so, we depart from the conventional scientific approach, which views Nature, humanity, sickness, and plant life as mechanical entities. While we depart from the scientific mainstream we do not abandon science, but attempt to include it within a broader, spiritual perspective.”

Matthew Wood is an internationally renowned practitioner of herbal medicine. He offers classes in the United States as well as international classes in herbal practices. He has just finished a class on energetics and pharmacology in Israel, and will begin a course in the United Kingdom in late July 2009. Listed here are some of his 2009 classes in the United States:

Clinical Skills Development (Minnesota)
The purpose of this class is to learn to observe, understand, and locate pathological processes in the body from a holistic standpoint. The course includes 12 classes that can be taken together or individually. To see a list of class topics click HERE.

Winter and Spring, 2009.  Wednesday Evenings, 7 pm to 9:30 pm; at South Minneapolis location.  $20 per class, $200 for the entire class.  Dates: Jan. 28, Feb 11, 18, Mar 11, 25, Apr. 1, 8, 29, May 6, 20, June 10, 17, Jul 1.

Contact Matthew Wood at greenmedic@copper.net / (763) 972-7225 for more information.

Organ Systems and Herbs, in Depth (California)
Six weekend workshop, intermediate level, on organ systems and introductory client evaluation. This class has already started, but an equivalent class will be started late 2009 or early 2010.

Contact Mary Pat Palmer for more information: 707-895-3007 (mpatpalm@herbalenergetics.com)

Traditional Western Herbalism: An Intuitive and Energetic Approach (Oregon)
An Intermediate to Advanced Class designed to help students and practitioners with a good background in herbalism improve or begin practice.

Six Weekend Classes, Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday.
Apr. 17/18/19; May 1/2/3; June 5/6/7; July (assignment, no class); August 21/22/23; Sept. 4/5/6; October 16/17/18.

For more information, contact: prestonfoell@yahoo.com

The Wisdom of Nature (Vermont)
Nature is alive, and one can approach this living soul from at least two major directions. First students will learn about the intuition, how it works and how to use it, both on its own and to supplement dreamtime, then how to recognize the patterns in Nature through the ‘doctrine of signatures,’ then the ’spirit signatures’ that draw relationships between plants and animals. At all times the class will be as experiential as possible, through looking at herbs, herb walks, discussing the intuition, imagination, instincts, defining them and their differences.

August 6 – 9 at Partner Earth Education Center in Danby, Vermont
Time: 10:00am Thursday to 3:00pm Sunday

Cost: $495 earlybird discount if paid in full by June 15th, thereafter, the cost is $545. Includes all instruction, meals, indoor lodging or camping. Register with a $100 non-refundable deposit.

For more info or to register: www.partnereartheducationcenter.com or call 802-293-5996.

Click HERE for more information on these and other upcoming classes.
Click HERE for books by Matthew Wood

The Road to Eleusis is lined with…mushrooms?

Mushrooms get a bad rap in English language and culture. We have only three words for mushrooms – fungi, toadstools, and mushrooms – and none is positive. Case in point: calling a pale complexion ‘mushroomy’ is distinctly unflattering.

But in other cultures, these versatile organisms are regarded with affection, respect, and even reverence. We might scoff at the phrase ‘sacred mushroom,’ but indigenous Mexican peoples regard certain hallucinogenic fungi as exactly that. Religions around the world have been using consciousness-altering substances in their sacred rituals for millennia. Even frankincense, a common element of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim ceremonies, has lately proven to be a mild psychoactive agent.

And then there are the Eleusinian mysteries. Considered so sacred that its participants were forbidden on pain of death to speak of them, these ancient Greek rituals have become a scholarly puzzle composed mostly of missing pieces. In The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries, ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson, chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann, and classicist Carl Ruck offer a solution:

Eleusis was the supreme experience in an initiate’s life. It was both physical and mystical: trembling, vertigo, cold sweat, and then a sight that made all previous seeing seem like blindness, a sense of awe and wonder at a brilliance that caused a profound silence since what had just been seen and felt could never be communicated: words are unequal to the task. Those symptoms are unmistakably the experience induced by a hallucinogen.

Examining the Eleusinian mysteries from anthropological, chemical, historical, and mythological perspectives, the authors present a strong case that this profoundly moving experience was in fact produced by a hallucinogenic fungi that grows on barley. Despite the skepticism that accompanied its first publication, this 30th anniversary edition emerges amidst increasing acceptance of its theory.

With photos, diagrams, and updated notes by the authors, The Road to Eleusis is an eye-opener, not only into the Eleusinian mysteries but also into experiential religion and the role of psychedelics, in Dr. Hofmann’s words, “in creating, by transforming consciousness in individual people, the conditions for a better world.”

CLICK HERE to learn more about The Road to Eleusis.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the Eleusinian mysteries.

Mark Borax on Intuitive Soul Radio

Mark Borax, Soul Level Astrologer and author of 2012: Crossing the Bridge to the Future was recently interviewed on Intuitive Soul Radio. Borax offered an inspirational look at spirituality, astrology, and planetary consciousness.

All the greatest spiritual teachings in the world are only worth something if they help you become a better human being, here and now, in the physical plane…In the depths of that message the collective karma of the world can turn around.

CLICK HERE to listen to the complete Intuitive Soul interview with Mark Borax.

The purpose of Intuitive Soul is to expand and deepen clients’ consciousness through individual awakening and growth. Intuitive Soul Radio represents the voice of community and stands for Inner Transformation. It is a platform created for people who motivate and transform lives. Tune into Intuitive Soul Radio, live on Thursdays and Mondays at 7pm EST, or peruse the archives HERE.

CLICK HERE to learn more about 2012.
CLICK HERE to learn more about Mark Borax.