44 Years Ago... and now Obama the 44th President!

I have decided that I'm taking Sunday off. Getting out, going for a ride, visiting friends, going for a long walk, whatever. This blogging thing can become quite addictive and when you add two on line classes to it and an on line business.... I'm definitely becoming a dull girl. More like a 'duh' girl. Really. I've gotten so I can hardly speak sometimes.

So, this past Sunday, I went to a Wellness Expo in Sonoma, then out to dinner at East West Cafe in Santa Rosa, then to a movie.

The Wellness Expo was 'research and development' since Hamida the Herbalist must keep up with what's going on. I saw many old friends and made some new ones. Of course, Linda Ann was there with her incredible and magical jewels. She is also a Feng Shui practitioner and I know her jewelry is blessed. It emanates such loving and compassionate energy. Go see at her website.

There were way too many 'readers' of various types. Some were downright scary looking. SO SERIOUS! Some sat there looking like they were trying so hard to connect to another world, it almost made me laugh. And what's so bad about that is... that I believe in these things. Unfortunately there are too many people trying to make it 'look' so mysterious when actually it is perfectly normal and natural.

After dinner, I went to see The Secret Life of Bees, a great movie made from an even greater book. It has been my experience that movies rarely are as good as the book they came from, and, sorry to say, it was also true in this case. I was disappointed with the movie. But even though I anticipated this possibility, I wanted to see it on the big screen.

One thing that I realized while I watched the movie that I hadn't gotten when I read the book is that when Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights act in July of 1964, that was a month before Obama was born! Amazing! It also struck me that it was 44 years ago and Obama is the 44th president!

Part of the movie is about racism in South Carolina during that period and how the voting rights act caused uprisings in the South. Here we are 44 years later with an African-American president and a bunch of 'stuff' has been stirred up again. What I fail to understand is how the granting of civil rights to any group of people takes away from others? If one is free, aren't we all free?

Hope Restored

Today I am so proud of America. We finally did something right!

I remember as a child listening to the radio before going to school and hearing all what was going on in Little Rock, Arkansas. It hit me so hard I dreaded driving through there 23 years later. Then Birmingham, Alabama and Mississippi and all those terrible things that happened in the 50's.

My mother taught me to accept people and I couldn't understand what was going on. It set me on a path to work for civil rights, sometimes actively, sometimes behind the scenes by my example.

When I was 12, my best friends and I campaigned for Kennedy by holding signs at a rally downtown Hayward when Nixon came to give a speech. A man came up and offered us a dime to leave.

When Kennedy created the Peace Corps, I decided that some day I would go and I did. I was 27 and I was an ESL teacher. I went to Zaire and taught at the University in Lubumbashi. I have to admit, I learned more than I taught. It was a challenge to be in the minority, but it gave me a little insight into how it feels.

Even though I was expecting to return to the U.S., I remembered the story of my grandmother who only planned to come to America for a couple years to earn money to send back to her parents, then return home. WWI broke out and she was not able to return to her family in Poland and had to make a life here. So... I was preparing myself for the same thing. What if I couldn't go "home" and had to stay there and make a new home?

That was a long time ago, but through the years, whenever I was in a position to stand up for someone, challenge racism, or offer support, I have done so.

When I lived in Louisiana, I came up against racism on a regular basis. It shocked me. Here it was the 80's and this XXXX was still going on. I really couldn't believe it. Having lived there and seeing it for myself, the way people were treated after Katrina didn't surprise me. The only difference was that the rest of America saw it too, finally. Louisiana was the most backwards place I had ever lived. It was like they were in a time warp.

Let's face it folks, there hasn't been much to celebrate lately. But this election of Obama has made me so happy. I believe, if nothing else, it has inspired young people and that is the most important thing anyone can do.

Election day I found out that my polls were closed and I was supposed to vote by mail. I don't like voting by mail, so when the ballot came, I thought I had an option, so I tore it up. Fortunately, I was outside when my neighbor was walking her dogs and we discussed the ads that Google posted without my knowledge or consent.

KPFA was broadcasting about election issues and gave out a hotline number if we had problems. So I called and found out that I had to drive 15 miles to the County Center and the Registrar of Voters Office. I did it because it was too important to miss. Even though I felt sure my one vote would not make that much difference, I wanted to be a part of history.

I am so glad I lived long enough to see this.

Someone said something that night that was very significant:

Rosa Parks sat so that Martin could march.
Martin marched so that Obama could run.
Obama ran so that my children can fly.

ANNOUNCEMENT: I DO NOT SUPPORT THAT GOOGLE AD!

Dear Friends and Readers
I have been out of town for two days and I see that Google has taken the opportunity to post an ad that I DO NOT SUPPORT. I removed it from this site and must now go to my other sites to see if it is there also. I am so sorry this happened. If any of you have been following me, especially on Wise Women of the West, which is more personal, you know that I accept everyone. We are All One. Where ever there is Love, it is a Holy Union and sanctified.

Please forgive me for not knowing about this sooner, but I was at the 2012 Conference in San Francisco and just had all my paradigms updated.

Whatever Floats Your Boat

I haven't been posting this week except for my Issue of the Week on my herbal blog because my 'sweetie' has been visiting from Mexico where he lives on his boat. This the fulfillment of his life's dream. He wanted me to go with him, but I couldn't hack living on a boat. So.... I've been down there twice this year and he's been up here twice.

Anyway, I wanted to write a bit about the conference I'm going to in San Francisco Halloween weekend. 2012 Conference, San Francisco - Shift Happens.

Many years ago, I was working on a PhD. in Mayan Studies at Tulane University in New Orleans. I have been interested in the Maya for at least 40 years. I taught courses on Mayan Hieroglyphs and Mayan Culture through the Extension program at Sonoma State University.

Because of my academic background, I was always skeptical of "2012" stuff. I knew it was the end of a calender period of 5125 years, but it was the end of a cycle within many many cycles and so, as such, no more significant than the end of a millennium for us. Of course, each time a millennium ends, people in modern culture have predicted an 'end of the world'.

I'm not sure why I decided to check out a book by John Major Jenkins entitled 'Maya Cosmogenesis: 2012'. I don't recall the chain of events right now. This led me to an Internet search, which led me to this conference, which I have decided to attend.

The book is incredible. He has integrated the anthropological and archaeological information with astronomy and some 'New Age' teachings. In some cases, he makes logical leaps that are not necessarily appropriate, but in the long run, his results make total sense to me.

He makes the case that the Maya knew about the precession of the equinoxes and rather than designing their calender on a historical or mythological beginning, they worked backwards from an 'end date', Dec. 21, 2012. This is when the Sun will line up with the Galactic Center of our Milky Way Galaxy and this will be visible just before sunrise at particular latitudes.

His argument is well backed up by data and it is convincing. So what? you might well say. Scientists have determined that the center of our galaxy is a 'black hole'.

Wikipedia has this to say:
"A black hole is a theoretical region of space in which the gravitational field is so powerful that nothing, not even electromagnetic radiation (e.g. visible light), can escape its pull after having fallen past its event horizon. The term derives from the fact that the absorption of visible light renders the hole's interior invisible, and indistinguishable from the black space around it."

The Maya saw this black hole as the womb of the Great Mother, thus the place of Creation. The Sun was the Father. Thus when the Sun and the GC came together, Creation happened. This occurs every 26,000 years.

In light of this information and the scientific data regarding black holes, we may well ask ourselves what will happen. According to Jenkins, it is not just a finite period of one day, but rather of years leading up to and following the actual alignment. We are already in that period of years. In addition, in Mayan calendrics, time cycles overlap. They don't just end and begin. It is not 2007 on Dec. 31 and 2008 on Jan. 1. Rather there is a period of time toward the end of the year that overlaps with the beginning of the next year. Time is seen as cyclic, not linear.

Could all the upheaval that is occurring in society at this time be part of the "Shift"? I think so. Many institutions have been under scrutiny and some are crumbling or changing. Many people are living in fear these days about their future. The Earth itself is undergoing rapid change due to Global Warming. Where will it all lead?

I invite your comments.

Happy Birthday Wise Women of the West!

What a great way to celebrate our one year birthday! Late in the day yesterday we decided to enter the most recent Entrecard Contest and...... and.... WE WON! Not first prize, but hey! 10,000 points. is great. Winning a prize is great. Thanks Entrecard for the acknowlegement and what a lucky break it came on our BIRTHDAY!!!

Altered Events Blog - One of my Favs

I love this blog for a number of reasons: 1.Her posts are regular and frequent;
2.She uses photos and other graphics that are interesting and load quickly;
3.Her crafts are unique and magical;
4.The blog is informative and has useful adverts, offers, and links.
5.I love the holiday countdown widgets on the bottom of the page and
6. She supports a lot of bloggers and artists by linking to them and their work.

The blog is not only personal, but also features and supports others. It is great to find yourself mentioned in one of her posts. It makes me want to create costumes and jewelry, just to be featured there. LOL It is inspiring.

Tour of Morocco - Feast for the Senses - Fez Sacred Music Festival

Next May, 2009, I'll be leading a tour of Morocco, one of my favorite places on earth. I have posted a complete description of the tour on my website.

The tour will include highlights from my trips there plus some new features. Some of the places we will go are not on the typical tourist tours.

If you want more information add a comment to this post and I will get back to you. The deadline for deposits is coming up soon and we only have a few openings left. Don't miss this one. A trip to remember.