Alien Dreamtime #2

I fed another one of my original artworks - Inka Dreamtime - into neural processing by the Deep Dreamer Mac app, similar to the settings use in previous post. This is 100 levels of deep dream (the current maximum allowed).

Alien Dreamtime #1

I fed my original artwork Spiral Dreamtime into neural processing by the Deep Dreamer Mac app, testing one of the "Level 5" settings, and generating an animated zoom into the hallucination.

Time of Awakening Series

With the projected roll-over of the Mayan Calendar from Bak’tun 13 to the new age of the Fifth Sun this Winter Solstice (Long Count = 13.0.0.0.0), I've been watching and taking note of a parade of interesting celestial events over the last sixth months (starting with the solar transit of Venus, the second of a pair of transits this cycle – the previous transit occurring in 2004). I decided to make a set of commemorative banners to celebrate this unique time period. Of course, to honor the Mayan Long Count vision, I utilized Mayan glyphs, symbology, mythology in these images.

For archeologists and linguists, understanding of Mayan symbols takes on a syncreatic flavor, with some meaning derived from the context of use within codexes and monument carvings, other meaning derived from analyzing the spoken dialects of the region to better “explain” the associations of specific glyphs to various objects, actions, etc. - which often relies upon homonyms of “sound alike” words to expand the meaning context. More visionary archeologists apply a mytho-astromonical analysis to better understand the cultural memes presented, and hope to reveal more esoteric meanings within and between them. The stories and meanings are reflected in the stars. As Above, So Below.

For myself, a mixed astrological / astronomical / archeological / mythical framework flavored by shamanic journey work and dreams enhances my own personal understanding of the mytho-poetic and esoteric meanings originally intended by these glyphs.

Here are the six images that I created:

Venus Transit – June 5, 2012    

1) In the top register, Venus’s path across the solar disk is recorded. Below, in sequence: an image of the solar corona, an image of Venus (with its glyph superimposed), and at the bottom, a glyph for a building or temple (i.e.; earth). Inside this building are two others glyphs: a skull representing the opening to the underworld, topped by one of the 9 Underworld gods. On either side, Vision Serpents open their mouths emitting the heads of ancestor figures - yielding prophecy, instruction, and/or desired communication.

Total Solar Eclipse – November 13, 2012

2) In the center, the total eclipse of the solar disk (marked with the solar deity ‘Ahau’ glyph) reveals the glowing coronal ring in the darkened sky. Directly below, a trio of rabbits guide the full lunar disk through the heavens. (The Mayans saw a rabbit in the moon rather than a human face.) At the bottom stands the goddess Ix Chel in her guise as Grandmother who rules over the moon, the tides, and lunar mysteries. A serpent in her headdress swallows the sun, revealing the total eclipse.

Jupiter / Moon Conjunction – November 29, 2012

3) This commemorates the first of two Jupiter–lunar conjunctions which occur in the last quarter of the year. Jupiter is emerging from the mouth of a Pleiadian sky dragon. (The Mayans believed their ancestors descended from a race of beings who originated in the Pleiades.) At the top, the Pleiades (7 Sisters) watch over this conjunction. The Mayan glyph for this star cluster is a rattlesnake’s rattle.

Pyramid Alignment – December 3, 2012

4) On this night, the planets of Mercury (hummingbird as messenger between the spirit realms, drinking medicine nectar from a Datura flower), Venus (sky jaguar holding the Venus glyph), and Saturn (emerging from a Vision Serpent), come into alignment vertically over the three main Egyptian pyramids in the Giza complex. Such a syzygy occurs once every 2,737 years. The Mayan turtle glyph (i.e.; Earth) in the bottom register of this image shows the three original “hearth stone” stars that mythically founded Mayan civilization. (We now refer to these three stars as Orion’s Belt.) The pyramids at Giza have been shown to exactly map the projection of Orion’s Belt.

Dark Rift Alignment (Winter Solstice) – December 21, 2012

5) On Winter Solstice, during the day, Mayan astronomers understood that the Sun would conjunct the center of the Milky Way (more specifically, the Dark Rift stretching long the central galactic horizon.). Although they could not see the actual alignment during the daylight, they knew that the band of the Milky Way would rotate to a near vertical overhead (in the same way that all of the visible stars rotate during the course of an evening around the axis of the North Star). Likewise, they understood that at midnight on Summer Solstice, the Pleiades (their source of origin) would rise to its zenith in the same sky location.

 The Dark Rift was known as the “Dark Road” or the “Royal Road”. It represented a path to ancestral origins, to the spirits, watchers and gods who resided in the sky realm. The turning of the Milky Way to its most vertical extent during Winter Solstice was mythically envisioned as the raising of the World Tree connecting the three realms (Heaven, Earth and the Underworld). At the base of the tree can be seen a god of the Underworld with his mouth open like a cave entrance deep into the earth. At the top of the tree is found a celestial bird, a symbol of the Polar Star. The arms of the tree (forming the “foliate cross”) symbolizes galactic plane overhead. In the top register appears a blue sky/star band glyphic pattern with a pair of sky gods rowing the celestial canoe across the heavens.

 At this year’s solstice, astronomically both Mars and Venus appear on opposite sides of a linear alignment with the sun. These are shown in the banner on each arm of the foliated cross (along with associated glyphs).

Jupiter / Pleiades / Moon Conjunction – December 25, 2012

6) This commemorates the second of two Jupiter–lunar conjunctions which occur in the last quarter of the year. Jupiter is held by the lunar rabbit and surmounted by a celestial crocodile (related to both Jupiter and the Vision Serpent). At the top, the Pleiades watch over this conjunction. (The Mayan glyph for this star cluster is a rattlesnake’s rattle.) Along the bottom register, a row of Buffo toads dance. This is the species of toad from which Mayan shaman, priests, and royalty extracted a DMT-based potion for use during vision quests.

Memory Recalls... Venus Transit 2117

An email received from my cosmic astrologer and Ecstatic Body Posture instructor friend, Marianne:

After watching Venus/Sun events live from a web broadcast on Tuesday, I wondered "what will the NEXT Venus passage over the Sun look like, in 2117?"

Curiosity is a strange thing...when I pulled up the picture of the heavens for that day, I was stunned to see that the position of the Sun/Venus way in the future will be "just a claw away" from where the Eclipse of the Full Moon happened in the constellation of Scorpio just 30 hours before this current Venus passage in 2012! Talk about fore shadowing!!

It also makes me wonder what effect this day in our history will have for future generations to "recall"? Is it the shadow cast by the influence of hidden financial manipulations (Scorpio's realm) in politics, the likes of which this country has never "seen" before until this day in Wisconsin (re: failure of recall election)? 

And will the memory of our future "selves" in 2117 be searching for "clues" from our generation as to what we did to overcome the darkness and hopelessness that many are feeling about "who is really in control" of what sustains life here on Earth?

Read more ->

Chords of Light

I received this newsletter and the image of the rainbow cords of light made me think of the Prajnaparamita visualization - or of the full Tara Jewel Tree visualization...

Receiving Assistance from the Star Elders and Pleiadians
March 18, 2010 - A Message received in the Palace Courtyard in Palenque

The following is the first message that we received in the sacred site of Palenque 3/18, 2010. You can find other messages our website at www.alunajoy.com under the link titled "articles". We are sharing this message here with you just as we received it, in present time, with very little editing. We do this for a very important reason. We know the messages that we receive are not just for our groups, but are for humanity. So as you read this, just imagine that you were there with us... the Masters and Star Elders assure me that the message and the corresponding energy will be transmitted to you. You might want to imagine that you are sitting with us in Palenque (you can use this PHOTO for visual help):

We were standing in a circle inside the palace courtyard of Palenque… this is what I saw…

I see chords of light radiating out of the heart centers of everybody in this circle (and those reading this) and merging into a large beam of light in the center. So these chords of light are connecting all of our hearts to this huge beam of light. When they let me look where this beam of light is going out to, I see that it is going to the Pleiades. I am receive a instant feeling back from this area of our galaxy… from the ones watching us here right now. It feels like a really deep sense of gratitude, an appreciation that we are here with this intent, an appreciation for our focus, and our heart's calling to be of service to the earth. It is clear to me that they are our family. I know a lot of you in this circle (and those reading this) already feel this, but I don't see a single thread coming from any heart that is not connected to this place in the sky that the Star Elders came from, the Pleiades.

The Star Elders and Pleiadians are sending us a feeling of thankfulness that we are here because it took courage for us to come here. This reality is dense, it operates in linear time and has gravity. This world we live in is operating from a geometry, chemistry, and laws of nature that is not natural to who we originally are. This is why, even from a young age, we felt a little different from everybody else. We felt like our family was not our family. We felt like outsiders, because we actually are. We came here to anchor our beautiful energy to the Earth. Many of our ancestors had to leave because it was too dangerous for them to stay here. When this happened nearly all the rest of us went to sleep for awhile because it was too dangerous for us to stay awake. But there were little alarm clocks that began to go off, and with each alarm clock that went off, you began to remember again that you felt out of place, that you didn't belong here, that you were from somewhere else, and it made you start searching. These feeling taught you to be compassionate to people that didn't have the same opportunities as you, that had less than you, that felt like outsiders in other ways.

So our alarm clocks are going off in us, because it is safe for us to be here now. It is safe for us to have the knowledge and the wisdom that we went to sleep to protect. It is safe for us to be here, because the world is ready for what we have to offer. The collective consciousness is ready to wake up and to move into a new reality. There is enough awakening people now on Earth to create a tsunami that can't be stopped. It is a process that is already on its way.

The Star Elders and Pleiadians say that we stayed behind because we were the ones that had the most courage. We forgot how challenging day to day in 3D world could be, but yet we are still here. We are still standing up, we are still walking, we are still traveling, we are still talking, we are still writing, we are still doing our art, we are still doing our music, we are still finding ways to express what is deep in our hearts, and the world is ready for it now.

Excerpt from enewsletter by Aluna Joy. To read this mnewsletter in full, go to: http://www.kachina.net/~alunajoy/news04-2010-2.html

Copyright Aluna Joy - aluna@alunajoy.com - website: www.AlunaJoy.com

Sky Signs: Taurus New Moon Conjunction

Well, perhaps it wasn't quite a new moon last night (Sunday, April 26th), but the moon was certainly at a minimal sliver of silver... Around sunset in the west, the conjunction of Mercury, Moon and the Pleiades stood out to the naked eye!

Today, I meditated on this astronomical event more deeply so as to understand it's possible significance(s)...

Of course, the Pleiades is the snake's rattle constellation for the Maya, the portal to their star ancestors. It's importance is magnified at the Summer Equinox when it's apogee overhead marks the half-year point before the mid-winter opening of the Xibalba Be "dark road" portal to the heart of the galaxy (the land of the ancestors).

The moon confers knowledge of cycles, of transformation, of the Dreamtime and of feminine creative energies. Watching over us at night, the Moon initiates us into the knowledge of the hidden rites, of the great secret of being beyond ego self.

Mercury is the messenger, bringing communication to and from the Gods. In many medicine wheel traditions, the messenger of the Spirit realm is the fleet-winged, nearly invisible Hummingbird.

Thus, this is certainly a moment of high connectivity between us on earth and our ancestors. A time of "Thinning of the Veil". To honor this event, I created the image:


It is based upon the celestial locations recorded photographically last night during the conjunction. The Pleiades is above the moon, here shown in it's rattlesnake form. Below the moon and sightly to the left can be seen the small glowing dot of Mercury. This point marks the focus of the interaction between the hummer and it's flower. The plant is a Datura metel cultivar named "Double Purple" which I grew last year, my favorite Datura flower. (Datura, of course, is known as "Devil's Weed", or in Spanish - la Yerba Del Diablo - but it is known to the Chumash people of California, the Mohave, Yuma, Cahuilla, Zuni and others as toloache from the Aztec toloatizn, "to incline the head". It is used to induce sleep, dreams and divinatory visions.)

"Supernatural" by Graham Hancock

Celestial Banner

Just finished Graham Hancock's "Supernatural" exploring what happened 35,000 years ago that made Homo sapien sapien all of a sudden start creating symbolic representations (art) on the inside of cave walls? More than that, why such strange images that can best be viewed as representing a shaman's journey?

Well, everything gets much funkier as Hancock compare's ancient cave art with modern "archaic" plant medicine practices from Siberia and the Amazon. Then throws in fairy lore and alien abduction. It sounds like a fringe mix of subjects, off-putting at best, but his deeper point becomes an study in how the structural aspects of these disparate experiences partake of a common matrix once the "skin" (surface symbology) is minimized thru a conceptual "x-ray" analysis. Ultimately, the book's conclusions about consciousness and alternative realities are something else quite unexpected!

One conclusion follows that of Jeremy Narby (The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge) ->our DNA consists of approximately 3% coding for genes and 97% which codes for ??? When mathematical analysis is performed on this so-called "junk", it shows statistical distribution characteristics identical to human languages in terms of the "code set" distribution. It has all the characteristics of a constructed semantic system. So it appears as if our DNA is an extended message. To whom? "Us" of the technological present able to decode DNA stands with our machines? Or any human, any where, anytime, in altered states - such as shamans or those who have taken plant medicines? These messages are from whom?

The proposition independently reached by Crick and Watson (co-discoverers of DNA) is that there was never enough time between the cooling of Earth's surface and the appearance of fully functional single celled organisms for the complex system of DNA/RNA replication to have evolved from random mutations and molecular collisions in the "primal soup". On top of that, the DNA system appears almost unchanged throughout all of the phyla of life. Evolution may change physical form, but an organisms genetic mechanism (the DNA/RNA system) has not evolved or changed. The only conclusion that can explain this is that life was introduced to the earth some 4 billion years ago from an outside source. (This is the theory of Panspermia.)

If life on Earth was an alien creation, then it is not a difficult step to envision that the semantic messages in DNA are part of an alien technology to store and transmit information, perhaps forming the basis of instinct, morphic fields, mythic stories, archaic knowledge, and flashes of insight. A technology that can create holographic (trance and dream) experiences. Perhaps teaching us to become human (directed evolution)? Teaching us to enfold ourselves into a symbolic awareness of the world.

Or...

The alternate conclusion (which Hancock leans more strongly towards) is based upon accepting the notion of alternate realities as real. We live in a quantum hyperverse and all it takes is to "retune" the brain (chemically or by ritual) to reach ("read") nearby alternate dimensions - the realm of the spirits, ancestors, plant teachers, fairies, aliens and so forth.

So in this case, the DMT machine elves of McKenna, the power animals and shape-shifting transmutations of shamans, the alien abduction encounters of the modern era, and the fairies of old are all culturally-inflected "skins" placed by consciousness on the extended range of (electromagnetic?) frequencies perceived during trance, trip, dream and death(?)... We are perceiving all of these beings residing normally in alternate dimensions in this multiverse.

The Buddhist vision of endless worlds with innumerable sentient beings is seemingly in agreement on this.

Sign of the Times

Tonight, December 1st, look to the southwest sky right after sunset. Beaming brightly through the twilight you will see a tight three-way conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon forming an equilateral triangle. This conjunction will continue to be visible for several days after the first of the month, but the planets and moon will move further and further apart, forming a highly skewed triangle.

The Maya believe that the planets and stars provide gateways to alternate dimensions. A conjunction of heavenly bodies is thus a major focus of energies affecting our consciousness. In the case of the current conjunction appearing low in the southwestern skies, the energies are of opening and transformation, returning to the original roots of creation. Perhaps signaling that the opening of the dark path or "Royal Road of the Ancestors" - xibalba be - to the 2012 transformation has in fact begun!

Who are the players in this conjunction?


Venus is both the Morning Star and the Evening Star. Venus serves as a gateway to the Underworld, its rising and setting are times of dangerous, intensely powerful energies. (For the Maya, Venus is not feminine love but rather masculine action, such as required for warfare or the hunt.)

Jupiter is the Old God, the ruler of solar planets and of royal lineages. He is sometimes referred to as Lord One Death and associated with jaguar spirit. Jupiter is thus the fundamental masculine energy of creation. Related closely to Old God are the figures of Hurakan, "Heart of Heaven" - another creator deity (whose aspects include wind, storm, fire) and Itzamna - the Lord of the Fire, Lord of the Underworld (whose aspect includes the Milky Way).

The Moon is often referred to as Lady White Quetzal or First Mother (with aspects of water, the Underworld, feminine energy). Related closely to the Moon is the goddess of fertility, health and the healing arts, Ix Chel, seen to be a young maiden. However, just as the Moon has a light and a dark side, Ix Chel, the maiden, has another side: Chac Chel, the old crone, whose aspects include death, darkness and the Milky Way (home of the ancestors), as well as being a root Earth Goddess.

What this brings into play, then, is the re-mixing of the root energies of masculine and feminine into a new moment of conception. Blessed by the Ancestors, this conjunction announces a new cycle of creation and transformation.

Lady One Death

Lady One Death presented herself to me several months ago during deep meditation. She is a root Mayan goddess, the Mother of All Being (First Mother, the Moon) and is an esoteric form of Ix Chel (the Healer). She serves to actualize and stabilize the energies of the creator god, Itzamna- Giver of Life, Lord of Fire. Her name derives from the codex naming hieroglyph "One Skull" - shown above.

Lady One Death embodies the dark root energy of creation and creativity, a place where death and life are one, the realm of ultimate potential and necessary dissolution. As such, she embodies similar energies to that of Kali and Durga.

Meditations on Lady One Death

Part of my practice to better integrate the Lady's energies has been to work on various thangka images and portraits. Below, I have posted a selection of these meditation images.

Altar of Lady One Death

Totem of Lady One Death

Lady One Death Invocation

Yantra of Lady One Death

The gem seen in these images reveals some of her underlying attributes (symbols within the opal stone): we see an eagle flying, diving, ready to capture it's prey. At the bottom slithers a rattle snake. Between the two floats the rattle itself - a symbol of shamanic journey (rattle), of the Milky Way, as well the time of upcoming galactic Solstice Alignment. The star field behind is that of the Pleiades, home of the Mayan Star Ancestors.

8.8.8

Lion's Gate

The Helical Rising of Sirius occurs around the end of July or early August. (This year, nominally, the date was August 2.)  The ancient Egyptians set the date for Sirius' heliacal rising as the first day of their new year and the time of the inundation of the River Nile.  Thus this was a time of life-giving fertility and promise, a time of creative destruction and renewal watched over by Sekhmet and Isis. They called Sirius "The Second Sun" because it is the brightest star seen in the night sky. Sirius is one of the 4 (or 5?) root star civilizations which created (seeded DNA of) mankind on Earth. (For interesting contemplation, try Googling "Dogon" & "Sirius"! Also, Google "panspermia".)

This year, the 8.8.8 Lion's Gate opens during a very powerful dimensional gateway for ascension energy attunements:  the Leo New Moon (August 2) falls on a total solar eclipse, with the coming full moon (August 16th) falling on a lunar eclipse.

Ritual Posture: Mayan Oracle

Mayan Oracle

9.29.08 - Libra New Moon. On the left we see the oracle holding up her hand (which holds an obsidian crystal mirror used for divination). Above her hand are two Mayan hieroglyphs - the upper one for "smoking mirror" (the obsidian gazing device, also denoting human consciousness) and the lower one for "oracle speaking" (or a divination).

To the right center we see the path of the seeker into the forest/jungle... To the far right is a multidimensional projection (hologram?) of the Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque. In front of this appears a symbolic constellation consisting of several Native American petroglyphs - a pair of shaman protectors, an ancestor/ancient one (in the center, egg-like), and a turtle below (recall that the Americas were referred to as Turtle Nation.) The ancestor and shamen are riding on the back of the great turtle - also a symbol of the fecundity and power of Mother Earth.

Ritual Posture: Sub-Saharan Soothsayer

The Nupe Mallam Posture

7.02.08 Cancer New Moon - The Nupe Mallam pose is a "divination" pose of the Nupe tribe. It is purported to provide a wide, all-encompassing perspective on a current issue or problem.

My own trance journey begins with witnessing the Mallam repeatedly tossing and reading a set of painted and marked augury bones. Only the Mallam is not African, but rather a lone Lama hermit in a stone hut somewhere in the hills of Tibet. Behind him on the altar is a crystal skull. He finally gives me a reading in a few short phrases indicating that September will be an important time of change, then tells me to give butter lamp offerings to the skull... The journey ends with a vision of a wide blue lake with a flock of white egrets taking flight over the waters, their reflections shimmering. The positions of the birds echo the 9 major stars of the Pleiades. Thus, I am told this is to be a meditation symbol to use for attunement to the Pleiadian Star Ancestors.