TEMPLE OF THE SKYWALKERS
MOON CYCLE : 1 MANIK
March 18, 1988 to April 16, 1988
ONE
Freshness and openness to experience. Consciousness looking for opportunity. A clear path. The phoenix rising from the ashes. Adventure. Finishing assignments.
MANIK
MANIK KEYWORDS: Gifts, body, ritual, feasts, mudra, mating, charity, courtship, endurance, hospitality, completion, spontaneity, acting "as if", spiritual tools, ceremony of the dance.
MANIFESTING THE DREAM OF HARMONIC CONVERGENCE
The prospect of a flowering of the seed of group consciousness that formed during Harmonic Convergence will come about through the united action of people who feel themselves called to manifest its Dream. The Lightning Path presents a map of consciousness directly aligned with this purpose. The map uses many symbolic elements drawn from ancient spiritual traditions, among them, the hieroglyphs of the Mayan sacred calendar, the Tzolkin. Consciously working with those hieroglyphs can trigger sudden synchronistic experiences revelatory of larger patterns of connectedness. I say this as a result of my own direct experience of The Lightning Path.
As a result of attuning myself to the ebb and flow of The Lightning Path, I have discovered that the more clearly I image in my mind’s eye, the number and hieroglyph designated to a particular portion of the timebeam journey I am passing through, the more likely I am to notice important synchronistic moments. These are the moments when cosmic clues present themselves, clues that, when followed, invariably lead to a deeper understanding of the cosmic harmony inherent in those moments. A rather special example of this process of clue tracking occurred for me during passsage from the Temple of Flowers into the Temple of the Skywalkers, the Temple within which the most recent Saturn/Uranus conjunction occurred.
BACKGROUND
Where I first learned about Harmonic Convergence and its organizational aspect, the Planet Art Network, was through reading the Jose' Arguelles book, Earth Ascending. That was during the winter of 1985-86 and by the time I finished reading the book, I felt compelled to become involved as facilitator of the Calgary area Harmonic Convergence ceremony. For more than a year I hosted weekly networking meetings in my home, periodically receiving new information by mail from the organizers. As a passionate networker, I reached out broadly, sending mail to Planet Art Network affiliates worldwide, one of whom was Dominique Gabrielle Mazeaude in New York City. Not long afterward, Dominique unexpectedly came to Calgary to participate in the opening of an art show by her associate, Beth Ames Swartz.
From this unexpected visit, Dominique and I developed a friendship that resulted in a number of remarkable experiences for both of us, not the least of which involved me traveling to see her, not in New York, but rather, in Santa Fe New Mexico to which she eventually moved. During that trip (unexpectedly gifted to me by a Calgary Planet Art Network associate), Dominique introduced me to one of Santa Fe's "living treasures", an elder named Robert Boissiere.
Robert was born in France but later in life had lived with a family of Hopi Indians, during which time he had a vision that he was to establish an offshoot clan of the Hopi called the "banana clan". Later, while living at Rancho de Cuyamungue near Santa Fe, in devoted response to his vision, Robert had done exactly that. This involved assembling a far-flung group of Banana clan members and supervising the creation of an authentic Hopi-style kiva used for special clan ceremonies.
Robert Boissiere
All of this was unbeknownst to me when I first made my way to the Bluebird Kiva in June of 1987, at the time of the Summer Solstice preceding Harmonic Convergence. Robert had called the clan together to share stories of his recent trip to Peru where he had been involved with spiritual leaders from around the world in preparatory ceremonies leading up to Harmonic Convergence. An evening of fireside stories, ceremony and dancing was followed early next morning by a sunrise ceremonial walk up Sun Mountain, specifically to welcome the return of the spirit of Feathered Serpent.
I came away from that ceremony and from Santa Fe, having had such a deep and rich encounter with Dominique, Robert, the clan, the desert, the town etc.,that it was clear to me that I would someday return. Clearly there was more to be discovered and in the afterglow of the trip, I formed a very specific intention about returning there. Ten Moon cycles later, I leapt at an unexpected opportunity to travel by car from Calgary to Santa Fe. Consequently, a wild, hair-raising two day drive with my young friend John Deaton brought me into Santa Fe just in time for the New Moon.
A NEW MOON CEREMONY IN SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO
Upon my arrival in Santa Fe, I had immediately contacted Mr. Boissiere to request permission to come stay on the land near the kiva and to explore further just what my connection to him and to the land actually was. He was very agreeable to this but said that I was first to meet him the next morning at a spring equinox “blessing of the seeds” ceremony he would be conducting at a New Age center south of Santa Fe.
Following Robert's instructions, I arrived the next morning at the appointed ceremonial center along with forty or fifty other participants. We had gathered in the garden of a huge estate where, central to the garden, stood a massive quartz crystal cluster, larger than any I had ever seen. And there beside it stood Robert Boissiere, his long white hair hanging majestically to his buttocks, a pleasant smile gracing his lips. He proceeded to purify the grounds with offerings and prayers and called for the Great Spirit to bless the assembled seeds, the whole body of which would be soon planted in the surrounding gardens and flower beds. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Robert instructed two “corn maidens” to present each participant with the gift of a single piece of tri-color Hopi corn.
I wish to emphasize this final "gifting moment" for in it is revealed the key to bridging the abstract, spiritual hieroglyphs and numbers of The Lightning Path to their manifestation in the materiality of everyday life. Most succinctly, the key is mindful attention to the details of our moment-to-moment experience! For there, in the midst of an enchanted New Mexican garden, 2000 miles from my home, at the start of a new lunar year signaling entry into a new temple on The Lightning Path, I was gifted by a corn maiden with a single piece of corn. Had I not been mindful in receiving this gift, I would not have experienced its magical resonance to hieroglyph MANIK and number ONE already designated to this New Moon moment on The Lightning Path:
ONE MANIK
Beginning with that very special New Moon moment, and for the next three weeks, I remained in the Santa Fe area, most of it spent camped out next to the Blue Bird Kiva at Cuyamungue, near the base of Sun Mountain. Day by day, the mystery deepened, not the least of which was the fact that the kiva itself had been begun during Moon cycle ONE IMIX, the very Moon during which I had consciously entered The Lightning Path in the first place!
To be continued.....
See also 9 LAMAT.
