HARMONIC CONCORDANCE
AND THE LIGHTNING PATH
by Dwayne Edward Rourke
Last updated August 21, 2015
However universal and seemingly timeless Spirit is understood essentially to be, the acts of this Spirit--and as a result the "revelations" dispensed to human beings--deal always with particular persons and particular situations. The outcome of these acts and revelations depends upon the answers which a particular individual, implicitly if not explicitly, gives to the fundamental question: Where do you stand, here and now?
Dane Rudhyar Culture, Crisis and Creativity
On August 28, 1998, astrologer John Mirehiel was scanning various upcoming astronomical configurations using an astrological software program on his personal PC. Suddenly, a rare and visually compelling geometric pattern known to astrologers as a Grand Sextile appeared before him on the screen.
The Harmonic Concordance astrological chart. Image source.
Instinctively John felt that this upcoming celestial event was of broad importance to humanity and he excitedly began networking news of it to other astrologers. His message gained immediate interest and support and by July 18, 2002, when a crop circle appeared that was in obvious resonance to the upcoming astronomical event, worldwide networking about the event blossomed.
Harmonic Concordance Crop Circle formed July 18, 2002.
John’s discovery came to be known (especially in the astrological community) as “the chart heard ‘round the world”, an astrological chart that was instrumental in bringing a diverse and widely dispersed group of people into a unitive embodiment of celestial harmony. A website established by Mirehiel after the event relates his view of what happened:
The Total Lunar Eclipse of November 8/9, 2003, was the distinguishing feature in an exceedingly rare astrological chart that was highlighted by a six planet alignment known astrologically as a “Grand Sextile.” Esoterically known for millennia as the Seal of Solomon or Star of David, the symbolism embodied in this pattern speaks of ultimate balance, harmony, and unity. The spiritual/metaphysical import of this most unique arrangement of planets became the focal point of a world-wide celebration known as the Harmonic Concordance.The occasion was observed simultaneously at many hundreds of locations around the World. Some fourteen million like minded individuals gathered, in groups small and large, and in languages as diverse as we, to put out prayers of conscious intent directed towards the three salient points suggested by the chart’s complex pattern:
♦ The descent of Creator Consciousness upon each individual,
♦ The Ideal of Unity Consciousness, that we are all ONE, and
♦ The creation of a healing and protection for Mother Earth
What we see in this description of Harmonic Concordance is evidence of a mass spiritual awakening. It came about organically as individuals throughout the planet contemplated a single astrological chart with a striking geometric pattern. According to Mirehiel, literally millions of people were thus inspired to act in concert with each other, and with normally unseen forces of the cosmos. Some people, myself included, see it as further evidence of a broad spiritual awakening begun in 1987 with Harmonic Convergence, the August 16-17 global ceremony timed according to the Mayan Calendar. That event, networked worldwide before the Internet even existed, brought together thousands of people in simultaneous sunrise ceremonies at sacred sites around the world. It also introduced many people worldwide to the depth and mystery of Mayan cosmology, a cosmology that continues to be revealed in many and diverse ways. 
THE MAYAN FACTOR
According to the Mayan worldview, the center of our galaxy is called Hunab Ku, the One Giver of Movement and Measure. The Maya consider Hunab Ku to be a vast and superior Source of cosmic energy and intelligence to which meditative alignment is encouraged. Such alignment is a lifelong quest that consists of learning, and applying, ancient celestial arts and sciences, especially those involving the Tzolkin, or Sacred Almanac, most highly revered of all Mayan intellectual artifacts.
Prominent British explorer J.Eric S. Thompson was one of the first authorities to proclaim the nature and significance of the Tzolkin:
One must appreciate the impact of the divinatory aspects of the 260 - day Sacred Almanac, and never lose sight of the fact that the ends of Mayan astronomy were not scientific, but astrological....Mayan astronomy is too important to be left to the astronomers....
More recently, independent American scholar John Major Jenkins, author of TZOLKIN: Visionary perspectives and calendar studies, writes of the Tzolkin as being fundamental to the Mayan sense of time itself:
The 'key' to Mayan time is the sacred cycle of 260 days, the Tzolkin, meaning count of days. This cycle is a combination of 20-daysigns with a number from 1 to 13. So 13 and 20 are the critical numbers of the Tzolkin. 260 is a key number which refers to processes in the heavens as well as on earth. For example, the Maya say that it corresponds to the cycle of human gestation - that's a biological reference. It also corresponds to the time between the planting and harvesting of corn at certain elevation in the highlands - that's agricultural. It also times religious shrine ceremonies in the hills around Mayan villages.Its celestial or astronomical uses are astounding. It is used to track the phases of the moon. Also, 2 cycles of 260 days equal 520 days and this equals 3 eclipses. So the Maya predict eclipses by using the Tzolkin in this very simple way. Likewise, they track Venus with the Tzolkin, and the time between the eveningstar appearance of Venus and its appearance as morningstar is 258 days.”
American visionary art historian and Mayan scholar José Argüelles, initiator of the 1987 Harmonic Convergence celebration has, more than anyone else, revealed the universal applicability of the Tzolkin. He described it cryptically as “an Harmonic Module, a fractal yardstick of radial time with multiple applications, something analogous to the periodic table of elements, but of the synchronic order.”
Arguelles was highly creative in his own use of the Harmonic Module, as evidenced in his creation of what he called the Dreamspell, a contemporary (and controversial) reworking of the traditional Tzolkin. A worldwide Dreamspell community now exists that has embraced the Harmonic Module in the way Arguelles recommended and about which he wrote in his pre-Harmonic Convergence book THE MAYAN FACTOR: Path Beyond Technology:
Everything is in it that pertains to being, not only as progressions of the light but as a ladder to be ascended by hero and heroine alike. The twenty Signs in their ever-revolving order define a path of life in which the physical being prepares and is a stage for the higher mental spirals of being. It is a path of being that is total and inclusive of human being, a path and a pattern of being that is universal, not merely of this life on this planet but for all life throughout the universe. In their glyphic, iconic, comic-book simplicity, the twenty Signs describe the destinal adventure as the Mayan navigators have successfully charted it in their light-crafted explorations of the galactic field.
Radial Tzolkin
Surrounding Symbol for Galactic Center (Hunab Ku)
Still in traditional use in the highlands of Guatemala as a sacred divination device millennia after its origin, the Tzolkin is commonly understood to provide 'a sense of the day’ conveyed through Its 260 (13x20) combinations of hieroglyph and number. These combinations constitute a web of spiritual essences that can be made palpable to human emotion when a correlation synchronizing the events of a person's life and the symbolic events of the Tzolkin is perceived.
By directly relating Tzolkin symbology to his or her personal life experience, a person can awaken to an expanded context of understanding. This process is eloquently described by mythologist Mircea Eliade : “The man who understands a symbol not only 'opens himself' to the objective world, but at the same time succeeds in emerging from his personal situation and reaching a comprehension of the universal....Thanks to the symbol, the individual experience is 'awoken', and transmuted into a spiritual act.”
INTERPRETING THE HARMONIC CONCORDANCE EVENT THROUGH THE ASTRO-MYTHOLOGICAL LENS OF THE LIGHTNING PATH
The Lightning Path is an astrologically-based contemplative practice of planetary empowerment, unexpectedly revealed to me in a mystical moment on March 3, 1986. Essentially, it is an approach to personal time management that views individual lunations (synodic Moon cycles) as discrete units of time, each of which corresponds to a specific combination of number and glyph within the 260 unit Tzolkin matrix. Every 260 lunations, or approximately 21 years (one quarter of the duration of the orbit of Uranus), the cycle of correspondences begins anew.
New Moons are the starting point for each lunation, the full duration of which is the 29.5 days between successive New Moons. Each 29.5 day lunation results from a dynamic Sun-Moon-Earth relationship witnessed in the sky as the successive phases of the Moon.
The Lunation Cycle
I am writing these words almost 12 years after Harmonic Concordance and almost 28 years after Harmonic Convergence. I do so with renewed interest in both these events because I intuit that there is much more about them yet to be revealed. Much of what I am encountering in this respect will be shared at a later date. For the moment, I would like to turn to an analysis of symbolic correspondences between Harmonic Concordance and the Lightning Path. My hope is that, as was evoked in the Mircea Eliade quote above, we will be successful in “emerging from our personal situations and reaching a comprehension of the universal “.
A Lunar Year of 13 Lunations on The Lightning Path
We begin by determining what Moon cycle within the Tzolkin matrix synchronizes with the Concordance event. This is done by locating November 8, 2003 within the Book of Electrum, where we find a chronological listing of groups of 13 Moons referred to as "temples-of-birth". The listing reveals that the Harmonic Concordance event took place (was "born”) during Earth’s mythic passage (Dec 4, 2002 to Dec 22, 2003) through the Temple of Eagles, whose signature glyph MEN, is pictured above. MEN signifies the Planet Mind, one of four distinct realms of consciousness basic to Mayan cosmology visually evoked in the following image.
Galactic Channel Resonant Field Model Showing Relative Placement of Solar Mind: AHAU
Image source: The Mayan Factor
Hieroglyph MEN: Planet Mind
Attributes commonly associated with MEN include: belief in oneself, leadership, commitment, hope, management, inheritances, understanding, spiritual power, gathering of eagles, dreams and visions, gods and goddesses, compassionate service.
Tzolkin Hierglyph MEN by Dwayne Rourke
The context provided by the 13 Moon Temple of Eagles contains within it a yet more specific reference to the actual Moon cycle during which the event occurred. Using the "Timebeam" portion of the Lightning Path website, we find that it corresponds to the 12 AHAU lunation which ran from October 25, 2003 to November 23, 2003. According to the astrologically-guided orientation of the Lightning Path, this would have been an especially auspicious time for people on the path to contemplate and embody the qualities of consciousness inherent in this number/glyph combination.
What are those equalities of consciousness?
AHAU is the culminating symbol in the complete series of 20 Tzolkin glyphs. According to the book MAYAN ORACLE: Return Path to the Stars, essential qualities associated with this glyph include union, teamwork, wholeness, ascension, attainment, fulfillment, world peace, unconditional love, oneness with divinity, the language of light, cosmic consciousness.
AHAU is also referred to as the Solar Mind or Mind of Light, indicating a state of consciousness in complete resonance with the Sun as an intelligent intermediary between Earth and the center of the galaxy (Hunab Ku). Considered to be the highest state of consciousness attainable by human beings, AHAU is the Mesoamerican equivalent of what is referred to in European spiritual traditions as Christ Consciousness.
Tzolkin Hierglyph AHAU by Dwayne Rourke
In the instance we are examining, AHAU is astrologically aligned with number 12. In his ground-breaking visionary books EARTH ASCENDING and THE MAYAN FACTOR: Path Beyond Technology, Jose Arguelles assigns to number 12 the simple keywords “complex stability”. Various other sources assign to number 12 the following keywords: universalism, announcements and arrivals, inauguration, status, recognition, success, free spirit.
Having calendrical foreknowledge that number 12 and glyph AHAU corresponded to the Harmonic Concordance lunation indicated to me at the time, that an historic moment was at hand. I was highly sensitized to this prospect because I had previously experienced an irrefutable resonance between the astro-mythological symbolism of the Lightning Path and the rare astronomical Grand Cross configuration which took place on August 11,1999.
Grand Cross August 11, 1999
12 LAMAT
According to the Lightning Path, the Grand Cross configuration took place during a 12 LAMAT lunation (Temple of Mystery) when many people worldwide, primarily those with an abiding interest in astrology, had simultaneously acknowledged the configuration in various celebratory ways. Nine years later, during the 12 AHAU lunation (Temple of Eagles), the likewise astrologically-timed Harmonic Concordance drew even more people together in worldwide convergence. This time, however, the astrological event was accompanied by a dramatic and unexpected astronomical event directly observable through scientific instrumentation.
I am referring here to the super-massive flare that erupted on the surface of the Sun just four days before Harmonic Concordance and which definitely impacted Earth, even though it was not aimed directly at it. That flare was so huge that, more than a decade later, it is still considered to be the strongest solar flare ever recorded! Much of the instrumentation used to quantify the flare was so overwhelmed with data that scientists and technologists around the world have been forced to take a long hard look at the inherent limitations of their equipment and of the classification categories they use to identify flares. To this day, the solar flare of November 4, 2003 is known as solar flare “X-Whatever” since its strength far exceeded the limits of normal classification.
Solar flare “X-Whatever”, November 4, 2003
Had this massive solar flare hit the Earth directly, it would have decommissioned many orbiting satellites and would have severely disrupted terrestrial power systems, as happened during the famous Quebec Blackout of March 13, 1989. In other words, with very little warning, much of the electrically-dependent technology of humanity could have been severely compromised or even destroyed altogether.
It is this last sobering thought that brings me to conclude that during the 12 AHAU Moon, much of the message delivered to a highly digitized and unsuspecting humanity was that the time has come to awaken to the realization of just how vulnerable everything that is now “online”, actually is.
During the 12 AHAU Moon cycle, this realization was brought home to a widely dispersed global community, many of whom were sensitized to it by their participation in Harmonic Concordance. This, however, was not the first time humanity had been called to ponder such massive vulnerability. It bears unmistakeable resonance to the 13 AHAU Moon cycle which ran from January 10, 1986 to February 9, 1986, just prior to my discovery of the Lightning Path. It was during this prior lunation that a tragic and very dramatic event occurred which has long term consequences for humanity, as described by Jose Arguelles who, in The Mayan Factor, writes:
Ever since the triumph of rationalism and the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century, it has been an institutionalized truism that modern science represents the pinnacle of human achievement. This belief is the cornerstone of the doctrine of material, technological progress. The notion that there could have been a science more advanced than the prevailing one which, after all, underlies every aspect of global industrial civilization, has been virtually unthinkable. Yet the moment has come when the rationally unthinkable may be the only solution remaining in order to allow safe passage beyond the treacherous onslaught of nuclear militarism and environmental poisoning which now threatens the existence of this planet.
Entrenched and ever-vigilant in their self-support, the forces of scientific materialism have zealously guarded the portals to their domain, keeping in mind a singular goal: to maintain the myth of ever-progressing technological superiority. Thus, UFO s , varieties of paranormal experience, the discovery in 1976 of "rationally" inexplicable phenomena on Mars swiftly become classified documents, withheld from the public. Yet, on the morning of January 28, 1986, just four days after the triumphant Voyager 2 flew by Uranus with its bewildering information release, the space shuttle Challenger exploded in full televised and public view. In that awesome fiery moment, the myth of technological superiority suffered a severe blow.
It is in the window of doubt and vulnerability provided by the Challenger's fateful mission that intelligent people may question as never before the purpose of technology and the "infallibility" of modern science. Through the crack in the myth of technological superiority strange winds now blow. In the moonlight of that which transcends scientific rationalism, we may pose the questions: What if the way we are doing things is not the best or wisest? What if we are not the most intelligent civilization known to Earth? Could there have been people smarter, wiser, more advanced than us, who in our smugness we have overlooked? Could there have been a science superior to ours practiced both on this planet and elsewhere? What makes us so sure that scientific materialism is the best technique to wrench answers from a cosmos infinitely more vast and mysterious than the rational mind can comprehend? In other words, what the spectre of technological crisis invokes is a paradigm shift of a genuinely radical nature.
SOHO/EIT (ESA & NASA)
Solar flare “X-Whatever”, November 4, 2003
HARMONIC CONCORDANCE A TURNING-POINT IN HUMANITY’S EVOLUTION?
It seems to me that Harmonic Concordance occurred in the way that it did and the time that it did, as a prelude to things to come, things of a more spiritual and less materialistic nature than what parades as civilization in the modern era. Encoded in the cryptic astrological symbolism of the event are instructions decipherable only through a contemplative approach to life. Various online postings about Harmonic Concordance evoke such an approach and I share with you now a brief survey of what a few respected visionaries had to say about the nature and significance of the event.
We begin with astrologer Madalyn Hillis who wrote of Harmonic Concordance as being a momentous threshold of spiritual opportunity:
I must admit, this is an irresistible combination – an eclipse and a Star of David! Of course, to see the Star of David, you must include Chiron and not all astrologers are willing to do that. But, if you are willing to see it, you are opening yourself up to what might just be the window to another phase of evolution – one where the soul is actually valued above the material. This paradigm shift is not just in the mind of astrologers – there are many people who are in tune with this energy.
In support of her assertions, Madalyn goes on to cite the words of popular spiritual teacher Gary Zukav, frequent guest on the Oprah Winfrey show:
The negativity of the last two thousand year cycle is being collected now so that it can be discharged and transformed, so that the next cycle of two thousand years which starts with the next beginning cycle of twenty-five thousand years and the next beginning cycle of one hundred twenty-five thousand years, all three simultaneously, can begin fresh.This is what this present situation and moment upon our Earth is about: the birth of very different opportunities, opportunities to release patterns that are no longer necessary. The more Light, literally, the more en-Lightened that you are, the more you will choose different ways.
Penny Thornton, another prominent astrologer, echoes our opening quote from Dane Rudhyar when she emphasizes the importance of individual aspiration in meeting the promise of the Harmonic Concordance Moment :
The great promise of this Harmonic Concordance Moment is that its potential may be assessed at any moment.Quantum physicists speak of "nonlocal" reality as comprising the basic structural "field" that supports and sustains all life. In this reality, time and space do not exist. This is the place from which we are able to see the Universal Perfection in All That Is; and it is from this vantage point that we can step through the Concordance paradox and into a divine state of existence, right now. Spirit will respond to any individual up-reach, at any time.
Two quotes from well-known spiritual teacher, Drunvalo Melchizedek close out this brief survey. He too emphasizes the importance of Harmonic Concordance as a significant evolutionary moment for our species:
In an editorial titled The Harmonic Concordance and Lightness of Heart, Drunvalo makes clear the nature of the territory up ahead for those of us turned now more inward:After a great deal of introspection, I have come to believe that this Harmonic Concordance represents an interdimensional opening of unparalleled importance to the human race. I believe that this moment in history is the time when the 4th Dimension will begin to open on Earth and the parameters of life will be extended beyond what we have previously thought possible.
I have been following the Hopi and Mayan predictions and studying ancient Egyptian knowledge for most of my life. And I feel that the time has now come to talk about why Lightness of Heart is essential for moving into the higher worlds. Let me relate this understanding in as few words as possible.
Like the worldwide shift itself, Lightness of Heart is not something that happens abruptly or automatically. It is achieved only over a long period of time and many, many lifetimes. But if you are ready, you will understand what I am saying, and the change will begin within you. If it does not, there is nothing to do but continue working toward this goal.
When we enter into the higher dimensions - the "Fifth Sun" of the Mayans or the "Fifth World" of the Native Americans - the thoughts, feelings, emotions, words, and actions that radiate outward from us become powerful waveforms that manifest directly as the outer reality.
We will create our reality directly by who we are.
If we radiate fear, then we will create a reality of fear. If we radiate love, then we will create a reality of love.
And if this is true, then it becomes obvious why our inner state of consciousness is immensely important to our experience in these higher worlds.
Lightness of Heart is a state of being that is achieved by non-attachment. And that is achieved by an inner realization that all of Creation is whole, complete, and perfect, just exactly as it is in this moment. There is nothing to do and nowhere to go!
Another way of saying it is this: When one knows that God is present at each moment of life, and that God is whole, complete, and perfect, then, and only then, can this state of non-attachment be realized.
Once this state of non-attachment is realized, Lightness of Heart follows automatically. And when we have reached Lightness of Heart, we have nothing more to gain or lose in life. In this state, we are one with God, and our lives become part of the Sea of Lives that is the matrix of Creation.
You can do this. Let go of the stress. Let go of the worry. Realize that God lives within you and all around you. And know that whatever you emit from the inside of your being will become the external world you live in and experience.
After November 8 - 9, 2003, I believe this fact of life is going to become more and more obvious. Let this New World begin with you.
AN INVOCATION OF SOVEREIGNTY
As has been shown above, according to the Lightning Path, the timing of Harmonic Concordance placed it during mythic passage through the 12 AHAU lunation of theTemple of Eagles. This contextualization of the event opens the door to a contemplation of specifically relevant Tzolkin symbolism. Years ago, my own Tzolkin contemplations resulted in a series of 20 invocations of sovereignty, one for each group of 13. I consider them to be a gift from Spirit, guidance for humans seeking access to the Planet Mind, and beyond. May all who feel a deep connection to the essential message of Harmonic Concordance therefore find the following to be a useful gift from the Lightning Path.
Ho!
HARMONIC CONCORDANCE FILM
REFERENCES & RELATED
What Would Happen if a Massive Solar Storm Hit the Earth?
The Harmonic Concordance Blog
The Harmonic Concordance alignment 
Solar storm of 1859
List of solar storms
Potential Impact Of Solar Flares
March 1989 geomagnetic storm
The Day the Sun Brought Darkness
March 13, 1989 - The Quebec Blackout Storm
Our Predictions Of Solar Storms Have Not Been Very Accurate Until Now – Here’s Why
As solar flares ramp up, scientists ask: could a space storm take out the U.S. power grid?
Cyberspace and Its Limits: Hypermodern Detours in the Evolution of Consciousness
VIDEO: The Collective Evolution III: The Shift
VIDEO: Intro to Cosmic History Chronicles Vol. 6 - The Book of Transcendence
