Millennial Thing Revisited

"The impulse to art is a universal attribute of intelligence...and the most enduring human value of all is the tendency toward artistic expression. Artistic expression is intrinsic to human intelligence…" Jose Arguelles, anthropologist, author

2012 seemed far off at the time I wrote and recorded my debut CD Millennial Thing, a collection of 12 original songs, created and recorded with a solid blues backup band and production team who had the vision to offer up a timeless roots-rock-Americana feel that will hold up for years without being "dated." It's also gratifying that the music and message of Millennial Thing remains relevant. I'm happy for the airplay that earns me royalties, and feel blessed to have new fans discovering the music. Thank you!

The inspiration for the CDs title track, and several other songs, was the ancient Mayan Calendar. Yes, the very one which became a phenomenon that captured our mass- pop-culture-imaginations about an "end of the world" prophecy of cataclysmic, biblical proportions (with the help of a sensationalistic Hollywood movie among other things). And with "apocalyptic" tensions mounting in world affairs since the 1940s, and sophisticated weapons of mass destruction to make it possible (plus added tensions of economic woes and unprecedented US political polarity since the Civil War) -- it's no wonder. It certainly gave pause to consider the unthinkable.

The date 12/21/2012 has come and gone, and with it the bad jokes. The date actually marked the end of a cosmological cycle spanning 50,000-some years, or "The End of Time" to the Mayans (they didn't have TV, which gave them lots of time to watch the stars... though a funny cartoon I saw pictured two ancient Mayans with little hammers and stone tablets, with one saying something like, "Uh oh, we've run out of stone. This is really gonna screw someone up someday."). Point being, the end of a time cycle is not a portending "doomsday." Still, scary stories have entertainment value.

I was introduced to the Mayan Calendar in the mid-1990s when I was hanging with the hippies (brings to mind my favorite Dixie Chics song). I delved into a course of study of these ancient "Galactic Time Keepers" under the tutelage of "Starroot", a beautiful German-born world-folk musician-artist who started an artists' community in Floyd, VA, near the rural town outside of Roanoke where I lived at the time. (One of her "day jobs" was playing the accordion in traditional German costume at festivals and conventions in the city of Roanoke). She and her husband Sparky (short for "Starsparks") were students and personal friends of Jose Arguelles, an anthropologist and author who decoded the Mayan Calendar (which I understand there's been some controversy over, but that's another story which I know nothing about).

As of today, I've forgotten most of what I learned about the Mayan Calendar (it was quite involved), and my fascination with things "Galactic" is satiated by watching back to back episodes of STAR TREK (I'm a late-bloomer Trekky - "Make it so, Number One") and STAR TREK movies, other sci-fi series like STARGATE, FARSCAPE; the movie CONTACT (I've watched at least 10 times); and science shows like reruns of Carl Sagan's COSMOS, Steven Hawkings' series on the Universe; and, also I confess, UFO documentaries. (If they're on Netflix I've seen them all!)

To me, the "End of Time" marked by the Mayan Calendar on 12/21/2012 (which got misrepresented as the "end of the world") can be seen as the official start of a new era of human evolution. A provocative documentary series called, ZEITGEIST (also on Netflix) offers a vision of where we're headed (and what it is we're "coming out of"), the vision being a world of peace, equality, advanced technology that makes life wonderful (like a high speed vacuum line that can take you across the Atlantic in minutes), warp speed air and space travel, clean, healthy environment, a world where people are happy and empowered living their highest potential, with wealth and well-being without money, and no religion, too!

What? No money? Imagine!

Yea, I know, but like the song says, "You can say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." (John Lennon)

I found the poem/song lyrics in the next column while cleaning old files. Written during my Mayan Calendar days, it gives a little history lesson of THE STORY OF TIME, per Jose Arguelles.

Though my personal cosmology has grown since the time I wrote it, the lyrics really capture a philosophic essence of the Mayan Calendar.

So, in the spirit of songwriting, this poem is dedicated to Visionaries, Galactic Warriors and Peace-Keepers everywhere.

"Blessed are the peace makers for they will see God." Jesus