Galactic Alignment: The Transformation of Consciousness According to Mayan, Egyptian, and Vedic Traditions

John Major Jenkins has done a huge amount of research, reading and thinking about the meaning of the Mayan Long Count end date of 2012. Whether His conclusions make sense to you depends on your belief system and your frame of reference.It is difficult to evaluate a lot of his conjecture about ancient civilizations and what their icons, symbols, and writing might have meant in regard to the 2012 date. To Jenkins, it clearly means the alignment of the Winter Solstice meridian with the plane of the Galactic Center, which is happening now, in our own era. Although the Mayans chose to end their count on December 21, 2012 (by our calendar), the actual alignment happens over a period of time. Many experts think a better date would have been 1998 or 1999. If the alignment is the reason for the end date, and if the alignment happens over some years of time, that seems to indicate the date does not signify an apocalyptic event, as many think. Jenkins speculates that the "end time" is really a period of rising awareness, a time when our very consciousness can shift to a new level.As I read of the many "sacred alignments" on earth, important ancient cities and markers that line up in geometric fashion, I was reminded of another book I recently finished, Henry Lincoln's book, The Holy Place, about the area around Rennes-le-Chateau France. Lincoln identified many geometric alignments that he felt were beyond chance. But Jenkins raises the intriguing idea that these alignments on earth -- which mirror the occult dictum of "as above, so below" -- may not have been deliberate, but may be an unconscious response to some type of energy from space, or some dimension beyond our senses.Is the Galactic Center the source of wisdom, of spirituality? Has our evolution seen sudden jumps because of this energy, and are we getting more of it now that our solar system is lined up with the Galactic center? These seem strange questions to those of us living in modern urban areas where we cannot even see the Milky Way at night. It is always a rare and beautiful night for me whenever I can see stars because, living in the Detroit area, we have way too much light pollution and poor quality of air to see the kind of panorama of lights the ancients must have seen. Jenkins makes the point that the Milky Way, our galaxy, is very visible from the high areas of South America. I thought large parts of the book were tedious, as the text went over numerous examples, quoted the author's favorite writers, and expounded on astronomical lore that was too obscure to evaluate. If you have no acquaintance with the Precession of the Equinoxes, then a lot of the material here will be hard to follow. I recommend Graham Hancock's book, Fingerprint of the Gods, as a good introduction to the concepts of Precession and how the numbers are encoded in ancient legends, writings, and monuments.The most interesting part of Galactic Alignment was near the end where we get the author's ideas. But here he diminishes what are fascinating speculations by too much sermonizing. If you don't believe in an unseen spiritual world or believe you have a spiritual body that continues to exist when your body dies, then the author's remarks will sound like so much hocum. Since I happen to share the author's beliefs, I did find his comments worthwhile. But I have to wonder: If this is a period when we have the opportunity to open ourselves to higher levels of enlightenment, are we doing that? There certainly has been a lot of interest in spiritual topics and re-examination of ancient beliefs. People are studying the Kabbala, embracing New Age ideas, meditating, learning about charkas and natural healing... but we also just re-elected George W. Bush. The conservatives and fundamentalists are also strong and religious differences around the world are bringing us wars and division. You could certainly build a case that none of this shows a human race becoming more spiritual or more enlightened.

The Apocalypse is "the exteriorizing of our soul and the interiorizing of our body."--Terence McKenna (1946-2000)A masterpiece of musings on the End-Date AD 2012. And if you carefully contemplate the connections cross-culturally, then an occult -- hidden -- truth leaps at you, ultimately. It in fact unlocks the gate to the realms of the invisible that Terence McKenna, the new age "shaman of hyperspace," spoke so eloquently. Specifically, it has to do with the opening of our third eye, and the apocalyptic implications on our society that spends its mornings at Starbucks, and its evenings watching Wheel of Fortune. Yes, I guess this book isn't for everyone, but it sure tuned-up my chakras, made my mind's molecules shift to the next higher orbit! It will yours too, if you put down that TV tuner and read this book with an intention to learn the secrets of the ages -- and apply them to your life's larger purpose, to survive the second coming of cosmic consciousness in era-2012.Dr. John Jay Harper is author of  Tranceformers: Shamans of the 21st Century  and  Science of Soul: The End-Time Solar Cycle of Chaos in 2012 A.D. .

For several years i was looking forward to get book such as this one. JMJ did as usuall great work. I like his style of writing. Filtered facts, returning to previous ideas, corection of the not well developed. Reviews of all passed parts. Great appendixies.In fact JMJ guide us in 2012MAYA cosmogenesis to understand the meaning and purpose of the 2012. In this book JMJ shows us how the alignment is binded to Mayas time and to Ours. Where, When and What. So you can take some software and check your self if he tells us truth. Also if you take some other books related to this issue, you will be suprised by relationships between the facts. PopolVuh + this book + 2012 Maya Cosmogenesis + Orion Mystery + Hamlet Hill are really good combo to get quick overview about the 2012 issue.I am not going to write and opose to the facts in the book, this review is just to guide other to buy or not to buy this book. So facts could be checked by orderer.-keep it readin'-

I recently discovered this book and I wish I'd found it sooner. It has so much information of interest to me concerning ancient galactic astronomy (a topic very near and dear to me). John's writing style is fluid and his wisdom is deep and meaningful; he walks a steady-line between scientific inquiry and penetrating spiritual insight; he maintains appropriate rational skepticism. I am delighted to own this book and it furthers my own work tremendously. John Major Jenkins is one of the most insightful and penetrating investigators working to understand the metaphysics of the ancient world writing today. His seminal insights about the Mayan Long Count Calendar's End Date spawned an entire industry; but here, in Galactic Alignment, John goes further, to show that the Milky Way has been the jewel in the crown of the ancient mysteries among many other civilizations and cultures\, as well. I love this book.

the book presents very novel, out-of-the-box but profound concepts and makes for an interesting reading experience. the integrative nature of the theories, synthesizing mayan, Egyptian and vedic thoughts and mapping philosophies to galactic structure and movements is commendable. the last chapter is especially interesting.however, unless one is at least an astronomy hobbyist, many terms and concepts can be difficult to understand. so one may have to skip these 'proofs' and proceed directly to the conclusion, but then you miss out on the in-between logic. the pictures / diagrams depicting galaxy-solar system movements and planes can be quite confusing, as there are multiple axes. these are not always depicted accurately, IMO. hence i could not really fully comprehend the "alignment" in actual astronomical terms.

To start out with this book I noticed that I benefit more of it when first reading Jenkins' Maya Cosmogenesis 2012. So I read first this older book.Being well familiar with the Maya world since having lived in Mexico for over 14 years (more then 7 of them in the region of the Maya and partially in daily life with the Maya), that book has caused that my confidence in Jenkins' writings went pretty much down the drain. Jenkins takes assumptions and interpretations from other researchers (who refer to the writings of a Spanish bishop and a priest from the 16th century, one of them had even before burned down all findable Maya scriptures), puts further assumptions on them, repeats those over and over until finally they are the "truth", the lector is convinced to read about. Undetectable, completely vague and weathered iconographies are interpreted and these interpretations are taken as the true discoveries about the Maya, etc. etc.From reading that book I had the impression that Jenkins had obviously had his "initiation" in Izapa when being on drugs. While he is convinced that the ancient Izapans took drugs, I have, while living in the Maya world of today, had journeys into the universe without drugs, just being a vegan - and I can well imagine that this practice was at home in the ancient Maya world as well.With this background reading the book Galactic Alignment: The Transformation of Consciousness According to Mayan, Egyptian, and Vedic Traditions I had fast a good eye for the many flimsy connections, the book uses to try hard to get everything what has happened in ancient cultures into a kind of unity-pattern in favour of the Izapan Maya and the discoveries, Jenkins writes about. In doing so he actually presents wrong knowledge - i.e. about the gothic cathedrals one would see in France showing a picture of a completely non-gothic in renaissance style built church (from the building style a couple of hundred years or more after the gothic period), the origin of chakras etc. Unluckily I cannot take the time and prove everything what Jenkins writes about the Milky Way and the galactic alignment. And I have learned from the first book I have read as well that the truth about the "discoveries of the Maya" written about is very questionable.The few existing jewels in this book, the reader can probably pick out hard of all the text around, which is not easy to read, since it is not well edited. However I suggest to prove those as well.I agree with Jenkins on 2 points:- The alignments on earth -- mirroring the events in the sky on earth -- were not created deliberately, but come from an unconscious being in tune of the humans as a part of the unity of all that is - unconscious, because when a culture does not know anything else than unity, it is not aware of it.- This world is in need of the long expected change.It will, however, not be on one day, not within one year, not within several decades or just a couple of centuries (from 1975 to 2240 like presented in this book). According to Mexican esoterics, which have already spoken publically in 1986 about the end of the Maya calendar, the serious change we go now through happens in a time-frame of around 1000years. Then people will be able to live truthfully more happy, since living much more authentic.I appreciate Jenkins' good intention to put his energy to write books in favour of the transformation of this human world. I would however like, if he would not try to appear like a man of worldwide knowledge in giving wrong or completely questionable information, because this could just work in certain readers against his intention.

Nice book