Loading summary
Transcript4 lines
- [00:02]
A
Hello and welcome back to 365 Days with mxmtoon. I'm Maya, a singer, songwriter, video maker, Oakland native and astrology dabbler. I'm also a huge fan of history. I love untold stories, gross facts, hidden secrets, and anything weird, dark and funky from the past. Each day I'm going to share one of my favorite deep cuts with you. So let's take a look at Today's stories.
- [00:22]
B
It's 3:65 with MXM tune New Facts every day so don't leave too soon I'm gonna teach you stuff no, it won't be tough Gonna go a year till you've had enough it's 3:65.
- [00:46]
A
On this day in 1987, planets and humans aligned to usher in a new age of peace, tranquility and enlightenment. Or at least that was the marketing pitch. The event, called harmonic convergence, occurred over August 16th and 17th and was the first globally synchronized mass meditation event. The dates were chosen to correspond with the special alignment of the sun, moon and planets. People believed that harmonic convergence could harness the universe's energies and trigger a great spiritual awakening for humanity. They believed that it would mark a turning point to a better world, or maybe trigger the end of the world as we know it. So let's reverse. On August 16, 1987, the Sun, Moon, and six of the planets formed a perfectly balanced equilateral triangle, a shape called a grand trine in astrology. Astrology is a field that interprets or predicts human events based on the movements of stars and planets. In astrology, trines indicate peace, harmony, and beneficial outcomes. A group of New Age believers concocted the theory that if enough people could gather during this planetary convergence, a powerful spiritual and physical revolution could be awakened. While it may seem a little kooky to some, the idea of a connection between human power and planetary alignments is an ancient one. Religions and cultures throughout history have mapped human destiny with the movements of stars and planets. We have seen evidence of this in the records of the Aztecs, Maya, and other indigenous groups in the Americas, in the philosophy of Buddhism, in Christian theology, and in Hindu sacred texts, just to name a few. And you probably won't be surprised to hear it pops up in pop culture, too. For example, fans of the Nickelodeon show the Last Airbender and its sequel, Legend of Korra, will probably recognize the term harmonic convergence. In the mythology of that world, harmonic convergence is a planetary alignment that only occurs once every 10,000 years. That's not the case in the real world, by the way, when the planets align in the fictional avatar world, the portals between the material world and the spirit world open, and good and evil battle for dominance in the real world. While the planetary alignment in 1987 was notable, it wasn't particularly rare or remarkable by the standards of most scientists or even astrologers. The people who pitched it as a unique event were two New Age theorists living in Boulder, Jose Arguelles and his wife, Lloydine Buras Arguilles. Harmonic convergence was their brainchild. Although their primary work was reconstructing a cosmic spiritual calendar based on Mayan and Aztec mythology. In fact, remember that theory that the world was going to end in 2012? Well, Jose and Leudine were major proponents of it. They and others claimed that according to the ancient Mayan calendar, the world as we know it would end on December 21, 2012. Whether that meant an alien invasion, an apocalypse, or the opening of a spiritual portal, well, that depends on who you're asking. Spoiler. As far as we can tell, none of this happened. In fact, historians have said all along that the Mayan calendar did not predict the end of the world in 2012. The calendar itself, though, is a massively complex and scientifically sophisticated system. It measured the length of a year more accurately than our modern calendar. And it may have correctly identified that the Earth is billions of years old. The Maya had that figured out in the first century, and modern science wouldn't get there until 1953, almost 2,000 years later. One thing the Mayan calendar may have successfully predicted. The Spanish invasion in 1519 that would eventually destroy their civilization. Yikes. But let's get back to 1987. Jose Arguelles and others have many theories about the changes that harmonic convergence could create. Arguelles believed that if 144,000 people around the globe meditated at the same time during the convergence, it would trigger a spiritual cleansing that would last for five years and save the world from destruction. He also believed the meditation event would summon back the Maya in the form of a spiritual light or visions. And finally, yes, he expected aliens, or at least some kind of extraterrestrial communication. The primary goal of harmonic convergence was to help the Earth move into a prophesied era of peace, the Age of Aquarius. The 1969 song Aquarius, Let the Sun Shine in, performed by the fifth dimension, refers to the same theory popularized by the hippie and new age movements. 200 sites in the United States and 50 more worldwide served as hosts to the meditation event. People gathered in places like Mount Shasta in California, Central park in New York, City, Stonehenge in the uk, Mount Fuji in Japan, and the Great Pyramid of Egypt. Celebrity participants included the musician John Denver and actress Shirley MacLaine, who is most recently known for appearing in Downton Abbey and Glee. Johnny Carson, who hosted the Tonight show, even had his audience chant om, but I think that one was more of a joke. In the end, there is no evidence that harmonic convergence brought about global spiritual transformation, alien communication, or thwarted an apocalypse, though I guess we would have no way of knowing about the apocalypse thing. But the idea that mass meditation could change the world continues today. The Transcendental Meditation movement suggests that if only 1% of a community practices Transcendental Meditation, the community could see a reduction in crime and improve quality of life for everyone. Other mass meditation events over harmonic Convergence include the Big Quiet at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2017 and the Mass Meditation Initiative in Los Angeles also in 2017. One radio announcement in 1987 described the moment like this. Right now, Earth is saying, hey, the way things are going, I'm a nervous wreck. Do something different. Nothing else has worked so far in solving the problems of militarism, environmental pollution, and social discontent. So why not give art artists and the creative spirit a try? And honestly, I kind of get it. My favorite part of the radio ad, though, is a part where they say a sacred site could be inside your heart, too. Now let's talk about music. On August 16, 1974, the Ramones rocked their very first public show at the iconic CBGB bar in lower Manhattan and launched the punk rock revolution. Punk rock wasn't even a term yet, but with their iconic opening yell of 1, 2, 3, 4, the Ramones blasted through the popular hippie rock of the day with a completely new kind of sound. The co founder of Punk magazine called their signature sound a wall of noise, but he remembers the energy that they incited, the sense of experiencing something completely new in the grungy depths of a diving music club. CBGB was the club at the heart of the punk rock revolution in downtown Manhattan, and the Ramones quickly became an influential force in the underground rock scene. From that point on, bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash rose to fame with that same brash, chaotic sound the Ramones had pioneered, solidifying punk rock and the music halls of fame. Sadly, CBGB closed officially in 2006 after they lost a deal to resign the lease on their space. In a classic New York tale, the landlord wanted to raise the rent and the club owners couldn't afford it. Patti Smith headlined their final show Locals in the neighborhood still talk wistfully about the days when punk rock ruled that block. And now for today's final segment, I'll be going into my own photo archives to see what I was up to on August 16th in my life. On August 16th, 2016, I was a. Oh my God, what year was I? Oh, I guess I was a junior in high school. Yeah, I was a junior in high school. I was a junior leader for incoming freshmen at my high school. If you haven't already noticed this about me, I give off very much camp counselor vibes, I think is the best way to put it. And I definitely involve myself in as many of those sorts of positions as I possibly could. Beyond being a camp counselor, I was involved really heavily with my school's admissions process, and I was one of the interns for the admissions office. And I ended up doing a lot of orientations and diversity work with the students on campus as well as a student leader. Yeah, I don't even know why I'm sharing this. I think I just have really fond memories of being in that position of leadership and helping young kids who were just entering into the high school experience, trying to figure out what they wanted out of it. And I think that was really fulfilling. I have no idea how I got here to being a musician today, but I do know that if I wasn't, I would probably be doing something in education. Maybe there's still time for that. I have no idea. But right now I'm just enjoying making songs and recording podcast episodes for you guys. Thanks for going back in time with me. And remember to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. You can come back tomorrow for more stories from the past.
- [09:25]
B
It's 3:65 with MXM tuned new facts every day. So don't leave too soon I'm gonna teach you stuff no, it won't be tough Gonna go a year till you've had enough it's 3:65.