Let the Sunshine In

"From the point of Light within the Mind of God,
let light stream forth into the minds of men."

The Great Invocation, a mantra given in 1937 to Alice Bailey by Djwhal Khul.


So many wonderful teachers have written enlightened texts and music inspired by the concept of a New Age, founded by the feisty Alice Bailey in the first half of the 20th century. Most of us in the Western World didn’t know there was such a movement underfoot until we heard about the Age of Aquarius in the 60s. Let the Sunshine in. Remember the time when hippies, yoga and yogis seemed so sweet and strange? “Establishment” press poked fun as most of mainstream America joined in on the ridicule.

But something was taking hold on the psyches of millions, growing from the inherent truths within both the “hippie” and “New Age” phenomena. In hindsight, it appears that there was a fast and furious break-though period that just happens to coincide pretty well with another “happening:” the global Harmonic Convergence of August 16th and 17th, 1987.

WIKIPEDIA: “The event was centered on a number of "sacred" places throughout the world … where individuals ... gathered to usher in a new era. Mount Shasta, Stonehenge, Sedona, Arizona, the Golden Gate Bridge, Bolinas, California, Haleakala, Crestone, Colorado, as well as Dunn Meadow in Bloomington, Indiana, were believed to be "focus locations".

The date of the Harmonic Convergence was based to some extent on the Mayan Calendar with some consideration also given to European and Asian astrological traditions. The chosen dates have the distinction of marking an alignment of the planets of the solar system. The Harmonic Convergence was a global awakening to love and unity through divine transformation and divine channeling of sacred information... According to (an) interpretation of Maya cosmology, the selected date marked the end of … nine "hell" cycles … and the beginning of a new age of universal peace. Adherents believed that signs indicated a "major energy shift" was about to occur, a turning point in Earth's collective karma and dharma, and that this energy was powerful enough to change the global perspective of man from one of conflict to one of co-operation… allowing access to higher realms of awareness…

The Harmonic Convergence also began the final 26-year countdown to the end of the Mayan Long Count in 2012, which would be the "end of history" and the beginning of a new 5,125-year cycle. All the evils of the modern world—war, materialism, violence, abuses, injustice, governmental abuses of power, etc.—would end with the birth of the 6th Sun and the 5th Earth on December 21, 2012.*

Believers of this esoteric prophecy maintain that the Harmonic Convergence ushered in a five-year period of Earth's "cleansing", where many of the planet's "false structures of separation" would collapse. The subsequent events of the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the breakup of the Soviet Union, the reunification of West and East Germany, and the ending of apartheid in South Africa were taken as evidence of the Earth's "cleansing.”
…
Many individuals taking part in the Convergence claimed to have received divine guidance from the astral realms about the current state of Earth and the necessity of transformation. Many others made claims of personal transfiguration and revelation…The highly publicized event brought the New Age movement into the public eye… a permanent, if still limited, part of mainstream American culture.
According to some in the New Age community, the Harmonic Convergence also sparked the birth of sacred travel, or metaphysical tourism, as well as opening the gate to the reception of sacred information.

If you think about it, a flurry of great New Age material made the Best Seller List within the next ten years including A Course in Miracles and The Celestine Prophecy, which was initially self-published in due to lack of mainstream interest. The first I read was Deepak Chopra’s 1986 book Creating Health which proposed a dramatic change in attitude, (which he later strengthened in 1993 with Ageless Body, Timeless Mind.) Although I did not know it at the time, this radical shift prepared me to take part in this movement, just as the gates were scheduled to open, when I accepted the position of art director and associate editor of Medical Insights magazine.

“Medical Insights to make over 9 million housecalls” read the optimistic headline from Medical Advertising News April 15, 1987. Our publisher, Virgil L. Williams, MD said, “We want to reach the masses with a message from the healthcare community that individuals must take responsibility for their own health needs, and to provide to them information on which they can make informed choices.” Due to Dr. Williams influence, MI became the first consumer publication to receive the endorsement of the AMA (by serving on its advisory board). But when advertisers realized that the “informed choices” we were offering the public included “alternative” modalities, such as chiropractic, acupuncture, acupressure, nutrition, meditation and yoga, they grew skeptical and withheld support forcing bankruptcy in 1989.

Today, each and every one of the “alternative” concepts we promoted has grown dramatically in acceptance. And the radical Dr. Chopra is considered one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.

Americans are growing in their discontent with a health care system that no longer makes sense. growing in their distrust of what is often perceived as paternalistic practices on the part of healthcare practitioners. More and more people trust information they can get on the internet, over and above the advice they get from their physicians. We are searching and finding answers in areas we derided 20 years ago.

At the same time, inappropriate lifestyle decisions are gravely diminishing the quality of life for many across the globe. We can do something about it and we are. The world view is changing as more and more people take control of their lifestyle and healthcare choices.



* I chuckled as I read this part about 2012. Didn't we all, not too long ago? Could any of us have believed, or predicted, the fallout of 2008, even just one year ago today? "All the evils of the modern world -- war, materialism, violence, abuses, injustice, governmental abuses of power, etc.—would end" around the time of President Obama's first term in office... Wouldn't that be GREAT!

Let the Sunshine In…