There comes a point when things have to change. A vibration signal was sent out. Where the signal was coming from—whether it was coming from our genetic coding, whether it was coming from the Earth, whether it was coming from outer space, or whether it was coming from all of those—this signal went out and people responded to a signal. It is very much like when a species gets a signal to change the direction of its migration pattern. The signal was, “go back to the Earth … if you want peace on this planet, go back to the Earth.
– José Arguelles on the Harmonic Convergence
In 1987 José Arguelles launched a word-of-mouth Harmonic Convergence campaign calling for 144,000 “Sun dancers” to gather near sacred sites at dawn on August 16 and 17 to “open the doors to the final 26 years of the 5,125-year Mayan Great Cycle,” an era of unprecedented change and preparation for a new evolutionary cycle on Earth.
The Harmonic Convergence was celebrated worldwide by tens of thousands if not millions of people and marked the first time human beings simultaneously coordinated their prayers, meditations, and ceremonies at sacred sites around the planet. This was the first manifestation of a networked thrust toward a unified moment of collective synchronization. Everyone from Shirley MacLaine to Timothy Leary to John Denver celebrated the event. Even talk show host Johnny Carson got his studio audience to OM on behalf of the event. Many people reported significant shifts in consciousness and a reorientation in their life patterns.
The dates of the Harmonic Convergence were based on prophetic events beginning with Good Friday 1519 when Cortez led the invasion of the Spaniards into Mexico. This day on the Mexican sacred calendar marked the precise end of a 52-year cycle. Since then, nine 52-year cycles had elapsed, coming to a close on August 16, 1987. This also marked the last day of the nine hell cycles as prophesied by Mexican prophet Quetzalcoatl. It was a signal indicating that only twenty-five years remained before the end of the Mayan Great Cycle of History, which occurs on December 21, 2012.
Arguelles believed that the Harmonic Convergence was an event with meaning extending into other dimensions. What was occurring was a prophetic enactment on the third dimension was something that had been previsioned and foretold at a higher level, in another dimension and in another time, by seers whose sole purpose it is to monitor the karmic unfolding of this planet. For more see 2012 Biography of a Time Traveler: the Journey of José Argüelles.
In the August 11th, 1987 edition of The New York Times, in the article: “New Era Dawns—or Just a New Day?” José Arguelles was quoted:
“…The vibratory infrastructure holding the Earth together is in a condition of intense fever called resonant dissonance. Influences such as the arms race and insults to the environment could cause the breakup of the Earth into smaller bodies not unlike the Asteroid Belt…This can be averted, by harmonic convergence achieved in a synchronized collective of human beings, through which the possibility of a New Heaven and a New Earth is fully present.”
The following is an interview with Arguelles on July 12, 1987.
Excerpt from radio conference with José Argüelles regarding Harmonic Convergence (July 12, 1987)
Dave Peyton: Good evening, everyone, and welcome to our conference with Dr. José Argüelles of Boulder, Col., who has a controversial message for the world. Dr. Arguelles has captured the attention of many people with his claim that a New Age will begin on Earth in approximately one month. Dr. Arguelles was born in 1939 and spent his early childhood in Mexico. After receiving his PhD in Art History from the University of Chicago, Dr. Arguelles taught at Princeton University, the University of California at Davis and at the Naropa Institute. In 1970 he organized the first Whole Earth Festival in Davis which some say launched the ecology movement. He has studied the Mayan culture for three decades and has written three books including Mandala, Earth Ascending and his latest entitled The Mayan Factor which has become an underground bestseller. Dr. Arguelles is currently a core faculty member and program coordinator of Creative Arts for Union Graduate School and director of the Planetary Art Network, a global association of artists and creative individuals working for "dynamic transformation of the planet."
DP: Welcome, Dr. Arguelles, to our conference. I'd like to begin the questioning, while others are getting in line for questions, by asking to describe briefly where you obtained your belief that a new age is dawning next month.
JA: This belief comes from a study of the Mayan Calendar which I discovered actually describes the passage of earth and our solar system through a beam 5,125 years in diameter. We entered this beam in 3113 BC and leave the beam in 2012 AD. August 16/17 1987 marks the point in the beam when there is a break in the wave harmonic that this beam represents. The date also corresponds to prophecies concerning the return of the god/hero Quetzalcoatl/Kukulkan as well as various other intertribal prophecies calling for 144,000 awakened sun dancers to dance the new age into being.
DP: OK, now we'll go on to some questions from the audience. Ready?
John H: Hello, Mr. Arguelles mentioned that there will be a proliferance of UFOs during the new age. Will there be many and where will they occur?
JA: Yes, I believe there will considerable UFO activity. More importantly, I believe there will be a message collectively received. The UFOs will be in many places. Perhaps at so-called sacred sites, but maybe in largely populated centers as well.
Audience question #1, Steve Hirsch: Dr. Arguelles, I am a Naropa Grad and editor/publisher of Heaven Bone. I believe our poems appeared together in the recent issue of The Windhorse Review. I am referring to your poem "This Is The Moment". You had some remarkable experiences when you were a child that awakened you spiritually. Did you or were you abducted or contacted by star people and/or thin insect-eyed beings as described in Whitley Streiber's book Communion?
JA: Yes, I had a number of "awakening" experiences. In retrospect, now I believe I was contacted by star people preparing me for my mission.
(Steven Hirsch): Yes, I agree. Yes. I remember Mr. Streiber describing the extraterrestrials as communicating to him telepathically, showing him images of the destruction of our planet in a ball of fire. Do you take this literally, or can it be, as I believe, that the world is going to go through a purification and cleansing to elevate our energies. What do you see as happening in regards to this purification by fire?
JA: The world will not be destroyed, nor will it undergo a purification by fire. The point now is that the time has come for us exercise our free will and magnetize an invitation to the star people that are ready for them to assist us in whatever way they can according to our needs and our abilities. There will be a purification, but it will be easier if we accept that we must purify ourselves and our way of life. This means turning away from militarism and industrial way of life. There are other technologies available to us that are non-polluting. The point is that the race is over. We can get out of the car and walk now!
Audience question #3, Paul Davenport: Dr., Who are THEY?
JA: THEY are our friends the star people, galactic intelligence, the Federation.
DP: Dr., Are they from this galaxy?
JA: Yes, they are. They are from places like the Pleiades, Arcturus, Sirius and Antares. THEY are also from other dimensions.
Audience Question #4, David Hoffman: Hello—of all those who have been in touch with spirit, why was it the Mayans who got the date of such a major change?
JA: Because the Mayans were originally from a more advanced interplanetary civilization. They came here specifically to show two things: 1) that it is possible to live in harmony with all of life with very minimal technology as we know it; and 2) to leave behind a code that unlocks the keys to how our life—DNA—is in resonance with galactic forces and energies. This code also functions as the calendar. Everything operates holographically. We are holograms of the earth, as the earth is of us, and of the solar system and galaxy as well.
Audience Question #6, Mike Jones: Good Evening. Dr., you mention that 144,000 people will be "chosen" to start this new age. Will all of these people know that they have been chosen, and if so, by what means?
JA: The 144,000 people are self-selected. No one is keeping tabs. The point is to create a planetary field of trust. These 144,000 will form a planetary human-to-human power grid that will ground the new frequencies coming in at that time. They will catalyze these frequencies by remaining in their integrity. Their power will be equal to the square of their number 20,736,000,000! Through them and those attuned to them, there will be an awakening kind of experience that will catalyze a positive vision of our common destiny into being. The World will be different as a result. And everybody will know it.
MJ: I certainly hope you are right. Thank you.
DP: Dr., it sounds like a new religion. Is it?
JA: Yes, in a way it is a new religion: the religion of the earth, a religion that encompasses all religions and beliefs by shadowing our oneness with the earth and all of life. A religion galactically attuned to the new frequencies so that the timeless values of service and compassion for the higher good will be re-established in the hearts of humankind once again.
Audience question #7, Michael MacCannell: Dr. Arguelles, assuming enough people don't form a grid, doesn't that give you an easy "out"?
JA: I suppose you could say that. But, I'm not in this for an easy in or an easy out. The point is that the world is in a terrible mess, and it is time that we exercise our free will and do something about it. We know that we are not alone, and all of the information points to the fact that we can get help if we want to.
(Michael MacCannell): May I ask how do the star people manifest themselves to you?
JA: The star people manifest themselves to me psychically through different visual and auditory frequencies. They also manifest themselves to me through a person who calls himself D. Treadwell or Actara who is now on this planet and has been communicating to me by phone from Santa Fe, NM for the last 3 months. He has been very helpful in confirming much of the information I have been dealing with.
DP: Dr., why would a star person contact you by phone; that's rather "low tech" isn't it?
JA: It may be "low tech," but it is also humble and unassuming.
(Michael MacCannell): Is D. Treadwell a channel?
JA: No, D.Treadwell is not a channel. He is an actual person, who describes himself as a "light being."
DP: Hmmm! Interesting!
Audience question #8, David Cherniak…
DP: We have a technical question here about the nature of the break in the harmonics of the beam on the 16th/17th of Aug. Also, is there a particular point in time that this will happen?
JA: The break in the resonant field will be experienced as a mildly rolling type of feeling. What it will do to existing electrical or related power lines I'm not sure. Nor am I certain exactly when it will occur. Odds have it that it will occur in multiple instances, certainly by dawn of the 16th something will be felt, and most certainly by dawn of the 17th an even stronger sensation of it will be experienced.
(David Cherniak) Will music be significant as a vehicle for raising spiritual consciousness?
JA: Music or harmonics of whatever kind will most certainly help. But I must emphasize that the most important thing is for people to be in their integrity, with purified intention and holding on to nothing. This is because every human being is an electromagnetic wave-form. Being in your integrity means being completely identified with your wave-form so that you are in resonance with yourself and are not creating static in your field by giving your power to something outside of yourself. In this way the incoming frequencies may pass through you undisturbed and be received by the earth, recharged and sent back up through. The whole energy exchange will form a figure 8 type of pattern. Everyone is potentially a vertical connector. The point is to be in your integrity in your innocence and trust, with your receivers—your sense organs—wide open. It's all very simple!!!
DP: Will this rolling feeling be akin to an earthquake and it will be registered as such by scientists?
JA: I don't think it will be like an earthquake. It will certainly be felt and I encourage scientists to be out in the field. It may be that it can also be registered by some kind of instrumentation, but at this point I'm not sure what kind. Also, this experience will be very much like continuous deja vu. Things will be remembered that have been long forgotten, and that's great!
DP: Even non-believers will feel it?
JA: Even non-believers driving bulldozers through the Amazon jungle will experience something, one too many deja vus! I'd like to add that much of this information and the background to it is available in book The Mayan Factor: Path beyond Technology, published by Bear and Co. Santa FE, NM 87504.
Moderator recognizes queue #10, Michael…
(Dave Peyton): OK, Michael.
(Michael): First of all, my name is Michael Collier and I am editor of the Network of Light. We have two days worth of events scheduled in Buffalo/Niagara Falls. If anyone wants info, leave E-mail (73230,1163). I have several questions—first, what will the average Joe notice/experience on these dates?
(José Argüelles): The average Joe will experience—woops, add, average Jose—will experience feelings of deja vu, which may seem somewhat out of the ordinary maybe even slightly confusing but not unpleasant. It is also important to keep in mind that the UFO sightings will command great media attention, and everyone will know something different, and even exciting is happening. It will be important for people like yourself and the Networks of Light all over the world to be in a condition of non-judgement and compassion, especially on the days afterward so that all can be properly helped and informed about what is going on.
(Michael): I understand that in addition to the ending of the Mayan calendar, several other major and minor cycles culminate around 8/16. Do you know anything about this?
(José Argüelles): The name of the game is cycling. Nothing is really ending but the old order, the actual conclusion of this phase of the Mayan calendar known as the Great Cycle occurs in 2012. What actually ends on August 16 is a sub-cycle of that calendar known as the Nine Hells which began the day Cortez landed in Mexico. What begins on August 17 is the Sixth Sun and the commencement of a period of 13 Heaven Cycles. There is a 25-year period between August 1987 and Decenber 2012. This period of time will include a five year purification period—the Campaign for the Earth—and by 1992, a final 20-year cycle known as the Earth Regeneration period during which time we will prepare for a major galactic synchronization a hook-up with the galactic fleet in 2012. By 1992 the space brothers and sisters will be telepathically assisting us in ways undreamed of right now. This is our great chance. Every planet deserves a break. This is ours!
(Dave Peyton): Another question, Michael?
(Michael): Yes, I'd like to know what other individuals, groups, channels, etc. have been receiving info concerning the significance of this date independently of you.
(José Argüelles): At this point in time the number of groups and channels receiving information and instructions concerning this event is too immense to enumerate. It is a world-wide phenomenon. Everyday I receive more and more information. The amazing thing is that it is virtually all the same message. The time has come. The galactic intelligence is ready and waiting. People get ready, there's a train a-comin'! This being the case, go ahead and stand by your stations for further instructions. I would also add that by merely doing this particular conference in its electromagnetic form we are sending out further confirmation to the galactic intelligence that we are ready. "Something wonderful is about to happen." If I may quote the astronaut from the film 2010.
(Dave Peyton): Does that mean they are monitoring this conference?
(José Argüelles): I believe it does.
(Dave Peyton): OK. Welcome to them, too ... Michael, I think we must move on to another questioner.
Moderator recognizes queue #11, Mike Christie…
(Dave Peyton): OK, Mike
(Mike): What does the person working in the city on 8/16 & 17 do to participate?
(José Argüelles): If you are working in the city, or better yet, if you are in the city and know people in media or communications in the city, get the word out to them about this. In any case, if you are in the city and cannot get away, the important message still is to remain in your integrity. Take note and be with your friends. Everything is OK. Everyone is perfect just the way they are. We're all a part of a galactic Mr. Rogers neighborhood!
(Dave Peyton): Where will you be, Dr. Arguelles?
(José Argüelles): To tell you the truth I still really don't know. I'm hanging wide open right now because so much stuff is coming through. But you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be somewhere on this planet!!!
(Mike): Thank you No. But thanks Dr., I needed to hear (read!) that!
Moderator recognizes queue #14, Steven Hirsch…
(Dave Peyton): Ok, Steven.
(Steven Hirsch): Thank you. I have two questions. First, besides being editor of Heaven Bone Magazine, I am a jeweler, gem cutter, and crystal merchant. Have you received any information for those of us expressing our love for the planet through communion with the mineral kingdom. I am going up to Herkimer, NY next week to mine for Herkimer diamonds. Do you have any good ideas about what to do with them? Some crystal patterns perhaps? Are there any other rituals or preparations you would recommend for those of us with some leisure?
(José Argüelles): Recent geophysical studies are showing that the earth is actually a crystal or very crystalline in nature and in properties of behavior (see current issue of OMNI). So crystals are telling us to be more attuned the earth. They are earth's resonant transductor helpers. So if you're into crystals, or even if you're not into crystals, having one with you helps, especially on Harmonic Convergence. There are some rituals involving crystals, using people to form Star-of-David patterns with them, and that kind of thing. But it is also very important to be very careful with what you do with them. Again intention is of the essence.
(Dave Peyton): Another question, Steven?
(Steven Hirsch): Thank you. I have one more question, I am a Buddhist. During the Kalachakra practice there is mention of a dark age of man or something to that effect. There was also a timetable involved. Are you familiar with this (I know you are) and what are the correspondences of this tantra to the Harmonic Convergence and related literature?
(José Argüelles): According to the Kalachakra and the related teachings of Shambhala, we are now in the darkest of the dark ages, actually concluding a 500-year dark age which seems to correspond to the 468-year Nine Hell periods I referred to earlier. This means that, according to these prophecies (Shambhala) that the time of the reign of the 3 Lords of Materialism is close to an end. This will be followed by a 500-year Golden Age. It seems that the 500 year Golden Age would begin about 2012, if we are on schedule. I have checked some of this out with Tai Situ Rinpoche, just to be sure. In any case, yes, there is definitely a correspondence. One more reason why it's called Harmonic Convergence.
(Steven Hirsch): Thank you
Moderator recognizes queue #18, Jim North…
(Dave Peyton): OK, Jim
(Jim North): Thank you. All of this talk about UFOs and Harmonic Convergence is very interesting (though hardly simple). Am I incorrect in stating that the real importance of this event is that it will mark a change in individual awareness? Is this not the true significance of the "new age"? Shouldn't our focus be within ourselves and not on rituals or UFOs?
(José Argüelles): It is true that the real significance of this event will be a change in our awareness and a change in our perceptions of the world. This perceptual change will be akin to the change that occurred when people found out that the world was round, not flat, or that the earth revolved around the sun and not vice versa. Part of this perceptual change, then, will be the acknowledged awareness that we are part of a galactic stream and family of intelligence, that we are not alone. The UFOs are not here to save us. But they are a part of our larger natural environment like the clouds, the stars, the trees, etc. The change will be in our non-fearfully acknowledging their presence, and pursuing the implications and the benefits of this perceptual change.
(Dave Peyton): OK
(Jim North): Thank you
(Dave Peyton): Howard Maculsay, the assistant moderator wants to ask a question and because he is an assistant, he can't get into the queue so, Howard, go ahead.
(Howard Maculsay): OK Thanks. Dr., a man's position can be "strengthened" or weakened by those who are giving critical review of his efforts. Who has been critical, and why?
(José Argüelles): Do you mean people critical of Harmonic Convergence?
(Howard Maculsay): Yes, Dr.
(José Argüelles): So far very few people have been critical. The Wall Street Journal was somewhat condescending, but hardly critical. Some fundamentalist Christian groups are critical, but by and large, more and more people are arising to attention everyday. The world has been without vision for so long, that Harmonic Convergence awakens in many different kinds of people a stirring in the breast, an ache in the heart, a recollection of ancient power and legendary meaning that has been long lost. In this country we last had some of this feeling in the "Camelot" aura of the Kennedy era, and the Woodstock of the counter-culture. Well, now myth is afoot, and it is a higher calling that arouses those who become magnetized by Harmonic Convergence whether they are conscious of it or not. You see, this is a terrestrial and an extraterrestrial magnetism that is at work.
(Howard Maculsay): Dr. I'm not a fundamentalist, but they certainly are outspoken in their opposition, and more importantly, they access a national TV audience. Please speak to their opposition.
(José Argüelles): There is something about Harmonic Convergences that pre-empts the fundamentalist belief that Armageddon must precede the Second Coming. Harmonic Convergence seems like a Second Coming, they weren't in on the planning, so they are threatened and jealous. But, there is nothing threatening about Harmonic Convergence. It is the common hope of the people for a better future and a better world. Those who are truly attuned to the Harmonic Convergence cannot be so if they are in judgement even against the fundamentalists. The point is the expression of universal compassion, forgiveness, and unconditional love for all of life. Those who are without sin shall cast the first stone. Sin may be understood to mean, that which interferes with another’s free will. Harmonic Convergence is the exercise of the common free will on behalf of all.
(Dave Peyton): It's good to know Jim and Tammy aren't going to be a part of this.
(Howard Maculsay): Would you briefly define a "millennialist?
(José Argüelles): Traditionally defined, a millenialist is one who believes that the "end is at hand." From the Mayan perspective, there is no ultimate end, only changes in the cyclic behavior of organisms involved in galactic life. What we are witnessing is such a shift or change. It may mean the end of the old order, industrial-military civilization, but it is also the beginning of a new cycle, a new way of life, one that will first involve the cleaning up of the environment and then a preparation to enter the larger galactic life.
(Howard Maculsay): I'm through, Thank you Dr.
(Dave Peyton): OK. Dr., we still have several questioners and there are still about 16 people here—I know this is grueling, and if you are too tired, we can halt it. But if you can answer some more questions, I am sure it would be appreciated.
(José Argüelles): We are certainly on the same wave-length. I was just saying to my teleprompter and good buddy, Gary, Whew! Pumping information at the galactic gas station can sure get to be something, especially on a Sunday night, and I've got an interview with a Toledo radio station tomorrow morning at 7AM. But being as this is the life I chose, I'll answer at least one more question.
(Dave Peyton): OK.
Moderator recognizes queue #20, Paul Davenport…
(Dave Peyton): OK Paul.
(Paul Davenport): Dr., I'm the director of the Florida School of Massage. We (staff and students) are really interested in pulling this thing off. My wife will be in LA with Scout Gunn, but we are unclear what is optimum in our local area. Gainesville is close to Ocmulgee and Etowah, but we don't have much experience with the park service. What do you suggest we do in our own localities? Is there some network we can plug into? Thanks.
(José Argüelles). I’m not sure about networks to plug into, but I can tell you this, if it's a hassle, don't do it. The point of this whole thing is to do what is natural, what is easy, what goes with your integrity. No one is going to be giving awards for who showed best. It is time to look into our hearts, to look into our minds, to feel with the whole of our bodies what is natural and right. If it turns out that way, you can be all alone in your own back yard and get the whole charge. Another thing to keep in mind is the practice of mental telepathy and ESP. Being in resonance means being able to open with those like-spirited anywhere and everywhere. So be yourself, as you are when you know you are innocent of any motives and you'll be fine.
Well, this looks like 20 questions, and in order to avoid becoming a Mayan retread, I think I'll have to call it a night. I would like to thank everyone for their attention and their patience. I am present because it is imperative that the information go out on all circuits. Everybody who gets this information has the responsibility to pass it on and communicate it in whatever way possible. Harmonic Convergence is already happening. The magnetism is growing more intense. The sacred moment for the renewal of the earth and the correction of our evolutionary course has arrived. Be happy and prepare for the awakening of your fondest dreams.
(Dave Peyton): One more time, Dr., how may your book be ordered?
(José Argüelles): People may order The Mayan Factor from Bear and Co.- P.O. Box 2860, Santa Fe, NM 87504
(Dave Peyton): How much should they send?
(José Argüelles): $15.00, that includes postage.
(José Argüelles): Please carry on, and Spirit be with all of us!
(Steven Hirsch): Om Ah Hum!
(Gerald Swatez): Bye
(Dave Peyton): It was great, Dr. We appreciate you're being here.
(Michael MacCannell): Dr. Arguelles, thank you very much for your time.
(Dave Peyton): Great. It was a wonderful conference. And when all this happens, we'll be able to say we were in on it. Right?
(Mike Jones): Right!
(José Argüelles): You bet. Not only that, but because this was an electromagnetic conference we contributed to it.
(Michael MacCannell): I hope we can pull it off.
(Jim North): Thank you Dr. Arguelles!
(Michael MacCannell): I'm ready.
(Dave Peyton): Well, we'll be in conference on Good Earth on that Sunday night.
(Steven Hirsch): It's Harvest Time!
(Dave Peyton): Gary: Be sure and come by Aug. 16, if possible. And Dr. Arguelles, we'd love to meet with you again after the dates, but we'll talk about that later.
(José Argüelles): Not a bad idea.
(Dave Peyton): Sort of a de-briefing session.
(Michael MacCannell): I suppose it would be a little much to have D. Treadwell as a guest?
(José Argüelles): Look to the Skies and Good Night!
