The Legend of the Eagle and the Condor
(As told by John Perkins of Dream Change Coalition)
The legend of the Eagle and the Condor goes back a very long time in the Andes and in many other parts of the world. In the Andes it is expressed as coming at this time of the new Pachacuti. A Pachacuti is an interval of roughly 500 years. It was known for a long, long time before it happened, that the fourth Pachacuti, which began about the 1490's, would be a time of turmoil, of struggle, of conflict. In addition, at the fifth Pachacuti, which began in the late 1990's, it would be a time of coming together, of partnership, of union, and particularly a time when the Eagle of the North will fly with the Condor of the South.
It is known that there has been unbalance and tremendous conflict throughout the Americas to all the indigenous peoples during the past 500 years. The Eagle Power, the Eagle Spirit which is very mental, and very materialistic has really outweighed and dominated the Condor Spirit which is very spiritual and very much from the heart. Now it is time for the two to come together and fly in the same skies as equals so that energy can be balanced out. You can also look at it as the balancing of the male and the female or the yin and the yang.
All this was predicted in many other cultures throughout the world. The Mayan people in Central America have very, very similar prophecies and timing. The Dalai Lama said they too have a prediction that there is a new period upon us, and that the 14th, current, Dalai Lama, will be the last from the Himalayas. The next will probably be from the Americas and the best bet, according to them, is that he or she will be from the Andes. A few years ago, the Dalai Lama was in the Andes and he and other Lamas did a ceremony to transfer from the Himalayas to the Andes, the responsibility for taking care of compassion amongst human beings.
So this idea of the new Pachacuti, of a new era, the new age if you will, and of the coming together of the Condor and the Eagle, of them dancing together and soaring together, is a very old one and it's shared in one way or another by many cultures all around the world.
This is a small piece of what was talked about at a symposium I attended in Seattle last weekend. It was called Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream and was put on by the Pachamama Alliance. The purpose of the symposium was to discuss the current health status of our planet (holistically--meaning the health of the waters, the land, the animals, the air, inter-relationships etc) AND to discuss how we as individuals and communities can assist in bringing forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just presence on our planet. It was interesting indeed. It started with the current status and was alot of doom and gloom: fish are dying, water is polluted, animals are dying (including us) air is nasty, people are hating and killing etc. BUT... it went on into interesting dicussions.
We brainstormed about all the major, mass shifts in consciousness that have occured on this planet since recorded human history. Paradigm shifts if you will (some smaller than others, but all affected much of the earths population in some way). Times when the unthinkable happened. Some examples:
1. The earth went from being flat to becoming a sphere.
2. The Berlin wall was felled.
3. A group of farmers, in 1776, escaped the world power of that time, England, to create a "new" world.
4. End of Apartheid.
5. Slavery abolished.
6. Civil rights movement=women can vote.
......the list goes on......I was blown away by all the things people came up with. We spoke of hope (a thing often left out when discussing the current status and what we all must do to move towards a sustainable world).
People spoke of things that are happening now that bring them hope:
1. Animal rights
2. Recycling
3. THE EARTH CHARTER ( a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society for the 21st century www.earthcharter.org/)
4. Increase in green buiding
5. Teaching young people how to make a difference
6. The fact that there are hundreds of thousands (bordering on a million) of organizations on the planet working towards creating a more sustainable planet and working for environmental and social justice.
Watch this really short video:
http://www.global-mindshift.org/memes/wombat.swf
Again, the list goes on. The take-away is that we all really, really can make a difference. On our own and especially when we join with others in our communities who also want to do the same. The other take-away is that if you want to be a part of the momentum towards change the steps beyond recycling and buying local foods and products, etc. is getting involved and supporting a local non-profit. An hour or two of your time once a month really does help. OK, off my soap box.
