Natural Hallucinogen

Try this out, and experience natural hallucination. Stare at the center, keep your eyes still & look away when instructed for an awesome effect! Don't worry, this isn't one of those lame "something pops up & scares you" videos.

Blog Organization

So I'm looking to expand Astral Mindscapes a bit, taking it in new directions. This is both in relation to itself, and also whats the norm in the world of blogging. So I'm going to discuss some of that here.

Foremost, I want to take a step away from referring to Astral Mindscapes simply as a blog. Its far more then that, and I want it to appear and be perceived that way. Its a gateway into the clockwork of our reality, an examination of what we are, why we are, and where we're going. Astral Mindscapes is my vision of the world and a vision for the world, a sort of utopia where anything goes.

With that in mind, I'm looking to add some people to the blog to write their own musings about whatever and I'm hoping this doesn't detract from the vision that I have for Astral Mindscapes, the sort of cosmic-feel that I hope that it portays.

Anyways, as far as content wise I'm trying to devise a weekly schedule to adhere to for content, regularly columns if you will. If anyone has an idea for a column they would like to see feel free to post it.

I plan on trying out my first column later this evening, hopefully. We'll see where it goes. As for the schedule I posted in an earlier post, I'm going to neglect that for now.

Redefining Our Solar System, part 2

So, now onto the original material I intended to discuss. As I mentioned, about a week ago I heard on Coast to Coast AM a story regarding what we classify as a planet. The story stated that a new classification that scientists proposed would increase the number of objects in this solar system to 12. So much for the age old "Mr. Vampire Eats My Juicy Steak Using No Pepper" mnemonic that I grew up using ot remember the names of the planets, or any of the other fun little phrases people used.

This new classification would settle once and for all the debate of regarding Pluto as a planet or not. It would also classify the large asteroid Ceres, Pluto's twin (or moon, depending on what you call it) Charon, and another object which is currently called UB313. To be truthful, I think it deserves a name change. These three objects form what we will classify as the new 10th, 11th, and 12th planets of our solar system.

The new classification, however, creates a classification of two types of planets. The first 8 planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) would make up what we know as the classical planets, and Ceres would be part of a new group called dwarf planets. The remaining three, Pluto, Charon, and UB313 make up the third new group called plutons. Hmm, wonder where that name came from.

The issue of planet classification has been a long, controversial one. The committee at this General Assembly of the IAU (International Astronomical Union) finally agreed on a proposal of what to deem a planet: that is, any body orbiting a star, thats neither a star nor a satellite of another planet, and is pulled into rounded shape by its own gravity.

I think this committees proposal is interesting, but represents a fundamental problem in astronomy. There are so many objects in the Solar System and we desparately try to classify them all. Our misunderstanding of what to call a planet and what not to call a planet is just one of many problems of trying to classify everything in space. If we continue to discover new objects, in our own solar system and beyond, will we eventually be challenged again on what we call a planet, based on this new proposal? What about calling a planet any object that has, does, or has the potential of hosting life? The question remains what we will call objects that don't support life? Oh well.

Regardless, I can come to enjoy the fact we live in a solar system of 12 planets. The more, the merrier.

Source:
New Solar System? Twelve planets and counting by ScienceNews.org

Redefining Our Solar System, part 1

My main discussion will be about some news I heard on Coast to Coast AM about a week ago and a news site I'm currently reading. The topic in question is redefining what scientists term a planet, and how that effects our current view of our solar system.

But first, today. As some of you may be aware, August 22nd was hyped to be quite an important day. Iran's official response to their nuclear program was given to the UN. Today also coincides with Rajab 27 in which Muhammed rose into heaven, and now Muslims are awaiting the second coming of the 12th Imam.

Iran had made mention of several things which created a bit of fear and hype in the media. Individuals such as Professor Bernard Lewis said that the date could hold awful things in store, a nuclear strike on Israel, for example.

Well, the day has come and gone. A article on CNN's website indicates that Iran nuclear officials state that Iran is ready to return to the table and discuss Iran's nuclear program. Disaster has been adverted, so it seems.

Last night I had a dream concerning August 22nd, today, and Iran. Now, it could be a result of my own interest in the story and my own anticipation to see if anything would happen. I'm not sure. The dream started off with a nuclear explosion, I'm not sure where. I saw the blast wave and the rising mushroom cloud. The dream shifts at some point to a shopping center on a rainy day. I recall discussing with family that Iran has tested a nuclear bomb. I was surprised at this, because as it was the supposed date in the dream, that Iran only tested a nuclear bomb and not used one. I recall later hearing from a news source or finding out somehow that Israel will be destroyed/attacked by (or on) December 6th of this year.

As I mentioned, this dream could simply be a result of my own unscious anticipation of today's event and a manifestation of my own eagerness to see what will happen. On the otherhand, it could be perceived as prophecy. Iran has not tested a nuclear weapon, at least from what we know. I would presume that such an occurence would be widely depicted by the media. Could the day that they tested this weapon, in my dream, be sometime in the near future, a day where it is raining?

Or, could it be, as I mentioned above, just my own unscious? Does this dream hold special meaning for me that I should research? There is an entry for a Nuclear Bomb in a dream dictionary.

I like to believe in prophecy. I used to be a big doomsday buff, always looking for the prophecy that indicates the end of the world. I've since changed, hoping that the future is a brighter, more peaceful place rather then the desolate, postapocalyptic wasteland that doomsayers portray. With only a little over 6 more year till 2012, I hope that the end of the Mayan calendar represents a time of spiritual transformation, a migration into a new form of thought that benefits all of humanity, and not the end of the world as some faiths teach.

Only time can tell. I will continue my discussion in regards to the Solar system in the next post.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

I find language to be quite a fascinating topic. Most people, myself included, do not comprehend the implications that language has on our experiences and perceptions. The question that is often asked in regards to language is whether or not language can shape, influence, or so far as to say create thought? The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis was a theory presented first by Edward Sapir and later expanded by his student Benjamin Whorf, and is one of many ideas that address this question.

The view presented by Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis represents weak, linguistic determinism. That is to say, thought is influenced and affected by language. On the otherhand, strong linguistic determinism goes so far as to say that thought is language. The following quote by Sapir gives a better indication of this view.

"Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society. It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of communication or reflection. The fact of the matter is that the 'real world' is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the language habits of the group. No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached... We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation. (Sapir, 1958 [1929], p. 69)"

I've personally always wondered if people who spoke their native language perceived the world differently then I do. Often when I asked this question I got strange looks from people, I assume who were a bit unsure of what I was trying to indicate. This also holds a bit of similarity to my thoughts concerning the perception of sensations. That is to say, do two people perceive the color blue in the same way. People can agree on what the color blue is, but is the visual sensation that the color blue causes the same for each person?

I'm recently become fascinated by Sanskrit, once the primary language in India and the liturgical language of Hinduism. Known as the "refined language", Sanskrit grammer is highly regular and has often been discussed for use in the computer industry. The vast amount of literature that is in Sanskrit is quite remarkable as well. The language is also very well-known for its poetic images. Listen to some examples of Shanti Shanti here, a Sanskrit Rock group here in America. The value and richness of the Sanskrit language is not to be underestimated.

I had taken a different direction in this post then I originally intended to. With the current schedule I have been dealing with its been hard to write and I had lost some of my thoughts. Here are some topics I'll be discussing in the next week or so to give you an idea of what to expect.

Next Weeks Topics:

• DMT and Psychedelic Visions
• Coast to Coast Live's discussion with Simon and the Necronomicon
• Possibly more on Sanskrit
• Commentary on Spiritual Art
  

Sci-Fi Music

I discovered an amazing artist the other day by the name of AQi Fzono. AQi Fzono is a Japanese synthesizer musician. His music is some of the most beautiful I've heard in a long time. A sample of it can be found here. You can purchase his Cosmology album from Amazon by clicking on the ad below. I highly recommend you check this artist out. He is a pioneer in creating the genre of Sci-Fi music. Find out more about AQi Fzono at his website or checking out his wikipedia entry.

Ohio Earthquake

A recent article on CNN's website talked about earthquakes in Mentor, Ohio. The city has been subject to earthquakes on average every two weeks since January. A look at the Ohio Seismic Network showed a 3.8 magnitude earthquake June 20th in Lake Erie. An aftershock of magnitude 2.1 occured on the 1st of July. (Source) Quite interesting since you really don't consider the area to be seismically active (at least not to the extent of states such as California).

The strongest earthquake to hit Ohio occured in March 9th, 1937 and had a magnitude of 5.4 (Source)