As the Aquarium looks forward to an expanded networking initiative it is timely to review our mission statement, or even lack thereof, to wit:

Humanity continues in its accelerated confrontation with new challenges and opportunities. Like those dialecticians of old, I believe that at some point this quantity of change will take on a qualitative dimension of its own. Much more recently the McKennas and others speak of an omega point or 'time wave zero' where our historical acceleration leads us into a new mode of existence and reality entirely. I would refer to this as our eschaton. This is the point at which our destiny becomes historicized, at which point time ceases from its linear imperative. Or this could simply be the point where we exceed our global stress limit and fall victim to a collective psychotic break. This would be our ultimate challenge.

To meet this challenge, we will need to utilize every possible resource, and some that may not even seem possible. Clearly the resources that will be of transcendent value will be our imaginations and creativity. In this regard there are some very significant obstacles, namely any belief system that exercises undue constraint on our creativity. The greatest culprit at this point in history is our not so modern scientific worldview.

I am not suggesting that we should repeal the law of gravity tomorrow, but I would consider repealing it next year, if we can get our act together. To put it another way, we will have to make up our minds rather quickly as to whether matter exists to serve spirit or spirit exists to serve matter. If the latter is the case, then we might as well throw in the towel right now. This place was not meant for us, we don't belong here, and let's get the heck out before it's too late. Shades of Heaven's Gate? You betcha! But that will not be necessary, because we already know from the depths of our being that spirit is the alpha and omega of all existence. If 13.7% of the scientists in 1998 happen to believe otherwise, I would highly recommend this as a time for them to recalibrate their slide rules. And if you are looking for the biggest bargain in history, consider faith, its price has never been lower than right now.

But how can I be so sure that this is finally the time and place where we are going to meet our maker? It may be just a hunch now, but I am looking forward to proving it to you.

Consider the politics and psychology of the anomalous. We humans may be the most curious of animals, but we also place a very high value on normalcy and stability. The weird is one of our greatest of luxuries, but is valued only as such. We have gone to the ends of the world in search of mystery, but we sure as heck don't want it to come searching for us. How many people would give their life savings for a ride in a flying saucer, and how many abductees would give their life savings to not have to ride in a flying saucer? Everything in its proper place. No longhairs in the cockpit, thank you.

Consider also our attachment to the laws of physics. If the physical is an epiphenomenon of the spiritual, why is physics so unforgiving? It is simply that we have grown accustomed to and vitally dependent upon that system of things. The lone magician has a very steep climb to ever get out of this hole we have dug for ourselves.

The magician faces a phalanx of conservatism of the most rabid and sometimes vicious sort. Those of us who aspire to be the magicians of a new heaven and a new earth, clearly we need a deus ex machina. And that is what I sometimes claim to be, in moments of indiscretion.

I have a trick up my sleeve. Some people might call it Roswell, but you can call it anything you like. It is a Trojan horse from the larger reality, planted here years ago. I now claim it by eminent domain.

The door to this mystery treasure is well hidden, but so is the door to heaven, and yet people manage to crash in there all the time. But rather than crashing, I would suggest following the path. There is a path of crumbs. There is a trail of little anomalies leading to the big anomaly. There is even a paper trail, but first we have to consider the anomalies from all perspectives, from the point of view of God, the magicians and those rascally conservatives who only want to keep the airplanes flying.

Those conservatives have all the foibles of the rest of us but manage to be rather more discrete. They have our curiosity and they can afford to collect rare oddities like crashed saucers and do it without fanfare. If the rest of us were to find out, we would exercise our eminent domain and spoil their trophy case.

But there is another side to the anomaly business, and that is where the vulnerability lies. The other side is money and deception of the cosmic kind. A Trojan horse must be designed to be very appealing to its targets, so that they won't just lock it up in a case and throw away the key. There is nothing more appealing to the modern mind that a good gadget, especially one that is saleable. Imagine a silver saucer filled with high-tech goodies -- we can have our trophy and sell it too, but we do have to be discrete.

And there is a darker side. Now that we have our golden goose, how can we prevent our enemies down here from taking it away, or our enemies up there from taking it back? We'll need a whole new defense system. Now we have the space race, star wars, black projects, and proprietary commercial spin-offs. Modern civilization has been co-opted into the cosmic game plan almost unwittingly, with multiple layers of self-deception. What a scam! But now comes da boss to say the party is over, too bad!

There were a few of the insiders who were not so easily duped, something smelled fishy. They remembered their history lessons and started to do some serious thinking. They looked this gift horse in the mouth and were sore afraid. Instead of baubles they saw a rending of the veil. Instead of high tech they saw some very old tech. Pandora's box was open and the reaper was on his way. We were the fatted calves being prepared for the harvest in the sky.

They were right to be afraid, but their worst fears were misplaced. The eschaton is upon us but so is the second coming, and they turn out to be virtually one and the same. This is a risky game designed like a thrill ride. The closer our encounter with the eschaton the bigger will be our boost into the wild blue. It is the physics of the gravity sling, but on a spiritual level, of course. We wonder if this ride has ever been tested. We question the Architect.

That is the story in a nutshell. Myself, I'm a cautious conservative guy, but I can also see that our destiny beckons. Let's not keep her waiting too long.

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rev. 4/8/98