Meryl Ann Butler is an artist, author and educator who counts First Lady Dolley Payne Todd Madison as well as two signers of the Articles of Confederation among her ancestors. Mary Ball, mother of George Washington is in the ancestral lineage of Butler's great grandmother, Blanche Ball. Grateful to know that the blood of America's founding mothers and fathers runs in her veins, Butler has been newly filled with matriotism as a direct result of the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Lest she appear too uppity, it should be revealed that she also has family ties to James Butler Hickok, better known as Wild Bill.

In his latest book, former senior computer systems designer and bestselling author Gregg Braden merges these ancient and modern world views into a powerful new model of time. Marrying the modern laws of fractal patterns to the ancient concept of cycles, he demonstrates how everything from the war and peace between nations to our most joyous relationships and personal crises are the returning patterns of our past. As each pattern returns, it carries the same conditions of previous cycles—fractal patterns that can be known, measured and predicted!

What makes this model so important today is that the returning cycles also carry a window of opportunity—a choice point—that allows us to choose a new outcome for the cycle. Braden suggests that if we can see time from this perspective, the patterns will show us what’s in store for the future, and perhaps how to avoid the mistakes of our past.

After presenting the case histories that confirm the accuracy of fractal time calculations, the author crosses the traditional boundaries of science and spirituality to answer the question that must be asked: What does fractal time tell us about 2012, and beyond? Because the cycles repeat, the seed for 2012 has already happened and the pattern already exists! In a narrative format of easy-to-read science and true-life accounts, Fractal Time shows us what we can expect as we close the Great World Age described by the Mayan Calendar, and the secret to our moment in history.

CULVER CITY, CA – NY Times Bestselling author Gregg Braden offered a compelling presentation, Fractal Time: The Secret of 2012 and a New World Age on Friday evening, Feb. 27th, at the Agape International Spiritual Center. The Center was founded by the Rev. Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith of “The Secret” fame.

It was Braden's first presentation on this new topic.

Braden asked, “What does 2012 mean for us today?” noting that a number of traditions around the globe predict the end of the world on Dec. 21st, 2012.  Climate change, new diseases, food shortages, and “wars, and rumors of wars,” all seem to herald the end. Even now, he notes, some people are living in bunkers, hoarding food and weapons, and preparing for a global disaster.

Braden showed the trailer for the movie  “2012,” due out later this year, which introduces an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world, (Hollywood-style, natch.)

Perhaps inspired by images like these, a 15-year old boy recently wrote a letter to Braden, saying that it didn’t seem right that the world would end in 3 years, just when he turned 18, and was supposed to be beginning his life. Poignantly, he asked Braden if there was any way for him to survive.

And Braden offers his answers.

According to Braden, the end of any age is accompanied by a period of brief but significant intensity, and he says we are in those times now. These outer changes inspire us to look within for answers.

And, he says, it is no accident that we are here at the moment of great change – the very same science that heralds doom and gloom, also offers the answer: what is required is a new language. And he explores what that language might be.

Science tell us that:
1.    In the center core of the Milky Way Galaxy is a great source of energy, a powerful, pulsing, magnetic field that affects us.
2.    Where our planet is in her orbit determines how we are affected by this magnetic field of energy. The location changes on a regular basis over long cycles of time which can be calculated. Ancient Egyptian and Mayan civilizations knew about this, but we couldn’t confirm it scientifically until the 1990’s with the use of the Hubble telescope.
3.    The Earth also “wobbles” on its axis, due to the gravitational pull of the sun and moon. This “wobbling” affects  how outer space appears when viewed from Earth. One complete wobble takes almost 26,000 years. This 26,000 year cycle is composed of 12 shorter cycles of slightly over 5000 years each, and is called the Precession of the Equinox.
4.    The Milky Way galaxy is shaped like a disc. Our solar system is positioned toward the outer portions of the galaxy.

On Dec. 21st, 2012, when the solstic sun rises, our planet will be in perfect alignment with the core of the Milky Way Galaxy for the first time in over 5,000 years, giving us an  an unobstructed window to our galaxy’s source energy. This moment is the ending of a 5000 year cycle, as well as the ending of the 26,000 year cycle.

But this isn’t the first time this has happened. This is a cycle that our little planet has gone through many times.

The last time a similar ending of cycles happened was in 1155 BC, when Egypt’s 20th dynasty collapsed. The cause of its demise? They initiated so many wars, that they couldn’t maintain them all, and this caused economic collapse. Déjà vu, anyone?

The  understanding of these cycles of time can be illuminated by fractal science.

Braden explained that a fractal is repetition in different scales: microcosm and macrocosm.

An atom is a fractal of a solar system, and a neural synapse is a fractal of a bolt of lightening. Nature builds the universe from similar patterns. Braden said, “The small pattern is a window to understanding the big pattern.”

This fractal relationship is seen in the cycles of time as well. If one can determine when the seed event of a cycle was planted, the natural laws and rhythms of cyclic activity will divulge details about what to expect when the conditions repeat.

“The future is only the past, returning through another gate.” ~ Arnold Glasgow

Braden has devised a Time Code Calculator, based on mathematics that he explains more fully in his book.  This calculator shows how events like Pearl Harbor and 9-11 are not random events, but linked through meaningful patterns of cyclic activity. Once the patterns are decoded, future events can be predicted.

Once his book is released on March 17th, a working Time Code Calculator will be available on his website for visitors’ use.

Science now supports the concept of an energy field that connects everything. Heartmath research shows that it is the language of emotion that connects us to the heart rhythms and brain waves of the planet. www.heartmath.com

The organ in the human body that creates the strongest electrical and magnetic field is the heart, and it is 5000 times stronger than the field created by the brain.

I have often wondered if that’s why, when the Ancient Egyptians mummified their rulers, they discarded the brain, but preserved the heart.

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) send an image of the geomagnetic field back to earth every 30 minutes. The magnetic field registered major anomalies on Sept. 11th and the days following, indicating the effect that human emotions have on the magnetic field.

Any ending, is also a new beginning. Braden says he believes we have a rare opportunity to come together as a family on this planet, and to learn from the mistakes of the civilizations in the past.

Global changes trigger spiritual growth. We have an opportunity for cooperation or competition.  300 years of science have told us that we are powerless victims, but Braden begs to differ. The magnetic field, which is the source of life, cannot be separated from human beings, and the link is the language of the heart: our emotions.

Braden predicts that 2012 is not the end of the world, but a new beginning.


Further info and resources:

Fractal Time: The Secret of 2012 and a New World Age by Gregg Braden (Hay House, March 2009)

According to Global Coherence Initiative  (www.glcoherence.org ), and organization with which Braden is involved,  16 years of heart-brain communication validated the central role of the human heart in building coherence and setting forth the chain of wellbeing. This science-based initiative is working to unite millions of people in heart-focused care and intention, to shift global consciousness from instability and discord to balance, cooperation and enduring peace. This project has been launched by the Institute of HeartMath®, a nonprofit 501(c)(3), a recognized global leader in researching emotional physiology, heart-brain interactions and the physiology of optimal health and performance.