OUR LOGO
By: JP Hogan
The owl is what seems to be most prominent when looking at our logo. There surely is an owl there but there is also a symbol that is very pertinent to this particular time here on earth. This is the Mayan symbol which represents 13 Baktun, the end date of the Mayan Calendar which occurs on December 21, 2012.
The Mayan symbol for 13 Baktun was “tweaked” by extending the top making ears. There is also a handle around the mouth area making it look like a coffee cup. Otherwise, the original symbol is pretty much in tact. But why the owl? Why the Mayan symbol?
The original intent of JP’s JAVA was to establish a warm, safe, comfortable atmosphere for people to gather and relax and feel at home. I wanted to welcome customers as I would welcome them as guests in my home. I wanted the logo to reflect this and to also reflect a part of myself as the host of the guests I would be welcoming into this space.
The owl is very significant to me. It is what I would call my “spirit animal” because of the relationship I have had with the owl through the many encounters I have had with it on my path. The owl, in fact, has in many ways taught me to “let go”, to follow spirit, like letting go of the sides of the banks of the river and allowing myself to be moved by the current of the stream. To trust. That is significant because it is that stream which led me here and compelled me to open JP’s JAVA. The owl is the night eagle and the keeper of sacred space. So it is the owl that I have out on the front sign, protecting this space which I consider sacred.
The Mayan symbol is significant because of the fact that this important date is occurring in our time. It is happening now. The calendar ends on December 21, 2012. It is written as 13.0.0.0.0, the end of the 13th Baktun, completing a cycle that began in August 3113 B.C. Each Baktun is 144,000 days and represents a cycle or age. For instance the 6th Baktun, 747 – 353 B.C, was the “age of the mind teachings”. The time of philosophical, individualistic thought. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Buddha, Lao Tzo, Confucius. The 7th, 353 B.C. – A.D. 41, was the “age of the anointed one”. Jesus Christ. This final Baktun ending with 13.0.0.0.0 is the “age of transformation of matter”.
The calendar cosmology of the ancient Maya states that the world is due for renewal in the years around A.D. 2012. The Maya believed a rare alignment of the solstice sun in 2012 with the Milky Way would be responsible for a great transformation of the earth. Specifically, the winter solstice Sun will conjunct the Milky Way at the “dark rift” in the Milky Way. The orientation is such that the Milky Way will rim the horizon at all points around. Thus, the Milky Way “sits” on the earth, touching it at all points, opening up the cosmic sky portal. The galactic and solar planes are thus aligned.
The Mayan calendar reflects the Mayan assumption that important events happen at the end of a time cycle. This is like the human gestation period – birth happens at the end of that time period. Thus, the end of the calendar does not represent “the end” or some “doomsday event”. It represents a birth. The ancient Mayan cosmologists considered the processional alignment of era-2012, what can be called a solstice-galaxy alignment, as justification for a World Age shift.
So that is the story behind our logo. As the owl has taught me to “let go”, the river has moved me to places I never expected to go. As it led me to open the doors to JP’s JAVA, it also enabled me to receive these symbols. There are many signposts and triggers on our path that seem to say “wake up” and remind us of who we are. I often sit and look at our sign outside and wonder. Isn’t it interesting that this ancient symbol stands here across the street from the largest university in the free world? This symbol of the changes now taking place. Is it there as a reminder? A wake up call? It’s all a mystery to me. But that’s what makes life so interesting.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE MAYAN CALENDAR AND 2012 CLICK ON THESE RELATED WEB SITES.
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