Bush Countdown

YES, it's official! The backwards clock reveals that as of today, there are 400 days remaining to Inauguration Day 1-20-09. On that glorious day, the scourge endured for eight long years will officially end, and the hard work of rebuilding our country will begin! Or at least that's what the tea leaves predict.

Until then, there are still the 400 days to get through ... which reminds me of an old Francois Truffaut film. While the title literally translates to "400 Blows", the interpreted meaning is "Raise Hell". I'm sure Molly Ivins would agree that this is exactly what we need to do for each and every day of the 400 days remaining until January 20, 2009.

Here are a few interesting facts about the number 400: 400 is the square of 20 (note: the Mayans used a Base 20 system, the significance of which I will explore below). A circle is divided into 400 grads. 400 is a self number in Base 10 (the base system we use), since there is no integer that when added to the sum of its own digits results in 400. On the other hand, 400 is divisible by the sum of its own Base 10 digits, making it a "Harshad" number. That last fact brings up a fascinating relationship between numbers and our lives. The name "Harshad" is sanskrit for "Great Joy" -- as you can tell, I am taking great joy in contemplating what will occur 400 days from now!


Warning: for the balance of this post, I will become a "Woman of the Oak" otherwise known as a Celtic Soothsayer & issue stream-of-conscious revelations ... The ancient Hebrew alphabet had 22 letters; the FINAL letter was assigned a numerical value of 400. In Hebrew, that letter is called "Tav". In Ethiopic, it is "Tau". The final letter in ancient Greek is "Upsilon", which to us is the letter "U". Since that was their final letter, to represent what we would call "W", they would've used "U" twice. Is it a coincidence that the initial by which Bush is known is the official LAST letter of ancient alphabets, and that it was assigned a numerical value of 400, which is the number of days remaining until his LAST official day in office? As one of my sisters would say, Coincidence or Crap? Women who resembled the Celtic Soothsayer have been tortured to death for being "wise women". Their reputations were fueled by their phenomenal memories which reached back ... 400 years!

OK, now let's check the americas ... Meso-America! Mayans either invented the concept of zero or inherited it from the Olmecs (who disappeared circa 4th century B.C.). They perfected it in their calendars during 4th century A.D. (europeans eventually received knowledge of zero from the arab culture after 800 A.D. -- and yes, note all these appearances of 400 or multiples of 400). Zero was represented by the Cosmic Egg. Mayans believed that adding zeroes to any number imbued it with transformative change, intensifying the nothingness of death and the totality of life within the same circle (or egg).

Let's analyze what will happen 400 days from now as the Mayans would. As a new president is sworn in, we will embark on a new Life Path. The new path suggests "genius for planning, fixing, building & making things work". It also suggests "trustworthiness & practicality". Those are the positive aspects for the new Life Path which I fervently hope will materialize. Conversely, the Life Path just ending is characterized by "sheer stubborness & dogged beliefs". In addition, the intensification factor of TWO zeroes following the number 4 suggests that the Life Path just ending was "excessively obsessive and dogmatic, narrow-minded and repressive." Dum-de-dum-dum, sound familiar? Coincidence or Crap?

This is an image of the Cosmic Zipper, made up of a cosmic egg (or zero) with a rip in the fabric of time. I bring up this concept because the Mayans have a prophesy about cosmic cycles. Their long calendar predicts the current cycle ends in the year 2012 (Dec 21, 2012 to be exact), which also happens to be a presidential election year for us. They go on to predict the 4 sun years leading up to 2012 (that is to say, the years from 2008 - 2012) will be a time of accelerated change, both in the physical Earth and within human consciousness. Sounds like we have a lot in store for us during those 4 years (there's that number 4 again), all the more important to make sure our leadership and we personally are up to the task!

Coincidentally, the next Solar Max for sunspot activity will be in 2012 & it will be the strongest in historical records. Click here for a graphic correlation of Sunspots and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations. Heights of civilization are associated with strong sunspot activity. Personally, I don't like the idea of reaching a height in 2012, because that would mean the crash is that much closer. And besides, one civilization's height is another's cultural trough.

I hope none of this numerical speculation scared you away. I find it all endlessly fascinating & wish everyone had as much fun with it as I did putting it together. Sources are cited in the coments. Too bad we don't have a Mayan candidate running for 2008. Maybe in 2012?

Perhaps YOU have a coincidence about the Number 400 to share?