On March 19, the moon will swing around Earth more closely than it has in the past 18 years, lighting up the night sky from just 221,567 miles (356,577 kilometers) away. On top of that, it will be full. And one astrologer believes it could inflict massive damage on the planet.

Richard Nolle, a noted astrologer who runs the website astropro.com, has famously termed the upcoming full moon at lunar perigee (the closest approach during its orbit) an “extreme supermoon.”

When the moon goes super-extreme, Nolle says, chaos will ensue: Huge storms, earthquakes, volcanoes and other natural disasters can be expected to wreak havoc on Earth. (It should be noted that astrology is not a real science, but merely makes connections between astronomical and mystical events.)

But do we really need to start stocking survival shelters in preparation for the supermoon?

The question is not actually so crazy. In fact scientists have studied related scenarios for decades. Even under normal conditions, the moon is close enough to Earth to make its weighty presence felt: It causes the ebb and flow of the ocean tides…

[continues at Space.com]

It’s world-changing (well if you believe in this sort of thing : ) If you’d like to read what’s really going on here behind the hubbub and learn a bit about astronomy not astrology, Charlie Jane Anders over at io9.com has an excellent post:

What on Earth is going on? And why does everybody suddenly have to work with a new version of the completely meaningless zodiac?

It seems to have started with this article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune last weekend, in which one astronomer made some statements about the zodiac. Parke Kunkle is on the board of directors of the Minnesota Planetarium Society and teaches astronomy at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. Kunkle told the Star-Tribune the Earth’s relation to the sun had changed since the Babylonians first created the zodiac.

We got in touch with Kunkle and asked him what he actually told the Star-Tribune. He said he was asked by the Star-Tribune to give them a few bits of information about astronomy, not realizing the article would become a huge discussion of astrology and the relationship between astronomy and astrology. And the main stuff he talked to the Star-Tribune about has to do with the phenomenon of “precession.”

Read More from Charlie Jane Anders over at io9.com

Russian author Gennady Belimov published an article in which he described experiments led by Vadim Chernobrov, the inventor of a time machine in 1987. Chernobrov claims his machine can slow or speed up the course of time by tinkering with the Earth’s magnetic field. His biggest success was the slowing of time for 1.5 seconds. One of the problems remote viewers have is acquiring time lines for future or past events that they examine. For example, a viewer might foresee a major catastrophe like a volcanic eruption, airplane crash or hurricane, but pinning down an exact moment when it will occur is extremely difficult. To deal with this problem, Aaron C. Donahue spent years developing an advanced form of viewing, which he calls the acquisition and practical application of non-historical data.

Source: http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php/your-details/10506-vadim-chernobrov

Military psy ops aren’t limited to leaflets, propaganda broadcasts, and Korean pop music. In the past, the US military has played on their opponent superstitions of vampires, ghosts, and astrology. Here are some strange examples.

In World War II, US forces exploited the Nazi’s predilection to put stock in superstitions and the occult. The Rand Corporation’s 1950 memorandum “The Exploitation of Superstitions for Purposes of Psychological Warfare” details how pseudoscience connoisseur Joseph Goebbels counteracted Allied attempts to strike fear into the superstitious strata of the German population.

Another curious incident noted in the Rand document occurs in Italy, where British military created a giant manikin to scare rural residents. A large, shambling creature was assembled to freak out superstitious locals…

Read More from Cyriaque Lamar on io9.com

Crawford predicts “ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE”–beginning, as a matter of fact, on Monday July 26, 2010.

…the opening of Crawford’s July issue [of his newsletter, Crawford Perspectives] is definitely the sort of thing that upsets people: “NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE JULY! We mean, of course, the planetary pictures in the sky which are developing towards the tightest harmonic alignments in the most potent areas of the zodiacal circle ever recorded in Earth’s written history. These portend increasing and maximizing intensity and rapidity of ‘change’ on every level of existence: mineral, vegetable, animal, human and spirit. Will Capitalism survive? Will Democracy survive? Will our markets survive? Will governments survive? Will humanity survive? Will Earth survive?

“We don’t know, but we’ll be SHORT for it!”

Crawford–along with other astrologers, who however are merely worried about nuclear war, the end of the world etc.–is impressed with an imminent unusual alignment that apparently involves five key planets.

He writes: “Astrologers call it the ‘Cardinal Climax.’ It is considered to be the most powerful and important planetary alignment of the modern era. Perhaps it heralds the beginning of the real ‘Aquarian Age’ or the end of the ‘Mayan Calendar.’ (After all, what’s a few months in a 25,600-year cycle?) These energies actually maximize from July 30 through August 3. There have been ’shadows’ preceding and will be echoes afterwards for quite some time.”

Crawford adds: “This huge alignment will be followed by a Full Moon on the Fall Equinox and a Lunar Eclipse on the Winter Solstice. We expect the depth and scope of dislocations during this period to exceed anything we have ever witnessed, both in otherwise civilized interaction among nations, and likely our fill in natural disasters.”

“We continue to recommend extreme caution and proper emergency measures such as extra food, water, medicines and cash over the next 24 months in particular. Do NOT wait any longer!!”…

[continues at MarketWatch:]

After a pretty lengthy break from the world of podcasting, Ken Eakins (Sitting Now) and Raymond Wiley (disinformation) return with a real 90 minute treat!

This weeks guest, Mitch Horowitz, is the author of the excellent new book Occult America: How Mysticism Shaped our Nation. Mitch has held a lifelong interest in the Occult and Supernatural, and after pursuing the subject for as long, naturally, became the editor of one of the largest publishers of Occult and Supernatural works Tarcher/Penguin.

In this weeks episodes we discuss: Freemasons, Mesmirism, Theosophy, Astrology and the dark side of American occultism.

Daddytank and his army of flying (musical) monkeys return this week in the shape of:

• Memories of Tree’s — Snakes and Headaches
• Diamond District — I Mean Business
• Vlooper — Muzungu

Enjoy!

Mitch Horowitz is a writer and publisher of many years’ experience with a lifelong interest in man’s search for meaning. The editor-in-chief of Tarcher/Penguin in New York, he is the author of Occult America: How Mysticism Shaped our Nation (Bantam, September 2009).

A frequent writer and speaker on metaphysical themes, he has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, Dateline NBC, The History Channel, The Montel Williams Show, All Things Considered, Air America Radio, and Coast to Coast AM. He has written for U.S. News and World Report, Parabola, Science of Mind, the Religion News Service, and the popular weblog BoingBoing.

At Tarcher/Penguin, Horowitz has published some of today’s leading titles in world religion, esoterica, and the metaphysical. He has also published notable works in philosophy, social thought and politics. His recent titles include Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity by David Lynch; 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck; The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders by Jacob Needleman; The Secret Teachings of All Ages: Reader’s Edition by Manly P. Hall; and Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq by Sheldon Rampton and John Stau.