culture: Development or refinement of intellect, emotions, interests, manners, and tastes.

The ideals, customs, skills and arts of a people or group that are transmitted from one generation to another. Culture is refined living that arises in a peaceful, stable society. Hindu culture arises directly out of worship in the temples. The music, the dance, the art, the subtleties of mannerism and interraction between people all have their source in the humble devotion to the Lord, living in the higher, spiritual nature, grounded in the security of the immortal Self within.

(See also: Culture , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Natural disasters

The radical annihilation of the world is a theme that seems to recur in many of the world's cultures, cults, and religions. Sometimes there is a subsequent reordering and renewal of the world that includes a particular group being placed in supremacy. Other times, there is a mystical translation of chosen inhabitants into a structured paradise. Another option is unrelenting chaos and loss of this world without recourse.

Sometimes, the premonition feeling that you get after these dreams leaves you feeling very eerie. You may be scared that what just happened in dreamland may be about to happen out in waking life. The means may be different for any given dreamer depending on your worldview, but the feeling is roughly the same ? that time seems short for this world.

There can be several different approaches to seeking meaning in this dream. The origins of these approaches are in personal psychology, cultural tensions, and religious or spiritual revelation.

Feeling dramatically out of control in your personal life can trigger apocalypse dreams. This may be caused by hormones in adolescence, the death of a loved one (especially parent), or divorce and other significant relationship losses. The ending world is an escape mechanism to avoid dealing with a world so dramatically changed by new circumstances. This world-ending dream often features the dreamer alone amongst generally unrecognized figures. This reveals that all people close to the dreamer are gone. Cultural cues for world-ending dreams come out of a collective angst about the frailty of our planet or the human race. These dreams may be triggered in times of global hopelessness and unpredictability. A millennial change generates this kind of dreaming for some people. Damaging news about the earth, global warming, and cosmic collision potentials will do it for others.

Economic uncertainty will make some people extremely anxious. Whenever instability or insecurity becomes themes of cultural awareness, apocalyptic dreams increase. When interpreting this type of dream you should ask yourself, "How is the world ending and who is to blame?" This dream may be a calling for you to protect yourself against a risk that is beyond your comfort zone, become more involved in a particular cause, or to think again about the rationale of your fears.

Religious or spiritual revelation that heralds the end of the world is a powerful image. Usually, the dreamer will see some significant icons of their faith initiating or withstanding the destruction. Another scenario is that adherents to the mysticism are identified in a particular way and survive the destruction because of their association. In these dreams, the world is often reordered. Often, these dreams will accompany a time in the dreamer's life when he or she feels that the entire world is against them and only their association with something larger than themselves can provide a resolution to the struggles being faced. (Or, they may just be receiving an oracle about the conclusion of this world?)

Source: iVillage, http://www.ivillage.co.uk

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Natural disasters , Meaning of Dreams about Natural disasters , Dream Interpretation Natural disasters )

Helicopter

The helicopter is an interesting object in our culture. Originally, it was thought that the helicopter would one day replace the car. However, prices never came down, leaving the helicopter as an icon of wealth or authority. Since the Vietnam War, helicopters have become more associated with conflict than commuting.

To dream of a helicopter probably means that you envision yourself in a situation of potential hazard or needing to be `whisked away' from your present circumstances. The former would be expressed in a helicopter as a means of escape. The latter equates images of romance and wealth.

Source: iVillage, http://www.ivillage.co.uk

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Helicopter , Meaning of Dreams about Helicopter , Dream Interpretation Helicopter )

Karma: Depending on the culture, the concept of karma has several different interpretations. While some schools of thought use the term to mean a sort of payback for our good and bad deeds, others (notably Buddhist scholars) maintain that karma never means the effect of a good or bad deed, but the deed itself. This initial deed, they argue, sets into motion a chain of events that leads to eiher good or bad situations, depending on the nature of the original deed. Edgar Cayce, on the other hand, taught that the consequences of our actions in this life were not karma, but simply cause and effect. He said that karma was always what we bring into this life as consequences from a past life.

(See also: Karma , Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca)

In our chaotic world hurtling towards an uncertain future, three kinds of responses have emerged. The fundamentalists are clinging to or going back to values of a distant past. The neo-fundamentalists, represented by global corporatism, are trying to substitute the reality of chaos and change by an artificial form of reality. Then there are Cultural Creatives, whose saner and evolutionary response is to forge a new, higher and integral synthesis.

Read more here: » Cultural Creatives: The Cultural Creatives

There is a growing movement involving about hundred million people in the USA and Europe, weaving a new cultural fabric, reframing how we see the world today. They are called the Cultural Creatives, a term coined by Paul Ray (Ph.D. in sociology).

These activists - schoolteachers, artists, spiritual guides and scientists - are questioning the unspoken assumptions of the old culture, opening up new insights and forging creativity in people's lives from grass root levels. There is growing evidence that these efforts are changing the society in many ways.

Read more here: » Cultural Creatives: Creating a new Culture

Robert D. Putnam, a professor of Public Policy at Harvard University, in an article ‘Bowling Alone’ writes that civic engagement would be restored in America ‘‘by a palpable national crisis, like war, depression or natural disaster.’’ A survey done by him and Thomas H. Sander (involved in Civic Engagement in America project) a month after the September 11 attack showed a rise in interest among Americans in civic and government issues and the number of people volunteering for social work.
The survey also suggests that Americans are more open than ever before to making people of all backgrounds full members of the national community and are experiencing their broadest-ever sense of ‘we’.

Read more here: » Cultural Creatives: Post-September 11: New resolve

For more than 13 years, sociologist Paul Ray has been studying American values. Based on surveys of more than 100,000 Americans, plus many focus groups and in-depth interviews, he has identified a new, growing group he calls Cultural Creatives. This article summarizes the life style preferences of Cultural Creatives.

Read more here: » Cultural Creatives: Lifestyle Preferences of Cultural Creatives

Some say a critical mass of more conscious individuals can shift our evolution away from wanton destruction toward a positive future for living things on the planet. Bay-area researcher Paul Ray has found that we may be living through a rare population mind-set shift -- something that happens only once or twice a millennium. A growing number of people, according to Ray's research, express concern about ecological sustainability (green issues) and a core group express a commitment to personal and spiritual development in addition. He calls these individuals "Cultural Creatives".

Read more here: » Cultural Creatives: Cultural Creatives Making a Difference for the Future

The LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) industry is a recently identified grouping of business segments that represents a $540 billion global marketplace consisting of educated consumers who make conscientious purchasing and investing decisions. Paul Ray, the eminent sociologist who coined the term "cultural creatives" for this consumer group, has determined that this category includes one out of every four Americans, and is growing rapidly. Market research guru Paul Ray speaks out on how he found them and why you should care.

Read more here: » Cultural Creatives & LOHAS: Discovering the Cultural Creatives