When asked to cover the Star Family Conference, I was excited. As both a journalist and a person interested in native American prophecy, I am aware that we live in very precarious times. Art Bell on his radio show refers to these times as "the quickening"—time speeds up as events move toward what some people insist are the final days. Native Americans refer to these times as a coming period of cleansing as moving from the Fourth World to the Fifth World. No matter how one labels it, it promises to be quite a ride.

This was an intense and often sobering conference. Beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday March 13th, it continued through Sunday March 16th. From 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m each day a total of 32 speakers spoke for about an hour each. These one-hour sessions ranged from demonstrations of brilliance to demonstrations of arrogance. The conference was a salad bar: one could pick "dishes" which nourished or simply pick those dishes which tasted good yet lacked spiritual nutrition.

Credit Jean Holmes and native American spiritual leader Standing Elk for providing such a potpourri of diverse speakers. Both of these spiritual leaders' intentions were honorable: to provide a forum for leaders in the spiritual community —Indian and non- Indian—to address the concerns facing humanity on the brink of a crisis. Yet, it was a mixture of the sacred and the profane. Those who spoke with wisdom enhanced the conference; those lacking a spiritual sophistication not only profaned themselves but also those who spoke with wisdom.

...Sadly, much of the so-called New Age movement is unfortunately awash with sarsaparilla spirituality and fortune cookie metaphysics. Whole Life Expos and other spiritual gatherings, with rare exceptions, reek of a crass commercialism. Genuine spiritual leaders quickly realize that if they don't speak within an extremely narrow paradigm, they will be ignored in favor of a more "edifying" spiritual line. The Star Family Conference had no commercial intentions; it simply wanted to provide a forum for important information.

A reference to a previous conference which I wrote about might provide clarity. The Planetary Violence Conference had between twenty and twenty-five speakers who were all on the same page. All of these speakers, including such luminaries as Zecharia Sitchin, listened to each other's presentations. What was stated was usually backed up with solid research. One left the conference with a greater clarity because all speakers were focused on a common goal.

With the Star Family Conference, I got the sense that a majority of speakers were not only not on the same page, they weren't even reading from the same book. Very few of the speakers in this conference listened to each other's presentations. Too often, what was stated was either blatant truism or, worse, contradictory to what some other speaker had said. Only three speakers referred to any research. Too many speakers made assertions which simply couldn't be backed up. One left this conference confused because of the unbacked assertions and the glaring contradictions. Yet, out of this confusion came some brilliant and worthwhile material.

What shone in this conference were those speakers who realize that perilous times might lie ahead and provided wise counsel and effective signposts of what may come. Best in this effort was Chet Snow [author of Mass Dreams of the Future—a study of people's dreams about the future]. Snow presented an effective compilation of native American prophecies. One of the most meaningful was his mentioning that we would know that we are approaching the time of cleansing when the eagle lands on the moon. Snow claimed that this prophecy was fulfilled when the "Eagle" landed on the moon in July 1969. Another Hopi prophecy claims that the time of cleansing will be near when the moon lands on the earth. Snow claimed that this happened with one of the crop circles which was a rendering of the moon.

Star Sparks, a visionary artist and Pleiadean contactee, lectured on the Mayan calendar. [The term "contactee" is used to describe people who claim they have experienced direct contact with extraterrestrial beings.] This well-explained and lucid lecture brought a greater clarity to the Mayan calendar. Evidently, our move to a 12:60 means of counting time and a 365-day, 12-month calender was not an auspicious move. It moved us from a 13:20 means of counting time. According to Star Sparks, this means that we are living in false time—a time which favors bankers but is not good for humans. Sparks claimed that we would be more aligned with our natural rhythms if we returned to the Mayan calendar. Nothing in Star Sparks' talk reflected the commercial; in fact, he was offering free of charge a game which would help people count their days according to the Mayan 13:20 mode of measuring time. I am not supporting this; I am simply saying that Star Sparks presented his ideas clearly and left it to people to determine for themselves whether this actually works.

Floyd Hand, another native American spiritual leader and at one time a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, spoke passionately about the plight of the buffalo in Yellowstone National Park. There, hundreds of buffalo are being slaughtered because they dare to walk outside of the park's boundaries and cross the state line. Buffalo are dying of starvation because so much snow has packed over their food sources. However, according to human wisdom, the buffalo went too far when they dared to ignore human boundaries and cross the line. Them buffalo just shoulda known better, I guess.

A sadly underattended yet very effective lecture was Bettye Binder's research about past lives in Lemuria. What made this lecture the highlight for me during the conference was Bettye's sensitivity to people who had never heard of Lemuria [an allegedly sunken continent which preceded Atlantis], and an even greater sensitivity to the fact that people in the audience might have a hard time with [1] reincarnation, [2] the fact that Lemuria may go back as far as 500,000 years, and [3] the fact that the planet had millions of extraterrestrials at that alleged time in history. Bettye simply provided her research— regressing more than 18,000 people in her life's work and drawing conclusions from that research. [A past-life researcher uses a form of hypnosis to relax their clients so that memories from the past can be accessed much more easily.] What Bettye provided was a working hypothesis. She avoided the truisms and assumed platitudes which plagued some of the other speakers.

After these speakers, the verisimilitude of the remaining speakers dropped significantly.

This conference had more than its share of "profane" moments. Jose Fernandez, a Puerto Rican alleged contactee, leads the pack with his claim "I do not love a man who does not love Jesus"—this contradicting common sense and other speakers including medicine woman Grandmother Windrider who claimed that unconditional love was essential for bringing about the coming transformation. Jose also claimed that the coming earth changes were essential, were inevitable, and were necessary for cleaning up planet Earth. In direct contrast, Alex Collier two days later claimed that none of these periods of cleansing was necessary. Another "joyous" proclamation by Jose Fernandez was that of all of the species in the universe, humans were the absolute lowest. Pleiadean contactee Erica Schneider claimed just the opposite: all of the other worlds so respect us that they are waiting to serve us. Alex Collier took this contradiction one step further by claiming that humans have the DNA strains of 22 extraterrestrial races in us and that the rest of the beings in the universe see us as royalty.

Don't these people listen to each another? Sadly, unfounded and unresearched truisms abounded. Author of The Omega Point Angela Browne-Miller claimed that all humans had a death wish programmed within them. She then went on to claim that a magnetic cloud was hovering above us waiting to transform us. Mayan healer Taskara boldly stated that we must move to the number 13, but gave no foundation for such a statement— nor any suggestion how to go about it. Taskara also claimed that we would eventually become gods, yet four other speakers claimed that we already were gods. Earth changes author Michael Shuster claimed that the Holocaust was brought about by divine order to teach us about free will, yet he never established any authority for such a statement. Peruvian contactee Fernando Limalco claimed that transformation will not occur until we learn to control our emotions; whereas another contactee, Erica Schneider, claimed that our emotions would be the force which would enhance our transformation. Four of the speakers claimed that we would be lifted off and carried to safety; whereas three other speakers claimed that because we created this mess, we would not be lifted off.

Why are aliens, if they exist, contacting people like this? Are they as full of contradictions as humans are? If so, is it really a good idea to listen to them?

The most egregious oversight of this conference was the assumption by most of the speakers that extraterrestrial intelligence means us well. In his speech UFO researcher and author Richard Boylan suggested that we should apologize to the extraterrestrials for shooting their craft down. He read an eloquent letter stating this thesis, and it drew applause from the audience. What Richard Boylan refused to address is the harm that these alleged extraterrestrials may have inflicted upon humanity. In Brazil, respected UFO researchers claim that humans are being hunted like game and often murdered by extraterrestrials. During the summer of 1993, I personally interviewed over 40 people who claimed that they had been abducted by aliens. Many spoke of these experiences as terrifying. In a poignant interview I had in 1995 with Katrina Wilson, I listened as this accomplished musician lost all of her musical ability after being abducted. Assuming that these extraterrestrials are benign is a very naive and dangerous assumption. Discernment in this area is essential.

Not have any fear!!! As an earthquake virgin I was thrown off my feet and rolled down a hill experiencing the epicenter of a "puny" 5.8 earthquake. I didn't do much better with the 7.1 which rocked Los Angeles in 1987. Since two of the speakers mentioned that we were going to experience earthquakes in the 8, 9, and 10 range, I find the admonition to not experience any fear both arrogant and naive.

When I brought this up to various people at the conference, I was told that I was missing the point because I was too stuck in matter and was not focusing much on the spiritual. I made it very clear that few people are going to be able to focus on the spiritual if a 200 MPH wind is racing through San Diego.

As far as being saved by extraterrestrials, well, their record just isn't that good. When they abduct people against their will, they put humans through often painful examinations, sticking things deep in orifices and causing pain which lasts for weeks. Often they have returned people 15 to 20 miles from where they were abducted—a situation which causes abject terror. I don't think we should depend on these beings to rescue us. Their record isn't too good.

Despite the glaring contradictions, the unfounded truisms, and other problems with the conference, it had enough insightful moments to make it valuable. Both the sacred and the profane were given a forum. At least twenty-four times, I prayed that someone in the audience would scream "bullshit," yet I am also thankful for the insights which stimulated deeper thought and a deeper concern about where humanity might be heading. Native American prophecy is valid and should be explored further—even if a few spiritual misfits muck it up for those who have the wisdom to see clearly. A spiritual transformation is sweeping across this planet—even if some in leadership roles are crassly exploiting this reality and using it to promulgate their own limited belief obsessed dogmas. Most people at the conference correctly see that a more sane relationship with Mother Earth—and her creatures—is essential if we are going to survive long enough to move to a higher level of spiritual advancement.

What was promised were more than 30 speakers ranging from UFO experts, past-life therapists, to Native American leaders and experts on the Mayan Calendar. From this mix I had hoped to get a clearer vision of the coming times—a vision of what these times would be and the signs which would precede these times. What came about instead was a kaleidoscope of naive truisms, contradictory statements, some effective prophecy, and some very good material—a mixture of the sacred and the profane.

My prayer at the end of the conference was this: "Great Father and Mother, give strength to the wise and let them have more forums like this to be heard. Let them have the courage to speak in such a manner that the arrogance of those who exploit will be drowned out by the clarity of those who speak with a good heart and a clear tongue."

The bad news is that this is not yet happening.

The good news is that Standing Elk intends to have yet another— his fourth — Star Family Conference in the Dakota Badlands. Jean Holmes will also be working to bring about this conference. They, unlike so many of the speakers, attended every session. I am sure that they know what needs to be done to insure that the sacred will overcome the profane. I have faith in both of them.

Jack Barranger teaches critical thinking, literature, and composition at the College of Sequoias in Visalia, California. Knowing When to Quit was recently published by Impact Publishers, and Past Shock: The Origin of Religion and Its Devastating Impact on the Human Soul is to be released in 1998. Barranger has published nearly 60 articles and a handful of short stories and is currently working on a book called Spiritual Tyranny.

• Richard Boylan, a UFO author and researcher, claimed that reptilian aliens will land this spring.
• Alex Collier, a person claiming to be a contactee for the past 31 years, claims that UFOs will land in Greenland this spring.
• Nestor Night Owl, a Native American spiritual leader, claims that earth changes like severe earthquakes, mighty winds, and severely erupting volcanoes are going to happen big time in May and June of 1997.
• Wobleza, another Native American spiritual leader, claims hat a serious drought will come about in less than two years and lead to a severe plague. [How interesting that in late April Turner Productions produced a four-hour documentary based on Laurie Garrett's book The Coming Plague]
• Earth changes author Michael Shuster claimed that "chaos wuld be everywhere in May and June" of this year.
• Using their dowsing skills, Louis and Ginette Matica made the prediction that reptilian beings would land in Arizona on August 8, 1997. You have an actual date here, and can test it for yourself.
• What lends potential credibility to these prophecies was the fulfillment of the White Buffalo prophecy. On April 20, 1994, in Wisconsin, a miraculous event occurred which was a sign to all native Americans—and others— that the ancient prophecies were about to be fulfilled. The White Buffalo Calf Woman told of a white buffalo which would be born in America before the time of the "great cleansing." At first, the buffalo would be born white. Then its color would change to yellow, then to red, and then to brown. The prophecy will be completed when the buffalo changes its color back to white. All but the last has happened.

With the prophecies given at this Star Family Conference, one has some specific signposts to look for. Whether or not they are true should be evident very soon..