Let me start by saying this article in no way nominates me as a candidate for the censorship squad, nor does it have any purpose other than to educate readers on what will prove to be just another step towards a change in our world. I may sound hypocritical or even stereotypical at times, but the following is a matter of opinion and contains my own views and insights on our modern society and its effect on the spiritual environment.

Days of Talent

Let's jump back in time to the days of classical music. How many movies have you seen set in the 1800's where royalty are dancing in a ballroom to the music of Beethoven? Aside from folk music of the time and location, what we call classical music was the accepted genre of music for centuries. Even today's kids will recognize the name Mozart. Chopin's Funeral March is still heard regularly in movies and cartoons, whether or not his name is as popular as the music. Unlike the one-hit wonders of today, the most famous composers were decades or sometimes centuries apart, and the talent involved has kept their names alive to this day.

Music Will Signal the Beginning of the End

Let's move back to the early 20th century. I think it was in The Osirian Scripts where I first read that the end-times could be foretold by the way the music changed. Scott Joplin's ragtime music had become popular at the turn of the century, making Joplin one of the first rich black men in American history. The style made its way into other forms of music at the time. Big band music was in its hay day and Swing music was evolving. Blues and jazz came along as well. Like the classical music of the past, these new forms of music contained happiness, sadness, liveliness and so many other emotions.

Rock Until We Drop

Then came rock'n'roll. The Beatles blasted out of England and proved to become the first-ever boy-band in history. Elvis was touted as a pervert for gyrating his hips on stage. Jerry Lee Lewis played the devil's music. The hour-long compositions of the classical writers were now replaced by three-minute long songs containing three chords and a bunch of lyrics about love. Off the top of your head, how many love songs can you think of that came out of the 50's and 60's? Yes, of course there were other themes included, but I see a main core involving love. The old fogies ridiculed this new music and wanted it banned, yet the central theme was love and rock'n'roll. They had no idea what was to come.

Punk Rock Fantasy

The idea of love started to become a myth, and out of it, romance was starting to take over. Love and peace were regarded as a way for mankind to evolve. This level of spirituality was great but didn't last. Disco took dancing to a new level but again love was becoming a myth and romance and sex were taking over. Punk and metal were also becoming more mainstream amongst a smaller crowd. Yes, death metal was even around in the 60's, and Black Sabbath was only a very mild form of it to evolve later on. Drugs and sex were beginning to take a fore-front in the music scene, and it was becoming even rarer to hear songs about love and happiness.

At War with Satan

Along comes hip-hop, which started out pretty innocently at first. It wouldn't take long for the Fat Boys and Run DMC to be replaced by Ice-T and N.W.A.'s songs of violence and murder. The punk/metal scene was also branching out into different forms. Motley Crue branched out from the Satanic metal scene where bands like Venom sang about their almighty father, Satan. Ozzy was continuously under attack for his deeds yet those same people are today at home watching his reality show weekly. Angus Young prominently showed his devil horns on the cover of ACDC's Highway to Hell Album. Al Gore's wife, Tipper, along with her censorship party PMRC, were so overwhelmed that you rarely hear of her work in those days. If I remember correctly, you can thank her for the explicit lyrics stickers on albums, but that's about all. Not even the power behind a future presidential candidate's wife could stop the landslide by this point.

Materialism

Look where we're at now. Love is gone unless you happen to listen to some older women's station. We're bombarded with messages of hatred, materialism, sex, drugs and a complete disregard for the well-being of humanity as a whole. I'm just as much at fault as anyone here. I was around for the old-school days of punk and hardcore in the late 80's and early 90's. What started out as music for that little group of outcasts is now mainstream. Everywhere you look, you're surrounded by mohawks, tattoos, death metal, gang signs, etc. Everyone wants to be a bad-ass. Rich kids are driving around with expensive car stereos booming out the bass so they look like gangsters. 10-year-olds are lipping off to the elderly and giving them gang signs. Teenage pregnancies and drive-by shootings abound, while websites filled with bloody pictures and gruesome videos are visited regularly as entertainment. I could go on, but you can see where I'm going here.

Collective Consciousness at Its Worst

Now what does this all have to do with the end of the world? Collective consciousness refers to the shared beliefs and moral attitudes that operate as a unifying force within society. The spiritual energies emanating from this group affect the world around us. One of my favourite bands for years was a straight-up Boston hardcore band called Blood for Blood. I've met them a couple times and even got to party backstage once. This is by no means like hanging out at a Metallica show, but when it's your favourite band, it's still cool. Their music has such a negative message that I had to stop listening to it because of the emotions that well up inside of me. Songs of hatred, anger and ass-kicking cause your vibrational state to change and you become filled with those emotions. I'm trying to listen to more rock and blues and find myself much happier. This is just a quick example of how music can change your thoughts and feelings. When you have a few million people all listening to and feeling that negative energy, you're asking for trouble.