VERMONT - When The Beatles implored us all to "come together," this probably isn't what they had in mind.

At the precise moment the sun reaches its most southerly point - 1:08 a.m. on December 22 in Vermont (otherwise known as the winter solstice) - the world will experience an unprecedented climax. At least that's the hope of those organizing the second annual Synchronized Global Orgasm for Peace.

In addition to encouraging humans everywhere to enjoy themselves and one another, promoters of the Global Oh have semi-serious intentions. They point to the work of the New Jersey-based Global Consciousness Project, which finds that a simultaneous planet-wide experience of a maximum-magnitude event can affect global awareness. The fall of the World Trade Center is cited as one such instance; a synchronized global orgasm could be another.

Some Vermonters are eager to do their part.

"The work that we do is arduous and offers little reward, so in order to sustain our efforts, we do need to do things like this," says Serena Chaudhry, director of the Peace and Justice Center in Burlington.