Anthropology in the Nick of Time
posted by jm at 3:18 PM
Monday, November 17, 2008
About Me
- Name: jm
I am a brilliant creation of the universe formed from the cosmic protoplasm sailing into eternity. I have two hands, two feet, a couple of great ears, and I'm clipping through life at a moderate pace; minding my p*s and q*s, crossing my t*s, dotting every i.
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19 Comments:
hey! "tragic and dour"?! I resemble that remark! ;o)
Ha ha! I haven't heard that expression in ages.
I am sooooo glad Mars is out of Scorp. It messes with my SN, not the happiest place in my life. A little too much agony for everyday.
Tonight the city lights at dusk were gorgeous. Feeling the Sagittarian Mars and all it's fire and possibility no doubt. I'm ready to go.
Hm..."tragic and dour." Haven't felt that. But, glad your south node is no longer being messed with.
Stayed up all night writing a blog diary on Prometheus (Uranus) and Dionysus (Pluto), and what may be in store for the Obama presidency. What a fascinating combo!, having the power to ignite an awakening of Kundalini worldwide, meaning widespread social, economic, and political disruption and change, as well as immense cultural creativity
Block party: January 20, 2009!
I think the cultural creativity is a given. Judging from the reaction the awakening is ready to unfold. There's Saturn (Capricorn) too. I always think of Saturn in mythology governing over a renaissance and I keep that possibility in mind. If the Saturn-Uranus opposition we just experienced is an indication, then it could be so. The global wave of enthusiasm, maybe slight enlightenment.
Prometheus is one of my personal favorites. If anyone caught the Sunday 60 Minutes Obama interview it was wonderful. People around me were watching it and afterwards, a camaraderie erupted. The ratings were among the highest ever if not the highest. I associate that program with trauma and negative story-telling so the response is interesting.
During the opposition I stopped sleeping. Now the patterns have changed and are finding a new rhythm.
Maybe I'm crazy, (or maybe just my dreams are) but John McCain...coming or going?
I don't expect anyone to answer that. Just some Saturn/Uranus random thoughts I guess?
"I think the cultural creativity is a given."
Will you say more about this?
"I always think of Saturn in mythology governing over a renaissance."
Well, to pull the thread out a little I think Saturn certainly is key in bringing ideas into manifestation. I think there are several levels involved. I associate renaissance and eras of great cultural creativity with major alignments of Uranus with Neptune, Jupiter or Pluto (primarily conjunctions and oppositions). Uranus/Neptune corresponds with what Rick Tarnas refers to as "epochal shifts in cultural vision" that are metaphysical or spiritual in nature. The High Renaissance in Italy occurred during a Jupiter Uranus conjunction, an unusually long transit of almost three years.
I have a Moon Uranus conjunction and Jupiter trine Uranus, so Prometheus fascinates me. I asked a friend of mine to listen to Scriabin's fifth symphony titled "Prometheus." She listened to it repeatedly and from the music came a painting of Prometheus. I love the painting and it was exciting and wonderful to have this experience with her. What amazed her and me was that the painting was a striking change from anything she had done before.
Looked for the 60 minutes on Utube but the whole thing is not up.
I'm watching closely Obama's appointments to key cabinet and national security positions. So far, mostly it's been disappointing. More like status quo.
chrispito, Obama is going to need the help of Republicans in the Senate to pass important pieces of legislation. It's the math. The Dems don't have 60 senators. Even if they did, that doesn't mean they'd have the 60 votes necessary to overcome opposition to passage of key bills. Some Dems are conservative or come from Republican dominated districts and so they sometimes vote against the caucus. McCain has a history of working across the aisle.
I agree with you on the status quo, Helena. :o( I had hoped for better. Rahm Emmanuel is too extreme and just does not fit. I know you have felt he will be kept more under control in this context, jm, but still... it's disquieting. He seems too gangster-ish.
Maybe I'm crazy, (or maybe just my dreams are) but John McCain...coming or going?
With Saturn in Pisces coming and going are pretty much one in the same. He's free now.
I'm reluctant to associate current events with specific past transits too much because each era is slightly different. The cultural advances today, for example, will be high in futuristic technology and that brings in Uranus. Uranus in Aries is pioneering developments and I'm looking at that as a clue.
But they do tie in for exactly when Uranus is crossing back and forth getting into Aries, Neptune will be going into Pisces for the spiritual and artistic part. I don't focus so much on specific aspects, but more on the overall blend. Jupiter is also going to be in Aries at this critical juncture. The days when Uranus first goes into Aries, Jupiter will be exactly conjunct.
It will also be the end of the 29 Pisces Iraq war so I think the consciousness is ready to shift slightly from this bellicose paradigm, although ever so slightly. Saturn is just entering Libra with the other planets. It's a fascinating convergence which I've talked about before but maybe I'll go into it now since it might make more sense. Take a look at it. You'll see.
The thing to keep in mind is that no metaphysicians have the answers, they only have little clues, and just like the investors say, past performance is not an indication of the future.
It really is a question of the people's will and how they shape destiny and that could be the precipice on which we find ourselves as a new relationship with the earth and her resources is due. Thus the cultural advances are a matter of necessity. Desire determines.
In mythology, Saturn was a great administrator and society thrived under his guidance. They all have good and bad aspects reflective of human nature, so again it's a matter of choice. We can view Pluto and Saturn as the heavy hand of fate, or as a time for culture to advance and flourish.
I think as part of the advancement we might, as astrologers, be getting free from the confines of planets and aspects as related to fatalistic thinking. I think the most important step is that. The recognition of our power to shape destiny. It certainly does come slowly, though.
I've always wondered what I'm doing here at this time and have believed all along that something great was developing because of my choice. We're tied to the past but I think of it as an ally. We repeat hardships only insofar as they nudge us to evolve. I don't believe in gratuitous suffering and I suppose I never tire of repeating that no one oppressive force is in charge. It's an entire system that operates with an intent to survive. The genius is perceiving that orchestration not feeling victimized by it, but rather freed by the knowledge.
I love Prometheus partly because of his love of mankind and his courage in helping us. And his function as a liaison.
The fact that his liver (Jupiter and faith) got pecked out and grew back daily is particularly a favorite part of the myth. The regenerative power of optimism even when confined to rocky reality.
The giving of godly fire to man is indicative of our ability to be equal and shape destiny as I keep mentioning.
I also don't like these people either, joe, but they're just people and minor players in our whole system. So I don't see much cause for worry at this point. They are all expendable and the shifting of sands will continue. They only have the power we give them. It will take a long minute for Obama to get his bearings so patience is advised.
But remember that SN in Cancer and my Cancer planets. It's a good opportunity not to get personally invested in these creatures. We don't have to like them, they are all conduits to the next thing. Staying slightly aloof is good but hard to do, I know. There are so many of them, you're bound to like some and hate some. We don't know yet how well they'll do their jobs. The highest form of engagement is to allow them the freedom to do it right whether we like them or not. Normally when we dislike them intensely they are hooks for something in our personal lives. So it's a good opportunity to see who's bothering us at home and why, and what we can do.
There are a lot of factions to appease here, and we, the people, are one. Everyone is going to be disappointed to an extent. Part of the game.
it's disquieting. He seems too gangster-ish.
I agree joe. So many of them are criminal which is why I avoided involvement. I'm unimpressed so far but maybe Obama lacks confidence in his own thuggish behavior. Some of his choices seem to be veering toward the blatantly criminal so it's not pleasant. But then, why are they representatives of the collective?
I think his worst enemies are going to be within his own party so maybe he's trying to protect himself. He'll be making lots of mistakes and we really need several years to get new people in Congress, assuming there's a chance they'll be better.
I've always felt sorry for politicians as though they were more crippled in some way, trapped in their uncontrolled impulses and decidedly unhealthy. Pretty bad specimens. I'd be embarrassed if I were like that. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to digest. We'll see. The ideal would be to influence the course of events. Would you want your leaders to be like you? Hmmm... Maybe they are, god forbid I face that reality about myself. :-)
Oh well. What can one really do?
"jm, need to go to work so this is a driveby. What came up in this moment is wonder if your thinking about world transits would be the same after reading Rick's book.
Could be, helena. I'll get a copy of the book. It sounds like we've come to the same conclusion anyway.
I read all kinds of things at once and I think the clues are beyond astrology or anything specific like that. They are all a part of it. The election, for example. I never came across an easier event to predict but it wasn't just in the aspects of the specific charts. It was the gestalt and the larger transits that told the story so perfectly, especially 29 Pluto. And the impossibility of McCain being president under the circumstances. Very easy to read. I knew it for certain the night of the Iowa caucus and I never had so much confidence in an outcome before. I can't always see it that clearly, though. You have to marry planetary positions with circumstance as it unfolds, and a view of the grand picture is a must.
The art of using astrology is bouncing quickly from the charts and seeing the connections to current events. I find that the longer I linger in the chart details the more I lose that thread of oneness. I see it mostly in the combo of current transits and what's immediately up ahead. But connecting threads through history are readable too if people perceive them. I use them in specific degree connections.
The problem we're having right now is the transition. Change was promised but people are always afraid of it. The new leader has lost his courage for the moment, daunted by what he's taken on, and he's clinging to the past temporarily hoping their so called experience will see him over the synapse. So bear with his insecurity and occasional faulty choices.
He has Pluto opposing his Cancer Venus so it will take a minute to let go. Same with us.
The people can help him by not encouraging the grasp on the past administration. We can embolden him, he has the natural bravery and he used it to get elected, but still, the transition is tough and he can use our help, the same help from the people that got him there.
The last thing in the world we need now is a continuation of the same but the transition won't be sudden and people will come and go. There's a couple of years before Uranus gets going so a little prep is not a bad idea. However, powerful positions given to past leaders is bad policy, since they were the ones who created the crisis we're in now. New thinking and policy will arise but a nebulous period of insecurity is unavoidable.
So keeping these thoughts firmly in the collective consciousness is the course, supporting the new guy even if he's annoying at the moment, and parting ways with him later if he fails. He's in tricky waters to navigate. But a good ship weathers the storm.
The past will go when we are ready as a people to let it go, and as Pluto opposes our Cancer stellium, the parting is inevitable. Kindness to ourselves in getting through the process helps.
jm, it has occurred to me my comment could be taken as abrasive and condescending. To be clear, I meant no disrespect. Comment had to do with esteem for Tarnas's work. I wondered what you would think after reading it.
Will think carefully about what you've said.
If you don't mind my asking, why did you stop doing readings?
Helena, your comment was not abrasive at all. It's good to share a moment with a sensitive Cancer moon!
I haven't been reading books lately since I've been so entranced with Blogland. So it might take a minute. I also have limited time left and I know that my answers are within my own mind so I'm going more and more in that direction. Most books are way way overstated. I alway think they could have said it in two paragraphs. Then I'd read them more!
There a few reasons I stopped doing readings. One of the main ones is the inability of people to see themselves as the architects of their destinies. Invariably they blame others for their unhappiness. I see this everywhere and I feel helpless in getting the real metaphysical truth across -- that we attract all of our experiences, for good reasons, and we need them all in sequence. It's almost universal that people don't want to investigate the real causes, the real source of their experiences. I'm totally frustrated by the placing of blame on outside sources and it certainly prevents satisfying astrological discourse. It gets so fascinating when blame and judgement are suspended to make way for deep investigation of self. That I love but have found few who know how to do it. Within the therapeutic relationship is really not the best place.
So most people complained about relationships and they would always talk about the faults of the other. I would try to show them the configurations in their charts that led them to these culprits but to no avail. And I'd try to get them to see their complicity also to no avail. To me it's not a question of what and when, it's why.
Mostly I feel that people aren't ready for knowledge and most astrologers don't understand these things either, so I left it to all of them to work it out.
I also have a problem with making money off people's distress. I'd rather have it centered around pleasure which gets to the fundamental of my decision and that has to do with my South Node in Scorpio in the 7th. After learning about the nodes the decision was easy.
The SN Scorpio 7th shouldn't be getting involved in the psyches of others in such a way. I heard too many tales of pain and sorrow, couldn't do anything really to help them, and that SN is learning to leave shared suffering behind and replace it with shared pleasure. So I chose music as my preferred exchange.
It really did bother me to feel the pain and not be able to alleviate it. That's up to them and it has to be learned through experience. I would carry the emotional burden and it didn't seem to help enough. I also have to watch out for escaping into other people's scenarios.
I learned how alienated people are and how little people really listen to them and that broke my heart. I do wish I could do something but the social problems are vast. People talk around, underneath, beyond, above, and everywhere but directly to. They are all searching for significance that others really can't give them. So anyway, the emotional burdens were not such a good idea for me. I feel them anyway. I feel sorry for everyone. So helpless. Music is probably the best way to alleviate some of it.
jm, I appreciate your taking the time to post such a thoughtful response. It's helpful to me too as I work in health care and am very familiar with the challenges you describe.
Coming here to the "Universe" is a chance to slow down, center and gather myself, and reflect in an environment "far from the madding crowd" and the din and turmoil of life. The beauty of the images is an important part of it for me too. The image that came to mind after reading your post was the labor of Hercules which by the way relates to Scorpio, where he lifts the hydra above the mud thereby redeeming it.
I love Hercules! I have used the Hydra for years as my example of blaming the externals and thinking that by removing the outside offender one will be free. It always comes back until the source is reached. I think you have a point about getting into the muck with the thing and the superhuman effort to uplift. We kind of just did that a little bit as a group.
I know exactly what you mean, helena, about the refuge far from the madness. As a 4th house Cancer Sun, it's the story of my life. I know what you mean, too, about image, art, and life. Cancer is the realm of superb beauty and imagination, and the best writers and musicians have strong moons. Many many Cancer musicians. The realm of feeling. In the harsh world, this function seems to be shut down, not at all what I call home. The screaming sound track is unbelievable. It feels like the psyche ward to me. It crawls on my back and explodes in my head. Then back to the sanctuary I go.
My father had a Cancer moon and a Pisces Sun, like your 12th house configuration. We used to escape the turmoil by taking long trips in the car through the hills in silence. He was so sublimely quiet. Most people are terrified of quiet. Unforgettable moments and probably how I survived childhood .. and the memories .. partly how I'm surviving adulthood.
I think the therapeutic relationship works well for 12th house people. My Pisces Sun, Pisces rising cousin is a therapist and the most reassuring person in the universe I know. The lack of judgement in the 12th is remarkable when operative. My father was like that.
It's been an interesting experience, this odd place called raging universe. I keep thinking I'm clinging excessivly to the refuge and should be facing that turmoil you mention, but then ... why?
Oh yes, I remember. Pluto square my Mars coming to my MC and the cruel world.
Coming here to the "Universe" is a chance to slow down
The story of my life. "They" try to get me to hurry it up but my metabolism is written in flesh. So slow it will remain.
Life kind of passes me by in it's rush but I have a feeling it's going to contribute to some healthy longevity.
These conversations with you are great reminders.
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