2 Christmas Prezzies (slightly belated)
A complete essay, and an interview with the Grinch
Merry Christmas, to one and all!! I hope that you have had a joyous holiday, wherever on this blue-green marble you may reside. Isn’t that a beautiful Jupiterian Christmas ornament (and appropriately astrological)?
As some of you may know, New York was just voted the “grinchiest” city in the United States, an appellation that may perhaps be somewhat undeserved, but, nevertheless has been bestowed upon it for reasons that have to do with certain crucial criteria, i.e., the paltry number of holiday decoration shops (0.6), Christmas tree lots (0.3), and gift shops (9.9), per 100,000 inhabitants, among others.
This is the first Christmas in recent memory upon which it has been, in the opinion of an individual who grew up in a temperate climate upstate, appropriately wintry in Manhattan in temperature, although, unlike much of the country in the wake of last week’s superstorm, we suffer yet from a dearth of snow, a detriment that will not, sadly, be rectified for the New Year, when temperatures will climb once again to 60 degrees, with accompanying rain for several days. While I didn’t grow up in the metropolis, I definitely recall that winter was clear, sunny and bright much of the time in the early years of my obligatory sojourn here, as I pursued the longed-for operatic career; we usually had a bit of snow around the holidays, and the occasional blizzard.
Such climatic shortcomings — in my opinion, invariably engineered by clandestine operatives of the unholy cabal that has staked its claim on the world, utilizing the universal COVID medical fraud as a smokescreen, in the service of the next phase of their agenda, i.e., climate change restrictions and centralized tyrannical control, in order to “save the planet” — might be thought to bring out the Grinch in this city dweller. Despite this, it has been a pleasant Christmas, all the same, although due to two days of rain prior to the holiday, I haven’t been able to indulge in much in the way of holiday diversions, in terms of shopping at Christmas markets, etc., virtually all of which have concluded operations for this season. The Christmas decorations and lights will linger at least until Epiphany, January 6 (no, not that January 6), so the festive mood will not completely dissipate with the holiday. We will hang onto our Christmas tree for as long as we can, and it will lend its cheer to our nights.
In ambling about the city somewhat in recent days, riding the subway, and observing my fellow New Yorkers, many of them appear, at least, comparatively unscathed by their experiences of the last two winters, and, it seems, blissfully contemptuous of the continuing onslaught of fear-porn propaganda in the media in the latter days of 2022. Things in our neighborhood here on the Upper East Side are vastly different this winter, without the interference of state and local government in our lives. C and I did some grocery shopping on Friday at one of our local markets, and I could not help but recall the unpleasant confrontations I had with their personnel, particularly in 2021, over the illegal mask mandates, with which I refused to comply for a second. This December, the ridiculous signage on their floors, designed to herd compliant New Yorkers around like cattle, like the earlier mask advisories, has finally gone the way of the dodo, although some of the idiotic plastic barriers remain. Many, but not all, of the checkout and other personnel have resumed wearing their slave regalia, in the wake of the CDC’s recent advice about the prospective, and equally bogus, “tripledemic”. That is, of course, their choice … all this duly noted, the shopping experience couldn’t have been more pleasant.
However, in thinking back on that unpleasantness, and the patent absurdity of the COVID restrictions imposed upon the denizens of the world, many of which linger around the US and in foreign locales, I was reminded of the following essay, which I published in my third book, A Congeries of Cosmic Considerations. I began writing it at the very beginning of the lockdown lunacy, when C and I were marooned in Denver, following the cancellation of our last live seminar in March 2020. It is instructive to revisit a piece in which I shared my initial impressions of the unfolding COVID charade, which have not altered significantly in the last 33 months. So, here at Christmas, I am gifting it to you to potentially whet your appetite to delve into my writing further, through an investment in my books:
“The Fellowship of Healing”: Nine Against Fear
An Examination of the Horoscope of a Healing Seminar
conducted during the height of the panic associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020
Introduction:
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance … If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” ― John Lennon [1]
I feel compelled to offer the following testimony – beginning this essay on a St. Patrick’s Day upon which there have been no parades, no drunken Irishman lurching in and out of pubs, no festive gatherings of any consequence; when people all over the US cannot sit in a café or a restaurant and enjoy each others’ company, or even just have a meal or a decaf or chai latte by themselves – in resolute defiance of the same. My partner, C, and I have been in the Denver area for a series of seminars, and just finished teaching the first one, on the topic of our recently published book, Vibrational Acupuncture: Integrating Tuning Forks with Needles, from Singing Dragon UK.
This was to have been a very busy year of book signings, symposiums and seminars, and, as of this writing, two of those events have been canceled without warning in two days by the sponsoring organizations, for fear of the spread of COVID-19, despite a lack of imminence of any threat to the participants. The sanctimonious tone of the pronouncements regarding these cancellations is nauseating, and the willingness of so many people, at this juncture, to “self-isolate” and “shelter in place,” cut off from their fellow human beings, given sanction by official edicts that have shuttered businesses, and banned public gatherings, is something that I never thought to see in this country in my lifetime. I can only view it as a dress rehearsal for a totalitarian takeover of the reins of government, whether by this corrupt administration or that which may hopefully succeed it, exacerbating tendencies toward social “distancing” that have begun to develop in the wake of the planetwide addiction to visual technological devices, etc.
My take on the advocacy of these socially suppressive measures to “flatten the curve” of potential infections has been antagonistic since I first heard that they were being considered by the Western democracies, in the wake of similar strategies employed in China and South Korea. The lethality of this virus for most people[2] is several orders of magnitude less than originally postulated, and it is nowhere near as potent as that of the 1918-19 Spanish flu, which killed millions of people worldwide, or by comparison with any number of other contagions, e.g., malaria, SARS, swine flu, Ebola, HIV, and even the garden variety seasonal flu. As of this writing, less people have died from COVID-19 in China, the earlier nexus of the outbreak, than did from swine flu here in the United States in 2009, per figures published by the CDC at the time.[3]
When C and I left New York, less than a week ago, the first rumblings of this societal “lockdown” were just beginning to surface, and, as a consequence, we welcomed the opportunity to escape the metropolis; our flights here were pleasantly uncrowded, and our meeting with our prospective students, all very much of a similar mindset to ours regarding the blatant over-reaction to this “killer” virus, made for an extraordinary experience – one both healing and transformative – and in marked contrast, due to the intimate human contact and sharing, to the terrified cowering in their homes of the majority of the populace, shunning physical proximity and connection with others.
As I mulled this over, earlier today, in the wake of restaurant, café, bookstore, library and other closings, I resolved to write an essay about this wonderful healing seminar that we just hosted here, and to examine an event chart for the same to identify those components that would relate to our experience.
So, let us consider a horoscope for the event in question to see what it may reveal (shown below):
Seminar: Vibrational Acupuncture: Integrating Tuning Forks with Needles
March 13, 2020, 9:30 am
Denver, CO, USA
“The Company of the Ring shall be Nine; and the Nine Walkers shall be set against the Nine Riders that are evil.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings[4]
I am writing this essay, at the moment, from a basement apartment in what is known as the Common House in a co-housing community in NW Denver, where we have held seminars on three separate occasions, but from where, it seems, we are to be banned for the foreseeable future as outsiders who might carry the coronavirus. It is a bastion of comparative peace even during normal circumstances, however, given the recent horrific turn of events in the wider world, the subjective impression that I had during the four days of our seminar was that we, and the 7 of 8 students who shared our perspective, were banding together at the Elven Lord, Elrond’s, Last Homely House of Rivendell, such as occurs in volume 1 of Tolkien’s masterful mythic trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. One of our group, ironically, our historical sponsor for these Denver-based events and a certified teacher of C’s facial acupuncture protocols (because there were actually 10 of us) had already succumbed to the general air of fear and paranoia infecting the outside environs, so that left 9, of whom more than half were in the “vulnerable” demographic, to pursue our healing aims, to seek comfort and transformation in the company of fellow human beings, unfettered by trepidations concerning contamination or mortality, to band together in a “fellowship of healing”: 9 against fear.
Saturn/Pluto Conjunction
So, does this event chart illustrate the dynamics of this particular situation? Although I am temporarily sequestered here in Denver without access to my astrology library, I will endeavor, at this juncture, to provide justifications for my observations through online and e-sources. First of all, let us consider the predominant milieu of malaise: there is a general consensus in the astrological community at this point that the coronavirus pandemic must relate, in some way, to the ongoing Saturn/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, although the former is now poised to enter Aquarius.
And, as we can see above, it definitely hovers over the proceedings, bracketing the MC at the outset of our 4-day event, and in effect, as we might expect, dominating the map. The archetypal blending of these two planets can be seen to relate to the prospect of imminent death, as both are considered signifiers of mortality, traditional and modern. We can construe the contact of both to the MC, which is the point of greatest contact with the world at large, as representing a major breakdown in the established order of things:
“Saturn and Pluto bring the gravity of graveyards and necessary confrontations with cultural and personal issues we can no longer deny or resist. Pluto amplifies the contraction of Saturn, separating the essential from the nonessential in the face of obstruction, honing our awareness of whatever we wish to determinedly develop with the time and space available to us.”[5]
It has always been my contention that Pluto demands the death of the inauthentic, in a manner that is uncompromising in its method; it is certainly the case that our turbocharged global capitalistic society is relentlessly toxifying the planet, wreaking havoc with the ecosystem, through the potential catastrophic agencies of runaway global warming, the depletion of natural resources, including the food supply of the oceans, rampant overpopulation, pollution of the environment, etc. One can describe the agency of this virus as a “black swan” event, i.e., an unanticipated and rare occurrence, e.g., 9/11, which dramatically alters the course of history, society, and economies. Black swans often create chaos in the short term, and are drivers of major change.[6] We could certainly” view the Saturn/Pluto combination as representative of this phenomenon; both planets are associated with the color black, and the symbolism of black swans is entirely relevant:
“All around them, black swans are surrounded by the evils of the world, laid bare because of their own treachery. They are not even saved in an act of kindness, but vengeance. All around them is dark.”[7]
In Lord of the Rings, black swans are depicted as quite ill-meaning creatures “known to mob and overturn boats”[8]; in this we can view the cataclysmic upheaval of recent events relating to COVID-19. Moreover, the black hue of these creatures is clearly indicative of their link with the Underworld (again Saturn/Pluto), and the emergence of forces that relate to the collective shadow of humanity.
The two traditional Malefics, Mars and Saturn, both in Capricorn, are particularly potent in this map, although both are extremely dignified, Saturn in its rulership and Mars in its exaltation. We should note, however, that Pluto is at the Mars/Saturn midpoint, which is a particularly dire configuration; Mars/Saturn is regarded as the “death axis” in cosmobiology, and to have Pluto at the midpoint of the two conjures up the specter of death, which is a very real consideration in any pandemic. However, we may also regard the dignity of the two malefics as perhaps indicating that, despite the very real threat of demise, the potential morbidity of this virus is less broad spectrum than other related epidemics, particularly the 1918-19 Spanish influenza.
We can note further, of course, that the area of the map that is impacted by this malevolent conjunction is that of the 9th and 10th houses, and associate this with the already demonstrable effect upon international travel and relations, and commerce, particularly that of individuals, whose activity has been forcibly curtailed by governments, state and federal.
Jupiter in Detriment
The other major player in the Capricorn stellium is Jupiter, which is in its detriment; although Jupiter is the Greater Benefic, it seems largely powerless to ameliorate the situation, as it is “besieged” by its position between the two traditional Malefics:
“Just like a besieged city, the planet in this condition is in serious trouble which will be difficult to escape. We can say it is ‘between a rock and a hard place’. All that is related to, and signified by, the besieged planet will encounter difficulty and impediment.”[9]
Opinions differ in traditional and modern sources as to the precise nature of besiegement; this particular source states that besiegement can only apply in special cases to Jupiter, i.e., with one of the malefics retrograde in motion, but as this Jupiter is the natural ruler of the 9th house in which it resides, has dominion in this horoscope over the 8th of death, and similarly is the dispositor of the 11th house Pisces Sun, the implications of this placement, even it if is technically not “besiegement”, are highly significant. We have witnessed tragedy in this country in the past decade or so, and the death toll for this event, thus far, is significantly less; 2,996 people died on 9/11. Coronavirus has claimed only 282 victims out of a nation of approximately 300 million people. And yet, those in charge (Saturn/Pluto) have seen fit to potentially torpedo their economies (8th house of other peoples’ money, over which Jupiter has dominion), and limit human contact (11th house Sun in Pisces) in order, as they put it, to “flatten the curve.”
I also feel that it is reasonable to view this configuration, Saturn-Jupiter-Mars, as similarly indicative of our teaching (Jupiter), and us as teachers, going ahead despite the potential hostility of those who would have viewed the situation from the outside as being potentially life-threatening to the participants, and in defiance of arbitrary guidelines for “safety” established by civic and medical authorities. We were definitely besieged by questions of our morality from more than one source (one quite close to us), and yet were resolute in our conviction that we should follow through as scheduled.
I would see this debilitated Jupiter further as relating to the more rapid proliferation of this virus, as compared with seasonal flus or similar maladies, despite its comparative lack of potency. According to astrological tradition, debilitated benefics can be just as malign in their action as malefics, and this would be consistent with the observed behavior of COVID-19. However, as the history of planet Earth since at least the end of the second World War has been one of unchecked expansion (Jupiter) and consumption of natural resources, its uncongenial elemental placement in Capricorn can perhaps be regarded as a healthy corrective to a course of action that has proven inimical to our continued survival as a species. We could further argue that this is representative of the sudden limitation of consumer consumption, at least in brick-and-mortar stores, once again providing a counterbalance to the unchecked rapacity of global turbocapitalism, which has come to a pinnacle during the mutual transit of Saturn/Pluto through Capricorn. As Jupiter is the planet that relates to philosophy, this may likewise indicate a potential shift in the Zeitgeist regarding the perennial greed for “more” which threatens the continued survival of this Earth which sustains us:
“We have been living in a bubble, a bubble of false comfort and denial. In the rich nations, we have begun to believe we have transcended the material world. The wealth we’ve accumulated – often at the expense of others – has shielded us from reality. Living behind screens, passing between capsules – our houses, cars, offices and shopping malls – we persuaded ourselves that contingency had retreated, that we had reached the point all civilizations seek: insulation from natural hazards.”[10]
Capricorn is the sign that relates the most to the quietus of winter (at least in the Northern Hemisphere), and, by extension, the apotheosis of Yin as it is embodied in the natural world; the emphasis on Capricorn in the horoscope for the event further illustrates the impact of societally mandated “self-isolation” and “shelter in place” policies upon a population, particularly in metropolitan areas, who have made lack of rest and non-stop, frenzied, activity, fueled by the endorphin hits from their technological adjuncts, a badge of honor in recent years. In 2014, the CDC designated sleep deprivation a national health crisis[11].
C spoke to a friend in New York earlier today, who reported that the “city that never sleeps” is astonishingly quiet at present – with very little vehicular traffic, there has been a palpable reduction in pollution of all kinds, particularly noise pollution, and the air is clean and fresh. Lest one suspect that such observations regarding the latter are purely subjective, a similar lessening of airborne pollutants, specifically, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions, has been recorded over China since they instituted similar policies[12]. What we are witnessing in these phenomena represents, even if it is short-lived in duration, a profound check upon the malevolent Yang that was on the verge of driving the Earth to a climatic tipping point, after which we would have been unable to draw back from the brink of extinction.
Moreover, it is likely indisputable that, given the unavailability of manifold outlets for, at times, purposeless, even self-destructive, activity, that people everywhere are becoming, at least temporarily, more balanced, more healthy, less neurotic, less driven. Of course, that being said, we cannot overlook the looming threat of financial Armageddon (Jupiter/Saturn) as many people, particularly the self-employed (including us) cannot, for the time being, pursue their livelihoods in the manner to which they are accustomed.
Venus rising, in the 12th house, in its own Earth sign of Taurus, and the chart ruler, is likewise indicative of a movement toward a healthy homeostasis, on both the individual and cultural level, and a restoration of the same on the planet as a whole:
“… this could be the moment when we begin to see ourselves, once more, as governed by biology and physics, and dependent on a habitable planet … No longer can we afford to be dominated by those who put money ahead of life. This coronavirus reminds us that we belong to the material world.”[13]
There is a large-scale T-square formation involving three archetypes of the Divine Feminine, Moon opposite Venus, and both squaring dwarf planet, Ceres, in the 10th house. Ceres, the embodiment, in mythic terms, of Mother Nature, also is in partile square to the ASC. In this, we can witness the unremitting stress that our worldwide civilization, in flagrant denial of its obligation to other species and the planet as a whole, has placed upon the Earth in recent years. We have been living a disharmonious existence, and this crisis is serving as a less-than-subtle corrective to that self-destructive arc of behavior. As many protestors against misguided governmental policies worldwide concerning the ongoing attrition to our biosphere have pointed out, “There is no Planet B.”
Sedna Rising: A Respite for Gaia?
In connection with this, I note, as well, that the Kuiper Belt Object, Sedna is rising and conjunct the ASC; as I mentioned in an essay on Sedna in my second volume of essays, Miscellaneous Maunderings about the Starry Sky, I taught one of the very first seminars on Sedna. Its relevance to earth changes, and the deleterious impact of global warming upon the oceans, cannot be overemphasized. I made the following observation in a new conclusion to that essay, which I think has proven to be somewhat prescient:
“Perhaps Sedna, from deep within her watery domain, will, prior to such a day of ecological Armageddon, favor us with an incontrovertible testament to the folly of our actions, and check us on our mad dash to climatic oblivion.”
I would argue that, in light of recent developments at home and abroad, that day indeed has arrived; whether or not the reaction to COVID-19 is warranted, the impact of the restrictive policies enacted by many of the nations of the world, with the “locking down” of some 1.5 billion people to date, has already begun to ameliorate the negative footprint of mankind’s unholy addiction to fossil fuels, with noticeable improvements in air quality. This is certainly an upside to the impact of this pandemic …
Venus/Chiron in the 12th: The Loss of Human Connection
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings[14]
I must also note that Venus is marooned in the 12th, as is Uranus, and the isolation of the former is entirely consistent with the retreat inwards that is being fostered by civic authorities in response to the “threat” of COVID-19. Moreover, Uranus, as the natural modern ruler of the 11th of social groups – not currently permitted, except in a virtual sense – is similarly confined; we might further construe the Venus/Uranus combination in the 12th as describing these simulacra of physical and intimate connection, only made possible through our ubiquitous communications technology (also Uranus). However, it is likely that, over time, that these will prove to be a poor substitute for the real thing:
“Over the long term, however, turning to devices to regulate the stress brought on by social distancing and isolation will provide diminishing returns: ‘That will manifest in us as stress—getting sick with other things, or having short tempers, or maybe even those devices not working anymore,” James Coan, a neuroscientist at the University of Virginia, said. “Humans have this dire need to connect. Our brains have learned from brutal evolutionary lessons that social isolation is a death sentence.’’[15]
It is likely that society at large will be adversely impacted by these unwarranted separations, particularly since the alarmist reactions of those in charge have fomented a suffocating scenario which may or may not be indefinite. Dr. Sue Varma, the founding medical director of the World Trade Center mental-health program at New York University, made the following observations, when considering the potential fallout from these drastic measures:
“What’s different today from the 9/11 attacks or Hurricane Katrina or the tsunami in Japan is that those episodes had finite endings. With this pandemic, we see no end in sight, so it’s more traumatic. Trauma is compounded because people don’t have the usual outlets—other people—to go to. The power of touch releases oxytocin, which is a natural cuddle hormone. You see it during mother-infant bonding, an orgasm, and hugs. Under the current conditions, people are not getting the same level of oxytocin release from human contact.”[16]
In connection with this, I note the presence of Chiron in Aries, also in the same 12th house of confinement; in my experience, this placement often has much to do with a fundamental wounding (Chiron) to the Self (Aries), and I similarly see this as linked to the considerable damage that will be done to people if this enforced isolation persists for an indefinite period. Chiron is also semi-sextile the Venus/Uranus midpoint, similarly indicative of disruption (Uranus) to normal human relationships (Venus), and the wounding (Chiron) that may ensure.
One last observation with respect to this map vis-à-vis the pandemic relates to the Moon, in its detriment in Scorpio, in the house of open enemies, opposing the ASC, and trine Neptune, another signifier of the potential for contagion. A debilitated Moon will not seek to provide comfort to those in need of the same, but rather view them in an adversarial light, electing to preserve its own safety and integrity, protecting its own from possible threats from without; we have already experienced this in the immediate surroundings which we have found safe harbor for the moment. Similarly, the Moon represents the general public in mundane horoscopes such as this, and we can thus observe that this miasma of unreasoning fear taints the whole of society. The illusory, deceptive light of Neptune provides further evidence to the fact that those who have readily imbibed the “Corona Kool-Aid”, toxic in the extreme, cannot be reasoned with, that they would rather isolate themselves, eschewing physical proximity and touch from their fellow man, for fear of potential contamination, rather than seek comfort and solace in the arms of another.
Our Seminar as a Rebuke to the Panic
“I want to be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings[17]
The backdrop against which our seminar took place, as depicted in the event chart, seems ominous indeed, with COVID-19 continuing to proliferate internationally, and death tolls inexorably rising, accompanied by a similarly tragic trajectory of enforced severance from human connection that has likewise escalated in the week since we concluded that endeavor. Nevertheless, and in rational counterpoint to this dismal and emotionally manipulative screed, we should note that the continual blaring of the media machine makes no mention whatsoever of all those who have recovered from the disease – as of this writing, approximately 115,000 across the globe, versus 21,300 deaths.[18]
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings[19]
Lest we forget, and become bogged down in our considerations of this desolate outer environment, this horoscope is ostensibly that for our small-scale exercise in healing and supportive intimacy that occurred over that long weekend. With this in mind, let us “retake” the chart, re-interpreting its components in light of this life-enhancing event, which, for all we know, may have been the last live seminar taught on planet Earth during this tumultuous period:
1. Saturn/Pluto at the MC: the MC, in addition to being the point of maximal mundane impact, can also be regarded as symbolic of the highest good that may arise from a situation; in this respect, then, the contact of Saturn/Pluto to this crucial angle might be described as representing the capacity to transcend or transform (Pluto) fear (Saturn), which was certainly one of our motivations in choosing to proceed with teaching this course to those individuals who had the temerity to join us, and despite the atmosphere of encroaching panic beginning to manifest in the days prior to our fellowship’s arrival here at the Common House. All of the participants, save one, as noted above, were united in this common aim;
2. Mercury, about whom we have had little to say thus far, is semi-sextile this high-profile midpoint, an aspect of particular tension; “bestows a mental shrewdness toward efforts to meet your goals; communicating intentions to proceed with dangerous or difficult tasks”[20]; this is clearly illustrative of the grounded strategy that we took toward the necessary precautions to safeguard our students, as well as our mindset regarding the pressures that would be brought to bear for us to refrain from carrying through with the event;
3. Jupiter in the 9th; as it is situated in its own domicile, we can relate this to the manifestation of a cautious (Saturn) optimism (Jupiter) about the situation, and that this grounded (Saturn/Capricorn) perspective on the event informs the educational experience (Jupiter; 9th house) of all concerned. We can also associate this with the nature of the teachings, in that they combine transcendent (Jupiter) elements with a grounded practical methodology (Saturn) emphasizing transformative bodywork (also Saturn/Pluto), involving acupuncture (Mars, also in the 9th) and based upon the principles of Chinese medicine. I think it is reasonable, as well, to see in this a safe container (Saturn) for learning (Jupiter);
4. Venus rising in Taurus; this highly dignified Venus, the ruler of the chart, and in its own earth sign, similarly illustrates the grounded treatment of the situation, incorporating the vibrational Qi of tuning forks (Venus). The Empress, who is synonymous with Mother Nature in the Tarot, is associated with Venus; she is also an avatar of the great goddess, and represents the nurturing care that the participants received from each other (and us) during the seminar;
5. Similarly, this emphasis on Venus illustrates the dimension of relationship and connectedness that was an intrinsic aspect of the proceedings; moreover, tuning forks are used to inculcate vibratory relationship (Venus) with the body of the patient by the practitioner, and the vehicle for the transmission of these healing vibrations (Uranus) is the watery matrix of the body, as well as its skeletal structure;
6. The close conjunction of Venus and Uranus depicts the innovative nature of the seminar content, as well as the nature of the vibrational medicine (Uranus) that is being used. We should not overlook, as well, the trine of Venus to Mars, representing the harmonious blending of the two treatment modalities, acupuncture (Mars) and tuning forks (Venus), which are a feature of Vibrational Acupuncture;
7. Jupiter conjunct the Sun/Moon midpoint: “optimism, expansion, enthusiasm, and strength of conviction (are) the central unifying forces of (the event), and the interactions that characterize it.”[21] This describes succinctly the over-riding emotional tone of our seminar, and joyous connection with others that made it so extraordinary;
8. Moreover, this midpoint picture is similarly evocative of the mutual passion that C (Moon) and I (Sun) have for education (Jupiter), our dedication to that pursuit as one of the principal vocational trajectories of our latter lives, and which, even in this time of woe, made us persist in our desire to teach those who sought our learning, permitting them to experience the transformative nature of this synergy of modalities, an essential aspect of all the seminars that we offer. Such aims cannot be accomplished at a remove, through the, however convenient and “safe”, access of the individual computer or smartphone screen. They require the vitalizing and supportive presence of two master teachers (also Sun and Moon with Jupiter), who can provide mirroring for each individual’s process and progress throughout the duration of such an educational offering.
Conclusion
“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.”
“Litany against Fear”, recited by acolytes of the Bene Gesserit, from the novel, Dune (Frank Herbert)[22]
Almost a month has now passed since I started upon this essay, and I have been overtaken, in my daily activities, by necessary reactions to events in the wider world, which have largely scuttled, as noted above, our plans for the months of April and May (and perhaps longer), forcing us to seek solutions to the monetary shortfalls occasioned by the negation of our short-term plans for teaching and travel. Thus, I have not been able to focus on the completion of what seemed, at the outset, an urgent communique.
However, to return to this effort after this involuntary hiatus, thus far, I believe that I have advanced a compelling astrological argument, based on the configurations of the event chart for our Denver seminar, both for the nightmare scenario of the civilized world’s gross over-reaction to the perceived threat of mortality resulting from this contagion, and for the transformational nature of the intimate seminar that C and I co-taught in Denver, just before the hammer came down.
Having been compelled by circumstance to return, somewhat unwillingly, to New York, the global epicenter of this COVID-19 “pandemic” – here on the front lines, as it were – we have turned our energies to creating products to help people with the symptoms of this “virus”, our COVID-19 Survival Kit, as well as pivoting our educational efforts to online forums, for the time being. We have just co-authored an article for Healers Magazine entitled “COVID-19: An Emotional Pandemic,” which focuses on the psychological and emotional damage that has already been wrought by the unremitting climate of fear fostered by the media, willing toadies to compliant governments, and the enforced isolation of people in their homes, under virtual “voluntary” house arrest.
Easter and Passover came and went last weekend, and no worshippers were able to celebrate those important rituals in the company of others. This is reflected in the oppressive presence of Saturn and Pluto in the 9th of religion, with Jupiter, the natural ruler of that house, in its detriment, and impotent in the face of this quasi-universal lockdown.
“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings[23]
We have witnessed our fellow citizens here on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, timorously venturing abroad to execute the paltry few activities which are still permitted, grotesquely arrayed in jerry-built masks, largely unnecessary, and most likely, useless against the hypothetical danger[24]. Civic authority, emanating from the State government in Albany, has deemed the donning of a mask obligatory in situations in which the tyranny of “social distancing” cannot be successfully maintained, but otherwise this protective impediment is still not mandatory.
“The world is suffering from a massive delusion based on the belief that a test for RNA2 is a test for a deadly new virus, a virus that has emerged from wild bats or other animals in China, supported by the western assumption that Chinese people will eat anything that moves.”[25]
Many others, of course, are resolutely terrified to even step outside their doors, passively accepting their reduced circumstances and opportunities. Those braver persons, resolutely armored against their invisible and implacable foe, who do manage to shamble to the grocery store and the pharmacy, avoid one another like the plague, even when sporting their defensive accoutrements. They are reacting to continuing pronouncements of the CDC concerning the communicability of novel coronavirus, and the horror stories emanating from hospitals worldwide. Despite all this propaganda, however, the mortality rate per capita on a global scale to date does not accord with their fears[26]. They have succumbed to a collective misapprehension from which it will be difficult to extricate themselves once this pandemic ceases (or is permitted to cease).
Bruce Lipton, author of the Biology of Belief, has repeatedly emphasized in recent online interviews and videos that this “novel” coronavirus, while one against which the average person will have no immunity, is nothing more than a new flu, not the scourge the media is portraying it to be[27]. He further stresses the fact that fear, which engages the primitive “flight or fight” reaction of the adrenal glands, actively suppresses the functioning of the immune system. Those who have surrendered their will and their autonomy to wallow in this negative emotion are effectively capitulating to attack by any external pathogen, and therefore are more vulnerable to COVID-19, if it even exists (see below).
This brings me to a consideration of the emotional fallout emanating from these lockdowns; Saturn/Pluto at the MC of the horoscope also represents the patina of fear that is terrorizing the globe, this panic (Saturn) is utterly without foundation or rationality, and is insidious (Pluto) in its emotional attrition. It has paralyzed the majority of the population in civilized countries, who have been further incapacitated by their involuntary incarceration in their homes, and the systematic deprivation of their quality of life. The presence of no less than 3 planets in the 12th of confinement in the map highlights this crucial aspect of this intolerable situation; moreover, Chiron, the Wounder, in Aries, in that same 12th house, is starkly illustrative of the debilitating influence of this immurement that has been foisted upon 99% of the populace without warning or justification.
How, then, can those of us who have not swallowed this mainstream narrative, an unholy concoction of fear-mongering and flawed science (Moon in its detriment trine Neptune in the radix, i.e., complete aberration, and abnegation, of rational thought) effectively counter the horrific debasement associated with this unprecedented curtailment of our human rights and personal dignity – all in the name of “safety” and “security” – this manipulation of emotion on a global scale, whatever the proximate cause or feasibility?
Perhaps the answer to this egregious affront also lies in that same 12th house … it is the realm of clandestine activity, those things that occur out of public view. Here we find, ironically, albeit just having risen on the day, the ruler of this dismal cosmogram, the Morning Star, Venus, supreme in its dignity in Taurus. Venus rises moreover, on the heels of rebel Uranus, and this combination speaks to a couple of different interpretations. We can see this in a conventional manner as representing the current state of affairs, in which human beings are continuing their promulgation of relationship (Venus) at a remove from public space (12th house), abetted by the use of technology (Uranus). This is necessary for our mental health, an aspect of the situation which is highlighted by the interception of Venus’ air sign, Libra, in the 6th of health. Libra, the traditional signifier of relationship, historically marriage, has no outlet to a house cusp or an angle; relationship is effectively choked off at the roots by this phenomena, and relationships not grounded in the bedrock of genuine intimacy and compatibility are already withering due to constant proximity.
However, Venus/Uranus suggests something rather less passive; the formation of cells (Venus) of clandestine (12th house) resistance (Uranus) that can similarly benefit from the use of the omnipresent virtual communications technology, to establish and maintain connections and share information, a 5th column of individuals to counteract the collective delusion. Venus is entirely unaspected by any other chart factors save the ASC, therefore it is free to pursue these revolutionary aims (Uranus) without hindrance.
I note further that Venus is parallel to, although not conjunct with, the asteroid Vesta, which represents the “fuoco sacro”, the sacred flame of authentic inspiration; perhaps this relates to the notion that real relationship, that which is only possible, ironically, given previous remarks, through physical proximity, should be pursued in private. This is what we focused on (Vesta) with our students in Denver, through the exchange of physical intimacy (Venus), lengthy hugs which cause the release of beneficial oxytocin, and supportive healing treatments, the polar opposite of what was transpiring in the outer world all around us. This also reflects that same paranoia against which we strove mightily on that occasion:
“When Vesta conjuncts … Venus, inner fear and lack of trust are projected outward … Ironically, this type of paranoia becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as the individual attracts the very (thing) he or she is afraid of … These attitudes become a means of maintaining distance, control and power over the feared other.”[28]
This was what we confronted in Denver prior to our return home; we were summarily barred from our teaching venue, the Common House– ostracized for being other. Had it not been for a timely intervention from that student of ours who had otherwise deplored our actions, we would have been cast adrift, homeless in a locale far from home.
Following that brief hiatus from preoccupation with survival, we had no choice but to return, reluctantly, to New York, to endeavor to continue to pursue the daily course of our lives and our livelihood. However, despite our comparative isolation here in Manhattan – in that we don’t have many intimates in the metropolis, being rather more, due to our peregrinations in the recent years, citizens of the world – we have been sustained, both by our creative pursuits, and equally by a heartwarming reminiscence of human connection and intimate support, fostered by that remarkable seminar in Denver. It was a supreme act of courage to persist in that goal of education and community while so many elsewhere were disconnecting from the rest of humanity. It was, moreover, an act of resolute defiance of an unreasoning capitulation to the dictates of a medical and political establishment that has no concrete proof that there is, in fact, a genuine viral entity[29], and who cling to an outmoded view of epidemic contagion, one that has not evolved significantly in the 100 years since the worldwide devastation of the Spanish influenza:
“This strange new disease, officially named COVID-19, has none of its own symptoms. Fever and cough, previously blamed on uncountable viruses and bacteria, as well as environmental contaminants, are most common, as well as abnormal lung images, despite those being found in healthy people … There is no proof that a virus is being detected by the testing … What is being published in medical journals is not science, every paper has the goal of enhancing the panic by interpreting the data only in ways that benefit the viral theory, even when the data is confusing or contradictory. In other words, the medical papers are propaganda.” [30]
The greater tragedy, not overlooking the economic Armageddon toward which we are sliding as a consequence of the untoward and peremptory cessation of enterprise, individual and collective, in all the advanced nations of planet Earth, is that of the emotional carnage being wrought by these misguided policies. In considering this, I am reminded once again of the epigraph quote from John Lennon which heads this essay. The notion of two dipoles of human emotion, fear and love, has philosophical antecedents in the work of the Greek Empedocles, who characterized the complementary and opposing motive forces of creation as Love and Strife. We see this dichotomy writ large in the planetary backdrop for our Denver seminar. Saturn (fear) sits astride the MC, overshadowing the world, with its dark coeval, Pluto, poisoning it with an unreasoning and restrictive paranoia, from which it might seem difficult to extricate oneself.
“Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings[31]
Nevertheless, Venus, the Lucifer, the Heosphorus, the Light-Bringer (love), emerging from the depths of night, brings her radiance to those dark corners of the earth (12th house) in which her denizens now huddle in their trepidation for their continued existence. Our only response to such an unwarranted assault on our vulnerable humanity must be to ignore the woeful tide of calamity, and reach out, with love, with compassion, to embrace our neighbors, our families, our friends. The dark specter of this possibly spurious, and most assuredly, less than catastrophically lethal, viral agency has infected the entire world, pitting all against each other in a mad Darwinian lust for survival, even at the cost of our souls.
Those of us who refuse to surrender to this bizarre and ultimately self-destructive course can only counter such a divisive agency with love, with a willingness to remain steadfast against the pandemic panic of isolation and alienation. That is what C and I succeeded in accomplishing, in microcosm, with our fellow practitioners in Denver, as we united to resist the depredations of the encroaching Shadow; one can only hope that ours was not the only bastion of resistance against this tsunami of toxic emotion. Only time, and the books yet to be written about this unfortunate chapter in our collective story, will bear witness as to whether our species withstood such a nefarious onslaught upon our better natures – or, more chillingly, we forsook our shared humanity in a frantic and foolhardy rush to escape Death:
Gandalf: “End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.”
Pippin: “What? Gandalf? See what?”
Gandalf: “White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.”
Pippin: “Well, that isn’t so bad.”
Gandalf: “No. No, it isn’t.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings[32]
I hope that you enjoyed this essay, and that it has piqued your curiosity about what else you might find in my books!! If so, you’ll find them all here on my Amazon Author page. All paperbacks are currently reduced, and the Kindle versions are extremely reasonable in price. If you like what you’ve been reading, please subscribe to this page.
Oh, and here is your second Christmas prezzie; my interview with the Grinch, on my friend, David Bolton’s, podcast channel, “The Path of Socrates,” upon which I am a regular guest (there’s also a bit of Xmas music, courtesy of yours truly). Enjoy!!
If you find that segment interesting and entertaining, you might consider subscribing to our astrological YouTube channel, “Astrology Profiles” — just two guys talking about charts.
[1] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/fear; accessed 3/17/20.
[2] https://www.anhinternational.org/news/anh-intl-special-report-covid-19-fearmongering-born-out-of-uncertainty/; accessed 3/17/20.
https://us7.campaign-archive.com/?e=eaff6520cc&u=8d5cbfdb6ddfc1e4aea8c9c9c&id=ecbcce9f04
; accessed 3/21/20. Original CDC report: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/2009-h1n1-pandemic.html.
[4] https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3462456-the-lord-of-the-rings?page=5; accessed 3/18/20.
[5] https://www.astrology.com/article/2020-saturn-pluto-conjunction-astrology; accessed 3/19/20.
[6] https://www.inc.com/heather-r-morgan/why-coronavirus-is-a-black-swan-event-we-might-actually-need.html; accessed 3/19/20.
[7] https://www.wildgratitude.com/swan-symbolism/; accessed 3/27/20.
[8] http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Swans; accessed 3/27/20.
[9] http://astrologyclub.org/besieged-aided-planet/; accessed 3/21/20.
[10] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/25/covid-19-is-natures-wake-up-call-to-complacent-civilisation?fbclid=IwAR0bKvoUncrlhHZnVIytyoKvOA9lCsaOdu0ix5hwLkx_NtekzMheFWozWis; accessed 3/26/20.
[11] https://www.aaas.org/news/sleep-deprivation-described-serious-public-health-problem; accessed 3/22/20.
[12] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00758-2?mc_cid=ecbcce9f04&mc_eid=eaff6520cc; accessed 3/22/20.
[13] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/25/covid-19-is-natures-wake-up-call-to-complacent-civilisation?fbclid=IwAR0bKvoUncrlhHZnVIytyoKvOA9lCsaOdu0ix5hwLkx_NtekzMheFWozWis; accessed 3/26/20.
[14] https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3462456-the-lord-of-the-rings; accessed 3/23/20.
[15] https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-loneliness-from-coronavirus-isolation-takes-its-own-toll?source=EDT_NYR_EDIT_NEWSLETTER_0_imagenewsletter_Daily_ZZ&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_032320&utm_medium=email&bxid=5bd679a024c17c10480253ce&cndid=42893233&esrc=&mbid=&utm_term=TNY_Daily; accessed 3/23/20.
[16] Ibid. (italics added)
[17] https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3462456-the-lord-of-the-rings?page=4; accessed 3/23/20.
[18] https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html; accessed 3/25/20.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Munkasey, Michael, Midpoints: Unleashing the Power of the Planets, Online College of Astrology, 2001 (PDF)
[21] McBroom, Don, Midpoints: Identify & Integrate Midpoints into Horoscope Synthesis (Special Topics in Astrology): Identify and Integrate Midpoints into Horoscope Synthesis, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN, 2007, p. 52 (PDF) (slightly amended for an event chart).
[22] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bene_Gesserit#Litany_against_fear; accessed 4/14/20.
[23] https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3462456-the-lord-of-the-rings; accessed 4/14/20.
[24] See, e. g., https://www.livescience.com/are-face-masks-effective-reducing-coronavirus-spread.html; accessed 4/14/20.
[25] https://theinfectiousmyth.com/book/CoronavirusPanic.pdf; accessed 4/21/20.
[26] After 3 months of this spurious global “pandemic” a mere 120,000 people, approximately, have perished worldwide; this is hardly a plague of Biblical proportions. The Spanish flu of 1918-19 killed an estimated 50 million people. The mortality rate of COVID-19 per capita, thus far, versus the estimated population of the Earth, just under 8 billion people, is .00158%!! This is 100 times less potent than a regular “seasonal” flu, which kills, on average, .1% of the population. Approximately 7,000 people die every day in the United States, for total of about 365,000 per year; as of April 23, 2020, COVID-19 has killed 23,358. The garden variety flu has killed 5,313.
[27] See, e. g.,
; accessed 4/14/20.
[28] George, Demetra, with Bloch, Douglas, Asteroid Goddesses: The Mythology, Psychology and Astrology of the Reemerging Feminine, ACS Publications, San Diego, CA, 1986, p. 127. (with slight emendations)
[29] https://theinfectiousmyth.com/book/CoronavirusPanic.pdf; accessed 4/21/20.
[30] Ibid. (italics added); describing initial findings concerning COVID-19 in Wuhan, China.
[31] https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3462456-the-lord-of-the-rings?page=2; accessed 4/22/20.
[32] https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3462456-the-lord-of-the-rings; accessed 4/22/20.