Easter — The Week

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

“I have a vision of a new America. I see an America that has turned her back on scandal and corruption and official cynicism … I see a government that does not spy on its citizens, that respects your dignity and your privacy and your right to be let alone … I see an American foreign policy that is as consistent and generous as the American people.”

— Presidential candidate James Earl Carter, 1976

Here I am again on a Good Friday, putting thoughts together that will, hopefully, make some sense and perhaps move the needle of our collective understanding of this period in which we find ourselves. As Eric tells us in this week’s excellent subscription edition, without Chiron’s influence in the coming Grand Cross, we might feel ourselves at a dead end. But with the Centaur lending vibratory input, no matter how dark the sludge we’re wading through now, we have options.

Political Blog, News, Information, Astrological Perspective.That’s worthy of an atta’boy, by the way. We’ve worked hard for a broader sense of ourselves over the decades — do feel free to discount the fuck-ups, they don’t resonate at the same rate — and we’re poised on discovering even more, the inevitable result of increased awareness. We’ll find more of that after we pass through this fourth of seven crosses, I suspect, headed for a new era despite all appearances.

Speaking of crosses, a friend — more than a passing acquaintance but one who knows a lot more about the Pea Patch and its cultural norms than about me — gave my son a gift to pass along, something he bought from a vender selling handmade stuff outside a country store. It’s a wooden cross, nicely finished and uncomfortably large, sporting two crossed lengths of wicked-looking barbed wire on top. Ghastly. After thinking it through, I decided to hand it back, gently suggesting it find a home elsewhere since I’m “not into the death penalty.” No sense pulling him through a spiritual wormhole he has little knowledge of, as, while he’s not religious, most of his family dance with demons as evangelicals. And I’m sure one of them would welcome such a disturbing icon.

Me, I wouldn’t want it even without the barbed wire, like hanging a little electric chair on the wall. In the past, I’ve made colorful stained glass crosses, sun catchers, for family and friends at Easter, gifted with a little scroll to indicate that the vertical bar represents spirit piercing the horizontal plane of matter. Although that sounds like an effort to soften and redress the symbolism, perhaps prompted by my natal Jupiter/Chiron conjunction in Libra, it’s also how I see our experience, here on planet Terra — a foot in both worlds. Truly, I’ve never favored the Catholic version of the cross, with the Christ-figure hanging upon it, but this year I’m even more repulsed by the violence of the image than usual. I think that’s key to what’s going on now. We feel passionately about where we are, what we see around us, but — in Pluto/Uranus fashion — we are “not together.” Some of us prefer barbed wire, others rainbows of art glass.

Looking to news for examples is in my job description, but frankly, it’s been a hell of a week. It started on Passover Eve with a Klansman — a former grand dragon, diseased by a lifetime of race hatred — going after Jews in Kansas City and managing to kill three people before he was apprehended. The victims? A retired doctor and his grandson in a parking lot outside the Jewish Community Center, where the 14 year-old Eagle Scout was preparing to audition for a singing competition. Minutes later, about a mile away, a physical therapist and mother of two was gunned down as she entered the Village Shalom retirement community to visit her mother. Not that irony matters much — and evidently means little to the perp who yelled “Heil Hitler” to waiting reporters as he was pushed into the back of a black-n-white — all of the victims were Christian.

Frasier Glenn Cross, aka Miller, had long been tracked by the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which keeps a close eye on hate groups, but having lost two bids for congress here in Missouri, he’s kept a low profile lately. Once a big fish in a small pond and now in his seventies, there’s speculation that he’s been trying to get his cred back since ratting out his brother supremacists in 1989. Perhaps this will redeem him in the eyes of the faithful, hate dressed in swastikas always seems to find its audience.

Let’s also acknowledge that the number of “patriot” groups and armed militias rose by 813 percent after Obama was elected in 2008. (Good thing he has that crackerjack Secret Service — hic! — detail, eh?) Those of us on the left of the political spectrum do not factor this in very often; it’s not our wound to heal. Ultimately, killing three here in Missouri may earn Cross (or Miller) the death penalty. Just lately, we’ve been swatting down our death row inmates like flies.

Mayhem wasn’t limited to the Midwest. Mid-week, it was all about the patriots and the cowboys (no, not the football teams). Flying largely under the radar unless you frequent FOX News or Newsmax, the Bundy cattle fiasco gave government haters a place to put their rage. In short, Bundy is a wealthy Nevada businessman who, after twenty years of running cattle on public lands without paying permit fees, was issued a cease and desist notice from the federal government. This notice, which included a $200 per-day per-head penalty from that point forward, was delivered in 1998. Fifteen years later, additional court orders found that Bundy had not only ignored the first order but had increased his herd, which had now wandered into additional public tracts. The third court order allowed the government to impound any remaining cattle after a 45-day process period, and that’s exactly what Bureau of Land Management employees began to do until they met a lively crew of mounted gunslingers from around the country, come to Bundy’s aid.

Bundy, who has declared that he abides by state law but does not recognize the federal government or its demands, has become the darling of Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and the like, who eagerly noted that the BLM employees were armed and planned to auction off the confiscated cattle in Utah to repay Bundy’s debts to the government. On the Alex Jones Show, Bundy told listeners to “go in there with force” to stop the (since delayed) auction. Militias around the country mobilized in support, with one such member pledging to be “a barrier between the oppressed and the tyrants.” It was speculated that if women were placed at the front, any harm to them would be good publicity for liberty’s cause. Other supporters said that while they’re not anti-government, they’re firmly “anti-corrupt government.” And, of course, armed, as the Second Amendment guarantees. Jones warned that confrontation at the auction “could turn into 1776 very quickly,” (although I don’t remember Betsy Ross being pushed to the front of that conflict at any point).

For their part, the Feds behaved more sensibly than usual, deciding to back off in the interest of public safety and, at least for the moment, let the impounded cattle go. This allowed the gunslingers to holster their weapons and move along, ready to fight another day. You can bet your sweet ass that day will come, not just because the Fed will insist Mr. Bundy meet his obligations, but also because those willing to sacrifice the little woman in the name of freedom will be counting the minutes until the next adolescent pissing contest. The loss of life in stand-offs like Ruby Ridge and Waco still smart in the hearts of many of us, not just Libertarians, but their specter has been raised again and again by conservative pundits in the cynical hopes of provoking another event to keep the fear and paranoia alive. I have no doubt that should that happen, someone in the crowd will shoot off a rifle and scream, “BENGHAZI!”

Makes my stomach lurch, can’t help it. Both these events are bad theatre, the white supremacist mindset echoed by the mayor of a small Missouri town who knew Cross back when, and “sort of agreed” with his sentiments on “Jew-run medical industry and government,” but thought the killing wrong. And the Nevada conversation seems the equivalent of tri-cornered hat-wearing, picketing seniors at Tea Party protests of last political season, toting their guns and puffing their chests, full of notions of victimization and very little else. I quite understand issues of liberty and I’m not happy about how this government takes advantage of the public on any number of levels, but the gawd-awful tyranny of charging fees for grazing rights on public lands ain’t one of them.

In fact, as a supporter of the few remaining wild horses in this country, it’s clear that cattle ranchers get a good deal more access while the horses — unowned, and therefore unrepresented — are uniformly rounded up and sold for slaughter (unless advocates can raise enough money to rescue and place them). Somewhere in my soul, this whole thing summons that same visceral response as the barbed wire. The electric chair. The slaughter house.

Our Len Wallick did an excellent piece last week about the Libra Full Moon eclipse doing a flip along the Libra/Aries axis, which last occurred in 1995. A number of readers responded, confirming that their lives had taken a sudden shift in ’95. So did mine, a radical shift that was like one story ending, another begun. In looking at the news, then, let’s remember that on this very day in 1995, Timothy McVeigh parked his rent-a-truck loaded with fertilizer in front of the Oklahoma City Federal Building. Let’s remember that the spring of 1995 brought us the first 2,000 reported deaths of the Rwandan genocide for reasons of “racism,” the sarin nerve gas attack in a Tokyo subway that killed eight and injured thousands for reasons of “religion,” and I suspect Mr. Bundy considers his cause just defiance against the loss of individual rights from “government” in cahoots with the UN to achieve a New World Order. Tim McVeigh would speak his language.

If you think what comes around doesn’t go around — and around and around — read that Carter quote above one more time. By the way, Jimmy Carter has urged the president to pass on Keystone, but of course he’s the one former leader of the free world Obama doesn’t consult, ostensibly because he’s critical of Israel for what he considers apartheid of the Palestinians, but more likely because he never gives an inch on matters of civil rights or populism. Money and influence get in the way of such human endeavors, don’t they? In Carter’s day, money didn’t scream quite as loudly as it does now, and the whole notion of influence and lobbying recreated itself when Jimmy’s successor, “One For The Gipper” Reagan, hit the big WA-DC klieg lights. A lot of things changed, right about then.

Here’s something that changed that I simply can’t wrap my mind around: what happened to Christianity? In service to Christ-consciousness, I cannot discount the darkened face of Christianity we see today. It has earned a nasty reputation over the centuries, but at its heart, there was a pure signal of love that is hard to find these days. Here is a clip by comedian, Lewis Black, that makes me laugh, because I relate to his frustration and boiling point (and, gosh, I worry that he’ll keel over from apoplexy one day!)

Black calls himself a socialist, as do I. “As a Jew,” he tells us, he has a perspective on this and I think it’s a good one. Living in a Christian nation is like “enforced socialism,” says Lewis. It is, or at least, it should be. And Christianity, at its bravest and best, is about love and kindness, humility and charity, service to one another done in the name of those virtues because it was given as both transcendent practice and a tenet of faith. This week, Pope Francis washed feet again, this time those of disabled men and women. Once again, he broke old and prideful tradition to do so. So should we all.

We are always up to the same thing, here on the planet. The violence is a gazillion times better now than it used to be a couple of hundred, a couple thousand years ago, say the historians. The standard of living is higher than ever. But the same thing that ailed humanity so long ago still drives it. A Course in Miracles would call it the ego, or false self. Buddha tells us, “It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.” Jesus said, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” Corruption must be solved in the heart.

It’s a dark time, we can all agree to that. We have choices ahead of us that ask for our collective faith and wisdom. The channelers tell us that the thing we want is already accomplished, that it is simply a matter of focusing on the vision of our healed planet and global community, to “keep on keeping on.” A dark time, but it’s been dark before and we’re still here, chewing over our personal enlightenment. We can do this.

On Easter when we gather with family and friends — when we think of resurrection, see its face in the flowers, the budding trees and shrubs of spring, hear its voice in the sounds of nature, the buzz of bees at blossoms, the songs of tree frogs and birds — let’s consciously remember that enough of us, together, can change the world for the better. There is no other reason for religion, and certainly no other for government. When we figure out that’s what we came to do, then Light will transform darkness and we can go on to the next thing which would be, what? Following our bliss? I would think so, when we master ourselves. When we transform the human heart with love.

14 thoughts on “Easter — The Week”

  1. Fe,

    I can no longer look at the events in America as political, belonging to one party or the other or the Tea Baggers or some nut. For me, focusing on the global picture is what makes sense. The Bundy Ranch is one thread of all that is happening at this moment in time. For sure we are a young nation. We have done great damage in the world and continue to do more. If we begin to understand the message at home as a reflection of what we are doing elsewhere in the world, then so be it, lets understand. I question our ability to learn because we are taught so much that is simply untrue that many have lost the ability to think clearly. Chris Hedges, whom I admire greatly, speaks and writes of revolution as our only hope. He is not a supporter of Cliven Bundy. I feel Bundy is playing the part he was born to play at this moment in time. His ranch may turn out to be the equivalent of Tiananmen Square, American style. And, I believe we have the opportunity to choose non-violence, even for people who are carrying a gun. It was the BLM who beat up one of the Bundy sons, not the other way around. Regardless of what happens to me I will not resort to violence but I cannot discount the importance of what is playing out here for everyone on the planet.

    Creativity is the key that will allow us to think in a different way. It can make a space/place where everyone feels safe and can get along. We do not have that in America at the moment and we need to get to a place where we do. But the act of creation demands participation.

    Mia

    Mia

  2. Mia:

    Maybe the lesson and the enlightenment will come from an awareness of the fact that we respond with violence first and not thinking, and that we should not focus on deifying this type of violence as a response. That will take some doing in the US, to re-train and re-orient ourselves into more peaceful means of resolving problems of state and humanity.

    We’re a young (close to 250+ years) dumb empire getting older by the minute, and that is also the zeitgeist we are observing by the behavior of the expiring majority, soon to be replaced by minorities that are overcoming them by numbers. Paradigm shifting is hard, which is why we’re seeing voter suppression and oligarchic control to keep a handle on everything, like they’ve always done.

    As for the Republican AG of Texas, gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott — pal to draft-dodging Ted Nugent, he’s jumping on the Tea Party bandwagon, as is always the case with political opportunists.

  3. There is a great deal of information flying around concerning the Bundy Ranch. I have been doing my own research and continue to keep an open mind. No doubt the final picture will emerge for all of us to see.

    Based on the violence America has perpetrated in the world, there is no surprise that violence is showing its face in America. Karma is real and the government continues, through Homeland Security and countless other means, to interject fear and violence into the American psyche through their purchase of billions of hollow point bullets and countless other things. As you know Fe, you are now a domestic terrorist if you are an animal rights activist.

    I do not own a gun and will not own a gun, regardless of what happens. I do not support violence, however, America has been heading down this path for decades and now, here we are. There is and will be chest thumping, just as there is with Putin in Russia, but it is time we understand we are not the only chest thumpers on the planet. That is how we learn to live in peace. We have been the bullies for far too long.

    The AG of Texas just stood up to the BLM over 90,000 acres of land.

    Mia

  4. FROM SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER

    http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2014/04/11/right-wing-media-eagerly-promote-cliven-bundy-and-his-anti-federal-faceoff/

    EXCERPT:

    “Mainstream media coverage of the showdown in southern Nevada over Cliven Bundy’s cattle has so far been scrupulously balanced. Most outlets – including local TV stations from nearby Las Vegas, as well as cable news outlets CNN and MSNBC – have presented Bundy’s belief that the U.S. government has no jurisdiction over the land on which he grazes his cows as well as the government’s explanation of how it is enforcing land use rules fairly for everyone.

    The same cannot be said for right-wing media outlets, led by Fox News, which have steadily characterized the Bundy family as heroic patriots standing up to a tyrannical government. A number of far-right pundits have even been urging people to go to the scene in Clark County to make their presence known.

    Fox’s Sean Hannity led the parade of Bundy boosters on Fox, featuring a segment on Tuesday night that included an interview with Bundy and a narrative that presented his claims at face value. Indeed, Hannity himself repeated Bundy’s favorite question: “Why do they own all that land?” (Hannity reportedly plans to devote an entire show to the situation on Monday.)”

  5. Mia:

    I understand from other local news reports that the Bundy’s claim of ownership of the land for 140 years is false. They purchased the land in the 1940s, not 1880s.

    About the use of weaponry as a means to stand up against armed government agents. I think about all those people getting evicted through Ellis Act loopholes in San Francisco by developers and wonder if those same tenants could use weaponry to make a statement against those who are evicting them after many decades of tenancy, in order for them to be recognized and fairly treated, not evicted or even offered the same level of news coverage and “heroism” that the Bundy Ranch standoff has created for Cliven Bundy and his followers.

    This is a very bad precedent on both sides. And, as Judith said, alot could have been avoided through competency and mediation. Not showdowns and pissing matches with guns.

  6. In terms of violence, the BLM agents at the Bundy ranch looked like heavily armed mercenaries and former Blackwater (now some other name) employees. The Bundy supporters brought guns but chose not to use them. To me, that was the amazing thing. Violence could have easily erupted but did not.

    If we avoid applying labels to things we might just receive a different message.

  7. Dear Judith,

    I don’t read David Wilcock but am familiar with his work. Thank you for the suggestion.

    The Democrats versus the Republicans will not work as people see more and more that our political system is broken. My sense is Obama has deliberately delayed his decision on the pipeline until after the elections in the fall. No surprise there. I do not look for solutions within the existing framework. Solutions for our problems are outside the box.

    I support the Bundy family in their efforts. Sisters Carrie and Mary Dann, Shoshone elders, have their own saga with the Federal Government. Here is “Our Land, Our Life,” a documentary on them that can be seen on Youtube.

    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=our+land+our+life

    The Feds rounded up over 1,000 horses and cows from their ranch. Ultimately the UN heard their case, suggesting that the Feds communicate and negotiate with the Dann sisters and to this day, the Federal government has not responded. It turns out the second largest gold mine in the world is on their ranch. Grazing fees is probably not the reason for the Bundy land grab.

    We can go back and forth on these issues endlessly with no resolution. I can say for sure that when I spent time at Zuccotti Park with the Occupy people, I could feel amazing Grace in and around me. I have no doubt that people felt it, too, as they stood up ten days ago at the Bundy ranch. That energy will guide us all as we move forward. However, we cannot compromise on issues like drones, the NDAA, the surveillance state, etc… There simply is no compromise. And it is high time we all stood up and said so, particularly to the people who need to hear it.

    A month or so ago the headline on the Huffington Post was “What would Jesus do?” with the face of a young girl superimposed with the American flag. The answer was, “Move to Canada.” It made me laugh because I had, in fact, moved to Canada in November to be with the man in my life. The temptation is there to simply stay. Of course I won’t do that just as all the truly interesting times are about to begin.

    Years ago when Eric did my chart, we discussed the difference between contributing to the world on an energetic level versus an actual, hands on, level. He made the point that the hands on work was so needed by the world. In this day and age spiritual work requires some active form of participation, no matter how big or how small. We will ultimately view ourselves in the light of whether or not we took up that challenge in a meaningful way. Regardless, we will all benefit from the actions of people like Cliven Bundy and Carrie and Mary Dann. These people live with the land, something few of us have the opportunity to do.

    Two weeks ago, there was four feet of snow where I live. A little sun and a little rain and voila, almost gone. Two days ago the crocuses popped out, as if by magic. I am a true believer in the maxim that how things appear is not necessarily how things are.

    Mia

  8. It was a lovely Easter morning here in the Pea Patch, the first in years not to disappoint sunrise service attendees with rain or cold. The lush Venus energy of this initial Taurus degree is very welcome after so long and difficult a winter. I hope, wherever you are, you can feel its promise as Persephone (the goddess associated with mystery, intuition, the unconscious and awakening) celebrates her release from the underworld.

    Thanks, as ever, be, for your encouragement, and inspiration. I was thrilled to see that Obama had bucked the headwinds once again to delay decision on Keystone, as Nebraska wrestles with the legality of the proposed route. The possibility that TransCanada would have the ability to declare eminent domain for its pipeline has landed in the lap of the NE Supreme Court, a decision not due until next year, giving environmentalists more time to convince the public that this is a disastrous idea. The majority still approves it and the government is still hedging on the ramifications. Time to make the case for its demise is critical.

    We need more mainstream reporting on the damage tar sands do, short-term AND long. In this particular instance, the notion that we could sacrifice our future planetary wellbeing for job gain needs to be made real to those who look the other way most of the time. And, although Obama has already issued disclaimers on the meager number of jobs to be offered through the Keystone project, the Canadian administration still insists “tens of thousands” will be forthcoming. MSM has no problem reporting THAT. Pffft!

    Happy Holiday to you too, Mia — hope your day is as lovely and bright as mine. Thank you for sharing the “other side” of the Bundy situation, and the links. This, too, has roots in eminent domain. And while I have empathy for the Bundy family and their traditions, if they wanted to avoid such a pass they needed to fight this through the courts, especially early in the game when the judiciary was a little better wrapped than it is today. And even though my heart goes out to them in their plea that they’ve “owned” this property for so long, I’d suspect the Mexican government has their own take on that, and the indigenous Americans as well.

    As to wealth, I agree that the Bundy’s live modestly. Bundy doesn’t call himself a rancher, preferring melon farmer, and farming is hard, dirty work. I’ve lived in Nevada, and even on its best day, it’s dusty and dirty by definition. On the other hand, anyone with 400+ head of cattle — a number that has held steady, over the years, and each time a calf is dropped, there’s another potential $1600 — is well over half a million bucks richer than I am. He’s not the 1% or even the 10%, but he’s not without means, especially with beef selling at its highest since 1976.

    The Bundy’s have taken a stand against the legitimacy of the federal government. Trying to pay their penalties to Clark County isn’t going to impact, any more than would sending them their IRS payment. This smackdown was going to happen sooner or later, and the way we speak about these things send out streamers of intent and clues about the outcome — the clash was inevitable. Like you, I’m thrilled that there was no violence on the day of the conflict, but with everyone armed there is likely to be, eventually. I also appreciate that those who advocate for the Bundy’s bring our attention to these problems. We, as a public, need to know how ranchers are being pushed out, much as big Agra is pushing out the small farms.

    Still, when we humans bring guns to a conflict, there is likely to be a gun fight and my post this week is, essentially, about our acceptance of, and growing revulsion to, violence. As we know, that’s a hard sell with the public. Violence is etched into our consciousness through centuries of romanticizing, much as Jesus hanging from the cross translates into an acceptance of 21st century barbed wire.

    Here’s a couple of links to further the conversation. This first is a video of Chris Hayes talking to a congressional supporter in the encampment. The next is a breakdown of the legalities involved and this last — interestingly enough from Breitbart — is an excellent balanced view of the whole, including the allegations against Reid’s son.

    By the way, I visited the David Wilcox site for updates the other day, Mia, and thought of you. Do you read him?

    As to ACIM, it’s a lens through which to view the world. So is Paganism, Buddhism, Christianity and astrology too, for that matter. All of them influence what I, personally, bring to the party, and all of them urge humankind to get a grip on the way it thinks and sees itself, to become “mindful” of itself in regard to the larger principals. ACIM specifically speaks to the topics of ego and guilt, and how that controls our thought process, our defense mechanisms and projections, the lowest expression of which describes our current political theatre.

    In any conversation, our ability to be mindful of the larger influences on our thought process seems valuable to me, especially if we are attempting to “see things” differently. And if we are, as Lewis Black asserts, a nation identifying itself with Christianity — and certainly the principals of Christianity are melded into the fabric of Western culture, like it or not — then we should at least try to inhabit the best of its principals; not what it has become, but what it aspires toward.

    Drones, the NSA, yadda? I didn’t mention them in this article, but these are plainly ethical issues. What does spirituality have to do with these? In my mind, everything. We know that spirituality isn’t something we do, it’s something we are. What we are cannot turn away from what is being done all around us, this is not at question. A good amount of 20th century advocacy was done in the name of spiritual principal, and it still seems to me the most trustworthy motive for social and political change.

    HOW we effect that change is the (unanswered) question today, and plainly, we don’t all agree on how, even if we do agree that it must happen. From my point of view, our strength still lies in peaceful … unarmed … advocacy.

    NOT to be forgotten, dearhearts, Tuesday, the 22nd, is the 44th annual Earth Day celebration and the Center for Biological Diversity is giving away 44,000 free Endangered Species Condoms around the country; if interested, read the article linked above. Do something good for the Mother on Tuesday, and tell everybody you know she’s waiting to hear from them as well!

    On to Easter dinner and celebration of the green and growing. Happy Holiday to everyone!

  9. As the Sun slips into Taurus just in time for early risers on Easter Sunday it heralds the coming of a new understanding of the word savior. Thank you once again Jude for your heart-felt optimism that the light will win out over the dark and that it’s already a done deal in some circles.

    Just 4 years from now transiting Uranus will make his 1st foray into the sign of the bull to join the Sun and Mercury and a Taurus New Moon that is only 2 degrees away from the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of 2000. This Easter marks the pre-dawn of a new Promethean Age of discovery where we leave the torch of fire-burning fossil fuels behind and enter the non-carbon emission energy age. At that time Uranus will only make a brief bow into Taurus before retreating for a year then returning in March, 2019, to stay for 7 years.

    Part of the promise of this cross, this cardinal cross taking place while the Sun is in Taurus, is to heal the planet Earth and remove the barbed wire. Not having read the subscription article by Eric, it’s likely that I’m repeating what you already know; that this new Taurus Sun sextile Nessus in Pisces is an aspect that aims to heal generations of human abuse of the earth’s resources and all life dependent on them. The ingress chart for Sun into Taurus holds a trine aspect between Taurus Sun and Moon in Capricorn; a welcome sign of cooperation between those associated with land resources and the societies which depend on these resources for survival.

    The word Apollo has come to symbolize an era during which man landed on the Moon, but the asteroid Apollo in astrology indicates individual creativity in a social context. As the Sun enters Taurus tonight, Apollo will be at 14+ Virgo, opposite Venus and Chiron in Pisces, square the Great Attractor in Sagittarius, trine Pluto in Capricorn, sextile Jupiter in Cancer, quincunx Uranus in Aries and semi-sextile Mars in Libra. This chart’s asteroid Apollo is also square the degree where Venus occulted the Sun in June, 2012, activating the energy of thinking with one’s heart. Apollo in Virgo applies his creativity toward healing the environment in practical ways, and, judging by his contacts in THIS chart, those ways will be numerous and often conflicting. Nobody is surprised by this. Achievement, a Saturn thing, has to be worked for and transiting Saturn opposes the 2000 conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn in Taurus, the start of a cycle (part of a larger cycle of earth-sign Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions) that will end in 2020.

    Most of all Apollo’s mythical image is associated with controlling the Sun, driving the Sun. If we (humanity) can harness the Sun and guide its energy for the betterment of Earth and it’s inhabitants the way Apollo did, we too will become gods in the truest sense. We (as a whole) in our new-found godliness will become the savior of this beautiful little planet called Earth. Peace and love to all this Easter.
    be

  10. A few more comments on the Bundy situation:

    The Bundy family has owned the land rights to this property for over a century. Cliven and his wife have raised 14 children there. I have seen images of the interior of the home. It is modest. Their wealth is in their cattle, valued at $1,600 a head. Yale educated lawyer and founder of Oathkeepers Stewart Rhodes gave the Bundy family $12,000 that was raised to support them. If they were rolling in dough it would not have been necessary. The $1 million dollar figure of funds owed no doubt is compounded with penalties, late fees and interest. I suspect the real number is much lower. Bundy offered to pay the local government but was refused. I watched a town meeting on this issue and saw a packed, standing room only crowd all in support of the Bundy family. That says something to me.

    Grand Cross and eclipses aside, I place great value on the healing powers of the Easter season and spring. It is a time of rebirth and additional light. These people are standing up for all of us. Recently Be wrote of William Wilberforce on this site. I had written of him in response to one of your article several years ago. Slavery in Britain was abolished after 20 years of his efforts without one shot. Perhaps some of that was at work at the Bundy Ranch last weekend. Feeling this was important I have watched carefully from the beginning of this standoff but paid no attention to any of the media other than the clip from an Infowars reporter who filmed the confrontation as it happened. What happens here has large implications for all of us.

    Judith, you reference A Course in Miracles on a regular basis. What do drones, the NDAA and the surveillance state have to do with ACIM and spirituality? There is no justification for any of this. Angela Merkel asked for her surveillance file and was turned down. America is alienating its friends and the karma of our actions abroad is coming right back at us. If you do not already do so I would suggest reading the work of Joseph Farrell. We are in a position for our economy to collapse and we have brought it upon ourselves. As the BRICS and other nations become more independent, that is exactly what will happen. We have gone way, way too far and it is time for a correction.

    That’s all folks, from this Easter Bunny!

    Mia

  11. Happy Easter, Judith. And Passover.

    I have been following the situation at the Bundy Ranch closely from people who are/have been there on alternative sights and through youtube. I suggest your view may be skewed. The women were not put up front as you say deliberately, but chose to stand up for what they believe in. Bundy’s sister, a 50+ year old cancer patient, was pushed to the ground by the BLM, who pulled out, by the way, to protect themselves. They were clearly outnumbered. They were there in force, 200 strong, with all kinds of weapons. Col. Roy Potter, a man I respect, said that they were being guided to a peaceful resolution by God. I do believe they had angelic support last weekend. The Bundy family grazed that land for 140 years and are the last ranch in the area. Harry Reid and his son appear to have a deal with the Chinese for the land. Yes, revolution will come. It must. But I am grateful this situation was resolved peacefully. Even AT&T let the Bundy’s know they were supporting them in this dispute. I am also grateful that people are standing up and saying “NO” and I hope that a whole lot more do, including the PW community.

    Mia

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