Articles

Notes on the Dereliction of Dharma

Dear Friend and Reader: As Mercury works its way retrograde in Scorpio, it’s exciting to see the impeachment of Donald Trump gain momentum. I am not saying this as a partisan of any political party. If someone robbed a bank, committed fraud or assaulted someone, I would not be asking what political party they belonged … Read more

Listening to the World Go By

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Dear Friend and Reader:

One of my journalistic hobbies is listening to the scanner. All I have to do is unmute Channel 1 on my soundboard, and it comes through my speakers. I can then eavesdrop on the chatter of government. I hear some law enforcement, but mainly what comes across are medical calls, fire calls and stuff like road maintenance.

Planet Waves — My basic audio setup includes a Uniden scanner (device right under the candle, made in Sugarloaf), so I can listen to public service activity in my community. I make no secret of the fact that I monitor; I discuss events and procedures with local leaders. Photo by Lanvi Nguyen.

For me this is like a civics meditation. I don’t actively cover local news. When I hear something newsworthy, I will text the city editor at the Daily Freeman, which does not have the time to monitor. But that’s not my main reason for listening. I just find it interesting, and also, I feel reassured to hear that society is functioning.

One of my favorite items happens on the hour, when the toll plazas along the New York State Thruway check in with the temperature and road conditions. I can hear this because they’re on a relay system that broadcasts all the interchanges on one local channel. There is nothing special about this; what I love is hearing routine business, and also the sense of space as the toll plazas announce the weather in their immediate area, spanning hundreds of miles.

Aries Full Moon: Life at This Dangerous Crossroads

Oct. 12, 2019

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Thursday night, I presented the Aries Full Moon in relationship to its political implications, and how it aspects the charts of the United States, of Trump, and the U.S. Pluto return.

To begin understanding the Aries Full Moon on a personal level, first consider what you’re feeling right now, and then consider this. We who are alive today live at a dangerous intersection, where the individual and the collective merge into one another.

This is so natural that we don’t notice it. But we live there, with all our stuff, not where two roads meet but at the railroad crossing of the collective (trains) and the individual (cars and pedestrians). With Aries, we are talking about the Aries Point — the astrological image of that railroad crossing. The Aries Point is the first degree of that sign, which extends well into it, and also into several other signs of the zodiac. At the moment, several of them are powered up by planets in the early cardinal signs.

Conspiracy to Defraud the United States (18 U.S.C. § 371)

Oct. 8, 2019

Dear Friend and Reader:

First, please get over the notion that if you take any of this seriously, you’re nothing but a partisan of evil Nancy Pelosi or Hillary Clinton. Or that if you shrug it off, you’re a brave protector and defender of the United States Constitution and the honor of a duly elected executive officer.

Pres. Trump speaks calmly and politely to reporters Wednesday, after he was asked just what favor he wanted from the Ukrainian president. After he dodged the question for five minutes, the reporter asked him again. Photo by Doug Mills. View full size; link to Doug’s Instagram.

Also, for those who care, I will offer some thoughts about how not to leap across the table and pummel those who act like nothing special is happening, as they torture you with their blasé attitude. Or, for that matter, those whose acid cynicism makes you want to hate the fact that you’re interested or concerned.

In this article, I’m planning to go over the basics of the impeachment and the astrology behind it, though I think it’s secondary in significance to something else, something much larger and more personal. I want to speak to the figure-ground issue that will help clarify what is happening with the attempt to remove Donald Trump from office, and what the implications of that are.

This may take a few words. If I sum it up with a statement such as, “It’s not about them, it’s about us,” all the nuance will be lost, which is part of the problem — this stark contrast view of the world that is taking over. I will do my best to be succinct without skipping over any critical details.

If you have a question, you’re invited to write to me, and I may respond on Sunday’s Planet Waves FM. [Here is a link to Monday’s open call-in session.]

Under Pressure: Pisces Full Moon Conjunct Neptune

We’re now experiencing a Full Moon conjunct Neptune in Pisces. The aspect is exact Saturday morning at 12:33 am EDT (9:33 pm Friday PDT, 5:33 am Saturday in London, 2:33 pm in Sydney). This is a complex chart for a number of reasons, most of which include many aspects to Neptune in Pisces, the distant ice giant planet discovered in the age of the telegraph, with an orbit of 164 years.