Dear Friend and Reader:
Before I touch on Friday’s Sagittarius Full Moon or today’s testimony by James Comey, I want to review one issue.
Donald Trump is currently president of the United States, and he didn’t win the election. He got 2,864,974 fewer votes than Hillary Clinton. Many presidents have won by a far smaller margin of victory, most notably John F. Kennedy, who beat Richard Nixon by just 112,827 votes — a margin of just 0.17%.
This is the simple truth. Trump lost the election, and won this weird thing called the “electoral vote.” I am aware that the Electoral College is in the federal constitution. So too is the idea that a black person is three-fifths of a person.
The actual issue of Trump losing the election but still taking office is not about the law; it’s not about politics; it’s a moral issue. The last time someone lost the “popular vote,” which means the vote, we got George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and a series of disastrous wars that have yet to end.
We got the Sept. 11 incident, which the administration knew was about to happen. We got the PATRIOT Act. We got torture and “extraordinary rendition.” We got uncontrolled surveillance of our telephones and internet accounts.
Someone losing the election and taking office is more than a bad omen. The person holding office has no moral allegiance to the country or to its people. Why would they?
They can satisfy themselves with the idea that their “victory” was constitutional, and technically lawful. That’s not the same as knowing that a majority of the people support you, under a system of government where the majority opinion is the one our elections are supposed to be based on.
That alone, aside from everything else we know about Team Trump, was enough to predict a train wreck of a presidency. We now have many questions about where the loyalty of these people really resides. It’s not with us. It’s not with the Republic. We could even doubt whether they’re especially loyal to themselves.
We know, from a tweet, this whole election thing deeply bothers the so-called president: “In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”
I’ve heard the excuses of his partisans, such as how he would have won the popular vote if you don’t count California and he would have really cleaned up big time if you toss out New York.
Actually, we know that the Russians are involved, from the intel data, the meetings that nobody wanted to mention, the lavishing of praise and the chummy White House photo op documented only by the Kremlin.
These are serious issues, though they’re mere symptoms of the problem. The real issue is the struggle over whether the truth matters at all, whether it carries any weight, and whether people can be moved by it. The subtext is whether there’s such a thing as the truth, or whether just believing what you believe is adequate.
This, in turn, is part of a much wider situation, which is where the mind, and society, intersect with the very, very unusual media environment under which we’re currently submerged. We call it all kinds of things: the internet, the smart phone, social media, or technology, though really, it’s all the environment in which we live.
We’re now seeing this environment pushed to its intellectual and conceptual limits. As Prof. Eric McLuhan has explained, “The body is everywhere assaulted by all of our new media, a state which has resulted in deep disorientation of intellect and destabilization of culture throughout the world. In the age of disembodied communication, the meaning and significance and experience of the body is utterly transformed and distorted.”
And we think that in this environment, we’re going to get to the truth of the matter. The Trump-Russia scenario, point for point, actually makes Watergate pale by comparison. It touches on every major issue, and adds the dimension of international espionage, repeated lying on security clearance applications and many other factors.
The real test here is how much people can put up with: how many lies, how much outrageous conduct, how much chaos, before they actually get angry enough to take action. And not merely that: angry enough to focus their power, to get together, and then take action. How are you doing with this? Can you stand it? How are you handling the people you know who insist that everything is just going beautifully?
It remains to be seen whether seeking the truth, or getting angry, or taking action, are even possible, with all of the previously dependable reference points gone. Even when they were in place, it took more than two years after the Watergate break-in to get rid of Richard Nixon. That was back when there was such a thing as the truth, and such a thing as lying, which could be contrasted in a way that was meaningful.
James Comey, who till recently was head of the FBI, told the Senate Intelligence Committee today that he immediately took detailed notes because he was concerned that Trump might lie. Then Trump insinuated that he had tapes of their meetings. At Thursday’s hearing, Comey said, “Look, I’ve seen the tweet about tapes. Lordy, I hope there are tapes.”
That does not sound like someone afraid of the truth, or who thinks there’s no such thing.
Here’s my take on the Sagittarius Full Moon square Neptune.
I am aware of a passage from A Course in Miracles, which I understand and also see the potential problems with. It’s from a section called The Laws of Chaos, from the chapter The War Against Yourself.
The first chaotic law is that the truth is different for everyone. Like all these principles, this one maintains that each is separate and has a different set of thoughts which sets him off from others. This principle evolves from the belief there is a hierarchy of illusions; some are more valuable and therefore true. Each one establishes this for himself and makes it true by his attack on what another values. And this is justified because the values differ and those who hold them seem to be unlike and therefore enemies.
Think how this seems to interfere with the first principle of miracles. [“There is no order of difficulty of miracles. One is not ‘harder’ or ‘bigger’ than another. They are all the same. All expressions of love are maximal.”] For this establishes degrees of truth among illusions, making it appear that some of them are harder to overcome than others. If it were realized that they are all the same and equally untrue, it would be easy, then, to understand that miracles apply to all of them. Errors of any kind can be corrected because they are untrue. When brought to truth instead of to each other, they merely disappear. No part of nothing can be more resistant to the truth than can another.
From a contemporary standpoint, we just LOVE the idea that “the truth is different for everyone.” It’s that thing that makes every person such a unique and special snowflake.
We might honor individuality by saying that everyone perceives the truth differently. Everyone has their distinct point of view. Twenty painters will all paint the same tree differently; none of the paintings are the tree itself. The tree is the truth; the paintings are the perception of the artist — and any artist, which means honest artist, will tell you that. We can honor one another’s point of view and still honor the fact that there is a truth.
I’m meekly informed enough about quantum physics to know, based on current scientific knowledge, that anything is possible, at any time; and that everything that happens is the function of a probability rather than a certainty. I am aware there are scientists who theorize that the universe is so vast that every permutation of reality as we know it must exist simultaneously.
Somewhere in the universe right now, I’m sitting in a hash bar in Amsterdam with Bjork, writing our next album together.
However, as a practical matter, we need reference points. And we know there’s a problem with people making things up, and insisting that it’s not only their truth, but your truth.
They can do that because we’re so overwhelmed and disoriented by our environment, there seems to be no truth; and whoever yells the loudest, or who has the most Twitter followers, whoever people believe, is the one who’s right.
From a deeply personal standpoint, we’re so busy being special snowflakes that it’s easy to lose the truth of who we are. It’s as if the story we make up is the very thing that is right. Yet the mind seems to be so chaotic, and so full of voices, that there is no “truth of who we are.”
There’s also the problem of how challenging it is to reach the core of one’s personal reality, or of some collective reality. It takes work. People tend to be lazy thinkers. It’s easier to just believe something that’s convenient and leave it at that.
That might serve for some purposes, but it won’t help you cross the street, and it won’t help organize a society into something that, you know, provides food, water and sewerage services for its inhabitants.
We have some reckoning to do.
with love,
Daily Horoscope for Friday, June 9, 2017 | By Eric Francis
Aries (March 20-April 19) — If you find yourself believing something that’s not true, consider changing your belief. This is rarely done; usually people expect the world to conform to what they think is true, which is partly why the world is in the state that it’s in. Be a trendsetter and live for the truth.
Taurus (April 19-May 20) — You have every resource you need, if you would only notice. That includes a certain kind of intelligence that allows you to navigate to the truth through a mix of feeling and thinking. Crosscheck one against the other, and feel the strength that this gives you.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) — When you’re passionate about something, or someone, you really mean it. Yet what you’re feeling may better be expressed in actions rather than in words. You have plenty to offer and many good things to share; you don’t need to explain why you care. Make it obvious that you do.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Friday’s Full Moon reveals that you’re at a transition point in your life. You’re between two significant phases, and the one you’re entering is all about embracing reality rather than what you wish was true. What’s real and present is better than any fantasy. Listen, feel and see.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Check in with coworkers and team members and make sure you’re all still on the same page. That includes commitment level, understanding the nature of the project and, most of all, what it’s going to take to get it done on time. Make no assumptions. Listen carefully to what people say.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — There are two kinds of authority: formal (such as the president of a company), and informal (the most persuasive or popular person). You have both going for you, but bank on your informal influence to get the job done. People don’t care about your title — they care about you.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Your magnetic powers are running at a peak. You could convince just about anyone of just about anything. Balance this influence with compassion. Be positive with people, and if you must rebuff anyone, do it without nagging them. You are attractive and karma still exists.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Friday’s Full Moon may bring up some money issues, though it will help if you remind yourself that your necessities are covered. If you’ve got food in the fridge and the rent is paid, use that as a starting point. Then, if you’re working with a partner, set some realistic goals.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Friday’s Full Moon in your birth sign will move the story of your life along at a brisk pace. You may experience unexpected developments, and you may even feel like things are moving a bit too fast. Don’t worry about that. Saturn in your birth sign is providing a dependable guardrail.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — The only thing limiting you is your imagination, which should not be a problem today. You’re finally allowing yourself to think the unthinkable, particularly about what you want. What, exactly, would get in the way of you saying yes to yourself? Only you know that for sure.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Your sign draws many of its traits from nearby Sagittarius, and Friday, the Full Moon comes to that sign. This is likely to provide reassurance, a measure of public recognition, and best of all, information for how to take your ideas in a new direction. That last bit is the most important clue.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — The planets are in rare form right now, particularly the ones that describe the emotional realm. Even Mercury, the planet of communication, is making it easy to say how you feel, make an offer or ask for what you want. Use words, and let them be filled and guided by your sincere feelings.