Gemini Total Eclipse and the Sibling Society

Today’s edition of Planet Waves FM is ready. In the first half, I read and consider the chart of Saturday’s total eclipse of the Moon in Gemini. This eclipse happens across Gemini/Sagittarius while both Mercury and Jupiter are in the process of stationing direct. I take a close look at the conjunction of Psyche and Apollo that is square the eclipse (prominently aspected, which brings out the message of these two asteroids).

Then we take a song break, featuring the musical ensemble Girlyman. I am looking enviously at their tour schedule — they’re playing Nashville tonight, then Decatur, then Durham, Asheville, Birmingham, McCook, NE and Loomis, NE. I don’t see a NY or MA or PA on the list. Come north, Girlyman! We will feed you and read your charts and donate publicity photos if you want, and I have a fantastic luthier if you need your guitars adjusted.

In the second half of the program I talk about what Robert Bly called “the sibling society” — that is, a society of non-adults who refuse to take responsibility for their lives and the culture around them. This is in the context of the Occupy movement, in particular a video about the UC Davis pepper spray incident that sparked the conversation.

I read from a PBS interview with Bly from about 15 years ago. Here is the thing — Bly took some shit for what he said when the book came out, but his perspective has only been supported or even proven. If you’re looking for the book, you can get it for less than a buck from Half.com.

At the end of the podcast I mention a paper called Are Student Governments Obsolete? by Ray Glass, one the founders of SASU — the now-defunct Student Association of the State University of New York. Ray is a friend in spirit. He died when I was 11 years old but his work and his ideas have influenced my thinking, and I am happy to share a PDF of his paper on the Internet for the first time.

Today’s program is about 1:14 — a little longer than planned, but there you have it. Remember that Planet Waves FM is sponsored by your subscriptions and product purchases. We have cool stuff for you — well it’s not stuff, it’s ideas that you can take with you to your next incarnation!

Here is your program in the old player, where you’ll find the full archives and a downloadable zip file.

Subscribers, I’ll catch you Friday with a new edition.

Lovingly,
Eric Francis

P.S. The pocket watch dates to the 16th century.

7 thoughts on “Gemini Total Eclipse and the Sibling Society”

  1. Carrie,

    It’s an interesting point you bring up; that of offering solutions.

    Being a solution-oriented individual I rarely criticize and always offer alternatives or answers where there are none. What I have found, however, is that offering alternatives or solutions often has a severe backlash. There is a low-level of receptivity in the corporate-mind(set) for acknowledging different POV. (corporate mind-set or set-mind being pervasive in our culture, not just with people at work in corporations)

    And so I have learned to listen harder and mostly be quiet. A moment often arrives for offering.

    I do think that a larger “problem” we have is that people just like to complain. The Other Side of that situation is that people don’t like to listen to new/different solutions/ideas.

    So – we must all learn to be both better Givers and Receivers, yes?
    Thanks for bringing that up.
    Must be end of Merc Rx fer sure; I’m chatty-chatty today.
    xo

  2. The idea that students need to do more than “rising up against Daddy” is a sound one. Long time ago a director of a mental health clinic was hearing a worker’s complaints. After she finished, he asked her if she had any solutions. When she said no, he told her that it is easy to point out problems but far more productive if you offer solutions along with the complaints.

    This is what the students/OWS protesters need to be doing; offering solutions and then working to make them happen. We all have a responsibility to make these changes and they start at home. I don’t mean that as the same “blame the victim” tactic the Right Wing typically uses to blame the 99% for their poverty; I mean it as we can ALL make the changes happen but we ALL must be willing to do our part.

    I also like that you mentioned the fear in everyone about not being a “front person” for the movement because of the assassinations of the 60’s of each front man who presented himself. I have been practically screaming that on message boards for years and most people denied that but I KNOW it is what prevents me from stepping in to leadership despite my being one who is good at it. I have been aware of that unnamed fear for many years. THANK YOU for saying it!

  3. Loved the comments about TV and children. This is why my husband and I have been very careful about what our kids have been allowed to see on TV. Everyone we know seems to think we are too protective but I disagree.

    Mary Eberstadt talks about how little parents have talked to their children in her book “Home Alone America.” It is worth a read and very interesting. Another excellent book on this same subject is “The Hurried Child” by David Elkind, a child psychologist.

    Both books talk about how parents have stopped parenting and hurried kids to grow up faster because that makes it easier on the parents.

    These kids are now doing OWS among other things.

  4. funny, i thought i got “evolutionary gateway” from you, eric! or from someone… the last week is a blur. 🙂 if i did coin it to any degree, i was standing on the shoulders of giants to be sure.

  7. thank you Eric for sharing your wisdom again on the current aspects and eclipses. Thank you also for opening a bit on your personal life. There is a wealth of knowledge you have to share.
    HS

Leave a Comment