By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
I’m writing this on the evening of the Fourth of July. The windows are open and I can hear fireworks, music, laughter. It’s well past nine, and I expect there are some very annoyed seniors out there, unwilling to flex their schedules or stay awake a little longer, indulge a younger set of weekenders. It’s not that these people are cranky by nature, they’re just set in their ways and value countryside peace and quiet.
This year, they’re in for a ride. With the Fourth landing mid-week, there will be discounted fireworks at the stands well into the weekend, when the community will present its yearly light show, shot from the little island in the middle of the lake. Most of us probably aren’t aware that the founders directed the nation to celebrate this day with parades, fireworks and speeches from the very first. It was, to quote our own Vice President, “a big damn deal,” a rebellion that lost many a citizen his home, family and fortune, and could have gotten all the participants hung if they had failed. Somewhat miraculously, they didn’t, so no less than Sam Adams made it public policy to bring on the fireworks.
Sadly, that’s easier said than done this year. Some spots on the map have found that sequestration has taken a big bite out of the holiday, resulting in canceled fireworks displays and parades and disappointing those who can’t imagine a Fourth without them. Used to pulling our own weight in the Pea Patch, the young, and the young at heart, have been filling collection cans since early in the year. We’re not a prosperous county, but, well, the Fourth is the Fourth!
I read a Gallup poll today that finds the majority of us — some 71 percent — believe that the founders would be disappointed in America today. That’s a 17 percent increase since 2001. Having survived Y2K, we must have believed ourselves invincible, partying like it was 1999 for a few more years while basking in what we considered an iron-clad economic boom. We had yet to take that u-turn, lost in the quagmire of Iraq’s killing fields, circling its money pit, sucked into an everlasting War on Terror and, even then, a growing surveillance state. And even though we reveled in our local customs and identities, most of us had yet to stub our toe on the absolutes and stumble into the opposing ideologies that have divided the country so bitterly. In 2001, we still thought of the future as broad, blue sky in which to spread our wings.
In fact, leafing through Marianne Williamson’s book of collected essays published in 2000 about the possibilities of a new century made me a bit pensive this week. Written by spiritual types, visionaries and activists, it included works by, among others, Thom Hartmann, Eric Utne, Caroline Myss, Deepak Chopra and Neale Donald Walsch. Entitled Imagine: What America Could Be in the 21st Century, it supposed that we came to that lift-off point without the concrete boots we soon found hanging from our ankles.
It made me muse — once again — that humankind found it necessary to make this such a hard slog through the collective, dug-in energies of devolution and resistance. We’ve been at this for 14 years now, wrestling the dregs of a dour Calvinism that clings to patriarchy and punishment as opposed to creativity and freedom, and all magnified by predatory capitalism gone rogue. Why, you ask? Cynics would point to the worship of the rugged individualist model, that self-absorbed, adolescent fantasy we imagine ourselves to be. Imagine, indeed!
I was pleased that Len mentioned the similarities of this July Fourth to that of 1776 this week, because there is some encouragement to be found there. The grand experiment drawn in Philadelphia on that day long ago was a culmination of several years of fomented anger, frustration and outrage over being denied rights that Americans had considered theirs as British subjects, though colonized. The original Tea Party in Boston was designed to make a statement against unfair taxation of those given no voice in governance half a globe away from the seat of power.
The motherland was milking its colonies to fill its war chest, oblivious to the possibility that a rag-tag group of businessmen, farmers, slaves and indentured servants would rebel, let alone prevail. If we studied this period, we’d find that resentment had been growing for a good while, since at least the French/Indian wars a decade earlier. These things need time to perk, people need examples to collect, giving them reason to risk everything, and isn’t it just amazing how dependable Uranian energy is, coming to the rescue of those seeking liberation with timely precision?
The Sun Uranus square, just passed, always brings about the unexpected. On a personal note, it zapped me good this time around, a one-two punch that stripped away some things I considered vital and — as it does, if we can keep our emotional balance — freed me to embrace change, should I choose it. Uranus pushes just the right levers to unhook us from what was and ask us if we want to jump into something else, but let’s remember that change of the sort the American colonies demanded — much like what Egypt is demanding — doesn’t suddenly come upon us; the need for it grows slowly over years and becomes, eventually, too heavy a burden to longer endure, in our case, a good 14 or more.
Also, this is the first year of a new Baktun, a new era, some say a newly evolving root race (though the current one has not been purged away). And even as I feel the electric current of the Uranian energy this year, I feel the recent shift of ages even more. Nothing that I hear comes through to my crowded brain without a filter of authenticity, these days. The channelers had spoken of an inability for dark forces to hide any longer in plain sight or gather sufficient power to blindside a growing public awareness, and if we look at our headlines, we see that has come about.
I used to call that the “all things work to good …” principle, awaiting it. And, glory in the highest, it showed up. Now I depend on it. Secrets aren’t safe, these days, even among friends. What is done in shadow cannot escape the light, revealing not just motive and intent, but criminal and/or immoral activity which leaves us to either condone it or do something about it. Because we think short-term, we are not aware how much change this represents, globally. I don’t think we realize how far along we actually are.
Because the opposition to progress has engaged so ruthlessly, we think politics is as usual. It isn’t. Because the corporations still rake in the bucks and Wall Street still plays Russian roulette with our money, we think fiscal issues will turn out the same way they did before. I’m not so sure. Because the various countries of the world are shifting positions like musical chairs, touting their growing economies or falling under the bus — changing out their leaders or throwing them out, whichever comes first — we think the balance of international power is shifting dangerously, but perhaps it isn’t. Perhaps this really is working to good, perhaps the disenchantment with worn out systems and power-brokering is just what we need to recreate that Philadelphia experiment, tighten it up, renew our commitment to it. To see it differently.
Williamson’s book asked her writers — and they, in turn, us — to imagine a future capitalizing on all the realizations we’d had by the year 2000, many of them filtered through a New Age movement that, at the least, sensitized us to the coming energy shifts. Fourteen years later, these templates for the future are still viable, vibrant and, if anything, more necessary than ever. What has stood in the way of achieving them has only been the muddled misunderstandings of a population steeped in habits of nationalism, exceptionalism and consumerism, and the desperate maneuvers of a fading patriarchy. What is working to good is more powerful than we know, especially when we magnify that with our intent, our activism and our enthusiasm.
The sub-title of Marianne’s book gives us lots of wiggle room: What America Could Be in the 21st Century. That gives us a bit of time, even though we’re feeling the urgency on so many levels. 237 years after the fact, Uranus is still pushing us toward a great social experiment, a more perfect union and one grown to encompass the entire planet.
As messy and chaotic as all that seems, I’m thinking the founders would understand what’s going on today, would recognize the restlessness and rebellion. I’m thinking they wouldn’t be disappointed that we hadn’t fully realized the most progressive social contract the world had yet seen, but they’d urge us on into the next leg of the venture by reminding us that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were never a destination, but a journey.
I’m thinking that with or without fireworks, with or without assurances that politics will yield to our demands or that reclaiming our freedoms will come to us easily, this was a pretty good national birthday. Our eyes are finally open, our emotions engaged and surely we know that whether or not the founders would be disappointed in us, the disappointment we’re experiencing is in ourselves.
Maybe this Fourth is the first of its kind, not the institutionalized tribal excess of previous years but something quieter, more pensive, more sober. Perhaps this would be easily recognizable energy to those like Ben Franklin, who declared this union a “Republic, if we can keep it.” I think our forefathers realized how difficult it would be to turn an ideal into reality.
Would the founders be disappointed? Only if we fail to keep it, I think. And that can only happen if we turn away from our responsibility as citizens, our duty to one another and the realization of our spiritual power. We can hardly quit now, when we still have to deal with the problems we wrestled at the very beginning: the spirits of slavery, sexism, patriarchy, elitism. In short, the very aspects of human behavior we knew had to be overcome in order to make this experiment work. Get comfortable with this process, citizen.
So if you were one of those annoyed by the fireworks, startled by the noise and unhappy when it goes on well into the wee small hours, just remember: we have the founders to thank, not just for the smoke and noise, the laughter and music, but for the freedom to shake ourselves awake at any point and celebrate, protect and recapture the essential idealism that put this nation on the map, to put into motion those essays of radical-love and insight given in Williamson’s collection. Trust that we’re farther along than we think. Trust that it all works for good.
I’d wanted to include this about our founding fathers along with my earlier post but the site where I’d read it was not available:
Posted in Kerry’s Blog
http://www.dinarrecaps.com/1/post/2013/07/thoughts-by-sednet1-on-this-4th-of-july-from-oomf.html
reposted from the above link… On Project Camelot Portal
[.sednet1] …”Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence ?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire.
The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
[.sednet1] So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It’s not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember: freedom is never free!
It’s time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games. A single moment of understanding can flood a whole life with meaning. “
Thanks, Jude.
I was “wondering” about our 4th celebrations this year and you have put music to my musings. Although we can see many fireworks displays from here (360 if you’re willing to hike the hill between Forest Lawn and the Hollywood sign) I found myself enjoying, instead, just listening. To the pops and booms, to the shrieks and holiday voices.
It was a joyful experience, where much enthusiasm was unified into one place, time, point. Regardless what any individual was considering, or their political beliefs, there was some kind of a community pride at work. I do not doubt that there were “harrumph-ers” around, but with my eyes closed and ears open, I could not hear or feel them.
Next morning, I found myself singing bits of the Star Spangled Banner, my visiting daughter laughing at me. In our subsequent conversation, I learned that she was not aware of the history of the song. Well then. She was intrigued by the idea of comparing fireworks to rockets-red-glare and her idealism about patriotism rose a degree. Maybe mine did too.
Thanks again for a soul-comforting piece (forget “chicken soup for soul” how about “Jude for my Soul”?) “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were never a destination, but a journey.”
Well then, Onward.
Friday night was my interview with Roxy Lopez on her radio show. It had been postponed and based on the current astrology and the emails I have been receiving it seems no coincidence that the interview was delayed until this weekend. Once again, the astrology, and as Len would say, Orcus, has supported me. Here is the link in case you would like to listen:
http://www.thetruthdenied.com/news/2013/07/06/can-we-really-ask-for-what-we-want-and-get-it-mia-feroleto-says-yes/
Judith, I talk about a 14 year old Cairn terrier that I worked on that is a similar story to your experience with Spanky. I hope he is well.
Roxy has a wonderful interview with Len on her Youtube channel as well.
Things did not end well for the majority of our founding fathers, but they persevered nonetheless. Here’s to persevering!
Mia
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Thank you, Jude. As always, your writing combines to both inspire and humble, as have the words of all the gifted people who have leant comment to your blog today.
be, you are a champ. I’m also noticing that the day these three come into their tightest trine this time around (July 17) is the day Uranus stations retrograde.
If the trine suggests ‘It is time to wake up to the Now and have enough faith in your power to build your dream, and to take part in materializing the dream of the society you live in,” then Uranus’ change of direction suggests…what? Time to clear the decks to make space for the dream to come to life?
Anyway, beautiful times to grow within.
Fireworks: I thought a lot about veterans with PTSD having to endure the city exploding. Only a few booms were close enough to rattle my root. I spent the evening walking around the neighborhood. Rather than try to relax I found it best to give the adrenalin something to do other than stir my emotions. I saw Venus in her evening star clothes for the first time since she disappeared. It wasn’t so bad really, but I’m glad it’s over.
Would the founders be disappointed? Having studied their time I’m kinda disappointed in them. Their Revolution was reserved for the white, male, landed gentry. Poor people were drafted for the war and promised pay, and then released to the world with shock, trauma, and where’s that pay I was promised? Seems like nothing has changed for some levels of Empire’s pyramid.
The myth of USA is a thin frosting on Empire doing its business as usual. I think we have the First People of this land to thank for whatever we’ve learned of freedom and responsibility to community and the land that supports us. The influences of Europe prattled on about freedom in their philosophy while slavery, indentured servitude, horrible treatment of women ruled the people the “enlightened” ones considered unable and unworthy to receive the blessings of democracy. No, we can’t trust you rabble to vote. Just shut up and get back to work.
That being said I think it was all they could do considering the emotional morass Europe was in when it burst open and sent its spores all over the world. Freedom for the rich was all they could imagine I suppose. I just don’t think we should put these old guys up on such high pedestals. In order to do so we have to believe in the American Dream which you have to be asleep to believe. What about the Iroquois who had real democracy going strong for a really long time but got no credit in the Declaration even though it contains clear influences from their culture? The white guys from Europe were talking about Democracy while the Indians lived it.
Independence day? Well, if you want the Disney version. Independence can only really be interdependence for human. A human truly independent is an exploded corpse adrift in space. Otherwise we need a web of relationships to survive. The Revolution didn’t remove Europe’s influence, it only gave us a story. Maybe that story inspired the ideas that are running like fire around the world, but yeah, we’ve come a long way from those old white guys if I can even put these thoughts together and share them.
. . a mere 22 degrees apart. U.S. Neptune and U.S. Saturn.
My computer is in the process of having a breakdown, so, grateful as I am that it allowed the posting of the incomplete message I hastily “posted” earlier, I’m not sure this one will make it through. If not, so be it. If so, I would finish by drawing the line between U.S. Neptune and U.S. Saturn, a mere 22 degrees (+23 minutes) which in itself is a very special number. So, recall that Neptune is the newer ruler of Pisces, the older ruler being Jupiter. Recall also that Saturn has a natural association with Jupiter in that that the two of them symbolize how societies are working out their evolution (or devolution) process. Presently, transiting Saturn and Neptune are trine one another and this month transiting Jupiter make it a 3-way. In water. Not Saturn’s mode of operation, not Jupiter’s mode of operation, but certainly Neptune’s mode of operation. It is Jupiter that speaks the language on a level that Saturn understands and it is Jupiter that speaks the language which Neptune invented, and that is imagination, or visualization, or dream. They need each other to make it work; Jupiter as translator, Neptune the elemental guide and Saturn the form-maker and ruler of “time”. It is time to wake up to the Now and have enough faith in your power to build your dream, and to take part in materializing the dream of the society you live in, whatever way that may be.
be
It’s your latest great masterpiece Jude, this Saturday’s essay on the past, present and possible future for We The People. Reading, as opposed to conversation, has a modicum of the Saturnian element built in without which we (the readers) would likely whoop aloud and interrupt your train of thought! At least this reader would.
A thought occurred to me this morning as I struggled to Shake myself Awake; it is feeding the needs of others that outweighs order and neatness (and control) of one’s environment. You have done that feeding of others (just as I did with my feathered and furry friends) this morning. Thank you. I’ve also come to the conclusion that it’s not just the aging process that makes it harder to transition from one State (dreaming) to another (“the Real World”). I now suspect that those of us born before 1950 or so are having to adapt to this new level of consciousness the channelers tell us we are entering, whereas those of us born after 1960 seem to be already wired for it – for the most part. Of course it has always been harder as a whole, to adapt to the generations following one’s own, as in Day’am those firecrackers! Those born between 1950 and 1960 could lean either way I figure, and that in itself could be a conundrum.
Anyway. . . . . you have fed this fan some delicious new perspectives on the 1776 Sibly US birth chart. Where once I only saw natal Neptune in Virgo square natal Mars in Gemini, now I see Neptune quincunx Chiron in Aries, and Neptune quincunx Moon + Pallas-Athene in Aquarius which has leapt to the forefront. That “fomented anger, frustration and outrage” of the 1776’rs can be seen in it’s Mars (in the 7th house of “the other”) square Neptune (who’s residential sign as well as his ruled sign are intercepted. . Pisces in Aquarian ruled 3rd and Virgo in the Leo ruled 9th). With Neptune held in check to a certain degree ( 🙂 ) he is dependent on his good relationship with Mercury who rules the sea god’s home sign, and the Sun who rules the house where his sign of “rulership” is encased. Frustration and outrage would be obvious and no doubt that fomented anger would be the result of a square to Mars.
That the U.S. Moon + Pallas-Athene , along with Chiron, are urging U.S. Neptune to “represent” their specific agendas via their yod participation with him, he (the U.S. Sibly Neptune) has been pushed into an uncharacteristically “rock and hard place” center-point. Mostly in jest I say, thank goodness for drugs and movies that have allowed us to vent some of that energy up to now. But we must channel it into something more productive besides dream-world escapism. The astrology says Do It Now.
Freedom and Evolution; that’s the product of a positive Neptune manifesting as Spirit and Visualization. We must take up the flag of truth that commenters like mia, Green-Star, aword, Diva, Strawberry, Lizzy, Patty and others have described as their own mode of operation. We have been given guidance and support from Eric, Amanda, Fe and Len as well as yourself dear Judith, on how to navigate the rugged terrain and where to find sustenance.
All that is built into the Stars and Stripes, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights as well as the Sibly birth chart. It is Neptune, the closest planet to the MH which the world sees first, but a close 2nd is Saturn. If Neptune represents our worship of the dream state, then Saturn represents our will to give form to our dreams. Indeed, feed the needs of the soul first before making everything neat and tidy.
The Universe has blessed us with this grand water trine (Saturn, Neptune and Jupiter) that ties into our own Sibly Jupiter, Venus, Sun and Mercury in its transit. if it is feeding souls then the Uranus-Pluto square is tidying up. The nether-world of dreams must be brought to the wakeful reality