Dear Fellow Traveler:
Today is the 65th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. I suggest we pause in remembrance of the people who unexpectedly met their end as the American B-29 Superfortress bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb over them on a warm, cloudless morning. Three days later, in a move that made no sense for strategic purposes, the American military dropped another bomb on the city of Nagasaki.
To glimpse the mentality behind the use of the atomic bomb, let’s consider that Col. Paul Tibbets, the commander of the mission, named the B-29 after his mother — her name was Enola Gay. As if to emphasize the point, the ship was codenamed Mother. The bomb was codenamed Little Boy. And 65 years later we are still killing mothers and fathers and small children, and it is rare that I hear a word of dissent.
So while we’re asking how this could have possibly happened, we need to ask how the same thing is happening today. I have covered the astrology of Hiroshima previously, on the Planet Waves blog. That entry includes the chart. I did the astrology of Paul Tibbets for Jonathan Cainer’s site several years ago — here is a link. He is a Pisces who never regretted his action. He asked that he not have a grave or memorial marker, so as not to become the focal point of anti-nuclear activism.
The Hiroshima chart has an image of mother and little boy — an exact Moon-Saturn conjunction: exact as if someone had planned the chart (I’m sure nobody did). Saturn, ruler of the feminine sign Capricorn, is often an image of mother and matriarchy. The Moon is an image of mother, or of child.
The implicit message is sick: blame mom for this ethical and technological disaster. And it has the signature of craving an emotional high, one that is typically expressed sexually: a Venus-Chiron square. Most significantly, the chart picks up something called the Nuclear Axis — the defining moment, when an atomic reaction first took hold — from every corner. Currently there are two potent, slow-moving minor planets dancing around the Nuclear Axis, which forms a cross through the early-to-middle mutable signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.
They are the centaur Pholus (small cause, big effect) and Ixion (anyone is capable of anything). Isn’t that charming? So we — whoever ‘we’ is — need to be careful. And they form a conjunction from March 2011 through September 2014. This happens near the Great Attractor, which is like a giant energy magnifier in the middle of (go figure) Sagittarius. So we have another image of what 2012 is about, and that sounds like sorting out this nuclear issue both politically and spiritually.
When we think of our great country (and by that I include the UK and allied Europe), we need to remember Aug. 6, 1945. When we think of our constitutional democracies and the lifestyle that it’s possible for us to attain here, we need to remember this holocaust — literally, an all-consuming fire. Holo means whole, as in holistic. Caust means burns, as in caustic. When we wonder what it’s possible for humanity to do to itself, and wonder about Hitler and Stalin and Pol Pot, we need to remember Harry Truman and the Enola Gay.
The bomb went off over the Shima Surgical Clinic. Truman came on the radio shortly after the bombing and described Hiroshima as a military base. He was lying. (Like many cities, it had one, but it also had a large civilian population.) He told his fellow Americans that we had done God’s work. It is incredible that there hasn’t been more outrage or even philosophical pondering of the use of an atomic bomb on a civilian population. It happens occasionally. Few people are aware of the reference in U2’s The Unforgettable Fire.
The Shadow of the Bomb
I have a theory about the nuclear issue, which is that it lurks in the background of our minds all the time. Those of us who were born before the Berlin Wall came down were basically raised on the idea that humanity could blow itself up within 15 minutes any day of the week. We’ve all heard of the near-misses caused by geese being picked up on radar as incoming missiles, which may be urban legends — but that doesn’t matter. It is very much the thought that counts.
So when we wonder why the people who run the world, and we who are part of the world, can live with the many games of brinkmanship that go on every day, we have an example of how we are trained to live with this as an emotional state. I am asked several times a week whether “the world will end” in 2012 and what stuns me every time is that people seem to accept that this is a possibility.
And it is true, it’s technologically possible to wipe out a lot of humanity using manmade devices in a very short time. As kids, we all spent time, perhaps a lot of time, thinking about this, and it is soaked into our cellular memory. The vision of the mushroom cloud is something that everyone exposed to books, movies or television has seen, and we all know what it means.
And this potential did not exist before Aug. 6, 1945, when the great and good United States of America became the first and so far only nation to drop a nuclear bomb on a population. For those who are interested in considering the implications of the nuclear issue, I can recommend two books: American Ground Zero, a book of photos from the testing era in the American Southwest; and The Fate of the Earth by Jonathan Schell. If I had my way these books — particularly the first — would be out on a table in every classroom. The first describes the nuclear testing program centered in Nevada and New Mexico that conducted 140 air burst detonations in the 1950s and 1960s, including extensive human and animal experimentation; and the second describes the consequences of nuclear war and how we can avoid it.
This really is our problem. It may seem that awareness of how it influences our psychology and emotions is all we can gain from understanding history, but that is where the healing process begins. On a deeper level, I believe we need to understand what humanity is capable of, and the depth of shadow we possess — at least those of us who want to be empowered members of our race, devoted to creating a sane and peaceful world.
Yours & truly,
Liminali,
I thank you for your lovely reply and more especially for the link to the “must read” article by Marc Estrin, where he puts forth the notion of America growing an period of atonement for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki akin to the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur: “I hereby propose a new national holiday, modeled on the Days of Awe, but occurring in August, between Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Like the Days of Awe, they would be bounded by two momentous events, would celebrate those events with appropriate ritual, and would feature redemptive tasks to be done in between.”
That’s a tremendous idea which for me reinforces the notion that “The pioneering of any enterprise,” it is said, “contains the soul of it.” To grow a new national holiday is an idea worth spreading and making viral, an idea that I am going to meditate on right this minute and throughout the rest of this evening, because why wait until next August 6th 2011 to begin standing in solidarity with the people of Japan (though I do intend wear my blossom right along with you next year). I want to tap into the possibility of redemptive acts beginning right this very moment, in the closing hours of August 8th, the eve of the bombing of Nagasaki.
I am not American, so I can only imagine the collective national depth of guilt and shame that was buried over the past six and a half decades. It can’t be easy for a country to come to terms with the enormity of such devastation, but I sense there is a collective shift toward a heartfelt examination of that decision and that the best action towards releasing that shame is to begin to connect and empathize with the people of Japan and its victims, all the while vowing to do whatever it takes to help rid the world of war and all forms of munitions.
I leave you with a link to a song sung by Irish crooner Christy Moore and his rendition of “Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Russian Roulette” written by Jimmy Page.
Peace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6tIBFwNj3o
shebear13, what a lovely idea! I will join you in wearing a single white blossom on August 6, 2011.
I think there’s a growing awareness that we must confront our collective past, and make tangible steps towards healing and reconciliation. This article speaks to a similar idea, and calls for a new holiday commemorating Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/marc-estrin-awesome-days-of-awe.html
I love stories of flower symbology and the language flowers, thank you for sharing the meaning of Camellia Japonica Nobilissima. I like the quiet modesty of this choice.
When I was a tiny girl, one year I went to church with my grandmother on Mother’s Day. I noticed some people were wearing white flowers, and some were wearing red flowers. I asked my grandmother why; she said you wear white flowers if your mother is not living, and red flowers if she is. I’ve given my mother a white flower to wear every Mother’s Day since 1998.
“May I be brave enough to cut the flower” anonymous Ikebana student
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”–Chinese
When Obama spoke in Prague in the spring of 2009, he laid out a vision for a world free of nuclear weapons: “So today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. This goal will not be reached quickly – perhaps not in my lifetime. It will take patience and persistence. But now we, too, must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change.”
This year he built on that opening salvo and sent the US ambassador to Japan, to the Hiroshima remembrance ceremony for the first time ever, in the 65 years since the bomb was dropped. A small but very significant step on the journey of healing. The U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and representatives from Britain and France were also in attendance, also for the first time ever, a sign that a new and strengthened commitment to disarmament is gathering momentum. It is progress. For some, it is not enough and for others, it is much too slow but still, we could look at it for what it is — progress from this time last year.
Maybe next year, on the 66th anniversary of this unspeakable atrocity, we could all decide to join in solidarity with the people of Japan and other peace groups around the world and begin an annual ritual of wearing a large, white blossom on our lapels on August 6th for global peace. Echoing the words of Ban Ki Moon: “Together, let us put out the last fire of Hiroshima. Let us replace that flame with the light of hope. Let us realize our dream of a world free of nuclear weapons so that our children and all succeeding generations can live in freedom, security and peace.”
I believe in flower power. From looking at the photo of the blossom worn by the mayor of Hiroshima, I think it might be a Camellia Japonica Nobilissima which, according to Japanese Hanakotoba, the language of flowers, means “waiting.” Whether or not I’m right in that interpretation, I’m going to go with it symbolizing waiting; perhaps all of us waiting for peace but waiting no longer to denounce the violence of nuclear power and waiting no longer to replace the cellular memory of that mushroom cloud all the back of all our minds, with a single, white blossom of hope.
Emily,
I am a floral designer, but am unclear as to what you are referring to as “blue cherry pie”? I’m sorry you had a bad experience with a gift of flowers. The article I linked to was about white flowers being symbolically linked to not only memorializing Hiroshima, but to the idea of peace, and a pledge for nuclear non-proliferation.
Many flowers can be eaten, but many cannot be eaten without deleterious outcomes, including death, if you consume a plant that is toxic to humans.
Do flowers decontaminate an environment? I think this is entirely possible. There are a number of houseplants that can improve the air quality inside homes and buildings. I know that humans have been using flowers in a myriad of ways for thousands of years. Flowers have been found in graves that were over 25,000 years old. Yes, flowers help heal souls.
Flowers help heal souls.
http://www.humanflowerproject.com/
one love
This article led me down a rabbit hole yesterday, beginning with the song, “Enola Gay” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szIx2hOiVWs
“It’s 8:15, that’s the time that it’s always been”
The astrology of the Atomic Age is very interesting. I found an article with the exact time of the Trinity launch July 16,1945 down to the second, 5:29:45AM Mountain War Time Trinity Site Zero, Alamogordo Test Range, Jornada del Muerto desert. (jornada del muerto = journey of death) The MC/IC axis is 0″27 Aries/Libra. Has anyone at PW ever studied this chart? I haven’t learned enough about mundane charts, but certain things jump out, especially Saturn conjunct the Ascendant.
I have long believed that humanity changed in fundamental ways on a sub-atomic level with this explosion. Anyone born after this date is what I call a “first-generation atomic” human. If your parents were born after this date, you would be a “second generation atomic” human, and so on.
Hey Eric,
One thing I didn’t see mentioned in your commentary regarding today’s anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima is that for the *first time*, the UN Secretary General and representatives of some of the world’s nuclear powers (US, Britain, France) attended the memorial ceremony in Hiroshima. The US Ambassador to Japan was there. According to NHK (Japan’s public broadcasting station), the US Ambassador did not make a speech or lay a wreath but released a statement.
NHK’s American broadcast really stressed the significance of the presence of these attendees and pretty much said that the reason the UN Secretary General was able to attend is because of the US agreeing to attend (in the past, attendance of the UN SG might be seen as condemning the US. *sigh* IMO, the dropping of these bombs were war crimes.). They also stressed Obama’s campaign for nuclear non-proliferation.
By the way, I really enjoyed today’s roundup. It helps, of course, to see some life-affirming news.
cheers,
Cynthia
The first describes the nuclear testing program centered in Nevada and New Mexico that conducted 140 air burst detonations in the 1950s and 1960s, including extensive human and animal experimentation.
Terry Tempest Williams has written movingly about the effects of these nuclear tests on members of her own family.
I prefer sex.
Let’s organize the WACs, the WAVEs and the Marines!
I also remembered the great George Carlin who tied in what you said about Mother-son thing; there is a sexual component to “war.” George Carlin said we use terms like “penetrate enemy territory,” our bombs and rockets are phallic shaped, we say the enemy must “submit” to us and so on. He was so clear about that.
Eric,
As I read your article, the first thought that came to mind was “We as a nation have yet to pay karmically for those bombs dropped and all the other atrocities we have done around the world. Will 2012 be the time when payment is due for us as a nation and as a people who stood by and did nothing?”
What a thought. We HAVE to do something NOW to change this evil we keep doing around the world every minute of every day.
Wandering Yoda
Those are two of my favorite films. I am sure that most of our readers have not seen them. I will make a pitch. Strangelove is a work of sly genius, focused on a nuclear issue. It’s funnier than Borat or Colbert, but dead serious. You have never seen such acting in your life: George C Scott and Peter Sellers (who plays four different roles!)
Atomic Cafe was made by Michael Moore’s filmmaking mentor, a member of the Bush family. It is a nonfiction documentary better than anything Moore has ever done, by an exponent or two. The authorship is attributed to “The Archive Project.” The film is a collection of newsreels, propaganda footage and scientific footage edited together impeccably to tell the story of America’s romance with the atom. Let’s put it this way: once you see Atomic Cafe, you will know what you’ve been dealing with.
i just have one word of advice, don’t smoke pot before you see either of these films. You need the reducing valve of your frontal lobe to help you process the information. Save the weed for Brian Eno, The Beatles or Book of Blue.
See—>The Atomic Cafe, Dr. Strangelove.
Shhhh…don’t talk about it. We might wake the sleeping giant. America prefers to see her shadow in Hitler, Socialism and Islam. Uncle Harry settled the matter so we don’t have to worry about it anymore. Saturn/Uranus in Gemini means you never see all the faces, never know all the facts. Saturn blocks ur view with big boxes where we buy stuff and little boxes where we live and even littler glowing boxes to watch that tell us what to buy and how we should feel. Boxes are a lot easier for primates to deal with than dragons. Let us go back to sleep and please don’t smash our boxes. Whatever you do, don’t awake the Jabberwok.
Perhaps the lack of true political discourse prevalent today is a result of not having an external boogeyman to stand before us. We have made the ‘fight’ internal, and thus have stagnation and the politics of “no” as result, with the false projection of “socialism” as the new evil being one of the results.
While we are at it, why not whip up the old American standby of race too, let’s see what discontent that brings forth. Xenophobia shouldn’t be ignored either, unfortunately. As an example of a poster child of this level of thinking, I’ll say only two words: Sarah Palin.
It seems like we (as a nation) are imploding, which is actually the first step in the detonation of a nuclear device…
Pessimism aside, I am hopeful, actually, that we can outgrow all this crap. We all just need to take the steps to recognize the horrors within and without, and grow beyond them.