By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
Sometimes we ask the right questions. A CNN anchorwoman, reporting the near-miss collision of two planes only eight miles from one another prior to course change, asked in sheer frustration, “Why does this keep happening?” The fervency of her question leads me to believe that she wasn’t just talking about airplanes. We’re experiencing an epic failure of not just the larger, seemingly intractable systems that order our lives, like government, but even a dissolution of the more mundane commercial services we’ve come to depend on. We’ve spent a number of years asking “what?” This is a really good time to ask “why?”
Sometimes we hear someone use a phrase that sums up what we’re feeling, identifies what we see bubbling up in those around us. A firefighter who rescued a baby eighteen years ago and reunited with her as she graduated from high school, spoke of his week’s experience as a “whirlwind of emotions.” And although his emotions were mostly joyous, there seems to be a lot of that going around. How about you? A bit weepy these days? Me, I confess to frequent bouts of waterworks, unbidden and unexpected in their intensity.
This week a California woman, kidnapped at 15, walked into a police station after a decade, charging the man who took her, the father of her child, with various counts of kidnap and rape. Michelle Knight, one of three young women held prisoner by Ariel Castro for over a decade, defended the woman from judgmental naysayers on television today, eventually bursting into tears. It quickly became the must-see vid of the day. Watching her pour out her feelings about psychological bondage will bring a lump to your throat. We seem to be less able to stuff our feelings than we used to be. There’s raging frustration, sorrow, and anger, just below our surface.
Sometimes the timing is perfect. Sometimes we get all the signals while we’re watching, like white smoke drifting over the Vatican roof. Sometimes we can’t help but notice there’s something dreadfully wrong, like seeing someone walk into the mall carrying a gun. Sometimes what is self-evident can’t be manipulated any longer, the rips in the fabric of tightly-woven mythologies no longer invisible to the naked eye. These are the moments when we can no longer avoid the truth about what we’re seeing. For instance, thanks to the growing scandal about the inability of veterans hospitals to handle their case load, and the systemic effort to cover that up, we can no longer assume that those coming home from war with lifetime wounding will be cared for in a timely manner, if at all. One of our most sacred American myths regarding service to the country is as thin as that white smoke we spoke of. Which brings me to Memorial Day.
The last Monday in May is the day in which we Americans remember our fallen soldiers (in Southern states, where memory is long, a Confederate Memorial Day is celebrated in April). Originally called Decoration Day, this practice began shortly after the end of the Civil War, eventually becoming a federal holiday. Here in the Pea Patch, quickly declining members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) visit the many little local cemeteries to favor vets’ headstones with a small flag. A word of appreciation, here: even as their numbers dwindle by their own passing, they still gather in their uniforms to blow taps for the flag ceremony at the funerals of local vets, and I owe them gratitude for their moving service at my dad’s gravesite.
At Arlington National Cemetery this year, over a quarter million flags have been put in place, honoring those who gave “the ultimate sacrifice” in their country’s name. Very few of us can see images of that — acres of pristine white stones with tiny waving Stars and Bars — without a heavy heart and a “whirlwind of emotions” of our own. And without a bit of cynicism for those who honestly feel the regret and magnitude of that sacrifice, military recruiters country-wide hope the emotions stirred by such photos include the zealous patriotism displayed by the very young and those who see such issues in black and white. They have quotas to fill, after all.
There is inordinate romanticism in this notion over dying for one’s country. Thousands of hours of film have made such events, even given the entertainment industry’s penchant for graphic bloodletting à la Quentin Tarantino, seem somehow more than honorable. A bit less clear is the social strata of those who survive with a sliding scale of war wounds, be they physical or psychological. And, although we’ve known for years that the Veteran’s Administration is not just behind in caring for the medical needs of its number, but ridiculously so, we now have to face the sad truth that our promises to those who have fought “for our freedom,” as the motto goes, aren’t worth diddly to those who go without critical medical care, sometimes to their death.
Now, seriously, it’s taken a lot of head-turning from the facts to believe that this nation champions our returning warriors, helping them return to civilian life in any reasonable fashion. A dear friend of mine — herself a veteran — has spent a decade and more working to place returned vets in jobs, classrooms and social services, and finds that they are, on the whole, only marginally able to follow through with their programs. Their military service, combined with the circumstance awaiting them on the other side of it, has changed their perception of themselves and of their world, limiting their ability to succeed in what we consider ‘normal’ society. And each year, by the way, funding for the programs she attempts to offer dwindles, closing options and creating unaddressed needs. I consider her one of this nation’s true heroes, continuing to face an almost insurmountable problem day by day, while keeping a good heart.
It’s pretty remarkable that, given the amount of money represented by the military-industrial complex, we can’t adequately fund or manage veterans hospitals. We all remember the poor conditions and care issues discovered at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington during Bush’s watch (2007; it was officially closed in 2011). But it can’t be news to anyone that we don’t do right by our returned soldiers. Jon Stewart once again nailed the essence of this problem, and I’m including his must-see clip on the topic, along with this remarkable quote: “On this Memorial Day weekend eve, we can finally admit that America has had for over 200 years a great bipartisan tradition of honoring those who have fought for our freedom by fucking them over once they give their guns back.” And DO note the snip from Major General Smedley Butler, who infamously, and in no uncertain terms, informed us that “war is a racket.”
As for the deficient hospitals, one of the most thankless jobs available must be that of director of Veterans Affairs — or literally, just about any significant government position these days — with the inevitable failures pointing squarely toward the top. Retired four-star Army General Eric Shinseki has held that job since early in 2009. You may remember the name. Shinseki was Army Chief of Staff and the one person in the Joint Chiefs (March of 2003) who vehemently disagreed with Rumsfeld (and with Defense Department under-secretary, Paul Wolfowitz) about how many troops would be necessary to adequately take and secure Iraq. Remember Cheney’s bullshit predictions that we’d be welcomed with flowers by a grateful and compliant Iraqi population? Hitting a wall of Neocon propaganda, Shinseki retired in June of that year. Four years later, analysts deemed Shinseki’s assessment of troop levels correct. The next year, he was nominated to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs by then president-elect Obama, unanimously confirmed and immediately sworn in.
There are a lot of people calling for Shinseki’s head these days, including the American Legion, but he seems too convenient a scapegoat. I wonder just how much mythological Kool Aid continues to color this issue, with those inclined to simplistic thinking all aquiver and looking for someone to punish. Quite a few of us have already noticed that being assigned to almost any current cabinet post, including Veterans Affairs, is akin to taking command of the Titanic long after she’d hit the ice. It should be noted, for those who think in nuanced terms, that an inability to treat all those seeking medical assistance is less the fault of internal leadership, than it is improper attention to funding, a problem Congress — especially this congress — cares little about.
It’s very human to want someone pilloried for discoveries that shock (and shame) us, but I’m not convinced that’s particularly adult behavior. If Shinseki has mismanaged the department, he needs to explain himself and attempt to make it right, or better yet, perhaps the leadership of veterans hospitals would be better addressed by those skilled in hospital administration, rather than by a military mind. Perhaps that would create less of an atmosphere where facts are buried rather than addressed, with ranks quickly closed behind. But unless we properly fund this endeavor — or even realistically assess the funding that will be required well into the future, thanks to Bush’s tandem wars — these challenges will not go away. Nor will we be able to meet the immense needs of our returned military, amounting to an (as yet, open-ended) estimate of $900 billion into the future.
Add that the medical procedures offered are often obsolete to the challenges of PTSD and brain injury, the VA hospitals antiquated like so much of our infrastructure and that pill pushing, rather than more extensive treatment, has created a secondary problem with patients trading and selling meds, as reported at a Florida Veterans hospital and others around the country. And for this, thousands upon thousands of vets are awaited services, many for years.
Still, it’s understandable that we want someone to blame for the 40 deaths believed to be caused by being purposely shifted to a covert waiting list, and that’s just in Phoenix. Some 26 VA facilities are now under investigation, with additional deaths expected in what appears to be a nationwide cover-up in scheduling. As with most of these kinds of institutional events, ranks are being closed and paper trails destroyed even as we speak. We may never know how many deaths could have been prevented, but the list of reported maladies — brain cancer, gangrene, bladder cancer, heart failure — is daunting. Yes, many of these were WWII vets, old and dying anyway. But, and despite specific directions from the administration, even the most recent vets are subject to long waiting periods. So here are Palin’s ‘death panels’: death by congressional disinterest and American lethargy.
Yes, I know. I’m carrying on about vets, and it’s not even Veteran’s Day, a day that barely gets a public nod. It’s Memorial Day — the gateway to summer, to dynamite sale prices, to cookouts and picnics and yard sales — and the beloved war dead are being given their due, their resting place dressed with fake flowers and flags. But what about the living returnees all around us, raw with pain and anxiety? What about the 18 suicides by soldier every day? What about the very human problem of inadequate services for our returned warriors? The reports of domestic abuse and violence, rape and murder, the result of mental health crisis? What about the unrelenting pressure of serving with honor in the field but finding oneself discarded and ignored — past unresolved, future dim — upon return home? And what about the promises that generations of those proud to serve relied upon?
As Jon Stewart made very plain, this is not a new problem. We’ve had centuries of discovering ‘how’ this all works. The next question, the one we’ve just started to ask, is ‘why’? So let’s be very succinct, because this particular problem, unlike some of the other more nuanced challenges we face, can be fixed with political will and adequate funding. This is all about money, and where we put our money indicates what we value. If there’s even a sliver of truth to the meme that we must thank a soldier for our freedom, then the least we can do is keep our promise to provide for the treatment of their mental and physical suffering. And this is an easy issue to gather around. Not one of us in this nation thinks what’s happening to vets is right, or that family members should have to watch their veteran father die a truly tragic and painful death from bladder cancer, without once receiving an appointment to see a physician. So let’s stop pointing fingers at those who have been assigned impossible tasks, and get right to the heart of it.
There are those who would rather politicize this issue than fix it, and a good many of them receive six figure salaries from the U.S. government for their (dis)service. I suggest, with absolute surety, that had the majority of them been asked to approve additional funds for protective services in Benghazi, they would have loudly and happily denied it. These people work for you and me. Call them on their votes, and their intentions.
How did your representative vote in the sequester? What part of austerity do they support? Write them, call them. Inform your local VFW of those not supporting veterans affairs with their votes, and ask if their membership will write and call, as well. While the conservative party itself has only gotten more radical, the Tea Party is quickly losing steam, due to its inability to govern. Now’s the time to push hard!
Yes, Smedley Butler was right, war’s a racket, filling the pockets of the privileged. But until this nation wakes up to the bill of goods it’s been sold about exceptionalism and patriotism, we must not be guilty of cynicism about those we send into geopolitical danger. No single soldier counts as one citizen: each has a family and friends, those who must pick up the slack should government fail to meet their commitment for these often fragile people, and the rings of influence widen to include the entirety of their community. The very mental and emotional health of the nation is at risk when we ignore this problem.
That’s ‘what,’ and that’s ‘why.’ On a three-day weekend, with fun outings ahead (weather permitting), it’s a bummer to have to ponder such heavy stuff, I know. But then I think about the daughter-in-law of the Arizona man on the secret wait list who, at the end, got an appointment for his untreated stage-four cancer well after he was gone. She had never seen him cry before, she said, a 71-year-old man who had every confidence that his government would not fail to look after his health needs. I think about that and it takes my breath away, chokes me up, makes my eyes fill. Yes, seems to me that the time for stuffing down these feelings has long passed. Now it’s time to do something about them.
Hey Carrie. I’m not condemning the VA, I’m pointing to the people who are trying to starve it to death by underfunding, and the childish mentality that’s created a punitive system where failure has to be hidden from oversight. Even now, all I hear is about how we should lynch Shinseki and place this problem at Obama’s feet. I don’t hear answers, and that’s because nobody wants to spend any money they think might belong to them.
Indicators are that those who are already in the VA system are quite satisfied with their services, although some of the newer problems (as before, brain injury and whatnot) are a stretch for them. My dad had some services through VA and, although he had a long wait to get in, he was very pleased with them. Those taking this as an opportunity to push for privatization are politically opportunistic, their objectives very clear to those who are looking toward betterment of the system, not the pockets of commerce.
In a rational society, too few doctors to meet the needs of patients would mean we increase their number to meet demand — and if there aren’t enough to go around, we create incentive to train more. Rather than privatize the VA, I think it would be good form to turn ALL our healthcare into a single payer system that can marshal the talent and funding to create adequate care not just for vets, but for all of us.
Right you are, Paul, we’ve already grown past so much of what we’re seeing now (which I take comfort in, ultimately, even though signs of awareness seem invisible on so many levels.) And while ‘why’ isn’t OUR question, as asked by the news anchor, it seemed to me a step forward from the usual who/what/where that (at least some of) the public has come to accept as knowledgeable reporting. “Why” is a start for those who have not yet seen through the scripted, watered-down stuff we accept as actual news. Maybe if we gave truthful answers to “why?” it would be an eye-opener to many. Or maybe if we just learned the questions to ASK! Poor nutrition, toxic environment, propaganda and PR and inadequate education has deprived us of valuable IQ points!
” … tension of the eternal argument between father science and mother philosophy is oxygen to the fire that is life!”
Read an excellent article by Gary Hart today, who is — pretty singularly — an ex-politician who talks about raising the conversation to a higher level. Entitled The Re-Enchantment of the Soul, Hart says, “The wrong question is being asked. It is not, can faith exist with science? It is rather, can enchantment be restored in the age of enlightenment?”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-hart/the-reenchantment-of-the-soul_b_5355156.html
I like that. Can we get back some of that Light majik of inspiration and imagination and possibility, as opposed to the dark arts of constriction, and paranoia and radicalism? And science and philosophy are natural cousins, seems to me, able to compliment one another, but not when we use one to kill off the other. There’s that nihilism we can’t seem to shake. Unless we begin to value one another as brothers/sisters under the skin, value human dignity more than profit and loss, value tolerance more than tribalism, we have no moral standing at all.
Honor to your father’s memory, this weekend, Musicman — and to mine, and to all the fallen who were doing what they thought was right. Good to remember that we have each been these, one lifetime or another. Gentle becoming to us all!
Jude,
My husband asked himself; who benefits from the VA issue that is happening right now? Who ultimately benefits from exposing it/ Of course, the families neglected and the vets who are in the system right now might benefit if the system is improved but he said look deeper.
Only a few years ago, when the Public Option was being hotly debated in congress, there were so many articles about how well the VA was doing, how satisfied the vets were with their healthcare and what a great model it would be for the Public Option.
What my husband said is this: every time a government institution comes under scrutiny and attack, it often leads to a huge push to privatize it. The postal service, the public schools (which have been set up to fail which makes the push to privatize even stronger).
Before we join the bandwagon and condemn the VA, it makes sense to pause and ask whose agenda is being served with the intense media denigration of the VA health care system?
What percentage of Vets are being served well as opposed to those not being served? Who is providing those numbers? Are the facts being skewed (hyped) to serve a privatization agenda? It is a cautionary thought worth thinking.
HiYa back Judith,
Yes, 9th house Moon and rounded up to 24: PHASE 294 (CAPRICORN 24°): A WOMAN ENTERING A CONVENT.
KEYNOTE: Total commitment to a transcendent goal.
Always wondered about the highest elevated planet since I also have Chiron at 0 Aquarius.
I read them often in blogs but go back only occasionally for review of my own. The layers of decades add clarity and relevance. A lifetime mission to understand.
Thanks for the feedback. A “tip of the cap to Bob” Indeed a little help from our friends!
How sweet the simple things especially a vine ripe melon.
Have a Wonderful weekend.
“We have to grow”
We are growing … it did ‘appen, the Sun will rise tomorrow, and my senses tell me that it is an existential matter based on the Philosophy that we need to adopt, in order to fully understand the situation, and hence take the right steps to move forward. I am not sure that “Why” is the right question Jude. You touch on the progress of animal welfare, along with Vets awareness, on this memorial day! The long term work of Greenpeace, and many others, has lead to the improvements in the life of our planet! Remember we are only at the 1st. quarter of the Pluto-Uranus conjunction.
This is a quote from “Cultural Values and Role Models” at the Bibliotheque at Musicman 1
Asking “why” is the wrong question! It exists! It happened! Cogito Ergo Sum! said Mr Descartes. Understanding our own evolution and the tension of the eternal argument between father science and mother philosophy is oxygen to the fire that is life!
Asking the question “how” can lead to an enlightening situation!
I have felt uncomfortable for 30 years playing great music that has strictly defined parameters! Who made these rules? Why should I subscribe to a musical system that has its roots in aristocratic 13th and 14th century Europe? How can I reach a deeper truth? The Kora pre-dates the Guitar and Lute by at least 200 years! The musician, baudelaire or court jester of yester year, who entertained and plucked at your heart strings, has evolved into a well-trained, scientific practitioner who can err greatly on the side of technique. How do I reach the passion and the essence of what music, or any other art form, can contain? Clean, air-conditioned, well promoted venues can become the poison of mediocrity given a consensus of meat-eaters or vegetarians, depending on your proclivity. What is implicit in a performance of an African band such as Jaliba Kuyateh or Tata Dindin is the raw, driving passion that knows no fake; no going through the motions; no lets just get it done and take the money; or any other trickery!
The thrust of the gist is that if we analyse the past, as Michelangelo Antonioni does so well in “The Passenger”, then we may well have a chance of grasping the demands of our future!
I have just been watching Paul Brandus on C-Span. He said exactly the same; 55,000 Vets and nobody having the conversation! The Phone-in revealed both positive and negative steps; the best of which seems to be a Vets on-line diagnostic program which stumbles because the availability of a consultant triage nurse would require pre- authorisation.
There is an old Jazz musicians joke about playing the same 12 notes tonight … ladies and gentlemen … .but in a slightly different order! Perhaps at this initiation of a new way of approaching a 1000 year old problem, we have to start being more precise with our understanding, our philosophy, and our manifestations of that inner core that leads us to action!
As I speak, a film director in California is pleading for his son’s right to live after said son just murdered six people. The rights of a mentally ill teenager to bear arms is placed as a genuine consideration which disposes of the rights of the community to live in peace.
Macchiavelli would argue that a severe dose of genocide and gun crime would be enough to move the population to action. Five years of such gun crime, senseless slaughter, and the destruction of a sense of safety at schools would seem to have had no effect whatsoever in polarising the American people’s views and triggering an action!
We in the UK seem to have learned that an internet campaign can bring direct pressure to bear very quickly in situations that require it. The very sad case of the loss of the “Cheeki Raffiki” in the Atlantic Ocean 2 weeks ago is a case in point. The U.S. Coastguard responded magnificently to a UK internet campaign.
Politics will always be a breeding ground for silliness, stupidity and downright deceit. Neptune is here to give us the room to explore such character, the lack of it, and the way forward when there is slush to slash or intuition to implement!
You have to grasp the implications of your past, the effect of it on current political thinking, and the Achilles heel of a worn-out structure that is about to collapse. But more importantly, and many people who have suddenly been thrust into the spotlight will attest to this, you have to have a plan of action to achieve your targets, with inbuilt adaptability point that allow you to bring the strategy up to date as that Mars diurnal pushes forward with all of the beauty that Neptune’s true gifts are bringing us. The synthesis of all of the crap that is beginning to fall away from our future growth and development, is the price that we are being asked to pay!
I dedicate this to my dad, who walked from the English Channel to Berlin in 1944. His “get on with it” vibe has been the biggest truth that I have ever had to learn!
paul
Hiya GaryB — me, I’m not a military type, I’m the type that stuck daisy’s in their gun barrels. My first cousin is a retired high ranking naval officer, my dad was in the Navy, my 2nd cousin on the other side was an Air Force officer, my ex-husband an airman. My grandson has risen to the top in his high school ROTC activities. I’m surrounded by this stuff, but all of it puzzles me as I do not understand the ‘military mind,’ and … frankly … don’t want to. You’d have to put a gun to my head to get me “to perform and defend without question,” and maybe not even then. And — yes — all this seems to naturally lend itself to CMS (Closed Mind Syndrome) so, be assured, I do empathize with your position.
But on Memorial Day I figure it’s similar to this distasteful scenario: all of those little blue-haired old ladies that are being bilked out of their tiny incomes by televangelists are, essentially, not giving the money to them, but to [their notion of] God. There is power in tithing, and I believe that some unworthy conman running off with that money doesn’t CHANGE the experience of empowerment that the giver receives, if they’re doing it for the right reasons. And perhaps, after awhile, they will realize they’re being manipulated and make better choices; lesson learned.
Same with the military. Those who go into the military lead with their altruism and seldom come up for air until they’ve got PTSD, if not a shattered body/mind to boot. We … this nation … use them up and owe them, at the least, medical and emotional care. Perhaps, on the other side of some healing modality, they will have that essential A’ha! moment that allows some of them to understand the futility of warring and, hopefully, how they allowed love of country to turn into hive mentality and, often, self-sacrifice.
I’m planning a little barbecue, and the first watermelon (yum!) of the season — thanks for asking — and thanks to a VERY kind reader (you know who you are, Bob) who, out of the goodness of his very generous heart, sent me some $$ to replace what I lost. Truly — we get by with a little help from our friends!
“Moon @24 and MH @ 26 Cap what ya got to learn me?”
Wow — 9th house Moon? Last few degrees of Cappy in the 10th? And Goddess energy at the very top of your chart? (Cayce said that whatever planet was highest in yer chart was where you last ‘sojourned.’) Obviously, my rising is also 24 Cap and this is what Rudhyar has to say about that:
A Store Filled With Precious Oriental Rugs; Keynote: the use of cultural and artistic processes as a means to enhance personal comfort and appreciation.
This is about collective traditions as foundation for art and culture, seems to be a kind of grounding influence as well. Frankly, with no earth signs, I have a bit of difficulty grokking this one, in that it is more fully materialistic than my own inclination, however, seems there is a kind of stability here that is tangible (and which I probably under-appreciate, now that I think of it.) I like this sentence: “It is a foundation for cultural ‘under-standing,’ and as such it can have a magical or sacred meaning, as is the case with prayer rugs.”
You can read the rest of Rudhyar’s interpretations here, and remember that if you’re looking up Cap 24, when you add the minutes and seconds you’re into the designation Capricorn 25. That’s what you would read for your Moon energy.
http://www.mindfire.ca/An%20Astrological%20Mandala/An%20Astrological%20Mandala%20-%20Contents.htm
Maybe you knew all that and didn’t learn nothin’ at all, GaryB, or maybe that’s worth pondering well into the night. Now that you’ve got me started, I probably will, for the hundredth time. For those following along, looking up the Sabian Symbols of your planets (house cusps as well) is a whole ‘nother level of wondrous and revealing information, well worth the effort. If your mission is to understand yourself … and it is … take time to look them up!
Thanks Judith
All good and well but I struggle every Memorial Day.
I come from a long line of military but I wouldn’t cut my hair and they wouldn’t start me off as a Major so it ended there.
I get bombarded around this time every year with all the “salute to the soldiers” emails from my military friends who also forward all the emails about the black guy who disrespects the troops loves Muslims and has an egregious disregard for Gawd. They respect the role of a soldier to perform and defend without question. It is so hard to discuss the the loss of life of their fellow soldiers and their blind allegiance in the context of advancement of the monetary objectives of the military,industrial and banking cabals. Not to mention their thoughts on the mishandling of the VA.
Hopefully you can find a few leftover tidbits from the plundered freezer to throw a respectable get together this Holiday. Have fun!
Moon @24 and MH @ 26 Cap what ya got to learn me?
If these last years have proven anything, be, it’s that very few of our “cultural leaders” behave like adults, and when we hear someone talk and/or act like one … in politics, Elizabeth Warren comes to mind … it’s like finding an oasis in the desert. It would be excellent to have a few really impressive role models to emulate, especially for those in the conservative camp, now that Glenn Beck’s followers are pissy with the latest (miserable) march on Washington turnout (3 million anticipated, about 30 showed up!) and Sarah Palin has lost her MILF mojo. On the left, sadly, there are more progressives to look up to that AREN’T politicians, which leaves us few candidates to choose from.
Scuttlebutt tells us that the Red Team will take this coming election (always easier for Pubs when only 35% of the population votes as opposed to 55% for prez,) making Obama a completely lame duck for the rest of his tenure, and Pubs will take the wrong message, flex and preen and put up another embarrassing and inappropriate nominee that the left will easily whip. That’s the way it’s been for a long while now, a “tradition” I’d like to see fold — but if that’s the way it turns out, there’s even MORE reason to work from the bottom-up, making change within our communities and NGO’s that recreate this skewed playing field.
“Next month the Cancer Solstice chart (June 21) set in Washington DC has Jupiter (understanding the big picture) at 24+ Cancer conjunct the U.S. Mercury (mind).”
Sabian for 24+ Cancer: A Will-Full Man Is Overshadowed by A Descent of Superior Power … Keyword: The response of spiritual forces to the integration of personality through positive will-full endeavors. 24 Cancer is my natal Saturn, smack on my 7th house cusp, seconds into my 6th, so I’m familiar with this energy. And while a Saturn exptression normally ain’t all that much fun, translated into a Jupitarian expansion of the American thought process at Solstice bodes well, in terms of awakening. That’s so encouraging, be, thanks for sharing that and all the other positive signs! Looks like everything is in place for another “lift!”
All the channeling sez we’re doing so much better than we think — that our heart chakra is successfully cracking open — that the sorrow we’re feeling on so many levels is just the alchemy we’ve asked for to come back into balance with Feminine. Nothing, IMHO, happens by accident, everything has purpose so sudden tears, yes, creates us as more compassionate and tender, hopefully able to more easily extend that to one another.
One channel I frequent talked about how much progress has been made for animal rights, as a sign of change; how many people are engaged in rescue efforts — that resonates for me, I can’t even watch SPCA commercials without weepies! Can’t watch the YouTube of the baby elephant crying for his mum, can’t stand the stories about bear baiting and whatnot. I deal with it by taking good care of my household of (mostly volunteer) pets, and kicking in a few $$’s for worthy causes as I can … and the fact that I’m probably on the eco-terrorism list because I have the crazy-cat-lady gene somewhere in my DNA isn’t lost on me.
Anyhow, thanks for the comments, kiddo. I can always count on you to keep me company.
Add to that. . . the Solstice chart’s Mars at 14+ Libra conjuncts the U.S. Sibly Saturn at 14+ Libra; yet another “new beginning” opportunity./be
Yeah. Why indeed does it “keep happening”? To grab our attention. Why does our attention need grabbing? To look further and deeper and see. It’s not so much a rebuke, but rather it’s an aid. What’s going on now is too much for “normal” response reflexes to cope with all at the same time so, in order to get our attention focused on the right priorities, things keep happening. That’s how I see it anyway.
Thank you Jude for focusing on our military veterans today, and how traditions as well as structures are becoming obsolete. Both come under the “rulership” of Saturn and Capricorn and these two are completely entwined with Pluto and the sign he “rules” Scorpio. As part of the Divine Plan, our attention is now engaging our hearts as well as our minds. You and the rest of us have had our waterworks engaged, unbidden (thank you Neptune) and unexpected (thank you Uranus) and intense (thank you Pluto).
As for the engaging part, our eyes and ears have been re-wired to include not just our brain but our heart – as usual, when we were paying attention to other “more important” things. Traditionally (!) tears have been stimulated by emotions (sympathy or empathy) or physical pain. New rule: We are becoming conditioned to “feel” as One in order to more fully “act” – as a society – as One.
Traditionally we have seen images of soldiers in news reports, every year, placing small flags on the graves of fallen heroes, but when do we ever see a picture of anyone taking down the previous flag? Who does that and when? And why? We the Public are shown what old-timers are moved by through their memories, and what youngsters can learn about tradition in order for it to continue. Youngsters won’t have felt the emotional connection but see that it has meant something to their parents and they will remember that. However, fewer and fewer parents are fully engaged in the Memorial Day tradition and now the gods are resorting to other methods to reach them. Today’s parents are much like their youngsters in some ways; somebody else (a grownup) will “fix it” , it’s somebody else’s “fault” so punish them. You are right Jude, that’s not particularly adult behavior. You have to be taught how to be adults and experience has always been the best teacher, but then, that’s become old school.
This tragic revelation about our war veterans is similar to other tragedies that get our (through the media) attention; big numbers. It has gone on for a long time though, a VA hospital here, another one a year later there, but it is the big numbers that get us in the heart. Like the 200+ lost on the Malaysian plane that disappeared, or the 200+ Nigerian girls stolen from their school, or the 200+ South Koreans on the ferry boat that sank, or the 200+ dead coal miners in Turkey, they symbolize the lax attention to something. Infrastructure, adherence to rules/laws, greed. . . after 200+ years it is this country’s war veterans who must be sacrificed in order that we re-focus our priorities and look further and deeper and see.
200+ years ago, the U.S. had a beginning and it is symbolized in its birth chart. In the Sibly version of that chart the U.S. Mercury (mind) at 24+ Cancer opposes the U.S. Pluto (search deep) at 27+ Capricorn. Next month the Cancer Solstice chart (June 21) set in Washington DC has Jupiter (understanding the big picture) at 24+ Cancer conjunct the U.S. Mercury (mind). The Solstice chart (set in DC) has 13+ Cancer on the ascendant (self-awareness), conjunct the degree of the U.S. birthchart Sun (consciousness). Conjunctions symbolize new beginnings.
The Solstice chart also has Venus (love, values) at 27+ Taurus (practical, material) which trines (accessed with ease) the U.S. Pluto (power, deep feeling, shared resources) in Capricorn (tradition, government) that opposes the U.S. Mercury (mind, media) in Cancer (Family, roots) and oppositions must try to seek balance in order to grow and move on. The Solstice chart holds a perfect trine between Chiron (teach, pain) in Pisces (compassion, non-prejudice) stationing retrograde (potent) and Saturn (tradition) in Scorpio (regenerate) retrograde. We have our walking orders and a path forward; we must follow our hearts and grow.
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