Dear Friend and Reader:
The feeling that a great torch has been passed moves through every corner of our country — or it seems to. Perhaps even the world has begun to look toward America with a new interest as the first term of the 44th president begins. There have been many images for the transition of power both cosmically and in the news. The Sun has begun its cycle through Aquarius and combined its power with Jupiter. Mercury has passed by these two planets on its retrograde track towards Capricorn. As though acting out a drama of the life forces of change, Dick Cheney watched the proceedings from a wheelchair and Sen. Ted Kennedy was rushed to the hospital, suffering from what is now being called a seizure; as was Sen. Robert Byrd.
The affairs the world and of the planets reflect one another like a lake and the sky. There are many times when the events of the planets mirror the events on Earth like they have been this week, but it’s no less impressive every time it happens.
Let’s start with the Sun conjoined with Jupiter in Aquarius. The Sun is the basis of all life and as such, it is regarded as willpower, the need to be, or just plain: I AM. Jupiter, the king of the gods in the Roman tradition, the greater benific of the planets, was right next to the Sun during the inauguration. Right as Obama was making his speech, Jupiter and the Sun were conjoined and directly above his head in the noon sky.
As we have been saying, Aquarius is a sign that is full of energy right now. As I type this, Mercury, the Sun, Jupiter, the North Node, Chiron, Nessus and Neptune are all camped out there. The Sun moving closer to the North Node tells me that we are headed towards an eclipse, which is due on Jan. 26. We have not seen this much activity in Aquarius since the eclipse of 1962. There is a real Woodstock vibe within the sign of the Water-Bearer right now, with all the planets there demonstrating a sense of purpose and renewal that we all feel and desperately need.
Aquarius is truly the sign of the future. Capricorn is the past, but traditionally, the two are ruled by the same planet, Saturn. Both represent facets of the passage of time. And time is passing now. The advent of Pluto in Capricorn suggests how much work we need to do, to get things back on track. We must deal with the whole of the past; all the unfinished business of the past.
The Bush dynasty has gripped the nation for one Saturn cycle, starting in 1980. As that toad-colored helicopter took off containing two former presidents in one family, and their wives, the camera followed only for a moment before bringing us a view of Dick Cheney in a wheelchair. Later on, Ted Kennedy and long-time friend Robert Byrd were rushed to the hospital for a possible seizure and sudden illness respectively. This brought me an image of the vitality of the old guard draining; transformation was taking place in a bodily way. There are many older men involved in politics who have held out the ground of freedom, with an old liberal approach, who have held a perhaps weak torch in the face of so much agenda being pushed in our way. There are several very old Supreme Court justices, for example, who can now let go of their jobs with some assurance that someone reasonably intelligent will be put in their position.
While preparing to write this, Eric suggested I check out John F. Kennedy’s inauguration speech of 1961. I sat and listened. The little date on the side of the screen read “1/20/61” and the little calendar on my laptop said the same thing. I felt the thread of time defined by the solidity of history. I felt like John F. Kennedy was talking right to me, to all of us, when he said: “Let us begin the work that may not be finished in this year, or the next or even within this lifetime, but let us begin nevertheless.” The torch that was passed a long time ago has finally come into our hands, after the Neocons got it, after the Bush/Cheney shadow dynasty tried to put it out. It’s ours, but are we ready for it?
Onwards,
Genevieve Salerno
My family and I have a tradition on birthdays. Jumping the sugar line. We put a line of sugar on the floor and the birthday person thinks about the past year and looks forward to the new year. They leave behind, as they jump the sugar line, the stuff that they don’t want to carry into the new year. They jump with their hopes and goals and dreams into their new year. Then we all dance. Yesterday my daughter thought it would be a good day to jump the sugar line for Obama and for all of us. We talked about what we want to change and see changed then we jumped and danced.
What we talked about were some big issues we want to see change but also small. Planting more seeds was one that really sticks in my mind. I think we’re ready for that.
To be called on to do more than shop… thats planting some seeds.
Are we ready for it? Probably not. We never are, are we? Especially when we don’t really know what it is.
I feel like it is a matter of degrees and personal change. Egos seem to be dissolving pretty quickly. But that depends how power drunk the monkey is.
The MLK posters were posted in the government buildings two weeks ago. Apparently there was a reference to service on it. A sister came over to provide service to me. There are all kinds of things she wants to change about my lifestyle and I was supposed to become someone else because she was being so kind in offering me service. (Subtext: be like the others, let me make you unhappy.) I think there is confusion. And I think I shall be acquiring a stack of local volunteer opportunities to keep on hand. And a list of household chores if that’s what they need. How long before doing service becomes a competition about who is a better person? And how long before demands start coming because I am supposed to do someone a service?
I suspect a flood of door to door religious salesmen who want to help me.
So I think right now we need to breathe and take a check on our judgements and learn about service slowly. And that this virgo should be asked to do even more service is uh, I don’t know, kinduv unreal. It’s kinduv inborn. I am focussing on painting with a bigger brush, bigger strokes. And staying nourished in the process.