Today is Monday, Oct. 10, 2016
Hebrew date is 8 Tishrei 5777
Islamic date is 8 Muharram 1438
Mayan Tzolk’in Day is 2 Muluk
Mayan Long Count is 13.0.3.15.9
Julian Day is 2457672
Today’s Birthdays: Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), Henry Cavendish (1731-1810), Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), Ed Wood (1924-1978), Midge Ure (1953), David Lee Roth (1954), Kirsty MacColl (1959-2000).
“Young people must break machines to learn how to use them.”
— Henry Cavendish (physicist who discovered hydrogen, on learning a valuable machine of his was broken).
Special Comment: Politics and Religion Don’t Mix
This is going to be an interesting week politically, and also socially. I would say it’ll be the most unusual week since August 1974, when Republicans pressured Nixon to quit rather than to face an impeachment, which was imminent.
Nixon during his debate with Kennedy, 1960.
In our time, the tipping point is that the presidential candidate for the Morality and Purity Party has admitted proudly to committing serial sexual assault.
This is twisting Republicans and the party into knots as they deal with a candidate who does not actually represent any of their purported values (on ordinary issues like trade).
Recent polling is reported to have about 75% of his partisans still in favor of him.
I think that this look into the background is revealing. It’s an actual revelation of the values and boundaries of a large and powerful segment of the population. This population is what’s called the Republican base, which includes its core of fundamentalist Christians, and many people who have secularized that agenda and put it into schools.
Are these the same people we expect to teach their sons to treat women appropriately, and to honor the integrity of their bodies and intentions?
It would seem that the ruse of religion and its garb of moral purity as a function of politics are now being exposed for the fraud that they are. The politics part is important: I have known many truly upstanding people whose faith is Christian; they don’t seem to be the same people who first politicize sexual morality and then condone the most repugnant conduct.
If we pry a little deeper under the anti-choice arguments and look for the real conduct of that particular politicized Christian base, we might find the same exact moral configuration. The message here is that politics and religion don’t mix. They are a toxic combination. The founders of our nation knew this, including several distinct prohibitions in the Constitution against mixing government and religion.
Moon Phase: Moon is in First Quarter phase and enters waxing gibbous phase on Oct. 12 at 2:19 pm PDT / 5:19 pm EDT (21:18:42 UTC).
Next Full Moon is on Oct 15/16 at 9:23 pm 10/15 PDT / 12:23 am 10/16 EDT (04:23:02 UTC) in Aries.
Next New Moon is in Scorpio on Oct. 30 at 10:38 am PDT / 1:38 pm EDT (17:38:08 UTC).
Moon Sign: Moon is in Aquarius and enters Pisces on Oct. 12 at 5:43 am PDT / 8:43 am EDT (12:42:54 UTC).
Sun Degree: 17-18 Libra.
Planetary Stations and Sign Changes
Moon enters Aquarius at 11:33 pm 10/9 PDT / 2:33 am EDT (06:32:52 UTC).
Interesting Selected Aspects
— Venus trine Cyllarus at 4:46 pm PDT / 7:46 pm EDT (23:45:49 UTC).
— Vesta opposite Okyrhoe at 5:26 pm PDT / 8:26 pm EDT (00:25:54 10/11 UTC).
If Your Birthday is Oct. 10
(The Day of Prudent Economy) | Get Your Libra Birthday Reading
Let your mind do the work. If you find yourself toiling, you just need a better idea. You would also benefit from some collaborators and a team effort. However, rather than having a ‘take control’ attitude, you might take the advocacy approach. Make sure that you stand up for people with fewer advantages than you, and return the loyalty to anyone who helps you.
Written in the Planets
Today the Aquarius Moon makes a trine aspect to the conjunction of Mercury and Jupiter. This describes a kind of collective intelligence that’s forming. Look around, and listen to what people say, and you might discover that people really are figuring out what is happening. This astrology should make it easy to keep a relatively civilized discussion going — though I know in some quarters that seems like it’s in short supply. You might take some benefit and pleasure in allowing people to reveal their point of view rather than trying to explain or prove yours. There is such a thing as the truth, and it requires no proof, merely observation. Some things are becoming difficult to miss. Just remember: as the Native American expression goes, you cannot wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.