Leaning In: Part Two

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

This is the week I went on an involuntary news fast. That old trickster Mercury, perfecting its skill at retrograde SNAFU, had me chasing my tail making calls to people I could barely understand in an attempt to revive my modem and get access to the net. At the beginning of the week it appeared to be all about the phone line, but after waiting for a tech to test DSL from the street — and next day repairs under the house with new wiring — I still didn’t have access. Another call this morning led to discovery of local power outages, necessitating a reconfiguration of the modem and then instructions to load a favorite page, so I hit the link to Huffy and got this ledeline, front and center: Blood Bath USA.

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We knew it was coming. We were expecting our hearts to break in this succession of full moons, and here we go again, another direct hit. Yet another horrific event involving home-grown — and apparently lone wolf — terrorism, accompanied by conversations about arming or not arming campus police, bad actors versus those who are mentally disturbed, no gun restrictions versus sensible laws regarding weaponry. Blah blah blah, until we’re numb. This is, essentially, just another piece of our All American culture war, much of it tracked back to mistrust of government and tribal values. And wrap it all up with a fifteenth — FIFTEENTH! — address from this President asking when we concerned citizens will shake the nation into common sense with our collective outrage and sorrow.

Yet while it seems clear that a vast majority of us from both left and right are in favor of more stringent laws regarding guns, who gets them and how, a congressional body that within the last few days has doubled down on its purity tests to all things right-wing will approve no discussion of limits, here in the Wild Wild West. On any number of fronts — Oath Keepers, for example — full-out insurrection is not beyond imagination, and nobody on that side of the fence is going to allow (let alone pass, it might appear) a mental health screening, or allow an ATF representative to get more than half-way up their driveway.

I’m somewhat encouraged by the conversations on CNN (my only news channel, here in the Pea Patch) regarding stricter gun laws, with some anchors confronting the pro-gun folks, like Huckabee, demanding explanation of how MORE weapons will stop random murder. But the question is not so small and manageable as simply new gun restrictions. The problem has more to do with firearms as a part of our approved culture of violence than any legal sanctions can deter, and we all know it.

We must come to the place where we acknowledge the need for a shift in weapons legalities as a first step toward remediating this dark energy, followed by a very close look at issues of mindless militarization, zero/sum competition, violence as entertainment, nationalized poverty, family dysfunction, repressed sexuality, and all the ills of our struggling society, because — you name it — that pressure will eventually find release with a finger on the trigger somewhere. It already has.

No, the problem is not so simple, and the recent visit of the Pope brought the problem into perspective. It seems to me that while statistics show that much of religion is on the wane, we have dropped out of those simplistic traditions without finding an internal mechanism that keeps our humanity in balance, and many of us feel its loss. We created a void space upon which to feed our children, yet filled it with nothing.

In a culture dominated by consumerism and a brutal race to success that seems increasingly improbable, Mother Teresa was surely right when she told us that “The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality.”

It’s a no brainer to assume that feisty old Teresa was talking about Christianity when she said that, and Catholicism in particular, but the concept is so much wider, and so is the conversation. Especially AF — After Francis — I’ve been thinking about the concept of spirituality and the piece written by our Amanda Moreno, Sometimes I Hate The Word Spirituality.

I understand that the term has come to mean just another kind of religiosity, one without much ‘there’ there, but I’m not uncomfortable with the word or even the concept. Even if defense of spirituality has become tedious, as has a reliable definition, the concept is in the mind of the beholder, self-defined as is the experience — and that’s where it is not just authentic but alchemical.

Back at the time of Harmonic Convergence in August of 1987 — what the ascensionists call the Second Wave of awakening, the First being the expansive philosophy of the ’60s counterculture — it was clear that religion had become largely unworkable in American society. A spate of cults, from the mildly absurd to the dark and dangerous, had sprung up, including a growing movement within the evangelical churches to return to their roots in the primitive church. The schism that took culture wars to a new level had already established the right-wing church, determined to grab political power, leaving an easy-going spiritual movement still wearing flowers in their hair, hugging trees and listening to crystals.

On the right, Jerry Falwell had politicized the evangelicals into a Moral Majority that became activists, and gave us politicians like Newt Gingrich who made Bill Clinton’s life hell in the ’90s. On the left, those of us who were looking for the larger spiritual picture called ourselves Seekers. We were not organized, nor did we think we needed to be. There is little ‘hive mind’ on the left of the spectrum, which has always been something of an Achilles Heel in terms of getting and keeping political power for liberal causes.

As a well traveled Seeker in the ’80s and early ’90s, I loved ALL the trappings, the metaphysical stores, the retreats and trainings. I tasted, I delved, I perfected. I meditated, I channeled, I astral traveled. At some point before the end of the century, I discovered I was no longer seeking anything — I’d found myself.

It wasn’t that the answers had been outside of me, somewhere — it was that I’d asked the wrong question. It wasn’t, “how do I do this?” It was, “who am I?” And essentially, what the masters all tell us of the spiritual path is true, we will come to peace with our search as we live out the focus of our path, as we inhabit our truth, and as we come to recognize and love self, others, and the Great Mystery that connects us all.

Amanda wrote that the Wiki description reads that “Spirituality may refer to almost any kind of meaningful activity.” And I will agree, so long as that activity connects us not just to our heads but to our hearts. To be spiritual is to open ourselves to spirit — to an awe-inspiring experience of kinship with all that is, with all of creation, with one another. That experience brings our innocence back to us, the wonder of childhood and discovery, the outrageous beauty of life in its many forms.

Spiritual perspective carves away all the dross of learned behavior and erroneous belief. It melts away the complex to leave us with the profundity of what is simple. It puts us at the center of creation to delight in all we have made, or to change it according to the dictates of our heart-connection. It excludes nothing, includes everything, and does no harm, because the very experience of our spirituality is found in harmlessness.

Religion is the codified ritual that someone, somewhere, insisted we must duplicate exactly in order to have an experience of spirit. It comes with rules and absolutes and a hierarchy that found benefit in keeping us all smaller — hence, more tractable — than we actually are. When we hear about Christians condemning Muslims, or Pagans being discriminated against or ISIS killing off those who aren’t true believers, we can know that this is the worst misunderstanding humankind can hold about their purpose on the planet — and that their need to control for God’s sake makes them godless.

It is said of Mother Teresa that she questioned her belief at the end of her life. Although she wrote with a good deal of wisdom, many disliked her. She was something of a tyrant to those who worked with her, and certainly judgmental in terms of her own religious bias. And yet, looking at the work she did faithfully for a lifetime, I find it difficult to fault her.

Teresa leaned in, embracing the dying, offering kindness where little existed, and counted it good even as she lost faith in the absolutes of the tenants of the life she had chosen — and don’t we all? Somewhere on her path, an experience of spirituality took the place of dogma and put wind beneath her wings to complete her work. Perhaps she had an experience of my favorite Course in Miracles affirmation: “If you knew Who walks beside you in the way that you have chosen, fear would be impossible.”

We love because we are loved — and a spiritual experience of that opens our hearts. There is little else to understand. Experience of that will change everything, and that one stroke of spiritual brilliance filtered through an open heart can mend the world. Your world and mine. The one you and I came to — collectively — co-create. When we think about leaning in to embrace an alchemical principal, that is the one to hold close.

Love because you are loved, love because you ARE love. And so it is.

14 thoughts on “Leaning In: Part Two

  1. Pisces Sun

    Wow Jude, how beautiful, meaningful, poignant and true! Amen.

    Dr. Andrew Weil in his book Spontaneous Healing of the mid-1990s would advise to take weekly news breaks. When I read his book then, I instilled this philosophy into my life often, which is found to be curious by my family and friends given my public policy profession. The negative energy is a lot for all of us to absorb.

    I have always admired Mother Teresa, she brought the plight of world’s poor to the attention of the world and yes, you are right, she struggled in her faith, often. This is a reminder that all of us are human but as you also note, if we learn to draw our strength from love, as she did, we do find we live a far more peaceful life. However we serve our life’s purpose drawing from this well-strength is important, it really is the only thing that is real. (also taught in the course in miracles). But when you think of it, its true. As you so beautifully stated: “We love because we are loved. There is little else to understand, and experience of that will change everything, as one stroke of spiritual brilliance experienced through an open heart can mend the world. Your world and mine. The one you and I came to — collectively — make.” Thank you Jude for listening to your heart and letting this piece flow, truly inspiring.

  2. this one

    You have summarized so much here. If I dare make a species reductionism of these categories, as we humans are equally related to either: consider the chimp mind that expects domination to forefront any interaction, and the bonobo mind of peaceful togetherness, and given those worldviews, the problem of the latter in the face of the former. Domination requires a tighter organization and awareness thereof, and that is the strength of chimplike society. Bonobos, in their unrepressed sexuality, love because they are love. We humans, equally related in our dna, can make various lifeways shown in cultures and over time, yet the current dominance mode is killing us, and our world.

  3. Barbara Koehler

    Love this Jude, love your wonderful above-the-treetops perspective. Yes, bloodbaths aplenty we’ve had. Yes, these full-moons, close up and personal, and the eclipses too have forced the heart chakras world-wide to open in spite of the personal anger or frustration we can’t shake yet.

    There does seem to be a method in the madness, a step-by-step approach to filling the void left by the disappointment of religion’s form of spirituality. It’s all in the details, a Virgo thing and a Gemini thing, and along with the Pisces thing and your special Sagittarian thing, we transition. That’s what mutable energy does; it holds us together enough to survive the space in-between the Fixed (old religion, government doctrines for example) energy and the fresh start Cardinal energy.

    As I see it, it was well before Obama was elected (Nov. 2008) that transiting Eris (21+ Aries) was sextiling the U.S. Mars (21+ Gemini). At the time of the election, trans. Mars reached 21+ Scorpio completing a Yod (Finger of God) pattern with Eris and U.S. Mars and he, trans. Mars, was the pointing finger. Mars (vigor) in Scorpio (deep and hidden). That Mars also squared Neptune (dreams and/or crazies) at 21+ Aquarius (advancing mankind) who had just stationed direct (real potent dreams and crazies). Mars as the pointing finger, had his hands full of feelings. Not thoughts, feelings. He, in his brief transit as Obama was being elected President of the U.S., also completed a yod (the pointing finger part) with the sextile between U.S. Mars in Gemini and U.S. Chiron in Aries and is now a part of the Obama legacy.

    Also Uranus (freedom) in Pisces ( suppression) while in mutual reception w/Neptune, was opposite Saturn (reality) in Virgo (service), and Venus (love conquers all) formed a T-square to Uranus and Saturn from Sagittarius (truth). Welcome to the White House Mr. Obama.

    It would be 10 months after the election that transiting Saturn in Virgo would finally conjunct the U.S. Neptune, which is conjunct Obama’s Mars, but before that happened, transiting Saturn would station retrograde at 21+ Virgo, exactly square the U.S. Mars at 21+ Gemini on December 31, 2008. Eris by then had moved back to 20+ Aries and was now conjunct the U.S. Sibly Chiron who opposes the U.S. Sibly Juno at 20+ Libra.

    On October 12th, 2015, 9 days from now, there is a New Moon at 19+ Libra. It will oppose transiting Uranus at 18+ Aries. It will activate the natal U.S. Libra Juno-opposite-U.S. Aries Chiron aspect, as well as the December 2008 transiting Eris-conjunct-the-U.S Chiron-opposite-the U.S. Juno, a time when trans. Saturn was stationing retro in Virgo while squaring natal U.S Mars. Just how far have we come since December 2008 I wonder.

    Activated by this coming New Moon in Libra will be memories and feelings going back to 2008, when the ancient transit of Saturn (control), then in Virgo (where Jupiter, Mars and Venus now transit) squared U.S. Mars (exuberant expression of joy?) in Gemini (communicate), after trans. Eris (divisiveness) had moved away from her sextile with U.S Mars (a nasty little combo) and was now conjunct U.S. Chiron (healing/wounding) opposite U.S Juno (inequality).

    I can see where this energy would have increased police (Saturn in Virgo) control over celebration (U.S Mars) by people of color and all others who longed for equality. With Eris now conjunct U.S. Chiron, the shift in expression of Divisiveness in America would take on the inherent U.S. natal problem of individual wounds (Chiron in Aries) vs. less-than-equal partnership (Juno in Libra).

    Trans. Eris left her conjunction to U.S Chiron and came to focus her discord on to the U.S. Neptune, but this too shall pass. As her influence on the crazies and the dreamers in the U.S. wanes, trans. Jupiter, will follow the path forward that trans. Saturn forged in 2008. As ruler of Sagittarius, Jupiter’s “big picture” concept must wade through Virgo’s attention to detail, and that can slow down the pace a bit. However, Jupiter will reach the U.S. Neptune, just as trans. Saturn did in August, 2009 (almost 10 months after Barack Obama was first elected). What was forged by Saturn will be re-examined and amended by Jupiter.

    Jupiter approaches from the Leo side of U.S. Neptune in Virgo, while the transiting North Node has traveled by way of the Libra side of U.S Neptune in Virgo. Both Jupiter and the NN have directly encountered natal U.S. astrological symbolism (in their opposite-direction paths) since Obama’s 1st election, when they were only 33 degrees apart, a number often associated with the life of Jesus.

    Trans. Jupiter and the NN were conjunct in February in 2009, and will re-conjunct in January, 2016, coming from opposite directions and they will also conjunct the U.S Neptune which trans. Eris in Aries will be quincunx…..

    At that time Pluto and Mercury will be conjunct at 15+ Capricorn, a new cycle, while Mars and Juno will be conjunct at 12+ Scorpio, also a new cycle for them. Yes, Mars will be back in Scorpio, just as he was when Obama was first elected. he will reach the degree where he began the legacy of Obama (November, 2008) in mid February, 2016, sextile transiting retrograde Jupiter, by then square the U.S. Mars in Gemini.

    Also in January when Jupiter and NN meet, trans. Neptune will square the U.S Uranus again and trans. Saturn will have just moved off of the U.S Sibly chart’s ascendant in Sagittarius, good news for all of us. These aspects and several others say to me that outer planet influence will support trans. Jupiter’s overview regarding what U.S. Neptune has spawned since (at least) 2008, what with it’s natal square to US Mars and the transiting Eris quincunx, that being (in part) the crazies and the dreamers. It’s the path forward, full of opportunity (trans. NN).

    If your above-tree-top view can inspire us Jude, think what transiting Jupiter, along with trans. North Node (meeting again after 8 years and coming from opposite directions, and joining the U.S. Sibly chart Neptune) can do. First the transition, then the fresh start.
    be

    1. Barbara Koehler

      I want to share something I’ve just realized which is that transiting Jupiter and transiting North Node were opposite one another just hours before the July 2012 U.S. Solar Return. They met with transiting Jupiter conjunct the South Node (release) at 4+ Gemini opposite the transiting North Node at 4+ Sagittarius, the same degree where transiting Saturn stationed retrograde just last March. Saturn will reach 4+ Sagittarius again at the end of this month.

      The U.S. solar return in 2012 had the most amazing Yod (Finger of God) composed of the sextile between Mercury (messenger) at 8+ Leo (Drama) sextile Venus (love) at 8+ Gemini (communicate), which is also the same degree as the U.S. Sibly chart’s Uranus. At the apex (action) point was Pluto (power) at 8+ Capricorn (government) retrograde. The yod’s apex point Pluto also squared transiting Uranus (breakthrough) at 8+ Aries (conjunct Pallas) who was sextile Venus and the U.S. Uranus in Gemini. The 1st exact square between Pluto and Uranus occurred on June 24, 2012 and the 2nd one was the following September.

      July, 2012 was the month that James Holmes murdered 12 people in a Colorado theater while transiting Uranus was sextile the U.S. natal Uranus. Because transiting Neptune will be square the U.S. natal Uranus when transiting Jupiter and the North Node both conjunct the U.S natal Neptune in January, and because transiting Saturn will have just left a conjunction to the U.S. natal (Sibly version) ascendant, it is possible there could be another such calamitous event that month, or. . . .it could possibly mean that divine intervention (us!) could bring about legislative action that would halt the sale of guns to mentally disturbed people.

      Remember, the transiting NN, and Jupiter and the U.S Neptune are at the action point of the Yod (Finger of God) which also includes the sextile between Eris in Aries and Hermes/Damocles in Aquarius.

      The Sabian Symbol for where the NN was at the time of the 2012 U.S solar return and where Saturn stationed retrograde, and where trans. Saturn will be at the end of this month is AN OLD OWL SITS ALONE ON THE BRANCH OF A LARGE TREE….Dane Rudhyar says that this symbol “..suggests the possibility of developing a wisdom beyond tragedy, a peace and poise beyond conflict.”

      The Sabian Symbol for the degree where the South Node and trans. Jupiter were at the time they opposed the North Node in 2012 is A REVOLUTONARY MAGAZINE ASKING FOR ACTION….Keynote: The explosive tendency of repressed feelings and root emotions.

      It’s time to call our Congressmen and women and demand action. Again.
      be

      1. Geoff Marsh

        Good research, be. My natal Uranus is at 4+ Gemini and I certainly noticed an effect when Saturn stationed retrograde in opposition to it in mid-March. It was concurrent with the last of the seven Uranus-Pluto squares, the first of which, as you point out, coincided with the James Holmes murders.

        As a result, the opposition caused me some problems in attributing aspect to effect but eventually I realised that my desire for revolutionary reforms now felt more contained within safe social boundaries, and perhaps therefore more realistic, than is usual. Although serene, this was a slightly surreal experience for this particular Aquarian. I was reminded of it at totality during last weekend’s eclipse – the most obvious and significant opposition – when Earth was bathed in the Moon’s strange dark light.

        I’m getting old, live alone and have a small stained glass owl suction-capped to a window. Often when I pass it, having just come to some decision or other, I receive unasked-for intuitive advice along the lines of ‘wise/not wise’. For me, this validates the Sabian symbol interpretation for 4+ Sagittarius. I sit on my branch and rest my case.

        I think your proposal to lobby Congressmen and women as Saturn transits this degree during early November is an effort worthy of the making. I wish you all good fortune with the outcome from the bottom of my heart. I think of America as a country still in its adolescence; it has the keys to the car and no-one is going stop it doing what it wants without a fight but it still has some way to go before achieving a truly mature social responsibility.

        The Sabian symbol for 4+ Gemini, opposite the point where Saturn emerges from its retrograde shadow, is: “A Council Of Ancestors Is Seen Implementing The Efforts Of A Young Leader.”

        You don’t need to be an owl to see the pertinency of that observation.

  4. Geoff Marsh

    Thanks for the links, Jude. I’m a great clicker of petitions myself. It’s like having a daily vote and, politically ineffective or not, it must be of some comfort to victims of persecution in their darkest hour.

    With regard to the Sabian symbol for 4+ Gemini, I was wondering what form “a council of ancestors” might take. Would it help, for instance, if other governments – those whose emigrants became the American people – pledged their support for Obama’s efforts on gun control? I know there’s a general taboo about meddling in other countries’ politics, unless of course you’re bombing them in the name of regime change, but some concerted backing from European governments, for instance, might give impetus to the campaign. More cogently, the Council of Ancestors might consist of First Nation elders. The Native Americans suffered more than most as a result of the gun yet have, as far as I am aware, not turned it on their own people in shocking mass shootings. There is wisdom to be tapped. Can it be implemented?

  5. Barbara Koehler

    Reducing TV violence; that would make a difference in the long run. Just because WE don’t watch it doesn’t mean that millions of 7 to 20 year olds don’t. The more channels there are to watch the more killings and rapes and terrorism there is to choose from. Neptune doesn’t just symbolize drugs and crazies, it also symbolizes film or video or whatever it’s called these days. Movies. Something is terribly wrong if our “entertainment” consists mostly of brutality, fear, betrayal, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. . . . . . .

    It’s the norm.
    be

    1. Barbara Koehler

      The Neptune (film) – Pluto (powerful organizations) conjunction in 1891 happened conjunct the U.S Uranus (freedom) at 8+ Gemini (communicates), which squares the U.S. Ceres at 8+ Pisces which is conjunct the U.S.. Nessus at 9+ Pisces. These days transiting Neptune (film and crazies) has been conjunct (off and on) the U.S Nessus (poison) and Ceres (parents loss) and squaring the U.S. Uranus (radicalization). That chart has a square between Uranus at 27+ Libra square Venus at 27+ Cancer which the U.S. Pluto at 27+ Capricorn completes a T-square with. Children are being radicalized by their TVs.

      The 1891 chart (August 2nd at 11:10 AM, Washington DC) has Mercury (the brain, eyes, ears and voice) at 3+ Virgo (every little detail) square the south node at 3+ Sagittarius (understanding) opposite the north node at 3+ Gemini,. Mercury also sextiles the U.S. Venus (values) at 3+ Cancer (family). Late this month transiting Saturn (control) will reach 3+ Sagittarius and conjunct the Neptune-Pluto chart’s south node (release of old, bad, useless habits).

      At the same time, the last super full moon (October 27th) in a series of 3, will conjunct the degree of Chiron’s (wounds and healing) discovery, 3+ Taurus, just as Mars (violence) conjuncts last month’s solar eclipse degree, 20+ Virgo. Watch out piggies, the big bad wolf is knocking at the door.
      be

      1. Geoff Marsh

        You’ve hit the nail on the head with that observation, be. The 1891 Neptune-Pluto conjunction coincided almost exactly with the first demonstration of the Kinetoscope. This was the immediate predecessor of the film projector and used thin, flexible film with sprocket holes so that it could be moved at speed in a stop-go motion while maintaining a steady picture. Only one person at a time could look into the box and watch the film but it was a short step from there to projecting the pictures on a wall.

        As I’m sure you’re aware there was a Jupiter-Saturn opposition coincident with the 1891 conjunction. Jupiter in Pisces (La grande illusion) mirrored by Saturn in Virgo (harvesting a new structure for communication). With the two outermost planets in Gemini, It’s Mercury spinning his wheels to great effect.

        As for murderous mayhem in modern movies, I think it all springs from the dark side of the psychedelic 60s. The opposite of love and peace is hate and violence. I was at film school and recall deliberately avoiding a film for the first time (Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch in 1969) because its advertising seemed to be deliberately glorifying violent content. Most of my contemporaries found it a ground-breaking piece of cinema – which I’ve no doubt it was – but, along with the Manson murders and Altamont, I sensed a future that would hold more death than delight. This may sound incongruous but I had always enjoyed the traditional “horror” film – who could deny the artistic merit of Nosferatu or fail to empathise with Boris Karloff – but I couldn’t enjoy this new craze for casual killing without thinking where it might lead.

        Having fought her all the way for gay rights in the 60s, it now must sound as if I have turned into Mary Whitehouse, Britain’s moral crusader who spoke out fearlessly about the content of films, plays, books and television. She was laughed at by the young at the time, but I now think she was right to point out where totally free expression would lead in time.

        God, do I sound old to you? (Answers on a postcard only, please.)

        1. Barbara Koehler

          That’s fascinating Geoff, your personal experience (sense) of foreboding in the film industry future AND the 1891 chart and what was going on then. Thanks for sharing. Personally, I feel the film/TV industry is as equally guilty as the gun industry in this period we are going through.

          I would be remiss if I didn’t include Eris’ role in all this. Since before 9-11 she has joined the U.S. Chiron in Aries opposite the U.S. Juno (a sense of inferiority) in Libra, moving forward into her quincunx with the U.S Neptune in Virgo, arousing fear about one’s personal safety leading to the quincunx “adjustment” – buying more guns than you could possibly need to defend yourself.

          U.S. natal Eris at 8+ Capricorn was also part of it. When transiting Pluto made a conjunction to her that sense of fear was palpable. In December 2012, when transiting Saturn in Scorpio sextiled (and was in mutual reception with) transiting Pluto conjunct U.S Eris in Capricorn, and they formed a yod with the U.S. Uranus in Gemini, we had the Sandy Hook shootings. When they repeated this pattern again in September, 2013, we had the Washington DC navy yard shootings.

          We must overcome.
          be

          1. Geoff Marsh

            We shall overcome, be, for this too shall pass.

            With regard to Eris and Juno, I couldn’t help noticing that, at the time of the first Kinetoscope demonstration, Eris (20+ Pisces) was exactly square Mars at 20+ Gemini, as good as it gets for throwing an emotionally-charged curve ball into the cultural consciousness in order to stir up a bit of excitement and debate. Juno (26+ Aquarius) was conjunct the US Sibly chart Moon, so no great surprise then if the world would soon become emotionally attached to those unattainable, technologically-created love objects known as movie stars.

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