GOD CREATED ASTROLOGY...
...on the fourth day. It was a Wednesday.
It’s right there in the Bible, my friends, and even
though most religions forbid divination and
fortune-telling, an honest re-reading of the
Good Book shows that astrology has been a
part of our birthright since the beginning.
Let’s see what actually is written:
Genesis 1/14. “Then God said ‘Let there be lights
in the firmament of the heavens … and let them be
for signs and seasons and for days and years.’”
Now, good friends, if God had just said, “let them
be for signs,” and left it at that, we could interpret it
as ‘signs of the times’, or ‘signs of rebirth’ and the like.
But noooooo, He added “seasons, days and years.”
I’m sorry, good buddies, but THAT’S ASTROLOGY.
THE ELEMENTS
And not only that, we are given, together with the
water that was present at creation, the other
elements of fire (‘light’), air (‘the firmament’) and
earth. These four elements form the basis of
modern applied astrology.
A careful re-reading of Genesis shows something else.
The first days of creation can also be interpreted as
the first days of life of AN INDIVIDUAL.
The Bible starts with: “the Spirit of God was
hovering over the face of the waters.” There is a
lot of mention of water, and I take that to mean
the birth process itself. Then the days lay out as
if a newborn were encountering the first moments
of life, together with an expanded view of childhood.
Day One: The first thing the infant experiences is
light, and that is the essence of the First Day …
God said “Let there be light.”
Day Two: Then there is a slap on the back and
life-giving air fills the lungs. Genesis 1/6,7,8:
God created the heavens on that Second Day.
I take that to mean the air, atmosphere and sky.
On the Third Day earth is created along with
plants and the new human being gets something
to eat. We now have the four astrological elements
of water, fire, air and earth.
Then there is growth and the child goes outside and
sees the sky. The sun, moon and stars are created
on the Fourth Day (along with astrology.) The fishes
and the birds came along on the Fifth Day, and
finally animals and people appeared on the Sixth.
Genesis gives us this double meaning of creation
and also how each person enters and perceives
the world around them. One can be religious
and still use those parts of astrology that are
useful in viewing the modern world.
IT’S ELEMENTAL, MY DEAR WATSON
Those four elements that the Bible introduces –
fire, earth, air and water – are the building blocks
of astrology. Applying it to our present world we
note that the new age is Aquarius. The sign is
ruled by air and this element becomes all
important on the world stage. Air rules
computers, television, bureaucracy and social
engineering. These will be the major parameters
of the new era.
The elements are not neutral with one another.
In fact, they can be downright ornery. They are
like four rigid snakes in a square, each biting the
tail of the next in its mouth. Air dries up water,
water dampens fire, fire scorches earth and earth
traps air. All the drama of life can be summed
up in this constant four-way struggle.
In the new age air is paramount. Earth and water
are next to air and involved in the day-to-day
operation of society. But fire is on the other side
of the square and therefore 'out to lunch' culturally
for the age. So warfare, the hallmark of fire, will
be out of the mainstream for the next age.
The car bombers and terrorists will have to wait
two thousand years before they can find a proper
environment for their activities.
So, my friends, with a combination of a well-trusted
ancient text and some modern insights we get:
“This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
…. Aquaaaaaarius …”
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COPING WITH THE NEW AGE
WAR...STORMS...GAS PRICES...TERRORISM…
It’s scary! What the heck is going on?
Experts give a variety of reasons: religious
fanaticism, over-population, global warming,
‘Freakonomics.'
Here is our answer:
“This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius…”
OK … it’s a far-out, beatnik, hippie notion, and …
“what have we been smoking?” But, as far as we
know, this concept can explain what's causing the
problems in the world and also how they can be
dealt with.
We say that every two thousand years the culture
of mankind undergoes a remarkable change. The
last time it happened was at the time of Jesus.
He came into a world of conflict that had been
going on since the Assyrians, Persians and
Macedonians. It was constant warfare all over
the place and it had lasted - you guessed it -
for two thousand years.
Jesus (with Buddha before, and Mohammad after)
then said, “Enough of warfare, now it’s time for
spirituality.” The age was to change from one
dominated by Aries, the sign of war to Pisces, the
sign that rules religion. For the next two thousand
years the Church, Mosque and Temple ran the world.
We had the inquisition, Conquistadors spreading
religion, the search for religious freedom and finally
‘the separation of church and state.’
Now human society is again due to change. And it
will happen suddenly. This is because we are leaving
the Age of Pisces, which did things slowly, and
entering the Age of Aquarius, which does things quickly.
It took the Roman Empire 325 years to adopt
Christianity. Our new Aquarian Age began suddenly at
9:03 a.m. on Tuesday, 9/11/2001 the instant the
second plane hit the other World Trade Center tower.
It was a brand new ball game from that point on.
Aquarius rules television, computers, a lot of social
engineering ... and unfortunately some chaos and
anarchy. These will be the focus of society all over
the world for the next 2,000 years. We will install
democracies, theocracies and even socialism. We
will write constitutions, move people here and there.
We'll plan for disaster relief ... "put the tents here;"
"allow one port-o-potty for every 20 people."
We'll debate the bureaucracies: "FEMA stinks!"
"The Forest Service is way better!"
In this new age, things will develop suddenly. A lot
will be positive. As our favorite diva would say,
“It’s a good thing.” New fads will come about
speedily. Inventions will change the way we do
business, practically overnight. If you blink you
might miss the inception of a new dance, movie or
music genre.
Aquarius rules social activity. When you go to a party
everybody is equal. Movements to bring people up to
minimum educational and monetary levels will grow.
But every gathering has its in-crowds. We'll watch as
each cultural group competes with its best people,
costumes, skits and music at the 'world party.'
And, of course, there are the bad things: War,
Terrorism, Storms, Price jumps.
So how to cope in this new age? Well, to start,
if you knew the powerful tools of the zodiac you
would know that each astrological sign is controlled
by certain other signs. Aquarius, an Air sign, is
regulated by the Earth signs. The conservative
solidity of the Earths can prevent a lot of the bad
effects that uncontrolled Aquarian Air will unleash.
The Earths say “Respect Mother Nature, be thrifty
and practice tough love.” Efficient automobiles
would reduce the need for oil and help us in the
Middle East. Eating more organic foods would
solve a lot of health problems. Constructing
buildings out of reinforced-concrete instead of
wood would have saved the suburbs of New Orleans,
and making sure the sea walls were high and
strong would have kept the Big Easy on dry land.
Tough love means to forget political correctness
and search nervous young men with foreign accents
for box cutters. Thrift means less cars and more
bikes, walking shoes and recycling cans. Respecting
the earth means less pesticides and more renewable
energy.
Using the zodiac makes it’s easier to identify
problems and point toward solutions.
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FACE 101
The face has long been important in human culture.
Your face is one of the first things a person focuses
on when meeting you. Is your face happy, relaxed,
or is it drawn and are you 'facing' some tough times?
And, of course, in some cultures 'saving face' is a
vital part of life.
In new-age astrology we have a novel way of
looking at the face. We know that each part of the
human body is associated with a sign of the zodiac.
The head is Aries; the jaw, Taurus; the arms and
shoulders, Gemini; down to the Piscean feet.
But the face itself is unclaimed. We'll remedy that
and give you a new and interesting way to
judge people by their faces.
Simply put ... 'it's elemental, my dear Watson.'
The face is the console of the body and has
four parts that correspond to the four elements
of astrology - fire, earth, air and water.
The EYES are associated with FIRE,
the MOUTH with the element EARTH,
the EARS with AIR, and
the NOSE with WATER.
In a future FACE 201 article we will tell how each
body chakra - Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc. - shows
up as a part of one of the four facial features.
But for now we'll give you, by reference to a
favorite television show, a way to follow the
actors by their facial elements.
The tv sitcom, "Everybody Loves Raymond," has
stars that are ruled by the four elements. The
actors bring their own elemental bents to their
roles unless specific facial expressions are
written into the script.
Ray is an earth sign. He's a 'mouthy' kind of a
guy, trying to out-talk others and literally tasting
his words as he utters them. He is the major
earther in the show (if you don't count the
Taurus twins.)
His brother Robert, played by Brad Garrett, is an
Aries, and he comes across as a definite fire sign.
His eyes are the windows into his acting soul,
and you can tell his moods by watching how his
eyes light up at dramatic points in the show.
Father Frank, played by the late wonderful actor
Peter Boyle, is all ears. He is an air sign in real
life. He'll throw out an nasty comment about his
wife then incline his head so that he gathers in
the words he wants to hear. Robert's new wife,
played by air sign Monica Horan, is also an ear
person. She strains to hear and make sense out
of the arguments swirling around her.
Finally, Debra (Patricia Heaton) and Marie (Doris
Roberts) are both water signs. They sniff out the
story line as it develops. Watch as Marie
inhales the air in Debra's house for any
unacceptable odors. Debra leads with her
nose when she talks to people, and Ray's lame
explanations have to pass her smell test.
You yourself are one of the four facial types.
Check your natal sun sign. If you are Aries,
Leo or Sag then 'the eyes have it.' If Taurus,
Virgo or Capricorn you 'said a mouthful.'
Gemini, Libra or Aquarius makes you 'all ears,'
and if you are a Cancerian, Scorpio or Pisces
then your 'nose knows.'
Astrology covers only a certain fraction of life,
but with an appreciation of the face and its
elements you can add fun to figuring out the
personalities of yourself, your associates and
those you see on the tube.
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MEL GIBSON WORRIES ABOUT BEING JEWISH,
AND MICHAEL RICHARDS THINKS HE'S BLACK!
The n - word outburst of Michael Richards at
Hollywood's Laugh Factory has the public upset
and confused, and his televised apologies leave
us with no apparent clue as to why he did it.
We think we have an answer, but it's going to
take two leaps of faith on the reader's part:
- Sigmund Freud's notion that there are parts of
our minds that are hidden from our consciousness.
- The New Age concept that each sign of the
zodiac is associated with a cultural group.
Richards, with sun in Leo, has significant parts
of his horoscope in the sign of Cancer. Cancer
rules several cultures around the globe, notably
Holland, our Southern culture, and the
African-American experience. It is the
‘down-home' manifestation of the zodiac.
Each sign and culture may be different, but all
are special and none are better or worse than
any other.
Michael has his thought process (Mercury),
action (Mars), feelings (moon) and the
unexpected (Uranus) all in the sign of Cancer.
We posit that although on the surface he is
the very Leo bumbling ‘Kramer' of Seinfeld
fame, in his unconscious mind Michael Richards
must feel that part of him is Black.
In one of the Seinfeld episodes, Kramer was
overly tanned so he could meet the family of
a Black woman he was dating. It was, all
things considered, a prophetic role.
On the day of his outburst Richards had a "bad"
sun, moon, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter. These
were all in water signs and water heavenlies
always dampens his Leo fire. So he wasn't
feeling all that chipper to begin with. The
performance got him to an excited state,
and the two Afro-American males heckling
him from the audience sent him finally over
the emotional edge. We surmise that he
called out to the hecklers in Ghetto words,
AS IF HE HIMSELF WERE A FELLOW
AFRICAN-AMERICAN.
We think that in his subconscious mind this
would make it understandable and therefore
somehow alright.
In a similar vein, Mel Gibson, a Capricorn,
has important planets in Scorpio, the sign that
rules France as well as the Jewish people. We
think that in his subconscious mind Mel worries
about his Jewish side, and the alcohol and
police trauma of his roadside arrest brought out
that lifelong struggle. In his case it was a
negative connection, but the cultural
associations of these two actors, we feel,
are two sides of the same subconscious coin.
This explanation doesn't change the bad
effect of either of the two celebrity's actions,
but it does offer a new insight into the
workings of the human mind, always a
positive foray.
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PSYCHOANALYSIS AND ASTROLOGY
The Freudian revolution brought mankind closer
to a better knowledge of itself, and it joins with
the wisdom of the ages. Perhaps the most
important aspect of psychoanalysis is that it
taught us there are parts of our mind that we
have a very hazy knowledge of, and
predisposes modern thinkers to allow a similar
acknowledgement of the astrological influences
of the planets.
Freud, along with Jung, provided specific paths
to our psyche, but we find the work of Alfred
Adler to be more in keeping with the astrology
paradigm.
ADLER
Alfred Adler was a short, chubby, affable
Viennese doctor who had been a colleague
of Sigmund Freud. In 1923 he published
THE PRACTICE AND THEORY OF
INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY and
broke with Freud's theory of the sexual basis
of neurosis. He proposed that personality
difficulties stem rather from inferiority feelings,
a term that he introduced, that arise from
the individual's problems with self-assertion.
He lectured in America in the 1920s and early
30s and died in Scotland in 1937. Some of
his family relocated to America and his grand-
daughter, Margot Adler, has been a veteran
reporter for National Public Radio.
PSYCHOLOGY AND ASTROLOGY
Adler's theories were not the first, nor were
they the last, digressions from Freudian
orthodoxy, but they do come closest to a
psychology that parallels Modern Astrology.
We hold the notion that frustrations are formed
in an individual from certain difficult locations of
their natal planets. Obviously a person cannot
change his/her horoscope's lifetime road map.
S/he spends the time learning to make
adjustments so as to be able to function in the
world. When there are marked difficulties in the
chart, and the environment does not allow
enough adaptation then, we think, neurosis will
develop.
CHARTS OF FREUD AND ADLER
The key planets in Sigmund Freud's natal
chart happened to be situated so that they
were easy for him to manipulate. His planets
of thought, action and destiny (Mercury, Mars,
Saturn) were all in front of his sun and without
squares or oppositions, giving him a relatively
easy time in thinking, acting out and fulfilling
his fate. But his sun in Taurus is opposite
Scorpio, the sign that rules reproduction, so
he had the usual Taurus difficulty with that
particular life force.
We feel he conjured up the notion that sex
was as real a problem for everybody else as it
was for him, and any neuroses in the world
must come from that quarter.
In Adler's chart his thinking and destiny
functions were behind his sun, and so he
encountered a lifelong frustration with his
thoughts, and a hard time getting important
things done. He, like Freud, must also have
postulated that humanity's problems must be
like his own ... in his case a problem with
self-assertion. We think Adler was closer to
the universal truth than Freud.
THOUGHT AND ACTION
The key elements of any chart, and therefore
of human behavior, is the way a person thinks
and the way s/he acts. The former is dependent
on the position of Mercury in the natal chart
relative to the sun, and the latter on the
position of Mars. A horoscope can be viewed
as a circular queue, similar in many ways to
an ordinary line at the movies. An individual
stands on line in the spot where his or her sun
was at the time of birth, and looks over at the
other planets of the chart.
When you're on a line, the people in front of
you are at a disadvantage. You can see if they
have dandruff, if their pants are shiny, and if
they are down at the heels. You tend to call
them "Buddy." Those behind you have this
advantage over you... you call them "Sir," or
"Ma'am." As you stand on this line you
interact with the planets in your chart,
especially Mercury and Mars.
MERCURY AND MARS
Mercury is always close to the sun. It can be
right behind you (ie., your sun) or right in front.
Half the people have Merc to the rear of their sun.
This gives a contemplative cast to their thinking
and they will seek ideas from others. They test
out new thoughts in an ordered pattern until, by
the process of elimination, they arrive at a
conclusion.
Billionaire Bill Gates has this position of Mercury.
As a child, we are told, he would sit for hours
looking off into space. His mother would wonder
out loud: "Bill, what have you been doing for such
a long time?" Gates would look up with a grin on
his face and answer: "I'm thinking, Mom."
Those with Mercury in front of the sun tend to
jump to conclusions without recourse to too much
introspection. These people can absorb a great
deal of new information quickly. It takes both
kinds of people to make a world, and both are
content in their thought patterns.
The problem comes when Mars, the planet of action,
is placed in the mix. Mars can be anywhere around
the circle and when it is in front of the sun, without
squares or oppositions, a person can take care of
business easily. When, however, Mars is behind or
square or opposite to the sun a person will tend to
allow circumstances to dictate their activities.
They say that there are two kinds of people, those
who make things happen and those who let things
happen. This is surely a reference to the
placement of Mars.
THOUGHT AND ACTION
Finally, we come to the nexus of thought and action.
Bill Gates not only has his thoughts behind his sun
but Mars, his planet of action, as well. He thinks
about computer problems others have and then
takes steps to try to help them. This gives him a
continuity of thought and action which leads to a
successful adjustment. Those, however, who
have a forward Mars, and a backward Mercury, or
visa versa, are the ones who have frustrations.
They then use their environment to form behavioral
patterns to make sense out of their natal setup.
This is where Dr. Adler and his self-assertion
come into the picture.
We think in the future patients with neurosis
will be dealt with, not on the analytic couch,
but with an astrologer and a chart of the natal
horoscope. Together they can come to an
understanding of the frustrations of thought
and action in the chart.
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