Divided Yet United

ASTROLOGY EXPANDED

21st September 2021

“The mob is easily led and may be moved by the smallest force, so that its agitations have a wonderful resemblance to those of the sea.”

—Polybius

PROLOGUE: A Turning Point for Humanity

The Day the Earth Stood Still

What a wonderfully stimulating terrifyingly enchanted time we have chosen to incarnate into! The frenetic energy of the planet is accelerating, communities dividing, economies changing, people rising up, governments tightening down. Only the brave and the ignorant have come here now to this time and place. All of the popular ‘higher beings’ chose to sit this cycle out or do their bit from the other side of the veil! Angels, aliens, dimensional beings, trickster gods, sentient algorithms – all slipping in-and-out of the scenery through backdoors and gateways, up to some kind of mystery and mischief, whispering hints and acting out clues in this game of cosmic charades. Archangel Michael, Ramtha, The Pleiadean High Council, The Oracle, Q from Star Trek, Obi-Wan’s ghost, they’ve all decided to stay non-corporeal because they are either way smart or too cowardly to be here in the flesh at the close of the Piscean Age and the Dawn of Aquarius… Even the next incarnation of Christ is going to wait this one out and make a little cameo at the end with the new Bride (read your Bible). These entities could be a lot of help down here on the side of Light right now, if you know what I mean. Anyway, we’ve just gotten started and I’ve already digressed into a rant…

To Science or Not to Science

If you are new to my ‘channel’, I hope you don’t mind the frequency and the volume. I like to take a meta-view of paradox and twist it inside out to see the outside from within. (Of course, what you find there depends on where you think you started from in the first place; are you looking down from the above, or up from the below– or are you really just some nebulous great eye somewhere in the middle of it all.) The general topic of this op-ed article is about broadening our views of astrology by analyzing parts of our conflicting social construct of this passing Age, extracting the alchemical Gold of our technological advances and discarding the dross of excess we have created in the process. I will present an argument for ‘science’… and then play Devil’s Advocate and present an argument against ‘science’. Not simply because I enjoy arguing with myself (though I can learn a lot from solitary debate, I always manage to outwit myself) but rather because both avenues reveal certain truths through antithesis. In the end, what many people are asking is, ‘Is this science or not science’? I don’t think that is even a real question, ultimately there is only one singularity from which truth flows…

Deus Ex Machina

I would like for you to consider this more of a conscious conversation about the past and future, the general nature, and the overall role of astrology within the context of a new global society. So please take from it what resonates and dismiss what doesn’t. On close examination, it would appear that previous civilizations embraced astrology in much higher esteem. Even primitive cultures grasped our relationship to the planetary energies more thoroughly than we do now. It was not even a question that spirit and matter are reflections of each other. As a centuries’ old reaction to the religious pollution of scientific pursuits, today dominating arrogant science denies the very existence of spirit itself. Our connection to a conscious cosmos was at the center of daily life back into prehistory and was considered to be at the crux of all culture. We created, more so, in accord with nature, rather than in discord. We embedded this knowledge in our language, our maths and myths, our philosophies; we encoded it into music, structures, and our beliefs.

The majority of research, scientific inquiry and academic instruction are currently governed by an atheistic material doctrine. Though, in the last millennium or so, we astrologers may have improved our techniques and made natal astrology an evermore refined art, we have not progressed it as a parallel science. In the overall context, this is neither good nor bad, as modern science has its strengths and weaknesses, both of which are rooted in too much self-focus within the temporary human story and not enough on the eternal cosmic story. Science needed to break away from the increasing dogma of religion in order to explore the material world unhindered and it has done so. Yet, through hubris and ego, it has continued its inquisition at the expense of the spirit and the loss of human essence. Are we G-d and the Cosmic Machine, G-d in the Cosmic Machine, G-d as the Cosmic Machine? Or is it All just a trick of the Light..?

Horoscopic astrology is but a trifle compared to the wisdom and knowledge that the ancient cultures attained through their explorations and contemplations of the heavens. We were once profoundly more aware of the deepest nature of existence, the map of this reality and the source of it. The individual’s path and our collective participation within the source were understood holistically. This is much more important than the ‘astrology of the self’. In fact, horoscopic astrology only attains the height of its usefulness when cultivated from within a collective spiritual philosophical framework. This is true integrated astrology, and it is astrology’s authentic role and superior function for humanity in general.

I’d like to diverge a bit from the usual data, statistics and one-sided discussion towards some effort to persuade you into one camp or the dissuade you from another, but to just consider the current division between spirituality and science itself.

PART I: WE BUILT IT UP

It’s Science You Can Bank On

It is unfortunate that industry has taken science for a ride all the way to the bank. Yet, material scientists are still the unwitting allies of spirit. They have brought into the world the technology needed to connect ourselves through time and space. You could consider the current global internet the physical prototype to the next level upgrade of our spiritual wi-fi network, an advanced technology based on merging the 4D construct into 5D thought. Our material world is being transformed into energy or you may prefer to think simply in terms of information. We are surrounded by bits of code – genetics sequences, bio-chemical equations, ciphers of communication, probabilistic algorithms, digital memories, encrypted currencies, geometries of sound – all of which are translated by a higher level of scientific knowledge and mathematical language, creating and sustaining this virtual existence. Without the determination of the scientific mind, we would have none of the finer details of this awareness, which of course would be both a curse and a blessing for humanity. As an inevitable outcome of human advancement, we had to decipher quantum mechanics within the atom because we are instilled with insatiable curiosity to know the forces of the Universe to do so, “Know Thyself”. In so doing, we let loose both the potential miracle of the atomic dream and the horror of the atomic nightmare. Our trans-human spiritual evolution depends on the discoveries made through materialistic science.

“Klaatu Barada Nikto”

According to the film fan magazine Cinefantastique, from the 1970’s, “Klaatu Barada Nikto”, is” the most famous phrase ever spoken by an extraterrestrial” (though surely this is no longer the case). Seventy years ago, this year, the sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still, was released in theaters. In the 1951 classic, the alien messenger to Earth, Klaatu instructs the female lead to speak the phrase “Klaatu barada nikto”, as a means of preventing her from being harmed by the oversized synthezoid protector robot, Gort, which also has the power to unleash total destruction upon the planet. The phrase has been popular with insiders, sci-fi fans and classic film aficionados since it was first uttered. The film itself is an interesting mix of Cold War paranoid propaganda and subliminal Christian messages intended to instill a sense of fear of higher powers, a general obedience in the masses and collective responsibility for the behaviors of society (that sounds familiar doesn’t it). It was remade in 2008, starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. After having been left out of the final draft, the phrase was made barely audible near the start and the end of the remake.

Edmund North, the screenwriter for the original project (who also co-wrote the screenplay for the academy award-wining biopic Patton in 1970) left the meaning ambiguous, partially due to increased censorship of the period. According to the official script notes, 20th Century Fox and the lead actors of the film, there was never an exact translation given as to its meaning, essentially “Save Earth” was implied. In an interview years later, North was asked about the meaning of the now famous alien saying, to which he replied, “There’s hope for Earth, if the scientists can be reached.”; not the politicians, not the clergy, not titans of industry, not the collective efforts of the general populous – but hope came through science… And with this, I ultimately agree…

A Sign of the Times

So what does this made-up enigmatic sci-fi alien non-sexual safe word have to do with astrology and our present course as a species…? This film came at an early period of post-war changing attitudes towards global responsibility for our planet. (If you are a Pluto in Leo native, don’t take any of this personally, as this is a general and brief subjectively objective commentary, and not the focus of this article.) During the Pluto in Leo transit (roughly 1939 -1958), the world became engaged in a second global war, technology advanced for better and for worse, atomic energy was unleashed, spaceflight became attainable and computers were invented. Essentially, the foundations for the contemporary world were established during these years. The energy of the time – and those born of it – came with the double-edged theme of personal authority, individuality, power, competitiveness and dominance, which played out on the world stage and became the predominant personal mantra for many, if not most of the world, with the United States leading the way. Compounded with the existing paradigm of materialism, it progressed us collectively in numerous ways and also bankrupted us in numerous others. This energy is still very much with us but we should say for not much longer. The Pluto in Leo energy is passing on and the worldwide priorities that came from that time are changing dramatically as Pluto leaves Capricorn and enters into Aquarian domain, and the shadow-reflection of the Lion begins to become clear.

Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul

So here is an interesting meta-tangent. Thinking in some astrologically oriented and Biblical terms, regarding the split within the two thousand plus years of the Age of Pisces, you could compare it to something like “robbing Peter to pay Paul” for the first thousand years and then “robbing Paul to pay Peter” for the next thousand, so that both have ended up quite bankrupt of soul, in the end. Etymologically Paul represents those who are “humble” (church of spirit) and “Peter represents the “rock” (petra) (church of physical-physics-matter), so to speak. The glyph of Pisces is symbolized by the two fish (one could be considered spirit and the other matter) headed in opposite directions still bound by the single Gold cord, always holding the eternal binding connection of this awareness between the two. The Gold of the Sun represents the highest aspect of consciousness, as we enter into the Aquarian Age.

If in Aquarius we are looking at ourself as We –the Many– then we should more clearly see the reflection of Leo, I –the One– looking back. We are recognizing the fundamental parts of our own creation and that everything we see, without and within is a component of G-d. Nothing is truly separate even, as the many. There is a primal nature in this reflection, which is open to penetrate deeper into our true self, regardless of the cost. It is happening now, as more Light is reflected into the Darkness currently upon the world. With Pluto about to transition here for the next 20 years, a complex equation about truth and self are setting the stage for the coming Age. We can now peer over into the kumbha, the Aquarian vessel, as it begins to tip forward, where we see the undulating surface of the sacred water vibrating faster, like a shattered mirror of truth. This superficial distortion begins to vibrate away, becoming more clear, revealing its depth and the singular image of the Lion, staring at us thought our All-Seeing Eye, now reassembled as One.

Kaleidoscope of Illusion

One often overlooked fundament of astrology is the principle of reflection; in this case the reflection of Leo – the sign of Aquarius. The traits and behaviors, the patterns and principles found in one sign have equal yet antithetical symmetry within the opposite sign. You can see this quite easily with the Leo-Aquarian polarity – the One and the Many paradox. Service to self or service to other, there is time and purpose for both, yet are they not the same in the end? In Leo, Plutonian energy concentrates and prioritizes the illusion of ‘self’, in contrast to the interrelationships and interests of ‘other’. Pluto entering Aquarius, will initiate a subtle psychological shift in this perception of other and how we relate to everyone around us. The Leonid drive to conquer and for dominance will become the Aquarian struggle to equalize oppressed people, to secure personal freedom and liberation for all, even at the cost of ruthlessness, in order to obtain the collective objective.

Growing Pains

The more territorial and materialistic characteristics of Pluto in Leo, which motivated, supported, shaped and echoed the prevailing paradigm we find ourselves in, have been regarded as pinnacles of personal attainment and requirements for daily living. These are now being seen as juvenile, dispassionate, self-absorbed and unsustainable; and the backlash is at our doorstep. In many circles, most of our world issues we presently face are blamed on the ‘evil patriarchy’, yet this has become merely another pretext for bypassing collective responsibility. It’s not female energy, male energy is the obstacle. It’s not the poor perpetuating their issues, it’s the wealthy that keep it this way. It’s not ‘my way of life’, it’s yours that’s the problem. “It’s not us, it’s them” (or “It’s not them, it’s us.” for those who need to be a martyr). The issue is that it has come time to rapidly evolve as a species, – and we don’t want to grow up! We are at a collective stage of adolescence: not quite the child but not the adult either. We want to pretend to be responsible to each other, while not having full accountability to anyone but ourselves. We want our cake and to eat it too… And these contradictions are about to clash as Pluto moves into Aquarius. The last time Pluto entered Aquarius, a lot of nobles lost their heads and monarchies fell.

Part II: NOW TEAR IT DOWN!

‘A House Divided’… Should Be Rebuilt

Let’s get back to expanding our astrological reality. Now that I have argued on behalf of science as a key mechanism for redeeming humanity, I will present a case against science in its current condition. It is very unfortunate that intwined with the competitive corporate reality, scientific research is driven ultimately by profit and political agenda, or so it would seem.

‘Science’ Ain’t What it Used to Be

Science: a branch of systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation, showing the operation of general fundamental laws. This is basically what science has been distilled down to – observable information regarding the material world. Well, I cannot observe firsthand all the things you observe and vice versa; most people don’t actually get to directly observe anything science has done. Smarter, studious, yet less fortunate clerics might come to different conclusions and interpretations than the prevailing atheistic ‘scientific’ priesthood. (The translation of one’s observations is subject to bias, even when being described mathematically.) And, what about the unobservable, non-tangible aspects of reality? What about consciousness? What about spirituality? What about life-force? And, for us metaphysicians, what about astrology?

The Art of Separation

Before I dissect a concept, I like to process the history of its meaning by looking into it etymologically. I have already touched on a generally acceptable definition of the word ‘science’ but now let’s take a look at its roots, where the word comes from. During the middle ages colloquial ‘science’ has essentially been considered a ‘body of experiential knowledge’, which included alchemy and astrology. Around the 1670’s, when Pluto was in Cancer, (approximately the same time as a major split with astrology in Europe) science redirected its concerns to “non-art studies”. With that, a distinct line was drawn that few serious material scientists would dare publicly cross, including the likes of Isaac Newton despite his decades of work in alchemy & metaphysics.

‘Science’ is the Schism

Science, through one aspect of its many connotative meanings, implies a type of certainty through agreementof acquired knowledge. The word derives from 12th century Latin, scientia or sciens, meaning “knowledge, knowing or expertness”. It is etymologically related to the verb scire – “to know”, “to distinguish” or “separate one thing from another”, and also scindere – “to cut or divide”. The PIE (Proto-Indo-European) root *skei,meaning “to cut, split, or to cleave”. This is also the root of the word schism.

Leading edge scientific discovery is out of reach for most people, as well as the higher mathematics required to properly translate and communicate that information directly from the edge. But just because the prevailing mathematical dialect of the multitude of physical sciences requires strict adherence and repetition (much like any other religion) it does not mean that direct higher knowledge cannot be realized. The ancient cultures attained the advanced relative knowledge by just using their bodies and minds – the power of thought communicated that information through symbols. I personally feel we must re-embrace this way of direct experience and exploration of the cosmos through a deeper richer understanding of the meta-sciences. Reality, by most accounts is beyond the material, it is that which lies after the separation, the schism created by science’s excommunication of the spiritual. Originally well-intended, though increasingly misguided, science has lost its way, so much so that science is questioning the validity of its own enterprise. Now we can make a case against science to balance the scales.

A Scientific Inquiry into the Scientificness of Science

In a 2005 published paper entitled Why Most Published Research Findings Are False, by John Ioannidis, physician-scientist and professor at Stanford University, it was shown that just short of one-third of ALLpublished research is wrong, even with the current system working optimally (as of 2020, this paper was the most accessed article in the Public Library of Science). The paper also showed that factoring in projects that have a higher ratio of false hypothesis to true hypothesis in a given area being tested, projects that are under-funded or under-powered (which a substantial percentage are), and if the researchers have a personal or monetary incentive towards bias the situation is exponentially worse. In 2011, this led researchers to take a look at past landmark areas of research in order to estimate the severity of the problem with The Reproducibility Project.

The (Ir)Reproducibility Crisis

It is quite apparent, even to most scientists, that the overall research methods of science are not as sound as they may seem. The Reproducibility Project chose to reproduce 100 research projects in the field of psychology. Only 36% of the studies were able to be repeated with a significant p-value (the measure of the probability that an observed difference could have occurred just by random chance). Of those thirty-six studies, the statistical evidence to support their conclusions were only 50% as strong or clear as they had been in the original study.

The project then reproduced 53 ‘major landmark studies’ in the area of cancer research. Working closely with the original research authors, they were only able to reproduce 6 studies with any p-value significance. (Now 47 of those ‘landmark cancer studies’ are considered not relevant, yet since the professional journals do not publish replicated studies and rarely publish negative results, the misinformation remains as truth to the public.) The project then gave twenty-nine different research groups identical data for analysis and interpretation of results. Using the same information, some of the research teams found there were no significant results, while others found that the results concluded were three times the amount of what was mathematically expected.

More Doctors Smoke Camels

“The Doctors Choice is America’s Choice” – Let’s briefly touch on one historical (and still current) issue, among thousands, such as heroine, asbestos and DDT, where public ‘science’ got it completely wrong. According to the CDC, smoking accounts for approximately 7.1 million preventable early deaths worldwide every twelve months, and according to the WHO second-hand smoke accounts for another 1.2 million deaths; an estimated 8.3 million premature deaths every year (there have been approximately 5 million deaths attributed to COVID-19 since it’s discovery approximately 2 years ago in the Fall of 2019 until the time of my writing this, by comparison, 2.5 million per year).

The smoking of tobacco has been known for many centuries to cause adverse effects in humans. With the advent of mechanized cigarette machines in the 1880’s, smoking increased exponentially. Even though the health link became immediately apparent, medical publications of the era were slow to respond, yet some began to suggest that smoking cigarettes had been the prime factor in several diseases and linked to many deaths by the 1890’s. Again, when Pluto was in CANCER, in the 1930’s during the years of the Great Depression and in the early 40’s, solid research evidence emerged that smoking was a direct cause in throat and lung cancer, and also was linked to some heart diseases. Cigarette manufacturers and their ad companies increased their courting of doctors, in order to lend support to cigarette smoking and their particular brand. Doctors, who were also hooked on smoking, lined up by the thousands to receive free cigarettes and promotions from companies for giving favorable recommendations to other smokers.

Blind Leading the Blind

This lead the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company’s ‘medical relations division’ to devise the long-running infamous “More Doctors” ad campaigns. Since this is a quasi-astrological article, I will spare you the details, as you can easily find this information, elsewhere. This subject is a well-covered and documented case of complicity among many sectors of private business, print and radio media, and the government, through lack of oversight and deliberate omission. Medical journals, such as JAMA, the American Medical Association’s journal, advertised cigarettes in its medical section and were supported by those companies, yet no one seemed to think this was a conflict of interest. These advertisements championed physicians and medicine. It reminded their audience over and over to praise the ‘science’ behind it all. During the Pluto in Leo years, of the 40’ & 50’s, material industry and profit was the paramount force and focus, even to the expense of nature and humanity itself (that energy still persists). It wasn’t until, the early 60’s, after Pluto had entered Virgo, that governments began to acknowledge the burden to the taxpayer in the long term, with rising smoke-related health issues among the poor, not just in the U.S. but worldwide. How could so many people be so wrong for so long about cigarettes? Because they were duped and easily persuaded by a so-called ‘science’, that’s why.

PART III: TIME TO REBUILD

A New Design & New Foundation

We know that much of what material science has uncovered in the last two centuries is essentially true. We are made of atoms, which are made of increasingly smaller energetic particles, and subsequently just fields of pure energy. The particles have all been processed through ‘cauldron of the cosmos’, born in the nuclear furnaces of stars; crushed beyond the event horizons of black holes and spat back out at various places in the Universe to become new forms of matter elsewhere. We may not have the exact model for a TOE (Theory of Everything) yet, we do have a grasp of the greater cosmic mechanics (and AI is coming online to bridge the gap, literally). But applying here the micro-to-macro philosophy, how does ALL of this new knowledge relate to our eternal & spiritual constitution?

It’s Time for a Little Kumbha-ya

As we begin to expand our thinking about astrology, we also need to reflect on the nature of truth. Truth implies a substantive integrity, a wholeness and coherence. Like focusing a laser and fine tuning its frequency, as our consciousness increases. We are learning on a cellular level, how it feels when something is discordant or contributing to incoherence. We are detecting the subtle vibratory fields, when ourselves – or others – are “not in alignment” or not working towards the same ends. We have to break down the barriers around science and the schism, to see the integral wholeness again. We must be in integrity with ourselves and how our information is used and disseminated. We are still quite away from a truth-based reality at the moment, and when we cannot accurately determine what is truth, then we must apply next level extended compassion to find the calm within and create a non-divisive bridge for everything around us to unfold. The patterns and geometries of the planets, which we interpret astrologically, are the map between the material and spiritual realms, and equally they are a blueprint of how to rebuild the bridge to traverse them.

This is an awakening for astrology. Instead of dismissing it as some residual byproduct of the ancient world, as most scientists (and the devoutly the religious) would hope, we are here to do the opposite. We are learning to use a new conscious language. We are ushering in this avant-garde vocabulary with clear motives and transparent voice, which transcends division and supersedes fear, and helps to guide us back to wholeness. With astrology we can discover the path to our self, the path to our purpose and the path to our future, both individually and collectively. Astrology is the cheat code to the game. We are here to remember who we are and that Compassion and LOVE are the only way forward. We have to INSPIRE people with the next TRUTHS of the MYSTERY BEYOND THIS WORLD… We are the spiritual technology we’ve been waiting for…and it’s already time to upgrade…

EPILOGUE:
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH

So ”For What It’s Worth”, while writing this piece, I found myself humming this famous subversive revolutionary anthem by Buffalo Springfield. Written in late November of 1966, they put a voice to the planetary energies of the time as a reaction to the “Curfew Riots on Sunset Strip” which were at their height. Mars joined Uranus and Pluto in opposition to both Saturn and Chiron, when it was written, and Mercury trined Saturn to record it a few weeks later…. Here are the words penned under these energies… They apply now, more than ever. You know the melody so hum along in your head….

“For What it’s Worth”

There’s something happening here
But what it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

I think it’s time we stop
Children, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, what’s going down?

There’s battle lines being drawn
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

What-a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and they’ carrying signs
Mostly say, “Hooray for our side”

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
Step out of line, the men come and take you away

We better stop
Hey, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, what’s going down?