The Plateau

4 02 2010

Go up to the plateau

Breathe in deep

The thinning air

With company this time

With the one that´s true

Go up to the plateau

In the mountains

In the greyish light

silhouetted

My love is close to me

Up in the plateau

The land spreads out before us

With vastness

And in this higher realm

There is nothing

Except the occasional rock

And an immense wind-bound

Horizon

On the edge of the mountains

In the infinite light

In the crisp cool air

Of the closing night

In the empty lands

As we breathe in our hands

In that empty place

My love and I are all.

Chart: Alan Hovhaness, and The Music of Neptune

On certain days in Summer or Winter, I might have sat under a tree reading on a hillside overlooking green fields and trees. The wind might have come in like a silent companion in a clear sky and made the trees sigh as they do on some quiet or still days when not just the Earth is in harmony, but the mind of it´s observer is in harmony with it. A combination of mental stimulation and nature´s simple beauty sends a shiver of sensual appreciation down the spine.

On days like those the Sun was either conjunct Neptune in the sky or forming an applying trine. I would have to concede these would have been days of Aquarius Neptune, so mental fascination and absorption in the mind would have been appropriate. Neptune in Aquarius would have been a mirror to my contentment of solitude and mental detachment while knowing that friends were still close by, if I wanted them.

This is the birthchart for Alan Hovhaness, (midday chart, 8th March 1911). His grand trine is of particular interest since it is in water, and the Sun Neptune trine is at a fairly close orb of  just under 2 degrees and applying. Hovhaness´s music is impressionistic, it does not have a desire to create rhythm or melody, but rather starts something and then meanders off on other roads.

Venus although in detriment is in mutual reception with Sun by Exaltation. So we can easily say that Venus although detriment and (alien) receives all of the benefits of Pisces, and here we have impressionism, beauty, sensitivity, softness.

It´s not really Hovhaness´s life that interests me, so much as his music. It´s a direct connection to an emotional Neptune (in Cancer). Hovhaness´s music is tidal, like oceans creeping up on you over hours upon hours of listening. And because the melodies are impressionistic and do not aspire to Baroque mental order that other composers like Mozart might do, you´re pushed and pulled continually with the tides.

Neptune is Infinity. Hovhaness captures infinity in his music writing. The Jupiter aspect of the grand trine adds a certain buoyancy, optimism, joy into it all, without which I think the music might be too sad or it would simply not go anywhere. The Saturn Sun semi-square from fixed earth grounds it all. What do I mean by that? Taurus is slow, soft and sensuous, it enjoys the pasture, enjoys staying in one place, and you get the sense in the music too.

One more thing to note about Hovhaness is the detriment Mercury in Pisces, which does not seem to receive dignity from anywhere. It is stated in his biography that he burnt between 500 and 1,000 of his compositions in the 1930´s, decisions which seem to be contrary to common sense.

Hovhaness in 1941:

I propose to create a heroic, monumental style of composition simple enough to inspire all people, completely free from fads, artificial mannerisms and false sophistications, direct, forceful, sincere, always original but never unnatural. Music must be freed from decadence and stagnation. There has been too much emphasis on small things while the great truths have been overlooked. The superficial must be dispensed with. Music must become virile to express big things. It is not my purpose to supply a few pseudo intellectual musicians and critics with more food for brilliant argumentation, but rather to inspire all mankind with new heroism and spiritual nobility. This may appear to be sentimental and impossible to some, but it must be remembered that Palestrina, Handel, and Beethoven would not consider it either sentimental or impossible. In fact, the worthiest creative art has been motivated consciously or unconsciously by the desire for the regeneration of mankind.

Jupiter Pisces and Destiny

There is a homeless man that hangs around outside the University where I work. He is not really a professional beggar, he doesn´t even ask for money or look at you as you walk past. He lies there in his rags and burnt brown skin, with his long hair and facial hair. Sometimes he defecates into a newspaper, and what he´s eating is definitely not luxury food.

I´ve sometimes given him a coin, small change. But I felt a great urge to help this man the other day. He was lying on the pavement, sleeping, the poor cavemen´s body is weedy and thin, and he looked almost fetal, in that position.

It crossed my mind that the times that I had given money I had felt a little afraid. Afraid because when you give something then you establish a norm and a contact, and random people in the street are sometimes drug addicts, thieves, even killers.

But it also occurred to me that some people are given a bad lot in life. Some are born into poverty, and may have Saturn in hard aspect on the IC. Or they may have their 2nd ruler in total debility. I don´t know the primary cause of homelessness, or of sadness in life. But what I do know is that I am privilaged to have my own (rented) flat, and a (temporary) job with an income. These things I fear losing, but I am happy and grateful to have them.

I haven´t thought about how it would be possible to help the homeless. Or rather, I´ve thought about it a lot with regard to the politics that I´ve read and the knowledge that I have about socialism etc.

The question comes down to the fact that the caveman, although anathema to me and probably to all of the middle class University students who walk past him everyday, even though his state is repulsive and elicits great sympathy and empathy, he has a fundamental right to be like that.

As in Heaven so on Earth. Or rather, as on the inside, so on the outside. The homeless caveman that I felt so sorry for, will likely always be homeless and will likely die in that sorry state. Say it was an afflicted Saturn on the IC in his case. Even if you gave the man material wealth, and a home, his inner state would be the same, he would still feel unable to connect with the world and society around him, even though he is dependant at the minute on charity, even if he received everything that anyone could ask for, he would likely still have that dependency and rejection deep inside. He would be a homeless caveman living in the basement of his castle.

It´s not to say that change is not possible. In a lifetime, there are progressions, there are the solar arcs and secondary progressions. Even Jupiter and Saturn can move a number of degrees in the course of a human lifetime adjusting that original blueprint. But these changes however interior and however personal are still a part of destiny. Saturn can in a few short years, maybe even a decade, move from the 30th degree of Sagittarius, into the 1st degree of Capricorn. The poor caveman can for whatever reason muster some determination to improve his condition. But it is unlikely to be through other people´s generosity, only his own will changing on the interior.

What can be changed and what can´t

In other posts that I have made I have argued in favour of destiny and against free human choice. I have said that people are 100% conditioned into the actions and the events that occur in their lives, and in a certain way I still agree with this. It comes down to the old saying that you can call a cat a fish, but it will still be a cat. Free will is akin to the cat himself saying and thinking that he´s a fish and declaring it in joyful exuberance. The United States can declare that it is a “free nation”, but it´s just a country like any other, it has laws and people, an army and a head of state. It may be more successful, but that it is more free than anyone else is probably not true.

When I worry, (Virgo rising with Virgo Mars Rising squared by Sagittarius Neptune), I sometimes think that somehow I can control my world around me if only I were more organised. But I´ve come to realise that I am destined to think that I can control things in this way. This is part of the planetary alignment in the sky when I was born. Fear and worry leads to action, which is called for in order to fulfill the planetary patterns.

Can some things be changed through the individual will? When action is taken, it feels as if destiny is created through the self. And I think that there is the possibility that individuals can change their realities. Energy comes down from the heavens all of the time. This is the will of God, as in Heaven, so on Earth. People though, aren´t adaptable though, and can´t change what they are from one day to the next, in order to fall in line with the cosmic order. It´s true, some people are more adaptable. But people can still do God´s work.

This is where the Biblical explanation comes in handy. Man had a destiny, in Eden, and well, humans chose to opt out. There´s our free-will from the start.  Many have stated that it is Scorpio where Man fell committing some form of vice, but Man in fact is synonymous with the constellation of Aquarius. The Fall of Saturn ruler of Aquarius and ruler of the human condition falls in Tropical Aries, the sign where individuals do what they want. Libra, Saturn´s exaltation is then where our judgement for that selfishness will be found. This is not to say that Libra is any better than Aries.

What I am saying though, is that our lives are planned for by a higher power. And the difference between our own wills, and that of the higher power, is that when we make judgements, it´s impossible to make the right judgement, we simply don´t have the foresight of the creator.

The difference is between making something happen that is not meant to happen, because we as humans are separated from God and do not know his will. And on the other hand waiting and just allowing the instructions to come down to us.

When human beings cut down trees, and leave the land alone, eventually trees grow back in the same place, because the climate and the fauna favour it. Cutting down the trees is not exactly God´s will, it´s Man´s actions, ruled by the sign of Aries. In the perfect balance of the creation of the Universe, the trees do eventually grow back because there are seeds, and the counter-action, the Libran element of balancing things out, although it takes time and is invisible at first, is real.

Is this to say that human beings are not to cut down trees? Clearly not. Just that it´s obvious that in this world actions result in counter-actions, which are invisible but which are there even though in our semi-foresight we aren´t aware of them.

Man was created in order to be master of the trees and of the animals, this is also stated in divine law. God allowed us to do with them as we saw fit, to name them and to eat them. The divine will, was that humans were meant to be happy, we were meant to enjoy the fruits of this world. It was the fruit that wasn´t ready that Man picked that got us into this mess. It was a lack of patience, and a lack of the knowledge that in life God gives everyone the same amount of happiness, just that it is meassured.

In my life, I try everyday to not indulge myself or to take what is not meant for me. The secret to true happiness is to eat porridge everyday and really savour when someone gives you a chocolate. The secret is to not worry about your job, about whether they might want you or not, but just to calmly do it without thinking that someone is watching you and what you do. If you weren´t good enough they wouldn´t have picked you.

It is hard to find a way to trust in divine law, it is hard to have faith in something that you can´t see. In one sense I don´t think that this law needs to wait generations in order to be fulfilled, in our lives, an evil committed will pollute the person who commits it. And even though they may appear to have got clean off the hook, and enjoy the fruits, consecuences are destined to follow them.

Collectively, obviously the global warming issue fully demonstrates this idea of the balance within nature. The interconnectedness of the planet is astounding, and all of the scientists are in accorance on this fact. On a personal level though, there is a destiny for all. What would be interesting, would be to observe people who didn´t take their quota of happiness before it was due or take more than they were entitled to, then suffer for those debts.

The Last

 

Falling falling falling again.

Falling into that trap I´ve been.

This is the last time that I will allow myself to fall.

I look into your eyes and I´m falling again.

But you are the last one.

After the sadness that follows,

When I lose you,

There will be no more.

You are the last one I will think about

In lonely nights,

You are the last one that

I will look to the stars and ask about.

You are the last one that I will

Cast romantic thoughts towards

Like throwing a net at Sunset on a darkening river.

You´re the last one that I´ll dream about,

Because you will be the only one.

Transits: Neptune in the 5th and 6th houses

Neptune in the 5th

Until today, I have not realised just what the influence of the planet Neptune implied or signified. Neptune takes a long time to travel through one sign, and therefore through one house. It has been in my natal 5th house since I was about 12 years old. About the same time that I fell for a blond Canadian girl in school, that I would not stop idealizing and thinking of as truly beautiful, even now, though I am not “in love with her” and haven´t really thought of her since I left school.

Placidus or Equal?

Something that I must note, is that currently Neptune is square my natal Sun on the cusp of the 6th house. If I use the Placidus system, then it´s still got 4 more degrees to go, if I use Equal then it is past the cusp as we speak.  An argument against using Equal and re-drawing the lines is that I know someone who has Neptune on the cusp of her 5th house in Placidus, but would have had Neptune in her 5th some 5 years ago with Neptune 10 degrees earlier. I will note that she´s become extremely romantic and has decided to sacrifice things in the name of it recently.

Neptune in the 6th

Something that is noteworthy in my observation of the transits is that the presence of Neptune I am now feeling fairly intensely in the 6th. People are asking me to cover them and their work because I have said “yes” in the past. Though I was proud of the firmness in that I said “no” today, since I committed myself to something else. I feel other people´s discontent at work now, little gestures and modes of speaking. The negative side of this though, is temporary, since Neptune is only square me for the time in which it is within one degree square of my natal Sun. I´m also afraid right now that I might be diabetic. Neptune makes the imagination work overtime.

Last year, 2009 now, during the first square I had with Neptune in March, I began working in a religious school in a voluntary position. I found compassion for the children, but I also fell for my co-worker, there was great disillusionment at her hands. It appears that this square of Neptune was working through both houses. Working in the school, teaching children is pure 5th house.  Being romantically disappointed with someone also sounds like the 5th house again. But this was work, and I was learning a vocation, and it was a daily misery which can only fit into a 6th house framework, it was also at this time that I began taking medication for a foot complaint which made me incredibly drowsy, a foot disease that they say is eczma, but which is not cured yet and which I´m still not sure what it is.

Come the second square of that year in August, I found myself on a course in another city, getting myself a “magic” certificate which has made me employable. In essence, it is a pass card for teaching anywhere in the world, and coupled wityh my degree in “book club” I´ve found myself in a nice job in a University because of it.

Back to the 5th house

The blond Canadian girl was a fantasy, someone I´d dream about and, well, fantasize about in my teens. She was the reason I went to school and didn´t stay home or “bunk off”. School, although associated with the 3rd because of the learning and daily travel involved is in fact a 5th house matter, the house of children. In school I was a victim of bigger kids, and a victim of anyone that didn´t have acne, which I had, and which earned me the title of pizza face, amongst other things, I was also a nerd. But in the end, school was a place I had low defenses, and I was open to the Neptune style of attack that went on there.

Leaving school though, I was flakey, I didn´t know what I was doing, and it was probably down to a lack of ego, a lack of desire for anything except an easy life. It was the easiest thing available to me. So I went to book club.  This is one of the better manifestations of the Neptune energy. The love life still involved women who were either not available or not interested and I can confirm that the course of this time although spent alone has filled me with a very rich imaginative life.

On the Cusp

The lessons of Neptune are very clear to me. I will not allow anyone to make me feel inferior. People whose influence makes you feel either unhappy, or disappointed, or low in any way are not to be allowed in your life. You don´t talk to them, and you don´t let your ego get squashed or eroded.

The intelligence of Neptune must be utilised creatively. And one thing I´ve found myself doing is bringing in creative work into my work life. It is satisfying, and if I didn´t do it I would likely be discontented in work, and this would likely show, and I would likely cause people to dislike me.

Neptune exactly squares me next week, so I will brace myself for disappointments, for that feeling of falling. Whether it is a 5th house event or a 6th house event, it probably won´t signify much, if anything at all. But it is likely to be with me for the next 13 years until Neptune appears on the Descendant. This is the third and final round of Neptune taking me into the 6th house. Since Jupiter is also there now, I can´t discount the fact that good things can happen thanks to the great benific in domicile. But I am thankful and grateful for what I have now, and I am glad that I have done that voluntary service. I feel like I´ve worked hard, and given myself entirely without expectation of reward, though there has been reward. I mustn´t forget it.

On the Neptune Jupiter Conjunction

This conjunction which has taken place three times during 2009 has I believe brought me some wisdom. The wisdom which I have gained is something difficult to pin down, which is befitting to the nature of Neptune.

However, I have found, and it has crystallised in my mind as distinctive thought with a finite logic during this final conjunction in December 2009. I have found that the world has its pre destiny, that events are meant, to a certain great extent, to happen.

The knowledge that I have gained is that as human beings we are autonomous. And in order to find inner joy it is necessary to be entirely alone, Aquarius the sign of humanity is also the sign of independence and solitude. The reason for Aquarius´s knowledge is that it is able to be alone.

Naturally Saturn has played a great part in this configuration, as the dispositor. And since Saturn is in such a strong position currently, the wisdom has channelled its way through the sign of Libra.

Inner peace has come to me, and I am in awe to it, wondering how long it might last. Saturn does not remain in the same house for too long. I have found with the current transit that there is no need for anything. What I mean is that happiness can be found when we realise that there is a destiny.

It´s when we realise that everything is perfect as it is, that´s when you can find it. Nothing needs changing, and the changes that come are in fact part of the plan.

I haven´t come up with an answer for human suffering, which seems to be interminable. There are indeed logistical answers which are possible. However, people are filled with such a deep dissatisfaction with life. In part human autonomy and individualisation is the future, since the Age of Aquarius is already here. But more than that I find that it is an acceptance of Fate or at least working with those cards that are dealt, instead of throwing them out and looking or trying to get what other people have. It´s that Cardinal sin of “wanting what thy neighbour has”, which to me appears to be cause for most unhappiness.

In the personal philosophy which I follow, Saturn plays a major part. It means that I work with things, situations, people right through to their natural end. Saturn rules permanence. It´s not about looking for new philosophies, religions, it´s not about discovering something “new”. I was born with a cultural heritage, and with family. You don´t find the answers by abandoning them either. This is not to say that you close yourself to the world and its ideas and thoughts either. Read everything, speak to everyone, listen to everyone and read everything, but what sticks will be what is truly worth knowing, everything else is just the road that you travel.

A Personal Progression

Something that has occurred to me recently is something that is fairly obvious. It´s not seriously difficult philosophy based on logic. But it does have some important effects on the way I conduct my life, and also in relation to the studies which I have put on this site.

The progression which I am under involves progressed Sun and Jupiter on the natal IC in Sagittarius.

To state it simply I have come to the conclusion that everything in life, and everything in this world is how it is meant to be. Being sat here writing this blog is fate, I would not be anywhere else, either by some illusionary idea of “free will” which I now believe to be nothing more than an excuse for certain immoral types to do what they want and hurt other people. But this “FREE WILL” LIE is also important and part of the equation because without it it would not be as easy to come to the truth.

Celestial law governs Earth. “As above so below”. What does that mean for us? Well to me it means that when as individuals we try and control our affairs, when we think and ponder, when we plan things, we are not in fact in command even though we think so.

The human body is created with the same magnetic frequencies as the Earth, and is imprinted with this at its birth. The human body is destined to play out all of the planetary energies which are in the sky at the time of its birth in the duration of its life. This is determinism. But it´s empowering when we realise that everything is destined. The reason is that when we do things we can do them with the certainty that they are meant to be, designed to be and that there is no reason to doubt.

Brave New World: An indictment against Democracy and defense of Marriage and Kingship

Sebastian. ‘Scape being drunk, for want of wine.

Gonzalo. I’ th’ commonwealth I would by contraries Execute all things: for no kind of traffic Would I admit; no name of magistrate; Letters should not be known; wealth, poverty, And use of service, none; contract, succession, Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none; No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil; No occupation, all men idle, all, And women too; but innocent and pure: No sov’reignty.

 Sebastian. And yet he would be king on’t. Antonio. The latter end of his commonwealth forgets the beginning.

Gonzalo. All things in common nature should produce Without sweat or endeavour. Treason, felony, Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine Would I not have; but nature should bring forth, Of its own kind, all foison, all abundance To feed my innocent people!

 Sebastian. No marrying ‘mong his subjects?

Antonio. None, man; all idle; whores and knaves.

Gonzalo. I would with such perfection govern, sir, T’ excel the golden age. Sebastian. Save his majesty!

 

These lines are taken from one of Shakespeare´s last plays, “The Tempest”. Gonzalo, the wise counsellor to the King speaks some strange ideas about society and how people ought to be governed. In reality this is what the Modern World has endeavoured to strive for. These are the principles on which Republics and Democracies have founded themselves on.

A “free society”, one in which no one must marry or pledge allegiance to any lord or king who might act tyrannically sounds like a just one. What really happens though is exactly that which Antonio mockingly suggests: that all men become knaves (deceitful and unreliable) and all women whores.

We already know in our western world that “all politicians are liars”. This is plain fact in democratic nations, because all elected politicians are always shamed and brought to disgrace over one thing or another. There is no honour in representation and democracy because there is no honour in making promises that cannot and will not ever be fulfilled; (the only way that anyone gets elected).

The same element of “lowest common denominator” is exactly as described by Shakespeare´s character Antonio. With no marrying, there is no honour between men and women, and in essence they are simply demoted to the same status as animals. Antonio says whores and knaves.

The idea that one can pledge oneself to another person, or to one´s country and king is one that instills in a person loyalty. In our modern democratic world it appears that marriage is no longer taken seriously, men and women live with each other and in essence fuck each other, and they are fucking whores and knaves (liars). There is no loyalty between people and there is no sense of familial tie in a democratic state, because women and men will sell themselves and betray each other just as the politician will betray the people who elect him.

I the author of this little proposition am a firm believer in fate and in destiny. Looking back over the Ancient Republics these always spurred expansion for the civilisations which took them up. But inevitably all Republics of old became kingdoms or empires. And the world republic in which we now live will also become an Empire simply because the expansion which it has undergone since its foundation in the late 18th century cannot continue and will not continue.

The fate of illegitimacy and dishonour is to strive for and become honourable. Power will always seek to justify itself, and it can only ever truly justify itself once it becomes sacred. This is not so much about freedom, as it is about LOYALTY, about giving yourself over to one person rather than selling out to whoever offers you something better on the spur of the moment.

 The monarchies which currently exist in our world are all but a laughing stock. They have no power whatsoever. The democracies which reign supreme are obviously guided by reason and by logical thinking, but in the end they are not loyal to anyone, they exist for no-one which is why they are simply corruptible. There is and must be a natural order to things in this world. The natural order comes from one supreme thought which is also one God.

There is one destiny and one fate. This fate is governed by God. Once we acknowledge that there is only one rightful king, the same way that there is one rightful mother and one rightful father and in terms one rightful husband or wife, and that to be disloyal, to search after different ones is to overthrow the will of God. If we were loyal we would cease to be whores and knaves. If we were loyal, the sacred rites which are afforded in life would be respected and our children would not grow up bastardised by their parents lack of loyalty to one person or one idea.

Uranus Aries

The last two seven year periods in which Uranus was found in tropical Aries, revolution and chaos was in the air. Under the rays of Pisces, Uranus was received by Jupiter, Venus and Mars. With Aries, Mars takes over with Sun and Jupiter. The nature of Pisces is to hide. The planet of revolution and restlessness has been hiding away during these years, smoking weed, playing guitar and relaxing at home, probably in solitude. As this planet hits Cardinal Fire it will be visible to all. Whatever this planet has been up to in the quiet of its own home, all of the restless and curious ideas will be brought into violent realisation.

The planet that rules over ideas and invention will be found in the sign of action. It signals people actually doing things rather than talking about them. People that complain about life, about the world and its problems will be out there in the streets making things happen.

People born with this placement are all pioneers. All of the first men in space and on the Moon are born with Uranus in Aries. Some of the most celebrated inventors are born with this placement. It confers the energy of Aries and a masculinity or an approach that is aggressive. Uranus in Aries makes for unusual individuals, in the sense that these people will stand out. They themselves are of the nature of Uranus, different and one of a kind.

Transits 2010 onwards

As Uranus reaches the Aries point in 2010, something spectacular is on the horizon and is bound to happen. Jupiter conjoins Uranus at this point, the events that occur will be proportional to the first Moon Landings in 1969. There will definitely be something in the air during that conjunction. It is emphasised by the fact that this will fairly close to yet another Saturn Uranus opposition. Saturn´s involvement signifies that the effects of the Uranus transits will not be up there in space, but they will be felt by every individual on Earth materially. Uranus also comes into a fairly close orb of square with Capricorn Pluto, creating a sense of emergency or crisis of some sort.  When Pluto was in Cancer the crisis involved ideas about the home and homeland, all things connected with patriotism and nationalism. This time Pluto is in this opposite sign, it will be a crisis about traditions, and about the “old ways”, it will involve our elders and what civilisation has built for us. Old institutions are under threat, including religious ones, but they will not be defeated despite all aggressive attempts to do so.

The early nineteen thirties are a similar astrological period. There were individuals and mad men standing up for what they believed to be their freedoms. I don´t doubt that we are living in a period right now which is similar to that of 1929.  This is not to say that war is coming, nor is it to say that fascism is coming either. These are different times. The energy of Aries will be stimulated though, and there will be a need to fulfill the desires which are awoken, these desires will be for excitement and movement in one direction or the other. As a human race hopefully we have learnt our lessons and will channel the energy into productive enterprises rather than into hatred. Obviously there can only be individuals if there are other people who step back and act ordinary, which most of us will. It is up to the individuals who do step forward to act with moderation and respect the boundaries of both conservative elements which describe Pluto and Saturn and which with Saturn in Libra will be the stronger and will inevitably win in any contest about freedoms.

People with this placement include: Johnny Cash, Martin Luther King, Jacques Chirac, Alexander Graham Bell, Vivaldi, Mikhail Gorbachev, Jean Luc Godard