American Materialism: The Elephant in the Middle of the Room
Money as taboo
Pluto is the planet of taboos. How appropriate it is that the god of Hell is the governor of these festering energies, always in the atmosphere but rarely discussed honestly and directly. The danger attached to these ideas causes baroque mythologies to build up around them, a system of apologias which would provide a fascinating self-study if we had the courage to look into them. In our own natal chart, Pluto’s placement points to issues we may be semi-aware of but rarely look into, because we simply don’t know what to do with them.
Know Your Devils
As the US presidential election looms ever closer, Jupiter and Uranus are conjoining in the sky. The mass mood is agitated, electric, prickly. Will we meet this moment with insight and enthusiasm, or with frazzled burn-out? It depends on our understanding of the forces at play. Uranus, the planet of disruptive change, signifies the sense […]
Ring of Fire
There was an earthquake last night here in San Francisco. It felt like the Earth was shuddering from the violence occurring on the other side of the globe. It was the eve of the Blood Moon. Full Moons like this are said to bring to light to that which has been lying dormant. The light […]
Flake News
As the Trump era careens nauseously forward, the latest bout of huffing and puffing is over the Mueller Report. There was widespread shock and disappointment after its initial release at the Spring Equinox. But whence all this incredulity? We already knew that William Barr, who issued the risibly insufficient summary, was appointed precisely because he […]
Apocalyptic Comic Strip, Part 2
(Continued from Part 1) Still not getting it It isn’t for any lack of information. An avalanche of critical consensus has described what happened in November as a massive rejection, by ordinary Americans, of the status quo. Trump’s win has been called “a very, very bad answer to some very good questions.” In a colossal waste of opportunity, those questions are still not […]
Vive la Résistance!
Part Two: Sea of Lies
Social media is a perfect fit for the Trump brain, an organ that has proven itself creepily savvy without being intelligent. Ideally, the media (from mediate) exists to provide a bridge of thought between a given news event and the mass mind. But Trump’s “shadow government by Twitter” (the Guardian) has gotten around this. His febrile little midnight tweets, […]
Welcome to the Kakistocracy
Sisters and brothers, it’s time to shake off our spiritual hangover from November. Things are happening very fast since the Clown Prince was inaugurated. A high level of alertness is required right now. No small feat, maintaining alertness during times like these. But by astrological logic, there’s a link between the intensity of world events […]
Tower of Babel, Part 2
The Official Story I don’t think anyone doubts, at this point in American history, that the mass media frames the official narrative. Much is made of the fact that different media fiefdoms lean either to the “left” (HuffPo, MSNBC) or “right” (those earnest liberals now gobsmacked with incredulity about where all the Trump supporters came […]
Stop and Think, Stop and Feel
In fairy tales, the gifts magical creatures bestow are always exactly suited to the hero’s tasks. Since life is a fairy tale, the same applies to the tools we are given by circumstances. Each is perfect for our path, and for the age we were born into. Ours being the age of the Fantastic Information […]
First, Do No Harm
When Obama went on TV and declared war last week,(1) Mercury was entering the degree range of the Cardinal Cross. The messenger god delivered the message. But Mercury didn’t cause the catastrophe. Planets don’t cause events, nor do they supply us with quick and easy answers. In fact, they pose questions. Right now they are […]