Fortnight of February 1 (Monday) through 14 (Sunday) 2016---and Monday forecast

Fortnight of February 1 (Monday) through 14 (Sunday) 2016---and Monday forecast

~Man Among Men? Woman Among Women?~

Fortuitously, I am writing this just as the period begins. The exact time is Sunday, January 31, 7:29p PT | 10:29p ET | 3:29a(Monday February 1) UT. It begins the half-month of the moon's dark or slender, crescent phase. This time is not "worse" than the light phase, but often even more compelling in the events which turn up during its reign. (For astrologers: I use the positions of the planets at the center of this half-month, namely, the New Moon which occurs a week from now. It is a chart for the temporal midpoint of the period.)

Last Fortnight's symbols began with "an enormous explosion" which was not designed to be pleasing. It had correlation, from my viewpoint, with (a) the stock market's frightening fall, (b) the standoff between police or federal officers and the Oregon rancher-protesters, (c) probably innumerable incidents around the world with which I am unacquainted or noted in the news and have forgotten, and (d) a sort of shakeup in my personal life which took a lot of struggle to comprehend. Oddly enough, just before writing this, while we were in the final two hours of the old fortnight, I watched the film Incontrovertible--which shows, many times, the rapid six-second fall of the Number 7 World Trade Center building with much discussion of the "explosions" many heard which took it down--a controlled demolition, for sure, and those who are not "Truthers" have a lot of explaining to do about that.  The first symbol for the current fortnight is nicer:

"I see rings of light in the heavens; ring within ring, or zone within zone." For astrologers this is obvious. They could make a lot of progress in the study and application of their scientific art. For others is might be: Space exploration, for some, or astronomical observation and theory for others. On a more spiritual level it could be intuitive insight into the cosmic processes as they relate to humanity or to oneself. Charubel says: "He lives in a world of his own, nor will he be understood by the men of his age." Since Jupiter has good aspects, there could be strong progress in understanding things at a philosophical level.

"A man with a large pair of scales in the act of weighing." "One who will have much to do with weights and measures; he will have a liking for such employment, and will be apt in matters of detail." This explains itself. We will want to be precise in everything we do. This is backed up by the earth-sign trines of Jupiter in Virgo with Pluto, Venus and Mercury in Capricorn, and by the sextile of all of those planets with Mars in Scorpio. This is a very practical configuration. Budgeting, taxes, investments and the like could get precise and helpful attention. Tending to food, cooking, or recipes could be of the same heedful and finespun nature, or anything in one's bailiwick. 

As last fortnight, Neptune is at a degree said to be "virulent." I shall quote Charubel's rather Victorian yet prescient advice: "Beware! Do not follow the dictates of passion, nor yield to the desires of thy lower nature. If thou dost, a short and wretched life is thy lot . . . But if by virtue of a firm resolve thou art able to overcome these elemental promptings, thou wilt pass through the evil crisis, and thereby ensure a long, useful, prosperous, and happy life." I certainly feel some such change going on within my own consciousness. The symbol is a red star, moving very quickly, very bright, rising and setting; then followed by a pale golden light. Misleading passion followed by golden wisdom with accompanying good fortune. We can get there.

The next one, for Uranus, is ominous, but we need to keep a sense of proportion. "A battle-field where two contending armies are engaged in deadly conflict." I am not a military person and I am anti-war except in the very rare cases of a "just and necessary" war. I am not sure there have been any of those since World War II, unless it might have been the Korean War. So I am not happy with this symbol, but it might be a warning that we need to prevent such conflicts from happening as best we can. On the personal level, "he must be watchful over his own conduct, or he will come to grief." I find that Charubel's warnings are always appropriate, and not excessive, so this warrants some attention. If we take it on a higher level it can be the battle between the forces of light and those of darkness or evil, the energy of selfless sharing versus that of selfish aggrandizement, and so on. So the symbol is pointing out that we have to choose our side. It is interesting that it turns up the very day of the Iowa caucuses! I felt after watching the aforesaid movie that if I were voting there I would vote for the most anti-war candidate, and that would be Rand Paul, so I would have to cross over to the Republican side to caucus for him. 

We go back to the sky: "A large telescope pointing heavenwards." Charubel says this indicates someone with scientific interest or expertise; or, perhaps, a clairvoyant. Rare is the scientist gifted with clairvoyance. We need more of them. Also, he says, "a lover of sidereal studies." I guess I am going to work with my old astrology books. (I learned of one I did not know about, the Mercury Method of Chart Comparison, by Lois Rodden, at the meeting on Friday. I recommend it.) At a more universal level, this might mean that you are interested in some study which requires objectivity together with openness to fresh insight.

Finally: "This denotes what the Greek cynic, Diogenes, was looking for with his lantern. A man. Yes, a man among men. One who will spontaneously elicit the goodwill and plaudits of his fellow-men. Thousands will look up to him for light and for guidance. It is possible he may initiate a new epoch, or prove himself the founder of a new philosophy." Hmm. Could it be one of the winners of Monday's Iowa primary? Bernie? His followers will say so! It could be Hillary, but really?  It is certainly not Donald Trump, but it could be Rand Paul. Maybe even John Kasich. But I shall not indulge in politics here. This is the symbol for Jupiter's position, which is in Virgo, Bernie Sanders's sign. It may be that the symbol indicates any or all of the candidates according to the way they are viewed, so that to some this "man among men" would be Donald Trump. I think they are seriously confused. To others it could be Hillary. I wish I could believe in her but have serious trouble. But, as I said, no politics. This shall certainly be a fascinating race. And I really wish someone of the above description would win it, and the Presidency . . . 

Soon we will look at the same fortnightly chart with the Sabian symbols rather than Charubel's.

Meanwhile, for Monday:

Moon in Scorpio   < **

moon leaves the < Via Combusta at  2:07a PT | 5:07a ET | 10:07a UT   ***

/moon goes void-of-course at 4:36p PT | 7:36p ET | 0:36a(Tu) UT   ** /

It's not a bad day for an election with Luna sextile Jupiter, Scorpio to Virgo. That is interesting because on the Democratic side Hillary is Scorpio and Bernie Virgo! Maybe they will both feel they have won. Will Hillary feel the Bern or Bernie climb the Hill? I shall not predict.

I would recommend reading the above Fortnightly report and choosing the paragraph or two which makes the most sense to you as something to focus on today.

{Monday} ~Man Among Men? Woman Among Women?~

Cosmic Piper

Update for Weekend Forecast (somewhat good news)

I neglected to mention in the Weekend report that not only has the moon been in the Via Combusta since Friday afternoon, it has also been void-of-course (in late Libra) at the same time. Combined with the Dark Hermetic Epoch this is a "triple whammy" in terms of "lostness" or confusion or, at worst, despair. I am hoping we will feel somewhat better when Luna enters Scorpio, which is very soon:

Moon enters Scorpio (no longer void-of-course) Saturday evening at 7:51p PT | 10:51p ET | 3:51a(Su) UT

And so late Saturday and all of Sunday may be less depressing or disorienting than late Friday and Saturday.

Cheers!

Hugh

Trying to Pipe

Forecast for Weekend of January 30-31, 2016

Weekend of January 30-31, 2016

}Open to High Guidance{

Regular forecasts for these two days were not posted on Friday as usually. I attended a meeting of astrologers in this area at the Maggie A. Nalbandian Memorial Library in Kirkland, Washington. It took quite a while going and coming and was a long meeting-discussion. It's always good to "chew the fat" with fellow astrologers. But it left no time for me to do the regular reports.

For this weekend, I note two salient factors:  1. The moon is in the Via Combusta for the whole weekend (until sometime Monday morning--in late Libra on Saturday and early Scorpio on Sunday) and 2. We remain in the Dark Hermetic Epoch until February 14. I am feeling the combined effect of these two indications as follows:

The Via Combusta period can result in a "loss of morale" according to Marc Edmund Jones. Why? I think because we are asked for more than we can give, or required to live up to things which seem impossible, or are challenged to understand things we have never understood and require us almost to develop our brains and minds in new ways. This is disconcerting, and probably it is seldom that we are able to rise to the occasion. Of course, it is worse or more difficult during the Dark Hermetic Epoch. 

I felt this yesterday (Friday) in a big way. And it is still going on today and probably shall tomorrow (Sunday). For example, some business details I have been working on seemed hopelessly bogged down in confusion and possible loss on Friday. I see my way out of the impasse but not without minor loss, which is dispiriting. It was a great temptation to just complain or wail or shout out in anger "I don't deserve this." I tried to contain that feeling and say "God, I don't understand why I have to go through this, but if it be your will, I shall learn what I can from the experience and then carry on as best I may." 

Then at the astrology meeting, there was some of the same. Nice friendly people, and yet our ways of speaking about our astrological awareness and experience often seemed not very meaningful to one another. We narrowly escaped arguing vociferously about certain things, by being diplomatic, but there was an undercurrent of dissatisfaction, or a feeling that one was not able to get one's own viewpoint, experience or wisdom across to the others. "Loss of morale" fits it pretty well.

The other way Marc Edmund Jones describes the moon's monthly void-of-course period is "a cosmic reshuffling." This always makes sense to me at these times, and especially during a Dark Hermetic Epoch. You might say that "the rug is pulled out from under me." It feels like that often. Now what do I do? It is a sort of "lost" feeling. One might suggest that the entire "Lost" TV series of a few years ago (I wonder how many are revisiting that? I haven't) was performed and recorded during a Via Combusta period. Of course that cannot have been true literally, but symbolically.

So if you are feeling some of that this weekend, you are not alone.

What is the solution? I can only put it in terms which make sense to me and cannot guarantee that it will coincide with your viewpoint: 

Give up to the Highest. He knows best. Or She knows best if you worship the Divine Shakti or Para Prakriti known as The Mother (in the teaching of Sri Aurobindo). This does not mean being utterly passive but attempting to understand what He, She, or That is requiring of you which you have not yet been able to understand or perform. Then you can go ahead and try your best. Feeling gratitude for what you have and ways in which you have been protected, when you feel loss, or lack of protection or guidance, is very helpful. 

In Judaeo-Christian terms, here is this from Psalm 32: (From the disciple to the Lord, verse 7:) "Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble."

(From the Lord to the disciple, verse 8:) "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye."

Memorizing and repeating these has helped me today.

{Saturday and Sunday} {Open to High Guidance}

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Friday 19 January 2016

Friday 29 January 2016

}Joining the Disjointed{

Moon in Libra   ***

/moon goes void-of-course at 5:35p PT | 8:35p ET | 1:35a(Sa) UT   * < /

Please don't let the above ruin your Friday. Void-of-course and Via Combusta are relatively normal situations, but when they occur together there could be problems of losing one's focus and morale, feeling adrift, or being unable to make wise choices immediately. That happens in the evening (later on the East Coast of North America and in Europe, not at all in Asia). Perhaps if one enjoys easygoing pleasures without controversy or danger one will come through happily.

The warrior's helmet is firm and strong, his fletch set to the 

Bow. His horse has been trained for any crisis; not so its

Rider whose drinking  last night has left him weak, woozy.

He had a happy self-indulgent time with his friend.

He wonders if his hand is attached to his bow or his arrow.

He sees body parts strewn on the ground in his mind. 

Oh, not true, he realizes. Birds sing in the house of his

Reminiscing spirit. Well he could go out dancing tonight.

A dagger is stuck in the door of the house he is passing. 

The people who live there are mocked by their arrogant

Neighbors. He reaches for his bow and an arrow, ready

To threaten such folly. Birds sing within. There is laughter.

{Friday} {Joining the Disjointed}

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Thursday 28 January 2016

Thursday 28 January 2016

}Luminescent{

Moon in Virgo-->Libra

/moon void-of-course    ** /

until it enters Libra at 7:00a PT | 10:00a ET | 3:00p UT ***

Interesting, a little harsh in some ways, yet progressive. 

You want to be famous, but in your own bailiwick, or without moving away from home. 

Again I am convinced of the truth of the Dark Hermetic Epoch, because for me, and I think others, things still feel like Mercury Retrograde. Complications, backtracking, time-wasting, transitions, people being baulky as mules, and so on. Yet even so, transitions you want to make should be easier than on Wednesday. 

There is difficult communication with someone you like. It has progressive overtones.

Career developments are disorienting for the moment, but could be excellent in the long run once past their formative stage.

Your strategy has improved much in the past few weeks even if not finished and perfected.

A triangle red his symbol, he lives toward rampant

Desire-needs compulsive on all--so he thinks.

A native caution prevents going over the brink. 

His mind is not fitted to the present's soon-future.

The Wichita Lineman, still on the line, feels sure his

Love shall return sometime soon. Attachments recycle.

Oregon ranchers try to convert the world to their

Needs while lightning cleaves rocks. Lonely again.

The fat man dances; shouts "What, where tomorrow?" 

The triangle red now sails on a ship's mast,

Roving the ocean. On board the lineman now handles

A smartphone--love luminescent the screen.

{Thursday} {Luminescent}

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Wednesday 27 January 2016

Wednesday 27 January 2016

\Whole-Heartedness/

Moon in Virgo

|Karmically difficult or sobering third| of this week continues all day

(until Thursday at 4:39a PT | 7:39a ET | 12:39p UT)

Luna with Jupiter today in the sign Virgo could emphasize health, eating, exercising, everything connected with self-reform or self-improvement. A friend who has ended his smoking and drinking habits is a real inspiration. I believe Jupiter in this sign helped him to do that, although the credit goes to his own good sense, self-respect and intelligent self-control. Many of us may be working on such issues in one way or another. (Thinking of this friend helped me resist buying a bottle of wine tonight when I was grocery shopping, and I am very happy now without it.) 

I have to say that I can feel the Dark Hermetic Epoch continuing (until February 14) even though Mercury has turned direct. Some things seem harrowing, even the traditional Mercury retrograde problems like computer slowness, backtracking, losing track of things, too many complications, and so on. However, things seem considerably less confusing. 

I can also feel the happy vibrations of Venus sextile Mars, which began Monday and shall continue through February 19. I spent some time with friends I hadn't seen in quite a while and all were in a pleasant mood. Let us expect and manifest more of that as the days go by. Venus's sextile with Neptune, increasing, will also help. It can provide a natural, drugless high, brought about by our natural soul-connections and our link with the Supreme Whose nature, according to Sri Aurobindo and the Vedas, is bliss. 

{Wednesday} /Whole-Heartedness\

Cosmic PIper

Humanism, Theism, and Astrology

Since the beginning of these forecasts in 1999, there has been a tension between "astrological humanism," which is the prevailing trend in astrology, and "astrological theism," which is my own orientation. G*d is supreme--the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Lord Christ Jesus. That is not only my orientation but my firm knowledge. So how could I deny it and pretend to be a humanist? 

Yet--and here begins the perilous dialectic--if I am to communicate astrological truths or hypotheses or surmises or helpful clues to "the world," which includes mostly non-theists, mostly those who do not believe in God, it is disturbing to them if I use theistic language all the time. I have offended quite a few of them in that regard, and they stop reading. That is not a loss to me, but it is to them; and perhaps a loss to myself in the wider sense because if my mission is to help people with astrology, it is a partly failed mission if I am unable to help those who do not believe in God or believe in a God "other than" the one I believe in.

It seems an impossible situation. I "search the scriptures" every day for a solution. The answer seems to be "Keep on with it." Which I try to do. 

The number of Christians who are even able to appreciate the truths of astrology is very small. Yet the astrologer most important to me is Marc Edmund Jones, who was a Presbyterian pastor. The astrologer John Lilly, active during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, wrote a major book named Christian Astrology. In these days, most Christians have been told that astrology conflicts with the Bible and is Satanic. Yet the best translation of the Bible says that the three men who first knew of the Messiah were astrologers. 

The situation is compounded because I am also a Hindu, that is, a Vaishnava Hindu, believing in the Supreme Lord Vishnu. He took form as Rama, as Krishna, and as Sri Aurobindo. Millions believe he also took form as Sai Baba. Sri Aurobindo is the one of whom I am most certain, because of the prima facie nonpareil stupendous unparalleled miraculous quality of every sentence and paragraph he every wrote (thousands of pages). He is the teacher for this age, or the best one I know. (Sai Baba is also a teacher for this time, but his approach was more local, in a sense, or centered in the traditional teachings and practices of Hinduism in India, directed with Avataric love toward the masses rather than toward the elite few who can appreciate Sri Aurobindo's writings.)

I find no essential conflict between esoteric Christianity, as taught by, for example, Rudolf Steiner, Max Heindel, Mary Baker Eddy, Charles Fillmore, Edgar Cayce, Corinne Heline, Alice Bailey, Marc Edmund Jones and many others, and esoteric Hinduism as taught by Sri Aurobindo. To reconcile their apparent divergences would require a book rather than this essay. But they are essentially harmonious with each other. One way to put it would be, Sri Aurobindo understood esoteric Christianity, that is, the deeper, internal and most-essentially real teachings of Jesus, fully, although his way of stating his superb and perfect teaching was more along the lines of the traditional wisdom of India. 

Yet the humanism of the time is alien to all that. "Don't tell me about your pseudo-God! I have had enough of that. He is responsible for war, illness, death, terrorism, sectarian disagreements and persecutions. The only hope is intelligent and loving human beings trying to make things better." Okay. I get it. I used to believe it, almost, when I was a teenager. But something in me, my immortal soul, knew better. And anything which denies my immortal soul is alien to me.

And so I have to say, "mere" humanism is alien to me. But not, of course, the beautiful, loving, helpful and essential actions of non-believing humanists to save the planet and humanity. From my viewpoint, they are serving God's plan even though they don't believe in Him. (From their viewpoint, I am deluded about that. From my viewpoint, they don't understand God.)

I do not want to engage in that endless (until some individual End) dialogue in these forecasts. I am talking about it now because that feels imperative to me. I am hoping it will help you understand why I am compelled to mention God and Jesus and Sri Aurobindo in these reports. My doing that is one main reason why they would be unwelcome most places online, as in the Huffington Post for example. But I cannot deny what I know. 

On the other hand (it goes on and on) astrology and human life can be considered, and are by many, apart from any mystical, religious or higher-level philosophical orientation. I have learned a great deal from astrologers who do not share my spiritual orientation. Astrology, or much of it, is impersonal and true regardless of one's spiritual orientation. There are days when what I write in the forecasts does not mention anything superhuman. 

One question is, Is my attempt to please everyone a mistake? Should I direct these reports only to those who share a spiritual orientation of some kind? Probably that is what I am doing anyway. I note that they are not very popular! One or two "likes" on Facebook some days, when a picture of a cat gets 700 "likes." Oh well. I write it for "somebody" "somewhere."  Cats are more popular than G*d.

There is more to come about this, because of what I read and pondered this morning. It is all connected with the planet Saturn in Sagittarius now, a sign of religion. I read about the Pope this morning, and my Bible reading connected with that, and . . . I have a lot more to say. Before very long.

Extremely Unpopular Cosmic Piper                (I suppose two or three individuals might have read all this.)

Forecast for Tuesday 26 January 2016

Tuesday 26 January 2016

\Clearance for Accomplishment/

Moon in Virgo

|Karmically challenging or sobering third| of this week continues (until Thursday morning)   ** |

Mercury moves ahead very slowly and our minds are groping to find themselves in a more understandable situation. There is much to study. Many will not understand an individual's particular slant of interest or his or her discoveries. There is energy to be used in a practical way, with Luna sextile Mars in Scorpio and trine Mercury-Pluto in Capricorn. Your business or a detailed project could be flourishing.

She has shunned the sins and dangers of the world

To retreat to her vestal shrine where she prays and knows.

Her brother's journey comes to her vision: Ruffians assault

Him and take his things. She points a spiraling finger to bring relief.

The smoke of the explosion is blinding. The thieves fall on the road.

The victim's eyes are cleared and he grabs his pack.

Rings of light in the sky show a better future.

The traveler, a genius, has saved his latest invention.

Long had he known he had hidden powers, as well as his

Sister. The lamp on her altar increases its luminescence.

No one has seen the light flowing through these siblings'

Fingers. They point: Miraculous power removes hidden trash.

{Tuesday} /Clearance for Accomplishment\

Cosmic Piper

Monday 25 January; and Revised Fortnightly Forecast ending January 31

Monday 25 January 2016

^Subtle Turning Point^

Moon in Leo-->Virgo

/moon void-of-course   ** /

Mercury turns direct (but virtually motionless still) at 1:51p PT | 4:51p ET | 9:51p UT

Dark Hermetic Epoch continues (until February 14)

|Karmically difficult or sobering third| of this week begins at 5:06p PT | 8:06p ET | 1:06a(Tu) UT   * / | 

Moon enters Virgo (no longer void-of-course) at 7:47p PT | 10:47p ET | 3:47a(Tu) UT   ** |

As luck or fate or the Supreme would have it, Mercury turns direct while the moon is void-of-course and then before long the |difficult third| of this week begins. So we may not see a great deal of relief from the rigors or fever-dream confusions of MR until Wednesday or Thursday, yet there is a subtle internal change which all can feel. There is something solid and comforting about a Stationary Mercury period (while it is motionless before and after turning direct technically). You will feel it today. You can go deep within in prayer or meditation and feel that "Somehow, all is well; somehow, things are turning around for the better." 

That could be specially true in the evening while Luna trines Venus, always uplifting.

The rest of what I would say is below in the revised Fortnightly report, which lasts another week.

{Monday} ^Subtle Turning Point^

Cosmic Piper

Fortnight of January 16-31, 2016 (Second Version)

}Human-Like Sphinxes Training Sphinx-Like Humans{

The first version of this was posted Friday, January 15.  \Additions will be marked this way and put in a different color and typeface for those of you reading it on Blogspot, which I recommend./  It will be in effect for another week, until almost the end of Sunday January 31.  This version employs the Sabian Symbols rather than those of Charubel (the Welshman John Thomas). 

We start out with "Spiritist phenomena" which is interesting. A friend informed me yesterday that he heard someone knocking on his door late at night and then saw something mysterious passing through his apartment. Today I got messages from a new paranormal online course which is beginning big-time during the week with many paranormal academic investigators participating. Interesting that it is beginning this week with exactly the right Sabian symbol to usher it in.  http://the-azire.wiziq.com/course/139659-parapsychology-research-and-education-paramooc2016  Of course, since Mercury is retrograde they are addressing me as "Hugh Howard" which is my middle name, but that is okay, I can be incognito, a ghost in their woodwork.  \Actually I am not even a ghost there because I have not had time to log in to any of their events or listen to any of the lectures in the archive.  Mercury retrograde again. We bite off more than we can swallow. All that time-wasting stuff./ But on the plus side, I have been doing some serious research and getting good results. Re-search is a valuable thing to be doing while Mercury is retrograde, if you have the time. Probably better than trying to communicate with people about issues which go in circles endlessly.

That continues until the 25th but the Dark Hermetic Epoch continues until February 14, so it is well to consider it as lasting at least to the end of this fortnight.  \Yes, that is true for me. I find that the Mercury Retrograde periods, as is getting to be true even in popular thought, are the hardest of all for me, and I am speaking of decades of observation, with three MR cycles each year, something like 90 occasions to experience and observe it. Not only I but people I know have the most harrowing, peculiar, upsetting experiences at those times. Often there is a sense of desperation: "Where am I now? What do I believe in? What are my plans?" It is not impossible. It is necessary. It is not a curse by Mercury or by the Solar System. It is something we need to learn how to work with, and that seems very difficult for us./

The keyword for "Spiritist phenomena" is Sensitivity and so we may expect to be open to the invisible in one way or another. Let it be the higher angelic or wonderful spiritual beings, including some of the blessed deceased, rather than lower-astral spooks or demons. Fear is of the lower order; love of the higher.  \All this has been true for me. Unexpectedly, I picked up a book on Edgar Cayce's readings on Reincarnation today and posted here my thoughts about it. The paranormal in every or any version gets our attention at these MR times. And on through the rest of the Dark Hermetic Epoch, most likely, until February 14, but with, I hope and believe, less distress or confusion beginning even Monday the 25th when Mercury turns direct but still is moving very very slowly or almost not at all We need to give ourselves a few days to see that we are really at a turning point, most likely./

"Boys and girls in gymnasium suits" was with us last time and continues. For me it is my hatha yoga exercises, about which I have become very serious. (My gymnasium suit is my underwear, I have to confess. None but invisible beings see it.)  For you it could be something similar, some exercise you do, or "an aliveness of interest to everything in which he [you] would participate" (Marc Edmund Jones, in his interpretation of the symbol). The keyword, Animation, is a good one; we can rouse ourselves to discover what interests us enough to "get us going."

"A jockey" seems more of the same. We are jockeys of the horses we are riding, our bodies. Dr. Jones speaks of "driving the potentialities of self to the limit." We might want to "whip" ourselves to get ourselves up to our potential when we feel lazy. That is not cruelty to horses nor to ourselves, just an insistence that we need to keep trying. Since Mercury is retrograde, it means focusing on the track we are running in, not another one somewhere. The keyword is Practice so we learn by doing.   \Yes I have had to drive myself to the limit, and not just with exercises, but also with work with other people and with mental work and research and requirements of my situation./

The "Two prim spinsters" remain sitting in their living room or meandering in their garden or stiffly castigating one another or trying to be friendly despite their differences; the keyword, Divorcement, certainly would seem to apply to a lot that has been going on, although I feel it is better as I write, since Venus's conjunction with Saturn is fading, gone on Monday. Hurrah! Some soreness or anger or "divorcement" in a relationship or friendship is much less painful and may even be gone for the most part. The two prim spinsters may not totally understand each other, but enough to get along and that's what's important. I would guess you must notice this about some friendship or relationship in your life. That is progress. What we learned in that context during the past few weeks is something we can incorporate into ourselves to protect us from similar issues, with this person or another, in the future.   \Yes some of the pain and suffering has dissipated but not all! Some of it seems implicit in the Mercury Retrograde phenomenon which works out on the emotional level just as much as on the mental level. People do not understand one another very well, to put it simply. This is exacerbated by the motionless Mercury being with Pluto and both of them square Uranus very tightly. With whom are you at loggerheads? Maybe more than one individual. I find it so, although there have been helpful interactions which make it somewhat better./

"The Pyramids and the Sphinx" brings us back into the occult in a big way. But it shows how we need to bring the invisible into the visible, to manifest it. The occultists of Egypt who may have devised these amazing testimonials (the mysteries of Pyramid construction have spawned huge numbers of complex mathematical theories and lengthy treatises on their possible detailed esoteric meaning) were not whistling Dixie even though they lived near Memphis.  They were trying to manifest something in stone, in enduring form, which had an almost infinite and eternal significance. We may feel helpless to do the same and yet in our own small way we want to make our material world a symbol of our deeper selves and aspirations. And this is in no way "small" when done from the depths of the soul, but a matrix of real rather than delusive magic.    \Amen to all that!/

I have mentioned often how the Dark Hermetic Epoch including the even "darker" Mercury Retrograde cycle at its center seems to spawn paranormal interests and experiences. When studying the experiences of Uri Geller and Andijah Puharich, when they believed they were in touch with powerful Space Intelligences, I found that their most potent and amazing experiences happened during Dark Hermetic Epochs. (Puharich's scientific insistence on giving exact dates helped me to see that.) And now we have two different degree symbols which hint at the mysterious or invisible. Let's not get lost in speculation or unwise attempts to ape or invade the Invisible, but be alert to "signatures" of a divine nature which awaken us to more than the ordinary. And then use those in a fitting way to make everything better for everyone and ourselves.   \Amen! again./

Finally, bringing us back to earth, "An animal trainer." This is a symbol of Resoluteness. It goes along with the boys and girls in gymnasium suits and the jockey. We are trying to make our bodies fit receptacles for the Spirit, or for our minds at least, in order to manifest love and intelligence in our small but magnificently meaningful worlds. The physically small can be spiritually immense. A successful trainer of animals is never cruel but adeptly aware of the tricks and wise kindly approaches he needs to help his subjects learn something they will be happy and pleased to do once they have learned. So it is with ourselves training ourselves. If someone else wants to go along for the adventure, we may be training each other.   \This has been true for me in a big way since this period began, in eating and drinking habits, in physical exercise, and in mental training through study and research./

{Fortnight of January 16-31, 2016} {Human-Like Sphinxes Training Sphinx-Like Humans}

Cosmic Piper

Reincarnation

\Reincarnation/

I hope to post a forecast later today. Meanwhile, here is what I wrote to a friend this morning:

This morning I picked up that book about Cayce on reincarnation--"Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation" by Noel Langley (Warner Books, a paperback) and read a very good section of it. It is amazing and very convincing to me. Detailed case histories which sound believable. 

Then I went to Scribd, the online Nook or Kindle substitute I can use on my phone, and I don't find that book but I find at least 20 books by or about Cayce, including a good one, Reincarnation & Karma by E. C., A. R. E. Press, Virginia Beach.

Maybe you could read one or both on Nook---that's what you have isn't it?

Anyway in contrast with everything else I have read about reincarnation it is precise, with details about individuals, and believable, with case histories of those for whom the readings were done. I am amazed that so few people care about it.

The Theosophists don't read Cayce because he was Christian or Judaeo-Christian, saturated in the Bible. The Christians don't read Cayce because he talked about reincarnation and astrology. The "scientists" don't read him because nobody who speaks in trance is supposed to be credible and they don't know how to verify what he said. So nobody reads him, apparently, except a minority of truth-seekers including me. I am going to read more of him. Very impressive.

Not to be taken on faith but to be considered, and the "circumstantial evidence" seems very impressive in some of these cases.

Plus his overview of how reincarnation and karma work satisfies both the Theosophical and the Christian and the occult viewpoints, so far as I can see, mediating among them with a viewpoint which sounds very much like "the way it must be" to me. I am surprised I ignored him so many years. There was a reason but it probably wasn't a good one

Forecasts for Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 January 2016

Saturday 23 January 2016

Moon in Cancer-->Leo

/moon goes void-of-course late Friday, early Saturday   ** /

until it enters Leo at 11:22a PT | 2:22p ET | 7:22p UT   ***

Full Moon of Aquarius-Leo is exact at 5:47p PT | 8:47p ET | 1:47a(Su) UT

Sunday 24 January 2016

Moon in Leo   **

/moon goes void-of-course at 6:52p PT | 9:52p ET | 2:52a(M) UT  * /

I hope to post a review of the Forecast for the current Fortnight on Saturday if I have time to do that after taking care of other demands on me.

Hugh

Forecast for Friday, and Fortnight of January 16-31 2016 (Revisited)

Friday 22 January 2015

~Let It Snow~

Moon in Cancer   ***

/moon goes void-of-course at 10:22p PT | 1:22a(Sa) ET | 6:22(Sa) UT   ** /

As for the predicted snowstorm hitting some of the East Coast in the U. S., I could say, 'Well, it's just winter weather." Or I could say that it has something to do with Mercury retrograde conjunct Pluto in Capricorn, both square to Uranus by less than two degrees, for Capricorn is the sign of winter (as well as Aquarius). The moon in a water sign (Cancer) is opposed and squared to these planets today, suggesting possible precipitation. But since we are not in the |difficult third| of this week, when most really harsh things happen, I would guess that the human cost of the storm will not be excessive. 

Meanwhile Luna's sextile with Jupiter gives a basically friendly caste to things, especially later in the day and evening. "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." 

Let's review the forecast for these two weeks of the moon's "light" or fat or gibbous phase. This time, we use the symbols of Charubel. (This was posted last Friday.) I paste it here, with added comments and minimal editing. 

Forecast for the Fortnight of January 16 (Saturday) through January 31 (Sunday), 2016

}Caution and Patience{

This is the fortnight of the gibbous (fat) moon, with the Full Moon at its center (January 23-24). We start, as before, with the positions and aspects of the planets plus their symbols as given by the 19th century clairvoyant Charubel. These have a real validity, I have observed, though not always obvious on the surface. They repay pondering.

I cannot be a Pollyanna for this fortnight! We should have a "nicer" or easier one beginning January 31 or February 1. Before that, things do not look easy. Forewarned is forearmed.  \It has been difficult for me in terms of laborious study and research. I would guess that for most, it has been something similar connected with job or a difficult, complex project./ 

It is wise to be cautious in all your activities and plans. That does not mean fearful. But only those who are trying to live up to the Will of the Highest, every moment, really feel free from fear. That is the remedy.

Charubel gives some rather disturbing symbols. "A column of smoke ascending on a gigantic scale, followed by a terrible burst of flame. The phenomenon partakes of the character of an explosion." He warns that "events are sudden, falling out unexpectedly, and generally disastrously." That would apply to only a few incidents, of course, but they could be major ones.   \I admit that there have not been such major incidents, as far as I have noticed. That is all to the good./  Let us be cautious. Especially because Mercury remains retrograde (until the 25th, but the Dark Epoch continues after that through the end of this fortnight). I shall not predict terrorist incidents but it would be well for anyone living where they might happen to be both watchful and prayerful, though not of course paranoid. More likely, what the symbol indicates is something psychological within ourselves, a seething anger or frustration which could erupt and cause havoc among our associates or in business. Neither repression nor wantonly hurtful expression but patient understanding is needed.   \There was some of that for me. I shied away from people for the most part and felt that "issues" between us prevented easy cooperation. /

\Here is one way the "explosion" Charubel describes worked out for me. I live in the Pacific Northwest and a friend posted on Facebook a prediction of possible earthquakes hitting this area in the near future. I am aware of such predictions, although none of them really have a convincing timeline and all this could happen hundreds of years from now. Geological time is not the same as human time measured in our passing days. Anyway I responded like this:  "The status of the earth is within ourselves. Insofar as we control ourselves, we control the internal activities of the earth." Those of you who have studied Christian Science or something like it will know why I said that. Then, on Wednesday this week I attended the Christian Science testimony meeting at First Church here and spoke up about earthquakes and their possible spiritual cause and cure. I got a positive response. Then two individuals told stories about how they had each been warned ahead of time about serious problems in someone else's home--for one it was a fire which could have killed a sleeping man, for another it was a plumbing problem inundating the place in water. Their "listening" for divine guidance led them to the scene of the problem just in time to prevent the disaster. So here was Charubel's symbol coming up--"events are sudden, falling out unexpectedly and generally disastrously." But in these cases spiritual alertness prevented tragedy. And for the rest of this fortnight, that is a good lesson./

Then we have our familiar "Man of stout make, good proportions, round, rosy features, looking very merry, dancing grotesquely." Charubel seems to imply that the dancing comes from  a sense of fatality, that there is nothing else to do since everything else is rather pointless. We may find ourselves looking for entertainment as escape. That is not unusual but might be noticeable in remarkable ways.  \Yes, before I went to the Christian Science meeting I felt "Oh why bother? It's a time-consuming journey." I went to a bar instead and enjoyed a couple of drinks while reading Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on my phone. I was the "man looking very merry, dancing grotesquely" in a symbolic sense. The lady bartender "danced" with me in that we chatted and laughed. But my conscience pricked me and I got up and went to the meeting in time. /

The symbol we saw as connected with Donald Trump--the grouchy and unpleasant but successful businessman--is replaced this fortnight by: "A deep red star of the first magnitude on the ascendant; but a very short interval elapses between its rising and its setting. When it sets, I see a pale golden light succeeding." Could this be a change in Trump's attitude or his strategy? But apart from that, it more importantly shows something crucial in our feelings, perhaps specially erotic or sexual ones. "Do not follow the dictates of passion" the Victorian Charubel remonstrates. He warns that "the desires of thy lower nature" could bring about "a short and wretched lot." I leave this to you to interpret for your own use and as applicable to your own case.   \I have been aware of this issue in my life, my escapism into fantasy. It has been a crucial issue I have been trying to solve with the help of spiritual guides and inspirational reading. It does feel like what Charubel suggests:  Passion or exaggerated desire transmuting itself into something hidden within it which is infinitely better--the red of passion changing to the golden glow of higher spiritual awareness and real selfless love. Sri Aurobindo, Sai Baba, and Jesus are helping me with this./

"A merchant ship" indicating a successful merchant or traveler is a fortunate degree. However, we know what the stock markets around the world have been doing: Dropping disastrously. Yet individual businesses can be thriving, and in fact "the economy" or business climate is much better off than the stock market's fearful gyrations. So whatever your business or job, you may tend to it successfully.   \Something like that seems to be happening for me and for a few others I know. As for the stock market, its drop has been frightening, but it did go up a couple days this week including Thursday as I write./

"A magician in sacerdotal robes, standing in a magic circle, performing magic rites." We all have some sort of "creative superstition" in us, it seems, and why not? Whatever can buoy up our faith may be good for us. Depending on mere mechanical magic when things are hard or overwhelming, of course, would not be likely to result in much more than palliated expectations followed by more disappointment. So let our magic be of the soul, the White Magic which seeks others' good as well as our own. If some "art magic" accompanies that, why not? Ritual opens the heart and feelings to higher magic when done with high aspirations.

"Rings of light within the heavens; ring within ring or zone within zone." This is said to indicate "a man for the far distant future" who is not understood in his time. That would apply to many astrologers, most certainly, but not only to them. We may each have our special way of approaching something Transcendent, or The Transcendent Himself. Trying to make how you do that understood by anyone else might be futile.

One reason Charubel's warnings may well be wise and applicable is that Jupiter is beginning again its square with Saturn, or the other way around since Saturn is direct and Jupiter retrograde. This is a "soul-crisis" in some sense, or a need to find one's deep inner purpose or mission and try to fulfill it rather than neglect it.

\I feel the first two paragraphs above as true. As for the "soul crisis," I feel it. How about you? The words fit exactly, for me. I have been spending more time than usual on self-appointed tasks which might be Self-appointed if they are veracious./

That is a rather heavy reading for these coming two weeks. I shall supplement it by the probably lighter or less forbidding indications of the Sabian Symbols in the next report, probably posted on Sunday.  \And we shall revisit that report tomorrow./

{Fortnight of January 16 through 31}  {Caution and Patience} 

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Thursday 21 January 2016

Thursday 21 January 2016

~Promising~

Moon in Gemini-->Cancer   ***

/moon goes void-of-course at 0:02a PT | 3:02a ET | 8:02a UT   * / |

|Karmically difficult or sobering third| of this week ends at  7:37a PT | 10:37a ET | 3:37p UT   ** /

Moon enters Cancer (no longer void-of-course) at 5:29a PT | 8:29a ET | 1:29p UT   ***

I refer you to the two lengthy Fortnightly forecasts I have already posted. One of them was posted last Friday and one on Sunday. They are the best I can do with current long-range astrological situations applying to all of us. I hope to revisit them this weekend and add further insights to them. Meanwhile, remember that Mercury is retrograde until the 25th, and also beginning the 25th is a sextile between Venus and Mars, which is excellent not only for "love life," whatever that may mean to you, but for harmony in general, in business as well as social connections. Not everything is on hold until that date but it might seem that way frequently. We have to carry on, but are not to be blamed if there is more relaxation and recreation--or re-creation--than usual. 

The good news for today is that the |difficult third| of this week ends early in the day (time above). There is an emphasis on work or effort, but it should be less wearing or frightfully despairing than it may have been for the past two days. A grand trine of Luna, Mars and Neptune in water signs accentuates spiritual well-being if we tune in to our highest sources of inspiration.

{Thursday}  ~Promising~

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Wednesday 20 January 2016

Wednesday 20 January 2016

}Shared Space for Living{ 

Moon in Gemini

|Karmically difficult or sobering third| of this week continues (until Thursday morning at 7:37a PT | 10:37a ET | 3:37p UT)   ** |

There is a desire for pleasure, games, sharing, fun, or friendship, yet a dread that none of that will work out or be satisfying. So we may turn to the less colorful or alive pleasures of TV, reading, Facebook, etc. This is partly because of the |difficult third| which has the moon opposing both Saturn and Venus, bringing forth the "doubt of love" which plagues hard Saturn-Venus contacts. 

It appears that business of a hidden or semi-secret sort could be flourishing, or close to it. Also being very active at home is favored in a big way, perhaps reorganizing there (or at job headquarters). 

He stands at crossroads, with no clue which way

To turn. He has been weak, he knows, and earned the scorn

Of his employer. True, he has weighed and measured all in his

Job with rapt precision. But cannot weigh the future.

To the left he sees an ancient oak splintered by 

Storms, standing alone and bereft. To the right he sees

The house of a woman whose healing powers are known and

Sought, though she frightens those evading reform.

He remembers his fraternity is holding a fellowship supper,

But weakly thinks, "Why visit them? Fat egos,

Silly jokes." But the bare tree, abandoned, howls, and a

Light in the healer's house flickers "Visit your friends." 

{Wednesday}  {Shared Space for Living]

Cosmic Piper