Weekend of April 30-May 1

I seem to have been swallowed up by the Mercury Retrograde syndrome on Friday so did not get to write a forecast for the weekend. I hope to post something yet either late Saturday or Sunday.

Hugh

Cosmic PIper

Forecast for Friday 29 April 2016

Friday 29 April 2016

}Deep Reflection{

Moon in Aquarius   **

/moon goes void-of-course at 0:08a PT | 3:08a ET | 7:08a UT

until it enters Aquarius at 1:48a PT | 4:48a ET | 8:48a UT

It seems we are going to be considering Mercury Retrograde today, and not much else, because that is what is hitting my consciousness in a big way, and I believe also for everyone.

It's the time when things slip out of control (for the next 21 days) but not always in an unpleasant way, sometimes just in an interesting way. I felt little incentive to do my ordinary routines today, though I did get some of them done reluctantly. Things go "out of pattern." Finally I decided I needed to get out of the house for a break and "reorientation" and I walked, without planning it, on a street I never visit, because I was not exactly sure where I was going--indecision about little things is part of MR (Mercury Retrograde). Walking down this "new" street which is only a 15 minute walk from my home, I saw a place I had never seen before, and the name over the door was "The Dark Bar." Fascinating, because as you know I have been writing here about the Dark Hermetic Epoch, and here it was staring me in the face. I walked in, but didn't like the somewhat creepy music playing, and decided that for the moment it was a little too "Dark" for me. 

Then I did some more routine things without problems, and decided to go to another place I often visit, but approached it by a different "out of pattern" route and when I got there sat outside on the patio without going in for about fifteen minutes, then decided against it and started on my way home. But then I sat on a big rock on a corner of 12th Avenue with my smart phone reading some of The Mother's Agenda from 1956. Just when Mercury turned Retrograde I went back to that year, because I had completed the year 1968 and wanted to go back to the previous year in the major, important 12-year cycle. Both were Years of The Monkey, as is 2016. As I sat on a rock I had never before graced with my derriere, reading avidly, I noticed how casually confused and disconnected all the passersby seemed to be. That is a standard MR phenomenon. Go to any street corner and stand or sit for 20 minutes and observe. You will see exactly what I mean. People turn around, look back, forward, sidewise, pause, as if they aren't sure where they are going. They almost bump into one another. Then you will notice old friends REacquaitancing, meeting one another joyously, stopping and perhaps hugging and then chatting exuberantly. This was happening today as I sat on the mossy rock, with a young couple who just did not want to stop talking. It seemed as if they were not yet in love but on the brink of it. Both were a little embarrassed, as fresh lovers often are, as if wondering "is this real or not?" I found it charming though a little annoying because I was trying to read rather than eavesdrop on their chatter. This is a recurrent MR phenomenon: People start talking and seem unable to stop. Either they're old friends catching up or new ones checking each other out. Everything each says brings up in the other's mind a whole series of related incidents or ideas, and then those are tossed out, and then more from the other side, on and on. Their gears have shifted and then started meshing with the Other's gears, for a while anyway, until Hermes says "Enough" and lets them go on their way. The boy this time had a hard time doing that and as his female friend went the other way he turned around with a huge smile on his face to cast some parting words in her direction. It seemed awkward yet totally understandable. He seemed to be feeling "Am I making a fool of myself, or is she impressed?" Now if you say, This could happen any time, I agree, but during MR periods these little incidents take on a life and color and a longer duration they just don't have at other times. We have gone Through the Looking Glass.

Finally I started on my way home, and again without planning to do so I went by a different route, and walked past a huge building I had literally never noticed before although it is within three blocks of my home. "Out-of-pattern" is a very big thing during MR. I wondered what in the world it was--it looked abandoned--but there was a light behind one window at least. When I crossed the street to get a better look I saw a Shield of David in the stone face and the word "Temple," so I assumed it was or had been a synagogue. But then in the corner which was lighted there were the words "Seattle Academy" and a young man vacuuming the floor. I walked to the door to ask him if the whole building belonged to the Academy (an art and performance school for high school students) or part of it was a synagogue. He was hispanic and spoke little English and did not understand what I was asking. MR---often there are failures in communication. MR--mysterious phenomena, such as, "What is this mysterious building, a synagogue still or not?" Some day I will get the answer, but not today. MR--the past, and this building looked more than a century old. 

I came home and meditated rather than writing this report. You will find yourself, if at all inclined to meditation, doing more of it during the MR period. Also perhaps taking more naps, or maybe just sitting and daydreaming. That can be very healthy, although of course we still face pressures to be "getting things done" and that can be one of the biggest conflicts during the MR period--do I force myself to do this boring thing, or let myself explore my own thoughts, fantasies, wonderings, and wanderings? I recommend balancing the two sides of your inclinations, as best you can, for each feeds the other, as it were. Rest and re-creation help you to focus better when you get back to tasks. 

It's late and that seems enough for now. On Friday we have a continuing grand trine in earth signs with the sun, Jupiter and Pluto, good for ordinary material, business, and financial purposes (but probably nothing new). Luna in Aquarius will be square the sun, good for strong energy directed to a purpose, while sextile Mars and Saturn, good for sage thinking because those two are in Sagittarius and both retrograde. The problems of friends, neighbors and family as well as your own problems have psychological and philosophical aspects which could intrigue you even if you have no definitive answers for them or for yourself. That's sort of where we are. I hope hearing about it makes it easier. 

{Friday}  {Deep Reflection}

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Thursday 28 April 2016

Thursday 28 April 2016

\Dark Winding Road/

Moon in Capricorn   **

Mercury turns retrograde at 10:21a PT | 1:21p ET | 5:21p UT

..............until Sunday May 22 (22 days)

.... Dark Hermetic Epoch continues until June 7

We know what to expect from Mercury's Retrograde period, and yet we don't, because it is always different and surprises seem to be a big part of what it offers.

You are probably familiar with some of the key phrases used to describe it: Reorientation, rethinking, reminiscence, and re-creation which is sometimes recreation. Also retreat, resignation, and sometimes repentance. Of course we can hope for regeneration, though the path to it be dark and winding. 

A prayer of Meher Baba: "We repent, O God most merciful, for all our sins; for every thought that was false or unjust or unclean; for every word that ought not to have been spoken; for every deed that ought not to have been done. We repent for every deed and word and thought inspired by selfishness and for every deed and word and thought inspired by hatred. We repent most especially for every lustful thought and every lustful action; for every lie; for all hypocrisy; for every promise given but not fulfilled; and for all slander and backbiting. Most especially also we repent for every action that has brought ruin to others; for every word and deed that has given others pain; and for every wish that pain should befall others. In Your unbounded mercy we ask you to forgive us, O God, for all these sins committed by us, and to forgive us for our constant failures to think and speak and act according to Your will."

From the symbols for Thursday:

Two birds feed near a boy who lies upon the ground

Full and asleep. Above him the sun approaches

The horizon announcing a man with a world mission

Hallowed by angelic choirs in tones of veneration.

In the casino nearby alcohol flows round adventurous

Companions, some gamblers, others miners on a break 

From honest labor and accidental danger.

At nightfall lightning strikes cleaving darkened thoughts.

It seems to have started a fire in the house of a cult

Reforming the world through visionary genius. The boy

Asleep on the ground sits up to see what's going on. 

The celestial choir sings of puissant destiny unfolding.

{Thursday}  /Dark Winding Road\

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Wednesday 27 April 2016

Wednesday 27 April 2016

\Zeal Petered Out or Rekindled/

Moon in Capricorn   **

Mars turned retrograde last week and Mercury follows tomorrow. We are not exactly stuck in the past, but we may be biding our time, wondering where and when the next impulse will lead us. Luna's trine with the sun and Jupiter today is helpful in small ways at least, with some rebirth of optimism. The following quatrains are based on the symbols for the day but are not intended to dampen enthusiasm, rather to show that it needs to be solidly based in spiritual if not physical realities. I have made the former the basis of my life and find that the latter follow, as in the Lord's saying, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven and all the rest will follow." That approach is questioned somewhat in the poem, which does not mean that I am not the "zealot":

The candle burning at both ends suggests

This zealot's problems. His neighbor rather

Spends her time with pigeons and children, evoking

Faith in all she meets. The zealot gets no applause.

A world mission is his plan, from Turkey to Argentina,

In climates diverse, as if his lightning-flash

Could transform minds and hearts. Forceful and proud

By day, in sleep he tosses, spent and doubting. 

The people he lectures are simple, men of the soil,

Agnostic. They work hard in service of those they seldom

Question. The zealot's impulsions, visions touch them as foolish--

Only entertaining wonderment:  Enough!

{Wednesday}  /Zeal Petered Out or Rekindled\

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Tuesday 26 April 2016

Tuesday 26 April 2016

^Commission^

|Karmically difficult or sobering third| of this week continues (until 9:51p PT | 0:51a(W) ET | 4:51a(W) UT)   ** |

/moon goes void-of-course at 8:52a PT | 11:52a ET | 3:52p UT   * / |

It's important for us to keep our calm orientation, plus faith in ourselves and our previous agendas. It's all too easy on a day like this to feel that "nothing is working, why try" and get off into useless escapist side paths. "Old stuff" you need to finish or take care of, about which there is no question, is the best focus. Then, after that, some free-form musing, meditation, or relaxed non-purposive time to let your soul get its bearings and influence your living in a deep way. 

Transient things can be renounced, but not one's mission or commission. 

From the symbols for the day:

Her job allows no initiative or high ambition,

Just hard and dangerous effort. She is happy to support

Her children's climb above her station, rather than drift

To easy ways of comfort bought with lassitude.

The father of her children had a post of dignity

And privilege. He lost his foothold, falling into ways

Of decadence. The girl and boy they brought into the world

Show forth the best in them, finesse and well-earned honor.

They learned from their granddad and grandmother things they couldn't

Put in words. Traditions gently transmitted became

Deep instincts toward as much divinity

As any child shows forth beneath our moon. 

{Tuesday} ^Commission^

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Monday 25 April 2016

Moon in Sagittarius

^Duty Will Succeed^

|Karmically challenging or sobering third| of this week continues (until very late Tuesday)   ** |

Duties are important, and karmic responsibilities, of which you are aware if you give them unbiased thought. One would feel impotent if one resisted the currents of destiny and insisted instead on trivial personal pleasures. 

Things may shift a little toward the brighter and easier side beginning about 2p PT | 5p ET | 9p UT as the moon moves away from Saturn toward trines with Venus and Uranus in Sagittarius.

An eccentric man's vain projects seem

Garish to the quiet man walking with an old-fashioned

Lantern in darkness. A fine horse with beautiful 

Neck and mane prances past both: proud, strong.

The mother's children line up on the stairs above her as

News alerts her to the horror of her husband's possible

Torture in prison. She sees in a flash that she can appeal

To a government agent he faithfully served for years.

His mission was for the world's good, but not all in power

Saw it that way. She gathers her children for school

As the man with the now needless lantern salutes her. The prancing

Horse tells her her husband's freedom is coming. 

{Monday} ^Duty Will Succeed^

Cosmic Piper

Forecasts for Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 April 2016

Saturday 23 April 2016

~Stimulating Undercurrents~

Moon in Scorpio, both Via Combusta and void-of-course   * < /

We do not need to despair because of the above. It is an uncertain or wavering time, perhaps. We may be attending to things other than what we thought we would be doing. We do things in out-of-pattern style. We may wonder at times "Is anything worth doing?" But staying with familiar and important routines is important to give ourselves a secure psychological basis; then engaging in more free-form interests or activities on top of them or around them could be rewarding. 

Stimulating flights above the ordinary are possible. There could be an undercurrent of loss or disillusionment, but that is inspiration-in-reverse. It propels us into that flight beyond the depletion or rupture in things which gives us renewed longing for deeper satisfaction in our lives.

Some undercurrents could be bleak, yet there is sunshine above them, either here now or ready to break through the clouds at any time. There could be a profusion of cultural blessings when we meet people on the basis of their special interests, if we are flexible enough to appreciate them in their own terms.

Seership emerges in us when we are sincere about sensing what is important to the whole human race apart from our separative ego. Then we would feel free to take wise initiatives on a small scale.

{Saturday} ~Stimulating Undercurrents~

Sunday 24 April 2016

Moon in Scorpio-->Sagittarius

|Karmically difficult or sobering third| of this week all day (until very late Tuesday evening)

/moon void-of-course    * / |

until it enters Sagittarius at 5:47a PT | 8:47a ET | 12:47p UT   ** |

Deep things are happening, with the major T square among Jupiter, Neptune, and Saturn getting sharper by the day. Yet lunar factors suggest that we are on top of things and able to cope with them. Still, the |difficult third| of this week has begun, lasting until very late Tuesday evening, almost three full days. There could be disattunement, lack of harmony, or exhaustion. Initiative in the area of thinking or study is needed, with Luna approaching Mars in Sagittarius. 

If you are taking a vacation from ordinary work, you can attend to more interesting matters and let them germinate even if they are inchoate and not ready for public daylight. 

Some individuals in the world may be so disturbed by what they imagine is going on that they are ready for revolution. Let us hope that does not take violent form. The liquidation of problems comes by following through with an assignment rather than by annihilating something that seems to be in the way. 

Your major task in this life may be coming clear to you, in ways you would not state before other people because they probably would not understand.  Yet you are receiving an invisible ordination to carry on with what you feel to be a thrilling journey in consciousness for yourself and others.

{Sunday}  ^Difficult Journey in Consciousness^

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Friday 22 April 2016

Friday 22 April 2016

~Smooth and Unhurried~

Moon in Scorpio

moon  in the Via Combusta until 11:39p PT | 2:39a(Sa) UT | 6:39a(Sa) UT   ** <

Things should be smoother and more reassuring than on Thursday, for Luna is forming harmonious aspects with Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. This signifies beautifully revealing and uplifting internal thoughts, at the very least. 

{Friday}  ~Smooth and Unhurried~

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Thursday 21 April 2016

Thursday 21 April 2016

}Mutual Freedom{

moon remains in the Via Combusta    ** <

/moon goes void-of-course at [11:14p(W20) PT] 2:14a ET | 6:14a UT   * < /

You have your choice as to how to interpret the above. Dismal? Or an unusual opportunity? 

It is not likely an opportunity on the material plane, where things are in flux. You may prosper, but not in a way you can pigeonhole. It could however be an opportunity on the moral, social and spiritual planes. People are interesting now. 

It's as if an Alice in Wonderland world were fascinating and irresistible. People's quirks and oddnesses are interesting rather than off-putting. There can be extreme tolerance, far better than "extreme prejudice." 

Today, especially this evening, when the Full Moon of Taurus occurs, is taken as the Wesak Festival by certain esoteric enthusiasts who believe in the Alice Bailey teachings (promulgated by the Lucis Trust in New York City). Every Full Moon leads to an expansion of consciousness and this one is no different in that regard. Whether you are sitting home alone and meditating, or out in a crowd for entertainment, you will experience heightened consciousness. Of course, the things to which you are giving your attention will color and shape it, so it is wise to choose carefully. 

I am feeling the conjunction of Venus with Uranus in Aries as "A New World of Freedom." You might meditate on that phrase. Of course we are all mature enough to know that "freedom" does not mean utter and absolute freedom to impose one's own desires on everyone. Because we know, somehow, by the conscience instilled in us since birth, that hurting or abusing anyone else would not be real freedom, for restricting someone else's freedom would be a restriction also of our own. So the New World of Freedom I feel and proclaim is something other than insisting on your own way always. It is more like finding that your own way, your truest and most cherished way, is really identical with the way of your neighbors, compatriots, and planet-sharers. 

Then the barrier between one's own will and the will of humanity around one is no longer needed, but drops away and one feels an identity with the whole human community so that even though one's skills, desires, styles, and interests are different from anyone else's they do not conflict with anyone else's but find their comfortable place in the whole. 

This is something happening now! 

I feel it and proclaim it despite the difficulties pointed out above in the |difficult third|, the Via Combusta, and the moon void-of-course. So let us relax a little, choose our path with wisdom and a sense of how it fits in with the desires of all, and enjoy this Full Moon in company with humanity at large. 

{Thursday} {Mutual Freedom}

Cosmic Piper

}Fostering Harmonious Balance{

Wednesday 20 April 2016

}Fostering Harmonious Balance{

Moon in Libra   **

< moon enters the Via Combusta at 10:50a PT | 1:50p ET | 5:50p UT   * <

/moon goes void-of-course at 11:14p PT | 2:14a(Th) ET | 6:14a(Th) UT   * < /

People are probably feeling disoriented. So many things seem unreliable, or slipping away, or less certain. Sometimes it is not a specific thing one is worried about, just "everything" in some amorphous way. What are we doing here? What's the point? Etc. 

It is such feelings and experiences which drive people to the Eternal: to their spiritual source. 

Then, when one has some equipoise, one can pull oneself together to focus on essential practical matters. There is likely to be an emotional current of anxiety; maybe "separation anxiety" in connection with someone. There could be anxiety about finances. Unusual spending is likely to go awry, so pulling back might be wise. 

Anger or outrage is possible against someone who seems to have betrayed, abandoned, or let one down. "Is this really a friend?" We need to be patient with all because it is probably hard for them to manifest their true loving selves at a time like this. 

Lust is easier than love, with Venus square Pluto and opposite Uranus. Lustful feelings often mask anger and revenge. The desire to punish gets mixed up with sexual urges. 

Staying with common sense, and with long-term strategies and activities you know are good for you, is wise. This might seem hard because so many things can turn up which tempt one away from the straight path into devious byways, and there are so many excuses for bad behavior. But the excuses are false because the karmic law will require repayment for transgressions. 

To retain peace of mind and serenity is an achievement on a day like this. It would make everything better.

{Wednesday} {Fostering Harmonious Balance}

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Tuesday 19 April 2016

Tuesday 19 April 2016

}Justice and Fairness{

I'm not forecasting the primary results in New York State. I hope Bernie Sanders does well, in fact I hope he wins, but I see no clear indication either way in the chart for the day. 

As for Trump and the Republican circus, it doesn't even interest me any more. 

The moon is no longer void-of-course as it was yesterday. Nor are we any longer in the |difficult third| of this week. You could get more things done today and have better chances of good results than you did Monday. 

The lunar aspect forming is a sextile from Libra to Mars in Sagittarius. This connotes something legalistic which you have good chances of winning. You could fire off a letter to someone about an issue of fairness and get good results. Or discuss something touchy with someone and perhaps arrive at a sort of understanding or reconciliation. You could study or discuss something in the philosophic or religious area and find that both sides of a difficult issue are illuminated or that you can find the best Socratic or Hegelian dialectic for understanding what is going on and arriving at a balanced and happy conclusion. People have their firm principles (Mars in Sagittarius) but are willing to try to understand the other side (moon in Libra) or find some mode of accommodation to it. 

On the battlefront of the Dark Hermetic Epoch lasting until June 7--a Bright Epoch forms from then until August 10--we continue to experience the trend of looking to the past to resolve issues from it. I did this in a big way Monday. I wrote a lengthy letter to someone about a past grievance which still needs action. I have delayed doing this for months, even years, but felt that it was time. You will find that people during a Dark Epoch will go back ins memory to past grievances and feel that it is high time to settle them. Families in the U. S. who had members injured or killed on 9/11/01 are now trying to get laws passed so they could take legal action against Saudi Arabia, for example. But critics say that such laws would encourage other nations to pass them likewise, putting Americans in danger. To what degree the past ought to take precedence over the present is sometimes a DHE issue. Or, How can we settle issues involving past deeds without bringing grief to people in the present? 

You will also find curious things happening which have to do with curios, antiques, old books or the like. On Monday I unexpectedly saw a sign on the street signifying that an old used book store I have never visited was open. It is only open occasionally; the proprietor chooses his time and doesn't seem to care about making money, only about running his interesting business as a pastime or hobby. I browsed in old astrology books and saw one I might purchase, published in 1938. The past comes alive in a Dark Epoch. It does not swallow up the present, but enriches it. 

People are wanting balance and justice in many areas of life, financially, politically, and in racial and sexual points of extended disagreement and conflict. Let us hope this will be happening with help from our individual aspirations and good will.  

{Tuesday} {Justice and Fairness}

Cosmic Piper

P. S. I do not like to predict or muse upon tragedies, but you should know by now that they happen more often in the |difficult third| of any week and also in Dark Hermetic Epochs, and both conditions were present during the earthquake in Ecuador on Sunday which has claimed 400 lives at least. Also, the storms in Houston where five perished in torrential rain on Monday. Also, a bus bombing in Jerusalem Monday which killed 21. The |difficult third| is not a fantasy invented by Cosmic Piper. It is real. Neither is the Dark Hermetic Epoch. We need to be circumspect during both periods, and especially when both are present, as they will be for at least two days every week up until June 7. This does not mean being paranoid or hiding under one's bed, but sticking with essentials and avoiding things which are pointlessly risky. Karma calls to us during those periods and that means sticking to duty, for the most part. The next |difficult third| will be Sunday the 24th until late Tuesday the 26th, almost three whole days because of the moon's slower motion. It is a time to seek G*d humbly in order to improve one's karma, or improve it through good works. 

Forecast for Monday 18 April 2016

Monday 18 April 2016

\Intermittent Escape into Beauty/

Moon in Virgo   ** |

|Karmically difficult or sobering third| of this week continues until Tuesday morning

/moon goes void-of-course at 5:30a PT | 8:30a ET | 12:30p UT   * / |

Some of you may feel I overemphasize the Dark Hermetic Epochs (which have a resonance, almost to being the same, as the Mercury Retrograde period at the center of each). However, in order to help you navigate these periods I dwell on some of the things I personally face during them, so you can see by parallel what is going on in your own situation. I seriously hope it helps:

1. On Saturday I decided to use a new Light Rail system to go to the University of Washington area. This purportedly would make my journey there quicker and easier. Instead, I found that it was a disaster. It is really a subway--I had to walk down four flights of stairs and then take a steep escalator to get there--and the cars swayed as widely and traveled as slowly or more slowly than NYC subway cars. Is this up to standard? When I got to the station, I realized that it was a half hour walk from my goal, so I would have had to take a bus for the rest of the journey. In other words, my travel time was increased rather than decreased, in addition to the indignity of descending into the earth down flights of stairs. Not only that--the incursion of this "better" system means that one of the bus routes I use to get to the same area, the best one for me, has been reduced from an every-20-minutes schedule to and every-hour schedule. Here is a DHE experience for sure. Just think of all the "re" words. Rescheduling, reprocessing, reorganizing. I am going to have to take a whole set of different buses now to get to that area, which I visit frequently, and the journey will usually be longer and with more changes of bus. This is just one example, in my situation, of what goes on during these periods. You will notice that something similar is happening, or shall soon, in your situation. Maybe a highway change or detour. Maybe a change in a parking situation. Maybe, as for me, differing bus, train or airline schedules. Maybe just deciding to go places you have never been or doing out-of-pattern local travel, which can be interesting or annoying depending on the day, hour, and other factors in your life. 

2. After the exhausting half-hour walk through an area of the campus I had never been before--which was "out of pattern" and mildly interesting but annoying--I was ready to relax in one of my favorite restaurants. I sat near the window. Just after starting to enjoy myself a worker opened the window and I was uncomfortably cold. End of world? Hardly, but I was not happy. I moved to the back of the place and sat at the bar. Since no one had asked me about the window, I did not inform the waitress of my decision. They figured it out. Then, at the bar, I was treated to the conversation of a young man and woman about a series of novels she is writing. This was mixed with discussions of the early life of the young man, for which he was apologetic and of which the woman was psychologically analytic. I did not eavesdrop, and do not know the details, for I was trying to read important spiritual information on my phone. But these sorts of long conversations--I believe they had been at it for an hour and it showed no signs of stopping when I left--"Another drink please"--are very typical of the Dark Hermetic Epoch. The "Dark" here is suggestive of dreams. The dreams of the woman's novel, and those of the man's past, were being mixed together and analyzed or celebrated endlessly. It's called chewing the fat, or the cud; it is REminiscence and sometimes REmonstrance and sometimes REthinking or REcanting or REviewing. Just as in the Mercury REtrograde period. You will find yourself and others doing it a great deal in the coming weeks (the end of the DHE is June 7). 

3. On a happy note, this Sunday morning I found myself happily, peacefully, even blissfully remembering some happenings and scenes I enjoyed with my relatives many years ago. It was is if they were right there. I had to do some repair work which my Dad had taught me as a youth and I said "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how to do this." Then he was right there. So were my mother, a little later, and my Aunt Ruth. It was a beautiful REminiscence of an exalted sort, as if I were with them in a semi-heaven world. These sorts of blissful remembrances may come to you in coming weeks.

4. Also, with or without such experiences, we can, in meditative states--just sitting or standing--feel that we are poised above everything. This is a sort of silence of the mind combined with a beyond-the-mental perception of "the fitness of things" in the light of eternity. I hope some such reassuring realizations will be coming to all of us. 

For Monday, despite the moon being void-of-course as well as |the challenging third|, Venus is in a strong position and trine Saturn, plus the Part of Fortune in the 5th sector of romance or entertainment, so "escape into beauty" becomes a theme of the day insofar as you become free of necessary tasks, which of course ought not to be neglected. Whatever offers you an escape into beauty, tangibly or intangibly, could be food for your soul.

{Monday} /Intermittent Escape into Beauty\

Cosmic Piper

P. S. Today I tweeted this:  VividHugh ‏@VividHugh  

The fear of the Lord--the beginning of wisdom--means that we need to realize that we ought to be worthy of His gifts.

Forecasts for Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 April 2016

Saturday 16 April 2016

\Seeking/

Moon in Leo-->Virgo   ***

/moon goes void-of-course at 10:50a PT | 1:50p ET | 5:50p UT   ** /

until it enters Virgo at 4:24p PT | 7:24p ET | 11:24p UT   ***

|Karmically difficult or sobering third| of this week begins at 6:20p PT | 9:20p ET | 1:20a(Su) UT   ** |

Probably a smooth drift before the moon goes void-of-course.

Then, with Luna forming a square to Mars in Sagittarius, issues involving anger or irritability, or else if you can control that, a study of something important.

The square of Mars and Neptune, often escape through booze or drugs, is accented especially later in the day when Luna begins to aspect those two planets, and also tomorrow. So we need to be careful in that area, and use that essentially "seeking" energy to seek the Divine rather than mere pleasant escape. If the two can be combined to some extent, as in enjoying wonderful music, art, drama, or literature, fine. You may choose to wind down earlier than expected tonight when outward things lose their oomph. 

{Saturday}  /Seeking\

P. S. On the Dark Hermetic Epoch front:  1. Yesterday I was unable to post birthday wishes on Facebook for some unexplained reason and had to write a friend separately with a birthday wish. On another friend's page there was no way to post birthday wishes and all of his friends including me had to "comment" on one wish which had been posted there separately. So then I had to endure all the emails from Facebook telling me that "somebody else has commented on such-and-such" when it was just someone else wishing my friend a happy birthday. DHE big-time. 

Secondly, a neighbor (not the wonderful neighbor some of you know and about whom I have written here, he is doing very well for himself) is talking very angrily to himself, or rather yelling, as I expected, since during the last DHE he did that to the point of being re-committed to a hospital. He just got out last week and now, as of today, has started his flipped-out behavior again. I am sympathetic and I pray for him but it is not pleasant. You may note that people with behavioral disorders will have special problems during any DHE. 

Thirdly, I just five minutes ago got an email from "myself," hugh.higgins@gmail.com, addressed to myself with a spam advertisement. This is very bad because that means someone is using my email address to send spam. Google warned me about this three weeks ago and I changed my password. Then today it happens again. Do I change my password again? Every day? If you get any spam ads from me, please let me know!

Sunday 17 April 2016

\Mercy Given and Received/

Moon in Virgo

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

** |

The moon's trine with Jupiter on one side and Mercury on the other (a Grand Trine in earth signs) brings out something intelligent and intelligible. This may help you feel on top of things despite the emotionally challenging (or depressing) |difficult third| period lasting until Tuesday morning. Essentially, that is a challenge to live up to our standards, or else feel bad about ourselves and life in general. It is a challenge to live up to the Sermon on the Mount and forgive our enemies--those who seem hostile or inimical--and to be merciful. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." (Matthew 5:7) 

A religious or spiritual consciousness can be essential while Luna is with Jupiter and both opposed to Neptune in Pisces the sign of spiritual rather than merely material reality. 

{Sunday}  /Mercy Given and Received\

Cosmic Piper

P. S. Sai Baba says it as if he knows:  Embodiments of Love, God is present in everyone. He resides in every heart. So do not confine God to a temple, a mosque or a church. Where a human is, there God is. God takes the form of a human (Daivam manusha rupena). As you forget and do not realise this important fact, you indulge in criticism of others. Whom are you criticising? Whom do you adore? Enquire for yourself. God is present in all. If you criticise others, you criticise God. Whoever you salute, it reaches God(Sarva jeeva namaskaram Keshavam prati gacchati) and whoever you insult or ridicule, it also reaches God! (Sarva jeeva thiraskaram Keshavam prati gacchati). Right from this moment, embark on a new life giving up bad thoughts and evil qualities. Purify your heart. Let your thoughts, words and deeds be sacred. Only then will your life be blissful.

Forecast for Friday 15 April 2016

Friday 15 April 2016

^Some Potentials Realized^

Moon in Leo   ***

A new reader ask, "What is a Dark Hermetic Epoch?" Those of you who have been reading these reports for years know what it is. I will be re-explaining it over the next days and weeks. Briefly, it has the Mercury Retrograde cycle of about three weeks at its center, with two weeks or more on both sides of that, so that it adds up to something a little less than 60 days, while the alternating Bright Hermetic Epochs last for a little more than 60 days. The current DHE goes from April 14 to June 7. The terms Bright and Dark are metaphoric and mean a lot more than "hard" and "easy." If you think of what you do during the day, usually, versus what you do at night, usually, you will get some of the picture. The Bright Epochs are more rational and straightforward; the Dark Epochs are more intuitive (sometimes confusing) and circuitous (sometimes chaotic). But in reality neither is "better" or "worse" any more than the night is worse than the day. We need both. Without either we would be in trouble. The Bright is more practical and the Dark more dreamy.

That doesn't mean we can't shift for ourselves, think intelligently, and perform our roles, tasks, and jobs during the Dark Hermetic Epoch, just that the way we do it is likely to be, often, "out of pattern," perhaps more interesting, perhaps more free-form, perhaps too lackadaisical or even irresponsible. That is something we need to prevent. 

This time, on the very first day of the DHE, which was Thursday, 

1. My computer had shut down during the night. Why? It was supposed to be "sleeping" only. I do not shut it down at night. But this time it shut down totally unexpectedly.

2. Getting online took more time than usual. Google Chrome, my browser, would not work and I had to re-download it. Really annoying. 

3. A website which I use almost daily was not functioning properly. Information I had saved on it for 8 years was not available. That is the very first time that has ever happened, and it happened on the first day of a Dark Hermetic Epoch. It was something totally out of my control and for which I was not responsible. I hope the situation is temporary but don't know. Uncertainty is often something we have to deal with during a DHE. The seeming mechanical or technological failures and delays are typical also, usually associated with Mercury Retrograde, but the DHE is all similar to the MR period. 

4. I made a few more mistakes than usual in entering some information and had to spend more time than usual correcting the entries. 

5. I felt rather disoriented, although I carried on with most of my planned activities. It took more willpower than usual to force myself to do some of the things I always do. 

6. On the positive side, there were surprises, such as a restaurant I passed by having the Democratic Debate going, so I stopped in to watch it. I was glad to do so in a public place where people applauded, making it more interesting. But watching the debate took a couple hours and now I am behind with my schedule for the day and it's near bedtime. You will notice things like this happening. "Out of pattern." You take a side path to do something interesting and thereby put a dent in the "rational" schedule you had planned for yourself. This is either bad or good. Tonight I think it was good for me--I didn't want to miss that debate. It just made for some inconvenience, but also one task I was going to do tonight has to go by the board because I don't have time. 

Mercury is the mind, symbolically, and man (or wo-man) is the "manomaya Purusha" in Sanskrit parlance, the "mental being." Our minds go in different directions during the Dark Hermetic (Hermes is Mercury) Epoch. That can be bad or good. It can be fascinating.

Friday has good aspects. Mercury forms a Grand Trine with Jupiter and Pluto in earth signs. That is good for finance, business, and practical planning, or for making decisions of a practical nature.  During the DHE we need to be more careful about important long-range decisions and even avoid major ones when possible, sticking to what has already proved itself during the preceding Bright Hermetic Epoch. But today's Grand Trine mitigates that advice. When you think about financial or practical planning you probably know what you are doing. (Plus, the DHE gets decidedly "worse" or more difficult during its center, the Mercury Retrograde period, and we will not be there until April 28). 

Also today there is another Grand Trine formed by the moon with Saturn, Uranus and the sun. You can sense who you are and what your purposes are, whether or not you put that into verbal form. Your innermost self may be more conscious of its reality and its nature than usual. This wants to take more cogent form in outward manifestation, and the other Grand Trine in earth signs makes that possible.

{Friday} ^Some Potentials Realized^

Cosmic Piper