Message for Friday 1 September 2017

Friday 1 September 2017

\Open to the Extraordinaire/

Moon in Capricorn

Something that one has worked out in connection with money seems at a favorable transition point. Richness is a matter of attitude toward money and discretion in using it.

People are seeking intimacy despite hard-edged differences among them. Those then become soft-edged.

Some may find that travel plans are delayed, and that could be favorable. Or, if one must travel, calm and lack of excitement are recommended. Some individuals who feel angered may be contentious internally if not externally. They feel injustice in social life or the economy or political opinions and are hard-pressed to restrain their tongues.

Others will feel drawn to the strange, mysterious and sublime. Nature's mysteries are ever-freshly-awakening. There can be happy lightness in the variety of happenings and occurrences. A feeling of prosperity could make one sociable and generous. 

Research, systematic and with tabulation, could be worth one's time or at least considered or mapped out. One can do this while Mercury is retrograde (until Tuesday), with interesting results, though it takes more time and is susceptible to later revision. Easier and more natural is the intuitive and exalted, even up to the level of exercising spiritual faculties. We sometimes do this in dreams, rarely consciously, but it could happen at a time like this. We aspire beyond the ordinary.

{Friday} /Open to the Extraordinaire\

Cosmic Piper

Message for Thursday 31 August 2017

Thursday 31 August 2017

\Internal Courage/

Moon in Sagittarius-->Capricorn
|Karmically serious or challenging third| of this week continues until evening
/moon goes void-of-course very late Wednesday or very early Thursday at times given yesterday
until it enters Capricorn at 1:20a PT | 4:20a ET | 8:20a UT

We sometimes seem buried in details which are boring on the surface; exciting only if we glimpse the purpose they are serving. It could be a mistake to go out roaming, and more helpful to stay in your headquarters whether workplace or home.

Contention and strife are possible, or you feel them internally even if you restrain yourself from confronting those who disagree.

Your assurance lies within yourself, yet "the constellations in the sky" can give you reassurance by the signs and signatures they present, as can any "coincidence" or set of coincidences pointing you toward something brilliant and satisfying.

As an explorer or discoverer you are able to set up temporary shanties, or "make camp," wherever adventure takes you. However, in accord with paragraph 1, this could be an internal, mental "making camp" rather than roaming about physically. Delightful and interesting little aspects of life ramify out in all directions wherever your attention is attracted.

It is good to refuse to get stuck in connections with people which have turned out to be pointless in the past. Indolent and wasteful or uncaring people do not help you. Carelessness and dreaming, a lack of vigilance, are not helpful either.

However, you have talents and willpower which could bring you acclaim eventually even if no one seems to be noticing at present. Courage could lead on to eminence.

{Thursday} /Internal Courage\

Cosmic Piper

Message for Wednesday 30 August 2017

Wednesday 30 August 2017

^Winning Popularity^

Moon in Sagittarius

|Karmically serious or challenging third| of this week continues (until tomorrow afternoon)

/moon goes void-of-course at 10:43p PT | 1:43a(Th) ET | 5:43a(Th) UT

Charubel says of Mars's location today that one should avoid low places such as cellars or basements. Good advice for the people of southeast Texas, at least! He also says that one ought to move south; or, in a daily reading, I take it to mean one might have good luck by wandering south of one's home or workplace. If you try it, let us know what happens.

One wants to be popular. A smile from a friendly or interesting person can mean a lot. Yet it appears one is likely to feel it is one's job or work which gives one the benefit of applause. 

There are contrasts between the old-fashioned or conservative, in taste, and the up-to-date or starkly trendy. One need not worry where one fits in this spectrum; most of us are at one end of it in some ways, at the other end in others. 

In serving people, do not forget your own needs. By taking care of those you will also benefit others, because you will not be at your best in service if you feel resentful of others "using" you. Yet used we must be.

Luna trine Mars and Uranus in fire signs, among other factors, suggests something martial or manful, assertive or competitive, soldierly or athletic. One wants to demonstrate one's prowess.

In all the shifts and changes of the Mercury-retrograde period, we still feel exultation at times when there is a fresh beginning, a genesis of something unexpected, though we know not how long it shall last. As complementation to the previous paragraph there can also be quiet success amid natural beauties, and mellow contemplation.

{Wednesday} ^Winning Popularity^

Cosmic Piper

Message for Tuesday 29 August 2017

Tuesday 29 August 2017

^Reserved Carefulness^

Moon in Sagittarius

|Karmically serious or challenging third| of this week is upon us (until Thursday afternoon)

Sagittarius is an optimistic sign, and Luna therein is sextile Jupiter, so that will help us maintain hope and good feelings during the |difficult third| period. Because of the latter, we have to keep up with whatever makes our conscience feel that we are doing something important or helpful for the world or for someone other than just ourselves. 

Here is what I wrote earlier today (Monday):

I don't know how many readers think about Mercury retrograde and the void-of-course times and the other information I provide. I don't hear from anyone about all that, or very seldom. But I am convinced that if you were to watch it closely you would see what it means and it would help.

Today, for example, and it's just after noon where I am:

While Mercury was retrograde today (until September 5) and the moon void-of-course also (until 12:49p my time) the following happened:

1. I did some good spiritual study, prayer, and meditation. That can go very well during such periods.

2. I tried hard to keep up with my daily Hatha Yoga routines. These kept being interrupted but I kept trying.

3. Just as I was in the middle of one of them, there was a loud knock on the door. I couldn't imagine who. It was a postal woman delivering a package for a neighbor that I had ordered for him. Good for him, but for me it set me back in the yoga session and I forgot where I was and had to do some of the exercise over again. 

4. Then a horribly loud engine-machine noise began outside my window. Someone working on the water system next door. It was relentless, like 20 cars being revved up at once, and not stopping. 

5. Then, when I could hardly hear myself think, an unexpected phone call. It was one of the funds I invest in, informing me that the fund was going to be liquidated this week and I would have to REmove my money from it. This was not happy news for me because it was a good fund. This is not only typical of the Mercury retrograde period---revisions, revamping, re-investing in this case--but likewise of the void-of-course period of a few hours this morning. I had to ask multiple questions of the fund REpresentative about what it meant and how to navigate the situation. The horrendous noise did not help. And, yes, something--this fund--was going into the void!

6. I informed my friend by text that his package was here but that I was going to take a bath. That went all right, but I put on a pair of socks which, when they were on my feet, did not seem clean so I changed them again. REpeat, REdo while Mercury is REtrograde. Even in tiny things like that, it happens. 

7. Then I checked my forecast for Monday to see if the moon was void-of-course still. It was (a voided pair of socks!),  but I found that I had put a wrong time on the moon's entrance into Sagittarius. I immediately corrected it in all the online blogs, and send a correction to the Yahoo groups, just minutes before the event. I can blame my mistake there on myself but also on Mercury retrograde, last night when I wrote the forecast. One needs to be extra careful at these times. I had to correct the mistake while the moon was void-of-course, and it certainly felt like my effort was going into the void, because it was too late for anyone in the Pacific time zone to benefit by my correction, most likely. 

8. Another knock on the door. This was my neighbor coming for his package. No problem. I checked the time. He knocked on the door at 12:49 p.m. Pacific time, the exact minute Luna went into Sagittarius! The package was void-of-course for me, when it arrived, interrupting my yoga, but not void-of-course for him, the recipient. Fascinating.

9. At the spiritual level, the earlier morning was highly valuable from a Retrograde viewpoint. I read in the Gospels that Jesus had said, "The Son of man has the right on earth to forgive sins" and then he said to a paralyzed man "Man, your sins are forgiven you" and then he was healed.  I went into a long prayerful period of reviewing sins I may have committed toward friends in the past, some of them more than 20 years ago. I asked forgiveness for neglecting or ill-treating friends. This was a spiritually valuable use of the Retrograde period, and I recommend it. REpentance is not depressing but uplifting, when undertaken patiently and with faith that there is divine help for the sincere.

Now I have the afternoon ahead of me. I am hearing some very old music on the radio, unplanned by me, something I heard first in my boyhood. That is typical of Mercury retrograde and the whole Dark or Slow Hermetic Epoch, living partly in the past. 

We need all the help we can get because things do not always pan out smoothly during any Mercury retrograde period (until September 5). Today I was chatting with a stranger for a while; astrology came up because he saw me looking at daily charts; studying the fight between McGregor and Mayweather. I could have picked the winner, but did not do so, not having looked up the fighters' birthdates beforehand. The stranger was skeptical of astrology, which is not unusual. I looked at him inquiringly for a few seconds and said "You seem Taurus to me." He said that I was right. But this did not end his skepticism. I guess he thought it was pure luck that I picked his sign correctly when the chances were just one out of twelve! I find that nothing convinces skeptics. They seem to have an illness of some kind. But we carry on with this difficult science or semi-science which is definitely not a pseudo-science. 

On Tuesday there is modesty, a holding back of affection perhaps, or an interest in someone but a refusal to get lost in pursuit of her or him. Even though feelings are generous, there is delicacy and reserve. There is caution, cunning, and subtle intelligence, with a desire to do what is right.

Charubel says of Mars's degree that we ought to go north of our birthplace. I take that to mean, in the daily readings, north of our residence or maybe our place of work. So if you go out wandering, head north and see if that enhances your luck! Let us know what happens. Or, if you are happily centered at home or at work, ignore this bit of advice.

{Tuesday} ^Reserved Carefulness^

Cosmic Piper

Praise ye the Lord, Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights.

Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.

Let them praise the name of the Lord Jehovah: for he commanded, and they were created.

He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass. 

Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:

Let them praise the name of the Lord [Jehovah]: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven. 

--Psalm 148

Message for Monday 28 August 2017

Monday 28 August 2017

^Gradual Recovery from Stress^

Moon in Scorpio-->Sagittarius

/moon goes void-of-course at 2:39a PT | 5:39a ET | 9:39a UT

until it enters Sagittarius at 12:49p PT | 3:49p ET | 7:49p UT

The void-of-course period covers most of the day in the East of the U. S. and so one ought to be careful of saying or doing things which offend or disturb others (Venus still square Uranus while Luna squares Mars, Mercury and the sun). There will be anger, covert or overt, and even outrage in some cases so we need to remain calm, and hopeful that human as well as physical storms will pass. 

Then by late afternoon and early evening, when Luna has entered Sagittarius and is trining Venus in Leo, things should be more hopeful. It could even be a sort of party evening, recovering from earlier stresses. 

Amazing Timing: Many years ago when I was a very young astrologer, Marc 

Edmund Jones, in a hotel conference room containing no more than 20 individuals, said, with a meaningful look in my direction, "The orb is ten degrees." He said it as if to answer a question, for I had been pondering it, and he was very psychic. He meant, for all I knew, the orb in birth horoscopes, but I have never forgotten that or the way he said it, and I have found that it applies also to the current transits of the planets as applied to everyone.

Here is some strong evidence for that approach: Venus square Jupiter is an interesting aspect. I have observed it for decades and find that always it shows, among other things, extreme differences of opinion which threaten friendships or relationships. Why? Venus is love; Jupiter is sagacity or insagacity, wisdom or nonwisdom, in a word, opinions right or wrong. So there is something inharmonious (square) between your loved one or friend or employer or associate, anyone, and your opinions or his or her opinions. You disagree and feel strongly about it whether you say anything or not. Opinions threaten love; love threatens opinions. 

When did this aspect recur, of late? It began, by the ten-degree orb, on August 7. A few days later on August 12 was the famous Charlottesville demonstration and counter-demonstration and then began the country-wide furor, people accusing each other of racism or insensitivity or stupidity or callousness or "not caring enough" or whatever, on and on, and it got very rancorous. The aspect by ten degrees lasted through Saturday August 26, this past weekend. I am not saying that the furor or anger has receded completely but probably it will be partly forgotten or put away in memory closets for the time being. 

What made it worse this time was a concurrent square of Venus with Uranus, beginning on August 16 and continuing through Friday September 1. This seemed to double the bitterness and anger. Uranus is abrupt, decisive, and when squared with Venus it can be the end (temporarily or permanently) of a friendship, relationship or alliance. And so it was. How many individuals resigned from Trump teams over all this brouhaha? Quite a few, and others came close to doing so. Venus square Uranus can be a "cut and run" aspect. "You are crazy, wrong, insensitive, unworthy, and I am done with you." Exit stage left, or right.

Not a lot of fun, and yet sometimes under this aspect people seem to relish the excitement of "cutting and running." "Now he will know how much I meant to him! Now he will realize how wrong he is!" 

Really?

Oh well, it is part of the astro-panorama as related to human beings, and is pretty good evidence for the much-despised doctrine of Gurdgieff and Ouspensky that "people are machines." That is, controlled by the planets. 

Of course I don't really believe that, but the amount of truth in it is testimony to the lack of self-control and self-awareness in human beings. One mission of astrology is to heighten that self-awareness and self-control so that we are no longer "slaves of the planets" or of the cosmic momentums the planets represent. Rather we can find the best way of using each aspect. In the case of Venus square Jupiter, it might be expanding one's sensibilities to appreciate other viewpoints. Or it might be taking a firm stand on something (Jupiter) yet finding a way of making that stand palatable or understandable to loved ones (Venus). 

I sometimes try to escape from the ten-degree orb, and recently I used a seven and a half degree orb in my daily charts. This has some value, I think, and yet: I was pondering the trajectory and time-life of Hurricane Harvey yesterday, and noted that although the sun is nearing an opposition with Neptune in Pisces, certainly an indicator of the ocean! (Neptune in his own sign, both ruling the sea) as well as rain!, the 7.5 degree orb did not put that opposition in my charts until Tuesday August 29. Well, the aftereffects of the storm and the rain will still be there, in fact it may still be raining then, as is predicted, and perhaps the suffering of those affected will be reaching a peak because they are tired of their temporary homes and want to get back and clean up, but cannot because of the flooding (Neptune in Pisces). However, the storm hit on Friday evening August 25. So I went back to the ephemeris, and lo and behold, by the favored 10-degree orb the sun began its opposition with Neptune at 10:54 p.m. Central U.S. Time on the 25th. Wikipedia says that the storm hit the land (Rockport, Texas) "around" 10 p.m. Central. So the ten-degree opposition began within 54 minutes of the hurricane hitting the land. Of course many areas, and the majority of the people affected, did not get the strong winds and rain until later when the aspect was in full play. 

One ought to say that in fact the ancient astrologers gave the sun and moon larger orbs than ten degrees, reserving that smaller orb for the interplanetary aspects, not those involving the sun or moon, so in that case the sun's opposition with Neptune would have begun earlier on the 25th or even a couple days earlier. I have used, at times, a 12 degrees and 52 minutes orb for the sun and moon.

By ten degrees the sun's opposition with Neptune will end on September 15. It is interesting that both the hurricane and the Charlottesville brouhaha occurred during Mercury retrograde (center of the Dark Hermetic Epoch from July 24 through September 18). That made everything harder by a factor of two or three. Probably by mid-September the people of southeast Texas will be back on a more secure footing. 

And all of us . . . 

{Monday} ^Gradual Recovery from Stress^

Cosmic Piper

5. Great is our Lord [Jehovah], and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

6. The Lord lifteth up the meek:

--Psalm 147

Message for Weekend of Saturday-Sunday 26-27 August

Weekend of Saturday-Sunday 26-27 August 2017

~Weathering Storms of Delay~

Saturday 26 August 2017

/moon goes void-of-course at 10:40p(F) PT | 1:40a(Sa) ET | 5:40a(Sa) UT

until it enters Scorpio at 1:54a PT | 4:54a ET | 8:54a UT

< moon in the Via Combusta

Sunday 27 August 2017

Moon in Scorpio

> moon in the Via Combusta 

until 7:01a PT | 10:01a ET | 2:01p UT

Yes, we need extreme patience. As I warned in the forecast for Friday, with both Mercury retrograde and the moon in the Via Combusta, things can be pretty peculiar, upsetting, divergent from pattern, disturbing. That remains the situation today and tomorrow. So we need to rely on the superphysical to control and adjust the physical for our safety. That means prayer, for those who believe; plus whatever spiritual and mental skills they have developed. Physical skills also, of course, but at times like this such seem almost useless unless backed up by the spiritual and mental, which are primary. Spiritual most of all. G*d reigns.

(People in Texas may be saying, "He also rains." The more they realize this is a spiritual challenge for them, the better they will fare.)

Political confusion. Resignations. You must remember, if you have read these reports for the past year, that I often note that there are more resignations when Mercury is retrograde. Unfortunately, also more incidents of people going bonkers---at least three violent ones Friday. One involved the Indian guru (or pretended guru, depending on your estimation), Saint Dr. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan, who was convicted of a rape (fifteen years ago) yesterday and his followers went on a rampage. 30 apparently were killed. This is very sad because by all accounts the guru, though flashy and popular, a filmmaker, actor in his own films, and rap singer, on and on, was also very serious about trying to solve social problems in India, where that is very needed. Who knows what really happened, or whether the old charges were real or politically motivated? I do not claim to know but am as suspicious as his followers. 

You don't need me to elucidate more about the endless Trump dramas, which seem to be even worse, or less coherent, at this time. 

And, of course, the hurricane. I have said over the past eight to ten years that there are more serious storms and natural disasters during the Mercury retrograde periods. This is not the first time I have seen it. I have even said that FEMA and other disaster-relieving groups out to take heed of Cosmic Piper and beef up their staffs and preparation during Dark Hermetic Epochs. It is fascinating that the moon is in the Via Combusta on the very days the storm is going to hit the body of Christ, that is, the town named that way in Latin, Corpus Christi, Texas. And so my saying that the storm is a spiritual challenge seems verified by this impressive signature. Let us pray.

It is scheduled, with the heavy rains, to last for maybe several days, through Tuesday. That has an odd resonance with what is happening to Ram Rahim Singh, for he is in jail and awaits sentencing on Tuesday the 28th. The moon will probably be in Scorpio then, square Mars in Leo, his sun-sign, while Scorpio is his Mars-sign (in his birth-chart, August 15, 1967). Quite fascinating. He has 50 million followers. Nothing is coincidental in India, land of mystery. Rahim's birthday is the same as Sri Aurobindo's and as the birthday of India, August 15, 1947. Some inner storm is raging there as a material one rages in Texas.

In your personal life, you will have to follow your own star, and not be dissuaded or led astray by events which come up to disturb you or challenge your faith. But you ought to realize that things are taking longer than you had hoped. Mercury turns direct on September 5, and the next Bright Hermetic Epoch begins September 19. You do not have to be in despair or rage because things may be taking that long. With this information you can keep at whatever is most meaningful to you, gently but persistently, though taking helpful breaks, and not punish yourself or go all panicky because you don't get quick results. 

{Saturday and Sunday}  ~Weathering Storms of Delay~

Cosmic Piper

}Patience through the Tangled Path{

Friday 25 August 2017

}Patience Through the Tangled Path{

Moon in Libra

< moon in the Via Combusta

Guys, I am finding it hard to keep to my schedule of the daily forecasts based on the astrological positions and the symbols of the zodiac as delineated by three old clairvoyants and three interpreters of them (one of those three myself). 

It is a lot of work and takes a lot of time. I want to do good work and would not resent the time it takes except that these are very peculiar times.

We here in America can hardly stop thinking about Donald Trump and this tends to make us helpless.

Consider: Mercury is retrograde. This is always hard for everyone. It shows something very close to insanity, in most of us. Consider: Donald Trump has both the sun and Uranus in Gemini. He is therefore "ruled" by Mercury, and when it goes backward (retrograde) he is even more strange and unpredictable than usual. Mercury went retrograde on August 12, the very day of the Charlottesville parade and protests. Trump has been blamed unfairly for those, and I have defended him in that situation. But he has been insufferable along other paths, I am afraid, and he needs an astrologer such as Cosmic Piper to help him navigate these Mercury-retrograde periods. If he loses his job he will probably lose it during one of them.

I had planned to write a long diagnosis of what all this might mean, in relation to Trump's birth-chart or horoscope. That I could do. But it takes an enormous amount of time and research to write anything credible and honorable. 

When will I have that time? Not now.

And so all I can say is, Be careful. The moon is in the Via Combusta, one-twelfth of the zodiac, until Monday (the second half of Libra and first half of Scorpio) which has been observed by ancient and current astrologers as indicating confusion or loss of morale--because of a cosmic reshuffling of things. 

Not only are we in that period of the month today through Sunday, but we are in the Mercury Retrograde period (August 12-September 4) when people literally go berserk. They are nuts. Your neighbors, your mate, your co-workers and your boss are nuts. You will have to be patient with them. They can't help it.

So all I can say is, Buck up. Be patient. Wait for better things. 

I am in prison too. We are all in prison.

The T square in cardinal signs today (with the moon in Libra ticking it off) suggests "Too many irons in the fire" and a too-broad spread of interests and intentions. We need to narrow down. A white farmhouse in the mountains is something you could meditate upon until you get a glimmer of intuitive understanding.

People feel that others are against them, even if that is not true. There is opposition, "crossed swords." Where does it go? We have to find out patiently.

What is your inheritance? What will help you overcome obstacles? Why is that so uncomfortable? You want to defend the weak, with cool courage. You can. Let's try that, in whatever position we happen to be.

You may feel insensitive to what the world demands from you. "Why bother? I am I. Let them suffer if they think I should be something else." 

Long and patient research along some line will be useful to you and your career.

Have your projects fallen, collapsed? Have you followed along a false trail? There is still hope. You have a strong sense of freedom within you and self-reliance plus intuitive judgment. So you can get on a more prospering path.

{Friday}  {Patience Through the Tangled Path}

Cosmic Piper

Message for Thursday 24 August 2017

Thursday 24 August 2017

}Protecting Sanity{

Moon in Libra

We need to protect our sanity, and we need protective sanity. That is partly because Mercury is retrograde. It began on August 12, the very day of the Charlottesville incidents. And people have been going berserk. Just because others around you seem to be losing it, you do not have to. I shall not repeat my commentaries on the crazy politics of it. But at these times we get embroiled in too much, worry too much, and need to cut back and find our own proper, more narrow pathway, preferably one with which we are familiar and in which we are competent. 

The water-wheel turns in the stream running through the ashram.

The Master sits at his window above. He ponders the political

Situation, a threat to his nation. He weighs the value of contradictory

Courses, consults horoscopes, watches the wheel turn.

Men from the army consult him. They have peered and peeped  at the

Enemy, measured strategies, reconnoitered. Something audacious?

The guru was a bareback rider in his youth. But the general is solemn,

Raised from poverty, agnostic and grave. He does not look hopeful.

He was not qualified for all his positions. He sees the stream

As a dry riverbed, the wheel as a broken bridge. 

Too often he has felt tethered, as a horse fearing attack

By a tiger. The guru commiserates. He senses an answer.

He founded a school of yoga, not a military academy.

But he removes the general's fears and he sees a way.

{Thursday} {Protecting Sanity}

Cosmic Piper

Message for Wednesday 23 August 2017

Wednesday 23 August 2017

\Riding the Waves through Moderation/

Moon in Virgo-->Libra

/moon goes void-of-course at 1:03p PT | 4:03p ET | 8:03p UT

until it enters Libra at 6:06p PT | 9:06p ET | 1:06a(Th) UT

|Karmically serious or challenging third| of this week continues (until fairly early Thursday morning)

It's hard to avoid politics at this time in America. Part of the reason is that Saturn is almost exactly opposite the U. S. Mars, which is, according to one widely received moment for the "birth" of America (by the signing of the Declaration of Independence) almost exactly on the U. S. ascendant. Read yesterday's report about all that for more information, as it relates to Donald Trump's chart. That birth-chart reveals him as a mini-"avatar" of the United States, at least of its Mars, male, and military side. 

I have written here, especially during the campaign, of his faults and lies. He is problematic, as most of us know. However, there are good features in his chart also. And in his behavior and policies, although some of course refuse to recognize that he does anything at all right.

We are fortunate that we have a constitutional government rather than a monarchy. So there are plenty of forces in place to contain and ameliorate his worst features or choices. That is why I am not an extreme anti-Trumpite and feel that I need to speak of his better features.

For example: I watched his rally in Phoenix, posted on the New York Times (I commend them for doing so since they are one of his chief opponents in the Press) tonight. It is worth watching and I recommend it if you want to try to understand the man and the near future of the nation.

Especially I recommend the earlier segment in which he discusses how the media (almost all of them) distorted and in fact lied about (my words) his statements after the Charlottesville tragedy. That you ought to watch because Trump was right about that. I myself had read very carefully all of his words in his three statements after the incident, and he very directly and without any wavering condemned the racism, in fact very eloquently. 

And Trump is right: The media, almost all of them, literally lied (my words) about his statements, implying that he was a racist. It was a shameless thing to do and it consolidates Trump's arguments that the media are out to destroy him. 

Mercury was and is retrograde during the Charlottesville incident itself and during all the hoopla about it and the media's lying about what Trump actually said. They did lie. There was nothing in his comments which implied racism and he did in fact condemn that, and the neo-Nazis, and the white supremacists, and the KKK, in those exact words. He condemned all three of them without equivocation. How the media turned this around into an endorsement of racism is beyond me, unless, as Trump says, they in fact are lying about him in order to destroy him.

Perhaps it is partly his own "karma" for his insisting that Barack Obama was not born in America and was a Muslim, a lie he perpetrated for many years and did not stop perpetrating even when Obama's birth certificate was produced. He lied about Obama, and now he is being lied about. Karma pure and simple perhaps.

Still, the media ought to be ashamed of themselves in this case. They consciously and deliberately distorted, in fact lied about, what Trump actually said. Shame! That includes CNN, the New York Times, Newsweek, Time, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, on and on. They are not earning very good karma themselves.

Let's not either denigrate or glorify Trump, but consider him dispassionately, especially with the help of his horoscope. There is a great deal more to be said about it which I shall probably be doing here.

Meanwhile I am going to post some wise words from David Brooks of the New York Times:

Donald Trump is not the answer to this nation’s problems, so the great questions of the moment are: If not Trump, what? What does the reaction to Trump look like?

For some people, the warriors of the populist right must be replaced by warriors of the populist left. For these people, Trump has revealed an ugly authoritarian tendency in American society that has to be fought with relentless fervor and moral clarity.

For others, it’s Trump’s warrior mentality itself that must be replaced. Warriors on one side inevitably call forth warriors on the other, and that just means more culture war, more barbarism, more dishonesty and more dysfunction.

The people in this camp we will call moderates. Like most of you, I dislike the word moderate. It is too milquetoast. But I’ve been inspired by Aurelian Craiutu’s great book “Faces of Moderation” to stick with this word, at least until a better one comes along.

Moderates do not see politics as warfare. Instead, national politics is a voyage with a fractious fleet. Wisdom is finding the right formation of ships for each specific circumstance so the whole assembly can ride the waves forward for another day. Moderation is not an ideology; it’s a way of coping with the complexity of the world.

There will be more of this from Brooks as we go along.

I am not turning this into a political blog but the exigencies of the moment demand this approach, I feel.

{Wednesday}  \Riding the Waves through Moderation/

Cosmic Piper

P. S. Further on in Trump's Phoenix speech he is getting a little weird about some of his favorite obsessions such as trade policies, jobs, etc., and seems to be distorting the facts in his usual style. This is something he has got to change if he is going to be respected. His speech on Afghanistan on Monday was very respectable, whether it was strategically wise or not. He ought to find that mode and stay with it rather than sounding like a petty charlatan-tyrant as he did again toward the end of the Phoenix rally.

Message for Tuesday 22 August 2017

Tuesday 22 August 2017

\Self-Maintained Good Fortune/

Moon in Virgo

|Karmically serious or challenging third| of this week is with us (until Thursday forenoon)

It is a big time for Donald Trump. 

And it is happening at the eclipse, perhaps not coincidentally.

But there is more than that. At the time of the eclipse, the sun and moon were at 29 Leo, within three degrees of Trump's natal Mars at 26 Leo. Very important in that Mars rules the military. Trump has surrounded himself with military officers, including General John Kelly, General Mattis, General McMaster, and several others. Trump has Mars in the first house, in Leo, with Leo rising. Anyone who does not sense what that means does not know astrology. A very strong, affirmative leader who says what he thinks and wins allegiance (especially perhaps from Mars-type individuals, males and military sorts, although in fact woman also voted for him in droves) because he exudes confidence and believes deeply in his own destiny. Leo is in color yellow or gold (the sun) and Mars is red, and so we have his red cap upon his yellow locks. 

So, one astrological factor is Trump's very important Mars being emphasized by the eclipse, which turned out to be the very day he gave his brilliantly effective speech outlining what he hopes to do in Afghanistan. The speech was the result of his generals' influence on him, because his initial impulse was to stay out of Afghanistan as much as possible. 

There is more. I have not been able to neglect the position of Mars in the United States birth-chart, July 4, 1776, at 20 Gemini. Planets aspecting it, especially by opposition and conjunction, have indicated very often major events in the United States government. For example, both Mars and Venus were near 20 Sagittarius (by two degrees) at the time of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, opposite the U. S. Mars in Gemini, and Kennedy himself was Gemini by sun-sign. That showed me decisively that the position of the U. S. Mars, and transiting aspects to it, are extremely important. 

And now, what do we have? First, Trump himself is Gemini and his two Gemini planets are very close to the U. S. Mars: Uranus at 17 Gemini and the sun at 22 Gemini. The U S. Mars is just about at their midpoint. And guess what? The current position of Saturn is 21 Sagittarius 11', opposite the U. S. Mars by less than a degree (by about 12 minutes of arc, very narrow). It is also, then, opposite Trump's sun by two degrees and opposite his Uranus by four degrees.

What else? Trump's moon is at 20 Sagittarius, so Saturn is conjoined to it. His Jupiter is at 17 Libra, trine his Uranus exactly, and sextile his moon; and the current transiting Jupiter is at 20 Libra, very close to his own Jupiter (favorable) and exactly sextile his moon (favorable) and trine his sun and Uranus (favorable). 

And so when some astrologers predicted bad things for him during or after the eclipse, I wondered how they could have ignored all that. The fact that Jupiter now is in good aspect to his sun, moon, and Uranus, and also near its natal position, suggests good fortune, at least for the moment.

He is turning out to be a military leader, and if not a savvy and effective one then at least an impressive one. His speech on his Afghanistan decision, which I just watched, will endear him to his followers, many of whom will feel their loyalty to him increasing. 

I am not saying that all of his decisions will be correct or in the best interest of the United States or the world. That would be too strong a claim to make for any leader. But when he was unexpectedly elected, although I had not predicted his win, I considered that perhaps his destiny was to be a military leader or guide the U. S. through some sort of military situation, because of his chart's evident multiple close connections with Mars in the U. S. natal chart. 

And so it is happening. Perhaps the "final cause" or "reason" for his election, in the Mind of G*d, as it were, was that he was best fitted to do something, in conjunction with his generals, utterly essential for the safety of the U. S. and the world at large. I do not know but that is a distinctive possibility. (Despite all his faults, which are evident and which I do not need to elucidate for you. They are evident from his chart, and one of the worst is Mercury square Neptune there, which tends to obscure the truth under wishful thinking or deliberate untruth. It has a higher side of stubborn idealism, which we may hope and pray he will learn to manifest.) 

We shall see.

Tuesday: Both Mars and Venus are at critical (strong) degrees. Interesting. It's a significant day, while the sun is in the final degree of Leo and the first of Virgo. It is a |karmically difficult third| day but these are not impossible, just challenging. We want to live worthy lives. 

Trump's speech yesterday, and the eclipse, occurred while the sun was exactly trine Uranus, in fire signs, quite favorable. We are "feeling our oats" or sensing who we really are and how to continue with our personal momentum toward success in our own eyes. 

That is good.

The difficulties today involve details, communications, study, research, and health. We want to be precise in diet and exercise, not giving in to temptations to indulge ourselves or be lazy. We can do that. Foregoing some things enables us to accomplish major things.

{Tuesday}  /Self-Maintained Good Fortune\

Cosmic Piper

Message for Monday 21 August 2017

Monday 21 August 2017

\Calm and Collected, Please/

Moon in Leo-->Virgo

Total Solar Eclipse exact at 11:26a PT | 2:26p ET | 6:26p UT

(These times are from the American Ephemeris. They may need adjusting to your area so you ought to check local information if viewing the eclipse. Be careful of your eyes when viewing it. Filters or else very quick glances at it, followed by looking away, are recommended.)

/moon goes void-of-course at 11:31a PT | 2:31p ET | 6:31p UT

until it enters Virgo at 1:26p PT | 4:26p ET | 8:26p UT

We are all learning to be careful what we say and how we say it. Partly this is Venus square Uranus on one side and Jupiter on the other. Friendships or alliances seem to fracture for little clear reason except that people "rub each other the wrong way." Of course this does not have to happen if we are conscious and careful. Sometimes it can be opinion differences on politics or religion (Jupiter) and sometimes differences of personal style (Uranus). 

As for fractured alliances, it is interesting to note that Steve Bannon is Scorpio; and the man who was probably most effective in removing him from Donald Trump's team, John Kelly, is Taurus; and these are opposite signs. Of course they are not always "enemies," they can even be marriage partners, but they have things to work out. Likewise, James Comey is Sagittarius and Trump Gemini, opposite signs. Some of the inter-Administration differences and battles are being worked out along traditional astrological lines, it seems. 

Mercury being retrograde, and opposed to Neptune, where did efficiency go? You can still summon it, and be sufficiently efficient to avoid disaster, but it seems hard because things seem to interrupt or intervene, or there are more unexpected details to handle than you had anticipated. One has to be a master of timing, of juggling tasks, to come through such periods without upset.

Political-Spiritual-Astrological Statement

I wish I did not have to write this, but circumstances seem to be compelling me. 

There is so much excitement, anger, self-righteous ranting and even rage on "both sides" or "all sides" of current controversies in the U. S. A. that I too have to say something.

Let's take the astrological side of this first. Mercury is retrograde! Mercury is retrograde! Mercury is retrograde!

I have to say it three times because (a) it is so important and (b) although it is one of the most popular bits of "knowledge" in astrology, still the majority believe it is a superstition. It is not. It is not. It is not a superstition.

It is real. It is real. It is real.

I have said.

So what does it mean, now? That people are going nuts. Mercury symbolizes, among other things, the human mind. The human mind can get confused; it can get tangled; and it can go berserk. It is doing all of those things, in various people, at the present time (August 12 through September 4. The Charlottesville rally was on August 12.). 

It can also be a period in which people slow down, rethink, re-estimate, re-analyze, ponder, remonstrate sometimes, repent sometimes, regather impressions and conclusions, regret mistakes, reply to others' misleading statements or accusations, and on and on. It is a big "re" time. And it is totally recognizable once you have observed two or three of these periods consciously.

And so now, after the Charlottesville "march" of about 300 (it is impossible to find a good estimate of the number but this is what I have seen) sad, confused individuals, the whole nation is going berserk with recriminations if not acrimonious verbal attacks. 

Meanwhile, at these times, facts sometimes go into the discard. Have you read a news report which carefully estimated the number of various viewpoints held by the 300 or so people in that sad little "march" in Charlottesville? I have not. I did see a Nazi flag among the marchers, and was abhorred by it. But how many would have identified themselves as Nazis, or pro-Nazi? I would guess maybe 50, maybe 30, maybe a handful? It takes only one to carry a flag. The information about who these people were is just lacking. Nobody seems to care; everyone just wants to get angry or upset. 

Many were there to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, which is what the march purportedly was about. That does not mean they were Nazis or fascists! Not everyone in the South who believes that some bits of their history ought to be preserved in monuments is a racist, in fact probably most are not. Maybe you have to be born and raised in Dixie to know Dixie. Yes, there is racism there, but not very much of a serious sort in 2017. 

But here is one problem with Mercury retrograde (hereafter referred to as MR for convenience): People jump to conclusions. If there is one Nazi flag in the march, they are all Nazis. If Trump says there are "many sides" in relation to the issues brought up by the sad little march, he is a white supremacist. Does the conclusion follow? Not at all, but too many, while Mercury is retrograde, rely on their previous conclusions (the "mind" is going backward after all) rather than on testable facts and logical thinking.

Now that I have said all this, I will probably be accused of being a Nazi, fascist, or white supremacist. People! Please. I am just asking for patience, sobriety, and common sense. 

Here is something I recommend: Read viewpoints opposing your own. I subscribe to the online New York Times. I am very weary of its now very boring anti-Trump propaganda, although of course I did not vote for him and as you know if you have been reading these reports I opposed him vociferously during the campaign. But he is the President for now, until the constitutional processes of our democracy remove him, in three and a half years or sooner, and so it behooves us to work against or for him through legal processes rather than go about like madmen with bees in their bonnets. 

Just saying.

So if you read always CNN or the New York Times, do yourself a favor and spend some time reading Townhall, the Weekly Standard, Breitbart, and Fox News. You need to try to comprehend a little about that viewpoint before you launch into attacks upon it which may be uninformed and biased. You may still hold the same opinions, but you will at least know what your opponents are saying. They are probably less crazy and racist than you think. Then your articulation of your opposition will be much wiser and more effective. 

If you always read the above "right" publications, spend some time with the New York Times, CNN, the New Yorker, Huffington Post and other "liberal" or leftist rags. We do need to try to understand one another. There is "fake" or edited-to-opinion news on both sides, including the New York Times sometimes--in that case, often through omission, that is, not reporting certain things, such as the persecution of Christians and others by Muslims around the world. The NYT is terrible at that, and culpable.

History works out through complex dialectical processes. The tiny number of the original marchers or ralliers has become almost insignificant because apparently the issues they raised were ready to burst in the national consciousness, apart from numbers. The World Spirit, in Hegel's terms, is working something out. It does not have to be with clubs and balloons filled with urine (as some of the leftist counter-protesters were said to have used). It does not have to be through people yelling at each other, although that has been happening. 

It is interesting, but sometimes alarming when otherwise sane, good people start to go berserk. 

Now there is the eclipse. As I have said, I do not believe that eclipses indicate disasters. They may be unusually significant as showing trends coming to fruition. I make no predictions about this one except that obviously people are hyped about various things. We shall see. 

Meanwhile, during the Dark Hermetic Epoch (of which Mercury retrograde is always the inner core), until September 19, it would be well to be very cool, calm, and collected--to use an old cliche which has fresh meaning.

{Monday} /Calm and Collected, Please\

Cosmic Piper