Message for Saturday and Sunday, December 1 and 2, 2018

Saturday 1 December 2018 and Sunday 2 December 

}Candles in the Gloom{

Moon in Virgo-->Libra

|Karmically serious or sobering third| of this week is with us (until Monday morning)

/moon goes void-of-course at 6:35a PT | 9:35a ET | 2:35p UT

until it enters Libra at 6:50a PT | 9:50a ET | 2:50p UT (just 15 minutes later)

It is amazing to me that we as a human race have avoided really harsh argumentative disputes, even warfare, over the past few weeks while planets in Sagittarius square Mars and Neptune in Pisces. That continues through at least the first ten days of December. What saves us may be that both these signs are ruled by Jupiter, a beneficent planet, the planet of Deity however He or She might be conceived. And so there may be some grudging recognition, on both sides of issues, that "the other side" is not totally evil even if misguided. And so what might be semi-violent dispute is modified into stifled disagreement--or, better, into a gradual attempt to reach a sort of mutual understanding about some matters at least. May we have Godspeed in so doing. At any rate there is also a confident outreaching into the wonders of the world around us, finding rewards everywhere, "A golden-haired goddess of opportunity." 

Dark gloom is likely at times. We do not like to hear of death or of others' miseries. Somehow we can lift ourselves beyond shadows of despair or doubt. We can dedicate ourselves to ultimate reality, involving perhaps a sort of apostolic succession, "Men seeking illumination."

Imprudence and carelessness are not helpful, making us indifferent to the very activities which could lift us out of worry. If we try to recognize cosmic order everywhere, including in our person and affairs, we acquire prescience which can steer us intelligently.

One symbol suggests an inventor who gets little or no credit or pay for his inventions. Yet if we let our capacities shine through us, as "a Full Moon in a clear sky," we will be appreciated eventually and gain fame or wealth. If this seems remote, still there is sympathetic ease and grace in the way we interact with people. (We may need to remember to let this happen because of the |difficult third| period.)

{Saturday}  {Candles in the Gloom}

Sunday 2 December 2018

Moon in Libra

|Karmically serious or sobering third| of this week continues (until Monday morning)

< moon enters the Via Combusta at 9:10a PT | 12:10p ET | 5:10p UT (a period of wavering, confusion and cosmic reshuffling)

We should remember that Mercury being retrograde (until Thursday the 6th) feels often like having one hand tied behind one's back. We can slow down with some things in order to expedite others, or we can spend more time in prayer, meditation and healthful rest while gaining fresh positioning for aspirations. 

It is important to keep one's faith going. Challenges felt now are requiring inward progress in one's spiritual orientation so that one does not give up to despair or sullen moods. (Sai Baba, below, probably has the cure.) 

Spiritual lesson for healing, redemption, fulfillment

Message from Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Cosmic Piper

Message for Friday 30 November 2018

Friday 30 November 2018

\Rising to Occasions Subtly Prefigured/

Moon in Virgo

"A house on fire" is to be taken figuratively. We are filled with high enthusiasm for something which can raise our status, or so we think. We could go too fast and furious in a questionable direction. Someone young and pleasing seems immature and could need educative kindness, which could have an effect even if seemingly rejected rebelliously.

Someone with longevity, brilliant gifts and psychic powers is within your awareness. He or she can overcome sickness for self and others. Through observation, you yourself can come into long-range competence in planning, even if this isolates you temporarily.

Self-indulgence, "untimely pleasures" and laziness are not helpful. Prescience, seeing into the future to enhance your position in the world or for the benefit of others, is not just a random gift but the result of cultivated understanding through study. 

Constant change around you is wonderful if beautiful. Music is constantly changeful and uplifts spirits. Something in literature, oration or politics could evoke curiosity and encourage you to follow suit in emulation. 

{Friday} /Rising to Occasions Subtly Prefigured\

Cosmic Piper

Message for Thursday 29 November 2018

Thursday 29 November 2018

\Singing While Enduring/

Moon in Leo-->Virgo

/moon goes void-of-course at 1:48a PT | 4:48a ET | 9:48a UT

until it enters Virgo at 3:09a PT | 6:09a Et | 11:09a UT

Yesterday's forecast  began:  

"Wednesday:  Much prosperity is available, in one fashion or another, for sheer pleasure and elegance. People are placid and contented."

And, indeed, the stock market soared, the S&P by 2.5 percent, the Nasdaq by 3 per cent. However, I warn you that I do not try to predict the stock market here. Also, a neighbor unexpectedly knocked on my door to hand me a package the postman had left, which was very welcome. 

Thursday:  Some indeed do like to live their lives by hazard or speculation, as if in a card game. I still have not seen a copy of the new board game Monopoly for Millennials, but it interests me because as a kid I loved to play the old Monopoly. However, "Rocks and things forming therein" remind us that the composition of our destiny comes from rock-like choices we have to maintain daily in order to have a secure foundation for happy outcomes. 

Charubel continues to warn against virulent passions and desires which could upset one's life hurtfully. I do not know what those might be in your case but it seems that Luna's opposition with Mars and Neptune while squaring all the Sagittarius planets could produce overeager jumping into squabbles or else into uncontrollable infatuations, or both, leading to intense or hurtful reactions.  Being "A jockey" means controlling the "horse" of one's own body, practicing self-control.

One might be quiet and ineffectual, gloomy and fatalistic, at certain moments. This is in accord with the continuing retrogradation of Mercury which makes us sometimes morose, sometimes just more reflective than usual. Your reasoning powers could produce accurate and useful results, even if the opportunity to gain from them is in the future. 

Many will feel they are laboring too hard for too little. This is not something we feel always but may be our burden to bear just now. Mercury's retrogradation for another week delays things and makes us feel bored or weary, seeking some "out" or other, but patient effort is recommended today, with just enough breaks to keep sane. Sublime influences such as music are uplifting, giving us respite internally, so "whistle while you work" is not a bad slogan.

{Thursday}  /Singing While Enduring\

Cosmic Piper

Message for Wednesday 28 November 2018

Wednesday 28 November 2018

^Beware Cupid's Arrows^

Moon in Leo

The moon is not void-of-course and we are not in the |difficult third| of the week. Yet Mercury is retrograde. This one factor is hidden behind the "drag" in things, if you are feeling it. We shift our attention without realizing what we are doing; and often get off on side paths. Then we have to backtrack. Is that always wrong? No, sometimes it is healthy, or a normal part of any Dark or Slow Hermetic Epoch (of which the center is always a Mercury Retrograde period, this one from November 16 until December 6). We have to do "out of pattern" things and upset our ordinary schedules somewhat, to convince ourselves that we and our minds (Mercury) are free to go where they wish. Sometimes it is sheer escape and self-indulgence. Sometimes it is seeming dedication to some new insight, path, quest or adventure. That can be exhilarating while it lasts, even if we doubt its ultimate value. At some point we have to call ourselves back to our usual patterns, which after all provide the stability in our lives. It's like a dog on an extended leash: it is good to wander and sniff out things, but not good to deviate too far for too long.

Wednesday:  Much prosperity is available, in one fashion or another, for sheer pleasure and elegance. People are placid and contented.

Charubel gives a warning against passions, desires, and impulses which could tempt one away from the good path and have very hurtful consequences. This would not be surprising during a time when three planets in Sagittarius are square Mars and Neptune in Pisces, plus Venus's opposition with Uranus almost exact and increasing. Primal urges may seem harmless until one feels their disastrous results. One feels eager for life and experience, but rather than try to manipulate others for pleasure one ought to practice self-management which would ultimately lead to what one really wants.

Gloomy fatalism is a temptation when there are delays or one seems to lose ambition. "What's the use?" might be the feeling. But there is much to be learned and discovered by rational powers, "Humanity seeking to bridge the span of knowledge." Others' attempts in that direction as well as your own are valuable.

"Cupid knocking at the door" goes along with Charubel's warning against sexual indiscretion. Yet we are incurably romantic, and refining our interactions with desirable companions is a good thing. People are alluring and find ourselves alluring. Yet normal self-restraint is important for moderating unbridled desires and keeping us calm and sane.

{Wednesday}  ^Beware Cupid's Arrows^

Cosmic Piper

Message for Tuesday 27 November 2018

Travel chaos: Blizzard-like conditions in Midwest ground thousands of flights, snarl roads

The above headline is from US Today on Monday. The article says that in the Midwest this condition will last until Monday evening. Note what my forecast for Monday said:  

|Karmically serious or sobering third| of this week continues

until it ends at 3:13p PT | 6:13p ET | 11:13p UT

As pointed out repeatedly over the past nineteen years, the |karmically difficult| third of each week often corresponds with difficult weather conditions (or, even worse, violent or criminal acts, or accidents). One does not always know which part of the country or the world will be most affected. This time it was mostly the Midwest, but today as I write on Sunday before noon, Seattle is getting cloudy skies and rain, which we have not had for the last few days. If you watch these times, you will see that while they mostly apply to "internal weather" such as moods and difficult relations with people, they also apply very frequently to weather conditions. (Yet, of course, precipitation is required for the growth of our food and so is not "bad" even if inconvenient.) DELAY is one of the keywords for the |difficult third| of each week (especially when Mercury is retrograde, as now). Today (Monday) an unusual interruption caused me to spend almost an hour messing with computer and internet problems before I could finish charting and writing this, for example. "Carry on" has to be the motto.

(However, I warn against assuming that the |difficult third| periods predict the stock market. They do not. For example, on Monday it is soaring while the rain is pouring and winds blowing.)

Tuesday 27 November 2018

^Self-Respecting Mobilization^ 

Moon in Cancer-->Leo

/moon void-of-course

until it enters Leo at 0:36a PT | 3:36a ET | 8:36a UT

We are usually unconscious of our own vanity. Having a good opinion of oneself is good. Being foolishly vain is not. However, today the opposite of vanity might prevail, that is, being overlooked, not credited or respected for what one is actually contributing. The remedy is not vanity but patient self-respect.

Business people are sometimes cantankerous because of their concentration on necessary strategies. Yet they find the right expedients. They summon others to get down to what needs to be done. You also might blow a bugle to get someone to take up his or her part of a group effort. 

Arduous work, unconscious of its limitations, is real service, accepted as one's dharma or karma. Within it and around it are brightening influences of human harmony. Each note is part of the chord. When people are responsive to one another's needs there is warmth and hope.

The rules of cricket or any game are the basis for developing one's skill within it. Rule-abiding sportsmanship is a happy trend. That brings out your equanimity and normal satisfaction within the wisdom of self-restraint, so one can be "An old owl up in a tree" when not involved in the game.

{Tuesday}  ^Self-Respecting Mobilization^

Cosmic Piper

Message for Monday 26 November 2018

Monday 26 November 2018

~Patience and Loyalty~

Moon in Cancer

/moon goes void-of-course at 11:23p PT | 2:23a(Tu) ET | 7:23a(Tu) UT

|Karmically serious or sobering third| of this week continues

until it ends at 3:13p PT | 6:13p ET | 11:13p UT

Many have been analyzing costs and personal economy in a big way. There is enthusiasm about new methods, yet they have to be based on old standards and research to be valid in the long run.

Venus in Libra has been granting much appreciation of beauty, in music or other art forms. We are fond of change and variety. Yet we want to hold on to whatever is normal and solid, and sustain ourselves through self-respecting activity.

Even if material gain and prosperity seem hard to secure in a totally reliable way, there is spiritual satisfaction because one has at least one foot settled firmly in the transcendent world of ideals and faith. That to which one feels allegiance is quickening one's conscience so that one can do whatever is needed, and adopt a faithful attitude rather than wavering uncertainty. Are you keeping faith with your childhood's innocent ideals and hopes? Maybe praying somewhat like you did as a child would help.

It is not wrong to be immured in one's own particular daily work and routine. We are all servants of the Most High in one way or another, even if we don't always understand the why and wherefore. While Mercury is retrograde, another ten days, we sometimes feel we are just "keeping on keeping on." But things get brighter in our inner consciousness and hopes revive. The world is basically friendly. Brightening influences uplift moods.

You may feel that some others are merely aping or imitating other human beings who take their fancy, rather than finding something real within themselves. However, you care about their welfare and want to help and protect. Your fidelity and natural sympathy remain, whatever happens, no matter how others suffer. So your patient watching over them has good results, now or later.

{Monday}  ~Patience and Loyalty~

Cosmic Piper

Message for Sunday 25 November, with Current Trends

Sunday 25 November 2018

^Current Trends^

Moon in Cancer

|Karmically serious or sobering third| of this week continues (until Monday evening)

What follows about the Thanksgiving period is relevant still, as long as the aspects analyzed last, all of them into December and some returning after Christmas:

Thanksgiving always comes just after the sun passes from Scorpio to Sagittarius. This is felicitous because that sign and its ruler Jupiter are indicators of goodness, beneficence, goodwill, kindness--and, yes, appreciation for blessings. 

However, this year all these qualities are under strain because the sun, Jupiter itself and Mercury although in Sagittarius are squared to Mars in Pisces, and Mercury also to Neptune in that sign. This spells out religious disagreement. There will be a lot of it! Be prepared. What are your religious or spiritual principles? Your ethical foundations? How do these play into current political conflicts? They may be confronted by others attending your particular Thanksgiving event. If, as we try to do, all retain their disagreements within themselves, still the strain will be felt. 

Or, if we are extra saintly, maybe we will sense that there is some bond of common humanity and aspiration linking us despite our differences.

To whom does one give thanks? If with atheists or agnostics, to whom are they giving thanks? Such questions ought not to be avoided. If, as we like to believe, some of our ancestors once joined with native Americans giving thanks, it seems that they at least both recognized the Great Spirit, by whatever designation.

Because Jupiter, Neptune, and Pisces are involved in all this, there are likely going to be differing attitudes about alcohol and marijuana. Some will think that others are indulging too freely along those lines. Others will feel unfairly judged for so indulging. Welcome to the addictive human race. Sai Baba teaches that the only safe addiction is that to God. I agree. He teaches that repeating a name of the Supreme, silently in one's mind (or audibly), reverently, is a safe and sure way to keep one's link with Him (Her). This could be an excellent practice on a day when we are supposedly giving thanks to the Perfect One.

One sees into others' foibles, sins, confusions. It is harder to see into one's own. But there is also a trend to "take it light" or just relax and drop worries, based on the preponderance of Jupiter and Neptune accents. Suspicion or nonchalance? The dialectic will play out.

Another factor I did not write about by name in the daily reports last week remains extremely important:  The Mercury Retrograde period from November 16 until December 6. But included in any discussion of it should be the longer Dark Hermetic Epoch (when Mercury is either very slow or retrograde) which lasts from October 29 until December 24. I have written about this dozens of times since this forecast-meditation project began. I might look up some of the things I have said in past years and re-post it. Each time it has a somewhat different flavor because of different accompanying aspects.

You will see people being confused. You will see things happening at inopportune times. Out-of-pattern events happen over and over, maybe within the same day or hour, which can be very disconcerting. Sometimes it is computer or technological factors (I had to re-start my computer six times yesterday which was very disconcerting). 

Toward the end of Thanksgiving I came home and found my apartment complex surrounded by flashing police cars. Coming down the steps were four cops with an unwilling woman whom they wanted to strap to a stretcher. She had gotten very drunk and had trouble walking. They insisted on taking her to the hospital and she seriously did not want to go there. (I sympathize because I know that hospital "visit" might cost her hundreds of dollars.) I intervened and said I would walk her home. We pretended to know each other although we had never met! Surprisingly, this satisfied the cops and after a lecture they allowed me to walk her home, about a mile away. It was not a lot of fun but she was very appreciative, calling me her 'guardian angel." 

I found a bar open in her neighborhood where I could rest for a while before walking home, drinking only a soft drink. This sort of thing is likely to happen frequently---things which are highly unusual and require backtracking, seemingly wasting time, and on and on. Often I believe they are "karmic lessons" for us, or something which will improve our character by requiring more of us than usual. And they happen very often during the Dark Hermetic Epochs. 

Another clue: It is usually a mistake to change horses during these periods. When you drop a religion, a teaching, a teacher, a friend, a mate, a job, for a new one, you are perhaps putting yourself at serious risk. It is usually better to stay the course. If a change is inevitable, that is a different story. 

The light within the frequent outer darkness is internal. It can be wonderful for spiritual seekers. Go for it! through spiritual study, meditation and prayer. Wonderful realizations can come, which make the "Dark Epoch" a bright one in its own unusual way. G*d is not absent. Light is seeking to find and uplift us. We need not miss it by trying instead for transitory, illusory things which would interrupt our journey and hamper us.

{Sunday}  ^Current Trends^

Cosmic Piper

Spiritual Lesson for healing, redemption, fulfillment

Message from Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Another

Another

Message for Saturday 24 November 2018

Saturday 24 November 2018

}Something Wonderful{

Moon in Gemini-->Cancer

|Karmically serious or sobering third| of this week begins at 6:01a PT | 9:01a ET | 2:01p UT 

/moon goes void-of-course at 9:32p PT | 12:32a(Su) ET | 5:32a(Su) UT

until it enters Cancer (an hour later) at 10:39p PT | 1:39a(Su) ET | 6:39a(Su) UT

There is a contest between the |sobering third| of this week versus Luna's sweet trine with Venus and sextile with Uranus, which could counter it if we play our cards right. Those might be emotional cards because a lot depends on moods. Friendship could be strong.

Some will be sensitive and impulsive, as if courting danger or enjoying a little adventure. Of course this should have limits. Sketching, drawing or writing on paper or e-paper could be progressive, revealing something yet unknown, creating beauty and unexpected order.  

Concentration and rivalry allow you to hit the target in competition. Your self-discipline has equipped you with both practical and social skills and sensibilities which you enjoy displaying, "Officers on dress parade."

Peace and comfort are sought for oneself and others. Benevolence among natives and travelers can be a simple attainment in a place that's rustic or homey. Concurrently there is a reflective trend, so that one can see things, causes and relationships from on high as if in a hovering airplane, and this grants poise. 

There are emphasized skills and abilities, and mobilized potentialities. Differences in human orientation, attitude and belief are intense, yet can be interesting rather than annoying. Fortunately there is much humanity, sympathy and kindness, "The Goddess of Mercy enthroned."   Even if muted and semi-serious, something wonderful could happen.

{Saturday}  {Something Wonderful}

Cosmic Piper

Message for Friday 23 November 2018

Friday 23 November 2018

}Complexities Handled Within Created Harmony{

Moon in Gemini

Like most, I am busy on Thanksgiving and have little time for this forecast, so it will be brief.

Friday looks like a busy day with a lot of complexities, communications, and maybe health issues. People do not see things the same way so we have to create harmony.

{Friday} {Details Handled within Created Harmony}

Cosmic Piper

Message for Thursday 22 November 2018

Thursday 22 November 2018

\Test or Rest of Togetherness/

Moon in Taurus-->Gemini

/moon goes void-of-course at 1:59a PT | 4:59a ET | 9:59a UT

until it enters Gemini at 8:12p PT | 11:12p ET | 4:12a(F) UT

The Full Moon of Sagittarius-Gemini becomes exact at 9:40p PT | 12:40a(F) ET | 5:40a(F) UT

Thanksgiving always comes just after the sun passes from Scorpio to Sagittarius. This is felicitous because that sign and its ruler Jupiter are indicators of goodness, beneficence, goodwill, kindness--and, yes, appreciation for blessings. 

However, this year all these qualities are under strain because the sun, Jupiter itself and Mercury although in Sagittarius are squared to Mars in Pisces, and Mercury also to Neptune in that sign. This spells out religious disagreement. There will be a lot of it! Be prepared. What are your religious or spiritual principles? Your ethical foundations? How do these play into current political conflicts? They may be confronted by others attending your particular Thanksgiving event. If, as we try to do, all retain their disagreements within themselves, still the strain will be felt. 

Or, if we are extra saintly, maybe we will sense that there is some bond of common humanity and aspiration linking us despite our differences.

To whom does one give thanks? If with atheists or agnostics, to whom are they giving thanks? Such questions ought not to be avoided. If, as we like to believe, some of our ancestors once joined with native Americans giving thanks, it seems that they at least both recognized the Great Spirit, by whatever designation.

Because Jupiter, Neptune, and Pisces are involved in all this, there are likely going to be differing attitudes about alcohol and marijuana. Some will think that others are indulging too freely along those lines. Others will feel unfairly judged for so indulging. Welcome to the addictive human race. Sai Baba teaches that the only safe addiction is that to God. I agree. He teaches that repeating a name of the Supreme, silently in one's mind (or audibly), reverently, is a safe and sure way to keep one's link with Him (Her). This could be an excellent practice on a day when we are supposedly giving thanks to the Perfect One.

One sees into others' foibles, sins, confusions. It is harder to see into one's own. But there is also a trend to "take it light" or just relax and drop worries, based on the preponderance of Jupiter and Neptune accents. Suspicion or nonchalance? The dialectic will play out.

It's important to remember that gloom early in the day can dissipate later on when things get in motion. The moon is void-of-course until late, so people may feel adrift. It's good to think of the benefits one is bringing to others just by being with them, as well as what they might radiate upon oneself. 

"A rustic cottage overarched by a spreading cedar tree," keyword Benevolence, is a welcome symbol for the day, suggesting "Over the river and through the woods to Grandmama's house we go." Along with it is "An airplane hovering overhead" which gives us the ability to see things from a wide, even international level, or view companions within the broader context of a diverse humanity.

"A little child learning to walk" is each of us learning to be individual within the context of what seems a crabby or peculiar humanity. We get up and try again. "A Grand Army of the Republic campfire" is us reminiscing with friends and family, reliving the past in some ways, preserving our links with people as a way of making our own reality manifest.

{Thursday}  /Test or Rest of Togetherness\

Cosmic Piper

Message for Wednesday 21 November 2018

Wednesday 21 November 2018

\Winning Despite Doubts/

Moon in Taurus

There is personal charm and magnetic power in both sexes. There is also a drive toward conquest which has a military or forceful aspect. The combination of these two apparent opposites can be fascinating. 

Psychological or psychic powers are such that one might be able to discern or intuit the truth about any matter one chooses. People get very close to one another without intending to because of crowding. And so there can be a convergence of emotional reactions, not always unpleasant even if demanding.

People are alert to tasteful clothing or other items which allow them to present themselves in the best possible light. They are also alert to opposite opinions about various matters, and so can be adept at shifting gears to keep everyone relatively peaceful. There is a desire for a definite belief and mission, yet there is doubt about one's utter commitment to specific agendas. One cannot please everyone, and how far is one determined to face partial rejection?

Is someone's joking pleasing, or inept? One cannot make fun of everything and yet there are moments when humor is welcome. There is a chess-playing trend, using concentrated abilities to master something which might be just a game or perhaps more practical. Stock market drops have awakened some to better budgeting. 

{Wednesday}  /Winning Despite Doubts\

Cosmic Piper

Message for Tuesday 20 November 2018

Tuesday 20 November 2018

^First Things First^

Moon in Aries-->Taurus

/moon goes void-of-course at 2:47p PT | 5:47p ET | 10:47p UT

until it enters Taurus at 3:44p PT | 6:44p ET | 11:44p UT

You can aim at what you need and get it. By putting first things first you will be effective in protecting and aiding those dependent who have been in trouble. 

There could be stark convergence of paths, as in traffic, so that people are crowded and selfish, or need to steer around one another. However, psychological powers can be amazing. Sometimes we don't realize we have them. You could intuit things which are "right on" and this could be advantageous both spiritually and materially.  

"The dog and his bone are best left alone" may be an attitude protecting you or others from trying to get involved with anyone who needs his or her space. Maybe someone feels that you are the "dog" with its own "bone." We learn how to defend ourselves from unwanted intrusion.

Something you study or calculate while alone may have remunerative applications. The complexities seem daunting but you could master them eventually.  The "Goddess of Mercy" is still "enthroned" and could be blessing us in ways we don't perceive on the surface.

{Tuesday} ^First Things First^

Cosmic Piper

Message for Monday 19 November 2018

Monday 19 November 2018

^Spiritual Paths Contested (Victorious?)^

Moon in Aries

|Karmically serious or sobering third| of this week continues 

until Tuesday at 0:40a PT | 3:40a ET | 8:40a UT

Let's take harder things first. It may be necessary to overcome "enemies" in order to gain what one really wants or needs. Are they "really" enemies? Not in the universal, eternal scheme of things, but to our limited perspective in time and space they may seem inimical, preventing us from doing good things we feel we could be doing. But if we overcome them, we are as "The king of the fairies approaching his domain," that is, by our allegiance to values invisibly true and fair and wonderful we bring about their reign upon the earth which has seemed to resist them.

Supramental, spiritual influences are blessing us. They contend against old influences from the past which would drag us backward. The past is not our enemy but needs to be re-interpreted and re-understood. We have let "the ghost of the past" dissuade us from flowing with the good-seeking Spirit of the past. This is not necessary. What is real and good in the past survives immortally. But to make it real in our lives we need to connect with it at a high level which has sufficient breadth and power to demonstrate materially. (To demonstrate over, in fact, some wrong ideas of what the past has meant which entangle us.)

All this requires some mutations in our relations with our fellow beings, or fellow seekers on the Path, or fellow participants in a human grouping or cause. Can we go it alone in some regards? Or do we require cooperation, which means we also must give it? "A horseman armed watching the waning moon" serves himself alone and does not receive assistance, so seems abandoned by friends and colleagues. His choice of isolation is questionable. However, those who have courage and determination, plus caution, and are enlisted in a common endeavor, may have victory along with comrades.

"The Goddess of Mercy enthroned" wants to help. Are we able to receive her aid? This requires of us spiritual awareness secured through study, developing a firm, dependable mind. The goddess needs our attention, and our spiritual anchorage, to guide us toward protection and gain. "A cross carved in stone stands against the rising sun, haloed in divine light."

{Monday} ^Spiritual Paths Contested (Victorious?)^

Cosmic Piper

Message for Sunday 18 November 2018

Sunday 18 November 2018

~Long-Term Trends~

Moon in Pisces-->Aries

/moon goes void-of-course at 0:05a PT | 3:05a ET | 8:05a UT

until it enters Aries at 7:57a PT | 10:57a ET | 3:57p UT

|Karmically serious or sobering third| of this week continues until Tuesday

Trends discussed here during the previous week:  

The current Mercury square Neptune aspect is important. We tend to notice the squares more than the trines and sextiles because they are pressure-aspects which make things happen, which force issues. 

It will last for a long time--until November 28 while Mercury is slow and retrograde--and then again while Mercury is direct at Christmastime for the whole second half of December. So let's learn from C.E.O. Carter, that pioneering astrologer:

"This configuration usually indicates an astute and cunning type of person, capable of deep scheming and generally hardly able to avoid some degree of deception, though not necessarily for evil purposes. Sometimes the deception is of a quite innocent order." Now because Donald Trump has this aspect in his birth chart, we ought to learn from observing him. His supporters of course think that his "deception is of a quite innocent order." His detractors violently disagree. No one would deny that he is "astute and cunning, capable of deep scheming." How this might apply to your current situation, whether you are facing such people in your life or perhaps are taken to be one of them, is something for you to discover.

". . . delicate perceptions . . . enable the native to divine what others will do or try to do." This is one of Trump's trump cards. Maybe you have it also while this aspect lasts. "In negative types the same sensitiveness leads to a retired life, often combined with an amiable disposition." This may apply to us during this time, because Mercury is slowing down and goes retrograde on the 16th (Friday) and that denotes  sometimes "retirement" or an inclination to the inner life. Sleep patterns might be unusual. "Sometimes it leads to easy discouragement and lack of self-confidence, because the native is too thin-skinned and worries unduly. Sometimes the same sensitiveness causes fierce outbursts of resentful anger. . . . Much will depend on [other factors in the chart]. Lack of real self-confidence may induce a person to resort to deceit."  

Dr. Carter's final paragraph (I gave him the Ph.D.): "Active imagination and the insight into motives that results from sensitive perceptions may be invaluable to a man of genius or even a man of practical sense; but in the case of persons of weak judgment and understanding the same things may lead to all kinds of foolish and morbid fancies." 

Do you wonder what will happen in the coming Mercury Retrograde cycle (this Friday, November 16 till December 6, three weeks)? Observe what is happening now and you will probably see. It "casts its shadow before" and while Mercury slows down and the Dark Hermetic Epoch lasts (it began October 29), we are in a different mode, a refocusing one. Observe for yourself, in your own life, and you shall see. 

It can be confusing, maybe especially this time because Mercury is square Neptune for the whole period. Is something true or not? Is it best or not? You wonder. Faith and logic are seemingly at war (Neptune and Mercury), or at best they can find a reconciliation which is blissful and just right. So we dig into our beliefs and presuppositions, we gird up our faith (Neptune) with good thinking (Mercury) and perhaps gain remarkable insight. Meanwhile we might neglect some "stuff" which is necessary in the "material world" and get behind with some of it.  Others also are doing this so we need to be patient.

It's my duty to point out the problems we face. I believe firmly in G*d and His (Her) goodness and that there is nothing really evil in our solar system or in the planetary motions. But some of them seem to make things difficult for us because we are imperfect human beings, not saints or angels. (And even saints have to bear the problems and sorrows of their devotees.)

I write both from observation of others and of myself. I feel today that the issue of the Dark Hermetic Epoch (this one from October 29 to December 24) is encroaching upon us and certainly I, and perhaps you, are feeling it. Mercury retrograde, at the center of that Epoch, begins Friday this week (tomorrow) until December 6. But its symptoms are here now: Things get hard. Delays. Backtracking. People give up or feel defeated and do not want to go on. They seek escape. They feel like quitting a job or a relationship or leaving home. "There must be something better for me elsewhere." 

Are external things and people's behavior inimical at these times? It often seems that way. But I do not think so. It's more that people are turning to interior states and feelings and hopes and anxieties, brooding on the past or the seemingly hopeless future, and so they make more mistakes, forget things, or postpone things, procrastinating so that they fail others. That is usually why machines or computers seem to fail so often during these times.  

Usually, there is nothing really to do but "keep on keeping on" or turn to prayer and meditation and faith to get us through. As aids, we might change our daily schedule somewhat, or shuffle it so we get some relief from drudgery; but to drop it completely could be ruinous. Yes, we may need extra rest or relief-giving recuperation. The trick is to get that somehow without totally losing control of one's situation. 

I try to put the answer in words, but probably only experience, observation, and trial-and-error-and-re-trial can get it right. I wish you well with that. 

We have an unusual phenomenon:  Venus turning direct on the same day that Mercury turns retrograde. The former, at 5:52 a.m. Eastern Time (U. S.) and the latter at 8:34 p.m. on Friday November 16. We might hypothesize that Venus's retrograde period had a lot to do with women's issues, since that planet turned retrograde on October 5, the very day that Susan Collins of Maine announced her deciding vote to put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. Then women tried hard to gain ground in the midterms, and did. Now we have endless talk about Nancy Pelosi and whether she shall continue to lead the Democrats. The Venus-retrograde period was both disappointing for women and promising, indicating a reorientation in their political roles. Now that it is turning direct we shall ponder what happens. 

I cannot help thinking that the square between Mars and Jupiter is the "trigger" for the California fires, because it has always been known to astrologers as an incendiary aspect. Sometimes it indicates literal fire, sometimes accidents, sometimes warfare. For most of us it goes on at a mental-emotional rather than physical level, some sort of anger, or maybe just agitation which takes form in supporting or rooting for a cause or trying to forward something we believe in against the obstacles put up against it. Yet there is caution, for one realizes that one has to use intelligent judgment and avoid putting oneself at risk pointlessly. So the agitation or crusading or speculating may come out mostly at the mental level.  

Finally, it is good to remind ourselves that Venus is trine Mars and that aspect, though wavering, shall continue until the middle of February, getting weaker in the first half of December but then recovering nine days before Christmas. Love is not absent although we may think so in our darker moods. 

{Sunday} Current Long-Term Trends

Cosmic Piper

Spiritual lesson for healing, redemption, fulfillment

Message from Sri Sathya Sai Baba