How I Lost my Sanity 2

“The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding.” Hermes

This is a tale of how I tempted fate and lost my sanity. You may think you know your dark side, or you may know someone who has been devoured by theirs, but until you’ve been seduced into madness, breached your sacred boundaries, and tasted the forbidden fruit; you won’t experience the boundless breadths and desperate depths of darkness in your psyche along with the stark realization that you can’t turn back.

Black and white are metaphors for oppositions that fuel our awareness and allegories that guide us between our whitest whites and blackest blacks. Love and hate are extremes of the same basic substance. Like and dislike are varying degrees of gray between black and white. If insanity is black and sanity is white, where does happiness end and misery begin? When does pleasure stop and pain begin?

As a life-long student of craziness, I coveted the opportunity to serve criminally insane people. I might never get another chance. Back in college, I studied Industrial Design. I minored in bizarre psycho-ideologies and isms. As an active member of a twice weekly study group at a Gestalt psychology institute for two years, I whetted my appetite for more knowledge and understanding of human behavior. I finally had a real chance to explore authentic craziness incarnate.

Criminal minds fascinated me. I learned from my study of astrology that each of twelve sun signs has its own unique criminal style. Take this with a grain of salt, but here are a few gross generalizations. Gemini / Mercury rules con artists and pickpockets. Taurus / Venus commits sex crimes and breaches of trust from petty theft to grand larceny. Aries / Mars loves warfare and commit crimes of passion. Sagittarius / Jupiter wears white collars. Capricorn / Saturn rules master criminals. Aquarius / Uranus rules arsonists, terrorists, and unexpected bad shit happening. Pisces / Neptune rules drug dealers and users. Scorpio / Pluto rules seduction, rape, murder, and betrayal. Pluto lustily awaits you at your final destination.

Our outer planetary pictures provide a karmic backdrop for past and future generations of actors and actresses striving to learn their roles. Life is a play of plays. Unconscious creates drama. Subconscious directs plot. Consciousness is stage manager. Sun enlightens. Moon reflects. Mercury connects. Venus senses. Mars energizes. Jupiter expands. Saturn limits. Uranus disrupts, Neptune dissolves, and Pluto destroys. ‘God’ is Master Playwright.

Before proceeding with my vocational classes, I need to regress and provide background material for my year of preparation preceding my choice to teach classes. It may take a couple of posts, but I promise you’ll be glad I did.

I entered the hospital from my first day through guarded locked doors, metal detectors, a bag inspection station, faded institutional beige paint, and buzzing fluorescent lights like parasites that sucked my vital essences. Hospital staff appeared to be the dregs of humanity’s helpers. Most had physical handicaps like limping, scarring, splotching, or gazing in hopeless desperation with myopic eyes. I hoped it wasn’t contagious. I had easy access to patient records and treatment plans. I could attend treatment team meetings with psychologists, social workers, and psychiatrists. It felt too good to be true and it was.

Forensic hospital life is about rules, regulations, and self-defense. There are many more don’ts than do’s. Employees are sworn to secrecy, fingerprinted, and instilled with awkward feelings of mistrust. Orientation had been designed to help new staff members understand the organizational goals, policies, and procedures affecting job safety, security, performance, and delivery of care. We filled out a lot of questionnaires, surveys, and evaluations. We were briefed on the nature, structure, and policies of the facility. We learned about patient rights and privileges, rights and privileges of staff, and hospital policy.

The largest portion of hospital staff were security called SHTA’s. They accompanied patients to every activity. I attended life safety training with them: CPR, First-Aid, and Management of Violent Patient Behavior (MVPB). A violent person could `go off’ and all we could do was to defend ourselves. We weren’t permitted to be aggressive. We were taught Judo style moves by serious martial artists and laughed heartily as we fell, flipped each other on gym mats, and got to know each other. We were encouraged to nickname one another to help us connect. Based on obvious personal peculiarities our nicknames stuck. There was `Skinny’, `Luscious Lips’, `Gigolo’, and `Tortoise’. I was `Smiley’. Forever after, we addressed each other by our nicknames.

Fighting with patients was a scary idea. Despite my comprehensive training in self-defense, I envisioned myself grabbing the nearest chair and clobbering a violent patient over the head in a crisis. I’d be instantly fired and then indicted on criminal charges. Fortunately for everyone, most of the furniture was anchored to the floor or walls with specially designed hardware to prevent that kind of violence.

When I wasn’t watching over my shoulder for violent patients, I was cautioned to be on the lookout for ‘bacterial pathogens’ which cause disease. A lot of patients have hygiene problems and are unhealthy. Samplings are taken regularly from surfaces around the hospital in order to monitor disease. There were patients with AIDS. In 1986, that was scary! What if a patient with AIDS bit a staff member? We were briefed extensively on care and prevention. This job began to seem more than a little risky.

When I first met the patients, they appeared to be the most motley crew nature had ever assembled. They looked like R. Crumb characters. Many had deranged eyes. They were so whacky that I felt like laughing. Some had been given massive doses of thorazine. I couldn’t wait to find out who had done what. I’d heard there were a few notorious celebrities in the mix.

I was given a photo I.D. (I had to wear it at all times) and keys for areas I had access to within the hospital. Keys were given upon entering the hospital and deposited before leaving. Patients observed me with random glimpses, furtive glances, and glaring gazes. They saw me as one more ‘keeper of the keys’ who was attempting to figure them out, discipline, rehabilitate, or fix them. One thing for sure, I wasn’t one of them (yet).

I was directed to sit in on patient activities, assist rehab staff, and familiarize myself with patients. The first few days were uneventful. Important goals were getting the patients to brush their teeth, comb their hair, and to try not to be generally disgusting. Another important goal was to get them to stay awake and participate in activities such as art, music, education classes, and exercise. There were no interesting conversations yet.

The rehab staff consisted of nine members. As Director of Rehab, Dolores was beaten down by too many years in state service. Her sad name complemented her careworn face. A telltale twitch made me wonder whether she was smiling or frowning. Her unhealthy-looking teeth were yellowed from too many cigarettes and too much coffee. A deep raspy voice coughed her words. I was concerned she was ineffective. I was right. Dolores was caring but couldn’t say ‘no’ to anyone. She promised me full health benefits and then let me serve my half-time position by working two ten-hour days while the hospital’s needs would have been better served if my time were spread over three days.

Respiratory, pulmonary, and circulatory health problems could be seen in her bulbous whitish nails. Her square palms and short square fingers revealed a practical nature, while her dry, reddish, dishpan skin had weathered many storms that seemed to endlessly arrive from every direction. Despite our differences, Dolores and I liked each other.

My `other half’ was a furniture maker and restorer named Billy (Skinny). Billy was tall, thin, and bony. He looked like a scruffy middle-aged Abraham Lincoln. Billy was one of the hardest working, enthusiastic, and idealistic persons I’d ever met. Like me, he’d never had ‘a job’. An eccentric renegade from societal rules and regulations, Billy maintained a furniture restoration and refinishing business on the side. Like me, Billy had a hidden agenda. His was unselfish and equally unrealistic. He believed that he could actually rehabilitate lunatics and transform them into functioning members of society.

Billy’s ‘feeling hands’ had rectangular palms and long fingers. A hardness and stiffness ruled his fingers, and knotty joints enhanced his compulsive need to control his physical and mental life. His especially long middle fingers bent towards the top of his ring fingers. Billy had an overdeveloped sense of responsibility, obligation, and guilt. An oversensitive perfectionist, Billy spent endless hours thinking about the best thing to do next.

Billy and I tried to set mutual goals, but my hidden agenda clashed with his righteous cause. Billy wanted to turn patients into furniture restorers. I wanted to help, but I wanted private time with them. Billy committed to creating a sheltered wood working shop. I chose to offer design classes to higher functioning patients. I’d also help Billy set up a workshop that would serve the entire patient population.

The Rehab staff was a smorgasbord of affirmative action. Zandor was Estonian. He was a rehabilitation counselor and second in command. Zandor should have had Dolores’s job, but upper management didn’t want a person they couldn’t control in that position. Zandor’s ‘thinking hands’ correspond to his strong handshake, firm elastic skin, long straight fingers, square fingertips, and open and frank nails. Zandor had also been abused by too many years in state service, but it didn’t break him. He had grievances pending against the Public Employees Union for obvious discrimination against him. Despite unfavorable circumstances, Zandor always presented himself with pride, integrity, and dignity. We became comrades.

Bruce (Luscious Lips) arrived at the same time as Billy and me. His meaty practical hands had square palms and short square fingers that were soft and supple with dominant plump third phalanges. His head and lifelines were tied together at their beginnings. He was a Taurus and a huge procrastinator. Bruce was in charge of recreation. He’d served state social service agencies throughout his entire work experience. Sweet and mild mannered, his desire to make a real difference had dulled from too many years of compliance to authority, rules, and regulations. Bruce had gone as high as he could in institutional politics. He was caring and attentive with the patients but seemed depressed and resigned to mediocrity the rest of the time. The only times Bruce revealed real passion and genuine enthusiasm was when we talked about gourmet food or going fishing together.

Barbara was the schoolteacher on our team. Her goal was to help as many patients as possible reach high school equivalency. She was a large boned middle aged Afro-American woman and a very kind person. I don’t remember her hands except for her large broad nails and the sparse clear lines engraved in her palms. Barbara had spent many years in state service. She was one of a very few state employees who managed to maintain a sense of humor and a life outside of her work. She complained the least of any full-time staff member and always kept her cool. Once during English class, one of the male patients pulled out his huge erect penis and started jerking off. Barbara walked over, looked him straight in his eyes and without raising her voice calmly said, “please excuse yourself and go to the bathroom”. He did. I wished I could have read her report about the incident.

Bob was the librarian. He reminded me of a Spam and Velveeta Cheese on Wonder Bread sandwich. Bob was a real life Walter Mitty. He was helpful when asked, but most of the time, gazed into the distance under thick lens wire rimmed glasses. As I think of him, I can still feel his cool damp mashed potato hand shake that confirmed a total lack of will power, energy, and enthusiasm.

Andrew was art therapist when I arrived. His tenure was short. The only thing I recall about him is that he sent his estranged daughter a gross of condoms for her sixteenth birthday. He quipped in his southern drawl, “If she’s going to do it, might as well be safe.” The new art therapist was Janice. She was an unsuccessfully aging frustrated starving artist in need of a steady income. There was a frequent staff turnover for art therapists.

Maya was recreational therapist. She was young, very private, and a very athletic Afro-American woman. Maya managed sports activities and the patient newspaper, the Scene. All of the staff liked Maya. Patients loved her. Her powerful ‘intuitive hands‘ were well suited for sports like football, soccer, and wrestling. Everyone thought Maya was gay, but that was nobody’s business.

I was a card-carrying member of a band of misfits in search of a fit. On the whole, I liked the rehab staff and felt like I was becoming part of a team. I looked forward to our working together and began to imagine that we might actually make a real difference…

i~Hermes

i~HERMES

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The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding.”

Alchemy is not transforming lead into gold. Hermes turned Saturn (Lead) into Sun (Gold) by building stable structures on solid foundations, being disciplined, and focusing on his metaphysical quest to prepare mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to connect to any and all others at any and all times. Alchemy is a set of magical formulas, tools, and esoteric instruction for becoming healthier, happier, and more fulfilled in life. Alchemy is the mastery of mental forces by transmuting one mental vibration into another. Our Sun passing through Gemini ~ May 21st to June 21st is a perfect time to share our selves on a soul level with anyone and everyone who is able!

Every thought is made up of individual cells; physically, mentally, and spiritually connected to all other cells on all other planes at the same time. Our brains are our cell communication hardware while our minds transmit and receive messages. Relationships between cells cause energy and matter to vibrate on different planes of reality at different times and places. Combining physical, mental, and spiritual planes, enables us to connect any with any and every being at any and every time and place. We can achieve wholeness by letting go of fear, taking a leap of faith, making connections, tuning our links, and creating nourishing environments.

“While ALL is in “The ALL”, it is equally true that “The ALL” is in ALL. “To him who truly understands this truth hath come great knowledge”. The inner nature of “The ALL” is unknowable and indefinable. That’s why humanity needs anthropomorphic gods and institutionalized religion. Spirit is the essence that embodies “ALL”. Spirituality requires the recognition, realization, and manifestation of Great Spirit within and without.

Hermes Seven Laws

Law of Polarity”: “Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.”

“The Secret” is only a secret to the uninitiated. The ‘Laws of Attraction’ work best when you know what you desire, and your intentions are clear. Polarity is spiritual magnetism.

Anyone can turn negative thinking into positive circumstances by letting go of fear, having clear intent, choosing a worthy quest, and doing the work. See how the ‘Law of Polarity’ transformed trash into treasure!

GURU of GARBAGE (Click for short video ~ Good Day NY)

Opposites are extremes of the same basic substance with varying degrees between. Where does heat end and cold begin? Where does darkness leave off and light begin? What about positive and negative, hard and soft, sharp and dull, noisy and quiet, high and low? The same principle operates on a mental plane. Love and hate are simply degrees of the same thing. In the middle are shades of like and dislike. Vibrations of hate can be transmuted into vibrations of love through the art of polarization, a phase of alchemy known and practiced by ancient and modern masters.

Hermes other Six ‘Secrets’

Correspondence, Mentalism, Vibration, Rhythm, Cause, Effect, and Gender are Hermes other six Laws. Practicing metaphysical principles enabled Hermes and enables anyone to explore, examine, and explain the unexplained, and to execute any and all thoughts, ideas, and visions.

Having inner and outer wisdom has helped critical thinkers throughout history to unlock mysteries using Hermetic thought and principles. Hermetic masters possess knowledge of transcendental astronomy called astrology, transcendental chemistry called alchemy, and transcendental psychology called mystic psychology. Confucius, Galileo, Plato, Pythagoras, Aristotle, Nostradamus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Joseph Campbell were all Grand Masters of Hermetic thought and principles.

Astrology is a symbolic system that compares and contrasts our heavens with affairs of man on earth. Astrology unlocks ancient and modern mysteries using Hermes second principle of correspondence “As Above, So Below, as below, so above”.

An infinite variety of characters, plots, and archetypal tales are mirrored in lots of dysfunctional humans, unable to see the forests from the trees. Too many lost souls are Idolizing gold-plated Calves on brass-plated pedestals and Worshiping Sacred Cows on the Altars of Nonsense. The human race has become a race against self-created bad shit happening. Our planet’s sixth extinction is nearing more quickly than we think.

Hermes was Greek god of wisdom, wealth, trade, luck, fertility, language, animal husbandry, thieves, travelers, sleep, and providing safe passage to death. Mercury was Hermes’ Roman version, messenger of gods and ruler of Gemini. Thoth, in ancient Egypt, was a lunar god and patron of science, literature, wisdom, and invention. Loki was the Norse god of mischief. In Tarot, Hermes, a Magician at a crossroads has crucial decisions to make and critical actions to take. Merlin, Gondolf, Harry Potter, and Dumbledore are modern Hermes. Having metaphysical tools and mystical knowledge enabled Hemes and enables ALL of us to choose our thoughts, feelings, what to do, and who to be.

Hermes was reputedly a real person who lived for 350 years in the flesh in ancient Egypt. Refusing to age, Hermes misspent much of his adolescence as a trickster and petty thief. He was ‘Puck’ in ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’. He’s Peter Pan, a Gemini, who never grows old.

A 76 year old Hermes, I’m no longer adolescent. Peter needs and depends on Wendy. My Wendy is Joanna, Aries with Taurus rising. She strongly disagrees with my assessment. I call her ‘Rambull’. I’m a Gemini with Scorpio rising. She calls me ‘a piece of work in progress’. Being born twelve years apart makes us ‘the bores’ at Chinese New Year’s parties. I’m a Pig on a Mountain. She’s a Pig in a Monastery.

Wendy is a Virgo type, a practical and responsible friend who darns Peter’s socks, sews his shadow back on, and patiently awaits his return as he flies away to Neverland whenever he chooses. Wendy brings an awareness that balances Peter’s ambiguous and ambivalent thoughts and feelings with clarity and good sense.

Michael Jackson actually lived in Neverland. Priscilla and Liz were his Wendys. Johnny Depp is Peter Pan who played Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland, Pirates of the Carribean, Charlie in the Chocolate Factory, and many other child centered characters. Hermes & Aphrodite gave birth to Hermaphrodite. David Bowie has flourished and blossomed in musical creativity, originality, and androgynous performance art.

Know thyself. Common sense without good sense is nonsense. Cultivate clear vision. Make wise choices. Nourish real relationships. Choose right uses of will power. Act decisively. Maintain positive attitudes. Balance courage, strength, wisdom, and grace with critical thinking, real feelings, and right actions. Having solid faith creates strong structures on sound foundations. We can change our destiny and the destiny of our planet on a cellular level by raising our vibration, polarity, and rhythm.

AQUARIUS & PSYCHE

Aquarius & Psyche

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Personal & Collective Psyche transform as Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto change Sun signs and personal relationships. Uranus transits each of twelve signs for seven years. It takes eighty-four years for Uranus to pass through twelve signs.

Uranus surprises, revises, and revolutionizes. Uranus entered Aquarius twice in the 20th Century. 1912 to 1919 brought sudden unexpected political and social upheaval, provocative philosophical & spiritual ideologies, loss of faith in humanity, and lack of trust in ourselves.

1912 ~ “The Unsinkable Titanic” sunk on its maiden voyage… karmic lesson in Hubris

1913 ~ Tornadoes & Floods devastated Middle America. 3,000 dead + $100,000,000 in damages… a painful and expensive lesson in preparedness

1914 ~ World War I ~ Greed, Hatred, Fear, and Terror levied a heavy toll on humanity

1915 ~ Jan. 25… Sun, Uranus, Mercury, Jupiter, and Lunar North Node, energized by Uranus and powered by Aquarius. Alexander Graham Bell began international mass communications through the first transcontinental phone call made Jan 25th, 1915. A powerful concept’s time had come. The Dark Side: German submarine torpedoed the British Ocean Liner Lusitania

1916 ~ What kind of wall would have prevented Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary, from invading the USA? President Wilson retaliated by sending 6,000 troops into Mexico.

Official Gazette of London published the names of 80 United States firms suspected of trading with Germany. Prescott Bush (banker) was on the list.

1917 ~ USA declared war on Germany. Hitler’s enemies became our allies. Hatred & Bigotry was bountiful, catalyzing the worst race riot in American history in Illinois.

Congress amended laws that prohibited beer, wine, and liquor from being profitable

1918 ~ Spanish Flu was the worst pandemic since the Bubonic Plague that wiped out one quarter of Europe’s population in the 14th century. Daylight Savings Time was born.

1919 ~ Prohibition was ratified as the 18th amendment to our constitution. Congress failed to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. President Wilson disagreed and went on public tour to fight the decision. He died trying.

Uranus transited Aquarius again in 1996. The final leg of his journey marked the fall of the World Trade Centers. Had we chosen faith, love, and brotherhood over fear, selfishness, and convenience, we’d be building bridges instead of walls!

Neptune was in Aquarius from Nov 27, 1998, to Apr 4, 2011. Neptune eroticized and romanticized male vanity and virility. ‘Getting it up’ got popular when Pfizer introduced Viagra in 1998.

The stock market created a new form of gambling addiction called “internet day trading” where the present is more profitable than the future. DVDs were the fastest growing consumer electronics product in history. Bribes and drugs tarnished the Olympic Games. Innocence and civil liberties were transformed as our ideals, illusions, and delusions about private and social security and stability dissolved. What we think and how we feel about our past, present, and future is what matters most in the eternal here and now.

Neptune impelled illusion & fantasy to find reality when body piercing & tattoos became popular. President Clinton’s first political act of 1996 was to sign a welfare reform bill that made life harder for poor people. The downtrodden were deceived, divided, and demoralized by the powers that be. Madeline Albright became the first female Secretary of State. Ellen DeGeneres was the first gay star on an ABC sitcom. Taiwan’s first democratic election was held. Four major plane crashes happened.

Neptune rules vision, illusion, delusion, and confusion. In 1998, Neptune in Aquarius represented a House of Representatives who impeached Bill Clinton for giving “perjurious false and misleading” testimony in front of a grand jury. Bill’s Hands, Sun, Mercury, Saturn, and Pluto are ruled by LEO. Rest assured, Hillary mercilessly spanked Bill’s sorry butt after he got caught being careless and cocky. In Leo of 2005, the IRA announced an end to its armed campaign and committed to complete decommissioning of all its weapons. Catholic and Protestant believers, practitioners, and clergymen voted for peace in Ireland.

Outer planets rule the electronic (Uranus) ether (Neptune). The US government and twenty state attorney generals charged Microsoft with anti-trust practices for dominating the Internet access market. Bill Gates has a Scorpio Sun, Venus, and Saturn, with Leo hands. Bill fantasizes about being god, but has much to hide and too many secrets not to be humble. Bill is a god in the underworld.

Andrew Carnegie said, “He who dies rich, dies disgraced.” Imagine having enough power to make gigantic differences for all of humanity and our planet and not do anything of value? What’s the ethical, moral, and spiritual responsibility for knowing the difference? Many people give more time and money to charity than Bill Gates compared to their available time & money.

Neptune entered Pisces in 2012. 1/10 of 1% afflicted and infected the other 99.9% with physical, mental, emotional, ideological, psychological, philosophical, and spiritual pathogens and disease. Our illusions, delusions, and deceptions of becoming old, poor, sick, disabled, and/or unable to afford bad shit happening were dissolving. Individual and collective hatred, fear, and terror prevent us from transmuting our inequities into equities. We must learn to see clearly and take full responsibility for our behavior, values, thinking, feelings, health, relationships, creativity, philosophy, purpose, hopes, desires, fears, and spirituality.

Whether

Look / See ~ Listen / Hear

Haves rule. Neptune in Pisces symbolizes billions of individuals around the world seeking security, stability, and spiritual answers. Neptune is also revealing despair, fear, and terror. Historians will describe the 21st Century as an era of false prophets and false profits. Indentured folks are at the bottom of the barrel scraping for pennies. Plutocrats skim the cream as they bribe and extort the partisan help who permit them to deplete, pollute, and poison our planet, manage our healthcare, regulate our welfare, gamble with our social security, control our pensions, and manage our pretensions. The middle and lower classes are pawns, collateral damage, in a crooked game of chess. If freedom and slavery are white and black, what shades of gray are you?

Pluto enters Aquarius on March 23, 2023, and leaves in 2044. Pluto will expose our dirty little secret agendas and realign humanity’s ideals, hopes, and dreams. Pluto could also hammer the last rusty nail in the impatiently awaiting coffin of humanity’s sanity. It’s up to us…

The human race has become a race against bad shit happening. Never have so few been permitted to influence, manipulate, and control so many.

“The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding.”

Hermes

All is in THE ALL” “THE ALL is in All”

To him who truly understands this truth hath come great knowledge.

Hermes was the father of the ‘Cell Phone’. Everything is made of cells. Hermes taught that the brain is our hardware whose function is to connect inner with outer cells and fine tune our links.

In ancient Egypt, Hermes was the mystic teacher of Abraham. Hermes reputedly lived to be 350 years old in the flesh as a real person. @ 75, I’m ready to upgrade my operating system from Peter Pan (adolescence) to Hermes (adulthood). Joanna, my ‘Wendy’ (‘Artemis’), calls me “a piece of work in progress”. She says I’m still in my first childhood. Joanna has an Aries Sun with Taurus rising. I call her “RamBull”. Our friends remind us that “We deserve each other!”

“As Above, So Below” Hermes

Capricorn & Psyche

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Zodiacal sign changes and geometric relationships between outer planets catalyze massive personal and collective transformations of psyche. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto transited Capricorn in the 20th Century. Paradigms for political institutions and social structures shifted. Uranus in Capricorn revolutionized world relations, politics, religion, and business from 1989 to 1996. The Iron Curtain and Berlin Wall were ripped down. Germany was reunited on Libra 3, 1990. Sociopolitical demarcations between East and West vanished. The Soviet Union disintegrated into fifteen republics in 1991. The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibited discriminating against disabled people. We applied rules, regulations, reforms, and reformations, but continued the trumped-up patriotism, pious philosophies, partisan social discrimination, and fabricated fears.

With Neptune in Capricorn in 1985, NASA’s Voyager space probe recorded Uranus orbiting the outer limits of our solar system. In 2018 with Saturn (government) and Pluto (Power Elite) in Capricorn, Uranus (sudden changes in values and money) in Taurus, and Neptune (vision, illusion, and delusion) in Pisces, Donald Trump announced a 6th branch of our military services that organized, trained, and equipped space forces to protect the USA and allied interests in space and provide space capabilities to the joint force.

Politics in outer space is a waste of time and money. One better idea is to distribute available funds wisely in the here and now. Choose healthy ideas, plans, and actions for all living things. It’s time to address the fundamental conflicts, issues, and beliefs in our society such as ‘Money vs Values’, ‘Money & Morality’, and ‘Haves vs Have~nots’. Religion is losing its purpose for humanity as spirituality becomes more scarce.

Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years behind bars. Anti-Apartheid movements galvanized across the globe in 1990. Jean Bertrand Aristide, penniless radical priest, became Haiti’s first freely elected president. Ten months later, armed rebels seized control of his government and ousted him for ‘meddling in army affairs’. After Asylum in the USA, Aristide returned to office in 1994 with 20,000 American troops. Operation Desert Storm liberated Kuwait from Iraqi invaders. Bosnia declared independence from Yugoslavia, resulting in a religious civil war that pitted Serbs and Croats against Muslims. Genocide in Yemen, Syria, Sudan, and Somalia promoted fear, prejudice, and hatred across the globe! OY!

Johnny Carson retired after 30 years of hosting the ‘Tonite Show’ in May 1992. Representatives from over 100 countries met in Rio de Janeiro /June to figure out how to save the earth. It became obvious to all that common sense needed good sense because too many of us are out of our conscious minds and hearts!

My faces on original art & signature

November 1993, thirteen years after Brady was shot and paralyzed, the Brady Bill for gun control was finally signed into law. Republican leaders continued worshipping greed, coveting power, ignoring human values, abusing planetary well-being, and abandoning the future of our world. Too many lethal weapons of mass destruction are still being sold to too many psychotic males who will eventually use them for mass shootings in malls, schools, and churches.

In October 1995, the USA and UN brokered a prickly cease-fire to end ethnic cleansing. PLO leader Yassar Arafat shook hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to end hatred. The Irish Republican Army agreed to lay down its arms in exchange for a role in Northern Ireland’s political future. Smoking was banned in restaurants in New York City. More women began smoking cigars.

Neptune began its journey through Capricorn in 1984. Clear lines between chemical industries and moral responsibilities dissolved. A gas leak from a Union Carbide plant in India killed over 3,000 people. British scientists pinpointed a hole in the earth’s ozone layer. In 1987, having seen the dark handwriting on the walls, fifty-three nations signed a treaty pledging to reduce the number of CFCs in our atmosphere. November 1996, 55 parties signed the Paris Accord, agreeing to save the climate. 194 countries, including the European Union, have agreed to work on climate change. Businessmen, Politicians, and Priests have to agree to agree to their degree of greed!

Expect the unexpected. Suspect the unsuspected. Correct the uncorrected.

Forever toxic! The most Neptune accident in history occurred at Chernobyl in April 1986. Thirty-one people were killed instantly. 40,000 were later diagnosed with Cancer from too much exposure to nuclear radiation. In March 1989, the Exxon Valdez shipwreck became the worst oil spill in history, contaminating hundreds of miles of Alaska shoreline, and killing tens of thousands of innocent creatures. It’s time to correct and deselect fossil fuels and environmental degradation. Select clean energy, sustainability, nature, and nurture.

Ignore science? Everyone knows ‘Roundup’ is carcinogenic. Monsanto, creator of Agent Orange, PCBs, DDTs, and Dioxins, launched “Round-up Ready” GMO soybeans in 1994, approved by the FDA. ‘Frankenfood’ was born. Environmental activists fought while FDA folly was parodied on late night TV. Mad Cow disease appeared in the UK in 1996. A slim line between science fiction and reality was crossed when the first sheep was cloned in Scotland in 1997. The FDA approved a drug called AZT, designed to treat AIDS. El Nino was blamed for bizarre weather conditions 1997~1998.

Neptune transformed illusions of fatherhood. Bill Cosby was most popular father in 1984. Bill wasn’t practicing what he was preaching. He had zero awareness of how Karma would reward him when Saturn would return to Scorpio in 2014. Bill was ridiculed by hordes of ex-fans when ‘me too’ appeared on his doorstep. With Saturn in Capricorn in 2018, Bill was thrown into state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting a variety of women.

Racial bigots, Archie Bunker, and Homer Simpson were popular patriarchal parodies. ‘Married with Children’ flaunted twisted fantasies of fatherhood. Disney studios produced the ultimate LEO father and son story, ‘Lion King’. Murphy Brown revealed her Animus to a Collective Psyche’s repressed and vulnerable Anima. She encouraged all females not to give away their power. Sadly, we’re still choosing to appoint rapists and elect pussy grabbers to leadership roles in public office, commerce, and society.

Ivan Boesky preached virtuosity and honesty while practicing insider trading. Frenzied mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers began in 1980, destabilizing financial institutions. General Electric purchased media giants NBC and RCA. Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) collapsed. Regulators from 69 countries seized assets and charged officers who hid substantial losses from investors. Congress closed the House of Representatives Bank in the wake of scandal.

On Jan 6, 2021, Sun and Mercury conjunct Pluto in Capricorn, Donald Trump incited an insurrection on our Capitol that catalyzed the Jan 6 committee and the beginning of the end for CHUMPENOMICS!

Neptune dissolves political and financial structures. Mikhail Gorbachev reformed controls to keep the Soviet Union together. Growing concerns over growing federal deficit catalyzed the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act in 1974 to balance the budget and stabilize the deficit. Congress failed to control its spending rather than assume the massive mandatory cuts specified.

It was transformed in 1990 to the Budget Enforcement Act. As Reagan deficits soared to two trillion dollars (2X 1981), Reagan taxed Social Security to gather more from the poor and middle class. Black Monday crashed the stock market with unexpected steeply dropping stock prices. Texaco filed the largest bankruptcy in history. National deficits grew greater as the middle class grew smaller and poorer. Haves have. Have-nots have not! Time for HAVES to share generously, practically, and reasonably with all!

Pluto corrupts. Money without morality is bankrupt. Religion without Spirituality is blind. The top 1/10th of 1% are above the law and beyond scrutiny. The other 99.9% are clueless what to do with laws or themselves. Covetous capitalists, deceptive business practices, devious plans, and dark conspiracies dwell in Pluto’s domain. Partisan politics, greed, and hypocrisy must be confronted and transmuted into healthy behaviors, values, thinking, feelings, use of will power, relationships, creativity, philosophy, purpose, dreams, fears, and spirituality.

Expecto Patronum”

Donaldemort, a gluttonous grifter, science denier, and squanderer of natural resources rules Dementors who grift our pocketbooks, poison our principles, and pollute our planet’s body, respiratory, and circulatory systems. They punish and abuse us physically, and try to incapacitate and imprison our minds & psyches.

Nostradamus predicted Pluto in Capricorn would destabilize major financial structures. Bubbles created by illusions like social security and financial stability would burst. Congress would become infected with jealousy, lies, and greed!

Have we prepared for erratic interest rates and inflation? Can we reform our broken social systems? What happens in 2025 when the Federal Reserve Bank, founded Dec. 23, 1913 (Capricorn) destabilizes as transiting Neptune in Aries squares our Fed’s natal Sun Pluto opposition? Can we figure out what that means or might or could mean ahead of time?

If Hindsight truly is 2020, looking backward to 12/23/2022 finds Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Pluto transiting through Capricorn. It’s time to reveal faulty foundations, shaky structures, and horrible habits. Sun, Moon, Mercury, and Venus conjunct Pluto in Capricorn then pass him. It’s time to balance personal and collective heads and hearts. Every thought, choice, and action has consequences. The human race has become a race against bad shit happening.

Forward to 1/6/2023. Full moon in Cancer. Time to let go of fear and hatred and transmute our thoughts, choices, and actions for ourselves, others, and our planet. It’s a perfect time to choose supportive, caring, and nurturing foundations and structures for natural and human systems and cultures.

We must reuse, recycle, and recreate our world by revolutionizing our infrastructure and energy needs and nourishing ourselves and our environment. Fossil fuels can be useful as sustainable products and not squandered on herds of racehorses under our hoods.

Recycling, Reusing, and Reducing need to be reinforced on a massive scale to become practical and cost effective. We need to build bridges instead of walls, repair highways, and design and implement healthy solutions to cost effective public transportation systems that offer comfort, accessibility, and affordability for all.

The Declaration of Independence was signed July 4, 1776. Some astrologers dispute whether Gemini or Sagittarius is rising. Regardless, natal Sun, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury are in Cancer. Transiting Pluto in Capricorn has returned to his natal position to transform our human and planetary mythology into a new reality for everyone and everything. If Gemini is rising, it’s not a great time for too many smug short-sighted children to take what’s valuable for granted. As Pluto in Capricorn reaches into our cell phones, computers, e-devices, minds, hearts, and souls, he influences more than elections. Pluto can help our nation heal or he can cause a loss of status as a positive role model for the world!

God rules. Laws enforce. Reputation regulates!

Must we lose what we value to learn to truly value it?

New York City’s charter was signed on January 1 1898 at 12:01 am. On Xmas 2013, transiting Pluto, Sun, and Mercury in Capricorn were conjunct New York City’s natal Sun. Physical, financial, and social infrastructures, transportation, and politics were transformed. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced sweeping new gun control. Newtown marked one year since the Sandy Hook shootings. The July 13 verdict of Trayvon Martin sparked heated discussion about race relations and garnered strong reactions from people across the country. A Metro-North train derailed, killing 4. Anthony Weiner’s weiner was caught in another sexting scandal. New York City Public Advocate Bill De Blasio defeated former MTA chairman Joe Lhota in a race for mayor with a landslide win on Nov. 5. Bill De Blasio championed the middle class, raising salaries for city workers, supporting minimum wage, implementing universal pre-K, and making affordable housing available.

Worldwide challenges included ice and snow storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, droughts, wildfires, and other unnatural anomalies created by human environmental abuse. Capricorn rises in the USSR constitution. Saturn and Pluto promise political and economic upheaval. Putin embodies Pluto in his quest to destroy, conquer, and rape the Ukrainian spirit. In the final analysis, Pluto teaches where responsibility begins and accountability ends. The seduction turns Pluto on, but the betrayal gets him off! Bottom lines don’t justify the means.

Best thing ve can do for no longer useful idiots is not be one of ‘em!

SAGITTARIUS & PSYCHE

Collective psyche overrules personal psyche. Fate or Destiny? Nature or Nurture? Whatever your astrological symbolism says about you, a tsunami, tornado, hurricane, earthquake, flood, drought, pandemic, war, or banana peel can transform your psyche.

Twelve basic character types are featured in astrology. Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto symbolize family, friends, and enemies and embodies a collective consciousness that includes beliefs, behaviors, and interpersonal relationships. Humanity’s patterns correspond to conditions and positions of inner and outer planets that embody ideologies and circumstances that seed and catalyze outer and inner change. We can choose to see, know, and be our behavior, values, thinking, feelings, will, health, relationships, creativity, philosophy, purpose, dreams and fears, and spirituality.

A Moment in Time & Space

Astrology has endless permutations and combinations of details. Each and every detail means something, but until you’ve decided on basic character type and context, details are superficial. The meaning of any detail can change because of the question asked and the balance of elements, planets, signs, houses, and aspects. Adding stars, asteroids, and man-made points to a natal chart can make accurate interpretation impossible.

In my metaphysical practice, I examine every detail within the context of the whole picture and every other detail at the same time. Comparing and contrasting symbolic details and combinations of details is vital for observing, examining, and analyzing human behavior. One danger in interpreting isolated details out of context is in substituting one form of predetermination for another by reducing individuality to cookbook formulas. That’s what most readers do. It’s the primary reason I don’t make predictions. Free-will rules. We get to choose what we think and how we feel no matter what is happening. Canned readings may be a good place to start, but they’re no substitute for time and experience. Other people’s ideologies, opinions, and generalizations should not be taken literally or too seriously.

I’m writing this on 12/2/2022. Sun, Mercury, and Venus are comfortable in Sagittarius. A frustrated Mars is battling a lot of misinformation and dealing with too much Gemini bullshit. Mars is trying to communicate with siblings, but instead, he’s creating tension for everyone. Mars rules energy, sports, and military under Saturn’s decisions, missions, and guidance. Saturn in Aquarius is trying to choose healthy ideologies, values, and thinking.

Uranus transited Aries during the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and passed through Taurus 1935~1942. That period symbolized a destabilization of foundations, structures, economies, institutions, and values. Focusing on values forced many people to question materialism. The USA went off the gold standard. President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Labor organized, forming unions that went on strike and engaged in sit-downs across the nation. There was strength in solidarity. Roosevelt defended the Four Essential Freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. Having Real Faith might have prevented the human race from racing so randomly, recklessly, and desperately against and toward bad shit happening.

Neptune & Jupiter are happiest in Sagittarius & Pisces. Friendship thrives where and when imagination, vision, and spirit are openly shared. Jupiter is naturally generous. He also attracts excess and greed. Jupiter can make you believe anything. His voice is designed to persuade. Neptune can be a martyr, savior, or saint. He can also be a liar, crook, or master criminal. Together, Jupiter and Neptune can heal the widening gap between haves and havenots. Neptune must shed the veil of illusion and delusion while Jupiter takes the reigns of confusion, collusion, and irresolution, and redirects us to clarity, inclusion, and resolution. Haves must share wealth with havenots for the betterment of mankind and for our world. Pluto in Capricorn will expose secrets that need to be seen. Pluto can transform business in ways that bring humans together instead of irreconcilably dividing them through partisan Politics, Business, and Religion. How can we transform fear into courage and hate into love? Is it possible to truly balance our outer circumstances with our inner worlds?

Uranus transited Sagittarius from 1981-1988. Politics became more accessible to females. Sandra D. O’Connor became the first Woman elected to the Supreme Court. Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman nominated by the Democratic Party for Vice President. Benazir Bhutto became the first Muslim female prime minister in Pakistan’s first free election since 1977.

Uranus brings sudden and unexpected upheaval and disaster. The space shuttle Challenger exploded on takeoff in 1986, while millions watched in horror on their TV screens. Ronald Reagan created “Star Wars”, an absurd and overly expensive national defense idea. Greenpeace’s flagship, Rainbow Warrior, was bombed while protesting France’s nuclear testing. George Bush Sr. was the first sitting Vice President elected as president since 1836. IBM introduced personal PCs. AT&T’s communication monopoly ended via a powerful combo of Anti-Trust Laws & the Department of Justice in 1974.

In 2018, Donald Trump announced a sixth branch of our military services that organizes, trains, and equips space forces in order to protect US. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force. Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, Uranus in Taurus, and Neptune in Pisces represent fundamental conflicts and issues like ‘money vs values’ and ‘religion vs spirituality’. We must find and embrace healthy resolutions and actions for all mankind and for our planet.

Neptune transited Sagittarius from 1970 to 1984. The idealism of the 60’s turned to pessimism with a marked lack of trust in national institutions. The war in Vietnam united masses of skeptical angry protesters, who were ready for confrontation. The Arab oil embargo created a major energy crisis in 1973 to finally ‘teach’ the USA not to take energy for granted. We keep forgetting to remember to observe the handwriting on our walls!

Gas is expensive, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the economic and social consequences of unbridled public and personal abuses of precious natural resources. Raising prices is essential to increasing profits. Fossil fuel profiteers have prevented energy independence by controlling and manipulating natural resources that no private individuals should own. Controversial pipelines are endangering our environment with long range consequences for our bodies, souls, and body and soul of our planet!

SALMAN RUSHDIE

Sagittarius rules publishing and religion. In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini sentenced Salman Rushdie to death after publishing The Satanic Verses. Rushdie’s tales of good and evil incited riots in India and book burnings in England. His literary success fueled an ocean of fear and stirred teeming cauldrons of Islamic hatred! After 23 years of threats, on August 12, 2022, a man stabbed novelist Salman Rushdie multiple times as he was about to give a public lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York.

Religion without Spirituality

Donald Trump attracted and motivated masses of Evangelicals, Holocaust deniers, White supremacists, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religious fundamentalists who embraced the dark force. Having a bible in one hand and an AK in the other is not about GOD! It’s no surprise that Trump was inaugurated on Jan 20, 2017 while Uranus was in Aries.

Sun, Mercury, and Venus in Sagittarius opposing Gemini and Mars is a good time to shift our values and philosophies from profit over people to social justice and equality for all. It makes good sense to care for and nurture everyone and everything.

Neptune rules false prophets, illusion, delusion, deception, and victimization. Richard Nixon was the first President to announce his resignation while Neptune was in Scorpio in 1974. New York was the first city to be bailed out of bankruptcy by the federal government in 1975. Neptune can also be imaginary and visionary. A religious paradigm shifted when the Catholic Church elected its first non-Italian pope in four centuries. Mother Theresa accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in the name of the poor. In 1979, Televangelist Jerry Falwell founded the ‘Moral Majority’. It became an ‘Immoral Majority’ sometime prior to January 20th of 2001. Pluto in Sag brought Donald Trump to politics. A natal Mercury (11th house) square Neptune (2nd house) aspect can be interpreted as pretending to be your friend to get your money. Inwardly curved pinkie fingers confirm Donald lies. He doesn’t realize the difference. Don grifted us until Jan 6 2021 when Pluto in Capricorn, Neptune in Pisces, and Uranus in Taurus raised mass conscience, no longer permitting Don to piss on humanity.

Authors Note: Not everyone with curved pinkies is a liar. Many learned to behave in ways that worked in early childhood and are still trying to be themselves. Old habits die hard.

Neptune rules chemicals and drugs. The first test-tube baby was conceived without a womb when Neptune was in Leo in 1978. Genetic engineering generated new horrors for theologians, religious fundamentalists, and ideological extremists. Environmental activists protested industries creating “Acid Rain”. ‘Three Mile Island’ fiasco derailed several major nuclear energy projects in 1979. The World Health Organization announced an end to smallpox. Crack cocaine became popular. A deadly sexual epidemic was officially named AIDS in 1981. Fear of an eventual pandemic spread. Covid 19 was official on Mar 11 2020. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto were in Capricorn. Aggression and gun control dominated personal and collective psyche. A dark side of Uranus in Taurus & Neptune in Pisces is a constant flow of blame and denial from extremist ideologies that catalyzed an insurrection on Jan 6 2021.

Pluto transited Sagittarius from 1995 to 2008. Political extremism, corporate greed, religious fanaticism, white supremacy, Second amendment rights, fundamentalism, and terrorism germinated quickly in fertile soil, transforming politics, business, and religion. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing law student. Pluto was in Sag and Sun was in Scorpio. The Middle East peace process was disrupted. President Clinton resumed diplomatic relations with communist Vietnam. In July 1997, Great Britain let go of Hong Kong. Hundreds of thousands of Black Men flocked to Washington to march for freedom. It was the first time in 40 years Republicans controlled congress. Y2K was not end time. People woke up, brushed their teeth, and went to work.

Sex scandals rocked the Catholic Church in 1995. The House of Representatives impeached and later acquitted Bill Clinton for lying about his sex life. Two students killed themselves after murdering twelve students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado. The Unabomber was caught and sentenced to life in prison. Oklahoma City bombing established large-scale American terrorism on our soil. On 9/11, government power transformed, giving leaders permission to supersede human rights and civil liberties. Political machines preempted war without world consent. In 2022, lairs of corporate foxes tended hen houses while packs of political wolves herded sheep. Sacred cows gave birth to golden calves.

Saturn began his journey through Sagittarius on December 23, 2014. Pluto was visiting his siblings in eleven other homes for twenty-eight years prior to that. Astrologers predicted Saturn would wield a sobering influence on society as he transited Sagittarius to Capricorn. Saturn’s natural process is accepting responsibility, laying foundations, building structures, and being methodical, disciplined, and focused. Saturn rules bureaucracy, business, energy, transportation, education, communications, food, housing, healthcare, law, politics, and religion. Father Time asks us to remember, to be here now, and to plan as far into the future as possible.

Sagittarius rules transportation. He loves prestige, luxury, power, and status. He leaves racing for Aries and showing off for Leo. The Lords of the automobile industry must shift their paradigms of profit before people to people first. Transportation must be designed from a more spiritual perspective. Guzzling fossil fuels is unsustainable. Do we really need hundreds of horses galloping under our hoods?

Perpetuating illusions that overly expensive gas guzzling cars are glamorous, maintains delusions that it’s OK to deplete our planet’s natural resources and poison everyone and everything. Car companies pretend their products are healthy! We must rethink what healthy transportation will be for our future. Raising mass consciousness will profit humanity and our planet. We can no longer get away with substituting money for values and religion for spirituality.

Whether our planet warms, cools, floods, quakes, droughts, burns, or is blown by giant winds, fossil fuel prices still remain artificially repressed. Legislation and energy umbilical cords prevent sustainable energy minded competitors from building sound structures on solid foundations. Fuel efficient, non-polluting, practical, and economical mass transit is essential to creating a healthy world and economy. We must cut our energy demands and costs while thinking globally and acting locally. Transportation must reform and transform.

We go wherever and whenever we want in the comfort and safety of our cars. Our hidden costs are insidious, usurious, and deceitful as we guzzle gas, fight oil wars, deplete and squander finite resources, and poison Mom’s body, circulatory, and respiratory systems.

Too much carbon dioxide, monoxide, and toxic gases hover in space and time by degree. Smoke, smog, chemical, and human waste poison our oceans, reservoirs, rivers, streams, and faucets. A pandemic of pestilential pollution binds to the walls of our veins and coagulates in our arteries like cholesterol on its way to a coronary. Highways and roads are like varicose veins feeding bloated glands that nourish cancerous sores we call cities. It’s time to shift our usurious paradigms and steer ourselves clear from death and destruction toward a hopeful future characterized by clear intent, healthy values, critical thinking, honest feelings, right use of will, good physical health, honest relationships, freedom to explore and understand our fears, creativity, philosophy, purpose, dreams, and spirituality.

Greed and avarice are symptoms of poisonous partisan political philosophies, flawed fundamentalist faiths, extremist social ideologies, and too many desperate people. As we wander through barren deserts and toxic wastelands, too many unhealthy psyches with too many guns and second amendment rights are worshipping sacred cows and praying to golden calves. Why are we trading money for values and substituting religion for spirituality?

Why must we lose what we value to value what we had? Jupiter transited Sagittarius this year, shamelessly flaunting greed in capitalism and revealing present and future costs of climate change. Choosing healthy values and accepting full responsibility for being healthy and happy is Spiritual Alchemy! Our fate is unknown; however, our destiny is in our hands.

Uranus transits Taurus May 14, 2018 ~ Nov 7, 2025. Time for rebirth, to make sense, to accept responsibility, and to choose courage, strength, grace, and wisdom. Combining truth with nobility, dignity, integrity, ethics, and virtue will heal everyone and everything. How can we see the forest from the trees? Can we all become healthier in more sustainable ways? “The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding”. Hermes

HERMES

HERMES

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In ancient Greece, Hermes was the god of wisdom, trade, wealth, luck, fertility, language, animal husbandry, sleep, thieves, and travel. Hermes was also the liaison to death and messenger for all gods. Hermes’ Roman version is Mercury, ruler of Gemini. Thoth is the Egyptian archetype, scribe of the gods. Loki was the Norse god of mischief. In Tarot, Hermes is a Magician at a crossroads with important choices to be made and critical actions to be taken, along with the necessary tools to make them happen. Having physical and metaphysical resources and tools enabled Hermes to go anywhere and do anything.

Hermes was reputedly a real person in ancient Egypt. Hermes allegedly lived to 350 years old in the flesh. Refusing to grow old, he spent much of his youth as a petty thief and mischievous trickster. ‘Puck’ was Hermes adolescence in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. The 20th Century version is Peter Pan. Peter never grows old. As a 74 year old Gemini, I’m leaving adolescence on a quest to transform common sense into good sense.

Wendy is a Virgo. She’s the part of Mercury that’s practical and responsible. Peter needs Wendy to darn his socks, sew his shadow back on, let him fly away whenever and wherever he wants and be there when he gets back. Wendy balances Peter by changing Gemini’s ambiguous and ambivalent thoughts and feelings into clarity and good sense. Gemini (social) and  Virgo (technical) are Hermes City & Country homes as he transits our Zodiac.

Hermes was the mystic teacher of Abraham and real father of wireless communication. Hermes realized our brains are the cell communication hardware while our minds transmit and receive messages. He understood relationships between cells cause energy and matter to vibrate on different planes at the same time. Hermes described three separate and forever blending planes as physical, mental, and spiritual.

Long before Moses, while other alchemists were still attempting to turn Lead into Gold, Hermes taught disciples that every thought is made up of individual cells; physically, mentally, and spiritually connected to all other cells on all other planes at the same time. We can connect with anyone or anything at any time by first taking a leap of faith, establishing our connections, and then tuning our links.

Alchemy is not about turning lead into gold. Alchemy is a set of magical formulas, tools, and esoteric instruction for becoming healthy, happy, and fulfilled. Alchemy is choosing to nourish clear vision, making wise decisions, cultivating real relationships, and acting appropriately. Positive attitudes, right uses of will, and rock solid faith will create sound structures on solid foundations. By balancing courage, strength, wisdom, and grace with critical thinking, healthy feelings, and right action, Saturn (Lead) can turn into Sun (Gold). Through structure, discipline, and focus, alchemy helps us to be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually connected to ourselves, each other, and our planet.

Hermetic alchemy is a mastery of mental forces by transmuting one mental vibration into another. Hermes describes an unknowable and indefinable spirit as “The ALL”. “While ALL is in “The ALL”, it is equally true that “The ALL” is in ALL. “To him who truly understands this truth hath come great knowledge”. The inner nature of The ALL is unknowable. That’s why we have anthropomorphic gods and institutionalized religion.

Spirit is the essence that forms the whole. Spiritual development depends on the recognition, realization, and manifestation of the Great Spirit within and without.

Hermes taught seven basic metaphysical and philosophical principles.

The Secret”, a popular and profitable self-help campaign, is Hermes “Law of Polarity”. “Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature but different by degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.” Polarity is spiritual magnetism. Laws of attraction work best when you know what you want and your intention is clear. You can transform negative thinking into positive circumstances by deciding what you want, taking a leap of faith, letting go of fear, and doing the work.

Hermes ‘Law of Polarity’ can turn trash into treasure

GURU of GARBAGE (Click for Good Day NY)

Opposites are extremes of the same thing with varying degrees between. Where does heat end and cold begin? Where does darkness leave off and light begin?  What about positive and negative, hard and soft, sharp and dull, noisy and quiet, high and low? This same principle operates on a mental plane. Love and hate are simply degrees of the same thing. Somewhere in the middle are shades of like and dislike. The vibrations of hate can be transformed into the vibrations of love through the art of polarization, a phase of alchemy known and practiced by ancient and modern masters.

Hermes other six ‘Secrets’ are Correspondence, Mentalism, Vibration, Rhythm, Cause and Effect, and Gender. Knowing these principles enabled Hermes to explore, examine, and explain everything and to execute his thoughts and ideas.

Hermetic masters possessed knowledge of transcendental astronomy called astrology, transcendental chemistry called alchemy, and transcendental psychology called mystic psychology. They cultivated inner and outer wisdom. Critical thinkers throughout history have unlocked mysteries using hermetic thought and principles. Confucius, Galileo, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Nostradamus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Joseph Campbell were Grand Masters of hermetic thought.

Hermes used astrology to unlock ancient mysteries. Astrologers espouse Hermes second principle of correspondence “As above, so below, as below, so above”. Astrology is a symbolic system that compares and contrasts our heavens with the affairs of man on earth. Every relationship changes every other relationship on a cellular level by raising or diminishing its vibration, polarity, and rhythm. Astrological symbols embody a variety of archetypal characters, plots, and tales of humans, heroic, but unable to see the forest from the trees while desperately racing against bad shit happening.

Author’s Alliteration: Pious philosophies, pointless partisan political paradigms, and pestilential pecuniary practices pollute higher purpose and poison our psyches. Faulty families feast frenzily on flawed feelings, vague values, and toxic thinking, copiously spiced with needless fear, desperation, and hatred. As we compartmentalize, rationalize, and analyze our insane ideologies and beliefs, we sacrifice our dignity, integrity, nobility, and virtue on the altars of nonsense.

Hermes asks us to know ourselves; to think critically, to be motivated, to make healthy choices, nourish positive attitudes, and embrace our best attributes. As we flourish and blossom, we can select more nourishing relationships and embrace more meaningful roles for ourselves. We can transform lead into gold by choosing wholeness, happiness, healthiness, peacefulness, and gracefully sharing our good fortune with the rest of us.

VIRGO & PSYCHE

Outer planets symbolize transformations in personal and collective psyche as they pass through the twelve signs of our Zodiac. As Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto transited Virgo in the 20th Century, preconceived ideas and paradigms were shifted.

Born between 1962 and 1968? Uranus and Pluto in Virgo symbolize your need to analyze, rationalize, organize, and compartmentalize your decisions and actions. You’ll be more free, healthier, and happier when you combine your need for practicality and purpose with your highly developed sense of responsibility and do the work.

Neptune entered Virgo in 1929. Neptune’s dark and nebulous side manifested when Wall Street crashed, catalyzing the great depression. Neptune left Virgo in 1943. Submerged in confusion from the Second World War, propaganda and deception poisoned the rationality of Germany. Millions had been exterminated in the name of racial purity.

Humanitarians and labor unions were born. Plutocratic institutions tried (and are still trying) to crush them. New concepts in medicine such as psychosomatic illness were practiced. Neurotics, terrified of reality, dropped out and ran from responsibility. “We Want Beer” marches were held in cities across the country to protest prohibition, which was repealed. The time has come for Cannabis to be legalized.

As Donald Trump has taught us, it’s not what you do, but what you get away with that matters. Fake news, fake politicians, and real plutocrats are poisoning us. Transiting Neptune in Pisces is opposing Virgo as Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Taurus are transiting our Zodiac. It’s no surprise we’re experiencing negative karma as we ignore history and abuse our physical, psychological, and spiritual climates.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the top money making movie of 1938. Walt Disney animated a castle, woodland settings, a wicked Queen, a huntsman, a handsome prince, and seven devoted dwarfs. The Prince and Princess lived happily-ever-after.

Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind was the best-selling book of 1936 and the highest grossing film of all time. “African-Americans have protested against it from the start, even if white America didn’t want to hear it.” “When HBO Max announced… that it was temporarily removing “Gone With the Wind” from its streaming service, it seemed as if another Confederate monument was coming down.”(NY Times)

Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times was released. Silk stockings became nylon stockings. DuPont was unable to satisfy the demand for nylon. Gasoline rationing was put into effect in 1942. A new mold discovered on cantaloupe yielded ten times as much penicillin as previous sources and reduced shortages. Born 1929 ~ 1943? The Neptune in Virgo generation was destined to “serve or suffer”.

When Pluto entered Virgo in 1957, we realized how easily we were enslaved to scientific and technological trends. Awareness of dangers of chemical pollutants affecting our environment entered mass consciousness. Environmental special interest groups formed. Geneva nuclear test ban talks reconvened. Official school prayers became unconstitutional. People born 1957 ~ 1971 were thirsty for bottled water and hungry for health foods. Organic growing and eating transformed into huge businesses.

As Pluto left Virgo in 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, former Deputy Secretary of Defense, leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times. Ellsberg was indicted for espionage and conspiracy. The Times published government documents about the Vietnam War that revealed that the American public had been consistently lied to. Anti-war demonstrators protested in Washington where two thousand Vietnam veterans rallied. Many threw their combat medals on the steps of the capitol. The 26th amendment giving eighteen year olds the right to vote became law. If hindsight is 2020, we’d better claim our right to vote because the lying is worse than ever.

Uranus transited Virgo from 1962 to 1968. As natural and organic foods entered mass consciousness, the “Good Health” revolution began. Rachel Carson’s bestselling book Silent Spring highlighted ecology and inspired concern for widespread chronic damage caused by pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other hazards of technological progress. Holistic healers began appearing. Cigarette companies were forced to print health warnings on packaging and advertising.

There are more Virgo doctors, nurses, and social workers than other signs. Healthcare is a major mundane correspondence for Virgo. Good health is our birthright. Corrupt politicians, priests, partisan governments, acquisitive plutocrats, and greedy purveyors of health insurance have negatively transformed our healthcare system by extorting those who are unable to afford insurance or advocate for themselves. Pharmaceutical drug lords care more for profit than people. Healthcare providers and partisan politicians are paving golden paths to their own prosperity. Greedy money managers and powerful plutocrats prosper while doctors are forced to ignore root causes, treat symptoms, and prescribe medications. Saturn was in Virgo from 9/2007 – 10/2009. Seeds for structural healthcare change were sown as the Affordable Care Act was born. Balancing physical, mental, emotional, and psychological health is primarily a spiritual challenge.

President Johnson signed the civil rights act on July 2 1964, integrating all public accommodations and prohibiting job discrimination. Civil rights were turbulent. Voter registration drives and segregation protests increased. Several thousand black and white supporters were arrested. A black church in Birmingham Alabama was bombed, killing four girls. Two blacks died in riots following that bombing. Martin Luther King had a dream, but legislating equality doesn’t eliminate prejudice.

Reconstructionism had been imposed. Malcolm X was assassinated while speaking in NYC in 1965. Thurgood Marshall was the first black Supreme Court justice in 1967. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis while supporting a sanitation worker’s strike in 1968. Riots in 125 cities after his death resulted in 46 more deaths. In 2020, ‘Black Lives Matter’. Peaceful demonstrators should not be protesting about things that matter to them in danger and fear for their lives!

Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles after becoming the Democratic front-runner for the presidential nomination. Anti-Vietnam war rallies were held in major cities and universities across the country.

Bob Dylan became a superstar while singing about the hypocrisy of American values and culture. The worst earthquake in modern history leveled Anchorage Alaska. Jonas Salk discovered the polio vaccine and inoculated the masses. The first televised presidential debates were broadcast. The first transatlantic TV broadcast was made via Telstar, AT&T’s privately owned satellite. Russians crash landed the first spacecraft on the moon. Pop Art had its first exhibition. Rock & Roll became popular. The Beatles skyrocketed to musical fame and fortune. As we seek remedies for symptoms like Donald Trump and Covid 19, the human race races toward bad shit happening!

Common sense without good sense is nonsense. Money without values is worthless. Religion without Spirituality is blind. We must reexamine history and make healthier choices for a healthier future. Greedy liars, bigoted hypocrites, and fanatical leaders promote hate and fear. We must transform ourselves by clearly seeing their and our own secret desires, needs, and truths. We’ve strayed too far from our humanity and Constitution.

TAURUS & HANDS

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You don’t need a Taurus sun, moon, ascendant, aspects, or house placements to behave like a Taurus. ‘Taurus archetypes’ have square fleshy palms, large stiff thumbs, and short stiff fingers representing stubbornness, determination, and tenacity. Their firm, pink, elastic skin, and dense bulging percussion of hands under pinkie fingers embody their relentless persistence. Having full rosy balls of thumbs symbolizes love of family, nature, children, comfort, art, music, luxury, and all that’s refined, graceful, and beautiful. When a ball of thumb is surrounded by a long clear deep life line, that person is blessed with a healthy body and attitude. Long clear deep fate lines reflect strong purpose, goals, and destiny.

Deeply engraved life, heart, head, and fate lines and clear skin ridges are distinct paths on the topographical maps of our hands that can be navigated by anyone who wants to learn to see and interpret the cartography. Taurus has less peripheral lines than feeling, thinking, and intuitive types. Needing security and stability, Taurus feels, thinks, and intuits in practical ways. Long graceful heart lines ending under the index fingers are romantic and sentimental. Being ‘old fashioned’ comes naturally, like crying while watching old movies is typical. Long heart lines see others as they want them to be, instead of how they really are. Time is Taurus’s friend. They must make others work to earn their trust and love or risk being taken for granted.

People with closely intertwined lines of head and life procrastinate, care too much what others think, and need to feel appreciated. Being taken for granted is the beginning of the end. Fingers with loop prints and flexible first joints add mental adaptability. Arches and stiff joints embody fixity and practicality. Square finger tips represent a need for order and stability. Developed second knots are about needing everything in its place. I’ve seen folk with very large second knots stealthily adjusting something you picked up and moved a few molecules from where it had been. Middle phalanges embody practicality. Bottom phalanges embody physicality and sensuality. The hand pictured above belongs to a Pisces with a Taurus character. Dreamy, visionary, and spiritual on the inside, he’s extremely practical on the outside.

Taurus is driven by their physical senses. Responsible, practical, pragmatic, objective, dependable, and reliable, Taurus manages and maintains our material world. Taurus trusts what they can see and feel, not ideas, intuitions, or inspirations. As creatures of habit they get addicted to routine and order. The more bogged down in practical and mundane matters, the harder it becomes to access abstract abilities and imagination. A huge challenge is procrastination at beginnings and endings. It makes no sense as it opposes a basic need to get things done. Taurus needs to be stable, responsible, caring, and appreciated.

Aphrodite’s desire for comfort and beauty manifests in Taurus. She gives form to wealth and power. Venus loves family, friendships, home, food, nature, art, and music. Her need for physical security and stability drives her practical attitudes. She’s honest, dependable, trustworthy, and valued for her natural warmth and good sense.

A healthy Venus won’t bend the truth or perform a song and dance act for anyone. She’s loyal, affectionate, and charming, but she can also be jealous, controlling, and possessive. She’s charismatic, but not the best salesperson as she takes rejection personally. Taurus thrives in real estate, banking, food, and fashion. Taurus challenges are learning to trust their gut, give up control, and let go when it makes no sense to hang on. Taurus can be the best bull or the worst Minotaur.

TAURUS LEADERS

Pope John Paul ll had many positive Taurus qualities. He got the haves to share with the have-nots. He was the first Pope to visit a synagogue. He encouraged Catholics and Jews to love one another. An assassination attempt nearly killed him and yet he rose to address countless chaotic messes in the church.

J. Krishnamurti, a spiritual guide, shared good sense with all willing to listen.

Leonardo da Vinci, an original hipster, was a great artist and inventor

Sigmund Freud fathered modern psychoanalysis

Karl Marx developed a theory of socialism

Martha Graham mothered modern dance

Katherine Hepburn was Grand Dame of American Stage & Movies

Queen Elizabeth ~ Prime Minister Tony Blair ~ Anchors ~ Great Britain

“The great mass of people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than a small one”. The darkest depths of Taurus brought humanity a Monster from Hell from 1933 to 1945.  Adolph Hitler transformed our world by inspiring and empowering anger, fear, and terror, and manipulating masses with powerful imagery of strength and unity of pandemic proportions. Adolph Hitler was responsible for over thirty million deaths.

 

Jim Jones, fanatic cult leader, led 1,000 followers to mass suicide in 1978

Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh had no remorse for his evil actions.

Saddam Hussein, (Iraqi President 1979~2006) was shamed, then slayed.

Alchemy isn’t turning lead into gold. Alchemy is balancing Saturn with our Sun. Virtue, honesty, integrity, dignity, nobility, persistence, determination, discipline, structure, and focus are keys to healthy humanism. Taking responsibility, cultivating healthy attitudes, nourishing cherished values, exercising critical thinking, promoting realistic goal setting, prioritizing planning, and choosing right actions will transform our inner and outer worlds. Taurus encourages us to find clarity in our values, embrace our best qualities, and master and manage our darkness. Everyone has Taurus in their psyche by degree. Taurus gives us the time and space to blend practicality with grace, responsibility with love, and comfort with joy. We can all be our own best friends and bull shit detectors.

TAURUS & PSYCHE

Uranus transited Taurus from 1935~1942. By ignoring the hard lessons learned, resolutions made, and actions taken, our psyche has been polluted and progress poisoned. It doesn’t take a seer to see that the human race has become a race against bad shit happening. We’re primed and ready for a loss of hope and faith. Pundits joke, but having no hope is no laughing matter. We’re feeling impotent, incompetent, and indifferent, and resigned to apathy and acceptance as Uranus transits Taurus again.

People focused on values and questioned materialism. Labor organized, forming unions that went on strike and engaged in sit-downs across the nation. There was strength in solidarity. The USA went off the gold standard. President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act and defended the Four Essential Freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. What happened?

Uranus in Taurus awakened aristocracy, autocracy, and plutocracy. Greed and anti-socialism flourished. Uranus in Taurus brought William Randolph Hurst and Orson Welles, both bulls, who bullied each other over the creation and release of Welles’ movie, ‘Citizen Kane’. Welles smugly, immodestly, and arrogantly modeled the notorious media mogul Charles Foster Kane after Hearst. Despite his abundant natural charm, brilliant portrayal, ground breaking cinematography, and exceptional directing, Welles art was no match for Hearst’s wealth and capacity to influence courts and public opinion. Welles persisted in his righteous defiance of Hearst, while Hearst relentlessly tortured Welles with legalities and bludgeoned him with bad publicity until Welles could no longer afford his principles, rise to his challenges, or control his self-indulgences. Ironically, like Kane, Welles longed for his lost innocence at the end of his life.

‘Less is more’ learned Midas as he yearned for a touch of gold, got it, and transformed his beloved daughter into a cold hunk of metal. His food turned to gold as it touched his lips. How many gilded towers, glitzy gambling casinos, graven images, beauty queens, shark tanks, and celebrity idols do we need? One important lesson of Midas is in having stability, security, good health, meaningful work, and satisfying relationships, and not needing more than that. Healthy humans value what they have, nourish their relationships, choose higher purpose, and feel satisfaction and fulfillment without needing affluence.

Having too much or too little of anything raises our awareness of what truly matters. Black and white, all or nothing, good and evil, love and hate, and rich and poor are opposites of equal value; identical in nature, but different by degree. An old billionaire dying of cancer will gladly trade $ for youth and good health. A famous celebrity with a brain injured child would gratefully scrub public toilets at Grand Central Station to heal her child.

Can a ‘Stable Genius’ destabilize a nervous and fickle public with lies and manipulation? Our political, financial, and religious ideologies, philosophies, and paradigms are partisan! On November 3, will we see our Emperor for who he is or who he wants us to see? In 2021, Pluto will conjunct Saturn and square Mercury, Saturn will square Sun and Uranus, and Neptune will square a Gemini North Node. Our time of reckoning is now because hindsight is 2020. The handwriting is on the wall.

The New York Stock Exchange and Federal Reserve are bulls. Philosophical, ideological, and spiritual paradigms must shift as we approach a ‘Black Tuesday’ worse than ‘29. As transiting Saturn opposes our Stock Exchange’s natal Chiron and squares its natal Moon, transiting Pluto will be squaring natal Jupiter, Uranus will conjunct Venus, and Neptune will oppose Mars! People born 1935 ~ 1942 know and understand unexpected gain and reversal means that we must lose what we have to value what we had. It’s time for a new generation to learn those very same lessons again.

Needing guns is a symptom of a decaying culture. There’s lots of nostalgia and talk of Civil War these days. Resurrection-ism was imposed on the south because the Confederacy lost the war. Donald Trump has given bigots permission to express their hatred. Black and white wages endless war on battlefields of infinite shades of gray. What will we do when Repuglican’t bullies with their laws, fascists and terrorists with semi-automatic weapons of mass-destruction, and evangelical fundamentalists wielding bibles and handguns show up at our doors? Sensible people are afraid of crazy people. I’m not a fan of guns, but protecting family, friends, and humanity is a good idea.

Alchemy is not transforming lead into gold. Alchemy is synchronizing Saturn with the Sun and blending the Sun’s talents, energy, optimism, and initiative with Saturn’s skills, skepticism, master planning, determination, and enduring patience. We need our family, friends, and everyone else to be equal and to live, work, and play in harmony. Clients ask, “How long will I live?” “When will I die?” Everyone dies. Life is about quality, not quantity. I encourage my clients to be responsible for their thoughts and feelings.

Courage, strength, wisdom, and grace embody the four pillars that support good mental, emotional, and physical health. Responsibility, discipline, determination, and devotion are ideas, ideals, and values that help us build sound structures on solid foundations. Spirituality is innate, but godliness is earned by practicing faith, virtue, integrity, loyalty, dignity, nobility, and honesty. Shine your brightest light on your innate talents, abilities, and desires. Be clear in your intentions, decisions, and actions. You too can be an alchemist, your own best friend, and master bull shit detector.

Limericks by Steve Benko ~ Artwork by Mark Seltman

Said Donald, “Our minions I’ll galvanize,
And with porn stars and thugs again fraternize.
Vlad, I’m walking on air,
But though Mueller was fair,
For my insults I’ll never apologize.”

AQUARIUS & PSYCHE

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Personal & Collective Psyche transform as Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto change sign. Uranus transits each sign of our zodiac for seven years. It takes eighty-four years to orbit our sun through twelve signs. Uranus entered Aquarius twice in the 20th Century. 1912 to 1919 bombarded our psyche with sudden unexpected political and social upheaval that challenged our philosophical and spiritual ideologies, faith in humanity, and trust in ourselves. Uranus transited Aquarius again in 1996. Had we chosen love and brotherhood over selfishness and convenience, we’d be building bridges instead of walls!

“The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding”

1912 ~ “Unsinkable Titanic” sunk on its maiden voyage. Karmic lesson in hubris

1913 ~ Tornadoes & Floods devastated Middle America. 3,000 dead + $100,000,000, an expensive lesson in preparedness

1914 ~ World War I ~ Hatred, Fear, & Terror levied a heavy toll on humanity

1915 ~ German submarine torpedoed British Ocean Liner Lusitania

Alexander Graham Bell catalyzed mass communications with the first transcontinental phone call made Jan 25th, 1915. A powerful concept’s time had arrived…

1916 ~ Would a wall have prevented Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary, from invading the USA? Woodrow Wilson retaliated by sending 6,000 troops into Mexico

Official Gazette of London published the names of 80 United States firms suspected of trading with Germany. Prescott Bush, a banker, was among them.

1917 ~ USA declared war on Germany. Hitler’s enemies became our allies. Bigotry became more bountiful, catalyzing the worst race riot in American history in Illinois

Congress amended laws that prohibited beer, wine, and liquor from being profitable

1918 ~ Daylight Savings Time. Spanish Flu was the worst pandemic since the Bubonic Plague wiped out one quarter of Europe’s population in the 14th century

1919 ~ Prohibition was ratified as the 18th amendment to our constitution. Congress failed to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. President Wilson disagreed and went on public tour to fight the decision. He died trying.

Hermes was the true father of modern medicine, communications, and the ‘Cell Phone’. Hermes knew everything is made of cells. He taught our brain is the hardware. Our job is to connect our inner with outer cells and fine tune our links. In Greek myth, Hermes was reputedly a real man, the mystic teacher of Abraham, who lived for 350 years in the flesh. As a Gemini @ 72, I’m still an adolescent, ‘Peter Pan’, in his finest hour. Joanna, my ‘Wendy’ soul mate, calls me “a piece of work in progress”, still in my first childhood.

Speaking of adolescence, male vanity and virility was popularized when Pfizer introduced Viagra in Aries of 1998. The stock market created a new form of gambling called “internet day trading”. DVDs became the fastest growing consumer electronics product in history. Bribes and drugs tarnished the Olympic Games. Our innocence and civil liberties were transformed as our ideas, illusions, and delusions about private and social security and stability dissolved. What we think of our past, present, and future matters.

Body piercing and tattoos became popular. President Clinton’s first political act of 1996 was to sign a welfare reform bill that made life harder for poor people. Havenots were deceived, divided, and demoralized, by the powers the that be. Madeline Albright became first female Secretary of State. Ellen DeGeneres was the first gay star of an ABC sitcom. Taiwan’s first democratic election was held. Four major plane crashes happened.

Neptune rules vision, illusion, delusion, and confusion. In 1998, Neptune in Aquarius represented the House of Representatives impeaching Bill Clinton for giving “perjurious false and misleading” testimony in front of a grand jury. Leo rules Bill, whose hands, sun, mercury, saturn, and pluto are Leo. Rest assured Hillary (Hera) mercilessly tortured Bill’s sorry butt when he got caught. Catholics & Protestants voted for peace in Ireland.

The US government and twenty state attorney generals charged Microsoft with anti-trust practices for dominating the Internet access market. Bill Gates has a Scorpio Sun and intuitive hands. Imagine having the power to make gigantic differences for humanity and our planet? What’s the ethical, moral, and spiritual responsibility for knowing the difference? Many poor people give more than Bill Gates, relative to their time and resources.

Neptune entered Pisces in 2012. 1% afflicted and infected the other 99% with spiritual, physical, emotional, ideological, psychological, and philosophical pathogens and dis~ease. Our illusions, delusions, and deceptions of being old, poor, sick, disabled, and/or unable to afford bad shit happening dissolved. Individual and collective hatred, fear, and terror has prevented us from transforming our inequities into equities. We must recognize and take responsibility for our behavior, values, thinking, feelings, health, relationships, creativity, philosophy, purpose, hopes, desires, fears, and spirituality.

LOOK ~ SEE + LISTEN ~ HEAR

Historians will describe the 21st Century as an era of false prophets and false profits. Neptune in Pisces symbolizes billions of individuals around the world, seeking security, stability, and spiritual answers and instead finding despair, fear, and terror.  HAVES rule have nots. Poor folk will always be at the bottom of the barrel scraping for pennies, as plutocrats skim the cream and pay partisan politicians to permit them to deplete, poison, and pollute our planet, manage our healthcare, regulate our welfare, gamble with our social security, and control our pension funds. The middle class are pawns, collateral damage, in a crooked game of chess. If freedom and slavery are opposite extremes, what shades of gray are you?

Never have so few been allowed to influence, manipulate, and control so many. The human race has become a race against bad shit happening and we’re all losing!

“As Above, So Below” Hermes