Still Here....

Sorry I haven't written in a few weeks.  I miss corresponding in this manner.  No excuses.  But onward....I would be remiss as an astrologer not to be reminding you about the planet Mercury's present apparent slowing down motion leading to "its" (unlike other planets, Mercury is androgonous) retrograde station on August 2nd at the very beginning of Virgo.  I began this blog in a Mercury retrograde phase, when it is changing its orientation to the Sun, setting after to rising before, or eastern elongation to western elongation and so must bow to my intention in starting a blog, as Mercury during the retrograde phase bows to the Sun.

Mercury is the fastest moving planet in its orbit closest to the Sun.  And as anyone knows these days information is circling around the globe at lightening speed.  Mercury rules travel, information, and communication, what we hear, what we think about what we hear and what we choose to relate back to others.  We honor these time periods as Mercury slows down in speed to move and think more slowly, to re think or change our minds, to move about more consciously.  No one can sustain a life at ultra high speed, whether that speed is between your ears or between 2 continents. 

Mercury will contact, or bow to the Sun, as I said earlier, on August 17th.  That is when our minds (Mercury) will align with our life's purpose, goals, direction (the Sun).  The brunt of the retrograde phase is over, we make peace with our extraneous ideas and tune into the ones more to the point.  We can assume that at times our thoughts have gotten ahead of ourselves (now) and a pause is welcome.

Of course when you are trying to negotiate a rise in the debt ceiling to avoid a nation's default and the planet that rules negotiation is slowing down and apparently moving backwards, you might not see it that way. You can be sure that any agreement they do come to will have to be renegotiated at a later date.  And maybe that is what needs to happen.  Mercury will start its apparent forward motion on the 27th, when if you get up really early you can see the messenger of the gods before sunrise.

In mythology, Mercury was the only god who could move form Olympus to Hades and come back.  You might say the god went down to get some new information-something that was previously hidden from sight, some piece that will change the negotiation.  That is why there is such an admonition to signing contracts during this phase as what you sign might not be as it appears to be, or there is a change of heart.  

The Inner Life of Democracy

This morning on Krista Tippett's on Being radio program she featured an interview with Jacob Needleman, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at San Francisco University.  The interview took place in August of 2003, but is so appropriate to be reheard on our nation's birthday, and furthermore expands what we were speaking about in our last blog, the evidence of our moving out of the Age of Pisces into the Age of Aquarius.

One of the hallmarks of coming into the Aquarian Age is that everyone is allowed to become free and independent, to become who we are meant to be, not in an selfish, individualistic way where the me me's mean acquiring things for myself, but in the manner of discovering, and then contributing back to society what is the essence of each individual.  Our country was founded on these moral ideas of self improvement.  Jefferson's ideals about the democratic process;  how important it is to really listen to pne another, to compromise, how humans have rights and duties, that religious dogmas should not be tyrannical, that each person needs his/her freedom to express his/herself, come to his/her own truth and allow others the same dignity, are still in process today. 

All these ideas are what our founding fathers envisioned for this country and what the Aquarian Age will be about. Everyone is equal in the mind of God; all humans are composed of the same "stuff".  Democracy is not just outward rules but necessitates that we work inwardly as well to free ourselves from egoistic concerns that do not allow us to really hear what someone else is saying.  Freedom of speech, for example, implies that I do not have to agree with you, but I am obliged to listen to you and let your thoughts come into my mind, which is hard to do. 

Professor Needleman asks: what is our freedom for?  Our freedom is not only about being able to physically move about (which is important) but there is another inner dimension of freedom where we free ourselves from selfish cravings and prejudices that cause so much chaos.  Our government protects us and provides the space to become fully human ourselves, to search for conscience. Conscience is the power within the human psyche to discern true values and morals. A real democracy depends on each of us developing a conscience.   Unalienable rights "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" does not mean feeling good about all your desires being fulfilled.  Happiness for Jefferson means having virtue.  Happiness or well being is being what you are meant to be as a human being, a relationship to your true self brings happiness, nothing else will do.

These ideas of Needleman's are so right for the times now when we seem to have lost the true sense of what we should be striving for - it is not to acquire more things but to become a whole human being; and that takes inner work.  Our work is to look inside and create the inner space to be free and give others the same space.  America embodies this ideal.  This is where we are heading as we move into the Aquarian Age.  Happy Birthday America.