There is such an element of truth to the idea that we make God in our own image that it allows us the introspection to realize that everything about the world is also a product of our thoughts.
In an oppressive society, there are very few “truths” outside of the consensual reality. It then becomes very difficult to experience that which the culture insists does not exist. On the other hand, in an evolving society, people are free, even encouraged, to think and explore outside the box. One function of the prophet is to break open the boxes, the constricting reality models, the small “truths” and deficient cosmologies, in order to invite us to wonder and venture more deeply into the awesome mystery of God.
The Ultimate Reality is the God-perspective. If Truth is transformation, then Reality is alignment with Love in one of its many manifestations. If, on the other hand, a reality model leads me into fear, in one of its many manifestations, while it may be true and real, it most certainly is not True or Real.
Where truth is in the judgment and reality is in the composite amalgam of the truths, cosmology is the explanatory model that pulls it all together and offers a satisfactory, solid basis for life.
Ólaoire, Seán. Setting God Free: Moving Beyond the Caricature We’ve Created in Our Own Image (pp. 19-20). Apocryphile Press. Kindle Edition.
Sean is a man whom I admire greatly. This book helps me to see how I have been struggling for years to find the right words to explain what I know unconsciously. Sean and I are spiritual warriors, together.
In one of Sean’s own YouTube videos (from 2020), he postulates that Buddha and Jesus are the same soul, but in different bodies. I came to the same conclusion here. Maybe I have been on the right track with my karmic astrology and reincarnation. Maybe I am further along than I thought possible.
After my wife’s cousin’s third husband died, I was offered some of his books to keep (and read). This one was in the mix, but I hadn’t got around to it until this week, while we were away for a few days.
I have to admit to skipping a couple of chapters, mainly because they didn’t interest me, but most of them did (interest me), so let’s review them:
Part One: Obsessives, Pioneers, and Other Varieties of Minor Genius
The Pitchman: Ron Popeil and the Conquest of the American Kitchen. This is the story of how Ronco became a leader in its field of machines to make chopping, dicing and cooking easier for the consumer.
The Ketchup Conundrum: Mustard Now Comes in Dozens of Varieties, Why Has Ketchup Stayed the Same? (I skipped this one.)
Blowing Up: How Nassim Taleb Turned the Inevitability of Disaster into an Investment Strategy. The events of September 11 (and later, the financial crisis of 2008-2009) made Taleb a very rich man.
True Colors: Hair Dye and the Hidden History of Postwar America. (I skipped this one, too.)
John Rock’s Error: What the Inventor of the Birth Control Pill Didn’t Know About Women’s Health. A strict Roman Catholic, Rock saw the pill as a natural way of controlling women’s periods so that they would never have to become pregnant (if they didn’t want to), but he forced them to suffer more during their monthly flow than was essentially necessary. Pregnancy and breastfeeding were more ‘natural’.
What the Dog Saw: Cesar Millan and the Movements of Mastery. Earlier this week, we watched a recent episode of “Better Human Better Dog” which demonstrated his training methods with the owners of dogs. He is masterful, but flawed: he has more regard for dogs than human beings.
Part Two: Theories, Predictions, and Diagnosis
Open Secrets: Enron, Intelligence, and the Perils of Too Much Information. Evidently, Enron used an accounting trick of writing earnings of their future profits into their annual reports which fooled a lot of people, including themselves. Their annual tax returns showed that they lost money for years before their collapse.
Million-Dollar Murray: Why Problems like Homelessness May Be Easier to Solve Than to Manage. These days, this is a hot topic. But most people, especially in the States, don’t realize that having homeless people visit shelters and soup kitchens is actually more expensive for the taxpayer than giving them housing and the wherewithal to thrive financially. When will we aver learn?
The Picture Problem: Mammography, Air Power, and the Limits of Looking. Equating Scud missile reconnaissance (from the Gulf War) and looking for cancer in women’s breasts seems a little disjointed, but it makes sense in the bigger scheme of things. The viewer has to be aware that something may be missed.
Something Borrowed: Should a Charge of Plagiarism Ruin Your Life? We all do it, borrowing ideas from other people and identifying it as our own. I’m doing it right now, in this post. But acknowledging the source of the ideas is the best protection from a charge of plagiarism.
Connecting the Dots: The Paradoxes of Intelligence Reform. Nine-eleven sits heavy on everyone’s mind and the subsequent tightening of focus on Muslim extremists made the obvious connection for the underground bombings in London in 2005 a little muddied, because the extremists just chose different nationalities to carry out the attacks.
The Art of Failure: Why Some People Choke and Others Panic. This one seems a no-brainer, because we’ve all seen athletes do it in clutch play situations, especially at Wimbledon. Is it the audience, the situation or the person, themselves? Or a combination of the three? We’ve all been there, right?
Blowup: Who Can Be Blamed for a Disaster like the Challenger Explosion? No One, and We’d Better Get Used to It. The public demand answers when something goes wrong. There is a public enquiry, suggestions to fix the problem are made, and everyone hopes that we will remove the unknown cause of the disaster, because we’ve done our 20/20 hindsight of the problems. Not so: we all have a built-in acceptance of ‘risk’; just ask a speeding motorist.
Part Three: Personality, Character, and Intelligence
Late Bloomers: Why Do We Equate Genius with Precocity? Picasso was considered a great artist from the ‘get-go”. Cezanne didn’t succeed until very late in life. Which one was the better artist? Hmm.
Most Likely to Succeed: How Do We Hire When We Can’t Tell Who’s Right for the Job? Everyone who has ever been the hirer of personnel has this dilemma. Here, the focus on NFL draft picks demonstrates how one cannot always predict who will do well on the job and who won’t. Sometimes, only your ‘gut’ tells you.
Dangerous Minds: Criminal Profiling Made Easy. It’s a precarious position to be in, profiling criminals. They say you have to get inside the mind of the person, but is that all there is? Mediums and psychics have just as much chance of zeroing in on the perpetrator as the FBI profiler. There are more misses than hits.
The Talent Myth: Are Smart People Overrated? It’s the perennial question, isn’t it? The theory is that ordinary folk are a better fit for most companies because they are willing to do the work. Geniuses get paid extraordinary amounts of money just to keep them, but do they add value to the finished product?
The New-Boy Network: What Do Job Interviews Really Tell Us? This seems an extension of the Most Likely to Succeed chapter. Given a choice of two employers, which one is the better fit? From a perspective employee point of view, this is always going to be a matter of trusting your ‘gut’ again.
Troublemakers: What Pit Bulls Teach Us About Crime. The answer? We generalize people into groups, just so we can pretend that we know what we’re doing. Lots of dogs bite people, but pit bulls are the species that everyone decides to make the scapegoat. In doing so, we feel we’ve identified and eliminated the problem. But have we, really?
We’ve just started to watch this series on Netflix, after mostly avoiding it for five-and-a-half years. It’s an interesting premise, especially as the whole story is meant to be proof of the scripture quoted below.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 (KJV)
And that’s just for starters. We’ll see how it goes on. In the meantime, I would recommend this show to anyone who feels tested in their faith, or lack of it. It speaks to us all. Are we listening?
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, arrives to pay the last respects to slain Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, during a funeral ceremony at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, April 8, 2023. Tatarsky, known by his pen name of Maxim Fomin, was killed on Sunday, April 2, as he led a discussion at a riverside cafe in the historic heart of St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. (AP Photo)
Never was this more true than in the case of Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner Group revolt against Russia. The man himself is volatile and looking at his birth chart tells us why.
This chart is totally randomized, so I was (not) a little surprised to see Mars conjunct his Leo Ascendant. There is a terrific temper in this man, which can be triggered by the slightest annoyance. Putin must have known this when he started working with Prigozhin, or else he should have, just to be safe.
There are three inconjuncts, two of which form a Yod pointing at the Sun. One of those inconjuncts also involves the Moon, another involves Pluto, as we saw in the Wagner Group chart. Hmm.
Sun Inconjunct Moon
This aspect suggests that there is a subtle conflict going on inside you that may sometimes create emotional problems. The inconjunct aspect between the Sun and Moon means that the Sun part of your personality is quite different from the Moon part, and it may be hard for you to relate them to each other. It is as if you are divided in two, so that whenever you have to make an important decision, especially one that involves your feelings, the different sides of your personality want to go in opposite directions. You sometimes find it difficult to decide if your like something or if you want to take part in some activity.
Sun Inconjunct Neptune
Your greatest danger is in being exposed to negative people who are full of anger or depression or who act very harshly toward you and undermine your self-confidence. Your self-confidence has to be boosted at every conceivable opportunity, and it would be very destructive for you to be criticized sharply, unless the person has made it very clear that he or she loves you.
Jupiter Inconjunct Pluto
You may have a natural talent for dominating others, but don’t fall in love with this talent and be motivated by it. You can be effective at influencing people only if you use your power to help others and yourself achieve goals together. You must be an agent for betterment at all times, and even so you must listen to others’ ideas about betterment to be sure that you aren’t just seeking power in a more roundabout manner.
Even at best you will get a certain amount of resistance from others, because they will feel your energy and be afraid of your motives. Unless you show them that your motives are good and that you can be reasoned with, you will run into opponents who are more powerful than you, who will stop you and make your efforts futile.
(Well, doesn’t that explain it all?)
Comparing these two charts shows us how the events of the day have triggered Prigozhin’s decision to try to tackle the Russian government head on, by marching on Moscow. I suspect it was all a bluff, but he seems to have succeeded in removing some Defence ministers and then negotiating a compromise: his men go back to their positions in the Ukraine War, and he gets to ride off into the sunset of his years.
Maybe he was just looking, all along, for the off ramp…
Post Script: How All This Blather Affects Putin
I thought so: this is Putin’s “Waterloo”. Putin’s South Node is conjunct the event’s Mars, and his Ascendant is conjunct the event’s Part of Fortune. In the background, Putin’s planets are affected by Prigozhin’s planets, too. As I said, nothing happens in a vacuum.
Don’t laugh, please: when I first saw Sean O’Laoire on the Gregg Braden Official YouTube channel video this morning, I was struck by the impression that his face is exactly how we would imagine Jesus’ face to appear if he’d lived into his senior years. (And before you roast me for heresy, consider this: our imagery of Jesus is based on Western ideals, not on the reality of his 1st century appearance.)
So, I wondered about the man, himself.
I randomized his birth time, and then switched the a.m. to p.m., resulting in the chart you see above. This slight ‘rectification’ is based on an autobiographical note he wrote in the Preface of his book “Setting God Free”. Saturn at age 4 was his first conflict with an unfair God:
But I had my first real fight with God at age four, when I found that God’s white-bearded, red-coated helper named Santa Claus discriminated against poor families like mine. In the annual Yuletide distribution of gifts, I received a chintzy dime store toy gun while the kid across the road got the whole western playset. Complaining bitterly against this injustice on God’s part, I flung my pistol at the crèche under our Christmas tree, knocking over St. Joseph, the donkey, and several of the sheep. My dear grandmother was compassionate enough to sympathize with me, and wise enough to explain that even the baby Jesus had it really tough as a little boy. That was the start of a lifelong loving friendship between Jesus and me.
Ólaoire, Seán. Setting God Free: Moving Beyond the Caricature We’ve Created in Our Own Image (p. 7). Apocryphile Press. Kindle Edition.
I can totally relate to this.
So, what is significant in Sean’s birth chart? The almost exact conjunction between the Sun and the Moon: this wasn’t a total eclipse of the sun, in reality, but 3° Scorpio is “Fall of the Moon”. Hmm.
I also compared his birth chart with Jesus’, which I publicized, previously.
It might come as no surprise that there are major connections between them, namely that Jesus’ natal South Node is conjunct Sean’s Jupiter @ 24° Libra. Are you surprised? And Jesus’ natal Ascendant is exactly conjunct Sean’s Mars @ 11° Libra. And finally, Jesus’ natal Mars is opposite Sean’s Mercury. These aspects don’t necessarily ‘prove’ that Sean is the “second coming of Christ”, but it makes me wonder…
I suspect this might be an internal diversion for Putin and the Russia Defense Ministry to take peoples’ minds off the war in Ukraine. And, in real terms, a minor skirmish, but sometimes the little events turn into much bigger stories as time goes on.
A Tweet from Prigozhin, yesterday afternoon, signaled the beginning of the Wagner Group’s turn on Moscow after being hit by friendly fire from Russia. That Yod pointing at Pluto is significant.
Sun Inconjunct Pluto
There will be many changes in your life, and you will be affected by deep psychological forces that may be difficult to understand at times, as well as confusing to the people around you. You approach people with great intensity, and your emotional involvements are seldom casual. Either you like people very much or you dislike them intensely. Possibly your attitudes on other matters will be extreme also. One of the most important lessons that you will have to learn is to be more moderate.
Moon Inconjunct Pluto
This aspect means that your emotions are very intense and not always easy to deal with. Often your feelings make you want to do or say something without knowing why. Also you may have very intense moods in which you withdraw from those around you into a world of your own. If you do not feel accepted and emotionally supported at home, you may constantly feel guilty for what you think you have done to others, or jealous that people aren’t paying enough attention to you, or generally possessive of those around you.
Hmm.
Is this the karmic equivalent of Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon? Hmm, again.
This photo is time-stamped @ 1:30 pm, June 21st, 2023. As is our daily routine, I would sit in my recliner and BeBe would come over to my feet, waiting to be picked up. For the first few minutes, she would sit on my lap while I tried to smooth away her aches and pains, and then she would lie down on the extended part of the seat, between my legs. We’ve done this for years, since my retirement.
After taking this picture, Susan decided to take a video, which I won’t share here. It’s one minute long and recorded the sequence from the soothing caresses to the moment I take off my glasses and she moves to lie down. What made this one different was the way that BeBe looked at Susan for about 15 seconds (a long time for a dog), before she lay her head down. That look slightly haunts me.
Over the past couple of days, I’ve been reviewing our last interactions. She was lethargic and sleepy for the three days before we made our momentous decision. She wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t go for a walk; she drank sooo much water, and then would need to go out to the garden frequently, especially during the night hours (almost hourly). I tried tempting her on her last morning with a piece of chicken, but she wouldn’t touch it. That’s when I knew our time together was drawing to a close.
Normally, she is scared silly about going to the vets. When I said we were going for a car ride, she immediately got up and walked excitedly to the car door. I suggested that she have a pee (since she’d had a large draught of water before we exited the house) but she declined. (I knew I’d be wearing her pee later, when she had me lift her into the car.) She was quiet on the car ride into Barrie, but then she usually is.
When we exited from the 400 highway, Susan invited BeBe to come up to the front, thinking that she’d want to sit on Susan’s lap. No, she wanted to sit on my lap, even though I was driving on a very busy Mapleview Drive.
She was facing her future very bravely, I thought. We finally pulled into the vets and we got out of the car. Instead of taking her customary pee before entering, she wanted to go straight in. I didn’t use her collar and leash, I carried her into the building. We were on time for our 4 pm appointment, but we didn’t get seen to for almost 10 minutes. She got a little restless with waiting, but finally she got weighed for the last time (9.2 kg) and then we went into the examination room. I carried her in.
Normally, this is where things get a little tense. Susan held her while she calmly allowed her hind leg to be shaved (not a new sensation, since she goes to the dog groomer frequently), and then she was handed back to me to hold her while the sedative was administered. She didn’t react badly to the needle going in, in fact she was sound asleep before the contents were emptied. Then she was euthanized, in my arms.
It was a weird sensation to hold her little black body without her being slightly ticklish. In fact, I marveled at the fact of how she felt, even though I knew her life had been extinguished. With June’s help (the vet), we prayed over BeBe’s limp form and sent her on her way over the Rainbow Bridge.
It’s Been Three Days…
I have a mantra that goes something like this: in the grieving process, it takes…
I came to this conclusion without realizing that this is the same process that adopted animals go through.
Wow, blooming wow! Even BeBe’s leaving process, while still alive, is reflected in her final three days.
But now it’s been three days since her departure, and I was wondering if she’d contact me, somehow. I shouldn’t have worried: right on cue @ 12:01 this morning, I heard her distinct ‘woof’. She was letting me know that she was alright. Now I can let go of my worries. Thank you, BeBe, for being my best friend and companion for the past 9 years and 3 months. Enjoy your afterlife.
This story came up on my watch list of Gregg Braded Official YouTube channel. Watch this video, please:
Could it be true?
This chart is rectified for Pluto to fall in the area of his 9th birthday. The rest is history, I guess.
Venus Inconjunct Jupiter
This can be a positive aspect if you learn to control some of its negative possibilities. You are likely to lack energy and to be rather passive. You may wait for opportunities to come to you, rather than go after them. You may not have enough energy to pursue your ambitions, or you may not have much ambition. Or you may love your comfort so much that you are unwilling to make any effort or put up with any pain that could help you grow and develop. However, if there are any indications of energy in your chart, they should overcome the passivity.
Venus Inconjunct Saturn
Even without any pressure, you are likely to be more disciplined than most people your age. You won’t go overboard in anything, and you feel strongly that your worth depends on what you do and how much your accomplish.
Jupiter Inconjunct Uranus
You will always need freedom, but you will also discover that what you do with your life will have meaning only if it means something to others. This is not an artificial rule but a truth that you will discover within yourself. When you do, you may become heavily involved in some social movement that advocates unusual ideas or ways of thinking.
There’s a Silver Lining Here
He witnessed images that show the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. If he didn’t exist this wouldn’t have been possible. So, are we really prepared to throw the baby (Jesus) out with the bath water?
Call us late to the party, we finally watched this film last night. It was a hard slog, but then at the end it actually named the real person who murdered his elderly wife and got prison time, and then my interest finally perked up.
The ‘real’ man, Albrecht Gero Muth, was a fabulist, and as shown in the film, his elderly wife, Viola Herms Drath, finally confronts him about his lies and he attacks her (but not seen on screen).
The date of her body being discovered was August 11, 2011, and the murder took place sometime, just after midnight.
Have you ever seen a more specific ‘murder’ chart? I haven’t. Saturn conjunct the Libra Ascendant is the balancing act constraint that Muth must have felt he was under. The reason? The Moon in Aries represents his wife’s biting words. And the Sun/Mars conjunction in Capricorn is the ‘snap’. Do you see?
Just because someone dresses up in the military uniform of an Iraqi Brigadier-General, doesn’t make him a real soldier. (Children have been doing the same since time began.) This man is now serving a life sentence.
As you may have seen, previously, I did a ‘birth’ chart for BeBe, based at noon on the day she was born. You can view that chart, here. The South Node is within 3° of the Ascendant, but that was just luck of the draw. However, I drew up her ‘death’ chart for yesterday, and got a huge surprise.
There it is again, about 3° from her ‘fatal’ Ascendant. What are the chances of that?
cdsmiller17 