Spiritual Psychology

"You really think you're better than anyone else",

 

a psychologist told me. I was 16, and going for the entrance exam at Pakistan's Air Force Academy Risalpur. One test was to have a psychologist observe how each candidate lead a team through an obstacle course, followed up with questionnaires.

 

That was his observation. "No I don't", I replied, "my job was to lead them". Still, my first encounter with a psychologist, and it intrigued me. (I passed the exam BTW).

Maybe it was a test, to see how I'd react. Maybe he saw something I'd struggled with since I was a kid. Beyond normal feelings of alienation, yes I knew I was different. While I was a loner, I also was quite social, but in a neutral, friendly sort of way. And I observed, others and myself.

A phrenologist said when I was 11: "He looks at people and sees something others just can't".

I wanted to understand myself, and, the human condition. That's why I looked at them, but with different eyes than others. (I could see auras by then). Psychology was too limited for my way of thinking, so my studies took me elsewhere.

Yes, I eventually studied Freud, and Jung, Adler and Sabina Spielrein. About them, more later, and especially Sabina Spielrein, the Russian psychoanalyst who was one of the pioneers. Yet I found their insights actually mirrored what I learned through my spiritual work. Funny, that Sabina Spielrein and I both shared a Scorpio nature, and worked with The Destruction Of Self. (Which goes back to Buddhism, BTW, and the destruction of the ego). I do this through meditation, laying on of hands, balancing the male and female, going into the void,  and analysis.

 

I also learned the following occult subjects, astrology, palmistry, numerology and many more. Fascinated by the question of the death of self and what happens after we pass through the veil, I learned to talk to spirit. (I'd been seeing them since I was 5, in Tokyo). Again, knowledge from past lives, of Bardo and the Egyptian Book of the Dead, remembering the many times I had passed away. Many of my articles here are of a psychological bent, seen through the spiritual prism.

 

While I learned to be a healer I knew it would be important for me to learn about mental illness.

 

Hence, The Natural Treatment of Mental Illness August 13, 2012.

 

Fascinated by criminal psychology, I wrote about The Criminal Mind September 02, 2011.

 

I learned why I decided to focus on mental illness when three of my children were hit by Autism, and a fourth had a learning disorder. This became my life work, so that I treated hundreds of children at my clinics in Toronto and abroad, many successfully, with most showing remarkable improvement.

 

Here's my protocol: Not Incurable- New research on Autism December 11, 2007. In the end, it is not a cure. As I wrote:

I'm sharing this with you because Autism is not only a physical, but also is a karmic and spiritual illness. I've seen it as a metaphor for helplessness; when the world tells you that something is hopeless, I tell you, the answers are out there.

I tell you this, it is the world, not just these children, that is out of balance. Until the world is healed, it will be a never ending battle.

This comes back to my subject, Spiritual Psychology, and, the study of self and how we determine identity.

This the foundation of my work in psychology The 12 Chakra System of Healing

SPIRITUAL HEALING IN THE WAY OF ATLAN by
Naseer Ahmad
(based on a talk I gave in Toronto~1991)

An ancient method of healing rediscovered for the 21^st century.

Atlan Spiritual Healing is an energy system that, by the placing of hands on parts of the body that correspond to the chakras and acupuncture meridians, heals the physical, emotional and spiritual parts of our being.

Before Atlantis, there was a way of life called The Way of Atlan. It explained the connection between our individual and divine selves, and how to address our physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Much of the Way of Atlan has been lost, but fragments of it exist in the world’s religions and philosophies.

...(The Yellow Chakra) on the solar plexus, is our soul, ego and identity (and so on)...

Soul, ego, identity can be formed by the sum total of our memories, environment, childhood experience, inherited factors.

Except, what about the sum total of previous lifetime memories? Do they form us as well? That is why I examine previous lives and inherited factors, like individual but also national karma (hence my frequent digressions into 'politics' and interest in history).

 

Ancient Psychology:

History Of Brain Surgery 

"Brain surgery is perhaps the oldest of the practiced medical arts. There is no hard evidence suggesting a beginning to the practice of other fields of medicine such as pharmacology — using drugs, chemical and natural ingredients to help a fellow human being. There is ample evidence, however, of brain surgery, dating back to the Neolithic (late Stone Age) period. 

Unearthed remains of successful brain operations, as well as surgical implements, were found in France at one of Europe’s noted archeological digs.

The success rate was remarkable, even circa 7,000 B.C.

However, pre-historic evidence of brain surgery was not limited to Europe. Pre-Incan civilization used brain surgery as an extensive practice as early as 2,000 B.C. In Paracas, Peru, a desert strip south of Lima, archeologic evidence indicates that brain surgery was used extensively.  

Here, too, an inordinate success rate was noted as patients were restored to health. The treatment was used for mental illnesses, epilepsy, headaches, organic diseases, neuropathy treatment, osteomyelitis, and for head injuries. 

Brain surgery was also used for both spiritual and magical reasons; often, the practice was limited to kings, priests and the nobility". 

Ancient peoples and psychoactive plants 

(use of to create euphoria, help deal with stress, depression),

Prehistoric High Times: Early Humans Used Magic Mushrooms, Opium

and plants were used in healing ceremonies by people living in Mesoamerica,

A Beautiful Mind: The History of the Treatment of Mental Illness

the history of treating mental illnesses dates as far back as 5000 B.C.E. with the evidence of “trephined skulls.” 

In the ancient world cultures, a well-known belief was that mental illness was “the result of supernatural phenomena”; this included phenomena from “demonic possession” to “sorcery” and “the evil eye”. The most commonly believed cause, demonic possession, was treated by chipping a hole, or “trephine”, into the skull of the patient by which “the evil spirits would be released,” therefore healing the patient. 

Although ancient Persians also believed that the illnesses were caused by demons, they practiced precautionary measures such as personal hygiene and “purity of the mind and body” in order to “prevent and protect one from diseases”. 

Similarly, the Egyptians recommended that those stricken with mental illness should participate in “recreational activities” in order to relieve symptoms which displayed that, as a civilization, the Egyptians were very advanced in their treatment of mental handicaps. (Foerschner) 

During the 5^th and 3^rd centuries B.C.E., the Greeks changed the way that psychological disorders were viewed. The philosopher and physician, Hippocrates, discovered that illnesses come from “natural occurrences in the body” (Foerschner). 

As Hippocrates was studying mental illness, he stepped away from the superstitious beliefs and towards the medical aspect of it. He studied the pathology of the brain and suggested that mental illness stemmed from imbalances in the body. 

Yet at the same time there was and is a prevailing cultural belief that mental illness was a symptom of demonic possession. Tibetan, African shamanic healers all dealt with mental illness in a similar way: explaining the phenomenon through a therapeutic analytical process, ritual and ceremony, the use of psychotropic herbs. Even Jesus was said to cast demons out of people. Here's a modern clinician's attempt to bridge the divide:

Questions about demonic possession

Clinical experience in answering questions about demonic possession 

In daily practice in psychiatry in Egypt, various forms of mental illness are commonly attributed to magic spells or demonic possession. These illnesses are usually manifested by overt motor behavioural disturbances. Top of the list of these disorders are epilepsy and schizophrenia. Unusual ideas and actions found mythical explanations in witchcraft and demonic aetiology by patients and relatives in this traditional community.  

Symptoms that are typical of obsessions are intrusive, unacceptable thoughts which many patients attribute to a demonic agent known as the devil. It's not uncommon for patients and carers to enquire whether this is due to demons or supernatural agents known as jinn.  

The psychiatrist tries to find culturally acceptable answers to patients' questions about demonic and jinn possession. The basic essence in answering this questions can be summarised as doctors can adopt an empathic subjective (emic) approach to understand supernatural beliefs and attitudes within this culturally shared context (1). 

Spiritual Psychology:

Yet: I have found in my work that such phenomena do indeed exist, but it is best to try to explain it within a clinical scientific context. Mental illness does indeed 'stem from imbalances in the body.'

Yes, there are emotional disturbances that stem entirely from the environment, upbringing, trauma, which can effect brain function and cause chemical imbalance. Those imbalances can be felt and measured in the Psychic Chakras (From Greek word 'Psyche', the soul) shown in the 12 chakra system of healing chart above. There has to be a flow of energy through each chakra, without suppression or overemphasis on emotion, desire, the mind, or intuitive sensitivity. I often find that emotional sensitivity, also called Psychism, is just a shade away from Schizophrenia. And that while sugars feed the brain, alcohol, hallucinogenic drugs, and psychotropic medication can pass the blood brain barrier and permanently alter brain chemistry.

But the Spiritual Chakras from the crown onward are where healing takes place, which is why I call it Spiritual Psychology. This is where knowledge exists, and protection from that psychic sensitivity, and inner peace.

The Physical Chakras from the ground up can't be ignored either. The physical/material health is an important component of well-being, as is exercise, as is an understanding of karma. There is the karma of self-identity, recognition of past lives, and other inherited factors from parents, culture, religion.

Angels, Demons, Djinn:

I believe those beings exist but we can think of them as archetypes that exist within ourselves, or energies. Certainly there are forces of good or evil which affect us all on this planet. We can also strengthen our physical, mental/emotional and spiritual bodies to heal and balance ourselves.

The healing:

Sometimes it is a place, or people, or nation that need healing. Sometimes an individual. But as long as we are out of balance, the earth cannot get better, nor can our spirits, and everywhere we go we are haunted by spirits. Everywhere I go there is peace, but also, upheaval as we face up to our own resistance to healing.

I have already covered

Magick, And The Spiritual Alchemy Of The Soul 

so will not go further into the Occult for now, but that too is a part of what I do.

It is the spiritual work that is the more important.

I don't see any end to wars, environmental pollution, or the greed of the 1% until we heal our selves. There can be no political or social revolution without a spiritual revolution. And if you will not listen,

Let there be chaos.

Happy Easter, Every One!



 

Letting Go Of Self 

 

A quiet celebration with my family but what, exactly, is the point of Easter? Is it about belief or something more? Yes, there was an event once, with a mythical person or not (I believe, it happened) but the message is, as always in religion or spirituality, universal.

I took a series of pictures and this showed in my phone album. Looks very like an aura. From a previous blog The 12 Chakra System of Healing:

Pink, our purpose in life, sky blue and indigo, the mind, intuition, violet is spiritual journey going into black, karma, the void, nothingness.

On a deeper spiritual level, only when we let go of our selves, can we be free.

Ego, the yellow chakra, the soul, is the sum total of memories, both this and past lives. Yet karma is inexorable and we are bound to and by it. How do we free ourselves?

Rationalists might believe our greatest instinct is self-preservation. I disagree. Our greatest instinct is the yearning of the spirit to free ourselves from the burden of karma. This is the purpose of all forms of meditation, to let go. For peace.

The ego, holds on to things. How we define ourselves, past experiences and hurts, our environment, upbringing.

Sometimes, we need to let go.

Sometimes, the sacrifice of self serves a higher purpose.

We are in the midst of the darkest age of all. Trump, war, the killing of innocents. The knowing pollution of the earth and its waters that give us life. The destruction of relationships and the loss of faith and idols with feet of clay. Should we all say there's nothing we can do?

That is not an option. A bomb went off killing 126 Shiite villagers from al-Foua and Kefraya in Syria, including 60 children. A million Yemenis are facing starvation. Not just in the M.E,., but all over. Furies take over the world.

This is what we can do. Think beyond yourself. There is the meditation of contemplation, there also is the meditation of peaceful protest and action.

Yes, we get all bound up in causes. Yes, there often is a price to pay once you stick your head out. Do not be afraid, you aren't alone.

 

Your religion, your faith or lack of belief doesn't matter. Funny, I have met so many good people on both sides of the imaginary left-right divide, all caring about what is wrong about the world. About the environment, that war isn't a solution but symptom and cause of our ills. You just have to care.

 

The key to it is a spirituality that goes beyond yourself.

 

That, my friends, is the measure of Easter. Not that we sacrifice ourselves, though all love for them that do for their causes, their beliefs, their creativity, their families and to help the ills of the world.

 

But, that you balance the needs of self  with the needs of spirit, that you go beyond with acts of kindness and faith.

 

I wish you the peace and joy of Easter.

 



The Psychology Of A "Troll".

I'm one too, apparently.

 

In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal, on-topic discussion, often for the troll's amusement.

 

In today's environment, that means anyone who disagrees with your opinion :)

 



 



Or, you're a "Hater Troll": OK then.

 

 

Mainstream Media dislikes alternative media so writes about "trolls". Twitter obliges by restricting users, which did wonders for its share price. That happened on Huffington Post too. Intelligent comment went to other platforms.

 

It goes without saying bullying exists on social media. That should be controlled through moderation and the 'report' button. There ARE rules and laws. But in a free society one should be also be careful about limiting debate.

 

Internet gadfly Milos Yiannopoulos was free to make Islamophobic comments and misrepresent liberal views on Twitter, because, free speech. He got banned because he made fun of a lesbian actress and seemingly defended pedophiles. I guess there are boundaries?

 

This was brought up in a recent Washington Post article:

How researchers tried to understand one of Twitter’s oldest trolling groups
Abby Olheiser
March 2, 2017
 

Three-year-old Madeline McCann disappeared from a resort apartment in Portugal in 2007 while on a family vacation. Her British parents were dining nearby. The McCann disappearance, which has never been resolved, became a major British tabloid story. The daily media frenzy has since faded, but a decade later, a tight-knit group of Twitter trolls who are convinced that they have proven the McCann parents’ guilt in their daughter’s disappearance still discuss the case online every single day.

What you’ll see: a steady stream of chatter from a tight-knit community with a common goal. In a new paper on the #McCann group, Online trolling: The case of Madeleine McCann  (Dr.) Synnott and his co-authors tried to shed some light on how this devoted, online trolling community works.

Highlights:

•  Case study analysis of Anti-McCann internet Trolling Group.
• The role of language, group identity and in group cohesion is examined.
• Language is central to Anti-McCann group in the construction of identity.
• Several strategies were employed by Anti-McCanns to provoke outsiders.
• Support for previous research linking trolling to western media culture and ASPD.

--------

This report, also carried in Nature, received widespread media coverage. The lead psychologist Dr. Synnott said he'd also be studying "the pro-McCann group". Ahem, one side is a "trolling group", the other side just has a point of view?

I was intrigued because I'd been involved in a similar group for many years, who discussed the murder of Meredith Kercher. It actually started at the same time as the McCann group and yes, there are similarities between the cases. No, we don't discuss the case "every single day" but we did get fairly involved at the time. Not just on Twitter either, but other social media.

Yes, I'm a volunteer editor on the Meredith Kercher research website but also commented, met with and observed people in the McCann group as well as our own. I was surprised to read the psychologists conclusions. We have Anti-Social Personality Disorder?

 

I read the study and my response was published by the Washington Post:

 

"This study is a violation of the British (BPS) and American (APA) psychologist association's code of ethics.

 

Psychology Research Ethics 

Saul McLeod published 2007, updated 2015

- The purpose of these codes of conduct is to protect research participants, the reputation of psychology and psychologists themselves."

- Moral issues rarely yield a simple, unambiguous, right or wrong answer. It is therefore often a matter of judgement whether the research is justified or not. For example, it might be that a study causes psychological or physical discomfort to participants, maybe they suffer pain or perhaps even come to serious harm.

- Informed Consent
Whenever possible investigators should obtain the consent of participants.

- Debrief
After the research is over the participant should be able to discuss the procedure and the findings with the psychologist.

- Protection of Participants
Researchers must ensure that those taking part in research will not be caused distress. They must be protected from physical and mental harm. This means you must not embarrass, frighten, offend or harm participants.

- Deception
This is where participants are misled or wrongly informed about the aims of the research. Types of deception include (i) deliberate misleading, e.g. using confederates, staged manipulations in field settings, deceptive instructions; (ii) deception by omission, e.g., failure to disclose full information about the study, or creating ambiguity.

- Note:
The post grad researcher set up a Twitter account, did not reveal their identity or purpose of the study, reveal their findings to those who responded, and simply deleted their account afterwards.

- The title "Online trolling: The case of Madeleine McCann" is unprofessional and inflammatory.

- "Case study analysis of Anti-McCann internet Trolling Group" characterizes a whole group of people as socially maladjusted and opens them to ridicule.

- Disclosure: I'm an editor at The Murder Of Meredith Kercher." ~ Naseer Ahmad

The psychologists hid their tweets so their data couldn't be verified but actively tried to locate individuals who wished to remain private. They deliberately provoked by quoting a bad 'scientific' report to get the response they wanted, and used other underhanded methods to prove their thesis. I was able to obtain copies of their work which shocked me.

Psychologists already have a bad reputation for writing papers supporting torture (enhanced interrogation), posing for the media, and attaching unfounded opinions about the psychology of celebrities, or even, Donald Trump. You simply can not use your credentials to diagnose a pathology without examining the individual. Diagnosis by tweet is bad enough, but their assessment didn't even match up with the people I came to know.

It turned out that in both cases, those who supported the Italian and Portuguese justice system (and disagreed with US and UK media PR led efforts on behalf of Amanda Knox and the McCanns) immediately were labelled 'trolls' and a number of journalists and psychologists rushed in with those assessments, without even learning the facts of the case. John Jay college psychology professor Saul Kassin still repeats the lie that Amanda Knox was interrogated for 50 hours over 4 days, even though he was told it was incorrect.

The Knox and McCann families hired PR firms who used social media to out anonymous people who commented on the case, and the media leaped in, leading to tragedy.

Brenda Leyland:

She was an English woman who made thousands of tweets discussing the case, none of which were abusive. (I know, I saw them). Complaints were made but the police found nothing wrong with them. Gerry McCann called "for an example to be made" so Brenda Leyland was confronted at her home by Rupert Murdoch's Sky News reporter Martin Brunt and her picture published on the front page of UK newspapers as "The Face Of A Troll". Hounded by the media, this vulnerable woman committed suicide.

When confronted, the reporter Martin Brunt I wouldn't say who gave him the report filed with the police, then, "A group of 'concerned' internet users". (The McCann group of not trolls).

Challenged again who gave him her address, replied Martin Brunt II "Nobody. I found it from public information sources". OK.

Karma is inexorable. The Portuguese Supreme Court ruled that police detective Goncalo Amaral was free to publish his book containing his opinion Madeleine McCann hadn't been abducted but died in her holiday apartment and the parents were guilty of neglect. Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty of lying in their alibis and even that they were present during the murder, but acquitted anyway since the case against them 'couldn't be proven'. Strange, that, but neither they nor the McCanns were exonerated.

Thanks to the dedicated volunteers at the Meredith Kercher and Madeleine McCann sites, the truth will always be out there, no matter what the media says.

On Motivation:

Nothing motivates people more than the quest for justice. Be it the crimes of states, corporations or individuals, people do care about getting to the truth.

Social media is a great leveller. People know the media and their political leaders will never hear their voice, and, lie with impunity. But in a medium where people can express themselves, that, is the greatest experiment in democracy. No wonder the media, PR fronts, and the elite hate and try to subvert it.

The actions of many people coming together, for  social, political, spiritual causes, instigates change.

Helping others, is the highest expression. 

Psycho-Astrology Analysis: The Trump Presidency

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was predictable  

 

December 19, 2016: the Electoral College cast their votes to confirm Donald Trump as the president elect of the United States. It was a surprise to many, not I. I'd already predicted the outcome.

(See my previous article What just happened?)

 

Predictions: A conference of astrologers predicted that Hillary Clinton would win this year. They were wrong: Astrologers predict a Hillary Clinton victory is in the stars

 

Earlier, a Vedic Astrologer: 2016 Presidential Election Astrology

DONALD TRUMP IS GOING TO LOSE THE GENERAL ELECTION

And, on Election Day (when opinion polls traditionally should NOT be published because it might impact the democratic process, but, Free Speech.

Astrologer Predicts HILLARY CLINTON Will Become President Today, Nov. 8, 2016

He used planetary transits (the movement of planets over a chart) for his prediction, even though transits only show possibilities. Worse, he ignored transits that suggested a Trump win.

Political zeitgeist: Anyone who follows politics should have known that would happen, yet the pundits missed it. People wanted a change from the Democrat vs. Republican duopoly that they were sick and tired of, they wanted real change! It's possible the pundits and the astrologers got influenced by fear of a Trump Presidency, then Cognitive Dissonance kicked in.

R.W. Johnson wrote in the London Review of Books, 14 November 2016: Trump: Some numbers that Trump won because of the loss of jobs and lack of upward mobility for the middle class. But really, the reasons go much deeper. 

Astrology works well as a psycho-analytical tool to understand a person. Horoscope charts are maps of a person, place, or nation's karma. Understanding that, and the planetary cycles that underlie all events, certain things might become predictable. Personal decisions and outcomes, the stock market, natural disasters, elections..

I hoped Bernie Sanders would win the Democratic Party. Yet I said April 17, 2016: "I don't know he'll get the nomination. I do know #Hillary will never be president". How did I know that so clearly? Astrology doesn't give you certainties, only statistical probability. Maybe you need to be able to scan the intersection of time, place, perspective, and multiple universes to get an idea, hence, #psychism, hence, #prophecy. What I've written since 1977.

So I want to write not just why Donald Trump won, and Hillary Clinton lost, but since Donald Trump will be the next president, what his presidency will be like, and what next for the United States of America?

Sources and analytical procedures: I looked at these horoscopes, Hillary Clinton (not shown) and Donald Trump's birth charts to analyze them and their future trends, the Election Day horoscope to see the outcome, the inauguration chart for 12:00 PM January 20, 2017 to see how the winner's presidency would proceed for the next 4 years, then compared it all to the US horoscope to see underlying trends and possibly, which party would win the next term.

If there was one astrological significator that informed me, it was the Pluto-Uranus squares that began with the ingress of Uranus in Aries in June 2010 and will oddly, continue till November 2024 when Pluto finally leaves Capricorn.

These planets represent the two forces which have impacted us more than any other since 2010: the irresistible force for change (Uranus) in conflict with the immoveable resistance to change (Pluto). It has affected some of us more than others personally, as our need for a new direction hits our established patterns. It creates a need for those who feel they haven't been heard to create new populist movements and vote for those who they feel best listen to their needs. It has affected some countries more than others, but there have also been global upheavals. The Arab Spring, European nationalism, Greek resistance to IMF austerity, Brexit, Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, the resurgence of Russian power.

Oddly, as Obama's promise of hope and change went no where in his first two years of office, Republicans won and took over the house in 2010. Yet with Trump, how did 'populism' win in the end? Because Trump reached ordinary Americans, Hillary Clinton did not. Even the popular vote margin is skewed by figures from just CA and NY when you need to win a majority of electors from 50 states to win the presidency. Trump's reach was broader, in a way Clinton's was not, and, he spoke to them, she did not. One can now only wonder if Sanders had won the nomination, but I was sure. He could have won the presidency, because he, too reached Americans but was the better candidate.

Clinton v. Trump: The following is a quick snapshot of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's psyche and how they were affected during the election cycle.

Hillary Clinton's 4 planets at birth (inc. Chiron) in the 12th house indicates she's a person defined by hidden motivations and secrets who nevertheless has a strong base of support from women (trine moon in the 4th), but, since the 12th house planets are square to Mars, Pluto and Saturn in the 9th (publishing, law, foreign affairs, philosophy) those secrets will always out, as the long list of scandals from Whitewater to WikiLeaks indicate. Mars, Pluto and Saturn in the 9th are also reflected in her hawkish foreign policy, which are based on power with no moral underpinnings. A lawyer who would always flout laws.

Transiting (T) planet Saturn (outcomes, restriction) impacting all her 12th house Scorpio planets opposite 6th shows health issues becoming a concern during the election, also questions about trustworthiness and dirty tricks. T-Neptune opposite the MC (profession) T-Jupiter joining Neptune in the 11th showed she was in a bubble nurtured by her friends and associates she would win. As it is, T-Sun and Mercury trine moon in 4th does show her popular vote margin, but the presidency just wasn't indicated in any aspect I could find, unlike Donald Trump's. As I wrote before,

Donald Trump, with his birth Uranus joined with Sun in the 10th house, was a man destined to suddenly, shockingly, become President. With the star Regulus on his Leo ascendant, it made him the likely winner this cycle. Regulus is a significator of kingship; whether he will rule wisely or not will be up to him.

Re: his psyche it's the fact he was born during a full moon that best defines him. Sun in his 10th house (his father, public standing) opposite 4th house moon (home, relationship with his mother, women) shows many of his reported behaviors are in fact based on suppressed pain. Saturn in 11th square Jupiter 2nd shows a need for emotional validation from the few people in his inner circle. More than anything else, he prizes loyalty. It also shows he measures himself through financial success and admires those who are "successful". However, Mercury square Jupiter in the 2nd also shows his verbal exaggerations in the past. Maybe the office will change him, I hope. Sun trine Jupiter shows he can be surprisingly generous as well and this is a likeable side that helped people connect with him.

T-Saturn entered America's 1st house this October. Saturn, a conservative planet, was almost a guarantee that Republicans would win in 2016 and I am surprised so few saw that. Mercury joining the IC showed a change of residence for Trump (the White House). T-Saturn in the 1st house of America's chart (expression) squaring T-Neptune in the 3rd (communication) shows an intolerance of religious minorities (specifically, Islam) which sadly made it into his speeches. On the one hand his sun sign Gemini can be quite tolerant, even spiritual, on the other his birth Mercury square Neptune shows a suspicion of spirituality; he's a self-made man and focuses on the material. Never mind, that may be the vacuum we will fill in the next years.

The Inauguration chart: this chart, for 12:00 noon on January 20, 2017 in Washington D.C., is a map of the energies of the day. Matching it to Donald Trump, and America's chart, indicates the direction of his presidency, with suggestions for what will work for him and the country, and what will not:

- A deeply divided nation: Uranus in the 12th, opposite Jupiter 6th, square Pluto 9th. Impacting America's Sun and Mercury from the 2nd and 4th, via the 7th-8th house. Secret efforts to undermine the presidency. A foreign crisis that might lead to war, though the immediate outcome might be a trade war?  Which he must avoid at all costs, no matter the pressures. Pluto in the 9th means the rest of world will unite against America, and what good does that do? The 9th house also indicates philosophy, and law. But that relates to my personal view; a unification on a spiritual, international level world wide.

- President Trump's first hundred days: It isn't about the man, but the country. (America's horoscope on inauguration day). Pluto will go into the 2nd house, opp 8th house cusp. He will need to get good, not self-serving advice, reach all segments of society and cooperate with allies. Uranus in the 4th indicates domestic upheaval and that he must work on the economy (2nd house). Interestingly, the 8th house also represents taxation (and death, but we won't go there). My studies in economics show tax cuts don't help but if that's the route he takes, fine. ETA: but I think the American economy will improve, or I wouldn't feel he'll win a second term.

- What next for Donald Trump?: Saturn, the planet of karmic outcomes, will join his 4th house Moon in January. Health issues might rise. He won the greatest battle of his life, but what of his emotional foundation. Maybe he wasn't sure he'd win, but now he has, what next? It won't be easy. America's karma is greater than his. I hope he learns and the office changes him. I do care for the country and its people, and deeply disliked cheap characterizations of his supporters as racists and sexists. He may have played to some segments to get elected, but I hope he will display his magnanimous and tolerant side.

- A warning: Watch out for foreign entanglements. Stick to domestic concerns. Republicans work best as small c-conservatives. Reform Wall Street and the Fed, improve infrastructure, help the working class, sure. Don't let American foreign policy be about policing the carbon based economy, imposing sanctions on Iran, and neutralizing China. That won't work. Remember American business and industry was the best in the world, but as policemen, you failed.

What next, America?

The Democrats having imploded so spectacularly, and progressives (Bernie Sanders was a viable candidate, Dr. Jill Stein not) unable to appeal to Independent and young voters (who all seem to have stayed home) it looks like the Republicans will carry Congress and the White House for another 8 years. Certainly, 2020 is a more favourable environment, business wise which again favors the GOP. As I said earlier, not until the Uranus Pluto square works itself out at the subsequent election in November, 2024 will there be some balance. Until then, there will be constant tension.

What can we do? Build material foundations, develop your creativity, find the balance within yourself. Art, music, spirituality, an international movement of quiet, peaceful resistance will accomplish more. We aren't Americans or Canadians or Russians, we are people of the world.