Acts Of Kindness

 

It was a rough year

 

As we come to the last day of a very rough year, here's a very special message. I picked up a book at the library today, and there was a book..

 

Its title: Lucknow Ransom, Glen Peters, Parthian, Cardigan, 2013. 

 

An Anglo-Indian woman leaving her past behind enters a 2nd class railway carriage in Calcutta with her son. There she meets a Hijra prostitute called Lakshmi, from the Hindu goddess of good fortune. She treats her with kindness, and is helped in turn as they get involved in a scandal.

 

Hijras are a 4000 year old transgender community of men who transition to women in India and Pakistan, who despite prejudice, have been granted the right to be considered a third sex for identification purposes. It is considered good luck to have them dance at Indian weddings, bad to mistreat them.

 

Background to the Hijras:

 

India's Third Gender Communities

 

South Asia's Transgender Community Speaks Its Own Language

 

This was an interesting connection to when I last visited Pakistan in 1995,

Mother Mary Comes To Me.  I took a train from Karachi to Lahore and that was a 2nd class carriage too :) Even though I had a reserved berth people came on anyway and crammed the seats. A party of Hijras came aboard. People refused to let them sit beside, because, prejudice.

 

I asked them to sit with me, which they accepted gladly. "Aren't we all the Children of Adam?" they asked the shamefaced passengers. Then they shared their food with me (again, people don't like to eat from the same container as a Hijra, but what do I know?)

 

This reminder today, for a project I'd been working on: a fictional crime series set in Pakistan. To tell the story of a police investigator as he progresses through the turmoil of post independence Pakistan. Not a new idea, to set crime stories in other cultures, other historical periods (I've been reading Magdalen Nabb's Marshal Guarnaccia series and Qiu Xiaolong's Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department series, enjoyed tremendously but then, I read a lot).

 

It's in the telling of a story, and the building of a character. An investigator who works the seamy side of Lahore's criminal underworld and, copyright, its title is The Punjab Minister's Wife. To be followed by, By Sea to Karachi, The Malir Ghost and The Haunting of the American Embassy. Like me, he loves Sufi and Indo-Persian poetry.

 

But the message from the past, and, for the future as the world wonders what will 2017 be like?

 

Be known for your acts of kindness.

 

 

 

 

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.

A Fiery Message

 

 

Gatlinburg, U.S., November 2016



 

 

Haifa, Israel, November 2016

Israel Wildfires: 50,000 Evacuated As Bushfires Hit Haifa

On November 22, 2016, a wave of wildfires spread across Israel and areas of Palestine. Cutting off the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway then spreading to Haifa, Israel's largest city, 77 buildings were destroyed, 1600 people made homeless, and 75,000 had to eventually be evacuated. Thankfully no one was killed.

Analyzing the fire that burned into Gatlinburg

On November 23rd, 2016, a wildfire that started in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park spread into the Gatlinburg, Tennessee  area, causing the deaths of 14 people. 1,684 structures were damaged or destroyed. 14,000 residents were forced to evacuate.

In Israel, the fire were blamed on terrorists. In the U.S., kids playing with matches. However, in both cases they were exacerbated by severe drought conditions and high winds.

Maybe, a coincidence. Whatever the political and environmental reasons, I see both occurrences, as always, through spiritual lenses. And fires are signs of a burning down of things to create new life; my symbol the Phoenix.

Prophecy is like a quiet whisper. Not every one hears it, but here: Battle for the Soul of the Jewish People and here: Whither goest thou, Israel?

Regarding the U.S.: America, the Spiritual and, The Horoscope of the United States of America

But, these are just words. What I remember most are the wonderful people I met, the places I went, the futures I saw. Next, I will write about future yet to come.

Still, A Spiritual Journey to the U.S.

The 4th of July 1994 found us in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We celebrated with the holiday crowds, then walked home. There was music, a laser light show, and Arune danced in the street with us. Driving to New York along the Blue Ridge Mountain Highway I looked up on impulse and there was a White Eagle in a tree, looking at us.

These fires have reminded me, with longing, how I was there for the Malibu fires, the Los Angeles earthquake,  for the healing that I did. While we were there, the first white buffalo in a long while appeared in the U.S. and it is this, and the recent Water Protectors actions in North Dakota, that have me looking once again at the U.S. I would love to be, as I had so many journeys before. But..