Daily Reflection 6.24.21

Welcome back to our ongoing occult Bible study! I've selected just a few short lines for today, because we have a lot to talk about before we can go forward, and what we say here is going to shape everything we talk about from here on out.

The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 3, Verses 1-2

1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
 

2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
 

Saint John the Baptist

Let me begin by wishing you a blessed Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist! Yes, it's today, and no, I didn't plan it this way-- it "just so happens" that he enters our discussion here on his Feast Day. If you follow this path for just a little while, you'll find a lot of things "just so happen."

Notice that his Feast falls on the 24th of June. This puts it at the opposite point on the Wheel of the Year from Christmas, and shows us that the two feasts, and the two figures commemorated therein, are connected. On Saint John's Day, the Summer Solstice is just past. The Light of the Sun has triumphed over the darkness, and high summer is here-- but now begins the long, slow decline that will culminate in the darkness of Midwinter.

John is, we are told, Jesus's cousin, born six months prior to him; we can therefore set the date of his birth at around 3BC. It seems worth noting that this is the High Summer and the beginning of the end of the Classical pagan civilization that will be replaced by Christendom. Jesus will later say, rather mysteriously, that John is the greatest of all the prophets, and yet the least in the Kingdom of Heaven are greater than he.

Magic Rites

Certain places are places of power, where magical works for good or ill are strengthened or particular spirits may be contacted; similarly, certain points on the calendar are times of power, when particular rites may be accomplished. These two types of power-points, geographic and temporal, are related to the two great currents of magical power. The Telluric current arises from the heart of the Earth, and governs magical places; the Solar current descends from the heart of the Sun, and governs magical times. 

Saint John's Day is a potent day for certain types of magic.

Traditionally, the herb known as Saint John's wort was gathered on this day. The flowers can be dried, blessed, and hung above doorways to protect the home from malefic magic. It was also customary to build bonfires on Saint John's Day or Saint John's Eve. The fires were blessed and piled with Saint John's Wort, and livestock were then driven through the smoke, in order to protect them from witchcraft and evil spirits. Of course, most Christians today are far too smart to do such things, because Christians today are actually atheists, and what Christians think is "paganism" is actually Christianity.

A Bit of Speculation

In the thinking of Rudolph Steiner, there are two different types of Evil, represented by the demons Lucifer and Ahriman. The evil of Ahriman is the evil of wallowing in gross matter and sensory pleasure, rejecting the life of the Spirit. In a sense, it is the evil which fueled every side of the 20th century's Cold War, as that was mainly a contest over which economic system was better at producing and distributing material goods. The Communist side was officially atheist, but the capitalist side was tacitly so, justifying itself in religious terms only to mollify certain reactionary forces in the United States.

Luciferic evil, on the other hand, is the total rejection of matter and physical existence.

Discussing Classical Pagan civilization, the civilization whose peak and decline is marked by the Birth of Christ, Steiner writes:

If this ancient Paganism is rightly understood, it will be found to contain sublime, deeply penetrating wisdom, but no moral impulses for human action...

But why should this be the case?

Steiner tells us:

 

It was because through the millennia directly preceding Christianity, this Pagan wisdom was inspired from a place far away in Asia, inspired by a remarkable Being who had been incarnated in the distant East in the third millennium before Christ — namely, Lucifer.

To the many things we have learned about the evolution of humanity, this knowledge too must be added: that just as there was the incarnation which culminated in Golgotha, the incarnation of Christ in the man Jesus of Nazareth, there was an actual incarnation of Lucifer in far off Asia, in the third millennium B.C. And the source of inspiration for much ancient culture was what can only be described as an earthly incarnation of Lucifer in a man of flesh and blood.

The Wisdom of the Pagan World is rooted, ultimately, in an incarnation of Lucifer. This is why we see, in the High Philosophy of many pagan traditions, the total rejection of physical matter and incarnate existence.

According to Steiner, Lucifer was incarnated upon the Earth in Eastern Asia in the 3rd Millennium BC.

The Forerunner

 

John comes before Christ, and heralds his coming. The decline of the light immediately following the Summer Solstice heralds the approach of winter and the rebirth of the light following the Winter Solstice. John must decline, that Christ may increase.

The Goodness of Christ stands between the evil of Lucifer, the rejection of matter, and the evil of Ahriman, the rejection of Spirit. John is the last Great Prophet of the world before Christ. He is not a pagan prophet, of course, but a Jewish one, but he still dwells in the old world-- we'll see this more clearly when we discuss the work of Baptism. 

Say Your Prayers

John tells his followers, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven" is at hand.

I don't know about you, but for most of my life and especially during my childhood, I thought those words meant something like this:

Say you're sorry, punk, because God's about to show up and kick the living shit out of you.

As amusing as that interpretation is, it isn't true. The word "repent" doesn't mean "Say you're sorry and be really sad." It's much more interesting that.

"Repent" in Greek is "metanoia." "Meta" means "change." "Noia" is derived from the word "nous," which means "mind."

To repent is to change one's mind. Often one will hear this described as a "change of heart," and there is a reason for this, which we'll get to momentarily.

And John says we must do this, because the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, or "has drawn near," or "is among you." 

If the Kingdom of Heaven means anything, it is the sovereignty of God. But what sort of kingdom is it? The message we will see over and over in the Gospels is that it is not, and cannot be, a political kingdom. Heaven is not Earth, and Divine Power is, as we saw last time, not human political power. 

The Kingdom of Heaven is the reign of God within the human soul.

God, remember, is the Most High God, the Spirit who rules the Universe; and is identical to the One, which is also called goodness itself or The Good; and is that power by which we accomplish the Great Work, become that which we are meant to become, and gain mastery over our souls and our futures.

"Heaven" is the proper home of God, and since Heaven is, contra the '90s song, neither a place, nor on the Earth, it is not a location at all. Rather, it is a condition, and that condition must be the condition of the presence of God-- since Heaven is where God lives. Therefore, whenever we are in the presence of God, we are in Heaven. 

We attain the Kingdom of God by changing our minds-- or, rather, our nous. And so we'll have to talk about what that means.

More on the Kingdom of Heaven

On the magical worldview, the spiritual world is not separate from the material. Matter is only the last and most tenuous extension of spirit. Have you ever been to the sort of place-- perhaps a majestic cathedral, perhaps a natural setting like the ancient Redwood forests in the Pacific Northwest-- that filled you with a sense of awe, reverence and serenity all at once?

Those are places that border on Heaven, in which Heaven is made manifest.

On the other hand, have you ever driven through the kind of neighborhood that filled you with a sense of dread and foreboding, the kind of place that seemed marked by rage, violence and addiction?

That was a mouth of Hell. 

Lately, I've found that the sort of outwardly pleasant suburban neighborhoods where every person still goes about in a facemask, with a suspicious look in their eye, and the tension in the air is so thick you're afraid to breathe too heavilyand most of the lawns have signs that say 

IN THIS HOUSE, WE BELIEVE
BLACK LIVES MATTER
WOMEN'S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL
SCIENCE IS REAL
LOVE IS LOVE
KINDNESS IS EVERYTHING

Those are hellmouths, too.

One doesn't have to travel as far as a cathedral or a redwood forest to find Heaven on Earth. In the old story, a samurai approaches a Zen master and says "Teach me about Heaven and Hell."

The Zen master replies, "It's a real shame that they're letting dumbasses like you become samurai these days."

Enraged, the samurai draws his sword and prepares to cut the Zen master's head off.

"This is Hell," says Zen master.

The Samurai understands. In an instant, his heart is changed: He sheaths his sword and bows in gratitude.

"And this is Heaven," Zen master says.

Heaven is never far away, and neither is Hell. 

An Anatomy of the Soul

In the Republic, Plato tells us that the soul consists of three parts:

Nous
Thymos
Epithymia

Now "nous" is often translated into English as "reason," but that is incorrect. Reason, which is dianoia in Greek, is part of nous, but nous isn't limited to reason. Proclus tells us that nous also has three parts: the lowest is opinion (in Greek, doxa). Above this is dianoia, and above dianoia, nous proper, which is sometimes translated as "Intellection."

Intellection is not a familiar concept to most modern people. In the modern, scientific worldview, the highest capacity of the mind is reason; intellection does not exist. That is the literal meaning of the word "rationalism." In that way, we can see that Rationalism itself is already a debasement. In Intellection, the nous is functioning on its own, proper level-- the level of pure being which is above manifested, material reality. On this level, it is able to grasp the objects of knowledge immediately and entirely, without any intermediary thought process. This is very hard to describe in English. 

In Christian literature, the nous is sometimes called "the eye of the soul," and Intellection is the process through which the soul interacts directly with God and spiritual beings. Bear this in mind as we continue.

Thymos is another word which doesn't have an exact translation in English. It's often rendered "spirit," but what's meant by "spirit" in this case isn't the eternal soul, but, rather, what we mean when we say that someone is "in good spirits," or that a horse is "high-spirited." Sometimes it is rendered "anger," but that isn't exactly it, either. The Thymos is the inner strength or energy.

The best English translation of thymos is probably "heart," as that word is used by high school athletics coaches. Traditionally, the Thymos was seen as located in the heart, while the Nous is in the head and Epithymia, which means "appetite" and refers to all of those desires that we share with the lower animals, is in the abdomen. It is worth noting that this arrangement of powers in the human body corresponds exactly to the three dan tiens of Chinese Taoist inner alchemy. 

It is the failure of the Thymos in modern man that C.S. Lewis discussed in his essay, "Men Without Chests," in The Abolition of Man. Drawing directly on Plato, Lewis describes the proper relationship between the three parts of the soul:

The head rules the belly through the chest — the seat, as Alanus tells us, of Magnanimity, of emotions organized by trained habit into stable sentiments. The Chest-Magnanimity-Sentiment — these are the indispensable liaison officers between cerebral man and visceral man. It may even be said that it is by this middle element that man is man: for by his intellect he is mere spirit and by his appetite mere animal.

The work of Ahriman is to render man headless; that of Lucifer, abdomen-less. (There is a less polite way of saying this; I'll let you work it out yourself).

The work of the two together in the modern world has produced Lewis's Men Without Chests. 

Each one of our three energy centers has its own proper virtues, and its own afflictions which must be overcome. The result of the spiritual life, the attainment of the kingdom of Heaven and the accomplishment of the Great Work, also means all parts of our psychic anatomy working harmoniously. The nature of this harmony is the virtue of Justice in Plato, and its consideration is the entire purpose of the Republic. Jesus's Kingdom of Heaven is the harmonious spiritual republic of Plato. Eventually, Jesus will teach us how to bring each part of the soul into harmony. 

We begin by changing our nous. We will discuss what this means as we go forward.
 

Cancer Ingress June 20 2021

Below is the chart for this year's Summer solstice, which took place on the 20th of June, 2021, at 11:32pm:

The good news about this year's Cancer Ingress is that, as it is in a Fixed Sign, it will remain in effect until the Aries Ingress of 2022-- a whole 9 months from now. Given that, it hardly matters that I'm getting to it a week late.

Preliminary Remarks

The most important thing in this chart is the Grand Cross between the Moon, Mars, Saturn, and Uranus. 

I've talked for some time on this blog about the square between Saturn and Uranus, representing ongoing conflict between the forces of order and chaos. For the rest of this year, the Moon, ruler of change and the common man, and Mars, ruler of war and violence, join in the conflict. The Moon is particularly badly afflicted in this chart, as Scorpio is the sign of her Fall and she suffers from hard aspects to all three malefic planets. This will not be an easy year for the average American, and the Moon's position in the cadent Ninth House shows us that their options for dealing with things are limited. 

Now it's important to note that the Grand Cross isn't perfect. Aspects between planets in particular charts are rarely exact-- that is, within a single degree of perfection. Instead, the aspect's energy extends several degrees out to either side of the exact degree of perfection. This extension is called an orb. 7 degrees is about as wide an orb as an aspect can be granted to still be in effect, and that only for outer planets. In the case of the Grand Cross, Mars and Uranus are about 31 minutes out of orb, and so can't really be considered to be square to one another. We'll keep this in mind as we proceed. 
 

The Sun and Moon

 

The Sun represents the head of state in a mundane chart; Joe Biden, in our case. In our chart, the Sun is in the Fifth House, making a trine to Jupiter in the First House and a semisquare to Uranus in the Third. 

This is a fairly good position for the Sun. The position in the Fifth House tells us that Joe Biden will continue to be favored by the forces represented by that House-- Hollywood for one, but also Wall Street, and also the teacher's unions. The trine to Jupiter is strongly beneficial, though it has to be weighed against indicators in other currently active charts, including the eclipse charts and the Aries Ingress. It also suggests that Biden will be strongly supported by a significant fraction of the general population, who will benefit from his policies. What policies, and what fraction? The chart doesn't say, but we can make a few guesses. Jupiter rules wealth and imperial power; in our chart he is in Pisces, the sign of Neptune, ruler of socialism (and also of delusion.) Look to government aid to continue to flow to groups favored by the president and his sycophants in the entertainment media.

The Moon represents the people generally, but especially that fraction of the people who have the power or the wealth to participate in the national conversation. The Moon is in a very bad way in this chart. She is in Scorpio, which is the sign of her Fall; weakened by placement in the cadent Ninth House; and making hard aspects to the three malefic planets: Uranus (opposition), Saturn (square), and Mars (square). It literally does not get worse than that for any planet in any astrological chart. So let's unpack it, one at a time.

A planet in its Fall expresses its worst characteristics. As the Moon waxes and wanes, she always represents change. The Ninth House is the house of religion, law, universities, science and foreign travel. The Moon in this House, badly afflicted and in square to Mars, the House Ruler, suggests that the people as a whole will be badly impacted by changes for the worse in all of these affairs over the next nine months. The hostility of Official Science and Academia toward the general public is going to continue to worsen and probably cause serious harm during this time. Issues related to immigration are continue to cause serious problems, and we may expect open conflict over the attempts by the government of Texas to control its border with Mexico.

Mars, the ruler of the Ninth House, also rules the Second House of the nation's wealth; the affliction to the Moon tells us that economic trouble is going to continue, and the location of Mars in the Sixth House tells us that the working class is going to be badly impacted. 

The affliction to Saturn, God of Death, is equally troubling, for obvious reasons. In this chart, Saturn particularly rules the Twelfth House of secret enemies, national institutions, hospitals and prisons. All of these afflict the population. The corruption in our national institutions has reached a fever pitch, as has public distrust of them. The Twelfth House also suggests that the social chaos in the United States is being deliberately provoked by the nation's enemies. This isn't at all surprising, as the US has a long history of provoking ethnic conflict among its own enemies-- funding the Kurds in Iraq and Syria, the Albanians in Serbia, Baloch separatists in Iran, and so on. (Nor is that something unique to the US; every country does it to its enemies, because it works.) 

Mars rules war, Saturn rules sorrow and death, and Uranus rules chaos. In our chart, Uranus also rules the First House of the people generally. The opposition between the Moon and Uranus tells us something we already knew: The American public is sharply divided, and the two sides really, really don't like each other. We aren't going to see a civil war break out at this time, but incidents of violence, possibly including riots, terrorism, and mass shootings, are very likely.  

The Moon's only dignity is a trine to Jupiter. Note that Jupiter is also trine to the Sun. I suggested that the latter trine primarily represents federal financial aid. If the Moon were just a few degrees earlier in Scorpio, we would have a Grand Trine, which is as strongly benefic as a Grand Cross is malefic. Instead, we have a hint of a Grand Trine that fails to perfect-- just as the Grand Cross doesn't quite perfect. What this suggests to me is that some government aid will be directed to the, er, "afflicted" members of the population, but that it will fail to have any positive effect on the mood of the people, and may be resented. Recent programs which awarded federal aid to farmers based on racial preference are probably the model here, as even those members of disfavored groups who did receive the aid are likely to have been left with a bitter taste in their mouths. 

 

The Ascendant

The First House or Ascendant rules the people generally. In our chart, the Ascendant is in Aquarius, which is ruled by Uranus. Saturn is distantly conjunct the house cusp, and Jupiter and Neptune are both in this house-- but in Pisces, not Aquarius. 

We've already said a bit about the position of Uranus in this chart. Let's say a bit more. It is very bad. Uranus is in Taurus, the sign of his Fall, on the cusp of the cadent Third House, square Saturn. The square to Saturn has roughly the same significance that the Moon's square does. The corruption in major American institutions will cause serious harm to the general public during this period, and internal conflicts between segments of the US population are being funded by the nation's enemies, including hidden enemies within its own borders and those of allied nations. The presence of Uranus in the Third House of the internet and the news media suggests ongoing issues with internet censorship, dishonesty and rancor in the news media, as well as trouble with the postal service. 

Neptune and Jupiter in this house tell us that a certain fraction of the population will benefit from more-or-less socialistic policies directed by the president and the Executive and Legislative branches of government. We probably saw the beginning of that in the days before the Solstice. Jupiter and Neptune are both very well aspected, telling us that these policies are both beneficial to and welcomed by the groups that they are meant to help. 

House II: The House of Wealth

The Second House rules the nation's wealth. The House Cusp is in Aries, and so Mars is its ruler. Mars is not doing well in this chart. He is in Leo, a sign where he has no special dignity, in the cadent Sixth House, opposed to Saturn and square the Moon. As we've seen, the square to the Moon suggests economic trouble; the location in the Sixth House tells us that we will continue to see public health issues and problems in the military. The opposition to Saturn suggests deaths in high places; possibly a Supreme Court judge, possibly President Biden. 

House III: All The News That's Fit to Hide
 

The Third House rules transportation and communication; in modern times, it is the House of the Internet. The Third House is in Taurus, and Uranus is conjunct the House Cusp. The presence of Uranus suggests ongoing disruptions in the mail and ongoing conflict over lockdowns and censorship by media and big tech companies, and more wars of words in the media and on the internet. The preceding sentences are copy-pasted from the Aries ingress chart, as Uranus's position is the same in this chart, suggesting that these issues will continue to worsen over the next nine months, and have a direct impact on the general population.

Venus, the House Ruler, is in midling shape in this chart. She is in Cancer, where she has no special dignity, weakened by placement in the cadent Sixth House but strengthened by a trine to Neptune. This suggests media support for the federal government and its socialistic policies but bad news related to public health, the military (especially the navy), and unemployment. 

House IV: The Flyover House
 

The Fourth House represents the interior of the country, the farms and mines, and the opposition party. The House Cusp is in Gemini, which is ruled by Mercury. Mercury is here in this House, conjunct the cusp, trine Saturn, and retrograde. Mercury's position in this House is thus very strong. The trine to Saturn, natural ruler of the past and conservatism; the location in the Fourth House; and the retrograde motion suggest a strong turn toward traditional values and conservative populism by rural people and the Republican Party. This new conservative populism is represented by groups like the National Conservatism movement, the Claremont Institute, the candidacy of J.D. Vance and so on. Expect them to continue to make gains, especially in the red parts of the country, and to increase their share in the national conversation and their power in the Republican Party. I don't see any reason not to tell you that I view this as a very positive development. 

There is another side to this that is worth discussing. If you remember, I talked in my post on the Cancer Solar Eclipse about Hermes's role as an underworld deity. That role is very much on display in this chart. The Fourth House, at the bottom of the chart, and the Twelfth House of hidden things, both relate to the Underworld; Saturn is the natural ruler of the Underworld; the trine to Mercury tells us that Mercury is acting as the natural conveyor of his energies. The blowback to 40 years of malign neglect of the working class and the interior of the country is coming now, in the form of a resurgent conservative populism. 

House V: TV, Stocks and Kids

The Fifth House rules the entertainment industry, financial speculation, and children. The House cusp is in Gemini, which makes Mercury its ruler; the Sun is in this House too, almost exactly conjunct the House cusp. All these placements are good for Fifth House matters. We will see a return (Mercury retrograde) of children to school (Saturn). The conflict between the populist movements and Wall Street, on the one hand, and the left wing elite school boards and teachers unions, on the other, which have taken center stage lately, will probably be decided in favorable terms for the populists over the rest of this year. 

This is another House which contains two signs, suggesting divisions in matters ruled by this House between the President (Sun, Jupiter) and his party on the one hand, and the rural population and the Republican Party (Mercury, Saturn) on the other. As the Moon is very badly aspected, the Party and interests represented by the President can be expected to lose, but very likely without Biden himself suffering on account of it. 

House VI: Health, the Working Class, the Military

The Sixth House represents public health, and also the working class and the military. As the House Cusp is in Cancer, the ruler is the Moon. Venus and Mars are both found herein as well. Venus is the good news, so let's start with her. In Cancer she suffers neither affliction nor benefit, but she is aided by a trine to Neptune. This further suggests government largesse reaching a certain portion of the population, very much to their benefit. 

The news regarding the Moon and Mars is rather worse. The afflictions to both of these planet suggest ill health, high unemployment, and trouble in the military. I'd suggest, as I said above, that the ongoing controversy over the promotion of far left ideology in the military may be at the root of it. This chart suggests that we may see at least one incident of violence in connection with the military during this time. Rioting or violence by working class organizations is also possible.

House VII: Foreign Affairs and War

The Seventh House represents foreign nations and war. As the House Cusp is in Leo, the Sun is its ruler. The Sun's trine to Jupiter is good for foreign affairs, and predicts at least one major foreign policy success. The position of the Sun in the Fifth House may point to the ongoing kowtowing to certain foreign governments and fashionably foreign ideas by the entertainment industry. 

House VIII: Other People's Money

The Eighth House represents foreign wealth; it also represents death. As the House Cusp is in Libra, Venus is its ruler. Venus's position in Cancer in the Sixth House is more-or-less neutral, and she is aided by a trine to Neptune. This suggests that either all is well, or it appears that all is well (Neptune as ruler of illusion) in these matters.

I don't make much use of Pluto, but I think the extent of his influence remains an open question. Given that, it's worth noting Venus's opposition to Pluto, who rules the Underworld and hidden things, in the Twelfth House of secret things and hidden enemies. This probably points to further complications with the Coronavirus vaccines, which will be ignored or suppressed in the official media.

House IX: God's Law, Nature's Law, Man's Law.

The Ninth House represents the Supreme Court, religion, science and higher education. As the cusp of the House is in Scorpio, the ruler is Mars, whose condition we've already considered. It's worth further noting Mars's opposition to Saturn, and the presence of a badly afflicted Moon, ruler of change, on the house cusp. This strongly suggests that a Supreme Court Justice will die during the next nine months. Given Saturn's location in the Twelfth House, it is at least possible that this death may not be of entirely natural causes. Expect speculation of the sort that we saw after Antonin Scalia's death. 

Changes in the laws and legal system will have a negative effect on ordinary Americans during this time. H.S. Green tells us that an afflicted Moon in the Ninth House predicts "religious excitement." This is possible-- one source may be conservative American Catholics irritated by their bishops' refusal to deny Communion to President Biden. Another source may e the Black Lives Matter movement, which shows every sign of being essentially religious in nature. 

House X: The Powers That Be

The Tenth House rules the Executive Branch of government as distinct from the president himself. As the House cusp is in Sagittarius, the ruler  is Jupiter. Jupiter is in a very favorable position in this chart, in Pisces, in the First House, trine the Moon and the Sun. With the president's support, government largesse is going to continue to flow to favored members of the population, very much to their benefit.

House XI: Congress

The Eleventh House represents Congress, especially the House of Representatives. As the House Cusp is in Sagittarius, Jupiter rules this House too, with everything that entails. In particular, the joint rulership of both the Tenth and Eleventh Houses by Jupiter and the trine to the Sun tells us that Congress, and the House in particular, will be behind the president's agenda at this time. 

House XII: Hidden Things

The Twelfth House represents national institutions, prisons and factories, and hidden enemies. As the House Cusp is in Capricorn, Saturn is its ruler. Saturn is in Aquarius, as we've seen, conjuncting the Ascendant from the Twelfth House. Saturn is afflicted in this chart, as we've seen, by Uranus, Mercury, and the Moon. We've already discussed the meaning of this. Trouble is on the way in all the matters related to the Twelfth House. Saturn's only positive aspect is a trine to Mercury. At a mundane level, this trine and the retrograde motion of both of these planets suggests hidden scandals brought to light by Fourth House actors-- the opposition to the president and the Populist movement generally.