Moonwobble May 2021

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Watching my fellow travelers hurl their big vehicles across the lanes of the Washington beltway over the weekend like children released for recess, and observing no less than five significant car crashes in two days on those roads, I thought I'd better examine the energies involved in this Moonwobble period.

The New Moon chart for May 11 (21 deg Taurus) for Washington DC suggests a period where higher learning is emphasized and philosophical perspectives get respect. These are tied to imperatives that move the nation and its people forward, not without challenges. Quick thinking is essential (and available) during this period to navigate these challenges.

A very practical outlook appears to be in the offing, but unreasonable expectations, especially with regard to others (individuals, nations), need to be taken into consideration. The Biden administration would be well advised to put any rose colored glasses into storage.

A deficit of resources in the area of meeting essential needs appears to be an inherited situation: for example, labor shortages related to existing conditions before the pandemic struck may make expansion as things open up troublesome.

Powerful transformative energies continue to shake institutions in apparently random ways, disconnected from perceivable relationships with specific areas of life. Those who believe they understand the cause of all this upheaval most likely are mistaken.

There is the opportunity for disciplined thought and intelligent structuring of responses on many levels.

Important context, for U.S. citizens, involves Pluto heading for a return to its place when the Declaration of Independence was written (Sibley chart). Increasing polarization will continue to undergird American affairs.

As the peak of Moonwobble approaches (May 31, June 1, 2) Mars forms an opposition to Pluto that aggravates the deep institutional challenges and brings them to the fore. It's possible a crisis may evolve in foreign affairs or (less likely) civil unrest may develop that challenges the nation's sense of identity.

Mercury goes retrograde on May 30 and remains so until the cycle is well over, going direct around June 22. This will give the peak period an even stronger appearance of instability as communications systems (including your nervous system) need attention or repair.

Use the Mercury retrograde period to study. During Moonwobble it pays to use meditation practices to shift your attention from the inevitable drama to a place of unchanging integrity. More experienced practitioners, such as translators, may be able to use the notes above to focus their process, with significant benefits.

Pluto and the end times

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I've spent the last two days hanging out with the very impressive students and tutors of the Faculty of Astrological Studies. It has been a great joy to visit Oxford, England, each August for the past several years to spend 5 or 6 days talking with astrologers and listening to eye-opening presentations by some of the biggest names in the business.

This year's event was canceled - and then transformed from the usual 8 days to just a weekend teleconference with a carefully crafted program of eight presentations and designated spots for students to contribute their reflections about the Summer School experience. All in all this was a brilliant pivot that gave students the opportunity to have a taste of the event they remember with such joy.

The topics, of course, focused one way or another on the times we are in and in particular on the transits of Pluto, Saturn, and Jupiter through Capricorn, all of which are associated with the global pandemic, the subsequent lockdowns, and the psychological challenges that such an enforced change of routine necessarily incites.

Let's go back three years, to August 2017.

For that event Alana and I decided to take our vacation time during the weekend workshop events and just attend the week-long Summer School. On Monday morning I entered the classroom and introduced myself to the instructor for that session, one Michael Lutin. He looked at me as if to say, "Ok. Is there something you want ?" I mentioned that Alana and I had liked the look of his weekend workshop but decided not to attend because, "we weren't sure we'd be able to muster the energy to do that and then make it through the week." He got a rueful look on his face and said, "Yeah, it was a lot of energy out."

What I did not know at that moment was that Michael Lutin had been asked to step in to cover the sessions originally planned for Rob Hand, who was not able to make the cross-Atlantic trip due to an eye operation. How he managed the energy to pull it off I have no idea. One of the lectures (each one 90 minutes) dealt with planetary nodes, a topic you don't hear a lot about these days. In that presentation he laid out the positions of the planetary nodes and talked about their role in getting context for the solar system environment within which our planetary transits occur.

Michael Lutin, unjustly cropped by a data obsessive, talking about planetary nodes at the FAS 2017 Summer School

Michael is a very entertaining lecturer, and he's an experienced hand, which means he doesn't just sit down and read a paper to you. He dropped an enticing statement into his presentation (and expanded it in a separate session later). He suggested that when Pluto transits its own South Node (20 deg. Capricorn) we should expect "something really big". When pressed to give details he simply said, "Just remember that in the worst case, say, a total nuclear war in which civilization is destroyed, a few days after it's all over, out from under a rock somewhere, will come . . . a Scorpio." This got a big laugh, but nobody could get him to be more specific.

In the follow-up lecture he spent all of his time talking to his astrologer peers, saying that when this transit happened there would be great need for the people in the room to provide guidance for a lot of people who would be in dire straights emotionally and psychologically. He wouldn't be more specific, and there were more than a few frustrated attendees.

At the time of the lecture, Pluto was at 17 deg. Capricorn. It first reached 20 deg. Capricorn in February 2018, then went retrograde and passed 20 deg. again in June 2018; then went direct and passed it again in December 2018; it came back for its final pass in September 2019 and stationed at 20 degrees Capricorn on October 4 for seven days until October 11, 2019. This was the last pass of the transit. Pluto went retrograde on April 25, but will only get to 22 deg Capricorn before going direct on October 4.

All of this tells us some interesting things :

  • Michael Lutin nailed this transit; he identified it as something an order of magnitude beyond what we're used to projecting for transits of any kind.

  • What we are experiencing in the pandemic coming out of the autumn of 2019 has roots in February, June, and December 2018. It's not just COVID-19 but a constellation of developments that have prepared the way for what we are experiencing now. In the U.S. this corresponds to a weakening of the powers of the central government, at least.

  • None of this diminishes in any way the excellent analyses that are being made about the effects of the conjunction of Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn.

  • Planetary node transits need more attention.

Moonwobble March 2020

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The next Moonwobble cycle is upon us. Let’s start with the basics : Take your time; think things through; look at everything twice, or more. Most importantly, don’t identify with aggravation (e.g., do not get into a game of chicken with fellow drivers on the road). The energy will shift significantly when the Sun moves into Aries on March 20. The tone will shift from confused and unpredictable to strident and pushy.

Culmination of the cycle comes when the Sun reaches 4° 50’ of Aries, square the lunar nodes at the same degree of Cancer (N) and Capricorn (S).

The Washington DC chart shows the Sun in the 6th house with the nodes in the 9th and the 3rd respectively. I suppose we should be grateful these are cadent houses, suggesting that the culminating tensions will show up sluggishly. Which is just as well because Jupiter, Pluto, and Mars are angular on the 4th house cusp and we will be getting plenty of energy from them. Fourth house is home, domestic policy, and of course - elections.

Saturn has moved away from this Capricorn love fest but is still in orb at 0° Aquarius.

Interestingly, this Moonwobble culminates just after the coming New Moon in Aries. For this analysis, though, I’ve chosen to look at the New Moon of February 23, in Pisces, because this sets the stage for the coming several weeks.

That chart, for Washington DC, has about 2° Cancer ascending and Mars angular in the 7th house, suggesting aggressive attitudes about others and how we in the United States relate to them. It is sextile the New Moon pair and trine Uranus.

I would expect an aggressive U.S. foreign policy aided by fresh initiatives based on philosophical positions, possibly drawing upon an interest in what is perceived as constructive social change. It is a Pisces New Moon, of course, but it’s also in the 9th house and its energy will show up in philosophical discourse and the nation’s way of seeing its own potential growth and learning. Mercury, an important planet in the President’s chart, is on the Midheaven here so, no surprise, he will be prominent during this cycle.

And now for the most interesting piece

In the February New Moon chart, Chiron is angular on the 10th house cusp. There is a lot of conversation about “wounding” around Chiron. I’m not so sure; I think the jury will be out for some time yet on how we interpret this object. I view Chiron from the perspective of androgyny (i.e., stepping away from socially constructed gender identification), in keeping with the era of its discovery (1977).

This chart gives us a chance to see it in action. It is prominent here in the 10th house of business and is squared by Mars. The two planets form a T-square with the chart ascendant. As I write this we are six days into this new moon cycle, and those days saw a severe plummet in equity values on markets around the world. So far the U.S. market has lost 10 percent of its value, over 4,000 points.

That is 10th house wounding if anything could be, and quite aggressive.

What makes this interesting is that by the time Moonwobble culminates on March 24, the Sun will move into conjuction with Chiron. This is a very lonely Sun (and Moon) in the 6th house with no major aspects apart from the Chiron conjuction. (Pisces is on the 6th house cusp !) I think of the 6th house in this kind of chart as the home of the needy and unfortunate, or those needing help and support. I expect their plight to be brought home to us in a big way by the time we get to the Moonwobble peak.

As for that Sun - Chiron conjunction : I’ll be watching. I’m curious to see if any elements related to LGBT*, trans, or other non-binary identification / roles show up in any way.

Moonwobble Heads-Up

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Just a reminder that we are heading into another Moonwobble cycle. This one will culminate on 29-30-31 December 2019. There will be an annular solar eclipse a few days before.

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One important note : This cycle coincides with an approaching conjunction of Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn (22 deg. 47 min.), which will be exact on January 12, 2020. We have been building to this for at least a year and we should expect to see events working toward a crisis during this moonwobble cycle and beyond.

What this means for you personally depends on where Capricorn falls in your horoscope. People with Sun in Capricorn or Cancer and, to a lesser degree, Aries and Libra will be very aware of the energy.

More detail to come - for the moment forewarned is forearmed as they say. Be aware of the tensions that show up in your muscles, emotions running close the surface, short fuse - it differs for everyone. The more you can see your own frustrations the more you can defuse situations that threaten to escalate unnecessarily.


The April-May 2018 Moonwobble Report: New Moon in Aries

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By William and Alana Fennie

From William:

The peak of this cycle is 30 April, 1-2 May. The day leading up to the New Moon, April 15, saw ferocious storms across the United States with unusual cold and snow on the northern Great Plains, tornadoes in the Southeast, and a heat wave in the Southwest. The mid-Atlantic region around Washington DC saw temperatures around 90 degrees followed by plunges to near freezing and a slow return to seasonal temperatures. This corresponds appropriately with a conjunction of the New Moon pair with Uranus as the latter prepares to make its first foray into Taurus on 16 May where it will remain until November, going retrograde around 8 August.

Two days later Southwest Airlines flight 1380 experienced a mid-air engine failure that killed one passenger, the first air-related death in the U.S. since 2009.

Some of the biggest news comes from abroad with the Trump administration and North Korea making big promises about a sunny new future on the Korean peninsula. Let's remember that MW can bring resolutions to long-standing conflicts (1918 Armistice) as well as unleashing the dogs of war (First Gulf War).

I have found Uranus by aspect to bring outrageous and exciting experiences but not necessarily long lasting satisfaction. If the energy is to be productive then the calm, patient-builder quality of Taurus will be essential.

New Moon chart for 15 April 2018 - click to enlarge

The New Moon chart (see illustration) for April 15 provides the context for interpreting this MW cycle, and it is again heavily weighted with Cardinal Earth and Fire, the chart ruler, Mars, in Capricorn in the second house suggesting an emphasis on issues of personal security or, in this case perhaps, the financial markets. The stellium of Saturn, Mars, and Pluto in Capricorn does not put the mind at ease, and the square to the new moon pair suggests a period of tension and challenges to leadership. The emphasis on martial energy ameliorates somewhat a strong tendency toward overindulgence and excessive word games that are marred by heavy-handed criticism.  A little bit less “communicating” and a little bit more responsible education could go along way toward moving productively through this cycle. 

Despite the news of unexpected advances in foreign affairs, this chart suggests that all the action is at home with only Jupiter above the horizon, in the 12th house. Hard work is in fact taking place, but not in the public eye.

Those with important factors in Taurus, Leo, or Aquarius may find themselves resonating with this erratic and highly charged "weather." The cycle brings disruption, of course, but can also enable a needed clearing out of the old and a re-vision of routines, goals, and hopes.

Alana has some exercises to help with identifying the relevant issues for you, personally.

Aloha. . . .

Exploring Moonwobble Energy: Journal Prompts

Because the nodes of the Moon do not change sign quickly, a Moonwobble Cycle will often share the same nodal access as its previous cycle. This phenomenon may make it seem that during a Moonwobble Cycle issues and patterns you thought you completed or “dealt with” already seem to resurface. You’ll often find some twists, though, as the New Moon which initiates the current Moonwobble Cycle will likely be in a different sign, often bringing with it a new polarity, elemental and modality. The New Moon offers context and context is everything.

Let’s examine what that means with the current cycle, since its nodal axis recalls the last two Moonwobble Cycles, including the very noteworthy July – August Moonwobble Cycle from 2017 – noteworthy because that cycle included the “Great America” Eclipse of August 2017. Patterns that began in those cycles are being further worked on with new energies. 

So, in all the last three Moonwobble Cycles, the Moon’s Nodes fall across the Leo-Aquarius axis, with the North Node in Leo and the South Node in Aquarius. The New Moon in July-August (2017) was in Leo, a yang or masculine, fiery, fixed sign. In the last Moonwobble Cycle (what were the dates for this cycle?), the New Moon was in Capricorn, a yin or feminine, earth, cardinal sign.  Our current Moonwobble Cycle occurs under a New Moon in Taurus, an earth, yin sign like our last cycle, but fixed recalling the energy of the Leo New Moon of last July-August. 

It’s likely that in July-August 2017 – especially in anticipation of the “Great American” eclipse – you may have been inspired (a very fiery feeling) to review your approach to the world or your identity in that world. In an outgoing, extroverted sign, Moon in Leo may have nudged you to think of ways to present yourself or express yourself in some external way, possibly in art, social media posts, writing, or even in how you groom yourself or do presentations at work. Likely, this energy focused on expressing a self you already claim as yours, rather than encouraging you to change or think deeply about your identity.

Whatever new ways you dreamed up to present or express yourself in the summer of 2017 likely clamored for more structure during the last Moonwobble Cycle. You may have asked yourself, What is my plan for implementing a sustained creative practice? How might my output or my self-expression move beyond the personal to help lead the changes that I would like to see in the world? 

The current Moonwobble Cycle asks you to now make a sustained and sustainable plan to stay the course on your creative process. You’ve had the inspiration; you’ve organized your ideas and made a plan to bring them into reality. Now this Cycle is testing the strength and viability of your plan.

One final note before some simple exercises to help you strategize. Unlike the previous two Moonwobble Cyles, the current Nodal Axis configuration during the New Moon is unaspected! It’s possible that instead of experiencing direct challenges to your plans, you are feeling an intense distraction. You may feel incredibly passionate about the changing stories that appear in your news feed. You may intensely want – or even feel a deep need – to act, but you cannot determine if that need comes from a genuine feeling or if it’s a product of external stimuli. You may further feel a contradictory sense that time is passing by so quickly, too quickly, and yet you are not accomplishing anything.  

Consider any of the following reflective exercises as a way to connect with the energetics of this Moonwobble cycle. 

We recommend keeping your insights private until this Moonwobble cycle is over, since one of the lessons of the fire Trine here is to consider when, with whom, how, and how much we share of private self and creativity with the outside world.

1. Internal versus External

Spend a day tracking how often you feel compelled to comment on some social issue or news event, as well as what the topic is.  Before you do make a comment to the world via social media or even to the people in your “real life” (IRL), consider whether the impulse comes from within or is a reaction to external stimuli. Do you have a position to share that comes from deep within your philosophy or your spirituality – or are you adding noise to the social sphere without making a point you’d want your grandchildren to read? 

By no means does every post, conversation gambit or offhand comment have to have a larger point or connect to something greater. However, we are so often encouraged to “share your thoughts” or “share your feelings” about a topic du jour that we often don’t consider whether we want to share. 

Saturn square Mercury in this cycle may already be making you feel constrained in your expressions and thoughts, but this may be a blessing in disguise. Keep in mind that Mercury is in Aries this Cycle and may speak without thinking of the (especially long-term) consequences, and the restraining power of Saturn in Capricorn (this Cycle) may actually be helping you from making lasting damage to your reputation.

Saturn in Capricorn also gives the pause that may help you disconnect from the noise around you and connect back into the ideas generated during previous Moonwobble Cycles. Since the Nodes are unaspected this Cycle, their “voice” may be harder to hear at this time.

2. Inspiration and Structure

Take 30 minutes or so to reflect back on the brainstorming you did during the last Moonwobble Cycle. During that time, we suggested that you brainstorm what needs to happen to make your creative idea(s) a reality. Did you brainstorm various steps – and equally importantly – did you schedule the steps into specific dates on your calendar? 

It’s time now to evaluate your progress. What worked and what just led to procrastination? Most importantly consider why you were able to complete some tasks, but not others. Sometimes it truly is out of our control, but in other instances we just lose steam. 

Once you’ve done an initial evaluation, it’s time to think sustainable progress to project completion! Consider working with a friend who can truth check you for how realistic your plans are. If a key word comes up about why you aren’t making progress, great! You’ve got the topic of your next translation! If a memory comes up, consider doing an RHS.

 

The January-February 2018 Moonwobble Report: New Moon in Capricorn

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By William and Alana Fennie

This post is coming a few weeks too late to be useful for this cycle, but we believe the overview and journal prompts may still be helpful.

From William:

The peak of this cycle is 3-4-5 February, and the effects were being felt even during the second week of January, which is not unusual.

New Moon chart for 16-17 January 2018 - click to enlarge

The conjunction of the Sun with the South Node at 14 degrees of Aquarius on those dates portends an experience of the worst side of ideological approaches to problem solving in the political sphere. The New Moon chart (see illustration) for January 16-17 provides the context for interpreting this MW cycle, and it is heavily weighted with Cardinal Earth - in the form of six planets in Capricorn.

I confess that when I saw this configuration for the first time the negotiations on the latest U.S. federal government budget resolution were in full stride, and the image that came to my mind was "pigs at a trough." All those ambitious Capricornian interests in there slogging away to get what they want.

That's a bit specious, especially since the Virgo ascendant for DC suggests that the Washington crowd is actually working very hard and possibly taking the opportunity to iron out their more troublesome vexations.

Sextiles to Neptune and to a conjunction of Mars and Jupiter in Scorpio indicate creative imagination as well as an abundance of willfulness at play. But play also shows up in the fifth-house placements of four of the six planets in Capricorn: Pluto, Sun, Moon, and Venus. The game is on and the players are doing what they do best.

Uranus, now five degrees away from its square with Pluto, still brings instability and flamboyance to the party. Its closer square to the new moon conjunction suggests a volatile ride, especially as regards issues of personal security, and as we approach the peak we should expect to see strident pronouncements at odds with an unexpected desire for accommodation.

The offer by Senate republicans to link six years of CHiP funding to a four-week continuing resolution, for example, seems very much in the spirit of this Venus-influenced new moon, and it's an open question whether Senate democrats' decision to push for DACA concessions represented a wise choice.

As we publish this the prospect of second government shut-down is looming.

Alana has some exercises to help with identifying the relevant issues for you, personally.

Aloha. . . .

Exploring Moonwobble Energy: Journal Prompts

Because the nodes of the Moon do not change sign quickly, a Moonwobble Cycle will often share the same nodal access as its previous cycle. This phenomenon may make it seem that during a Moonwobble Cycle issues and patterns you thought you completed or “dealt with” already seem to resurface. You’ll often find some twists, though, as the New Moon which initiates the current Moonwobble Cycle will likely be in a different sign, often bringing with it a new polarity, elemental and modality. The New Moon offers context and context is everything.

Let’s examine what that means with the current cycle, since its nodal axis recalls the very noteworthy July – August Moonwobble Cycle from 2017 – noteworthy because that cycle included the “Great America” Eclipse of August 2017. Patterns that began in those cycles (Moonwobble and Eclipse) are being further worked on with new energies. 

In both our current Moonwobble Cycle and that of July – August 2017, the Moon’s Nodes fall across the Leo-Aquarius axis, with the North Node in Leo and the South Node in Aquarius. The New Moon in July-August was in Leo, a yang or masculine, fiery, fixed sign. In the current cycle, however, the New Moon is in Capricorn, a yin or feminine, earth, cardinal sign.  

It’s likely that in July-August – especially in anticipation of the “Great American” eclipse – you may have been inspired (a very fiery feeling) to review your approach to the world or your identity in that world. In an outgoing, extroverted sign, Moon in Leo may have nudged you to think of ways to present yourself or express yourself in some external way, possibly in art, social media posts, writing, or even in how you groom yourself or do presentations at work. Likely, this energy focused on expressing a self you already claim as yours, rather than encouraging you to change or think deeply about your identity.

Whatever new ways you dreamed up to present or express yourself this summer are likely now clamoring for more structure. What is your plan for implementing a sustained creative practice? How might your output or your self-expression move beyond the personal to help lead the changes you would like to see in the world? Now is the ideal time to organize your ideas into reality!

One final note before some simple exercises to help you strategize. Giving an influx of energy to the Nodes and the New Moon is a Jupiter-Mars conjunction in Scorpio, which is square to the Nodes and sextile to the New Moon. This aspect suggests plenty of stamina and courage to connect with others on a deep, visceral level, a place where their aspirations lie. To make the most of this opportunity, be sure that you check that your actions are in tune with however you conceive of the Divine. While this is always good advice, it’s especially important in this cycle where you might be so focused on expressing your creativity, you could lose sight that your expressions have a real effect on others.

Consider any of the following reflective exercises as a way to connect with the energetics of this Moonwobble cycle. 

We recommend keeping your insights private until this Moonwobble cycle is over, since one of the lessons of the fire Trine here is to consider when, with whom, how, and how much we share of private self and creativity with the outside world.

1. You Meeting the World

Spend a day (or week if you’re really feeling the energy) observing how people react to your expressions of creativity, whether in person or through social media. 

You get to decide how to define what creative expressions mean: how you run a business meeting; how you plan your family’s schedule; poetry, Instagram posts – your imagination is the limit. You may want to focus on just one or two people or sets of people:  your family or your followers; a boss or a parent. 

Consider what the creative expression was; what was the emotion or inspiration behind it; and what the reactions were. 

What patterns do you observe? Does it seem like your creative intentions are having the affects you’d like? If not, consider sharing the exercise with a close friend or counselor to discuss the results. It may simply be that your creative expressions don’t fit into other’s expectations. If that is the case, how can you gently explain to them your intentions? How will you process feedback? 

2. Inspiration and Structure

Take 30 minutes or so to reflect back on July-August 2017. What ideas came to you during that period that you haven’t yet developed? Why haven’t you developed them? Make a list of all the reasons you haven’t done anything yet – and then burn the list!

On a fresh sheet of paper, brainstorm what needs to happen to make the idea a reality. You might put your idea in the center of page and then, around the idea, list all the implementation steps from the mental – maybe a change in attitude – to the concrete.

Pick one step and schedule ways into your calendar to implement it. Next month pick another step and so on. You’ll want to evaluate your progress at the next New Moon and the next Moonwobble cycle.

Faith

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"The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple,
among his followers, gives not of his wisdom
but of his faith and his lovingness."
- K. Gibran

 

 

The real challenge of being a teacher has nothing to do with mastering the actual subject matter, although that is necessary. The key to any teacher is his or her willingness to meet the others in his world and to speak from the place of his deepest understanding. Every teacher must find the ones to whom she can speak. More importantly, every teacher must have the courage to speak of that which she knows and that which he also knows is practically impossible to communicate. 

Trees and leaves

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A tree is a miracle.

You knew that, of course, but I repeat the oft-stated perception that trees are fabulous and inspiring.

In Autumn we get to see the spectacle of trees shedding the leaves they’ve been maintaining all summer long. They created the leaves out of stuff they pulled out of the earth. In this way a tree is lot smarter than you are. It knows the minerals and organic substances in its environment in a way that you never will, even if you pushed your face into the sod and tried to lick the earth.

It turns those minerals into a structure - trunk, limbs, bark . . . and leaves. It uses the leaves to harvest sunlight. The leaves turn sunlight into energy the same way your intestine turns an eggplant casserole into energy that gets used to support the activites of your soma. What the tree doesn’t use it stores in its roots. It always makes a profit. It uses some of the sun energy to do business and it stashes away the rest because it knows that winter is coming.

As winter approaches, the tree conducts a process of risk management. It knows that the big leaves that generate so much profitable energy during the summer become a significant liability in winter. There is still sunlight in the winter, but the risk-benefit equation is all wrong. Trees have learned that it’s just better not to try to do business with the sun during the winter months. It’s better to close up shop and live off of the surplus generated during the summer because the risks associated with too much weight on the limbs during winter is too great. Real structural damage is possible.

(Other trees have found a strategy for harvesting sunlight during the winter - the evergreens. Take a look at their leaves : thin, long or short needles. Even evergreens shed in autumn, though. You see a carpet of golden needles on the ground as they cut back on their liabilities when winter approaches.)

From our perspective, we see the leaves ‘turn’ - they change from green to red, gold, yellow, brown, and they fall to the ground. With a little breeze you can see the leaves leave their home and drift lightly to the earth. Uncountable numbers of leaves of all sizes fill the air, and fall. They cover the ground with mulch that rots and brings organic matter back to the soil, from which the tree again will create more leaves, maybe two or three years hence.

So, what is life like for the leaf ?

It wakes up one day and finds it has a shape that is unfurling. It feels the energy of the sun waking it up and it finds itself motivated to do what comes naturally : to use the sunlight to feed its growth to full size. To do so, it also draws upon the nourishment provided by the tree. But it finds that even at full size there is still a lot of energy left over, and the tree says, no problem, give it to me and I’ll store it. The tree has invested in this leaf, and now it’s time for the leaf to provide ROI. So for several months the leaf does what leaves do - it turns sunlight into useable energy and the tree stores the surplus energy in its roots. Until the day when the tree sends out a memo “to all leaves”. Due to overly dangerous circumstances we are shutting down our sunlight harvesting operation - you are no longer needed. See your local branch manager for details on time, date, etc., of discontinuation of nutrient flow.

Without nutrients from the tree, the leaf cannot sustain itself anymore - it dies. It loosens its grip on the tree and finally falls away. Lessons learned :

  1. Leaves die because the tree has withdrawn nourishment.

  2. Trees have a purpose separate and apart from their leaves.

  3. Trees create leaves to serve their needs and they discard them without remorse when the time comes. Having created them they are within their rights to discard them. The leaf is not an individual in its own right but a part of the tree. (I can see certain interests using this as an analog for “job creation and job destruction”. Looking into that is another topic for another time.)

  4. Leaves are ephemeral to trees as trees are ephemeral to geology.

There is, however, a more salient point : a tree is an intelligent system. Within the limitations of its situation a tree demonstrates a profound level of intelligence. Seeing the vast intelligence there should remind us that we ourselves possess an even greater magnitude of awareness without even considering “education”. We are born very, very smart.

 

NFL on Tarot - Week 9

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The Wheel of Fortune and the Hermit from the Renaissance Tarot, published by Lo Scarabeo.

All along we have been tweaking our method for doing the draws without changing the essentials. Early on we adopted a system of “guide cards” - a pair of cards that we pull before doing any of the draws for the matches. We view these as a kind of index about the week in general, or perhaps about the energy we’re bringing to the event.

After drawing the guide cards (sometimes referred to as ‘game wardens’) we return them to the deck. This week we decided to withhold the cards from the deck so they would not be available to be drawn as a card representing a team.

The guide cards for Week 9 - November 4 - are the Wheel of Fortune and the Hermit.

The draw for Week 9 saw the first appearance of the Tower. Hard to believe : In over 100 matches the Tower has never appeared even once. This week it arrives with a vengeance - four appearances. Strength also shows up four times, and the Magician shows up three times, as does the World.

From the guide cards we get the feeling that several of the matches will involve outcomes that hinge on chance and that some teams might end up exhibiting unexpected resourcefulness.

The prominence of the Tower and Strength suggest low scoring games due to robust defensive play, but also a significant possibility that some teams will be forced to go back to the roots of their strategy (throw away the playbook), possibly due to catastrophic injuries.

Now that we’re half way through the season we’ll take some time to look at overall trends - in another post. 

NFL on Tarot - Week Six

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The Emperor is strong this week, with four instances. He is matched with the Hermit, the Chariot, and the Hanged Man (twice). This is going to be interesting to watch.

It seems to indicate a week where strength plays a dominant role. This may mean it’s a shake-out week and the season’s strong teams may begin to become evident.

Sheer speculation, of course.

This is the NFL on Tarot - Week Two

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As we reported last week, the card picks for Week Two were a little eccentric. The Wheel of Fortune or the Fool showed up twice each in the first four picks - never against each other. Fortune won once and the Fool both times. Fortune won again in another contest where Death was the opposing card.

We find it interesting that one cannot make any rules about the relationship between two major arcana cards. In one instance one is stronger; in another instance, the other. We haven't made any effort to find more information about any of the teams.

 Overall, we appear to be holding our own in the pool, which comprises about 25 teams.

Week Three

The tone appears to be "Strength" - the card showed up in three of the first four picks. Later on the Magician made an appearance in three of the contests. Last week we looked for a summary of the NFL week to see if our premise of "unusual events and upsets" held true. Couldn't find one, though.

Tarot Predictions 001: How Likely is a U.S. Federal Government Shutdown on October 1st, 2015?

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If you live or work within the D.C. metro area, you know that one of the most hotly debated issues right now is whether there will be a government shutdown on October 1st, 2015. Probably even if you don’t live in the metro area you can’t avoid hearing about this question on the news shows.

What the Financial Analysts Say

On September 9th, the Washington Post published an article entitled Get ready: Experts say a government shutdown is likely.

After summarizing why a shutdown could be likely – basically Congress “using the budget process to push their ideological agendas on everything from abortion to military spending to international nuclear deals” – the author, Amber Phillips, consults with four congressional budget analysts to see how likely a shutdown really is.

You can read the article for the specifics, but let’s summarize the results by sharing:

  • who made the prediction

  • what their credentials are

  • what the percentage rating of a government shutdown is

  • why a shutdown is likely (the sticking point)

Phillips suggests at the conclusion of the article that the threat of a shutdown may spur Congress to roll up their sleeves and actually address all the issues. Ok – stop laughing.

What the Cards Say, Part 1: Choosing the Deck

Before reading Phillips article, we pulled out the very trusty Renaissance Tarot and used it to ask: How likely is a U.S. Federal Government Shutdown on October 1st, 2015?

We’ve been reading with the officially named Tarot of the Renaissance (Giorgio Trevisan & Pietro Alligo; Lo Scarabeo) since 2013.

We won’t go into a review of the deck here, but suffice it to say that this deck has proven very reliable in readings involving finance, power, and other business related matters. The deck delivers messages clearly, unambiguously, bluntly, but also at times with a bit of humor. And the cards were really accurate about changes on the horizon.

We mention these experiences in order to convey that, despite its pastel colors and almost imaginary Renaissance imagery, this is one astute deck for penetrating worldly affairs.

What the Cards Say, Part 2: The Message

When we ask a yes-or-no question of the tarot, we follow the tradition that four aces in the spread mean a yes while no aces indicate no. One to three aces indicate nuances that can be explored by the other cards in the spread.

On the morning of Sunday, September 13th, the spread yielded four principal cards: Ace of Cups; Ace of Pentacles; the Devil; and the Hanged Man.

The presence of these two aces and two major arcana cards in a half-half relationship suggests that energy is still very much in flux, though the energy is indeed rooted in issues that have come before and are cycling around again.

Although the cards indicate that no specific conclusion can yet be drawn, that does not mean that we have a 50/50 chance of a shutdown. Nor are we left clueless about what the cause of a potential shutdown is; nor how to avoid it.

The first two cards in the spread are aces, indicating the factors that would make a shutdown likely. The specific two aces drawn (Cups and Pentacles) suggest that thoughtful reasoning or careful thought about specific ideas do not, in fact, motivate the actions and words that might lead to a shutdown.

To the contrary, it appears that key players in the budget discussions are allowing their emotions (Ace of Cups) to dictate their decisions about money (Ace of Pentacles). This interpretation is reinforced because the Ace of Cups sits atop Temperance while the Ace of Pentacles covers the Five of Wands and Two of Swords.

Actually let’s explore this a bit more by looking at the specific imagery of the Tarot of the Renaissance.

This Five of Wands is similar to that in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, though instead of many figures fighting with sticks, we see one figure backed into a corner readying himself to fight off unseen attackers. This card indicates a competitive feeling, directed towards the “little things,” rather than fighting over major issues. Petty disagreements in order to establish turf is the phrase that comes to mind. This is not to say that for some people the various issues surrounding the debate on funding aspects of the budget are not serious business, but it indicates that others are exploiting the disagreements and fostering discord in order to gain power, not with a view to solving the issue

The image of Two of Swords in the Tarot of the Renaissance amplifies this interpretation. Two men smile as they hold aloft their swords. The men are wearing different styles of clothing, possibly indicating that they are not on the same side; yet they are not hostile toward one another. In fact, they seem to be enjoying themselves. Perhaps it is only a game to them. Power, in this schema, resides in being in control of money, and the way to gain control is in the cynical manipulation of emotions, rather than rational debate.

From the first half of the spread, we would predict that we are in store for a lot of emotional language and posturing, especially from politicians seeking their party’s presidential nomination. The Two of Swords could indicate that members of both parties will likely indulge in emotional rather than rational debate of the issues, hoping to secure some extra support and love from their constituents. However, in the end, it is just posturing and the issues could be resolved satisfactorily.

So far, the message in the cards seems to reinforce the main thesis of the Phillips article, that ideological agendas are the underlying reason of why a shutdown might occur.

What to make of the second half of the spread? That smiling Devil and the Hanged Man? Having major arcana cards close out our spread, they likely offer a look at the “karmic” energies of the moment and how to avoid a shutdown. We use the word “karmic” to indicate that these are energies that have built up over years, are ones we’ve seen before during the last 30 or so years, and are prominent because their root causes have not been successfully worked through.

Look at that charming Devil, offering us a host of worldly goods and rewards. The temptation is to put short-term power gains ahead of long-term solutions to the very real issues the United States is facing. But, even more, he is encouraging us all to seek security for our mental and emotional unease within the material realm, while also implying that our financial situation is on the verge of chaos and only by making short-term extreme decisions will we be secure. This attitude surely is a major lure of the Devil: he encourages us to look for respite and solution to our fears primarily within the material world, which may not hold the solutions to our mental and emotional unease.

Alternatively, the Devil may represent a “Devil’s bargain” made to avoid a shutdown which could end up being a losing proposition for all concerned.

This is where the Hanged Man enters the picture. He reminds us that our current perspective or way of handling the situation may not be the most productive or fruitful. Clinging to the Devil’s perspective and promise of wealth and security, we’re actually (and literally) losing money and going nowhere. The Tarot of the Renaissance adds a bit of humor to the message: coins are literally falling out of the Hanged Man’s pockets!

The Hanged Man asks us to flip our perspective. Instead of looking for solutions to our fears (apparent dwindling dignity of life; an uncertain future full of unpredictable changes) in government policy and funding of the budget, we could (as individual citizens and those in leadership positions) adopt a civil attitude toward each other and converse in polite, measured tones over what the government is charged with doing: funding its operations.

The sky is most assuredly not falling, unless we base our actions on the false belief that it is. This spread suggests that our financial footing as a nation is really not all that bad, but our fears may lead us to act in such a way that may destroy our decent situation.

Verdict, for now

We project about an 80% chance of NOT having a government shutdown on October 1st. Even so, we wouldn’t wager on the capacity of the current leadership to make the required ‘flip’.

Update Saturday, September 26, 2015

The resignation of House Speaker John Boehner casts a whole new light on this reading. Which cards do you think would relate to him ? Is he the figure in the Five of Wands, fighting off the partisans of his party ? Is he the Hanged Man ? Is he the Devil ? None of the above ? A lot probably depends on your party affiliation. An interesting question to ponder.

This is the NFL on Tarot - Week One

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An NFL game at Wembley Stadium, UK, in 2010. Courtesy Mark Botham - Creative Commons license

An NFL game at Wembley Stadium, UK, in 2010. Courtesy Mark Botham - Creative Commons license

Our local community sponsors a weekly pick of the 16 football matches that take place every week. For a bit of fun, quite unexpectedly, we decided to join the party and make our picks using Tarot cards, thinking this would give us the opportunity to study Tarot "algorithms" or patterns. Old story ? Been done before ? We don't care - it hasn't been done by us.

Our approach is to take a completely naïve attitude to the project. We do not study the teams; we do not watch the games; we avoid sports news as much as possible. We also have no financial interest at all; we don't bet on the games.

At the beginning of each week, that is, on Wednesday evening, we take the list provided by our community and we draw two major-arcana cards, one representing each team. The list includes a point spread between the teams. We take a naïve attitude about that, too, and we don't look at the point spread until the game is over and we are entering the scores into our spreadsheet and evaluating whether our guess was correct or not. And how can you call it anything but a guess ?

It was during our first draw, having made one pick, that we decided that we should use only major-arcana cards. We are new to this kind of prognostication so experienced practitioners may have issues with our method. One benefit is that the major arcana comprise 22 cards -  a very reasonable set that will help with comparisons and evaluations later. The object, of course, is simply to learn as we go - and to assemble data to test how well a Tarot-informed guess fares.

At the time we are posting this there has been one complete week of competition and we are in the middle of the second week of competition, which will end on this coming Monday night, September 21.

First week
We took turns shuffling the cards and holding them out so that the other person could pull the two cards. We turned the cards over and looked at which card was representing which team. Based only on our knowledge of the character of each card we made a decision about which team would be victorious. We'll report details of our results at the end of the season but we appear to be off to a good start.

During Week One we noticed two matches in which the Wheel of Fortune was involved. In the first match Fortune came up against the Devil, with a three-point spread favoring Fortune's team. In that match Fortune's team won by 28 points. In the second match Fortune came up against the Fool, with a 2.5 spread favoring the Fool. Fortune's team won that contest by 17 points. These are large wins by NFL standards.

Another interesting point is that there were three matches where the team lost the game but because of the point spread they won the match. In all three instances the team that lost the game but won the match was designated by the World card.

Second week
We obviously cannot report second week results yet, but we did notice some odd behavior during our draw on Wednesday night. We had a lengthy conversation during the first week's draw about how to interpret a match where the Fool or the Wheel of Fortune was involved. During the second week draw the Fool or the Wheel of Fortune, either one or the other, appeared in the first four draws that we made. It was a bit uncanny.

Our thoughts about this take us into the world of astrology where we are in the middle of a period of instability. Not only is there an aspect between the Sun and the Moon's nodes which peaks on September 25, but Mercury stationed on the night of the first match of the week (Thursday, September 17) and will be retrograde during the weekend period of competition. (It will go direct in October.) Our tentative projection about this is that this week will be an unusual one in the league, and there may be unexpected victories and unusual events. One would expect the passing game to suffer.

Evaluation
As we go along we'll make micro-evaluations of things we notice along the way; we'll save an overall evaluation for mid-season and post-season.

Puny mayhem

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Some kind of arctic blast blew through here at around 8:00 p.m. “What’s going on outside the window ?” Alana asks.

“How do I know ? I’m in the kitchen,” I respond.

Wander over to the door on to the lanai and now I see what she means. Visibility zero. It looks like a snow blower - I’ve never seen weather like this in my life. Reminds me of the winter storm scene from “March of the Penguins."

After midnight now and the temperature has dropped to -8C, heading for a low of -13C overnight, and the puny amount of snow that got deposited early in the evening has turned the neighboring apartment complex into the Ice Capades.

Seriously, there is a Montgomery County fire truck that cannot get up the little hill that always gives our neighbors trouble when it hasn’t been salted. This is a really little hill, honestly - maybe a 5 degree incline. But when it’s covered with ice it might as well be Mount Everest.

This is the way the whole season has been - occasional freak storms that create havoc out of ridiculous metrics - this is less than an inch of snow but it’s brought traffic accidents and mayhem.

I can’t imagine what it must be like in Boston.

No power outage so far, thank goodness, despite the 60 mph winds which just keep coming.

One more shot of Aquavit, I think, before I call it a night.