“When I am mad, there is no room to be scared.” A Wrinkle in Time.

Travel can be scary. The unknown is understandably anxious making. But the enforced rules and regulations today can make you mad enough to appreciate the differences in your journeying experiences. And give you more energy to get going.

It is a delicate balance as you do not want to just keep running. Seeing others in their environments often sheds light on your own day to day habits.

Habit is such a huge word. There are good and bad ones in our puritanical society. Many like to point them out. But, to change a habit of thinking, most inevitably we replace it with another. So be prepared to pick a good one. Emotions and thinking are so intertwined. We honor thinking, like science, and generally denigrate feelings as weakness. We see truth in science and lies in emotions. Most philosophies temper the lies and the truth. What we see and hear as lies, often are an emotional reaction to an incomprehensible chemistry.

In Katherine Shields book “Celebrating Ones Insignificance”, she says “Without cultivating virtue, one cannot realize anything”. The root of the word virtue has similarities with verity. Verity equals truth and honor. Virtue suggests moral excellence.

To tell a story we must have the characters of theater, which are comedy and tragedy. There is usually a journey involved with peaks and valleys. The Little Prince shows us the faces of characters we encounter often. The snake, who embodies the death experience, but embraces rebirth by shedding his skin, the fox whose wisdom comes from his need to survive thru cunning. He says, “ Only through the heart can one see clearly, what is essential is invisible to the eye”. The drunk who drinks to forget he is drinking.

The rose is the character of love and she is unique because she is the ephemeral and fanciful concept of the Prince. He learns to appreciate the impermanence of time through her.

My friends new expression through her grief is magnanimous, hopefully she sees and can integrate.

“It is all part of the journey.”

Pictured above:
· "Unique Rose" drawing from The Little Prince  by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
· A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle (cover: Leo and Diane Dillon) 
· The Little Prince (1974): Bob Fosse Scene ... Watch it on youtube...

Is Love evil?

The stories of apples and the nature of relationships.

For Venus and Hélène of Troy the addiction of beauty and love provided disharmony, and discord.

Because Eris, like Sleeping beauty was not invited to the party, there were repercussions. The apple that she threw down like a gauntlet, may have correlations to the puritanical idea of Eve celebrating her sexuality by embracing the serpents offering. Why is the apple the symbol of difficult choices?

Inside the Apple cut in half is the 5 pointed star that DaVinci offered as the symbol of mankind. Humans seem to be endlessly fixated on the feelings of ecstasy promoted by love. The passion of it on the one side and purposely denigrate the ephemeral chaos of the other. Venus’ rivals, were Juno and Athena. Power/Juno and wisdom/Athena will often wilt in the face of the immediate satisfaction of love.

Is this evil? Fear is the thing that makes us face mortality. Is mortality evil? The earliest storytellers created the polarity to stimulate the pleasure of an emotional roller coaster. Our early forbears needed to explain the nothingness of death, and belief systems were created.

The beast’s love for beauty overcame the evil spell that had been put on him.

Snow White was given the poisoned apple to contemplate her fear, sleep is the enemy of conscious insight. Even our dreams can only be seen clearly on waking. The need to have the myths told in our unconscious is the necessary first step. Her step mother the queen’s, love of beauty was a quality of Venus. How often do we want immediate satisfaction over tedious/evil mundane exercises. Can speed overcome the premise of sustained growth?

The boundaries of Saturn are the rings. The understanding that comes from him is Time and Patience and Persistence. We can idealize these qualities but we rarely love them. They are a reality of our lives. Most of us prefer fantasy, color and comfort. There are those who regiment their lives with Saturns disciplines. But somewhere, even those people, slip into the clutches of Cupid. Release the restrictions of fear but embrace the influence of acceptance. In asking questions, realize the release of any advantage the querent may invoke. Rhetorical questions allow much more space to contemplate rather than provoke. Is order synonymous with truth?

Allow this momentous eclipse in Capricorn some space for your bodily structure to relax.

Passion is the motivating force in our lives. Drama and comedy descend from this emotion. The Origen of religion spread through theatrical performances. Storytelling is the Origen of connecting.

Any kind of focus, faith, physical discipline and prowess or even difficult habits like overindulgence brings our need for wholeness into focus. Wholeness or holiness are similar thoughts.
 
It is great if you can hold on to the concept on your own, but most of us want company.

Then there is the foible of hearing and remembering the last titillation that excited you.

It is quite easy to believe you have every illness the pharmaceutical industry promotes on TV.

What is desire? It feeds a physical sensation. Food, the tongue, beauty, the eye, melody, the ear, smell, our chemistry with one another are one type. Another is the longing for peace and happiness. Isn’t it a bit like the carrot, always out of reach. Although a grand sense of accomplishment can give a token of this desire, a seat at the table.

Mars in Cancer is definitely sitting on the chart of United States, born the 4th of July. How do you reconcile the angry: Mars, and wanting to Mother (Cancer) everyone? Trust, belief and hope are all necessary to move on. Can you remember to find the habit of “courage”, not fear? Tears can be happiness, not sadness. The emotional pull of happiness can be harder than sadness or despair. But, the memory of it stays on to pull you up and forward. Remember all that you watch and read is only fleeting and ephemeral. News is a diversion to steer you away from your search.

With Neptune in Pisces you have support from the sea. See the power of it. Remember there is more water around and in us than dense earthly matter.

Music is a thread to follow with any turmoil that may surround you. Moods change so swiftly, hang on to what is a potent reminder of warm and melodic power.

Make a list of how certain songs make you feel.

Here are a few of mine.

May Day, spring, endless possibilities.
 
Watching the rediscovery of fashion, science, and metaphysics.
 
Age cannot wither her.
 
Diane von Furstenberg said “ I think of age as an acquisition, not a loss.” In today’s real estate world, the age or the recent ness of construction is paramount as a selling point. What about Stonehenge or the Great Wall of China or Hagia Sophia?
 
A simplistic design sense is dramatic, it often goes together with enormous art work. The small and intimate are another direction to acknowledge. With the over population of the planet, building structures or objects to fill them provide many a life’s work. The media portrayal of one over the other can be distorted.
 
With the chaos so many points of view encourage, is it any wonder, the news, seems conflicting and different truths are denigrated. Emotions are our prevalent perceptions. How we describe them can be like a ping pong match.
 
Do we change our ability to analyze? In youth we can state a belief that carries the conviction of the “new”. As we age, the levels of insight mutate and spiral. “Don’t worry, be happy” a popular song provides tranquility.
 
As the body is 98% water, is intelligence our most important attribute or is it emotion? What does intelligence mean? The dictionary says it is knowledge, linguistics and math. To know, is to understand or literally stand under. Is there a case for emotions, I.e., water to take precedence? How often has science, law, or medicine been based on instinct? With way too much information, supposedly factual, we are balancing opposing concepts to our emotional bodies.

The mystery of cats. Rat catchers, mesmerizing movements, and contrariness are a small portion of their qualities. A cats purr can heal itself by vibration. Cats are usually lefties, unlike humans, so the controlling part of the brain,is the right side, which governs imagination.
 
Puss and Boots, an ancient story retold by Perrault in the 1600’s extols the virtues of this animal familiar. The boots may have been to relieve the perspiration, cats have thru their paws. But more intriguingly they also created a bravado and swagger necessary to convince the king to let the cats owner marry the princess. The chicanery of Puss appeals to the mischievous in us all and perhaps to a small child, it is a necessity.
 
The Mesopotamians were probably the first to have domesticated cats 100,000 years ago. The Egyptians worship them through the Goddess Bastet and the Indians through their goddess Sasht.
 
Pope Gregory in the 1200’s declared a ban on them as they were associated with pre Christian belief systems. This may have contributed to the plague, as cats kept the parasites on rats under control.
 
Queen Victoria developed an interest in cats thru archeology that was prevalent in her day. This reawakened the cat mythology to the totem standard of a hero.
 
One of the oldest games in human history is the cat’s cradle. A loop of string creates complex patterns moving from one person to another. Kurt Vonnegut’s book of this name, describes the differences between religion and science and wherein lies the truth?
 
Harry Chapin’s song of the same name shows the bittersweet cycle of our human condition. How we repeat the lack of time we take with those we love.
 
In memory of Michael Katz. 1953-2019

What do you think of acronyms? For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. How much are feelings a part of words? Anger, anxiety, frustration require an outlet.

Winnie the Pooh says “I am not lost, for I know where I am. However, where I am, may be lost” or “people say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day”. These poetic words repeated can bring inspiration and enlightenment.

The golden age of English children literature, from Lewis Carroll to HG Wells, JM Barrie, Arthur Conan Doyle, provides provoking curiosity and metaphysical leaps of imagination. The simplicity of their writing encourages all, to change their mood when reading their stories. Reading can bring us face to face with our consciousness. It allows us mellow space to forgive ourselves by seeing the foibles of others. And forgive them too.

Studio 54 the documentary, is a slice of the life that has influenced much of today’s manners and maybe morals! The freedom? of sexuality and mind altering experiences is an ongoing issue that explores the myriad of the different parts of the psyche. In youth, the infinite possibilities become something quite different as we age. Most anything we ingest alters our chemistry. We are barraged with many kinds of food groups to stay away from, I.e. sugar, wheat. But, in balance, can we stay true to what we like and enjoy? Morphine/opium is given to facilitate dying. Alcohol and marijuana allow a mellow head space if allowed in moderation. Who you make love with is held as a sacred action, which no one else need know about. Observing the disarray and malaprops of aging seems like the only way to manage with dignity. Pooh understood this. Something to watch: A Wonderful Day Like Today.

The time change, spring forward, fall back, reminds us of the beginning of the ancient calendar. The first day of Aries is the new year. As we let go of Pisces, old souls and endings, we get ready for action. Our world has truly become as one and the time for warlike aggression is superfluous. Speed is one of our Gods today. Also collectivism. Twitter etc inspires both of these concepts. It may be, in the not too distant future, we may have to come back to a more isolated self examining process. No longer the overwhelming need to obliterate “silence”, we can observe ourselves in conjunction with music and dance. The whirling dervishes do. Gently encourage reflection. Personal v. Collective can be accomplished by distancing the attentions and intentions. Most everything is political, so use it with those who enjoy that mode of communication. Let the feelings wear a cloak of invisibility.

As above
So below

The heart has a dual nature. Much like most of the human experience. We love and hate the same thing, often. The earliest native tradition in the US, the Hopi’s, believed in the spiritual upbringing of their children. The crux of their mythology is harmony and balance. Most, if not all interior monologue squabbles are about opposing forces. We align ourselves with those whose life experiences have been similar and then struggle with the polarizing of those of different mantras.

How do you get beyond fear? Often it is through desperation. If the realization of fear and desire can be seen as one and the same, the entity we are left with is “peace”; or feeling whole in our skin.

Perhaps when we contain the natural polarity we can find a life purpose. Work is most assuredly about this simple thought. Play gives us the results of silliness. What gives you a belly laugh? Whatever it is, it only comes through a state of relaxation.

The tradition of acting has polarizing philosophies. Original drama/comedy was of a metaphysical nature. It is of a description of how do we separate from this polarizing duality? The classical, which revolves around the power of the voice and pauses. Also the physical which often requires costumes and masks. The perfection of the classical brings a distance that is more appealing to many.

The other acting style is Stanislavsky. It is most similar to Freudian analysis. Describe and demonstrate your feelings. Had an acting teacher, Herbert Bergof who described the process, “ there is no drama without conflict”. We do gravitate towards the fear and desire of mystery and mayhem.

Then there is the blend of science and theory to contradict the study of soul and psyche.

Of course, chemistry plays a part. What we eat can make the second brain of the stomach either feel secure and safe, or the ingested can cause turmoil and lead to to anxiety/depression in the head brain. Substances that alter brain patterns, like drugs and alcohol can be relaxing and fun or devastating.

The paradox of Zen koans can be lighthearted, if you choose to see them in that way. “Pick up a stone deep in the ocean with dry hands”. The illogical is funny, calming and a place to find hope.

Once you find what you believe in, take a stand. It need not be forever, but the security of righteousness is amazing for the time it is in effect.

Time and space encourage wisdom. See Dr Who.

The constellation Capricorn has as a word root “caper.” It is a joyous concept of skipping and playing. It is also playing tricks and misdirecting an idea. A jest is his moniker. The early Greeks saw the forest deity Pan as the representative. As a horned creature, bones are key. Also the knees, which enable us and Pan to stand vertical.

Horns of plenty and examples of sexual prowess are Pan’s trademark.
Pan’s flute that seduces and favors secrecy bestows forgetfulness on the gifts he delivers.
The devilish fear he can inspire created the word panic. His home was the heart of Greece in Arcadia, later given the name in literature, of the dream state of Utopia. Unspoiled and mountainous, a wilderness good for goats.

The God Enki, a precursor of the attributes of Saturn, such as knowledge, mischief and crafts belongs to the Sumerian culture. Where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet are his foundation. The ziggurat or temples there worship the 7 planetary bodies. Master shaper of the world, Enki has wisdom and magic to spare. The image like Capricorn is a goat/fish, the fish could be a carp. He, too wears the horns of plenty and fertility. He is the keeper of the divine powers of ME. Me is a decree, of which there were many, that were the structures of social institutions, technologies, and behaviors that were the boundaries of civilizations. As the divine waters fertilize, so does his semen. How would the “me-too” of today feel about that?

Another symbolic association is Peter Pan.
Barrie believed Peter was betwixt and between, representing the Golden Age of charm and selfishness. The human conditions polarity of natural and good, or uncivilized and bad.
Psychologists say, he never grew up. But, does the child within, totally disappear like his shadow?

Astrology says Capricorns get younger with age.
Do you believe the child in all of us dies?
This time of year relates to death, as the sign of Cancer is about birth.
It is about the dark and the light.

Another segue is Shakespeare’s Puck. He does his mistress bidding and like a sting/caper can, creates havoc. Imagine a Queen falling in love with an ass.

Then you have the Fool in the Tarot.
The image of a fellow on a journey, ready to step off the cliff, a reminder that there is no growth without risk.

The theme here is the inner entity of us all, throughout history, imagines a jester that eases the pain of morality. Morals give self gratification but very little humor or contrariness.

Travel is a fashion/phenomena that has spurred us to do and go outside of our comfort zone.

Neptune/Poseidon created the horse. In his rape of Medusa together, they created Pegasus. Movement is a desire of the human condition to shake our mood. Neptune is also called earth shaker.

His brother Zeus/Jupiter was supreme ruler of the gods. His tools were the thunderbolt and the weather. His greatest gift was the balance of justice.

The horse developed and desired by Neptune and Zeus allows for the ability to travel. In the sea he is hippocampus with webbed feet. As Pegasus, he has wings. The symbol of Sagittarius is half horse half man.

The traits of Sagittarius are wisdom, travel and contemplation. Jupiter is the ruling planet, that brought anima mundi, the living soul, to our completion.

As brothers Zeus and Neptune encouraged the bliss of fertility. The word Nuptu, a derivative of Neptune means, he who is moist. They were both noisy. Earthquakes, lighting bolts and stampeding horses, all make a crescendo of sound.

The need to have change and movement can be challenging. It is a constant in the life cycle we are living. If we can remember this, then the drama of the moment fades.

Originally Poseidon was the god of springs, lakes and rivers. The greater number of men lived away from the sea. As travel was facilitated by boats, and trade made travel a necessity, the rulership became broader. Perhaps Poseidon’s bad temper came from those who imposed on his domaine. In turn to balance the mood, he governs that which gives us altered states of consciousness, like anesthesia. Air travel did not affect Zeus in the time the myths were created.

The need to contemplate travel is encouraging the illusion of the differences between cultures. As the Neptunian gift of inspiration creates the desire to know thyself. When Neptune was discovered in the 1800s, photography was developed, which gave birth to movies and the mysteries the camera contains.

As above
So below

A fun clip from To Tell the Truth, on Mermaids.

Old, definition: cherish, nourish
Ancient from ante meaning before.
Vieux meaning old in French also carries emotional meanings of my friend, mon vieux. And it can be the degradation of an incompetent perception. La veille means the day before.

What is the decisive description of aging?
Is it as simple as changing fashion?

History is about what came before. Your story by definition has history. We can only look back to describe a situation.
More than ever the process of appreciating aging is confusing. People are trying to define it with candor. Brown furniture meaning old, and buildings from ten years ago being old. Ironically the experience of visiting old churches and monuments is desirable.
The reasons are infinite from no jobs for the young, so tear it down, to disposable objects as the experience is what counts.

One big issue is patience, tolerance and nerves. Instant gratification delegates these ideas to the forefront. Probably the electrical current in our nerves gets worn down with age. But the perspective of youth is on a lightening speed of intolerance.

The systems that control us, refuse to allow interpretation. Travel, healthcare, degrees for jobs and the information highway have a regimentation that is stifling. Eastern philosophy has the perspective that is in fashion. But, is it truly any different from the ancient systems of western civilization?

Take the idea of happiness and reflect on it thru emptiness.
Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose. Yoda