Kickstart Your Art

It has always been hard for creative people to make alot of money through their art. Inspite of this fact, many get "day jobs" in order to support themselves and enable them to be artists on the side. Artists are usually passionate about their work and are more concerned with getting their work seen, heard or read than they are in making money. Although it is mostly about the art, most artists would like to be able to make a living off their work. Doing so would enable them to produce more of their art afterall.

Going back in time, we learn that great artists like Michelangelo were only able to support themselves by finding sponors. Sponsors are people or groups who support an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. Today it is rare to find a sponsor who is willing to sponsor an artist years on end so that he, she or they can continue to be creative over the course of their lifetime. It is however possible to find a sponsor for a particular project.

Kickstarter is an on-line site which serves as a funding platform for creative projects. Kickstarter allows people in the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, publishing and other creative arts to design and create a funding project in order to raise the funds they need to get their project off the ground. If you are an artist in need of funding visit Kickstart's "Defining Your Project" page to learn the process.
For those who have a philanthropic streak in them, Kickstarter is a good site to browse in order to find projects and artists to support. Simply visit Kickstart's "Discover Projects" page.
Visit http://www.kickstarter.com/ for more information and to support the arts!

Sunshine


Johanna Budwig was a German biochemist and author who was a leading authority on fats and human nutrition. Budwig focused her time and energy on treating cancer patients, people with heart diseases, arthritis and other ailments after they had been given up as hopeless by conventional medical practitioners. Budwig is best known for her flaxseed and cottage cheese diet which she used to restore her patients back to health. She published several books on the subject including "Cancer--A Fat Problem," "The Death of the Tumor," and "True Health Against Arteriosclerosis, Heart Infarction & Cancer."

In addition to her research on the role of fats in human nutrition and disease, Budwig insisted that high levels of vitamin D are necessary in order to be healthy and prevent cancer. Vitamin D is a hormone that regulates and repairs cells. Vitamin D is naturally produced by the skin when exposed to sunlight. Although some foods contain vitamin D, the best source is the sun.

Budwig was wriiten off as a quack by conventional medicine. How can you cure and/or prevent serious disease using something as simple as nutrition? Although it is not possible by simply eating flaxseed, cottage cheese and getting a healthy dose of sunshine, it is possible by following the Budwig protocol.

Having studied Johanna Budwig's work over ten years ago, I find it interesting that contemporay scientific research is beginning to support her findings and prove that Budwig was not a quack afterall. For more information about vitamin D and your health please see this overview published by Life Extension. Get outdoors in the sun, minus the sunscreen. Vitamin D guidelines can be found in this fact sheet published by the National Institute of Health.






The Last Way Station

One of the most thought provoking books I have read in the recent past is The Last Way Station: Hitler's Final Journey by James Reisfeld. I am not ordinarily attracted to, or interested in, anything to do with Adolph Hitler or Nazi Germany. I am not sure how this book came to my attention or what possessed me to buy it and read it.

The Last Way Station: Hitler's Final Journey is a very imaginative novella in which the author describes what happens after Hitler pulls the trigger and finds himself in the afterlife. "... the Führer finds himself mysteriously transported to a numbingly cold, solitary holding cell in the afterworld. There, he meets his caseworker, a supernatural being tasked with helping him face, and work through, his sins. The caseworker explains that Hitler will remain in solitary confinement indefinitely, as he prepares his soul for eventual return to the material world. The method, Hitler learns, involves seeking enlightenment through physically embodying his victims and then personally reliving the atrocities committed against them in his name."

In order to evolve as a soul and eventually reincarnate again as a human being, Hitler has to first experience what each and every soul he harmed, directly or indirectly, experienced. This is a time consuming task as he does not get it. All he can focus on is himself and his desire to go down in history as all powerful. His "caseworker" has infinite patience however and they keep working through it. Hitler incarnates over and over again into alternative realities which allow him to witness and experience the same pain and sorrow he has caused others. He has just about exhausted the millions of opportunities he has been given to learn how his actions have harmed others when...

I don't want to give the ending away but can tell you it is worth the read. Although we do not know what happens in the afterlife, what the author suggests in this book is something to really think about and contemplate. Suppose we have to witness and experience all of the pain and sorrow we have caused others through our thoughts and actions?  

 

Lessons In Relatedness: Mother Teresa Part II


In a February 1949 journal entry, Mother Teresa wrote: “I walked and walked till my legs and my arms ached—then the temptation grew strong. . . . You have only to say the word and all that will be yours again. . . . This is the dark night of the birth of the society.”

It has been suggested that these words mark the beginning of Mother Teresa's “Dark Night.” In 1947, Mother Teresa received permission to leave her order and move to the slums of Calcutta to set up a school. Sometime in 1948 she took to the streets tending to the sick, the poor and the dying. In the beginning of 1949 she was joined in this effort by a group of young women. Together they laid the foundation for a new religious community that would help the "poorest among the poor". By February 1949 Mother Teresa's “Dark Night” had begun.

Transiting Pluto was in Leo in her 8th house corresponding to a time in which she was undergoing an accelerated development of her evolutionary intention and desire, which, with natal Pluto in Gemini in the 7th House, was to open up to others and listen to them in order to become aware of their needs, values and points of view so that she could readjust her own perspective and point of view making it more inclusive of others and their beliefs. This was a period in her life in which past patterns and associations which influenced and shaped her beliefs, values and behavior needed to be purged in order for new patterns and associations to take their place. All outmoded emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual behavior and orientation needed to be eliminated at this time. In addition, all cumulative negative karma from this life and past lives needed to be purged and positive karma brought to completion so she would be free to move forward. This was an intense process requiring a great deal of faith as new impulses surfaced into her consciousness from the depths of her soul. At the same time, her purpose in life was undergoing a major change and new personal capacities and possibilities were surfacing from the depths of her soul. Altogether this a period in her life in which she experienced intense highs and extreme lows and dark moods as well as a loss of meaning and significance.

When Mother Teresa took to the streets, the transiting North Node was in Taurus in her 5th House and the South Node in Scorpio in her 11th House. As with Pluto in the 8th House, the South Node transiting the 11th is another sign that the evolutionary pace is in an accelerated mode. At this time Mother Teresa's soul had a need and desire to liberate itself from the past so that rapid growth could occur. New and potentially radical thoughts and impulses were starting to emerge into her consciousness. Outmoded patterns from the past needed to be eliminated and all negative karma purged and positive karma completed so she could go forward. With the NN transiting her 5th house, it was time to reformulate her purpose in life. In order to do so, she would have to eliminate any preconceived ideas she had regarding her life purpose and destiny and follow the inner creative urges she was feeling within. Her soul had a desire to transform her existing value systems which were what gave her meaning in life. Again, this is symbolic of a time when all past influences need to come to and end so they can be replaced by something new. Any resistence to this desire promotes psychological, karmic and evolutionary problems and blockages. Once these blockages are removed, a new state of personal vitality and well being will occur.

As we can see, 1948 was a critical time in the soul's evolution. A time to wrap up the past in order to move forward in the direction of Pluto's Polarity Point, Sagittarius in the 1st House, which is to learn how to strike out on her own and find the answers to her metaphysical, philosophical and cosmological questions from within herself using her intuition. Working with the sick, dying and poor in the slums of Calcutta, while feeling as though she had been abandoned by God, would enable her to initiate a self-motivated direction in life outside of her previous relationship with God, Jesus and the Catholic Church, in order to find a belief system that resonated with her soul on an intuitive level. In the process she would come to develop an awareness that truth is relative and that there are many paths leading to the same truth.

In March 1948 transiting Pluto in Leo the 8th formed a semi-sextile with natal Mars in Virgo in the 9th House. At the same time transiting Mars in Virgo was crossing over from Mother Teresa's 8th house into the 9th house and forming a conjunction with her natal Mars in Virgo in the 9th house. This signals a time in which she would have to actively confront any limitations in her existing belief system or philosophical principles and convictions through self-examination. By learning to look within herself for intuitive guidance she would be able to experience “visions” about the nature of her future. Transiting Mars was forming a semi-sextile with natal Neptune in Cancer in the 7th House activating a transcendent impulse to surrender and recognize that her soul is just a small part of the greater whole through all of the emotional relationships she was initiating with the sick and dying people in the slums of Calcutta. Transiting Mars was square her Moon conjunct her NN in Cancer in her 5th house indicating that she was experiencing a great deal of emotional tension in regard to activating her new special purpose in life. In addition, transiting Pluto in the 8th house was forming a semi-square to her natal Pluto in the 7th House indicating this was an intense time in which her soul was trying to purge past karma and eliminate her outmoded beliefs and patterns through the many relationships she was now forming in Calcutta. Jupiter was conjunct her Asc in Sagittarius opposition Natal Pluto in Gemini in the 7th house signifying a need and desire to let intuition be her guide as she implemented her new goals, ideas and direction in life.

In her journal in February 1949 the first evidence that she was experiencing a “Dark Night” appears in writing (see above). From January 24th – Feb 11th 1949, the Transiting North node was inconjunct natal Mercury in Virgo in her 9th House and the Transiting SN semi-sextile natal Mercury. On Feb 12th 1949 Pluto formed a semi-square with natal Mercury as well. In addition, transiting Mars in Pisces was forming a conjunction with her 3rd House cusp. At this time there was a need and desire to expand her mental horizons and eliminate outmoded thinking patterns and opinions as well as to let new ones form. In order to help her think things through she started expressing her innermost thoughts and ideas regarding the spiritual darkness she was experiencing in her journal and letters. The transitng North Node was sesiquadrate natal Mars in Virgo in the 9th House while the transiting South Node was semi-square natal Mars indicating this was a difficult time in which obstacles due to her past beliefs were preventing her from changing and adapting to new and different beliefs or situations. At this point, many of her issues and problems related to her beliefs were irresolvable and she had to learn to develop the patience and persistance needed in order to learn to live and cope with them. On one had she needed to act on her instinctual desire to learn to trust her intuition and allow it to guide her, and at the same time past beliefs were creating obstacles. The transiting North node began to form a sextile to natal Pluto at this time while the South Node formed a trine to natal Pluto in the 7th House helping her with her intention to open up to others and listen to them in order to become aware of their needs, values and points of view. This would help her readjust her own perspective so that it would become more inclusive of other beliefs and viewpoints. It seems that although she was able to do this in regard to accepting that there is more than one path to God or religious belief system, at this point she was only able to apply that idea to other people and not to herself as her past conditioning still had a powerful grip on her.

“Soon after she entered this work on the streets of Calcutta, Jesus took himself away from her. Her only spiritual respite happened in 1958 when Pope Pius XII died. Teresa prayed to the late Pope for a "proof that God is pleased with the Society [of the Missionaries of Charity]." For five weeks the darkness lifted, then she entered "in the tunnel" once again, and the absence never abated.” Pius XII died on October 9, 1958.

At this time the transiting North Node was in Mother Teresa's 10th House and the South node in her 4th House. Overall, this was a time which would induce inner and outer circumstances and events which would make it necessary for Mother Teresa to examine the basis of her emotional securities, dependencies, feelings, moods and self image. An old cycle was coming to an end. Self-reflection and contemplation was needed in order for her to gain an understanding of why her life had come together the way it had. This knowledge would be needed in order for her to eliminate old and stagnant emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual patterns which were blocking growth. Pluto had been conjunct her natal Sun in Virgo in the 8th house August 7, 1958 through Oct 9th 1958 - the day Pius passed away. Pius had been strongly tied to her “special purpose” which was to serve the sick and dying. He enabled it by giving her permission to to start the diocesan congregation that would become the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. It seems that Pluto conjuncting her Sun in August was the beginning of a change related to her purpose – that change being the passing of Pope Pius the same day Pluto passed from being in this conjunction. From August 25, 1958 through Nov 26th 1958, the transiting North Node in Libra in her 10th House was inconjunct her natal North Node in Taurus in the 5th House. The transiting South Node in Aries in her 4th house was semi-sextile her North Node. This period encompasses the time preceding the passing of Pius and the five weeks in which her darkness temporarily passed. With the transiting nodes in the 10th/4th house, this was a time in which a total redefinition of all outmoded structures in her life needed to take place in order for a new phase or cycle to begin. Inner emotional structures and patterns from the past needed to be eliminated at this time, as well as past emotional dependencies. The Pius years were to come to an end and a new chapter was to begin.

On Oct 9th 1958, the day in which Pope Pius passed on, transiting Venus in Libra in her 9th house was inconjunct her natal Saturn in Taurus in her 4th house. This is an interesting transit as the inconjunct brings about crisis in order to induce humility and introspection. Saturn symbolizes the Pope, an external authority, whom due to her religious beliefs, she prayed to, asking for a sign that would bring clarity rather than confusion in regard to her sociological role. The following day Venus formed a sesiquadrate to her natal North Node in Taurus in the 5th house indicating she would have to learn to live with and cope with issues and problems related to her soul's current intention to reformulate her purpose in life by eliminating any preconceived ideas she had in regard to her purpose and destiny. In addition she would now be forming new relationships with herself and others in order to transform her existing value systems which were what gave meaning to her life. Up until the end of November, Venus formed 41 different aspects to planets in her natal chart aspecting every one of them. This is a sign that her values and relationships were changing in every aspect of her life and conciousness during this five week period in which her darkess went away. Venus also formed a conjunction with her 10th House cusp on Oct 18th indicating that any outmode values needed to go now as a new phase or cycle was beginning. On November 26th, 1958, the transiting nodes in the 10th and 4th houses both formed squares with her natal Uranus in Capricorn in her 1st House. This pretty much coincided with the return of her “Dark Hour” in which she once again experienced the trauma of being separated from a God who she felt had abandoned her. The transiting nodes were triggering traumatic memories from past incarnations in which she was physically, psychologically or karmically blocked from achieving her special destiny. There are memories of not having been able to do everything she she felt she could do. Mother Teresa had a superhuman complex that needed to be balanced out by re-aligning her ego and learning to integrate her leadership abilities with the system as it was currently defined. In addition, there was mental trauma due to the loss of a partner – in Mother Teresa's case, this would be Jesus who “left her” again. She needed him to validate her and what she was doing, but he was “gone.”

This darkness prevaded Mother Teresa's consciousness into the early 1960s. On April 11, 1961 she wrote, “I Have Come to Love the Darkness.” The torment expressed in her letters up to this point gave way to an inner peace and joy. Although Mother Teresa would be aware of the darkness up until her dying day, she had come to accept and embrace it.

On Dec 7th 1960 the transiting nodes moved into her 8th (NN) and 2nd (SN) houses. This signaled a time in which she would begin to experience metamorphosis in her value system and in regard to how she relates to herself and others. It was the beginning of time in which she would confront areas within herself that were stagnated and non-growth oriented. The transiting NN was semi-sextile natal Venus and the transiting SN was inconjunct natal Venus. Natal Venus is in Leo in the 8th House and is the natal North Node Ruler which symbolizes mother Teresa's approach to her intimate relationships and intimate partner with whom her deepest sense of security is linked. This partner is Jesus whom she felt had abandoned her. It was now time for her feelings in regard to this relationship to change. It was a time in which she was gaining clarification in regard to her purpose and learning to accept her personal limitations which she felt were having to keep moving on helping others without her companion Jesus there to validate her efforts.

On April 11th 1961, when Mother Teresa wrote that she had come to love the darkness, transiting Uranus was forming a square to the natal nodes. This was bringing about an opportunity to break free from the pull of the South Node in Scorpio in the 11th House and allow her to liberate herself from memories of past life trauma related to issues of loss and abandonment and begin to use her intuition to find the answers to her metaphysical, philosophical and cosmological questions from within herself and find her own meaning from within. Transiting Pluto was conjunct her natal Sun in the 8th house promoting a reformulation of her purpose in life. In addition it was promoting the death of outmoded emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual behavior patterns and orientation, as well as the purging of any remaining negative karma. Pluto was trine Saturn in Taurus in the 4th house prompting her to establish her own authority within society based on her own internal values while minimizing external dependencies. Pluto was sesiquadrate Uranus in Capricorn in the 1st house prompting her to break free of past emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual attachments which were based on past conditioning patterns defined by man-made patriarchal religions and socities in her past which were limiting her ability to express her true individuality. Pluto was semi-square Neptune in Cancer in the 7th House prompting her to realize the nature of her illusions, delusions, dreams and ideals in relation to her self-image and relationships with others whom she was learning to relate to as an equal.

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The above piece is from an assignment I did as a student of The School of Evolutionary Astrology as
taught by Jeffrey Wolf Green - catharine j. anderson.


Lessons in Relatedness: Mother Teresa Part I


"There is so much contradiction in my soul.--Such deep longing for God--so deep it is painful--a suffering continual--and yet not wanted by God--repulsed--empty--no faith--no love--no zeal.--Souls hold no attraction--Heaven means nothing--to me it looks like an empty place--the thought of it means nothing to me and yet this torturing longing for God--Pray for me please that I keep smiling at Him in spite of everything. For I am only His--so He has every right over me. I am perfectly happy to be nobody even to God" (169-70). - Mother Teresa.

With Pluto in Gemini in the seventhHouse, Mother Teresa's prior evolutionary intention and desire is to open up to others and listen to them as the soul has been learning lessons in relatedness. By engaging in a variety of relationships with a diversity of different types of people, Mother Teresa will gain a great deal of knowledge about different people's needs, values and their point of view. In the process, Mother Teresa will readjust her own perspective and point of view so that it is more inclusive of others and their beliefs.

Mother Teresa's most current life reflected this intention. She was raised as a Roman Catholic in Eastern Europe. As a Catholic Nun she lived amongst a mostly Hindu and Muslim population in India. Through the relationships she made in India she learned about these people and their spiritual beliefs. Rather than trying to convert them to her Roman Catholic beliefs, she came to accept theirs as equally valid.

When Mother Teresa died, her longtime friend and biographer Naveen Chawla said that he once asked her bluntly, “Do you convert?” She replied,“Of course I convert. I convert you to be a better Hindu or a better Muslim or a better Protestant. Once you’ve found God, it’s up to you to decide how to worship him” (“Mother Teresa Touched other Faiths,” Associated Press, Sept. 7, 1997).

Pluto is biquintile the South Node in Scorpio in the 11thHouse. The soul has a need and desire to break free from everything related to the past and other lifetimes which is preventing further

growth. There is a need and desire to objectify life on the mundane level and tune into the divine within oneself while simultaneously liberating oneself from whatever has become fixed, rigid and limiting. This includes emotional patterns and separating desires as well as all existing “norms.” The soul has been pulling away from the mainstream in order to avoid consensus conditioning and limitations. Relating back to the soul's core intention and desire, Mother Teresa chose to live on the fringe of society and form relationships with others who served to broaden her perspective:

“During her long life, Mother Teresa devoted herself to those living in the shadows and dark corners of life -- the poor, the dying, the abandoned, the unwanted. "

Pluto is square Mercury in Virgo in the ninth House. The soul has an intellectual need and desire to travel, explore, experience and investigate foreign countries and cultures that have different beliefs and ways of interpreting the meaning of life through its work or service to others. This ties back to its core intention and desire to form realtionships with a variety of people with diverse needs, values and points of view so the soul can be exposed to new information and ideas. This will occur through intellectual discussions and confrontations with others that will serve to broaden the soul's point of view related to its beliefs. Mother Teresa was raised in a Catholic culture and household. Her mother “took the children to morning mass most days and when not working in the house or helping others was always saying the rosary.” For Mother Teresa and her sisters, “ life was bound up in the parish of the Sacred Heart. Since the Catholics were a minority, the church was an important focal point for the Bojaxhiu family and gave them a clear sense of cultural and religious identity.” This identity is limiting however, in relation to the soul's core desires and intention. In addition, it is limiting in regard to Mother Teresa's need and desire to exchange ideas and knowledge with others through her work. “If she stayed in Skopje, what was the future for her?... She loved teaching but as a member of a double minority was she not bound to suffer discrimination in this career, with virtually no schools for the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia? “ Life in Skopje was limiting. At age seventeen, Mother Teresa decided to become a missionary in India which would help lead her to an understanding that truth is relative and there are many paths to the same God - In the biography Mother Teresa: Her People and Her Work, she is quoted by Desmond Doig as follows: “If in coming face to face with God we accept Him in our lives, then we ... become a better Hindu, a better Muslim, a better Catholic, a better whatever we are ... What God is in your mind you must accept.”

With Pluto sextile the Sun in Virgo in the eight house the evolutionary intention is to identify and develop a unique special purpose linked to a socially relevant need. In mother Teresa's most current life this manifested as serving others who were sick and dying. In 1952 she opened the first “Home for the Dying” in Calcutta. Up until her death, her life was focused on serving others by caring for "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone." Through her relationships with these people, Mother Teresa learned lessons in relatedness and equality as like them, she felt abandoned by God. “... now we know that she felt close to those souls because she too knew the absence of God.”

The South Node is in Scorpio in the eleventh House. In relation to the soul's desire to open itself up to others and learn how to relate to them on an equal basis by learning about their needs, values and points of view, the soul has been trying to liberate itself from memories of past life trauma related to issues of loss and abandonment. This trauma is profound and until an inner healing takes place, the soul is limited in its ability to relate to others on an emotional level out of fear of further loss and abandonment. In her most current life Mother Teresa succumbed to this fear. “I am told God loves me – and yet the reality of darkness; coldness; emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart? “ Those words, “nothing touches my soul,” are an expression of the deep emotional pain that prevents Mother Teresa from being able to get too close to anyone – even God.

The SN is sextile Uranus Rx in Capricorn in the first House. In the past, the soul may have experienced trauma from loss of a parent or a partner. This loss, or separation, left the soul feeling depressed, defeated, and guilty. It is also possible that the soul was a leader or a person consumed with a mission in which it tried to save another, or others, and failed. This left the soul feeling guilty and alone as it failed in its reponsibility to save the others, or other. This failure led to a fear of judgement or punishment or self-judgment and self-punishment. There was a build-up of inner guilt which if accompanied by anger leads to sadism. Off the karmic axis for a moment, Mars is in Virgo which is symbolic of guilt and anger. In the soul's most current life, Mother Teresa's father died when she was nine years old which is again a very traumatic, catastrophic event. His death is said to have been a political assasination. He was poisoned and at nine years old she could do nothing but stand by and watch him suffer and die. When children lose a parent they often feel guilty as though its somehow their fault. The trauma from separation and loss continues. It is said that Mother Teresa would never talk about her childhood and asked others not to talk about it either. This is an indication that she was once again repressing her emotions in regard to this loss.

The SN is trine Neptune in Cancer in the seventh House , In the past, Mother Teresa's soul has sacrificed personal relationships, and led a celibate life, in order to focus her energies on collective causes and her own spiritual development. Spirituality has served to give her a sense of belonging. She has chosen a path of devotion and serves God by nurturing and helping others. In her most recent incarnation Mother Teresa chose to help the sick, the poor, the unwanted and the dying. Although she identifies with spiritual systems that see God as a nurturing, loving and forgiving father, rather than an angry punishing God ("Today the passion of Christ is being relived in the lives of those who suffer. Suffering is not a punishment. God does not punish.)” her soul has adopted the belief (Neptune is the third house ruler) that suffering leads to redemption. This may be due to the early imprint and childhood wound left within her having watched her father suffer and die. It has become her emotional reality and she projects it out on others.

"Without our suffering, our work would be just social work - it would not be the work of Jesus Christ, not part of the redemption...All that suffering-where would the world be without it? Innocent suffering is the same as the suffering of Jesus. He suffered for us and all the innocent suffering is joined to his in the redemption. It is co-redemption. That is helping to save the world from worse things...Like all gifts, it depends on how we receive it. And that is why we need a pure heart to see the hand of God, to feel the hand of God, to recognize the gift of God in our suffering. He allows us to share in his suffering and to make up for the sins of the world."

With the SN opposition the Moon in Taurus in the fifthHouse, the soul has had a need to express itself through a special purpose that fulfills its need to be needed. The soul has merged with, and involved itself, with groups of people who it can take care of and at the same time receive recognition for doing so. The soul flip flops between periods of isolation in which it listens to its own needs and periods of involvement with others in which it listens to, and tends to, the needs of others. The soul tends to project its own needs and values onto others.

With the SN biquintile Pluto in Gemini in the seventhHouse, the soul has desired to become a public figure who has the power to influence large groups of people. In her most recent incarnation, Mother Teresa became such a figure and through her work influenced people all over the world.

The South Node Ruler is Pluto in Gemini in the seventh House. In relation to the soul's desire to learn how to participate in relationships as an equal, and to understand her relationship to the world around her, the soul has initiated relationships with a diversity of people in order to understand her individuality in a social context. She evaluates her own identity by comparing and contrasting their ideas, opinions and points of view with her own.The nature of the information that she gathers colors her understanding of herself and the world. Her pre-existing belief system creates a filter as to what information she will absorb and what it will reject. Imbalances in these relationships have created a distortion which manifests as a need to be needed which creates co-dependency in these relationships. "Co-dependency can be defined as the tendency to put others needs before your own. You accommodate others to such a degree that you tend to discount or ignore your own feelings, desires and basic needs. Your self-esteem depends largely on how well you please, take care of and/or solve problems for someone else (or many others)."

With Pluto square Mercury in Virgo in the ninth House, intellectual confrontations related to the soul's religious beliefs have occurred in the past as they were limiting growth. The soul was inclined to interprete any intellectual information related to metaphysical or cosmological beliefs in a way that reflected her own pre-existing beliefs. She likely rejected anything that did not somehow reflect what she already believed to be true or false as this would undermine her sense of security which is linked to her opinions and ideas, and religious point of view. Mercury is in a mutable sign, so she was open to listening to other opinions and points of view, but with the square there was likely a resistance which created a subconscious effect of not really listening to what was being said and rejecting any argument. In her most current incarnation, Mother Teresa often wrote letters to priests and other Catholics which reflect an inner spiritual crisis in which she revealed her belief that she had been abandoned by God. Her feelings parallel those of St John of the Cross in “The Dark Night of the Soul.” It is said (by psychologists) that tension between the individual and the divine occurs from witnessing pain and suffering – which she witnessed in Calcutta.

With Pluto biquintile the South Node in Scorpio in the eleventh House, the soul has desired to become a public figure who has the power to influence large groups of people. Mother Teresa has shared a common destiny with a large group of people over the course of time. In her most recent life she attained her desire to become a public figure who can make contact with many people and influence their thoughts, ideas and beliefs. In an interview after her death, her successor, Sister Prema, was asked to describe her image of Mother Teresa. She answered, “ She would probably say that her goal was always to convey the experience of Jesus to those around her. This is the legacy she left us. Through her life, her work, her charisma, she brought those around her to God. She did not preach, but she testified with her own life.”

With Pluto sextile the Sun in Virgo in the eighth house, the soul has merged with symbols of power that enable her to establish herself as a leader and public speaker capable of influencing others through her power of persuasion and suggestive powers. In her most recent life this was the Catholic Church.


PPP in Sagittarius in the First House

In order to grow and evolve, the soul must learn how to strike out on her own and find the answers to her metaphysical, philosophical and cosmological questions from within, herself using her intuition. She has to learn to initiate a self-motivated direction in life outside of her relationships in order to find a belief system that resonates with her soul on an intuitive level. In order to participate in relationships which are mutally independent and equal, she needs to develop an awareness that truth is relative and that there are many paths leading to the same truth. In doing so, she will no longer feel a need to defend her point of view and opinions as right and reject other people's as wrong. Once she learns that intellectual knowledge is limited, and learns to trust her intuition, she will be able to align her beliefs with natural law. Once this occurs her relationships with others will come into balance. In her most recent life, Mother Teresa appears to have actualized Pluto's Polarity Point as she came to realize there are many paths to God.

The NN is conjunct the Moon in Taurus in the fifthHouse. In order to use her intuition to find the answers to her metaphysical, philosophical and cosmological questions from within herself, there is an intention and desire to develop a self-centered focus relative to her personal purpose and her emotional reality. By relating to her own emotions, senses and needs she would develop an awareness of what she values and therefore has meaning for her. Such a focus would empower her to focus her energies in creative, vital and self-actualizing ways. With the Moon in Taurus in the fifthhouse, Mother Teresa has a huge ego and a powerful self-image which allows her to “to stand before the whole world convinced of her truth, convinced of her worth, and convinced of her importance.” By relating to her own senses and needs, Mother Teresa has created a sense of self-validation, value and meaning which flows over into her personal special purpose and allows her to actualize that purpose in a meaningful way.

With the NN trine Uranus Rx in Capricorn in the firstHouse, the evolutionary intent is to break free from past conditioning patterns that define her identity. She needs a great deal of freedom and independence to initiate any experience she deems necessary in order to realize her sense of special destiny and to learn about herself in the process. She needs to rebel against the pressures of her own peer group and socialize with people outside her peer group or become a “group of one”.

With the NN sextile Neptune in Cancer in the seventh House, the evolutionary intent is to form relationships, and interact with other people, in order to discover a sense of wholeness and recapture the spirit of the divine. There is a need and desire to find emotional security and identity in truth as well as a need to address her feeling of lack through association with others. Periods of withdrawl to contemplate and interaction with others must be balanced. On a spiritual level, this aspect exposes one to the deeper concepts of union and harmony. Spiritual values are integrated into the area of relationships and generate an aspiration for true equality and mutuality.

"There is only one God and He is God to all; therefore it is important that everyone is seen as equal before God. I’ve always said we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic. We believe our work should be our example to people. We have among us 475 souls - 30 families are Catholics and the rest are all Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs—all different religions. But they all come to our prayers."

Mother Teresa was learning to see the middle way between all extremes. She was trying to find balance between active interference and passive acceptance of the way things are in the world. With Neptune in Cancer she developed a sense of belonging through spirituality and helping others. She identified with a spiritual system that adopts the idea of god being forgiving. This allows for indulgence, compassion and nurturing rather than guilt and atonement. In adopting the idea of a loving and nurturing God, the concept of unity became obvious to her and allowed her to develop a strong sense of compassion for all inspite their past. She came to accept others without judging them and understanding that nothing is wrong with life itself, for everything is part of the truth.

The North Node Ruler is Venus in Leo in the eighth House. This placement symbolizes Mother Teresa's intimate relationships and intimate partner. Her deepest emotions and deepest sense of security are linked to her intimate relationships and intimate partner. Her feelings are intense and there is a resistance to letting go no matter what the circumstances. Her love is all consuming and she is totally devoted to her partner, who is special and unique, and she expects the same in return. She has a deep desire to merge with her intimate partner whom she is deeply committed to and expects the same back. At the same time she is emotionally vulnerable which leads to inner fears of rejection and abandonment as she is driven by a profound need for recognition and feedback from her partner . Mother Teresa considered Jesus to be her intimate partner. She was totally committed to Jesus and desired to please him in every way inspite her innermost feeling that he had abandoned her.

In March 1953 she wrote to her confessor: “... there is such terrible darkness within me, as if everything was dead. It has been like this more or less from the time I started ‘the work.’” Over the years she had many confessors, and she continually referred to her spiritual condition as “my darkness” and to Jesus as “the Absent One.” At the suggestion of one confessor she wrote the following to Jesus:“I call, I cling, I want -- and there is no One to answer -- no One on Whom I can cling -- no, No One. -- Alone ... Where is my Faith --even deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness ; darkness. ... When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven -- there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives ; hurt my very soul. -- I am told God loves me -- and yet the reality of darkness ; coldness ; emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul.” In 1962 she wrote: “If I ever become a Saint -- I will surely be one of ‘darkness,’” and again, “How cold-how empty -- how painful is my heart. -- Holy communion -- Holy Mass -- all the holy things of spiritual life -- of the life of Christ in me -- are all so empty -- so cold -- so un-wanted. The physical situation of my poor, left in the streets unwanted, unloved, un-claimed -- are the true picture of my own spiritual life, of my love for Jesus” (Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, p. 232).

Her private statements about her faith and relationship with Christ continued in this vein until her death.

Venus Square Saturn Rx in Taurus in the 4th House. Venus square Saturn is symbolic of suffering through love. According to Mother Teresa, “Love, to be real, must cost, it must hurt, it must empty us of self.”Mother Teresa's emotional reality was one of lonliness and a feeling of rejection and abandonment. She had a compulsive need to be loved coupled with a feeling of being unloved. In order to feel love, one must first love themselves. Mother Teresa, however projected her emotional needs and need for love onto Jesus.

"There are so many religions and each one has its different ways of following God. I follow Christ: Jesus is my God, Jesus is my Spouse, Jesus is my Life, Jesus is my only Love, Jesus is my All in All, Jesus is my Everything."


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The above piece is from an assignment I did as a student of The School of Evolutionary Astrology as
taught by Jeffrey Wolf Green - catharine j. anderson.