That Conscious Thinking Thing...
The self, as described by John Locke is "that conscious thinking thing, (whatever substance, made up of whether spiritual, or material, simple, or compounded, it matters not) which is sensible, or conscious of pleasure and pain, capable of happiness or misery, and so is concerned for itself, as far as that consciousness extends". -
Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
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!
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?
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.
taught by Jeffrey Wolf Green - catharine j. anderson.
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