Robbers: a poem (inspired by a recent dream)

Presenting themselves in clean skins,
The robbers travel from afar to take, treasure and lives,
Good and honest men and women – from a looking glass view –
Blinded by lenses forged in the cold darkness of polar thought.
The robbers preach an ancient thousands-years-old tapestry,
Now rewoven in intricate patterns of modern trickstering, laws,
Deciphered only by those who can see the newest incarnation preachers,
For who they really are: Conjurers of empty chalice and poisonous drink.

Clothed in deceit, the court jester, the robber leader, performs his best for the royal patrons,
Apparently unaware he in fact stands in the nude.
Ever convinced and confident of his sly dance – a delusions of grandeur high step –
Driven on by the whips of those who own him, a conductor in residence, the court jester parlays.
Bought and paid for from the windy city streets of his own in-consequence,
He sends out the good men and women, robbers, who’ve signed on,
To unwittingly rob those on the other side of the world (and at home, too),
Those who now live and die below a foreign, dirty bald eagle, its shadow threateningly undulating across a burnt earth.

Some of the robed men from their scorched homes promise to avenge the deaths – of their wives and of their mothers, of their fathers and of their sons and of their daughters – someone will pay, the dept.
But probably not the robbers themselves – no, probably the robbers will not, personally, pay.
(Nor will the court jester, their leader, pay.)
For they cannot be reached, safely fenced, in fact and in dogma.
Instead the robbers mount their remote thrones,
And watch the gamed world below unfold in tacit images of nothing that matters, to them.
For payment the robbers will be wined and dined in colorful ribbons of glory, pinned on chests, puffed,
Hearts and minds intoxicated by lies and indifference.
They are sad-false heroes who kill for what the puppet masters want, from the earth and from the people,
And to defend the mirage in which they themselves live: the illusion of freedom and democracy.
Thus the robbers crosshair those who get in the way and fight back;
They aim to extinct those who are likewise lost in the righteous wood,
¬– but who nonetheless have the right to fight, back, for the right of their voice, for the life of their choice –
While also killing those who just seem, a little suspicious,
Or those not even that, at all, “by accident.”

In the end the robber leaders will die, eventually,
Perhaps morally ill-equipped to face their torrid roles,
For that would require them accepting their lives were full of...
Nothing.
They will die old and comfortable in their white houses, on the hill, paid for by the riches of the billions,
Their messes left for their and your and my children,
To clean up.

Andrew R. Steele

http://www.mindfulemergence.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/introduction_613.html

Astrology and Power by David Rowan

In a profound sense, the most potent power is found in the absence of force; the greatest power is to master yourself - the greatest mystery is how to do it. The greatest fear is to know well yourself - the greatest strength you'll ever know is to change your inner world ...

In Astrology, different types of power are represented by different symbols: The Sun, Jupiter, Mars and Pluto symbolise the fiery, most observable forms of power. Neptune, Venus and the Moon represent the dynamics of love and Mercury and Uranus represent different octaves of thought and comprehension. Each of these symbols represents many meanings (they are polysemous) and they can be grouped in a variety of different ways. This note, as the title suggests, is about power. The confines of this medium means we can only take a cursory glance; in my classes we would discuss each of these symbols; the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Pluto, each for three or four days - here, one has to be concise, rather than thorough and although this means we cannot explore them in great detail, it is possible to glance through the window into the realms of power ...

The Astrological symbol for the Sun is a dot within a circle:

 It is reported that modern theologians have looked at the biblical expression, 'God made man in his own image', and concluded that if anything, God is word we use to describe the generative force of the power of creation. Whether you follow the notion of, ' man in god's image' or the Hermetic perspective of, 'As above so below', the conclusion is that the nature of being human is one of being a generative force. .. We are generative, creative beings and we each have authorship of the pathways of our lives (including casting ... lol). We have no innate power over external people or events, though we can have influence and employ persuasion, seduction, ruthlessness, enthusiasm, fear and common sense logic to charm, enchant, captivate, order or control; these may, or may not, be enduring and those which employ some form of force may be ultimately unsatisfying and ineffective in a long-term or deeper sense. We do, however, have the inner power, at some level, of determining how we respond to circumstances and what we can draw from even the most arduous experience. A lot of our reactions to experience are coloured by unconscious, conditioned (learned) responses and, with certain techniques from modern applied psychology, these can be adjusted, changed and re-designed. One of the greatest sources of inner power is knowing, not just intellectually, but viscerally knowing that we are the authors of experience. The steps and decisions, responses and reactions we took in the past has led to where we are now; it is true to say, is it not, that every single thing you have ever done in your life a has led you to reading these words right now ... and how  you react or respond to these words, the internal narrative you are having, the inner-images you are seeing, will colour the orientation of the next steps you take into your future ...

The Astrological symbol for Mars, is that of an arrow reaching out from a central point; a circle ...

The power of self expression is inherent within all life forms; the reaching of a flower toward the sun, the reaching of a hand toward an apple ... when we express our nature we take our place in the scheme of creation - however, self expression can take many forms and it may be wisest to do so as if one has kindness set as the default in one's heart ...

In the human experience, self expression can be thwarted: inhibited, dominated, controlled, modified, adapted, suppressed, oppressed, repressed etc. Self expression can also be directed: assertion, exuberance, enthusiasm, creativity, initiative etc. It is my astrological opinion that depression, which is different to sadness or even a forlorn absence of hope (things symbolised by Neptune); depression has two primary roots; symbolised by Mars and Saturn and this perspective on depression is best explored in an article in its own right. At least, that is what I believe ...

The Astrological symbol for Jupiter is a crescent, poised at the start of a sojourn through time and space, represented by the cross of matter:

http://www.davidrowan.co.uk/solar/planets_astrology.html

During our journey of life through time and space we think we have free-will, but perhaps complete free-will is an illusion. Our brain is situated within a neurochemical environment ... our comprehension of reality; the narrative of meaning we give to what we experience,  is situated within our epigentic potentials, our personal history to date, our ontological position, our socio-affective environment, our immediate social relations, our culture; memes and discourses, our politics and ideology, our national and spiritual identity ... all of which form the building blocks of what we believe to be true. Beliefs are very powerful and form the context within which we conduct the making of meaning; we then form decisions based on what we believe to be true  and act upon these decisions whilst believing our understanding of reality to be a an unshakable fact - the Truth. There are currently 6.9 billion humans on earth, each with their own niche viewpoint of the universe and unique perspective on 'reality'. We are, however, relational beings and form alliances based on the common ground of our shared reality. We do not share all of the model of our own niche reality, much of it is unconscious ... this description of reality is, of course, not true; it is a statement of my current beliefs about the nature of our, or rather my, reality ...

The Astrological symbol for Pluto shows the circle of the spirit, elevated above the crescent of the soul which is established above the cross of matter ...

From an esoteric perspective, this symbol represents the  'rightful' order of things ...  however, if the Soul/psyche has some intellectual, psychological or emotional distortions, or unresolved issues, in its dynamics there may be a gap between 'what is' and 'what seems to be'. The symbol of Pluto shows everything in perfect alignment. If we have moved away from our true spiritual path then your inner being will bring those facets of your life back into alignment by influencing your unconscious to create, through behaviours and actions, the perfect environment in which those issues can be clearly identified and worked with. In other words, we somehow conspire to make our circumstances 'fit' the issues we need to learn, and, like a 'cosmic tuning fork' our inner-being resonates with the external circumstances and the 'trapped' feelings come to the surface for transformation and re-integration into the psyche.

The symbol of Pluto shows us the natural order of things from the perspective of life within spirit; a window upon the land of light from which we emerge into this life and to which we return as this journey passes into the greatest adventure of all.

The word transformation, describes the process in which something changes form; thee old passes into something new ... Empowerment describes an experience of being conscious of  our ability to play a role in the shaping of our life and the path we are taking. C J Jung once said, 'Some things cannot be changed, they are merely out grown'. Change can often seem disempowering and yet we can step into empowerment by embracing change and using it as an opportunity to write a new chapter in life ... Death is a word we use to describe an ending, however, endings are the prelude to new beginnings; when winter dies, spring is born .... the death of spring heralds the birth of summer; the death of poverty is the birth of wealth - the death of wealth is the birth of poverty ... when a caterpillar dies a butterfly is born ... Change is the only constant, and the only thing one can guarantee in life. Everything flows in cycles and every point in a cycle has its season. When change is occurring one can mourn the passing of the old by casting the attention of one's eye to that which is passing - or - one can instead, place the eye of one's attention to designing the new chapter; how best to draw the best from new circumstances and what actions can one take in order for the new chapter to be even better ?  ... how can I change myself in order to blossom in the spring of new change ... :)

 For an overview of the symbols of all the planets and what their shapes mean, please click here:

http://www.davidrowan.co.uk/solar/planets_astrology.html

For a series of short videos explaining your personal astrological birth cart, please click here:

http://www.davidrowan.co.uk/solar/introducing_astrology.html

For a list of what I can tell you from  your birth chart, and the full range of topics I discuss with you in a life-reading, please click here:

http://www.davidrowan.co.uk/solar/astrology_chart.html

and, if you find you life the breadth or depth of these philosophical musings from my understanding of astrology and would like to learn and chat about life on this, and a deeper level, you may be interested in  my online astrology course. A waiting list of those who are interested and wish to register

http://www.davidrowan.co.uk/solar/online_teaching.html

In kindness

Dave

© David Rowan, September 2011

‘A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself part of the liberation, and a foundation for inner security’.

 Albert  Einstein