The Virgo Festival 2020

The Virgo Festival 2020
1 –2 Sep 2020
© Malvin Artley

“The decadent international but individualistic capitalism in the hands of which we found ourselves after the war is not a success. It is not intelligent. It is not beautiful. It is not just. It is not virtuous. And it doesn’t deliver the goods. In short we dislike it, and we are beginning to despise it. But when we wonder what to put in its place, we are extremely perplexed.”[1]

Greetings Everyone!

We’ll get around to the quote above later, because it is central to what we see evolving in human affairs due to our present crisis. Its author is unimportant. What is important is the message, which has not changed since it was first published in 1933, and is even more relevant to today. But first we go to news on the home front.

Summer is in retreat here in Italy. Autumn is in the air. The daylight hours have shifted dramatically, signalling the coming of the long nights, and the mornings are almost cool enough to wear a light sweater out. Personally, I welcome it. I get to sleep in a bit more, not being awakened at 5:30 in the morning with the rising sun and a dog scratching at the bed to be let out and fed. Aside from masks being required in stores, life in Italy is normal. Yes, normal, except that people coming back from vacation abroad, mostly younger, have not bothered with protocols and have brought the virus back with them. Thus we are seeing a spike in daily cases now seen since the pandemic really took hold here. We expect that will pass in a few weeks, because the kids will be going back to school and vacation time will be over.

Virgo and harvest: It is grape harvest time now, and soon there will be tractors on the road, trailers filled with the year’s vintage – ‘corona vintage’ this year – or perhaps more apt, the ‘grapes of wrath’. Steinbeck’s classic novel is as topical today as it was when he wrote it, and we’ll have a look at that later in this piece. Back to here, soon after the grapes are harvested, higher up in the mountains the apple harvest will take place. Strudel for everyone! The harvest every year brings Virgo to mind. Normally, the harvest moon is the full moon in the Virgo interval, but this year the full moon for Virgo comes too early. The Libra interval will have the harvest moon this year. No matter. With the virus starting its decline, we are beginning to reap the harvest of our understanding of the true workings of our home societies. For some people the virus has brought understanding and an increase in wisdom. For many, the crisis the virus accompanied has only deepened suspicions about the way things are run at the top, seemingly confirming deep-seated beliefs about nefarious motives behind the scenes. And in some cases those beliefs have real foundations. The crisis the pandemic has provoked has definitely been gamed by vested interests to their advantage. But it has also brought forward people with sound ideas for the future. Virgo always has been connected with the gestation of the ‘Christ child’ within, otherwise known as our latent soul qualities, and this pandemic has definitely called upon that soul light in everyone thus affected by our viral attention.

Mother and child reunion: In esoteric astrology Virgo has been associated with matter, as in form providing the vehicle for the gestation and development of soul qualities. The Virgin Mary is a Western symbol often associated with the sign, and the idea of ‘virgin birth’ goes right along with the symbolism of the sign: “We argue about the Virgin Birth of the Christ, and forget the truth which the Incarnation is intended to teach. Evelyn Underhill points out in her most valuable book, Mysticism, that “The Incarnation, which is for popular Christianity synonymous with the historical birth and earthly life of Christ, is for the mystic not only this but also a perpetual cosmic and personal process.”[2] Thus, we see the Christian symbolism of the Madonna and child as universal and not solely a Christian belief. In that regard, Buddhism also has its version of the mother and the child giving rise to divine incarnation. In that vein, we carry on from our esoteric consideration in the Leo letter about taking divine pride onto the path, and look at the Virgo corollary to occult meditative practice and stages.

It wasn’t stated in the Leo letter, but after taking divine pride onto the path and arising as the deity in the mandala, the end process of the Leo phase involves taking the consciousness into the heart and uniting the winds and the drops (consciousness and its vehicles, resp.) and entering into practices that produce the ‘attainments’, otherwise known as siddhis in Sanskrit, or the superhuman powers. When this is accomplished, the mandala and the deity are dissolved, in a process called ‘taking death onto the path’ – Leo and ego dissolution. It is here that we enter the Virgo stage and begin the practice which will lead to ‘reversing the wheel’. But the process required entails merging the mother and child, and in Buddhist practice, there is a direct reference to the ‘mother’ and ‘child’ clear lights that are attained in ‘taking death onto the path’, leading eventually to full enlightenment.

All this is quite obscure and we do not have the space to go into particulars here. I intend at some point to compile all these ideas into a volume, because there is a clear connection between the ideas expounded by the Tibetan in Esoteric Astrology and those taught in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in practices of mahamudra, or esoteric Buddhism. But, there is one point in particular in relation to the mother and the child clear lights that will give some insight into how the Christ within is actually given birth and accessed, and that is via the construction of the antahkarana, which involves these two clear lights – actually, which results in the realization of those two lights, and contact with the lowest part of the soul on its own plane. The end result is this ‘mother and child reunion’, properly practiced, leads one directly to the state of full enlightenment, and the construction of the antahkarana is the key to that attainment and the Kingdom of Souls.

The sun – black – antahkarana:[3] The words at this heading carry a certain meaning to readers of the Tibetan’s works. There is also a hidden meaning, and it describes the process of the ‘dissolution of lights’ in the process of taking death onto the path, as recounted in esoteric Buddhism. I had described this process a few years back in The Esoteric Quarterly in an article on the antahkarana, which also describes all the various types of lights and their meaning, so we will not cover them here save for a couple of points. The order taken in the words of the topic heading describe a particular point in the process of dissolution that leads to the arising of what is known as the ‘mother clear light’, and which is the aim of building the antahkarana. This is like the first step toward true enlightenment, because it puts one directly en rapport with the soul on its own plane and bridges that soul, the human soul and the personality – hence the name ‘rainbow bridge’ for the antahkarana. The light encountered at the other end of this rainbow bridge is the mother clear light, the ‘mother of all phenomena’. This is the light of the soul that is with us always and which is encountered during the deepest hours of sleep and at the time of death. If this light is meditated upon, there is another clear light that emerges, called the ‘child clear light’. When the two are combined, then it is possible to achieve the superhuman qualities and to advance to the stage of a spiritual Master.

The stages in the dissolution process are named as follows: ‘white appearance’, ‘red increase’, ‘black near-attainment with recollection’ and ‘black near-attainment without recollection’. These stages are prerequisite to the clear lights – mother, child and example/meaning. The stages just listed are passed in an instant upon going to sleep, but with practice they are recognizable and can be maintained, with the aim eventually being to be able to traverse the black near-attainment stages and still maintain full consciousness going and coming, thus granting 24-hour consciousness, plus the ability to enter into the higher meditative states. It is like the process of the day – sunlight, the red of sunset, the first black of night, the deepest night, and then sunrise. Thus does our symbolism reflect realities. Every night we go to sleep, function in another realm, then return with no recollection of what we did in the other realm: the sun, black, antahkarana. Yet, the mother is always there, watching over us, guiding us to the true light, through our ‘little death’ each night, and then as we take death onto another path at the end of this one.

Space, the final frontier: There is one more consideration, and then we will move on. The mother and child clear lights are used to meditate on the space-like nature of all phenomena, otherwise known as ‘emptiness’ in Buddhism. It can also be called ‘openness’, in the occult sense of the word. This goes to the scientific fact that matter is composed of space. It is empty in reality, composed of particles which, when broken down to their ultimate state, are also naught but space:

“Form is empty. Emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form; form is also not other than emptiness.”[4]

Or, from a modern scientific perspective, a few quotes from Werner Heisenberg, one of the fathers of modern physics:

“I think that modern physics has definitely decided in favor of Plato. In fact the smallest units of matter are not physical objects in the ordinary sense: they are forms—ideas which can be expressed unambiguously only in mathematical language.”… “The atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real. They form a world of potentialities rather than one of things or facts.”… “The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass, God is waiting for you.”

Virgo epitomizes the first realization of emptiness, at least in idea. When we realize that matter is space and that forms are immaterial, then we are on our way to enlightenment, that our perception of forms is illusory. The mother clear light opens us to that realization. Hence, we have the esoteric motto of Virgo: “I am the mother and the child. I, God, I matter am.”[5] It’s a little bit to take in, but the last point here is that when enough of the members of humanity reach the point of attainment of the ‘mother and child reunion’, as we have called it here, then our world will become drastically changed toward spiritual pursuits and grosser forms of materialism will die their rightful deaths. That is the immediate goal ahead for humanity. We have a ways to go. With that, we move on the full moon and to worldly matters – the great illusion.

The full moon takes place at 5:21 UT on 2 Sep 2020 (3:21 pm AEST). It is a tense figure, like the last full moon, but this one carries the capacity to be more physically challenging than the last one. Since the last full moon we had the explosion in Beirut, which has introduced the opportunity for great changes in Lebanese society. Then there was the attempt at a color revolution in Belarus (covered later), the ‘poisoning’ of Navalny in Siberia, huge fires in California and the American Southwest and Hurricane Laura in the US. There were also the conventions of the two major parties in the US with predictable results, more rioting in the US and the event that wasn’t – ‘normalization’ of relations between the UAE and Israel. This full moon, however, carries the possibility of ‘intervention by a Higher Power’ and will again produce its share of notable events. There is quite a lot happening behind the scenes now and the world is facing an economic downturn not seen for almost a century. What could possibly happen?? To find out, the following might shed some light.

Something worth considering: There is a longer quote, worth considering, which describes our present state of international and public affairs, outlining a situation that has yet to reach its culmination:

“Human radiation of a very slight nature was felt about the time of Christ, but it only lasted for a couple of hundred years, and though individuals here and there have since achieved the goal, yet no large numbers have passed successfully through the fires of transmutation, and thus transcended the fourth kingdom. The cycle is again on the upward turn; about the fourteenth century the human kingdom began to be noticeably radioactive, and we are on the way to the fulfilment of a “cycle of the second order” or of a period of transcendence of a still greater activity than in the time of the Buddha. It will become demonstrably great when certain conditions have been fulfilled.

First, when the present world chaos has subsided. Next, when the present generation has consummated its work of reconstruction. Third, when the coming great Lord has entered upon His mission upon earth, thereby increasing the vibration in every kingdom of nature, but particularly in the second and fourth.

Fourth, when the movement, inaugurated at the close of each century by the Trans-Himalayan Lodge is under way, and the psycho-scientific Egos who are its agents have made their presence felt.

Finally, when a movement is instituted by the Lodge, working in connection with the fourth root race; it will also be part of the stimulative process, and will result in the rendering radioactive of some of the foremost thinkers of that race. It will be their day of opportunity, and so great is the importance attached to this that a Member of the Lodge, Confucius as he has been called in the past, will incarnate in order to superintend the work. The preliminary steps are being taken now, and Egos are coming in who will endeavour to direct the energies of this race on to the right line though the peak of the cycle of stimulation will not be until the middle of the next century [ca. 2050]. It is needless for me to point out that all such movements are first felt as disturbing, and only when the dust of turmoil, and the noise of clashing forces have died away will purpose be seen emerging. This is very apparent in Russia at the present time.“[6]

The work from which that quote was taken was written in 1925, just after the Russian Revolution. We also take note of what has happened in China since 1949 and the disturbance that has caused in the Western world. Communism and socialism, both arising at the time of the cited quote, have been a direct challenge to the Western capitalist model. This year has been a pivotal one of eventual closure for that model as the dominant one, with a hint of things to come as a result. We have examined this firstly in the Chinese New Year letter for this year as being one of life-changing decisions, as well as with various posts about 2020 and the Saturn/Pluto conjunction to the 10 Jan 2020 eclipse. Keep in mind that the East is rising, as forecast in the quote, and in particular China. That has caused a very pointed angst in capitalist nations, largely among the reactionary materialists and elites in those nations. It is why we are seeing such a concerted effort by the collective West, headed by the US, to roll back the gains of China and other Eastern nations, even to the point of decoupling financially, and why there has been such a parallel effort to keep socialism from taking root in South America, with varying degrees of success.

The rising East and why: We see a hybrid war being waged against the Chinese and Russians now, one which – if the quote holds true and the present trends continue – will fail. It is helpful to keep in mind, too, that every war, not matter what the type, has ‘unintended consequences’ and usually results in some sort of blowback against the perpetrator. This is quite notable with regard to the United States.

America’s record of military victories since WWII is, to put it bluntly, less than stellar. All this talk of war with China, or Russia either for that matter – even with Iran – if seen in the light of that record, should give anyone pause to think of why such a madness is even entertained. Perhaps it is all just bluster, with armchair warriors and various ‘experts’ being trotted out to reassure the American public of American exceptionalism. That sort of thing helps to keep the existing system in place and the slop for the pork trough flowing and ever-increased. The average American, on the other hand, is given a financial dog’s breakfast in return, hence the unrest we are seeing there now. Too many American jobs depend on the ‘defense industry’. And those jobs, at this point in time, are some of the most secure, especially with the election on top of us now and the evolving hybrid war.

I won’t speculate on the election this time around. It can go either way. As stated in a recent post (linked elsewhere), if the stock market crashes in October, then we will know that Trump has outlived his usefulness to the vested interests. If that fails to happen, then it is very possible, in fact likely, that we will see another four years of Trump. The Democrats are not exactly inspiring this  time around. There is too much flux in the US now to make any useful forecasts about the elections. The one thing that can be said is that if the election cycle goes to schedule and the inauguration takes place at noon on Jan 20^th, per the law, then the next administration will have its hands full and we can expect quite an ‘exciting’ year in the US. That is not difficult to see, though, no matter who is in office.

COVID-19, and the livin’s easy: The discussion so far has focused on the reasons for what we are seeing – a rise in vibration and thus awareness in the public, with resulting changes in all sectors of society, challenging existing orders, with reactions against those changes. One of the catalysts for those changes has been the coronavirus. It has been like an accelerant poured on a fire. At this point in time, given what everyone has experienced through this pandemic thus far, it is pointless to speculate on the causes for it, if it is real or not or just some engineered hoax. If it was a bioweapon, for instance, that alleged act of war has definitely cased unintended consequences for the perpetrator. None of that is important now, because what we have seen is that the vested interests have taken to the saying, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” And those vested interests have been very busy ensuring they get the most out of this one.

As to the virus itself, it has peaked if the graphs are to be believed, having done so toward the end of July. That is worldwide. Doctors here in Italy are saying that the virus is quickly losing its viability. We hope it stays that way. Though we have had a small spike in cases here recently, it is largely due to younger people returning from overseas not abiding by protocols and by migrants, with the major infection centers being around the main points of entry into the country. As an aside, next year there will be a particular focus on health, addressed in the Chinese New Year letter in early February. The way the West has handled the virus, though, has produced something much worse than the pandemic itself, which has been comparatively mild in terms of deaths. What we see now in the West is the makings of a severe economic crisis, one which has been intentionally promoted, which has dramatically increased the wealth of the billionaires at the expense of the middle classes and poor, and which appears to be aimed at the following:

“The golden eye of Taurus points the way to those who likewise see. That which is gold will some day, too, respond, passing from East to West in that dire time when the urge to gather gold shall rule the lower half (i.e., the personality aspect of men and of nations—A.A.B.). The search for gold, the search for golden light divine, directs the Bull of Life, the Bull of Form. These two must meet; and meeting, clash. Thus vanishes the gold….”[7]

And then there is this:

“The essentials of religious and political beliefs must be taught and a new simplicity of life inculcated. Today, these are lost in the emphasis laid upon material possession, upon things and upon money. The problem of money will have to be faced; the problem of the distribution of wealth—whether natural or human—will need careful handling and a compromise reached between those nations which possess unlimited resources and those who have few or none; the problem of the varying forms of national government must be faced with courage and insight; the restoration—psychological, spiritual and physical—of mankind must constitute a primary responsibility. The sense of security must be put on a firm basis—the basis of right relationship, and not the basis of force. Men must feel secure because they are seeking to develop international goodwill and can trust each other, and are not therefore dependent upon the strength of their armies and fleets.”[8]

The West has had a particular problem with money, things and material possession in the past few centuries, and it is most clearly seen in nations where conspicuous consumption is encouraged. That applies even to food and its overconsumption, resulting in a pandemic of obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes most apparent in North America, Gulf States, Oceania and the UK. The US is most obvious in its own overconsumption of goods and materials. It distracts from the soul life if there is attachment to materialism for self-gain, unless that is specifically the type of quality the soul is seeking to develop in a particular life. Sometimes it is needed. However, the glamour of it is not and is in process of being dissipated. The imposition of financial hardship of one nation onto another is also to be avoided if there is to be peace in this world, and the US and other Western nations are to be singled out in that sort of behaviour. It is an act of warfare against another state, but it is also leading to another development, which we see unfolding before us, and which is twofold – the end of fiat currencies and the move toward cashless societies.

A cashless society?: In one sense a cashless society can be seen as gold vanishing, regarding the first quote above, which is all well and good so long as it leads to a more spiritual focus in life. When it is used as a tool of control, toward which it can easily be turned, it becomes yet another evil foisted upon an unsuspecting populace. There are many people who oppose a cashless society for that very reason. Yet, cryptocurrencies are a move in that direction and many millennials are turning toward it, as well as some very wealthy people, because cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are not bound by any national strictures. They are a truly international form of ‘currency’. But there are other cryptocurrencies being launched. China has just launched its own in a trial run, which it hopes can be used in international payments, thus bypassing the SWIFT system and releasing China from the hold of the US dollar. This is one of the values of cryptocurrencies. There is another side to them, too, which is central to the theme that is emerging.

Just as fiat currencies are based on ephemeral swings in mood toward assets, resources and the like instead of being based in international standards (like gold, for instance), cryptocurrencies are the same. And they have seen wide fluctuations in value as a result. The point here is that fiat and cryptocurrencies are not based in hard material values, but rather are based in illusion and are subject to manipulation, more so than international standards. Fiat currencies are why the Stock Market has risen to such an overinflated value and why asset prices in no way reflect their true value, which is much lower, the truth be known. This part of the discussion should rightly be for the Libra letter next month, and we may enlarge on it then. But since we are seeing much of what is emerging being the outward result (appearance-based) of the pandemic, then we can start to parse what is taking place here.

On the 23^rd of March this year, the US Treasury and Fed began the death of the fiat system, outlined in a recent post. It was duly noted by more knowledgeable economists. That may sound rather fanciful, but there are other events taking place that back up the idea. There is talk of a Great Reset in economics, too, with the Davos crowd, supposedly to be put forward at their annual meeting early next year. These are attempts at salvaging capitalism and the dominance of certain currencies and economic systems. They do not have the good of humanity at heart, from what I can see. The move by the US in March has only enriched the wealthiest in the nation and sent the markets soaring, as well as asset prices, to the detriment of the average citizen. Along with the move in March and the ‘Great Reset’, there has also been a quiet financial/economic reset taking place in the US, and no one is talking about it, at least not in those terms.

China and its swift exit: The US is seeking – at least the militarized, reactionary sector of the US – to cut China off from the dollar-based SWIFT system, to cut any Chinese tech out of American tech, and with ‘soft capital control’ already birthing, according to recent observations. That soft capital control is the likes of demanding that US colleges and universities divest themselves of any Chinese funding. They want to de-couple from China, which saner people are saying is neither possible nor really desirable. Then, there is the increasing realization that the US will not have its hoped-for ‘V-shaped’ economic recovery and that there may have to be yet another, and last ditch effort, to save the American economy. The Fed will be copying the Chinese to do that, in a bit of irony. What they propose, if there is to be this last ditch effort, is to directly wire money into people’s smart phones, thus bypassing the banks and creating a monetary tool they call ‘recession insurance bonds’. Yes, that’s right – a cashless society, at least to a degree. What is emerging, then, is a monetary system based solely on fancy and not on real value, in a final swing at trying to save the US financial capitalist system. And, to top it off, they are working on their own version of what the Chinese are already rolling out – a US digital (crypto)currency. Russia, Italy, Iran and UK are also working on their own cryptocurrencies (CBDCs). The so-called ‘Great Reset’ is already happening.

Readers may be tempted to think that the measures just outlined are solely an initiative of the Trump administration. In fact, those have been in the works for some time. Obama’s ‘Pivot to Asia’ was the first outer glimpse of it. But so was the Belt and Road Initiative on China’s side. The Chinese have known for years that the South China Sea shipping lanes are their weak link in trade, and what the intentions of the US were in the region. The BRI serves to eliminate that link, if need be. And Russia is working hard at opening the Arctic Sea Route, fast at work building huge nuclear-powered icebreakers. And with climate change shortening the icepack and the season, that only helps in the effort. With China and Russia in such close cooperation now, China will have ready access to the northern route and will be able to bypass the South China Sea, no doubt with the added benefit of Russian naval protection. The choke point would be the Bering Straits at Alaska, which is why the US is strengthening its military presence there. But then, there are also rail links in the works for the far north of Russia after 2030, which would give a direct land route from China to the Arctic sea lanes, bypassing the Bering Strait.

Blocs and experiments: There are several aspects to what is taking place. Firstly, referring back to the long quote at the start of this section, what is happening now may seem disturbing, but who is to say it will not ultimately benefit the people of various regions? To see the possibilities we have to look past our conditioning and the propaganda constantly aimed at us. Who is to say, for instance, that experiments in socialism in its various aspects are harmful, though they may temporarily disadvantage certain segments of societies? We definitely know that financial (neoliberal) capitalism has only benefitted the few at the expense of the many. There will be many such experiments going into the future. Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela are all such experiments, though we may not like them, may disagree with their politics and methods, may see them in a poor light. But then, we do not have the advantage of the view that the spiritual master teachers have.

Secondly, what appears to be emerging from all the economic warfare and attempts to control other nations by certain nations, with the resulting resistance by those controlled, are the very blocs the Tibetan outlined many decades ago:[9]

“1. A Federal Union of the great democracies after the war [WWII]. This might include the British Empire as a whole, the United States, the Scandinavian countries and certain northern European nations, including Germany.

2. A Union of the Latin countries, including France, Spain, all the Mediterranean countries, the Balkan countries (except one or two which might be absorbed into the U.S.S.R.), and South America.

3. The United Soviet Socialist Republics and certain Asiatic nations working in collaboration with them, such as China, and later Japan.

These three great blocs would not be antagonistic blocs but simply geographical spheres of influence. They would all three work in the closest unity and economic relation. Each nation within the three blocs would preserve its sovereign independence, but between these independent nations and between these blocs there would be identity of purpose, unity of effort and the recognition of the economic control of a league of nations. This league, being formed of the representatives of all the nations and its inner governing body being chosen by the three blocs, would control all sources of supply, distribute all such supplies and determine all economic policies.”

These blocs, of course, are emerging a little differently, but the essential form is there. The exceptions are that there is no British Empire any longer. The USSR is no longer, either. The federal union of the great democracies appears to be falling apart, as they were based in a military organization (the NATO) which has outlived its usefulness, since there is no longer a USSR. Then, there is the problem of the EU, which is facing major difficulties in the near future, with a clear cultural divide between the northern and southern European states. And then there is the problem of the US seeking to retain its hegemony, which is probably the major world concern at the moment. The bloc formed with the Club Med states and South American states is of a curious interest, too, which will be of great interest to watch evolve over time. And the root of a great part of this change is economic, in addition to culture. The Greater Eurasian Union is rapidly taking shape, spearheaded by Russia and China. If we step back and look at what the Tibetan had deemed desirable, from the standpoint of human evolution, then a great many geopolitical events begin to make more sense.

If we look at what has happened in the past ten years with a dispassionate view, we see that US policy toward both Russia and China has pushed them into increasingly close cooperation. This is been a defensive posturing to start. The EU and Australia have basically followed the US in lockstep. These Western nations by and large comprise the Anglosphere and what we loosely call ‘the West’. It is an oversimplification, for sure, but it goes to the point. The Anglosphere has been the main driver behind the perceived defensive need by Russia and China for greater Eurasian unification. There are also cultural and economic drivers behind that unification, but the Anglosphere nations and their policies, driven by their economics, have caused the friction necessary for Sino-Russian cooperation, thus accelerating the process. In this we can see the 4^th ray personality of the West calling for a response from the 4^th ray soul of the East – conflict producing harmony. The Sino-Russian union has caused no end of angst for the elites in the Anglosphere. Mention of the Anglosphere brings us to Europe and what is emerging there.

Blocs and cultures: The EU cannot rightly be called a part of the Anglosphere, though the overwhelming influence of the United States makes the entire EU a de facto part of that sphere. Brussels willingly goes along, at least up until now. The Anglo Saxons who established the English kingdom derived from Germanic tribes who settled the British Isles from the 5^th century. These merged with the Celtic Britons (the indigenous groups of the Isles) to form the Britain that went on to conquer the British Empire. These Germanic tribes (Germanic peoples) form the root of what have recently been called the ‘Frugal Four’ in recent negotiations on the future of finance in the EU. They are, for the most part, northern European. The reason for bringing in these ideas is because they go toward the main cultures that are moving toward forming the aforementioned blocs. In particular in Europe, the Germanic peoples and their descendants are closely tied to the United States and the present UK, while the ‘Club Med’ states are closely linked through the Roman Empire and the Romance languages. In this, we see why the South American nations are to be more closely linked to Southern European nations, as it was largely the Portuguese and Spanish who conquered South America and gave South American nations their elites.

Culture cannot be ignored when it comes to foreign policy and state cohesion. It forms the subconscious basis of public opinion, and is a powerful driver of the same. This is reinforced through the media and indoctrination via educational systems in every nation. In that regard, there is an important item to note when it comes to certain nations, and that is their more or less continuous identity as a people or nation. Such nations are Greece, Iran, Japan, China, parts of Russia, Egypt and so forth. These are the types of cultures that will form the nations within the blocs. The Anglo-Saxon mentality cannot readily be impressed upon Chinese culture, or Iranian, or any other Asian culture, for instance, which is why those nations have been do difficult for the Anglosphere nations to bring on board. And the same is true within the EU itself, where schisms have been in process of appearing in the past several years, and which was very noticeable with the Greek financial crisis. It has left a deep scar in Europe, and the Anglo nations of the north do not appear to understand or care about the Latin nations to the south.

The cultural divide is very apparent in Italy, which is a sort of test case for European unity, where the north has a strong Anglo strain and the south is decidedly Latin. Washington has ignored such cultural differences between itself and nations and has sought to impose its own order, which is exhibited when state officials like Pompeo make statements to the effect that so-and-so nation “does not behave like a normal country”, meaning those nations do not conform to Anglo ideals. In a way, though, such statements are helpful, because they bring the realization of US intentions clearly forward to the rest of the world, gives the mentioned nation pause to consider its own identity, and accelerates the process of the evolution of the geo-cultural unities, first as a result of resistance and then as a result of shared purposes and ideals. Such has been the case between China and Russia. And now Iran is being pulled closer into the Eurasian orbit. In that respect, the union of the three is going forward in ways that are not ever mentioned in the Western press, and are ways which ensure that the Asian bloc of nations will go forward and develop with security into the future.

The evolution of the blocs will take years, but it is being quickened, with the fundamental divisions probably being in place or well on their way by the middle of this decade and then settling out and taking more solid form and stability as the years progress. The European schism has yet to take place, but the common currency will force it. Europe was meant to be a common market, not a federation. The agreed-upon financial bailout just rolled out in the EU will eventually disadvantage the Mediterranean states and will induce greater instability in the EU over time. A united Europe is a nice idea, but is proving unworkable in practice. And Europeans need the crisis that is brewing in the UN over US insistence on sanctioning Iran and other states to break the hold the US has over the continent. The Franco-German rulership of the existing bloc will eventually crack unless Brussels learns to bend. And again, back to the long quote in the beginning of this discussion, these developments may at first seem antithetical to the forces of unity and will be initially disturbing, but they will lead to a calmer and more suitable outcome, based in culture and sovereignty of states. That brings us to the UN and what is developing there.

The UN is facing a crisis because of the Trump administration’s attempt to heap more sanctions  onto Iran. The administration just suffered a humiliating defeat in the UN over what is obviously an illegal and ill-founded effort to invoke the snap-back clause in the JCPOA – which Trump pulled the US out of in 2018. Pompeo insists that the sanctions will snap back on 20 September. No longer being a member of the accord, the US has no say in any aspect of it. However, there is a catch to that, one that could render the UN null and void in future matters. The catch relates to CAATSA – “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act”. How it would work is, if the other signatories to the JCPOA – Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany – refuse to invoke the snap-back clause, they are very likely to be heavily sanctioned by the US. If that were to happen, then the meaning would be clear enough: Every remaining signatory to the JCPOA would be an adversary of the United States. It would have very serious consequences. A smarter approach would be for the US to re-join the JCPOA.

Would the Europeans be able to stand strong and united enough to resist such a move by Washington? Many pundits think not. But if Trump were to try such a move, it would alienate Europe from the US for many years. It may just happen. But if it does, it would mean that the UN is basically a functionary of the United States, and probably should not exist as a body were that to transpire. Or, it would mean that the rest of the world would function according to international law, agreed upon in the UN, and the US would be an outlier – a rogue state. I have heard and read many comments to the effect that the US is already a rogue state.

Recognizing the preceding about the UN, what is currently taking place regarding Iran is that China is about to invest heavily in infrastructure and investment in Iran, to the tune of $400 billion, and Iran is in very serious talks with Russia about upgrading its defense capabilities. Those two events are what are really behind the Trump administration’s attempt to place even heavier sanctions on Iran. It would appear to already be a failed effort. Europeans want to trade with Iran. They need the oil and gas, plus they have no real animosity toward Iran. It is the US, Israel and some of the Gulf States who want to see Iran bend and be at least partially disarmed. But all of those states opposed to Iran are facing serious troubles at home themselves, and much of it financial. We won’t even talk here about the Israeli/UAE deal that was supposed to have been so historic, and which is already falling to pieces. That was just a photo-op for Trump and Netanyahu.

However, there is another side to the crisis the US is threatening against the UN. It is the first time that the other nations, especially the European members of the Security Council, have said no to the US, and in such a public manner. US hubris and exceptionalism has been pricked, and in support of Iran, of all nations. It has really stuck in the craw of the neocons in the Beltway, and we can fully expect the present administration to double down on their actions now. Trump has a hard time accepting defeat, in true lower Leo fashion, and the US has harboured lingering resentment toward Iran about being tossed out of that nation in the 1979 Iranian Revolution. This will be yet another step toward the formation of the blocs about which we are examining if Washington decides to push the matter at the UN. The astrology for the UN shows the crisis, and it will probably not blow over until the end of this year. We will watch that space with interest.

Kenosha and Kent State: A few words are in order here for the violence increasingly taking place in the US, speaking of nations having trouble at home. Earlier we had the violence and protests in Minneapolis in reaction to the death of George Floyd, a black man. There is disagreement as to whether it was a murder or a ‘death in custody’. The man died during a police action. Public opinion says it was a murder, with the protests and violence being the result. And now we have the violence in Kenosha, where a young black man was shot in the back by police and left paralyzed, and then two protestors were shot and killed by a 17 y/o white ‘man’ with an AR14 assault rifle. He has since been arrested and charged with murder. It is not known if he was part of a militia group, but there are armed militias coming into Kenosha and people armed with assault rifles guarding their properties, as is their right. That’s US law, whether or not we agree with it. The militias coming into the city are another matter, as they are not really there to ‘protect properties’.

The young man, one Kyle Rittenhouse, is not from Kenosha. He will be tried as an adult. The police have been filmed thanking the militias for their ‘help’ and giving them water. Rittenhouse was filmed walking calmly toward police after the incident, after which he subsequently fled Kenosha. The shootings in Kenosha have instantly become a political issue, with the now-candidates, Trump and Biden, both weighing in on it. The point here is not a judgement about the shootings, which were a tragedy and with justice needing to be done, but to point to a disturbing precedent.

Readers who are ‘of a certain age’ will remember the anti-war protests of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and the riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King. The latter riots won Richard Nixon the election, his having based his campaign on law and order. We are seeing a similar pattern today. In that election Nixon won by only a small margin in the popular vote, but swept the Electoral College by a large margin. Trump’s numbers are starting to tick upwards again as the coronavirus crisis eases and the violence across the US escalates. We may be seeing the same the same sort of thing as the ‘68 election evolving now, especially if the large protests and rioting continue. There is a red flag there for anyone who wants to see Trump gone from office.

Later, during one of the anti-war protests after Tricky Dick was in office we heard about four dead in Ohio. Public opinion was strongly in favour of the actions of the National Guard on that day. Public opinion is probably not so different today. If people feel insecure they will vote for what they think is security in any election, and that usually means right wing governments. The armed militias and the increasing violence draw uneasy parallels to the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe. Those movements were the direct result of economic hard times, too, and violence was used as justification to impose ‘law and order’ in the WWII European Axis powers. There is a strong latent streak of fascism[10] in the United States, too, which can easily become strongly activated with a little more urging. Such armed militias are used to great effect in color revolutions (PDF download) overseas, as we saw with the 2014 Maidan coup in the Ukraine. Such revolutions depend upon armed militias, supported by factions within the government who stand to gain power by destabilizing the populace with civil unrest and violence. Such revolutions also depend upon people from the general populace dissatisfied with the direction of their nation and easily swayed by promises of change, better conditions, greater freedoms, etc. Such promises, however, are rarely kept if the attempted revolution succeeds. The Ukraine is a good example of the latter.

The question arises, given the preceding, is if the violence is being stoked behind the scenes in the US in order to bring in ‘law and order’, which would in effect be another step toward fascism. The riots in the US in the ‘60s and ‘70s produced a backlash and reaction to the liberalism of those decades and perceived increasing decadence in American society. I was living there then and witnessed it. It led to the rise of the conservative movement in the US and Reagan, which was then co-opted by more reactionary factions. All told, America at the grassroots is not especially progressive, especially considering the nation’s Cancer Sun, though it can be when conditions call for more progressive measures to be undertaken. I have also witnessed, as the years pass, that friends, colleagues and acquaintances who were once considered progressive became more and more conservative, even reactionary, as time passed. Call it the ‘generation gap’. It is not just my perception. Look at the general age of the protesters and rioters in the United States, for a clue.

Having family and property tends to make one lean more conservative politically, to be more cautious, and more inclined to support state security. People with families will think twice about putting their families at risk in support of an unpopular cause. This is what we are seeing in the United States. Most people do not support the violence. Politicians who allow it to continue are thus viewed as weak, ineffective and not supportive of communities. This is a real problem for the Democratic mayors, city officials and governors in states where such violence is taking place. Biden is particularly wishy-washy on the matter, and that could well cost him the election. If I had to make one prediction about the election in the US, it would be this: If the violence does not end within the next weeks and continues or increases to November 3^rd, Trump will win the election, hands down. There is plenty of historical precedent. Any illusions that Trump’s record in office will see him ousted are best abandoned.

Gun owners in the US go on about their 2^nd Amendment rights, thinking the right to bear arms has to do with defending against a tyrannical government. At the same time these same people have apparently not looked into historical precedents, nor looked at how revolution is fomented in other nations, not then realizing that in their fervor to defend that amendment they can be co-opted in order to impose a government that is more fascistic, more intrusive on people’s privacy and all the while removing people’s civil liberties. It is quite an ironic turn of affairs, looking at it from the outside. Personally, I have no problem with people responsibly owning forearms. The problem comes when fanaticism takes over, when beliefs are bent toward reactionary sentiments and when the law of the land is twisted toward special interests. That is what we see taking shape in the US.

Belarus: Finally, regarding color revolutions, civil unrest and the like, we have yet another example at an attempt at such a revolution in Belarus. Typically, a color revolution are launched on the perception that an election in such and such a nation has been rigged and is fraudulent. Sometimes they are. Such was probably the case in Belarus. At the same time, though, Lukashenko probably won the election, too, despite what we are told, though hardly by 80% as he claimed. I will have a blog post on the matter shortly so we won’t go into detail here, save for a couple of points relating to the previous discussion on Kenosha. There will be no revolution in Belarus. The attempt has already failed. The Navalny ‘poisoning’ is an indicator that it has failed, in an effort to smear Russia. But why did it fail, aside from the fact that the interested parties in the EU and the US failed miserably in their assessment of the situation?

Firstly, there were no armed militias in Belarus. The protesters were said to be ‘too velvet’. That assessment alone tells us quite a lot about who was backing the revolution. Secondly, Lukashenko has the full support of the police and armed forces. This is why the attempted coup in Venezuela has failed and why similar attempts in Iran and Syria have failed. Thirdly, there is not widespread opposition to the style of government in Belarus. The people have a decent standard of living, they have jobs, they are well educated and they are able to pass freely between Russia and Belarus for work, due to a little item called the Union State Treaty. This was the single biggest factor, and the fourth reason as to why the attempted revolution has failed. Putin has stated categorically that there will be no foreign interference in the affairs of Belarus. And lastly, the Belarusians saw what happened in the Ukraine in 2014 and want no part of that in Belarus. Belarus will now slowly return to the Russian Federation over the next few years, with Lukashenko being ‘retired’. Belarus will be better off for it, given its culture and history.

In closing, as the pandemic slowly begins to pass, hopefully not to return, our attentions turn to more pressing matters of concern – economies, shifts in the world awareness, the quickening of human perception and the need for sounder government in the West. If we do not need sounder government, then why are we seeing large protests and riots? People don’t protest if they like their government. Every year the Virgo interval reminds us of our general health, or nations’ health and what is needed for healing in the individual and world scale. There is plenty of need for it these days. What we hear of culture wars in the US is actually more in the nature of class warfare, given the response, or lack of it, in the US administration’s handling of the pandemic and the nation’s workers. It is a similar state of affairs in other nations, too. The pandemic is passing. What will come next? When the public is no longer distracted by health news, their attention will turn toward what they have in their pockets, whether or not they still have a job or a roof over their heads and the safety and security of their families and futures. Once the election is done in the US many people may think things will change. They won’t. Real healing for a nation begins with its people. Just as a mother sacrifices herself for her children, so too should governments do for their people. We return to the quote at the start of this letter and ask the question – Are we being properly served with our present system? If not, then change is on the table. May healing come quickly.

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