THE Aquarius Festival 2021

THE AQUARIUS FESTIVAL 2021

28 JAN 2021

© Malvin Artley

Greetings Everyone! And welcome to the New Year. This year began here in northern Italy with a good fall of snow, which we have not seen in several years. Oh, we have had snow, mostly in the surrounding mountains, but only piffling amounts here in the city. I have always enjoyed the snow, the silence when it first falls, the beauty of the landscape, the bite in the air, and our dogs enjoy playing in it. We never got much in the way of snow where I grew up in North Carolina. We got even less, as in never, when I lived in South Australia. So for me, snow is like a blessing. The mountains here now look like Pandoro covered in icing sugar, and the skiers are enjoying a meter-thick base on the ski slopes nearby. We aren’t locked down here in Italy, our COVID numbers  dropping quickly, so people are free to go skiing.

We took our dogs out for a walk at dusk the other day along the path to the Bici Grill, which runs along the Adige River. We hadn’t been there in a while since we moved house. The walk is quite scenic, with mountains in view everywhere you turn, the odd trains to and from Trento rattling past on occasion, the vineyards bare of grapes, waiting for the spring thaw and the grapes for the next year’s vintage. We are down to four dogs now, with our latest, Dante, having passed on to his next animal experience just prior to our sunset walk. He was 18 y/o and a large dog and finally just tired out. His bed is now occupied by the others, but his presence in the house lives on – nostra ‘guerriero’ – our old warrior. Even up to the end, he still tried to eat, the elementals that made up his body still trying to hang on, but he was just too weak and finally lapsed into a coma. So, our walk that evening was reflective. It’s always sad to lose an old friend, but we are happy he is free now. He had a hard life prior to being with us.

The mountains at dusk are suggestive, particularly in the winter. The setting sun first casts shadows on the mountains and shines out on the mountain peaks, like torches signalling the passing day. Then as the sun sets further, white light turns to orange, it slowly creeps to the top of the mountain, and then blinks out, leaving silence and the grey forms of the mountains in the background. It is suggestive of the stages of death and dying as described in Buddhist texts – white appearance, red increase and black near-attainment. We returned to the car at the stage of black near-attainment, after sunset in other words. The dogs had decided they had enough. It was time to eat. There were dogs and humans to feed and articles to write, which brings us to the present.

Showtime: This year has already started on a restive note, with protests in Europe over the lockdown measures in the midst of soaring numbers of COVID-related numbers of deaths and positive tests. There are protests in Russia over Navalny’s imprisonment because he violated his parole, more trouble-making by American NGOs in Russian affairs. The Western press would have us believe that Russia is about to collapse and Putin is about to retreat to his billion-dollar mansion, where he will swim with Siberian tigers. That story is a little bit inflated, methinks. The Italian PM, Conte, has tendered his resignation after a Parliamentary coup was about to unseat him. He headed off a worse outcome by doing so. Never mind he guided Italy through the pandemic better than many Western European nations. Ex-PM Matteo Renzi, who attended the last Bilderberg meeting, was at the forefront of the assault. There are rumblings of change in Europe.

We were held right to the edge of our seats in the US with the political show that never ends. In the US we have a new administration, populated by old familiar, smiling faces, those faces lighting up every time there is a regime to be changed. On the other side, there is a real opportunity for positive change on the domestic front, should we Americans decide to push it through. There is rage against the financial and tech machines in the US, with the latest Game Stop story. I’ll have more on that shortly in another post, reflections on the US Pluto return. On the foreign front for the US, it will be business as usual, unfortunately. The evil Russian asset ‘Agent Orange’ has been summarily dismissed after a riot at the Capitol – so the liberals would have us believe. He has been replaced by a Chinese operative, one ‘Beijing Biden’, also evil, or so the so-called conservatives would have us believe. China interfered in and stole our election via Biden, didn’t you know? But the show must go on, right? And the tech industry has generously removed all reference to the orange terror, making the liberal world safe from unseemly conduct in the cyber world. I will be covering that, by the way, in my next letter. Ordinarily, with Uranus ruling the orthodox Aquarian expression, we would be talking about tech in this letter, since Uranus rules tech. There is quite a bit to say about that.

Sarcasm aside, the preceding news about Conte is true, the rest being full of hysteria and hyperbole, replete with generous doses of misinformation and wishful thinking. The truth be known, what we just witnessed in the United States was the overthrow of an agenda by an oligarchy to do away with the last vestiges of regulations and ‘government interference’ in financial affairs, which the Republicans had been spearheading. This has been replaced with another initiative by other oligarchs, which is to re-form and repair the alliances (an Aquarian theme) that would be needed to ‘counter’ certain Asian nations (which include the largest part of Russia, land-wise). It is too little, too late to do so. The East is moving on, and Europe is beginning to see the light. We will cover all this in the Chinese New Year letter, out before the 12^th (the start of the lunar New Year), which sees the start of the year of the ‘Ox on the Road’. So, for this letter, we leave geopolitics aside and focus instead on Aquarius and later something related to and uniquely Aquarian: the elemental lives.

Aquarius: Aquarius has been termed the sign of the world server. Its symbol is the water-bearer, pouring forth the water of wisdom to thirsting souls. It is one of the ‘human signs’, meaning it is represented by a human being. This is true of all the air signs – Gemini (the twins), Libra (the minister of justice) and Aquarius, the water bearer. There are two other human signs as well – Virgo, the Virgin and Sagittarius, the archer, the latter in its present form. Thus, we have five ‘human’ signs in the zodiac, all representative of certain aspects of exactly what it is to be human. The air signs all speak of mental concerns, while the Virgin and the Balance are born from the same constellation, both being one, aeons ago, though separate in our present fifth root race. There is significance in that, which we will address later in the year.

In terms of human expression, Aquarius represents the human being motivated to be of service, this in its higher expression. It is the polar opposite of Leo, the most individual of the signs in the zodiac. As such, Aquarius thus represents the individual acting through and for the collective. The orthodox ruler of the sign is Uranus, its esoteric ruler being Jupiter, and the Moon being its ruler at the collective/Hierarchical level.[1] Aquarius thus expresses the Uranian features of interests in technology and new experiences, via Uranus, and expansive presence and being an ‘everyman’ via Jupiter. And there is a peculiar interest generally untouched upon in the usual consideration of the sign via the Moon, which we will outline shortly. The combination of Uranus and Jupiter in the higher expression of the sign gives Aquarians the drive to the great humanitarian impetus for which the sign is known. There are two particular emphases on Aquarius we will address in this letter, and those revolve around a continuation of our investigations into Buddhism and esoteric astrology, continued from the Capricorn letter, and of the particular Hierarchy with which this sign is connected, known as the ‘blinded lives’ or the ‘Baskets of Nourishment’. These are the tiny lives that make up our very bodies and around which the dense material accretes that we see as a body. These are directly responsible for all the automatic functions of a body and will be important when we discuss the animal body and disease, later.

Occult Aquarius: In our last letter, we saw the now-initiate as the alpinista, ascending and descending the mountain – the central channel of the spinal column – in response to the needs of those requiring the services of the initiate. This is the 3^rd path in Buddhism, the Path of Seeing, or ‘The Very Joyful’. Once the bliss of initiation has been achieved, the ‘rich young wo/man’ enters a cycle of going and coming, in and out of physical consciousness, bringing spiritual wisdom through to the physical plane from the mountain peaks in service to those in the plains below, the latter realms a.k.a. worldly existence. As one approaches the Aquarian experience and exhausts the possibilities of the 3^rd Buddhist Path, one enters into deeper and deeper meditative experiences and successively leaves the world behind. Abstraction becomes more the norm rather than the exception. In Buddhist practice one enters into long solitary retreats at this stage, lasting years, and which would seem to be the antithesis of service. The 4^th Path, the Path of Meditation, is engaged. This path is commenced on the 3^rd Ground, known as ‘The Stainless’, because there are no longer any stains from the ten non-virtues of the body, speech and mind, even in the dream states.

The 4th Path covers the 2^nd through the 7^th Buddhist Grounds, of the Grounds and the Paths (sa lam in Tibetan) and ends in the Great Renunciation, known in Christian mysticism as the Crucifixion initiation. This 4^th Path is the most arduous of all the Buddhist paths, because it leads ultimately to liberation from all personal karma, thus all attachments to earthly life, and at its conclusion, to the end of all group attachments. The last word there is important, because what is actually meant there is the release of any form of personal sentiment, even to groups, which means of course, family lineages through our eons of lifetimes, our co-workers through the ages as well as old antipathies and so forth. Group work is entirely transformed in this phase. The Great Renunciation is even the renunciation of the mandate for reincarnation under the impress of karma. Reincarnation is ended in Aquarius, ultimately, and becomes instead incarnation by choice and the impress of group need, leading to another view of the esoteric motto of Aquarius: “Water of life am I, poured forth for thirsty men”.[2]

The natural path for the bulk of humanity is along the line of the bodhisattvas, expressing the ray of love/wisdom, the 2^nd ray. In that regard:

The bulk, however, of the world initiates climax their experience in Aquarius and become liberated world servers. They turn their backs upon all further progress for themselves in this cycle and on all satisfaction of their own spiritual aspiration and become carriers of the water of life to humanity, joining thus the ranks of the Hierarchy.[3]

This is represented for us in our now-familiar shamatha diagram by the monk emanating the two rainbow paths from the heart, riding the elephant (the completely pacified and directed mind) back toward the mountaintop and thus to humanity – the ‘thirsty men’ below. Those rainbow paths represent something different than what we would normally imagine, though, and point toward a practice that has its roots in Aquarius, yet which is fully engaged (if so chosen as a method) in Pisces – the path of ‘rainbow body’ as a means of final liberation. And that involves the ‘Baskets of Nourishment’ implicitly, and leads also to their liberation, an act of supreme service on the part of the initiate. We note as well that behind the elephant in the shamatha diagram is a large flame, representing the final processes of purification and the mighty effort to achieve the Great Renunciation. We will look at this process of rainbow body in the next letter.

In closing for Aquarius this time, this 4^th path involves the cultivation of perfect patience, of a superhuman type, the beginning of the real development of siddhis (superhuman powers), the perfection of samadhi and calm-abiding in meditation (it is not yet perfected at the 3^rd initiation/3^rd Path), supreme wisdom begins to manifest, attainment of nirvanic consciousness becomes possible (as in sustained), with resulting steadiness in meditative states for long periods of time, (as in weeks and months), with all this resulting in perfection of service and perfection of body. Aquarius, in its most occult manifestation, results in liberation from the wheel of life and death, with a corresponding ability to direct others toward that same goal, each according to their ability and karma. It is the true union of Jupiter and Uranus in action. It opens the door to the Hierarchy and installs one as a permanent member of the same, a member of the Christ’s cohorts, if such a term could be used. It is quite an extraordinary attainment, and is the destiny for all of us. For this, the Hierarchy is dedicated – the liberation of all sentient beings from the suffering of life and death. With these points in mind, we move on to the full moon.

The full moon took place on the 28^th of January 2021 at 19:16 UT. It was a so-called ‘wolf moon’. The Sun was partile Jupiter and conjunct Saturn, a most powerful expression, and square to Mars. It was also a joyful expression. In fact, this full moon will produce real results in service, as well as conflicts. The full moon axis is square the Mars/Uranus conjunction, which is now separating but still in orb, and thus forms one of the more powerful t-squares we have seen in a while. And in fact, the chart shows only conjunctions and squares with no ‘soft’ aspects between major planets. Underneath the surface of the Sun/Moon/Jupiter expansiveness, there is a note speaking of irreconcilableness or implacability, cunning and deceitfulness, and the tendency to cause harm to others secretly and unobtrusively, shown by Neptune semisquared and in the middle of the Mars/Pluto square. We see this already in the outrageous statements by a certain member of the US Congress and the implacability and irreconcilable nature of the Republican Party and the ‘Red-Blue’ divide in the US, for example. With these points in mind, we move on now to a topic that involves the ‘Baskets of Nourishment’ and one that is on everyone’s mind at the moment – the great vaccine debate.

Vaccines: the occult view: I have had several people ask me to comment on vaccines, since the subject is now one of the hot button topics in social media and one which has aroused great fear and suspicion in many members of the populace. I will say at the outset I have no medical training or any expertise in vaccines, but since people have asked, I feel obliged to offer what little I do know. What follows is not in any way to be taken as advice of any kind. People must follow their own best medical advice and conscience in these matters. What I am offering is my own experience and investigations. We’ll start with the more esoteric side of the question/debate and move on from there. Consider the following:

“What is the standing or value of inoculation or vaccination from an occult or esoteric standpoint?”  This question is often in the minds of healers as they ask the further question which is the real basis of their interest, “Does it affect the subtler bodies?  How?”

There is no occult standard or value in inoculation, any more than there is an occult standard or value in giving a hypodermic injection.  The entire question concerning serums and inoculations has been tremendously overemphasised by the so-called occult students.  The human body, at [Page 323] the present time, is the recipient of such a vast amount of substance, extraneously precipitated into the interior of the body, that the whole subject is of vaster import, yet of lesser importance, than people think.  Such is the paradox which I present to you.  Wrong food of every kind, the inhalation of smoke down the centuries, the breathing in of tainted air, the taking of medicines and pills and tablets of every possible description, the rifling of the vegetable and mineral kingdoms in search of their ingredients, and the injection of mineral substances, of drugs and of serums, till one wonders sometimes at the remarkable assimilative powers of the human frame.

In all fairness, however, I would remind you that, as far as the physical well-being of humanity is concerned, these methods and techniques of the West have resulted in the production of a healthier race than in the East, in a very definite prolongation of human life, and in the elimination of many dire physical scourges which used to take their toll of humanity.  This I, an Oriental, do admit.  I have stated the situation thus in order to expand your view from the specific to the whole.[4]

Bolding and italics added for emphasis. The last bolded point is of particular interest to us here, and immediately calls into question much of the fearmongering and misinformation around vaccinations that we now have presented to us across various platforms. I fully expect comments, pro and con, on what is to follow. As with politics these days, there appears to be little in the way of middle ground on the subject of vaccinations. So we continue with the occult side of the question:

“Most of the objections made by doctors with occult tendencies are based unconsciously on a feeling that there [Page 324] should be higher methods of controlling diseases in man than by injecting into the human body substance taken from the bodies of animals.  That is most surely and definitely correct, and some day it will be demonstrated.  Another reaction on their part is one of sensitive disgust, again largely unrecognised.  A more vital objection should be based on the suffering entailed on the animals providing the vaccine and other substances. [Modern methods of vaccine manufacture have overcome much of this, with live animals having been almost wholly removed from large scale production of vaccines. Animals are still used for testing.]

The effect on the inner bodies is practically nil, and far less than the diseases themselves.  Herein lies for the future a most interesting question.  How far do diseased conditions in the human body carry through and affect the inner bodies from the structural angle?  It is a question I do not intend to answer.  The controlling of modern disease is being handled by modern medicine primarily in three ways:  through the science of sanitation, through preventive medicine, and through inoculation.  These are the lower correspondences to methods of activity emanating from the astral plane, from the etheric levels, and from the earth itself.[5]

… The science of prevention (both of diseases and of death) is the precipitation on earth of certain modes of procedure on the etheric plane whereby forces are correctly used and certain destructive agencies are controlled and prevented from going the destructive way.

The science of inoculation is purely physical in origin and concerns only the animal body.  This latter science will shortly be superseded by a higher technique, but the time is not yet.”

Real help or snake oil?: These last comments set the tone for what follows, and concern the ‘blinded lives’ that make up the animal body. The final bolded point tells us that vaccination will stay with us into the foreseeable future. ‘Shortly’ can mean centuries, or decades at the very least. There is one more piece to add before we move on to homespun wisdom and experience:

“Medical science and surgical skill have advanced by leaps and bounds—so much so that what is today known and somewhat grasped is of so vast a nature and so intricate in its scientific and therapeutic aspects that they have given rise to specialists—to those who concentrate upon a particular field, and who therefore deal only with certain conditions of ill health and disease, thereby attaining much skill, knowledge and frequent success.  All this is good, in spite of what cranks and people with a pet method of cure may say, or even those who have no use for the medical profession and prefer some cult or some of the newer approaches to the problem of health.”[6]

To vaxx or not: With the last bolded point, one can almost feel the cringes of anti-vaxxers. I will state at the outset I am not an anti-vaxxer, nor am I necessarily pro-vaccine. Vaccines have their place. On the anti-vaxx side, I refuse to take flu shots, for instance, and for several reasons. I am rarely sick and even then have only had the flu a few times throughout life, with no ill aftereffects. I see no benefit in taking the flu jab for myself, so I decline it. However, I have needed to have other vaccines for travel, for instance, such as hepatitis vaccine when traveling to other countries. I have no problem with that and really could do without contracting hepatitis, so a jab was in order. It depends on one’s life circumstance, and as the saying goes, better safe than sorry.

There appears to be as much an anti-science view these days as there is a faith in scientific progress. On the one side, medical science has advanced so far in the past century and a half as to be astounding in its efficacy. I would not want to go back in time and have to live without it. Access to medical care is now seen as a fundamental human right in society, as it should be. That is my opinion, yes, and no doubt it is shared by most readers. But we can also see two sides to science – one dedicated to careful study and long-term testing and experience, and another geared toward fast and maximized profit. It is the latter which has caused so much disbelief in hard science to arise, because discoveries are rolled out too quickly, as in trying to get published first or to find industrial and financial reward quicker than the other guy, before public safety is adequately assured. Even then, misfortunes do happen, and unfortunately, those events are seized upon by people and powerful interests to enforce their own agendas. All this has given rise to various beliefs about every aspect of science across human experience, and we see that in the polarization so much in evidence today, enforced by the echo chambers of our beloved, or perhaps now reviled, social media. “One of the most constant characteristics of beliefs is their intolerance. It is even more uncompromising as the belief is stronger. People dominated by a certitude cannot tolerate those who do not accept it.”[7]

COVID-19 vaccines: With all this in mind, now we can get to the crux of what I have been asked to comment upon: When asked what my view on vaccination is, what people are really asking me is, would I take the current vaccines available for COVID-19 or not, and why? The simple answer is – it depends. Firstly, there is tried and true practice in the science of finding and producing viable vaccines, of which I would have no problem taking, if need be. There are many reasons for needing one – pre-existing conditions that may prove to be problematic if one were to contract the virus (I am not interested in any comments as to whether or not viruses are real or if one can ‘catch a virus’.), state regulations that would preclude travel without proof of immunity (that is already on the horizon for air travel), or if one’s fear of the virus is just too overwhelming. The latter is the reason so many people get flu vaccinations, though I have never taken the jab for the flu myself. Secondly, there are the vaccines that have been rolled out that are still experimental, and as ‘luck’ would have it, are more expensive than those produced by the tried and true methods. With all of the vaccines thus produced, there is scaremongering and misinformation on all sides, and those factors relate to geopolitics and profit motive, none of which is helpful or advances the cause of humanity.

Really!?: Just after the lockdown ended here in June and the vaccines had begun the phases of testing, I was asked by a family member if I would get the jab. The American and Russian vaccines were the only candidates at that point. My answer was that I would take the Sputnik-V vaccine if given a choice. This person’s response was quite revealing: “You would?! Really?! You would trust a Russian vaccine over an American one?!” This person’s response showed several things, and these are not criticisms, but observations over the years – ignorance of Russia, a lifetime of anti-Russia conditioning and propaganda and ignorance about the vaccines and how they are manufactured. The same would be true of the Chinese vaccines and the response from most Westerners would likely be very similar to that of my relative. And before we go further, it is worth noting that neither Russian nor Chinese vaccines are likely to be available in the United States, ever, or for that matter anywhere in North America. That is the geopolitical position. The American vaccines, however, are available across the West, as one might expect. The Sputnik vaccine is available currently in Serbia and Hungary, and is very likely to be made available across the EU in short order.

My reason for choosing the Russian vaccine, if I had to and had a choice, relates to tried and true practice in vaccines, not to any favorability towards Russia, nor any antagonism towards the US, though I like many readers have a certain antipathy toward the Big Pharma-Insurance-Industrial complex that controls the medical system in the US. That brings us to the various types of vaccines. There is a Wikipedia page that outlines them as well as where they are being rolled out. I will say as an American, too, when it comes to matters of health I don’t buy into any jingoistic patriotism about ‘going American’ when it comes to vaccines. I have used homeopathy, Chinese medicine and acupuncture in the past to good effect on several occasions, too. Depending on the condition one is seeking to address, one’s options should not be limited by nationality or prejudices.

Tried and true practice in vaccines for viral conditions, such as COVID, relies on using a whole virus, either dead, harmless or weakened, as a vector (transmitting agent) to stimulate an immune response in the body. The human body is an animal body, and it responds to such stimulus. The method just described has been best practice for decades and has proven its effectiveness. There are three main COVID vaccines which use that method – Sputnik-V, the Chinese vaccines and the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine. The AstraZeneca vaccine is being heavily politicised at the moment with conflicts between the UK, EU and Germany. Germany, whose company BioNTech is partnered in the Pfizer vaccine has raised questions about the vaccine’s effectiveness in people over 65. One has to wonder how much, if any politics is in their assertion. There would appear to be some efforts there to prevent competition on the continent with the Pfizer vaccine, as well as spilled milk over the UK supplying their vaccine to the EU. That aside, almost all of the Chinese vaccines use the inactivated (dead) SARS Cov-2 virus as the vector – the very virus that causes COVID. None of the vaccines use live coronaviruses. The others use a harmless adenovirus vector. Adenoviruses can cause everything from the common cold to severe illnesses. Johnson and Johnson has just produced a promising adenovirus vaccine that needs only one dose. It will be produced for Europe in Spain. The adenovirus COVID vaccines use harmless vectors. The American vaccines, on the other hand, are a different animal.

mRNA and concerns: The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are modified RNA (modRNA) vaccines that are encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles. MRNA vaccines do carry risks for certain people, though those have been downplayed by the media. There have been reports of severe reactions to those vaccines in a comparatively minute number of cases, as in anaphylactic shock. This has largely been reported with the Pfizer vaccine. The Moderna vaccine has caused very few severe reactions in comparison, as in a total of 4 in one million. That is on par with severe reactions to any vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine has caused concern for because of the nanoparticles it uses. This is currently being investigated. And that brings us to the concerns we have with these COVID vaccines, especially the American ones:

• They have been rushed through (all of them, in every nation) to address the pandemic and to get nations back on their feet economically. This has raised suspicions that Big Pharma in the US has done this solely for a profit motive. Vaccines normally undergo years of testing.
• The method used in the American vaccines is relatively new, which has not undergone the kind of long-term trials and double blind studies normally subjected to vaccines.
• The US has removed indemnity for the manufacturers for any problems encountered with their vaccines, which has led many people to suspect we are all being used as guinea pigs in a huge experiment.

These points being made, millions of people in the US and EU have received these jabs without any problems thus far. There are fears about the nanoparticles used in the Pfizer vaccine as in being used for tracking and identification, fears that the mRNA will alter our own DNA, that the vaccines are being rolled out as a method of population control and so forth. These latter concerns defy common sense. To start, the surest way to wreck a nation’s economy is to kill off its populace. That wouldn’t suit any oligarch, to my knowledge. The nanoparticles used are biological and do not transmit anything resembling a chip in a bank card, for instance. And when the pandemic has passed, who is to say these mRNA vaccines will not be a viable and quick way to counter any future such pandemic? The speed of science has been both a blessing and a concern. However, in emergencies, there have been other instances where vaccines have been developed and distributed at short notice. We don’t hear about those. Why are the COVID vaccines any different in that regard? There is always fear around something new. The indemnity around the American vaccines is until 2024, so we have a three year period to see if there will be any ill effects from them. And if they work swimmingly and the world moves on from the pandemic, what then? Well, we have another tool we can use in our efforts to bring an end to another suffering of humanity, until they are superseded by a higher technique, mentioned in the preceding quotes.

An ounce of prevention: In the meantime, we have all heard the saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” at least if we are American. It applies to health as much as anything, though the original saying has been attributed to firefighting. If you have fears about the vaccines, the best thing is to prevent getting an infection in the first place, or if you do get one, to greatly diminish its effects. That requires a good immune system. It requires feeding our own ‘Baskets of Nourishment’ properly. Again, we have the occult prerequisites for that:

“…diseases are due to two basic causes:  One is the close interplay between people, living under modern conditions, and the massing of people into cities and towns; the other is the age of the soil upon which man lives (a fact little recognised or considered), for it is deeply impregnated with the germs and the residue incident to past ages.  The immunity of man is an amazing matter, could you but realise it; he resists and throws off constantly and continuously every kind of disease—those which are the result of contact with others, those which are prevalent in the very atmosphere at every time, those which are latent within his own bodily organism, and those which are inherited and to which he has a constant predisposition.  Man’s fight for health is ceaseless and unending, ranging all the way from ordinary fatigue and tiredness (plus the universal tendency to take cold), to mortal disease, ending in death.

To the trained occult observer, it is as if humanity—as a whole—is walking partly in a dense shadow which engulfs the race, and some part of which involves an area of the body of every human being.  One of the aims of the New Age will be “to lighten this shadow and bring people out into the fitness of true health.”

Bolding added. The first bolded point gives reason for social distancing during an epidemic, which slows the spread of infection. The third bolded point is of real interest to us here and leads into the next consideration – the strength of the body in its efforts to stay in health and throw off disease. Part of immunity relates to exposure, with development of immunity via antibodies. There is wisdom in letting children play in the earth, building tolerance and resistance, for instance, which exposes them to the ancient taints – hopefully not too much, though. The second part of immunity relates to what we take into our systems. What follows is related to the path of purification leading to initiation, but it also relates to the body in general:

“Careful judgment shown in the choice of food, wise refraining from too heavy eating, and a little pure good food perfectly assimilated are all that a disciple requires.  You ask what foods?  Milk, honey, whole wheat bread, all the vegetables that contact the sun, oranges (above all, oranges), bananas, raisins, nuts, some potatoes, unpolished rice, and may I again reiterate, just as much of all the above as to insure activity.

By cleanliness.  Much use of water, externally and internally, is vitally required.

By sleep.  This should be always between the hours of ten in the evening and five in the morning, and as much as possible out of doors.

By sunshine.  Contact with the sun should be much sought after, and the vitalisation that comes through its rays.  The sun kills all germs and frees from disease.

When these four requirements are attended to adequately a definite process of elimination proceeds, and in the course of a few years the whole physical body shifts its polarisation gradually up until ultimately you will have a body composed of atomic subplane matter……This may take several incarnations, but it should be borne in mind that at each fresh incarnation a body is taken of the exact quality (if I may so put it) as the one previously discarded at death.  Hence time is never lost in building.”

There is so much we could examine here, but the bolded points are of particular interest. And it goes without saying that the preceding are general statements and have to be suited to the individual. Much would depend, for instance, on the latitude at which a person lives, temperature considerations, plant growth and food availability (if one feels the need to eat locally-grown foods), as well as a person’s own physical karma, which can be largely determined soon after birth these days, via DNA testing and so forth. There are some more important considerations to note.

Another pandemic: Starting from the top of the preceding quote, we may not recognize it as such,  but the world is currently undergoing another pandemic which has the capacity to affect humanity far into the future, as into future lives, and which really needs immediate addressing when it comes to being able to cure disease, to give resistance to disease and to enable the advance of humanity spiritually and physically. We speak here of the ‘Globesity’ pandemic, and it really is a disease – of desire, of greed and of economics. As it stands now in the US, for instance, it is cheaper to eat an equivalent amount of fast food than it is to buy whole food and prepare it oneself. This leads to several effects, not limited to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, a host of preexisting medical conditions, and not to mention problems with self-esteem, productive ability, social discord due to fat shaming and so on. And…it has contributed in no small part to the higher death rates from COVID among minorities in the US and to the pre-existing conditions that make COVID dangerous to many people. This is true also in other parts of the world, especially among developing countries.

People are eating too much, and on top of that, of the wrong types of food, or what we should call ‘food product’. The paragraphs quoted above are directed at people who are at various stages along the spiritual path, but they equally apply to humanity in general. Combinations of globalization, corporate influence over national legislatures, neoliberal economics and a lack of government oversight all contribute directly to the problem, and it is at a crisis point. Few people are talking about it. Grassroots movements are starting to address it, but a much wider public awareness and education is needed. Taxing the corporations who are driving these policies would help, too, which would drive up the prices of food products and thus force changes within the society. At the same time, economic disparities have to be addressed concurrently.

Fast food is addictive. And the difference is apparent as one goes from nation to nation. In Australia and the US (places where I have lived) there are virtually fast food stores at every corner. Sugary drinks are everywhere, and typically consumed with fast food. And you see the results in the populace. A large number of people are overweight or obese. Here in northern Italy, the opposite is true. There is not a single fast food outlet in the Rovereto city limits. A lone McDonalds can be found at the outskirts, well away from the city (zoning wouldn’t allow them in, though they tried hard). Some people here are a little over weight, but it is rare to see truly obese people here. The difference is that people tend to prepare their own food at home and they exercise more. It was primarily the elderly who were stricken with COVID here. In the US the situation is more diverse due to diabetes, for instance (and among other factors). COVID tends to hit diabetics hard, which goes to the point that a healthy lifestyle and proper food tends to protect against disease.

Then, there is the factor of sunlight, referring to the statement that it ‘kills all germs’. But this also goes to the foods that are touched by the sun – green, leafy vegetables and fruit. Tomatoes and zucchini are fruits, for instance, aside from what we normally call fruits. They are the ripened ovaries of plants, the very definition of a fruit. And these are all contacted by the sun, as are grains and nuts. Grains and nuts are a particular category of fruits, as they are the seeds produced from the ripening of plant ovaries. All fruits have one thing in common – they are the produce of flowering plants, the latter being the highest expression of the vegetable kingdom. Flowers produce perfume, the radiatory emanation of the plant kingdom.[8] The sunlight affecting the development of fruit produces alkaloids and antioxidants in plants, in addition to essential vitamins, all of which have protective properties against a host of diseases. The plant kingdom holds the secrets to our medicines. And as much as possible, these foods should be eaten raw to get the most benfit.

Food as medicine: Eating should be seen as a medical practice to insure health, aside from its enjoyment value. So, when we read the statement that the sun kills all germs, it refers also to what we eat, via the nutrients produced by food plants. Flowers also touch on another food product mentioned above – honey – which is produced by the bees who pollinate the flowers that lead to the fruits, etc., etc. Honey is also antiseptic, and ‘kills germs’. Cane sugar or sugar from corn syrup, as we find in most processed food, in contrast to honey leads to the production of bacteria, for instance, to decay and to disease states. It would pay all of us to learn more about the food we eat and why, because proper food intake also contributes in large part to immunity against disease, quite aside from advancing our spiritual development.

A final word on sunlight: The sun’s rays falling directly on the skin lead to the production of vitamin D, one of the essential vitamins. It is the only vitamin (to my knowledge) directly produced in the body by exposure to sunlight. It is an oil-based vitamin, like vitamins A, E and K, and as such is stored in fat. These are are all linked to healthy immune response except for vit. K. There are other factors in the body that lead to vitamin production within the human system, such as the gut microbiome, for instance, which produces vitamins B12 and K. Clearly, people who live above  the 37^th degree of latitude do not get enough vitamin D from sunlight in the winter. This includes virtually all of Europe and states above the southern states in the US – most of the collective West, in other words. And this is where the COVID crisis has been the worst, aside from India.

For people with darker skin living above the 37^th, winter is a particular problem with vitamin D, as it takes more sunlight to produce a commensurate amount in darker skin than it does with people of European descent. This is also likely a factor as to why COVID is more of a problem for minorities in the US. The amount of sun is likewise a problem for citizens of the UK, which receives markedly less sun per annum than Sicily, for instance. And for people who have to stay inside, vitamin D is not produced by sunlight coming through windows, as standard glass blocks UV light. The only glass that transmits it is fused silica glass, which is quite expensive. Supplementation with vitamin D is the only recourse for people who cannot get enough sunlight. Australians, except for Tasmania, have no problem in that regard, and it shows in their number of infections, which have been low.

Godliness, please: We have not covered water here, but cleanliness is essential to good health, especially the washing of hands and regular ablutions. Something as simple as washing one’s hands before eating can prevent ancient scourges, knowledge about which the monks in DK’s monastery could have benefitted (It wasn’t widely known in the region of Tibet at the time of Alice Bailey’s writings.). For most of us this goes without saying. It is part and parcel of good sanitation. It is also cleansing for the etheric body.

And do get some sleep: There is one more thing to add before we close this out, and that relates to sleep. The body repairs itself during sleep. It also releases cytokines during sleep, which is a big part of the immune system. Sleep is like a deep meditation for the body. It is also essential for a good immune system. The only time I ever get sick, for instance, is when I fail to get enough sleep. And that brings us to my own COVID story.

A COVID story: Parents with small children can relate to the lack of sleep, generalized fatigue and propensity to colds and irritating illnesses a lack of sleep can bring on. So, too, can a dying family member. Toward the end of November our ‘guerriero’, Dante, began his passage to the next world. He would wake us up constantly in the middle of the night, lamenting to be turned, as he could not right himself at that point. Needless to say, sleep was fitful and my wife and I were both tired. I knew what was coming, aside from Dante, and I doubled up on helps to immunity – zinc, extra sun, more than the usual citrus, etc. Regardless, on a Saturday, sitting at the kitchen table I felt the telltale signs of an approaching fever. A half-hour later I was in bed with a medium fever, whereas I had felt normal and ready to start the day before that. It struck quickly, and was unusual, in that there were no other symptoms, as in scratchy throat, runny nose, etc. In fact, it was the strangest fever I had ever experienced as to onset. On the day, Mars was on my horizon axis (for the astrologers reading this), showing a propensity to fever, and the trigger was a lunar transit across my ‘infection axis’ (Mars/Neptune midpoint). The fever passed as quickly as it came, in less than 24 hours – as fast as a lunar transit. Normally, I would have shrugged off such an event. And by the way, as much as it was offered to me while I was burning off the infection, I refused aspirin and the like because it lowers the fever. I let the body do its handiwork without ‘helping’ and drank hot drinks to help the fever along, as it wasn’t too high. I slept through most of it.

But as luck would have it, my wife works for the state. And because of regulations, she and I both had to be tested for the virus. So, off we went to our appointed testing and took the probe up the nose (a most unpleasant experience, feeling like a blowfly had been planted there afterward). Sure enough, within 24 hours my test result was positive (I’m told by medicos there is no such thing as a false positive test), my wife negative, but because of regulations, we were thereby confined to the house for 10 days, awaiting a further test. At the next test we were released from captivity, knowing now how home detention feels (it ain’t cinematic). The only aftereffect from the fever at the time was an itchy throat for a few days – or so I thought. Since then I have noticed a nagging fatigue, strange lingering indigestion and occasional joint pain. The worst for me, though, has been an inability to focus for long periods, which means that articles that normally would take a day to write now take 3 to 5 days, hence the delay with this letter, aside from the strong news cycle out of the US. What I am describing here is often reported with people who have had a mild case of this virus. In more severe cases, there is the phenomenon of ‘post-COVID long-haulers’. There is a video, worth taking the time to watch, about ‘long covid’ and current research into it by the British.

Long COVID recovery occurs in about 35% of people who develop mild symptoms from the virus, so this disease is not something a government wants to let rip through the populace to produce the holy grail of ‘herd immunity’. That said, my own experience is more of an irritating episode for me than one of any real debilitation. I’ll eventually push through it, as most people do. There are support groups for people experiencing long COVID.

There are a few points here to my little story. Firstly, I knew there was no indication of a major illness coming for me, knowing my own astrology, and what I experienced was not severe. It was very mild, in fact. The main symptom – fever – was over in less than a day. We know people here who have had fevers with this bug off and on for a couple of weeks. Secondly, there was no vaccine available here at the time, and even then I would have refused it, because I do not fall into a high-risk group. This latter point is a major consideration with this virus. Thirdly, I made sure my immune system was otherwise strong, but certain situations, like a duty of care, can reduce its effectiveness. And as to following the protocols, we did. But dogs going out in the height of a second wave can bring this thing into the house. I could have picked up the virus anywhere, as in-laws had had the bug at the time, and they, too, had been careful. COVID was endemic in our region at the time. The main point here is that proper attention to one’s immunity – right nutrition, sunshine, cleanliness and proper sleep – in the midst of an epidemic, as well as the standard protocols will help one to avoid the worst aspects of any disease, and even to avoid it altogether. I am otherwise fine, by the way, no worries.

Fear or common sense?: There has been quite a lot of fear about this virus since the start, and not a little bit of skepticism about it, or various aspects of it. From the start I have advocated common sense and not to give into either the fear or the misinformation about COVID-19, but to take the best advice one can find after due study and diligence. And that advice goes right along with all of the quoted material we have cited here. With viruses, infections and disease in general, we are dealing with the elemental lives that make up our corpus, and they need their due attention if they are to serve the purposes of our incarnation. They are here to serve us, and we can either help or hinder their work. They are also agents of karma, or respond to it, much as we are and do. They are a good example of group service, of we could view them in that way. And their name – the ‘Baskets of Nourishment’ – go toward describing much of what we have discussed in this letter. There is one more quote to consider regarding vaccines and medicine, and then we will close this letter:

“The picture I have outlined of the psychological background of all diseases will be long in painting; in the meantime, the contribution of medicine is indispensable.  In spite of mistakes, faulty diagnosis and much error, humanity cannot do without its doctors, its surgeons and its hospitals.  They are urgently needed, and will be for centuries to come.  In this statement is no cause for discouragement.  Humanity cannot be brought into a condition of perfect physical health immediately, though correct psychological training from infancy will do much in the course of a few decades.  Wrong [Page 482] conditions have been long developing.  Modern medicine must become far more open-minded, more ready to endorse (after due professional proof) that which is new, which is in the nature of innovation and which is unusual.  The barriers erected by specialised medicine must come down, and the new schools must be sought, instructed and investigated, and finally be included in the orthodox ranks.  The new schools, such as those concerned with electro-therapy, the chiropractic schools, the dieticians who claim to cure all diseases through right foods, and the rather eccentric naturopaths, plus many other cults and schools, must not be so arrogantly sure that they have the whole story, that their approach is the only one or that they have a universal cure-all which is unique and definitely sure.”[9]

In concluding this long answer to a simple question – What are my views on vaccines? – my own view is to trust experience over the naysayers. We have come at our present state of medical care through hard experience gained over centuries of health crises. If I were to find myself in a situation where I had to vaxx or not, being presented with a known difficult outcome if I didn’t, the choice would be easy – take the jab. And if I happened to be in a foreign country where Western vaccines were not available, I would have no problem with a Russian or Chinese vaccine, as is the case with billions of people now. Politics and prejudices be damned when it comes to matters of health.  And just to add a point, Chinese and Russian technology, research and manufacturing is world-class and first rate, at least on par with anything in the West. I have looked into it, and if you have doubts about Russian and Chinese capability, I invite you – or challenge you if that is your way – to investigate it. If you have traveled to a Southeast Asian nation for medical tourism, for example, you have probably received medication produced in China anyway. The same goes for Eastern Europe regarding Russia. So, would I take these jabs, any of them if need be? – yes.

Our interest here is in humanity and our collective health, putting aside all political affiliations, conditioning and prejudices, real and subconscious. And truth be known, one would probably have no problems with the American vaccines. I find it very dubious that we will all drop like flies in a year or two from getting the jab the American way or suddenly turn into walking zombies, or wear the mark of the devil under our skin. And this period could well mark a significant advance in vaccine technology. There have also been advances in treatment for COVID in other areas, too, witnessed by the better medical care people receive as we learn more about the disease. Of course, everyone has an opinion on such matters.

To jab or not to jab?: As to whether or not I will take the COVID jab in the future, given my  present experience with it, again it would depend. Under normal circumstances I do not feel the need for it, personally, despite what I am experiencing at present. I’ll be going for bloodwork and a general checkup in due course anyway. I’m overdue for it. It may turn out that what I am presently experiencing has nothing to do with the virus, being of ‘a certain age’. If I had to have the vaccine for travel (I have family in the US and friends in Australia), I would go ahead and have it if it were so mandated, as I did with the hepatitis vaccine. For the moment, I probably have antibodies anyway, though people can contract this disease twice. That gives us something else to think about, regarding vaccines. But for the vast majority of people, this disease is mostly a small or non-event. The problem is for people who are asymptomatic coming into contact with people who are at risk, hence the need for a vaccine. Probably the biggest takeaway form the whole saga is fear of the unknown, the deliberate bungling of the handling of this crisis across much of the West and the drive for profits and keeping the status quo in place behind all that. The oligarchs are soon to have their reckoning. Karma is real, and it is coming soon for the Western oligarchy. The pandemic has gone a long way toward revealing the ‘man behind the curtain’ (and here). People are paying attention now.

For now, then, I wish you all good health. Keep those immune systems humming. Do take proper precautions, but don’t be afraid of the virus. Knowledge is power, and we do have a measure of power over our own destiny. Our pathway to health is clear. And if you feel a need for the vaccine, it is doubtful you would experience ill effects from it. It may just save you from trouble down the road. Hundreds of millions of people stand with you in your decision should you get a shot in the arm, those having already received their version of the vaccine. As stated at the start, we will look at the emerging world situation in the Chinese New Year letter. But for now, stay safe, be well, stay informed. Our medicos are here to help. The oligarchs will meet their reckoning. Be at peace in these days. The winter is not so dark this year. 2021 will likely see the end of this pandemic as being of any great concern, and will soon fade into the background.

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