The Cancer Festival 2022

THE CANCER FESTIVAL 2022

13 JUL 2022

© Malvin Artley

Topics (linked to paragraphs): Cancer, the Crab Esoteric Cancer Psychism or intuition? The feat of reflection The full moon Uncomfortable questions The vultures are circling Cancerian nations Uganda’s golden moment Argentina Turkey, Finland and Sweden The NATO clown show The cycle of war The Ukraine sitrep Washington’s last tango Zugzwang War makes for clarity Peace on the horizon? Regime change? Dystopia? More regime change The problem with NO2 Sri Lanka In conclusion

Greetings Everyone!

We recently had some of my family over from the US for a visit. It is always a joy to see them. My nephew had been in Germany doing a month-long immersion in German studies, at the conclusion of which he decided to come to see us. My sister and his grandmother, not to be left out, decided they wouldn’t miss the opportunity to have a family gathering in Italy, now that the COVID restrictions are essentially passé here. That said, we are watching a new wave of it developing in Europe and the US over the summer. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, it would seem. Sarcasm aside, my family fell in love with northern Italy (and why wouldn’t you?), with tentative plans to return. We are expecting my brother here at some point. He was supposed to arrive with the rest of them, but kidney stones have a way of dampening one’s enthusiasm for a trip overseas. All things eventually pass, thankfully – another lesson in impermanence. My brother is fine now. Alas, the family is safe back at home in the US, but at least there are media to keep us all connected.

One of the things about having family scattered across large distances is the opportunity to keep abreast of goings-on in other parts of the world. I was most interested to hear first-hand news from North Carolina and the US in general. We will be examining aspects of that later on in this piece. And given that this letter coincides roughly with the July 4^th celebrations in the US, and given that the soul of Washington, DC is ruled by Cancer, there are some pointed items to delve into regarding the US and the West in general. That aside, one of the comments from my nephew was the fact of the difference in food prices between the EU and the US. He could not get over how much cheaper food was here, as compared to the US. One can still get a coffee and a brioche (croissant) for three euros here. I do so most mornings at the coffee bar across the street. It is one of life’s little pleasures. My family had a little trouble adjusting to the espresso coffee, as in being stronger than American coffee brodo, but they adapted. (Caffè Americano is espresso with water added.) It seems Italians like to be hit between the eyes by their coffee in the mornings. As a point of humor, for any traveler who doesn’t know, if one orders a latte here in Italy, one gets a raised eyebrow from the barista and a glass of milk. My nephew found out the hard way. He wanted a caffè latte. We knew better, but we let him experience it for himself. I went and got him an espresso to pour in his latte after the fact, much to his relief. Lessons learned. We all had a good laugh about it afterward.

Cancer, the Crab: All this talk of family brings us to our subject at hand – the sign Cancer – which as luck and destiny would have it, has rulership over family, among a great many other things. Cancer is a ‘mass sign’^[1] and is said to be the doorway for souls into manifestation.^[2] It has special rulership over the growth and development of form, as in the bodies of all sentient beings as far as our planet is concerned. One of the defining objects in the constellation is the Praesepe Cluster (left, Messier 44) of stars – the Beehive (a beehive is a bee nursery, BTW) – a popular object of observation for amateur astronomers. The name Praesepe also has modern derivation in the Italian presepe, the manger scene, ubiquitous in the Christmas season here and across the Christian world. The meaning for esotericists is obvious, both for the sign and the cluster: It signifies the coming of souls into incarnation, as the soul is also the ‘Christ within’. Thus we have all the connections of the sign Cancer with motherhood, birth, incarnation, children, home and family. In addition, in China the Praesepe cluster was called ‘a pile of corpses’, alluding to the modern interpretation of the 4^th house (of which Cancer is the natural ruler), as being indicative of conditions at the end of life and the resolution of situations.

The Moon is the orthodox ruler of Cancer and it has general rulership over women and the care and nurturing of children, the house, home and family life. In mundane charts both the Moon and the sign rule the common people, distribution systems for the public, animal husbandry, emotions in general, farmers in general, the instincts, real estate, water transport and occupations, and water in general. We will be touching on many of the aforementioned points as we go along in this letter.

Esoteric Cancer: The constellation of Cancer transmits the 3^rd and 7^th rays^[3], active intelligence/activity and ceremonial magic/order, respectively. The sign Cancer also carries the 4^th and 6^th rays via its rulers, the Moon and Neptune, respectively.^[4] Cancer is said to be a sign not easy to understand, because of the difference between mass consciousness and group consciousness.^[5] The former refers to instinctive consciousness and the mass subconscious (the Moon has co-rulership with Pluto over the subconscious mind), while the latter refers to soul-consciousness (intuitional consciousness), once one can attain access to what is normally the unconscious mind. Humanity is said to be standing at the midway point between the two types of consciousness.^[6] In terms of astrological process and progress, it could be said that instinctive awareness in Cancer leads to self-consciousness in Leo, which in turn is the prelude to intuitional awareness in Aquarius, Leo’s opposite sign. This disparity in the recognition of the two types of consciousness among people is said to be at the root of much of the present world troubles (seen over time) and the clash of ideologies.^[7] The association of Cancer with the 3^rd and 7^th rays gives Cancerian types great facility with matter and material pursuits and the sign overall is associated with the myriad human forms we take as we reincarnate life after life until we reach the final stage wherein we, though dint of spiritual effort and practice, break the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Cancer, ultimately, has special rulership over samsara. The Cancer/Capricorn axis represents the ‘alpha and omega’ of human birth and evolution through samsara. We come into incarnation at the start of our existence as human beings via Cancer and leave samsara via Capricorn.

Esoterically, the Moon is a ‘blind’ or ‘veil’ for another planet. The Moon is not a planet and has no life force, though it does influence our globe through the tides and the lunar cycle, the latter governing the growth cycle via the waxing and waning of the Moon. The Moon, instead of transmitting an energy or subjective ray, brings that to us instead by reflecting the Sun’s physical rays. Forms veil and hide the reality (the soul within) and the Moon rules form. The planet the Moon veils is Neptune,^[8] which is the sign’s esoteric and Hierarchical ruler.^[9] What effect does Neptune have via Cancer? Neptune is connected with buddhi – pure reason/intuition/the soul on its own plane – and that gives us a clue to the path forward for any self-aware Cancerian native, having Cancer as either the Sun-sign, Ascendant or both.

Psychism or intuition?: Cancer is one of the signs known for its psychic sensitivity. Consider the following:

“It will now be clear to you why the Moon and Neptune, transmitting the energies of the psychic nature and of form, plus the tendency to achieve through the medium of conflict, rule Cancer so potently, both directly and indirectly. They control the form and the lower psychic nature and produce the battle ground (later to be transmuted into the burning ground) whereon these two “face in the final conflict” their higher correspondence, the soul and spirit, for matter is spirit at its lowest point and spirit is matter at its highest. In these words you have the true clue to the Cancer-Capricorn relationship.”^[10]

Psychic sensitivity can be a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing if it is used as a vehicle for service, when it is not an end in itself. It is a curse when it seizes upon one’s mindstream and controls one’s choices and life direction. Psychic sensitivity is a tool and when rightly used it can lead ‘from the solar plexus to the heart’, the latter being the seat of buddhic sensitivity, where the heart of the ashram beats and where the soul is contacted. Intuition is a heart center activity, whereas psychic sensitivity is of the realm of the solar plexus. One of the challenges for Cancerian types is to develop sensitivity, but not be controlled by it – to sense the needs of the masses, but not become identified with the mass and mob subconscious. This is a particular problem for nations which have Cancer as the personality. When that sensitivity becomes a controlling factor it is a potent source of all sorts of physical and emotional maladies, headaches being a very common manifestation, as well as physical debility resulting from emotional upsets and psychic intrusion by others. In truth, the astral body (the seat of lower psychism) should be rendered as a limpid reflecting pool, wherein impressions can be read, but unable draw the person into the dramas of others. One becomes the calm observer in such a case, instead of an actor in a drama. An easy way to tell if one can do such a thing is to watch an emotionally charged film and observe whether or not one is drawn into what one sees on the screen.

It is said that when Cancer and Pisces are both prominent in a person’s horoscope as in when the sun sign and Ascendant are one or the other signs, lower psychism (astral psychism, via the solar plexus) can be problematic. It is a combination that has the tendency to produce mediumship, which renders a person receptive, fluid and susceptible to astral influence. Psychism is frequently mistaken for intuition in the public domain. However, sensitivity to impression is to be developed as a spiritual capacity. The key is that the sensitivity thus developed does not become a controlling factor. One of one’s tasks on the path is to avoid becoming involved in the emotional charge of public opinion and simply observe. It doesn’t mean one should become passive. If a need is sensed, then one should act, but the key is not to become attached to the emotions of the moment and to outcomes. It is not as easy as it sounds. So, what we have with Cancer is the evolution from instinct, to intellect, to intuition. Esotericists know this as ‘moving the energy from the solar plexus to the heart’. And it is of interest to note the diaphragm represents the separation between the personality and higher Self that must be bridged via the antahkarana. It is one of the secrets of breathing exercises as a tool in meditation.

The feat of reflection: In closing this section, the Moon as ruler of Cancer in its higher expression represents the astral body as a reflector, behind which acts Neptune as the doorway to higher impressions (i.e. intuition). The illusory nature of the astral plane, where inversion is often a feature, where storms rage and where deception (especially self-deception) is common exhibits the lower nature of Neptune. But where mental clarity prevails and when the bridge of light (the antahkarana) connects the mind with the astral plane and the mind silences the storms, higher Neptune ushers us to the infinite sea of consciousness wherein we ‘sail on calm seas’ and experience the bliss of the soul on its own plane – the higher Self.

With the Cancer interval every year we are reminded of the need for stillness in our being, for communion with our higher Self, for detaching ourselves from the storms of public opinion, in the presence of our subjective group siblings in our ashramic ‘family setting’, in order to sense the immediate need of the masses of sentient lives with whom we are involved, and thereafter to act on that need. Above all, Cancer is a sign intimately connected with service to those who are vulnerable, who need spiritual nourishment, who come under our care. Moreover, the Cancer interval marks a period each year when we pay a visit to our spiritual home and spiritual siblings and commune together with our collective ‘family values’ – our modes of service, the qualities to be developed, the needs of the family, bringing to the table our ‘experiences abroad’ and our shared soul heritage. The challenge, the task and the service rendered by every Cancerian is to ‘bring more light into the house’^[11] by bridging the barrier in consciousness between the soul and the little self. The ‘diffuse light within form’,^[12] of Cancer is represented for us in the fuzzy, nebulous appearance of the Praesepe/Beehive Cluster of the constellation of Cancer. On closer examination with a telescope (a symbol for bridging consciousness and clairvoyant vision) that nebulous single spot of light becomes a stupendous cluster of bright stars – a thousand points of light – in a family of stars of common origin, a veritable lighted house in the heavens. With the preceding in mind, we come back to earth and see what is developing as the world need.

The full moon takes place on the 13^th of July this year at 18:37 UT (04:37 AEST on the 14^th). It is a supermoon, a ‘buck moon’ and the Moon is out-of-bounds astrologically. The Moon rules the masses and childbirth, along with emotions and public opinion, and when the Moon is out-of-bounds all matters lunar are accentuated. We see growing protests and strikes across Europe, especially in the UK and the Netherlands, for instance, with growing moves in the US for unionization. Those factors will receive a boost with the impulse from this full moon.

The Sun in the lunation figure is conjunct Castor and Pollux, in the constellation of Gemini. We discussed their significance in the Gemini letter, keeping in mind the constellations are about a full sign behind the astrological signs due to the precession of the equinoxes. This full moon thus brings the focus on the divide or union between the souls and personalities of nations, which Castor (personality) and Pollux (soul) represent. The same will apply to individuals, too, and thereby we get a chance to meditate on the strength or lack thereof of our connection with our higher Self at this full moon, as well as our connection with our inner (subjective) group or ashram.

The Moon is of particular interest at this full moon, since it rules Cancer, but is in the sign of its detriment (Capricorn) and is found in a symbolic degree of importance in this juncture of world events. The Sabian symbol for the lunar degree reads as follows:

• By accepting defeat gracefully, a general reveals nobility of character (22 Capricorn)

People immersed in the Western narrative of the conflict in Ukraine will take one meaning away from the statement, while better informed sources will take quite a different meaning. We will get to all that in a bit. But in the last letter mention was made of the Neptunian influence in that figure, as in disillusionment and falsehoods, and we are seeing a gradual but decided shift in Western reporting of the Russian SMO, with increasing calls for return to negotiations instead of pursuing a ‘win’ for Ukraine. It is worth reading the section on the full moon in that letter again, because it will have particular relevance in what will be outlined below. The wider world is quickly losing interest in Ukraine, in other words, with concerns about survival taking pride of place in many nations instead of trying to save Ukraine. Ukrainian flags are disappearing in the more affluent liberal neighborhoods across the West. And here in Rovereto, for instance, not a single Ukrainian flag is to be seen anywhere. People are instead too concerned with day-to-day matters and making ends meet. It is more important for most people to make it through the coming winter and the effects of inflation than to worry about a conflict 2,000 kilometers away. And there is growing resentment in the public about the way our politicians still go on about ‘supporting Ukraine’ when most people don’t see any moves toward bettering the lot of people in our own nations and instead sitting down at the negotiating table and ending the conflict.

To finish with the full moon figure, the Moon is conjunct the projected longitude of the star Dheneb (ζ Aquila), the ‘tail of the Eagle’. Aquila, the Eagle, was the personal messenger of Zeus and which carried his thunderbolts in its talons. Dheneb is said to be, “of the nature of Mars and Jupiter. It gives ability to command, liberality, success in war and beneficence.” The Moon is also conjunct Pluto, which gives an inclination to extremes in emotional expression, an open door to the subconscious and impulsive actions. This, coupled with the out-of-bounds Moon, is going to give us a very ‘interesting’ period in terms of humanity, with pitchforks being dusted off across the West and torches being readied for the confrontations ahead. Once the Ukraine situation becomes clearer people will begin to ask some very pointed questions of our leadership as to their responses to what transpired in Ukraine and why they are not addressing issues at home to benefit the public. Our clueless elites are going to be left wondering why the public is so up in arms. Enjoy the ride as a result, which brings us to our worldly matters for this letter.

Uncomfortable questions: Just what sort of uncomfortable questions are people going to be asking of our leaders in a few months’ time, once it is obvious Ukraine and Putin can no longer be held to blame for our domestic situation? Many people already recognize our own leadership is at fault for our financial hardships, that the Ukrainian conflict actually has little to do with inflation, for instance, that our problems were already on the increase as a result of our failed policies of the past years, especially regarding COVID. Why are fuel and food prices so high, for instance, when it is clear neither food nor fuel is scarce? COVID did not suddenly put us in this position, nor did Putin. There is plenty of oil and gas, for instance – except because of sanctions we have no access to it, at least affordable fuels. For the near future, high fuel prices are here to stay. There is a theory floating around that fuel has been made scarce in order to force us off fossil fuels, in order to institute the various ‘green’ initiatives and the WEF initiatives. This would especially appear to be the case in Europe and the US. Yet, oil companies are making record profits as we suffer at the pump. I don’t necessarily buy into the aforementioned theory. I would lay the causes primarily at the feet of mediocrity and corporate greed when it comes to our leaders. It is not only oil companies benefitting from supply chain shocks and sanctions, either. All the multinationals are doing very well, thank you, and to our diminishment. The price rises are being blamed on consumers and on wages being too high. (Read the whole transcript if you want to know what is actually happening with inflation.) I have a bridge to sell you if you believe consumers are causing inflation.

We could solve a lot of our financial woes by lifting sanctions on everyone. They are not effectively coercing anyone anyway, except at home. Please explain to us, august leaders, why the wealthiest families in the world are getting ever-wealthier while we, the general public, are told we have to bite the bullet, tighten our belts and stay the course in order to ‘save Ukraine’. So now, instead of sitting down to talk with Russia about its legitimate security concerns, we opt instead to burn coal and wood here in Europe to keep the power plants running and our homes warm this winter. I thought we live in the 21^st century and had moved past the need to burn coal and wood for energy. So much for climate change. It comes down to this: We are being manipulated and gouged – manipulated to accept bad policy so that a few people benefit and gouged by virtue of the very economic system that was supposed to lift us and the world all out of poverty. It’s profits over people, people.

The vultures are circling: What we are actually witnessing in the West is the final stage of collapse of the financial empire put in place after WWII by the financial interests in New York, London and banking interests in Europe – the West, in other words. The US in particular has had a free ride financially since the end of WWII. The apex of the empire started with the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of neoliberalism. It has run its course, is rotten from the inside-out and is collapsing upon itself, evidenced by the blowback of sanctions, the loss of influence by the West across the globe and with Ukraine representing the catalytic moment that brings it all down. We see no better evidence of the collapse of this system than the recent fall of the Tory government in the UK, with all their corruption rolled out for everyone to see. Who will replace them is yet to be seen, but a Labour government under Starmer would only be a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. From recent commentary by Craig Murray:

“All Empires end in ignominy. The United Kingdom is drawing to a close, not with a bang but with a fart…Acres have been written in the mainstream media about Johnson’s lying and personal immorality, but there is very little serious effort to understand why so many in society have been prepared to tolerate this. The answer is that neo-liberalism has succeeded in destroying societal values, to the extent that anti-social and even sociopathic behaviour no longer appears peculiar… It will take the break-up of the UK to jolt the great power nostalgia and silly patriotism that underlies so much of Tory support – and that of other right wing union jack fetishists like Starmer. Only the shock of the formal closure of the British state will precipitate the psychological change needed for England to become a modern, forward looking, middle ranking European state with concern for domestic and international fairness.”

The same applies to the United States, Biden and the presidents preceding him. The same also applies to many EU states. In fact, inflation is the highest in all the liberal democracies – the West, in other words – and all of them are headed for recession within the coming months, for the same reasons Murray was outlining. For the US, closure of its military bases abroad will be analogous to the breakup of the UK, and the breakup of the EU would be analogous to the UK as well. There is growing talk of secession in the US as a result of the economic and political policies of the last decades, and in fact the internal migration of people in the US can be seen as a sort of subjective secessionist movement. Here in Europe the collapse of certain governments in the autumn of this year are becoming increasingly possible – the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France, for example. We should take a look at the Cancerian nations at this point, because they are indicative of what is happening across the Western world.

Cancerian nations: We start with two nations with Cancerian souls, and they happen to be in the news now – Argentina and Turkey. Holland and Scandinavia are in the news, too, with their Cancerian personalities. New York and Tokyo also receive emphasis this month, with Cancer as their astrological synthetic expression. Washington, with its Cancerian soul, has already been mentioned. However, the Washington/New York axis is behind many of the events going on with the aforementioned nations. We start with Argentina, because it will be a key to what happens in South America over the next few years, along with Brazil, even though Brazil is presently aligned firmly with the neocons in Washington and the neoliberals in New York. If one has been keeping up with wider international news, Argentina is important because it was once a neoliberal bastion in South America. It was also a nation where the neoliberal and IMF policies all went horribly wrong for a variety of reasons, but mostly because of endemic corruption and American meddling.

In March this year, in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine and after two years of COVID restrictions and disruptions, the government of Alberto Fernandez and his Finance Minister Martin Guzman renegotiated a $48 billion debt owed to the IMF. It was a bitter pill for Argentinians and the final straw after years of neoliberal policy. Guzman has since resigned. Then, something happened, prompted by soaring inflation and a lack of fuel due to supply chain shocks. Oil prices have risen steadily for the past two years, putting paid to the notion prices are due to Putin and the Russian SMO in Ukraine. That something that happened? – Argentina, along with Iran, applied to join the BRICS initiative. Brazil is already a member. If approved, Argentina’s and Iran’s membership would produce BRICSIA, and a mighty trading bloc which would compete with the SWIFT system, bypass the IMF and most importantly, bypass the US dollar as the reserve currency. One can almost feel the collective shivers up the spines of the Wall Street and European banking interests. Argentina, if it successfully pursues this path, will become the next ‘autocratic’ government and its ‘human rights’ record will come under intense scrutiny, like we may be about to see in Uganda.

Uganda’s golden moment: This topic is a slight digression from our main topics, as we do not know Uganda’s rays or astrology, but it is worth mentioning. Uganda’s independence chart, on 9 Oct 1962 at midnight, gives Cancer rising. In Uganda, where gold reserves worth an estimated 12 trillion dollars have just been discovered, we may be seeing one of Africa’s hotspots developing. For those readers who don’t know, Uganda sits atop the upper half of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake and one of the sources for the Nile River. It also sits atop Rwanda, a tiny landlocked African republic where the UK’s Priti Patel and Boris Johnson had plans to send many of the UK’s ‘boat people’, to highlight another relevant issue. The UK had struck a deal with the Rwandan government for the transfer. The ECHR put a stop to the plan, at least temporarily. The plan would target men, primarily, would break up families and would place people in unfamiliar cultures, probably with few if any rights. If memory serves, there was a little matter of a genocide in Rwanda not too many years ago, too. Rwanda does not have a particularly stellar human rights record, either. The plan is widely opposed. It is modelled on Australia’s offshore detention system. And to add insult to injury for those people risking their lives to seek asylum, Ukrainian refugees would probably be excluded from the plan, and the boat people would be unable to return to the UK. Is there racism there in the plan? The reader can decide. But we digress.

Uganda is going to be an interesting development to watch. Its president, in power for 36 years, is not particularly fond of Western foreign policy. Uganda instead has good relations with China and Russia and refused to condemn Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. Uganda is a member of China’s BRI, as is almost all of Africa. The discovery of the gold reserves has the potential to solve some of Uganda’s financial problems, as it is a poor nation with considerable debt. It has also had a large trade in African gold, which the US says is illicit, with one of its newest refineries having been placed under US sanctions, citing, “The illicit movement of gold provides revenue to armed groups that threaten the peace, security, and stability of the DRC.” The sanctions by the US are unilateral, bypassing the UN, the latter not having found enough evidence of illegal activity in Uganda in order to justify sanctions. Russia and Uganda have been strengthening ties in recent years. We await the outcome of the next ‘ambassadorial visit’ by the US to Uganda. With gold returning to the forefront as a medium of exchange, bypassing US sanctions, Uganda may find itself in a unique and more prosperous position among African nations, or it may find itself on the wrong end of American aid.

Argentina: Returning to Argentina, there is a movement in Argentina aimed at the cancellation of the debt owed to the IMF. That doesn’t sit well with the folks on Wall Street. Wall Street bankers rely on debt to keep their balance sheets looking presentable. Western bankers love debt, in general. It is what keeps them in business under our current economic model. The movement in Argentina lives by the words of Fidel Castro, though: “Let us pay the ecological debt, and not the foreign debt. Let hunger disappear, and not mankind.” That is a philosophy shared by the Chinese and increasingly by the Russians, the latter as they seek to throw off the final vestiges of neoliberalism in that nation. Argentina and developments there are following along the lines of the nations listed in Bailey’s Destiny of the Nations, as a key nation in the development of South America into the future. Argentina’s Libran personality paces it in resonance with China’s Libran personality, while the soul qualities connect it with Turkey and Washington. As such, Argentina can serve a kind of bridging function between East and West. But Argentina at present is primarily Western, having been settled by the Spanish. It is also one of the nations who refused to condemn Russia’s SMO in Ukraine. Only two South American nations refused – Argentina and Venezuela. And now the former has applied for BRICS membership, while the latter is forming close ties with Iran, who has also applied for BRICS membership.

Turkey, Finland and Sweden: Moving next to Turkey, a neoliberal nation and NATO member in financial straits and likely in a state of transition, deciding where its future lies. If we think inflation is bad in the West, spare a thought for the Turks, who are living with inflation at nearly 80%, where fruit is now a luxury item at supermarkets and who are probably facing another round of elections. From past letters, we have looked at how high food prices and food scarcity incite revolutions. Turkey’s inflation is not due to the West’s policies, though, but instead due to Erdogan’s quixotic economic policies. And the wily Sultan Erdogan still tries to play the East against the West to hedge his fortunes. Any hope of Turkey joining the EU is gone now, not that it matters anyway for Turkey. Erdogan has hemmed himself in between Russia and the United States and he has probably played his last card in his efforts to stay in power, which revolves around two nations with a collective Cancer personality – Sweden and Finland. Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway are part of that collective too, but we will return to those nations later in this letter.

The conflict in Ukraine has precipitated a great many things, with one of them being those two nations seeking to join NATO – a serious mistake according to many people I have read. Essentially it is a knee-jerk reaction to a situation that really does not threaten the two nations anyway. But one of the biggest mistakes in their attempted accession to NATO lies in the fact they did so without consulting their publics. It was undemocratic, being done under pressure on their leaders and fearmongering their public about the possibility of Russian invasion. Their fearful Cancerian personalities were played to the desired effect. Finland and Sweden are even more enmeshed with Washington as a result. Russia did not pose a threat to either one of them. Joining NATO will only increase their insecurity.

Of course, Finland and Sweden have been NATO Partners for years, so their full accession is but window dressing. Erdogan played this to his advantage, though. He initially objected to the two nations joining NATO, on the grounds that they supported groups like the PKK which Turkey considers terrorist organizations. In the end, Erdogan got his pound of flesh. Never underestimate the ability of the man to wrangle a deal. The two removed their support from the objectionable groups and the US is weighing a sale to Turkey of F-16 fighter jets, this coming a day after Turkey lifted its objections to the NATO membership of the two nations. Turkey had been on the outs with the US over its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system. It seems that doesn’t matter any longer. Washington got two more NATO members (it is not a done-deal as yet) and Turkey is back in the good graces of Washington – until the Sultan pulls his next trick. He just tried to pull one in Syria, seeking to seize Syrian territory in Rojava. In response, Russia has just stated it will be aiding the Syrian army in regaining all its territory, which means direct conflict with Turkey and the US. Russia has just sent 600 paratroopers to Qamishli in Rojava (northeastern Syria), and there have been Israeli strikes increasing in Syria, at Washington’s blessing. We might get the idea West Asia is about to erupt again. It bears watching. A quick word on NATO is in order here, given events.

The NATO clown show: The NATO conference in Madrid this year was preceded by the G7 meeting at a little place called Schloss Elmau in the last week of June, where Boris Johnson (more on him in a bit) told the gathered group “…they needed to “show off their pecs” and prove that they were “tougher than Putin”. There were some choice comments on such an image on social media, needless to say. Thankfully they kept their clothes on. The G7 meeting was an embarrassment. Instead of focusing on the big problems facing humanity at the moment, the focus was on how the leaders had to look strong in order to counter Putin. It shows where the focus of our august leaders is. Then it was Stoltenberg’s turn at the NATO conference for his few moments in the spotlight. He had stated at another presser that because of the Russian SMO in Ukraine Putin would now have more NATO on his borders. In his NATO presser he let the cat out of the bag when he stated NATO had been preparing for the present conflict since 2014, the year the ongoing civil war in Ukraine was started by NATO, more specifically by Washington.

So, NATO’s response to the present circumstances in Ukraine and the fact that Russia hasn’t folded is to place 300,000 NATO rapid response troops on Russia’s western border. What could go wrong? The fact is, NATO is not in any shape at present to be able to field such a menagerie, but the talk of such a large force would suggest NATO is getting ready to go to war with Russia. Stoltenberg did not even consult with other NATO members before he made his statement, which caught many of them off guard. Before we get excited and think we are going to war with Russia, forget it. It is all grandstanding, a fantasy of NATO bureaucrats. So no, NATO will not get ready for war. Putin recently gave his response, too, saying Russia has not even really started anything in Ukraine yet, but if NATO wanted to go to war with Russia, well hey, “Let them try.” And even if we did go to war with Russia, what would we fight them with – swords and stones? Neoliberalism/globalization has gutted our manufacturing across the West, with most of it going to places like China, now our avowed enemy. And for American armchair warriors who bring up how the US mobilized during WWII, there is a big difference between then and now. Times have changed. Then, we had the manufacturing base in place. We don’t have it now, since we off-shored it. It is well worth reading a recent article given the way things are going in Ukraine – The Return of Industrial Warfare. And because of the way our educational institutions have changed over the years and because of our elites’ sense of exceptionalism and myth-making, Americans do not understand their own military history. We have not won a war against a peer military since WWII.

The cycle of war: The year 2014 is rather interesting, regarding Ukraine and war, because it coincides with a larger subjective cycle, that of the 4^th ray, harmony through conflict. There is a rather interesting, if not revealing look at the cycles in the military campaigns of the past century, starting in 1914, These are cycles of 25 years, 50 years and 100 years. Those figures are also sub-cycles of the 4^th, 2^nd and 1^st rays, respectively. The larger cycles of these rays are 2,500, 5,000 and 1,000 years.^[13] Indeed, we could posit that the 50 and 100 year cycles are simply multiples of the 25-year cycle, which are overlaid at intervals with the other two cycles, giving deeper meaning, purpose and resulting human evolution as a result of the conflicts. It constitutes quite a fascinating study, but one which we cannot address here due to the length of our discussion. When we extend this 25-year cycle out we have the following:

• 1914: WWI
• 1939: WWII
• 1964: Vietnam escalated
• 1989: The Eastern European revolutions, starting the collapse of the Soviet Union. 1989 was also the year of Tiananmen, a failed color revolution in China, cast as a massacre.
• 2014: The Maidan coup and the Ukrainian civil war. The West likes to call it the Russo-Ukrainian war. This is being worked out now and is far more important than a simple regional conflict, as we have been examining in these letters.

We can go back further, too, and more or less the cycle holds, within a margin of error:

• 1889: The colonization of Africa (along lines of the Berlin Conference), starting in earnest at the end of the 1890s. It was a very violent period in African history, with many atrocities committed by Western European powers as they colonized Africa.
• 1864: American Civil War
• 1839: The First Opium War (China/UK), which began China’s ‘Century of Humiliation’, and which colors much of Chinses foreign policy to this day. Hong Kong was ceded to the British as a spoil of that war.
• 1814: War of the Sixth Coalition, against Napoleon
• 1789: French Revolution, which ended the era of monarchies in Europe.
• 1764: no major war started. The Seven Years War as well as the French and Indian War had just ended. The Siamese-Burmese War started the year after.
• 1739: The War of Jenkin’s Ear, a war between Spain and Britain which ended in a stalemate
• 1714: Ottoman-Venetian War, a Venetian defeat, which ended the Venetian reign as a major Mediterranean power, and which further consolidated Ottoman territories.

Several things stand out about this listing. All of the wars listed had lasting and far-reaching effects on geopolitics, regionally and worldwide. The more important conflicts came in 100-year intervals, starting at the 14^th year of every century thus listed. The next most important ones came at the 39^th years and marked the resolution, temporarily, of conflicts and tensions of long standing. But the wars of the 14^th years were the real game-changers, building to a climax each century. The wars at the 64^th year were a sort of ‘bridging’ or transitional confliction period, again which we cannot address here due to space. Those periods, though, were especially important in North American and Southeast Asian history. The conflicts in the 89^th years marked the end of old dynasties and catalyzing events in the regions in which they occurred. Although terrible initially for Africa, the 1889 colonization drive also served to bring much of Africa into the modern era. There would also be a 250-year cycle to these wars, too. The thing to do is to figure out when that started for this present cycle. But we will leave that for another letter into the future. We do note the larger cycle of the 4^th ray is to begin slowly coming into influence after 2025.^[14] The key word there is ‘after’. So, there are some rather interesting subjects to work out with all these preceding points about the cycles. That said, we should probably have a look at the situation in Ukraine, since our world is being so shaken by events surrounding it.

The Ukraine sitrep: As of July 4^th, the totality of the Lugansk People’s Republic in the Donbas has been liberated/occupied, depending on where one sits on these matters. Regardless, the people of the republic are celebrating at the expulsion of the nationalist Ukrainian forces. This comes on the fall of the last major city in the republic, Lysychansk. As a result, Ukrainian forces are raining down some of what little artillery munitions they have left over on the city of Donetsk, on civilian areas, as well as trying to do the same on Russian territory. These are acts of vengeance and terrorism, as well as seeking to leave as much of the Donbas in tatters after being pushed out of it. We are told it is the Russians shelling Donetsk. But that makes no sense, since they occupy the city. The Western narrative is just ‘atrocity porn’, meant to keep the Western public aligned against Russia. Ukrainian forces are suffering heavy losses. The losses on the Russian side are relatively few, comparitively. Still, the Western media continues to pump out the copium that Russian troops are demoralized, running out of everything, hollowed out, suffering heavy losses, shelling the cities they occupy, failed to take Kiev and so on, all of which is false. Ukraine would win the war if only… and it is not yet time to negotiate a peace. It is Washington and London pushing the latter line. In fact, much of what we hear in reporting on the conflict from Western sources is quite the opposite of what is actually happening in Ukraine. And then we hear that all of the West’s woes are due to Putin, at least according to our leaders. What is the truth on the ground there?

As nearly as the better-informed analysts can surmise, the Russians are doing exactly what they said they were going to do – going after the Nazi elements and demilitarizing Ukraine, with the stated aim of pushing the Ukrainian forces out of the Donbas. A rough estimate puts the latter at around 75% complete. But the Russians are moving slowly and deliberately, remembering Putin’s statement that Russia had not really started anything in Ukraine yet. Despite what we are told, that Russia is bogged down and meeting stiff resistance, there is a big downside to continually trying to sell that story to the Western public, which comes down to this: The slower Russia advances, the longer the charade of ‘Ukraine can win’ goes on, and the longer and more severe the coming recession in the West will be. Because, if there is not a resolution of the conflict soon and the longer the powers that be in various Western governments delay conceding Russia has won and ending Ukraine’s agony, then inflation and lack of resources will only cause greater and greater unrest in Western society.

Washington’s last tango: In essence, Europeans and Americans alike have been had regarding Ukraine, and by our own leaders. They are only disguising the decline of the West from us at the moment and seeking to secure the realm. It is especially dire for Europe unless common sense and a backbone return soon for EU nations. And for Washington, this is its last tango as the world’s hegemon. Regarding Western leadership, we have the following observations:

“First, the people who count at the head of governments are not pure thinking machines. Far from it. They are too often persons of narrow intelligence, of limited experience in high stakes games of power politics, who navigate by simplistic, outdated and parochial cognitive maps of the world. Their perspectives approximate montages composed of bits of ideology, bits of visceral emotion, bits of remembered but inappropriate precedents, bits of massaged public opinion data, and odds-and-ends plucked from New York Times op-ed pieces.

In addition, let’s remind ourselves that policy-formation and decision-making are group processes — especially in Washington and Brussels — encumbered by their own collective dynamics. Finally, in Western capitals, governments operate in dual currencies: policy effectiveness and electoral politics…Collective American self-esteem, belief in being Destiny’s child, the ordained No. 1 in the world, has been our society’s foundation stone. We have not matured beyond that magical dependence on myth and legend — to our, and the world’s, misfortune.”

That ‘magical dependence on myth and legend’ has brought us to a point of zugzwang in our foreign relations.

Zugzwang: Def: zugzwang [ˈtsuːktsvaŋ] – German for ‘compulsion to move’. It is used primarily in game theory, especially in chess:

“…used specifically in combinatorial game theory to denote a move that directly changes the outcome of the game from a win to a loss. Putting the opponent in zugzwang is a common way to help the superior side win a game, and in some cases it is necessary in order to make the win possible.”

It must be a bitter irony for the Western planners in relation to Russia, that the Western powers have now been placed in a position of zugzwang as a result of the Russian SMO in Ukraine. The West thought they had Russia in that position at the start of the conflict and were gleefully slapping sanctions on Russia left and right, certain of Russian collapse in a short time and that the dastardly Putin would soon be history. How times have changed, and in short order. The nation where I currently live will be one of the worst affected by the sanctions blow-back. Draghi was installed as PM here in Italy for precisely these times, though the Bilderberg crowd that was happy to see him installed (he was head of the ECB from 2011 to 2019) thought they had their ‘Russia problem’ all sorted prior to February this year. It was simple, they thought: Goad Russia into attacking Ukraine and destroy the Russian economy with sanctions. They didn’t do their homework. It was the same with Wall Street and all the think tanks in Washington, New York and London. So, as a result of our sanction mania we now face a rather ‘difficult’ future, and with Russia sitting in the catbird seat ‘indicating’ the direction of the security architecture for Europe into the future. Watch and see. Meanwhile, the pitchforks are beginning to come out in Europe, and that has nothing to do with Vlad the Compeller.

Let’s be plain about where we (Europe) are as a result of our ham-fisted policies regarding Russia, China and other nations we cannot seem to fathom, freedom and democracy aside for a moment. We are immanently faced with a clear choice: Abandon the sanctions regime and US leadership (such as it is) and make peace with Russia, or watch as the EU experiment fractures and falls to pieces, having been thrown under the bus by Washington and London for the sake of ‘saving Ukraine’ and bringing Russia to heel. Regarding the latter option, what do we see already?

War makes for clarity: The title of this topic is from a recent article, which had this comment regarding the future of Europe, as in the EU:

“So, the serpents of inflation – at a time of structural economic checkmate – are loosened, as they always are in war. And as pressures mount, ‘things’ and people get thrown under a bus. ‘War’ makes for clarity: It becomes starkly clear what baggage must go overboard to save the vessel.

Saving the vessel, of course, is imperative. Thus, America has decided to look after ‘its own’. The Davos-Brussels plan to eventually to roll-up the over-indebted European commercial banks into a single, Brussels-controlled digital currency suddenly is seen – as if scales had fallen from the eyes – as potentially threatening to hole the hull below the waterline.

What this reveals is that the ‘strong dollar–weak dollar play’ – in tandem with Treasury sanctions – has been ‘not so bad’ for the NY Big Banks! Why let the Europeans scoop up all those distressed assets that pop-up in times of crisis? Why allow the U.S. big banking sphere to dissolve into a world of fin-tech Apps? Why deprive the former of their historic raiding rights? Why stop now because the Europeans want ‘Davos’.”

We have returned to the themes in past letters of European financial suicide and the scuttling of the Great Reset. And in terms of nations and people being thrown under the bus, it will be the Mediterranean EU states – the PIIGS states, perhaps minus Ireland – that are jettisoned from the EU first, unless they wise up and leave first on their own. This in turn would end NATO as a viable alliance. However, it would also fit with and result in the basis of one of the desired economic blocs, as in the Latin countries of Europe. So, will we be seeing peace soon?

Peace on the horizon?: Jen Stoltenberg and other talking heads have started talking about a peace deal for the conflict in Ukraine. It is a little bit late for that, since a couple of months ago they openly said they want to weaken and/or destroy Russia. The reality about the future of Ukraine bites, and bites hard for the West. From a recent sitrep for the conflict:

“The news for these august gentlemen is simple. You have sugar spun cotton candy in your heads.  You cannot appease Russia with some territory that they already have, or will take. It’s not yours to give. Russia will decide exactly what happens to the Ukraine, how, and when. The Great WalkBack will make no difference to Russia’s decisions here as the core issue is a restructuring of the complete European security structural apparatus, in such a way that Russia is not threatened. The next steps from Russia will give us more insight into how they will accomplish this.”

The military action will stop either when Ukraine surrenders and accedes to Russia’s concerns or when the present regime is driven out of Ukraine in defeat. The American public is being prepared for the military collapse of Ukraine. The lies are coming home. And coming back home (to the US), Biden has let the cat out of the bag with yet another gaffe and stated there is going to be another pandemic, probably next year, which Bill Gates has said could be an act of bioterrorism. There is a viral video going around of Prof. Jeffrey Sachs saying the present coronavirus probably came from an American bio-lab, but that nothing is being investigated (surprised?). Comments under the video are already trying to walk it back. So, for America’s immediate future will we see more lockdowns, more restrictions, more vaccines? And no sooner had Boris tendered his resignation, the Marburg virus has raised its head again in Ghana, not that there is a connection. (A segue is coming). But to finish this section, the US has a biolab in Ghana, one of several scattered throughout Africa. The Russians brought up the subject of US bio-labs with Mariupol. The rest of the world (the world outside the West) has growing interest in these labs. Ghana has to this point never registered a Marburg outbreak (it’s a nasty virus), which has raised suspicions. But, all the preceding discussion points to a raft of regime change to come across the West, which has already begun.

Regime change?: Having seen that neither Russia nor China will be defeated, the Anglo powers have decided to circle the wagons and try to separate themselves from the ‘autocratic world’. The sanctions plan to decimate Russia has backfired and the blowback has started with higher prices for nearly everything, especially fuel. The panic of financial disaster in the West has begun to set in. But the sanctions and Ukraine are not the problem. The problem has been ongoing since the start of the pandemic. It goes back even further to the 2008 financial crisis, which started the downhill slide for the West in earnest. It is clear for anyone who stands back and compares the responses of nations to the pandemic that the West has handled it quite poorly. It leads people to question whether it is part of some sinister agenda or just rank incompetence. We could probably add to this the fact that our Western societies now place profits over their people. How else can one explain the fact that prices keep going up and up while a few families and financial interests have made extreme profits during the pandemic? This is the legacy of neoliberalism/financial capitalism/globalization. And then, we add the sanctions against Russia on top of the supply chain problems we have, along with sanctions against other nations, all having the effect of driving up energy prices – face it, it’s true – for the sake of some misguided ideology that ‘freedom and democracy in Ukraine must be saved’, and we have a perfect storm of events that will drive Western governments to the brink, some of which are already cracking. The thing is, when it comes to a choice between bread or ideals, people will choose to survive first. Well, the UK was the first to fall, and they can add Brexit to their woes and a Tory government that continually cuts taxes for the rich, while cutting services and wages for the commoner.

Boris Johnson just fell on his sword, not due to scandals (though that is part of it) but due to a constant stream of lies and incompetence (vid, language alert) over his entire term as PM. They finally caught up with him. His fall was shown in his astrology – directed Saturn across from his Moon, the Moon ruling his 10^th house (public office), activated by transiting Mars, a ‘death combination’, on the day of his resignation. Next to go has been the Estonian PM, Kaja Kallas (Estonia, and a NATO favorite), because of differences in policies between the various parties in the coalition government she was heading. The death by assassination of Shinzo Abe could be added in here because of his policies, for which he was doing a political stump on the day he was murdered. Opinions varied on Abe, but he was not well liked, despite the outpouring of shock by world leaders at his death. There was a dark side to his tenure. Although Japan is occupied by the US it is seen as a strong Western ally and is also seen to be part of the West, by extension. It has suffered markedly due to Washington’s meddling, too, and the yen is at a 24-year low at the moment, a result that started with the pandemic. Abe started Japan’s pandemic response. His successor is following along Abe’s old policies. His assassination also brings the darker history of CIA influence in Japan post-WWII and the single-party hard-right political system that has dominated Japan since WWII. It makes for quite revealing reading. Which regime will be next to fall, and hopefully peacefully?

Olaf Scholz appears to be a likely candidate. He is being highlighted in the press in association with a sex scandal. It is not a headline story yet, but the wheels are turning. This is what we usually see in politics when the powers behind the scene want to see change. Germany is in a precarious position now because of energy supply. The Germans have asked for Canada to return the component from the original Nord Stream which is there for repairs, and Ukraine is strenuously pressuring Canada to refuse its return. That will be telling to watch, because there is a strong Ukrainian diaspora in Canada and they are staunchly Russo-phobic on the whole. Germany holds the key for what happens in the EU economy. We can probably expect some big changes there over the next few months. Somebody in Germany is not happy with the stoplight coalition policies and wants to change the stoplight from green to at least neutral, if not red – i.e., break up the coalition.

To the US, there are increasing questions about Joe Biden’s capacity to lead, with rising conjecture he will not be allowed to finish his term. The midterms are in November and the Democrats are forecast to lose bigly, which would render Biden a lame duck president. His recent ‘apparent’ teleprompter flub went viral on social media, and his approval rating is reaching toward the bottom of the barrel. If he leaves office or is removed (which is possible), Kamala Harris would take the top job, and many people question her capacity to lead, given her appetite for word salads.

Dystopia?: As a point of interest, the Georgia Guidestones were just bombed irreparably and dismantled for safety reasons. Their destruction is symbolic for the US, which is undergoing its Pluto return, the latter bring the focus upon its plutocracy. The stones had been dubbed ‘America’s Stonehenge’ and they were a favorite topic for conspiracy theorists, with many conservatives dubbing them ‘Satanic’. Their origins were shrouded in mystery. It is interesting they were erected in the Bible Belt. From the astrology of the event, it is probably a good thing they are gone, The stones consisted of ten statements in several languages, in the same vein as the Ten Commandments. There was also a crude astronomical aspect to them, as in copying Stonehenge. One of the statements on the Guidestones was to keep the world population at a maximum of 500 million people. The stones were seen by many people as a call to one-world dystopic government, and probably not without reason. Some of the other statements were rather reasonable, though, hence the confusion around their purpose. It was a very fitting event for a Pluto return and marked the removal of a distracting element in American public opinion. It does make for an interesting story and mystery, though.

More regime change: Continuing with our look at changing governments, Emmanuel Macron has lost his parliamentary majority. There are increasing signs the Italian parliament is fracturing, with street protests against Draghi’s policies on the rise. Trudeau’s fortunes are falling in Canada, now just below 40% approval. He leads a minority government. The truckers protest hurt him when froze the bank accounts of participants. And now a scandal is brewing about the Rogers telecom merger, with corruption clearly visible, along with monopolization. But I repeat myself. We have just seen a slight regime change in Australia with the ouster of ‘ScoMo’ Morrison at the last election. We have yet to see what Albo will bring to the table, but he is off courting ASEAN and Oceanian nations for competition with China, like Indonesia for instance, which is better than trying to face China militarily. But Australia is still firmly in the NATO orbit. As for other regimes that may be subject to change, we next look to other Cancerian nations, like the Netherlands.

The problem with NO₂: Returning to the Netherlands and Norway, Norway is starting to see labor unrest along with other European nations, with the pilots of SAS Airlines going on strike, ruining the summer travel plans of many travelers. They are going on strike for the same reasons as their British counterparts – company restructuring and lowered wages, all part of neoliberalism. This sort of event is going to become increasingly common across the West over the next few years. It is also a good sign because it calls the neoliberal system into account, which is at the heart of the corporate drive to lower employment and lower wages. We are seeing rather dramatic developments in the Netherlands along those lines, too, where the Dutch government has tried to seize farmland from families or restrict the use of ammonia fertilizer and the number of livestock. The families on these farms have owned the land for many generations. According to Rutte and the government, the effort is all part of the green initiative, aimed at reducing NO₂ (nitrogen dioxide) emissions from farms. So they say. It appears to be a ruse and a land grab for other purposes and would do little if anything to help the environment. Trudeau in Canada is seeking to do the same thing to farmers in Alberta. However, it is a false and mistaken narrative as well (translate from Dutch), put forward by ‘experts’ who apparently know little to nothing about NO₂, and a narrative upon which more fanatical environmentalists seize to further their own agendas. Trudeau and Rutte are both WEF alumni and toe the line on WEF environmental policies.

Instead, the Dutch farm seizure could be part of a plan to develop the Tristate City (translate from Dutch), which would become the mega-capital of the EU, with a combined population of 40 million inhabitants and no room for farmland. This monstrosity has the blessings of the WEF and Brussels. Conspiracy? Well, farms are not the biggest emitters of NO₂. The biggest producer of NO₂ by far is the internal combustion engine. Returning to Canada, there are few NO₂ emissions in Canada compared to other parts of the world. So, we have either incompetence or a secret agenda driving this initiative, and maybe a combination of both. The reader can decide. NO₂ is an unstable molecule which has many industrial uses, including the production of fertilizers, nitric acid and explosives. The two biggest emitters of NO₂ in Europe are Germany and Italy. The Netherlands hardly registers when compared to those two. So the big question is why does the Dutch government want to seize this farmland and/or force farmers into poverty? It would appear to be about economics and power, along with an unhealthy dose of incompetence. There is also the factor of ideology run amok. The Dutch farmers have other ideas, though. In response to the attempted policies, they have blockaded the supply chains to the supermarkets, taking a page from the Canadian truckers. Dutch supermarket shelves have gone bare. The media pundits are pointing fingers at the farmers. Remember that food shortages are one of the major causes of revolutions.

In response and solidarity, along with high prices for fuel and fertilizer, farmers in Poland (video), Italy and Germany are joining in with their Dutch counterparts. Italian farmers face the further stress of the worst drought in decades, along with high summer temperatures. Americans in the Southwest are facing similar problems, with levels at the Hoover Dam the lowest they have been ever, and which could possibly cause a mass migration. That Italian drought is taking place in my part of Italy, in the north. Keep in mind we are not looking at Big Agribusiness here with all these farmers. These are smaller farms and moreover, very often family businesses. They sell a good portion of their produce to the supermarket chains, for sure, but without those farms nations cannot feed themselves. Notice it is not the huge concerns who are protesting. The affected farms would be those of middle income families. They will form the backbone of the general strikes and protests to grow over this period of the next few years. All of us will be inconvenienced, but it is a price worth paying if we really want a return to more sensible values and decent wages.

And to cap all this off, the Dutch government is now headed by Mark Rutte, who was involved with the WEF. This is not to say the WEF is behind this effort by the Dutch government, though there are probably elements of that sort of group-think. There are many interests involved, all part of the ‘Greater European’ mindset, much of which can ultimately be traced back to financial interests. We will have to cover that in another letter. But one thing to note about the WEF and Davos is that they represent the apex of the neoliberal mindset, which seeks to turn nations into service economies (which means offshoring manufacturing), reducing employment and wages. And before we conclude this letter, we cannot go past the unrest and fall of the government in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka used to be known as Ceylon until it declared itself a republic in 1972. Government astrologers cast the horoscope for the state. It has no particular emphasis in the sign Cancer aside from a Venus/Mars conjunction there, but it is worth noting here because of what is happening as a result of the world economic situation. The president and prime minister of Sri Lanka were just forced to resign. The presidential palace was overrun and burned to the ground. It was their ‘January 6^th moment’. What culminated in the events of the 9^th had been building for months, the result of lack of basic resources:

“Sri Lanka has run out of foreign-exchange reserves for imports of essential items like fuel and medicine, and the United Nations has warned that more than a quarter of Sri Lanka’s 21 million people are at risk of food shortages.”

Sri Lanka’s shortages are due to the same reasons we are seeing in the West – supply chain shocks, sanctions on supplier countries (Russia and China both have good relations with Sri Lanka), the COVID crisis, money printing and a nationwide policy to shift to green, organic and biological farming. The crisis has steadily built since 2019. In other words, Sri Lanka is yet another victim, self-imposed, of Western economic policy, coupled with government mismanagement. Their rising debt levels are also partially attributable to the cost of their civil war. Wars do have a tendency to bankrupt nations.

So, the question on people’s minds outside of Sri Lanka is whether the protests are a class struggle, or the product of a US-backed color revolution. There is some suggestion of the latter. Wherever ‘Cookies’ Nuland goes, revolutions and unrest seem to follow. But one refutation of that argument is that the officials who just resigned were American-friendly and US-backed. My bet would be with a true class struggle.

In conclusion, having looked at all the preceding we could say that we are all part of a large, dysfunctional human family at the moment. That will change once we work out our differences. We have at our feet a once in a century opportunity to turn our societies around for the better, putting people ahead of profit, rebuilding our infrastructure and bringing to an end this cycle of warfare we have seen every 25 years for centuries now. The war centered in Ukraine between the West and Russia shows we are at such a turning point, one that will change the dynamic of this century from what we had in the last. We hold the thought it will mean an end to the imperialism of the past. It will mean making some hard admissions by our leaders. But so what? We could turn around Maggie Thatcher’s TINA – ‘There Is No Alternative’ – and put it to our leaders that there is no alternative other than to change the system that has brought us to this point of flexion in our history. There are forces who will fight like the devil to keep the status quo in place, like we see in the UK and the US at the moment. But Sri Lanka is showing the power of the people, as are the farmers across the West. We know revolutionary change is around the corner when the masses of people find it difficult to feed their families and heat their homes. Those changes are upon us, and they are to be seen in the immediate months ahead. We should welcome civil restiveness that forces governments to make changes to better the lot of their peoples. Yes, it will be inconvenient at times. What does it matter if it betters the lot of the masses? Family is a blessing, or should be, solace in hard times, joyous in the good times. Let us tend well our human family and make effort to sense the immediate need ahead. Our moment to rise to that occasion is here, and now.

These letters are sent as a service. If you wish to be added to or deleted from the mailing list let me know. Feel free to pass these along if you feel inspired, but do so without charge or alteration.

Picture credits:
Cancer: https://www.peakpx.com/en/hd-wallpaper-desktop-obmyu
Beehive Cluster: https://www.constellation-guide.com/praesepe-m44-the-beehive-cluster/
Crystal ball: https://digest.bps.org.uk/2016/02/16/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-psychic-powers/
Lago di Brais: https://www.vivosuedtirol.com/it/laghi/lago-di-braies/
Lee’s surrender: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General_Robert_E._Lee_surrenders_at_Appomattox_Court_House_1865.jpg
Big Oil profits: https://www.occupy.com/article/how-oil-companies-spend-their-375-million-daily-profits#sthash.NVlnOsxY.qibeuNPx.dpbs
Freeze inflation: https://westernpeople.ie/2022/06/24/risk-of-recession-across-europe-is-a-concern-admits-taoiseach/
Save Uganda: https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/uganda-gold-deposits-usa-intervention
Cooler than Putin: https://twitter.com/FarmerRevolt/status/1541377886682243072
Howitzer firing: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/19/russia-ukraine-live-news-azovstal-fighters-under-investigation-liveblog
Sitrep map: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/3/ukraine-forces-making-gains-in-key-eastern-city-governor-liveblog
Chess: https://twitter.com/tostro/status/1482075058810101767?lang=bg
Inflation cobra: https://www.dividendpower.org/2021/02/28/inflation-rears-its-head-dividend-power-week-in-review/
Suicide for Europe: https://www.guruwonder.in/post/european-spring-regime-change-coming-in-europe
Georgia guidestones: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/explosion-rocks-georgia-guidestones-dubbed-americas-stonehenge/videoshow/92714954.cms
No farmers no food: https://grain.org/en/article/6338-dutch-farmer-protests-signal-need-for-deep-solutions-to-the-climate-crisis
Sri Lanka Jan 6^th: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-09/sri-lanka-protesters-storm-presidents-house-clash-with-police/101224274

1. Bailey, Alice A., Esoteric Astrology, (1953) Lucis Publishing, NY, NY, p. 312 ↑
2. Op cit. ↑
3. Esoteric Astrology, p. 86 ↑
4. Ibid, pp. 66 – 68. ↑
5. Ibid, p. 312 ↑
6. Ibid, p. 311 ↑
7. Ibid, p. 313 ↑
8. Ibid, p. 321 ↑
9. Op cit. ↑
10. Esoteric Astrology, p. 340 ↑
11. “I build a lighted house and therein dwell”, the esoteric motto of Cancer. Ibid, p. 343 ↑
12. Ibid, p 329 ↑
13. Bailey, A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 1039 ↑
14. Bailey, Esoteric Psychology II, p. 27 ↑