Libra 2011: Money. Steve Jobs’ Transition. Corporations. Values.

Keynote
“I choose the Way that leads between the two great lines of force.”
(The Libra Full Moon SOLAR Festival: October 11, 10.05.43 pm, New York, USA.)

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$ Money $ Money $ Money $

“From the simple process of barter and exchange
… to the intricate and formidable financial
and economic structure of the modern world,
desire is the underlying cause.

It demands the satisfaction of sensed need,
the desire for goods and possessions,
the desire for material comfort,
for the acquisition and the accumulation of things,
the desire for power and the supremacy
which money alone can give.

This desire controls and dominates human thinking;
it is the keynote of our modern civilization;
it is also the octopus which is slowly strangling
human life, enterprise, and decency;
it is the millstone around the neck of mankind.”1

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Libra, Money and the Old Paradigm Imploding
Corporate Entities in the Pisces-Aquarius Transition
An Esoteric Historical Overview of the Current Situation
Potential Corporate Transformation: Resource Sharing
The Externalisation of the Third Ray Ashram
Venus and the Re-Examination of Values
Steve Jobs Makes His Transition Decision

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Libra, Money and the Old Paradigm Imploding
Esoterically, Libra rules money and is associated with money for several reasons:

1. In northern hemisphere symbolism, The Scales of Libra represent the harvest of the previous sign Virgo, that is weighed, bartered or exchanged.

2. Libra is ruled by Venus, long associated with gold and wealth – in its lower outer expression. In its higher expression Venus is the radiant golden light of the illumined mind or the causal body. Venus also rules Taurus, another sign associated with money and its acquisition; esoterically Taurus is the “mother of illumination”. Note the higher themes of light and illumination of which gold is the symbol.

3. Libra is ruled by Uranus esoterically which also rules the sacral or sexual centre, hence Libra’s connection to sex. Yet the sacral centre is connected to money because sex and money are basic human survival themes. Both money and sex are energies or prana. Money is materialised prana and is of course, neither “good” nor “evil” in itself, it is simply “neutral”, not unlike Libra.

4. The Sun is the symbol of gold yet the Sun “falls” in Libra. Libra’s rulership over the neutrality of “no man’s land” makes it a good sign to deal with money in a fair and balanced way.

5. Saturn is exalted in Libra and is currently transiting through this sign. Saturn rules the third ray or the “matter aspect”, also closely associated with money. Indeed, the third ray is the ray of business, whilst the Uranus-ruled seventh ray of organisation is the ray of finance. Saturn is also the Lord of Time, hence the symbolism in the picture above.

6. Hence Libra, through all its associated planets – Venus, Uranus, Saturn – is intimately connected to money.

Currently, transiting Saturn is passing through Libra for the first time in thirty years, and is bringing its influence to bear in all the areas that it rules – the law, sex, relationships, fairness, equality – and money.

Yet the difference this time around is that Libra’s soul ruler Uranus is transiting through Aries, creating a sharp square to transiting Pluto in Capricorn, also a sign of money. Hence these two planets are forcing the issues around money as power and money misused.

In a smaller cycle within this greater cycle of Uranus and Pluto (bearing in mind that Uranus is associated with Libra), transiting Saturn in Libra underscores the unfairness of global economic systems; how they must be brought into right relationship with one another and with we the people, instead of global conglomerates and cartels who have hijacked the financial system and a majority of world governments – creating “corporate states” through which they are dictating their own selfish agendas.

Corporate Entities in the Pisces-Aquarius Transition
We live in a particularly unique period between the passing Piscean era, with its rigid patterns of doing business or “business as usual”, and the approaching Aquarian cycle, with vital emerging paradigms displacing the old.

The forces of the revolutionary and reforming Uranus are a major factor as it exoterically rules the new Aquarian cycle – that is about group work and group processes.

Selfishly polarised corporations and multi-nationals are the shadow of the new Aquarian cycle; most (not all) of these group entities have not yet reached a maturity that shares the vision of the greater global good. Indeed, their “greater good” is endless profits for shareholders and insane mega-bonuses; money donated to charities is quite often cynical tokenism or opportunities for self sponsorship and advertising.

These corporate entities (literally “monsters”), tap into and feed off the lowest and most undesirable expression of Aquarius, as Hitler did in the 1930’s, uniting the German people. When this capacity is combined with the last several hundred years of the Piscean age, where cartels have controlled global finances, the outcome is now engulfing the world – heading toward a major financial meltdown and/or a depression that some speculate will be worse than the 1930’s. Can anyone really imagine what this might be like?

The multi-nationals have assumed an entrenched position, aided by highly sophisticated technologies, secret networks and driven by insatiable greed. They are highly organised (7th ray) and controlling, yet they are also “out of control”. The following long passage was written by the Master over sixty years ago; every word of it is extremely pertinent and inspirational today, because it seems that Humanity is finally confronting this problem:

“First of all, it must be recognized that the cause of all world unrest, of the world wars which have wrecked humanity and the widespread misery upon our planet can largely be attributed to a selfish group with materialistic purposes who have for centuries exploited the masses and used the labour of mankind for their selfish ends.

From the feudal barons of Europe and Great Britain in the Middle Ages through the powerful business groups of the Victorian era to the handful of capitalists – national and international – who today control the world’s resources, the capitalistic system has emerged and has wrecked the world.

This group of capitalists has cornered and exploited the world’s resources and the staples required for civilized living; they have been able to do this because they have owned and controlled the world’s wealth through their interlocking directorates and have retained it in their own hands.

They have made possible the vast differences existing between the very rich and the very poor; they love money and the power which money gives; they have stood behind governments and politicians; they have controlled the electorate; they have made possible the narrow nationalistic aims of selfish politics; they have financed the world businesses and controlled oil, coal, power, light and transportation; they control publicly or sub rosa the world’s banking accounts.

The responsibility for the widespread misery to be found today in every country in the world lies predominantly at the door of certain major interrelated groups of business-men, bankers, executives of international cartels, monopolies, trusts and organizations and directors of huge corporations who work for corporate or personal gain.

They are not interested in benefiting the public except in so far that the public demand for better living conditions will enable them – under the Law of Supply and Demand – to provide the goods, the transportation, light and power which will in the long run bring in heavier financial returns. Exploitation of man-power, the manipulation of the major planetary resources and the promotion of war for private or business profit are characteristic of their methods.

In every nation, such men and organizations – responsible for the capitalistic system – are to be found. The ramifications of their businesses and their financial grasp upon humanity were, prior to the war, active in every land and though they went underground during the war [WWII], they still exist.

They form an international group, closely interrelated, working in complete unity of idea and intention and knowing and understanding each other. These men belonged to both the Allied Nations and the Axis Powers; they have worked together before and through the entire period of the war through interlocking directorates, under false names and through deceptive organizations, aided by neutrals of their own way of thinking.

Today [post WWII], in spite of the disaster which they have brought upon the world, they are again organized and renewing their methods; their goals remain unchanged; their international relationships remain unbroken; they constitute the greatest menace mankind faces today; they control politics; they buy prominent men in every nation; they insure silence through threat, cash and fear; they amass wealth and buy a spurious popularity through philanthropic enterprise; their families live soft and easy lives and seldom know the meaning of God-ordained work; they surround themselves with beauty, luxury and possessions and shut their eyes to the poverty, stark unhappiness, lack of warmth and decent clothing, the starvation and the ugliness of the lives of the millions by whom they are surrounded; they contribute to charities and church agencies as a salve to their consciences or to avoid income taxes; they provide work for countless thousands but see to it that these thousands receive so small a wage that real comfort, leisure, culture and travel are impossible.

The above is a terrible indictment. It can, however, be substantiated a thousand times over; it is breeding revolution and a growing spirit of unrest. The masses of the people in every land are aroused and awakening and a new day is dawning. A war is starting between the selfish monied interests and the mass of humanity who demand fair play and a right share of the world’s wealth.”2

To say that this description personifies the unbelievable and insatiable greed of many Wall Street workers is an understatement. The huge companies like Lehmann Brothers that went under, the insidious culprits who ran/run Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, the ponzi schemers such as Taurus stellium, Bernie Made-Off with the billions (fall guy), the arrogance of insurance companies like AIG and their network of cronies – all bailed out by the government and back to “business as usual”, including the gross bonuses.

The other factor worth mentioning here, is how can an economy truly “grow” when the US Federal Reserve just keeps on printing trillions of dollars! This is not sound fiscal management! Britain has just done likewise, to the tune of some 50 odd billion pounds. All these actions are simply trying to bide more time and stave off the inevitable – but not really deal with the problem in an wholistic way. Politicians seem unable to make the tough decisions needed to get things moving again. Indeed, it seems that no one really knows what to do.

And of course some readers may not know that the US Federal Reserve is made up of the directors of the aforesaid companies – it is not of the government per se. So decisions are made with their own interests first, the USA thirty-first!

An Esoteric Historical Overview of the Current Situation
In several decades the planet has recovered from the ravages of World War II. A new cycle of the seventh ray started in 1945, now expanding its influence; as the Aquarian precession cycle also gains ground, so these corporate entities who have utilised the energies of the seventh ray and Aquarius, have developed a degree of refinement and sophistication hitherto unwitnessed in recent history.

Yet, if we probe into ancient esoteric history3, we find that the reason for the Atlantean war and the ultimate demise of Atlantis, was the same problem of materialism run rampant:

“Heights of luxury were reached in Atlantis of which we, with all our boasted civilisation, know nothing and have never achieved … Men only lived and breathed in order to be in possession of the utmost luxury and of a very plethora of things and of material goods. They were smothered by desire and plagued by the dream of never dying but of living on and on, acquiring more and more of all that they desired.”4

In that period the Atlantean race was transitioning to this current Fifth Rootrace. Now, the Fifth Rootrace is transitioning to the Sixth Rootrace, recapitulating and facing the very same problems and dangers from those ancient times. Bear in mind that World Wars I & II were a recapitulation of that ancient conflict, hence Humanity has barely emerged from dealing with these issues satisfactorily.

Our recent global wars partially purged the materialism and greed that had grown around the Industrial Revolution of the previous few hundred years, followed by the Victorian Age where,

“… modern capitalism came into its own and the sharp distinction between the very poor and the very rich became the outstanding characteristic of the Victorian era. From the angle of the planned evolutionary and spiritual development of the human family, leading to civilized and cultural living and to fair play and equal opportunity for all, the situation could not have been worse. Commercial selfishness and wild discontent flourished. The very rich flaunted their superior status in the faces of the very poor, paralleled with a patronizing paternalism.”5

Yet the old culture was not eradicated, managing to hold on and consolidate its position. As in Atlantean times, the World Wars were a battle between the forces of darkness and the forces of light. The battle continues as these forces of materialism seek to dominate and enslave Humanity.

Because Humanity has become far more aware and altruistic (love conquers all), these forces are becoming increasingly desperate to maintain their hold on power – a power that they would be prepared to defend, even through precipitating a third world war crisis.

Yet Humanity must recognise that it has contributed to this situation. These materialistic forces are simply the shadow of Humanity’s awakening soul – a soul coming to realise it must purge itself of these ancient patterns in order to sound its note.

This is the paradox, because although we can all rightly blame and point the finger toward “them” or “the other”, that “group of selfish interests”, something outside of ourselves etc., we have all most likely participated and contributed to that mindset and culture over many lifetimes. The blame we apportion may simply be projection, considered esoterically. In our journey toward the light and inclusive soul awareness, there would be barely a single exception to this stark fact.

Now, since countless incarnations have elapsed and many of us have stepped away from those old values, we are witnessing two major groups in conflict: Those who have not awoken to the principle of sharing based upon love, and those who are awakening, sharing and demonstrating love in action.

Most of those who have not awoken and who control the world’s resources and wealth are not inherently “evil”, but they are most certainly manipulated and controlled by forces that hover around Humanity, that could be considered as such.

However, even at this level, in the greater scheme of the solar system and the Earth’s evolution within that, it is all relative under the One Sun. When dealing with those forces, we must seek to tread the fine line between holding at arm’s length and submitting to a deep embrace, a razor-edged path for those who seek Synthesis. We must get on with building the new culture and let (as I am so fond of saying), the dead bury their dead.

Potential Corporate Transformation: Resource Sharing
“The true problem of the United Nations is a twofold one: it involves the right distribution of the world’s resources so that there may be freedom from want, and it involves also the bringing about of a true equality of opportunity and of education for all men everywhere.

The nations which have a wealth of resources are not owners; they are custodians of the world’s riches and hold them in trust for their fellowmen. The time will inevitably come when – in the interest of peace and security – the capitalists in the various nations will be forced to realize this and will also be forced to substitute the principle of sharing for the ancient principle (which has hitherto governed them) of greedy grabbing.

… The men in power in every nation know well exactly what food, minerals, oil and other necessities are available for worldwide use upon just and equitable lines. But these commodities are reserved by the nations involved as “talking and bargaining points”. The problem of distribution is no longer difficult once the food of the world is freed from politics and from capitalism; it must also be remembered that the means of distribution by sea, rail and air are adequate.

… The world economic council (or whatever body represents the resources of the world) must free itself from fraudulent politics, capitalistic influence and its devious scheming; it must set the resources of the earth free for the use of humanity. This will be a lengthy task but it will be possible when world need is better appreciated. An enlightened public opinion will make the decisions of the economic council practical and possible. Sharing and cooperation must be taught instead of greed and competition.”6

These groups are well known and can be identified as “big pharmacy”, “big farming”, “big food”, monoculture, manufacturing and electronics, global finance and banking etc, etc. They are all areas of human endeavour and none of us are really separate from what has been created.

For many of those entrenched in the old ways, nothing will change their attitudes, unless they become caught up in impending financial crashes or natural disasters:

“But, my brothers, men will fight to prevent this; the reactionary groups in every country will neither recognise the need for, nor desire this new world order which the liberation of cosmic energy (even on this initial tiny scale) can make possible; the vested interests, the big cartels, trusts and monopolies that controlled the past few decades, preceding this world war, will mobilise their resources and fight to the death to prevent the extinction of their sources of income; they will not permit, if they can help it, the passing of the control of this illimitable power into the hands of the masses, to whom it rightly belongs. The selfish interests among the big stockholders, the banking firms and the wealthy organised churches will oppose all change, except in so far as it will benefit them and bring more financial gain to their coffers.”7

Perhaps through ever-increasing natural and man-made disasters, people will be brought together through necessity, and here may lie the promise of community, sharing and co-operation – all building blocks of the Aquarian dispensation.

Like the entities we call nations, corporations that are young, immature and selfish have the opportunity to grow and mature and develop entirely different cultures. And there are a significant number of these large businesses or corporations that exist and aspire to these ideals.

Like any entity, its all about determining motives that drive it one way or the other. As money is not inherently “evil” (although it is said to be the “root of all evil”), so corporations are not “evil”. Hence the spirit of group work in Aquarius, the greater vision for the whole, has the potential to develop and shine within any of these entities, misguided as some may be now. There is the possibility of a “flip” in attitude within many of these institutions that will constitute a “reversal of the wheel” and put them firmly upon the “upward Way”.

The solution to the entire problem for Humanity is extremely simple, although easier said than executed – the cultivation of a generous spirit and an unselfish sharing of the world’s resources:

“There are those, however, within the capitalistic system who are aware of the danger with which the monied interests are faced and whose natural tendency is to think along broader and more humanitarian lines. These men fall into two main groups:

First, those who are real humanitarians, who seek the good of their fellowmen and who have no desire to exploit the masses or to profit by the misery of others. They have risen to place and power through their sheer ability or through inherited business position and they cannot avoid the responsibility of the disposal of the millions in their hands.

They are frequently rendered helpless by their fellow executives and their hands are largely tied by the existing rules of the game, by their sense of responsibility to their stockholders and by the realization that, no matter what they do – fight or resign – the situation remains unchanged.

It is too big for the individual. They remain, therefore, relatively powerless. They are fair and just, decent and kind, simple in their way of life and with a true sense of values, but there is little of a potent nature that they can do.

Second, those who are clever enough to read the signs of the times; they realize that the capitalistic system cannot continue indefinitely in the face of humanity’s rising demands and the steady emerging of the spiritual values. They are beginning therefore to change their methods and to universalize their businesses and to institute cooperative procedures with their employees.

Their inherent selfishness prompts the change and the instinct of self-preservation determines their attitudes. In between these two groups are those who belong to neither the one nor the other; they are a fruitful field for the propaganda of the selfish capitalist or the unselfish humanitarian.

It might be well to add here that the selfish thinking and the separative motivation which distinguishes the capitalistic system is also to be found in the small and unimportant business men – in the corner grocery, the plumber and the haberdasher who exploits his employees and deceives his customers. It is the universal spirit of selfishness and the love of power with which we have to contend.

The war [WWII] has, however, acted like a purge. It has opened the eyes of men to the underlying cause of war – economic distress, based on the exploitation of the planet’s resources by an international group of selfish and ambitious men. The opportunity to change things is now present.”8

Uranus and the Revolution: The People are Not Going to Take it Anymore
Recent reactions by conservative politicians have labelled as “class warfare” the “Occupy Wall St” campaigns all over the USA, or tarred with them with the “Tea Party” brush, in an effort to discredit these demonstrators as insignificant. In response one group stated,

“Is it class warfare to decry the injustice of a legal system that imprisons minorities and the poor while extending a free pass to the criminals on Wall Street who defrauded, looted, and bankrupted the American people? Is it class warfare to proclaim that a system in which 400 Americans have become more wealthy than half of all Americans combined is obscene, unjust, and evidence of a deeply corrupted system? Is it class warfare to stand up for the people, environment, and animals that the corporatocracy considers nothing more than expendable fodder beneath the treads of their machine?”

… “at the end of World War II, for every dollar Washington raised in taxes on individuals, it raised $1.50 in taxes on business profits. In contrast, today, for every dollar Washington gets in taxes on individuals, it gets 25 cents in taxes on business. Business and its allies successfully shifted most of its federal tax burden onto individuals.”9

Again, the mainstream media are still very reluctant to report this most ignored story. A recent story by one of the biggest networks, focused mainly on how the NYC police were dealing with the demonstration, yet to its credit, issues of the freedom of speech.

One of the most interesting statements from the chief of police was that because “Occupy Wall St.” was a “leaderless movement”, it made it very difficult for them to interface with the protestors.

This leaderless-ness and the way the tech-savvy group communicates with one another is most Aquarian! Yet the bottom line with this news network and all the others, is that they are not addressing the real issues related to money and its abuse that people are protesting about. We live in hope that this will change as the protestors pass their third week and seem determined to stick it out.

These events in the USA were no doubt triggered by its eighth Saturn return in Libra, hence all the issues are focusing very powerfully in this nation. In the 1776 exoteric chart, Saturn squares the Cancer Sun, hence the Saturn return has stimulated further opportunities for its personality integration.

The full moon chart for Libra 2011 sees Saturn closely conjunct the Libra Sun, indicating its powerful influence via Libra but also the Saturn-ruled third ray of business and commerce. The world is going through a multiple level third ray cycle, hence the excesses of its shadow expression have been brought to the surface by Pluto in third ray Capricorn, whilst third ray Saturn metes out the consequences from Libra, the place of judgment.

Saturn also rules the throat centre, seat of the mental body. Humanity as a whole constitute the planetary throat chakra, hence with the energies of Libra currently, Humanity is learning to mentally discriminate what is fair and just, what is best for the greater whole, what the right use of money entails.

Of course, this has fascinating ramifications for New York City, as it is the throat centre of the USA, a major global financial capital whose “home” of the world trade towers was destroyed on 9/11. (It is also speculated to constitute the ajna centre of the five major world centres.10 )

There is a rumour that a hacker group will launch a cyber attack upon the New York Stock Exchange, on October 10, one day before the full moon on October 11, 2011 (11-10-11). Do they have an astrologer working for them?! Others speculate that this is a plot hatched by the authorities to try and discredit these “anti-establishment” groups.

There are some fascinating parallels such as the story that a “second 9/11” was the “deliberately engineered” financial crash of 9/11/2008 – seven years to the day from the first 9/11. (Seven years is a Saturn cycle.)

Now we may witness a cyber attack from a more subtle or etheric perspective, but one that could wreak havoc and spook the markets into fear and panic. Even on normal trading days, it seems that emotion drives the markets more than analysis and hard data.

The Externalisation of the Third Ray Ashram
The unfolding Planetary Plan, that precedes the appearance of the Masters of Wisdom and Lord Maitreya, will see various ashrams on certain rays paving the way. Now is the time of “the forerunner”. One of the first tasks of initiates and disciples from the third ray ashram will be to sort out the financial mess the world finds itself in:

“The first Ashram to do so will be that of the third ray; by the time disciples appear from that Ashram the world will be ready for an all-over financial adjustment; the “principle of sharing” will be a recognised motivating concept of the new civilisation.

This will not involve beautiful, sweet and humanitarian attitudes. The world will still be full of selfish and self-seeking people, but public opinion will be such that certain fundamental ideals will motivate business, being forced upon business by public opinion; the fact that the new general ideas will in many cases be governed by the expediency of interplay will not basically matter.

It is the sharing that is of importance. When the “adjuster of finances” (as an advanced disciple from this Ashram is called in the Hierarchy) appears, he will find conditions greatly changed from those now prevalent, and this to the following extent:

1. The principle of barter and of exchange (to the benefit of all concerned) will control.

2. Owing to the development of atomic energy on behalf of human welfare, national currencies will have been largely superseded, not only by a system of barter but by a universal monetary exchange – representative of the bartered goods when they are relatively small and unimportant – and by a planned scale of related values. National material assets and the needed commodities will all be provided for under an entirely new system.

3. Private enterprise will still exist, but will be regulated; the great public utilities, the major material resources and the sources of planetary wealth – iron, steel, oil and wheat, for instance – will be owned in the first place by a governing, controlling international group; they will, however, be prepared for international consumption by national groups chosen by the people and under international direction.

It lies in the hands of the United Nations to protect this released energy from misuse and to see that its power is not prostituted to selfish ends and purely material purposes. It is a “saving force” and has in it the potency of rebuilding, of rehabilitation and of reconstruction. Its right use can abolish destitution, bring civilised comfort (and not useless luxury) to all upon our planet; its expression in forms of right living, if motivated by right human relations, will produce beauty, warmth, colour, the abolition of the present forms of disease, the withdrawal of mankind from all activities which involve living or working underground, and will bring to an end all human slavery, all need to work or fight for possessions and things, and will render possible a state of life which will leave man free to pursue the higher aims of the Spirit.

The prostituting of life to the task of providing the bare necessities or to making it possible for a few rich and privileged people to have too much when others have too little, will come to an end; men everywhere can now be released into a state of life which will give them leisure and time to follow spiritual objectives, to realise richer cultural life, and to attain a broader mental perspective.”11

Humanity has come a long way from the excesses of the Industrial Revolution and Victorian Age, and it is dealing increasingly with eradicating all kinds of slavery around the world. There is much hope here, even with the imminent demise of the world financial system, so that a new system can arise from the old one. It may be a material “disaster” for many but that which will re-shape the world economic system. A recent statement (October 5), from Robert Shapiro, spokesperson for the International Monetary Fund (IMF),

“If they cannot address [the financial crisis] in a credible way I believe within perhaps 2 to 3 weeks we will have a meltdown in sovereign debt which will produce a meltdown across the European banking system.

We are not just talking about a relatively small Belgian bank, we are talking about the largest banks in the world, the largest banks in Germany, the largest banks in France, that will spread to the United Kingdom, it will spread everywhere because the global financial system is so interconnected. All those banks are counterparties to every significant bank in the United States, and in Britain, and in Japan, and around the world.

This would be a crisis that would be in my view more serious than the crisis in 2008…. What we don’t know the state of credit default swaps held by banks against sovereign debt and against European banks, nor do we know the state of CDS held by British banks, nor are we certain of how certain the exposure of British banks is to the Ireland sovereign debt problems.”12

Interesting to note that recently disgraced and former IMF head Strauss-Kahn, said the same thing in 2008. Also, Shapiro used to head megacorp Monsanto. One wonders just how much manoeuvring by these forces behind the scenes is going on, headed for certain intended outcomes?

It appears that for Humanity to reach a point where “barter and exchange will control”, the world will not do it voluntarily, except for the few grass roots groups who currently practice it. In other words, a financial meltdown, recession or natural disaster appears to be the only way to create opportunities to embrace higher values. We may well be entering that period right now.

Venus and the Re-Examination of Values
In the coming changes, the key factors will be a re-examination and a re-assessment of values. Venus rules the second house in astrology, the house of money and possessions, but also of our spiritual values.

It is interesting to note that the Venus cycle of the Mayans will be most prominent in 2012,13 the fourth of a series of five cycles that create a five-pointed star in the heavens, five being the ray that Libra-ruler Venus rules. The final conjunction will be in 2025, the proposed date for the externalisation of the Masters of Wisdom. These re-evaluations are already underway, as the following excerpt from a British newspaper attests:

“Addicted to shopping: Have we become a nation brainwashed into buying things we don’t need? By A. N. Wilson

On its first day of trading last Tuesday, the queues formed at 7:30am for a 10am opening. The crowds were extraordinary and there is no doubt that the gigantic Westfield Stratford City in the East End of London is a phenomenon.

It cost £1.45 billion to build and, at 20 times the size of St Paul’s Cathedral, this vast temple to commerce has in excess of 300 shops, 70 places to eat and 5,000 car parking spaces.

Come December, it will also have Britain’s biggest casino.

Shut away from the real world in this gleaming hall of fantasy, we can disguise from ourselves the fact the Western world is perilously close to ruin. Visiting Westfield, as I did this week, it is difficult not to be caught up in the shopaholic frenzy.

Yet, while I enjoyed my first few hours there, I was soon visited by sensations of deep unease: a feeling that those of us who had been drawn there were lost in an insanity of consumerism and a profound pessimism about the economic future.

By the time I left, it had become, for me, a kind of parable of the madness of our times, pursuing ever greater material prosperity, for no obvious purpose. And, moreover, it all has an eerie feeling of unreality.”14 (You get the picture, the rest of the article is worth a read, click here.)

An interesting comparison to St. Paul’s cathedral, the malls are the new churches (a great place to take the family on Sunday! :), the “shopping mall Babylons” – all created by the corporate culture vultures, selling more stuff that most of us do not need. What do you need and what do you want?

Even a significant proportion of “spiritual seekers” are caught up in this kind of shopping addiction that we are all plugged into and which feeds the lower ego. How many pairs of shoes does a person need, or dresses, or electronic gadgetry, or that new luxury sports car?

With reference to the earlier statement of how we have all contributed to the current situation in ancient and bygone lifetimes: Although we may have reversed our values completely from then, many of us still carry the old karmic threads that still stimulate unhealthy behaviour patterns around the right use of money.

One is reminded of a line in the Sunday Money Meditation that the Master DK has given out: “What is my personal responsibility in regard to money which passes through my hands? Am I handling it as a disciple of the Masters should handle it.?”15 One aspires! The link above will take the reader to a large compilation of Tibetan’s commentaries on money. It is inspiring, humbling and sobering in its power and clarity.

Steve Jobs Makes His Transition Decision
Steve Jobs was covered in last month’s Virgo newsletter. Jobs passed over on October 5 at the age of 56, the start of the seven year cycle culminating at 63, in which period the soul reviews the incarnation and decides whether it is worth staying or not.

Obviously the latter decision was taken sooner rather than later – these third ray types are always in a hurry! No doubt this soul is planning the next incarnation – possibly from the third ray ashram if my speculation about his soul ray are correct.

Jobs was not only a brilliant inventor, but a very shrewd businessman (ray 3). Some have argued that he contributed just as wantonly to the corporate culture of greed. Yet as an earlier passage of the Tibetan’s attests, when you are in the world market place, sometimes you are powerless to change it, obliged to play the game that everyone else is, otherwise the product does not sell. Here is an excerpt from the earlier passage:

“They are frequently rendered helpless by their fellow executives and their hands are largely tied by the existing rules of the game, by their sense of responsibility to their stockholders and by the realization that, no matter what they do – fight or resign – the situation remains unchanged.”

As a highly innovative and creative genius, one could perceive Jobs as probably more concerned with the creative process of manifesting ideas that have revolutionised the world. Jobs left a legacy of brilliant ideas, very Zen in their simplicity, design and aesthetics. It will be interesting to see how the legacy of his personal fortune and that of Apple’s will be utilised.

One very great irony on the day of Jobs’ passing, was the inordinate amount of attention that the media such as CNN paid to endless reviews of his life. Yet at the same time, the many people involved in the Occupy Wall St. campaigns were ignored – many of whom possess iphones or similar technology to rally one another.

One last commentator says,

“On the tragic passing of Steve Jobs, while still a relatively young man, it is interesting to juxtapose him to Alan Greenspan, one of the other iconic figures of our time. One made us rich, with a vast array of new products and new possibilities. The other made us poor with a long-lasting downturn that could persist for more than a decade.

The two of them can be taken as symbols for the best and worst of modern capitalism. Jobs is the symbol of capitalism when it works. Again and again he broke through barriers, creating new products that qualitatively altered the market by making vast improvements over the competition.”16

Well we must get some laughs on this roller coaster through the Kali Yuga! In closing, here is an amusing clip, “show me the money”, from the movie Jerry Maguire.

Phillip Lindsay © 2011.
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1. Problems of Humanity,  Alice A. Bailey. p.79. [↩]
2. Problems of Humanity,  Alice A. Bailey. pp.70-72. [↩]
3. See here. (The Hidden History of Humanity.) [↩]
4. Esoteric Healing, Alice A. Bailey. p.232. [↩]
5. Problems of Humanity,  Alice A. Bailey. pp.74-5. [↩]
6. Problems of Humanity,  Alice A. Bailey. pp.175-7. [↩]
7. The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, Alice A. Bailey. p.499. [↩]
8. Problems of Humanity,  Alice A. Bailey. pp.73-4. [↩]
9. https://www.nationofchange.org/ [↩]
10. Click here. [↩]
11. The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, Alice A. Bailey. pp.580-1. [↩]
12. Business Insider. [↩]
13. See here. [↩]
14. MailOnline, UK. [↩]
15. Click here. [↩]
16. Dean Baker. [↩]