Pisces 2020: Sensitivity. Meditation. Joy. Chopin. Michelangelo. Mr. Rogers. Weinstein. Sanders. Coronavirus.

Pisces Keynote
“I leave the Father’s home and turning back I save.”
(Pisces Solar Festival: March 9, 2020. 17.47 UT.)

---

Introduction: Sensitivity and Fear in 2020
Meditation: Building the Soul Sanctuary
Pisces: Joy, Serenity and Silence
Frédéric Chopin and Warsaw
The Horoscope is a Musical Signature
Michelangelo: Pisces Visionary
Fred Rogers: A Classic Piscean
Mars Exalted in Capricorn
Saturn: Lord of Time and Karma
Horoscope for the 2025 Conclave
Climate Change and the Great Year
Pisces Harvey Weinstein Convicted
Bernie Sanders: Democrat Frontrunner
Coronavirus Part II – China: Pisces Pandemic Panic?
Pisces: Year’s End Reflection

---

Introduction: Sensitivity and Fear in 2020
We live in an era of heightened sensitivity, particularly whilst Neptune the ruler of Pisces – is passing through this sign on its long term cycle, until the momentous year of 2025 – the year of the Planetary Conclave by the Guides of the Human Race.

When the sun passes through Pisces every year, that sensitivity is heightened – no less so for nations like the USA with its progressed Sun in this sign. Pisces is a water sign of high emotional sensitivity – the “watery nature” ruled by god of the waters, Neptune.

This astral sensitivity stimulates human attributes of empathy, sympathy, kindness, consideration, psychic awareness and love – working through the emotional nature; the shadow side expresses through fear, hatred and desire for power.

Global fear is particularly present at the moment with deteriorating events on many fronts, horror massacres, unknown outcomes and existential threats – financially – stock markets, politically, environmentally and in world health, such as the spread of the coronavirus, covid-19.

If you find yourself picking up on a general sense of dread, of impending doom, fretting sleeplessly at 3 am about the world situation, you are not alone. World fear is a contagion that spreads much faster than any virus, and must be curtailed and contained.

This is an era of unprecedented soul searching for Humanity and no one that is spiritually aware, has the luxury of sitting on the sidelines and not contribute in some kind of measure.

Each individual must face their shadow which is part of the collective shadow, taking responsibility for implementing changes within themselves and communities and to resist escapism or apathy from the horrors of the world.

Here is where the esoteric ruler of Pisces, Pluto the Destroyer, and Lord of the Underworld, must be invoked to reveal ruthlessly – if one is to effect rapid and lasting change.

The antidote to fear is courage, that supernal soul quality residing within the human heart that, alloyed with a disciplined mental nature, will set an unerring course through these uncertain and testing times; that will allow us to stand and make a stand during this mighty wrenching asunder of opposing forces.

A courage that supports co-operation with group brothers and sisters, setting aside differences in group recognition and solidarity – recognising and supporting the New Group of World Servers to implement the emerging Planetary Plan for the Aquarian cycle. The following was written by The Master during WWII and is no less pertinent today during this battle of opposites:

“I challenge all workers and all members of the New Group of World Servers to leave their personal problems behind. This is a time of crisis and such problems must be solved through complete self-forgetfulness. I ask you to work anew with fresh ardour in joyful service, forgetting past weaknesses and failures in the urgency of that which I ask all to do for the world.

There has been much lack of joy in the service rendered to the world lately. When I speak thus, I refer not to happiness, which is a personality reaction, but to that joyous confidence in the law and in the Hierarchy which lies behind the Biblical words, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.”

“Rise up and fight, Arjuna,” preserving the flame of love intact, permitting no breath of hate to disturb the serenity of love or upset that inner poise which will enable you to sound forth the clarion note of world understanding, that will rally all men and women of goodwill to the aid of the Hierarchy.

This will bring to an end all hatred, separativeness and aggression, which are the three major sins of humanity. All men have hated; all men have been separative in both thought and action; all have been and many still are materialistic, full of pride and the desire to gain that which is not their own by right.

This spirit of acquisitiveness belongs to no one group; it has been a universal and general fault, and has produced the present disastrous economic situation, thus precipitating the world into war, hate and cruelty.”1

---

Meditation: Building a Soul Sanctuary
Pisces is a sign of great subjectivity, whose point of least resistance is to retreat from the grossness of the outer world and explore the subtle world of the imagination, dreams and meditation.

Pisces bears some resemblance to another sign of the mutable cross, Sagittarius – often equated with the long inner journey back to Selfhood through meditation.

In a world dominated in this current cycle by the lower mind, meditation is an essential tool to transcend that limitation, to access the inner worlds and intuition (direct or “straight” knowledge), to literally reach for the stars and consciously build the antahkarana or rainbow bridge to the soul.

Meditation transcends “tick tock time”, the linear time upon which the world runs and keeps Humanity locked in illusion. Accessing “no time” or timelessness is to dwell in the present, the Eternal Now, or in the words of the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, “present moment, wonderful moment”.

Regular meditation builds a sanctuary within the heart, where one’s true essence resides, a retreat that replenishes through the healing waters of one’s own soul. Meditation achieves a serenity and silence that enables listening to the guidance of the higher Self. To meditate rightly is to contact that elusive spirit of joy, that resides well beyond the happiness of the personality.

Yet, many who follow the path of spirituality do not meditate correctly or hardly at all, only paying lip service to it, barely spending ten minutes at its practice and even then sporadically. This is partly due to the busy lifestyles and the distractions of information overload. Meditation is a science that seeks to alloy the consciousness of the heart with the directing mind. It takes lifetimes to develop meditation skills and all true meditators “realise how much they do not know”.

Some egoistically declare that they meditate for long periods of time, but actually use it as an escape to go “astral tripping” or undisciplined mind-wandering – the inner equivalent of a video binge! Pisces is a sign of profound astrality – where escapism and fantasy are the points of least resistance. The discrimination and discernment (Viveka) of polar opposite Virgo, is needed to balance the Piscean skill of visualisation.

Visualisation is a major key to meditation, called Vajrayana, where qualities that were not present in an individual (such as compassion, patience), are “built in” through long term visualisation. “Deity Yoga” visualises the Buddha in the Heart, dissolving the mundane world resulting in identification with that divine reality, leading eventually to sunyata or emptiness.

There are many different paths to meditation and most of them are valid – as a step upon the way to broader realisation. One does not have to read a lot of books about the subject, but simply “sit”. The first stage of meditation is the most difficult, grappling with the “monkey mind” that chatters constantly.

This state of mind is a good example of “kama-manas” or “desire-mind” – where the majority of Humanity is polarised, into which most upon the Path are plugged, because we “live in the world” – attempting however to, “be not of this world”!

This is the concentration stage of meditation which is appropriately ruled over by Leo – the fire of mind, with the Will working through it – the Lion disciplines the monkeys in the jungle! One has to cultivate the attitude of the observer who constantly brings the drifting mind back to centre.

Once the lower mind is transcended, and this can take anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour, depending upon personal experience, then the Pilgrim will find themself in a much quieter “thoughtless” realm.

This is the stage of meditation per se, and is ruled over by Leo’s following sign Virgo, complementing the Piscean polarity of the visualisation processes that can now begin in earnest.

For the aspirant upon the Path, there are three areas that need equal expression: Service, meditation and study. Through inner or outer service, one applies practically the fruits of study and meditation. What to study? Preferably one system of thought, thoroughly – without mixing other systems too much, unless one is a good synthesiser.

A good place to begin is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali – a manual of meditation, a “bible” of sorts and guide to liberation. The author has often stated that if he were allowed only one book to keep, it would be this tome – an opener of universes!

---

Pisces: Joy, Serenity and Silence
“Joyfulness takes the place of criticism (that creator of misery) – and is the SILENCE that SOUNDS. It can only be understood through a life dedicated to the newer rhythms and service to the whole. Then that “sounding joy” and that “joyful sounding” can make its true meaning felt.

Serenity is based upon spiritual understanding – it is not an astral condition but a soul reaction. The peace that lies ahead for Humanity is the peace of serenity and joy—a serenity based upon spiritual understanding.

These two qualities of the soul—serenity and joy—are the indications that the soul … the One Who stands alone – is controlling the personality, circumstance and all environing conditions of life.”2

How do we bring joy and serenity into our lives? By invoking the soul – and how is that achieved? Through dedication to meditation and deep reflection – of making regular contact with the higher self, that knows only harmony and equilibrium, individual purpose and destiny.

When there is an emphasis upon soul attributes of joy and serenity, a precipitation from the higher to the lower ensues, bringing resolution to personality integration and life problems. Because the majority of the population upon Earth is not yet soul conscious (but are waking up), there is the widespread clamour of conflict, selfishness and materialism.

Due to its high sensitivity, Pisces is a sign that seeks to dwell in tranquility, imagining a world of spiritual ideals, universal oneness, forgiveness and acceptance. Hence, Pisces’ affinity with joy and serenity, yet its polar opposite Virgo can be the “creator of misery” through the lower mind that indulges in criticism and separativeness. Criticism is the shadow of the finely discriminating Virgo mind.

Of course, Virgo has expressions of nurturing and healing, known for its down to earth practicality and meticulous detail orientation. In this respect, the Virgin Mother brings to birth what Pisces conceives in its imagination or visionary experience.

Hence, Pisces is the noumenon and Virgo the phenomenon. Pisces is the “silence that sounds” and is often not concerned with practical details. Naturally, this is just considering Pisces by itself, yet the truly integrated Piscean invokes polar opposite Virgo to keep the balance. (Or all four arms of the mutable cross that include the Gemini-Sagittarius axis.)

Therefore, Pisces is particularly suited to meditation where there are no boundaries of the concrete mind to limit realisation of consciousness. This is also another reason why Pisces is a sign of Liberation for teachers such as Pisces sun Meher Baba – who took a vow of silence and communicated with an alphabet board.

Through Pisces’ orthodox rulers Jupiter and Neptune, the great ocean of consciousness is accessed and expanded – intuition is invoked. Through its esoteric ruler Pluto, all obstacles to spiritual progress are destroyed and transformed, defining more clearly the path to Liberation.

Sound holds within itself the archetypal pattern or blueprint of an idea. “In the beginning was the word” – when the Solar Logos sounded/is still sounding a cosmic mantram that bought the entire solar system into Being; when your soul sounded its note, or more accurately, a complex chord of soul attributes and personal karma – that brought about conception and rebirth.

The sounds of silence – these “unheard” sounds are behind all creative expression, recognised by musician John Cage in his work. Cage was a Virgo sun and rising opposite Earth and Chiron in Pisces.

Likewise, Paul Simon who wrote the The Sound of Silence – is Virgo rising; here is not only a great example of a Virgo wordsmith, but also Virgo’s “grounding” attributes to Pisces’ abstract nature.

---

Artists, Musicians, Nations and Cities
The arts and music have always been synonymous with creative Pisces. In music, sun-sign people: Quincy Jones, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lou Reed, Nina Simone, James Taylor, Robin Trower.

An outstanding example of the romantic, “tortured poet” – dependant upon heroin, who tragically suicided – is Kurt Cobain, a brilliant musician and songwriter with five placements in Pisces, opposite his Virgo ascendant, with a sensitive Cancer moon for good measure! Interesting to note also that his band was called Nirvana.

In the classical realm: Ravel, Chopin, Delius, Caruso. Bear in mind that these examples are only sun sign Pisces, not considering Pisces rising or moon – or strong Neptune signatures in the horoscope. In the arts, Michelangelo, Renoir, Mora, Da Vinci (Pisces moon) etc.

France has a Pisces soul that struck a great note for the Liberation of Humanity:

“The combination of Piscean power in the Piscean Age, plus a potent Leo nature, enabled France at one time to express quite phenomenally its innate subjective tendency to save the world (for France is essentially on the Path of a world Saviour); this was aided by the brilliant clear vision of the fifth and third rays with their intellectual bias, plus the opportunity offered by Saturn, ruling Paris.

This enabled France to stage the great French Revolution and strike one of the major blows for the release of humanity from bondage … The recognition of the importance of the rights of humanity as a whole, came to the world via France. It marked a climax and high point in the evolution of the nation.”3

Frédéric Chopin
Chopin is a good example of a Pisces Sun with a strong Virgo polarity – his rising sign; he was a Polish composer and leading musician of the 19^th century Romantic era. Chopin had a “poetic genius based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation.”4

Virgo is a sign of technique and with this sign rising, Chopin was able to use his “professional technique” to anchor inspiration. “His piano writing was technically demanding and expanded the limits of the instrument: his own performances were noted for their nuance and sensitivity.”5

Like Mozart and Mendelssohn, Chopin was a child prodigy, indicating that incarnation was the culmination of several lives working along this musical line. He grew up in Warsaw, completing his musical education and earlier compositions there.

Warsaw has Pisces as its personality influence 6, and is one of the great centres for European culture, once described as the “Paris of the North” (France is a Pisces soul). Pisces the Fishes is related to mermaids and Warsaw began as an ancient fishing village:

“Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman, Wars, and his wife, Sawa. According to legend, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula River with whom Wars fell in love.”7

Warsaw hosts such bodies as the “Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, University of Warsaw, the Warsaw University of Technology, the National Museum, the Great Theatre—National Opera, the largest of its kind in the world, and the Zachęta National Gallery of Art.”8

Warsaw was one of the most beautiful cities in the world until WWII when over 85% of buildings were utterly destroyed. There is the esoteric ruler of Pisces, Pluto at work. During its occupation it witnessed some of the worst atrocities of WWII (at the end of the Piscean Age) – and cruelty towards Jews in the infamous Warsaw ghetto.

(Curiously, the Jewish people are a Capricorn personality and Warsaw is a Capricorn soul.) Poland’s 1916 horoscope has the moon in Pisces and 1943-4 saw the progressed Moon return at the height of its suffering in Warsaw.

---

The Horoscope is a Musical Signature
An horoscope contains many frequencies of signs, planets, aspects and rays. Or musically speaking, notes and chords. The task in any incarnation is to harmonise the off-notes or clashing chords of the personality and bring forth the pure sound of the soul.

There are many different associations of notes with signs and they are all correct in their own way. Yet each sign, planet and ray has at least 3 harmonics (even 7), reflected by the three rulerships for each sign – corresponding to personality, soul and monad.

Everything has a frequency and there is a musical signature for every birth chart. There is also a colour signature because these too are measurable frequencies. For students of the rays there are some profound associations with the 7 notes/7 rays:

“C=Red=Ray 6. D=Orange=Ray1. E=Yellow=Ray 4. F=Green=Ray 3. G=Blue=Ray 6. A=Indigo=Ray 2. B=Violet=Ray 7.9

Other zodiac associations are: DO=Aries. DO#(REb)=Taurus. RE=Gemini. RE#(MIb)=Cancer. MI=Leo. FA= Virgo. FA#(SOLb)=Libra. SOL=Scorpio. SOL# (LAb)=Sagittarius. LA=Capricorn. LA# (SIb)=Aquarius. SI=Pisces.”10

---

Michelangelo Buonarotti: Pisces Visionary (1475 – 1564)
“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”

Michelangelo was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet of the Italian High Renaissance. He was part of a large group of advanced souls who came into incarnation on a 1425 cycle of the third ray of Active Intelligence, impulsing the European Renaissance period.

New thinking in the spirit of Humanism expressed itself through art, architecture, politics, science and literature. It was also the high water mark of the 6^th ray cycle in the Piscean Age, shortly preceding this ray’s withdrawal from incarnation in 1625 – around 60 years after Michelangelo’s death in 1564.

Although this group of souls swept in during a third ray cycle, a great proportion of them were on the fourth ray of Harmony through Conflict, also known as the ray of Art, Beauty and Music – think Raphael, Donatello, Botticelli, Titian, Durer, Giotto etc. Italy’s personality expression is on the fourth ray, providing a fertile environment, whilst the fourth ray rules over Humanity as a whole.

As a fourth ray soul, Michelangelo was passionate in his expression of beauty, He was considered the greatest artist of his lifetime, and due to his amazing versatility, considered by some the greatest artist of all time.

Like Leonardo da Vinci who followed later, he is considered the ultimate Renaissance man – a theme most complementary to Pisces as it is a sign that “takes from all the signs”.11

Pisces is an “everyman” or “all things to all men” (“that I might by all means save some”) – not unlike the salvaging virtue of the Piscean Christ. Pisces is the last consummating sign of the zodiac, representing completion and synthesis.

“Michelangelo lived for the expression of beauty. His incomparable pieces of sculpture, his massive, dramatic paintings in the Sistine Chapel, his celebrated architectural designs (including the great dome of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome), and his creation of hundreds of poems, sonnets, madrigals and quatrains, attest to a passionate love of beauty which drove him to express through many media.”12

Michelangelo had a very strong sixth ray of devotion/idealism in his make-up, perhaps personality and astral body; he was deeply, devotedly religious and worked closely with the Catholic Church at the Vatican in Rome. The sixth ray is well known as the ray of the fanatic, whilst the fourth ray oscillates between the pairs of opposites:

“Michelangelo’s personality was often in the grips of a daemonic, obsessive energy; no one could work more furiously and aggressively than he when the “fire” descended upon him. But his driven and compulsive behavior contrasted starkly with a strange passivity, a sense of being in the hands of God … Michelangelo’s individuality contained furious contradictions, and he expressed them without reservation through his art.

… Michelangelo, even though old and in frail health, could hammer more chips out of very hard marble in a quarter hour than three young stone-carvers could do in three or four, which has to be seen to be believed, and he went at it with such impetuosity and fury that I thought the whole work must go to pieces, knocking off with one blow, chips three or four fingers thick, so close to the mark that, if he had gone even slightly beyond, he ran the danger of ruining everything.” (A French visitor observing Michelangelo at work.)13

Michelangelo was a Master of his arts and indeed, very close to being a Master of Wisdom – “that rare efflorescence of a generation of enquirers.”14 He may however, have been at a stage a little earlier, an advanced initiate of the fourth degree, corresponding to the author’s assesment of Leonardo da Vinci – also with the soul purpose of Sagittarius rising.

 

 

Michelangelo had the Moon, Mars and Sun in Pisces, conferring great imagination, sensitivity and identification with Christ, the Piscean avatar. The Moon in Pisces especially afforded an impressionability, to be a mystical medium for higher inspiration.

Yet the Moon in Pisces was also the source of much conflict, representing the Shadow/Dweller – psychological addictions, fear, paranoia and terror, fanaticism, obsessiveness, overly devoted – “his intense emotionalism, violent, all-consuming attachments to those he loved, yearning for salvation.”15

Pisces is the sign of the martyr and Michelangelo created moving depictions of martyrs – such as the painting below.

The 2^nd ray of Love-Wisdom and the 6^th ray of Devotion are the two rays that pass through Pisces. Mars is co-ruler of the sixth ray and with its close conjunction to the Pisces Sun representing the personality, must have reinforced the expression of a 6^th ray personality – especially with regard to fanaticism, aggressiveness, competitiveness and zealotry!

Michelangelo was abstemious in his personal life, not unlike the early Christian saints from the first few centuries of the first millenium – who survived on locusts, wore hair shirts and lived in the desert – he was probably one of them in a previous life!

“However rich I may have been, I have always lived like a poor man.” Michelangelo … was indifferent to food and drink, eating “more out of necessity than of pleasure … he often slept in his clothes and boots …

… His nature was so rough and uncouth that his domestic habits were incredibly squalid, and deprived posterity of any pupils who might have followed him … he was by nature a solitary and melancholy person, bizzarro e fantastico, a man who “withdrew himself from the company of men.””16

Given his Spartan lifestyle, the first ray is a strong contender for personality ray (and perhaps for a highly enduring physical body), though it may have been the ray of his mental body:

“Under the influence of the first ray, the individual is impressed by the importance of asserting the essential idea rather than laboriously bringing the idea through into a refined and polished expression Michelangelo worked with tremendous speed and assurance, brought his concept to the point of emergence, and then, with typical first ray impatience, raced on, seized by the desire to bring forth the next revelation … his unfinished statuary came to be highly valued, because it showed the great artist’s idea in the process of finding objective form.”17

This Sun-Mars conjunction in Pisces opposite Pluto in Virgo (and Earth), enabled Michelangelo to bring his vision into form. His extraordinary technical skill in executing works is the similar techniques of a Chopin pianist or a Leonard Cohen songwriter. (Michelangelo wrote many poems.)

Pluto in earthy Virgo represents the sculptor’s release of the hidden form within the stone, aided considerably by Saturn in Cancer, shaping and birthing the emerging body. The seventh ray and first rays govern sculpting and it is possible Michelangelo had a 7^th physical body/brain. Michelangelo would sculpt like a man possessed, indicating the 6^th and 1^st rays working together.

Poem
(Michelangelo)

Ravished by all that to the eyes is fair,
Yet hungry for the joys that truly bless,
My soul can find no stair
To mount to heaven, save earth’s loveliness.
For from the stars above
Descends a glorious light
That lifts our longing to their highest height
And bears the name of love.
Nor is there aught can move
A gentle heart, or purge or make it wise,
But beauty and the starlight of her eyes.

(Translated into English by George Santayana (1863-1952))

The Earth in opposite sign Virgo represents the monad, that essential source of every human that utilises the soul as its vehicle, just as the soul expresses through its personality. It might be stated that the sun represents the personality, the rising sign the soul purpose and the opposite sign to the sun sign, the monad – where all humans find their final identification and liberation.

When the keynote for Pisces is examined in this light – “I leave the Father’s home and turning back I save” – the Father is the monad, just as the mother is the personality and the son is the soul.

The story of the prodigal son who returns to the Father’s house after many years, is a beautiful metaphor for the many incarnations of the monad. Having “eaten of the husks of mortal existence in the far country”, the son (soul) says, “I will arise and go to my Father” – consciously treading the Way back home, redeeming or salvaging (saving) the lower self until there is nothing left. After which, the causal body of the soul is destroyed at the 4^th initiation and there is direct identification with the monad – the Father:

“Ever, throughout the aeons, does the Prodigal Son arise and go to his Father, and always latent within him is the memory of the Father’s home and the glory there to be found. But the human mind is so constituted that the search for light and for the ideal is necessarily long and difficult.

“Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face”; now we catch glimpses through the occasional windows we pass in our ascension of the ladder, of other and greater Beings than ourselves; They hold out to us helping hands, and call to us in clarion tones to struggle bravely on if we hope to stand where They are now standing.”19

Returning now to the dynamics of Michelangelo’s Sun, Earth (opposite point) and the rising sign:

“The disciple focuses in himself in the Sun Sign [Pisces] and this conditions his personality. He seeks to realize the potency of the Rising Sign [Sagittarius] and this produces the ensuing conflict in his life; he also aspires to fulfillment in the polar opposite [Virgo] of his Sun Sign [Pisces] (which indicates personality protection) – and thus seeks to demonstrate the fusion of the three forces, potencies or energies.

To produce, by this alignment and consequent inflow, a fusion with the energies of the opposite [Virgo] of the Sun Sign [Pisces] in order that the three energies may prepare a disciple for initiation. The two energies have to be blended in order to set up an adequate magnetic pull so that response may be forthcoming from the opposite.”20

There is no doubt that Michelangelo achieved this synthesis of opposites. For someone of his spiritual standing, most likely incarnating as a fully-fledged third degree initiate, his goal for the 4^th degree in that life was a monadic merging. Hence, the Earth in Virgo assumes greater than usual monadic importance as the “polar opposite to the sun sign” – and also because it is the esoteric ruler of the Sagittarius ascendant, soul purpose.

First ray ruler Vulcan is “veiled” by the Earth in Virgo – the smithy at the fiery forge of a first ray mind who fashioned his art in deepest matter – marble. The forces of  both first ray rulers Vulcan and Pluto, were most prominent in Michelangelo’s life.

As a Sagittarius ascendant, Michelangelo’s soul purpose was profoundly related to religion, higher thought and philosophy – such as the new Humanism of the European Renaissance (which did not really interest him as a young student) – more modernly the Humanities: grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and moral philosophy.

Humanism drew heavily upon the ancient Greek philosophers, championed by fellow Italian, Marsilio Ficino – a scholar, priest and astrologer who drew upon the ideas of Plato’s academy:

“The fourth ray is the reconciler of polarities. The greatest and most challenging polarity to be reconciled in Michelangelo’s lifetime arose from the confrontation of pagan Humanism and Christian orthodoxy and authority … Michelangelo’s artistic creations reconciled these two conflicting and contradictory cultural streams. He was devoted to both Christianity and to Platonism.

His sculpture and paintings abound with figures from Graeco-Roman mythology, such as Cupid, Ganymede, Bacchus, Tityus, as well as those from traditional Christian theogony, such as Jesus, the Virgin Mother, St. Paul, St. Matthew, St. Peter, etc.

The most conspicuous example of the way in which Michelangelo excelled in bridging and unifying the two contrasting world views is the juxtaposition of Old Testament prophets and pagan sibyls on the vault of the Sistine Chapel.

Contemplation of this dramatic feat of harmonization immediately calls to mind the fourth ray word of power, “Two Merge with One.””21

Jupiter is the orthodox ruler of Sagittarius and is placed in Aquarius, the sign of its esoteric rulership. Michelangelo was an harbinger for the Aquarian Age – a radical enzyme and seed for a new culture.

Michelangelo’s achievements occurred during the highest expression of the Piscean Age, and just before the beginning of the 500 year cusp between the ages. His genius partly lay in his Aquarian unorthodoxy and innovation, further strengthened by.Chiron and Mercury in Aquarius.

Here is just a brief glimpse of a genius of human evolution – on the verge of Liberation. Space-time does not permit further analysis of the horoscope, a complete astro-biography would do Michelangelo justice! Highly recommended is Michael D. Robbins’ excellent astro-ray analysis of Michelangelo in Tapestry of the Gods II, available in Free PDF download.

---

---

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Esoteric Astrologer Bookstore is offering a permanent 15% discount off all titles + free books.
(For US residents only, due to high postage costs to countries outside USA.)

Missing the full set? Or want to give a thoughtful gift? The past twenty years of writings by Phillip Lindsay – newsletters and articles on esoteric astrology and the ageless wisdom, including the free online video, The Hidden History of Humanity.

For other countries, cheaper postage rates and other discounts on Phillip Lindsay’s titles – at Amazon.

---

---

Fred Rogers: A Classic Piscean
“Our society is much more interested in information than wonder, in noise rather than silence … And I feel that we need a lot more wonder and a lot more silence in our lives … the greatest potencies are in the pauses … How do we encourage reflection?” (Fred Rogers)

Fred Rogers was an “American television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer, and Presbyterian minister, known under the name Mister Rogers. He was the creator, showrunner and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001.”22

The late Rogers recently returned to the spotlight, through his portrayal by Tom Hanks in a recent 2019 film: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. (See trailer.)

Rogers had several placements in Pisces: Sun, Moon, Venus and Mercury. He was a Piscean exemplar of loving understanding and kindness. Pisces is probably the best listener of the zodiac – Rogers put an emphasis upon listening, which he also termed “graceful receiving”. Pisces’ highest quality is that of sacrifice and forgiveness – Rogers once said: “The one thing that evil cannot stand is forgiveness”:

“Forgiveness is sacrifice, and is the giving up of one’s self, even of one’s very life, for the sake of others and for the good of the whole group. This spirit of sacrifice is ever found when the Shamballa force is rightly contacted, even in the smallest degree, and the underlying impulse behind the loving will of God is sensed and understood, accompanied as this always is with the desire to participate in that will and its spirit of divine sacrifice.

Manifestation is itself the Great Forgiveness. The stupendous Lives—outside manifested existence—entered into manifestation in order to give Themselves for the lesser lives and forms of existence in order that these lesser lives might be enabled to proceed onward towards a goal which is known to Deity alone, and thus eventually reach high places of spiritual expression.

Achievement is ever followed by sacrifice and the giving of the greater for the lesser. This is an aspect of the Law of Evolution. Such is the note and theme of the entire creative process and is the basic meaning of the phrase, “God is Love,” for love signifies giving and sacrifice, at least in this solar system.”23

Rogers may have been a 6^th ray soul and 2^nd ray personality with a 2^nd ray astral body. He might also have been a 2^nd ray soul, given his emphasis on education. He partook of the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Child Development, “where he began his 30-year long collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland.

Rogers also helped develop the children’s shows The Children’s Corner (1955) and Misterogers (1963). In 1968 he created Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, a show critically acclaimed for focusing on children’s emotional and physical concerns, such as death, sibling rivalry, school enrollment, and divorce.”24

---

Mars Exalted in Capricorn (Feb.16 to Mar.30)
Mars is in the sign of its exaltation, passing through Capricorn for six weeks, stimulating the passage of three other planets in this sign – Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto.

Mars in Capricorn gives a great drive to succeed, to reach the acme of achievement in any field. Mars here invokes this sign’s ruler Saturn, bringing mental discipline to bear over the emotional nature – harnessing it to achieve goals. The organisation and discipline of Saturn creates an efficient and practical use of energy.

As the god of war, Mars produces conflict and its primary battleground is the solar plexus centre/emotional body – over which it rules. Mars in Capricorn’s point of least resistance for average humanity or the undeveloped individual, is the satisfaction of personal ambition or ardent desire, pronounced ego expression, aggression, militancy, domination and the selfish use of money.

Hence the usually passionate Mars can be coldly calculating in this sign, selfish or have a strong desire for recognition and status – particularly politicians, business-people or the military. In this regard, the US primaries cycle will be interesting to watch over the next several weeks.

For the more conscious, the potential is the driving force of Mars to reach the mountaintop of Capricorn, to achieve the best potentials that are in accordance with spiritual principles. To practice and live the life of diciplined mindfulness and constant vigilance. Mars the warrior is utterly fearless and confident – where fear and passion dwelling in the solar plexus has been raised into a heart of courage. Esoterically, Mars in Capricorn is about,

“Materialism, the fight for the satisfaction of personal ambitions, and the conflict with higher spiritual tendencies goes steadily forward, and this most material of all the signs is the battleground of the old established order and habits and the new and higher inclinations and tendencies.”25

During the transit of Mars through Capricorn, there is often the revelation of the degree of spiritual ambition and pride that resides in the lower nature. These tests of lower ego are usually revealed when Mars squares or opposes the “personal” planets in a horoscope, particularly in this case – if those planets are in the cardinal cross signs: Aries-Libra, Cancer-Capricorn.

The power of Mars persists in the spiritually advanced, through the Second Initiation in particular, up to the Third Initiation where, along with the moon, Mars produces a “fearful conflict” between the lower ego and the higher self. There lie some immediate goals for Humanity …

---

Saturn: Lord of Time and Karma
The diagram below is an excellent visual of time’s essential nature as spirallic, instead of linear. It is also an insight into why Saturn is the Lord of Time and Karma – the law of cause and effect. Saturn rules the third ray of Active-Intelligence, some symbols of which are the labyrinth and the matrix – like the circle of spirals below.

---

Horoscope for the 2025 Conclave
There have been enquiries by various readers about the horoscope for the once-in-a-century, 2025 Conclave of the Masters of Wisdom. We may find a clue in the following statement:

“The past year [April 1942 – April 1943] has been one of the world’s worst experiences from the standpoint of agony and distress; the point of acutest suffering has been reached. It has, however, been the year in which the greatest spiritual Approach of all time has shown itself to be possible—an Approach for which the initiates and Masters have for centuries been preparing, and for which all the Wesak Festivals since the meeting of the Great Council in 1925 have been preparatory.”26.

This statement implies that it is at the Wesak festival or Taurus full moon on the 25^th year of a century, that the meeting takes place. This is logical, as it is not only the festival where all the Masters make themselves available for the closest subjective contact with disciples in all their ashrams, but is the one festival of the year where Sanat Kumara and the Buddha are present, linking up in a triangle with the head of Hierarchy, The Christ.

“… a mysterious process which is going on in the thinking … of the planetary Logos [via Sanat Kumara]. He is deciding at this time the mode by which a momentous event or happening within the Hierarchy shall take shape; He is timing the process of its externalisation;

He is deciding which Ashrams shall be externalised and Who, within those Ashrams, should and must proceed with the purely inner and subjective work, and Who should be chosen to work—consciously and openly—in the outer world of men, thus duplicating in Their numbers what Christ experienced when He “descended into Hell.” Many things have to be considered; the objectives in view of the Masters concerned, the rays in manifestation, and many astrological relationships.

In this deciding judgment, Sanat Kumara is being aided by certain Members of the Great Council at Shamballa, by the Christ and by the seven Masters Who are responsible for the seven groups of Ashrams. He is also reaching certain conclusions as to the groups of disciples who have hitherto been under training during the final stages of the Path of Discipleship.

This decision has to take under advisement the rapidity with which the entrance of men and women into the Ashrams can take place; it is also dependent upon the members of the Ashram moving forward according to their degree, and upon the power of the Ashrams to absorb and assimilate the much larger numbers, without upsetting ashramic stability. He has also to consider the ability of the neophyte under training to take and hold the far greater tension necessarily incident to true ashramic life in the New Age.”27

The horoscope is set for London, one of the five major planetary centres, hence a different rising sign in other cities. In this horoscope, Libra rising is most appropriate as it is a sign related to the Shamballa, where the Lord of the World, or Sanat Kumara resides: “Libra admits the soul into the world centre which we call Shamballa.”28

The Taurus solar festival is the main annual event where Sanat Kumara’s presence (upon the throne of Shamballa) is most emphasised:

“This Shamballa force is that which “fans or intensifies the light by the removal of obstructions and proceeds from far distant places, pouring through the eye of illumination [Bull’s eye] into those spheres of influence upon the sorrowful planet, the Earth, impelling the Bull [Taurus] upon its onward rush … and hence its pronounced Taurian effects upon humanity.”29

If the horoscope is set for Darjeeling, the planetary head centre for the Fifth Rootrace, and which is in close proximity to the Masters and Shamballa, the rising sign is Capricorn. For Geneva, the planetary heart centre, the rising sign is Scorpio, New York Leo rising and Tokyo – Pisces rising.

---

Climate Change and the Great Year
The Earth is just completing a turn of the Great Wheel and beginning a new turn of 25,920 years in the sign Aquarius, coinciding with the lesser 2,160 year Aquarian cycle – the 7^th time this has occurred in the history of the Fifth Rootrace. HPB tells us:

“At the close of each “great year,” [25,920 years] called by Aristotle — according to Censorinus — the greatest, and which consists of six sars, our planet is subjected to a thorough physical revolution.

The polar and equatorial climates gradually exchange places; the former moving slowly toward the Line, and the tropical zone, with its exuberant vegetation and swarming animal life, replacing the forbidding wastes of the icy poles. This change of climate is necessarily attended by cataclysms, earthquakes, and other cosmical throes.

Greenland and even Spitzbergen, the remnants of our Second or Hyperborean Continent, “had almost a tropical climate” … the pre-Homeric Greeks had preserved a vivid tradition of this “Land of the Eternal Sun,” whither their Apollo journeyed yearly.

During the Miocene Age, Greenland (in N. Lat. 70°) developed an abundance of trees, such as the Yew, the Redwood, the Sequoia, allied to the Californian species, Beeches, Planes, Willows, Oaks, Poplars and Walnuts, as well as a Magnolia and a Zamia,” says Science; in short Greenland had Southern plants unknown to Northern regions.

As the beds of the ocean are displaced, at the end of every deci-millennium and about one neros, a semi-universal deluge like the legendary Noachian flood is brought about. This year was called the Heliacal by the Greeks; but no one outside the sanctuary knew anything certain either as to its duration or particulars.

The winter of this year was called the Cataclysm or the Deluge, — the Summer, the Ecpyrosis. The popular traditions taught that at these alternate seasons the world was in turn burned and deluged. This is what we learn at least from the Astronomical Fragments of Censorinus and Seneca.

… Berosus, himself a Chaldean astrologer, at the Temple of Belus, at Babylon, gives the duration of the sar, or sarus, 3,600 years; a neros 600; and a sossus 60.”30

There are two cycles referred to directly in the passage above and three cycles indirectly:

1. The Great Year: 25,920 years. The most commonly accepted   interpretation of Great Year – where the sun precesses through the 12 signs of the zodiac: 2,160 x 12.

2. The Heliacal year: 10,600 years. One decimillenium plus one neros: 10,000 + 600.

3. Nutation cycle: 21,600. Nutation of the ecliptic, close to double the heliacal year.

4. Great Year: 1,080,000 year cycle. Polar-equatorial change places.

5. The Maha Yuga of 4,320,000 years.31

---

Pisces Harvey Weinstein Convicted
In the 2017 Scorpio newsletter there was a comprehensive astrological analysis of Harvey Weinstein. On February 24, 2020 a jury convicted Weinstein of two of five criminal charges: one count of criminal sexual assault in the first degree and one count of rape in the third degree.

More charges are pending in Los Angeles. Although Weinstein escaped conviction of the more serious charges, it was still a victory for the MeToo movement – as well as the beginning of a change in attitude – in how the criminal courts deal with sexual assault cases.

Weinstein is a Pisces sun with a tough combination of Scorpio rising, Mars in Scorpio and a Capricorn moon. To say that this is a “hardass” combination would be an understatement, reflecting his shrewdness and toughness in business negotiations.

Weinstein was responsible for the production of some very successful movies such as Good Will Hunting; its star Matt Damon once compared Weinstein to a scorpion, saying “it’s his nature” to sting people, illustrating by the old tale about the scorpion and the frog.

Damon also made another reference to the ruthlessness of Scorpio when discussing Good Will Hunting, “Everyone warned us. They said, ‘He’ll bite your head off. He’s Harvey Scissorhands.’” (A reference to Harvey’s habit of cutting and/or recutting films.)”32

Weinstein had some appropriate transits for the conviction date of Feb.24, 2020:

1. Saturn in Capricorn trine to progressed Venus in Taurus. Saturn the lord of karma in aspect to progressed Venus in the sign of its rulership sensuous Taurus. This Venus progression has moved from natal Venus in Pisces, the sign of its exaltation.

Apart from its artistic sensitivity, this position of Venus in Pisces may have been one of the sources of Weinstein’s amorous escapades – driven by Mars in Scorpio square Pluto in Leo. The latter natal pattern reflected his need to dominate people in general. There is also the theme of Venus or Sun in Pisces having difficulty with personal boundaries.

2. Progressed moon in Cancer opposite natal Moon in Capricorn – T-square Saturn in Libra. The moon in Capricorn represents Weinstein’s cold, calculating, ruthlessness and his business acumen. The progressed moon opposing in Cancer, symbolises women and the stand that his many accusers made. The T-square to Saturn in Libra (one of the three signs of sex), represents his karmic chickens coming home to roost!

3. Transiting Venus conjunct Jupiter in Aries. The timing here is uncannily accurate, as Venus is a fast moving planet. In the 2017 analysis, Jupiter was described thus:

“[Weinstein] … referred to as “god” by Merryl Streep. Jupiter in Aries, he was a god – Zeus, king of his domain, generous to his “subjects” and yet tyrannical and dictatorial, without any qualms or conscience when sexually “lording it over” any actress. Zeus was renowned in ancient mythology as the profligate (“wildly extravagant, given to dissipation and licentiousness; shamelessly immoral”), who “spilled his seed” in countless extra-marital affairs.”33

Bear in mind that Weinstein’s Mars in Scorpio, as ruler of Aries, insistently and obsessively “drove his Jupiter to distraction”, seeking sexual conquest after conquest – there was never going to be any satiation or satisfaction. The addiction could have been more about power than sex – the two themes are closely related through Weinstein’s Mars in Scorpio square to natal Pluto.

4. Transiting Jupiter in Capricorn square Jupiter in Aries. Jupiter’s position in Capricorn reminds us again of this oft-quoted passage:

“Jupiter in its lowest aspect gives the fulfilment of desire and satisfied demand, whilst in its highest Jupiter is the outgoing expression of love, which attracts magnetically to itself that which is desired—this time the good of the whole. In Capricorn, therefore, Jupiter reaches its lowest point of expression in the densest material aspect, and then—as love and selflessness triumph—this lowest aspect vanishes and disappears.

It is to the “fall” of the highest aspect that the symbolism refers, and then later to the fall or disappearance of all that is base and low. Love is fallen and blinded when desire is rampant; desire vanishes when love triumphs.”34

With this transit, Weinstein may finally “get it” – to date he has either been in denial or is simply trying to avoid prosecution – or both. Jupiter in Capricorn square to his prolifigate Jupiter in Aries – a Hollywood “god” has come crashing down (fallen) from a great height.

This transit also reflects being involved in legal matters and stimulates arrogance or self-righteous attitudes when dealing with people in power – like judges and lawyers! It will no doubt be enormously frustrating for Weinstein, as Jupiter square Jupiter may create a desire to just push through – at loggerheads with everyone but blocked from exercising any power, to which he has been so accustomed.

5. Transiting Uranus opposite progressed Mars. This transit has been in orb for the past 18 months, since Uranus entered Taurus. Taurus is a sign related to sex and Uranus rules the sacral centre. Mars is associated with both the seat of desire (solar plexus) and the sacral centre. The connection between Uranus and Mars gave the opportunity for a radical change from past habits – but it was a change forced upon Weinstein by outside circumstances, it did not arise from within.

6. Transiting Saturn in Aquarius square progressed Mars in Scorpio. Is prison time indicated for Weinstein? It is very possible, particularly when the karmic lord Saturn enters Aquarius for some months (March to June) and squares progressed Mars in Scorpio in the 12^th house of prisons. Mars and Pluto rule this house and Weinstein has been a prisoner of his own behaviour for a long time now.

The closest square by Saturn will be in April-May, and though not quite exact, may see a sentence handed down. Otherwise, prison may not eventuate until 2021 when both Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius will square progressed Mars in Scorpio – in the first two weeks of January.

---

Bernie Sanders: Democrat Frontrunner
Sanders is currently far and away the leading contender for the Democratic nomination, though there are hardly any other Democrat contenders who support him; an ironic situation that is a repeat of the 2016 election when he was competing with Hillary Clinton.

The undermining of Sanders in that election was more covert, this time around its much more open season for “Bernie bashing”. Some of the reasons for Sanders’ success thus far are through the following transits:

1. Transiting Saturn in Capricorn trine to Virgo Sun. This transit influenced Sanders for most of 2019, allowing him to carefully build up and consolidate his position, aided by his doggedly determined Moon-Mars in Aries and his Mars-ruled warrior-Scorpio ascendant.

Sanders who had a heart attack October 4, 2019 – he pretty much got back on his horse and kept charging on – in true Aries style! On that date Jupiter, which rules the heart centre, was in Sagittarius, closely opposing his Jupiter in Gemini – and T-squaring his Sun in Virgo.

The Sun is the other co-ruler of the heart centre and is associated with the physical heart. The strain of political campaigning, being constantly criticised and the target of many nasty thought-forms is unimaginable. But Scorpio rising has a thick hide and is the politician’s ascendant of choice!

The transits of Pluto, Saturn and Jupiter through Capricorn have/will all helped Sanders by harmoniously aspecting his Virgo Sun, node and Neptune in Virgo – the latter planet allowing him to powerfully express his political ideals of democratic socialism as originally practiced in northern European nations, and as embodied in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposed New Deal program from 1935-9.

2. Transiting Jupiter in Capricon trine Virgo Sun. This planet has helped Sanders swell the ranks of his grassroots supporters and win recent primaries; it will be in orb of influence right up to the Nov.3 elections – where it teams up with power planet Pluto, both trining his north node in the tenth house of career.

3. Progressed midheaven conjunct Scorpio ascendant. The progessed midheaven represents the career and public perception – thus far unfolded. Here is a merging of dharma with soul purpose and the conjunction will be almost exact by Nov.3 elections.

4. Progressed Sun in Sagittarius trine Pluto in Leo. This is one of Sanders’ most promising progressions for the acquisition of political power, moving into exactitude in the next two years, but well within orb of influence now. Natal Pluto is conjunct Chiron in Leo, in the ninth house of higher principles and ethics. Chiron in Leo with Pluto is the “wound of power” and its ultimate healing by stepping into Leonine leadership. Also strengthening – is the transit of Chiron in Aries exactly trining Sanders’ Pluto in Leo and progressed sun in Sagittarius, creating a grand trine in fire on election day Nov.3, 2020.

5. Transiting Uranus in Taurus square Pluto and Chiron in Leo. Aiding and abetting the previous progression in #4 has been the ongoing activation of Pluto and Chiron in Leo by transiting Uranus. This transit has been powerfully influencing for 2019 and will keep doing so for all of 2020. Uranus is the reformer and the outsider, the wildcard that could just propel Sanders forward as the main contender to Trump.

6. Virgo-Pisces full moon of March 9 Grand Cross. Given Jupiter’s proven potency for Sanders, this transit activates a grand cross with natal Jupiter in Gemini, solar directed Mercury in Sagittarius, Sun-Neptune in Pisces, Moon in Virgo. It is a mixed but very powerful combination of forces, and could create a wave of idealism, expanding Sanders’ base even further.

And/or it may represent subterfuge that seeks to undermine him, both from Democrat and Republican propaganda. Heart health may also be compromised, due to stimulation of Jupiter in Gemini again. Yet it could just as easily, physically energise Sanders as well.

7. Transiting Neptune in Pisces square Jupiter in Gemini. Related to #6 is this transit that is considerably magnified by the Pisces-Virgo full moon on March 9. Transiting Neptune square Jupiter can result in unguarded moments where well-intended idealism can blind – in how the public may perceive certain statements.

For instance, Sanders’ “innocent” or naive recent comments about the positive aspect of Cuba’s health system, drew a flurry of criticism. The comments might have been idealistically and practically true, but “commie” or socialist ammunition for opponents.

One can lack common sense with this kind of transit, spouting “pie-in-the-sky” ideals without any practical back-up. Over-estimation of one’s abilities, biting off more than you can chew, generosity taken advantage of etc.

The upside of this Neptune transit is that Sanders will be able to pump his pragmatic policies with high idealism and inspiration which continues to reach many more potential voters.

8. On Nov.3 election day, there are various short term transits that are advantageous: Transiting Sun conjunct progressed midheaven in Scorpio. Transiting Mars in Aries conjunct Moon. Progressed moon in Pisces opposite Sun in Virgo – a real culmination/harvest of the past 27 year cycle.

Despite all these good transits, it does not mean Sanders will win the Nov. 3 election, but it appears he has a very good chance, particularly if the rest of the Democratic party fall behind him in greater support.

---

Coronavirus Part II – China 2020
As stated in last month’s newsletter, flu-like viruses are the result of mass fear: “The scourge of influenza has its roots in fear and worry, and once the world settles down to freedom … we shall see the disease die out.”

As stated in the introduction to this newsletter, that fear has expanded, recently compounded by Mercury going retrograde during Pisces – creating dramatic stock market fluctuations – which has historically always been driven by fear. By the time Mercury goes direct and beyond its post retrograde phase toward the end of March, it is possible that current exaggerations and reactions will be considerably toned down.

With Mercury retrograding four times a year, it is always a timely period to review and go back over matters, to do more research on something, to look at how one’s life can be planned or organised differently.

Often Mercury retrograde can be frustrating, due to usual routines being disrupted, but it always help us to take stock of any situation. No less so with Covid-19. When considering Pisces’ polar opposite Virgo, the pre-eminent sign of health and healing – it has been a very Virgo-themed last several weeks.

When the virus was announced by China on Dec. 31, 2019, transiting Moon was in Pisces, opposite China’s Saturn in Virgo – a very pedantic position for Saturn; it can tend to be draconian or obsessed with health matters – known in psychology as anal retentiveness! But perhaps it was needed. Neptune’s ongoing transit through Pisces can also reflect hard to diagnose illnesses, or illnesses of a subtle nature that can lurk in one’s system for weeks.

Since Dec. 31, 2019, the world has witnessed an extraordinary Virgoan clean-up in China, that has now spread along with the virus – around the world: Facemasks, disinfections, germ-fogger machines, hazmat suits etc. The most disturbing aspect were millions of people ordered to stay indoors, prisoners in their own homes.

There were many eerie scenes of very large Chinese cities of 24 million – completely deserted, like a scene out of a science fiction movie, complete with space suits! It has been a very traumatic situation, almost beyond endurance for many; wandering drones patrolling city and country areas, hovering over residents ordering them over loudspeakers to put their masks on!

Prisons are the province of the 12^th house and on Dec. 31, 2019 there were several planets in China’s 12^th house in Capricorn, particularly Saturn – conjunct Jupiter in Capricorn. Jupiter was mentioned earlier with regard to, “… the fulfillment of desire and satisfied demand”.

Jupiter – the principle of expansion, placed in Capricorn, arguably reflects China’s mighty industrial output, and very materialistic tendencies of a large part of its population – driven by the insatiable appetite of the materialistic West of course!

Saturn, the principle of restraint, has virtually stopped China in its tracks. There has been a serious effect upon its economy and many businesses may not survive as a result. Just as the coronavirus has weeded out mainly the aged or unhealthy, so business will be affected in a similar way.

Perhaps this virus epidemic has forced the Chinese take pause for reflection (Pisces) – about the quality of life they want. Indeed, unaccustomed to their usual work routine (the Chinese are very hard workers), many found themselves in recreation at home -playing table tennis, watching videos, making up games – an enforced holiday!

Transiting Pluto had already been passing over China’s Jupiter in Capricorn since Feb. 2019, starting to effect a breakdown of the Capricorn tendency for crystallisation – more marked in this sign than any other zodiac sign. Pluto will continue its influence on China’s Jupiter through most of 2020 – which may have a very liberating effect upon China’s population in general.

The downside of Pluto as first ray ruler, might feed into the lower aspect of China’s first ray soul, by insisting on maintaining economic, political and military power – beyond what is necessary. Or over-compensating for its recent perceived losses.

The general sense of control that the population felt so markedly from the State recently, has already stirred up a lot of resentment and may be the seed of a greater rebellion; particularly when transiting Jupiter and Saturn enter Aquarius and pass over China’s Aquarian moon/Ascendant in 2021.

As of this writing (Feb. 29, 2020) the average global death rate is 3%, with higher averages of 5% in Italy and extremely high in Iran at 18%. (See complete statistics table here.) For now the virus is relatively contained in China, with no knowledge if it will break out again. Yet the death rate is low, compared to common flu deaths around the world:

“A study published in the Lancet that was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control shows that on average a severe flu season results in around 650,000 deaths worldwide.

In comparison to that, a mild one kills around 300,000. The study also reported that in recent years the flu has killed around 12,000 Americans in a mild season and 56,000 in a severe season.”35

So far (Dec. 31, 2019 to Feb. 29, 2020), the worldwide death toll has been 2,923 – hardly anything to inspire widespread panic, certainly some caution; yet that is what has happened, fuelled by media and world stock markets for the past week – as traders and Big Pharma capitalise on fears, hysteria and propaganda – with the biggest stock market falls since 2008.

Hence, not only the fear of a virus, but also the fear of currency devaluation, recession etc. This possibility has already been “on the cards” due to the transits of various planets through money-sign Capricorn, and is now being fueled by pandemic declarations.

Returning now to China’s transit chart above, there are several other factors that were very marked in the Dec. 31, 2019 announcement chart:

1. Transiting Mars conjunct midheaven in Scorpio. This is a highly significant position, given that Mars is a two year cycle and the conjunction is exact. Scorpio is a sign of healing through purging. The two rulers of Scorpio, Mars and Pluto, are conjunct in Leo.

2. Progressed Moon conjunct Mars-Pluto in Leo. The 27 year cycle of progressed Moon is activating the Mars-Pluto conjunction, especially Pluto the purge! (See diagram.)

Within the first four weeks of the crisis in January 2020, the progressed moon came into an exact conjunction with Pluto. Furthermore, transiting Venus and solar Chiron in Aquarius (science) were opposite Mars-Pluto in Leo.

Pluto is the ruler of the first ray of will-power, the ray of China’s soul and one of the rays that pass through Leo. The psychological dimension to this progression is enormous – Chinese pride (Leo) has taken a big blow, as they have scrambled to contain the virus.

3. Transiting Jupiter in Capricorn square Libra sun. Natal Jupiter has already been discussed in regard to the restraining influence of Saturn. Jupiter square the Sun involves the two rulers of the second ray of Love-Wisdom, a ray that is absent from China’s 1/3 ray structure. This transit can create an exaggerated, over-the-top response, which may have been needed.

4. The Jupiter return in Capricorn. China is approaching its Jupiter return in 2020 (three hits in March, July, November), so by the end of the year, enough time will have elapsed for China to take stock of itself with regard to the lower aspect of Jupiter in Capricorn – will it just be business as usual, or the embracing of other more human values?

---

Pisces: Year’s End Reflection
As the last sign of the zodiac, Pisces heralds the end of the spiritual year before a new beginning in the following sign of Aries. As a sign of deep reflection (the reflecting waters), the Pisces interval allows a retrospective review of the year that has just elapsed – of how challenges were met, how personal transits were handled, whether our previous new year resolutions were met etc.

Through that reviewing process, the affairs of life can be wound up, loose ends tidied up, preparing for course corrections or re-orientation in Aries. Esoteric Pisces ruler Pluto can assist in the process of cutting old ties, or destroying obstacles to further progress, whilst co-rulers Jupiter and Neptune can assist in an expansive and idealistic vision for the future. Such is the nature of Pisces!

---

Phillip Lindsay © 2020.
Subscribe to the newsletter.

Donations

Please support this work.

Stripe is supported in many countries.

1. The Externalization of the Hierarchy, Alice A. Bailey. 172-3. [↩]
2. Paraphrased from Esoteric Psychology II, Alice A. Bailey. pp.133, 200. [↩]
3. The Destiny of the Nations, Alice A. Bailey. p.75. [↩]
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin [↩]
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin [↩]
6. The Destiny of the Nations, Alice A. Bailey. p.69. [↩]
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw [↩]
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw [↩]
9. From a research paper by Michael D. Robbins. [↩]
10. From a research paper by Michael D. Robbins. [↩]
11. Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.333 [↩]
12. Tapestry of the Gods II, Michael D. Robbins. Free PDF download. [↩]
13. Tapestry of the Gods II, Michael D. Robbins. Free PDF download. [↩]
14. A Treatise on White Magic, Alice A. Bailey. p.203. [↩]
15. Tapestry of the Gods II, Michael D. Robbins. Free PDF download. [↩]
16. Wikipedia [↩]
17. Tapestry of the Gods II, Michael D. Robbins. Free PDF download. [↩]
18. Destiny of the Nations, Alice A. Bailey. p.27. [↩]
19. Letters on Occult Meditation, Alice A. Bailey. p.257. [↩]
20. Zodiacal Meditations, Master Djwhal Khul. Unpublished. Download PDF free. [↩]
21. Tapestry of the Gods II, Michael D. Robbins. Free PDF download. [↩]
22. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers [↩]
23. The Externalization of the Hierarchy, Alice A. Bailey. pp.165-6. [↩]
24. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers [↩]
25. Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.170. [↩]
26. The Externalization of the Hierarchy, Alice A. Bailey. p.389. [↩]
27. Discipleship in the New Age II, Alice A. Bailey. p.60. [↩]
28. Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.168. [↩]
29. Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.375. [↩]
30. Isis Unveiled I, H.P. Blavatsky.pp.30-1. [↩]
31. See also, Unveiling Genesis: Mysteries of the Rootraces and Cycles. [↩]
32. Vanity Fair Magazine. [↩]
33. Esoteric Astrologer. [↩]
34. Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.171. [↩]
35. ActiveBeat [↩]