Monday, January 26, 2009

The Pope takes a pot shot: this time it’s the Jews

Pope Benedict has done it yet again. First in 2006 it was the Muslims: “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

Then just before Christmas he announced that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour was as important as protecting the environment.

And then last week he reversed the excommunication of a bishop who is a holocaust denier.


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With his natal Mars at 29 Gemini, Pope Benedict is a crusader who sees life as a battle between light and dark, good and evil. And with Gemini communicativeness, he is not afraid to say so. A sign gathers momentum as you progress through it, so the end of Gemini is one of the most war-like places to have this planet. No doubt it is related to the idea we find in Arabic astrology, that Moon in late Gemini is a good time to start a war: this was the placement of the Moon on 11 Sept 2001.

This theme of opposites, of light versus dark, is also reflected in the Pope’s Moon in Libra, another sign that can be belligerent (e.g. Margaret Thatcher). His Moon is square to tribal Pluto in Cancer, and he also has the Sun in war-like Aries.

Naturally he or his spokesmen always deny that these attacks are such. But the astrology tells a different story.

The above quote about the Muslims was by a Christian Emperor, which the Pope then quoted, and twice pointed out it was a quote and not his own words. But he still found them useful to say. At the time (12 Sept 2006) Pluto was starting to oppose his natal Mars, and Mars had just finished squaring his natal Mars.

When he made the comment about gays and transsexuals (22 Dec 2008), Mars was opposing natal Mars, as was Pluto.

And when he reinstated the bishop last week (21 Jan 2009), Mars had just finished hard-aspecting his natal Moon square Pluto. And Pluto, of course, is still opposing his natal Mars.

So the underlying astrological theme of these attacks has been transiting Pluto opposing his natal Mars, and the trigger in each case has been transiting Mars. While transiting inner planets act mainly as triggers, transiting outer planets transform. And this transformation is not necessarily evolutionary. If the person involved is not very aware, outer planet transits can release primitive, barbaric elements in the psyche that then get acted out.

In the period from 9/11 through to the start of the Iraq War, for example, Neptune was making an opposition to George Bush’s natal Pluto Rising, which is one of a number of loose cannons in his chart. The Iraq War particularly was started for reasons that did not add up, and with little thought as to what to do afterwards. This strongly suggests unconscious, atavistic elements at work.

This also seems to be what is happening in the case of Pope Benedict XVI. Pluto is revealing a deeper level of his natal Mars which, as Pope, he has the scope to act out in an atavistic way if he so chooses. And he does so choose. The Pope is known for being a considerable intellectual, and his Sun, Moon and Mars all back this up. Mercury in Pisces might seem surprising, but Pisces has a great power to absorb information and make connections. So he is a classic case of someone who can seem civilised and advanced because of their intellectual accomplishments, but in whom the emotional depths remained untouched by all this learning. His Moon in civilised Libra but square to crab-like Pluto in Cancer expresses this perfectly.

What the Pope is doing is different to just not being politically correct, and thereby offending people. I have no objection to that. It does us good to get offended occasionally, as the late John Mortimer pointed out. Political correctness is usually about guilt-ridden liberals creating ‘rights’ for others and imagining ways that minorities might get offended. Like imagining that black people want to be called people of colour, or American Indians want to be called Native Americans (they don’t: they like being called Indians). It’s patronising, and it’s often insisted on in an intolerant way. The cardinal rule of PC is that no-one from a minority or another grouping must ever get offended.

But this isn’t what the Pope is doing. He’s not offending people in a healthy way, like making fun of the Jews’ pretensions to being the Chosen People, or of Americans for thinking they have the world’s best political system. He is using his position to demonise whole groups of people who are not Catholics, or who do not follow the Church’s teachings.

What we have at the heart of the modern Catholic Church is old-style barbaric medieval religion. And it’s not just this Pope. Ratzinger (the present Pope) was the enforcer for the sainted Pope John Paul II (Dare I say it, but as Rahm Emmanuel is enforcer for the sainted Barack Obama.) At least it’s now all out in the open.

It was under the present Pope that Tony Blair, who also has Mars Rising in Gemini, converted to Catholicism. In an interview some months after stepping down as Prime Minister, Blair was asked if he had any regrets about the Iraq War. He didn’t (though he hadn’t managed to get the previous Pope’s blessing for it!) What we have, he continued is “a visceral struggle between what is right and what is wrong.”

Ratzinger became Pope under Pluto in Sagittarius, a period which saw a rise in fundamentalism worldwide. Now with Pluto in Capricorn, we are seeing the Church establishment (Capricorn) reverting to a more primitive form (Pluto).


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12 comments:

Anonymous said...

May be true that Ratzinger was John Paul's "enforcer" but whereas I thought there was something saintly about JP - this Pope has a cruel face and I think there is something quite evil about him.

Anonymous said...

Oooh yeah, give me some of that old time religion! I'm just wondering when the Rat-singer will bring back the Inquisition and the Crusades, or has Bush already done his job for him.

Anonymous said...

Just looking at Ratzinger's chart and assuming you know a bit about his life and astrology, could make a believer out of you.a believer in astrologt, that is. Thanks for the extented insights...bb

Anonymous said...

ok- please people, lets not make the same mistake twice. george bush is not the devil- and neither is the pope. period. get over it.
what is the pope doing then? well some might say that the """"Moon in late Gemini is a good time to "fight back" (instead of "start a war"...this was the placement of the Moon on 11 Sept 2001) Sept. 11th did not come out of the blue- a war was not started... a war was already afoot against the u.s.- there was a Re-action when the cup overflowed- time to fight back...people- groups hostile to the american way of life and the extension of, had been hitting u.s targets and killing americans overseas all throughout the clinton years (attacks on our ships, several embassys, not to mention our clandestine services) SO, i beg to differ with you when a leader decides to 'fight back'. Now, I am not saying that i agree with what he is saying- i don't. but he does see a threat- and thus he is 'fighting back'. he has had enough. is the threat real? what is the threat? the threat is intolerance and presumption- islamic radicals attacking what they percieve as 'unholy', muslim communities presuming local populations will tolerate their lifestlyes and then turning around using the 'free system'to demand no school prayers, no crosses up in the hospitals- gays transsexes trying to mainstream or normalize their lifestyle when they choose not to procreate and thus are a detrement to our very biological existance and being. these are the threats according to 'paul'- are they real? to some, yes- are they imagined to some, yes. the point is he believes he is fighting back- and he seems to be doing it using the same tools/ weapons of the enemy- intolerance and presumption. If he wants to win- he has got to come up with a better arm, a more advanced weapon...but then again neptune just entered his 9th right? so i guess we should all pray for him to see the foreign lands & philosophies through the fog.

Anonymous said...

oops...maybe not 9th! lol

Barry Goddard said...

It's not about us demonising the Pope, it's about him demonising other groups of people. That is different to a critique, and I don't think it's constructive - in fact, the opposite. If anything is 'evil', then it is those actions of his.

Anonymous said...

Neither Bush nor the Pope have to be the devil to act in a devilish manner.
If you or one of your relatives were one of the reported one million Iraqis who have perished in the the Iraq war and it's chaotic aftermath, then you might sense the stench of sulphur about Bush and his cohorts.

And if you're a homosexual dealing daily with hatred,prejudice and sometimes even physical attack, then Rat-singer, the man who as Pope John Paul's enforcer was instrumental in the Catholic Church's strategy of deliberately sheltering and enabling known pedophiles might seem rather demonic, given that his actions infer that it's O.K for gay men to rape small boys but wrong for them to want an open loving relationship with a consenting adult.

Anonymous said...

Dharmaruci,

I'm relatively new to astrology. I understand that the stars do not compel but show potential. But, if the natal chart shows potential for certain actions or behavior and if transits act as triggers, it seems that a person who is unaware will actually live out the potential. So the question is: how does a person who may not know astrology who has the potential for evil in their chart avoid what essentially may be fated? Based upon your analysis of his chart, Ratzinger seems to be actualizing the potential for mean spirited communication though he believes himself to be acting in a loving and pastoral way. How would such a man learn these things about himself and choose a different path, especially if he did not subscribe to astrology and especially if he views himself to be an anointed vessel of the Holy One?

Thanks,
Curious

P.S. I hope that I'm clear in my question.

Anonymous said...

Good post D. The Pope does seem to be experiencing foot in mouth disease here. Perhaps he is dyxslexic under all that crusading?

kingsley

Barry Goddard said...

I think that's the $64,000 dollar question: why do some people choose to become aware and others don't? Events can propel us into self-awareness - some people, sometimes.

It's like a crucial transition in human consciousness. If someone doesn't want to be aware, that's up to them, and there's not much to be done about it, they are free. Why that transition starts to occur in some people and not others is a mystery. Life always sems to present us with the possibility for it, whoever and wherever we are.

Anonymous said...

Well said. In my field some people learn through behavioural experiences and they just cannot tolerate ending up in the same old predicament - hence the impetus to become more aware. As you so eloquently write D some people do not wish to learn. Like the serial criminal or heartless Mother. Defence - denial - control - fanaticism are the mechanisms that keep them safe. Some are better learning self awareness through cognitive work, others through affective work. Even the most stoic person must learn something about themself along the path of life? Such is Life.

kingsley

Jean-Marie Avril said...

Jews are not chosen to dominate Nazi-style but to serve, to be a nation of (righteous) priests. As such, this chosen-ness implies more burdens than privileges...