Hudson Valley Astrologer

“I am alone against hordes. I cannot stop nor let go. I stand here in the long cold hours, alone against every foe”

Cu Chulainn, The Táin Bó Cúailnge

After listening to Tommy Vietor and Ben Rhodes on Pod Save the World, and specifically how Ben described Gaza after Israel obliterated the Palestinian Territory. I thought about what I might do under those circumstance. He said, “it looks like Hiroshima!” What would you do if you were forced to live in those conditions? In abject fear for your life and the lives of those you love?

Fear, in astrology is associated with the planet Saturn. Particularly, Saturn demands that we face our fears and solve life’s difficulties and challenges by taking a more prescriptive approach to life. Building strong foundations and learning life’s lessons are Saturnian objectives that need to be cultivated by:

• Developing a Methodical Approach
• Efficiency
• Hard Work
• Perseverance

Between January 1959 and the spring of 1962, Saturn was in the astrological sign of Capricorn. The consensus is that Saturn rules Capricorn which suggests that organized and controlled ambitions lead to approaches characterized by clear and deliberate methods. True enough Capricorn suggests being seen, or seeing the light of DAY, but for this strange peculiarity, whenever Saturn is in Capricorn, FEAR can snuff the light out. If so, even if the light is only dimmed, then a discomfort sometimes takes hold around public exposure, or having too much visibility; “fear of seeing one’s own shadow.”

This is at once true, but at the same time not true for me. I was born during a Saturn in Capricorn period, but my chart also has distinctive signatures for a person prone to exhibitionism. Growing up I was the lead singer of a band called “Queen Anne’s Revenge.” I had no problem channeling Michael McDonald, Jon or Ian Anderson, or what became something of a persona for me, my version of Mick Jagger. However, I’ve definitely experienced difficulties around bringing the proverbial pot to a boil, almost as if the pilot light on the gas stove went out; I lost the flame, that burning desire, and, well, just couldn’t seem to get things cooking.

But these are puny difficulties compared to living under an occupation and being bombed to smithereens. We could say the same thing about the victims of October 7th who certainly didn’t deserve the unspeakable horror they suffered, or the Ukrainian people, and their remarkable response, in the face of fear to defend their sovereignty against a tyrannical bully (the Ukrainian example probably ends better than the Palestinians example, but both underscore the futility and desperation of pride, jealousy, and revenge when it escalates to war…).

Fearing for my life against an overwhelming enemy, but even more so, fearing for the lives of my family would leave me in a position to have to fight for my life and for the lives of those I love. I know from my history I would fight like Cú Chulainn himself. I step up in the face of fear. I am one of those types of people whose best version of themselves shows up in a crisis. My trouble, or my difficulties, appear when there is no crisis. When time (Saturn) allows for necessary discipline to fade and I relax too much. I’ve learned the hard way that when my “own authority” becomes too domineering, my tendency is to avoid taking charge, following becomes too compelling, enabling me to skirt responsibilities, so that ambition inverts. I can feel my inner boss become a tyrant, I become obsessed with my “own authority” — I become uncooperative, defiant.

The idea of an overwhelming enemy has always seemed far fetched here in the U.S., until recently. However, populism, driven by fear, fear of a perceived threat from an amorphous blob called “the elite,” has mobilized millions of people against monsters underneath their beds: against immigrants, academics, journalists, intellectuals, government officials, or the weaponization of economic grievances (inflation, unemployment, etc.). Oddly, it doesn’t take the perspicacity of a professor to recognize that the billionaire class has effectively reframed (manipulated) the headlines, turning issues around to serve their own interests (more wealth, more power). It’s a generational pattern! A handful of people, with power and money, feel compelled to appropriate more power, and more money, by distracting “the people” from the real issues that divide us and creating culture wars that blame and use scapegoating against less powerful cohorts in society as a way of consolidating wealth and power.

By many measures this is an old playbook, of mythic proportion, and we can say we are living some version of the old Irish Myth the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley). Queen Medb’s story serves as a cautionary tale about how personal insecurities and rivalries can escalate into larger societal crises. Medb used cunning and manipulation to feed her unchecked desires, driven by jealousy and base motivations for power; power for power’s sake.

We see a variation of the tale unfolding before our eyes, in various theaters of war around the world; futility fueled by fear. But all conflict begins within, at the individual level, before it metastasizes into collective mania, pernicious when held under the spell of the Grim Reaper (Saturn), who keeps a tight grip on his scythe.

Back when I fronted the band, I could sing, but I can’t say that I found my own voice. I suppose that in a word, what I am most scared of is not knowing. As a result, my tendency was to blabber on defensively, full of blunderbuss, to protect my position (of not knowing), but always short on substance. Today I practice more self-control, and patience, to not speak out of turn, and to be comfortable with a growing humility that I am in fact not all-knowing. That nobody is… However, more than this, it has taken extraordinary effort, and concentration, to put serious study into motion, to fortify my opinions, and to back it all up with real knowledge.

Essentially, FEAR relates to the ego. In this respect, we all have a “me problem.” What is needed is a new perspective that reframes the individual not as an archetypal warrior hero “alone against the hordes” and “alone against every foe,” but an individual who can embrace the lived experience in a way that reveals how each one of us is as distinct and as worthy as the next, kindred spirits and souls who share a Divine presence, to serve one another.

HVA

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