Hudson Valley Astrologer

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”

~ Oscar Wilde

Once upon a time, there was an old engineer. He was famous in his small circle of engineering friends in that he specialized in very particular type of situational phenomena related to the comings and goings of large objects in the sky. Almost like an astrologer, but his observations were focused on airline jets. These would be the kinds of planes that fly in and out of airports like La Guardia and Kennedy. He was forever consulting the airport management and project managers as if he were the Man on the Moon himself.

He seemed to know in an illuminated way, not just how to build a road, but to do it for the purpose of receiving 500,000 pounds of metal traveling at over 150 miles per hour on touch down. Enabling pilots to precisely calibrate their landings so that the plane’s distinctly high pitched squeak would come — like a knock on the door, or a baby’s cry announcing its arrival to the world — and say, “I’m here!”

Let’s call him Andy, the diminutive form of Andrew, which means “strong” or “brave.” He was also, as his name suggests, “manly.” Yet, he was about as sweet and considerate of other human beings as he was smart about aerodynamics and the physics of building runways. He knew a lot about how things come together. The difference for example between what might make for a soft landing versus a crash or some other catastrophe. He told me in fact that a perfect landing was merely a controlled crash versus the chaotic out of control force of gravity. The number of countervailing forces and vectors involved still a small fraction of those involved in bringing people come together, but landing a plane is pretty complicated in its own right.

So, when Andy told his daughters that he had met and worked with the “nicest man he’d ever met” I took that as a huge compliment. The truth of the matter may have more to do with Andy than anything I ever said or did. He projected “nice” in a way that made others around him better. No doubt, on his “final departure,” Andy would have received a rounding applause from passengers if they knew of his passing, on every flight that day, from the smaller Airbus to the massive Boeing 777, people would sit in their seats and quietly bring their hands together in that respectful golf clap, out of appreciation for a life flown well.

Today we consider the word ”nice” to mean being considerate of someone in some small way, or being a kind, thoughtful, and generally pleasant person. But in the 12th century when the word first appeared in Old French, from Latin, it meant foolish, stupid, or simple. The Latin root is nescius meaning ignorant or not knowing. Word histories are fascinating in how the connotation for same word can change overtime, so much so that eventually the word carries the opposite meaning. Astrology is a language in some sense, and the meaning of symbols evolve as well. This is an important observation that allows for a more fluid and dynamic framework.

If “nice guys finish last” then maybe it is time to revisit this compliment as perhaps a more complicated observation that speaks to my life personal life perspective.

When we find Pluto (Perspective) in the 9th house the individual craves certainty. Personal views result from the assumption of truth, and opinions are rigidly argued against others. From this standpoint, a certain righteousness creates conflict in the world. To cope with any stress or challenge in personality development, the individual often alienates themselves from the world in dismissive ways that makes a statement of “knowing better,” pretending to be self-reliant or secretly omniscient. Nonetheless, because personal points of view are shaped by society’s norms and culture, opinions, “knowing better,” have to be backed up with real knowledge.

This is the motivation behind my massive astrology project — which I hope to share very soon — and whose aim is to disseminate real knowledge. But before you think to yourself, “oh, that’s nice,” please understand that it is in fact one of the most selfish acts of my life.

HVA

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