I like Pisces, as a sign, think of it as gentle, non-threatening, sweet rather than bitter, sensitive but not clingy, emotional but not paranoid. That's a stripped down version, various possibilities and potentialities are there. Keywords such as spiritual or religious, dreamy, prone to addiction, creative.....on and on have been attached to Pisces the sign.
Neptune, the other "blue planet", astrologically has been laden with keywords relating to aspects of its name: the sea, water, liquids, oil, then, for some reason, illusion, delusion, fog, mist, mystery, creativity - maybe because the sea sometimes brings fogs and mists to its coastlines; fog or mist can cloud judgment, lead to some type of addiction, or illusion.
Conspiracy theory can be seen as a very Neptune in Pisces thing - very Neptune anyway, and in fertile Pisces likely to become a shade or two more deeply creative, without Earth, Air or Fire biting in critically.
We, "the great unwashed", started to hear more and more about conspiracy theories with the coming of the internet. What used reach us, occasionally, as whispers have now become almost daily shrieks.
I've wondered in the past what astrological configuration might relate to a penchant for conspiracy theories. C.E.O. Carter's Encyclopedia pf Psychological Astrology is of no help in this. There's no entry under "conspiracy" or "conspiracy theory". I doubt that it was a term in common use when the book was first published in 1924. Something in communal consciousness shifted between then and now, in line with developments in technology and communications. I came to the conclusion that a generational quirk could be involved. Neptune in Scorpio generation? Did this generation, born between 1957 and 1969, (now approaching middle age) pick up and fall in love with the very idea of conspiracy theories? Maybe. Neptune represents imagination and mystery. Scorpio represents secrets and death.
In a New York Times article last year: Why Rational People Buy into Conspiracy Theories, by Maggie Koerth-Baker the author tells us that psychologists, in particular Viren Swami, a psychology professor who studies conspiracy belief at the University of Westminster in England, have concluded that "conspiracy theories appear to be a way of reacting to uncertainty and powerlessness".... “If you know the truth and others don’t, that’s one way you can reassert feelings of having agency,” Swami says. It can be comforting to do your own research even if that research is flawed. It feels good to be the wise old goat in a flock of sheep.
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| H/t Assailed Teacher.com |
Commenter "DJ" beneath that article observed that:
A lot of what gets categorized as “conspiracy theory” is often people just trying to make sense of things in a world where we have seen both our government and the media, liberal and conservative, inform us in a way that best suits their agenda. Not lies, per se, because their goal (at least from their view) serves a higher purpose. And with corporate America influencing our lives from all angles, spoon feeding us their Kool-Aid on how they benefit us while our dollars line their pockets - as long as we live in a country where we are so blatantly manipulated, we will continue to doubt the “official” story and try to figure it out for ourselves.
Another commenter, "Marino" puts forward a point which makes good sense to me:
The silliest element in most conspiracy theories isn't the facts of the conspiracy -- it's the competence of the execution. The U.S. government can't blow up a terrorist in Pakistan without taking out a birthday party half the time...you think it can engineer and cover up 9/11? Many news reporters can't spell your name right...you think they're all pulling the same way for a hidden agenda? The IRS gave out a billion dollars in unwarranted refunds last year...you think it's auditing organizations on the orders of a high-level cabal?
Believing somebody is pulling the strings in secret would certainly be comforting -- if nothing else, it means somebody in charge know what they're doing. But in reality, the vast majority of people most conspiracy theorists think are after them are remarkable for their blunders, not their skill. Most of the time, the world turns on a blend of misfortune and mundane incompetence. It's not as comforting as many people might like, but it's not as actively antagonistic, either.
I found a rather good video on this very topic at YouTube, presented by astrologer Armand Diaz Ph.D. I've embedded it here. It is third of a set of three, links to the two others are below, the astrologer's website, Integral Astrology is HERE.
Neptune in Pisces Part 1
Neptune in Pisces Part 2
Ending, again, with words of David Foster Wallace, who had Sun in Pisces. (He came up in a post and comments here at the weekend).
“Because we’ve been lied to and lied to, and it hurts to be lied to. It’s ultimately just about that complicated: it hurts. It denies you respect for yourself, for the liar, for the world. Especially if the lies are chronic, systemic, if hard experience seems to teach that everything you’re supposed to believe in’s really a game based on lies. Young Voters have been taught well and thoroughly. You may not personally remember Vietnam or Watergate, but it’s a good bet you remember ‘No new taxes’ and ‘Out of the loop’ and ‘No direct knowledge of any impropriety at this time’ and Did not inhale’ and ‘Did not have sex with that woman’ and etc. etc. It’s depressing and painful to believe that the would-be ‘public servants’ you’re forced to choose between are all phonies whose only real concern is their own care and feeding and who will lie so outrageously with such a straight face that you just know they have to believe you’re an idiot. So who wouldn’t fall all over themselves for a top politician who actually seemed to talk to you like you were a person, an intelligent adult worthy of respect?”
~ David Foster Wallace, The Best American Essays 2007
22 comments:
It's only a conspiracy theory if the truth remains veiled...it becomes fact only when the curtains are pulled back. Edward Snowden comes to mind. I'm sure most USA citizens realized their personal information was being breached, but not in the scale that has come into the sunshine in the past year. The currently known reach of the NSA was considered conspiracy and bull several years ago...I remember reading about the alleged intrusions way back when they were conspiracy rumors. Little did I know the extent and I'm sure there's more to be revealed.
Neptune can operate both ways: covering something from view to yield a non-realistic conclusion through deceit or denial , or providing reality with extra zing of the type conspiracies are made.
Neptune and Jupiter. as rulers of Pisces, allow contemplation of the ethereal and non-material concerns. A side-effect of that is an overly active imagination, similar to viewing a 3D post card of a sumptuous dinner replete with a scratch-and-sniff card...oh, that roast turkey and dressing smells so good.
It's been my experience that a strong, negative Jupiter-Neptune-Pisces astrological event extends reality to the point that the details are not even questioned as fact or fantasy. Everything fits together quite nicely to complete the picture desired by the imagined.
A positive Jupiter-Neptune-Pisces event brings tremendous creativity, spiritualism, and contentment to the every day routine. A perfect time to write that SciFi novel, Twilight.
mike ~ Thanks for those insights. :-)
I've just been reading Cannonfire's post for today, headed "Mind Blowing" - if you have time, do go over and take a look!
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/
It fits Neptune/Pisces well! And the detail presented is, indeed mind blowing.
This could be a dynamite transit for you, Twilight. Transiting Neptune conj natal Jupiter in Pisces...both planets rule Pisces. Plus, this is probably in your 9th house...? Ninth house is Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter. It's a transit of long duration, too...about a year.
Well, now! I've been reading for some time that this was a natural consequence to the extreme data gatherings of cooperative governments. Doesn't surprise me, but does make me feel saddened to know that these conspiracy rumors have fact behind them!!! I can't really call them conspiracy rumors, just logical thinking.
I've noticed over the past six months that Canada, Australia, and UK have created new legislation that is radical. Do you follow the UK? It's become surreal much liberty is going down the toilet. Many of these laws are far-reaching and can be interpreted, conveniently, to ensnare just about anyone opposing these governments. It could be happening here in the USA...I sent you the link to the Arizona proposal that is broad in its reach for religious expression...a number of other states are proposing similar legislation.
Companies have long been messing with the internet. It was the CEO of Whole Foods that was spreading rumors about other companies and Whole Foods, itself, via chat rooms and comment sections. His intent was drive-up share price and deflate other competitors. So, this is old hat.
Disheartening that regular folks can't trust anything anymore. I think it was Russia that placed a large order for the old, manual typewriters to circumvent NSA spying on the telecommunications.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23282308
mike (again) ~ Yes Jupiter is in 9th house (even if, as I suspect) rectified time of birth were about 30 mins too early.
I hadn't, so far, attached much significance to the transit - but now that you mention it, it does look rather well-integrated - but I'm not sure what to expect from Neptune.
I seem to recall that when Neptune conjoined my natal Sun (6.46 Aquarius) around 2001 that wasn't one of my best years overall, but it was the year I bought my first home computer and explored online....all kinds of illusion there!
mike (again) ~ It's been suspected for a while that comment threads, especially on political or news based sites, are infiltrated by
"sock puppets" to manipulate thought and argument - I assumed it was mainly simply mischievous individuals getting a kick from being obtuse.
It now seems more sinister though - much more sinister.
I came across what might be an example of it myself at the weekend on Common Dreams. I responded to a comment where a teacher/lecturer had said that when he/she had asked a class whether they'd be willing to give up their tech stuff (smartphones, i-pads etc.) to benefit the planet the response was 100% "No!"
I commented how disappointing that was and asked if they gave reasons. No response from original commenter, but another commenter responded to me that she suspected this was one of those times when an attempt was being made to manipulate minds - to make it always seem that "we" are to blame. The lady who said this is an astrologer by the way, a brave one who doesn't mind being scoffed at occasionally. She has no idea that I have interest in astrology though. she had often pointed out the same kind of thing in many different threads.
Since the Bush years and Mideast wars, it's been assumed that the USA was bossy large-Marge and that the UK was sucking-up. Twilight, have you considered that maybe we have that wrong? The UK is THE financial center of the world now...no doubt about it.
Conspiracy alert! Maybe the UK is the ringleader in this world dominion episode. If I recall, UK is Capricorn...hmmm...transiting Pluto...hmmm. Maybe the USA is just the shoe-shiner to the Brits.
mike (again) ~ Re the UK - I don't follow political goings-on there much now, there's more than enough going on here to dismay us!
I occasionally notice bits and pieces about heavy-handed surveillance going on there - the need for it possibly began with IRA terrorist threats back in the 1970s and has never been lifted. (Irish Republican Army, not the IRA we know in the USA).
Regarding financial centres - I have no idea at all mike. Britain released its Empire long ago, and truly doesn't have the clout it used to enjoy. I'm sure there'll be international links between the 1% not only US/UK but all over the globe though.
Good try at a new conspiracy theory, though mike! Polish it up a bit and launch it! ;-)
Twilight, regarding your transiting Neptune conj natal Sun in Aquarius...that's probably your 8th house. As a poor college student, I would browse the astrology magazines and one that I read often described the 8th house as "change, sex, sorrow".
The 9th house is much nicer!
A big LOL from me...here's a commenter (Kurt Sperry
25 Feb 2014 at 11:21 am) from Greenwald's essay:
"The most striking thing to me reading this is the prosaic intellectual mediocrity evident in the screencap images. This is straight from the dysfunctional, pop-psy school of corporate organizational psychobabble. Imagine the cognitive disarray necessary to produce the charts “deception_p11″, “deception_p12″ and “deception_p24″ for instance and to imagine them as cogent or effective communication tools. Imagine the stultifying, brain killing idiocy of any meeting where these images were projected onto a screen on the wall with some mouth breathing, crew cut tool reading a script and going through the talking points with a laser pointer. Imagine the hell of being one of them, trapped in this infernal environment every day.
Are these revelations alarming? Yes, of course. They describe the types of social engineering no putatively democratic government should ever be engaged in. But they also describe the cognitive disarray, intellectual mediocrity and moral vacuity of their authors. It’s hard to decide whom to feel more sorry for, the targets of these clumsy psy-ops or the masses of operatives living meaningless, empty, dead lives inside windowless crypts in Bethesda or Cheltenham who this soul sapping dreck is presumably produced for."
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/02/24/jtrig-manipulation/
Twilight ~ I'm on my way out (and plan to check out the links and read more later) but wanted to respond to something you said in one of your comments:
"I responded to a comment where a teacher/lecturer had said that when he/she had asked a class whether they'd be willing to give up their tech stuff (smartphones, i-pads etc.) to benefit the planet the response was 100% "No!"
I commented how disappointing that was and asked if they gave reasons."
Yesterday afternoon, while shopping at one of our favorite independent grocery stores -they have a huge selection of GMO-free organics, and their website says they're committed to the health and sustainability of the community- I spent some time talking to a pleasant young woman who does some of the buying for one of the store's departments.
We got to talking about chocolate (the store mostly sells Fair Trade brands) and when I shared how a couple of the "Fair Trade" brands she'd recommended as her favorites had other ethical issues -one union busted here in the States and the other business is selling another "fairly traded" food product that's (arguably) had a negative impact on the indigenous people who produce it and who can no longer afford to buy it themselves- she openly admitted that she was mostly concerned with how a product tastes and less with ethics, or what she considered to be "politics". It's worth adding how during our conversation, I never mentioned politics - I inferred from her comment that she doesn't necessarily (or always) make the distinction between ethics and politics.
Her admission spoke for itself and of how, if we allow it to, our own self-interest (illusion, delusion, addiction) can easily blur the lines between right and wrong and make everything seem okay . . . so long as it feels good or we get something from it.
Sadly, I don't think her attitude is all that unusual. She was just more honest than most.
mike ~ I did a LOL as well - I liked especially "brain killing idiocy of any meeting where these images were projected onto a screen on the wall with some mouth breathing, crew cut tool reading a script and going through the talking points with a laser pointer.
I often get far more enjoyment from commenters' writings on such threads than I do from the actual articles.
LB ~ I think you're right, most people don't take time (or don't have the time or inclination) to go deeply into ethical implications of their purchases, especially purchases like chocolate and smartphones, i-pads etc which can be seen as potentially addictive.
Regarding the teacher and his class I mentioned earlier though, what made another CD commenter suspect it was fiction, used as reader manipulation, was the "100% No" vote.
Twilight ~ Scary (but not surprising) stuff! Reading the canonfire piece, all I can say is it only confirms the fact that if we value the truth, then we have to be willing to practice an active form of discernment by looking deeply beneath the surface - which doesn't let people off the hook. If anything, it speaks to how easily most of us can be manipulated - it's easy because it makes life easier for us too.
Using the political arena of 2008 as an example, why is it some were able to see beyond the illusion while others were not (?) - though I do recognize not everyone had or has access to the same quality or wealth of information.
The story I shared about the conversation I had yesterday wasn't only about people's addiction to sweets or technology. It was an example of how our addiction to *anything* and *everything* - illusion, romance, comfort, pleasure, money, power, popularity - can make it easy to ignore truth, justice, ethics, even dangers to our health and wellbeing. In the process, we can also lose touch with our natural ability to empathize and show compassion.
LB ~ Manipulation is easy when people are trusting. Some of us have learned not to trust much that we encounter on the internet, some of us still would like to trust at least some of it, but still feel unsure. It's not a pleasant situation. There aren't many ways to check on genuineness of commenters who can easily change screen names appear under several different guises.
Regarding 2008, it appears those who had followed Barack Obama's record very closely over the years realised that he would not be the left-winger he presented to crowds during his campaign.
When these people tried to inform others they were not believed.
I was too new to the USA election circus to realise what was what, it was my first time able to vote, had just become a US citizen - I first picked Dennis Kucinich as the one to follow, the only one who fully fitted what I believed - until he withdrew.
I guess, LB, that we, or most of us, are addicted to enjoying what we can of life while we're here on Earth. As long as it does not come at the expense of others, I see nothing wrong in this. Thing is, these days everything we do comes at the expense of somebody or something, other here or abroad.
Twilight ~ In a very real way, this whole conversation relates to Pisces and/or Neptune. We're all so connected (yet so invisible to one another), it can be difficult, if not impossible, to always make the most ethical choice. Even in our relationship to the environment, we don't always see the effects of our choices or fully understand how they'll affect us in the future.
I admit to making certain compromises myself, though you never know - I'm not done yet! Learning to make do without many of the things I used to rely on has been good for me.:)
We all have Pisces (and Neptune) somewhere in our charts. One of the temptations associated with its energy is for us to hide our heads in the sand, pretend it isn't happening and do nothing.:( Reality can be pretty overwhelming sometimes and not always pleasant or pain-free.
"...the nature of this planet is to melt, to commune with the outer world, and to amplify the entire human emotional structure, which brings about assets such as inspiration, fertile imagination, empathy, compassion, self-sacrifice, affective intensity, and the possibility to live through dreams, spirituality, and faith. But it also implies dangers such as dependence, fears, "impressionability", weakness, escapism, forgetfulness, confusion, deception, perversion, neurosis, illusion, and despair.
Neptune is the planet of romanticism and selflessness, receptivity and sensitivity, inspiration and imagination, as well as mystery and its accompanying charm. But he is also the planet of drugs, addiction, morbid states, anxiety, swindle, debauchery, and self-indulgence."
http://www.astrotheme.com/files/neptune_inspiration_and_illusion.php
“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.” Elie Wiesel
Whoa...I just watched PBS' Frontline, "Secrets of the Vatican", which is appropriate to your topic de jour. Scathing report of just about everything...and the butler didn't do it. I feel like I need a bath.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/secrets-of-the-vatican/
LB ~ We can only make our best efforts, each in our own ways - and hope to goodness it'll be enough.
mike (again) ~ Good quotes - thanks!
Thanks also for the link to the PBS show - I'll watch it in the mornin', with interest.
mike ~ I've now watched the programme on the Vatican - good exposure of the slimy, smelly, corrupt underbelly of the RC Church. They tried hard to end the prog. on a positive note, but didn't quite achieve it.
The program was extraordinary in revealing the deprivation and moral rot of the church. 2000 years of Catholicism down with a flush. The end of the Piscean Age.
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