Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Pink Moon. & Another tragedy with a link to our town.

We stayed up binge-watching old episodes of Homeland so's we could go out and see the total lunar eclipse in the early hours of this morning. We saw the eclipse during its early stages then again when total and beautifully pink, in a clear sky, from our driveway, temperature around freezing. I've tended not to get excited about eclipses since a solar eclipse occurred slap bang on my natal Sun's degree some years ago -and nothing at all, nothing even vaguely interesting, happened. This one was a lovely sight, anyway.

The lunar eclipse, was in Libra. I read around the net, found this, part of a piece at About.com by David Emery:

As it happens, there's a total lunar eclipse on April 15, 2014, which means we'll experience not only a "Full Pink Moon" (any full moon that occurs in April, per Native American tradition) and a "Paschal Full Moon" (the first full moon after the vernal equinox, per Christian tradition), but also, thanks to the eclipse, a "Blood Moon."

Some Christians attribute a prophetic significance to the Blood Moon of April 15, because it will be the first of a lunar tetrad — four total lunar eclipses in a row — occurring in 2014 and 2015, and because each of those eclipses will fall on an important Jewish holiday, Passover or Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles).

Could it be a sign of the Apocalypse? Most Blood Moon prophecy advocates — Texas megachurch Pastor John Hagee, for one — won't commit to specifics, preferring instead to speak in terms of a "world-shaking event" or "the end of an age." Other Christians aren't so sure the Blood Moon tetrad has any biblical significance at all.
I doubt it - I'd say it's simply part of a pattern.



Yet another horrible shooting incident occurred on Sunday, in Kansas City. Dr W. Corporan, a family doctor in our SW Oklahoma town for many years, and my husband's family GP during that time, was one of the fatalities of the shooting, along with his grandson; a female, killed in a different location was the third victim. Dr Corporan and his grandson were, apparently, attending some auditions being held at the Jewish Center - though they were not themselves Jewish.

Sincere condolences to the families involved.

From Chicago Tribune
A man suspected of killing three people when he opened fire at two Kansas City-area Jewish centers on Sunday afternoon has been formally identified and is expected to face federal hate crimes charges as well as state charges, authorities said on Monday.

Jail records identified the suspect as Frazier Glenn Cross, 73 – a name also used by Frazier Glenn Miller, whom a major civil rights group on Sunday called a former grand dragon for the Ku Klux Klan with an extensive history of hate against Jews, among others.

Cross was arrested Sunday after a shooting spree that killed a 14-year-old boy and his grandfather outside a popular Jewish community center, and a third victim outside a nearby Jewish retirement home.

These recurring incidents are ugly and tragic symptoms of sickness pervading this country. Raw, senseless hatred against some other group based on ethnicity, colour, religion... whatever, flares up regularly. Maybe, though I hope not, it arises from something lodged permanently within the DNA of this nation, a DNA also containing old elements of my own native land, it has to be said. If only it could be bred out!

8 comments:

mike said...

With the current astrology, it would be difficult to isolate any one particular aspect as cause-and-effect on the global stage. There are any number of American and global concerns that fit the cloth of the astrological influences, though. With retrograde Mars in Venus' home of Libra and involved in the grand cross, I think action will be delayed until Mars is in direct motion. Mid-June, Mars in forward motion will contact the critical 13* point of the grand cross and could supply the fuel for a hefty blaze. Mars in forward motion will square Pluto at 13* on June 14th, then square Uranus at 16* on the 24th...won't square Jupiter again until August 1st, at 4* Leo.

Some astrologers believe that eclipse points are activated when transiting planets aspect the eclipse degree. Mars will conjunct this eclipse point of 25* Libra on July 16th just after conjuncting the North Node on July 13th. Jupiter squares this eclipse point on June 25th. So, the summer months may have fireworks all the way through!

There are many forms of prejudice, not just racial, that have permeated humankind since the beginning of our branch of the genetic lineage, unfortunately. There must be a purpose (re your post "Being Ourselves, April 12th)...perhaps it's there as a karmic marker to be overcome within our society. All humans tend to display prejudice in one form or another, from mild to wild. Are we all prejudiced against prejudice?...LOL.

Long night for you and anyjazz partying under the full moon eclipse...an extended nappy-time for you two wild thangs this afternoon, I hope.

mike (again) said...

Virtually all of us carry the taint of discrimination and prejudice of some sort or other, eg, racial, intellectual, the 0.01%, the 99%, POTUS, SCOTUS, conservative right, congress, etc. Reminds me of an Oscar Wilde quotation:

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan

Twilight said...

mike ~ Thanks for those potential "spark" dates. It'll be interesting to watch what happens around them.

Yes, I guess mild forms of prejudice aka strongly held opinions, are natural, and fairly healthy. It's the wildest side of the same characteristic, aka hatred, that causes tragedy.

“Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices--just recognize them.”
― Edward R. Murrow

Due to eclipse-watch, it was a Short night, sleep-wise, yes - I shall catch up tonight. :-)

anyjazz said...

Yes, I suppose all of us form prejudices and strong opinions of one nature or another from early experiences and perceptions of the world around us. Recognition of that predisposition and pointed education are probably the only remedies.

The real crime is when the prejudices are deliberately taught and reinforced down through generations. The children who are raised in that environment can seldom avoid a life-path of destruction from growing, festering hatred. Sometimes it is a hatred that they cannot even articulate clearly. To them, it is just the way things are.

Dr. Corporan should probably be credited with saving my life. He discovered the problem with my heart fifteen years ago. He also discovered my peculiar blood condition because as he put it, "I have it too." I have certainly missed him since he moved away from our town. Now I mourn his loss.

mike (again) said...

anyjazz & Twilight - This is a horrid tragedy for you and your community to endure, but I'm glad to know that he was so highly regarded that he and his grandson will truly be mourned. It's absolutely senseless regardless of Frazier Glenn Cross' motivation, but made more a senseless dichotomy by the knowledge that your friend and his grandson were not of the Jewish faith, which was Cross' targeted intent. This incident highlights the error of judging by assumptions...on top of the obvious error of allowing generalized, prejudicial hate to consume to the point of murder. While I'm sure that Cross will be determined legally sane, he is insane by virtue of this aggression to support his vile ideology. It's difficult for any of us to accept that prejudice and hate is a disease, but there's a fine, imperceptible line where it becomes pathological.

Twilight said...

anyjazz & mike ~ Thanks for adding your thoughts on this very sad affair.

R J Adams said...

I have no comment on the 2014-15 Tetrad, except to say it brings every religious nutter out of the woodwork at a time when we could well do without them.

I saw the shooting at the Jewish Community center on the news. That one of the victims was anyjazz's doctor is so very sad. These things are hard enough to see when strangers are involved. This nation is sick to its very core. It disgusts me more with each passing day.

Twilight said...

RJ Adams~ Ah well, it gives 'em something to rattle on about instead of protecting their guns and abusing gays, and interfering with womens' rights over their own bodies. :-(

Yes, it brings it home to more people just how very bad things are. Dr Corporan was, I understand, very well thought of by his patients in this town. He also attended at the birth of one of anyjazz's grandsons, husband's daughter has a lovely photo of him with her and the new baby.