Saturday, June 26, 2010

Oil, USA, and the love affair with cars.

The chart for the "birth" of the USA which appeals to me most is that for 2 July 1776, shown below - the Armistead Chart. I prefer it over the popular 4 July charts for reasons of both history and symbolism. The sharp opposition (red line vertically crossing the circle) between Moon/Pluto (public/passion) and Mercury (communication, mental processes) symbolises, for me, the sharp, passionate divisions of opinion which have arisen in every important matter throughout this nation's relatively brief lifespan. In the US I, as an outsider, sense this as a far more bitter, all encompassing and absolute division than generally occurs in other countries.

The other very interesting alignment, given current circumstances, is a harmonious trine (the blue diagonal on left side of chart) between Neptune, representing oil, and Moon representing the public -& Pluto representing passion and potential threat.


Chart copied from Astrodatabank.

In the USA, more than any other nation, the people simply love their vehicles. Beloved cars, SUVs and trucks need gas/oil of course, and here's where that harmonious trine (oil/people) manifests. Vehicles represent that highly-valued sense of freedom craved by The American People. Vehicles are also a necessity in many areas. Much of this vast country isn't served by public transport. There is little or no access to sidewalks (footpaths), so use of "Shanks' Pony" is strictly limited - if one values one's life.

Motor vehicles then, outside of metropolitan areas, are the only means of transport. In some cases several cars are owned by a single family, to meet the the demands of differing job/school/college locations. From such necessities has arisen this love of Americans for their vehicles. As an extension of that, there is an insatiable need for gas (petrol). I ought to mention also that the US Military Industrial Complex - a truly gargantuan entity - uses gazillions more gas than the average Joe.....and the MIC is indeed insatiable.

The current tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico has to be bringing home to many (or should be bringing home to many) that halcyon days in the love affair of Americans for their vehicles are almost over. We are rapidly reaching a fresh state of affairs. Things must, somehow, change if we and the planet are to survive.




There's a must-read article on the topic by Johann Hari at Huffington Post: We Are All Trapped in a Global Oil Slick. The piece closes thus:

And so we are all left slithering in the global oil slick. Yet the anger of the sane citizenry -- those of us who don't want to engage in collective self-destruction -- has been weirdly muted. Most of us know instinctively that we can't carry on like this. Most of us know Big Oil is a swelling tumor. But it is still much more common to see protests for cheap oil than to see protests to build a world beyond it. We wait passively for a rational politician to emerge through the corruption, when we should be relentlessly pressuring them all.

The oilman John Paul Getty once joked: "The meek will inherit the earth, but not the mineral rights." If the sane proponents of a post-oil world stay so meek and mild, we may not inherit much worth having at all.


There are doom-laden articles and comments about the oil leak all over the internet at present. I avoid such writings for the most part, but occasionally feel a nagging responsibility to investigate these cries of "Wolf!" There is talk of methane gas deposits exploding and causing earthquakes or a tsunami. Talk of movement of tectonic plates. Talk of oily/poisonous rains falling when noxious fumes are carried up into the atmosphere; and of hurricanes still to come.

O joy!


By way of antidote - or not - I decided to pull 3 cards from my tarot deck. I asked "What do I need to know about the future in relation to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?"
Strength/7 Wands/7 Cups emerged after a good shuffle and cut.
Hmmm - definite cause for some slight feeling of relief? The Strength card is the most important one of the 3 as it comes from the Major Arcana. Its meaning is obvious, really needs no further interpretation.

7 of Wands = showing defiance and holding out against pressure, resisting authority, showing conviction. 7 Cups = procrastination, avoiding being pro-active, lacking focus, having a variety of options but being indecisive. Is this a picture of the current US administration?

7 Cups is the dangerously undermining card of these 3, otherwise hopeful, cards. Strength could and should overcome it with the stamina, courageous outlook and unshakeable resolve indicated by the card.

Looks like the tarot is casting a dividing line reminiscent of that in the US chart. In this case it's Strength v. procrastination and indecision.



(Illustration above is taken from Prop Art, by Gary Yanker, on my bookshelf. This poster and the one earlier in the piece were issued in 1970 and 1971 after an oil spill off California.
When will they ever learn?

17 comments:

Wisewebwoman said...

I've been reading a lot about post-oil, T. It's a wonderful opportunity to get our balance back and live harmoniously.
Do I think it will happen? I take a long hard look at the nonsense of the G8&20 and shake my head. Our sock puppets dance to the tune of their masters. Every time.
XO
WWW

Andrew McAllister said...

The oil disaster is so sad, for everyone. Scientists will be busy for decades measuring the effects in every corner of the planet.

(Oh, and "just plain hi" after a long time...)

anthonynorth said...

I get a sense in all areas of life that we're on the point of change. The west, as it stands, cannot continue as it is. This isn't an apocalyptic view - just that change has to come; hopefully smoothly.

Twilight said...

WWW ~~ Doesn't seem too hopeful yet. Perhaps Ma Nature will have to get really mean to more of us before TPTB see sense.

Twilight said...

Andrew ~~~ Well, hi there, again!
Nice to see you back on the blog.
Hope you hang around for a while.
Will visit.

Yes, it's a sad time, especially for those in the South.

Twilight said...

anthonynorth ~~ I hope you're right, AN. I fear we'll need a little more prodding before it begins to happen though.

Unknown said...

Hi T,

Rob Phoenix's blog has a post with a YouTube video showing the radioactive levels around oil fields.

The tentacles of oil pervade all our lives so it's going to take a titanic shift, maybe literally, before we can unravel our dependency on it.

A couple of years ago I went to a pizza restaurant with a young cousin of mine and a group of his fellow university students. I challenged the group to come up with one single thing NOT connected to oil in one way or another. This was about products, food and services not including things like the air we breathe. Needless to say by the end of the evening we hadn't come up with anything. It permeates everything.

Like you I hope we find ourselves in a post oil world that is not only cleaner but fairer to but I think we have some major medicine to swallow before we get there.

Twilight said...

Rossa ~~ Agreed, on all counts. Will go to RP's and scare myself silly! ;-)

Your comment reminded me of an article I read yesterday (and a comment which followed)

Those things (derived from oil) include fertilizers, computer keyboards, disposable pens, shoes, basketballs, vehicle and bicycle tires, clothes, flooring, hair coloring and lipstick, dice, trash bags, anything nylon, CDs and DVDs, heart valves, shaving cream, toothpaste, anesthetics, skis and surfboards, shower curtains, restaurant to-go containers, carpets and upholstery, perfumes, tape, eyeglasses, detergents, mobile telephones and iPads, bandages, plastic water bottles, contact lenses, well, you get the idea.
Humanity has had the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the Atomic Age.
Let's finally admit we have been living in the Petroleum Age for quite a while.


LINK
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/27-2

and from one of the comments (by "Ephraim):
.....Who's at fault for the BP disaster (not "spill")? "Is it BP itself? Halliburton? The Minerals Management Service? Transocean? President Barack Obama? Former Vice President Dick Cheney?"
Is this a multiple choice? It's all of the above, every one of them, along with the entire oil industry and the governments enabling them which have MADE us dependent on oil for nearly everything in our lives. I am not personally "addicted" to oil, even though I use my share of the damned stuff like nearly everyone else not living in a cave, foraging for my food, and writing by candlelight with a quill pen. Millions of uses for plastic have made us a plastic and fossil fuel dependent world, but that doesn't mean we're all addicts. It means we have no CHOICE in the matter.

Anonymous said...

In Greeco-Roman times oil wold have had a god. Like wine - Dionisyos.

Then the Roman Empire started to crumble. The era of the Ram (Aries) was opening the way to Pisces, Christianity.

2000 years or so later, the worldwide web (broadband/superhighway...)opens, who knows, the way to the era of Aquarius. New ideas are flowing, because of oil or where it's being spilled, or consumers balking to spend more than they can afford. Even China or Iran may not be able to block this communication web. Nor the US government.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
gian paul said...

The web here in Brazil being in it's early stages, I could not post correctly. No need to be anonymous.
It's Gian Paul who also wonders about the true reason for that Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Twilight said...

Gian Paul ~~ Oh - I've had problems when commenting on Blogger recently - so it might not be Brazil's internet access to blame.

Yes - oil and its by-products have got us to the stage we are now - we couldn't do what we do without what it has provided. and, as you say, it has provided an avenue, via the internet, for exchange of ideas and mutual support - as well as the opportunity for experts to research and invent and discover.

We have to hope, and trust, that as we are coming to the end of our current pathway, that another one will open up, so that we can continue on, and wave a fond goodbye to The Oil Age.

Do you have a conspiracy theory about the Gulf oil leak then GP?
Or are you thinking of astrological "causes"? Or perhaps meaning that this is the wake-up call we've needed -provided by a beckoning Destiny?

gian paul said...

Twilight, I have no conspiracy ideas other than to register those that happen.

The Mexican Gulf spill in my mind no doubt
1) happened now when Obama/Palin/Gingrich (since a long time now) tout for more offshore drilling. Here in Brazil, Lula's greatest joy is to be treated like an oil sheik, drilling where others wouldn't dare.
2) If this mess happened offshore the US coast and because of the recklessness of a foreign company (adding emotional spice...) it was not by "accident".

3) What the world (that is the humans living there) has to realize, is that this globe has a destiny of it's own, certainly beyond the human species.

4) America is probably going the way the Roman Empire went. Not that much better will follow immediately. Remember after the fall of the R.E. came the invasions of the Barbarians.

5) Have a look at Huffpost-Religion: it's almost insane how much attention is being paid to trivia such as science vs. religion. The confusion there is not better then when Nero was in power.

6) Talking astrology: One day, June 28, and look what happened in the past (rapidly): Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajewo, leading to ww I. in 1914.
Same day, 4 years later, the Treaty of Versailles was signed. (Wchich gave all the gun-power for Hitler to make it to power). Again, same day, 28 of June, end of 6 - day war in 1967, Israel declared Jerusalem under it's only control...

gian paul said...

The treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, 5 and not 4 years after Sarajevo. Tried but did not manage to correct on your "Blogger". So I post again, hoping it will pass...

Twilight said...

Gian Paul ~~~ Thanks for the clarification. :-)

LOL! I often think the Barbarians are here already, no need for an invasion, we breed our own!

The science v religion argument is ridiculous, I agree. I cannot understand how anyone can uphold the myths peddled by organised religion, any more than we can uphold those from Greek and Roman mythology - except as symbolism.

But then there's the sc ience v astrology argument, so I'd best no be too outspoken!! ;-)

28 June has been quite a significant - and nasty day through the years, it seems!
Mind you, Wikipedia (and history) tends to concentrate on negative rather than positive events.
Nobody finds good news dramatic enough to take notice.

(Just trying to cheer myself up here!)

gian paul said...

Having mentioned Huffpost-Religion and what's being served - up there, I sometimes try to counter-steer under the pseudo "truth-seeker junior". So far got only one fan, but keep going...

Actually, the less fans I get there, the more I have to think I am right. So don't mess up my measuring gage, please. Cirio.

Twilight said...

Gian Paul - Gotcha! ;-)