Maybe you can attend less frequently and still be involved somewhat?

Sure.  And it would be a way to reconnect with the Atlanta “scene”.  After 25 years in the DC area it’s weird going back to Atlanta.  All my old spots are gone. Gulp. ** you do not have permission to see this link **

…there’s a hot star nearby exciting the gas… 

Folks when I give you straight lines like this…

** you do not have permission to see this link ** 

The dwarf planets change everything would make a nice tee shirt or bumper sticker.  The discovery of the Kuiper belt and the Oort Cloud has astrologers in a tizzy.  Not to mention the demoting of Pluto as a dwarf planet.  Even though these goobers don’t seem to realize that this classification has zero actual affect on the object in space we call “Pluto.”

The basic premise of astrology is that the configuration of the sky at the moment of your birth leaves its imprint on your constitution and life trajectory. As above, so below.  

Not really.  What As above, so below means is that at each moment there is a correspondence between all levels of the universe.  So the organization of the heavens at the precise moment of your birth reflects a metaphysical reality we both share.  A reality that can be read in the stars. This distinction is probably a little too subtle for our current crop of astral prestidigitators. 

If in the past, the stars reflected a collective social order, today they are more often treated as a vast personal mirror.

Which just means it’s all subjective and culture bound.  We assume a privileged position in reality for ourselves and project our desires and fears on to the universe which we see a vast mirror rather than an infinite depth of indifferent physical processes.  

“No one questions whether Spanish is real…”

But lots of folks question whether Bigfoot is real. 

Above all, it was presented to me as a kind of security blanket: a system for understanding the inexplicable, a way to make sense of a shitty day, a means to grasp the contours of current upheavals and find solace in their eventual end. During Covid, one astrologer explained: “People were really looking for answers. They were like, ‘Sky, tell me what’s going on.’”

Sorry to end on ** you do not have permission to see this link ** but pray tell how justice is served by this horror?  We have simply debased ourselves.

As if in response to our earlier comments about astronomical photos – perhaps there are Higher Forces at work – NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day site has  posted an image of the entire ** you do not have permission to see this link **, totaling 313 objects!   A “H II” region contains clouds of ionized hydrogen* which can include not only emission nebulas but also planetary nebulas and supernova remnants.  Also note as the blurb indicates these images have been processed through various colored filters so that will throw off the color schema I outlined before a bit.  It turns out that for astronomical analysis the visible wavelengths of light are frequently the less useful. The new James Webb telescope’s primary camera is set up for Infrared and not visible light.  All these objects were photographed by one person in Eastern China and Inner Mongolia.  The exposures lasted 2 to 6 hours.  There are still places on earth where one can behold the heavens unimpeded!  

*A hydrogen atom that has lost its single electron, leaving behind a positively charged proton.  Loss of the electron is  caused either by the high energy impact of photons, particles of light, in the ultraviolet spectrum, or high speed collisions of gas particles that occurs in the cores of stars or in the explosions of supernovae.  Hey, I thought you’d want to know.         

We’ll be finally heading back to the States and will be there until about a week before Christmas.

Have a good trip! How long has it been since you were over here? I’ll be interested in your impressions.