Tag: War

Drawing Lines

I discuss some significant current affairs and some prominent ethical dilemmas (namely the conflict in the Middle East) and some astrological influences that are at play.

Astrological dates mentioned herein are calculated using the Eastern Daylight time zone.

This episode was recorded on November 18, 2023. It was published on November 19, 2023 at 5:51pm EDT.



You can support my work and this channel ⁠by booking an astrology reading⁠.

You can also support this channel with a monthly membership.

Follow me on Threads where I share articles I feel are important. 

Please ⁠add yourself to my contact list⁠.

Episode transcript:

Greetings all, welcome to Aquarian Diary. I’m your host, John Irving.

It is November 19th, 2023. The bulk of this was recorded on November 18th.

As I often do, I will be displaying some graphics or articles on the screen that will only be visible in the video version of this episode, in case that matters to you.

It’s been a while since I’ve recorded anything, and my absence may seem a little odd. I’ve certainly thought a lot about recording at various times.

But this period has been very weird and peculiar. It started with an eclipse in October that was right on one of my key points in my astrology chart. This is a life-altering event.

On top of that, my ruling planet Jupiter has been retrograde, and Saturn has been squaring my sun. Not only that, but it retrograded and then basically stationed direct right as it was squaring my sun, which really extended that aspect in terms of time. One of the things about a transit like this with Saturn is that your physical energy and vitality can be quite low, and that’s probably coming through in my presentation right now. Another reason to lay low.

I’ll probably do an episode on that Saturn aspect once it’s complete, because I have a lot of observations that may help other people who are grappling with that transit. I’ve been paying a lot of attention to what has been coming up, both internally and externally, during this time. And I have a lot to say about that, which, like I said, I’ll get to at a later date. I don’t like to talk about things too much when I’m in the midst of it, because, based on my experience, you need to be able to see it in hindsight to fully appreciate it, or articulate it.

Of course, there’s an awful lot going on in the world these days, much of which I would like to comment on.

I still have been doing an awful lot of reading, and I listen to podcasts from around the world, so I have a lot of opinions about things, quite strong ones actually. But I still have this sense, which I have articulated here before, that this is kind of a time to lay low and not stick your head above the trenches too much.

I think as is clear, we can see that there’s a lot of people who have been getting into a lot of trouble lately by expressing their opinions in ways which might have been avoided if they had taken a little bit of time to think about what they were saying.

Also, a lot of what is occurring is exactly what I was describing in the episode that I did titled Pluto at 29 degrees of Capricorn, a karmic reckoning. We are seeing things very clearly. Much of it is not pleasant, but that’s not unexpected.

It’s just that world events are forcing people into positions, and they can be very stark and dramatic. Whether we agree with them or not.

So it’s like the light is shining on everyone and everything, and it is causing people to question their beliefs and their assumptions and their allegiances. And to me, from that perspective, it’s a good thing because we’re seeing things as they are. It’s like we’re cutting through the fog.

Like I said, that may not be pleasant, and we may not like it, but at least we are seeing the truth about who people are, where they stand, what their intentions are, and so forth.

There’s a lot of criticism about people in various camps right now, especially about what’s happening in the Middle East. And young people in particular are taking a lot of heat for their perspectives.

I am in no way advocating disinformation, conspiracy theories, propaganda, or such. If you’ve listened to me before, you know how much I disdain that.

However, I do think that it is good that people are strongly expressing their views, because that is what we need. Strong chills here. That is what we need for society and democracy to function properly. We need people to be engaged and vocal.

And so I think the fact that young people are taking stands, even if they’re not necessarily fully informed or accurately informed, is a good thing. Yay! I’ve been for years saying that the key to our future lies in getting young people engaged. I think that’s fantastic.

So I had a bit of time where it’s quiet here, relatively, and there’s not a lot of stuff I can do because we’re in the midst of a big rainstorm here today. And I was thinking, how do I get on and talk about what I want to talk about or say what I need to say, which is a lot of things that have been on my mind lately, without alienating a lot of people or becoming a target myself.

And as I was contemplating this, something that happened in my youth came to my mind, a memory. And as I reflected on this, I realized that that is perfect. So I don’t know where this came from. It’s not something I think about very often, but it was a striking experience in my younger years.

And it goes like this:

Back in 1980, I was still a teenager. My very first job.

I used to do all kinds of things to make money when I was a teenager, like everything from painting people’s houses to doing yard maintenance to whatever, you know, short term things. But this was my first legitimate job with a paycheck and so on.

And I was an usher at a movie theater, briefly, as it would turn out. Remember, this is 1980, so it’s well before the days of the internet.

And the movie at this time was The Elephant Man. Fantastic movie, if you’ve never seen it. It’s slow and it’s black and white, but it was groundbreaking at the time.

So the movie was playing and I was in the lobby sweeping up popcorn from the floor or whatever in my really ill-fitting, cheap suit that they gave me, which was really ugly. This is an absolutely true story. And a couple comes into the lobby. They’re very upset.

They explain that there’s been a car accident, that there’s someone in the theater that they need to get ahold of because they need to go to the hospital to approve an emergency surgery on someone who has been severely injured in this accident.

And I’m a teenager, remember, at this time. And my first reaction was like, holy shit.

So I go to the manager and I say, we need to stop the movie and make an announcement. There’s a serious life-threatening situation. And I explained to him what’s going on.

And he refuses to do this. He says, we can’t interrupt the movie. They’ll have to wait.

And I was dumbfounded.

I didn’t know what to do, but I thought about it very quickly. And I’m like, someone could die if we don’t do this. This is crazy. You’re putting one screening of this movie ahead of this life-threatening situation.

And I’m sure everybody in the audience will understand why we’re doing this if we do it. So I go back to the manager and I say, we have to do something about this. Then the people were very upset and understandably so.

So he still refuses to do it.

And I look at the people and I think to myself, oh my God, what do I do?

So right there on the spot, I made a decision.

I walked into the theater. It was dark. I go in front of the screen and the movie’s still playing.

And I say very loudly, there’s an emergency.

Would so-and-so please come to the lobby if you’re here?

Please everyone pay attention.

If so-and-so is here, please come to the lobby. It’s urgent.

And then I go back to the lobby.

I take off my jacket. I hang it up and I walk out of the theater and I never go back.

That was my first job.

I was put in this incredibly important ethical and moral dilemma where I had to make a really snap decision.

And I basically walked away from my first job because I had to do the right thing.

So the moral of this story is that sometimes we have to make sacrifices to do the right thing.

And when situations are very clear cut and we weigh the pros and the cons, in that scenario, yes, that whole audience was inconvenienced by my interruption and some of them might have even been upset.

And I lost my job by defying the manager, but I had to do the right thing.

And so in this situation that’s occurring in the world right now, there is no justification for harming or endangering the lives of innocent civilians. Every possible measure and step should be taken to avoid doing that. Period.

Yes, we have the right to protect ourselves, but we do not have the right to harm innocent bystanders.

If something really terrible happened in the United States and the police had to go after an individual or even a group of individuals to bring them to justice, and in the course of doing that, they killed many innocent people to get their hands on a few guilty ones, the moral outrage, which would be entirely justified, would be of epic proportions.

Even if somebody has done something heinous, you cannot harm tens, hundreds, thousands of innocent people in seeking justice, because that is not justice. You are creating more injustice by doing that. And there is karma associated with that. It’s a very fine line.

Sometimes in conflicts innocent people get harmed. That happens. But every possible measure to avoid that occurring has to be taken.

It is simply not ethical to intentionally harm innocent people or bystanders. It’s black and white. It’s really simple. I challenge anyone to question that fundamental premise.

For example, how can a child or an infant be guilty of heinous crimes?

So, people who are calling for a ceasefire or a humanitarian pause are justified. It doesn’t mean that the guilty cannot be found and prosecuted or rooted out. It’s a question of how you do it.

And there is no moral justification for engaging in activity that harms thousands of innocent men, women, and children, that is disproportionate to the crimes that instigated the conflict in the first place. We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard than the criminals.

That’s why we have very complex legal and judicial systems. We go to great lengths to protect the innocent and to ensure that the guilty are actually guilty before they are charged.

It’s not a perfect system, but just think about the legal system, for example, in the United States, how complex it is. How many hoops you have to go through.

And we really go out of our way to make sure that justice is applied fairly accurately and reasonably, the thought of, for example, executing somebody who is innocent is horrific, and everyone agrees that we want to avoid that.

Now, I know a bit about the history here, and I know that there are grievances on all sides, and I’m not going to get into the history of it because that is a Pandora’s box. That’s not my point.

My point is that morally and ethically we have to hold ourselves to the highest possible standards, period.

One of the things I’ve been witnessing is that there’s a tremendous amount of tribalism at play. And to me, tribalism is very low consciousness. It is old paradigm.

There really is only one tribe. There isn’t many. We have different cultures and religious groups and so forth. Fair enough. That’s what makes life on earth interesting.

But fundamentally, we are all human beings, and we all have the same rights and privileges. It doesn’t matter about our ethnicity, culture, religion, country of origin, and so forth. Those are completely secondary to that.

So we should never unequivocally support any group, organization, or cause if what they’re doing is wrong.

And that is the moral of my story about the theater, is that what the manager was asking me to do was unethical and immoral, and I had to make a sacrifice to put my foot down and make a decision on the spot, without a lot of time to think about it, to do the right thing.

It’s black and white when you simplify it to its basic moral dilemma, as far as I’m concerned.

I also want to add that from my perspective, there is a fair amount of bias in politics and in the media, where we’re often not really hearing a lot of balance.

It seems to me that more people are speaking out about the disproportionate response and the consequences of that, but often you will also hear that a lot of people who express those kinds of concerns pay significant prices for doing so.

It is entirely legitimate to criticize military action that appears to be inappropriate. That is completely legitimate.

And I often see a lot of cases where, for example, criticism is conflated with anti-semitism, and they’re not necessarily the same thing.

I’m not talking about supporting the group that initiated the attack on October 7th.

But people being censured or losing their jobs, or being persecuted or blocked from advocating for a humanitarian pause or a ceasefire, is completely unconscionable if you actually think about it.

These are peace protesters. Not all of them, but the majority of them.

This is not the same situation as Ukraine, where one country tried to illegally steal another country. This is a totally different situation.

I will put in the description several links that describe how aides and people who work on foreign policy are critical of the Biden administration for not promoting a ceasefire.

And the reason I’m sharing that is because it validates that there are reasonable people within the administration itself who are dissenting voices, who are speaking out about this.

These are well-informed, intelligent people who are questioning these policies and the unquestioning support for what is occurring now. That simply validates my point or my perspective. The people who are questioning this are not just fringe, far-left people. These are advisors to the current administration. These are trusted advisors.

So yes, we should be debating this and its merits, or lack thereof, and that is completely 100% legitimate, and we should always do that. Whenever there’s war or conflict, we need a very balanced approach and perspective.

And one of the things that really concerns me about this the most is that it seems to me that, like I said, there is a bias, and that people who are questioning what’s happening are being targeted and even attacked. Just because you don’t support the tactics that are currently being employed doesn’t mean you’re anti-semitic.

I really encourage people, especially Americans, to read the news from other countries. Canada, the UK, Europe, Germany, Australia, wherever.

I remember very vividly during the Gulf War, I was traveling in Europe, and I would watch CNN at night just to catch up on what was happening. And I was shocked, it was jaw-dropping, how different the European CNN broadcasts were compared to what was broadcast in the United States.

It may be different now, but back then, they had their own reporters and hosts who were based in Europe. It was really something to behold.

I was so struck by this that I couldn’t stop talking about it. It’s like two different universes from the same network.

So American news has a particular style and presentation that is very different from what you get, for example, in Europe. Places like The Guardian, which is one of the top news publications in the world by traffic, has a very different style and presentation than, say, The Washington Post or The New York Times.

So again, I just really encourage people to check out different perspectives to make sure that you’re not stuck in an information bubble.

I also want to take this opportunity to express one more point of concern. Clearly, there is an awful lot of darkness being expressed in the world right now. A lot of us, I think, feel like we are being yanked back into some old paradigm that is very ugly in many ways. And this can be quite disturbing.

I myself have not read many of the details about what’s happening on the ground in the Middle East since October 7th. I follow it at a high level, but I find it very difficult to focus on the trauma that is being experienced on the ground. It’s very dark.

And there are many other things going on politically and environmentally that are also very disconcerting.

I’m a realist when it comes to what’s happening in the world. And I have been very critical of things like conspiracy theories, the rise of authoritarianism and populism, the move by those on the right into increasingly extreme positions, Christian nationalism, etc.

Now, clearly, there are people who disagree with my perspective, and I don’t typically shy away from expressing my honest opinion about these kinds of things.

One of the tactics that is commonly employed by people who are offended by those kinds of statements or observations is to use ad hominem attacks.

They will say, for example, that you are being dark or excessively negative, even if you’re simply stating facts. And people who use ad hominems do so because they can’t refute your statements with facts or evidence or logic, so they attack the person or their character. It is not a tactic that I respect.

But as truth-tellers, we need to be aware that there are people who are going to be offended by what we state or observe or point out, and that these people will try and undermine us.

To me, it is quite self-evident when this is occurring, and I assume that most reasonable people are capable of identifying when that’s happening. But that may not always be the case, and we need to be vigilant to not allow such attacks to undermine us or cause us to shut up, because that is exactly what the intent is.

The intent is for us to go away, stop speaking our truth, to shut us down, so that the people we are offending can just carry on with whatever it is they’re doing, unchallenged.

Because of everything that’s happening in the world right now, a lot of us can feel like we’re under attack, like our beliefs, our perspectives, our worldviews are being questioned and we’re under attack, and we may even feel hopeless at times.

But I’m urging you to not do that, to maintain your strength, to know yourself, and not allow what’s happening to beat you down, because that is exactly what the dark side wants to happen.

There is a push and a pull going on right now between an old paradigm and a new paradigm, and the new paradigm I have described a lot on my channel, especially in my episodes about Pluto transiting Aquarius, and Pluto will re-enter Aquarius again on January 20th of next year. That’s only about two months from now.

So between now and then, Pluto is going to be hitting 29 degrees of Capricorn. I’ll put the dates on the screen. And this is one of the final battles between these two paradigms.

The energy should shift back more into where we would like it to be probably come January 20th of 2024, the last time Pluto shifted into Aquarius, I felt the shift almost immediately.

So hang in there, and don’t let all of the screams and the agonies of the death throes of this old paradigm cause you to question your core beliefs, values, or positions.

It really is kind of like a spiritual battle that’s going on. The truth will always win in the end, it just may take a bit of time.

I’m not suggesting that on January 20th everything is going to suddenly be resolved, but the tide will have turned, and the momentum will again start moving towards this more egalitarian future that is our destiny.

Pluto will dip back into Capricorn one more time next year, and that is between September 1st and November 19th of 2024. That should be especially interesting because it’s just going to retrograde into 29 degrees of Capricorn and then station direct at 29 degrees just for that 6 or 7 week period. That should be absolutely fascinating to witness.

A quick update on some near-term transits.

I posted on my community tab last night about Mars and the Sun being conjunct most of this week all the way through next weekend really. So watch your temper and think twice before you speak anything contentious or challenging, and watch out for that coming at you the other way, because people can be acting quite aggressively right now without thinking about what they’re saying, and then they may end up regretting it later. Also watch out for rash and impulsive behavior that you may also regret later. You can use this energy to get out and do some physical stuff, like whether it’s chores or exercise, it’s really good for that.

The Sun and Mars are currently in Scorpio. Scorpio is a very intense sign, so that adds to what I’ve been describing.

For example, what’s happening with Elon Musk right now is a classic example of that. Just look at how much his tweet cost him and X, formerly Twitter.

Neptune goes direct on December 6th in Pisces.

Jupiter goes direct on December 30th.

Saturn went direct on November 4th. That’s a good thing.

And the effect of the eclipses back in October are still playing out, as we can clearly see.

Jupiter is continuing its transit of Taurus until May 25th of 2024. I mention this because in terms of the incredible inflation that we’ve been experiencing, and the cost of living crisis that is being felt around the world, things like greedflation and price gouging, financially it’s been crazy lately. The stock market is still doing surprisingly well.

When Jupiter leaves Taurus after May 25th, I believe we should see things start to settle down in those regards. In terms of everything being insanely expensive, paying more for smaller items, reduced packaging size, increased prices, insidious junk fees, corporate profiteering, naked greed, the housing market going berserk, rent prices, all that stuff. Inflationary.

Jupiter is very expansive, and in the money sign of Taurus it tends to exaggerate everything. Taurus also governs things like property and real estate, of course. So like I said, after May 25th, I expect that we should see things start to simmer or calm down a bit in those regards. That will be welcome.

I apologize for my absence, but I’ve really just been following my guidance on that, and I think I’m doing the right thing. I’ve just been keeping busy doing a lot of stuff I’ve been putting off, and that’s been going well. Laying low. Until now.

After this Saturn-square-my-sun transit is over, I’ll probably be back and getting into some other interesting things that have been on my mind.

So I think I’ll just leave it there for now.

Again, for more detail, check the episode description for other episodes or articles that are related or that I mentioned.

And if you’re interested in a reading with me, I’ll put a link to that as well. I have a 20% off Black Friday special on currently. A natal or transit reading makes a great gift, by the way. It’s something people won’t forget.

Many sincere thanks to everyone who supports me, especially my YouTube members. Thank you very much.

Take care, all the best, and I’ll talk to you again soon.

Bye for now.

End transcript.



Other episodes referenced herein:

Pluto at 29° Capricorn – A Karmic Reckoning

Pluto in Aquarius – Dawn of Global Consciousness

Jupiter transit Taurus: 2023-2024

Drama and Detachment During This Intensely Karmic Cycle

Articles and resources referenced or displayed in this episode:

The Elephant Man (movie, 1980)

State Department employees send Blinken ‘dissent’ cables over Gaza policy

More Than 500 U.S. Officials Sign Letter Protesting Biden’s Israel Policy

Democratic Aides in Congress Break With Their Bosses on Israel-Hamas War

“Let It Go to Voicemail”: Democrats Reportedly Ignoring Calls for Cease-Fire

Voters Agree the U.S. Should Call for a Ceasefire and De-Escalation of Violence in Gaza to Prevent Civilian Deaths

Donald Trump poses the biggest danger to the world in 2024

#Astrology #War #Peace

Check my “Community Tab” where I comment and share links I find interesting

Errata

The Never-Ending Tragedy of Spineless Complicity

I discuss the gut-wrenching situation in Gaza and why we must hold our leaders to higher ethical standards.

This episode was recorded on December 11, 2023. It was published on December 12, 2023 at 11:15am EDT.




Astrological dates mentioned herein are calculated using the Eastern Daylight time zone.  

You can support my work and this channel ⁠⁠by booking an astrology reading⁠⁠

You can also support this channel with ⁠a monthly membership⁠.

Follow me on Threads⁠ where I share articles I feel are important.  

Please ⁠⁠add yourself to my contact list⁠⁠


Episode transcript:

Greetings all!

Welcome to Aquarian Diary. I’m your host, John Irving.

It is December 12th, 2023.

This episode was recorded on December 11th and published on December 12th.

We’re having some very unusual weather here today, with wind speeds up to around 100 kilometers an hour, or 60 miles an hour, so if that’s audible in the background, I apologize for that.

I’m at the final stages of some difficult transits, which have kind of caused me to lay low, as I described in my previous episode, which turned out to be very aptly titled “Drawing Lines”. That episode was published on November 19th.

I want to share with you what I’ve been experiencing and feeling in recent weeks and months.

Before I get into that, a quick heads up about the fact that Mercury will be going retrograde on December 13th in early Capricorn, through January 1st in Sagittarius. Most of you, I’m sure, understand the implications of that, with all of the travel plans and purchasing that goes on around this time of year that can introduce some challenges. So be aware of that. I mentioned this in an episode quite some time ago.

One of the main things I want to talk about here today is what has been coming up for all of us, I think, since the powerful eclipses in October. This is going on around the world, and we can see a lot of tumult, politically and socially, pretty much everywhere.

One of the things that I pray for pretty much every day, or set intentions for, actually, is that the light reveal the darkness so that humanity can become aware of what is actually happening, so that we can address those things.

And I particularly focus on people in positions of significant power, authority, privilege, wealth, or influence. And I’ve been doing that for a long time. I actually have a short on that, which provides some text or verbiage that you can use in your own practice for that end.

And that has most certainly been happening.

What is occurring right now in the Middle East, in Gaza, to me is extremely shocking for a number of reasons. The scale and ferocity of it is something that I find profoundly disturbing.

But even more so is the fact that many of the people who, in some ways, not entirely, but in some ways, I looked up to, or referenced as good sources, are promoting the dominating narrative, which is enabling these atrocities to occur.

And there are many scholars who have defined what’s happening as just that, whether it’s war crimes, genocide, or ethnic cleansing. Those are extremely powerful terms, all of them. But in many respects, what’s happening meets those definitions.

And again, one of the most disturbing aspects of this is that this is being cheered on by many people who we look up to, and in some cases, even elected, who not only oppose a ceasefire, but are, in some cases, are providing the weaponry and the technology, or the political cover, which is enabling this to occur.

Meaning that they are actively complicit in this. To me, this is extremely disappointing from a moral and ethical perspective.

There is no justification for what is happening, and the fact that the majority of the victims are innocent men, women, and children, who will be forever traumatized by what is occurring.

And I think we can argue that for those of us who are watching what’s happening, it can be quite traumatizing as well. I can certainly say that’s true in my case.

To add insult to injury, much of the mainstream media is disproportionately favoring the dominant narrative. There are many examples where people who have been questioning what’s happening have been shut down, targeted, attacked, and in some cases, removed from their positions, or fired.

This has been very divisive on the left, as everyone knows, I’m sure, because anyone in good conscience finds what’s happening extremely disturbing. That is simply a fact.

When you think about this whole scenario, it undermines our faith in our institutions, our leaders, and those who are supposed to be representing our values.

And perhaps that trust has been permanently broken. How can you forgive somebody who has been condoning atrocities? It’s very difficult.

Sure, there are some people who are simply misled, but we know that even within the Biden administration, for example, there are people within the State Department and staffers and aides to Democratic politicians who have taken steps to voice their concerns and outrage about this situation.So there are good people with good intentions within these institutions who are expressing their outrage.

Yet, despite a brief ceasefire, the atrocities continue and they are being supported diplomatically and militarily in what they’re doing.

All of the people who listen to me, I’m sure, know that the threat of the right, politically, represents a clear and present danger. The former president of the United States and his acolytes have declared very clearly what their intentions are should they be re-elected, and we should all be terrified about that.

But at the same time, like I said, our trust in the alternative has been tremendously degraded. And this is extremely disturbing because it can leave one feeling a sense of hopelessness that we have to choose the lesser of evils when we don’t want to choose any evil at all.

And so what the light of truth is showing us, chills here, is that our system is corrupt no matter how you look at it. That it requires profound transformation from top to bottom.

Now that pretty much jives with everything I’ve been saying on my channel for a very long time, that we need radical transformation.

But this transit of Pluto through the final degrees of Capricorn as it’s finishing up its devastation since 2008 is making it very clear that it is not black and white. That we have work to do on all sides.

Even in my own country here in Canada, there are things going on politically where the governing Liberal Party, who is supposedly center-left, has been engaging in a wide variety of policies that, if you’re an objective observer, cause you to question whether they’re simply just incredibly inept or incompetent or simply serving the interests of the wealthiest in our society.

It’s dumbfounding to behold, actually. I mean, it’s so inept you have to think sometimes that maybe it’s deliberate.

The alternative to the Liberals, who are likely to win the next federal election when it occurs by quite a significant margin because of the incompetence of the governing Liberal Party, who at the same time seem to be completely oblivious, tone-deaf, and indifferent to the mood of the nation, like they’re completely disconnected in a different reality, and they go out of their way to not listen, so they’re intransigent, which makes them seem so arrogant, and the polling keeps showing them going down and down and down, and this has been happening for months.

It’s a death spiral. But they refuse to change course on critical issues. It’s completely baffling.

The alternative is even worse, but people are so pissed off and fed up with the status quo that they are probably going to vote out of resentment. They’re not voting for something, they’re voting against something.

And I express that simply because that trend is occurring around the world right now. That’s exactly what’s happening from Denmark* to the United States to everywhere.

[*Correction: I inadvertently referenced “Denmark'” here. I intended to mention “Netherlands” (ie the recent election of Geert Wilders).]

People are pissed off, and they should be because the system is basically garbage, and our leaders are not reflecting our values accurately, and that is becoming crystal clear to us.

But back to the unfolding tragedy in the Middle East.

The cowardice and lack of moral compass and moral or ethical spinelessness of some people can be gut-wrenching to behold. How can you respect people who are in positions of leadership who are cowardly?

As I have stated here previously, there is a greater onus on those of us in positions of power or privilege to protect the most vulnerable people. Period. Strong chills here. We have a fundamental duty to protect the most vulnerable people, and if we fail that test, we should not be in positions of power or influence. There should be no exceptions to this rule.

The fact that so many people on the so-called left are willing to allow elected representatives or the government to tell universities and students or academics what they can do and what they can think and what they can say should be utterly terrifying.

And I am appalled that people are casually allowing these kinds of things to happen in so-called democracies. This is the road to totalitarianism or fascism.

The hypocrisy is jaw-dropping. How is that better than what we criticize countries like China or Hungary or Russia for doing?

This plays right into the hands of far-right extremists and their agenda to undermine, control, and discredit all of our institutions, whether it’s journalism, the fourth estate, or higher education. And many people applaud or tacitly condone this. It is incredibly naive and dangerous.

Like I said at these final stages of Pluto, Transit, and Capricorn, which I’ve talked a lot about before, and again I’ll put links in the episode description, Pluto re-enters Aquarius for a longer period of time on January 20th of 2024, and it will be there for a very long time, save for about 11 weeks later in 2024. And that marks kind of the new beginning.

When people talk about Pluto transits, they often refer to things like death and rebirth, or the Phoenix rising from the flames of destruction. And this came to me in my spiritual practice a few days ago. We’re in that destruction phase.

But for those of us who are feeling really disheartened and lost or disillusioned right now, like we have nowhere to place our faith, and that includes me, we need to remember that we’re in the death cycle, but there will be a regeneration, a rebirth cycle that will follow.

The old needs to die before something new can be born. So bear that in mind that all of these things that seem to be crashing down around us, they need to be destroyed in order to create a better future.

So we’re becoming aware of all of the darkness because the light is shining on it. That’s the optimistic conclusion to this.

But I can say that I am disgusted by what I have been seeing occurring over the past few months. So much so that it stopped me. It stopped me in my tracks because I felt like there was nothing positive I could say because the news is really bad.

This situation which is occurring right now in the Middle East that has compromised the integrity of so many people who we had put our faith in, where innocent civilians are being starved to death and being bombed relentlessly.

On that note, I will include in the episode description a link to a speech that Chris Hedges published a day or so ago, which is extremely moving.

He is a phenomenally credible person, a very powerful thinker with a lot of real world experience as a journalist who has frequently reported from war zones, including at one time for the New York Times, which resulted in him receiving a Pulitzer Prize. And he articulates his perspective about this situation in Gaza.

And I encourage everyone to listen to it because our media is failing us on this point. And it’s not failing us because of the journalists, let’s be clear about that. It’s just that a lot of journalists who want to counter the dominant narrative are being shut down.

The LA Times even went so far as to ban a significant number of their journalists from even reporting on this issue because they signed a letter calling for a ceasefire. That’s just one example.

So it’s really important that you make sure that you’re not getting all of your news or information about this incredibly complex and significant situation from only the mainstream traditional media sources. You have to read other sources.

The Guardian does a pretty good job of this. You can check Al Jazeera for a more Middle Eastern perspective. There are a lot of people covering this on platforms like Substack and some smaller independent media sources.

Of course, you want to make sure that you’re not reading propaganda because that is a real problem. So it’s important to make sure that the sources you’re acquiring information from are credible and respected and uphold the highest journalistic standards.

So to close, there’s one other thing I want to point out, which came to me the night after I listened to Chris Hedges’ speech, which is a video. And you can just listen to it because it’s basically just him talking.

So in my spiritual practice, at first I was concerned about the safety of these people because they’re putting themselves at danger potentially.

And so I sort of asked for protection for these brave souls who are speaking out and doing so diligently. And then what I got was that there are bright lights out there.

These are people who are actually putting themselves at risk to promote the truth and to promote perspectives that differ from the dominant mainstream narrative. And that these people are extremely brave and extremely important, but that there’s not a lot of them.

There’s a lot of people who are simply too fearful to talk about this. They would like to, but you know, people have to survive. They have to pay their mortgages, care for their families and so forth. So there’s a lot of people who simply can’t afford to take risks like that. And that must be heartbreaking. But there’s a few people who are willing to do it.

And in my spiritual practice, what came to me was that these people are the really bright lights. They are the truth tellers. Getting strong chills saying this.

So we need to support them and we need to look to them because they are the true change agents. There’s not a lot of them.

And it doesn’t matter where it is. Maybe it’s somebody in Russia. Maybe it’s somebody in the United States or in Britain or the Middle East or China or South America or wherever who is speaking truth to power. These are the bright lights of this new age we’re entering into.

There’s a lot of people who simply are really poorly informed or misled and we try not to be one of those.

And there’s a lot of people who are afraid. There’s a lot of people who just don’t care. There’s a lot of people who just want to make money and profit from whatever they’re doing. And they’re not willing to put their ethics ahead of anything else.

But there are a small group of people who are willing to stand up for the truth. And we need to support them and recognize them.

But generally these bright lights are people who are very well informed, very well intentioned, extremely conscientious, and very, very brave. They are the beacons of light.

I look forward as usual to all of your feedback and I thank all of the people who’ve been supportive of me. People have been wondering where have I been? What have I been doing?

I have been actually following what I have published here on my channel in recent months, which is that I just knew and saw, if you look back at what I published, that we were going to be going through a really challenging phase.

I believe the energy should really start shifting January 20th.

Jupiter is also retrograde now too, until the end of the year. That’s a bit of a bummer, especially if you’re a Sag. Or Jupiter is your chart ruler or something like that, or otherwise important to you. So hang in there.

And you know what we need to take away from this is that we need to zero in on the truth and the light and put pressure on people to hold themselves to a higher standard of ethics and morality.

We definitely don’t want something like 45 to win the next election because that would be utterly catastrophic for democracy, but those people that we are aligned with have to hold themselves to a higher standard.

And like I said, I have found that there’s a lot of people who I used to look at in one way, and now I look at them differently. And I recognize that they’re not as aligned with my values as I thought they were.

And so I’m a bit more jaded. I’m a bit more realistic, and I’m a bit more critical than I used to be. And that’s probably a good thing.

This whole period, frankly, has felt like a gut punch to me.

If you happen to agree with the prevailing opinion about this topic, please listen to my prior episode before challenging me.

I am in no way condoning any kind of atrocity against anyone. On the contrary. And I have made that point very clearly previously, as I’ve said.

All of the innocent victims of this terrible tragedy deserve our compassion. It doesn’t matter what side they’re on. All efforts should be made to minimize any further unnecessary harm.

If I am critical of the policies of the United States, and many of us are, including most of my listeners, it doesn’t mean we are prejudiced against all Americans.

Being critical of the state of Israel and its policies does not mean that one is anti-Semitic. We should criticize any country around the world for its failures. It is a fundamental component of a democratic society to be able to openly criticize your government, or any government for that matter.

And this applies to organizations and institutions like religious groups as well.

Again, for more detail, check the episode description for other episodes or articles that are related or that I mentioned.

And if you’re interested in a reading with me, I’ll put a link to that as well. I have a 20% off special on currently. A natal or transit reading makes a great gift, by the way. It’s something people won’t forget.

Many sincere thanks to everyone who supports me, especially my YouTube members. Thank you very much.

Take care, all the best, and I’ll talk to you again soon.

Bye for now.

End transcript.

Other episodes referenced herein:

Drawing Lines

⁠Pluto in Aquarius – Dawn of Global Consciousness⁠⁠Pluto at 29° Capricorn – A Karmic Reckoning⁠

Intentions 4: Accountability for Those That Cause Harm

Drama and Detachment During This Intensely Karmic Cycle

Prepare for Major Systemic Changes


Articles or podcasts referenced herein:

So Many Child Deaths in Gaza, and for What? – Nicholas Kristof

Killing Children, the Burdens of Conscience, and the Israel-Hamas War – Henry Giroux

Civilians make up 61% of Gaza deaths from airstrikes, Israeli study finds

Israel-Hamas war live updates: Gaza’s health system is ‘collapsing’ and battles intensify in the south

Why is the US still sending an endless supply of arms to Israel without conditions?

State Department employees send Blinken ‘dissent’ cables over Gaza policy

Democratic Aides in Congress Break With Their Bosses on Israel-Hamas War

More Than 500 U.S. Officials Sign Letter Protesting Biden’s Israel Policy

U.S. Military Equipment Traced to Possible War Crimes in Gaza, Report Finds

It could be a ‘bloodbath for the Liberals’ if polls hold up until next election, say political strategists and insiders

The Sick Hypocrisy of the Republican Investigation Into College Campuses

How University Presidents Fell Into Congresswoman Stefanik’s Trap

Israel-Gaza war sets Biden at odds with youth of America

Progressives rebel against Biden’s handling of Israel-Gaza crisis

The Genocide in Gaza – Chris Hedges

LA Times blocks reporters who signed open letter criticizing Israel from covering Gaza

‘I’m concerned about my personal safety’: Hong Kong activist Agnes Chow speaks about life in exile

On Israel’s War Against Hamas, Sanders Faces a Backlash From the Left

“Just factually wrong”: Jewish Dem calls out GOP resolution declaring “anti-Zionism is antisemitism”

Search for “Aquarian Diary” in your podcast app to find the podcast version of this channel.

#Gaza #MiddleEast #Spirituality

Check my “Community Tab” where I comment and share links I find interesting.

Errata

© 2024 Aquarian Diary

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑