The following may also disturb you, but it explains a lot. It's from The Emotional Life of Nations, by Lloyd deMause - Chapter 8: Evolution of Childrearing.

Since children of the upper classes were sent out to wetnurse and then to school, many adults could agree with Talleyrand when he stated that he "had never slept under the same roof with his father and mother."49 Fathers were so distant that most could agree with Vandermonde, who said, "One blushes to think of loving one's children." When their children died, most fathers, like William Byrd, revealed no signs of grief, writing in their diaries the night of the death only that they had "good thoughts and good humor." Should a father try to play with his child, they were unable to summon the empathy needed to understand its capacities, as seen in the following typical interaction:

A gentleman was playing with his child of a year old, who began to cry. He ordered silence; the child did not obey; the father then began to whip it, but this terrified the child and increased its cries...The father thought the child would be ruined unless it was made to yield, and renewed his chastisement with increased severity....On undressing it, a pin was discovered sticking into its back.

By the nineteenth century, some fathers began to relate to their children with some empathy, yet even they were seen as rare, as when Grigorii Belynskii was described as "the only father in the city who understood that in raising children it is not necessary to treat them like cattle."

It goes on, and is it any wonder that our world is dysfunctional, considering the emotional roots above and also below:

The problem with having only women raising children is that parenting is an emotionally demanding task, requiring considerable maturity, and throughout history girls have grown up universally despised. When a girl was born, said the Hebrews, "the walls wept." Japanese lullabies sang, "If it's a girl, stamp on her." In medieval Muslim cultures "a grave used to be prepared, even before delivery, beside the woman's resting place [and] if the new-born was a female she was immediately thrown by her mother into the grave." "Blessed is the door out of which goes a dead daughter" was a popular Italian proverb that was meant quite literally. Girls from birth have everywhere been considered full of dangerous pollution-the projected hatred of adults-and were therefore more often killed, exposed, abandoned, malnourished, raped and neglected than boys. Girls in traditional societies spent most of their growing up years trying to avoid being raped by their neighbors or employers and thereby being forced into a lives of prostitution. To expect horribly abused girls to magically become mature, loving caretakers when as teenagers they go to live as virtual slaves in a strange family simply goes against the conclusions of every clinical study we have showing the disastrous effects of trauma upon the ability to mother.

If you are interested, I urge you to read more of The Emotional Life of Nations, by Lloyd deMause, and also dedicate your life to breaking this chain.

You must see this movie: No End in Sight: Iraq's Descent Into Chaos. Some very powerful people in our government are no longer holding their peace and are telling an astounding story which makes shocking sense, and which we have not heard, smoke and mirrors having prevailed until now. We must do something about this very, very soon.

Free on Google Video, or via Netflix instant online viewing (better quality but you need to be a subscriber).

Roger Ebert says:

Remember the scene in A Clockwork Orange where Alex has his eyes clamped open and is forced to watch a movie? I imagine a similar experience for the architects of our catastrophe in Iraq. I would like them to see No End in Sight.

I urge you to do what you can.

I am the (so far) happy owner of a new laptop and, being new, with Microsoft Vista SP1, it also needed new software. So I just installed Solar Fire Gold v7, and with it comes online tutorials written by Hank Friedman. Hank has been practicing astrology for 30 years. Below are some excerpts from the tutorials called, Teachings in Metaphysical Astrology, and my comments on some of his more interesting paragraphs.

From: Why Chart Readings Fail

3. Environmental and Genetic Effects

My first real understanding of the effects of environment and genetics upon the expression of one's birth chart came when I was asked by a therapist to do some readings for his psychotic clients.

These schizophrenic clients, it turned out, were severely compartmentalized and could only relate to one or two of the planets in their charts. (I've since then found that the more healthy and developed a person is, the more they can relate to everything in their chart.)

My next pronounced experience confirming the effects of environment was when a woman came to me who had a predominance of fire sign planets and a stellium of them in Sagittarius. I would never have guessed that she had any fire in her chart at all, she was so timid, introverted, and inhibited.

I found out from her that her father had beaten her whenever she spoke up, and so she learned to repress all of her fire.

Severe physical or psychological impacts upon a person can greatly alter the expression of their chart in their lives.

This is so true. Then,

The GateKeeper -- Revisited

In an earlier article I introduced the idea that the Ascendant was the gatekeeper, the place in ourselves that we not only present to the world, but that also controls what comes into us and out of us.

I'd like to also point out that a person usually tends to identify with their rising sign, and it often reflects their degree of embodiment. People at first glance tend to see your rising sign before anything else.

When you identify with your rising sign and it is not supported by other planets, e.g. the rising sign is in Earth and no planets are in Earth signs, then you tend to expect yourself to have more of the qualities of the rising sign than you actually do. In Earth, you may sign up for more responsibilities and work than is healthy for you. In Air, you might interact more than you wish to. In Water, you may retreat or keep more inside than is healthy. And in Fire, you may push yourself to express more than is appropriate, and may leap in where most of you fears to tread.

The degree of embodiment is best illustrated by an example: Two close friends of mine were born two days apart (the same year). Both are (Tropical) Pisces with only one planet in Earth in their charts. While the person with Leo rising is quite often unembodied, ungrounded, and distractible, the one with Taurus rising is incredibly embodied and grounded and physical in nature. Specifically, if a person has an Earth sign rising, they are likely to be much more embodied (all other chart factors being equal) than other elements rising.

An example of people treating you as if you are your rising sign: one client had Fire rising but all planets in Water and Earth sign. So he'd go to a party, present his Fire rising, and those looking for a firey man would gravitate to him. But when they grew to know him better, they found that he wasn't really firey at all.

Ah but the evolutionary astrologer says, but why does this Water and Earthy person have Fire rising? What is the purpose, the design, the plan?

During the twenty five years that I've practiced astrology, I've learned a lot about the use and misuse of astrology. Most astrologers forget how strongly and harmfully negative predictions and absolute statements can impact people, and that they -- the astrologer -- are effectively in the role of playing God.

One well-known astrologer told a client of mine, "because you have Saturn in your 7th house, relationships will never work for you, so don't even try." This is absolutely horrible astrology, and cruel advice.

And it was even astrologically incompetent, both because Saturn in the 7th can mean a serious relationship, or a delayed marriage, or a disparity between the ages of partners and the person, or any number of things, and in addition, in my client's chart, the Saturn was very well aspected and ensured actual success in relationship.

Astrologers also act as if the chart were "written in stone". As if the person can't grow, change, or learn how to navigate the waters of their charts successfully. In fact, just the opposite is true. As people mature, they do handle themselves, and their predispositions, much more effectively. One of my friends has Sun squared Pluto, exact, and in early years got into clashes of will, but as she grew older and wiser, these completely stopped and she never had problems again with issues like these.

One doesn't "transcend one's chart" but instead learns how to be the best person one can be. Period. And that requires facing oneself and one's patterns and working to improve. And all efforts do pay off.

Any astrologer who looks at a chart and shakes their head needs to look in the mirror and question what effect they are having on others. Whether we like it or not, every astrologer is a therapist, minister, teacher, and authority figure, and needs to take full responsibility for their impact on their clients and readers.

The wise astrologer leaves each client more awakened, in touch with themselves, more in love with who they are, and hopeful about and empowered to pursue their unfoldment.

God bless you, Hank Friedman. Thank you for saying this so well.

Around this idea. Why does product packaging always have to match?

For more info see Terracycle.
Enjoy!

An amazing video on consciousness and brain functioning. Click to play.

Forgive me for Saturn conj my north node, but I thought this was really interesting. The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions (CSEP) at the Illinois Institute of Technology is collecting codes of ethics from industries as varied as dieticians, funeral workers, yacht architects, and organists, into a central repository. They say:

The library of CSEP began collecting codes of ethics over 20 years ago. As our collection grew, more people became aware of its existence and began asking for access. At that time, the best the library could do for individuals was to photocopy the requested code and mail it to the requestor. With the advent of the Internet, it seemed clear that digitizing the codes and making them accessible over the World-Wide Web would benefit researchers, students, and professionals alike.

Codes of ethics are controversial documents. Some writers have suggested that codes of professional ethics are pointless and unnecessary. Many others believe that codes are useful and important, but disagree about why. IIT's Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions is committed to the importance of codes of ethics, and we have undertaken the Online Ethics Codes Project in order to enhance access to a very wide variety of codes.

Check out the following codes, which are pertinent to counseling and the healing professions related to astrology:

American Counseling Association
American Association of Pastoral Counselors
Code of Ethics for Spiritual Guides
Covenant of the Goddess
American Psychological Association
American Psychoanalytical Association
American Society of Clinical Hypnosis

There is also this interesting page called How to Write a Code of Ethics, for anyone considering writing their own.

Last but not least, here is the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which I believe is a useful beginning point or baseline for everyone.

Enjoy!

I just thought this was fun.

(click to enlarge and read)

Enjoy!

Here (or by clicking picture above) is a current report of the project of digitizing the Aquarius Moon/Napa AP materials. I recently compiled the inventory and will be updating this report as I go along.

I hope this whets your appetite.... The old timers have often also talked about assembing "vintage Steve" so that we can also see how he has changed, wouldn't that be cool?

Suggestions are welcome!
Love,

ALBERT HOFMANN, FATHER OF LSD, DIES IN SWITZERLAND AT 102
Associated Press

GENEVA - Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of the mind-altering drug LSD has died. He was 102.

Hofmann died Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at his home in Burg im Leimental, said Doris Stuker, a municipal clerk in the village near Basel where Hofmann moved following his retirement in 1971.

Hofmann's hallucinogen inspired - and arguably corrupted - millions in the 1960s hippie generation. For decades after LSD was banned in the late 1960s, Hofmann defended his invention.

"I produced the substance as a medicine... It's not my fault if people abused it," he once said.

The Swiss chemist first synthesized lysergic acid diethylamide-25 on November 16, 1938 while studying the medicinal uses of a fungus found on wheat and other grains at the Sandoz pharmaceuticals firm in Basel.

Five years later, on April 16, 1943, he became the first human guinea pig of the drug when a tiny amount of the substance seeped onto his finger during a repeat of the laboratory experiment.

"I had to leave work for home because I was suddenly hit by a sudden feeling of unease and mild dizziness," he subsequently wrote in a memo to company bosses.

Hofmann sat down and began experiencing what he called "wonderful visions."

"What I was thinking appeared in colors and in pictures," he told Swiss television network SF DRS for a program marking his 100th birthday two years ago. "It lasted for a couple of hours and then it disappeared."

Three days later, Hofmann experimented with a larger dose. The result was a horror trip.

"Everything I saw was distorted as in a warped mirror," he wrote, describing his bicycle ride home. "I had the impression I was rooted to the spot. But my assistant told me we were actually going very fast."

"The substance which I wanted to experiment with took over me. I was filled with an overwhelming fear that I would go crazy. I was transported to a different world, a different time," he wrote.

Limited edition signed blotter, click to enlarge

Hofmann and his scientific colleagues hoped that LSD would make an important contribution to psychiatric research. The drug exaggerated inner problems and conflicts and thus it was hoped that it might be used to recognize and treat mental illness like schizophrenia.

For a time, Sandoz sold LSD 25 under the name Delysid, encouraging doctors to try it themselves. It was one of the strongest drugs in medicine - with just one gram enough to drug an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 people for 12 hours.

Hofmann discovered the drug had a similar chemical structure to psychedelic mushrooms and herbs used in religious ceremonies by Mexican Indians.

LSD was elevated to international fame in the late 1950s and 1960s thanks to Harvard professor Timothy Leary who embraced the drug under the slogan "turn on, tune in, drop out." The film star Cary Grant and numerous rock musicians extolled its virtues in achieving true self-discovery and enlightenment.

Timothy Leary

But away from the psychedelic trips and flower children, horror stories emerged about people going on murder sprees or jumping out of windows while hallucinating. Heavy users suffered permanent psychological damage.

The U.S. government banned LSD in 1966 and other countries followed suit. Hofmann maintained this was unfair, arguing that the drug was not addictive. He repeatedly called for the ban to be lifted to allow LSD to be used in medical research.

Peter Oehen, a psychiatrist in the Swiss town of Biberist, says substances such as LSD and MDMA (also known as ecstasy) can produce results where conventional psychotherapies fail.

"They help overcome the wall of denial that some patients build up," said Oehen, who met Hofmann and has studied his work.

Hofmann welcomed a decision by Swiss authorities last December to allow LSD to be used in a psychotherapy research project.

"For me, this is a very big wish come true. I always wanted to see LSD get its proper place in medicine," he told Swiss TV at the time.

Hofmann himself took the drug - purportedly on an occasional basis and out of scientific interest - for several decades.

"LSD can help open your eyes," he once said. "But there are other ways - meditation, dance, music, fasting."

Even so, the self-described "father" of LSD readily agreed that the drug was dangerous if in the wrong hands. This was reflected by the title of his 1979 book: LSD: My Problem Child.

In it he wrote that, "The history of LSD to date amply demonstrates the catastrophic consequences that can ensue when its profound effect is misjudged and the substance is mistaken for a pleasure drug."

Ruby slippers blotter, click to enlarge

Hofmann retired from Sandoz in 1971. He devoted his time to travel, writing and lectures - which often reflected his growing interest with philosophy and religious questions.

Dieter A. Hagenbach, a friend of 40 years, told The Associated Press that he last spoke to Hofmann on Saturday.

"He was in good spirits and enjoying the springtime," Hagenbach said, adding that Hofmann continued to go for walks in the small picturesque village where he lived in the Swiss Jura mountains, a stone's throw from the French border.

Hofmann's last public appearance was at a Basel ceremony honoring him on his 100th birthday.

"This is really a high point in my advanced age," Hofmann said. "You could say it is a consciousness-raising experience without LSD."

Hofmann is survived by a son and daughter. He was pre-deceased by his wife Anita and two of their four children.

This is so beautiful, and if you watch a few times, you can sense the sacred relationship between 12 and 13. Love you all!

Hi -- This message from Joyce:

---

Our bi-annual Northern California Steven Forrest Apprenticeship Program (AP) is taking place once again at Mountain Home Ranch in Calistoga, California.

The dates are March 7-11, 2008. It is a residential retreat program beginning on Friday evening with dinner served at 7 pm. The retreat ends Tuesday at 5pm (no dinner is served).

The cost of the retreat for a shared room, including three excellent meals per day, lodging, and Steven's incredible teachings, is $775. There are also private rooms available (these are more expensive). Please contact Barbara directly if interested.

The topic is "The Grand Synthesis: The Psychological Interpretation of the Birthchart" Those of you who join us will have the chance to throw your name into the "sorting hat" and have your chart used by Steven as an example in class. (Retreat Prerequisite: Please read "The Changing Sky" by Steven Forrest and "The Inner Sky.")

To reserve your space, a deposit of $150 is required. Please send your checks or money order made out to Open Heart Astrology to
Barbara King, P. O. Box 15081, Santa Rosa, CA 95402. She also accepts
PayPal payments (with a surcharge).

If you have questions, please feel free to contact Barbara via email or phone 707-889-0460. You can also contact Joyce via email or phone 415-441-4776.

This is an incredible, tribal experience, and unique in that it is
residential. There is a feeling of community that carries well beyond the classroom experience, as you have the chance to mingle with other astrologers before and after hours. We have great times and great talks.

Click on each image for a meditation for that day.

read more »

by Paula D'Arcy, Redbird Foundation
from the book: Daybreaks

I think about what it would be like for me to deeply trust the road of my life.

I don't take the long view often enough. Along with everyone else, I can be so easily swept up in the traditions and events of the moment, all of which are heightened at this season leading up to Christmas. House lights are strung earlier each year, and on my own street seasonal displays fill many yards before Thanksgiving. Last year a professional lighting company left a flyer in my door handle offering their services to outline my dark roof. But our traditions, though beautiful, also have the power to distract us from reaching into the heart of the world. Bushmen storytellers speak of our great hunger for meaning. There is something so much greater than the decorations and gaily wrapped gifts, if I'll let myself know it.

The truth is you cannot stay the same, stay busy and overcommitted, and be walking toward that Bethlehem stable in a way that will change you. The manger makes a fierce demand: Will you allow something extraordinary to materialize in your life? Will you take full responsibility for your life? Will you look around you and reach into the world, willing to love more deeply?

I don't want my arms to be so full, my attention so distracted, that I cannot hear that fierce demand. In my better moments, I know the final work of every life is love. All we have is this moment. Right now. The journey to Bethlehem beckons.

For these days of Advent I will slow down, not speed up. I will take more care with people, not less. I will be aware of my own personhood. What am I creating with this life I've been given?

---

Join me in the meditations of Advent, in anticipation of the coming of the Light, and the birth of the Prince of Peace. I will be posting a new meditation daily.

May your blessings be plentiful!



"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
by Gypsy Soul, from their album Sacred.

You all will like this. I especially liked Jung's quote -- he says that ecstatic experience is sought, by humans, as a natural course in our existence -- some more than others obviously. And that contact with the ecstatic is diminished in modern day man's experience. The subsequent 'spirito-cultural' lack (I'm coining a new word here), in our case is producing (among other things):

"....disorders in the brains of politicians and journalists, who unwittingly let loose psychic epidemics on the world..."

Bravo Jung!
I hope you enjoy this.

Jung, Alcoholics Anonymous, And Drug Seeking Behaviour

Cool, huh?

By now, most of you have heard of Masaru Emoto. His work on how attitude and thought affects molecular structure was introduced in the film What The Bleep Do We Know?, and is further detailed in his book Hidden Messages In Water. The film below is a visual tour of his research - beautiful, and straight to the heart.

The following article, called Mindpower, Emotional Addiction, and What The Bleep is also interesting.

The human mind can not only change how things seem, it alone can change how things are. We can even become physically addicted to emotions - to our own detriment. A new documentary film brings science to bear on some spiritual and philosophical mind/body issues.

Mark Vicente is one of the directors of the film What The Bleep Do We Know?. He sees current developments in quantum physics and neurology pushing us very close towards theology, mysticism and ancient texts about oneness.

Our guest gives an example of Buddhist monks who can demonstrably alter the structure of frozen water crystals - using just the mind. This was featured in the book Messages From Water by Dr. Masaru Emoto.

In the example, polluted water was frozen and then photographed. Buddhist monks then focused a particular emotion (love, gratitude, etc.) on the sample. After this, the water crystals were re-photographed and found to be free of impurities.

"How do you teach 21st century people about these ideas when they think they're silly?, asks Mark Vicente rhetorically. "You have to start showing them a science..." is his solution.

Mr. Vicente reckons there are scientific explanations for many of our seemingly illogical perceptions: "We're processing 400 million bits of information per second, and we're only 'aware' of 2000 bits, so there's enormous amounts of information," he explains.

Our filmmaker also explains how we can be innocent victims of our own negative emotions. He talks of neuropeptides released in the brain: "Specific emotions release certain neuropeptides," he says, "...if you're a person who gets angry all the time, you release a certain kind of neuropeptide which then docks with your cells which then produces the chemistry of anger. Now if you keep on doing that, again and again, the cell starts to realise, 'this is my form of nutrition'.

Mark sees this as similar to being addicted to drugs or junk food - you need more and more and end up with a emotional bio-chemical addiction.

There's even a personal anecdote: "My mum wakes up in the morning and she finds something to complain about," volunteers our guest, "...some of us are addicted to victimisation, some are addicted to sorrow... it's almost like you get off on it somehow," says Mark Vicente.

The film director suggests that science is now starting to close in on some of these things that we may have previously considered to be beyond the rational. He suggests that we may be able to slowly break down some of our emotional dependencies and unhelpful behaviour patterns. Unfortunately he doesn't say it'll be easy.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters
compared to what lies within us.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

May you thrive in peace and beauty.