Ageism and Theism, Together

This blog entry will certainly rile up some of my more zealous Christian friends but, please don't read this as an attack on religion but, an exploration on how Ageism and Theism go hand in hand.  It wouldn't be the first time my writing or dry sense of humor got me in trouble.  I was on an interview once and the name of my first organ teacher came up.  I commented how I hated him, fully expecting someone on the interview committee to ask why.  They moved on, thinking that I actually hated him.  In truth, he was the best teach I ever had because he challenged me and made me work my lazy bumper off.  I am still learning from his lessons 30 years later. I didn't get the job - I hate them . . . They didn't pay very well, anyway. 

We are currently living in the time/space between the current Age of Pisces and the forthcoming Age: the Age of Aquarius.  To understand an Age, we have to go back and look at both history and science. 

There are twelve Ages which many of us know as the Zodiac Signs (one for each constellation of the zodiac).  Each Age lasts approximately 2,160 years.  All twelve Ages in succession are known as The Great year which lasts about 26,000 of our calendar years.   The earth actually spins in a gyrating motion that changes very slowly the direction of the polar axis (think of a toy top that wobbles as it spins).  The earth makes a full circle in the 26,000 years which is known as the Precession.  Many astrologers call this the “Great Polar Cycle” which encompasses 25,868 years as the North Pole aligns successively to a series of stars or constellations (Zodiac Signs).

Those of you old enough to know what a phonographic record is, think of the precession as a single record album with 25,000 grooves.  Every 2,000 grooves is a new song.  The whole record is the precession and every song is an age, each flowing seamlessly into one another.  Some Ages are thought to be a little longer or shorter than others but at this point I'm not sure if anyone knows for sure.  Currently, for the next 300 years or so, we are in-between two Ages.  The earliest recorded Age for man is the Age of Leo, so, let's start there.

The Age of Leo; Approximately 11000 B.C. - 8000 B.C.
Around this time the snow of the Ice Age begins to melt and the global climate begins to warm up.  During this time humans began worshiping the Sun, the ruler of the fire sign, Leo; because obviously a god was melting all that ice.  Culturally there were dozens of Sun-Gods at this time as the planet began to get warmer and wetter.  This period was also known as the Stone Age.

The Age of Cancer; approximately 8000 B.C. – 6500 B.C.
From the fire sign of Leo to the water sign of Cancer there were floods! Where do you think all that ice went?  Around 8000 B.C. is thought to be the time when the great floods that are mentioned in almost every major culture occurred.  Sun-worship was replaced by Moon-worship as many cultures became aware of how the Moon affected the rising and falling of the water or tides. The sign Cancer was associated with the archetype of the Great Mother, which deals with the womb, bearing, birthing, nurturing, protecting, and domestic life.  During this time animals began to be domesticated. The Great Mother was feared during this age and even today, we still fear her.  We call her Mother Nature as she can be both life giving and relentlessly destructive in the form of hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods or drought.

Around the end of this Age we domesticated many animals (in part, thanks to Noah who saved them from the flood), invented the wheel, weaving, working with metal and increased our survival skills and began to fear Mother Nature less and less as we were better able to protect ourselves from her wrath, giving birth to intellectualism.

The Age of Gemini, Approximately 6500 B.C. - 3750 B.C.
Humans begin writing and drawing and discover the god of Mercury or Hermes.  In Greek mythology, these were the gods of communication. The world began to flourish with communication, language (babble) and knowledge.  As languages developed, so did oral traditions. It is believed that though the first books of the Old Testament were not written down until around 1000 B.C. at the time of Solomon, the oral traditions of creation stories like The Garden of Eden were actually created during the Age of Gemini.  Gemini also gave us the consciousness of duality: The Garden of Eden and the Tree of Knowledge containing the duality of Good and Evil, Life and Death, Adam and Eve - duality of sexes, choice and consequences, rational and irrational.  In this Age, God and Nature were being separated and we became farming communities rather than nomads.  We also began building places of worship.

The Age of Taurus; approximately 4000B.C-1800 B.C.
The symbol of Taurus is a lot of bull.  Cities began to spring up.  The sign of Taurus is associated with agriculture, money, banking, law, real estate and property and all matters dealing with ownership.

Mortal man wishing to preserve order created god-like figures dispensing cruel justice and we found ourselves worshiping a number of bull gods.  Apis, who presided over the underworld.  Ra, the Bull of Heaven; Osiris  the Bull of Earth; Nut, the Sky Goddess with cow’s ears; Hathor the Cow Goddess, crowned with horns; Bulchis the Bull of Thebes; Poseidon, Bull of the Sea; Zeus, the Bull-ravisher of Europa who fled over the Taurus mountains; and,most notably, the Minotaur, which was the offspring of Poseidon’s white bull and Pasiphae, wife of King Minos on Crete.

The bull symbol (Golden Calf) was  replaced in the next Age by Moses, the bull-slayer; and ushered in the Age of Aries and the Ram-God Yahweh.

The Age of Aries, Approximately 1800 B.C. - 360 AD
Humans began to consolidate their gods and monotheism was born.  Aries is ruled by Mars, the God of war.  During this Age, the Greeks gave us Homer, Hesiod, Achilles, Hercules, Jason (who sought the Golden Fleece!), Theseus (a bona-fide bull-slayer!), Mithras who is depicted in statues as plunging a dagger into a bull and, Odysseus.  Also Alexander the Great who, inspired by Homer, conquered most of the known world during this Age.

Moses did much more than just blow a ram's horn and liberate his people from Egypt.  In condemning the worship of the golden calf (Taurus), he symbolically declared a new age had begun. An age that needed something to guide humanity:  The Ten Commandments.

The Age of Aries also brought us the great teachings of Lao Tzu, Confucius, Gautama Buddha, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, opening the door for the next Age to enter.

The Age of Pisces; approximately 360 A.D. – 2400 A.D
The symbol for Pisces is the fish and this Age brought us Jesus.  Jesus Christ taught new laws to govern our development as human beings and at the heart of his teachings was the idea that we should seek to love each other, we should love our enemy, and turn the other cheek, he taught us that we were one (a Piscean theme) and our enemy is simply a mirror of ourselves. To hate someone else, then, is to hate yourself.

It is interesting that many fundamentalist Christians claim to be followers of Jesus–the great teacher of forgiveness and compassion, but find it more productive to judge, condemn, hate, and try to convert others.  Christ taught that all one needed was the inner church (Soul).  The Kingdom of Heaven is not over there, not up there, not under there but, in us and around us.  If only we could open our eyes and see it. Maybe in the next Age we will.

The Pisces Age unleashed some the most devastating wars and conflict in the history of man such as witch hunts, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the never ending conflict between Muslims and Christians, nuclear bombs, world wars and so much more, all under the banner of Christianity.  The world became a dangerous place, not because of those who did evil, but because of those who looked on and did nothing.

This is the age that when someone breaks a law, we lock them up in places where kindness is rare and considered weak.  Wouldn’t it seem more reasonable to put law breakers in a place which cherishes kindness, reminds them of how important it is and affords them opportunities to develop and express it?

Toward the end of the Age of Pisces, we see social activism begin to take hold (especially during the 1960's).  Concern for the planet and all living creatures, humanitarianism and the struggle for the healing of wounds and division.  Death leading to rebirth, acceptance, tolerance and awakening are all part of the theme.  All this is leading into the next Age.

The Age of Aquarius; approximately 2400 A.D. – 4600 A.D
There isn't much to say about this Age since it is not here yet, but, this Age will be the Age of Enlightenment and the symbol is the Water Bearer.  I find it interesting that the planet is being plagued by dramatic weather changes, warming, flooding, polar melting, tsunamis, increased hurricanes, tornadoes and devastating super storms.  

Humans strive to avoid struggle and pain. We spend so much energy trying to avoid negativity and trying to create positivity, even if it’s synthetic, that we miss the point that each of us is like the movie character Indiana Jones.  At the moment we may awaken to being here at all, we may say, “What’s life about?"  At that moment we are the heroes of this classic, timeless, spiritual adventure.  We already know the movie is going to end, so the point is not to live forever, but it’s to be heroic and enlightened.  Enlightenment is seeing what in our belief system is not working. But to perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away and expand our sense of now.  We should strive to leave each person and each place a little better for our having been there.  Simple.

This Age is supposed to bring the restoration of the Garden of Eden, the Golden Age of globalization where we all become citizens of the world.  Maybe we will discover that there is only one religion: God.  A Hindu who rejects Christ won’t find it.  A Christian who rejects Buddha won’t find it.  It is predicted that Aquarius is to be the Age of the Second Coming.  Maybe, instead of a world leader, a master teacher, or a messiah, maybe, just maybe, in this coming Age of Enlightenment, we’ll discover that we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

In the words of an ancient Sanskrit greeting and farewell, "I bow to the Divine within you."

Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT

Amid the pain, suffering, loss and senselessness of the recent school shooting, there has been overwhelming and beautiful expressions of care and support toward Newtown, the victims and their families.  The Newtown community and nation are coming together in prayer, love and compassion (with + suffering).   The emotions range from shock, disbelief, sadness, fear and anger.   Although it may not be a popular recognition, there are also others victims in this tragedy.  They are collateral damage who  are also suffering pain, loss, shame and fear.  They are a mother, a son, a brother, a father; the Lanza family. 

A quick perusal of any of the media sites, Twitter or Facebook, will yield in the comment sections significant hate and demonization for the family of and for Adam Lanza.  “Rot in Hell,” “Sicko,” and “Monster” are some of the more calm names he has been called.   Some of the horrible things that “good” people would like to do to him are very disturbing.

It has been widely reported that Adam Lanza was suffering with mental turmoil and that he had Aspergers and Personality Disorder.  Many other mass killers have been reported to have mental abnormalities, too.  Where do people with and such destructive behavior come from?  Is it genetic?  A chemical imbalance?  Is it brought on by environment?  Their social upbringing?  How they were parented? 

Some readers are demanding a registry for people with Aspergers  much like the sex offender registry.  That way, people think, they can keep an eye on them and know where they live and what they are doing but registries don’t work.  If someone is going to do something, they’re going to do it.  A registry for people with mental disorders will only make it difficult for them to find employment, housing and further augment their social death making them feel even more helpless and hopeless.  Society can’t register away its fears.  We already have a gun registry, background checks were completed, the school was locked and yet the tragedy occurred anyway. 

I do know though, that what is done to us creates and shapes us.  For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.  Adam was reportedly a quiet, socially awkward, largely ignored and avoided youth.  We will never know if things would be different today if his peers and friends went out of their way to include, welcome and help him to integrate into their circles and cliques,  resolutely attempting to ameliorate him of his social fears and embarrassments. 

Social isolation is dangerous.  When someone commits a crime and we arrest them and punish them, do you think that makes them love society more?  We send them to prison where they seethe and fester about the loss of their freedom, then when they get out no one will give them a job, they are abandoned by friends and family, ostracized in the papers, put on registries or have permanent records they can never escape from.  Is it any wonder that some of these people have to resort to more crime in order to survive or worse—snap when pushed too far?  Oscar Wilde said that every saint had a past and every sinner had a future.  Did anyone take the time to help Adam envision a future? 

That's why I struggle with the whole notion of calling someone the “good guy” or the “bad guy” because I think we all have potential to do good things and all have the potential to do bad things.   What happened to Adam to make him do what he did and what could society have added to his lonely life to make those actions completely unthinkable to him?  I’m not blaming society, but, we don’t have to live like this.  There is so much darkness in this world and we can’t escape that dark because it will always be there.  It is up to us to be the light for one another.  We can’t do that if we step into the abyss and remain there.  We need to choose whether to be part of the problem or the solution.

A friend of mine is a commercial airline pilot.  He said that if a pilot has a record or mental health issues, their license will be revoked.   I’d much rather be flying with a pilot getting treatment for his issues than one who is not because he is afraid of losing his job if he seeks help.

The hate speech on the social media sites such as Facebook is shocking and quite frankly terrifying.  Sadly, these people don’t realize that their art of the invective makes them, too, monsters.  Stalkers of a different sort.  Their venom is not part of the solution but is only seeding the problem.  Hate begets hate and just as the criminal hates society for punishing him, as an animal backed into a corner will attack, or someone who thinks society has abandoned them, they can snap, any of those people can react equally and opposite.  If someone says “I can forgive, but I cannot forget,” that is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one ever again.  It is easy to say we forgive Adam but will we do anything to ensure that people with psychological disorders can receive the proper medical treatment?  Are we doing anything in our schools to cultivate loving kindness instead of allowing playground ostrasization?

Were you ever driving down the highway and accidentally cut someone off, then they get mad, flip you the bird, pass you, then slam on their brakes?  This action only gets you mad, then you speed up, flash your lights, lay on the horn or flip them the bird and the cycle of road rage continues.   Have you ever stopped to take notice of what anger felt like?  It is awful.  You can’t think straight, you are consumed, it burns you up, your palms sweat and clench, your heart races and there is nothing productive that comes out of it.  Why would someone allow themselves to feel that way?

When you forgive, you set someone free: Yourself.  As the great Buddha said, “Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; but you are the one who gets burned.”  Jesus, a convicted felon himself,  hung out with criminals and prostitutes.  While on the cross, it wasn’t an honest man he took to paradise with him that day.  It was another  criminal.  What can we learn from that?  What are we doing to ourselves, society and our children’s future when we allow hate and punishment rather than forgiveness and restorative justice?

I was watching a movie about Merlin where King Arthur sentenced an enemy of Camelot to death.  It was the lover of one of his round table knights who in turn pleaded with the king to spare his lover’s life.  Arthur refused because it was the law.  This powerful and angry knight then left Camelot and joined forces against King Arthur.  Arthur’s actions had reactions; hate begets hate, what is done to us creates us.  It all could have been prevented with mercy and compassion and now Arthur’s greatest ally has become his enemy.

In Sandy Hook there are no winners but the ratings hungry media who descend on any person and any angle to get any story and any photo op; the social media websites win as they encourage people to like and tag and share and spew; the politicians who will use this tragedy to look good, compassionate and caring will win as they let you know they are forging new legislation so that this never happens again—and BTW, vote for them next November.  This is also the opportunity for people with ulterior motives to hijack the event for their personal and lucrative cause such as the anti-gun or pro-gun movements, background check companies, security companies, registries and law enforcement grants.

Astrologically, as the age of Pieces draws to an end, we are entering the new age of Aquarius.  Aquarius is the age of enlightenment, the age of the “water bearer.”  Water is life.  I can think of a better way to enter the age of enlightenment than from the wellspring of forgiveness, love, compassion, patience and wisdom.   Those qualities are what many people in our society thirst for.  Why can’t we give it to them before they snap?

 In “The Art of Forgiveness, Loving Kindness, and Peace,” Jack Kornfield describes an African forgiveness ritual: "In the Babemba tribe of South Africa, when a person acts irresponsibly or unjustly, he is placed in the center of the village, alone and unfettered. All work ceases, and every man, woman, and child in the village gathers in a large circle around the accused individual. Then each person in the tribe speaks to the accused, one at a time, each recalling the good things the person in the center of the circle has done in his lifetime. Every incident, every experience that can be recalled with any detail and accuracy, is recounted. All his positive attributes, good deeds, strengths, and kindnesses are recited carefully and at length. This tribal ceremony often lasts for several days. At the end, the tribal circle is broken, a joyous celebration takes place, and the person is symbolically and literally welcomed back into the tribe."

Maybe if the positive attributes, good deeds, strengths, and kindnesses are also recited carefully and at length to the lonely, lost, forsaken, abandoned and confused, tragedies such as Sandy Hook will never happen again, in the age of enlightenment.