It is a myth that they do not experience pleasure —
The only difference is the purity of the pleasure.
Ascetics give up, in essence, fleeting pleasure, for eternal pleasure. Pleasure born of matter, which in itself is temporary, bound by death, for pleasure born of light, bound by nothing and eternal. Life itself —
God is Joy — God is Eternal Bliss — God is eternal Love and Life —
The only thing that drives the hedonists as we know them to the endless pursuit of carnal pleasure is the lack of this, of God.
We are all born with a cup — the hedonists, who, for our intents and purposes, are all of mankind, fill their cup with an acidic solution that makes the cups porous —
But the healing happens when we allow the cup to empty without seeking to refill it.
Oh, how it aches! It’s nearly unbearable! Am I dying? It feels like it!
But if we hold — if I hold — on, if I can wait for my cup to regenerate and become a suiting container, if I can make it a worthy vessel for His living water,
I may never thirst again — I may free myself from this cycle that is life and death, of filling and emptying… if I may resist this compulsion, if I may allow the compulsion to be, if I may be the Self that is beyond the dualistic experience of cycles, and instead become One, become Whole, I will be free.
If I may die to this self , then I may live as the Self.
Nobody can know the One without some degree of asceticism, or at least true mastery and full, actual conscious control of the sensory self, as he who is a slave of the world of opposites is bound by the world of opposites, and thus does not know the Oneness, that consecration of the polarities of dualistic experience (specifically in this case pain and pleasure), which is synonymous with God.
How can anyone know the One if they have not transcended the world of Twos?
To become so whitely pure that we may perfectly reflect, embody, and hold God’s light.
In doing this, we become a source of light for others in the dark night that is this world. We become living proof of the eternal light, like the Moon who reminds us that the Sun’s light still exists even if we can’t see it with our physical eyes —
In being like the Moon, no matter how dark the night is, we are proof that day will come and that the light does indeed exist no matter how dark things seem.
The Moon also teaches us to continue reflecting and embodying the light of the true King, regardless of the impact of physical incarnation. She dons her craters as a reminder that, no matter what this universe threw at her, she continued faithfully on her path — she continues to embody the light, and her scars are part of the beauty of her sacrifice.
In this way, the mother is the Savior aspect of God who comes into physical incarnation for us. She sacrifices herself and enters a body, enduring the pain of physical incarnation for us, protecting us from the unforgiving stones hurled by the merciless void, faithfully being the perfect, pure bride of the source that we may one day emulate.
Our job on this planet is to become perfect mirrors, to wipe clean our mirrors of impurities and smudges, to increase our ability to reflect and hold light —
When we make our mirror squeaky clean, we become more perfect receptacles for the light of God’s life-giving understanding —
Then we enter cycles where we reflect and embody that light for others like the full moon — we are not the source, we merely perfectly embody it that we may remind others of its existence and lead others to it despite the darkness —
Then we withdraw and enter periods of emptiness and conference with the divine, like the yogic breathless state, withdrawing our light from this world, appearing dead or gone, or in introspection, our focus being hidden,
Then we come back once again to share with the world our merely reflected light in what appears as a never-ending cycle.
This all is why purity is of utmost importance on the spiritual path. An impure mirror blurs, distorts, obscures, and/or entirely swallows light. But in becoming perfect mirrors of the light, we are enlightened.
We are not the source; we embody the source. Humility is not merely a pretty virtue; it is truth. The Moon knows the light is not her own; she is only a perfect, holy mirror of that light, shining it for us in the dark.
Our gurus, saviors, and prophets are the Full Moons that come during our dark nights as pure reflections of the Father, their shine determined by the purity of their mirror.
The magician is he who defies what is thought to be impossible in his inner dream; thus, his outer world reflects that.
To master the inner world is to master the outer world.
The unawakened identify with the dreamed form; the awakened identify with the mutable substance that condenses into dreamed forms. The alchemists and magicians can transmute that substance at will — and thus, transmute the dreamed forms at will.
The clouds are that mutable substance — the rain is it manifesting — the fire purifies that substance back to its original form, heating, refining, and transpiring it back into the clouds.
I am of the belief that stories and myths are the keys to understanding the journeys of the soul. Authors, writers, storytellers, and artists of all kinds channel the Gods (a fancy name for the universe’s Primordial Archetypal Signatures, which is pretty fancy in and of itself) in their work. There are few more sacred professions than that of the artist and storyteller.
Whether or not they want to, story-and-myth-tellers of all kinds unknowingly channel Spirit in their work. Whether or not they are consciously spiritual, our storytellers tell stories of the soul’s journey and evolution. And every now and then, a story gets told that holds more of the shimmer of Spirit therein.
I believe the Hunger Games is one of those tales.
For the past couple of years, in many of my meditations, one of the many symbols my mind presented me was of Katniss and Peeta uniting at the end of the Hunger Games, refusing to kill each other, forcing the Game Masters to let them both live. At the beginning, in the infancy of my spiritual awakening, I naturally had no conscious awareness of what exactly the story was that my unconscious mind was trying to tell. However, as I have progressed on making conscious the unconscious, mainly through learning about the key allegories and mythological systems for understanding inner spiritual initiation, I have come to realize several things:
First of all, in my understanding of the alchemical hermaphrodite — a basic symbol of the inner consecration of eternal Love through the making One of the polarities — the symbolism there was clear. It was a symbol of internal conjunction. Of Love overcoming Death, as Peeta and Katniss did by uniting.
But then, I decided to have a watch again tonight, as the movie and its many symbols were making rounds through my conscious awareness. I had to see if I was missing anything. And boy, the symbolism is richer than I thought, especially in consideration of the Zodiac.
In evolutionary/esoteric astrology, the soul is said to make its progression from Aries to Pisces throughout many lives. A basic theme is that the lower the number Zodiac sign, the more self-concerned, whereas the higher the number, the more selfless. This is why Aries can be considered brash and inconsiderate; this is why Pisces lets itself get steam-rolled over, is self-sacrificing, is allegorically associated with Jesus, etc. The soul learns the true meaning of Love in its journey through the Zodiac.
Watching the movie, I was reminded of the 1-12 District system, obviously reflecting the twelve signs. (I even remembered that, in the later books, there was a mysterious District 13 whose existence was uncertain. This made me chuckle remembering the controversy over Opiuchus.)
With the idea of the movie’s symbolic spiritual expression already cooking in my mind, the rest fit so easily, like puzzle pieces:
– District 1 (Aries) was home to the Careers. These were those who were raised to fight and succeed in the Hunger Games. Theirs were among the most selfish, and with the least heart, of all of the tributes.
– District 12 (Pisces) was home to our primary and secondary protagonists, Katniss and Peeta. Katniss first of all entersthe games by sacrificing herself in lieu of her sister — a Piscean theme — volunteering as tribute. Katniss and Peeta exhibit the most heart throughout the games, with Katniss budding a relationship with District 11’s tribute — a clever girl named Rue. The symbolism is just too good here:
– After Rue from District 11 (Aquarius) tragically dies, we see all of the people of 11 violently rebel and overthrow their Watchers. In District 11, the beginnings of revolution are seen. With Aquarius, zodiac sign number 11, being associated with revolution and freedom, the match is just too perfect.
– Finally, at the end, as covered in the beginning of this post, Katniss and Peeta refuse to kill each other. Despite being told to kill each other, they join hands when they were the last two left and put their lives on the line for love of one another. This is the Victory of the Soul in Pisces, and the forging of the Eternal Alchemical Stone (or Rebis/Hermaphrodite). Oneness of opposites is a theme of Pisces with the cord connecting the two opposing fish, symbolic of the Pisces’ basic internal oneness and love/compassion. This is also seen alchemically with the Rebis/Hermaphrodite.
This is all symbolized by Peeta and Katniss becoming one at the end, thus transcending/conquering their deaths. Love won over Fear/Hatred, as it does within in our own inner journey.
The Hunger Games is a wonderful allegory for the victory of the soul, not only eerily matching the archetypal zodiac, but also containing alchemical (and even Gnostic) themes therein.
The pandemic was a global catastrophe that did not even start in the USA. It affected all nations. All nations were dealt the same cards, albeit with great variation in ability and willingness to properly handle and play those cards.
At least in the case of U.S. astrologers, people saying that the pandemic is part of the USA’s Pluto return seems like just another symptom of how USA citizens view themselves as the center of the world. I would be interested to see if any astrologers outside of the (*insert finger quotes and extreme sarcasm*) UnItEd (what a fucking joke) States have ascribed the pandemic as being an aspect of the USA’s Pluto return — and I doubt that has happened, unless I am overlooking something.
(Edit: Now, I am not saying there is no way they are not connected — I just feel like that point had to be raised, and I invite the pertinent discussion.)
That being said, I am not exactly sure what phenomena I would assign as part of the USA’s Pluto return other than what I’ve been fed and have read, e.g. corruption (such as, and absolutely not limited to, sex trafficking among the elites) coming to light and political instability/extreme division. Part of me feels like it is beyond comprehension, meaning anyone who can confidently say the Pluto return means “this, this, and this” is probably always going to be overlooking something and not seeing the full picture due to Pluto’s nature. It’s so subtle, in the dark, and behind the scenes, hidden from our conscious awareness.
My intuition, however, tells me that the cultural genocide and enslavement of entire groups of peoples is a dominant theme that is being/that has been addressed by the Pluto return. George Floyd’s death, for example, is for sure at least one major representation of the Pluto return. I think the single largest thing addressed by the Pluto return is the country’s foundation on racism and exploitation, including but not limited to the sacred Natives and Blacks. The symbols my intuitive mind presents me are A) the KKK, B) the 3/5 Compromise (such a relatively small part of the atrocities committed against Blacks, I know, but it’s what my mind is showing me. Perhaps an ideal symbol for how the Blacks were considered less-than-human), and C) the Trail of Tears.
Coming up next would be governmental/corporate power abuse/puppeteering and sex trafficking. A relevant word here would be “plutocracy.” And again, my intuitive mind presents a symbol: dog-fighting. I interpret this to be the rich pitting the poor against each other, perhaps artificially constructing the left-right, Republican-Democrat divide, stealing power from the mass populace to keep them disempowered. I do feel that 9/11 is relevant to the Pluto return as well, but I am not sure how.
I still yet feel like I am missing something. What do you think?
In addition, I feel like the Pluto return ‘pre-exact’ is a different beast altogether than ‘post-exact.’ What changes do you expect in the time period after the exaction? Consolidation of change, perhaps? I honestly feel like we have hardly even seen anything yet… I just feel like there is much,much more to be answered for. I mean an enormous amount. Huge. I still yet feel like there is more to come. More events that change the world in such a way that things will never be the same. Yes, that’s already happened, but again, I just feel like it’s… not enough. Pluto has yet to really show its power as a nuclear weapon, in my opinion. A nuclear football, if you will… heh. We’re not done yet.
THE CLOSET MYSTIC 