astrology destiny free will and karma b w

7/29/2019 Astrology Destiny Free Will and Karma b w

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Robert Gover (born November 2,1929) grew up in an endowed orphanage

(Girard College in Philadelphia), attended theUniversity of Pittsburgh on athletic scholarship

(swimming the butterfly), received a degree in

economics, worked as a journalist, became a

bestselling novelist by age 30, lived most of his

life in California where he began his study of

astrology, and now resides in Rehoboth Beach,

Delaware. His latest novel is Two Brothers.

He describes it as an economic novel. One

brother becomes a millionaire, the other a skidrow bum. A third character was an economics

professor till he studied astrologyhe was

subsequently confined in an insane asylum.

Roberts first novel, One Hundred Dollar

Misunderstanding, is a satire on racism and

remains a cult classic. He has published 10

novels and 2 works of nonfiction, including

Time and Money: the Economy and the

Planets. He can be reached at

[email protected]. http://robert-

gover.blogspot.com/

ByRobert Gover, USA

he study of astrology naturallyleads to an ancient and enduring

question about destiny and free

will. Is ones destiny foretold by ones

horoscope? Or do we willfully shape our

personal destinies?

It seems to me the answer overlaps these

absolutes: we are at once powerfullyinfluenced by forces mapped by the

astrology involved, yet at the same time we

have the ability to apply free will and

wisdom to respond to those circumstances.

Our lives seem like a series of free-will

choicesalthough some would say that our

presumed free will is pre-programmed.

There is one widely held belief that fate is

the reaction to our previous exercise of free

will: karma. And that karmic reactions,

which may unfold over many lifetimes,

shape our immediate circumstances.

Is there a matrix of predestination within

which we exercise free will? The onenessor yogic enlightenment achieved by rare

individuals argues that free will

T
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://robert-gover.blogspot.com/http://robert-gover.blogspot.com/http://robert-gover.blogspot.com/http://robert-gover.blogspot.com/http://robert-gover.blogspot.com/mailto:[email protected]


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overpowers the predestined. There seems to be an ongoing dialogue between free will and

predetermined fate, yet it sometimes seems difficult to find a distinction between the two.

We are each constantly coping with seemingly free-will choices to be made, but within

whatever circumstances we find ourselves. And how much do those circumstances define

karma?

There is the zeitgeist created by the outermost planets, and within that context is the

zeitgeist created by the worlds ruling elite. An example of this elite-created context is what

happened when Saturn, Uranus and Neptune traveled in close proximity through late

Sagittarius and early Capricorn in the late 1980s. The old Soviet Union disintegrated and the

Russian Federation was born, while in the West the free market economic theories of

Milton Friedman gained ascendancy over Keynesian theory. Meanwhile, China, which

considers itself a communist society, became the most successful capitalist economy in theworldwith all the wondrous wealth and social problems capitalism creates in its early

stages.

If nations have karma the way individuals do, we might view the economic changes the

West, Russia and China went through as karmic. Or, if you prefer, we might lay these

economic structural changes at the feet of each nations ruling elite. Or describe them as

reflecting each nations unique character. Even as both Russia and China declared

themselves communist, they adhered to their different basic characters, so that each onesversion of communism reflected that basic character. Likewise, Scandinavian socialism

today reflects their character, and American social services reflects the USAs basic

characternovelist Gore Vidal described it as socialism for the rich, free enterprise for

everyone else, rooted in slave-owning Founders declaring themselves free.

Personally, I rely on the phrase Belief Trumps Evidence to explain much of this overlap

between astrologically created mundane conditions and our individual and/or collective

character and karmic responses to conditions. We are usually unaware of our most cherishedassumptions, however, and how our beliefs influence our reaction to conditions.

I became more keenly aware of this in my own personal responses to the Uranus-Pluto cycle.

During the early 1960s when Uranus and Pluto came conjunct in early Virgo, my first novel

became a surprising worldwide bestseller. By 1965 Id become a millionaire bestselling

novelist with a promising career ahead. By the late 1960s both Uranus and Pluto came

conjunct my MC square natal Saturn in Sagittarius and my career was secretly sabotaged by

powerful people behind the scenes for ideological reasonsa textbook reading of Plutosinvolvement. But I would not learn about this till decades later.


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As Uranus followed by Pluto moved through tenth house Libra, where I have Venus and

Mercury both trine Jupiter in Gemini seventh house, I was busy with a variety of partners

both personally and in connection with business. Pluto in Libra squared my natal Pluto in

Cancer, although natal Pluto also trined my Sun, Mars and Moon in eleventh house Scorpio,

and that combination brought some amazing ups and downs.

By 2000 both Uranus and Pluto had moved over my Ascendant at 10 Sagittarius, trine my

fourth house Uranus in Aries, and I had been through the worst. What had begun so

dramatically as a promising career had crashed and burned. Then I had turned a corner and

was headed into calmer conditions. One knowledgeable gentleman quipped, Its a wonder

you havent committed suicide. I explained that it was my study of astrology that saved

me.

I had begun a study of astrology in 1965 and had realized one of the basic truths astrology

teaches: The only constant is change. Todays conditions are as changeable as the weather,

although on a different time rhythm. So I was aware that the depths of despair I was in

during the 1980s was not permanent, although it seemed hopeless and helpless at that time.

My personal fate, like everyone elses, was constantly evolving in sync with the ever-

orbiting planets. Having Sun, Mars and Moon conjunct in Scorpio trine Pluto in Cancer, I

knew that the transits of Mars and Pluto were potent factors in my life. And having Uranusin fourth house Aries trine my Sagittarius Ascendant, I knew that Uranus, too, played a

major role in my personal destiny. I knew these things from personal experience.

Knowing this did not mitigate the circumstances I seemed destined to endure. I say

seemed because of what I call the overlap between personal destiny as mapped by the

astrology and those other factors which might be summed up in the word character that

shape ones ability to cope with adversity. I had also become more keenly aware of karma,

and had undergone hypnotic regression into past lives, which had opened new windows ofcomprehension. In other words, transformations happening in my individual consciousness

reflected transformations happening in my external circumstances.

Yet there is the belief that those other factorsearly training and karmaare foretold in

ones birth pattern, if one has the ability to read it. Can you really separate personal free will

from predetermined destiny as indicated by your horoscope?

What about two individuals born at the same time and place, one an heiress, the other anorphan? How do you read those contrasting economic conditions in a birth chart? Or twins

separated at birth and nurtured in different economic circumstances?


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As I came to specialize in mundane astrology, and the birth chart of the United States

became my primary focus, the seeming overlap between what is destined or written in the

stars versus those other factors--the forces of early training, education, character building,

intelligence, historical knowledge, and karmabecame even more mysterious. A birth chart

for July 4, 1776, no matter what time of that day one chooses, foretells in an uncanny way the

ups and downs of the American nation, yet it does not explain some of the stupid blunders

and brilliant moves the nation has undergone.

I was reminded of this overlap recently when I read John Perkins book Hoodwinked: An

Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the Global Economy Implodedand How to Fix it. John Perkins

comes from the world of high finance that built the American Empire, and his book

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man described how this empire was created by using bankloans, called foreign aid to developing countries, to enslave nations by sinking them deep

into debts so huge they are impossible to repay: Gotcha capitalism. And this included the

American nation. For the first time in human history, an empire was built not by invading

armies, but by nattily dressed, glad-handing bankers from the financial realm defined

nowadays by the words Wall Street. What protects them from the rest of us is our ignorance

and the fact that their minions now control the mass media, the source of information for

most of us.

As I was reading Hoodwinked, I was stopped cold by the following paragraph:

The United States experienced four recessions during the past three decades: one that began

in 1980 and lasted nearly two years; one in 1990 that lasted less than a year and was followed

by the longest economic expansion on record; one that began in March 2001 and ended in

November; and the current one that can be traced to events in 2006 and really got underway

in the summer of 2007.

Perkins goes on to say: We bounced back from the first three recessions because we were

protected by many of the regulations that I had learned about as a business student.

Unfortunately, over the past two decades, those laws had been constantly eroded, dropped,

or negated. Then, as a nation, we reached a stage where our corporations behaved like spoiled

and rebellious adolescents.

But astrologically, the second half of the 20th Century showed no time that would be

anywhere near as difficult as the great depression of the 1930s. The USA from 2006 wasunder a Saturn-Neptune opposition that signaled the building of the bubble, then through


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2008 under a Saturn-Uranus opposition that signaled the crash. The astrology explained this

better than any rational argument. The astrology even explained the rational arguments.

The worst depressions in the USAs brief history all happened under a grand cross formed

by Saturn in Capricorn, opposite the US Sun in Cancer, and another of the outermost

planets in Aries, opposite the US Saturn in Libra. Using economic metrics to distinguish

great depressions from lesser depressions or recessions, this recurring pattern has repeated

three times. The fourth great depression happened in the 1780s with Saturn opposite the US

Sun square Neptune conjunct the US Saturn in Libra, creating a T-square pattern.

From an astrological perspective, although we were not in danger of another great depression

during the last half of the 20th Century, what loomed in the first years of the 21st Century was

indeed another time that could become a lot worse than the great depression of the 1930s. We

are now into that period, and heading into the worst years of it2012 through 2015 and, if the

right remedies arent applied by our elites, perhaps well into the 2020s.

Saturn arrives in Capricorn every 28 to 30 years on average. When there, the economy goes

through changes or restructurings, but without another of the outermost planets involved in


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a grand cross, no great depressions occur. Saturn returned to 12 Capricorn without

coinciding with great depressions in 1813, 1901, 1960 and 1989. (See 2 triwheel charts)


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And that brings us back to that chicken-and-egg question about free will and predetermined

destiny. To what degree were we as a nation overcome by the destiny described in our

nations birth chart? To what degree is our present plight the outcome of those old enemies

of wisdom: hubris and ignorance?

Perkins lays the blame at the foot of economist Milton Friedmans theory, and rightly so, I

believe. Friedmans theory is called monetarism, the trickle down idea that by shifting

money to the job creatorsglobal corporate CEOs and big bankerswe could bring

universal affluence to the whole world. Friedmans beliefs arose in reaction to the theories of

John Maynard Keynes, whose book The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money was

so influential in the 1930s and into the 1970s. Keynes overthrew the notion that free

markets can create prosperity and said, in effect, that large-scale government spending was

the remedy for unemployment, the key factor of depressions.

Keynesian government spending was applied during what most view as the worst great

depression in US history, the 1930s. But in the USA it was applied too sparingly to pull us

out of the great depressionuntil the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which thrust the

nation fully into World War Two. Government investment in production of war materials


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was then cranked up to full tilt and very quickly unemployment became a problem of the

past.

Yet if we inspect the astrology involved, we can see that the pattern which coincided with

the onset and depth of what is now called The Great Depression had changed by 1942 when

the nations full production capacity was put into the war effort. Many argue that the US

could have pulled itself out of the Great Depression much sooner. Ironically, it was Nazi

Germany that forthrightly applied Keynesian theory, although they called it by another

name. Germanys economy recovered so robustly during the 1930s that it went on to create

the greatest military-industrial complex to that point in history. Once the USA got fully

into war production, it created a military-industrial complex that eclipsed Germanys.

Can we explain this difference by karma? Was it Germanys karma to rally round AdolphHitler and the Nazi Party and bring the worst war in history to the rest of humanity? What

role did free will play in this series of events that characterized the 1930s and 1940s?

Asians usually put more emphasis on destiny while Europeans and Americans emphasize

free will. Hindu guru Ramana Maharshi said, Whatever is destined not to happen will not

happen, try as you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it.

This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain silent."

Yet even in India there is a keen awareness of free will. The Indian Seer Yogananda

Paramahansa is quoted as saying: Occasionally I told astrologers to select my worst periods,

according to planetary indications, and I would still accomplish whatever task I would set for myself.

It is true that my success at such times has been preceded by extraordinary difficulties. But my

conviction has always been justified: faith in divine protection, and right use of mans God-given will,

are forces more formidable than are influencesflowing from the heavens.

Among mundane astrologers there is no doubt that planetary cycles and patterns createearthly conditions or prevailing moods, sometimes called the spirit of the time, or

zeitgeist. But within any given zeitgeist, a few thrive economically while others struggle or

fail. Even during the depths of great depressions, certain individuals prospered. Can transit-

to-natal charts show us why? Lets look at one famous example.


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Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., father of President John F. Kennedy, is reputed to have made most

of his fortune as the great depression of the 1930s was tightening its grip. Does his birth

chart indicate he had opportunities during the worst of those times? Did he do so by an

application of free will? Or was it his karma?

Numerous transit-to-natal aspects indicate Joe Kennedy did not have any pure opportunity

at this time. But his chart has most of the planets in the Eastern sector, indicating he was a

willful shaper of his own destiny. With Sun, Moon, Mercury and Venus conjunct in his 12 th

house Virgo, was it his analytical skills coupled with past experience that enabled him to

make the right moves and prosper when those around him were failing miserably? Given

how the T-square formed by Saturn, Uranus and Pluto hit his other natal planetary

positions; it might be assumed that he was in for more than his share of difficulties. Was he

saved by the grand trine from transiting Saturn in Capricorn and Chiron in Taurus to his

Sun and Moon in Virgo? His Mars conjunct Jupiter in Scorpio was blessed by a trine from

transiting Jupiter and Pluto in Cancer. Did that tip the balance in his favor?

Given the whole symphony of transits to his natal chart at this time, and without going into

progressions or solar arcs and a myriad of other astrological possibilities, I think the strong


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indication is that it was primarily a combination of his willfulness, intelligence and cunning

that enabled him to buck the tide of those dire times and create his own opportunities. It

appears that Joe Kennedys chart indicates that free will intelligently applied can overcome

mundane circumstances. Or was it his karma to apply such intelligence? He was, after all, a

rum runner during Prohibition, before he joined the ruling elite.

What does Joe Kennedys amazing success during the 1930s tell us about the effectiveness of

this or that economic theory? Apparently, some economic modalities work a lot better than

others, and its a matter of applying the best one for the conditions of a given time. If

patterns in the heavens above us create the conditions of a given time, then it is up to each of

us to deal with those conditions as wisely as we can, attuned to the Great Creators will as

we interpret it.

One cunning move that Joe Kennedy made was to anticipate the thirst for alcoholic drinks

when Prohibition was repealed in 1933. He and Franklin D. Roosevelts son James went to

Scotland and bought distribution rights for Scotch whiskey. He also bought importation

rights from Schenley Industries of Canada. Today, this would be comparable to an

American securing the rights to import cocaine from Latin American cartels if or when the

ban on that drug was lifted. Well, not quite comparable, since alcoholic drinks were legal

elsewhere in the world during Prohibition in the US, but cocaine today is illegal in just about

every countrydespite the fact that the innocent coca leaf contains an amazing abundance ofnutrients as well as cocaine.

The best I could manage during my personal depressionas Pluto transited through Scorpio

and conjunct my Saturn in Sagittarius and my world was falling apartwas to know, from

my study of astrology, that this too would pass. If I was patient and persistent, I could find a

brighter future. I knew, too, that good luck is found at the crossroads of preparation and

opportunity, so I did what I could to prepare myself for whatever opportunities might

eventually manifest.

My main preparation back in the eighties, although I did not know it then, was to delve

more deeply into the astrology of the USA. I knew that certain patterns of the outermost

planets were due to repeat as we entered the 21st Century, similar to the series of aspects that

had unfolded for the great depression of the 1930s. It logically followed that, if there is

indeed validity to astrology, my nation was in for another challenging time. And given that

Pluto would be in Capricorn from 2008 through 2024, where it had not been since the years

leading up to and through the American Revolution, it logically followed that the 2000-teenswere gong to be as transformative, if not more so, than any previous period in US history.


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I also knew from my study of astrology that hard angles from Pluto would radically change

whatever was ripe for change. What had become the most out of balance was the economy.

As the trickle-down theory of Milton Friedman became the worldwide fad during the 1980s,

redistributing wealth from the 99% to the 1%, it logically followed that the whole world was

in for a revolt against an entrenched oligarchy. I felt Freidmans monetarism was itself a

holdover from the economic assumptions of medieval times. Whereas divine kings and

aristocracies had been toppled during the late 1700s, the next toppling would be the oligarchs

and plutocrats who had arisen in our time.

Yet I had also learned from astrology that the stars alone do not determine our destiny, and

that karma and/or free will intelligently applied can make a huge difference. The oligarchs

that make up the 1% are united and cunning in their quest for more and more personalwealth. Could the 99% overcome their seemingly superior power? Might Uranus bring

unpredictable surprises that would topple those oligarchs? Or was it humanitys karma to

endure another dark age?

What is now called the Arab Spring soon manifested to give us hints. Almost

simultaneously, working class people in Wisconsin rebelled against their governors move to

cripple unions representing government employees. The financial crash of 2008 had also

stimulated interest in state-owned banks across the country, based on North Dakotas state-owned bank. There was a movement afoot in the nations capitol to audit the Federal

Reserve, the nations privately-owned central bank, creator of our money, which had never

before been subjected to an outside audit. When that audit showed the Fed had used trillions

of the nations dollars to save the bankers who had caused the crashbut withheld any help

for the millions who had been victimized by the crashit started a quiet movement in

Congress to nationalize the Fed. And then came the Occupy Wall Street Movement in New

York City which quickly spread to other cities, simultaneous with rebellious outbreaks in

Russia and China and other countries.

By the end of 2011, as the Uranus-Pluto square was poised to tighten to within a 7-degree orb

and be almost exact by 2015, it was clear that humanity had split into two warring factions:

The 1% who benefit from the existing financial system and the 99% who are victimized by it.

What can this tell us about karma or free will?

This worldwide conflict between the traditional haves and have-nots had been exacerbatedby the monetarism of Milton Friedman. Then, when Uranus moved into Aries, the have-

nots were suddenly demanding such profound changes that no one could be sure how the


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conflict would be resolved. A similar class conflict had characterized the 1930s under the

previous Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Cancer, but not to the degree that was demanded

with Pluto in Capricorn.

Coming out of the great depression of the 1930s, some nations were better off than before and

others struggled to gain a toe-hold on prosperity. Germany showed the most intelligent

willfulness, but it then went on to instigate horrendous destruction. The US did not apply

the amount of Keynesian investment needed until it was swept into World War Two, and

then went on to a mixed blessingunprecedented prosperity coupled with a military-

industrial (M-I) complex that now sabotages our economy.

Ironically, the M-I complex is a perversion of Keynesian theory. What it produces at

taxpayer expense is destroyed in wars or becomes obsolete. Although it does not createlasting wealth or benefits, it enjoyed popularity because it made the rich richer and it

employed a lot of workers. I use the past tense here because the M-I complex is doomed, for

sooner or later the world will rebel against any nations military dominance. Even if the M-I

complex isnt overthrown by revolt, it will disintegrate from lack of money as the US

economy can no longer sustain it. Its only a question of how much death and destruction it

will take with it as it crumbles into the dustbin of history. Wars of the future are more likely

to be waged with disinformation than bombers and tanks and ground troops.

When bankers in suits and ties can conquer more effectively than armies, and when the

most effective military operations are by remotely operated computerized drones and control

of information, we have definitely entered a new phase of human existence.

So what does this present period of transition we are living through tell about free will and

predetermined destiny?

We humans sometimes describe ourselves as the most successful life form on this planet, forwe have gained dominance over all other life forms in our earthly environment. Yet at the

same time, we have blundered our way into destroying the source of our sustenance. We

hear it said that we are destroying the earth. No, were not. The earth will endure. What

we are destroying is our ability to live on the earth. We assume we are the most intelligent

creature in our known reality, but arent we really the most narrow-minded enemy we have

ever encountered? Could intelligent beings from outer space be as stupidly destructive as we

humans? Hasnt science verified that the earth has been through more drastic changes than

we humans could possibly put it through? Is this sorry situation the karma of the humanrace?


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I pose such questions for others to ponder. But it seems to me that our free willor our

karmais in an ever-evolving dialogue with the conditions described by the mundane

astrology of any given time. Its good to remember that the term mundane applied to

astrology is derived from the Latin, Mundus, meaning the whole world. It is the most

ancient branch of astrology, and the most enduring. Still, the messages of the ever-changing

planetary patterns are as difficult to read today as they were two thousand years ago. But

with the help of powerful telescopes, computers and astrological history, we may be getting

better at it.

To delve more deeply into what we are living through now and destined to cope with in the

near future, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Uy-tEwSzk&feature=related. It

seems that we contemporaries are destined to re-learn the abiding truth that we are not in

charge of planet earth, that there are invisible forces which shape our circumstances. Thebest we can do, then, is apply will powerbut aligned with these unseen forces as best we

can decipher their intent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Uy-tEwSzk&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Uy-tEwSzk&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Uy-tEwSzk&feature=related

astrology destiny free will and karma b w

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