Another quick entry today. A simple image: A Vast Public Park is the Sabian Symbol at Taurus 25° which, following my divined twelve-fold sequence, is under the rule of Libra. Makes sense. Libra is the sign of democracy and other harmonious social and ideological principles of living in order with others. John Lennon said power to the people; along with Gandi, Lech Welesa, Jimmy Carter, he embodied Libran ideals. We have held up natural excellence, and we’ve defended it against foes these last two days; now we share and enjoy it with others. On of Libra’s mottos is We Are. We, the people. We are the world. We have worked in harmony to create a social order and the park represents the peace of that experience and the joy that can stem from a well balanced collective wherein we all share power equally. Civilization affords us use and recreation along with a sense of belonging to a well-organized and peaceful whole.

The Boston Public Library

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It has always struck me that the armed forces were ruled by the sign of Virgo. One associates this mutable-earth sign with the molding of clay and thus the potter god Hephaestus (Roman: Vulcan) and indeed the sign begins on August 23 which is the Festival of Vulcanalia, sacred to that diabled tinker god. In mythology, Hephaestus did indeed create all the god’s special tools and magical weaponry. And so we see the sign of Virgo’s motto’s I work and I serve as relating to putting ones skills and talents to work in service of a greater cause or devotion, despite any disability we might have suffered—Hephaestus was lame—or indeed fueled by it. Well we do refer to being in the armed forces as being in the service, do we not? And so we can see the connection, in a twelve-fold sequence of the sign of Virgo to today’s fairly gruesome image at Taurus 24°: An Indian Warrior Riding Fiercely, Human Scalps Hanging From His Belt.

Now, if yesterday was ruled by Leo, the natural monarch of the zodiac which sets up its station and declares their divine right and rulership, adorning their crowns with natural gems to symoblize their superiority, then today is about defending that natural estate. The so-called Indian is a so-called savage, that is to say man in a more natural state, no match for the tide of so-called civilized men from whom the warrior has managed to swipe of few scalps. We know how this story ends. And yet the warrior rides forth. He is a brave.

I know I’m a narcissist, but I hope I’m a benign one. Still I must bring this back to me (and you should do the same) in thinking where am I the warrior bent on protecting the natural state of things from the destructive tide of civilization. Maybe you’re an environmentalist. Perhaps you are seeking to preserve native cultures.We do not have to reach back to find examples of actual genocide happening in the world. And metaphorically, there are those of us who fight to save forgotten, institutionalized children, or fight for civil rights, or senior citizens or for the disabled or for LGBTQ causes or for women’s rights or maybe for education or against disease or any form of discrimination. I am humbled by those who do. Yet my cause is native in effect. As a warrior brave from the Provincetown tribe of thespians I’m trying to save my village from pillage of a different sort: the destruction of its historical theatrical heritage. And so the concept of what is native is that which is germane to my own being, culture and history.

Dane Rudhyar takes this symbol too litereally I feel. He would benefit from my notion of a twelve-fold sequence and the gentle-giant energy that the sign of Virgo might convey. In the Hindu pantheon, Hephaestus’ equivalent would be Ganesh whose own festival is celebrated at the start of Virgo. Ganesh is the remover of obstacles. And that is exactly what the Indian brave is doing. He didn’t start this fight. He is trying to remove the obstacles, the human ones, to his own divine right to freedom, happiness and way of life. We know he is fighting a losing battle but that is neither here nor there. He must fight. This is a spiritual war, a holy war. This day reminds us that we are always engaged in spiritual warfare, seeking to remove the obstacles, those people and situations, that seem so bent on our spiritual death. If Provincetown loses its theatrical heritage to greed and gentrification, that is a spiritual death. It might not be one you will mourn, but I would. Modern American theater was born in Provincetown, just as America was (those crazy pilgrims landed their first not at Plymouth). Weird that the seeds of the Indian’s destruction can be linked so readily to my own cause of Provincetown’s theatrical birthright and legacy but there you have it. Oh right, I was talking about Dane Rudhyar, who labels the theme of today as Violence for Survival. I don’t quite subscribe to that. I don’t think our defenses need be violent, just as our attitude needn’t be victimization.

I think the scalping is metaphoric. That we are trying to remove the mindset of people who oppose us. This is the true obstacle: Ideology. Of course I know scalping was real, but did you know the European cultures did it too? As late as the 17th century the British would scalp the Irish in their violent land grab as trophies to their subjugation of those, my people. Anyway, back to fundraising for the Afterglow Festival in Provincetown.

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The theme of today’s Sabian symbol A Jewelry Shop Filled With Valuable Gems is the social confirmation of natural excellence, which befits the sign of Leo’s rule of this oracle at Taurus 23° in a twelve-fold sequence. Leo is all about being the best, the king, but a natural born ruler, by divine right. In Sextrology, the Leo Man chapter is actually titled The Natural. And how do we adorn a monarch but for placing jewels in his or her crown. Leo rules the fifth astrological house, that of “co-creation with god”. God or Nature produces the gems, a symbol of natural excellence, but then the Artist refines them into finished product in a clear example of co-creation. Arthur is a Leo archetype as is Artemis, “a lion among women” (Homer). I’ve always thought it interesting that their names begin with Art, which I think is also the name of a god, though it’s impossible to confirm that fact via a Google search. Artistry and Authorship, along with Authority, are both hallmarks of the creative fifth house. Gems of course are certification of personal value and worth. Our creative achievements can also be jewels in our crown.

I think it’s important to remember that all creative acts are co-creation. I try to tell myself that each time I set about writing a show or an article or a some gem of a Blague entry. What provides us more a sense of self-worth than creating something fabulous? Stella often quotes Louise Bourgeois in saying “Art is a guarantee of sanity.” I tend to agree although I don’t know if these words would have helped a Van Gogh any.

I do know that creativity isn’t easy though it should be simple. And I’m going to really focus on letting my acts of creativity be acts of co-creativity and see what gems might emerge naturally, which I can then refine and polish with what skills I’ve acquired.

It reminds me very much of a conversation I had just last night—synchronicity abounds—with Stella and her childhood friend, the talented director Maria Silvaggi.

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I have to remind you that when Elsie Wheeler “divined” these symbols they were written on index cards that were numbered 1-360 and then shuffled out of order. I also remind you that I have assumed a twelve-fold sequence, whereby I am assigning the Zodiac sign’s rulership over these symbols in turn. So when I say that the sign of Cancer, which I’ve mentioned is associated with the Flood myth, rules today’s oracle, a White Dove Flying Over Troubled Water, then we might come to believe there was indeed some providence in Elsie’s divinitaion. To boot, this image is all about providence, “the protective care of god(s) or nature as a spiritual power. The dove is that symbol of deliverance and peace, achieved through (Noah’s) obedience to spiritual promptings.

Yesterday, we talked about stringing so-called signs into a sustainable belief system. Today is about putting our hope into the system we espouse. In Judeo-Christian tradition, the dove represents the holy spirit; in the Greek flood myth it is the symbol of the goddess. Of course in Gnostic Christianity, it remained that goddess!

Troubled waters. That’s all that needs to be said about the Flood myth being an emotional allegory. Or one of recovery from emotional problems or addictions. And of course, yesterday, I went on and on about addiction. I think the notion of addiction being expressed by the sign of Gemini, duality run amok, is right. We are divided when we are in the throws of addiction—there is a split in us. Here see how recovery is possible when we embrace our personal crises in the right spirit. Then we can find peace—that dove can reveal herself. This is another form of receiving a sign, which has been a theme these past few days. Only, here, it is a sign of reward not of guidance. Commitment (promise, ark) to the belief system has paid off with peace of mind, if not body and spirit.

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Happy Monday. Today’s image for Taurus 21° is A Finger Pointing To A Line In An Open Book. It’s about discerning a belief system, what, in the open book of philosophy and/or religion can you point out as being meaningful to you. We are under Gemini rule today in a twelve-fold sequence; the sign is ruled by Mercury, communication, logos, the word; it is mutable-air, information, random ideas. Today’s oracle is a bit of a bible dip, isn’t it? And we are pinpointing ideas, in that great book, to which our own response might be: “Word.”

I also think this oracle is about looking at ourselves, objectively, as an open book. And pinpointing observances on ourselves, even our mistakes or negative behavior, from which we can glean lessons that will serve us moving forward. Let me give you a for instance. I grew up with one sibling, a sister, who was perpetually mean to me. She was a mean girl, plain and simple. And despite the fact she tried to metaphorically kill me at ever turn in life growing up I was predisposed to try and find the love and to forge a relationship with her. It never worked; and to be honest I don’t know if she’s living or dead as we’ve been estranged for a dozen years or more. There came a time when I just stopped beating my head against that door, because I got hurt in the process. Every time. Now you’d think that was that. However, I’ve just recently discovered (“that I like toast”…no that’s not right) that there is a line in the open book that is me that reads: You have been projecting this relationship with your sister onto other people all throughout your life.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. This thought is so simple, and the fact so obvious. And yet I missed this notion all these years. I have had a few so-called “best friends” in my life but they’ve all been some variation on my sister the mean girl and the addict. Now look, I have compassion for addicts. Who among us isn’t an addict in some form or other? But that winning combination of being mean-spirited and an addict always seemed to be the two main ingredients in those I chose as these so-called best buds. It is painful and somewhat embarrassing to admit, but there you have it. The good news is, as one grows older, the notion of having a best friend is fairly anathema to experience; and yet I think—finger pointing to yet another line in open book—I have weirdly tried to find or create best-friendships in some sort of expression of arrested development, attracted to those who put that energy out there, too; when, in fact, if an adult is doing that, they are no doubt suffering from some arrested development all their own. And I have typically attracted those who feel I’m some sort of funny, entertaining uplifting entity, if not a joker or dinner theater, a sort of personification of lexapro, as another hallmark of these would-be best-friend folk I’ve attracted is that they all turn out to be depressives. Which then sheds light on my sister’s situation: She was likely undiagnosed manic-depressive or bipolar. Just as my parents were addicts. Hello ACOA.

Back to the bible dipping and more universal application of this Sabian symbol: We bible dip when we seek guidance. In other words, if yesterday was about cosmic signposts or divine signatures spontaneously appearing to us, then today is about actively participating, indeed trying to ignite, some spontaneous sign from above. A little bit of this sort of thing goes a long way. We may pull a Tarot card each day and connect with it’s relevance to what’s going on inside of us. It’s typically uncanny. Or, as I’m attempting to do here on a shared level, we might look for some form of guidance that can be absorbed as a group—these symbols are meant to speak to all of us; and you will have your own personal takes on them, while we can all seek to connect on their universality. But, as Dane Rudhyar points out, and I quite agree, an overreliance on this sort of thing can be dangerous or damaging and can “lead to a schizoid state of over-subjective dependence on signs or omen”. None of us want to go there. Although, again, I tend to be a magnet for those who do. And I believe that those who over-identify with any kind of scripture or organized religion are likewise off their tree.

We should be pointing a finger, pinpointing, picking and choosing bits of different religious, philsophical or cultural information that resonates with us, and leaving the rest. This is how we build our own belief system, line by line. So here I disagree with Rudhyar who sees this is a symbol of Subservience To Collective Values; I think it is rather about the Observance and Collection of Values. Whether we are pulling out lines from books or the occasional self-help literature (over reliance on this, too, can be an illness) or consulting with Starsky + Cox or any other metaphysical practitioners or from church sermons or guided meditation or from the off message on a passing bus, we are meant to view it as winged Geminian information, bits and pieces of which should be built into something sustaining, as birds, which are ruled by this sign, would form into a secure nest. It is our belief system that will come to inform those with whom we surround ourselves intimately, immediate family and friends being ruled by Gemini just as Mercury rules the quicksilver immediacy of time with which winged information flows.

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Wisps of Wing-Like Clouds Streaming Across The Sky is today’s Sabian symbol for Taurus 20°. It is about cosmic forces revealing themselves to us. You know, when you ask for a sign, I find, you typically get it. If you have been evolving and making positive changes in your life you can expect a signpost from the universe. There’s nothing weird in this. Again I am keep these posts purposefully short. Someone said this is the new discipline regarding the blog: my not writing too much. It’s a busy time.

I really think this twelve-fold sequence is bearing out. If yesterday’s oracle of purification was associated with Pisces then today at 19° Taurus we have A New Continent Rising Out Of The Ocean which comes with yet another time around the wheel starting with Aries today. The sign of Aries, the physical body, does indeed rise from the watery womb of Pisces, the mutable-water sign. So here today we are witnessing new potentiality after, as our ever cheerful Dane Rudhyar puts it, crisis. I guess there was crisis? Yesterday definitely felt a bit weird. A step in the staircase leading to our loft broke under foot as I was climing the stair. That freaked me out. When stuff like that happens, it feels like a rip in the fabric of reality a bit. I think that’s all we need to signal crisis. Something had to give, literally. I think I mentioned I did some emotional house cleaning, ridding myself of relationships with some really awful people who had treated not just me but those I love really unkindly. At first I thought I was fine just never speaking to them again, but I suddenly found myself addressing them and airing my grievances and wow did that ever feel good. I’ve been sleeping like a baby since. It does feel like a new era. I’m going with that.

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I’m purposefully keeping these entries short and sweet as I am currently writing a new show STARRING which we will perform on the Solstice at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater in June. Picking up from yesterday’s inner battle between ego and Self, which saw me address some unresolved issues, today’s oracle at Taurus 18° is A Woman Airing An Old Bag Through The Open Window Of Her Room which is an image of purification. And this seems to follow. Because I for one feel very purged a result of holding forth to some folks I felt had acted unkindly. Spring cleaning of the emotional sort. I recommend it. Cleansing the doors of perception. Setting the record straight. Clearing the way for goodness. Life really is to short to suffer fools and to associate oneself with people, places and things that have low or bad energy. That’s all this old bag has to say today.

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That above paragraph was all I posted for the last nine hours of the day. But without italicizing this postscript one of those synchronic things just happened. It’s just after 4PM and a short time ago Stella texted me a picture (below) with the words “Just now! Xxx” to which I replied “Ooooooooo” because, if you know me, and I may already have written about this here—oh, no, my first Blague senior moment—but who cares, you haven’t read all 48 of my blog Blague entries anyway.

When we were writing Sextrology back in the day I went through a “metaphysical visitation” period whereby I was awakened every morning at 3:33 AM. And before this surfaced as a theme in the Nicholas Cage film vehicle Adaptation, being awoken at this time was an experience I owned. I came to realize that 3+3+3 signaled the nine Muses, the triple goddess in triplicate. I automatically see an upward spiral.

Of course the three is also the trident on it’s side, so little wonder that this Sabian symbol is ruled by the sign of PIsces whose ruler Neptune’s symbol is that trident. 48 reduces to 12 which reduces to 3. So it get’s better

When I started the Afterglow Festival I did so under the name 333; but not automatically. There already was a 333 business on the South Shore of Massachusetts. Some kind of management company. They were not easy to reach—I had to put on my Corleone thinking cap—I have always loved the fact that Lynne’s name is Corbett and mine is Leone so together we are Corleone—lion heart—although the Cor in Corbett is actually Gaelic for raven which is the sigil of their house. Mine of course is Bert Lahr.

So I finally tracked these people down and convinced them, can you imagine, to write me a letter “letting” me also be 333, Inc in Massachusetts. Afterglow is a d/b/a/ off of that. I figured I’d need to court these Muses in the making of the festival and surely I need invoke them moving forward with new artistic goals.

The first year of the festival we put it on at The Provincetown Theater which was lovely in its way. We comped a great many people. But when I tallied the total of actual tickets sold over the four days it came to, yes you guessed it, folks, 333.

You have to believe we are magic. LIfe is all just one big upward stroll through the Guggenheim.

The battle is within. That’s the message of Bhagavad-Gita. And today’s Sabian symbol: A Symbolical Battle Between “Swords” And “Torches” for 17° Taurus. It is the eternal war between the ego-will and the higher Self or Soul. You know what your struggle is. Enough said.

The sign of Capricorn would rule today’s oracle in a twelve-fold sequence. And just the first three words of the symbol for 16° Taurus, fits the bill of that sign: An Old Teacher Fails To Interest His Pupils In Traditional Knowledge. Capricorn is ruled by planet Saturn, named for the old, deposed god of the golden age. In our charts, planet Saturn is an old task-master of a teacher, the effects of which many feel in their “Saturn return,” which occurs approximately every 28 years.

Dane Rudhyar focuses on the negative aspect of this image, citing the inadequacy of past knowledge and, though that may be true, I don’t think it’s the knowledge or the teacher’s fault. I’m old enough now to feel a generational difference between my peers and the new millennials who are, in large part fantastic but, to me, have one fatal flaw: a sense of entitlement that sees them wanting to skip steps, prioritizing reward over process. I don’t blame them. They live in a fast-food world of celebrity and internet millionaires—or so they feel they do given their being pummeled incessantly by marketing machinery that has been aimed at selling personalities, as products, to them since they were born.

It’s not easy to sell traditional ideas to those whose heads are focussed only on their futures, no matter how bleak or empty those futures might be (without the valuable knowledge of the past). But Capricorn’s motto is I use pointing to a resource or accumulated experience to draw upon. Experience is gained over old-father Time, a nickname of Saturn’s. I often find myself selling Provincetown as “the birth place of modern American theatre” in fostering support and interest in my beloved Afterglow Festival which is a non-profit endeavor geared toward keeping (ironically) progressive performing arts alive in its spiritual home. And yet, it sometimes seems I can’t even get that notion across to the young performers I work so hard to present. Whereas artists my age express tremendous gratitude, knowing that this is not the Provincetown of the 1960s and 70s and there is no way they can be given a stage in this hypergentrified town of big-ticket entertainment, nowadays, unless someone brings them there on the wings of a non-profit, this is a fact that seems to be lost, even, on younger performers themselves who are all expectation, conditions, caveats and carve-outs. It’s crazy to my increasingly age-addled mind. Not to say they’re not polite about it. Or that part of me doesn’t applaud their acting like huge stars, as-if’ing their way to success, perhaps; but Jiminy Crickets, I wonder: what happened to earning it? I suppose that notion went out with pay phones and record stores. Again, not their fault. at the culture on which they were weened. The want to get their life and they want it now. They also seem less complexed about using whatever necessary means to do so, but that’s another essay.

It’s all very Goodbye Mr. Chips or, rather, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie wherein the student plays assassin even to the elder teacher who is labelled overly progressive. But it will backfire on the student, ultimately; because if the teacher has failed to teach then the students have failed to learn. They have no foundation for their new ideas. No references. Unless of course they’re Capricorns—those children are born old with seemingly encyclopedic knowledge and a voracious auto-didacticism. You know who you are.

Frustration seems intrinsic in this oracle. The teacher is stymied now and the students may be thwarted later. Yesterday we saw the man braving the storm in his silk hat. He knew where he was coming from and had a jaunty sense of where he was going. Today there is the opportunity to know where we are all coming from, as a collective, on any given subject, but our mind is closed and we only want to look toward the future. We don’t want to learn from past successes or failures or to understand the present or indeed ourselves in the context of a continuum. It is foolhardy and naive to my wizened brain. And from my experience, not having a resource of knowledge to draw upon can put one at a great disadvantage. But perhaps it frees ones mind to be filled with new ideas and the impetus to move forward unencumbered by the past.

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