.: Our Digital Dilemma :.
(Mercury stations direct)
When it comes to the great unfolding of the cosmos, there are no accidents. Certain incidents may seem accidental-or even coincidental-when they happen, yet always in retrospect, when seen clearly, we notice the perfection. This ‘looking back’ is augmented in extraordinary ways with Astrology.
A quick example: In the early 80’s, there was a conjunction between Pluto and Saturn in late Libra. It was the last time they came together. We are living through the same conjunction again in Capricorn. Around this time, the production of personal computers was in its nascent phase. Could anybody have predicted the computational power of these machines to increase by multiples of millions of times and end up in our hands in just 36 short years, let alone the Ai and algorithms working against us through them, keeping us addicted, and unknowingly tangled within worlds formulated just for us, keeping Truth far away, and our biases so close we confuse them for the actual truth. Who could have predicted? And who knows the way out? A Pluto/Saturn bind, indeed.
Today, in the same territory of the third decan of Libra, Mercury stations direct at 25º plus Libra. How timely for the ‘big’ day. An accident? A coincidence? I doubt it. The Chandra Symbol for the magi’s pivot: A gypsy cart with a campfire nearby. Packed within this degree of the zodiac are threads of a story which lead us all the way back to Egypt when the magic and mysteries weren’t questioned, but a given-perhaps, taken for granted like our magics of today, like the black mirror you are reading this on. Within this degree is a labyrinth through time where the idea of self comes and goes and mutates into what it is today. And what is it exactly today? Well, part depends on our social media profiles. Another part on how much people engage with it. And hopefully, another part remains outside the machine, in the organic world, battling for its sovereignty within the matrix of trends and popularity contests, reaching for a self with a capital S.
Sophocles once offered this warning, “Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse.” Given the power to search any question or for any person in an instant from our phones, we begin to understand vastness, but also trade-offs. Our memories melt like taffy in the sun. Our communication skills follow suit. Our sense of self becomes tethered to the ‘like’ or ‘heart’ and swiftly damage our sense of self. The ‘curse’ begins to become clear. And then, there is the quality of the information and how intelligent bots are feeding into our biases and what questions we have had in the past. It’s beyond dangerous. It’s existential.
And so, as Mercury begins to move forward in this Scorpio Cycle, the most universal and important work we all have is to become more aware of how the machine is working against us. Yes, it works for us in many wondrous ways, but just as much, and without telling us, it is making a product out of us as well. This is the great transformation of our time (if we can pull it off).
We vote with our clicks and our likes. So if you enjoy information like this, like it, share it around, be more discerning with your mental diet. Use ad-blockers like Brave browser. Be aware of the infinite scroll. Check your screen time usage. Ask for help-from Mercury, from a friend, from Nature. We all need it.
The ‘big” day has finally arrived. Let’s pray that it’s the beginning of the end of this feral chapter in human history.
* If you have yet to see THE SOCIAL DILEMMA, you must. I rarely say this about films, but it will bring even more awareness about what you just read. It may even save your life.
Eudaimonia,
Adam
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