This Side of the Via Combusta: The Psyop is the Message
I consider the Facebook whistleblower furor via the intricate scene changes of a Libra New Moon and recent cazimis of Mars and Mercury. Strange magic indeed...
“It is clear that the world is purely parodic, in other words, that each thing seen is the parody of another, or is the same thing in a deceptive form… Ever since sentences started to circulate in brains devoted to reflection, an effort at total identification has been made, because with the aid of a copula each sentence ties one thing to another; all things would be visibly connected if one could discover at a single glance and in its totality the tracings of Ariadne’s thread leading thought into its own labyrinth.”
— George Bataille, “The Solar Anus”
We’ve just emerged from one of the most intricate astrological signatures of the year – nesting dolls unclasping along the Via Combusta, the tract of starry interstate where both the luminaries find the sign of their fall.
It’s a haunted place of long shadows and vacated piazzas, in my mind: a Giorgi de Chirico painting perhaps, where the light is clear but sharp-edged – its brilliance freighted with loss. We’ve also seen these configurations unfold in the second decan of Libra, ruled by Saturn and presided over by the Three of Swords – a card of sorrows, loss, and heart shrapnel shifting.
Austin Coppock has this to say about the decan: “Contracts and deals are drafted here, and marriages made. It is the decan of Libra ruled by order-creating Saturn, and Saturn is exalted in Libra, for the divine root of law is justice. Yet promises and contracts signed can be broken. Commitment and trust are necessary to create the possibility of betrayal. And this, too, is Saturn’s domain.”
It’s necessary now, (more than ever), to be aware of the double-edge sword of the rhetorician who conveys the ring of truth through the struck glass of inspired timing. The mot juste is ‘true’ because it obeys the weights and counterweights of oration. It creates an aesthetic reality, but not necessarily a humane one.
That being said, how is this for Verdi-esque choreography, the likes of which we could only see in the season of swaying scales. A New Moon in Libra ripens, sidled up against the jettes and parries of Mars in starched fencing garb. Except, the warrior is playing against character now, seething beside the canapes in the sign of his fall. As with fencing, Mars cannot draw actual blood, and is forced to ritualize the shifting power dynamics through increasingly elaborate sword work. A scansion of violence through pure air.
That wonderful satire of the bourgeoisie by Jean Renoir, The Rules of the Game, comes to mind for Mars in its fall (recommended viewing!). If you’ve found yourself tying yourself into pretzels of acquiesce in the past couple weeks, Mars in Libra would be why.
Then we had the Mars cazimi just a couple days later, when our reluctant party guest was invited to a private audience with the solar luminary himself. During his sun-bath, a new two year Mars cycle was forged, and the first debriefing came from Sol himself. Except the paparazzi glare was so dazzling, whatever was whispered into Mars’ cauliflower ear would remain a mystery.
Mercury would follow just two days later, passing Mars through the same trick door. Playing the role of spin-doctor in Libra, whatever backroom deal was forged in Sol’s dazzling inner sanctum was repackaged, and massaged for the mainstream media (all in Zuck’s pocket by now).
Recall that Mercury stationed in a square to Pluto, promising a Mercury retrograde of whistleblowers, mike drops, muckraking journalism, and explosive lede pertaining to our decaying institutions. First as tragedy, and second as farce, and if you’ve felt like the simulation is hanging together by a fraying thread, you’re not the only one.
We have to remember, however, that this complicated knot is being tied in the sign of Libra after all: the cheerfully amoral pulse of aesthetics filtered through one of the ‘human’ signs. China’s veiled threat to crush Taiwan via the chilling euphemism of ‘national rejuvenation’ is very much in keeping with the nation’s Libra stellium (and I’m speaking of the CCP, just to be clear). The medium was never more the message than in the hands of this intellectually sensual (and sometimes violent) cardinal air sign.
The true Plutonic cloak-and-dagger of the retrograde will likely be obfuscated, or carefully focus-group by a phalanx of PR directors. Whatever Mars’s counsel with the Sun actually entailed, we will be getting the version ‘fit for public consumption’. The psyop is the message…
Speaking of which, the rolling out of the Very Real and Totally Not Fake Facebook whistleblower, during this past dark of the moon. The old iron fist in a velvet glove comes to mind, or simply a more feckless attempt at misdirection. Hubris has made our Tech Overlords sloppy, frankly.
Frances Haughen has testified in court (over the New Moon), comparing the tech conglomerate to Big Tobacco, and accusing Facebook of harming children and inciting political violence. Yes, there’s a sort of scrappy (and Plutonic) Erin Brokovich vibe to this entire story (whistleblower, but make it girlboss). And that’s just it. It all feels too, well, calculated.
To be honest, I haven’t been following this story too closely, but Haughen’s clockwork bestowal of a bluecheck, and a roster of Ted Talks lined up for the fall, is proof enough that she’s a plant, and the Libran finesse is honestly lacking here. The true whistleblowers — the Assanges and Snowdens of the world — are rotting in jail and certainly not fawned over by the media.
But then again, I suppose we get the political theatre we deserve at this point. Silly of me to expect Puccini level costume changes, trap doors into the orchestra pit, plumes of dry ice, etc etc. I’d be much more willing to submit to the dystopia being orchestrated by Big Tech if the aesthetics were at least on point.
The backdrop to all this spin-doctoring in Libra is Saturn stationing direct in the sign of Aquarius today. Remember that Saturn is actually exalted in Libra, so everything that's happening right now with the consecration of the Totally Convincing and Not Algorithmically Generated Whistleblower is following a Saturnian bottom line – an Aquarian bottom line. The New Normals of a much larger social architecting…
Oh, and just look at the Sabian symbol for 6 degrees Aquarius, where Saturn grinded direct: “a masked figure performs ritualistic acts in a mystery play”. This one speaks for itself, but I recall it being in play during the Capitol Hill siege as well.
We’re gearing up for the last act of Saturn square Uranus this December – a signature of rising techno authoritarianism that has shaped the story arc of 2021 – and Haughen is likely setting the stage for increasingly draconian censorship measures. The consent is being manufactured, while we are spoonfed the actual dehumanization of life under Late Capitalism as a Netflix Presents carnival of gore (Squid Game).
You see the game that’s being played here? Feed them astroturfed objects of rage – keep them in a state of malleable activation – while the actual authoritarian measures are snuck in through the back door, behind a veil of squid ink.
Meanwhile the lizards have been shielding their own heirs from their own creations for years now… This was never about our children. Trust that Saturn will never devour their own.
Editor’s note: Guys, I’m back! Kinda. I’m not sure if I can keep up the pace I had going before, but I intend to blow my smoke rings through this space at least bi-monthly. An update on the massive change of life circumstances since my solar return late July soon. If you’re still here — thank you. Sending my love and gratitude. xoxo