 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| pp. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
|
 |
|
Are we becoming Frankensteins? Extreme Makeovers and Jupiter-Uranus |
|
|
The Dark Side of the Jupiter-Uranus Equation
In the original Frankenstein , or, The Modern Prometheus, Mary Shelley accounts the life of Doctor Victor Frankenstein, a man obsessed with learning "the secrets of heaven and earth." Frankenstein, in every way the archetypal mad scientist, becomes absolutely riveted by creating new life—to harness divine fire so that it should animate lifeless matter. In his obsessive pursuit of tampering with nature, Frankenstein loses
|
|
|
touch with his ethical nature and his humanity. He, like the monster he eventually creates, runs amok; Frankenstein neglects a balanced approach to life.
As much a morality play as a strikingly prescient description of our times, Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein is very much the embodiment of the astrological Uranus. As a society, we are becoming Frankensteins, harnessing the ability to play with fire of the heavens. Cloning, high technology, stem cell research, and space exploration have seemingly come out of nowhere in a very short period of time. Standing at the beginning of the 21st century, we are only some 250 years past the beginnings of the Industrial Age. We have come potentially too far, too fast.
When Uranus makes a major alignment to an outer planet such as Jupiter, there always runs the risk of dealing with the dark side of Prometheus's fire. Specifically, with Jupiter-Uranus alignments, one of the major downfalls and caveats with the energy is an overindulgence and excessiveness in regards to reinvention, experimentation, and technology itself. Not so much a mad obsession, the shadow side of Jupiter-Uranus can be expressed as such: "More is undeniably better."
With Jupiter-Uranus alignments, culture-at-large can become too bedazzled with technology; a sort of bewilderment with gadgets can set in without any self-restraint or self-reflection. Not unlike a child in a candy store, our appetites for new technology can become greater than our needs. The overwhelming popularity with flat screen TV's, mp3 players, digital cameras, cell phones with cameras—all within the last year—can attest to this phenomenon. Uranus can stimulate the conspicuous consumption associated with Jupiter, as Jupiter can engorge Uranus's appetites for creating new technology. The result can be an empty quest for novelty, an obsession with playthings, gadgets, and disposable techno toys.
There is no question that Jupiter-Uranus alignments can correlate with stunningly original works of entertainment and culture, often bordering on genius-like creativity. During these alignments, it is as if dimensions are available that allow for greater creative breakthroughs and inventiveness. However, with its potential for overemphasis on creativity and novelty, Jupiter-Uranus alignments can be associated with entertainment and cultural expressions that lack any true substantive value. Rather, all the creative juices available can be poured into ritzy, showy superficiality. These artificial displays only appeal to the most adolescent, immature parts of our selves and have no real value. Arguably the greatest current example of this comes from the highly popular set of "Six Flags" commercials. The advertisements feature a cartoonish older gentleman dancing frenetically to techno music. Like an off the wall trickster figure, the man in the "Six Flags" commercial shows the hyper kinetic silliness of an inflated Uranus that is completely ungrounded and lacking any worth.
Perhaps the most obvious and potentially dangerous expression of artifice and technology in the past year can be seen in the fascination with extreme personal makeovers. Certainly, this need to re-beautify is more aligned with the astrological Venus, however, the technological capacity for such operations is more allied with the Jupiter-Uranus phenomenon. Eerily evocative of the Frankenstein myth, we now can completely re-shape, re-contour, and re-do every part of our body which doesn't align with our ideal vision of ourselves. The results can be as frightening to one's moral sensibility as to one's senses. In television shows like the recent The Swan, women are made over to fit with cultural stereotypes, yet there is a haunting artificiality to it all. The accumulation of botox, silicon, and scar tissue all for the sake of outer beauty can be as displeasing to the eye as it is to the eye of the soul.
From a metaphysical perspective, we can view Jupiter-Uranus alignments like a test of spiritual and moral rigor. It is as if during these alignments the Gods grant us greater technological capacity, creativity, and inventiveness, and we are allowed free reign to deal with the Promethean fire as we see fit. If we detach from our souls, we become overindulgent, superficial, and every bit as plastic as the novelty of our gadgets. If we stand in a centered space, we can use these gifts for greater purposes, using technology, exploring higher truths, and expanding freedoms for benefit for society-at-large.
|
next
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
