Over the past several days, I have had encounters with two friends — one male, one female — who, from my point of view, both suffer from TDS, Trump Derangement Syndrome. With the male, a retired professor, as he was ranting on and on about Trump (“I hate him! I just hate him!” He had been watching — and believing — the Democrat accusations during the impeachment trial), I just commented, “It’s okay, we can hold different political views and still love each other.” Well, to this, he responded, “Aha, so there’s a love affair between us, only we can’t talk about Trump!” To which I thought, “No wonder there isn’t a love affair between us!” and then my thoughts further segued to someone I know well whose live-in girl friend is similarly afflicted. A “snowflake,” he calls her. “So I just don’t bring the subject up,” he tells me.
Then yesterday, I went out to lunch with the female with whom I politically disagree. I had told her I wanted to take her to lunch; that I want to get to know her, who she really is, because, she has told me over and over again, “You have no idea who I really am!”
So we met for lunch at a quiet local Thai place. And every time she tried to get off her own personal story (which was full of hardship since childhood, plus remarkable grit and determination to overcome) and on to the hate-Trump parade I just said, let’s not go there. Let’s just stay with getting to know each other better, as people, not as battling ideologies.
I did, and do, marvel how what appear to be the just about exact same set of circumstances can be colored in utterly opposite ways by apparently intelligent people. So that, for anyone to try to “explain” his or her point of view, he or she has to somehow say something that will change the coloration for the other person, and vice versa. And that’s just not possible. There’s no argument one can make that will sway another person to step out of what he or she has carefully or carelessly erected as his or her comfort zone.
I do think it all comes down to this: Is Trump’s heart in the right place? I think it is. She, and the professor, think not.
So now, today, the Republican response to the Democratic charges begins. I’m not going to watch more than brief clips from this part of the trial either, as I see the whole thing as theater — humans battling each other by cavorting (twisting, thrusting) with man-made Saturn rules set up by man-made Saturn structures (the congress, the constitution, etc.) against other man-made rules set up by other man-made structures, in order to (grab, undermine, overwhelm, touch into) Plutonian power. During this extraordinary Saturn/Pluto conjunction moment, one by one, they get up on the podium and cleverly or not so cleverly, cite some rule or law that contravenes or exonerates how they claim the one accused has behaved. A perspective on the context in which that law is embedded is then declared, to buttress the argument.
And of course, on this one point, my female friend and I decidedly agree: the stakes are enormous! Will we save (or more precisely, return to) the United States as a Republic? For her this means, Trump has got to go! For me it means, Trump has got to stay!
With transit Pluto approaching its own natal place in the U.S. chart for the first time in history, after 248 years, yes, the stakes could not be higher. Will the United States learn to use power in a way that is not just that of an adolescent, insisting on getting his own way in the world? Or will this “hyperpower,” currently being challenged on many fronts world-wide, learn to let go and get along. Will the United States finally learn to govern itself (Saturn) in concert with Nature’s laws (Pluto), observing and enhancing the primal life force within this beautiful planet?
But it’s to the matter of coloration that I want to return. For I find it exceedingly strange how deeply emotional, in short, how Plutonian! — this entire Saturn drama feels to all of us. People either hate Trump or love Trump, and there seems to be no in-between.
Myself: I see him, complete with his over-the-top egocentric persona, as exactly what is needed to begin to regenerate this nation to what its founders intended. As the Great Disruptor of the systematically corrupt status quo, he takes whatever negativity anyone throws at him and turns it into fuel. There is no one else remotely capable of accomplishing this herculean, long-term, and multi-layered “drain the swamp” task. His immense courage, and his willingness to sacrifice both his own comfort zone and that of his family to “make America great again,” is the stuff of legends.
As for his environmental views? Agreed. Donald Trump is not (yet?) in touch with Earth as a living being, this vast, mysterious, nourishing host who feeds and waters and shelters us, making it possible for even more argument. Which is why I’ve been saying for years now, if only Trump would begin
to walk
barefoot
in the forest
on mushrooms
with a dog.
Hi Ann,
OK, let’s talk Trump!
I still think he’s a narcissist who was put into power by those who truly pull the strings *because* of his astrological profile. I believe those who control the reigns of power have always used astrology to maintain it through the ages. Too many coincidences over the millennia to not consider it. And astrological influences have been proven to be what fuels the underlying “code” of this reality.
Do you remember that Simpson’s episode some years back that predicted that Trump would be president one day? What if that was always the plan, and that episode seeded it into the collective mind? (And remember, Lisa Simpson eventually became president in that episode…so keep an eye on the women running – or waiting – to step into the ring!) And what if Trump’s astrological profile fit exactly into the plans of the elites who run the show?
All that said…OK, so Trump is in office, and he has a natal chart that is one of few that could handle the immense challenges of leadership during these times. So, maybe he was put there in order to *control* the energies of these times. Maybe he went into this fully knowing his role, or maybe not. The facts are, he’s there, and he is truly influencing the world in ways that are astounding (and from my POV, not positive).
Those influences CAN be used for good or ill. Maybe the best way to approach him being in office at these times is to do what you are doing: see the GOOD that can be accomplished by a man like him in that role, and ENVISION those elements of his being working towards the good of the collective. Perhaps if enough people can collectively envision him doing good for humanity and the planet, then that will be what actually manifests in reality. To be honest, at this point we really don’t have much of a choice in the manner, do we?!
Interesting point of view! And you may well be right about the astrological connection in politics. You are one of the few I know who might be willing to have a discussion without fury attending! So important for us to recognize how our emotions are triggered by this man. I do think his ego can be seen as the projected ego of each of us. We just don’t like to think of ourselves as egocentric. He glories in it! And yet, I also think that, at this point in his long life, he is using his persona — rather than identifying with it — to get things done.
I hear you on the “fury attending” thing. No one I know can talk about Trump without going off the rails. I would put forth that he was “chosen” for his post *because* of his divisive personality – another way to stoke the “divide and conquer” madness that has engulfed society today. In a very human form, he embodies the divisions that exist in every aspect of life that are being pushed to their limits now.
You are right that people see in him what they want to see, projecting their own beliefs and feelings upon him. I try to look at him through the lens of facts and intuition and not allow my feelings to get in the way.
I look at what he has actually done (or more precisely, what he has NOT done!), and from that, I personally see him as someone who is advancing the “deep state” in stealth mode; as all the agendas put in place by former administrations are advancing under him as I type – but at the same time, he is making it BLATANT what is going on, even egging it on at times. It’s in our face 24/7 now.
So, either the elite are so far along in their plans that they don’t care and they are rubbing it in our faces, or: maybe Trump really has no power to change things, but he is making it so obvious what is going on and why that he is hoping that airing it all so publicly that it will cause Americans to finally stand up en masse to say, “NO!!!” That is my hope, at least.
And on history and astrology: have you ever read, “The Fated Sky”, by Benson Bobrick? It’s a discussion of astrology in history. It’s pretty fascinating. It definitely makes a case that astrology has driven history, and hints that there might be those who have used it and profited from it all along…
Do people ever change?
“The thing that cures a neurosis must be as convincing as the neurosis; and since the latter is only too real, the helpful experience must be of equal reality”… C. G. Jung
I’ve seen people change. You probably have too.
There’s usually an event, or series of events that leads them to morph into a new perspective.
The richest pool for personal change I’ve ever seen are those passing through near death experience. The change in personality is complete and permanent for the remainder of their life. A loss of fear of death, an ability to focus on being present in each aspect of their day, a broader attitude of acceptance, less strident, more loving…all seem to flow from the near death experience.
Politicians in general are not in a phase of life to step back and allow themselves the personal benefit of sabbatical, reflection, and personal change. Not if they choose to still hold political power. Read the words of this fearsome lifelong warrior, he seemed to become locked into a life phase built around a leadership role he chose to represent in spades:
“I was no chief and never had been, but because I had been more deeply wronged than others, this honor was conferred upon me, and I resolved to prove worthy of the trust.”
― Geronimo
You will know you are experiencing personal change when you find yourself justifying means and methods of forgiveness while sticking to what you consider the truth. You may even come to see that this evolution is your personal journey of self acceptance as the precursor to change.
What we do not get right in this life, apparently, we get to try again, again, again, and again ….. in the next life.
Agreed. And for me, continuous evolution (i.e. change) is a given. And yes, it stems from the time in my mid-20s when I almost died of peritonitis and was told, by a huge male voice that rang through the hospital room: LIVE OR DIE. IT’S YOUR CHOICE. That was the first time I heard the voice. It was not to be the last.