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| Egyptian Democracy Protesters Victorious |
Early this morning I caught a glimpse of CNN. There is jubilation in the streets of Cairo. Mubarak has resigned. The face of the Middle East is changed forever and for better or worse, there is no going back. And while I support democracy and open government wholeheartedly, I worry about a majority rule position on Israel and the West.
On a humanitarian level I wonder what will become of the ideal of freedom if a fundamentalist Islamic party is voted in. Two recent polls (Pew Research and Pollock & Pechter) report that a majority of Egyptians support traditional biblical law which includes stoning and the death penalty for crimes such as adultery. Life under Mubarak was brutal with severe curtailment of personal freedom. Certainly the future can be better but there are no hard and fast guarantees .
On a personal level, I am glad that the people of Egypt have seized an opportunity to right social wrongs. I wish them the best and hope it is a step in the direction of free and open society. This is my position politically. Now for the synchronicity. Today I was reading about Babylonia at the same time as I was watching CNN. The contrast between Middle Eastern culture then and now seemed particularly significant.
On a humanitarian level I wonder what will become of the ideal of freedom if a fundamentalist Islamic party is voted in. Two recent polls (Pew Research and Pollock & Pechter) report that a majority of Egyptians support traditional biblical law which includes stoning and the death penalty for crimes such as adultery. Life under Mubarak was brutal with severe curtailment of personal freedom. Certainly the future can be better but there are no hard and fast guarantees .
On a personal level, I am glad that the people of Egypt have seized an opportunity to right social wrongs. I wish them the best and hope it is a step in the direction of free and open society. This is my position politically. Now for the synchronicity. Today I was reading about Babylonia at the same time as I was watching CNN. The contrast between Middle Eastern culture then and now seemed particularly significant.
The book I was reading, The Mystic Quest by David S. Ariel, talks about the relationship between Islam and Judaism during the golden age of Jewish mysticism. What is most surprising about this golden age is that it existed under Muslim rule in Babylonia, the land of the Israelites captivity. From the birth of Islam in the 7th century until the rise of the Mamluk Empire some 600 years later, a cultured and advanced Persian state made significant advancements in multiple disciplines. And in that progressive and open society there was an exchange of ideas between Muslims and Jews.
According to the Zohar there are seven heavens. And this is case in Persian legend (Cup of Jamshyd) as well and I can't help wondering if this is one of the point where two very different cultures crossed. It seems that there were areas of agreement then, a possible shared understanding of energies, dimensions, God and the universe.
There is less agreement now. But the truth is that it is still the same heaven. And that even more surprisingly all of us do still exist together beneath it. As long as this is the case, anything remains possible.
And as it turns out, astrology is not completely outside the realm of Jewish religious writings though it is, of course, frowned upon in many instances.
The author begins by addressing the problem of astrology in Jewish thought, noting that traditionally Jews are cautioned against reliance on the movement of the heavens and siting Talmudic and Kabbalistic sources that both support and perhaps partially refute this point of view.
The book goes on to examine the signs of the zodiac, correlating them with the Hebrew calendar which is I guess no less a match (with the true positions of the constellations) then the Gregorian - at this stage of the game.
The book goes on to examine the signs of the zodiac, correlating them with the Hebrew calendar which is I guess no less a match (with the true positions of the constellations) then the Gregorian - at this stage of the game.
The signs of the Zodiac are interpreted in a mostly religious sense relying on material from the Zohar, Sefer Yetzirah, and other Kabbalistic writings, the Hebrew bible and key events in the history of the Jewish people. It is a book perhaps better suited to a student of Kabbalah than a practitioner of astrology and a good resource for anyone seeking a better understanding of the Hebrew calendar.
Some of the correspondences are interesting. The month of Nissan (which contains the Passover) overlaps Aries, for example, and I can see a correlation between the energy of Exodus, the beginning of the Zodiac and birth of Israel as a cohesive, if landless, nation. I found the correlations between the elemental aspects of astrology and mysticism interesting as well.
As an aside, I find it notable that under the "new" assignment of the signs (reconciling the placement of the constellations, changed due to the precession of the earth, with signs of the Zodiac as it has appeared in the media) the new first day of Aries is April 18, 2011 also the 14th of Nissan, 5771 - Erev Pesach, the eve of Passover.
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