I really do not want to get involved in an internet feud, however I feel a need to respond to one of Violet Cabra's posts, where she accuses me of being an agent provocateur. I am prepared, if she is, to let this slide, but I am also prepared to respond to any other slights she directs my way.

I fully agree with her assessment, for what it's worth, that there is a high chance that agents provocateur read and comment on John Michael Greer's blogs, and that there is a good chance that he cannot catch all of them. This out of the way, she is very much mistaken about me.

Her argument, from the post where she makes these claims, is based upon a comment I made on one of the open Covid posts, claims that she'd received a suspicious number of comments presenting distinct identities from IP address similar to ones I used, written in a "similar" style; the claim my response to her was off when she attempted to raise this issue; the claim there are holes in the stories I'm presenting to the Ecosophia community; and finally an attempted post to point out that a link is broken.

I'll start out with the last one, since it is the simplest to address: every single time I attempted to follow the link ( https://cryptome.org/2012/07/gent-forum-spies.htm ) I got, and still get, an error 403 message, and so I stand by the attempt to point out that the link, which is broken, is broken.

Next, moving on to the comment Violet believes flags me as an agent provocateur: yes, it's quite indiscreet, and asks about a topic that I'm willing to bet got intelligence agencies' attention (nothing on the internet is ever private, after all), but it was relevant to the topic, and it was something I'm curious about. I stand by it, despite it being a question which I seriously debated about posting.

The next issue, is that from short comments like the ones she flagged for me, it can be hard to identify a style because they are quite short; and while the comments she sent me look similar, if we accept the argument that they all have the same style, then many of the other anonymous comments on her blog do as well. Assuming of course that her statements were accurate, which I have no way to verify, I gave her my answer to what I thought was happening.

What I had thought was happening was quite simple: I've been using public networks, and so my IP address is not constant, but changes depending on which network I'm connected to, and from use to use, and further, as a public network, other people use it as well. The obvious conclusion: someone else was posting the anonymous comments, for whatever their own reasons may be.

I then said I agreed that there was something fishy there, and that I was going to look into it and see if I could figure out what was going on, and promised to keep her updated (which I suppose is no longer an issue since she blocked me). I never said that multiple people were commenting on her blog there; merely that the anonymous comments she flagged were not mine, and that they looked suspicious to me as well.

Based on what she told me, I gave her what was the best possible explanation I could come up with, an answer I noted at the time I also found rather unsatisfactory. I have no idea how she read that as an attempt to appeal to her narcissism.

Finally, I really have no idea what she means about there being holes in my story. I have not given all of my life story, of course. I like being pseudonymous, as it offers me more freedom to speak freely than I felt I had when I commented under my real name, something which has become much more important of late. However, nothing I've said in the Ecosophia community has been a lie, and I have been happy to clarify any confusion, and remain happy to do so.

As noted at the beginning of this, I am willing to let this go if she is, but I am also prepared to respond to anything else she says.

Just as different languages divide the colour spectrum in different places, so to do different spiritual groups divide the subtle realities which exist in different places. Just as the rainbow does not neatly divide into different colours in reality, but rather only appears to do so because the people looking at it think of “blue” and “green”, so too do the subtle realities blend into each other, but can be perceived as having particular “shades”; and although the shades blend together, by separating them out, it becomes possible to discuss them in more meaningful ways.

One rather important consequence of this is that there are multiple different divisions, all of which are equally valid, and all of which can reveal something. I've lately been exploring some of the implications of a seven fold division of the realities which human beings can experience, based upon Dion Fortune's divisions, but not quite equivalent. One rather interesting consequence of the system is that it becomes possible to discuss the differences between materialists, occultists, and mystics in a new and interesting way.

The system consists of seven planes: the first being the physical or material plane, of matter and energy. The second is the etheric plane, the realm of life energies. It is what people usually sense when they talk about the “vibe” of a person or place. Fortune considered this to be a part of the material plane, but I personally find the etheric plane distinct enough that it's worth considering a separate plane.

The third plane is what Fortune calls the lower astral, and I'll call the passional plane: it is the realm of emotions, and of passions. Hopes, dreams, fears, love, hatred, and all emotions exist on this plane of being. Above it lies what Fortune terms the upper astral, and I'll call the imaginal plane: the realm of concrete consciousness, of imagination.

Above this lies Fortune's lower mental, which I'll term the mythic plane. It is the realm of all the stories, habitual ways of thinking, and narratives which we use to make sense of the world. Above it lies what Fortune calls the upper mental, and I'll call the formal plane: the plane of abstract consciousness, of meaning. Finally, where Fortune refers to a lower spiritual and an upper spiritual, I'll refer solely to the spiritual plane, a realm which transcends meanings and is thus very difficult to describe.

The following three categories, the materialist, the occultist, and the mystic are not perfect categories, but rather blend into one another. This does not mean that they are not meaningful, just that it's important to remember that few people are exactly in one category or the other.

These planes can be divided into three triads: a lower triad of the physical, etheric, and passional; a middle triad of the passional, the imaginal, and the mythic; and an upper triad of the mythic, the formal, and the spiritual. Each of these triads correspond to a particular path human beings can take through life. The materialist roots her consciousness in the lower triad: focusing on the material plane through to the passional. The materialist does not seek anything higher, and pursues a life dedicated to seeking to satisfy pleasures and avoid pain; even her morality derives from this: what is right is right because it feels right. This is the default for human beings, and far and away the easiest path for human beings to pursue.

Even those who remain rooted in the lower triad will occasionally rise upwards: daydreaming and telling stories are a part of everyone's lives; and many may find something provides a sense of meaning, but this too is usually rooted in the material world. However, to the materialist all of these are less important than the physical reality she lives in, and to the fulfillment of her desires and avoidance of her fears, whatever those may be.

The occultist meanwhile seeks to root her consciousness in them middle triad: the path of the occultist does not seek to transcend the passional plane, and so emotions and passions can play a role in the training of the occultist; they can in fact play a central role in some forms of occultism, appearing in such forms as sex magic. However, imagination and myth play a major role in the path of the occultist: scrying and the visualizations used in rituals display the importance of the imaginal plane; and study of myths and legends, and systematic effort to train the mind to notice these patterns plays a central role in the training of the occultist.

The occultist, like the mystic, cannot transcend the lower planes: the occultist must eat, must earn a living, and so the path of the occultist can not ignore the physical and etheric planes, but they are not her focus as they are for the materialist. It's also worth noting that many occultists do also reach upwards for the formal and spiritual plane, some in the form of prayer and meditation, but these are not the core of the path.

Finally, the last category is the mystic, who seeks to root her consciousness in the upper triad, of the mythic, formal, and spiritual. This is far and away the hardest of the three paths: many who try to rise this far cannot do so, as the lower planes will always exert their pull on human consciousness. The ascetic practices which seek to transcend the desires of the passional plane is one crucial element to this path, and the deep meditations and intense prayers which characterize the mystical path are meant to bring the state of consciousness up far higher than it would otherwise naturally go.

None of these paths are better than the other: each has its place, and all are necessary for the soul to experience. However, each path is a world unto itself, and the life experiences of the materialist, the occultist, and the mystic are so different that they might as well inhabit different worlds altogether.

I have decided to attempt to record every astrological generation of the 20th and 21st centuries. For those born already, this will be an attempt to record their experiences, and predict those which are yet to come, while for those not yet born, this will be an attempt to predict, in broad general outlines, the distinctive shared shape which their lives might have. My process is going to be to start by looking at the general indicators formed by the outer planets; then the shape of the world, and then see how the earlier generations reacted to these events. This necessarily means that these initial posts will always be rough drafts, and that a good amount of these initial thoughts will likely be proven wrong. Finally, once I'm don with this process I will then take a look at various famous figures with these placements to see how well I've done.

One other note is that these will be extremely cursory overviews of the periods of time. For now, this will be a very general overview; I intend to come back to this later, and look at each period of time in more detail later, once I have the general overview of things.

These generations will be defined using the outer planets: Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Eris. I've used Eris in my chart to good effects; I have a strong sextile between a stellium composed of my Mercury, Venus, Moon, and Eris, and find that it explains otherwise inexplicable elements of my chart. Since one of these is my strong taste for the 2000s aesthetic, I'm inclined to view it as a temporary planet, alongside Pluto, the distinctive factor which explains why the 20th century is a quite distinctive period of time. Pluto was a planet from 1930-2006, and Eris from 2003-2006; both appear to have started having influence around one Saturn return earlier, and for now I'll assume it'll take the same length of time for them to downgrade. Although planets will not be used to define the generations, they will be discussed where relevant.

The first generation is defined by Uranus in Sagittarius, Neptune and Pluto in Gemini, and Eris in Pisces. This occurred from December 3 1897 until July 3 1898, and September 12 1898 until July 19 1901, and December 26 1901 until May 21 1902. Eris can be discounted, as its discovery is far enough in the future that it doesn't matter; Pluto starts to come into focus January 11, 1901, and ought to matter from then on, although it won't be until March 18 1930 that it is discovered and becomes a full blown planet.

Uranus in Sagittarius is an uncomfortable placement. Uranus is the planet of radical change, division, unpredictability, and general strangeness; and to have it in the sign of growth, philosophy, and law is awkward. Uranus is awkward throughout the Zodiac though, but in this case the awkwardness ought to be felt in the form of legal and philosophical disputes, and constant attempts to bring about radical change in society; protests and general instability.

Neptune, the planet of unity, mass movements, and everything transcendent in Gemini ought to be focused and constrained by the detailed, focused, and highly intellectual orientation of this sign. Much of the time, Neptune is difficult to mange: it tends toward delusion and unattainable idealism. Given the fact that the period when Neptune was in Gemini was a golden age of occultism, while when it travelled through Sagittarius in the 1970s things ruled by the planet went septic in a big way, I'm inclined to consider this to be Neptune's exaltation, and Sagittarius to be its fall.

Pluto is also in Gemini, although it does not appear to matter yet. At this point my guess is that Pluto in Gemini will indicate a tendency towards obsessive intellect: this Pluto placement will likely indicate a strong need to know, and to understand, especially things which are not possible.

Uranus and Neptune don't form any aspects, but towards the end of this generation there is an opposition between Uranus and Pluto. Although it does not show up clearly, it is likely a major force in the charts for those who have it.

This period is indeed marked by protests and attempted revolutions in a number of places, ranging from The Dreyfus Affair in France through to protests in China around capital controls, as well as philosophical and legal disputes, some of which will lead to future revolutions (ex: The February Manifesto in Russian Finland), and others which will not (such as the dispute over the American House of Representatives refusing to seat Brigham H. Roberts due to his polygamy).

The golden age of Occultism continued on, although it would soon end, just as would be predicted from the above. Finally, the shape of things to come from Pluto could be seen in the dawn of the oil age, starting off in January of 1901 with the discovery of Spindletop in Texas. Further radical changes were coming, but most of this would not be obvious for several years yet.