This Pope was known as the Pope of the Eclipses. He was born under an Eclipse, and now he has died under one - but how did the Cathilic Church know to call him the Pope of the ECLIPSES. My bet is that those Catholics are still using the Astrology that they learned in the 13th century.
Well, I just heard the sad news about the Pope passing a few hours ago. No matter what religion you belong to, he was a heroic figure who truly practiced the best in the teachings of his religion and will be deeply missed.

I had the opportunity to see him in person in Rome on the Pallazo. I am sort of, technically, Catholic - my father was a Catholic and so the Catholics can claim me, but I was not ever baptized. I am also sort of Jewish. My mother was Jewish - which is the definition of a Jew, and so the Jews can also claim me, but I never had a Bat Mitsvah. I saw him deliver his sermon in 7 languages on the Palazzo with a friend who came from a devoutly Catholic family - 7 kids, all redheads. Her Preist had gotten us the tickets. We were there with a third traveling companion - a girl who was of Arabic descent. Between us we represented all the warring factions of the middle east and together we listened to his presentation in all of our native languages - though we ourselves did not speak them.

Tina - my Catholic friend - was thrilled to see him. And when he came through the throngs afterwards, shaking hands behind tall sheets of plywood - protection from further sniper attacks - she jumped into line. As Pope John Paul the second came along his route, toward us, she pushed her way to the front and managed to unseat the competition and get a hold of his hand to shake it. Later she told me that she had pushed aside an ailing Nun (!) in her haste to touch what to her was the closest human hand to that of God. But I am sure he would have forgiven her. After all this was a man who forgave the man who shot him six times. What a legacy of forgiveness. To me this is such a high and difficult attainment. To be wronged, to be abused, to be tortured and harmed by others - and then to manage to forgive them - may be the highest of the teachings of any religion. The difficulty in ataining this is a truly human issue, that I struggle with often myself. It is also probably the only way we can truly heal and resolve the powder keg of pain, resentment and vengence that boils over in the Middle East - in the promised land. A land promised in the texts of nearly all the worlds religions. A seemingly insurmountable conundrum.

Perhaps the promise is not of the land itself, but rather the potential for healing that the land represents. This is how I like to think of it. One of my best friends is Palestinian, and she is the funniest person I have ever met. This year at the Sundance Film Festival, the most enjoyable film I saw was a short called ‘The West Bank Story’ which was a spoof on the musical ‘The West Side Story’ set in warring fast food joints - The Falafal Hut and The House of Swarma. Their kids fall in love. It was hilarious. Ah, the healing power of laughter.

Eclipse’s are traditionally considered bad luck in Astrology - especially for the two weeks before and the two weeks after they take place. This one took away the Pope, but left behind a powerful message that I for one am taking to heart. I may not agree with a lot of what the Catholic Church says and does, but this man represents something far beyond the institution that is the Church, and I truly hope that his message can transcend institutions and dogma.

The Astrology of this event is not over when the Eclipse ends. This 19th degree of Aries is reactivated on May 5th by Mercury (Cinco de Mayo - in the heavily Catholic Spanish Speaking countries) and again on July 11th by Mars. Perhaps this augers a movement of awakening to peace and the principles that this Pope represents on a mass level. I certainly hope so. The peace of the world may depend upon it.

-Aura

**Just a quick personal experience of this Eclipse. The Eclipse took place on Friday April 8th. When I woke up that morning and went to get a glass of water, I fainted to the floor, knocking over a standing lamp on my way down. I have only fainted one other time in my life when I was about 14. I can’t quite remember exactly when it was, but for some reason I think there may have been an Eclipse active at that time as well. Eclipses effect different people in different ways, and each Eclipse is different. But for various Astrological reasons this one caused me to faint!

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