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  Kathleen Burt June 28, 2015 at 2:50pm

  Thank you for this discussion.  I especially enjoyed the part on story-telling and hope that there will be a place for that on the site.  So much is gleaned from experiences and personal narratives. This was the best part of teaching astrology classes, when the group had been together for a year or two, and students heard and learned from each others' experiences with Life and astrology.

  I liked the references to the Second Half of life as well. As the general population ages we'll be working with many people in that phase of life. I'm now in my"third quarter"  (if the longevity pattern of parents and grandparents holds)  and the stories Marie Louise Von Franz provided in The Feminine in Folktales, and her other books are food for the soul. When I first read these tales in my student years, I identified with the princess.  This time around, I feel for the Old King and Queen who are ready to step back, marry off their daughter, and hand over the kingdom to her and  her suitor. My last book, written with older clients in mind, I shared one or two those with readers, because my students had really enjoyed them. (It's amazing how many felt they'd come under the spell of a Troll.) It helps to step back from the illusion, with the benefit of hindsight, during a later phase of life.

  I loved the discussion of the Psychic Event in Charleston.  I, too, hope things will change beyond an intellectual recognition that "something needs to be done." I'm happy to see an action taken: the Confederate flag removed from the courthouse. I was also pleased to see the community in Charleston come together in a non-confrontational way,based upon their religious philosophy of healing through forgiveness. It felt like a very different community than Ferguson. So much depends on the nature and quality of the community where the Event occurs.  Each is a microcosm, it seems, of our diverse culture.

  On materialism, my young neighbors from Australia who own a house near us and come on their 6 weeks off said something interesting: "you Americans work so hard at pursuing happiness, buying gadgets and all, and then you work even harder winding down from stress on your expensive "decompressing" vacations!"  (I thought of all those yoga retreats overseas in lovely places--it really resonated with me,  I'm not a gadget person myself, but we do seem obsessed with having the latest ones, as a culture.)  

  Finally, the language point--how do we express our approach clearly, in a way others can understand? Beginning astrology students have returned from conferences and told me they were entirely lost.  they "got" that Jupiter is the principle of Space  (birth place, latitude and longitude)  and Saturn/Cronus  is the Time Principle (their time of birth ) but the details were too much in one week. 

  In yoga teachers' training everyone memorizes the Sanskrit names/pronunciation of all the poses, but then they teach their first class and are met with glazed expressions on students' faces. They're soon back to English: downward facing dog, cat, bridge, standing forward bend, etc. It's good to know some of the Sanskrit terms, but important to know which concepts will be useful to others in the 21st century: thing like  Patanjali's sutras: have no preconceptions or expectations, remain open to Life's opportunities. These may come from unlikely Strangers, when least expected.  (Like the stories featuring a Stranger. I chose a couple of those for my books, as well.) Much more important than the Sanskrit labels!

  Story is all important! In the better ones we stand in illo tempore, as Mircea Eliade used to say,  In primordial time and space, before the creation of the world.

  Thanks again,

  Kathleen