The Chi(cago) Vortex

"Be practical and use your common sense," my Taurus father said. The pressure to stay at home, work in the family gas station, attend junior college and study for a "good-paying job" resulted in my flunking out (1960). He never listened to my journalism or foreign diplomacy ideas.

Air Gemini doesn't like an Earth sign's (Taurus, Virgo or Capricorn) gravity. Nor the wind drag from structured religions, permanent relationships or authoritarian parents. Like Mercury, our ruling planet, we move quickly from place to place. Like the liquid metal, we're mercurial.

When Uranus (1962 - 1969) and Pluto (1956/1957 - 1971/1972) transited Virgo (in my First House), the Air/Earth tension between us became explosive. I was determined to demonstrate the practical (Virgo) value of my own social, religious and political ideas (Gemini).

Our relationship deteriorated after I transferred to another college. As a conservative Republican in the 1960s, he never understood my working in a Tampa, Florida settlement house with Cuban refugees, an arrest in a Brooklyn, New York Civil Rights demonstration, Associate Pastor-ing an African-American Cabrini-Green church -- nor group therapy workshops in California.

Gemini loves to wander around the galaxy. But my Virgo Ascendant (and Taurus Midheaven) kept locking bull horns with this paternal adversary in what became a lifelong career. One astrologer said the karmic lesson in this lifetime was the practical application of esoteric ideas.

The conflict with him was an externalization of the Gemini/Virgo (Air/Earth) karma/dharma vortex within myself. The First (Self), Fifth (creative arts), Tenth House (career) Earth triplicity was empowered by a stubborn 10th House Taurus stellium (Saturn and Uranus are in Taurus).

Anyone with Neptune in Virgo (1928/1929 - 1942/1943) has a down-to-earth spirituality (e.g., Capricorns Martin Luther King Jr. and Elvis Presley). When Uranus and Pluto transited Virgo, that included The Whole Earth Catalogue, Esalen seminars and student demonstrations.

In 1968, Vivekananda's philosophy (Vedanta) influenced my turning away from Christianity. In Jnana Yoga, Raja Yoga and Bhakti Yoga, Vivekananda described ways to "save oneself," to remove illusions about the god/goddess within and our planetary Oneness.

The Washington Psychic Institute (WPI) was also concerned with moving prana or spiritual energy through the body. In Chicago (1988 - 1997), I taught such WPI techniques as chakra meditation and the psychosomatic effects of co-dependent energy cords.

As A Course in Miracles says, "Miracles are natural. When they do not occur something has gone wrong." The illusion of Jesus as a suffering servant and divine savior among co-dependent Christians has a disempowering effect on our energy centers (chakras). Such illusions block access to our Inner Self's "miracle" resources in a career and relationships.

Neptune was moving into Capricorn (1984/85 - 1998/1999) and Saturn in Pisces (1994 - 1996). "Illusions" (ruled by Neptune), as described in updated versions of The Bhagavad Gita (A Course in Miracles (ACIM) and Richard Bach's Illusions) became a practical way to understand our selves/Selves.

In Chicago, Unity Church ACIM and co-dependent groups nurtured a transition away from hierarchical Christianity. Barbara Brennan (Hands of Light) and Caroline Myss (The Creation Book: Merging Traditional Medicine with Intuitive Diagnosis) became popular healing resources.

Chicagoans ask whether New Age or Judeo-Christian religious structures work. Reiki, Rolfing, medical astrology, natural foods and acupuncture are healing tools. The Roman Catholic and African-American churches have done well here because of their social welfare and education concerns.

During the 1960s, I rode the El train from Evanston seminary's ivory tower to Chi-town's neighborhood taverns, Italian pizza joints and Blues festivals which were like the industrial hometown I loved -- including my beloved Sagittarius (Virgo Ascendant) grandfather, co-owner of our family gas station.

As a Chicago pastor, I integrated his wisdom with Humanistic Psychology, Eastern religions and bluecollar church members. Theological abstractions were replaced with such sermons as "God's Dirty Hands." While at a rural Illinois church, I discovered America's frontier heritage among the farmers and literary roots of Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain. Their down-to-earth, good neighbor, irreverent humor and do-it-yourself independence compared favorably with Vedanta philosophy.

Virgo's symbol is a "hyacinth (purity of mind) in one hand and a stalk of grain in the other. The grain represents the potential for fertility....Methodical action, dedicated effort, exacting drive, a sensible attitude, a knack for detail and a discriminating mind....To achieve fulfillment, they must feel that their work is of practical value to society" (Compendium of Astrology by Rose Lineman and Jan Popelka).

In the 1990s, Uranus and Neptune in Capricorn were Grand Trining my First, Fifth and 10th House (Uranus and Saturn in Taurus). An astrologer said my writing style involved editing and re-writing to perfectly communicating my ideas. The painstaking Virgo attention to detail became a labor of love.

Gemini (Air) and Virgo (Earth), both ruled by Mercury, thus complement one another. The Earth Ascendant (and Chicago vortex) grounded my ideas (Gemini) into a workable form. Chicago Virgos (and writers) have expressed their ideas through a newspaper column (Mike Royko), social work (Jane Addams' Hull House), architecture (Louis Sullivan) and basketball court (Phil Jackson).

The Chi(cago) Vortex aligns our body, mind and spirit Infrastructure with the Uni-verse. The Earth "college" is about making our ideas practical (Virgo) by breathing (Gemini) prana into our earthen vessels. As I learned to love the Earth, i.e., the Virgo Ascendant, for helping me accomplish my goals, healing doors opened up with my Taurus father.

The journey toward reconciliation with him from an auto mechanic to bluecollar Chicago and rural Illinois was reflected in a search for common ground in my sermons, writing and spiritual pathwork -- whatever was characterized by a universal practice of "salvation," accessible to such uneducated (and unordained) auto mechanics as my father. Astrology, for example, was a way to understand our unity and differences.

The zodiac is a holistic portrait of the soul. The harmonizing of prana through the chakras synchronizes with our Inner Pilot, charting a healing journey through the twelve astrology signs over many lifetimes. Missing elements or hard transits are "gas stations" (karma/dharma growth places or spiritual vortexes) for "full-filling" our Selves.

Watch for Part III - The Gaia Villager

Brock Elk Horn does clairvoyant readings, astrology and holistic counseling that facilitates healing of mind, body and spirit. Telephone: (773) 338-3329. For more information, see the Chicago Pulse - Practitioners in this issue of TMA.

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