Reality is not what it seems

Who am I and what am I doing here?

Tantalising questions indeed, but ones mankind has asked since time began and which astrologers, religious prophets, new age gurus, philosophers and scientists are still seeking to answer. Their conclusions vary and often conflict, but some of their ideas and theories do help us attach some purpose and meaning to our lives, if we’re prepared to put our faith in them.

Then there are those who look at life and come to conclusions that are so far out there, it’s hard to know what to make of them.

I’m currently writing a piece of fiction based around a secret society and I’m having great fun researching the wonderful world of conspiracy theories and the like. As well as inspiring my story, my research is also providing inspiration for this blog. Over the last week, I watched a seven-hour lecture online by David Icke*

Icke’s theories about the nature of reality, about who really runs the world and our place in it are so controversial I just had to look at his birth chart. For context, here’s a summary of some of his ideas, as I understand them:

• Reality is not what it seems. We are holograms, locked in our bodies and in our five senses, but really we are all as one. We are infinite consciousness.
• We have forgotten this and allowed ourselves to become locked in a symbolic ‘prison without bars’, controlled by secret cabals - The Illuminati - who use our leaders (politicians, heads of corporations, bankers etc.) as puppets to further their agenda.
• Those at the top of the cabals are shape-shifting reptilian aliens from other dimensions who are here to enslave humanity, suck out our energy, hold us in a lower vibrational state and limit our possibilities.
• These entities drink human blood and sacrifice children. Icke counts the European and British Royal families and the Rothschild bloodline amongst their numbers.
• There are also alien/human hybrids amongst us, like in the John Carpenter move, They Live.
• The Moon is not real, it’s a construct designed to amplify the negative waveforms that hold us in our ‘imprisoned’ and acquiescent state. Similarly, the rings of Saturn are also constructed to transmit these waveforms.
• To free ourselves, we must remember who we really are - infinite consciousness - and refuse to be controlled. We are many, they are few. If enough of us rebel - peacefully and with love in our hearts - we can restore our world as it was before the ‘Fall’.
• Humanity faces the same choice that Morpheus gave Neo in The Matrix: “You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”

Icke started his career as a professional footballer. After quitting due to ill health in July ’73, he made his debut as a sports broadcaster in August ’73. He then moved into politics, becoming a spokesperson for The Green Party in 1989. On 29 March 1990, he visited a healer and the experience changed his life. He began to receive channelled messages which gave him his mission and on 9 May 1991 he published Truth Vibrations, the first of many books in which he outlines his controversial views on the nature of reality.  This followed an appearance on the Wogan show on April 29th 1991 where he suffered intense and far reaching ridicule for his ideas.

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For someone who has enjoyed a high public profile in all incarnations of his career, it’s not surprising to find angular planets very strong in his chart, forming a cardinal Grand Cross.

Saturn on the Libra Ascendant suggests the ego need to be popular, but with difficulties gaining the popularity desired so much. Venus, in its detriment in Aries in the 7th House, also suggests difficulties with achieving popular appeal, despite the need for appreciation for his pioneering, but far out opinions (Venus is widely Conjunct Mercury in Aries, both planets opposing Neptune in the 1st).

Saturn’s retrogradation points towards a second chance at gaining acceptance and admiration in later life, especially as Saturn is exalted in Libra. Indeed, he is now considered a leader amongst conspiracy theorists, able to fill stadiums all over the world with fans keen hear his take on reality. Exaltation literally means raised status, honour and praise.

Saturn tightly Squares Uranus on the MC, the point of culmination, vocation, purpose and reputation. Uranus here explains why he is known for being unconventional and shocking, the ridiculed oddball, the rebel. Saturn Square Uranus is the classic combination for upsetting the status quo, the tension between the new and the old, the traditional vs. the avant-garde. The angular nature of this Square forces these energies into outward expression.

Icke’s Moon is in Cancer, Conjunct Uranus and Square Saturn. This suggests that he feels very deeply emotionally attached to what he does and to that which his Saturn-Uranus Square denotes. His vocation is truly personal, it fulfils a reining need, it’s his mission. The Moon on the MC often bestows a good sense of what the public wants and is great for self PR. Icke is able to exploit his eccentric reputation to his advantage. In fact, he opened his recent lecture in London with the words, “the nutter has come to Wembley.”

The Square from Saturn to the Moon, MC and Uranus has probably served to keep him grounded (relatively speaking) but also challenges him, probably making him doubt himself at times. Indeed, he admits to not being able to walk down the street for fear of being mocked after his appearance on Wogan, causing him to temporarily disappear from public life.

Neptune in the angular 1st House, Chiron Conjunct the IC and Mercury in the angular, public, 7th house, complete the Grand Cross. Mercury is in forthright speak-first, think-later Aries. Icke has spent most of his career broadcasting his opinions, first as a sports journalist, then as a politician and now as a mystic and author, who travels the world giving lectures and spreading his word. Neptune defines Icke's subject matter to a tee - mysticism, the spiritual, the unconscious, the dream state (he asks humanity to Wake Up), idealism, fantasy, lies and deception. The angular Chiron denotes the root of the matter, which is that David plays out the archetype of the maverick and the wounded healer almost to perfection. (Venus is also part of the picture, although wide of most of the other Grand Cross planets.)

Whenever I see a prominent Mercury-Neptune connection I always look for a theme of deception* or self deception/excessive idealism, which is often used as a defence. It’s hard to tell if this is the case with Icke, but I’m sure he would say that he is in the business of uncovering deception rather than being a deceiver himself. He vehemently asserts that his ideas are the real truth. Indeed, there is an outspoken honesty about Mercury in Aries, or at the least, those with this placement do believe in what they’re saying.  The danger with Mercury in Aries is that it can jump to conclusions too fast. It's not a Mercury that likes to be slowed down by time-consuming research, but the Saturn opposition can help here, frustrating though it may be for him to wait for 'proof' before going public with this theories. His first book based on his conspiracy theories was fittingly called Truth Vibrations a nice expression of his Mercury-Neptune Opposition.

A Grand Cross really does describe the life story. Here’s a word play delineation to summarise Icke’s Grand Cross:

He has a deep need (Moon) to communicate (Mercury) his vision (Neptune) of what he sees as the authentic (Uranus) and shocking (Uranus) nature of reality (Saturn). This information (Mercury) , he claims, came to him through spiritual, other worldly experiences such as channelling (Neptune). He identifies (1st House) strongly and deeply with this as his vocation (10th House) and is compelled to communicate it publically (7th house, Mercury). In doing so, he sees himself as a wise teacher (Moon and Mercury in angular houses in aspect with angular Saturn and Chiron). The bottom line is that he wants to heal the world (Chiron on the IC). However, despite selling out stadiums around the world, he is still a maverick operating outside the system (Chiron Opposite Uranus) and the mainstream media dismiss him as an oddball and a loony (Moon Conjunct Uranus on the MC Square Saturn and Mercury).

There is also something very Promethean about this Grand Cross (denoted particularly by Uranus on the MC, but also in its relationship with Saturn, Chiron, Neptune and Mercury). Symbolically, David is stealing fire (truth) from the gods and giving it to man.

It is said that we speak our chart, so how about this (the sub-header on Icke's website):

"exposing the dreamworld we believe to be real"

A cardinal Grand Cross tends to bring huge tensions around the identity. Falling in angular Houses (also associated with identity), brings extra tension and power.  David, it seems, is up for the challenge and has dedicated his life to answering the big question of who am I and what am I doing here on behalf of all of us.

Another notable point in his chart is Sun in Taurus in the 8th House. The eighth is associated with the occult, the dark, hidden side of society - themes dealt with extensively by Icke. Sun in the 8th is also associated with involvement in new age methodologies and healing. A fixed Opposition from Mars in Scorpio to the Sun denotes a man whose passions and desires run deep and who feels compelled to act upon them. This Sun-Mars Opposition keys into the MC, Uranus, Moon, Chriron complex by Sextile and Trine, providing it with a channel through which he can easily express its energies through his unconventional vocation.  We might expect Pluto to be prominent , given David’s subject matter. It doesn’t receive any of the more challenging or dynamic aspects, but it does key into the Grand Cross by Sextile and Trine. In the 11th house, perhaps Pluto signifies the secret occult cabal groups that David seeks to expose.

As for significant transits, Icke experienced his Uranus Opposition (the classic mid-life crisis measurement) between 1988 and 1991 an extended transit due to Uranus’ close aspects with the angles and the other planets in his Grand Cross. It was during this transit that he had the life changing encounter with the psychic healer. By the time transiting Uranus was squaring his 7^th House Mercury in spring 1991, he was ready to go public with his ideas and made that fateful appearance on the Wogan TV show, which exposed his to so much ridicule. At the time of the appearance, transiting Mercury was in his 7th House, opposing Neptune and Conjunct his Mercury-Venus midpoint.

20+ years on and many books later, there seems to be no stopping Icke. Now transiting Uranus is making a series of Conjunctions to his Descendent (opposing his Ascendant) and will make dynamic aspects his Grand Cross planets over the next few years, not forgetting that Uranus is in the midst of its revolutionary, evolutionary, game-changing Squares with God of the Underworld Pluto right through to 2015.

It will be very interesting to see the next chapter unfold in David Icke’s remarkable life and what new ‘truths’ he will uncover.

*Human Race Get Off Your Knees, The Lion Sleeps NoMore

*Notable examples of deception in Mercury-Neptune natives include Tony Blair (the Opposition) who is widely believed to have lied over weapons of mass destruction; Bill Clinton who lied about his affair (the Sextile) and politician/author Jeffrey Archer (the Opposition) who was imprisoned for perjury.

Birth data 29th April 1952, 17:15, Leicester UK. Source: Astrodatabank. Rodden Rating B.

With love, Mandi
www.mandilockley.com

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