The Universe is Alive and You are Part of It! Astrology Questions Answered for Kids!

Ask Anything!

Hi Kidz!

My name is Alan Oken and I am an astrologer and a teacher.  I am here to answer any questions you may have about the incredible world we live in.  Your questions can be about anything to do with spiritual matters and the ways people try to come closer to the Source, the Force, the Spirit, the Universe, or whatever you wish to call It.  So feel free to inquire about astrology, numerology, the Tarot cards, meditation, yoga, the world’s many religions and ways of worship, or anything that comes from deep within your heart and mind.  And I will do my best to answer you in this column.  If you have a question, make sure you enclose a photo of yourself plus your name, age, and the place where you live. You can contact me here at alanoken@kidztimez.com.

Question #1 comes from my eldest grandson, Tyler Oken:

How do you do a horoscope for someone?

The word horoscope comes from the Latin word for “hour” (hora) and the Greek word “to look at” (scopos), so horoscope means “to look at the hour” and refers to the hour when you were born.  So what I need in order to see your horoscope and cast your personal birth chart is your date, place of birth, and time of birth.  From at least 5,000 years ago until the late 1970’s all astrologers had to calculate the horoscope by hand.  This took a lot of math, including a good dose of trigonometry and geometry and you could spend several hours just doing this procedure.  Now astrologers use computerized astrological software and it takes about 1 minute to calculate and print out the horoscope!  But it still takes quite a bit of time (and many, many years of hard work and study) to be able to see a person’s character, past, present, and future in this astrological map.

Question #2 comes my “spiritual” grandson, Salvador:

Why do we exist?

Salvador—Age 13, Lisbon, Portugal

Now that is some question, Salvador!  This is a question that mystics and philosophers, plus heaps of ordinary people have been asking since the appearance of the first thinking human beings on this planet.  I cannot tell you that I have The answer.  But here at least is my answer.  We exist for many reasons.  The first is so that we can know ourselves not only as being alive but as Beings who live consciously.  Each of us is a unique single cell in a Great Unite of Life.  The more we grow into knowing ourselves for what we really are (and this takes a lot of time!), the more we see the Great Universe inside of ourselves.  Each of us is a single cell wired and unified into an immense computer that is always turned on and generating.  All I know is that the closer I get to the Heart and hard drive of this universal computer the happier I am that I do indeed exist, and want to share this happiness with others.

Question #3:

I have had a lot of changes in my life this past year and some of them have been very difficult.  I was wondering if can tell me what to expect in the upcoming year.   This is an exciting time in life and also kind of scary.  I was born on March 22, 1997 at 09.27pm in Anaheim, Ca.

Caitlyn, Age 14, Riverside, Ca.

Hi Caitlyn, Before I answer your question directly, let me speak to all of the Kidz.

Hey Kidz,  For many of you the image of Caitlyn’s horoscope is probably the first time you have seen a real astrological chart.  So let me tell you something about charts in general.   You can see that it is divided up into 12 parts, sort of like pieces of a pie.  Well this pie represents Caitlyn’s life and each of the twelve sections is call an astrological “house.” Each house points to a different area in her life like relationships (7^th house), friends (11^thhouse), career (10^th house) and so on.  If you look inside each of the houses you will see the symbols for the planets (in astrology, we also call the Sun and Moon planets even though we know that the Sun is a star and the Moon is a “moon”).  is the symbol for the Sun and  is the symbol for the Moon.  The planets speak to us about the people in your life (the Moon is your mother, the Sun is your father), but they also tell us other things like the Sun speaks about your general health and the Moon tells us a lot about your emotions and feelings.  Each of the planets is in one of the signs of the zodiac.  for example is the symbol for Aries, so that in Caitlyn’s chart she has ^5 which means she has the Sun in Aries in the 5^th House and that this tells the astrologer among many other things that this is a girl who is a leader and a pioneer, one who is often impulsive and head strong, who may lack patience but is also very courageous.  She will also be a very creative person, likes her special hobbies and past times and may feel inclined when she is older to work with young people.  Now I do not have the space here to explain it all but if you are interested in learning more about astrology, I wrote a book called “Alan Oken’s Complete Astrology” (IBIS Press, 2006) where you can find out a lot more.

Now to answer Caitlyn’s question:

Dear Caitlyn,  You have an amazingly powerful horoscope; it is creative to the max!  You will find that you will periodically have to reinvent yourself.  This is sort of like a caterpillar entering its cocoon and emerging out as a butterfly.  You will do this many times and this is one of them.  Each time you come out of the cocoon, you look and feel more like yourself, more like the individual that you are.  But going into the cocoon is scary because you do not know what the butterfly is going to look and feel like once it comes forth.  This process often requires leaving the past behind or at the very least, getting rid of what you no longer need for your life’s journey.  In astrological terms, the planet Uranus in the sky is sitting on top of (we call this a “transiting conjunction” in astrological terms) many of your planets in the sign Aries.  Aries always indicates new beginnings as it is the first sign of the zodiac.  So you are coming out of your particular cocoon with many new talents and abilities, strengths and creative potentials.  This process will last until February of 2013, so get prepared to rid yourself of some old habit patterns and leave a lot of space for the new, exciting, and very interesting girl you are becoming.

Much love and many blessings to all you Kidz and I look forward to hearing from you!

Alan

Submit Your Questions to alanoken@kidztimez.com!!

Astrology by Alan Oken: Aquarius - The Man An Urn - January 20 to February 18th

AQUARIUS—THE MAN WITH AN URN—JANUARY 20 TO FEBRUARY 18

We can find many similarities between people in the same family, fan club, or political group but no two people are 100% alike. The same is true about astrology. As an astrologer, I can list dozens of personality traits about each of the 12 signs of the zodiac that can describe a Leo, or a Taurus, or a Capricorn for example, but each individual member of a sun sign category will be a different person. One of the most interesting things about astrology is that it teaches us that in a very basic and fundamental way we are all the same, we all came from the same Big Bang Birth that produced the entire Universe and yet we are each one of us so beautifully different. One of the greatest gifts astrology has given me over all the many years I have studied and practiced it, is this realization of our uniqueness and sameness. Astrology has thus freed my heart from all prejudice and allowed me to know that indeed the Universe is my very special Friend. 

Aquarius is the sign of friendships and groups of people. It is the sign of social networking, computers, mobile telephones, e-mail, and all forms of media interconnectedness. When I see a Flash Mob bursting into dance, I think “that’s Aquarius at work!” Aquarius rules the masses of people. A flash mob dance is when suddenly out of the normal activities of going to a train station, shopping mall, or cinema, ordinary people of all different ages, races, and ways of dressing, coming out of the crowd in coordinated singing and dancing. If you know the song—or even if you don’t–you can join in too! And when the song is over, all the people just melt back into the crowd and life goes on….

Aquarians like to say: “I am the same as you but I am also me!” And they like to prove this by dressing differently and identifying with some social cause that really captures their idealism. Aquarians like to think of themselves as “people of the future,” as they are filled with hopes dreams, and aspirations for a better world, not just for themselves, but for everyone.

These are the social revolutionary types ruled by the planet Uranus  these were the type of people found at the recent “Take Over Wall Street” movement. They are also the type of Aquarians you found in the peace marches and human rights demonstrations in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Such Aquarians are now working for Greenpeace, and Feed the World, and other such humanitarian organizations and institutions. Yes, of course people of all the twelve signs participate in such demonstrations but the themes of these social movements are Aquarian: Right Human Relation, Freedom for All People, and Equality for All People. 75% of the time, if you speak to an Aquarian friend of yours, he or she will be working on some sort of idea or project that relates to one or more of these themes (and if not now, certainly when they are a bit older). The other 25% of the time, the Aquarian boy or girl will be thinking about how to be more him or herself: what to wear that is part of the latest trend to shock and open eyes, what to say that is sure to disagree with what other people are agreeing upon, and what to do that will surprise and wake people up.

Not all Aquarians introduce fads, in fact most of them like to be members of social groups that have a lot in common in terms of their uniqueness but they are unique together. Aquarians like to be different if they can be like other people who what to be different in the same way! Think about it. An Aquarian doesn’t mind being a social outcast if he or she can be a social outcast with a group of about 20 of his or her friends who dressed in the same style, are also social outcasts. Those that say they “go it alone” may do so at school (and take a certain sense of pride in their stoic aloneness), but when they are home, I am sure they go straight to Face Book or Twitter and connect with their group on the internet!

Aquarius is a fixed-air sign. I will write more about these characteristics of “quality” (cardinal-fixed-mutable) and “element” (fire-earth-air-water) in each of my monthly astrology articles. “Fixity” means just that: stubborn, opinionated, and resistant to change. But on the other hand, this Aquarian quality is also determined, loyal, patient and one-pointed. “Air” has a lot to do with communication and Aquarius loves to do just that—talk and share ideas with as many people as possible. But “fixed-air” means that you can never change an Aquarian’s mind once it is made up and if you try you will meet up with very strong resistance. It is then that Aquarius detaches, becomes very impersonal, and floats off into space. The very open-minded Aquarius is totally in to you having your own opinions, lifestyle, way of dressing, anything at all that allows you to be you. All you have to do is have the same respect for your Aquarian friends and their often unusual and surprising ways they like to lead their lives.

Here is a list of some famous people born under the sign of Aquarius. All of them have very interesting lives and you may find a lot of rewarding information looking them up on line:

Bill Maher, comedian, social commentator
Christian Dior, fashion designer
U Thant, Secretary General of the UN
Ellen Degeneres, comedian
Louis Carroll, author of “Alice in Wonderland”
Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France
Oprah Winfry, actress, business woman
Buzz Aldrin, astronaut
Justin Timberlake, singer and actor
Simone Weil, educator and social activist
Jules Verne, author
Mark Spitz, winner of 7 Olympic gold medals
Taylor Lautner, actor
Abraham Lincoln, president of the USA
Robbie Williams, singer
Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City
Miep Gies, protector of the Anne Frank family
Kim Jong Il, leader of North Korea
Michael Jordan, basketball star

http://www.kidztimez.com/astrology/

Who is in Charge of your Decisions?

 The idea of who is in charge of your decisions is a concept that has plagued humans and brought about more questions than answers. Albert Einstein, all the great philosophers to modern day individuals have all asked the question, in some form, who is in charge of my decisions?

Determinism, the idea that all future outcomes are inevitable and unavoidable is placed in contrast to freewill, where humans make decisions and therefore create their futures. Many are disturbed by arguments of determinism as the idea of not fully being in control of your thoughts is terifying to most. "It is a profound problem for without free will there can be no morality, no right and wrong, no good and evil. All our behaviour would be pre-determined and we would have no creativity or choice" (Space and Motion). Essentially, the idea that we are prisoners in our own body, is not appealing to many people.

There are also those that argue that both free will and determinism work in combination with each other. In this case, both free will and determinism are limited and both partially and equally affect the course of our lives. In the You Tube video, "Neuroscience of Free Will", scientists predict future decisions of an individual by viewing his brain activity 6 seconds before that individual actually makes that decision himself. This disturbs the case study participant who is astounded that the scientist can predict his decisions before he himself knows what he is about to do. The scientist beleives that the unconscious, or the decision made 6 seconds prior, works insync with the conscious brain activity, which is the decision you knowingly make. This argument made by the scientist, however, is an assertion that cannot be measured or tested. It is the idea that unconscious decisions are made within a conscious reality. Therefore, the astounding results of this test, and the speculative conscious and sub-conscious assertions of this scientist, brings us back to square one. 

The burning desire to reveal some truth behind this dilemma has led to hypotheses from philosophers, scientists and introspective individuals. All try to answer a question that cannot give a clear answer and must be rationalized and considered through metaphysical thought.We may still be pondering the very theories of Aristotle on free will and determinism eternally.

Universal Similarities in Concepts of Seven

The significance of Number 7 in name numerology lies in its universal applications in denoting The Divine.No. 7 has the same numerology meanings of Divinity in many of the different cultures and civilizations.

When you analyze the usage of No. 7 in different parts of the world, you reach these inevitable conclusions.

A week has 7 Days. Music has 7 Notes. Rainbow has 7 Colors. The Planets are 7 in Number. No one found it necessary to add an eighth musical note, an eighth week day, an eighth color to the Rainbow, or an eighth planet.

Read More

Metaphysics and its influence on Science as well as Religion

New Age Metaphysics – Metaphysics in the ‘New Age’ 

Just like other eras in history such as the Aquarian Age, the ‘New Age’ is a period that has been described by historians as the era when spiritual knowledge will evolve. We currently find ourselves in this extraordinary period that had been forecasted by many visionaries and physicians such as Nostradamus, Lazarus and Edgar Cayce. The reason why the ‘New Age’ is extraordinary is that the believers consider this as an opportunity for humans to raise their consciousness to the level of the creator. No wonder Christians often refer to this era as the era of Jesus Consciousness!

New Age Metaphysics brings together science and faith in a supreme fashion as it aims at infusing scientific theories with the ideas argued under the New Age Cycle, in other words, it creates a beautiful balance between logical reasoning and inner beliefs.

Pagan Metaphysics

If we say that the principles of metaphysics act as the foundation on which Pagan beliefs stand, then it would not be incorrect but it can mislead us onto thinking that metaphysics gave birth to paganism. In fact, Pagan ideas find their origin long before anyone ever came up with terms such as ‘metaphysics’ or ‘paganism’. Think beyond this play of words and you will understand the true relationship between Pagan ideals and metaphysics principles.

While the followers of New Age Metaphysics lay their emphasis on the positive side of things, the followers of Pagan Metaphysics also consider the dark side. In fact, not only Pagan ideals acknowledge or recognize the negative side but they reason that unless you look at darkness you cannot identify what light is. By not turning a blind eye on the negative, Pagan metaphysics puts forth the idea that it is the negative that defines the positive.

Metaphysics as a religion

Whether people agree or not, the fact remains that majority of present day religions find their roots in metaphysics. However, this fact has given birth to a misconception that metaphysics itself is a religion. The fact is that Metaphysics not only encompasses or originates religions but many sciences, philosophies and literature find their roots in this doctrine. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why most encyclopedias and dictionaries define metaphysics as a philosophical theory that professes that “all things are part of each other and searches to discover first cause principals”.

However, when we set out to analyze religions that spring from the fountain of metaphysics, we find that these religions preach that everything is part of God, but nothing individually can be identified as God. They paint God as the ultimate source of life, of good and evil, of fertility and drought, of abundance and scarcity and so on. But while defining different religions the rituals, beliefs and principals their followers embrace and follow should always be considered.

Read More

Wuthering Heights as a Metaphysical Novel

Metaphysics is the "branch of speculative inquiry which treats of the first principles of things, including such concepts as being, substance, essence, time, space, cause, identity, etc.; theoretical philosophy as the ultimate science of Being and Knowing" (OED). Dorothy Van Ghent finds evidence, at one level of Wuthering

Heights, of metaphysical exploration:
the book seizes, at the point where the soul feels itself cleft within and in cleavage from the universe, the first germs of philosophic thought, the thought of the duality of human and nonhuman existence, and the thought of the cognate duality of the psyche.

The novel presents the collision between two types of reality, restrictive civilization and anonymous unrestrained natural energies or forces. This collision takes the form of inside/domestic versus outside/nature, human versus the "other," the light versus the dark within the soul. The novel repeatedly shows efforts to break through or cross the boundary of separation of the various dualities, like Lockwood's breaking the window in his dream or the figure of two children who struggle for union (Catherine and Heathcliff, Cathy and Linton, Cathy and Hareton). The two kinds of realities are, in Van Ghent's reading, both opposed and continuous There is a continuous movement to break through the constraint of civilization and personal consciousness and also a movement toward "passionate fulfillment of consciousness by deeper ingress into the matrix of its own and all energy." In other words, the impetus of life is toward unifying the dark and the light, the unknown and the known, the elemental and the human.

Catherine and Heathcliff, Van Ghent explains, are violent elementals who express the flux of nature; they struggle to be human and assume human character in their passion, confusions, and torment, but their inhuman appetites and energy can only bring chaos and self-destruction. The second generation presents the childish romance of Cathy and Linton and the healthy, culturally viable love of Cathy and Hareton. The adult love of Cathy and Hareton involves a sense of social and moral responsibilities in contrast to the asocial, amoral, irresponsible, and impulsive child's love of Catherine and Heathcliff. Van Ghent calls their love a "mythological romance" because "the astonishingly ravenous and possessive, perfectly amoral love of Catherine and Heathcliff belongs to that realm of the imagination where myths are created"; a primary function of myth being to explain origins, practices, basic human behavior, and natural phenomena. The two kinds of love (childish and adult) and the two generations are connected by Heathcliff in his role first as demon-lover and finally as ogre-father and by the two children figure.

Read More