Eclipses used to be hyper-weird zones when things happened but during Pluto’s transition from Capricorn to Aquarius, every day can be eclipse-level bats. If you’ve listened to The Scorping, you’ll know it’s more about strategic positioning than punting that X or Y could happen.
However the upcoming Lunar Eclipse has an uncanny resonance with Aaron Swartz’s natal chart. If you don’t know of him, he was a brilliant, courageous ‘hacktivist’ who campaigned for open-source information and government transparency.
Tragically, he took his own life in January 2013, aged 26, amid the maelstrom of a sustained and extraordinarily ferocious court action against him for illegally downloading Jstor articles. He was facing 35 years in jail and for the last two years of his life was pursued more voraciously than than any number of felons, including the bankers who broke the financial system.
He was a quadruple Scorpio with the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Pluto in Scorp squaring Mars + Moon in Aquarius. It is a fantastic formula for obsessive focus with inventive wizardry and his family were supportive but even so, Swartz stood out. He taught himself to read at three and was coding by 12 – he co-founded Reddit and was also involved in the development of RSS, Markdown (think html) and Creative Commons.
A genius coder, he selected restaurants based on their menu font – such an Aquarius Moon move – and revered Helvetica. Swartz also carried a pen and paper everywhere because he believed in noting down every observation. Surmisal: He could have been an early adopter of the smart-phone opt-out.
His site and Twitter etc are maintained as a kind of digital memorial, without mention of his passing, and the movie doco on him is incredibly moving. It’s one-sided because none of the people who went after him so doggedly would comment.
“A piece of knowledge, unlike a piece of physical property,” he said, “can be shared by large groups of people without making anybody poorer.” Fuq knows what he would have made of the disinformation bureau, fact checkers and opaque ‘you can’t know that’ nature of 2022.
The Moon’s Nodes and the imminent Lunar Eclipse, with its Scorpio-Aquarius zing + Mercury Retrograde are very Aaron Swartz. The Eclipse + South Node are conjunct his Mercury and the current North Node was the South Node at the time he passed.
Mercury will be Retro over this Full Moon Eclipse – always good for a big reveal – and it will retrograde back to 26 Taurus, opposite the Eclipse point. Something is about to surface, murky at first but clearer by June and it will be thematically tied into the sort of scenarios that Aaron and others like him were and are concerned about.
Thoughts?
Such a beautiful guy. In my mind he was murdered by the government, whether by his own hand or not. Making an example out of an outlier like him seems depressingly inevitable today. Great post Mystic.
He looks eerily like HF.
Who I’m sure many here remember me droning on endlessly about. I see your eyes rolling from here Pegasus 😝. I was obsessed with him and believed it was fate. A bit like when I was 13 and certain I would marry the lead singer of that Scandi boy band. He was it. The one. All that. But I did eventually find my way out of it ethically with him. That’s another story- and not relevant here. It was fate. He inspired me to radically change my whole life. Because of him I realised I could still find another human being, a man, a flawed mortal shlemiel a boring shmuck, a boy, domesticated and deceitful man child attractive enough to risk being hurt by, to commit to and to stop kidding myself and pretending I didn’t care. That love was for the birds and I was too clever and sophisticated to need anyone.
Some people have such attractive and powerful energy and it oozes out of every pore. If there’s any kind of mutual attraction or spark, or something we can conceivably misconstrue as such, the gravitational force to project our inner gold or our shadow is immense.
Yes I feel you. I have a type, this guy is a bit like my type. Active, intellectual and big energy whether expressed introverted or extroverted doesn’t matter to me, but ready to contend with the world.. I am sorry I haven’t read about HF because I have had a busy few years. I love reading everyone here and can get caught up, but have had hypothyroid, MCAS, fatigue and much to do regardless.. also I don’t like spilling the tea on the forum as it isn’t so private and I end up cutting my comments to splinters of my reality, to the point it is nonsensical.
We can never be too sophisticated for love, finding my groove doing trance work made me unashamed of my big love, 23 deg Scorpio Moon style ‘n’ all, it is a portal of power after all. You ooze energy, love! You just need a bigger field to work with maybe, lol. We do project, it’s a dance between self and other we all need to carefully learn I suppose, you know, the boundaries, environmental quicksand and the chess board stage on which it takes place. Especially women in general see the energy field that is the Avatar, the god self, forgetting to note the small man prism, the light is bending through, sometimes fragmenting and losing integrity on its way.
yes! Yes. Yes. 💯
This was back in the zap zone Sphinx. I met him late 2012 and the tea splashed absolutely everywhere. I’m relieved you didn’t instantly go “oh him!” Because how cringe. But it’s okay to be cringe sometimes. We have to start where we are. Your moon is 23 degrees Scorpio hey? Yes, conjunct my Lilith I remember. How was the weekend for you?
Well I felt pretty down so I meditated and got a lot of download re the shadow and how we need to pay attention to the stifled aspects of the self. Once I went over where I was lost, stuck, disconnected I felt better, then I was there to attend to my family who were emotional over those recently passed, feeling disconnected and I tried to help them be aware of their shadows too! You know, the normal, lol. How about you?
Yeah, much the same thing really. I’m working with my internal family system rather than any external beings but they’re just as real to me as anyone else is. They could be called my subconscious drivers, or inner aspects, shadows etc I suppose but they feel more distinct and have identities and specific jobs that they do within the psyche or being I call me. I’ve been meeting them on journeys of behaviour change. Like those matryoshka dolls. They have jobs they’ve been doing since before I had language skills. They take care of each other and some of them are older, wiser (parts don’t know about other parts) because of how the brain of a very small child deals with horrifying events which are never resolved. It’s not straightforward you know? But it is fascinating. Meeting them all. I love them so much. So I’m with my family too. Everyone is well. 🪆Doing the best I can with all of it. Also aware that it’s time to go out into the world more now and connect with other people. Healing in solitude can only go so far I think. Real recovery happens in our relationships (we live in our relationships) so I’m also at a point of realising that too much of the interior/ introvert life is failing to rise to the challenge and it’s also a refusal of this gift of living in a vibrant city full of other curious humans striving for connection and healing and play. That feels like the new chapter of life for me, not going “oh that was lovely “and withdrawing to enjoy reflection on it but kind of sharing more of myself with others and sacrificing some comfort for the hope or possibilities of new relationships and experiences.
That’s so interesting about your being so in touch with these aspects of self. I haven’t sat down and looked at the main aspects of self governing my day to day. I suppose I regard my guides as inner aspects, like Jung mentioned his guide Emmanuel was akin to a higher self with all dimensional access (my interp). My ASD son’s Autism consultant was Donna Williams. https://blog.donnawilliams.net/2011/04/12/donna-williams-has-multiple-personalities/#more-2837
Her intense blog introduced me to Legion Theory which you might know about, but really resonated with me, so I thought I would share. I am not a networker myself but feel as you do! Blessing on your networking self!
Oh wow. Thanks for sharing this. It’s not something I’ve come across before. What I said above is all completely organic and unconfirmed by anyone else. I have been becoming less fractured and fragmented since 2012 when I found this community and then more significantly since 2017 when I made huge lifestyle changes and then as things have become calmer and I’ve been able to create some semblance of safety and routine in my life these things have come to light. I’m interested to learn about this idea. Thanks xx
Love that you have come to these understandings on your own! Your answers are sophisticated as always so your questions must be as clued up. Glad you are feeling secure and stable and can access that inner gold, am sure there will be more interesting insights to come.
Amazing blog. Thanks for the connection. ❤️🔥. Wow. I can relate to her strength and unique perspective. The issue of psychopathy and narcissistic parenting is particularly relevant and interesting to me. There certainly a dynamic going on there and I find myself in a repetition compulsion -holding pattern of getting involved with similar people and drawing in similar abuse/ behaviour exchanges. It’s extremely interesting to me and I’m curious as to why it happens and what the compulsion is hiding. Like how is it serving me? What does it represent and what is it trying to teach me? Very cool site Sphinx xx
Donna Williams was a genuine genius, she ascertained my son’s challenges at 3 years old in under 2 mins, conditions that became apparent many years later too. Some conditions you only read about and most doctors haven’t heard of. She could mimic and inhabit your body better than any actor. It was actually amazingly scary. Her blog is intense but I figured you would appreciate her. Her books are fascinating too. A unique and powerful consciousness unlike anyone I have met! She is a counterpoint to Temple Grandin, an artistic autism mind.
Amazing. And yea I can access some of those mimicking skills as well. I used them extensively as a way of survival as a child, to the point where I got into trouble for it as it was assumed I was making fun of people that I especially liked. These were adults, friends of my parents and we’d be travelling around staying with them. I wasn’t aware that my accent and mannerisms were changing and reflecting the people I felt safe with. I got a lot of harsh criticism for that and sadly it made me withdraw even more into my insular world. My parents honestly had no idea I was gifted. None. My perceptions and behaviour challenged them in ways that they weren’t able to make sense of and I stopped sharing them and shut down. I became incredibly cynical and nihilistic due to not finding anything I could admire or look up to morally in the people around me. My lie detection abilities have always been off the charts. I’m able to see people still in ways they might not even see themselves and it’s uncomfortable. It didn’t foster trust or closeness and I felt so isolated and as if there wasn’t any meaning in life. Now that I’m turning these things onto myself and trying to live in a way that allows me to respect myself spiritually first I am starting to find meaningful connections and slowly finding some purpose I for living beyond short term pleasure and escaping/ disassociating. I’m learning to trust myself and to think.
To me, on this blog today, it is immediately obvious you are gifted! I am sorry that you became inward, I relate. Learning to understand my adhd has had me travel a path of more self acceptance and it can involve a similar response if a different cause. Love your ability to express your feelings and thoughts with such rich clarity!
Thank you.
Im also a quadruple Scorpio (sun mercury Venus Neptune) with Aquarius moon. But am a law abiding weirdo whose favorite trip is inside my own head. Such a loss when such a genius checks out early. Who knows what he could have done had he stayed.
I was just talking to my very Geminian, non-astrology believing brother about merc rx and he told me about Alexandra Elbakyan. Another Scorpio and transparency specialist who has a website – Sci-Hub – that hosts over 80m ‘pirated’ research papers. Super interesting.
ooh, interesting – thanks!
Hi MM, thanks for illuminating us about Aaron Swartz, and digital divides. I have found it difficult to even read this post because I couldn’t get past the photo – in particular, his eyes – I’d have to scroll past it because I find the image indescribably haunted and sad. (Then, I decided to defy my typical over-emotive self and really look at the photo – lo and behold, there is a reflection to his left, with his profile? and a flash, captured – reflections in photos just feel weird, to my over-active imagination..!) I just hope he is safe, and at peace, finally. X
As for digital stuff, he clearly (& bravely) aimed for equity. And it is a messy time, in cyber history – I just read about non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for the first time last night – which took me down a rabbit hole, because the ABC reported last year that “NFT-bots” have been created to make digital (potentially monetisable) tokens out of virtually anything you can post online – images, text, and even URLs!! As most creative work (for e.g.) relies on online/social media marketing, this seems an emerging and (as yet) minimally-regulated fair trade issue (ie. Privacy is power, indeed!) 💓
When I first saw his picture the word soulful popped into my mind !
Off topic:
Mmmm. I have natal Neptune in Scorpio 23 degrees conjunct Vesta in Scorpio.
Neptune is opposite my natal Taurus Moon having the rare 84 year visit from Uranus.
I can handle this energy alone in my cave/cabin. But out with people not so much. And that’s an understatement.
Can some kind/wise soul please explain?
I also have Chiron 29 and half degrees Pisces 1st house. I think I may have just hit the raw nerve?
Hi Wish, hope you okay?? The cave is highly recommended – still not out of mine, lol!
I think Neptune-Vesta meditations (seeing as they are being illuminated directly by the FM) might be fruitful. Am not clear on Vesta asteroid symbolism – is it your (inner/outer) hearth..? Devotion to a cause? Cj Neptune would be pretty heavy. In Scorpio, the mind boggles! I reckon detox, clean diet, attending to hearth and home, and talking to Spirit/Nature while laying on your grass! But – am just guessing. Good luck!!🤗 Xoo
Neptune is in the 9th house and is within 2 degrees of Vesta. It occured to me the other day that I have a Neptune and Jupiter natal thing kinda if going on.
The dark side does not scare me and I feel kinda comfortable dealing with these things now. As long as I can dig my hands into the soil and stare at my plants to transmute this energy. Devotion to a cause ? Interesting? Maybe helping people with dark side issues. but I would have to have strong boundaries with a Pisces Rising.
Any way thanks for you cave/detox/nature tips.
xxx.
Oh and I also have a Taurus/Scorpio north/south node.
Wish – having Chiron in the 1st is wearing your deep & intuitive nature on your sleeve, it’s not something that can be ignored and requires your acceptance of internal wounds for you to be able feel comfortable with your spirit. And it’s in the Critical/anoretic degree at 29, which means this is your souls final manifestation till it moves onto the next lesson. So all the lessons/experiences will have that much more of a sting…. (a Scorpio reference by accident but maybe not lol).
With Chiron so close to Pieces they will conjoin to create an even deeper reservoir of emotion and feeling. Your inner world must be lit lol 🔥
You need the solitude for repair, we all do but I feel your soul craves connection and you can heal others so easily which will in turn soothe your own soul, and so the healing cycle will begin to heal you in return ✨
There is so much solar energy this week, you’re probably feeling moved to rejoin society, even though it can conflict with your nature. I read that Sunflowers are a great addition to any full moon manifestation practice this week, in the lead up to the eclipse 🌕
Funny that. A few days ago I saw sunflowers at bunnings. It was a very brief glance but that image has stuck in my mind.
GET THEM!! it’s not too late to bask in the solar vibes🌻
I WILL.
No it is something that cannot be ignored. Thanks for clarifying that. I have had friends who has asked me to turn it off or made fun of it. I now realise that enviroments with high dysfunctional drama are not for me.
Your advice is impeccable and hits the nail on the head. I have been reading about the critical degree lately and I had great oh ha moments. Your words also validate things.
Yes my inner world is lit. LOL.
Your last sentence is food for thought. Thanks.
🙂
Please excuse my grammar/spelling. It is a recent phenonomen.
Haha you’re excused of course 🤍
Anyone that doesn’t understand your spirit, shouldn’t have the gift of your presence. That being said, I’m still searching for my tribe too…*sigh
Your intuition will be your guide on who nourishes your spirit vs depletes it. I learned about the critical degree because like you I have Saturn at 29 deg in my 1st house, next to Pluto and that’s basically my whole life struggle right there lol. Different planets but being in the 1st this shapes our whole persona.
Gee Ce that feels like a hard cross to bear.
A wise old friend told me that I am great at imparting short and sweet intuitive words to people, usually strangers. I feel great and I am doing a service.
Yes I am guided to help certain people. It happened today. It made me bouyant. Then I went shopping and enjoyed the smiles of babies and Nice people.
It put me in a really good mood.
I think you and me are the sort of people that don’t really need a tribe: honestly. Thats my personal experience anyway. I like my own company. After a life of trauma and learning I just want to get on with my lifes work. Art and healing.
I love my own company! It’s the only place I feel free to revel in my true spirit. Last night while the full moon was high in the sky, I just lay down and immersed myself in the power of the moon.
For the moment however I drew a line in the sand and have put my own growth first, for the first time ever and are solely focused on my path. The tribe (if it ever comes lol) will come when I’m more active in my career.
Art & healing I have to believe is how we will connect with others, by repairing our own relationship with our self first 🤍
I know tribe is just a cliche.
I was forced to heal myself as other supposed healers : mainstream and alternative really let me down and abused me to the point that it felt like a cosmic joke. Then the penny dropped. I can heal myself.
So I did.
I envy your moon healing. Yes put your growth first. With all that Saturn and Pluto in the first.
I couldn’t lay down to the moon the earth was too wet in Gympie.
Cheers to our Soul Growth Sesame. LOL.
There can be very skeevy/murky types in healing circles which is such a major disappointment and an abuse of trust. I’m glad it led you to realizing your own healing powers tho! Real life lessons are hard lol.
Yes the weather in NY has been so lovely, but the weather is very grim here today matching the mood after the Hate crime in Buffalo…
Yes they are hard but there always seems to be a silver lining. Once learnt there is no going back.
You live in NY? Wow. Hate crimes. Is it scary living in America?
Got to love those silver linings!
So a few years ago, I was going through a particularly tumultuous period right before my nodal return and I moved to the US & self exiled myself away from society and myself really.
I’d spent years caring & nurturing everyone else and my inner self had become like some wild wasteland lol. Then Covid hit. Honestly I’ve never seen anything like what I’ve witnessed here…. it feels like there is a dark dividing energy that is building and has been given air since the Trump era. I didn’t think anything could be worse than what happened to George Floyd and now this. My soul hurts for this country 💔
Oh Cece I just googled that hate crime in Buffalo New York. It was a racist hate crime. And you live in New York. So close to home. I’m sorry.
I saw the pictures of the poor souls. May they rest in Peace! They have beautiful, gentle smiles. I will say a prayer for them tonight.
You must be in shock. Take it easy please. I will include you in my prayers tonight.
Love
Wish Upon a Star
xxx.
Saturn next to Pluto = Excellent Advice. The clarity is amazing. Like a clear diamond.
Remember this full moon Scorpio is a time to let go of stuff. So you can find the clarity for yourself.
Yes that combo does give excellent clarity, but it took awhile to actualize as it felt like a super heavy burden I was carrying. Now I’m starting to realize that it’s the power that these two planets provide, some extra exciting items in my arsenal 😬😬
Use them wisely.
Of course!
I just wanted to thank you for listening to me over the last week. You felt like an anchor.
I didn’t let on but I actually had a fall Saturday afternoon. I was doing some gardening and slipped and fell on my steep driveway. When I got up I knew I was ok. I got a heavy knock on the back of my head. But a large surface area took the impact which was good. I called the ambulance just in case. One of the ambos was a Virgo .
A stickler for protocol he was. He tested my blood sugar and it was sky high. They took me to the hospital for more tests and gave me medication. So it was meant to happen.
My north/south node axis is Taurus/Scorpio. I think it was fate.
I know it sounds horrible but it did knock some sense into me. I have a Taurus Moon so I’ve got a hard head. LOL.
I’m just feeling the intensity of this full moon start to lighten up. Thanks for being there when I was in the thick of it.
Hey Wish that’s interesting how you had a sense something else was up with you and that you needed help with a kind of wound or something Chiron-y? Was that question consciously related to the ambulance/ sky high blood sugar event? If not that’s pretty dang spot on hey? What a cool moment to have a Virgo ambulance guy show up in your life 😝. The proverbial knight in shining armour. With a siren 🚨 ❤️🩹. How’s the integration phase post eclipse going?
Seems like a lot for everyone to process now.
Actually I didn’t connect Chiron in the 1st house with the head knock. But thanks for pointing it out. A head knock is a very Aries thing hey?
You know the Diabetes thing is interesting. A couple of months ago I had the blood test and I was borderline. I spoke to my doctor and said I would tackle it with diet and excercise. He was happy with that. The diet and excercise fizzled out. Then I got a letter from the doctor saying we need to make an appointment to discuss diabetes. I was like “make your mind up doc”
Which is it? Yes or no. Then I just forgot about it. Alas the Universe had other ideas. LOL!
Yes the steady Virgo ambo was a blessing literally. I am integrating it all now thanks. While listening to the Goddess Deva Premal and her mantras.
Goddess speed with yours and everyones integration.
xxx.
🙂
I did Mystics 12 card tarot after the last new moon and 6 wands came up in the 1st house. Thats a virgo in my 1st house.
Auspicious.
Wish I didn’t realize you literally were going through it while we were speaking!…. Hhhmm Taurean moon needing a blow to the head to shift their stubbornness is actually comical lol (I’m not at all laughing at your injury but the irony here!!). You know my nodes are in Scorpio / Taurus now too, and from my own experience especially the Scorpio part is the shedding of the layers of waste that has accumulated through our life/experiences…. including our old versions of self. Your body has probably been sending you cues that you have been ignoring and so it manifested as your accident to bring your awareness to, well yourself and your imbalance!
If I have been an anchor and assisted you, then I’m grateful I’ve been here!
take care of you pls!! ❤️🩹
I also was compelled to contact you last week, now it all makes sense why!!
The soul knows what the conscious mind hasn’t realized ✨
I’m glad you followed that compulsion.
Many thanks and blessings Cecemesee !
I’m glad I cheered you up. Oh yes the irony!
Usually the body does send me clues but with the blood sugar I was a bit of a boiled frog metaphor. Hence the head knock.
It’s funny how you describe the murky waters. That’s the visual I get and I feel them getting clearer. You didn’t say murky waters did you? but thats what I first saw. Spooky things are happening today.
It looks like my Nodal return hasn’t happened yet. But it will. The past few years have been interesting. I am rediscovering myself again after decades of not.
And I will take care !
🙂
Haha where is Mercury Retrograding in your chart? You sound like you’re taping into something interesting right now 👀
I found out yesterday that Mercury Rx was right on my Chiron yesterday, which has been fantastic for writing and healing through words. Scribe vibe. Oh wow my nodal return was an epic story for the ages lol. Get ready for a fork in the road….
Oh my god. 3rd house and I’m a Gemini Sun.
Get ready for a fork in the road. Thanks. I can feel it coming.
Well that explains why you may be perceiving/receiving other communications atm!! I love diving into astrology, so much can be explained once you start to learn and then add your own intuition to fill in the gaps 🧐
I also felt compelled to tell you I have my natal sun conjunct Pluto.
I actually have natal Pluto and Uranus conjunct within 2 degrees in Virgo 7th house both sq my natal Gemini Sun in 4th house.
You know most people find me affable. But there is a side to me, more authentic imo that is very independent and sometimes sees people as road blocks.
Affable isn’t a word i’d use to describe you, you’ve got far too much depth for that imo! …. Pluto having a solar boost must give you a tremendous amount of power at your disposal! I love Plutonian energy but in my experience it can take time to understand & feel comfortable in it. When it comes to the people you choose to allow in your orbit, I think the more comfortable you become in your power the easier it will be to attract like minded souls ✨
Thank you Cece. The last sentence is the answer to a mystery.
So much to unpack here. I have just had a tremendous amount of sleep to integrate everything and I do feel powerful.
Last night I had a dream where I joined the workforce and my current employer was being taken over by Indian Hindus. At first I thought they were superficial but no they were the real deal.
So we did some sort of full on ceremony. We were all put in individual little blow up dingies and all attached to ropes. In the middle was the sun. And us in a cirlce like spokes on a wheel. The feeling was transcendent and beautiful. But then I was pulled into the centre. I could feel the light rays on me gently. Then they said to me my work is Shadowwork.
It was a powerful and healing dream. I have been undergoing alot of self healing over the last few years,
Yes it is time to step into my power again.
Your words are very helpful. You are like an astological pyschologist.
I also had another dream. I was in a Buddhist temple. I found a very old Rolling Stones magazine. The whole magazine was on the actual Rolling Stones Band.
Some small minded, western wannabe Buddhist snickered at me. But then 2 lovely Gen X (like me) piped up and defended me. We had a great lively conversation. Funny dream.
These references to religions is interesting…. like your exploring different avenues to express yourself through. You know I had to actually look up which ‘Gen’ category I was in lol I’m Gen Y.
I’ve really abandoned all societal labels, I’m too Uranian for labels.
Oh I definitely know I’m a Gen X. Mostly because these people seem scarce where I live. I find it easier to relate to them.
Anyhow sorry to put you in a box. But nobody puts electricity in a box hey?
I thought you were actually older then me. You do have a certain maturity. And definitely insight.
I’m a Pisces Rising. The Hindu dream was amazing, the Buddhist one: not so much.
Hello dreams!! Now we’re talking, you’re higher self sounds like it’s sending you msgs through your dreams…. and shadow work sounds very Carl Jung and probably why you were compelled to talk about your Sun conj Pluto. To me it’s obvious, you have power unrealized but first you have to correct/heal your inner world 🌎 ….hahaha Astrological psychologist I like that! Mercury Rx exactly on my Chiron which is also in Gemini is honestly giving me some type of ancient wisdom access. It’s beautiful 🤍
Thanks for your ancient wisdom. I really do appreciate it. And yes it is Beautiful !
I hope it is something you use in your lifes work?
In the past I have taken my dreams for granted: before I got into astrology. Thanks for pointing out the higher self reference.
Power unrealised. Heal my inner world.
Cecemesee thanks for playing a part in my healing process.
Go Well !
xxx.
I do use all full moons as the stage to release all of my experiences/emotions/people that no longer serve me… I feel very fresh this morning! Like a blank slate and I’m grateful 🥰
You know healing others can come in many forms too…. it’s obviously in a way that serves you first and foremost.
Exactly
This is such a beautiful interp. ❤️🔥
thx lovely 💜
It is isnt it.
Thanks for enlightening us with this man’s work.
🙂
As someone whose copyrighted content is repeatedly ripped off and reposted, I am not in favor of zero paywalls and open everything, obviously. If I had open-everything, the site would be festooned with ads and every word you read, every mouse move – the length of time you spent looking at any particular picture would be tracked.
However Aaron Swartz was not pushing for individual content creators to be unable to charge for their content. If you read any of his work, it is obvious. Eg: he championed individual creatives being able to sell direct to the pubic versus big record companies managing them and exracting unreasonable fees.
However, I think a couple of commenters have only read the irrationally negative New Yorker article, which seems to extrapolate various neurodivergent/aquarian/eccentric person traits into ‘damning evidence.’
Perhaps reflect on the fact that the New Yorker is owned by Conde Naste, the company Aaron Swartz wrote unfavorably about (hilariously) and basically refused to participate in after they purchased his co-creation Reddit.
J-Stor and MIT did not press charges, the government did and admitted it was because they wanted a potent deterrent: were there hundreds of would-be downloaders of excess academic articles who needed to be deterred?
It was heavy-handed and ridiculous: the guy was super-smart, progressive, tech-genius, connected, charismatic and had political ambitions. They could have fined him for a misdemeanor and drawn on his talents.
The content he wanted to ‘free’ was mostly generated by long-departed academics and researchers, whose work was in large part funded by taxpayers. The thinkers/writers were not being paid and the company’s charging for it had not participated in its creation.
He’d previously done a similar stunt with court records that were legally accessible but had the same ‘toll payment’ on them – he invented an algorithm that searched millions of documents and uncovered several completely corrupt, big-industry favoring/citizen-screwing decisions that created a false precedent.
He believed – as do a lot of people – in the power of raw data, unbiassed research and people being smart enough to peruse it all and make up their own minds. The trend of less funding for quality education, literacy and libraries at the same time that information – knowledge itself – is shrunk into a increasingly narrow range of ‘permissable facts’ is dangerous.
Big thanks for further weighing in with sub illumination, MM. and just want to thank you again and underline for wonderful, vital, and rare your not having free everything and ads and attendant ad-bots and trackers and beyond is. Your site is an oasis and really maybe one of the few things I can think of that’s really aligned with creative, humanistic tech rather than the Big Tech behemoths and so on. That’s the digital world we have to fight for and build. Gratitude and solidarity always.
Thank you for voicing reason, alongside fact MM.. It must be interesting to observe as website creator & also, over time fluctuating comment threads – as someone myself with strong astro communication aspects, coupled with bull-in-a-china-shop bluntness, I admire your savoir-faire immensley x
He was extremely involved in politics, campaigning and volunteering with Democrat congresspeople and senators! He was by no means “entitled to overthrow the government”, he was an active player in the legislative & political process! One of his first free information projects was to overturn the fact that past, unsealed court documents from SCOTUS & District Courts were pay-to-read only. Which is unethical as those are supposed to be public knowledge. He wished to strengthen the rights of the people so that they could understand legal precedent, and have access to the full decisions that their own Supreme Court made (decisions that affects Americans everyday lives). That is called building trust between the public and the government – not “overthrowing”.
“A piece of knowledge, unlike a piece of physical property,” he said, “can be shared by large groups of people without making anybody poorer.”
Except when the *way* that piece of knowledge is expressed forms a person’s income stream.
That’s why nobody here is copying and sharing the unique Mystic Medusa expression, and pretending it’s our own.
Intellectual property isn’t about knowledge and facts. It’s about the work done to research and clearly express those facts.
FYI.
I also think – sadly – that my ‘heirloom seeds are the new gold’ thought was prescient
Am I the only one who snickered at this?
Heirloom seed.
😝
I don’t get it?
I was being really glib and referring to the number of kids he’s spawned.
apologies for being crass
I’m in the minority here I know and actually really like Elon. I think he’s good peeps. Doing good work. And I like how into having kids he is. But he sure has a lot. Heirloom seed. Geddit. 🤦♀️
Haha ok, 😄 I have read he is the father of Amber’s child, plus he has 2 with Grimes, apart from the rest of the heirloom seeds.. I just wonder at the choice of Amber as a mother if it’s true! Controlled opposition is a thing, Musk like Gates, didn’t spring out of rock, he’s got connections – but hope springs eternal, it would be nice if there was a kind trillionaire or two out there.
I mean. Yeah. He has about seven that I knew of pre grimes but obviously I don’t know the dude personally and I’m not interested in getting drawn into the fray over some guy I’ve never met with people etc “post Scorpio eclipse disclaimer “ I need to start prefacing all comments with legal disclaimers when posting online opinions about people I don’t know among people I don’t know. 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
I’m seriously opinionated and especially here but honestly I rarely say what I think anymore as you mentioned above. Tea stains get everywhere and they can be stubborn as.
yeah. Anyway. He’s got some heirloom seed that dude
Yes, I understand, lol. I am more interested in the puppeteers behind the puppets and like to think on the narrative projected and why, why, why etc. But people frequently take things personally, which is less interesting than anything I can imagine lately.
Aye!
So sad 💔
Well universities / academia have their own issues. Every academic I know will happily email anyone who asks free copies of their work if it is behind a paywall. I can’t speak for corporates, there is a general feeling in academia that the information, or intellectual property, that they are producing should be more accessible. See the Elsevier boycott for instance.
Definately MURKY
How sad..🙏..imagine what is happening now.!
I have been in the bubble for a while as I have some acquaintances whose systematic ongoing use of the internet to find magic spells for their personal vendettas or lovers is dark and dangerous…They think they are witches and won’t listen to reason or who will be affected by their behaviour.
Thanks for the Scorping and upbeat music which is great and not loud to drown out listening.
🦂 🦂 🦂
I LOVED the scorping btw. The beats work 🌟
A genius coder, he selected restaurants based on their menu font – such an Aquarius Moon move – and revered Helvetica.
My Taurus stuff takes issue with this because I am all about the FOOD but I can relate to being super judgy about fonts. It’s always a danger when it’s time for me to find a font for a project because I get sucked into the zillion options and go into a trance feeling the *vibe* of each font in my body. ^__^ That’s a funny quirk about Aaron, I find it very endearing.
“A piece of knowledge, unlike a piece of physical property,” he said, “can be shared by large groups of people without making anybody poorer.”
Fucking WORD. His death is so senseless. The professors I know and work with at conferences all pirate stuff for researching and consider it normal. These are people who mostly have access to stuff through their universities but if they don’t it’s no problem to just grab whatever is needed off the internet. And the average age of this group is like 70! They’re not some hip young kids who grew up with the internet lol.
I didn’t know Aaron but I know people in SF at Internet Archive and EFF who did and he was universally loved and respected. I’ll keep the spirit of Aaron on my mind as I navigate the current astro weather…
Internet archive and EFF are hallowed and sacred. Huge fan of the Creative Commons too. The ability to access previously unavailable information if you have the willingness to learn is such a privilege and something I for one am mega grateful for.
Not only are they doing such important awesome work but the people at Internet Archive are just the coolest most smart fun bunch of nerd. They have an awesome HQ building that is an old church they converted into offices. Sometimes they hold events there and I always try to go! I’m on a different path at the moment but always have wanted to work for them, maybe in the future.
Helvetica.
yes
PAPYRUS………………for everything 🙂
I think you’ve missed the point of his work. And I don’t know that committing suicide in your apartment really counts as escaping culpability.
Aaron wanted the internet to be free for all (including people living in poverty, those living under strict regimes, those who are not college-educated). As knowledge is the key to freedom, enlightenment, success, and self-empowerment (Imagine if Wikipedia was only accessible to people who paid or college-educated people??) His Jstor project was one of many academic data collections he did to find conflicts of interest between academic articles and private companies – he did not profit from them nor publicise the actual journal articles. He returned the journals to Jstor and Jstor contacted prosecutors to say they do not want to pursue, as everything was fine. I also don’t see a conflict between being middle class and wanting to expose corruption/ensure free access to internet. Further, his preference for expensive restaurants is trivial at best.
I’ll second that. Open access is becoming another name for predatory publishing. There’s always a price, it’s just a question of who pays it.
Our charts are eerily similar.
Good points. People who talk about “free sharing of knowledge” would be against chaining up your gardener and forcing him/her to work for free.
Rest in Peace Aaron !
💖
Also, I have not had time to parse this yet but fyi Roe Vs Wade was Jan 22 1973, right after a Lunar Eclipse at 27 Cancer opposite Mercury at 27 Capricorn – if you’re thinking old mate Pluto is rolling over those degrees right now, yes.
We Yanks are holding our breaths…. Goddess help us! Maybe our record for women’s rights and maltreatment of mother/ parenthood are the next parts of the American Shadow to be revealed? We can only hope.
I heard on the abc the other nite about americas abortion rights going conservative. Like the 1950,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,s. It wAS. a shock. Like watching the handmaids tale.
I really dont know which side you are on. Any way it is time for me to start jumping off cliffs and believing in my self.
Heres for a safe landing.
It is also Chiron Return for the case. I know you have a different take on Chiron, and I’m not really too sure what to make of it’s machinations myself, but the abortion issue has been an ongoing wound and conflict in the history of the U.S. in as much as it is rooted in a deeply patriarchal system (undeniable now), racism and white supremacy.
I have not had the chance to look into the astro properly yet but that is interesing re Chiron Return. Also, I’ve always found it super-illogical that the people who are ‘pro-life’ etc are also against single mothers.
That is not so illogical when you realise that the pro-life movement (in the U.S) is into the “traditional”, patriarchal, nuclear family way of life, solidified by their brand of religious belief (in a male god). Obviously you cannot give a woman the sole right and power to raise children because that would eventually subvert that norm. Single mothers are a threat, as are independent empowered women.
“Woman is the battleground of the universe” as Billy Sunday put it.
Interesting too how Pluto/Cap sq Uranus/Taurus seems to be the battle for sovereignty of the human body. We’ve had the jab mandates – literally forcing us to give up sovereignty over our own bodies – and now this ruling depriving women’s sovereignty over their bodies. Power and commercialisation of the human body.