The Tao Te Ching for Astrologers – Verses 59 & 60

Hey everyone, this is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology, and today we are continuing our series on the Tao Te Ching for astrologers. We're going to be taking a look at verses 59 and 60. Now for the duration of my Kickstarter here at the end of the year, I will be doing these over the weekend and dedicating more content to planetary transits during the week. And we'll continue this way until the new year. I hope that this also just gives some bonus content for all of you who have been enjoying this series and will get something good out of having it over the weekend, maybe as a time of refreshing and renewing yourself between weeks.

So yeah, so we're gonna get into it. But before we do, don't forget to like, subscribe, and share a comment in the comment section that helps the channel to grow. You can also find the link to my Kickstarter campaign in the description of this video or in the comment section below. I would love it if you would pitch in and donate and support the channel. You're supporting me and a staff of people. And some of the goals that we have in the year ahead, including the establishment of a donation-based reading clinic so that we can offer astrology readings to people who might be struggling financially, it's a big goal of ours. And it really helps if you make a one-time donation, you can pick a reward when you donate. We're doing really well coming into the weekend here. But we're trying to also make sure we keep up the pace and keep those donations coming in. So you can do that, you can help us out. We really appreciate it. So again, you can find the link to donate in the comments of this video or in the description of the video.

All right, well, let's get into it. We're going to be taking a look at verses 59 and 60. And if you have been following along with the series, you know that you don't have to have seen any previous episodes to get something good out of any new episodes because all the verses are like standalone, just, you know, packed full of wisdom. So the purpose of this series is to pause and remind ourselves like why are we here. Why are we doing astrology? And to turn to some of the world's greatest wisdom texts and to, draw from them and see what they share in common. What we do in practice as astrologers to me is super valuable. It helps me just reset and kind of come back to my center and remember why I'm here and why this is such a beautiful thing to have in my life. So we're going to read through these. I read through them twice. I read through the verse once; I read through it again. On the second time, I offer some reflections for us as astrologers; I just, you know, jot down some notes every time and hope that they end up being helpful for you. All right, well, verse 59. We'll read that one first. And I've got it up on the screen. This comes by way of the Jonathan Star translation of the Tao Te Ching.

Verse 59
Rule the people and serve Heaven yet hold nothing more dear than the Mother's
harvest
Let every thought and every breath be the fruit of your offering –
Do it now
Let her power run thick in your blood
There will be no obstacle you cannot overcome
No limit you cannot surpass
No empire you cannot rule
Ah, but in all your glory never lose sight of the Mother
Without her your empire will crumble your power will waste away
For the Mother brings the harvest
She alone causes all things to endure
We call this "Deep roots and a solid trunk" "The way of long life and lasting insight"

Verse 60
Govern the nation as you would fry a small fish
When Tao is present in the empire dark spirits lose their power
It's not that they have no power it's that their power can't harm anyone
When Tao is present the people enjoy the blessing of Heaven
They find unity
They find peace
What's this about spirits doing harm?
The Sage is approaching and they are rushing in to sweep his path!

Very poetic. Verse 60. I like that. All right, let's reread through 59, and then we'll offer some reflections today. Verse 59, Rule the people and Serve heaven. Remember that the Tao Te Ching was offered as a full philosophical text for rulers and political leaders as well as it could have been read, you know, by just your average, you know, person or spiritual seeker.

Verse 59
Rule the people and serve Heaven yet hold nothing more dear than the Mother's
harvest
Let every thought and every breath be the fruit of your offering –
Do it now
Let her power run thick in your blood
There will be no obstacle you cannot overcome
No limit you cannot surpass
No empire you cannot rule
Ah, but in all your glory never lose sight of the Mother
Without her your empire will crumble your power will waste away
For the Mother brings the harvest
She alone causes all things to endure
We call this "Deep roots and a solid trunk" "The way of long life and lasting insight"

My favorite part of this verse is the one that says but in all your glory, never lose sight of the Mother because there's this funny thing that happens. And I'm going to compare the Mother to the nature of, the wisdom of nature. So, as astrologers, the wisdom of nature is dear to us; most people who like astrology are paying attention to it because they believe that nature herself demonstrates through the stars, not only through the stars but through the things of this actual Earth, the weather and the signs and omens and nature and the patterns and rhythms of life, that the Mother is always there providing for everything. And if you pay attention to this divine intelligence, the reward that you receive is a kind of alignment. It's like walking in step with the beat of a drum or something. And if you pay attention to this wisdom of nature, you come into right alignment, you come into harmony, and things have a way of turning out okay. Even more than that, they can turn out very fruitful. But then there's a temptation.

When you fall into alignment with the great this great power of nature. And let's call that for us, astrologers, the power of the stars. Part of our lives are about walking with this intelligence every day, people who tune in to my channel every day, or any kind of astrology content that you absorb regularly. You're tuning into it because it, in some ways, guides your steps or just gives you some additional insight when it comes to making a tough decision. And you can feel very empowered by that. And because it brings success. It brings things that endure and last and are strong.

But in all your glory, never lose sight of the Mother; without her your empire will crumble, your power will waste away, for the Mother brings the harvest; she alone causes all things to endure. So you can easily think when you're getting into a roll onto a roll, you know, you can think, oh, I'm doing pretty well. But it's not you that's doing well. It's not me that's generating any kind of success. It's only some kind of grace or mercy that we've fallen into step with an intelligence greater than our own, aligned ourselves with something sacred and holy, aligned ourselves with the wisdom of the Mother, let's say.

Because if we lose sight of that, we get proud, we will fall down, and we will because this Mother is also a tremendous teacher; she will not; she will pull the rug out from underneath us if we need to remember, you know, any of this good stuff has come from being in alignment. Being in right relationship. We call this deep roots in a solid trunk the way of long life and lasting insight.

Alright, verse 60. Govern the nation as you would fry a small fish. Now, I don't know what that means. I've read this verse a bunch, and I really don't know what that means. So if anyone does, I've thought about it a lot. I can't say that I have any tremendous insight; there must have been an interesting way in which they fried small fish. Anyway,

When Tao is present in the empire dark spirits lose their power
It's not that they have no power it's that their power can't harm anyone
When Tao is present the people enjoy the blessing of Heaven
They find unity
They find peace
What's this about spirits doing harm?
The Sage is approaching and they are rushing in to sweep his path!

This is beautiful because someone wrote me an email not too long ago, and they said, Is there any way that the energies astrological energies could mess with me? And is there anything I should do to be protected from any of them? And that's a question that's really old. And I'm certainly not. I don't pretend to necessarily know the answer. I can only speak from my experience, and I guess something of my personal belief at this point. But no, they're not out to get you, and you don't really need to do anything to protect yourself really. Because I don't believe that there are antagonistic forces out there with regard to the planets that are out to get you, it's about being in alignment. And when you're in alignment, both the malefics and the benefits. Both Saturn, Mars, as well as Venus, Jupiter, so to speak, are the challenging placements or transits as well as the ones that are more enjoyable.

You don't really privilege one over the other. If you do astrology long enough, you start recognizing that sometimes the worst ones are the best ones. And the best ones are the worst ones. You don't presume to be smarter than the sky. You're always waiting. And you're always excited and curious to learn something new. And you're just in awe and reverence and appreciation of this majestic science. And when you are in that kind of alignment, it is as though the dark spirits lose their power. Not that they don't exist any longer, but that they can't harm you because they have a place in you that is sacred. When they don't have that place, they're present. Intends to feel or be observed or experienced in a way that's very different. And that is what we end up thinking, God, I need protection from, but a change of consciousness does wonders for this. What's this about spirits doing harm? The sage is approaching, and they're rushing in to sweep this path. Because even the dark spirits are part of the totality of nature and life. When we understand their presence and their reality, even if we mourn, even if we suffer, even if we experience real pain, they still don't have the same power as when we are afraid or out of alignment in some way.

So my experience, there is no bad astrology in that sense, although you can certainly experience some miserable transits. But the more you walk an astrological path, something like the Tao creeps in, and you just start to feel like everything has its right place. And they're in that sense when the bad things come in. You always feel like they're actually they're like sweeping the path out in front of the healing in the learning and the growing, and the loving. That comes if you are someone who's dedicated to the sky and if you're someone who is dedicated to right alignment with this intelligence.

So those are my reflections for today on verses 59 and 60. Hope that you hope that they'll inspire you or inspire some reflections of your own that might be needed right now. We will continue with the series again next weekend. In the meantime, don't forget the Kickstarter campaign is going on between now and the end of the year. We still have a bunch of days to go 1608 backers is our goal. It would be awesome. If you pitch in and choose a reward when you donate, you can get 50% off any of my online classes, which is awesome. I only do it during the Kickstarter, exclusive talks that I give readings that I offer as rewards for your contribution. The link for that is in the description of this video and the comments section. Hope you guys are having a great weekend. Take it easy, everyone bye.