Written in the Stars | April 8, 2005 Today is certainly a day when all roads lead to Rome. The funeral service of Pope John Paul II has begun as of about half an hour ago. I imagine that anyone in North America up at this hour will be watching the service, which is really an enormous ritual of the White Mass. The service is rich in Pagan symbolism, including the use of smudge, the calling of the circle, and the use of the directions in space. I had a look for the funeral earlier in the week, but tuning into my animated chart program, the first degree of Cancer appeared in the ascendant. The service actually began with Gemini rising and therefore Mercury retrograde, slow and powerful in Aries, being the ascendant ruler. Remarkably, John Paul II was born the day of a solar eclipse, and he is being buried the day of a solar eclipse. He was also ordained as a priest close to a solar eclipse in late 1946, appropriately in the sign Sagittarius -- the sign of religion and spirituality. Despite today's ritual being officiated by men and with official participation, with one exception, by men, today's eclipse is focused on the planet Venus, the planet of the Goddess and the patron of the Pagan system of natural religion. At this moment, just before 11 am in the Central European time zone where the service is taking place, the Moon is at 13 degrees of Aries and the Sun at 18 degrees. The current aspect is the Moon applying in a sextile (60-degree aspect) with Mars in Aquarius -- an appropriate enough symbol for the gathering of the tribes, with Aquarius so well supported. The Sun, as well, has recently completed an exact sextile with Neptune. So we have a lot of harmonious spiritual imagery surrounding this gathering of pilgrims and world leaders, obviously a good idea, and very likely to have been planned at a time elected with the assistance of astrologers. Personally, I am finding the whole thing extremely difficult to watch.