" Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds."
-Franklin Roosevelt
Recently, I watched
"The Adjustment Bureau", a film starring
Matt Damon,
Emily Blunt and
Anthony Mackie.
As I often love to do, I started looking for
connections. The
threads that would
unite the general theme of the movie and the
Astrological philosophy which I will share, quite enthusiastically to anyone who has the desire to know. After watching for a while, the light bulb went off. I love it when that happens.
First, I would like to give everyone a general overview of the film. While it's not complete, I think it should be fitting enough to move us in the direction in which we're headed.
In the movie,
Matt Damon plays
David Norris, a
New York Congressman who's making a run for Senate. While his campaign starts off promising, he ultimately loses momentum at the end, resulting in a convincing defeat by his opponent.
While rehearsing a
contrived and
robotic concession speech in the hotel Men's bathroom, he's shocked to find
Elise (Emily Blunt) pretty much lounging and taking in his disingenuous remarks. They talk for a while and make an instant connection. It's really as if they've "met" before on a higher, more ethereal level. Emily seems to be able to see right through David and to put it mildly, he's captivated. Unfortunately, the object of his inspiration has other problems. Elise makes a hasty exit, as she's being chased by hotel security for crashing a wedding.
In other news, their interaction compels Mr. Norris to go out and keep it real with the people during his speech. Instead of what he was practicing, David delivers an address full of
heartfelt authenticity. Ultimately, his remarks serve as the platform to seeking the same senate seat three years later. This time, emerging as the front runner.
One month later, David, who's now employed , but engrossed in campaign activities, runs into Elise on the bus. This time, he doesn't half-step and gets her phone number. He's determined to maintain contact, for he wants to regain the feeling that was established in their initial meeting. David arrives at the office feeling ten feet tall only to find all of his co-workers frozen and some strange men in suits and hats giving his immobilized campaign manager a thorough once over. Simultaneously perplexed and fearful, Mr. Norris tries to flee, but his attempts are unsuccessful. He's immediately disabled of his strength and taken to a warehouse to become better acquainted with the intruders.
Harry Richardson (Anthony Mackie) explains to David that these men are from "The Adjustment Bureau". That essentially,
their job is to make sure that the individuals they target stay "on plan", and if they have to intervene in their lives to make certain this happens, so be it.
Much to David's chagrin, he's given the information that it's not in the plan to see Elise ever again. For good measure, one of the men goes into David's pocket, removes Elise's phone number from his wallet and hands it to another man to be burned.
Unwilling to give up, David takes the same bus for three years with hopes of encountering Elise again, and by Jove it finally happens!! However, by this time, the adjustment bureau has it's claws in deep. They're immediately alerted and are on David like white on rice, doing everything in their power to agitate both of their schedules so they will be unable to see each other. To throw them totally off track. Of course there's more to the plot, but this propensity to disrupt, as to not allow David and Elise to be together because "the plan" says so, continues throughout the entire movie.
So, where does astrology enter the picture, you ask?
In my eyes, the whole "Adjustment Bureau" symbolizes a very static and rigid view of Astrology. One which reduces us to a few key words and phrases which are supposed to describe our behavior patterns, temperament, etc. The stultifying approach that keeps us "on plan" for being a Scorpio, Taurus, or having Mars in the 9th house. The microwave cookbook version of what we have to look forward to because we were born in mid-December. The type of astrology which will have us believing that there's only a couple of ways to express or live out the potential of our planetary placements and aspects as indicated by our individual birth charts.
Just as the universe demands something out of each and every one of us, we must in return, demand from it. In actuality,
it is US, who controls our plans based on our level of desire to live an authentic life free from the external dictates of others. We must do the work of self reflection. The intellectual labor which helps us decide if a certain life direction resonates with us or not.
The more we buy into conforming to someone else's "plan", we are deadening our ability to practice free will. We must be courageous enough to seek more than these astrological cookbooks tell us.
It really comes down to how much we want to work to
realize and actualize our birth potential. Yes, we
use our birth charts as a tool,
but we have the final say as to the manner in which we express the ingredients in the recipe. Let us not forget that there are a myriad of ways to express Sagittarius, Cancer and Leo.
There is no book, astrologer, etc. that can ever cover all of these possibilities.
There is no doubt that it would benefit us all by having a competent, caring Astrologer provide us with a comprehensive overview and analysis of our birth charts, but no matter what prognosis we receive, it's still up to us to act. To create a container for significance. To devise a wholistic life perspective which can accomodate all of the seemingly random bits and pieces of information. We can and must create meaning in our lives.
At the conclusion of the film, when it was throroughly demonstrated that both David and Elise
wouldn't let any obstacle stand in their way to keep them from obtaining their ultimate goal of being together,
the adjustment bureau rewrote the plan to include them.
I encourage every one of us to engage in
deep, meaningful and transformative dialogue with our individual astrological adjustment bureaus.
Adjust your fate. Establish
YOUR plan.
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