the weather inside me

the story so far...the (long) late february 2010 overview

If you're just joining us, here’s a summary on the current long and mid-term astro scene:

Pluto-Saturn square: it’s still on --the hard realities, the call to courage, the fear, the projecting of shadows-- but Saturn’s moving back into the Virgo degrees, so we’re just getting a second look at relationship “stuff” that popped up since last October. Count it a second chance at important conversations and decisions.

Neptune-Chiron in Aquarius: the end of an era, or as Gawker proclaimed it, “The Fake Decade”. Finally, we're getting it. Chiron’s not done with his work here, but these past few weeks have certainly given me some unusual views into inconvenient “truths”. And talk about a wild dream life. Oy. I need a break.

Jupiter in Pisces: Connections, identifications, and professions with and of encouragement and hope are totally available if you want them. As are big creative possibilities. Can you be the bigger person? Sure you can. (As I type this, I’m listening to Alan Simpson joking it was time to hold hands and jump into the wine-dark sea --of the budget deficit. Poetic water imagery as political threat? Only with Pisces.)

Avoid the paranoid and the generally detached from reality. This is the dark side of Pisces and not a comment on Mr. Simpson. Uranus in Pisces (at the end of the sign, now at 25+ degrees), is pulling punches with those teetering on the edge of the Fear Abyss. A lot people are completely convinced this is the end of the world. No, it's just the end of the world as they know it, a fact that's microcosmically true every day of our lives. Still, we can't ignore the big, big challenges we face as a country. It's just that fear is not gonna get us closer to a sane deficit, safe highways, or decent health care for all.

On a related note: if you’re a Pisces or have personal planets in Pisces, take care with substances this year--right on down to caffeine, MSG, BHT and food coloring. I’m serious.

And finally, Mars, still retrograde in Leo: Mars is really slowing down now, and by the full moon on the 28th will have reached it’s retrograde direct degree. So if you feel some kind of gear grinding or stuckness, that would be Mars. Ditto big case of anticipation. This is all about going backstage and reworking your self image. (My original horoscopes on the retrograde are here and here.) What you're feeling could be a case of stage fright, or could be a case of retrenchment before the big advance come March. Circumstances vary.

If you know where Mars is passing through your chart, just ease up on yourself in that area. Strategize, visualize. Play with any new ideas that popped up with the Neptune/Chiron bingle last week AND the Full Moon in Leo in mid-January. What do you want to do with that new knowledge?

Strangely, if we’re not handling our own nervousness or irritation well, we seem to invite similarly nervous, irritating people into our lives. Not always true, but you could play with that idea and observe other people’s responses to your energy right now.

A note to men, or anyone who cares about a man: I'm not a guy, nor do I play one on TV, so I'm not gonna pretend I know what this feel like for you. My thoughts are based on my own reading, and the thoughts shared by men at other serious astrology forums.

Mars retrograde is especially challenging for men; after all, Mars is THE planet of the male impulse, the anima, the dude in you. Here’s the bottom line: the man in your life (could be you!) may or may not know what Mars retrograde is doing, but it's affecting him nonetheless --rearranging his ego, his self-image, his heart, his leadership instincts, his pride for his pride (or whatever substitutes for his creative output, progeny or no).

Mars retrograde is all backwards and inhibiting, frustrating and often confusing for many men. You could be angry, frustrated, scattered, inconsistent, or distant --really, really distant. Especially now as we approach the incredibly slow stationing direct motion. Imagine trying to save the damsel in distress who's stranded on the opposite side of a molasses pit. And the molasses pit is your expectations about what guys should do, could do, did do --starting with your dad and then every significant male authority figure you've known in your life. Now imagine how difficult this time could be if you never really had a solid male figure who taught you what to do when damsels lie on the other side of molasses pits. McGuyver never had it so bad. This "self" thing won't get fixed with a Leatherman, some chewing gum and three paper clips. Think about that for a moment.

If the man in your life doesn’t know what’s going on, or they’re resistant to introspection, you get a guy who needs to take on the world instead of himself. This might get internalized as heart problems; Leo rules the heart. As Leo practically grinds to a halt, Evan Bayh announced today that he’s lost heart in his work in the Senate and will retire. This is not good for the already straggling Democrat majority in the Senate.

The WORST example of this impulse also showed up in the news today: Andrew Stack, an enraged, suicidal man (badly managed Mars retrograde?) who’s sense of manhood and pride (Leo) was threatened by the limitations (Saturn) imposed by a government (Pluto in Capricorn) agency, the IRS, flew his personal airplane into an IRS office.

No doubt his actions were exacerbated by feelings of paranoia and doom emerging from those who’ve been embracing the end of the world (Uranus in Pisces) scenarios. He's not the first man who's wanted to take on the IRS with violence, but as we're revisiting a Saturn-Pluto alignment that last appeared fall of 2001, I'm saddened but not shocked that Stack chose to mimic the violence of that tragedy by flying his plane into an IRS office in Austin, Texas. Note --this was his own Piper airplane, and thus, he was not one of the huddled masses spewing underclass resentment. This was a wealthy guy by any standard. Do you have Piper small craft docked in your local airport hanger?

On that note, I looked at Glenn Beck’s astrology last week. He’s got Venus at 29+ degrees Pisces, the last degree of the zodiac, aka, the end of the world (sort of). In short, he’s in love with the end of the world. Yes. Have a look at his wiki and you’ll see a guy obsessed with eschatology. We'll hear much more about his obsession come spring. Bank on it.

Sigh. So play safe out there folks. You don’t have to be paranoid. You don’t have to push people around. I know so many people who are experimenting with huge new possibilities for their lives. Really big thoughts. I've got one friend who was making good money as a black-jack dealer, but she's leaving the industry to work at a raw-food retreat. She'd been wanting to walk away, but it wasn't until she broke her wrist in four places over the January eclipse that the decision was forced on her. A break like that is a career ender for a card dealer. But the end didn't start there: as she became mentally and emotionally more stable, her tips took a nose dive and she knew why --unhealthy people only reward their own kind. She's a Cancer rising, so Leo is working through her second house of money and self-esteem.

If you're moving towards healthier self-esteem, know that some people will find this a turn-off and not know why. They would prefer you functioning as their food source for whatever emotional, financial, or practical service you give them. And you're gonna catch some flak for this. For my friend, this translated into lost income. If you're hanging with people who pay you for being as immature, selfish, and needy as they are, you're going to face a loss of something --a contract, a contact? Or you may face losing old friends. These are not easy losses at first because they represent an old image you've probably carried with you for years. But this whole year is forcing all of us to rethink the old ways. Those who refuse to change won't be any fun to hang with anyway. Keep that in mind as you grow and experiment with the new you.

The time is also exciting because it presents the kind of risks that demand truly creative thinking and not a little paradigm shifting/shattering going on in that mix. But the risk doesn’t disappear just because the adventure holds happy possibility. So compassion is very much in need right now, too. Compassion that entends both ways --to you and to those around you-- and patience.

In that spirit, I’m taking a few days off from this blog to address some work at my side. One project is a revamp of this site, another some notes for the upcoming NCGR conference...and then daily ephemera and sticky fingerprints that come with motherhood. I need to shift my focus for a bit. Maybe I'll actually go for a walk. What a thought.

I’ll be back before the Full Moon to talk about the Venus-Uranus conjunction and early March events.

Until then, have a visit with any of the forecasters on my link list. They’re good people who’ll be happy to serve your astro needs.

Ciao.

Art: lisacongdon.com

Photo: seattlepi.com

All other photos: Philippe Halsman

Magic black guy is not going to ease our worries, analysts tell us, despite the ball of light he's holding in his hand.

Yeah. Eric's finally off the Planet Waves annual report leash and now delivering entertaining commentary on the Leo Full Moon and AIG bailout testimony in Congress. (I just fat-fingered that as "testimoney". Truly.)

This is great reading if you're following the financial crisis.

Photo: From PlanetWaves/CNN.

smart astro commentary on the citizens united v. the federal election commission

Capricorn rules corporations. Please don't forget that. The first international corporation (or joint-stock company) was in fact The East India Trading Company, first incorporated during the reign of Queen Elizabeth on December 31st, 1600  --a Capricorn by birth. The EITC was the very model of a modern major corporation: with the help of its home government (England) it eventually created it's own army, invaded a country (India) and then ruled it for over 20 years. Of course, England's and EITC's interests in India predate the Battle of Plassey by about 200 years, but the event guaranteed "company rule" of an entire continent for whole generation. It's effects, for good and for ill, were long lasting.

Now, just after a significant eclipse in the sign of Capricorn, we have a seismic political shift that undercuts 100 years of judicial precedent and suddenly favors corporations over individuals. But then history shows us that governments and corporations go together like peanut butter and jelly, like Oreo and ice cream, like marmalade and toast. Just not as yummy.

From today's weekly subscription newsletter at Planet Waves, the editorial (bolded text, mine):

Personally, I cannot think of a more significant issue for the Supreme Court to rule on, in our era of unmitigated corporate power. Here, we have one of the first landmarks in the Pluto in Capricorn era, a time when we know that the structure of society will change in many ways.

The court held yesterday that corporations have the free speech rights of people. Yet if anything, corporations are superhumans, subject to no responsibilities of citizenship that would balance freedom on the scale that they typically exercise it.

They do not have a natural lifespan, and can in effect live forever. They cannot be incarcerated, and holding them civilly liable for crimes or abuses of their rights verges on impossible (case in point, Bhopal). Any punishment is meaningless, as most in the position to commit atrocities have so much money that even a heavy a fine comes out of the petty cash fund. They can be as big as the state of Israel (or bigger), have an army and exist on five continents at a time. They have no lawful interest except for profit. They can employ a thousand attorneys. Their shareholders can come from many different countries. Their own power and structure shields the individuals involved from most forms of prosecution; it is rare that corporate officers are held accountable for the crimes committed by their companies.

This is an easy distinction, to see the difference between human rights and corporate rights. While many think there is a precedent for this, the original decision supposedly giving corporations the rights of people was so flawed that the issue is right in Wikipedia where school kids can read about it on their iPhones. That famous case, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, never took up the constitutional issue. Many in the legal community are fully aware of this issue, to the extent that there is a law center devoted to dealing with it.

Most people do not understand that ‘corporatism' is the true definition of fascism; that is, the merging corporate interests and entities with the state itself. This is the thing to beware of. What we have just witnessed is an example of the state granting greater rights to the corporations who are its creatures than to the natural sovereign citizens of the land -- in this case, the power to influence elections to high office. In effect, the government has privatized elections and has sold out its own power: a typical move, consistent with the central bank existing as a private entity as well.

I would say that Thursday's decision in Citizens United is an example of unequal protection under the law. Paraphrasing Carl Sagan, those who enjoy extraordinary rights must be held to extraordinary responsibilities. The problem in our moment of civilization is precisely that this alien race of entities thinks it has no responsibilities at all, in any meaningful sense of the concept.

Newsy: Mr. Handsome and Coco (why we love the wrong man)

The analysis of the Scott Brown election here at Planet Waves.

While this does not bode well for folks who support the health care reform movement, or Obama, NPR pointed out this morning that Massachusetts, the state who voted for Brown, already insures about 98% of its population, so the national plan is perceived there as messing with what's already working for them.

On the other hand, Americans seem to be exceptionally good at betting on the wrong horse for the right reasons these days. See the public protests in support of Conan O'Brien. As a friend of mine wrote to me,

At a time when things are hard financially for a lot of people, and it is particullarly hard for black men to find a job, people are rallying for a white male millionaire who just made more millions to not work!!!!  Now it does seem clear that he got shafted by his bosses, but seriously, he's fine...But, it has some of those same undertones as the people who rally to keep the government out of health care or the oil industry - the underprivileged rallying for the over privileged. 

You may not agree with these conclusions, but I ask you this: are you supporting someone or something who does not have your best interests in mind? Do you identify with or support a privileged someone who has convinced you they've been victimized? We're seeing something play out in our politics whose antecedents point directly back to patterns we grew up with that taught us to love (or at least protect) our abusers. That's some sick pixie dust, folks.

More on that later.

martin luther king, jr: capricorn sun/pisces moon

While the Sun is in its last degrees of Capricorn and the moon drifts through Pisces we find ourselves honoring an American icon of practical dreamers, Martin Luther King, Jr --born under a Cap sun with a Pisces moon.

Remember when I said last week that all Caps have a hidden side to their stuffy selves? Here's Capricorn leader who gave us inspiring leadership and kept a couple of secrets on the side.

This is my first look at his chart, so these are just a few first glance notes:

Cap Sun in 10th: destiny as public figure. Bam. No gettin' round that. These Capricorn hooves did climb to the mountain top.

Pisces Moon, conjunct Ceres in 12th: nurtured the creative, imaginative and spiritual dreams of the oppressed or confined. A karmic role. Here the Pisces moon/Ceres in 12th also illustrates his unconscious desire (he feeds himself with it) for sacrifice as well as his enduring legacy as a martyr devoted to his universal compassion (Pisces) for his family/people (Moon) of African-Americans, as well as all people. (Consider Eric Francis' recent discussion of the Thema Mundi (aka, "The Chart of the World", which begins with Cancer and the sign of the Moon. In other words, the Thema Mundi suggests we are all one family.) Many believe the content of his last speech also suggests he knew his death was imminent.

Packed 12th house: this is the house of hidden enemies as well. While in prison (12th house activity) his Letters From A Birmingham Jail revolutionize (Uranus) the civil rights movement and bring him, finally, into the public discussion (the Uranus/Aries Point conjunct iconoclast Eris--wow--talk about rock the boat). Eris always has something to tell us about folks who "didn't get invited to the party" and Uranus isn't interested in following anyone else's lead. Unfortunately, a 12th house Uranus in Aries also suggests unpredictable (martial--Aries) self-undoing or by hidden enemies --he was assassinated by hidden (to the public) enemy. One could easily argue his self-destructive secret affairs were part of his undoing.

Saturn in Sagittarius: on the cusp of the 9th House of Belief. classic signature of the preacher. 'Nuff said. Eighth house stuff is an issue, though. Hard lessons about the libido? Sagittarius is impulsive. Saturn says you gotta control those impulses or you'll face consequences. 'Nuff said.

Mars in Gemini: in 2rd House of Resources: driven to communicate and connect with people. Opposed Sagittarius.

Mercury in Aquarius in the 10th: career of speaking to people. Aquarius thinking = iconoclast, inventive, utopian. Downside? The tendency to embody the phrase "Do what I say, not what I do."  Sun in tenth (out of sign) with Mercury means what he says and who he is are conjoined in our image of King.

Taurus rising: semisextile the Aries Point at 0 degrees. Jupiter and Chiron conjunct Asc. This gives me the feeling of someone who can never escape the perception that he must provide for others. If Santa ain't gonna come this Christmas, he's got to boot up and be Santa. Taurus is a provider sign, and semisextile the AP, his provisions will have public consequences.

And on and on... a really interesting chart to study in these times. Or any time, but especially now.

If you're planning on taking my Astro 101 class in February, expect to work with this chart.

the astrology of the haiti earthquake

If you are interested, the folks at Planet Waves had the chart up first thing this morning with an analysis.

In short, earthquakes have an historical correlation to eclipse cycles. And this eclipse, in an Earth sign associated with land mass/tectonic plates (Capricorn also rules the human skeletal system), it's not surprising that we see an increase of earthquake activity, from the California quakes earlier this week to this Haiti quake.

The images coming from Haiti are heartbreaking. My hope is that from the rubble of this terrible, terrible disaster a new and better Haiti is rebuilt.

veterans' day, usa

Veteran's Day this year is particularly emotional, even for those of us who don't have a loved one in the service. Yesterday as I drove my daughter to a doctor's appointment, I listened to the memorial service for the men and women killed at Fort Hood. On the astrological anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I found myself, again, heavy-hearted over the madness of war. It's a form of melancholy I'm susceptible to, and one that responds well to rituals like memorial services and tunes played on a trumpet in a minor key.

Do I have any illusions that humans will ever abandon violence? No. No illusions there. We could sit through a hundred million memorial services and I still don't think we'd ever abandon that place in each of us that lusts to harm. I'm the sort of person that believes it's in each of us, waiting for the right moment to erupt. This belief doesn't make me paranoid; on the contrary, acknowledging my uglier self is an act of mental health --sort of like keeping one's friends close, but one's enemies closer. Yes, we can be our own worst enemies.

Which brings up a lot of questions about the relationship of Islam to modern psychiatry: how do each reconcile the shadow self to being a "good" person? Are there contradictions in definition, approach, outcomes? I'm very curious because the astrology of the shooting points to a sort of primal scream. Eric pointed this out to me in the Fort Hood shooting discussion thread at Planet Waves: Mars is trine both Pholus AND Hylonome. And Hylonome is a centaur planet and a marker for self-inflicted wounds, and self-imposed grief. Think of the custom of funeral keening and you get an image of Hylonome at work.

This week the Sun and Mercury passes through the last degrees of Scorpio and moves on to touch Pisces in Uranus and the South Node in Cancer in a grand water trine. We experience a lacuna of emotion-laden waters --self-referential, self-absorbed, self-contained. I say "lacuna" because grand trines so easily speak to one another, that this part of us tends to skip over useful information offered elsewhere in our experience. Here, we move from a deeply personal (Sun and Mercury in Scorpio) feeling to an universally compassionate (Uranus in Pisces) feeling, and then on to the backwaters of family history, our homeland, and most profoundly, our past patterns developed from feelings of safety and belonging (South Node in Cancer). 

Or you could be cagey and secretive (Scorpio Sun/Mercury) about possibly paranoid and definitely unpredictable/unlikely/surprising emotions you can't define (Pisces/Uranus), but you're pretty sure they've got something to do with your mom/childhood (South Node in Cancer). And you stew in this (grand water trine).

There's more than one way to float this river.

For Americans who observe Veteran's Day this pattern points to our own feelings of safety as a nation; we were "born" under the sign of Cancer, and for the next 18 months as the South Node passes through the sign of Cancer Americans will think a lot about our past patterns of how we nurtured and protected our own. Appropriately, this seems to have crystalized around two issues --our collective health (the health care legislation) and now, our combat soldiers sent out, ostensibly, to protect our country. (Many of whom do not support this current war but feel pressured to keep silent.)

Fortunately the Saturn-Pluto square is FORCING us to integrate these feelings --somehow, some way-- into a new sense of identity. This is the beginning of a long growth cycle for all of us. Some folks are really working hard at this; others, not so much. Have a care for the folks who resist these changes.  There's something here they don't want to acknowledge, which is the ugly side of themselves. And what we don't like about ourselves, we ascribe to others: "I'm not the problem, you are!" 

You know, it's how wars start.

Peace to all who've lost a loved one to war.

"Snow Angel" by Over the Rhine

(Words and Music: Detweiler)

Once upon a winter
It seems so long ago
My one and only love and I
Fell down upon the snow

And as the dusk was falling
From our gray and goose down sky
We heard the old cathedral bells
Ring out our lullaby

Snow angel, snow angel
Someday I’m gonna fly
This cold and broken heart of mine
Will one day wave goodbye
Goodbye to this cruel wicked world
And all the tears I’ve cried
Snow angel, snow angel
I’ll meet you in the sky

The rumors of a distant war
Called my true love’s name
He packed his leather suitcase
And spoke no word of blame
We walked awhile together
I tried to hide my fear
He told me not to be afraid
And whispered in my ear

Snow angel, snow angel
Someday I’m gonna fly
This cold and broken heart of mine
Will one day wave goodbye
Goodbye to this cruel wicked world
And all the tears I’ve cried
Snow angel, snow angel
I’ll meet you in the sky

They brought my love home from the war
In a cart pulled by white mules
The Christmas bells rang out that day
Oblivious as fools

And as the snow began to fall
I kissed his frozen face
They told me in his woolen coat
His last few words were placed

Snow angel, snow angel
Someday I’m gonna fly
This cold and broken heart of mine
Will one day wave goodbye
Goodbye to this cruel wicked world
And all the tears I’ve cried
Snow angel, snow angel
I’ll meet you in the sky

saturn square pluto: nyt's krugman on gop paranoia

("gop": don't you like how that title reads? Lower case letters reducing the Grand Old Party to toddler talk. gop, gop. Hee hee. Are you afraid of the gop? What's that sweetie? You wanna gop? A gop? What's a gop? Oh, a cup...)

Toddler talk aside, I'll probably be sharing more articles like this because it's interesting to me when I see the astrological themes laid out so clearly. And you've told me it's helpful to see "real life" examples of this stuff. Otherwise it all comes across as very academic and theoretical.

So for the jury's consideration: Exhibit A, for the Saturn-Pluto square.

Here, Paul Krugman, a columnist for the New York Times, discusses the politics of paranoia that have taken over one political party here in America: "Paranoia Strikes Deep".

This is classic Saturn-Pluto dynamics, with the more conservative Saturnian element claiming dominance for now. The Saturn-Pluto dynamic is a stalwart, big-chested bully of a customer, so don't dismiss what's going on here or you'll get run over by it. Even if you do have fun turning the GOP into the gop, gop, gop, Saturn-Pluto paranoia is still paranoia and it's not going away.

or you could take your cue from the guy in the next bathroom stall

World-Weary Sigh Emanates From Next Bathroom Stall

SCHAUMBURG, IL—A deep, drawn-out, world-weary sigh emanated from an occupied bathroom stall at a local office building Monday, witnesses reported. The sigh, described by those who heard it as "somber," "resigned," and "a sad reminder of the crushing pain, anguish, and, ultimately, meaninglessness of life," escaped from the core of the man's being at approximately 12:32 p.m. and echoed quietly off the stall's dividers. After 30 seconds of complete silence—a brief respite from the workday which the man seated on the toilet bowl likely used to contemplate his place in this world—he flushed the toilet, emerged from the stall, forced himself to smile, and returned to his job for yet another day of monotonous, unfulfilling work.

HT: The Onion

saturn squares pluto: the boogie-man returneth

NOTE: Because the Saturn-Pluto square is THE big aspect for many months now, I'm holding this blog entry at the top during this coming week as the aspect forms it's exact degree alignment. For new blog entries, scroll down down down...

On November 14th, Saturn will once again square Pluto. This is a major aspect, usually associated with big geo-political events. For example, the last time Saturn squared Pluto we experienced the Twin Towers and Pentagon attacks. On that occasion, the aspect was > 1 degree from exact. Previous Saturn/Pluto aspect cycles (the square/opposition or conjunction) have coincided with the outbreak of both World War 1 and 2, the Stock Market crash of 1929, Gandhi's assassination, three Israeli wars, and the first Trade Tower bombing. It doesn't paint a pretty picture, this aspect cycle.

And yet there's an upside, too. The positive expression of this cycle seems to be a dogged determination to overcome the violence and ugliness of the times. The Marshall Plan was enacted under this aspect, and Winston Churchill was able to rally a ragged and stunned nation in the dark early days of WWII during the nightly German Luftwaffe bombing raids. It was also during a Saturn-Pluto cycle that Arthur Miller produced the highly successful counter-argument to senator Joseph Mc Carthy's theater of paranoia (the House Un-American Activities Committee), and his communist blacklists. That counter argument was Miller's play, The Crucible, a work that did more to expose the insanity of McCarthyism than any politician or private individual who dared to oppose the senator.

 My favorite counter argument to the post 9/11 Saturn-Pluto cycle was the smart sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica.

In the 2003-2009 remake (first aired during the last Saturn-Pluto alignment), the early plot line, which was originally created back in 1978, easily fit the events of 9/11 and captured the zeitgeist of a nation (a planet in this story) turned upside-down by a nuclear (terrorist) attack. The little band of survivors are the last of humanity. Of course, there's a nasty enemy (Cyclons/terrorists) with an agenda to annihilate these survivors. Of course we root for the hardy humans (soldiers/firefighters/policemen) who battle against extreme odds to save their species (American way of life).

But the twist in the story is the secret to every Saturn-Pluto cycle, and the twist is this: the enemy is us. Yes, the enemy in Battlestar Galactica was not the easily identifiable chrome-plated Cylon of yore. No, the enemy, they discover, looks a lot like a...human. Cylons now can look, breathe, eat, make love, and fight like humans. Horrors! You're sleeping with the enemy.

Of course, this revelation ignites paranoia which is followed by harsh legalism, accusations of moral relativism, comforting the enemy --all the usual bag of Saturn-Pluto psychological tricks meant to wear an enemy down and assert the "good guy's" superiority. Here, it's the assertion that just being human makes one inherently superior. The "bad guy" Cylons are, of course, given demeaning nicknames like "toasters". So easy to define the players with rhetoric like this.

However, as the story evolves we find the good guy humans slowly turning into the sort of monsters they accuse the Cyclons of being and the Cylons become more empathetic toward the humans. Not that they initially recognize this shift. In their drive to survive and their absolute assurance of the moral superiority of their cause, each faction degenerates into an shape-shifting, boundary-less ethical fog of self-doubt and internal division before they can accept the complexity of their feelings toward the "other". Who exactly is the bad guy now when Cylons behave like humans and humans like monsters?