The Occultation of Dissent: When Things Go Dark
In my last reflection, I wrote about the "Lunar Rhetoric of Power"—how those in high places use the language of shadows to cast darkness over others. Then news started to get out that on the same day Vance spouted about protesters being “the lunatic fringe,” January 8th, another cold and terrifying reality escalated in Tehran.
We were under the complicated, pressing influence of the Venus and Mars Cazimi—a rare moment where the planets of desire/reflection, and drive/war are together "in the heart" of the Sun. What played out was a doubling down of authority on groups of protesting people that mirrored itself from the streets of Tehran to the streets and podiums of the West.
A Nation Behind the Veil
At about 8:30 PM in Tehran, the switch was flipped. While the world watched the Iranian currency stumble and the bazaars close their doors in protest, the state chose the ultimate "eclipse": total digital isolation.
This wasn't just a technical glitch. It was a militarized silencing. For 92 million people, the world simply vanished. Behind that veil of darkness, things happened that the human heart struggles to hold. Reports are now trickling out—carried by the brave, through smuggled satellite terminals—of a violence that occurred in that void.
I am not a journalist, but I am a person who listens. Here is what the world is finally starting to hear:
The United Nations: The Special Rapporteur has warned that the loss of life likely exceeds 20,000 people. They are calling it what it is: a crime against humanity.
Amnesty International: They have verified accounts of "mass unlawful killings." Doctors, working in the dark, have described being overwhelmed by victims.
The Sunday Times: Their investigators estimate the dead between 16,500 and 18,000, with hundreds of thousands injured. It is a scale of grief that is almost impossible to map.
The Anatomy of the Shadow
We are hearing of house raids, mass arrests (some say up to 50,000 souls), and families being forced to pay "extortion" just to bring the bodies of their loved ones home. This is the physical reality of the eclipse symbolism I’ve been tracking. While our domestic news was busy debating the "lunatic fringe" or the price of Greenland, a literal massacre was occurring under a state-imposed blackout.
The Tower and the Moon
And across the ocean, on that same Thursday, Vice President JD Vance used that term "lunatic fringe."
To be "lunatic" is to be irrational, lesser, not worth believing. It is the perfect companion to a blackout:
In Iran, the state cut off the channels so the people could not be heard.
In the U.S., the state uses language so that even if the people are heard, they are not believed.
Staying Awake in the Dark
We are entering a year of intense eclipses. We are seeing those in power try to become the eclipse, trying to blot out anything they cannot control.
It is unsettling. It is upside-down. But even in the midst of this "occultation" of the truth, we have to remain curious and observant.
Keep looking up.
