The World of Computer Software

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ The World of Computer Software / World_Of_Computer_Software-02-385-Vol-1of3.iso / y / yi_ww_2.zip / WW_II.DOC < prev

Wrap

Text File | 1992-12-17 | 40KB | 783 lines

World War II "In that the natures of the dark and the light are joined, the firm and yielding receive form. Thus do the relationships of heaven and earth take shape, and we enter into relation with the nature of the light of the gods." - from the Wilhelm/Baynes I Ching The Rare Occurrences of 'Absolute Strength': The timespans within which all of the nine planets are arrayed in the light half of the universe (Spring and Summer Zodiac signs) are rare mo- ments indeed. This total concentration of firmness and action occurred in only four sets of years since 1600. ____________ occurrences: ____________ 1704 thru 1716 ____________ 1861, and 1862 ____________ Absolute Strength 1880 thru 1885 ____________ 01+01 1940 thru 1943 ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ As the above table demonstrates, this pattern falls in brief sets, roughly once each century. 'Absolute Strength' will not occur again in our lifetimes. The last set of this 'father of the symbols' was without argument the turning point of modern History. During the years 1940 thru 1943, the world powers fought for global dominance, and humanity entered both the nuclear and space ages (the discovery of the atomic bomb, V II rocketry). A closer examination of the dates of occurrence is illuminating: April 17 to September 14, 1940: German invasion of France July 2 to August 21, 1941: German invasion of Russia May 6 to August 31, 1942: Battle of Coral Sea, Midway, Stalingrad May 27 to August 2, 1943: Italy surrenders, Battle of Kursk The Transits of Neptune in World War II: Neptune remained in the light half of the universe from the midst of American Civil War in the 1860's until World War II. In the early 1940's, this central, ruling planet of the unseen trio dipped briefly into the dark half of the Zodiac, reversed into the light for a scant period of months, and then finally plunged into the darkness for the remainder of the 20th century. By comparison, in all of World War I, not a single unseen planet (Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto) changed natures; although peace was declared in 1918, the same combatants fought again a mere generation later. But WW II was different- the changing nature of Neptune marked the new age. On the three dates of Neptunes' transits of an equinox node, momentuous events occurred: _________ _________ 10-03-1942: Neptune enters Libra _________ ___ ___ _________ _________ 'Confronting Dispersal' becomes _________ _________ 'The Caldron of Dispersal' _________ _________ 59+44 = 59+50 ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ First controlled rocket flight beyond _________ _________ the sound barrier (use of liquid fuel) ___ ___ ___ ___ The first successful, controlled rocket flight to break the sound barrier occurred on the very day that Neptune entered the dark half of the Zodiac after eighty years in the light. This test was conducted by Germany and led to the production of the V II rocket-bomb, a pilotless, long-range rocket that terrorized London. Like many of the German 'super weapons', it came too late in the war to stem the Allied tide. Both British and American air forces adjusted priorities to bomb the rocket launch sites. The costly and abortive allied offensive in Belgium and Holland was also partly begun in order to remove axis launching sites. The Wilhelm/Baynes translation of this changing line curiously mentions a descent from heaven. Are the willow leaves trails of smoke? The 'hidden lines' could imply the soundless approach of the new V II rockets: "A melon covered with willow leaves. Hidden lines. Then it drops down to one from heaven." _________ _________ 04-18-1943: Neptune retrogrades into Virgo ___ ___ _________ _________ _________ 'The Caldron of Restraint' becomes _________ _________ 'Breaking through Restraints' _________ _________ 09+50 = 09+44 ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ _________ Assassination of Admiral Yamamoto _________ _________ _________ _________ Acting on knowledge gleaned from the cryptographic breakthrough of Japanese Naval codes, Allied fighters intercepted the flight of the leading strategist of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Admiral Yamamoto, whose daring plan to attack Pearl Harbor began the war in the Pacific. The admiral of the Japanese Navy died on the very day that Neptune crossed from Libra back into the light of Virgo, which as chance would have it, was Yamamotos' 59th birth- day. Would the Japanese have fought the battle of the Pacific differently under the guidance of Yamamoto? _________ _________ 08-02-1943: Neptune re-enters Libra _________ ___ ___ _________ _________ 'Absolute Strength' becomes _________ _________ 'Accumulating Strength' _________ _________ 01+01 = 01+14 _________ _________ _________ _________ Death of Chinese President Lin _________ _________ _________ _________ The final occurrence of 'Absolute Strength' in the 20th century is broken by the entry of Neptune into the dark half of the Zodiac. Though the war ends for most nations in 1945, it becomes more violent in China. With the defeat of the Japanese occupying forces, China suffers a political vacuum- no one leader is strong enough to unite the people. Civil War results. The death of President Lin in 1943 led directly to the appointment of Chang Kai Shek as the new president of China. Chang and Mao were mortal enemies; a unified China with Chang as President became an impossibility. Had another man been President, civilwar and the victory of communism in China may have been averted. The Birth Symbols of World War II Leaders: Hitler Hirohito Mussolini _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ _________ ___ ___ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ The Axis _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ Clannish Gaining Great Accumulation Power Strength F. D. R. Stalin Churchill _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ ___ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ The Allies _________ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Great Allied Inert Inertia Progress Devotion An examination of the birth novagrams of the major leaders of WW II reveals a division along elemental lines. Every trigram in the Axis camp is either air or fire, all of which display rising tendencies of motion. The totally rising nature of all nine Axis trigrams is indicative of their aggressive tendencies. Among the Allied leaders, all three inner (bottom) trigrams are primal earth, which sinks downwards in motion. Could this inner weakness be indicative of their openness to attack? Or perhaps their firmer grounding in political realities? It is interesting to compare the novagram titles with the personalities of the rulers and the positions of their countries in WW II. In Hitler, the greed of acquisition and the clannishness of kinship merge. His greed was a lust for power and territory, and his idea of kinship was that of the master, aryan race. Germanys' desire for the acquisition of all German peoples within their one nation certainly precipitated the war. In the symbol of Hirohito, the hexagrams of increase and great power merge. The combination of modern technology and the feudal, unquestioning devotion of the Japanese people made Hirohito one of the most powerful men on Earth. Seemingly overnight, Japan rose from an isolated non-industrial nation to become one of the great powers of the globe. In spite of losing the war, Hirohito remained in power, and the strength of Japan continued to grow. Mussolinis' symbol links the prior occurrence of 'Absolute Strength' with its appearance in WW II. Though he hoped to repeat the glories of ancient Rome, in the end, Italy lay crushed and broken beneath the heels of multiple invaders. A man of great vision, Mussolini chose the wrong side, and the new Italian empire was destroyed. The ideas of greatness and immobility sum up both FDR and the USA in the 1940s. With creativeness and determination, FDR fought polio, the Great Depression, and the urge to enter the 'european war'. 'Great Inertia' is the symbol of American isolationism that dies, like FDR, during the war. The birth symbol of Josef Stalin combines the concepts of alliance and progress. For Stalin and the USSR, both ideas apply. First the friends of the Germans, they were later forced into the camp of the Allies. Soviet re- liance upon friendly supplies helped to keep them in the war. Yet the idea of progress is also significant in the symbol of the Soviet Union. Under the leadership of Stalin and his five year plans, the vast backwoods of Europe threw off its feudal heritage and entered the modern age. Winston Churchill arose on the heels of the defeat at Dunkirk. His unswerving determination and bulldog nature led England through her greatest crises, when she stood alone against the Nazis after the fall of France. Note the similarities between the novagrams of Churchill and FDR; many historians believe that their strong friendship swayed the course of global events. All three of the Allied leaders have symbols that are solid above, and broken below. Only Stalin has a figure with mixed lines (the broken 5th place of Jupiter and the solid 4th place of Mars). Perhaps the reversal of the lines of war-leader and king in the novagram of the USSR explains their switching of alliances, and illustrates the isolated position of Russia after Dunkirk, when the Red Army stood alone against the might of Germanys' victorious panzers. Civil Wars- Francisco Franco, Mao Tse Tung, and Charles De Gaulle: De Gaulle Franco Mao Tse Tung _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Developing Dispersing Dispersing Separation Unity Unity A great civil war signalled the beginning of WW II, and another civil war continued to rage on after it. The victors of the civil wars in Spain and China were both born beneath the same symbol. The idea of unity being dispersed (the two hexagrams within the novagram) is certainly indicative of civil war. Both Franco and Mao forcibly achieved unity in spite of numerous obstacles and continuous struggle. The position of De Gaulle, on the other hand, though similar, is different in several key aspects. With the quick fall and surrender of France in 1940, French leaders split into two opposing camps- Vichy and Allied. In a sense this was a civil war whose outcome would be determined by the larger war continuing around it. De Gaulle, the leading French military commander on the Allied side, was the victor. Note the striking similarities between the novagrams of De Gaulle and Franco/Mao. In the Franco/Mao symbol, the isolated position of Jupiter, kingship, is the focal point of the symbol, and control of the nation is disputed among the contestants for power. In the French symbol, the same pattern reigns, with the exception of the isolated line- here Saturn too is cut-off, high-lighting defeat, which is the crux of the situa- tion. De Gaulle would never have risen to political power had not the French been defeated by the blitzing Germans. It was the total defeat of the French army that split the government in two, and vaulted De Gaulle, who vowed to fight on, to the leadership of the gallic nation. The Succession of French Leadership: Daladier Reynaud Petain _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ ___ ___ _________ _________ ___ ___ _________ _________ ___ ___ _________ Absolute Inert Inert Strength Devotion Peace The changing fortunes of France are revealed by the novagrams of her leaders. Daladier was the prime minister while France was still the strong, victorious nation whose heritage was shaped by the victory in WW I. Like Mussolini and Truman, his figure serves as a bridge between occurrences of the all-firm novagram. Faced with the stunning military defeat of the fall of France in 1940, Daladier was swept from power while his own symbol reigned (as was Mussolini later in the war). With the humiliating defeat of French forces, Paul Reynaud came into power. His symbol matched that of the British leader across the channel- Winston Churchill. Reynauds' determination to resist also matched Churchills', and his government was dissolved by the un- deniable fact of defeat. It was left to the aging general and statesman, Philipe Petain, to admit the truth, and to bargain for peace. Note how sim- ilar the pattern of De Gaulles birth is to that of Reynaud; both men refused to admit defeat in the spring of 1940. The novagrams of the French leaders are best understood as huge triads whose progressions illustrate the declin- ing fortunes of France: the strength of sky gives way to the defensive stance of the mountain, which then becomes the clinging dependency of light. The novagrams of the leaders of the United States are also 'expanded trigrams'. The Succession of German Leadership: ____________ ____________ ____ ____ Adolph Hitler, ____________ 'Clannish Acquisition' Karl Doenitz ____ ____ ____________ (Napoleon Bonaparte) ____________ ____________ ____________ With the death of Hitler in the battle of Berlin, Germany turned to Admiral Doenitz, Chief of the German Navy, to head the government. Doenitz and Hitler were born beneath the same novagram. Though the Allies would have never dealt with Hitler, Doenitz was little better in their eyes because of the unrestricted submarine warfare he advocated. The act of surrender fell to Doenitz, but it did not save him from a death sentence at Nuremberg. The Succession of American Leadership: FDR Truman Ike _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ ___ _________ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ ___ ___ Great Absolute Withdrawing Inertia Strength Separation The seasonal birth symbols of the American Presidents above describe the position of the United States during their respective administrations. The lower hex of Roosevelts' symbol is more traditionally titled 'Stagna- tion'. 'Great Stagnation' is indicative of the Great Depression, while the concept of 'Inertia' illustrates American pacifism and the desire to remain free of foreign entanglements and the european war. The changing line which produced the birth novagram of FDR illuminates the American stance of non- intervention. The entry of Venus into Libra transformed 'Conflict' into 'Inertia'; Wilhelm/Baynes translates this change as: "One cannot engage in conflict; (06-2) One returns home, gives way. The people of his town, Three hundred households, Remain free of guilt." By not entering the war until attacked, the United States assumed a high, moral tone, thereby avoiding guilt while still profiting from the misfortune of others through the sales of munitions and supplies. Harry Truman was fortunes' child. Upon the death of Roosevelt, he inherited command of the mightiest nation on Earth, poised on the brink of total victory. His was the power of 'Absolute Strength'. The decision to drop the nuclear bomb, and the questions of disarmament in the face of the Soviet menace, fell squarely on the shoulders of this quiet man of Missouri. Truman struck the Japanese with all his might but did not challenge the new Russian empire. The changing position of Mercury transformed the hex of 'Confrontation' into the natal symbol of 'Strength'. Wilhelm/Baynes defines this augury as: "It must be checked with a brake of bronze. (44-1) Perseverance brings good fortune. If one lets it take its course, one experiences misfortune. Even a lean pig has it in him to rage around." Victory did not produce a world of peace and harmony. Almost over- night, the alliance of Americans and Soviets was shattered by hostility and conflicting aims. Harry Truman was not enamored with the power of the presidency. Breaking with tradition, he choose not to run for another term of office. Note how often Trumans' birth augury above occurred in the course of the war. More than any other line, 44-1 is the summation of World War Two. With his impressive war record, Eisenhower was a sure winner in any election. Beneath his administrations, the cold war continued unabated. The novagram 'Withdrawing Separation' is indicative of the political dichot- omy of the globe- capitalism versus communism. With the proliferation of nuclear weapons, two heavily armed camps stood toe to toe, with neither side able to force a conclusive confrontation. The autumnal equinox transformed the inner hex of 'The Mountains' into the symbol of 'Separation' found in Ikes' natal novagram. Wilhelm/Baynes records this augury as: "Keeping his hips still. (52-3) Making his sacrum stiff. Dangerous. The heart suffocates." Wilhelm says these words indicate "enforced quiet" and compares the situa- tion to the 'smothering of a fire which produces acrid smoke'. Legge sees the subject of the third place as being "dissatisfied", "angry", "strong, and in danger of being violent." The moment had been lost. The United States no longer posessed the capacity to rule the world. Instead of un- disputed hegemony, America learned to keep vigilant but still in the face of the Soviet nuclear threat. Major Invasions and Turning Points: _________ 'Absolute Strength' 01+01 _________ _________ Battle of France _________ Battles of Midway, Coral Sea, Stalingrad, Kursk _________ Allied invasion of Italy _________ _________ (birth of Truman, Mussolini, Daladier) _________ (death of Mussolini) _________ _________ 'Confronting Restraints' 09+44 _________ _________ German and Russian invasion of Poland _________ German invasion of Russia _________ ___ ___ _________ _________ _________ _________ 'Great Inertia' 12+01 _________ _________ Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor _________ (birth of FDR) _________ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ 'The Tower Embroiled' 20+50 ___ ___ _________ Stalingrad Surrender _________ US Army lands in North Africa _________ First Atomic Pile ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ 'Acquiring Strength' 01+14 ___ ___ _________ Normandy Invasion _________ First Nuclear Explosion _________ Atom Bomb on Hiroshima _________ Atom Bomb on Nagasaki _________ _________ _________ Pearl Harbor: The Fatal Mistake The Second World War is pregnant with alternative histories. Any number of different decisions or altered circumstances could have changed the outcome of the conflagration. If German production had concentrated on U- boat construction instead of capital ships, the Axis might have won. If Hitler had thrown the main fleet against the British, continuing 'Operation Sealion' against the British Isles instead of invading Russia, the Third Reich might have emerged victorious. Even after these seemingly fatal decisions, the outcome remained in doubt. What if the Imperial Japanese Army had attacked the Soviet Union along with the Wehrmacht? Would the Red Army have been able to amass the forces that led to victory at Stalin- grad? Instead of attacking the Soviets, the Japanese, hungry for metal and oil, decided to flex their mighty naval arm instead- Pearl Harbor was at- tacked without warning, and the collasal industrial strength of the United States directly entered the fray. Was the attack on Pearl Harbor the great- est strategic mistake of the war? _________ _________ 12+01 _________ _________ _________ Pearl Harbor attack _________ seasonal pattern ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Great Inertia The seasonal arrangement of the planets on December 7th, 1941 was the same pattern that reigned during the birth of the American President, F. D. Roosevelt: 'Great Inertia'. For the passive United States, the moment had arrived. No longer could the Americans cling to their false neutrality- the war had come to their very shores, with a vengeance. In the passage of a single morning, pacifism and isolationism disappeared. Though Neptune did not cross over into the darkness in December, and would not until the later part of 1942, this last of the gaseous giants hung precipitively at the gate of Libra, less than a degree from the dark half of the Zodiac. If we look at the hourly symbols of the sneak-attack, the following patterns emerge: Pluto: 18 Virgo Saturn: 24 Taurus the Sun: 15 Sagit Neptune: 30 Virgo Jupiter: 17 Gemini Venus: 01 Aquaurius Uranus: 18 Taurus Mars: 15 Aries Mercury: 06 Sagit _________ _________ _________ _________ 03+59 = 36+20 ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ ___ ___ Jupiter sets ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ Sun rises ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ _________ Dispersing Towering Difficulties Eclipse The main adversary of Japan in the Pacific Ocean was the 'neutral' United States. Yamamoto believed that the destruction of the American battle fleet at Pearl Harbor would end all difficulties of imperial ex- pansion, provided that the United States could be totally defeated within two years. Though first difficulties were indeed overcome, and the utopian 'greater southeast asia co-prosperity sphere' established, the victory would be short lived. The American aircraft carriers were not in the harbor, and fearing their presence, the Japanese did not land and sieze the islands of Hawaii. In addition, the submarines and their facilities were ignored by the attacking aviators, much to their later regret. The attack on Pearl Harbor seems at first glance to be a stunning Japanese victory. In reality, the failure to sink the opposing force of carriers and to sieze the islands themselves made this tactical victory a fatal, strategic mistake. The American battleships had been sunk, but their era was passing, and American strategic planning was now no longer tied to out- moded ideas of the 'big gun lobby'. The 'Empire of the Rising Sun' had blun- dered, and now was not only at war with China and Britain, but with the mightiest nation on Earth as well. On December 7th, 1941, the rising Sun transfomed the hex of 'Difficulty'. The third line of 'Difficulty in the Beginning' reads: "Whoever hunts deer without the forester (03-3) Only loses his way in the forest. The superior man understands the signs of the time And prefers to desist. To go on brings humiliation." The explanation of this line from the Wilhelm/Baynes version of The I Ching is an even firmer warning against drastic action: "Therefore the superior man, discerning the seeds of coming events, prefers to renounce a wish rather than to provoke failure and humiliation by trying to force its fulfillment." Scant minutes after the Sun arose in the East, the mighty ruler of the planets, Jupiter, slipped beneath the western horizon. The setting of Jupiter transformed both hexagrams within the hourly novagram. The external hex of 'Dispersal' became the symbol of 'The Tower', while the inner symbol of 'Difficulty' gave way to the hexagram 'Eclipse'. The changing lines are the second place of 'Dispersal', and the fifth place of 'Difficulty in the Beginning': "At the dissolution (59-2) He hurries to that which supports him. Remorse disappears." "Difficulties in blessing. (03-5) A little perserverance brings good fortune. Great perserverance brings misfortune." The interpretation of the second place of 'Dispersal' mentions "rapid running." The Legge version says that the hurrying is "for security". He goes on to state that "These conditions indicate evil, and action will be dangerous". After the aerial assault, the Japanese did not attempt to close with their capital ships and seize the islands, even though as much as forty percent of the population of Hawaii was of Japanese ancestry. Instead, they hurried back to Japan. The smaller American carrier force returned to the mainland, and did not make port at Pearl. In repairing the extensive damage of the attack, support ships became a priority at the stricken naval base. The Wilhelm/Baynes interpretation of the fifth place of 'Difficulty in the Beginning' once again warns against the attack- "He must not try to force the consummation of a great undertaking". Leggee agrees; "great things should not be attempted." The 'difficulty in blessing' might be interpreted as the stalled negotiations over oil and metal embargoes placed upon Japan because of the war in China. Ambassador Kurusu was negotiating in Washington as the attack occurred. 'A little perserverance' in these talks might have averted the misfortune of war. "Difficulties in blessing" has other interpretations as well. It succinctly describes the antagonistic opinions towards the advisability of the attack within the Japanese heirarchy. When informed of the plan, the Emperor Hirohito quoted a poem of a former Emperor, which questioned the wisdom of men who would fight across the one great ocean which unifies the globe. Though he clearly disapproved, the Emperor refrained from directly interfering with the political process. Not so Prime Minister Kinoye, who resigned over the attack, and was followed by the army general, Tojo. Thus the attack on Pearl Harbor ended any influence upon future events that the moderates or advocates of peace might have had in Japan. One should not overlook the religious aspects of the line. Archival footage shows Japanese pilots praying before seaboard shrines prior to launch. In what can only be termed a religious ritual, ships crews faced Japan, and bowed together as one into the rising Sun of December 7th, 1941. Though blessed with victory that day, few aviators would survive long enough to witness the destruction of their sacred homeland. The new hex of 'Eclipse' is a symbol of furtiveness and hiding. This obviously describes the secret approach of the attack force. It also depicts the plight of pacifists and isolationists in both Japan and the United States after the attack took place. The new hourly novagram, 'Towering Eclipse' reveals the abruptly altered, global situation. The United States no longer was a power in the Pacific Ocean; its control of the vast sea and its islands had been eclipsed. The 'age of the battleship' was also eclipsed- no longer will great fleets of gunships clash in line formation. The new symbol of 'The Tower' is the assertion of the uppermost places, the realm of the sky above. The mighty effect of airpower was proven conclusively by the destruc- tion of the U.S. fleet. The aircraft carrier was the queen of the oceans; the age of aerial war at sea had begun. The Rare Appearances of 'The Unexpected': _________ 'The Unexpected' _________ _________ 09-24-1917 until 10-10-1917: Russian revolution ___ ___ 03-17-1918 until 03-21-1918: suprise German offensive ___ ___ 03-19-1944 until 03-21-1944: defection of Hungary _________ The hex of 'The Unexpected' is the least often occurring hex of the 20th century. It arises a scant three times in 100 years, and reigns for a sum total of only 23 days. All three of these appearances occur in the midst of global conflict. As the title suggests, improbable and crucial events take place beneath this configuration. 'The Unexpected' first appears in the autumn of 1917. Within this span, the bolsheviks and the anarchists who have seized Petrograd are attacked by loyal forces of General Kornilov, who has marched from the front to restore order in the nations capitol. As his troops approach, Kornilov is assassina- ted by anarchists. His attempt to put down the revolution fails, and his men join in with the rebellion. 'The Unexpected' augurs the victory of the so- cialist revolution, and the end of autocratic tzardom and the Romanov dyna- sty. The changing line which produced 'The Unexpected' in 1917 is understood by reading the third place of hex 13, 'Fellowship with Men': "He hides weapons in the thicket; (13-3) He climbs the high hill in front of it. For three years he does not rise up." Wilhelm goes on to explain the words, citing a "secret ambush", "mistrust", and "alienation". What could more perfectly describe an internal revolution in the midst of war, which brings about defeat and the murder of the Czar? Just before the vernal equinox of 1918, 'The Unexpected' appears again. The Czar Nicholas II has signed the humiliating Brest-Litovsk treaty which effectively removes Russia from the war. During the five days of 'The Unexpected', the allies launch their assault at Verdun, which quickly bogs down and goes nowhere. But the German Army of the East has been rushed to the western front much more quickly than Allied staffs believed possible. On March 21, the last day of 'The Unexpected', the Germans launch their 'Surprise Spring Offensive', perhaps the most total and daring assault on the western front in the course of the war. The Germans advance some forty miles in the course of a day, and almost end the war. Field Marshall Foch is recalled to take command of the front, and total disaster is narrowly avoided. The allies hold on and await the coming of the doughboys. The final appearance of 'The Unexpected' occurs in the spring of 1944. In this three day span, the Allies begin their long awaited push in the Italian peninsula at Monte Cassino. Against incredible odds, the Wehrmacht holds on for months, stopping the supposed advance in its tracks. In Hungary however, the government attempts to surrender to the Allies during the reign of this hexagram. Not to be done in by defections as in the Great War, the German military strikes quickly, occupying Hungary and installing a pro-nazi faction in power. The attempted surrender of Hungary is the first crack in the solidarity of Axis nations since the destruction of the Italian govern- ment. The entry of Mercury into the light of Aries is the transformation which produces 'The Unexpected' in both 1918 and 1944. Wilhelm describes the changing first line of 'Standstill' (12-1): "When ribbon grass is pulled up, the sod comes with it. Each according to his kind. Perserverance brings good fortune and success." Neither the spring offensive of 1918 nor the attempted surrender of Hungary in 1944 acheived its objective. The explanation beneath this changing line augurs- "If it becomes impossible to make our influence count, it is only by retirement that we spare ourselves humiliation. Success in a higher sense can be ours, because we know how to safeguard the value of our personali- ties." Many historians have argued that the German Army in WW I was never really defeated. Faced with their inability to sieze Paris, and with the fresh blood of American troops arriving in ever increasing numbers, the German soldiers lost their will to continue, and went home. In 1944, the Hungarians realized that the Axis must lose. Unable to make their influence count, they too chose to withdraw from the conflict. The External Hexagrams: (composed of the outer six planets) The time span from the invasion of Poland in 1939 to the surrender of Japan in 1945 was less than six years. During the war, only five external patterns reigned. The entire war can be summarized in the ebb and flow of these five patterns. Prior to the outbreak of the war, the pattern of 'Withdrawal' reigns, symbolizing the appeasement of German aggression in Europe, and the abandonment of China to the Japanese. 'Confrontation' and 'Strength' continue to struggle until a new symbol- 'Accumulation', gains the upper hand. Just after the surrender of the Japanese, another new sym- bol begins its reign- the hexagram of 'Revelation', the doubling of primal fire, the augury of both peace and the nuclear age. Confrontation Withdrawal Confrontation Strength _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ ___ _________ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ 5-12-'39 10-31-'39 12-21-'39 1-5-'40 Confrontation Strength Confrontation The Caldron _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ ___ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ ___ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ 10-6-'40 7-3-'41 9-18-'42 10-2-'42 Confrontation Strength Accumulation The Caldron _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ ___ _________ _________ ___ ___ 4-18-'43 5-28-'43 8-2-'43 8-30-'44 Accumulation Revelation (postwar) _________ _________ ___ ___ ___ ___ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ ___ _________ _________ 5-3-'45 8-26-'45 Confrontation 5 appearances Withdrawal 1 appearance Strength 3 appearances The Caldron 2 appearances Accumulation 2 appearances Neptune 3 transformations Jupiter 2 transformations Mars 7 trans4ormations