Astrology: Fall Equinox, September 23, 2026- Part 2 - Chart

 The chart is very intense and complex, with four oppositions and four squares. However, if one considers that three patterns, a mystic rectangle, a kite, and a T-square are inter-connected, and that the two remaining oppositions are both part of easy opposition triangles, then that leaves just two squares and two trines, three of them connected to the moon, that aren't part of a larger pattern.  

The Mystic Rectangle, or Rectangle, is comprised of two opposition aspects, connected with two trine and two sextile aspects. The harmonious trine and sextile aspects can be considered release points for the tension of the oppositions. The native can be attracted to important causes. There is a strong chance that the native will put his or her talents to work, or to good use.

The Kite is a big driving force: it combines the abilities and stability of the Grand Trine with the skill inherent in the Bisextile to reap results. At the point of opposition of the “spine” – the tips of the two Kite-making triangles – the native receives additional stability in moving through life. Possibly there could be ongoing external problems that require attention, or simply inner discontent. the biggest problem of the Kite is that the configuration comprises three different aspects, and can lead to excessive concentration on part of a chart and, correspondingly, to adverse utilization of other opportunities contained in the natal chart.

A T-square stimulates drive and courage, but also tension and conflict. The native can be very active and achievement-oriented, especially if this aspect pattern falls in cardinal or fixed signs, but much energy can be squandered in needless conflicts and frustrations.

Single Ambivalence aspect pattern is also called an Easy Opposition   It is a right-angled triangle formed from a red opposition, a blue sextile, and a blue trine. Red-blue aspect patterns give an ambivalent attitude, a dualistic world outlook, and a tendency to think in black and white terms. The key to enjoying life and also being successful is to proactively use the apex planet to solve problems as soon as they arise. This not only relieves tension but also gives a sense of balance and direction. The skills and determination provided by this aspect pattern can then lead to great achievements.

1- Pluto, Sun, Mars, Neptune mystic rectangle.

2- Sun, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto kite

3- Mars, Venus, Pluto T-square

4- Moon, Jupiter, Mercury easy opposition

5- Sun, Neptune, Mars easy opposition

6- Moon square Uranus, Mercury square Mars, Moon trine Venus, Moon trine Mercury 

Planets in Signs  

Sun in Libra (Sept 22-Oct 23) Meeting yourself in another person is the keynote of a new cycle which begins for you now. Relationships – romantic, business, social – are the arena where this drama is played out.

Moon in Aquarius favors : Unusual or radical undertakings, social pursuits, group projects, trying something new, joining a group.

Mercury in Libra (Sept 10-30) Interest in relationships, social connections, and the arts – on a more intellectual level than in the past, most likely. Seeing both sides of an issue, and figuring out resolutions to opposing views: these things take on more importance in your life.

Venus in Scorpio (Sep t10-Oct 25) Passion, jealousy, possession: these are the kinds of experiences that can flow from the intensity that courses through you at one level or another now – voracious.

Mars in Cancer (Aug 11-Sept 27) A sensitivity to the needs and wants of others and an appreciation for their frailties (as well as your own) makes you more cautious and conservative … you pick your battles with care.

Jupiter in Leo High drama, big romance, a creative bonanza: this is the stuff dreams are made of now. The world is your stage, the spotlight is your goal, and the love and appreciation of others is the air you breathe.

Saturn in Aries You are resourceful, and capable of applying new methods in a practical manner. Your lessons are in patience and self-reliance.

Uranus in Gemini stirring up our ideas, learning, and communications. It revolutionizes our transportation and communication systems and sense of connectedness. There can be great progress and unpredictability.

Neptune in Aries the potential to be spiritual pioneers. They take risks in exploring the mystical realms. This generation may also boast many pioneers in the arts.

Pluto in Aquarius Reform, revolution, a rejection of the past and a focus on the future. People in this generation have the ability to make scientific breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity, and may be forced to change the way science is viewed.

Astrology: Fall Equinox, September 23, 2026- Part 1 - Review

The Fall prognostic was (similar to the plot for 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie - Walpurgisnacht: Rising' or perhaps The Odyssey) :

 With a triple trinity of potentially very progressive and productive aspects:

1-mystical, humanitarian impetus of social and technological innovation, reform and transformation

2- inspired creative, artistic, mystical, compassionate, practical sense of cooperation with elders and friends

3- bold, idealistic, ambitious, comprehensive productive sense of original discussion, negotiation and collaboration based on productive, stable work ethic, involving family, home values, and traditions.

These inspiring opportunities of productive change growth and progress inevitably entail challenges of overcoming obstacles and resistance. Collective projects could be hampered by personal relationship issues of an intense obsessive, passionate nature bringing along drama, power struggles, deception and deep revelations (general tensions between progressive, collective projects and personal, family issues). Chance or new encounters could prove be to be significant. Emotional turmoil can make things insecure, blocked, unfocused, undisciplined, and disorganized. However the impetus of spiritual intuition and creative solutions can bring good support to overcome and resolve difficulties.

The Summer had a large number of important aspects over a brief period of intensity.

June 30 Jupiter conjunct Leo 

 

July 6 release of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, shares 4 striking similarities with the Ramayana - (Homecoming, captive wife, bow stringing, deer chasing) which is also subject of a film release for November 6.

July 15 Uranus sextile Neptune

Jul 15 ‘Unprecedented’ changes in UK climate are normalising extremes, report says Annual State of the UK Climate analysis finds last four years in UK are in top five hottest on record

Jul 16 Wildfiresin Ontario make Toronto air quality worst in world

Jul 16 Trump’s Board of Peace drops full Gaza recovery plan in favour of tiny pilot scheme

Jul 16  Political crisis and protests in Ukraine as Zelenskyy defends sacking defence minister 

 

July 17 Uranus trine Pluto

Jul 18 Hungary’s president agrees to stand down after law change ends his term 

Jul 18 Cuba edges toward breakdown as power cuts and US meddling push society to brink 

Jul 19 Burnham to say UK must be honest about its challenges as he prepares to become PM 

July 20 Jupiter trine Neptune

July 20 Jupiter opposition Pluto 

July 18–19: Uranus trines Pluto, setting off the initial energy. July 20: Jupiter opposes Pluto and trines Neptune, peaking the tension and bringing the Cradle into full visual formation on the zodiac wheel. July 20 Barbault’sBasket (or Cosmic Cradle) is an ultra-rare astrological configuration formed by the outer planets. It signifies a major turning point in history, balancing intense oppositions with harmonious support to act as an incubator for global societal shifts. Chart has an amazingly tight cradle- the sideways trapeze pattern with the red line as the base (Jupiter opposite Pluto), the red triangle within the pattern is a T-square with Chiron at 0 Aries (very high energy, with lots of potential) (For a brief moment, the moon at 4 degrees Libra on July 19 creates a mystical rectangle with the cradle and forms a 5-pointed star pattern with Uranus as the top point). 

Jul 20 Tens of thousands of Cockroach movement protesters defy police with Delhi march 

Jul 20 Canada issues air quality warnings over US wildfire smoke after Trump tariff threat 

July 20 US launches 10th round of strikes as Iran says it is in ‘full-scalewar’

July 20 Six highlights from Andy Burnham’s first Downing Street speech  for Britain’ to 10-year plan, new prime minister sets out his stall

July 20 Zelenskyy fires Ukraine’sarmy chief and offers Fedorov ‘prominent position’  

July 20 Fires, floods and record heat: This is the summer of compounding disasters

July 21 Jupiter sextile Uranus

July 22 An OpenAI test model escaped and broke into a real company’s servers

July 24 Neptune sextile Pluto

July 24 Thousands flee wildfires in France and Spain as temperatures reach extreme levels in southern Europe

July 25 As 'The Odyssey' thrives at the box office, franchise fatigue hits summer with bombs like 'Supergirl,' 'Moana'

July 27 New Spider-Man film, Brand New Day, has a dark order of Ninjas, which has Theosophical elements. In Daredevil #190, Resurrection, as their counterpart, Stick is the leader of a secret order of good martial arts adepts... 

July 28 A powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes Kumamoto Prefecture with a focal depth of 10 kilometers. The Japan Meteorological Agency reports the maximum seismic intensity of 7 in Uki City and Hikawa Town. At least 38 people were killed and more than 368 were injured.

August 10 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Colombia, killing more than 100 and trapping people in collapsed buildings

Aug 12,Total SOLAR Eclipse 

There's a mystical rectangle, connected to a minor grand trine (Uranus apex) like a house, a pyramid, or a 5-pointed star - the actual Moon/Sun conjunction is close to Mercury (and Jupiter) 11 degrees away, not quite connected... but strongly embedded in the Uranus-Neptune-Pluto magic triangle; also, skywatchers get a planetary parade of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune before sunrise. The Perseid meteor shower peaks after dark with up to 100 meteors per hour from dark sites, enhanced by the new moon's minimal light.

Aug 16 Hayden Panettiere's  untimely death at 37 inspiring celebrities to protect child actors in Hollywood, following recent deaths of Daveigh Chase, Michelle Trachtenberg.

Aug 26 Major flash flood- more than 3000 people are missing and at least 780 have died in Nepal and Tibet. The US Geological Survey says "glacial collapse and debris flow" triggered the deluge - and there are risks of more floods

Aug 28 Partial LUNAR Eclipse

Sun conjunct Mercury square Uranus  Mars square Saturn adds a volatile dimension. On August 31st, 2026, the Jupiter-Saturn cycle begins to mark it's one third mark on the trajectory. There is a Sun/Mercury-Neptune-Pluto Yod, which is aligned with the lunar eclipse, a rarity that seems quite significant.

Sunspot region AR 4513 produced the flares, with SolarHam confirming the M7.0 event around 10:02 UTC on August 25 and possible coronal mass ejection. Models predict a glancing CME blow to Earth around August 28 at 10-11 UTC, potentially sparking minor geomagnetic storms and auroras timed with the partial lunar eclipse on August 27-28.

Aug 31  Jupiter trine Saturn

'Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie - Walpurgisnacht: Rising' No. 1 in Japan Weekend Box Office 890 Million Yen ($5.5M); premiered on August 28, 2026. Maybe you could call 2026 the "Year of the Magical Girl" in Japanese anime. The titles listed highlight why 2026 could be considered a renaissance era for the genre (I consider this to be trend related to Neptune in Aries): 

 

Witch Hat Atelier , Magic Knight RayearthRevival , Magical Girl Raising Project:Restart , Fairy Princess Minky Momo , Magical Girl Lyrical NanohaEXCEEDS Gun Blaze Vengeance , Star Detective Precure! , Magilumiere Magical GirlsInc. , BanG Dream!Ave Mujica: Prima Aurora , Agents of the Four Seasons , Magical Sisters LuluttoLilly , Adolescence of Utena re-release

Sep 1 Mars square Saturn  

Sept 16 Neptune sextile Pluto 

Sept 10 AI doomsday warning from former Anthropic researcher sparks debate.

Jupiter trine Saturn, August 31st, 2026

With Jupiter square Saturn, we completed the first quarter of the Jupiter-Saturn cycle, (5 years), now we enter the beginning of the completion of the first third of the cycle (7 years).

Jupiter trine Saturn dates:

• on August 31st, 2026, Jupiter at 13º Leo 41′ and Saturn at 13° 41′ of Aries (first)
• on April 3rd, 2027, Jupiter at 17º Leo 08′ (second)
• on July 11th, 2027, Jupiter at 27º Leo 10′ (third)

Jupiter, at 13° Leo 41’, forms a trine aspect with Saturn at 13° Aries 41’ in August 2026. This is the first of three such aspects while Jupiter is in Leo and Saturn is in Aries. [Note: Often, aspects formed between outer planets and slow-moving points occur three times in a set due to retrograde motion.]

When Jupiter and Saturn connect, we tend to make things happen. This combination favors concrete accomplishment.

With Jupiter trine Saturn, we’re ready to put in the effort to achieve our practical goals. We are pragmatic, realistic, and our judgment is especially sound–and we derive much satisfaction from practical accomplishment.

The key to harnessing this incredible energy is to identify and find pleasure in the simple things that make us happy. At the same time, we may notice areas where small, incremental improvements can be beneficial. We see opportunities where we previously saw limits, but we’re not going overboard. It’s a fine time for setting and pursuing reasonable goals. Being even-tempered can be a successful approach now.

https://cafeastrology.com/events/jupiter-trine-saturn-1st/

Jupiter trine Saturn transit gives patience and endurance for sustained effort. You will stay focused on your long-term goals and avoid distractions from day-to-day dramas. Your broad perspective and strong sense of duty mean you will be productive and efficient. Your efforts will enhance your stability and security, serving as a source of pride and satisfaction.

A practical approach makes this a good time to start or expand a business or any other project. You will be clear about your goals and purposeful. If any challenge arises, it will be easy to find a practical solution. You will be willing to take on responsibility and should earn respect, recognition and success. This is an excellent transit for increasing your wealth through real estate transactions, home renovations and extensions, and home relocation.

https://astrologyking.com/jupiter-trine-saturn/ 

More specifically with Jupiter in Leo, we attract the most good fortune when we express magnanimity, are generous with others, inspire confidence in others, conduct ourselves with dignity and sincerity, and avoid the pitfall of excessive egotism. With Jupiter in Leo, we prefer learning programs that focus on excitement, drama, show, dignity, and pride. Belief systems that emphasize love, honor, and loyalty are more appealing. We see opportunities to grow and succeed through self-expression, self-respect, generosity, and honor. We are more inclined to believe that generosity of spirit is the major key to solving problems.  

https://cafeastrology.com/jupiterinleo.html 

Saturn in Aries You are resourceful, and capable of applying new methods in a practical manner. Your lessons are in patience and self-reliance. 

Fujiwara Seika on Universal Brother/Sisterhood - Japanese Neo-Confucianism

Fujiwara Seika (藤原 惺窩; February 8, 1561 – October 19, 1619) was a Japanese Neo-Confucian philosopher and writer during the Edo period. His most well-known student was Hayashi Razan (1583–1657).  

'The first interview between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Fujiwara Seika (1561-1619) took place as early as 1593 when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was still the Tycoon of Japan and Ieyasu one of his lieutenants. The meeting was a momentous one, for it led eventually to wholesale renovation of the cultural and educational policy of the new shogunatc.

A scion of the Fujiwara aristocracy, Seika was a twelfth-generation descendant of Fujiwara no Tcika, the foremost poet and arbiter elegantium of the thirteenth century, and Seika himself was a poet of great skill. Much reduced by circumstances, he made his way to Kyoto to study Chinese poetry and prose at one of the Five Zen Monasteries, hoping to prepare himself for the post of emissary to China. Scika’s deep interest in Chinese studies can be seen in his Bunsho Talto\u Koryo, the most extensive and systematic study of Chinese poetry and prose until then attempted from the creative point of view. He also took every opportunity to acquaint himself personally with Korean captives and Chinese envoys arriving in Japan at irregular intervals. He even attempted to visit China in 1596, but a shipwreck upset his plans.

One thing he became aware of in the course of his preparatory studies was the complete change that had taken place in China and adjacent countries, through the establishment of Neo-Confucianism or Chu Hsi philosophy as the official basis of all instruction. The decline of Buddhism was already well-advanced in China. Zen teaching, especially, was held to be purely negative in regard to secular affairs; more particularly, as far as Seika was concerned, it failed to offer an ethical code such as was needed to govern the peaceful pursuit of international trade. Chu Hsi philosophy, however, being thoroughly secular and rational in character, and also by now officially accepted in all the countries of East Asia, could serve as a moral basis for international dealings.

It may be noted in this connection that Seika's adherence to Chu Hsi philosophy was qualified, being less exclusive than was later the case with his follower Hayashi Razan. For the latter, it was Chu Hsi alone that mattered; but for Seika, any system of philosophy (including the unorthodox Wang Yang-ming school) would suffice providing that it offered a secular and rational standard of conduct for the peaceful transaction of business, and was acceptable to all countries.

Seika’s awareness of the need for such a code or standard in international dealings must have impressed Ieyasu; for the latter was much interested in overseas commercial ventures, as he later proved when shogun. Indeed, he wished to enlist Seika’s services for this purpose, but the latter declined, and recommended in his stead one of his young and rising disciples, Hayashi Razan. It was through the efforts of Razan and his descendants that Neo-Confucianism became the official philosophy and code of the shogunate, in both external and internal affairs' (pp. 346-47).

Ship’s Oath

This oath was drawn up by Fujiwara Seika in connection with the same trading mission referred to above. It represented a policy declaration on the part of the owners and captain of the ship, whose crew members were to conform to ts provisions. Note the characteristic Confucian subordination of the profit motive to equity and mutual benefit.

1. Commerce is the business of selling and buying in order to bring profit to both parties. It is not to gain profit at the expense of others. When profit is shared the gain may be large but the benefits arc small. “Profit is the happy outcome of righteousness." So while the greedy merchant bids for five, the decent one bids for three. Keep that in mind.

2. Foreign lands may differ from our own in manners and speech, but as to the nature bestowed upon men by heaven there cannot be any difference. Do not forget the common identity and exploit differences. Beware even of minor lies and cheating, of arrogance and cursing. The foreigner may not be aware of them but you certainly will be. "Good faith reaches to the pig and fish, and trickery is seen by the seagulls." Heaven docs not tolerate deception. Be mindful, therefore, not to bring disgrace upon our country's tradition. In case you meet men of benevolence and education, respect them as you would your own father or teacher. In quire into the restrictions and taboos of the country, and act in accordance with its customs and religion.

3. Between heaven above and earth beneath all peoples are brothers and things are the common property of all, everyone being equal in the light of Humanity. It must be the more so with one's fellow countrymen and still more so with men on the same ship. In trouble and tribulation, in sickness and hunger, relief should go to everyone equally. Never should anyone think only of his own escape.

4. Raging waters and angry waves, dangerous as they are, are not so dangerous as human passions. Human passions arc numerous, but none arc so dangerous as the passion for liquor and women that drowns men. Those who go around together, wherever it may be, should act as a team for restraining and correcting each other. The old adage says that the dangerous road lies in a soft bed, in eating and in drinking. Be on guard. [From Fujiwara Seika shu, I, 126-27]

Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 1 1958 William Theodore De Bary, Ryusaku Tsunoda, Donald Keene UNESCO Collection of representative works, Japanese series, pp. 348-49.

Orson Welles on Universal Brotherhood, Tolerance, Altruism, Freedom, Responsibility and Social Justice Part 2/2 (Isaac Woodard case, To Be Born Free, 1946)

Below is a transcript from Orson Welles Commentary: To Be Born Free August 11, 1946.  Orson Welles Commentaries (1945–46) is an ABC radio series produced and directed by Orson Welles. Featuring commentary by Welles, with reminiscences and readings from literature, the 15-minute weekly program aired Sunday afternoons at 1:15 p.m. ET beginning September 16, 1945.

It was part of a series of five episodes championing the cause of  Isaac Woodard Jr. (March 18, 1919 – September 23, 1992) was an American soldier and victim of racial violence. An African-American World War II veteran, on February 12, 1946, hours after being honorably discharged from the United States Army, he was attacked while still in uniform by South Carolina police as he was taking a bus home. The attack and his injuries sparked national outrage and galvanized the civil rights movement in the United States, with Welles thus becoming a pioneering voice for post-war social activism.

It seems to be based partly on two articles written for a political magazine,  “Moral Indebtedness”, Free World, October, 1943, and  ‘Race hate must be outlawed’, "Free World", July 1944 and is something of an ethical manifesto that touches upon universal brotherhood, tolerance, altruism, freedom, responsibility and social justice. At the time, Welles was associated with American Vice-President Henry Wallace, who was known to have esoteric interests, although he distanced himself from Wallace in 1948. In my opinion, it ranks as one of the greatest American speeches of the twentieth century and one of Welles' finest moments. Unfortunately, a month after this impactful civil rights action, Welles' radio show was cancelled, due to political pressure. A final radio editorial, found in an archive collection, touching upon the situation, has recently received some attention. 

And then there’s the soldier in the hospital. The blind soldier. The soldier said he was blinded, and the mayor and the chief of police in the place where the soldier says it happened, are most indignant with me for repeating what he said and swore to. The Times the other day was full of their official protests. Sent under seal all the way up to New York City via the inviolable borders of Aiken county, in South Carolina. My investigators are still hard at work on the case. If the soldier was wrong about the place, I’m going to do something about it. But he isn’t wrong about his eyes. He lost them. I’m going to do something about that. All the affidavits from all the policemen in the world won’t protest his eyes back in his head. Somebody, somebody who called himself an officer of the law, beat that boy with a stick, until he lost his sight. Now, that somebody is nobody. He’s vanished, he’s never been heard of, he hasn’t any name, well…he’s going to be heard of. The blind soldier has my promise of that. That somebody is going to be named. Editorials, and lots of newspapers, and lots of people, are writing me to demand to know what business it is of mine. God judge me if it isn’t the most pressing business I have.

The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt. And so I come to this microphone not as a radio dramatist, though it pays better, not as a commentator, although it’s safer to be simply that, I come in that boy’s name, and in the name of all who in this land of ours have no voice of their own. I come with a call for action. This is a time for it. I call for action against the cause of riot. I know that to some ears, even the word “action” has a revolutionary twang, and it won’t surprise me if I’m accused in some quarters of inciting to riot. Well, I’m very interested in riots. I’m very interested in avoiding them. And so I call for action against the cause of riots. 

Law is the best action, the most decisive. I call for laws prohibiting what moral judgement already counts as lawlessness. American law forbids a man the right to take away another’s right. It must be law that groups of men can’t use the machinery of our republic to limit the rights of other groups. The vote can’t be used to take away the vote. It’s in the people’s power to see to it that what makes lynchings and starts wars is dealt with. Not by well-wishers, but by policemen. And I mean good policemen. Oh, for several generations there may be men who can’t be weaned away from the fascist vices of race hate. But we should deny such men the responsibility in public affairs exactly as we deny responsibility to the wretched victims of the drug habit. There are laws against peddling dope, there can be laws against peddling race hate. But every man has a right to his own opinion as an American boasts, but race hate is not an opinion, it’s a phobia. It isn’t a viewpoint, race hate is a disease. In a people’s world, the incurable racist has no rights. He must be deprived of influence in a people’s government. He must be segregated, as he himself would segregate the colored and semitic peoples. As we now segregate the leprous and the insane. 

Anything very big is very simple.¸ If there’s a big race question, there’s a big answer to it. The big answer is simple. Like the word no. This is my proposition: that the sin of race hate be solemnly declared a crime. What makes this difficult is the conservative fear of raising issues. Well, let’s admit that this fear is often no more sinister than an honest dread of going to the dentist, but let’s respect the effectiveness of reactionary manipulations of that fear, which is the fear of anarchy and revolution. It is put to wicked use against the same general welfare conservative opinion seeks to protect. Forced to acknowledge Hitler’s enmity, conservatives are loathe to admit that even as he surrendered in Europe, he succeeded in America. Let conservatives evaluate the impudent candor of fascism in Argentina today. And be reminded that the heroic survival of our liberty is no proof of its immortality. Our liberty every day has to be safe from marauders whose greed is for all things possessed by the people. Care of these possessions is the hope of life on this planet. They are living things, they grow. These fair possessions of democracy. And nothing but death can stop that growth. Let the yearners for the past, the willfully childish, learn now the facts of life.

The first of which is the fact of that growth. In our hemisphere, the growing has begun, but only just begun. America can write her name across this century, and so she will, if we, the people, brown and black and red, rise now to the great occasion of our brotherhood. It will take courage. It calls for the doing of great deeds, which means the dreaming of great dreams. Giving the world back to its inhabitants is too big a job for the merely practical. The architects of freedom are always capable of hope. The lawmakers of true democracy are true believers. They believe quite simply in the people, in all of them. Only the devout deserve the trust of government, for only the devout can face the unimaginable vistas of man’s destiny. God grant them steadfast hope and the rest of us enduring patience. For we must not expect from any leadership a shiny ready made millennium in our time. No one of us will live to see a blameless peace. We must strive and pray and die for what will be here when we’re gone. Our children’s children are the ancestors of a free people. We send our greetings ahead of us to them.

To history yet unmade, our greetings.To the generations, sleeping in our loins. Be of good heart. The fight is worth it. 

Further Viewing 

I'm not aware of a comprehensive study of the political facet of Welles' work, which would make for a substantial book, but I would say that the above transcript serves as a good overview of his pro-active, participative, responsible perspective on political and civic deontology. A further text on political ideologies and bureaucracy in modern society can serve to round out a basic summary of his views: La jeunesse décidera, La Démocratie Combattante, décembre 1952 in Orson Welles, Maurice Bessy, 1964, pp. 114

 

Orson Welles Commentary: To Be Born Free August 11, 1946 Isaac Woodward anti-racism speech Academic commentary

https://youtube.com/watch?v=q_hnSgfNDTI

 

"Orson Welles' Sketchbook" discusses invasion of privacy by police, authorities, & overbearing, bloated bureaucracy. May 22, 1955; briefly summarizes Isaac Woodard case https://youtube.com/watch?v=Crn_mPWd1HQ&list=PLxEfOhTrjfv3_-imU-gapxapDRibaZTD4

 

Dick Cavett Show July 27, 1970 pro-active anti-tyranny stance https://youtube.com/watch?v=XsyXbeH0jko

 

Freedom River -  Orson Welles narration Compelling 1971 pro-democracy, pro-ecology, anti-capitalism parable, animation film 8 min Sam Weiss Joseph C Cavella Warren H Schmidt, Stephen Bosustow from the makers of Mr. Magoo..

https://wellesnet.com/freedom-river-orson-welles-narrated-parable-on-xenophobia-greed/

The Eyes of Orson Welles-documentary 2018 Mark Cousins Touches upon humanistic, ethical, political philosophy https://youtube.com/watch?v=27FyMnNdoxk

The Cave: A Parable Told By Orson Welles, 1973, Sam Weiss, Dick Oden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaMN6oEKSX8  

Part 1

Orson Welles on Universal Brotherhood, Tolerance, Altruism, Freedom, Responsibility and Social Justice Part 1/2 i (Isaac Woodard case, To Be Born Free, 1946)

Below is a transcript from Orson Welles Commentary: To Be Born Free August 11, 1946.  Orson Welles Commentaries (1945–46) is an ABC radio series produced and directed by Orson Welles. Featuring commentary by Welles, with reminiscences and readings from literature, the 15-minute weekly program aired Sunday afternoons at 1:15 p.m. ET beginning September 16, 1945.

It was part of a series of five episodes championing the cause of  Isaac Woodard Jr. (March 18, 1919 – September 23, 1992) was an American soldier and victim of racial violence. An African-American World War II veteran, on February 12, 1946, hours after being honorably discharged from the United States Army, he was attacked while still in uniform by South Carolina police as he was taking a bus home. The attack and his injuries sparked national outrage and galvanized the civil rights movement in the United States, with Welles thus becoming a pioneering voice for post-war social activism.

It seems to be based partly on two articles written for a political magazine,  “Moral Indebtedness”, Free World, October, 1943, and  ‘Race hate must be outlawed’, "Free World", July 1944 and is something of an ethical manifesto that touches upon universal brotherhood, tolerance, altruism, freedom, responsibility and social justice. At the time, Welles was associated with American Vice-President Henry Wallace, who was known to have esoteric interests, although he distanced himself from Wallace in 1948. In my opinion, it ranks as one of the greatest American speeches of the twentieth century and one of Welles' finest moments. Unfortunately, a month after this impactful civil rights action, Welles' radio show was cancelled, due to political pressure. A final radio editorial, found in an archive collection, touching upon the situation, has recently received some attention. 

This is Orson Welles. I’ve spoken these words before, but not on the radio. To be born free, is to be born in debt. To live in freedom without fighting slavery, is to profiteer. By plane last night, I flew over some parts of our Republic where American citizenship is a luxury beyond the means of the majority. I rode comfortably in my plane above a sovereign state or two where fellow countrymen of ours can’t vote without the privilege of cash. I bought my breakfast this morning where Negroes may not come except to serve their white brothers. And there I overheard a member of some master race or other tell all those who listened that something must be done to suppress the Jews.

I have met southerners who expect and fear a Negro insurrection. I see no purpose in withholding this from general discussion. There may be those in that outcast ten percent of the American people who someday will strike back at their oppressors, but to put down that mob, a mob would rise. I’d like to ask please, who will put down that mob? The scaly dinosaurs of reaction, if indeed they notice what I’m speaking here, will say in their newspapers that I’m a communist. Communists know otherwise. I’m an overpaid movie producer with pleasant reasons to rejoice, and I do, in the wholesome practicability of the profit system. But surely my right to having more than enough is cancelled if I don’t use that more to help those who have less.

My subject today is the question of moral indebtedness. So, I’d like to acknowledge here the debt that goes with ownership. I believe, and this has very much to do with my own notion of freedom, I believe I owe the very profit I make to the people I make it from. If this is radicalism, it comes…automatically to most of us in show business, it being generally agreed that any public man owes his position to the public. That’s what I mean when I say I’m your obedient servant. It’s a debt payable in service and the highest efforts of the debtor. The extension of this moral argument insists no man owns anything outright since he owns it rent free. A wedding never bought a wife. And the devotion of his child is no man’s for the mere begetting. We must each day earn what we own. A healthy man owes to the sick all that he can do for them. An educated man owes to the ignorant all that he can do for them. A free man owes to the world’s slaves all that he can do for them. And what is to be done is more, much more, than good works, Christmas baskets, bonuses, and tips, and bread and circuses. There is only one thing to be done with slaves. Free them.

If we can’t die in behalf of progress, we can live for it. Progress, we Americans take to mean, a fuller realization of democracy. The measure of progress, as we understand it, is the measure of equality enjoyed by all men. We can do something about that. The way our fighting brothers and sisters looked at it, some of them dead as I speak these words, the way they looked at it: we’re lucky. And they’re right, we’re lucky. We’re lucky to be alive. But only if our lives make life itself worth dying for. We must be worthy of our luck, or we are damned. Our lives were spared, but this is merely the silliest of accidents. Unless we put the gift of life to the hard employments of justice. If we waste that gift, we won’t have anywhere to hide from the indignation of history.

I want to say this. The morality of the auction block is out of date. There is no room in the American century for Jim Crow. The times urge new militancy upon the democratic attitude. Tomorrow’s democracy discriminates against discrimination. Its charter won’t include the freedom to end freedom. What is described as a feeling against some races can’t be further respected. Feeling is a ninnyish, mincing way of saying something ugly. But the word is good enough for race hate when we add that it’s a feeling of guilt. Race hate isn’t human nature, race hate is the abandonment of human nature. But this is true: we hate whom we hurt. And we mistrust whom we betray. There are minority problems because minority races are often wronged. Race hate distilled from the suspicions of ignorance takes its welcome from the impotent and the godless. Comforting these with hellish parodies of what they’ve lost. Arrogance to take the place of pride. Contempt to occupy the spirit emptied of love of man. There are alibis for the phenomenon, excuses, economic and social, but the brutal fact is simply this: where the racist lies are acceptable, there is corruption. Where there is hate, there is shame. The human soul receives race hate only in the sickness of guilt.

The Indian, the Red Indian, is on our American conscience. The Negro is on our conscience, the Chinese and the Mexican American are on our conscience. The Jew is on the conscience of Europe. But our neglect gives us communion in that guilt. So that there dances even here the lunatic spectre of anti-semitism. This is deplored. But it must be fought. And the fight must be won. The race haters must be stopped. The lynchings must be stopped. No matter who’s going to be governor of Georgia, the murders in Monroe must be avenged. Gene Talmadge might call it foreign meddling, but the governor-elect who, you remember, campaigned on the Bilbo platform of race-hate needs to be told: that all the states in the Union and all the people in them are concerned. Immediately, personally concerned when a mob forms in the sovereign privacy of Georgia. The mob said it was taking care of things in its own way, well then, we’re going to have to take care of the mob. In our own way.

Those who take the law into their own hands are going to learn about some laws that’ll tie their hands. We’ll write those laws, and we’ll enforce them. To do him justice, old Gene went and issued himself a statement. After the killings in Monroe were public knowledge, he said the killings were regrettable. But old Gene’s made it plenty clear, he doesn’t figure any foreigner has the right to poke around asking embarrassing questions. I am sending old Gene a copy of the Donne sermon of the tolling bell, but I don’t suppose he’ll get the point. The point is, of course, that no man, even Gene Talmadge, is an island entire of itself. Point, of course, is that even Georgia is a piece of the continent. The American continent. And if a clod be washed away by the sea, or if a colored man and his wife are murdered on a dusty country road, America is the less. 

Further Viewing 

I'm not aware of a comprehensive study of the political facet of Welles' work, which would make for a substantial book, but I would say that the above transcript serves as a good overview of his pro-active, participative, responsible perspective on political and civic deontology. A further text on political ideologies and bureaucracy in modern society can serve to round out a basic summary of his views: La jeunesse décidera, La Démocratie Combattante, décembre 1952 in Orson Welles, Maurice Bessy, 1964, pp. 114

 

Orson Welles Commentary: To Be Born Free August 11, 1946 Isaac Woodward anti-racism speech Academic commentary

https://youtube.com/watch?v=q_hnSgfNDTI

 

"Orson Welles' Sketchbook" discusses invasion of privacy by police, authorities, & overbearing, bloated bureaucracy. May 22, 1955; briefly summarizes Isaac Woodard case https://youtube.com/watch?v=Crn_mPWd1HQ&list=PLxEfOhTrjfv3_-imU-gapxapDRibaZTD4

 

Dick Cavett Show July 27, 1970 pro-active anti-tyranny stance https://youtube.com/watch?v=XsyXbeH0jko

 

Freedom River -  Orson Welles narration Compelling 1971 pro-democracy, pro-ecology, anti-capitalism parable, animation film 8 min Sam Weiss Joseph C Cavella Warren H Schmidt, Stephen Bosustow from the makers of Mr. Magoo..

https://wellesnet.com/freedom-river-orson-welles-narrated-parable-on-xenophobia-greed/

The Eyes of Orson Welles-documentary 2018 Mark Cousins Touches upon humanistic, ethical, political philosophy https://youtube.com/watch?v=27FyMnNdoxk 

Part 2