Catholic displeasure with the movie, The Da Vinci Code, is rather disingenuous. While on the surface the criticism appears to be centered on the proposal that Christ was married to Mary Magdalene and they had children, the Church is actually more distressed that their power base, the lay order, Opus Dei, is being revealed in a dirty light. Although Opus Dei has tried to alter the perception by enlisting Time Magazine, and US News and World Report among other publications, as well as TV programs to reveal the "genuine" Opus Dei, there is still a suspicion that there is something untoward about this unusual "prelature", the only one of its kind in the Catholic Church.
Opus Dei was originally founded in 1928 to allow lay people a chance to lead a holy life without becoming priests or nuns. Both celibate and married men and women can be members of Opus Dei. Women, however, have little power and end up doing the domestic work if they live in an Opus Dei house. Although the prelature appears to be a good alternative to joining the priesthood or becoming a nun, particularly for those that want to bring God into their daily life, there is enough damaging information on the organization now to warrant a serious investigation.
Since Pope John Paul II was in office, the ascension of Opus Dei as the power behind the throne has been rapid and rapacious. The more liberal Jesuits have been toppled and the right wing group is almost in complete control, probably marking an important step in the further disintegration of the Catholic Church.
According to the Prophecies of St. Malachy, a 12th century monk, there will only be one more Pope after the present one before the Church some to an end, and the finale of the Kali Yuga occurs. Perhaps one of the reasons for the destruction of the Church could lie in the Opus Dei power grab or maybe this odd organization is only a symptom of the debased nature of religion during the Kali Yuga.
Although Malachy doesn't speak of the Kali Yuga, a Hindu term for the most chaotic and immoral of the four ages of humankind, René Guénon, a twentieth century metaphysician, speaks of the pandemonium of the Kali Yuga, our present age. He writes of the world's descent into gross materialism with regards to religion as well as secular society in several of his books, particularly The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, and The Crisis of the Modern World. Guénon says in the latter “primordial spirituality becomes gradually more and more obscured.” He goes on to say, “…truths which were formerly within reach of all men have become more and more hidden and inaccessible; those who possess them grow gradually less and less numerous, although the treasure of “non human” wisdom …can never be lost, it becomes enveloped in ever more impenetrable veils, which hide it from man’s sight and make it extremely difficult to discover.”
Published originally in French in 1927, in The Crisis of the Modern World, Guenon wrote that true knowledge of the Spirit only survived in the East while in the West, we were racing pell-mell towards a severe crisis. He believed that the one institution that had the possibility of displaying true knowledge, the Catholic Church, would have to acknowledge its connection to Eastern traditions in order to save the West from the ever-growing possibility of the destruction of its culture.
Unfortunately, I fear that the Catholic Church has no intention of working with the East to get in touch with its original source. The old men at the Vatican have already pinned their hopes on Opus Dei invigorating the Church, but I believe they are seriously deluded.
An interesting connection between St. Malachy, and his 12th century prophecies, and Opus Dei involves the coming to the throne of the second to the last Pope. St. Malachy describes this one as "the glory of the olive". Peter Bender in his 1970s book, The Prophecies of St. Malachy, notes that The Order of St. Benedict has traditionally claimed that this pope will come from within their Order, which is also known as the Olivetans. The present Pope, Ratzinger, is a strong supporter of Opus Dei, and goes by the name of Benedict XVI, although he was never a priest in the Benedictine Order. Another interesting corollary lies in the use of the words, Opus Dei, in the Rule of St. Benedict. According to the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand, Indiana, "Prayer, in a Benedictine monastery, was to consist of the opus Dei (the work of God--psalms recited in common) and lectio (the reflective reading of Scripture whereby God's word becomes the center of the monastic's life). "
After reading the book, Their Kingdom Come, by Robert Hutchinson I am convinced that Opus Dei is a good example of the degeneration of religion that René Guénon was talking about. Of course, Opus Dei is not the only example. I could write reams about the Protestant Christian right, but for this article I'm concentrating on the Catholic right wing.
Opus Dei was founded in 1928 by a very peculiar and, I think, sinister sextuple Capricorn, Josemaria Escriva. The only horoscope I've seen that matches Escriva's number of Capricorn planets is the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith. With very few aspects to other signs because all the planets are in the sign of the Goat, both these men display an obsessive desire for control that is neither healthy nor spiritual. Of the two men, Smith and Escriva, Smith’s horoscope seems to be more balanced than Escriva’s.
From Hutchinson's book we learn the following about Escriva: In a letter from former Opus Dei priest, Father Vladimir Felzmann, he was described as having an idiosyncratic concept of the truth. As an example of this accusation Feltzman said parents were tricked concerning religious vocations of their children. Escriva also believed that business deals involving dirty tricks were justified because, "our life is a warfare of love, and for Opus Dei, all is fair in love and war."
Certainly a Machiavellian thought pattern indicative of a Capricorn run amuck. He also said to Felzmann that Hitler had been "badly treated" because "he could never have killed 6 million Jews. It could have only been 4 million at the most." This Mercury (thinking) in Capricorn reasoning indicates a serious intelligence deficit.
Other authoritarian Capricorns that ran amuck were Richard M. Nixon, Mao Tse Tung, Joseph Stalin, and Pol Pot.
Escriva had poor health from birth and at 2 was not expected to live after becoming ill with a high fever. When the local doctor and a homeopath gave a poor prognosis, Escriva's mother, Dona Dolores, prayed to Our Lady of Torreciudad and promised that she would dedicate her son's life to Our Lady's work if the Virgin interceded for her son. From that time on, Dona Dolores often told her son that the Virgin had saved him. "Our Lady must have left you in this world for some great purpose, because you were more dead than alive." So from an early age, Escriva believed he was special and was destined for great things. His ego was overly inflated with Jupiter the planet of self-aggrandizement conjunct (together with) his Sun (ego), but yet at the same time with Saturn (in a closer conjunction with his Sun), he felt inadequate. His father may have sparked his feelings of inferiority. As a Capricorn with Saturn conjunct the Sun, his relationship with his dad was troublesome and difficult. After the family business floundered, (his father's business partner embezzled funds) his father had to take a job as a sales clerk in a clothing store. Following the Capricorn pattern of a difficult childhood, Escriva lived in a small apartment, his family almost poverty stricken.
Although Opus Dei describes him as an "exceptional student", apparently he pouted and had occasional outbursts of anger. He threw the chalk and eraser at the blackboard when his math teacher criticized him. With no major aspects to any other planets except a square to the North and South nodes of the Moon, his Mars (anger) in Aquarius had no outlet and was not easily overcome or integrated. With the square to the nodes, an astrologer would say that anger is his chief impediment to finding his way in life (north node).
Escriva's desire for control (Capricorn) and religious cynicism was seen at an early age when a playmate remembered the time they were building castles with playing cards in Escriva's living room. As the last cards were added to make the structure, Escriva destroyed all their efforts with a sweep of his hands. "That", he said, "is exactly what God does with people: they build a castle and when it is nearly finished He pulls it down."
Although Escriva considered architecture, his father thought he should study law, but in the end he turned to religion as his vocation, and a masochistic alternative with the use of the cilicio, "a barbed metal bracelet attached around the thigh and the discipline, a braided whip-like instrument of penance."
Yes, Escriva flagellated himself just like the nuts in the Middle Ages. If you've seen the Bergman film about that period, The Seventh Seal, you'll never forget the penitents, whipping themselves as they walked down the street, hoping to ward off the plague. You might also recall the Reverend Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter who burns a letter "A" into his own chest to secretly match the scarlet letter “A” Hester Prynne had on her blouse as penance for her adulterous union with Dimmesdale.
With all that Capricorn energy, Escriva must have had quite a sex drive and experienced a lot of guilt for his thoughts about sex. With Virgo rising, he would have suppressed that sexuality. If we recall the link made by the psychologist, Wilhelm Reich, between repressed sex and authoritarian behavior, we can understand what Escriva was really about. In comparison, Joseph Smith took dozens of wives and began the practice of polygamy that has cursed the Mormons ever since. Joseph Smith didn't scourge himself because he had sexual outlets but Escriva had none. Ergo the masochistic penance. It was not only carried out by Escriva,(after establishing Opus Dei he had an office that was known as the Father's Room with bathroom walls that were "flecked with blood from the 'pious flagellation' he inflicted upon himself"), but is also practiced by Opus Dei members today.
The combination of Escriva’s Sun and Moon in Capricorn as discussed in Grant Levi’s book, Heaven Knows What, is indicative of a man that was not in touch with a true spiritual source:
Early physical handicaps—infantile or youthful bad health—polarize the nature toward success, which in middle and later life can become very great. Ambition is powerful, and self-control almost a fetish. Passion to impress oneself on the world through an ideal, an idea, or a moral formula gives impetus to the career. Inherently selfish and self-centered, he knows how to translate this to the people of his world so as to gain power over them—power is his goal rather than material wealth. There is a cold, hard, invulnerable streak in him that resists close personal associations but knows how to appeal to the imagination of the masses. He wasn’t much interested in ideas for their own sake, except to gain authority and power for himself. The ideal is only a means to an end. He is a stern judge, an exacting, boss and a stiff executive, for his devotion to justice and duty is strong, and though he might strain a point for his own purposes, he isn’t likely to strain one for anyone else. His force arises from his self-control, and he will accumulate power directly in proportion as he accumulates self-discipline. In the end his downfall will come because he forgets this basic principle and push his luck or power too far. He had to be careful that when he arrives at the summit he doesn’t in his elation and self-satisfaction, fall over the edge. He isn’t amenable to an appeal to the affections; he rules by force and must be ruled the same way. Reason only will appeal to him and only a reason, which fits in with his purposes.
If it is possible to judge a religion or an organization by the level of consciousness of its founder, I think we can say that there is something seriously wrong with not only the Church of Latter Day Saints but also Opus Dei. We can also add Scientology to the list if you take the time to analyze the life and works of L. Ron Hubbard.
Opus Dei’s problems are much greater than some of the members scourging themselves for their guilty feelings. Since its inception it has been involved in questionable financial dealings with sinister organizations and businesses and there is some indication that it had something to do with the death of Pope John Paul I, as well as other priests and lay men and women that didn’t go along with their program. Apparently, Pope John Paul I was going to liberalize the Church’s stance on birth control as well as look into the sleazy Vatican bank deals.
The authoritarian religious organization that Escriva created is a very conservative one, giving their members a forbidden books list, supporting politicians that heed their directives on birth control, abortion, and gay rights, involving themselves with unscrupulous money dealings and the people that profit from them. Since it has now taken control of the Church further investigation about this group is in order.
If you’re interested in reading more about Opus Dei, I suggest you go to the Opus Dei Awareness Network, www.odan.org. There’s also a good article, “Breaking the Opus Dei Code” at the Americans United for Separation of Church and State website:
Unless the Catholic hierarchy can dump the Vatican officials that support Opus Dei, I’m convinced that the Church is on its last legs, particularly if you believe the prophecies of St. Malachy and heed the words of René Guénon. He believed that we have almost completed our downward spiral of the Kali Yuga, which will most certainly end in destruction of the Western materialistic culture, its religious organizations as well as its economies and societal structures, unless there are enough highly evolved people to make the transition from the end of this age and the beginning of a golden age an easier one.
