PREVIOUS THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY November 22nd to November 27th 2004 MONDAY November 22 Hindu festival of Diwali comment Like Chinese New Year, Easter, Ramadan and Passover, the date of the Hindu festival, Diwali, depends on the New Moon. This year, the Diwali moon fell while I was in India to find out what really happened under the planetary pentagram of 1571. More on that tomorrow. First, though, a small discovery that I simply have to share. Diwali, in part, is dedicated to Laxmi, goddess of luck. Apparently, millions believe that if you DON'T buy a lottery ticket during the festival, you will spend your next life as a donkey. Lottery organisers are missing a trick here I think!

TUESDAY November 23 Final pentagram pattern and Fatehpur Sikri comment Later this week, the planets form this year's third and final pentagram pattern. To find out more about what it could mean, I travelled to India to visit a city that was built during one of the last such rare alignments. Fatehpur Sikri was built out of red sandstone by the Moghul emperor Akbar in the sixteenth century. It remains almost intact and stunningly beautiful yet it is completely empty. Akbar used it, for several years, as a centre to promote peace and dialogue between all the world's religions. Tomorrow, I'll tell you why the city is now deserted.

WEDNESDAY November 24 A new era of peace comment Could we be about to see a new era of peace? Might the world's religions manage to put aside their old battles and live together in harmony? Later this week, the planets form a rare pentagram shape in the sky. Under a previous, similiar alignment, a special city was built in India where Shia and Sunni Muslims were able to engage in constructive dialogue with Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jews and Jesuits. The experiment, we are told, ended only because the local water supply dried up. But there may be more to it than that... as I shall explain tomorrow.

THURSDAY November 25 Precise pentagram comment If life seems unusually intense today, it's because six celestial bodies are now forming the shape of a precise pentagram pattern. (If you're wondering how six planets can form a five-pointed star, it's because two are extremely close together). This will lead soon, to a repeat of the experiment begun under a previous alignment in 1571. Back then, the Moghul Emperor Akbar set up an ecumenical city to promote peace and understanding between religions. This time, the movement will be on a bigger scale and enthusiasm for it won't dry up so fast.

FRIDAY November 26 Planetary pentagram comment Yesterday's planetary pentagram gave rise to a lot of drama. Yet despite all that's happening in the world right now, it has left me extremely optimistic. The majority of 'ordinary people' all over the globe are growing tired of conflict. Soon the peace movement will pick up so much momentum that even the most furious and fanatical people start looking for ways to forgive, forget... and move on. If you want to know more about why the outlook is so hopeful, I go into more detail in the new weekly in-depth phone forecasts, which I have just recorded.

SATURDAY November 27 No Thought for the Day NEXT THOUGHT OF THE DAYBACK TO INDEX

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