Writing this Thanksgiving Sunday, a month after my last blog, I am noticing all the mounting evidence for this last gasp of Neptune's passage through the end of Aquarius, that we discussed (see previous blog). "Occupy Wall Street" has become "Occupy Everywhere". The Nation Magazine and the New School held a forum with that title November 10th. The "Occupy Everywhere" panel was about the next steps and the continuing possibilities in the movement against corporate power. When people criticize the movement and do not see it as successful, as the occupiers made no demands, they are missing the point.
The movement is surprisingly successful only to those not following the astrological trends; spreading all over the country in small cities like Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Nevada City, California where 400 people showed up at each place at a moments notice to the small cities in Greece where local occupy movements can address specific needs. The movement doesn't need one location, it is spreading all over the world like fire because it is part of the zeitgeist and has struck a chord that is resonating everywhere.
There is an Occupy Harlem movement for helping people not have their heat shut off, an Occupy Bronx movement to help people not get evicted from their homes; there is talk of Occupy the Food Movement to bring attention to the corporate takeover of our food supply and Occupy Roof movement to highlight the importance of solar energy. It can happen anywhere at any time. As was said at this forum, "they have permission to be their own leader". This is the essence of Aquarian ideals -everybody and nobody is in charge. It is the "people" who rule in direct democracy just as these occupiers are demonstrating.
Any movement's goal is to shift public will by changing the conversation. The Occupy Wall Street movement has done just that by changing the media focus. A month ago the news reports were all about raising the debt ceiling for the 103rd time. Today on the front page of the NYTimes was a investgative piece on Ronald Lauder, heir to his mother's cosmetic company, worth $3.1 billion. Lauder hides all his assets in tax shelters, foundations and tax avoiding schemes that are only available to the very rich. "There's real truth that the taxcode for the 1% is different from the tax code for the 99%", says Victor Fleischer, a law professor at the U of Colorado. Now instead of the debt ceiling distraction conversation, you hear stories about economic equality, the conversation has changed; inequality the 1% vs 99% -the real issue has taken center stage.
Why now? The Moon in a country's natal chart describes the public and its mood. In the July 4th 1776 chart for the USA the Moon was at 27 degrees of Aquarius. We are a people that have a real sense of the brotherhood of man, as the founding fathers said and promised,"where all men are created equal". The planet Neptune has been sitting on top of our Moon since April 2009, symbolically bringing clouds and fog over us all and obscurring our core issues. Apathy, despair and a sense of loss (real too) are associated with Neptune's passage. The Moon symbolizes your home, so we have been suffering from a loss of our homes and our Aquarian values.
When Neptune began its forward motion as we view it in relation to the Sun in the beginning of November, it began to leave the Moon and so just as the fog lifts to reveal what was there all the time but we could not see it, so in Neptune's moving on from our Moon, the American people come out of the doldrums, and our core need for economic and social equality comes to the forefront. How often is it said that you never really know how much you value something until you lose it.
One can also attribute the White House's decision made November 10th to delay the determination on whether to build the Keystone XL pipeline to the Occupy Movement. Although this civil disobedience action started demonstrating in Washington in August, it spread as rapidly as the Occupy movement. The TransCanada company has already been working on permits for two years and it was wildly regarded as a shoe-in for the next ok. But in a surprise move, President Obama delayed it. During his cross country jobs tour in September and October, he was confronted by hundreds of signs reminding him of his campaign pledge to "be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil". The people began waking up to the collossal environmental disaster that pipeline would be. It is not only a question of economic inequality but the collusion between the government and corporate interests that the current system fosters to the detriment of the common people.
Slowly but surely we are seeing a cultural shift happening, here and all over the world. Who would have thought that Mayor Bloomberg would let the occupiers stay there for 2 months? How many heads of state have been replaced this year? I mowed the lawn this Thanksgiving weekend and took some pink roses from the garden to sit beside the Indian corn on the table. Movements, uprisings, demonstrations, revolutions and occupys can happen very quickly thanks to the technology. Masses of people come together. This is what Aquarius is all about-social and economic parity. Ideas are becoming the new commodity. You do not need demands when you have a movement with an idea whose time has come.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Neptune and what it Brings
As well as having the interesting New Moon in Scorpio last Wednesday, when we get to begin to think about starting something new in the area of life where we feel the most passionate, we have the planet Neptune making an change in orientation as it orbits the Sun. This occurs next Wednesday the 9th of November. Neptune is at the very end of the sign Aquarius (tropical zodiac) for the last time. The planet will move into Pisces to stay for 14 years or so in February 2012.
As a planet leaves a sign all the evidence of the trends that the planet in a particular sign has brought comes to a head. Neptune brings (and I am not saying causes) an atmosphere of boundlessness. When one is having a Neptune experience one feels like meditating, composing a song, escaping to the movies, getting loaded, merging with another, having an out of body experience, designing a piece of art, day dreaming about the future or longing for a more perfect world.
The sign Aquarius has to do with technology, brotherhood, social and political ideals, humanitarian impulses, freedom, independence, progressive causes, gender and economic equality, groups of people, revolutions. As Neptune passes through the end of Aquarius we can combine the planet with the sign and see evidence in the media of this passage of Neptune in Aquarius since 1998. (I can remember in my own life that year, I joined a network marketing company and went to conventions where the hopes and wishes of thousands of people to realize their financial goals -the cars, trips and a no-work lifestyle with life long financial security were promised. Neptune=dreams and network marketing group=Aquarius-by the way it never happened).
This past week though, I have seen some pieces in the paper that epitomize for me this passage. One is Tom Friedman's op-ed piece in the NYTimes Oct 22nd which speaks to the two revolutions occurring; one on Wall Street with the social revolution that has mushroomed all over the world and the other in Silicon Valley which is having a technological revolution which will change how companies and societies operate.
All the social media Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, Groupon, Zynga are converging because of cheap wireless technology, web enabled smart phones and "the cloud". "The cloud" (Neptune) are these enormous server farms that hold and constantly update thousands of software applications speeding up innovation, product cycles and competition. Think of Kickstarter where one person with a good idea and no money can post it on the web and have $1 million dollars from 13,500 people in 50 countries within a month. (Aquarius)
Another example was in the Sunday October 23rd, NYT Styles section announcing that the lost art of group portraits is having a renaissance. These banquet photos where one hundred or more guests pose at the same time had gone out of style in the late 1960's. "These photos (camera technology-Aquarius) create a classic sense of connectedness" (Neptune), says photographer Terry Gruber.
I also read in the October 10th New Yorker about "bitcoin". This is a currency that you buy online if you have a fast computer and can be used like money-the rate of exchange can vary but it does not depend on the banks. (The wave of the future IMO). The article was presented in part to explain the process but also try to figure out who put the website up. That person or persons has remained anonymous for obvious reasons.
Of course we can consider that the "Occupy Wall Street" movement is also part of the Neptune in Aquarius swan song. A dozen people sat in a circle in Bowling Green last August 2nd at the very first meeting of what came to be know as "Occupy Wall Street" This self appointed "process committee" had a dream to create a New York General Assembly which would operate like the committee, by consensus (Neptune in Aquarius).
This model for a truly democratic society has never really been tried (except perhaps in the native American and Quaker traditions, the Civil Rights Movement and the SDS of the 60's)), but this group of Aquarian dreamers are still operating this way 3 months later. There is no voting, decisions are reached by general assent. "The process toward creative synthesis is really the essence of the thing" says David Graeber in Issue 3 of " The Occupied Wall Street Journal".
Truly this is the very essence of Neptune in Aquarius where the impossible, direct democracy and a society based on human solidarity is being demonstrated. We are taught that this country was founded with these principles, and now we see a movement taking place to put those principles into action.
As a planet leaves a sign all the evidence of the trends that the planet in a particular sign has brought comes to a head. Neptune brings (and I am not saying causes) an atmosphere of boundlessness. When one is having a Neptune experience one feels like meditating, composing a song, escaping to the movies, getting loaded, merging with another, having an out of body experience, designing a piece of art, day dreaming about the future or longing for a more perfect world.
The sign Aquarius has to do with technology, brotherhood, social and political ideals, humanitarian impulses, freedom, independence, progressive causes, gender and economic equality, groups of people, revolutions. As Neptune passes through the end of Aquarius we can combine the planet with the sign and see evidence in the media of this passage of Neptune in Aquarius since 1998. (I can remember in my own life that year, I joined a network marketing company and went to conventions where the hopes and wishes of thousands of people to realize their financial goals -the cars, trips and a no-work lifestyle with life long financial security were promised. Neptune=dreams and network marketing group=Aquarius-by the way it never happened).
This past week though, I have seen some pieces in the paper that epitomize for me this passage. One is Tom Friedman's op-ed piece in the NYTimes Oct 22nd which speaks to the two revolutions occurring; one on Wall Street with the social revolution that has mushroomed all over the world and the other in Silicon Valley which is having a technological revolution which will change how companies and societies operate.
All the social media Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, Groupon, Zynga are converging because of cheap wireless technology, web enabled smart phones and "the cloud". "The cloud" (Neptune) are these enormous server farms that hold and constantly update thousands of software applications speeding up innovation, product cycles and competition. Think of Kickstarter where one person with a good idea and no money can post it on the web and have $1 million dollars from 13,500 people in 50 countries within a month. (Aquarius)
Another example was in the Sunday October 23rd, NYT Styles section announcing that the lost art of group portraits is having a renaissance. These banquet photos where one hundred or more guests pose at the same time had gone out of style in the late 1960's. "These photos (camera technology-Aquarius) create a classic sense of connectedness" (Neptune), says photographer Terry Gruber.
I also read in the October 10th New Yorker about "bitcoin". This is a currency that you buy online if you have a fast computer and can be used like money-the rate of exchange can vary but it does not depend on the banks. (The wave of the future IMO). The article was presented in part to explain the process but also try to figure out who put the website up. That person or persons has remained anonymous for obvious reasons.
Of course we can consider that the "Occupy Wall Street" movement is also part of the Neptune in Aquarius swan song. A dozen people sat in a circle in Bowling Green last August 2nd at the very first meeting of what came to be know as "Occupy Wall Street" This self appointed "process committee" had a dream to create a New York General Assembly which would operate like the committee, by consensus (Neptune in Aquarius).
This model for a truly democratic society has never really been tried (except perhaps in the native American and Quaker traditions, the Civil Rights Movement and the SDS of the 60's)), but this group of Aquarian dreamers are still operating this way 3 months later. There is no voting, decisions are reached by general assent. "The process toward creative synthesis is really the essence of the thing" says David Graeber in Issue 3 of " The Occupied Wall Street Journal".
Truly this is the very essence of Neptune in Aquarius where the impossible, direct democracy and a society based on human solidarity is being demonstrated. We are taught that this country was founded with these principles, and now we see a movement taking place to put those principles into action.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Something's Happening Here
Last week Tom Friedman, op-ed columnist for the New York Times wrote a piece entitled "Something's Happening Here", about two books that present alternate views on the general social turbulence of the times. One author sees current events as a "Great Disruption" and the other as a "Big Shift". Paul Gilding, an Australian environmentalist, sees the world wide demonstrations as evidence that our growth obsessed capitalistic system is breaking down. "Our system of economic growth, ineffective democracy, of overloading planet earth-our system- is eating itself alive." He argues that the demonstrations that are occurring are a result of the realization that for last 30 years all economic growth has affected only the one percent of people at the top.
Two other authors, John Hagel III and John Seely Brown in their book "The Power of the Pull", see what is happening as the early stages of the "Big Shift", which merges globalization with the Information Technology Revolution. We experience this shift as the growing stress that comes as we continue to operate with institutions and systems that are increasingly dysfunctional. However, this cultural shift also brings with it a huge flow of new ideas, innovations, markets and collaborations. It is this flow of innovation that brings human potential to the forefront as both individually and collectively we have to respond to this flood of new opportunities, and we will be the better for it. I am always amazed how often Friedman has his finger on the pulse of things. I use astrology to understand, he just intuits.
Ultimately both positions are correct. The demonstrators in Lower Manhattan are evidence of the "Great Disruption" as were the young people in Tahrir Square last January, and Mohamed Bouazizi, the young man of Tunisia who set himself on fire in protest of governmental harrassment last December the 17th, which event triggered all the disruptions since. Since "Occupy Wall Street" began about a month ago, as of today, it has spead to 105 cities in this country (even our small village on eastern Long Island had a demonstration Saturday) and other European capitals.
I would guess that most of these demonstrators are part of the generation born 1984-1998, those individuals aged 13-26 (Mohamed Bouazizi was). This group has the planet Neptune in Capricorn, as Wendell Perry points out in his article in the current Mountain Astrologer magazine, "Are You Ready for the Neptune in Capricorn Generation?" Neptune is the planet of our dreams, what we idolize, our hope for the future, our visions of what utopia will be like. This generation is very idealistic about government and institutions (Capricorn) wanting them to take RESPONSIBILITY for the common good (Capricorn).
The last time Neptune was in Capricorn was 1820-1834. Those young people were just coming of age in 1848-9 when there was a wave of evolutionary upheavals in almost every capital in Europe, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Dresden, Baden, Prague, Rome, Milan. The University students in Vienna forced the Austrian Emperor to dismiss his minister, Prince Metternich, who had been in power for 30 years (sound familiar?). The students (later disenfranchised workers stood with them) had to march while being fired at by the autocratic Austrian government. Each generation's job is to bring the world's attention to what they see as the defining injustice of the era. We did it with the Vietnam War.
In addition to their innate sense of wanting the best for all of society, not just the privledged , the current generation has the planet Pluto in Scorpio. Pluto rules Scorpio in part and so is very powerful. These demonstrators have a tenacity, ruthlessness and passion which will set them apart. What they choose to take on as their cause they will never give up on until it is accomplished, or they die (Mohammed Bouazizi) as it comes from the deepest part of their being.
I also see evidence of Friedman's second book, of this time being a great opportunity. I was in NYC on Friday and took a taxi. The taxi driver was quite excited with an almond bar he had dreamt up and was going to have produced. He showed me all the wrappers of the ones on the market now, that his was better than. He said he would never get rich driving a taxi but instead of complaining, used his ingenuity to come up with a product to sell to the masses. I am sure there are lots of other examples out there.
The "Big Shift" that astrologers talk about is the move into more Aquarian principles-where ideas, inventions, group collaborations, wealth and gender equality and freedom of the individual to live with dignity are among the important themes. The big shift for this astrologer is this move into a post-materialistic society. Believe it or not by the time that Saturn and Jupiter met again in early Aquarius in December of 2020 and Pluto enters Aquarius in 2023, we will be in an era where our relations with our fellow men will be valued, not the size of our bank account.
Two other authors, John Hagel III and John Seely Brown in their book "The Power of the Pull", see what is happening as the early stages of the "Big Shift", which merges globalization with the Information Technology Revolution. We experience this shift as the growing stress that comes as we continue to operate with institutions and systems that are increasingly dysfunctional. However, this cultural shift also brings with it a huge flow of new ideas, innovations, markets and collaborations. It is this flow of innovation that brings human potential to the forefront as both individually and collectively we have to respond to this flood of new opportunities, and we will be the better for it. I am always amazed how often Friedman has his finger on the pulse of things. I use astrology to understand, he just intuits.
Ultimately both positions are correct. The demonstrators in Lower Manhattan are evidence of the "Great Disruption" as were the young people in Tahrir Square last January, and Mohamed Bouazizi, the young man of Tunisia who set himself on fire in protest of governmental harrassment last December the 17th, which event triggered all the disruptions since. Since "Occupy Wall Street" began about a month ago, as of today, it has spead to 105 cities in this country (even our small village on eastern Long Island had a demonstration Saturday) and other European capitals.
I would guess that most of these demonstrators are part of the generation born 1984-1998, those individuals aged 13-26 (Mohamed Bouazizi was). This group has the planet Neptune in Capricorn, as Wendell Perry points out in his article in the current Mountain Astrologer magazine, "Are You Ready for the Neptune in Capricorn Generation?" Neptune is the planet of our dreams, what we idolize, our hope for the future, our visions of what utopia will be like. This generation is very idealistic about government and institutions (Capricorn) wanting them to take RESPONSIBILITY for the common good (Capricorn).
The last time Neptune was in Capricorn was 1820-1834. Those young people were just coming of age in 1848-9 when there was a wave of evolutionary upheavals in almost every capital in Europe, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Dresden, Baden, Prague, Rome, Milan. The University students in Vienna forced the Austrian Emperor to dismiss his minister, Prince Metternich, who had been in power for 30 years (sound familiar?). The students (later disenfranchised workers stood with them) had to march while being fired at by the autocratic Austrian government. Each generation's job is to bring the world's attention to what they see as the defining injustice of the era. We did it with the Vietnam War.
In addition to their innate sense of wanting the best for all of society, not just the privledged , the current generation has the planet Pluto in Scorpio. Pluto rules Scorpio in part and so is very powerful. These demonstrators have a tenacity, ruthlessness and passion which will set them apart. What they choose to take on as their cause they will never give up on until it is accomplished, or they die (Mohammed Bouazizi) as it comes from the deepest part of their being.
I also see evidence of Friedman's second book, of this time being a great opportunity. I was in NYC on Friday and took a taxi. The taxi driver was quite excited with an almond bar he had dreamt up and was going to have produced. He showed me all the wrappers of the ones on the market now, that his was better than. He said he would never get rich driving a taxi but instead of complaining, used his ingenuity to come up with a product to sell to the masses. I am sure there are lots of other examples out there.
The "Big Shift" that astrologers talk about is the move into more Aquarian principles-where ideas, inventions, group collaborations, wealth and gender equality and freedom of the individual to live with dignity are among the important themes. The big shift for this astrologer is this move into a post-materialistic society. Believe it or not by the time that Saturn and Jupiter met again in early Aquarius in December of 2020 and Pluto enters Aquarius in 2023, we will be in an era where our relations with our fellow men will be valued, not the size of our bank account.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
New York City in the News Again
Following on the 14th of September's blog, where we talked about the Mars transit over the summer's eclipse affecting New York City, bringing an earthquake, hurricane and the 9/11 commemorances, we now have NYC in the news with the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations. Beginning September 17th, as Pluto (one of the planets that we talked about then) made an apparent station (meaning it is changing its orientation to the Sun from our perspective) which intensifies its effects considerably. Pluto symbolically demands that we go into the deepest recesses of our being and come up with what is true for us, and be able to stand in that truth, no matter what the consequences, just as these demonstrators are doing.
From the news reports it seems that these protesters did not have a clear sense of a goal, but were responding to their gut feeling of the powerlessness, grief and unjustice that so many homeowners and middle class are feeling as the current policies and procedures are stacked against them. Few are benefiting at the expense of the many. With the synchronicity of Pluto stationing and increasing in power as it moves forward in the zodiac, those deeply held beliefs have erupted to the surface as the sitins in Lower Manhattan have spread to Seattle, Boston, Atlanta and Los Angeles, among other cities. On Saturday seven hundred people were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge in one of the largest arrests in the country of peaceful demonstrators. MOVE ON. ORG has joined the movement now and is calling for solidarity demonstrations in small cities, towns and campuses all across the country.
Just as we have seen demonstrations all over the globe this year, our country is no exception. It is not an end of war demonstration this time, but a call to end the corporate takeover of our democracy. Are we seeing a new movement being born at the time of this Pluto station?? One more in keeping with the Aquarian Age where freedom, equality and an equal distribution of wealth are promised??? Did this start in NYC with an eclipse hitting NYC's natal chart this summer??? Time will tell....
From the news reports it seems that these protesters did not have a clear sense of a goal, but were responding to their gut feeling of the powerlessness, grief and unjustice that so many homeowners and middle class are feeling as the current policies and procedures are stacked against them. Few are benefiting at the expense of the many. With the synchronicity of Pluto stationing and increasing in power as it moves forward in the zodiac, those deeply held beliefs have erupted to the surface as the sitins in Lower Manhattan have spread to Seattle, Boston, Atlanta and Los Angeles, among other cities. On Saturday seven hundred people were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge in one of the largest arrests in the country of peaceful demonstrators. MOVE ON. ORG has joined the movement now and is calling for solidarity demonstrations in small cities, towns and campuses all across the country.
Just as we have seen demonstrations all over the globe this year, our country is no exception. It is not an end of war demonstration this time, but a call to end the corporate takeover of our democracy. Are we seeing a new movement being born at the time of this Pluto station?? One more in keeping with the Aquarian Age where freedom, equality and an equal distribution of wealth are promised??? Did this start in NYC with an eclipse hitting NYC's natal chart this summer??? Time will tell....
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Autumnal Equinox
So here we are at the beginning of Fall, 5:05 AM EDT on Friday the 23rd, to be exact, when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator from north to south, the length of day and night are equal. According to the Farmers Almanac, the Equinox also brings the time when the Sun's apparent position on the horizon changes at sunrise and sunset. This shift can be noticed from one day to the next if one is observant at those times. There is a noticeable change in our physical world too, as this decrease in light causes the leaves to change color. So we are in a change of season when our physical world alters its appearance.
After the Equinox happens on Friday, we have a Super New Moon on the 27th. A New Moon occurs once a month when the Sun and Moon are together (we never see them). A Super New Moon occurs when the Moon is at its closest approach to the earth strengthening the gravitational pulls on the physical earth and on our psyches. This extra pulling might pull us in a new direction. Change is in the air and seen in the world around us.
A New Moon begins a new cycle, we get to reset ourselves in the sign Libra, which will affect each of us differently according to what area of our life is ruled by Libra. Libra is the sign of the scales. It is the call for balance. As day and night are equal now, so should we be in our personal lives. In the coming month, we strive that everybody gets treated fairly. We learn to cooperate with one another. Remember the symbol for justice was blindfolded so ideally we detach ourselves from the situation to make unbias decisions.
The fireworks that will be evident starting tomorrow on the Equinox, come from the Sun at the beginning of a cardinal sign connecting with the two outer planets Uranus and Pluto, also in the beginning of two other cardinal signs. We have talked about this before, the approaching 1st quarter square between these 2 outer planets that have much to do with the collective. The approaching 90 degree angle has been felt all year and is partly responsible for the "Arab Spring", when Uranus, the call for freedom and dignity of the individual meets Pluto the transformer of large groups of people.
These 2 planets were last together 1964-65. Next June they will make the 1st of 7 exact 90 degree squares to each other through March 2015, as this year they only came to within a degree of one another, but are still close enough to each that after the Sun enters Libra , it meets Uranus on the 25th, then Pluto and Mercury on the 28th. The Sun acts like a translator of the 2 outer planets and we feel the synchronicity. These are opening squares so that the vast cultural changes we saw begun in the sixties, have an increased intensity (the square) to further those new beginnings in more of an "evolutionary imperative" as Stephanie Justin calls it in The Mountain Astrologer magazine.
Just as we see the change in where the sun is rising and setting, the trees changing from green to red, yellow, orange, so too our psyches will be altering this autumn, some more than others. The Sun's apparent movement into Libra and this New Moon connected to the planets of evolutionary progress will push us to think differently and take action. Just as planets moving into cardinal signs make changes in the natural world, so too in our inner world and personal lives, some more profoundly than others. The some include any person with planets in 5-15 degrees of the cardinal signs. This group also happens to include: the USA, France, Germany, China, the UN, EEC, the UK and USSR. All these countries will be affected in the years to come by the Uranus/Pluto square, the synchronistic effects of which we are getting an inkling of this year especially now at the change of seasons.
After the Equinox happens on Friday, we have a Super New Moon on the 27th. A New Moon occurs once a month when the Sun and Moon are together (we never see them). A Super New Moon occurs when the Moon is at its closest approach to the earth strengthening the gravitational pulls on the physical earth and on our psyches. This extra pulling might pull us in a new direction. Change is in the air and seen in the world around us.
A New Moon begins a new cycle, we get to reset ourselves in the sign Libra, which will affect each of us differently according to what area of our life is ruled by Libra. Libra is the sign of the scales. It is the call for balance. As day and night are equal now, so should we be in our personal lives. In the coming month, we strive that everybody gets treated fairly. We learn to cooperate with one another. Remember the symbol for justice was blindfolded so ideally we detach ourselves from the situation to make unbias decisions.
The fireworks that will be evident starting tomorrow on the Equinox, come from the Sun at the beginning of a cardinal sign connecting with the two outer planets Uranus and Pluto, also in the beginning of two other cardinal signs. We have talked about this before, the approaching 1st quarter square between these 2 outer planets that have much to do with the collective. The approaching 90 degree angle has been felt all year and is partly responsible for the "Arab Spring", when Uranus, the call for freedom and dignity of the individual meets Pluto the transformer of large groups of people.
These 2 planets were last together 1964-65. Next June they will make the 1st of 7 exact 90 degree squares to each other through March 2015, as this year they only came to within a degree of one another, but are still close enough to each that after the Sun enters Libra , it meets Uranus on the 25th, then Pluto and Mercury on the 28th. The Sun acts like a translator of the 2 outer planets and we feel the synchronicity. These are opening squares so that the vast cultural changes we saw begun in the sixties, have an increased intensity (the square) to further those new beginnings in more of an "evolutionary imperative" as Stephanie Justin calls it in The Mountain Astrologer magazine.
Just as we see the change in where the sun is rising and setting, the trees changing from green to red, yellow, orange, so too our psyches will be altering this autumn, some more than others. The Sun's apparent movement into Libra and this New Moon connected to the planets of evolutionary progress will push us to think differently and take action. Just as planets moving into cardinal signs make changes in the natural world, so too in our inner world and personal lives, some more profoundly than others. The some include any person with planets in 5-15 degrees of the cardinal signs. This group also happens to include: the USA, France, Germany, China, the UN, EEC, the UK and USSR. All these countries will be affected in the years to come by the Uranus/Pluto square, the synchronistic effects of which we are getting an inkling of this year especially now at the change of seasons.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
On New York City
I have been thinking about New York City and how often it has been in the news lately; an earthquake, hurricane and the events around the commemoration of September 11th is alot of activity for less than 3 weeks. I looked at the birth chart for NYC Jan 1 1898 12:01 AM. The City has 9 degrees of Libra rising with the planet of growth, expansion and success, Jupiter rising within minutes. This is a very good augury for the successful launch of any person or place. On the Midheaven is the sign Cancer at 11 degrees. There was a solar eclipse this summer at 9 degrees of Cancer on July 1st, a point on the zodiac close to both the ascendant and midheaven of New York City. This puts emphasis on the most sensitive points in NYC's (or anybody's) natal chart triggering events and notice for the year.
Eclipses are powerful Full or New Moons that have resonance not just for the month they occur. The points where they occur are sensitive for years. Even though this partial eclipse of the Sun on the 1st of July is over, the effects of an eclipse on one's Midheaven or destiny, or how you are seen in the world continues on especially when a planet like Mars passes over that point. Every 2 1/2 years Mars comes to conjunct that one point in the zodiac and he was within 2 degrees, at 13 Cancer on August 23rd, when the strongest earthquake in the East for 100 years, was felt in NYC.
Also that day we had Mars making a 90 degree angle to Saturn in Libra, crossing NYC's ascendant and also the natal placement of Saturn in the USA's natal horoscope. Saturn in the sky has returned for the 8th time since July 4th 1776 to the degree it was when we were founded. This is interesting in that this Saturn return and earthquake happening in the East affected 11 out of the original 13 colonies, as ASTROTABLETALK blog points out. We talked about the contraction that occurs when Saturn comes around as it is now for the USA. NYC and the USA share similar areas of the zodiac and so when something happens to one, it affects the other too.
Mars the planet of activity, energy, assertion, and Saturn, the planet of physical reality, the end or stoppage, were the planets, when they came in contact, that signaled the worst of happenings, accidents, falls, deaths, fires etc. for astrologers before the modern era. In other words an astrologer in London in the 1700's would see those 2 planets in relationship connected with the city's natal angles (Ascendant and Midheaven) and predict dire things.
Then 5 days later we had hurricane Irene affecting the same eastern states. Although the shoreline were saved, the inland areas were devastated. Who ever heard of a hurricane (or tropical storm) in Vermont?
This was the day of the New Moon in Virgo connected to the planet Neptune who rules the seas and earthquakes as well, in that they come from under the land.
New York City was also commemorating the 10th anniversary of September 11th. This occurred on the weekend of the Full Moon. The Moon was in Pisces and as it was predicted with the New Moon and Neptune and Hurricane Irene bringing lots of water so to at this full Moon are we in grief and mourning with tears as we remembered how all our lives changed that day.
If we go back to September 11th, we can see from looking at the natal, progressed and transiting charts the effects on the city that day. It is more than I can go into here but 2 things stand out. One is Mars on that day was within 6 minutes of exactness to the progressed ascendant to NYC's chart (note the planet Mars again going over angle of a chart and how that stirs things up; and secondly that summer the solar eclipse was at 0 degrees Cancer on June 21st, on the world axis (EVERYBODY notices what happens when something occurs at 0 degrees of any sugn that starts a season) followed by the Lunar Eclipse, at yes you guessed it, at 13 degrees of Capricorn. This time that degree is opposite NYS's Midheaven and conjunct its natal Sun at 11 Capricorn.
The moral for would be astrologers-watch what happens when the planet Mars goes over a sensitive point, like an Ascendant or Midheaven that has been recently eclipsed. That person or city or country will be in the news.
Eclipses are powerful Full or New Moons that have resonance not just for the month they occur. The points where they occur are sensitive for years. Even though this partial eclipse of the Sun on the 1st of July is over, the effects of an eclipse on one's Midheaven or destiny, or how you are seen in the world continues on especially when a planet like Mars passes over that point. Every 2 1/2 years Mars comes to conjunct that one point in the zodiac and he was within 2 degrees, at 13 Cancer on August 23rd, when the strongest earthquake in the East for 100 years, was felt in NYC.
Also that day we had Mars making a 90 degree angle to Saturn in Libra, crossing NYC's ascendant and also the natal placement of Saturn in the USA's natal horoscope. Saturn in the sky has returned for the 8th time since July 4th 1776 to the degree it was when we were founded. This is interesting in that this Saturn return and earthquake happening in the East affected 11 out of the original 13 colonies, as ASTROTABLETALK blog points out. We talked about the contraction that occurs when Saturn comes around as it is now for the USA. NYC and the USA share similar areas of the zodiac and so when something happens to one, it affects the other too.
Mars the planet of activity, energy, assertion, and Saturn, the planet of physical reality, the end or stoppage, were the planets, when they came in contact, that signaled the worst of happenings, accidents, falls, deaths, fires etc. for astrologers before the modern era. In other words an astrologer in London in the 1700's would see those 2 planets in relationship connected with the city's natal angles (Ascendant and Midheaven) and predict dire things.
Then 5 days later we had hurricane Irene affecting the same eastern states. Although the shoreline were saved, the inland areas were devastated. Who ever heard of a hurricane (or tropical storm) in Vermont?
This was the day of the New Moon in Virgo connected to the planet Neptune who rules the seas and earthquakes as well, in that they come from under the land.
New York City was also commemorating the 10th anniversary of September 11th. This occurred on the weekend of the Full Moon. The Moon was in Pisces and as it was predicted with the New Moon and Neptune and Hurricane Irene bringing lots of water so to at this full Moon are we in grief and mourning with tears as we remembered how all our lives changed that day.
If we go back to September 11th, we can see from looking at the natal, progressed and transiting charts the effects on the city that day. It is more than I can go into here but 2 things stand out. One is Mars on that day was within 6 minutes of exactness to the progressed ascendant to NYC's chart (note the planet Mars again going over angle of a chart and how that stirs things up; and secondly that summer the solar eclipse was at 0 degrees Cancer on June 21st, on the world axis (EVERYBODY notices what happens when something occurs at 0 degrees of any sugn that starts a season) followed by the Lunar Eclipse, at yes you guessed it, at 13 degrees of Capricorn. This time that degree is opposite NYS's Midheaven and conjunct its natal Sun at 11 Capricorn.
The moral for would be astrologers-watch what happens when the planet Mars goes over a sensitive point, like an Ascendant or Midheaven that has been recently eclipsed. That person or city or country will be in the news.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Labor Day Musings
I read alot of the Sunday paper yesterday and was taken by how much our President is being taken over the coals. It seems he cannot do anything right, even trying to pick an evening for a major speech became another newsworthy event where Obama is seen as "ineffective", "a mother-may I" president, "the nation's deferrer in chief" (Frank Bruni in Pass, Fail and Politics in the NYT) and having "a deficit of smarts""(same source) not to have forseen what the Republicans would do with his aquiescing to Boehner's refusual to give him the date he suggested for his jobs speech (first time in history).
I also read David Remnick in "The Talk of the Town" in the September 5th New Yorker. Remnick writes citing a previous article in that magazine by Ryan Lizza about how the Obama administration "maybe moving toward something resembling a doctrine". Furthermore Lizza wrote that one of his (Obama's) advisors described the President's actions in Libya as "leading from behind". The presidential candidates and conservative pundits have taken up the banner "leading from behind" as a sure fire way to pillor the President.
Lizza goes on to say that in forming this administration's foreign policy two unspoken and comparatively new tenets must be taken into account. One is that the relative power of the US is in decline and the second is that the US is hated in many parts of the world. In joining the action in Libya, and not leading it as the Republicans would have us do, Obama is displaying a new kind of leadership, the kind that builds consensus among allies first before going into interfere into another country's affairs. This kind of leadership does not go around "trumpeting" wins.
The astrology supports the conclusions in the New Yorker. America's power is in decline. Look at our chart. Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Neptune and Saturn are in retrograde motion, that is 5 out of the possible 8 planets (the Sun and Moon never go retrograde) are changing orientation to the Sun, which is our purpose. As a nation we have moved away from our center and must in time be brought back. We are no longer going forward, but have to back track, to relearn pieces we didn't get right the first time.
The leadership that Obama is displaying is in his chart, as the country follows along with its leader's natal horoscope. We have to live with and through the President's karma. Obama's natal Jupiter, the planet of expansion and opportunity is at 0 degrees of Aquarius. Aquarius is an air sign and feels more comfortable in a group. The Sun, ability to lead, is strong in August, in Leo, when it is high in the sky. (Obama is a Leo but his Sun is weakened by a square to the planet of illusion and egolessness Neptune.) Aquarius is opposite Leo, the Sun is low in the sky in February, the Sun is weak there. Obama is not looking for glory. He has a sense that America has made huge mistakes since 9/11 and our reputation as a trustworthy leader is tarnished.
We are moving into the Aquarian Age when the sign Aquarius will be stronger for good or ill (Sarah Palin. Dick Cheney, Glenn Beck are Aquarians). The next Jupiter/ Saturn conjunction will be in December 2020 at 0 degrees of Aquarius. These every 20 year conjunctions mark new stages in our cultural, political, social development. More of a one world concept will be in evidence and Obama can be seen as a herald.
As to his troubles right now, his progressed Moon is at the end of Pisces. In a month and 1/2 his Moon will move into the next sign Aries, run into Uranus and his progressed Sun. He will get fired up again and do something surprising. It will be a time of illumination as he will be entering the progressed full moon stage of his life when one gets to see the bigger picture. Pisces is not the sign to do any combat, you feel and just want to include everybody in your heart. Aries is a whole different ball game, you get back on your horse. The President's progressed Moon moving into Aries starts a new personal cycle around the wheel of life.
I also read David Remnick in "The Talk of the Town" in the September 5th New Yorker. Remnick writes citing a previous article in that magazine by Ryan Lizza about how the Obama administration "maybe moving toward something resembling a doctrine". Furthermore Lizza wrote that one of his (Obama's) advisors described the President's actions in Libya as "leading from behind". The presidential candidates and conservative pundits have taken up the banner "leading from behind" as a sure fire way to pillor the President.
Lizza goes on to say that in forming this administration's foreign policy two unspoken and comparatively new tenets must be taken into account. One is that the relative power of the US is in decline and the second is that the US is hated in many parts of the world. In joining the action in Libya, and not leading it as the Republicans would have us do, Obama is displaying a new kind of leadership, the kind that builds consensus among allies first before going into interfere into another country's affairs. This kind of leadership does not go around "trumpeting" wins.
The astrology supports the conclusions in the New Yorker. America's power is in decline. Look at our chart. Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Neptune and Saturn are in retrograde motion, that is 5 out of the possible 8 planets (the Sun and Moon never go retrograde) are changing orientation to the Sun, which is our purpose. As a nation we have moved away from our center and must in time be brought back. We are no longer going forward, but have to back track, to relearn pieces we didn't get right the first time.
The leadership that Obama is displaying is in his chart, as the country follows along with its leader's natal horoscope. We have to live with and through the President's karma. Obama's natal Jupiter, the planet of expansion and opportunity is at 0 degrees of Aquarius. Aquarius is an air sign and feels more comfortable in a group. The Sun, ability to lead, is strong in August, in Leo, when it is high in the sky. (Obama is a Leo but his Sun is weakened by a square to the planet of illusion and egolessness Neptune.) Aquarius is opposite Leo, the Sun is low in the sky in February, the Sun is weak there. Obama is not looking for glory. He has a sense that America has made huge mistakes since 9/11 and our reputation as a trustworthy leader is tarnished.
We are moving into the Aquarian Age when the sign Aquarius will be stronger for good or ill (Sarah Palin. Dick Cheney, Glenn Beck are Aquarians). The next Jupiter/ Saturn conjunction will be in December 2020 at 0 degrees of Aquarius. These every 20 year conjunctions mark new stages in our cultural, political, social development. More of a one world concept will be in evidence and Obama can be seen as a herald.
As to his troubles right now, his progressed Moon is at the end of Pisces. In a month and 1/2 his Moon will move into the next sign Aries, run into Uranus and his progressed Sun. He will get fired up again and do something surprising. It will be a time of illumination as he will be entering the progressed full moon stage of his life when one gets to see the bigger picture. Pisces is not the sign to do any combat, you feel and just want to include everybody in your heart. Aries is a whole different ball game, you get back on your horse. The President's progressed Moon moving into Aries starts a new personal cycle around the wheel of life.
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