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Astrological Forecasts...
This is written for Eastern time zone, please adjust for your own locality.
Still, even though the intensity of the cardinal alignments is fading, we must still be open to surrender where necessary in order to continue to evolve. Once Pluto turns direct on September 14th we will start to see more movement in our lives.
There is still a planetary dynamic that is putting continuous pressure on us to reach deep within the soul in order to pull out any unresolved wounds and hurts that will facilitate our personal evolution and help us to become fully healed beings. These planetary teachers bestow personal wisdom and a sense of balance that can only come from this healing process of the soul.
There is great potential this month to break out of any boxes in our lives that we find ourselves in but it's important to align with the truth within us so that we don't fall into a delusory state.
As September begins, there is a great deal of mental energy available. On the 4th and 5th channels of divine love and creativity begin to open. Under this brief but lovely interlude, old hurts can become more easily healed.
This is a very nice lead-up to the New Moon in Virgo on September 8. The emphasis here is on the details of life which brings us back to earth. Virgo manages all of the matters required by life in a body: our physical health, creating order in our life, using a discriminating eye to select the areas of our life that are not really good enough, and finding ways in which they can be improved.
New Moons as we know are times of new beginnings, and this is a good time to refresh our relationship to the details of our own lives. This is a good time to begin a new health plan or exercise program, or to research the latest health news. Organizing your closet or kitchen is, of course, a good way to spend a Virgo New Moon.
There is a practical focus here that can help us to create plans and strategies, as well as an opportunity to unlock our creativity, but also to open the doors of healing in relationships that need it.
Venus enters Scorpio later that day, the first of the planets to enter water signs and take us into the realm of emotions. In Scorpio Venus is more intense and passionate and less concerned with balance and fairness. With Venus in Scorpio over the next few weeks we may find ourselves also reaching more deeply into the soul to discover emotions that lie buried there.
On September 9th and for the next few weeks the desire to bring something new into our world, a focus on new ideas and social justice and fairness - all of this will become more pronounced. This is a time of new discovery and liberation.
On the 11th a Mars/Chiron aspect opens the doors to healing. This would be a great day to have surgery, or any kind of holistic treatment.
A challenging aspect on the 13th however can lead to reckless and somewhat dangerous behavior for a day or two. So take extra care that day to be attentive, and burn off that energy in a constructive way.
On September 14th another Mars dynamic helps to take us deeper into our lives to a place that has real meaning and strips away any falseness. This can be a very passionate time that energizes us deeply through our emotions.
Around September 18th, still another Mars aspect helps us to integrate our personal will with the will of our higher selves which is a great tool for transformation. These few days offer insight and new ideas, a wave of confidence and faith along with the passion to make life happen in new ways.
The Autumn Equinox on the evening of September 22 occurs just before the Moon is full. The charts for the equinoxes and the solstices help to define the energy and weather for the next three months, so check in with the Astrological Musings blog to read my equinox predictions later this month. At any rate, it looks like the next few months will bring some surprising events!
The chart for the Full Moon in Aries does bring together the planetary challenges for one more dramatic moment, although this will not in any way approach the intensity of the summer.There is an initiation here that must be attended to. We must now surrender and shed the old skins we are hauling around with us that no longer fit the persons we have become. The Aries Moon is very ready to begin something completely new and let go of any hesitation or fears that may have taken over our lives.
For a few days at the very end of the month we will need to get serious and pay attention to what is needed in our lives. Our focus at that time will be on our responsibilities to others and the negotiations that are required to create balance and harmony in our world.
October looks to be relatively peaceful, so tune in next month for more astrological news!
Predictions for 2010
Moving into a new decade next year does have a feeling of things shifting into a higher gear. The upcoming Astrological weather, at least until the fall, also seems to resonate with that kind of an uptake in the energy levels.
Looking back on and assessing my predictions for 2009: I noted last year that there would be some more Saturn/Uranus oppositions, paraphrasing their on-going tension as freedom vs. responsibility.
During the year I wrote a newsletter where I observed this tension as manifesting in the conflict in the debate over healthcare reform with the following comments:
One can see the arguments on the left and the right in relation to the Saturn/Uranus tension. The conservatives fear that Big Government (Saturn) and their ‘Death Panels’ (Saturn is sometimes called the Grim Reaper) will severely limit their freedom (Uranus.) Whereas the left feels that it is time to totally change and liberate us (Uranus) from the grip of the Healthcare Industry cartel and their control of our lives for the benefit of their own profit (Saturn). (End quote)
I also noted that in November Saturn would move into tension (square) with Pluto for the first time since 2001, and they would be hitting the charts of the U.S. , Barack Obama, and Joseph Biden (and me!)
Well I had some lessons at that time, which I won’t go into, and I’m not sure how it personally affected Obama and Biden, but on October 20th Pluto was exactly square to the Mid-Heaven of the United States (the way we present ourselves to the world), and on November 8th Saturn was exactly conjunct to that same Mid-Heaven. November 5th was the day of the shootings at Ft. Hood, Texas. Saturn and Pluto tend to linger with a long-lasting heaviness. This is relatable to the fact that the shooter survived and there will be a trial and possibly an execution.
And I think, additionally, the Saturn/Pluto tension, peaking the first time in November, is also relatable to the tension and frustration with the climate change conference in Copenhagen. Pluto, Lord of the underworld, is in Capricorn, a sign of material ambition and authoritative structure. The specter of climate change is Pluto’s threatening the way we live materially on the planet and the traditional economic and governmental hierarchies that organize and facilitate that material lifestyle, indicating a need for Plutonian death/rebirth.
Saturn, the planet which rules Capricorn, therefore also related to authority and structure, has recently moved into the sign of Libra, a sign of balance, fairness, and partnerships/relationships. I would say the tension between fair/responsible partnerships (Saturn in Libra) and the fear of control and manipulation of governmental/economic forces (Pluto in Capricorn) is evident in not only the weak agreement finally eked out in the Copenhagen Summit, but also the disappointing drama being played out presently in the Senate and the healthcare reform bill.
Nonetheless, this tension, as frustrating and seemingly bearing little fruit as it is, is at least forcing the two sides to engage with each other. For any kind of meaningful growth or change to occur there has to be some engagement, and that is one of the benefits of difficult aspects.
The tensions of 2009, however, seem to be only a prelude to what’s ahead. In 2010 there are indications that the celestial influences are going to ‘up the ante’ as it were.
On January 31st Saturn will square Pluto again. Then in April Saturn will go back into Virgo and create another opposition with Uranus (freedom vs. responsibility) on April 26th. But these are both repeat performances.
The new influx of energy really begins on the day of the full Moon on May 27th, when Uranus will move from the sign Pisces, where it has been since March of 2003, into the sign of Aries, for the first time since 1935. Pisces is a watery, sensitive, vulnerable emotional sign. Aries is a fiery, willful, independent, potentially aggressive sign. For example, the Ascended Master Hilarion says that someone who is Aries is someone who, in some previous lifetime, risked their own life in order to come to the rescue of another individual. As a reward for this courageous, self-less act the Aries individual is given an additional energy, physically, mentally, or emotionally. Their lesson is to express this energy in such a way as to not harm others, or themselves, through aggressive action or behavior. Noted Astrologer/Author Liz Greene once pointed out that there tends to be two kinds of Aries. There are the obvious Aries, who tend to be beating up everyone else. And there are the quiet Aries, who tend to be beating up themselves. As I say it, they both need to learn how to just ‘chill,’ and not beat up anybody.
Uranus is the planet of the unconventional, surprise, sudden change out of the blue, and freedom from old patterns that have outlived their purpose. The combination of Uranus and Aries is likely to be quite exciting. Uranus being surprise, however, it is rather difficult to predict. Liz Greene also once said: “Astrologers favorite pastime is trying to predict what a Uranus transit will be when it hits their chart, and they are always wrong.”
I would say that there is likely to be some stronger pushes for new freedom, new courageous movement, and new change. On June 6th Jupiter goes into Aries. People with Jupiter in Aries (like Tiger Woods) think they can do anything, until they realize they can’t (like Tiger Woods).
Jupiter conjuncting Uranus in Aries could be enthusiastically, impulsively liberating, especially for Arians, Sagittarians, Leos, Geminiis, and Aquarians. It could be enthusiastically, impulsively, liberating for Libras, Capricorns, and Cancers, but in ways that may seem threatening, confrontative or aggressive.
A more conflictual or stressful and confrontative way of growth is even more likely around July 26th, when there will be another Saturn/Uranus opposition. The previous oppositions between these two planets, beginning in 2008 were, however, in the mutable signs of Virgo and Pisces.
This opposition in July will be between cardinal signs, with Saturn in Libra (authoritative fairness and responsibility in relationships) and Uranus in Aries (independent freedom of willful expression and action). The key phrase for Libra is: “I seek myself through what I unite.” The key phrase for Aries is: “I seek myself through myself.” A bit of a different approach I would say.
This Saturn/Uranus opposition will be within orb of a ‘t-square’ (two planets in opposition to each other simultaneously squaring a third planet) to the Pluto in Capricorn, while Jupiter in Aries is in fact making an exact square to Pluto.
So, there should be some interesting manifestation involving Saturnian responsibility and fairness in relationships, Jupiterian enthusiasm and optimism, Uranian independent freedom of individual willful expression, with the Libran Saturn at odds with the Arian Jupiter/Uranus, but with both ends of the Libran/Aries tension at odds with the deep, long Plutonian death/rebirth transformation of our Capricornian power structures and limiting material beliefs. Who knows? Maybe we will discover life from another planet. Actually that might be coming in 2011-12.
After this configuration in July all of this intense energy starts to, amazingly, back off for a while. On August 2nd Uranus goes back into watery Pisces for a while. On September 9th Jupiter does the same.
By November, and throughout December even the Saturn/Pluto square eases off. So, it looks like in the late fall, early winter, we have a bit of a reprieve, time to assess and integrate the spring/summer developments.
By the way, if you want to get married in 2010, I would recommend waiting until November or December.
In 2011 we shift out of cruising in neutral, right into 3rd gear, but more about that at a later date.
Blessings to you all in this New Year,
Steffan Vanel
Spiritual Company Newsletter:
By Steffan Vanel • Astrologer • Tarot Reader
Author of:
The Astrological Karma
of the USA
And:
Charles & Diana: The
Inside Story: An Astrological-Karmic View
Now on YouTube:
The
Astrological Karma of the USA and The New Presidency
New on YouTube!:
Bridging Heaven & Earth Show #238
www.SpiritualCompany.com
To respond authentically to the massive amounts of anxiety and depression in the air right now, we need to understand the underlying energies from which they arise. If we are interested in cosmic meaning, tossing around these terms as they are used in everyday speech will not get us far, nor will their psychiatric definitions.
In the context of consciousness work, depression and anxiety are not merely personal, nor are they merely maladies (mal: Latin for bad). In order to heal them we need to redefine them, which is exactly what the transit above us can help us do. The remarkable assemblage in the sky right now joins together the forces of Neptune (universality) with the planetoid Chiron (wounds) and the huge gas giant Jupiter (knowledge), in the sign Aquarius (humanity).1
Early last month Mars briefly stimulated this line-up, making it feel suddenly very real. The collective agitation and panic associated with the financial crisis were whipped into a high lather by the red planet. The malaise was brought into the body level.
Whenever a personal planet comes along to trigger a long-running transit, we may start to take personally (in both the positive and negative senses of the phrase) the ongoing transit in the background. This is why for many people the Neptune conjunction hit home, in a new way, during the first half of March. Mars gave us a heads-up that we cannot afford to ignore Neptune’s deeper message, hard to conceptualize though it may be. If we do not come to terms with the transit’s true potential, its energy will have nowhere to go but into depression and free-floating fear.
This is a typical reaction, but it is a misuse of the transit. The intention of these planetary intelligences is that we confront the woundedness of the world, in order to see that we’re all in this together.
When anxiety is swirling around in the environment, we encounter psychic toxins that resonate with our own unique issues, but which are not limited to our own issues. Thus we have two dimensions to negotiate: the my-own-stuff part and the collective madness part.
Depression happens when anxiety is taken personally instead of trans-personally. Some people are reacting to these troubled times by castigating themselves: telling themselves they should have done something they didn’t do or they shouldn't have done something they did do. Others see themselves as innocent bystanders; victims of external events that have nothing to do with them personally. Both views fall short of the larger truth.
If we believe that everything has meaning, and that our presence in every situation is cosmically appropriate, then we can’t simply chalk up the malaise we are experiencing to the worldly cataclysms that seem to cause it. This is not to say that global warming and financial meltdown et al don’t play a starring role in this global drama. It is rather to say that we have a better shot at healing ourselves and our world when we go beyond seeing things merely in terms of cause-and-effect.
In the holistic view, anxiety and depression are not problems, but symptoms. They are signals pointing to something else. This is not to deny or minimize the discomfort involved, which can range from mild to excruciating. It is just to suggest that the way to experience such states differently is to understand them differently.
Step One in understanding them differently is to strip the terms anxiety and depression of value judgment. This means noticing the shame-tinged associations that surround these feelings. Conventional psychology is, for the most part, loath to see these conditions as soul issues, opting instead to see them as personal mental-emotional pathologies; a view that is, perversely, often interpreted as a kindness to the sufferer (note how often families of chronically depressed people angrily defend their loved one’s condition as an illness).
This line of thinking is a natural consequence of the cultural skirmishes that have arisen as our society flails around trying to ease its pain. Many sincere social advocates, in reaction to what they perceive as a campaign to blame the victim, react by blaming the medical industry for misdiagnosis, the insurance company for not paying for treatment, or the social worker for negligence in handling the case. And of course all these charges are usually completely valid. It is hardly a secret any more that modern capitalist societies don’t prioritize taking care of their citizens, a situation that has reached calamitous proportions in the USA.
But for the purposes of this discussion, we are saying that casting the depression-sufferer as a victim is not the way to strengthen her. It will do nothing to heal either the person or the social condition.
Trying to identify the cosmic teaching hidden within distressing psychological states is not easy in the current cultural climate. To interpret depression as soul-angst is often construed as foisting a judgment upon the sufferer: either by imposing an (unreal) ideological position upon a (real) ailment, or by faulting the sufferer for being “spiritually incorrect” in some way.
Like all Neptunian dilemmas, this one requires a subtlety of understanding that popular discourse lacks the vocabulary to even talk about, let alone remedy. But astrology employs a very precise vocabulary with which to parse the myriad states of the human condition, so let us attempt a translation into the language of symbols.
If everything in the universe is energy, emotions (the Water element) must be energy, too. They must follow the same Natural Laws that everything else follows. They must operate in the same ways that physical things (Earth), thoughts (Air) and impulses (Fire) operate.
In this sense, depression is grief (Water) that has gotten stuck. Similarly, when we lose sight of our connection to Source, we get anxiety (stuck Air and Water): an offshoot of the realization that the familiar parameters of our lives have become profoundly destabilized, and have not yet resolved into a new set.
This perspective allows us to relax into the realization that what we are feeling is, under the circumstances, eminently natural. Not inevitable, not at all; but very understandable, and utterly human. So instead of immediately adding worry to the mix – worry about having these feelings -- we gently acknowledge their universality, their emotional logic.
At this point, we open up a little bit, quite organically, to Step Two: forgiveness of the self for feeling this way.
Depression, free-floating anxiety, claustrophobia and psychological restlessness derive from un-integrated Neptune, the planet of universal Water. This aspect of Neptune is fated to be highly visible right now because of its proximity in the sky to Chiron. Our emotional and mental bodies can be forgiven for not knowing how to handle these energies. Neptune and Chiron’s sublime, powerful truths are presenting themselves to be assimilated but are not there yet.
Even in this phase, however, they are serving a purpose: that of putting us on the path towards a fuller kind of health than that which presents itself as mere happiness and contentment. I’m talking about the kind of health that incorporates spiritual knowing.
This leads us to Step Three: surrendering to the essential layer of meaning here; the layer of meaning that encompasses yet transcends all the other layers of meaning (material, psychological, societal, legal, etc). The essential truth Neptune wants to convey to us is that we are all ultimately souls trapped in a corporeal existence, living out this limited Earth-plane exercise as best we can, through storylines that our higher selves scripted (laid out in our birth chart), in order to learn lessons we couldn’t have learned anywhere except in this befuddled, imperfect, fascinating realm of matter.
That’s a pretty big truth for a secular-minded culture to swallow.
Most modern people don’t have a belief system that can accommodate it, which leaves them stranded. Absent any universal perspective, where does Step One leave us? Without a belief in overall cosmic meaning, how would it help us to simply admit we’re depressed and anxious? It wouldn’t. Which is why the conventional treatments for these conditions often promote a feeling of futility -- a dangerous ingredient to toss into a situation already characterized by a sense of meaninglessness.
There’s no way around it. We can’t submit a transit like this one to a merely intellectual or psychological analysis and expect to get anywhere. There is no way to heal Neptunian angst outside of a spiritual context, because it is a spiritual condition.
How is the collective likely to handle this transit? Group consciousness is slower on the uptake than individual consciousness. When a transit this challenging comes along we need to know which themes are likely to come to a head in the cultural environment, so we can know what’s really going on underneath the sturm und drang of current events.
As the governor of escapism, low-level Neptune is associated with drugs. Given the state of affairs in the modern world, this gives the transit a wide field in which to play itself out.
Humanity is now under the reign of Queen Poppy and the King Coca. One cannot help but feel that Mother Earth, in reaction to the degradations inflicted upon her by the human species, is parceling out her revenge by unleashing upon her tormentors these two Janus-faced plants; which now serve as the cash crop as well as the mortal undoing of millions upon millions of people.
At this point in history there are many countries whose whole infrastructure is based upon these two life-destroying plants. In Afghanistan the cultivation of poppies provides a meager living for some of the poorest people in the world, at the same time that it finances the weaponry used by all factions involved in the ceaseless bloodletting (see "Silk Road Blues" on MotherSky blog). In Nicaragua, fishing villages are abandoning their ancient trade in favor of beachcombing for bags of cocaine that wash up on the shore after having been ditched by smugglers at sea. In Columbia the long-running coca wars have consumed hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of American tax dollars.
In Mexico the narcotraficante culture has all but taken over, creating a state of civil and governmental dysfunction comparable to that of Afghanistan. Victims of the daily kidnappings, torture and beheadings include civilians, police chiefs, mayors, lawyers and whoever else gets in the way of the drug cartels who have thoroughly infiltrated every level of the police, military and governing establishments.
What Americans have yet to assimilate is the symbiotic relationship with the USA that underlies this orgy of violence and breakdown. Not only is the USA the end-market of almost all Mexican drug dealing, but 90 per cent of the weapons smuggled into Mexico come from here. The drugs flow north while the weapons flow south.
America’s involvement in these international horrors is seldom examined by the US media. Neither do many US taxpayers give much thought to how much of their hard-earned money gets funneled by the Pentagon into paramilitary units, especially in Latin America, to carry out the so-called “war on drugs” begun under Nixon. This 40-year-old “war” has proven such a resounding failure that more and more Americans are beginning to realize it is more than merely a grossly misguided effort to stamp out drugs. This “war,” like the others that are bleeding Uncle Sam’s coffers dry while the economy tanks, is about covert geopolitical control. In several Latin American countries the power of dark Neptune has undermined public health to the level of genocide.
From now through February of 2010 the transit will be hovering over the Sibly chart Moon (27°Aquarius). Cracks will appear in the shell of insularity that has protected Americans up until now from identifying with the worldwide repercussions of their relationship with drugs.
In order to heal (Chiron) a problem as vast and pernicious as that of the global (Jupiter) drug trade (Neptune), aspects of it that originate in the USA must be brought home (Moon): incorporated into America’s understanding of itself.
Next month, America’s drug issues will be under the spotlight as never before. The transit’s first peak is May 27th.
Notes:
Though their first exact conjunction is not until February 2010, next month is considered to be the conjunction’s first major preview. On May 27th 2009, when Jupiter and Neptune both hit 29 Aquarius, Chiron will be only three degrees away.
For the fiscal years 2005-07, confiscated and discarded weapons used in these killings were traced to fifteen US states. Texas sellers were the source of more than two thousand of them; California furnished more than a thousand.
Commentary: "Keeping Perspective" By Bill Herbst
http://www.billherbst.com
I write this month to a fairly specialized group of readers. My
audience for these commentaries is hardly ever the general public, but
I do try to make the essays informative and accessible even for them.
My natural audience is limited to those who study astrology, as well
as those who are aware of what’s coming in the collective, regardless
of the sources they studied to inform their opinions concerning the
massive changes that lie ahead in the way we live.
How many people are members in the second group, in America and around
the world? I don’t know, but I would hazard a guess at 10 million in
America and another 50 million globally.
These people understand that we humans are consuming our world as if
there were no tomorrow (which there may not be for all too many of us
if we do not redirect our rapacious appetites and learn to live in
harmony with nature). The challenges we face include peak oil (which
has nothing to do with running out of oil, but everything to do with
the end of abundantly cheap fossil fuels), climate change, ozone
depletion, watershed destruction, topsoil erosion and desertification,
toxic waste pollution, agricultural disaster with resulting famines,
species extinction, death of the oceans, resource wars with nuclear
weapons, disease pandemics — the list goes on and on. Add to these the
implications from civilizational astrology of serious breakdowns in
corporations, government, and other social institutions grown too
large, monolithic, and unwieldy to adapt to rapidly changing
conditions, resulting in economic collapse and civil unrest that may
precede or follow natural catastrophes, but are intertwined with them
in cascading chains of cause and effect.
Some of us have longstanding awareness of these unpleasant
possibilities, tracing as far back as the 1960s. Others are more
recent converts in concern.
The past eight years under the two Bush administrations were very
difficult. Government worked to undermine science, often in flat-out
denial. American participation in international cooperation reached an
all-time low. Other nations made progress in implementing policy and
strategies to improve the future of humanity by slowing the rate of
environmental destruction, but our government derided all these
efforts. America became the equivalent of a rogue state. Despair was
widespread, especially as the housing bubble ended and the
highly-leveraged derivative debt packaging began to reveal massive
losses, resulting in the sudden collapse of an entire category of
financial institutions. In a single year — 2008 — investment banks
disappeared, either vanishing from the scene entirely through
implosions of sudden bankruptcy or ending up neutered and hamstrung in
a credit freeze that crippled the economy.
Politics and Money
For many, renewed hope arrived in the person of Barack Obama. Swept
into office on the heels of the economic debacle, Obama promised to
bring change. Hard-working, well-spoken, and even more
well-intentioned, President Obama has tried to surround himself with a
bipartisan cabinet composed of the “best-and-brightest.” And therein
lay the first indication that celebration might be premature. Too
often, Obama’s cabinet choices have been sullied by scandal, with
numerous candidates resigning before confirmation hearings even
started. Or they turned out to be the very same “experts” whose
beliefs and policies helped get us into the mess we’re in now.
Watching video of Obama’s February 25th speech before the joint houses
of Congress, I was reminded that — for all Obama’s welcome eloquence
in giving a great speech — we had moved from the “politics of
oblivion” with Bush back to “politics as usual” with Obama.
The bank bailouts to rescue Wall Street criminals that started under
Bush will continue under Obama. And the “stimulus package” passed by
the Democrats over stonewalling Republican protest reveals precious
little vision of the long-term, fundamental changes in the economy
that need to occur if we are to restructure American culture to deal
effectively with the huge challenges that loom ahead. Instead, we
appear to be taking on ever more massive debts in a stupendously
misguided effort to save a status quo that is already moribund. In
other words, the government’s efforts are nearly guaranteed to make
matters worse rather than better.
So, to my friends, colleagues, and cohorts who see those looming
challenges and are frustrated by our inability to collectively address
them with any plans that are even remotely adequate to the task, let
me offer a small salve to the wound: What is happening comes as no
surprise and must be understood as part of the inevitable breakdown
leading to 2012.
Over the past 30 years, our government has been sold to the highest
bidder. “Public service” is now a ticket to personal riches in
corporate consulting and lobbying. “Cashing in” has become accepted
practice by even the most diligent public servants. This takeover of
government by moneyed interests was made possible by two Supreme Court
decisions — the first handed down more than a century ago that
mistakenly (and illegally) gave corporations the same rights as living
human individuals, and a second, more recent decision that equated
money with free speech. The result is that the federal government no
longer serves the needs of “the people,” but rather the interests of
the wealthy.
In that spirit, I offer up this link to a five-minute video on YouTube
of one of the late George Carlin’s most biting and trenchant bits of
social comedy. If you’ve seen this concert, you’ll recognize the
famous piece and laugh again. If you’ve never seen it, spend the five
minutes to see unvarnished truth with open eyes.
George Carlin: The Real Owners of America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=6uPnSplD4kI
The fault in all this does not lie with Barack
Obama, with the possible exception of his ambition to be president in
the first place. Shortly before his death, novelist Kurt Vonnegut
wrote that “only nut cases want to be president,” which is one of
those jokes that contains more than a grain of truth. Other than that
derangement, however, Obama is pretty much squeaky clean on his
moral/ethical rap sheet. I read that he spent $800 million to win the
election, roughly half of which was taken in through small
contributions from individuals. The other $400 mil, however, came from
corporations, to whom Obama is now beholden. This is simply how
politics works in modern America.
Beyond the slap-in-the-face truths of politics are other, more universal truths of human nature, and, indeed, of Nature Herself. How did we come to believe that homo sapiens, unlike any other species that ever existed, had the intelligence to do anything with more foresight than mere knee-jerk reactions to immediate crises? Why should we assume that humanity at large can prepare for the future by making wise decisions in the present? Wasn’t that part of the illusion of religion, this notion that humans were the shepherds for all other animals, who were rightly under our dominion? And if we shuck that illusion, doesn’t it mean going back to the understanding that, despite our big brains, we are merely one more species living from moment to moment?
Lions and tigers don’t say to themselves, “We’re killing all the game in this region too quickly. We must move to new hunting grounds because game is getting scarce. That way, we’ll let the game here repopulate for our later return.” No, lions and tigers simply hunt until the game is gone, then they move on. Occasionally they die, because they can’t find fertile new hunting grounds soon enough.
Humans are not much different. Oh yes, we have some “smart lions” among us who see the future with clarity and move to new hunting grounds alone or in small numbers, but the larger pride itself does not leave until forced to by circumstances. And so it is with collective humanity. As long as grocery stores are filled with food at affordable prices, few Americans will return to gardening as their primary food source. And why should they? Just because some prophet of disaster predicts that corporate agribusiness will collapse in the near future??
Well, I am one of those prognosticators who sees a crisis coming in agriculture, yet I am not rushing to start my own garden. For one thing, I had a damned stroke, and I’m physically crippled. For another, I can still drive to the grocery store. Yes, I belonged to the food co-op system in Minneapolis, and I joined the food co-op that recently opened in the tiny Oregon town where I now reside. And yes, I fully endorse CSA plans (Community-Supported Agriculture, where farmers are paid in advance by community groups to provide them with certain crops) as soon as that becomes viable. Yes, I praise everyone who grows some or all of their own food, but I don’t expect anyone to do so until it proves necessary.
The wisdom of foresight is simply not a trait built into our genes. Individual wisdom and foresight, perhaps, at least sometimes. Mass wisdom and foresight, no, hardly ever. Remembering that might help reduce our frustration, especially when society at large seems to ignore or deny what we see individually.
Civilizational Astrology
Finally, there is the astrology of where we are and where we’re headed collectively. While all my different world-views influence my outlook (history, psychology, etc.), astrology is the world-view that shapes my public writing more than any other, since that is the arena where I am most savvy. I do my best to translate and make available the information from the stately progression of outer-planet cycles in civilizational astrology.
Right now, that information is clear as a bell in suggesting that two configurations are setting the archetype tone, one of which tends to float above us, calling to our better selves, while the other hits us like a freight train from ground level.
Jupiter, Neptune, and Chiron are now aligning in a triple conjunction for about a year in late Aquarius, from February 2009 through February 2010. This configuration brings hope for healing, awakening an egalitarian concern with well-being for humanity and all life in general. Compassion and the awareness of suffering are heightened.
Saturn and Uranus continue their opposition, which reached 10° orb initially in October 2007 and remains in effect through August 2011. Now Pluto moves toward perpendicularity with both, to form an immensely powerful and destructive T-square from August 2009 through August 2011. When I use the word “destructive,” I mean to imply that quality as part of the innate meaning of the triangle — literally, the function of the T-square is to destroy existing institutions of government, business, and society.
We are watching that destruction gear up now in the economic meltdown, which has at least seven more years to run, and nothing anyone can do will stop it before its work is finished. This ruthless wiping-the-slate-clean is necessary for the many rebirths to follow during the seven exact passes of Uranus square Pluto from 2012 to 2015. Those rebirths (meaning creation of new economic, political, and social structures) will continue to emerge after 2015 out of a combination of powerful common-sense grassroots movements that work from the bottom up and inspire radical leadership decisions from the top down.
2009 is much too early for these populist movements to coalesce. Their seeds are already planted, with some shoots and roots already present, but they have not begun to grow visibly yet, and they are nowhere near coming to flower. In addition, the powers that be have not yet realized that their game must change fundamentally if they are to preserve their wealth. At this point, the ruling elites still believe that they can call the shots and remain in power. That belief, like so many others, will be challenged over the coming years.
We have been through only a single year of the amazing transformation that will take more than a decade to play out in the economic and political restructuring of civilization. Not until well into the 2020s will we know the outcome. As Winston Churchill so famously stated when the air battle over Britain concluded in 1940:
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
The keyword for January is Innovation and Inspiration,
so use it well! The shifts that we are able to make now will help to
Spiritual Company Newsletter
By Steffan Vanel • Astrologer • Tarot
Reader
Author of:
The Astrological Karma
of the USA
And:
Charles & Diana: The
Inside Story: An Astrological-Karmic View
Now
on YouTube:
The
Astrological Karma of the USA and The New Presidency
www.SpiritualCompany.com
Predictions for 2009
Making predictions in
December of 2007 for the year of 2008 was much easier than making
predictions this December for what could result from the Astrological
weather of 2009.
2008 was a pivotal year in many respects, Astrologically. Influences put
into play this year are clearly having their effect, and will continue to
have their effect for some time to come.
For example, Pluto moved into Capricorn, where it will remain until 2024.
I wrote quite a bit about the likely significance of this in relation to
the economy in last year’s predictions, and I encourage those who may be
interested to revisit that material. Here is a short quote which sums up
the effect I was predicting:
Hilarion says that someone born with the Sun in Capricorn is someone who
accomplished a lot in material ways in previous lives, and helped other
people in practical, material ways. This gives the Capricorn in this life
a lot of ambition to make something of themselves in the eyes of the
world. It also gives the Capricorn a lot of self-reliance, the ability to
rely on themselves. That, however, is where they will tend to put their
faith. It is harder than for the average person for the Capricorn to
surrender and be vulnerable to what they cannot touch. Although difficult
it is not impossible, and the Capricorn who succeeds in opening that
Saturnian ‘ring pass not’ of belief (Saturn rules Capricorn), accomplishes
more than what other souls have to contend with, and a lot of spiritual
teachers are actually Capricorns.
Personally, I expect the time period of Pluto in Capricorn to be a period
when the ability to over-rely on concrete, material, economic realities
for your identity or security will have the rug pulled out from under it.
It may well wreak havoc on the world economy, not just to create
destruction, however, but also to allow a new birth of consciousness freed
from material obsession.
yThis
Astrological influence may be particularly strong in its effect upon the
United States as we have Pluto in Capricorn in our natal birth chart. (End
quote)
Well we have certainly seen that particular prophesy come into effect. It
is to be noted that Pluto will be doing this material-fixation
death/rebirth until 2024.
I actually wrote quite extensively about this approaching Pluto in
Capricorn period and it’s effect within the United States in the last
chapter in my book: The Astrological Karma of the USA. Readers have
encouraged me to make that chapter available to a wider public and I have
therefore posted it on my website for anyone to download and read. Here is
the link to that chapter:
I will write more specifically about the economic stresses which are at
play in the world in a future newsletter.
The other major Astrological event of 2008 was an opposition, for the
first time in 40 years, between Saturn and Uranus. These planets will
have opposed each other five times in a two-year period. That is a lot.
Three times is normal.
Saturn represents authority, structure, the conventional, and
responsibility. Uranus represents surprise, sudden change out of the blue,
the unusual, the unconventional, and freedom from old patterns that have
outlived their purpose.
The first of these oppositions took place on November 4th, Election Day.
This was a no-brainer as far as prediction. The tension between the
support for the Republican and Democratic candidates would be the way in
which the whole world would be experiencing this Saturn/Uranus opposition.
As far as the various candidates, some of you may remember that I cut a
Tarot card for 10 of the potential Presidential Candidates, the results of
which enabled me to state:
The Democrats, on the whole,… are definitely seeming to be feeling more
chipper than the Republicans on that day.
Now that Pluto in Capricorn has pulled the rug out from under the ability
to over-rely on material financial reality for one’s security and
identity, and Obama as Uranus, the candidate of change and the
unconventional has won out over Saturn, i.e. John McCain, what can we
expect in 2009?
God only knows, but this is my sense of the Astrological weather ahead.
On January 5th Jupiter enters Aquarius and will conjunct the Jupiter in
Aquarius in Barack Obama’s chart. Of the positive side of Jupiter in
Aquarius Hilarion says:
Jupiter in this sign of brotherhood points to the ability to bring
together conflicting groups, to forge closer ties between people, and to
promote universal good will and love. The expression of this ability is
the highest calling of the person with Jupiter in Aquarius.
In earlier articles posted on my website I have gone more fully into
Barack Obama’s Astrological make-up. There is also a YouTube video of a
recent lecture of mine available called: The Astrological Karma of the USA
and The New Presidency for those who might be interested.
dLooking at this
Jupiter in Aquarius ability to promote universal good will and love, and
the fact that Obama will have Jupiter returning to his own Jupiter in
Aquarius, supporting him from the sky, during the inauguration shows that
it should be a really moving experience for all of us in this Aquarian
direction.
Clearly, those of us who have faith in Obama, have faith that he has the
capacity to bring humanity closer together, will experience the build up
to and the event of the inauguration as the start of a ‘honey moon’
period.
There will be another Saturn (responsibility), Uranus (freedom) opposition
in February. Each of these oppositions will be coming closer and closer to
the Mars/Neptune square in the US birth chart. I’ve mentioned before that
it was this Mars/Neptune square in the US birth chart, being activated by
Pluto, which got us into the wars in Vietnam and Iraq. The Uranus/Saturn
oppositions hitting this square will be the difficult task of freeing
ourselves (Uranus) from old patterns of delusionary aggression
(Mars/Neptune) while maintaining a realistic, grounded responsibility
(Saturn).
Obama will be facing some stresses, which may be affecting his family, and
perhaps some victimization by the unruly rebelliousness of those with whom
he has formed partnerships.
In March, however, Jupiter conjuncts Obama’s Aquarian Ascendant/Self-Image
and he should be coming into an even greater optimistic Jupiterian
expansion of his capacity to bring us together as one family.
In May, there will be a conjunction of Jupiter (optimism) and Neptune
(faith) in Aquarius, conjunct to the Moon in Aquarius in the US birth
chart, the Aquarian Democratic ideals coming to life in the birth of this
nation. Both Obama and Thomas Jefferson have/had Aquarius Rising in their
respective birth charts.
I suspect this optimistic Aquarian Age energy and vision could help to
restore the American image as a source of true humanitarian beneficence.
This Jupiter/Neptune conjunction will be in opposition to the Leo
self-image of Russia, a self-image with Leonine pride and arrogance given
to compensate for feelings of insecurity. Right now I sense that this new
beneficent humanitarian stance in the US will weaken the Russian ability
to hate us as a way of bolstering their own identity. (Not that we haven’t
done things to merit that resentment). The Russians could resent this
weakening of their Leo Self-Image and choose to stay in or exacerbate a
Neptunian victim/victimizer program.
The intense Astrological transits which could indicate war or conflict in
the charts of Iran and Pakistan look to be two or three years down the
road.
Israel looks like it will be having mostly internal tension, which may
involve the Palestinians, although the Saturn/Uranus, stability/change
tension will be hitting their own chart in such a way that they will
probably be facing a much more intensive engagement from others as to how
they should deal with the Palestinians. Outright war, as with Iran and
Pakistan looks to still be two or three years away.
In 2010 there are the start of some really hairy Astrological
configurations, and of course, as I wrote in my book, there are the
upcoming Pluto/Uranus squares around 2012 and the end of the Mayan
Calendar.
In November of this year, however, especially around November 15th, there
is a configuration, which bears the most concern for me during this year
of 2009. It is an intense configuration, which will be affecting the
charts of the United States, Barack Obama, and Joseph Biden, at virtually
the same time.
Saturn will move into tension (square) with Pluto at that time. The last
time Saturn was in tension with Pluto was in 2001. At that time Pluto was
conjuncting and Saturn was opposing the Sagittarian self-image of the
United States, a self-image which sees itself as being honest, upright,
and morally strong, whether true or not. I wrote about this rather
extensively in the first chapter of my book, while speaking about the
events of September 11.
Curiously, this upcoming Saturn/Pluto square will be conjuncting and
squaring the projected image or persona, which the US presents to the
world, its Libran Midheaven.
I have not written in the past about this Libran Midheaven, so let me
share my sense of it here.
This is what Hilarion says of the karmic significance of having Libra on
the Midheaven:
Libra at the M.C. will indicate one who habitually projects an image of
refinement, calm and emotional control. These traits are often not really
present in the make-up of the individual. The intent of placing Libra on
the Midheaven is to prompt the person to increase his control over the
emotional nature, much the same as with Libra rising.
I tell my clients with Libra on the Midheaven that they are not as cool
calm and collected as they look. John McCain has Libra rising. Either one
will make one a bit of a ‘sleeping volcano.’
I first became aware of this American propensity to project a façade of
calmness and emotional control after I had lived a considerable time in
Europe. I could sense that, compared to other nations, which have a very
strong sense of identity and security derived just from being a member of
their respective nation, Americans have a basic insecurity, especially
when interacting with other nations.
The United States is so big, with so many different factions, and various
beliefs and geographical identities, and we rarely have any interactions
with individuals outside of our borders, that we therefore lack a sense of
security and identity just by being American, compared to that of someone
French, or British, or wherever.
And yet, with that Libran Midheaven, we’re good at faking that we’re cool
and calm.
Pluto started to square that Libran cool projected image to the world in
2008.
I’ve stated that it is one thing to be using our Mars/Neptune delusionary
use of force and aggression to start wars, where we can pretend that we
don’t care what the rest of the world thinks of us, but when American
greed and financial shenanigans starts to bring down the whole world
economy, it’s a little harder to maintain that fake cool, calm, and
collectedness.
When Saturn joins the action and goes on top of that Libran Midheaven at
the same time that Pluto is squaring it exactly in November, well I
suspect it could be something even more intense and confronting.
What raises my apprehension another notch is the simultaneous effects of
this Pluto/Saturn hitting the charts of Barack Obama and Joseph Biden.
Barack Obama has two things in his chart that are the same as placements
in the chart of Princess Diana, and both of these placements are being hit
by difficult transits this next year.
One is Venus in the Fifth house, of which Hilarion says:
The placement of Venus in the fifth sector points to one whose love
energies tend to be directed primarily into the pair-bond or love-affair
relationship, sometimes to the exclusion of other directions. Thus there
will be a preference to center the love on one’s mate or partner, and to
give only token affection to one’s children or parents. In order to
overcome this tendency, the life pattern is usually planned so as to give
to the native either as a parent or as a child, at least one soul to whom
the native is extremely bound in the affectional sense. Ordinarily this
will be a soul whom the native has loved as a mate in a past life. The
purpose of bringing them together in a live in which they cannot again be
linked in the same way is to encourage them both to explore facets of
affection beyond those normally manifesting in the relationship between
two mated individuals. (End quote)
It is interesting to note in the case of Princess Diana, that Prince
William her son, also has Venus in the Fifth House, and this other soul
will appear as a parent or as a child of the native.
In the case of Obama, it could definitely be related to his close
relationship with his mother, but also quite likely one of his daughters.
Obama is known to be quite close with his older daughter Malia.
The Pluto tension (opposition) to Obama’s Venus is coming out of his 11th
House, house of relationship to society, to humanity, to the collective.
It started in 2008 but hits exact in 2009 three times.
The easiest recognition of the likely intense effect of this
social/collective Pluto on Obama’s family and, especially, young
daughters, is that of being the first black family in the White House. In
November, Saturn will move into tension (square) with this Venus and
square to Pluto, coming out of the 8th House, the Scorpionic house of
death and regeneration. Something rather intense and transformative is
likely to occur in this arena.
The third factor to look at is what is going on in Joseph Biden’s chart at
the same time.
Of the Birth charts for Obama, McCain, Palin, Bush, and Biden, Joseph
Biden is the only one who has Neptune in only positive aspect. He has no
difficult Neptunian aspects, which would entail tests along the lines of
illusion, confusion, delusion, victimhood and martyrdom, and a test in
avoiding the victim/victimizer program.
Biden does have a Sagittarian Ascendant, so he has a propensity for being
too honest, what I call a vulnerability to ‘foot in mouth disease.’
Biden’s positively aspected Neptune is in his house of work, career, role
in the world, and is therefore where he would be encouraged to play a role
in which he can bring forth positive Neptune qualities of compassion,
forgiveness, spiritual faith and surrender.
Pluto has been moving through Biden’s first house of self-image for some
time, but this year it moves into tension (square) with his Neptune. In
November, Saturn simultaneously conjuncts that Neptune, likely to bring
forth a test of faith, possibly through victimhood and martyrdom, and a
challenge of his ability to bring forth a role of compassionate
forgiveness. How will this occur? God only knows.
The fact that this Pluto/Saturn square is hitting simultaneously the
charts of the US, Obama, and Biden is eerie. However, in early 2010,
Uranus will be making another opposition to Saturn, but this time
simultaneously squaring Pluto after having just entered the sign of Aries,
ruled by Mars the God of War. This Saturn/Uranus/Pluto T-square will also
be hitting those same points I mentioned in the US, Obama and Biden
charts, although not as exact.
People have asked me if I feel there is the possibility of Barack Obama
being assassinated. I have no way of knowing that. In my book about
Princess Diana I stated that I could see what Astrological influences were
in her chart and which influences were at play at the time of her death,
but I would never have been able to predict that a sudden death would be
the exact way that she would play out those influences. The
Astrologer/Author Richard Tarnas made a statement to the effect that
Astrology is archetypically precise in its capacity to predict, but not in
terms of the specific concrete manifestation of that archetypal energy.
There is no denying that there is the danger that there could be an
attempt to assassinate Barck Obama. There have already been three times as
many death threats registered with the secret service than with any other
newly elected president. I could see how the Astrological influences at
play here could fit that kind of intense, tragic scenario. But they could
play out in an entirely different way as well.
I have been traveling in the South lately and I am well aware of the level
of racial hatred that continues to exist in parts of our population. My
friend works at a newspaper in Asheville, North Carolina. On the day after
the election a female co-worker cut out the photo of Obama from the paper
and pinned it to the wall, with Devil’s horns drawn in and the word:
Antichrist written underneath.
The Uranus/Saturn opposition hitting the Mars/Neptune in the US chart is
affecting not only our delusionary use of violence, but also our Mars in
Gemini tendency toward mental/verbal combativeness and abuse.
With difficult Neptune it’s also always going to be a test involving the
victim victimizer program, where if you don’t want to be a victim, you
have to be a victimizer. And if you don’t want to be a victimizer, then
you have to be a victim. The only way out of that program is the positive
side of the planet Neptune, that of unconditional love, for yourself and
for others, total forgiveness, for yourself and for others, and spiritual
faith trust and surrender, to where there are no victims or victimizers,
but just all of us little boys and girls doing the best that we can.
It seems that the US is going to have to face some test of some kind
involving these issues, although this program has been activated for some
time, especially during the engagement in the War in Iraq.
I feel that this could be a test of tremendous consequences. I personally
feel that if Obama remains President the world will have the best chance
to transition into the New Age peacefully. Obama has the character and
charisma to pull it off. If the darkness that this nation is prone to, is
allowed to become so strong that we lose Obama, I think the world will
suffer greatly for it.
At the same time, I do remember that, following the death of John Lennon,
Ascended Master Hilarion said that John Lennon had purposely volunteered,
before he incarnated, to be taken out of life violently to emphasize his
message for peace.
I don’t have a direct link to Hilarion to ask him if Obama may have made
the same agreement. I do feel that such a heinous act would pull the rug
out from under the right wing anger and criticism and push America into
its heart, at least for a time.
I have started to make the observation of what, to me, is an obvious
pattern when you look at the red states. They are basically the Southern
states, whose legacy is slavery and fighting a war to keep a race of
people in slavery, and then fighting for decades to deny them civil
rights. Many of whom have never copped that there was anything wrong with
that. My friend from Alabama says that, to this day, her father would say
relative to the Civil War: They should have left things the way they were.
Those people were happy then, because they were taken care of.
The other block of red states are the Mid-West, Prairie and Mountain
States where the cruelest genocide of the Native Americans took place,
where they coined the phrase: The only good Indian is a dead Indian, and
they delivered the blankets knowingly infected with smallpox. Many of
those people have never copped that there was anything wrong with that.
What the United States did to the slaves and to the Native Americans are
the darkest stains upon American domestic history, and the energetic
legacy of this is what fuels the militaristic arrogant aggression of this
nation. When that aggressiveness becomes so strong that it takes the
majority of swing states then we end up with 8 years of George W. Bush.
Another note: the greatest anathema for a racist, what fueled perhaps 70%
of the lynchings of black men over the years, was the mere thought that a
black man would defile a white woman. Well, Obama is the blatant product
of such a so-called defilement. His very existence is to serve as a
confrontation and release of such irrational prejudice. (As a side note:
Hilarion has said that if there was anything wrong with inter-racial
marriage then the offspring from such a union would display genetic
defects. The fact that it is never the case belies any kind of
unnaturalness to such unions)
It is also possible that Obama’s rise to the presiding presence over our
nation can very well inflame that irrational racial prejudice.
There are those who have been calling for a sending of light and
protection to surround Obama at this time, and I totally agree and support
that. But even more, I think we also need to send light and compassion
towards those of our brothers and sisters who are affected by the dark
forces of anger, and fear, and prejudice, to those who would be capable of
doing such a horrible thing as to cause harm to Barack Obama..
I will now end this rather lengthy discussion with a certain teaching that
I think is appropriate here. It is my take on a teaching by Don Juan from
the Carlos Castaneda books. In that material Don Juan spoke of the 2nd
enemy of a spiritual warrior. The first enemy is fairly obvious. It is
fear. To me that is what 95% of life’s charades and pretense is about.
People trying to pretend they are not afraid, as a result of their looks,
their partner, their social status or bank account. As it says on the
t-shirt I saw on Maui: He who dies with the most toys, still dies.
The second enemy, however, is subtler, but the way that I understand it I
see it as just as great a limitation on what the creator intended us to
be.
When one is no longer ruled by basic fears, you gain a certain insight, a
certain awareness, a certain clarity. The 2nd enemy of a spiritual
warrior, however, is clarity. Clarity?
This is how I understand it. When you have this awareness, this insight,
this clarity, well then you can see quite clearly into virtually everyone
else’s B.S.
The thing is, what are you going to do with that clarity? Are you going to
live in judgment, and criticism, and bear the literal burden of being
superior to everyone? Or do you move through to the next level? To that of
unconditional love and forgiveness and spiritual faith, trust and
surrender.
To my mind, 99.9% of the alternative culture, myself definitely included,
is totally trapped in their clarity. It is a really tough one.
But the tests ahead involve all of us. Maybe we are not big fans of the
likes of Rush Limbaugh, but we are all responsible as to how much
critical, unloving energy we put into the mix, and how that will affect
the whole.
So at this time of yearly renewal I pray that we might all take to heart
the message of Christ and learn to love even our enemies.
Pluto Enters Capricorn
January 25, 2008 10:44 pm - March 23, 2023
The
planet Pluto represents the deeps, the bottom of the well, the unexplored depths
of darkness.
Pluto in the year 2008 will enter in Capricorn, and its passage will last until
2024.
It 's interesting to note that this planetary combination shows the depths with
Pluto,
and the heights with Capricorn, the sign of the “Mountain Goat”.
It is a
vertical movement, either from above to below, or, the other way around.
Vertical is a very spiritual direction, if it points upward! The inferior opens
up to the Superior.
Both
deal with the right use of power, and the right use of the will.
The enormous potential of this combination can have a regenerative effect on the
masses.
The process will be slow in motion, Pluto is a slow-moving planet , and because
Capricorn is a cautious, patient, target-oriented sign, we can figure out the
reformer and structural impact.
Both are working in alliance, to ameliorate the social scene.
Capricorn rules political leaders, the government, and people in positions of
social power. Pluto's power is polarized.
It is extreme, tending either to the harmonious or to the disharmonious. This
will make politics more black and white but whichever political wing gains
power, the masses will exercise more active participation.
Distorted Plutonian power, has to do with money, sex, abuse, etc. Pluto is raw
power wherever it is used for selfish ends it will have a boomerang effect upon
selfish individuals, or nations.
Pluto in Capricorn can break crystallized old concepts, structures, and outlived
forms of government.
It rules the homoeopathic principle in medicine, and will bring purifying change
to whatever needs to be cleared up.
The generation of children born under this configuration can well be called:
”The Reformers”.
We are entering into the period of 2500 years of the Aquarian Age, this will
introduce a general growth of consciousness.
This combination of Capricorn with Pluto can challenge the status-quo of those
who hold unequal power.
Ultimately, we are referring to power unequal to their Soul's development. So,
for the individual, so for a nation.
By Leni Sibilio
r
Jupiter in Aquarius
January 5, 2009 - January 18, 2010
Let's entertain hope! Starting today, Jupiter's expansive essence will be soaring in Aquarius, a sign of progressive thinking, originality and a humanitarian outlook. That's at it's best, of course. And Jupiter pulls toward the highest ideal, with signs and serendipities of being on the right path, following the lucky star. Jupiter guides the search for meaning, reaching for higher truths. Aquarius likes to be mingling among the people, and is tuned in to the vibe of the whole. We could see unexpected changes come out of group efforts, through networking, friendship circles and citizen actions.
The world of technology is likely to speed forward with progress. In his Astrology of Culture blog, Eric Meyers of Astrology.com points out that it's the year we're all supposed to upgrade to digital television. The need for universities to rein in expenses, and restructure the budgets could bring a rise in online education, already a growing trend. Aquarius rules air and the distant corners of the universe, and the quest for truth could involve the mysteries of what's going on in space, and in our own earth environment. Maybe there will be more disclosure with the E.T. thing, and why our clouds come delivered as parallel lines, and their impact on Earth and our own energetic fields and health/well-being. The major planets in earth (Saturn, Pluto) will direct that bubbly Jupiter-inspired idealism in practical ways. Lots of communities and regions will take matters in their own hands, and look for fresh, cleaner energy solutions to resource and sustainability problems.
In fashion and style, we could see sleek, futuristic, cool and shiny. Out of Hollywood and elsewhere, we could see more stories about aliens, time travel and eccentric characters. Stories about those that dare to be different, or mass awakenings that change history, could rise to the surface of culture. The stranger and taboo face that's part of the human experience, portrayed by Aquarian actors like Christian Bale, becomes a societal focus. And we'll likely see more epics like HBO's John Adams, that celebrates the ideals of independence, humanitarian values and a society that makes a point to include the most downtrodden in the social web. Jupiter in Aquarius turns us all into champions for the underdog and lovers of individual freedom, ready to join forces for causes that bring real change.
Saturn enters Virgo
On
September 2, 2007,
Saturn entered Virgo and will remain there until
July 21, 2010
(with five months in Libra from October 28, 2009-April 7, 2010.)
So let's do a quick recap of what we learned or didn't learn during the last two years of Saturn in Leo. Frankly, I think as a species we failed miserably at integrating the following lessons posed by Saturn in Leo: releasing our attachment to narcissistic self-cherishing, revisioning power-over as power-with, committing to responsible leadership in government, business and education, problem-solving with creativity rather relying upon war and hatred, kicking the oil habit, caring more for the needs of our children and elderly populace than the single-minded drive to acquire wealth, beauty, fame, and power. Unfortunately, we can't redo the "give up on self-cherishing" course for another 28 years, so we will move into Virgo, ill-equipted to cross the Leo/Virgo threshold from personal to transpersonal concerns and lessons.
Virgo marks a critical evolutionary shift from the most developed relationship with the creative self (Leo) to an initial opening up of individual consciousness into its communal/transpersonal responsibilities. Shifting the focus away from the personal (Leo) toward the transpersonal (Virgo) is a critical part of our spiritual evolution as a species.
So a word to the wise for all you "LOA" devotees: having everything you want is not the goal of spiritual evolution. That is the egoistic spiritual-speak of Leo; not Virgo. Yes, it is attractive. Yes, it might even feel good to hear it and imagine it to be true. But the real secret is when we loosen our attachment to "unending wanting" we step onto the transpersonal path of real liberation and total freedom for ourselves and all other beings. Rumi embodied Virgo practicality at its best, with these lines from one of his poems,
"Don't grieve for what doesn't come.
Some things that don't happen
Keep disasters from happening."
"Look deep, deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
Virgo rules science, medicine, health and healing, engineering, teaching, working for the common good, and aiding the poor and sick through research, development, and humanitarian aid programs. Virgo resonates to three main themes: greater understanding, service, and healing. All that Virgo is revolves around a desire to clearly comprehend in order to better educate, serve, heal, and problem-solve—not for self-gain—rather for the upliftment of society.
Clear comprehension requires questioning. Virgo does not take information at face value; searching ever deeper to find truth. Virgo requires discrimination, testing, and analysis to draw informed conclusions. Virgo is the ultimate engineer (work with what you've got) and a visionary scientist/researcher (seek new solutions that are as yet unfound.)
Saturn rules fear. Virgo rules clarity, discrimination, and research. At its best, these could be three years of throwing off the chains of ignorance and laziness which have kept the American public in a docile state of fear. At its worst, Virgo's penchant for self-doubt, self-criticality, and hypochondria could create conditions for fear to so fully penetrate our daily existence that the populace becomes completely inert. And we cannot afford inertia! Our survival depends upon clear comprehension of our essential interconnectedness with all things and a revolution against fear, hate, greed and separation.
Virgo rules the human body and its relationship with Earth, the planetary body we rely upon for our existence. Saturn in Virgo will be a tough taskmaster when it comes to environmental issues. Saving our planet and its inhabitants from extinction will rank high on the agenda during the Saturn in Virgo years. The periods of opposition with Uranus (trauma) in Pisces (water) will hopefully stimulate great technological advances to stem the tide of global warming. If the old guard in the science world and the hierarchy in the oil world will heed the call to change, Saturn in Virgo can help strengthen the global move toward alternative energies throughout 2009 when Jupiter joins Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius.
Virgo realizes that each of us has a duty to heal ourselves by reaching out to heal others. Another real secret is when you heal the pain around you; you end up healing your own pain. The time has come for us to turn our gaze away from self and toward those less fortunate and in need of help: they are our salvation and the true path to healing our own internal suffering.
Health and healing is the domain of Virgo. Saturn wants us to get serious about seeking medical attention for symptoms or illnesses. Saturn in Virgo doesn't mess around. Saturn is the planet of mortality. It is not fond of excuses, denial, or other ways human beings find to ignore the realities that stare them in the face. This is a three year period when many people will be called to account for their excesses and continual failure to recognize how their destructive behaviors contribute to the physical and mental suffering of themselves and others.
There are many resources available to help one get healthy; even in a country like ours where making war continually takes precedence over providing health care for all citizens. Institute dietary changes, daily exercise programs, get more sleep, and learn relaxation techniques. Choose to walk instead of driving to work or to the store. Join AA, OA, NA and other support groups and get help for your own addiction while healing the addictions of others.
I do believe that Saturn in Virgo will usher in the transformation of America's dysfunctional health care system. Jupiter/Chiron/Neptune in Aquarius and many of the transits described below will have a large role in how this plays out; for better or for worse.
So let's look at the transits of Saturn in Virgo. I only want to highlight one inner planet transit: Saturn will conjunct Mars in Virgo from July 2-25, 2008 and be exact from July 10-11 during which time there will also be a beautiful air grand trine. During this time our personal and global actions should follow a cautious and considered path.
Now
on to the transits Saturn in Virgo will make with the other outer planets.
From October 15-26, 2007 Saturn will make a conjunction to the nodal axis
(North Node in Pisces/South Node in Virgo.) One of
Virgo's qualities is the desire to compartmentalize as
a way to gain understanding. Sometimes this can lead to getting mired in the
idea that the diversity in manifestation represents the ultimate nature of
things; or that reliance upon descriptions of the physical world can lead to a
total understanding of the nature of existence. Hence, we get
Virgo's practical analyticism, idealism, and perfectionism. The
South Node in Virgo represents a Virgoan bias toward
empirical means of gaining knowledge, and a resistance to the
Piscean intuitive, numinous, consciousness-expanding tools for
knowing.
When Saturn (restriction) conjuncts the South Node and Venus in Virgo, it will form a Yod with Mars in Cancer (acting with compassion) and Chiron in Aquarius (finding alternatives to heal old wounds.) Along with the opposition to the North Node in Pisces, October 15-20, 2007 should unleash a wave of global frustration and bring a powerful desire for alternatives. Since Virgo rules science, technology and medicine, it is possible that release of new energy technologies or medical advancements will be hindered in some way during this time. However, since it is a Yod, and Yods represent frustration on the way to removing blocks to advancement, the hindrance will not be lasting. On a personal level, the conjunction of Saturn with the Nodal Axis and Venus should be a very powerful time to buckle down and put the finishing touches on any creative endeavor that involves the arts, technology, medicine, engineering, or research.
Saturn in Virgo is in an exact trine with Jupiter in Capricorn from January 18-23, 2008: expect to see optimism about the economy and probably the usual January bounce in the markets during this time, but don't expect it to last much beyond this. Because…
January 26, 2008 marks the first entrance of Pluto into Capricorn (an article about Pluto in Capricorn will be forthcoming.) As this occurs, Pluto trines Saturn in Virgo in various amounts through June 14, until it retrogrades back into Sagittarius for about five months.
This will be a time when the world will get its first taste of Pluto wreaking havoc on the global economy, which is ruled by Capricorn. April 14-26, 2008 will be a very volatile time with the Pluto/Saturn trine, Jupiter in Capricorn, Chiron/Neptune/North Node conjunct in Aquarius, and Sun/Venus/Mercury in Aries/Taurus. Oil (Neptune) and (Aquarius) energy alternatives, terrorism, war (Aries) and security (Taurus) will figure prominently in the global psyche. One can only hope that the restricting nature of Capricorn and its ruling planet Saturn combined with the "no nonsense" practicality of Virgo, and Mars in compassionate Cancer can keep the escalation of danger at a minimum. Saturn goes direct on May 3, 2008 and moves off the conjunction with Pluto by the middle of July.
Saturn will once again make an exact trine to Jupiter from September 5-12, 2008, a time when Mars/Venus/Mercury are posited in the peacemaker sign of Libra. With Jupiter going direct on September 8, this could bring an inspiring period of negotiation in world conflicts of all kinds.
At this point, the American Presidential campaign will be in high gear. The Saturn/Jupiter trine will remain anywhere from 0°-2° orbs (+ or -) through the Fall of 2008 until December 9. In case you are wondering about Election Day November 6, 2008, conservative and practical Saturn in Virgo will be opposed by peaceful, transcendent Uranus in Pisces, and borne down upon greatly by an inconjunction with North Node/Moon/Chiron/Neptune in utopian/rebellious Aquarius, and the transformative power of Mercury/Mars/Sun in Scorpio. Hopefully for a good outcome.
One of the deepest and most intense Saturn transits will be the opposition of Saturn in Virgo with Uranus in Pisces, from September 12, 2008-April 7, 2009, July 29-2009-October 28, 2009, and April 8-May 27, 2010. This opposition will be exact during the following times: November 3-4, 2008, January 30-Feb 11, 2009, September 10-17, 2009, and April 23-30, 2010. In order to understand this transit, we must look deeply at the Virgo/Pisces duality.
Virgo rules the body; Pisces rules the transcendent mind and deep psyche. Virgo is classical physics; Pisces is quantum physics. Virgo is healing the body with medicine, surgery, healthy lifestyle habits, and diet; Pisces is healing the individual and collective soul or psyche through energy medicine or the development of consciousness itself. Virgo is engineering and technological advancement through research and development; Pisces is the flashing, intuitive brilliance of revelation and abstract mathematics. Bring together the Virgo/Pisces duality—the mind/body connection—and you get the total spectrum of inner and outer knowledge. Mistakes are made when how we gain knowledge arises from a need to unnecessarily favor one to the exclusion of the other.
The power of the Saturn (the system) in Virgo/Uranus (the revolutionary) in Pisces opposition lies in the integration of conscious awareness in all areas of human life: government, business, politics, health and welfare, entertainment, communal and familial relationships. If we all experienced ourselves through the lens of integrated Virgo/Piscean conscious awareness, we would experience existent transcendent reality in every cell, in every life form. Therefore fear would cease to exist. Violence would cease to exist.
For Virgo, holiness is achieved through transcendent embodiment and Saturn asks each of us to take responsibility for the condition of our physical form; the temple of enlightenment. For Pisces, holiness is achieved through the awareness of pure consciousness and Uranus asks each of us to awaken our Buddha nature for the enlightenment of all other sentient beings.
So the Saturn in Virgo/Uranus in Pisces opposition is a cosmic call for each of us to abandon negative behaviors, like harming other living beings through war and violence, fueling fear and separation, addiction to substances, wasting time watching violent and meaningless TV shows, and engaging in the narcissistic pursuit of material possessions at the expense of nurturing all life.
Saturn in Virgo can see reason and Uranus in Pisces wants to love and heal all beings. If we allow ourselves to be serious about caretaking all other beings, as Saturn in Virgo's highest aspiration call us to do, then the next three years could bring about the dawn of an age of enlightenment. THERE IS NO SEPARATION: ONLY LOVE. YOU HAVE A CHOICE: LIVE IN FEAR OR LIVE IN LOVE.
However, if we fail, if we continue to live with our minds and eyes closed, as we have done these last two years of Saturn in Leo, the celestial messengers Pluto in Capricorn, Saturn in Virgo, Neptune and Chiron in Aquarius, and Uranus in Pisces, will heighten the unfortunate human propensity toward ignorance, as we continue to act as agents of trauma and destruction in the name of hate, fear, greed, and separation.
Retrograde Saturn in Virgo will oppose Jupiter in Pisces from April 29-June 5, 2010 and be exact from May 18-23, 2010. Jupiter's movement into Pisces on January 19, 2010 will mark a one year period where we will have as good a chance as any to make peace happen around the globe. We must take this very seriously, as the chance of staving off all out global warfare lessens greatly once Uranus joins Jupiter in Aries on March 12, 2011.
So do your part: Use
your mind and question everything, meditate daily, bring compassion and love to
all your interactions; forgo hate and anger in favor of love and forgiveness;
shun shallow materialism and open your eyes and heart to the beauty of the
natural world; spend less and give more to those who are in need; use your
creative talent to uplift rather than oppress; be a light to those in the dark;
use your heart wisely—love yourself and everyone else completely. By: Lisa
Dale Miller
Uranus in Pisces
In astrology, the planet Uranus, known as the awakener, brings sudden realizations and flashes of brilliance, which often lead to innovation, technical revolutions, and societal evolution. Like all things in this world, the planets in astrology have both positive and negative energetic expressions. Uranus' positive qualities are technological innovation, uniqueness, humanism, futurism, globalism, individuation, and accepting responsibility for uplifting the collective. Uranus expresses itself negatively in uncontrolled rebelliousness, emotional disconnectedness, increased anxiety, rampant individualism, and violent, traumatic events.
Since 1996, Uranus' journey through Aquarius (ruled by Uranus) has doubled the speed and worldwide influence of technological development. These seven years of Uranus in Aquarius have certainly been a wild ride. We saw the widespread use of the Internet, email, cell phones, and ecommerce. We visited the surface of Mars, viewed distant galaxies and stars, mapped the human genome, successfully cloned a sheep, and built a computer chip out of individual atoms. Though the world has become a smaller place, we have also seen technology increase our sense of disconnection, inner disquiet, and disharmony. We witnessed increasing isolationism within a climate of globalism, the E-boom and subsequent economic meltdown, and the rise of the super-rich alongside ever-increasing poverty. Genetically modified foods and designer drugs have moved us further down the road of perceiving humans, animals, and nature as machines. Though we decry it, AIDS continues to run rampant through much of Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, with little help in sight. As access to health care has exponentially decreased, we have seen increasing rates of autism, depression, autoimmune diseases.
On March 10, 2003, Uranus will enter Pisces and remain there through March 12, 2011. (It will briefly reenter Aquarius from September 16 - December 30, 2003.) If you glance again at the previous paragraph, you get a very good idea of how powerfully Uranus influences humanity's technological and social development. With this in mind, what will the unfolding of Piscean consciousness bring to our world over the next eight years?
Pisces the "most evolved" sign in the zodiac, rules peace, surrender, compassion, unconditional love, transcendence, selflessness, recognition of oneness, and empathy. Pisces knows no distinctions or differences: it perceives the unity within the diversity, the unbounded consciousness that underlies all things. Pisces acknowledges our essential connectedness and realizes it through the practice of unconditional love and unwavering compassion. Can you imagine the powerful spiritual awakening that should accompany Uranus' journey through Pisces? During this period, humanity will awaken to the realization that we are born to love unconditionally, share equally, live and work with each other in peace, and strive for the collective enlightenment of all sentient beings, no matter how hard it may be or how long it may take. Truthfully, the consequences of ignoring this teaching are too frightening to even contemplate.
During the next eight years we will all be forced to make big sacrifices. Faced with the harmful consequences of over-consumption of natural resources, global warming will become a whole lot more than just a phrase. Since Pisces is a water sign, climate change will undoubtedly bring more flooding and more droughts, which could profoundly affect world food supplies. We may even see early signs of melting on the polar ice caps, which would eventually have dramatic consequences for coastline cities on many continents. To counteract this, Uranus in Pisces will bring technological revolutions in the sciences of interconnectivity, systems theory, networks and biological systems. Sustainability will become our greatest challenge and the area where we will probably see the most important technological advances. These disciplines will become the basis for new food production methods, building methodologies, environmental sciences and economic technologies. Our survival depends upon the recognition of how human activity affects all other life upon this planet. We will have to learn to tread lightly upon our Mother Earth and work hard to reclaim clean water, clean air, and healthy soil. With Neptune (the ruler of oil and oil-based technologies) in Aquarius and Uranus in Pisces (ruled by Neptune) alternative energy technologies will become a necessity by the end of the decade. We will have to learn to live without oil. Our most significant social, political and environmental traumas will come because of our continued reliance on oil. Kicking the oil habit would certainly be the greatest gift of the Uranus in Pisces, Neptune in Aquarius years.
The technological advances of the Uranus in Pisces years will also center on healing. The staggering cost of illness will surely increase the use of alternative healing modalities all over the world. Healing through energy medicine, sound, vibration, and color will probably become more accepted within the alternative medicine community. Use of meditation and mindfulness practice for treatment of depression will hopefully replace the widespread use of antidepressants. The world would change quite a bit if meditation became part of everyone's daily regime. Great strides should be made in the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases, and AIDS, by virtue of an increasing connection with our own healing energies and a greater appreciation for the natural world. During this time the medical establishment will be forced to accept the fact that chemical exposure has deleterious effects upon our physical and mental health. Toxins in our food supply, energy supply, water supply, and air will have to be decreased, which will in turn increase our need to immediately implement sustainable technologies. Great attention will have to be paid to halting the destruction of the rain forests, the great incubator of plant healers. If allowed to die, the loss of these natural pharmacies would be a great trauma to the human race.
The Uranus in Pisces years will awaken humanity to the toxic effects of anger and hatred. If we waste our lives holding onto anger, resentment, and hatred, we will continue to create a world that reflects our inner violence. It is up to each of us to acknowledge our anger and pain, take it in our arms like a baby, wrap it in compassion and let love work its healing magic. We must look at the pain of our partners, our parents, our children, our friends, our coworkers, our supposed enemies; acknowledging our part in causing them to suffer, wrapping them up like a baby with our compassion, and allowing love to grow. We must learn to recognize our suffering, but not act upon it. Rather we should look within and breathe, letting our breath give us time to form an appropriate response.
Due to Pisces' rulership of spirituality and religiosity, this is especially true for anger and hatred created by spiritual and religious beliefs. With Uranus in Pisces, religion will have to release the toxic thoughts and beliefs that lead to trauma and violence. Pisces isn't interested in the one true God. It knows that all Gods and Goddesses are merely projections of the transcendent; that which has no name, no form, but which is the ultimate reality and the underlying essence of all forms. Pisces' spirituality knows no distinctions, no differences and no divisiveness. It is the sign of merging, empathizing, understanding, and holding a compassionate and fully present space for human-to-human, human-to-animal, human-to-plant, and human-to-planetary interactions. Pisces is oneness, not separateness. War and violence in the name of God will have to be rejected: thrown on the garbage heap of useless, outdated modes of human behavior. Pisces insists on nothing less than peace.
The Uranus in Pisces years will ask humanity to loosen its attachment to victimization, one of the most negative expressions of Pisces. Our pain must no longer define us; it must no longer act as an excuse for living a life of denial, addiction, martyrdom, and attachment to persecution. We all get hurt. It is a fact of human life. But pain is a learning tool not a lifelong affliction. We all get wounded. But wounds must be healed and not passed down indefinitely. This is how religious and cultural hatred spreads, infects and permanently wounds successive generations. Pisces requires that forgiveness, compassion and empathy be used to heal communities, nations, the world and ourselves. Releasing identification with old pain starts now, with each of us.
With this in mind, Uranus in Pisces will require us to commit our lives to making a better world by growing up and out of selfishness and narcissism. Pisces is Bodhisattva consciousness embodied in self-sacrifice. The Uranus in Pisces years will be a time when humanity will have to deal with breaking its ever-increasing reliance on substances to numb us from the pain of living in terribly dysfunctional societies. It is time to stop running to therapy to get antidepressants because our lives are untenable. We must stop treating the symptoms and fix the problem, which is outside of us as well as inside of us. The time has come to rework our culture. We need to fix our addiction to distraction. Wouldn't it be an incredible Uranus in Pisces advance if Americans woke up from their narcissistic slumber and released themselves from addiction to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, television, fast food, shopping, instant gratification and over-consumption? Pisces rules endings. Capitalism is in its death-throws and a new economy is emerging. The question is whether it will arise from collective awakening or collective trauma. We have the choice. Sustainability requires the discipline of compassion, generosity, love, and personal sacrifice. So move aside big business: greed is about to be replaced by barter networks. Share, care, and giveaway is the Piscean economic system of choice.
Above all else, Pisces rules perception and Uranus rules awakening. Pisces rules Maya, the grand illusion of attachment and suffering. The powerful fantasy we call life is the ultimate virtual reality. Pisces sees beyond the veil of Maya because it knows its true nature is SatChitAnanda. New Physics is already beginning to break the illusory notion of the "one universe" with its multiple universe theories. Science will become the ultimate Piscean tool for self-knowledge. But for now, let's stay within the constructs we know, and look to Kant, who postulated that all knowledge is merely images held within our brains. With this in mind, it is easy to understand why a "one true way" is impossible. Images are images, and all truths are relative. Three people experience a situation and each one will tell it differently, believing that their perception is the correct one. Uranus in Pisces wants us to loosen our attachment to narrative, and open our perception to the magic of life as a series of ever-changing images. We must all find our definition in the absoluteness of love, of unbounded pure consciousness and lift the illusion of separateness, the ultimate source of all human pain.
With Uranus in Pisces we could even see the early stages of technologies created to enable mass transcendence. Imagine plugging your brain into a neural network that simulates or actually creates spiritual experiences of enlightenment and oneness. Though we may not see this in the next eight years, the genesis of these technologies will probably be created during this time. With the advent of genetic computer chips, this has become entirely within the realm of the possible. Until then, let's continue to work on creating powerful community meditation groups and healing circles.
For all the innovations we may witness over the next eight years, the true role of Uranus' sojourn through Pisces is to assist humanity in finding its true self in the compassionate heart. This, and this alone will create the conditions for real peace to grow within us and without us. The time has come to bid farewell to the Aquarian age of individuality, and welcome in the Piscean revolution of oneness! While there are masses of people starving, homeless and without hope, we, the fortunate ones can no longer mindlessly live in big houses, eat all we wish and consume with abandon. The first step is to accept personal responsibility for uplifting the lives of all other sentient beings, and give up our attachment to privilege. We are all interconnected at the deepest level of life, and only love will show us how to live together in peace. It is our generosity toward each other that will heal our planet.