For the US, an Eclipse of Change, and Yes, It's the Economy

Solar Eclipse in Aquarius

Monday, January 26, 2009; Washington, DC 

I've been slow to post on the Solar Eclipse this Monday, but Mercury is indeed Retrograde: my thoughts are asunder and unable to focus, and I suffer from lack of mobility due to repeated knee injuries.  But eclipses come any way, with their fated inevitability and old regimes must fall, in order to birth anew.  This eclipse courses a swath of observation from southern Africa (including the beleaguered Zimbabwe) across the Indian Ocean to Singapore and Malaysia.  It is believed that the observable swaths of the eclipse, on the Earth, will experience the most significant effects over the year ahead... but as I have heard of several unexpected demises in the personal lives of individuals in the past few days, the Solar Eclipse wreaks its effects universally.

Solar Eclipses mark an end of one phase, but more remarkably, the beginning of a new phase of experience.  At the time of the Eclipse on Monday, Saturn and Uranus span the MC/IC axis, and all the rest of the planets, save Neptune, are bundled in the 2nd House of finances, priorities, banks, the Treasury, and the Economy.  

This comes just prior to the 2nd of the 5 Saturn/Uranus oppositions to occur in this cycle (February 5th).  Saturn/Uranus cycles are responsible for financial instability, unusual weather patterns, earthquakes, as well as revolutionary, scientific breakthroughs.  They can be associated with periods of great destruction such as earthquakes, plagues and wars.  But they have also been associated with great movements for Hope and Change, such as previously were seen with Gandhi's peaceful civil disobedience "Salt March" and Martin Luther King's famous Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.  Martin Luther King was recalled in the hearts of many, as President Obama laid his hand upon Lincoln's Bible, and took the oath of office (fumbled as it was by Justice Roberts as an exercise in oath taking during a Mercury Retrograde/void of course Moon).  Saturn and Uranus rule Aquarius, and President Obama, with his Aquarian Ascendant, personifies in the hearts and minds of many, the Uranian hero at the vanguard of Hope and Change.  

However, as Obama took the oath of office, and the noon hour marked the demarcation of past administration and the future one, the Moon, still in Scorpio, the sign of banks, debt, insurance companies,  and separating from a square to Neptune (dissolution, delusion), was void of course (naught to come of it), and Mercury, the trickster, was Retrograde (repair, remake, review).  Is the economy so inherently broken that it is irreparable?  Someone described it aptly as the Bush Administration moving into the White House, breaking all the windows, tearing out the plumbing, removing all the fixtures, despoiling what was then left over, and then  graciously moving out and saying, "Here's your new house."  The do-over of the oath of office is not only symbolic of the Mercury Retrograde effect, but also what can be expected of the new administration over the next 4 years.  Many of the cabinet members were also sworn in while Mercury was Retrograde.  Perhaps we will see more than one do-over.  But unusual and desperate times call for unusual and flexible procedures.  And a willingness to try, try again if things don't work out the first time, can also be a good thing.

Often what appears to be true and make a lot of sense while Mercury is Retrograde will have its flaws revealed when Mercury then goes Direct again in February.  Mercury's conjunction to Mars immediately after the eclipse indicates much haste, argument and dissent about the economy, and the relationship that government (Capricorn) has in its relationship to it: how much regulation or control.  Much will continue to be revised, rewritten, reconsidered, many times.  

On the day of the Inauguration the Stock Market fell 350 points.  Perhaps there was a reaction already in the making to the continued spiraling down of the economy, or perhaps there was discontent with the message within the message of Obama's speech calling for disclosure, as well as criticism of the failed trickle down Bush plan:

...this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control, and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.

All the Right Wing pundits are mumbling into their sleeves about Big Government, and Socialism, but as President Obama so aptly put it, "It's not about whether the government is too big or too small, but whether or not it works."  And it has not been working.  The Eclipse in forward looking, experimental, inclusive and technologically savvy, Aquarius, in our house of finance says it all.  Pluto sits on the cusp of the second house like Charon escorting the departed over the River Styx between this world and the next.  He is ushering us into a new economic era, built on the ashes of the old crumbling regime.  Pluto in Capricorn tells us that old structures have to fall in order to be replaced by sounder, more realistic and reliable structures that work.  

The Eclipse in Aquarius tells us that the time has come for new innovations, green industries, a willingness to harness and use technology wisely and to grow our economy.  If it takes an ailing economy to bring the US into the 21st Century, and if that was the catalyst that was necessary to bring us out of the Dark Ages, so be it.  Aquarius also recognizes our interdependence with each other and the Globe as a whole, and reminds us that each and every one of us has an effect on each other, that we're all in this together, all responsible, all a center of One.   Eclipses portend fated events, that must come to pass.  And so, in the words, once again, of President Obama:

Starting today.  We must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking.  

The Changing of the Guard

Full Moon, Saturday, January 10, 2009; 10:27 PM; Washington, D.C.

The Full Moon in Cancer is the Moon of family, home, patriotism and country  Where we see the Full Moon meeting the Saturn/Uranus opposition, we also see an opportunity, a platform for very necessary change and reform.  This will be one of the easiest times to make major transformations, changes of regime, big moves, because of the relationship between these major planets, along with the Sun and Moon.  Those who have been resisting change are losing leverage, as Saturn slinks Retrograde fashion back into the 12th House, the abyss of the past.  The Sun's close aspects to both Saturn and Uranus, show the diplomatic balancing act between the old and the new, the retreating and the approaching, the old regime and the new.  As a result, power and status are being infused back into the country, and all people have reason to take pride again.

The Sun in the 4th House and the Full Moon in the 10th in Cancer, gives the power back to the people, as the wishes of the populace are being recognized.  Obstacles are removed, changes in Congress with popular support and approval behind them, creates an optimistic outlook the Full Moon.  These configurations endow great power, as well as good will for the country, in this great time of transition..and yet...

Pluto sits at the bottom of the chart dredging things up from the past.  Pluto square the Virgo Ascendant says that the people will no longer be satisfied with just dealing with these problems, we need to undo the mistakes that drag like an albatross around the necks of both the new and old administrations.  Pluto wipes out the past, and freshly inaugurated into the sign of Capricorn, represents the reorganization of governments, corporations, power structures as well as infrastructures.  But the old order, in a sense, needs to die, in order to make room for the birth of the new order, the new administration.  Pluto in the 4th House, literally means people moving in and out of "the house".  In our case, the White House.

As an aside, Pluto and Mars in the 4th House in Capricorn, could mean really lousy weather, even earthquakes or avalanches, or deadly snow storms... or just really, really cold weather until the next New Moon.

With a bounty of planets in Aquarius in the 5th House of joy, parties and celebration, in the Washington, D.C. chart, the effete are going to be hobnobbing with the hoi polloi and putting aside differences, as they imbibe and share in the festivities.  The country is looking optimistically to the future, as goals are being established, offices are being posted and all the experts set to work.  10 Inaugural Balls are scheduled, the balloons are floating and ready to drop, the musicians are on their way.  And then Mercury goes Retrograde on January 11th.  The balloons don't fall, the musician's bus gets stuck in the snow, the sound system gets an electrical short.. and maybe all this will be just enough to delay the actual Inauguration till after 12:30 PM on January 20th... in order to avoid the ineffectual Void of Course Moon, which ends at that time.  One can only hope.

We can blame all the back tracking, the Burris nomination, the Richardson withdrawal, all the confusing messages, on Mercury's approaching Retrograde motion in Aquarius, the sign of Congress, Humanity, the sign of hope, emancipation, anticipation and the future.  Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo, so you will see these people walking around in circles wringing their hands.  Yet Gemini relates to the sign of Aquarius, so does Mercury, which is exalted in this sign, and as Mercury is simultaneously separating and applying to a conjunction to Jupiter, the planet of abundance, peace and prosperity; good stuff is possible despite the worry, the misinformation, the miscommunications, rediverted traffic signals, and short circuited TV cameras.  There is so much euphoria floating about this Full Moon, that we will see the homeless dancing in the streets, the unemployed rejoicing, and everyone greeting the bright new Dawn of the new Tomorrow.  And yet...we cannot go boldly into the future until we correct the mistakes of the past.

Mercury is turning Retrograde the day after the Full Moon.  So we worry that perhaps promises made can not be kept.  We worry that we are so absorbed in our own vision, that we will not stop to listen to sage advice, or acknowledge that there might be a better way.  A better way with the economy, health care, the environment and education.  Europe, always one step ahead of us, has already implemented an economic stimulus plan, while ours is lolling away in a lame duck congress.

Virgo Rising in the Full Moon chart places emphasis on service, workers, the unions, the environment and health care.  France and Germany have the most efficiently run health care systems in the world.  We might take heed.  Saturn Retrograde in Virgo and opposing Uranus is telling us we have to revamp the whole system.   Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, is now in Aquarius, heading back to Capricorn, telling us it needs to be fixed through innovative, new and alternative means.  The French and German models are neither entirely government run, nor privately run, but a mixture of both, with less cost, better health care, and better sense.  Other countries have figured out how to cut carbon emission over the next several years practically, drive cars that get 50 miles or higher per gallon, and have invested in alternative energy sources long before us.  But until we admit that we are not the best at everything, that we do have room for improvement, we are not going to be willing to change.. And this is, indeed, the quintessential Full Moon of change.  The changing of the guard.  The exultant cry of hope for a better future, but only if we're willing to correct the mistakes of the past....

And finally, in commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, which will be followed the day after by the Inauguration of President Obama, in the United States:

Whatever career you may choose for yourself - Doctor, Lawyer, Teacher - Let me propose an avocation to be pursued along with it.  Become a dedicated fighter for Civil Rights.  Make it a central part of your life.  It will make you a better Doctor, a better Lawyer, a better Teacher.  It will enrich your spirit as nothing else possibly can.  It will give you that rare sense of nobility that can only spring from love and selflessly helping your fellow man.  You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.

-Martin Luther King Jr.

2009

The Year Ahead

The myth of Daedalus and Icarus has a few versions in the telling of it, but the theme and its lesson is consistent. Daedalus and his son, Icarus, were being punished for Daedalus' participation in the escape of Theseus from the famous labyrinth, originally created by Daedalus. King Minos had Daedalus and his sun exiled to an island, shut up in a tower, or imprisoned in the labyrinth itself, as the case may be according to which version of the myth. Daedalus, the genius inventor, proclaimed that Minos may control the sea, and the land, but he had no dominion over the air. So he created wings for himself, and his son, Icarus, so that they would be able to escape to safety. He made the wings of scraps of leather, thread, feathers and wax. And because the feathers were fastened with wax, Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, as it would melt his wings, nor too close to the sea, as the sea air would make them too hard and stiff to fly. The wings proved at first to be a great success. However, Icarus, overcome with the thrill of being able to fly "like the Gods", allowed the experience to go to his head. Not heeding his father's warning, he flew higher and higher towards the great God, Apollo's domain, where the heat of the sun melted his wings. Icarus then fell to the earth, where he was drowned in the Icarian sea, named for his demise.

This is the Jupiter/Neptune in Aquarius myth. When Jupiter meets Neptune, high idealism, charity, compassion and hope thrive and prosper. Jupiter will be conjunct Neptune for an extended period of time this year. They will be in an exact conjunction from May through July, and then return for its final conjunction in December. But from the time Jupiter enters Aquarius in January, we will be feeling the anticipation of the Jupiter/Neptune alignment.

When President-elect Obama was running for President, Neptune was conjunct his ascendant in Aquarius. For him, it instilled a desire and willingness to sacrifice his personal life, for the sake of the collective. Many saw in him the much awaited hero, who would help to restore dignity to a country, rediscover our connection with the rest of humanity, the earth and with each other. He ran on a platform of hope, idealism, inclusiveness and the necessity for progressive change. This is a Jupiter/Neptune in Aquarius platform. Jupiter/Neptune aims to make beliefs come true, to apply ideology, walk the walk, as well as talk the talk of altruism. Jupiter/Neptune strives to fit in globally, and universally for the benefit of the whole rather then for selfish or competitive aims. Jupiter/Neptune in Aquarius allows for the potential for enlightenment and humanitarian concerns. It promotes an awareness of our interconnectedness with the Earth and all that lives on her. Whether through the internet, the ease of travel, communication, and understanding.

So, you may ask, what could possible be the trouble with such an aspect that brings hope, philanthropy, and the willingness to sacrifice the self for the greater good of the whole? The problem is, that idealism does not always translate well into the mundane world. It becomes difficult to distinguish between what we wish to be true, and reality. People will be so busy donning their rose-colored glasses, and basking in their absinthe laced euphoria, that they will overlook what is lurking around the corner. All this idealism, philanthropy, and hope for a glorious future, are all possible, but it is also possible to have it all go to our heads. Gambling, taking risks with limited resources, and being led down the garden path by the unscrupulous, are all dangers when you are drunk on hope and idealism, and think that you can accomplish anything, even flying up to Apollo's domain. The greatest difficulties seem to arise when we try to achieve material or selfish aims through Jupiter/Neptune (as in get rich quick schemes, gambling, wish to be God). That is when we fail, and are brought back down to size by our own greed and material desires.

It is also imperative the we ourselves, not try to personify Obama as a God, but to realize that he is a mortal who is fitted to identify with the zeitgeist of the times, with wings made of scraps of leather, thread, feathers and wax. If we can maneuver the dreaded rocks of grandiosity, delusion and spiritual pride, then a great deal can be accomplished this year to at least achieve an approximation of the ideal. Jupiter/Neptune can be escapist. As in alcohol, drugs or running off to Timbuktu escapism. But big dreams and high expectations can easily be followed by huge disappointments if we lose sight of what is practically achievable and realistic, or like Icarus, we may find ourselves overwhelmed in the deep dark brine of Neptune.

This can be literal. Jupiter's tendency towards largess, can bring some terrible storms, flooding and miserably wet weather this Summer. In December, it can bring blizzards and avalanches. It can also bring spiritual grandiosity, as in my God is bigger than your God stuff, which with all the Saturn afflictions astir this year will only foment antagonism and instability. We're very good at screwing up our idealistic intentions.

The rulers of Aquarius, Saturn and Uranus, continue to oppose each other in the mutable signs of Virgo and Pisces this year, implying the necessity, and even inevitability of change. They will make two more exact oppositions to each other this year, one in February shortly after the US Presidential Inauguration, and another in September. Saturn/Uranus hard aspects are often associated with regime changes, as well as financial crises. If changes are not made voluntarily during Saturn/Uranus periods, we would then be forced to make changes despite ourselves. And this is despite the desire on the part of some to hold on dearly to the past, and what that represents for them. Some feel that they must fight tooth and nail to hold on to what they have, even as it becomes apparent that what they once believed to be true, and stable, is no longer valid. From the mockery leading up to the invasion of Iraq, the stolen election of 2000, Enron, Madoff, stealing from the poor with creative mortgages that came back and bit a lot of people in the butt, Global Warming, trickle down poverty, bank failures, bailing out the rich, to name a few. Virgo is the sign of the working class, unions, retail stores, health care, the environment, farms, sustenance, Mother Earth. Pisces is the sign of delusion and loss of individuality, but also compassion and recognizing our co-dependence on each and every one of us. Uranus is compelling us to recognize our responsibility for everyone and everything on this earth, and no one is to be left out. Two times this year, and another time in 2010, these planets will join in opposition in these signs, telling us that there is still so much work, so many corrections to be made, in these areas.

The whole health insurance industry needs to be revamped. Saturn (corporations) in Virgo (health care) needs to change (Uranus), in order to make health care available universally (Pisces). In Zimbabwe where people are dying en masse from starvation and cholera, the ruler of the country, Saturn, is in the same degree of Virgo (their Saturn return) as the opposition in February. Saturn (starvation) in Virgo (food, crops) needs to be globally available (Pisces) to everyone in need, or there will be unrest and rebellion (Uranus). In February, the Saturn/Uranus opposition will be exactly on the Saturn found in the chart of the very first Inauguration of the United States for George Washington. Saturn/Uranus is associated with regime changes, and later in September the Saturn/Uranus opposition will be exactly on the Saturn of the chart for Iraq (the 1921 chart). One wonders if Obama will be true to his word in removing troops from Iraq by this time. However, it will also be on Iran's Mars, the planet of war and aggression.

Just before Halloween, Saturn will leave Virgo for a while to enter Libra, and the first cardinal square to Pluto in Capricorn will occur, paving the way for the Cardinal T-square of 2010. If the necessary changes have been made, with the willingness to make sacrifices for the whole, perhaps at the expense of the over inflated, then we might be able to step into the treacherous waters of the Cardinal squares, now being initiated at the end of 2009. If you only thought about making sacrifices, Saturn/Pluto will now force you to let go of those things that you no longer need, in order to make way for the Grand Reconstruction. The mortgage crisis of 2008 will look like spare change compared to what could be in store for us the end of 2009 and 2010. If we don't have all our ducks in a row by then, we're going to find ourselves adrift without a paddle, and heading for the edge of a very steep nosedive. Saturn/Pluto is when resources dry up and are no longer available. Saturn/Pluto is when authority is undermined, leadership is sabotaged, and hands are tied so that it becomes difficult, if not impossible to make the changes that we need to make. There will be those forces of conservatism and power, that will be stubborn and unyielding, even in the face of overwhelming odds and destruction. The urge is to resist. But the old structures need to fall, they need to be broken down, in order to rebuild a foundation built on real assets, real stability.

Pluto in Capricorn square Saturn in Libra represents the beginning of a mass reconstruction phase, where those who are accustomed to being in charge, controlling and calling the shots, are being brought down, like so many Saddam Hussein statues. There is no room for arrogance here, for assumption of power, when drastic changes for reformation are called for. It's time for being willing to tear down those old walls, demolish the crumbling bridges, in order to rebuild a better and newer infrastructure that we can depend on.

Any country with sensitive points at about 1°42' of the cardinal signs will feel this, and that includes a lot of countries. Pakistan has its Sun (identity, and leadership) at 2° of Aries. India's Uranus is at 1°42' of Cancer. The US Midheaven (how we are seen by the world, our reputation) is at 1° of Libra. But other countries will feel this square: China, Libya, Ukraine, Spain, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Poland, Dominican Republic, Haiti, even the Bahamas.

The end of 2009 is NOT a good time to expand. It is a time for shoring up safety and stability, even in the face of threats to that security. Unfortunately, it does have the potential to herald an economic recession, if not outright depression. It can also bring fear of persecution, invasion, and despotism. Threats of annihilation. Even pandemics. What it also represents is a collective responsibility, and a need to correct the mistakes of the past. Pluto can be revelatory. It is a time to reorganize and restructure. It is a time for adaptation, not resistance. It is a time in which we will find that we need to let go of those things, those structures, that we may think we need, but may, in fact, be holding us back, and preventing us from growing and becoming a better society. If we can accept that, then the struggle will be in the work of reformation. But for those who resist, the struggle could be devastating. The proof is in the preparation, the humility to take off the rose-colored glasses of delusion, the recognition that yes, we are all in this together, responsible for each and every one of us, and our willingness to adapt.