Revolution - Uranus square Pluto

Inspired by the recent takeover in Tunis, the Egyptian populace, exhausted and debilitated from severely low wages, unemployment, homelessness and lack of opportunity have reached their tipping point.  In the past, protests in Egypt have amounted to maybe 400 people at most... easily disbanded, arrested and dispersed.  This time the protests are universally charged, where thousands unite, willing to lay their own lives and liberty on the line for the sake of truth and justice.  This is the season of Aquarius.

We are approaching a New Moon in Aquarius on the 2nd of February.  The New Moon is closely aligned with Mars, the planet of anger, war, demonstrations, and fire.  The active protests in Tunis were inflamed and inspired by the self-immolation of fruit vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi after his cart was destroyed by police, and they slapped his face.  He had dropped out of school to help support his family the only way available to him, by selling fruit and vegetables in the street.  Harassed by authorities for illegally selling in the streets, in debt for far more than he could possibly afford, he went to the authorities for help where he was made to feel powerless and humiliated... and so he set himself on fire as an act of desperation.... igniting anger, and frustration throughout the region.

In times of extreme Aquarius, news, anger, revolt, can spread with the speed of electric currents, and erupt spontaneously like bolts of lightning.

Protests and challenges in Tunis, Egypt and now Yemen have been fueled and strategically organized by, and advised through the internet, whether on Twitter or Facebook, or by  mass emails.  The irrevocability of the unity of humanity, is placing the power back into the hands of the people, and away from the oligarchy.   This is the stuff of Aquarius, with ruler, Uranus, approaching its square to regime toppling Pluto,  combined with Jupiter in warrior sign Aries, and the New Moon aligned with Mars.  This is the stuff of which revolutions are made.

Although these protests seem sudden... they have been building up for years.  This is what happens with Uranus/Pluto.  Those things that you may have tolerated up until now, because you thought  yourself powerless... eventually reach their tipping point of discomfort, and will no longer be tolerated.  With the successful regime change in Tunisia, there was a sense of hope, and sense of charged unity and ambition, that has incited the Egyptian populace to dare to step out of the stability of their lives, and into a state of revolution.  Part of the reason, is that their lives are not secure or comfortable... with high prices for food staples and severely low wages... people go to sleep hungry, and hunger leads to revolt.

And then, thousands of Yemenis took to the streets on Thursday to demand that their president resign after being in power since 1978. The protests and organized resistance in Egypt and Tunisia have inspired the Yemeni demonstrators as revolutionary fervor has spread across the Arab world. Up till now, the US government has notoriously supported the crippling dictatorships in these countries, however according to the Washington Post, the Obama administration is now openly supporting the protesters and their freedom of peaceful assembly and speech. 

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that "the Egyptian government has an important opportunity . . . to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people." She urged "the Egyptian authorities not to prevent peaceful protests or block communications, including on social media sites."

Asked whether the administration supports Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs replied only: "Egypt is a strong ally."

Administration officials say they will pursue a dual-track approach in the coming weeks, both speaking with civil activists in Egypt and meeting with officials to encourage reform in the bellwether Arab nation.

Such an approach comes with a degree of risk in the region, where democratic reforms have often empowered well-organized Islamist movements at odds with U.S. objectives. As a result, the United States has often favored the stability of authoritarian allies in the Middle East over the uncertainty of democratic change.

Welcome to the dawning of the Uranus square Pluto era.  Fuelled perhaps by Jupiter’s recent entrance into Aries, and thisNew Moon aligned with Mars.... Uranus square Pluto is Revolution... In effect through 2015, the revolution has just begun.

Libertas - Venus enters Sagittarius

About 15 years ago, a reporter from the Amsterdam News entered our shop in New York City.  He said he had something important to talk about.  That he was telling everyone who would listen.  And he was doing this even though his life was being threatened, and he was being denounced as a liar.  The story he told was about slavery.  And the fact that in some part of the world it still existed.  He spoke specifically of the country of Sudan, where people from the southern part of the Sudan were being taken from their communities, terrorized, raped, tortured and forced into slavery.  Over the years, more and more people were speaking out on the atrocities in the Sudan.  Our friend was no longer the voice crying out in the wilderness.

On the 7th of January, Venus enters Sagittarius, symbolizing Lady Liberty, Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom.  Libertas was revered by the ancient Romans, as the goddess associated with the emancipation of slavery.  And she has continued to be revered throughout history in poetry, art and literature.  The early colonial Americans strongly identified with her theme of freedom, eventually giving rise to Lady Liberty who sits atop the dome of the US Capitol building... as well as the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York City. 

At the dedication ceremony of the Statue of Liberty no women were allowed at the ceremonies except for a few relatives of the creator of the statue.  However, a group of Suffragettes commandeered a boat, and through the use of a bullhorn, appraised the choice of the figure of a woman for the statue, but also strongly advocated a woman’s right to vote.  The Cleveland Gazette, and African American newspaper also protested, saying that the torch should not be lit until the US became a free nation in reality. 

This weekend, the Southern Sudan will be holding a vote deciding whether or not to secede and form their own separate country, apart from Northern Sudan.  Almost four million people have registered to take part in Sunday's referendum on whether Africa's biggest country - Sudan - should split in two. The vote was a condition of a 2005 deal to end almost two decades of conflict between the north and south, which was responsible for the escalation of the abuse as well as the slavery of the people in the South. 

The ruler of Sagittarius, Jupiter, is currently in Pisces, the sign of oil.  Much controversy revolves around the fact that the Southern Sudan is oil rich, but also much subjugated by the Northern Muslim nation.  As a result, the Southern region, despite its wealth of resources is extremely poverty stricken lacking roads, access or any sort of infrastructure.  Therefore if this referendum is passed, as it is believed it will, and they become an independent country in the Summer of 2011, they will have a rough road to travel, with many obstacles to overcome.

Venus in Sagittarius brings a sense of idealism, optimism, hope, where ethics and morality play a huge part in the equation.  We wish the people of the Sudan well in this time of Libertas, with Venus moving into Sagittarius.

Thomas Paine, the much maligned freedom lover who inspired the American Revolution with his pamphlet, “Common Sense” (he was also credited with writing the first article proposing the abolition of slavery in the US), wrote:

Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.

the above picture is entitled "Statue of Liberty Unveiled" by Edward Moran, from the Museum of the City of New York