From the Middle East to the Midwest

What we’ve been seeing this past month is a combination of Jupiter in Aries (moral outrage) coming up against Pluto in Capricorn (oligarchies, plutocracies and dictatorships) with Uranus at the very, very end of Pisces, about to charge full-steam into Aries (revolutionary new movements). 

Currently Uranus is in the last minutes of the last degree of Pisces, which lends this sense of almost emotional despair.  In the Guardian this week, Martin Chulov encapsulates this despair in the story of how residents of Benghazi, Libya attempted to dig through a patch of dirt in the back of a now deserted military base.  “We know they’re there,” a man declared, “The people heard their voices.” 

It is believed by the people that the soldiers buried dozens of people in underground vaults before they ran from the city last weekend.  And so they dig, because they don’t know what else to do. 

"Anyone who upset him (Colonel Gaddafi) either ended up dead on his own doorstep, or in one of these holes," said Hussein Abbas, pointing to one of the two giant mounds atop the underground cells. "We have to get these people out."

Uranus in 29° Pisces brings us to the point where we need to let go and move on.  But it is also about being willing to sacrifice something for the greater good.  This is necessary, we need to do this, in order for the new beginning, the new cycle, to start.

Up until now, no door, nor lock was found to the underground dungeon, but people came from far and wide to search.. in this evil place.  Up until last weekend this base was occupied by thousands of soldiers until they were evicted by thousands more people armed with bulldozers and explosives. 

"This camp was the darkest fear of all of Benghazi," said one man, Nouri Kaskas. "Everybody had a relative somewhere who was in one of these holes."

Uranus is coming to the end of a grand 84-year cycle, and about to embark on a new cycle in a few weeks, replete with revolutions, surprising results, new beginnings, and a great deal of excitement in store.  As Uranus enters Aries this March, it will also square the Sun in Capricorn in the Libyan chart, just as it did in the Egyptian chart these past few months. A signature of a changing leadership.

On Friday, at the UN in Geneva, diplomats from Libya declared they were defecting.  At an emergency meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, a Libyan diplomat asked the council to stand for a moment of silence in honor of the revolution, and then informed the council that they were all quitting the government.  The Council members responded with resounding applause.

Gustave Doré (1832-1883)

Back here in the US, the budget crises we’ve been hearing about were caused by the banks and Wall Street.  A crisis contributed to by deregulation and greed.  Yet some how the workers (along with their pensions and benefits) are being blamed and held responsible for the evils of Wall Street.  But if the issues have to do with a financial crisis, why attack the Unions?  These Tea Party Republicans are trying to break the Unions.  That’s what it has to do with it.  Breaking the Unions.  In Wisconsin.  In Ohio.  In Indiana.  In Tennessee.  They’re squeezing the unions by trying to eliminate collective bargaining.  Denying them a voice. 

In the previous election the two major donors to campaigns were the Unions (Democrats) and the Koch Brothers (Republicans).  With the Unions out of the way....  well, the Koch Brothers would own the elections, and thereby the country.  With the government in their pockets, the obscenely rich can become even richer... you know, eliminate regulations, not have to pay taxes, lower the minimum wage, not have to worry about the environment or worker safety.  All that stuff that gets in the way of getting richer.  Pluto in Capricorn begins with revealing the gross inequalities in power and wealth. 

The workers paid for their benefits, and are now being given less than they paid for, and were promised.  They have reluctantly agreed.  After all, there’s a budget crisis, which they had no hand in creating.  But they will not give up their rights to collective bargaining, without which they would have no power.

George Lakoff tried to explain the conservative mind set and moral system in the context of a ‘strict father family.’  In such a moral context, the people who are not prosperous are in the predicament they are because they don’t have discipline, and without discipline, “they cannot be moral, so they deserve their poverty.  The good people are hence the prosperous people.” 

Moral outrage in the time of Jupiter square Pluto has come to the US as well.  In this video, Wisconsin Assembly Republicans held a vote at 1 AM in the morning this past Friday, for only a bare few seconds, forcing through Gov. Walker’s radical bill to take away workers’ rights.  Right now, the only thing keeping this bill from becoming law are the state Senate Democrats, who courageously left the state in order to block the Senate from voting.

 

In a deeply moving tribute, the police officers in Wisconsin have joined the workers, still demonstrating within the capitol building in Wisconsin.  One officer gave this message to Governor Walker:

“We took an oath to protect the members of our community.  This is not a budget issue this is a civil rights issue.  We know pretty well who you work for Mr. Walker, let me tell you who we work for, we work for all of these people here.  We’re not here to do your bidding, we’re here to do their bidding.  This is not your house Mr. Walker, this is all our house.”

What's Happening in Wisconsin?/ Jupiter square Pluto

So what is happening in Wisconsin?  Scott Walker, newly-elected Republican teabag governor, with control of both houses was elected into his office on the platform that he was going to create jobs.  When a Democrat says they are going to create jobs, they create jobs.  When a Republican says they are going to create jobs, they give tax cuts to the wealthy.  And then they turn around and lay off 6,000 state workers.  Which is exactly what Walker wants to do. 

Pluto in Capricorn: Plutocracy.... a government or state in which the wealthy class rules. Autocrat... an absolute ruler, especially a monarch who holds and exercises the powers of government as by inherent right, not subject to restrictions... a person invested with or claiming to exercise absolute authority.

Walker came into his office with a surplus.  Solution?  Cut taxes in your first month in office, and create a deficit in order to lay off workers, and have an excuse to bring those unions down to their knees.  Now he has a budget deficit... so now he can fire 6,000 workers and cut the salaries and benefits for another 175,000 workers.  Now, a government worker making $50,000 gross, will have to pay out of that, an additional $5,000 per year in order to maintain their benefits and pension.  10% of their income.  But that’s not all.  And this is not what the thousands of workers in Madison are protesting.  What the workers are protesting is that the Republicans are trying to break the unions: take away their bargaining power, and make them powerless.  The Republican teabagger agenda: give money and power to the wealthy, and take it away from the working class.

Jupiter in Aries: Fighting for truth, freedom, rights and justice.

Presently, all is on hold, as the Democrats have absconded, preventing a quorum from being established in order for a vote to take place.  The Republicans are short one legislator. 
Scott Walker, in the footsteps of George W. Bush, felt that since he was elected, he no longer needed to listen to those who voted for him, for now he is ‘the decider’, and he can do anything he wants to do.  Republicans were surprised at the huge turnout for the protest.  They haven’t been watching the astrological weather, and what’s happening in Wisconsin is a reflection of what is happening across the country, and across the world. 

Wisconsin is also symbolic because they have been the stronghold of the labor movement, the birthplace of one of the largest labor unions, with a long history of battling, and winning rights for workers.  They initiated workers compensation for any loss of life or injury on the job, they are responsible for initiating unemployment insurance.  The concept of having the 8 hour work day and 40 hour week, was fought for, with their lives, by workers in Wisconsin.  Because of the negotiations of unions for wages, for benefits, for fair working conditions, the minimum wage is modeled for the whole country.  If Gov. Walker is successful in stripping the unions of their bargaining rights, it will set a precedent for other conservative governors across the country.

Jupiter square Pluto becomes exact February 24th: Fighting for truth and justice against an oppressive or autocratic government or authority.  Standing up for what is right against huge odds.  Autocrats or dictators in a position of authority who fear, and try to prevent, break down, and control those who dare to fight for their freedom and rights. 

When people were asking where Mubarak was, former Rep. David Obey (D-WI) answered that “he was ensconced in the governor’s mansion in Madison.”  Now it may seem a stretch to compare Walker to Mubarak, but Walker is indeed modeling an autocratic dictator in order to achieve political ends. 

When asked what would happen if the bill goes through, Phil Neuenfeldt, President of the Wisconsin state AFL-CIO, couldn't say. "All I can do is say what the emotion is, what the feelings are," he said. "There are thousands of good and committed people who are not going to let go of this thing. As far as what's going to happen on Monday, I'm not sure. But I can tell you one thing: there's going to be people reacting to this until it turns around." ~ the Huffington Post

Mubarak Steps Down

February 11, 2011; 6:05 PM 2E; Cairo, Egypt

“The story of the Tahrir Square is not about who is with Mubarak and who is against; it is about a truly civilized, very peaceful people who decided to regain control of their destiny... They will forever be responsible and work to rebuild the whole country.” ~Olga Tantawi

“Egypt will now be rebuilt!” cried the people in Tahrir Square this morning, when Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned.  There was utter jubilation, which spread on the wings of tweets, and prayers, ululation and song, reverberating in the streets of Algeria, Jordan and Morocco. 

Pluto in Capricorn challenges power brokers and governments built on the backs of the people through corruption, autocracy and intimidation.  Jupiter, the planet of ethics and morals, has ridden his fine mare into the warrior sign of Aries, and comes up sharply against Pluto this coming week, just in time for the Full Moon in Leo opposing the line up of planets in rebellious Aquarius, the sign of the People en masse.  Arab leaders across the East must heed that they need to make much needed reforms in their own countries, in order to maintain stability. 

There has been a full line up in the sign of Aquarius these past few weeks, which reaches its climax at the Full Moon on the 18th.  Egyptians, inspired by the recent protests in Tunisia that ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and motivated by the beating death of Khaled Said at the hands of the police, protested the outlandish corruption in government, excessive poverty, unemployment, and the rising cost of staples, such as wheat (Ceres in Aquarius) and other foods.  Egypt has been subject to a police state, known as Emergency Rule, since Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981.  This Emergency Rule prevented political parties (other than the National Democratic Party) from organizing, establishing a one party state.  There’s going to be a lot of hard work ahead to establish a true democracy.

Once a structure has been removed, demolished, or brought down, under Pluto in Capricorn, it then needs to be rebuilt on a much firmer, more stable and secure foundation.  This is the work of Pluto in Capricorn. 

At the time of the uprising in Egypt, and the eventual withdrawal of Mubarak, Uranus, the planet of sudden change, uprisings, and revolution, as well as the Midheaven, the Head of State, were being heavily aspected by Solar Direction and transits, in the chart for the Republic of Egypt (June 18, 1953; 11:30 PM GMT).  Uranus sits in the house of the people, opposing the Midheaven, implying an innate instability between the people and the government, that could, indeed, be easily triggered, if the people were not given utter freedom and participation.   Whether or not anything would happen at this time would be determined by how rigidly and autocratically the people were being controlled.  The more they were controlled, the greater the tension, like a taut wire, reaching its breaking point.  Conditions that the people had been putting up with, became unbearable, and the only solution was change. 

After Mubarak announced last night that he was refusing to step down... even though there had been an implicit agreement that he would... journalist Richard Engle tweeted this message: “Army using its credibility to tell people ‘We’ll guarantee that change happens... Trust Us!’ “  In such astrological weather, even for those who resist change, or are in denial about the need for change, they will then find that circumstances force them to change against their will.  Change is inevitable. 

Uranus is approaching its square to Pluto over the next several years.  This is the aspect of revolution.  Of broad and irrevocable change.  During the uprising in Egypt, Uranus was square the Egyptian Sun.  This is the aspect of unexpected events necessitating the answer to the questions about whether or not you are truly on the correct path, and whether or not this is truly what Egypt is all about.  Change is implicit... and once again, the more off the path the country became, the more necessary it is to implement changes.  Change happened. 

So what can we anticipate this year?  This Summer there will be a lot of heat, anger, contention and possibly even violence, as Uranus comes up against the Egyptian Mars.  The Egyptian people proved that they could make revolutionary change through peaceful protests, and a strong united front.  This anger comes from within this Summer.  From some dark hidden corner with ties to the past.  It is loud and it is fiery. Issues related to old crimes, secrets about violence and torture, that had been hidden, but now come to light.  People are going to be asking: Who is responsible?   These are the sorts of crimes, symptoms of dark corruption, that led the people to exclaim, “We are all Khadem Said.”

But it is swiftly followed by Saturn, now Direct, making the same square to Uranus and Midheaven, as it did at the time of Mubarak’s resignation, followed soon after by a Saturn Return.  Corruption will need to be weeded out.  Change is inevitable.  These coincide with the time of the elections, which are likely to be contentious, as the old guard hopes to continue to manipulate the proceedings as they have up until now.   Hopefully imperialists, and power brokers overseas (Pluto in the 9th House widely opposing Mars), do not try to force their way into the proceedings as well.  Democracy is an ideal that is difficult to implement in the real world. 

Yet I have hope for Egypt.  Saturn returns are indicative of times of growth and maturity.  An old part of life expires, as a new one is beginning, hopefully grounded on the experience of the past.  There is a change of guard.  A new government (Saturn), preferably founded on Libran principles of equality, legality, and justice.  By the time of the elections Jupiter will be in the 1st house of the Egyptian chart, conjunct Venus the planet of peace.  This marks a time of remarkable growth and a positive and optimistic outlook for the future, smoothing the way for more peaceful times.  Here’s to hoping only the best possible outcome for the people of Egypt.  They have earned it well.