Jan 30, 2012 Astro-Peek: Robin Hood sips Beaujolais

All in One Day: from Robin Hood to a 'New Age'?

by Jude Cowell


During the 24-hour period of Monday January 30, 2012, the Moon (the public; we the people; publicity), our daily and monthly timepiece, begins at a critical-crisis 29th degree (29Ari16) in setting position (conjunct Descendant) in a horoscope set for Monday at the Capitol Building, Washington DC, that temple of Masonry.

By 11:59 pm of January 30, 3012, the Moon has reached 11Tau05 after crossing over Jupiter 2Tau26/33 for a lovely Moon/Jupiter tryst. Yet this being a blog infested with Politics--and American Politics at that--the Business and Political implications of the Moon/Jupiter pair should be mentioned.

Moon/Jupiter energies include certain potential expressions within those practical realms so let's consider a paraphrase of Michael Munkasey's analysis based on the Hegelian Dialect method of Thesis and Antithesis where problems are consciously created, solutions are "debated", and a pre-determined course of action is then said by the ruling elite to be a necessary change which the people are then expected to accept where they otherwise wouldn't without the crisis the elite class created in the first place.

To paraphrase Mr. Munkasey:

Thesis: agricultural production increases; commercial or agricultural sectors see growth; women make important contributions to religious or legal practices; legal situations concerning farm or land policies (opening more land to drilling or fracking? jc)

Antithesis: floods and natural disasters; women's opinions that are over-valued; legal system as barrier to agricultural or commercial development or production; ineffective lawyers or clerics. (Midpoints: Unleashing the Power of the Planets, Munkasey.)

Okay, so the Moon sailing over Jupiter may not start our week with wine'n'roses but we can still check out the Sun/Moon combinations which form during Monday (now, since it's after midnight in Georgia est) to snag a hint of the influences of the day and which will affect the entire week of activities and events. Not just in Washington DC, my former residence, but over the globe depending on which time zone you're in as Luna switches signs.

12:00 am est: Sun AQ/Moon Aries is a fast-paced Air-Fire blend as is the natal blend of 2012 candidate Newt Gingrich--a 'hot-air-balloon' type, a Utopian idealist, in fact, says Ebertin. Watch out for new references this week to Newt's tendencies to blow things out of proportion, send up 'trial balloons' or flags up poles (polls?) to see if anyone salutes, and to generally express his extremely Jupiterian-American personality of which he states he feels very proud.

But more than enough about him. Moving on...

Sun AQ/Moon Ari denotes 'maverick truth-seekers', harsh critics, and spunky, intellectual dynamos. The blend of these signs has a Saturn-Uranus-Mars attitude underneath and even if we can't actually see it, we may feel its scathing tones at times and may be surprised by their eruption. Of course, laughter and chuckles may occur...

"Images for Integration": A court jester mocks the social injustices of the realm...Robin Hood and his band of merry men outwit the evil King John again."

11:59 pm est Sun AQ/Moon Tau, an Air-Earth blend energies bestow the day with security v independence issues and humanitarian concerns but may include an eccentric streak of 'pragmatic intellect' and a "Ferdinand the Bull" quality. Naturally, one of us may be put in mind of that most bullish of habitats within the American narrative, Wall Street.

The Sun AQ/Moon Tau combo contains tones of Saturn and Uranus (AQ) with evaluating Venus (Taurus) and causes a pulling sensation on inner levels as home vies with career.

In both the 12 am and 11:59 pm charts, US natal North Node '6Leo' conjoins MC so it seems that career is winning at the moment with Domestic Scene suffering some of the Saturnian influences such as: loss, restriction, enforced austerity, and delay, with 4th house as the house (department) of Real Estate, Property, Mining, and Domestic Products and Concerns.

AQ/Tau is a 'progressive thinker' blend with forward-looking ideas for reforming things. (Let's be very discriminating about whom we allow to tinker under the hood of the US Constitution, agreed?) It prefers to push the world toward the direction it decrees though the decree may occur behind very private and closed doors. Smugness may be a failing along with reluctance to listen to others, and a habit of 'riding roughshod over others'.

Sun AQ/Moon Tau's "Images for Integration: A country girl seeks a conventional life with an unconventional young man in the big city...The resident caretaker of a 'New Age' community sips his Beaujolais as he systematically does the year's accounts."

(Sun Sign-Moon Sign, Charles & Suzi Harvey.)

Well, there's a brief astro-peek at the influences of the day for January 30, 2012 which range from 'Robin Hood' to a 'New Age' community of wine drinkers that on one level is possibly the European Union. And in spite of what Politics may be up to behind closed doors, or how many Beaujolais-infused winos turn up to panhandle in the streets of America, I do hope your Monday is stellar and beneficial!

~:~

Terms such as 'New Age' may often be code words for Global Governance.

Rich Kids for Romney ad (video)

This is one of the most effective yet subtle political campaign ads I've ever seen:




Or...is its message subtle as a sledge hammer?

Astrology of SOTU 2012: Mars Rx Rising

The State of the Union Address 2012 will be delivered before a Joint Session of Congress by President Obama tonight, January 24, 2012 at 9:00 pm est.

Yesterday's New Moon @ '3AQ" has a 'new cycle of activity' effect for the president's agenda to put unemployed Americans back to work (Virgo rising = work, health, service including military, police, and firefighters) and allow investment possibilities to further flower (8th house Jupiter in monied, practical Taurus.)


SOTU 2012 @ 9:00 pm est; Capitol Building, Washington DC: ASC 19Vir20 with Mars 23Vir05 Rx Rising, conjunct President Obama's natal Mars 22Vir35 so he is in the midst of his Mars Return 2012, a three-fer due to the retrogradation of Mars. The red planet's Rx condition for SOTU 2012 gives minor support for House Speaker John Boehner's remark that a "pathetic rehash' is about to be presented by Barack Obama.

Still, I wouldn't want to bully or provoke any president who's just begun a drawn-out Mars Return (January 14, February 1 which includes Mr. Obama's Moon Return spotlighting that date, and June 18, 2012.) As you know, a Mars Return is a period when the natal condition of one's Mars is stimulated and highlighted as well--here's an excerpt of what I wrote in my post on Mr. Obama's Mars Return concerning the god of war's natal condition in his chart since sign, house, aspects, and houses ruled are stimulated by SOTU 2012 and the president's Mars on the rise tonight at 9:00 pm:

The Condition of Mr. Obama's Natal Mars

The natal horoscope of Barack Obama (August 4, 1961 7:24 pm AHST Honolulu, Hawaii; ASC 18AQ03; MC 28Sco58) shows 10th-house-ruler Mars 22Vir35 in 7th H (Open Enemies; Partnerships) near 8th cusp 25Vir55 (Corporations; Shared Resources; Debt, Credit, etc); Aries is intercepted in 2nd H showing a potential for karmic conditions relating to money and values; natal Mars applies to two planets:

1. semisquare Neptune 8Scorpio (1A02) showing minor irritation between actions and ideals; Mars and Pluto share rulership of Neptune bwo Scorpio, and n Pluto is also posited in fussy Virgo.

2. trine Saturn Rx 25Cap20 in 12th H of Politics and Karma; a Mars/Saturn trine indicates self-discipline, talent with military and police work (inform the GOP!), and improves all the favorable qualities of Capricorn such as a sense of responsibility, duty, accountability, control, prudence, caution, and stability.

So for tonight's SOTU 2012, Mr. Obama's natal 8th house also rises with activist Mars which tallies with what is said to be tonight's main topic, the US economy, as reported by NPR in an interview with White House senior adviser, David Plouffe (text/audio.)

Mr. Obama promises to mention "themes he's raised before like the middle class can't afford 'on your own' economics" = Mars Rx rising! Or perhaps America's State of the Union Address has become obsolete?


Here are more SOTU 2012 horoscope details:

Hour of the Sun; Sun 4AQ29 in the Sun's natural 5th house (leadership) conjoins US natal South Node (Sun/SN = thwarted by actions of others); Moon 26AQ07 in 6th H (the people, or, the public--US Moon Return occurs at 10:55:54 pm this very night with undermining Neptune still within orb and causing home foreclosures, floods, and other losses--such as the much-touted "American Dream".)

The planet of oration, chart-ruler Mercury 25Cap40 in 5th H, conjoins BHO's natal Saturn indicating serious, sober communications; Sun 4AQ29 conjoins the Pluto/Chiron midpoint 5AQ41 (plutocrats); the Robber Barons' oily-gassy Neptune/Pluto midpoint also conjoins the Sun = succumbing to strange influences; prone to external influence. (To me, this shows that the Keystone XL Pipeline decision has been put off but remains lurking within the In Box on the president's desk. Stalling may divert the issue until a better time politically but I believe BHO is under the oil-gas barons' instructions to implement the Canadian pipeline though perhaps its ultimate route will be improved upon to protect a little thing we like to call Water.)

This position of Mercury also conjoins the Inauguration 2009 Midheaven of Goals and Aspirations (and that of all recent Inaugural MCs) so this may turn out to be a major speech of the Obama presidency--we'll see. It certainly shows signs of being broadly seen and heard with Mercury at MC and NN 13Sag01 (public contact) in 3rd H of Communications.

BHO natal ASC 18AQ03 is in the 5th H of Risk-Taking, Gambling, Creative Pursuits, and Children which is ruled by restrictive, austerity-promoting Saturn (21Cap19) and the weight of this chart emphasizes the Leo/AQ~~5/11 Will (Self-Will) axis.

When we look to the house with Aries on the cusp--where things are begun--we find the 8th cusp 14Ari49 which places US natal Chiron in Aries within the 8th H of Corporatism, Big Business, Taxes, Debt, Credit, and Transformation--our 'sense of self' is wounded (Aries Chiron) concerning these matters. With Mars, the planet of action and energy Rx, delays and interferences continue to be on the GOP agenda once Congress gets heated up for the current session of undermining the president, the Democrats, and, by extension, the entire country.

Plus, a frustrated-in-Virgo Mars Rx rising shows inverted social conditions, stalled projects, soldiers returning home, veterans' medical issues, potential military actions which may be ill-advised, and police state actions against protesters and others. Neptune's fraud and corruption are at a critical-crisis 29th degree (29AQ39) in 6th house and snugged between the Moon 26AQ07 and Chiron 3Pis07; Venus is exalted in Pisces (as is Saturn in Libra, 2nd house) with Venus 13Pis07 in 6th H as well.

Also rising are two asteroids, Arachne (the Internet or 'Interwebs', says Craig Ferguson) Rx and Psyche Rx rising as well showing some psychological analysis going on: will this speech 'psyche out' the public concerning the draconian SOPA act or GPS considerations which SCOTUS has recently addressed? If so, it should occur early on in the president's address along with other martian concerns, some of which are already noted.

Perhaps the three main midpoint pictures tonight are: Sun/NN (leader contacts the public) which points to powerful Pluto 8Cap10 in 4th H (Home; Homeland; Domestic Security); Real Estate), the Foundation of the horoscope and of SOTU 2012. Sun/NN = Pluto: influencing the masses; using compulsion with others. (Ebertin.)

Of course, '8Cap10' shows Pluto in opposition to US natal planets in Cancer: Venus (just out of orb), Jupiter, and the Sun, showing our ongoing stand-off with secretive forces which may represent through Pluto many entities such as the global Federal Reserve System, the World Bank, the IMF, monarchies, the Pope, and other actors who don't like to show their faces very often while monkeying around in everyone else's business.

The second midpoint picture is one we've experienced off and on for months: Jupiter/Neptune (grand schemers and speculators) contacting radical rebel Uranus again at Aries Point...Jupiter/Neptune = Uranus: real v imagined; coming down to earth with a bump; sudden recognition of a difficult situation. That the midpoint picture falls in 7th H at 9:00 pm may show a triggering of Open Enemies (7th H) but I hope the Republicans in attendance and the members of SCOTUS can contain their sophomoric outbursts and facial contortions while the president is speaking.

The third and perhaps most important midpoint picture involves the opposition between societal planets Jupiter 1Tau54 (expansion; growth; investment) and Saturn (restriction; delay; loss; austerity) across the 2/8 Money axis with Saturn 29Lib21 (crisis for lawmakers?) Jupiter and Saturn both square the Sun (president) which is, as noted above, conjoining Us n SN, a separative point said to be ruled by Saturn. Therefore, a dynamic T-Square pattern is formed and creates this picture:

Jupiter/Saturn = Sun: taking destiny into one's own hands; major changes according to plan, or, if nothing has been prepared, becoming gripped by the status quo and having to make the best of things (Tyl); gaining experience; inconstancy; moodiness (Ebertin.)


How Things Will Proceed from SOTU 2012

Looking at the applying aspects of the SOTU 2012 horoscope's ruler, Mercury, we see that Sun and Mercury will conjoin soon (8A49; Sun conj Mercury 17AQ59 on February 7 which stimulates the "A Man Unmasked Solar Eclipse of February 7, 2008 in the 10 North Series: 'communications emphasized; frustrations from events stemming from paperwork, news received, or young people'--Brady. Perhaps the 'young people' are Occupiers.)

But even closer is Mercury's square with critical-degreed Saturn in 2nd H of Earning Ability and Values, ruled by a well-meaning Venus in compassionate Pisces, as noted above, in Cadent 6th H (preparation stage.) Mercury SQ Saturn (3A41) shows blockages in financial matters and from or for lawmakers (Saturn in Libra, exalted yet straining to reach Scorpio), inhibitions when attempting to exploit potentials, and traditional thinking which stifles new ideas. Yes, the 2/8 Jupiter/Saturn opposition pits investment and growth against austerity measures which shrink economies--just ask the good people of Europe.

So with President Obama returning to his previous themes (Mars Rx rising) and other indications as mentioned, we may expect serious yet uplifting rhetoric this evening but with a continuation of GOP blockages to any or all of the president's old--or new--ideas for improving the social conditions in America circa 2012.

Personally, I see no other course than to be on President Obama's side against an austerity-promoting GOP especially when FDR's famous Test of Our Progress is applied to our nation in 2012. Franklin Roosevelt, with his natal Uranus in Gemini rising, said,

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

Amen.

Shall America give up her traditional Jupiterian character for the austerity and dearth of the GOP's Saturnian model? Now that's something which may become much clearer to us after the November 2012 elections.

~:~

SOTU 2012's Republican response will be delivered--not by former candidate Herman Cain, as rumored--but by Indiana's Mitch Daniels, an interesting choice since this particular common gooder agrees with Robert Parry concerning Mr. Daniels as the Architect of the US Debt Crisis (he was Bush's original "budget director'--he directed, all right.) And especially since Daniels' "right to work" effort in Indiana is actually a "right to work for less" bar-lowering of wages for American workers who fall prey to its Saturnian influence.

Good if belated astro-news! Mundane astrologer Theodore White has published the January 2012 edition of Global Astrology which includes a review of 2011 events and planetary patterns, plus forecasts for 2012.

Then if you haven't, you may want to check out Professor Robert Reich's always informative views as he considers tonight's SOTU 2012.

Gerald Celente forecasts 2012 Trends (audio)

Among many topics concerning financial and political matters, in this recent audio interview economist Gerald Celente says there will be "a tremendous backlash against globalization in 2012" which seems both socially and astrologically well-timed to me.

Try Trends Research Institute for more information.

New Moon 3AQ Jan 22, 2012

Fortunately for both of us, Julie Demboski has now published her well-considered insights concerning the New Moon of January 22, 2012 but why does she call it a Forgiveness Moon?

Here are two Sabian Symbols for your consideration--see if they remind you of anything going on in the news this week since the week begins with this particular Aquarian New Moon:

1.22.12 New Moon @'3AQ' = "A Deserter from the Navy"...Keyword: DEFIANCE.

positive expression: genuine psychological courage in a repudiation of all meaningless loyalties;

negative (unconscious/shadow side): complete inability to follow the rules of any game.

Sounds something like a certain Italian cruise ship captain who deserted his sinking ship, doesn't it?


The Illumination Point for '3AQ' is its opposite degree/sign, '3Leo' (conjunct President Obama's natal Mercury--his SOTU Address is at 9:00 pm est Tuesday, January 24, 2012 so will a new cycle of activity be announced? Plus, the New Moon @ '3AQ' conjoins Inauguration 2009's Jupiter in 10th house so a new cycle or project involving money and investment may be mentioned in President Obama's SOTU 2012 script.)


'3Leo' = "A Woman Having Her Hair Bobbed"...DECISION.

pos: exceptionally effective self-mobilization for the sake of personal ambition;

neg/unconsc/shadow side: wholly inadequate appreciation for the self and its destiny.

(The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, Marc Edmund Jones; except for the 'unconscious/shadow side' part, I tend to add that myself because it's how I tend to think of the symbols' negative expressions.)

Hmm. Perhaps '3AQ/Leo' expressing simultaneously indicates on some level a defiant decision or a decisive defiance!

2012 Candidates' Sun/Moon Personalities

2012 Campaign: Butterfly v Utopian v Royalist v Moralist

by Jude Cowell


Now that our 2012 election year has arrived, why not compare and contrast the personality blends of the 2012 candidates: Obama, Gingrich, Romney, and Santorum? This may be quite easily accomplished by considering each of their Sun (adult; conscious mind) and Moon (child; the unconscious) combinations through their signs, elements, and modes.

Rick Santorum's birth hour is unknown to me ('noon' is used), Gingrich's birth time seems to be somewhat in question ('born in middle of night'; 11:45 pm or 3:00 am are often used; June 17, 1943 Harrisburg, PA), Mitt Romney's is said to be correct (LDS maintain major genealogical records, as you know, so correct birth certificates must be especially prized, I would think; March 12, 1947 9:51 am est Detroit, MI), and Mr. Obama's hour, date, and place of birth seem to have been settled upon: August 4, 1961 Honolulu, Hawaii @ 7:24 pm AHST.)

Yet because Mr. Santorum's Moon remained in Aquarius for the 24-hour period of his birth, his natal Sun/Moon blend is not in dispute. Thus, let us proceed with the Sun/Moon personality blends of the 2012 candidates--here are brief notes with each man's Images for Integration from Sun Sign-Moon Sign, by Charles and Suzi Harvey, and the names of a few notables who share these personality blends:


1. Barack Obama Sun Leo/Moon Gemini: (Fire-Air = a 'live wire'; ideas well-communicated with eloquent rhetoric; joie de vivre; clever and charismatic); a long-winded debater; lives at a fast pace; boredom is to be avoided.

Sun Leo/Moon Gem = a visionary; analytical, humorous and quick-witted; organizing talent; high aspirations; on the cutting edge of social change; restless and sociable; over-rationalizing; can act as a rebellious child; detached from feelings. (Barry is a Sun-Mercury type.)

Images for Integration: "On a bright summer's day a butterfly turns into a radiant being...Children singing 'Happy Birthday to You' at a celebratory birthday party."

(Obama's blend is shared natally by: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Amelia Earhart, and Benito Mussolini--a royalist, an aviation pioneer (drones?), and a dictator.)


2. Newt Gingrich Sun Gem/Moon Sag (Air-Fire = same as Mr. Obama, above, but with an Airy Sun and fiery Moon, this blend becomes a 'hot air balloon' suitable for reaching the giddy heights, and describes a Utopian Idealist who "sees ever more distant sunny shores to which the human race can travel; loftier vistas, and wider horizons. Alternatively, if this type gets on a high horse, they can be very moralistic, knowing exactly what is good for us"--Harvey. (Newt is a Mercury-Jupiter type.)

Sun Gem/Moon Sag: to be influential is of greatest importance; planning and outwitting (Tyl); flamboyant communicator; verbose; open to experience (ex: 'open' marriage?); optimistic, generous, and resilient; the scholar and eternal student; moral teacher (!); an Eternal Seeker; intuitive leaps (supports his natal Mercury/Uranus conjunction in Gemini); breezes along on his quick wit; impatient with feelings and about taking responsibility for own actions; a need to know it all.


"Images for Integration: The Pied Piper leads his merry band of youths to the amphitheater on the hill for an afternoon of music lessons, philosophical teachings and baseball...A young man goes abroad to attend university and becomes a foreign correspondent."

(Correspondent for whom? Well, the "Pied Piper" image obviously refers to Gingrich and the Republican rout of Congress in 1994 with its theatrical, Newt-inspired 'Contract with America' propaganda.)

(Gingrich's blend is shared natally by Douglas Fairbanks, Guy Lombardo, Judy Garland, Beverly Sills, Bruce Dern, Barry Manilow--and, from the royal class, Prince Rainier of Monaco.)


3. Mitt Romney Sun Pis/Moon Sco: (Water-Water = an intuitive type who goes with the flow of the mainstream; 'drinks in life's experiences and nothing washes over' him; can go misty with emotions--tears may flow; this 'wet' combo in Politics describes a compassionate person with no doctrinal purity (and many would say Mild Mitt resembles that remark!) who may be thought of as a 'wet blanket' at times--yet still waters run deep; clearly reasoned arguments and objective judgment may be lacking since this is a highly subjective combo of energies with a flair for the irrational--what is felt is his reality yet he may lean toward ultra-rationality to hide tender subjectivities.

Sun Pis/Moon Sco: 'the agony and the ecstasy'; complex and psychologically insightful; stubborn; rigid feelings; a rich imagination; exploitation v hardship; self-sacrifice v self-control; highly subjective with emotions, convictions, and opinions ruling decisions; becomes frustrated when misunderstood; great mental capacity if prejudices are moved beyond; appears to take things lightly but is very interested in life's deepest mysteries. (Mysticism?) (Mitt is a complex dude all right, for Pisces and Scorpio have rulers and co-rulers so he is a Jupiter-Neptune-Mars-Pluto type of cuss!)

"Images for Integration: Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath...Longfellow's poem The Secret of the Sea."

(Romney's blend is shared natally by Johnny Cash, Steinbeck and Longfellow, Bernadette Peters, Cyrano de Bergerac, David Livingstone, David Niven, Elizabeth Taylor, and Prince Andrew, Duke of York (a royalist link, personality-wise.)


4. Rick Santorum Sun Tau/Moon AQ (Earth-Air = a clearheaded, rational, scientific approach; innovative; productive; a practical idealist; conscious impulse is to build, organize, and consolidate; 'comes to grips' with reality; far-reaching efforts; supportive and adaptable; dry sense of humour; can lose touch with emotions; tends to become stuck in a pragmatic, cost-effective mode.

Sun Tau/Moon AQ: confident; morally sound; capable intellect; resourceful; holds fast to ideals, committed to principles; independent; shrewd and tenacious; a natural rapport with people; can inspire confidence in others; stubborn and prone to inertia when things don't go his way; an over-confidence that can seem conceited or arrogant. (Rick is a Venus-Saturn-Uranus type.)

"Images for Integration: A country squire holds the summer fete in his garden; all monies raised are divided equally between the three charities in the village - the Friendly Farmer's Trust, the Local Artists' Guild, and the Quakers' Orphanage."

(Santorum's blend is shared natally by: Nikolai Lenin, Nikita Khrushchev, Burt Bacharach, Charlotte Bronte, George Lucas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Orson 'Rosebud' Welles.)

According to their personality blends as detailed within this Astro-Peek, we seem to have running for the US Presidency in 2012:

1. a community organizer, radiant butterfly, and intellectual;

2. a Utopian Idealist, hot air balloonist, scholar, and Pied Piper;

3. an economic royalist (as FDR termed the predatory class in 1936), wet blanket, and a teary-eyed 'Mr. Still Waters';

4. country squire, cost-effective scientist, and moralist

.

So who do you think should grab America's helm on November 6, 2012 if you were basing your preference on the candidates' personality blends?


Two natal chart Astro-Peeks available on this blog:

Newt Gingrich with his Sun/Moon opposition squaring natal Neptune, and Mitt Romney with a Moon/Jupiter conjunction in late Scorpio which will have been opposed by transiting Moon and Jupiter Rx in early Gemini on Inauguration Day 2013--will they activate, or oppose and close a cycle for him?


A view of President Obama's natal chart is available on expert astrologer Donna Cunningham's SkyWriter blog.

Plus, you may wish to view one of my posts concerning Mr. Obama's natal horoscope (shown) with a few details.

Candidate Rick Santorum (May 10, 1958 Winchester, VA) has not been analyzed astrologically by this astrologer until the smattering you see here today.

Now as another massive storm system approaches the Athens, Georgia area I'll be lightening-cautious and mosey along for the time being... jc


~:~

A Sad News Note: Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will resign from Congress. Sending Warm Regards to this courageous lady, her family, and friends. jc

Used but more or less unharmed by this post:

Sun Sign-Moon Sign, Charles & Suzi Harvey; Synthesis & Counseling in Astrology, Noel Tyl.

'Wild Card' Eclipses of November 2011 and May 2012

November 2011 and May 2012 Eclipses Spotlight Mercury/Jupiter

by Jude Cowell


The current Solar Eclipse from the 14 North Saros Series in which events are occurring manifested on November 25, 2011 at 2Sag37 ('a peculiar turn of events') and the next Solar Eclipse will occur on May 20, 2012 at 00Gem21, opposite the November 2011 eclipse.

In between the two Solar Eclipses fell a Lunar Eclipse on December 10, 2011 at 18Gem11 triggering America's natal Mars in Gemini.

You remember that the November 2011 Solar Eclipse occurred within two days of the deadline of the so-called 'Super' Committee of 12 congressional elites who came to no agreement concerning their debt reduction duties, an outcome which is to trigger automatic cuts for which no single US politician may be blamed. (They think they're so slick, don't they?!)

So we haven't heard the last of the budget reduction negotiations with the American people still being held hostage to austerity promoters who are attempting to starve the baby before tossing it out with the bathwater--and the 'baby' is a sovereign and solvent America.

That austerity measures (against those who can ill afford further reductions) used as financial 'solutions' hasn't worked in Europe seems not to trouble US conservatives--or maybe they're hoping the American people won't notice the glaring obviousness by Election Day 2012.

In fact, US economist Joseph Stiglitz says that "European austerity plans are a suicide pact" that collapses economies. Well, duh! That's a major objective of the Global Governance agenda, as I've groused here many times before--to collapse the global economy and build it back in the image of the totalitarian model they prefer (the mark of the beast?), aka, a New World Order.

(Scroll down this blog's sidebar for a video of Bush Sr announcing the inevitability of a NWO around the time of the Great Conjunction of Uranus and Neptune, the 'Enlightenment' planets. Remember Poppy's famous slogan, "a thousands points of light"? It's from his 1988 RNC speech which also contains, "Read my lips: no new taxes!" among other gems--text and video here.)

So with eclipses being the 'wild cards' of the Universe and since we're poised upon the spotlighted Gem/Sag axis as I type, the influences of sign rulers Mercury (Gem) and Jupiter (Sag) are active within the Collective until Solar Eclipse polarities switch emphasis to the Taurus/Scorpio (Venus/Mars-Pluto) axis with the Solar Eclipse of November 13, 2012 at 22Scorpio (more on that eclipse later.) Yet even then, one more Lunar Eclipse will manifest at 7Gemini on November 28, 2012 thus wrapping up our Gem/Sag lessons until year 2020.


Let's consider the Mercury/Jupiter combination of energies which now color many of the events and issues of 2012.

When Mercury (thinking processes, communications, senses, oration, etc) combines with Jupiter (expansion principle, growth, abundance, largess, faith, ideology, philosophy, relating, etc) an interesting dynamic is described as their planetary energies are combined and strengthened. Naturally, all things mercurial are increased by Jupiter's touch and a wealth of ideas often results. Common sense, the intellect, optimism, erudition (especially in retirement or solitude), plans for gorwth, and constructive thinking are on the menu, along with enthusiasm (for ill or good!)

On the negative side, over-stretching or ignoring boundaries and verbosity are possibilities along with a potential for exaggeration or over-embellishment which makes Washington's euphemism for their habit of telling lies--to misspeak--is prominent as well though it's difficult to imagine when falsehoods are not one of their favored tactics to get what they want by hook or crook. And some of them are or have been on the shady side including those who hide their fortunes in the darkened shade of palm tree tax shelters like the Cayman Islands, as Mitt Romney is now reported to do.

Perhaps the news that Rick Santorum actually won in Iowa rather than Mitt Romney is a Mercury/Jupiter case in point with Mercury relating to voting and Jupiter to numbers or tallies.

As Always, Jupiter and Saturn

As you know, austerity is the province of planet Saturn, and together, Jupiter and Saturn are known as our societal planets for their constant stand-off between Saturnian restriction and Jupiterian expansion describes one of society's greatest needs: balance between opposing forces to create stability, the yin-yang of our dualistic world.

And in Mundane Astrology (with this blog concerned with its sub-category, Political Astrology), Jupiter and Saturn may be used to signify America's two political parties (between which many people see little difference--I tend to think of them as factions of warring ideologies more than actually differing parties especially since they've made everything an Us v Them/class warfare stand-off.)

Now not every mundane astrologer agrees with me on this, but I use Jupiter to represent the Republican Party ('Grand' Old Party of the wealthy--as Harry Truman said of them at the 1948 DNC, they're the party of "special interests--always have been and always will be"), and Saturn for the Democrats (being the older of the two parties, a little dour at times, and not as flamboyantly theatrical--with a few exceptions through the years. Republicans do like to leave Dems with Saturn's accountability, don't they? Takes the heat off the GOP, they hope.)

Now if everyone in Washington played fairly and were open about their true allegiances, perhaps the balance we sorely need, so wistfully expected by America's founders through 'checks and balances' provisions, would be easier to maintain than we currently experience. However, ideological forces within and without our government are at work and have been since America's first cry and before.

Let's hope and pray that We the People will continue waking up to Washington's machinations and mummeries in time to Save Our Republic for we cannot automatically assume that national politicians will do so as they jockey for top positions within the devilish New World Order.



Further reading: Graphics: European Debt Crisis Explained.

Plus, President Obama is now within his three-fer Mars Return 2012, a two-year cycle of new activity which began for him on January 14, 2012. The recent smoke bomb tossed over the White House fence garnered the president a Martian calling card and I'm glad that he and Michelle were having dinner at a restaurant down the street and were in no danger, with 'smoke' ruled by Neptune, and Mr. Obama's natal Mars 22Vir35 sitting directly upon US natal Neptune 22:25.

Currently I'm in a wait-and-see attitude as to whether the apparent smoke bomb was thrown by Occupiers for most of them had left the scene of their White house protests by the time the bomb was thrown and everyone knows the tiresome tactic that police or other entities use to stain the integrity of peaceful protests with violence by embedding police officers to cause trouble and adulterate a protest's public support on behalf of the corporate masters who sign their paychecks.


As expressed decades ago by candidate Harry Truman, here's a good Rs v Ds example of History repeating with similar themes a la Campaign 2012:




For progressive reading and video viewing, you may wish to visit Thom Hartmann, Amy Goodman, and/or David Pakman.

And, as always, please become involved with Move To Amend Citizens United while we still have a tattered republic in dire need of saving!

A Robin Hood Tax for US toffs? (video w Thom Hartmann)

~:~

Sometimes living in the real world where bridges weaken over time, highways, airports, and airplanes require regular maintenance, and police officers need paychecks can be quite difficult to manage from that elusive ivory tower of aristocratic wealth, privilege, and luxury promised to those at the world's pinnacle.

Can we blame filthy rich plutocrats and their broods if their collective yet selective Bubble so seldom lands amongst the rabble?

Tell Scott Walker: America founded as a Union!

January 17, 2012 8:15 pm est near Athens, Georgia

The following words are posted here using my own italics and BOLD in order to make the point of this particular entry for I am lazy--actually, just busy with a major undertaking that now demands my close attention. Even so, my prayers remain with our America this night and I believe that we may benefit by exalting our traditional Spirit of Endeavor within us against challenges from those who work as you read to undermine our sovereign nation:


....................................PREAMBLE.........................................

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."


View a linked and searchable U.S. Constitution (1791 -- ) while we still have it, tattered by enemies from without and within as it may be.

At least outer enemies are usually easier to identify as what they really are, aren't they?


~:~

If you're game, here's a brief astro-peek at James Madison, known as the Architect of the US Constitution.

And speaking of unions, I wonder how Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's recall count is going for the anti-unionist? You might also mention the Concept of Perpetual Union just to get his goat.

Jan 18, 2012: Internet Blackout v SOPA (w We the People's Moon)

Note: Stars Over Washington will not be published on Wednesday, January 18, 2012, in solidarity with the Internet Blackout movement. Twitter, Wikipedia, Google, and other sites will participate in the Blackout; see SOPA details below...

Washington Mall DC January 18, 2012: Occupy Congress! Plus, SOPA and Tracking We the People's Aquarian Moon

by Jude Cowell


How encouraged I am that thousands of Americans (and hopefully no police department 'plants' embedded with protesters with a mission to cause trouble and discredit peaceful Occupiers) are occupying the US Congress and elsewhere today thanks to travesties of SCOTUS justice like Citizens United!

If I had a chance, I'd join them in my former city of residence and add my voice to the throng of citizens no longer under the illusion that certain anti-government operatives, who now act as members of Congress, have no intention of upholding official oaths taken to dutifully carry out the functions of their various offices in allegiance to the sovereign nation they serve and on behalf of the constituency they allegedly answer to.

January 18, 2012: Blackout Day! Save the Internet, Beat Back Corporate Raptors!

Today you can hear all about SOPA and the fight against censorship of the Internet in its current disguise as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) which the US Senate is to vote upon on January 24, 2012 by visiting progressive broadcaster Thom Hartmann.

Thom and his skillful, plucky staff broadcast today using two laptops and a camera due to a plumbing leak above their regular studio in Washington DC. Kudos all around! (And it couldn't have been sabotage, of course! In DC? Pshaw!)

Yes, this draconian corporate ploy to take-over the Internet will, among many other things, throttle free speech online and continue the transnational drive to commercialize, privatize, and destroy all institutions and functions of our society that are meant to protect the Common Good--here, by censoring what is or isn't published or accessible on the Internet.

Is corporate censorship and re-directs the types of experiences you want as you go about your business online, fellow Americans? Many of our favorite blogs may simply go pouf! forever with nary a trace. A challenging stand-off is clearly upon us in the current form of SOPA v We the People.

Now I have groused in the past about how America was founded upon a corporate structure model (monarchistic Old World/British financial system), perhaps unfairly for it's true that what was necessary in the 1770s may not be precisely what is needed now unless it is done with integrity.

Astrologically we might look at US natal South Node (of the Moon, We the People), a point denoting past behaviors, some of which no longer work in present circumstances and so must be ID'd as 'neurotic'. The negative side of Aquarius? Detachment, cold feelings, an overly rational approach, and other such things as we've seen recently demonstrated during the 2012 Republican debates--often, by booing audiences!

But SN also denotes inherited talents or weaknesses--every case is individual, so the humanitarian sign of Aquarius, with its edgy, super-rational sides of Science, Objectivism, and Futurism, contains America's natal Moon if we use July 4, 1776 as our nation's day of founding. An Aquarian SN shows a need for us to use past ideals and visions to develop ourselves and to act independently on our own behalves in the here and now. (Enter Occupy Wall Street and Move To Amend!)

As you know, America's birthday was promoted by our founding fathers as 'July 4, 1776' even though few signatures were affixed upon the Declaration of Independence on that date. One assumes participants had to consider protecting their own hides from British arrest, after all! And I guess that the other signers of the DoI on August 2, 1776 pretty much tidied things up. Typical to our nature in 2012, what we now honor as our "Freedom Documents" were not universally admired in Philadelphia or in the country at the time though it's easy to forget that now through the rosy glow cast upon our nation's founding through decades past...America was founded upon "an Ideal", "an Idea", or "a vision", as they say.

A 'shining city on a hill' with a global 'mission', that's us.


Here Come Saturn, Uranus, and Plato

Naturally, for astrologers the American Ideal can bring up the planetary duo of Saturn (form) and Uranus (Ideal) and Plato's Ideal Form upon which America was founded--Uranian genius needs a container (Saturn) or it will never manifest in the world and may spill to the ground. Happily, on July 4, 1776, Saturn and Uranus were in beneficial trine (120 degr) to one another from Gemini to Libra, mental Air signs, which describes an ease of pouring by the founders!

A Saturn/Uranus trine tends to project into the future with an excitement about accomplishments and prospects of all tomorrows; a lack of arrogance is shown, and sharing resources, knowledge, and lessons learned from experience are seen to be of benefit to future generations. Measured risks are preferred to iffy speculations, and ideals are based on solid foundations; optimism about the future and high values and ethical standards are upheld (paraphrasing Rob Pelletier.)

And so our Uranian mission in the New World to establish an 'experiment' of an ideal society where brotherhood, equality, liberty, independence, and all other noble ideals of The Enlightenment are held high--'of-by-for' The People--makes me interested in how a horoscope for America's founding would look if the Moon--We the People--were placed at the chart's highest point: the WHY?, or Goal/Aspiration Point of any chart, the Midheaven (MC) which is the most visible and public spot in any horoscope.

Before we do this, I'll use a handy feature in my SolarFire software that animates a horoscope as if it's a clock so that all planets rise, culminate, set, conjunct Angles--however they will on a certain date of a 24-hour period. This gives us a range of degrees for each planet though of course many of them change positions very little if at all.

Not so, the fast-sailing Moon...

The range of the Moon's degrees on July 4, 1776 Philadelphia, PA along with the first and last Sabian Symbols which relate directly to the American people's reigning needs of our Aquarian Moon are:

Earliest: 12:00 am LMT Moon 16AQ49 '17AQ" = "A Watchdog Standing Guard, Protecting His Master and His Possessions"..."Keynote: The development of the capacity to protect oneself and to safeguard one's individual rights under complex social pressures."

"The more creative the person, the greater his or her NEED FOR PROTECTION."

Latest 11:59 pm LMT Moon 1Pis16 "2Pis" = "A Squirrel Hiding From Hunters"..."Keynote: The individual's need both to ensure his future subsistence and to protect himself from aggressive social elements."

"The need for SELF-PROTECTION and caution is ever present."

(An Astrological Mandala, Rudhyar.)

Amazing how both symbols' explanations favor closely in the self-protection department!


Government Of-By-For We the People...really?

An interesting horoscope forms with Moon at MC (18AQ21) if we wish to consider a natal chart for Government of-by-for We The People. On July 4, 1776, Luna reached MC in Philadelphia (according to my Astrology software which may be off a bit due to earthquakes, Moon wobbles, two centuries passing, etc) but it's tallying in for Moon conj MC at 2:33:45 am LMT, with ASC 12Gem22 and a rising Uranus (8Gem53), America's totem planet of freedom, revolution, and such, so it's an ability to cope with anything picture when Uranus rises (as FDR has natally.)

This puts the explosive Mars/Uranus duo rising at 2:42 am LMT on that date, so that it conjoined the Ascendant and created a mdpt picture of its own: Mars/Uranus = ASC: upsetting events; arrest (as mentioned above); physical injury; excitable people; committing acts of violence. (Ebertin.)

The fact that Moon at MC occurs only after 2:00 am is a potential if the story of Thomas Jefferson lifting the first copy of the Declaration of Independence from Dunlap's printing press at such a late hour is true. Well, copies had to be made at some point for the public and for a public reading--they didn't just appear on paper as if by magic!

A difficult Fist of God pattern between our national Sun/Saturn square (within orb all that day) pointing toward the very Moon of which we speak--indicates that We the People have a sacred duty to perform which includes difficult, complex energies. Have we performed them before? Of course, but as with History repeating and similar societal issues continuing to come up again and again for resolution, our duty remains in 2012 if we wish to participate in this, our democratic, high-minded 'experiment' of republicanism, which we still like to call, America.

(Midpoint picture--any, all, or none may apply: 'Sun/Saturn = Moon: emotional depression from organic disturbances; fear; feeling inferior; inhibitions; separation from females; bereavement'; the Sun/Saturn combo relates to: suppression, karma (Saturn is a 'karmic' planet that can bring manifestation of what was sown), decisiveness and determination, and to the ability to maintain one's position in life. -Ebertin.)

That last can describe US leadership and its determination to stay on top once a powerful pinnacle has been attained.

Well, here's the symbol for a Government of-by-for We the People when The People's Moon is placed where it should be: at the Goal/Aspiration/WHY? Point of America's natal horoscope though the symbol's application in the New Millennium has gone beyond a more provincial or personal meaning when we think of corporate toxins with which our cells have been drenched in honor of bottom lines and profit-taking globalists and the company shareholders who adore them:

Moon/MC '19AQ' = "A Forest Fire Is Being Subdued By the Use of Water, Chemicals, and Sheer Muscular Energy"..."Keynote: The skill and courage necessary to bring under control the destructive potential of carelessness of karmic 'visitations'."

"There is a need for total mobilization of energy and a deep sense of INDOMITABILITY."

Isn't that what We the People with our Aquarian streak intuitively know--that together as One Voice, we are Indomitable and can change the totalitarian direction being forced upon our country by anarchists who infiltrate the Halls of US Power yet refuse to govern the nation, and if they do, they do it badly--against the Common Good by which We the People must sink or swim as a nation and a people.


~:~

Want a view of yet another US natal horoscope that may be worth a peek? How about America's Sygygy Moon of July 1, 1776 with Moon in Saturn-ruled Capricorn opposite Sun in Cancer?



Moon Shining Across a Lake, a pencil drawing imported from Secret Moon Art; (c) 2012 by the artist.

Obama's Mars Return 2012: Jan-Feb-June

Mars Returns for Presidents, Too

by Jude Cowell


Saturday January 14, 2012, marked the first of three returns of transiting Mars to President Obama's natal Mars position 22Virgo35, a 'three-fer' Mars Return for the president, the effects of which will last for the 2-year cycle (orbit) of the warring planet of action, aggression, quarrels, and desire nature.


When Mars returns to natal position, a rush of energy returns to the native and a new cycle of activity begins as the natal condition of Mars is emphasized. Hopefully, an injection of Martian testosterone will not be sent hurling bwo missiles or bombs from the Pentagon or White House toward other nations.

With Mr. Obama ('BHO') having Mars veiled by America's natal Neptune 22Vir25, we may expect the 'rock star' vibes of Mars/Neptune to be in evidence on some level even while the combo's disappointment and disillusionment influences continue to bedevil a Democratic presidency under siege from a GOP that, as usual, believes that only one of its minions is suitable to steer the White White helm.


The Condition of Mr. Obama's Natal Mars

The natal horoscope of Barack Obama (August 4, 1961 7:24 pm AHST Honolulu, Hawaii; ASC 18AQ01; MC 28Sco58) shows 10th-house-ruler Mars 22Vir35 in 7th H (Open Enemies; PArtnerships) near 8th cusp 25Vir55 (Corporations; Shared Resources; Debt, Credit, etc); Aries is intercepted in 2nd H showing a potential for karmic conditions relating to money and values; natal Mars applies to two planets:

1. semisquare Neptune 8Scorpio (1A02) showing minor irritation between actions and ideals; Mars and Pluto share rulership of Neptune bwo Scorpio, and n Pluto is also posited in fussy Virgo.

2. trine Saturn Rx 25Cap20 in 12th H of Politics and Karma; a Mars/Saturn trine indicates self-discipline, talent with military and police work (inform the GOP!), and improves all the favorable qualities of Capricorn such as a sense of responsibility, duty, accountability, control, prudence, caution, and stability.


The triple dates of the president's Mars Return 2012 are as follows:

1. January 14: Mars makes no applying aspects so house position (7th) and sign (Virgo) are emphasized; however, the red planet separates from trining the Sun 24Cap01 (1S27, from 7th H to 11th H of Groups) as the Sun approaches his natal Saturn, good for a very productive rush of energy into the psyche.

Mars rules 2nd H (Monetary concerns; Earning Ability; Values) with disruptive rebel, *Uranus 1Ar11 there, and Scorpio appears on the 9th H cusp of Foreign Lands, Higher Educaiton, and Philosophy. In Mercury-ruled Virgo, Mars is focused, dedicated to work and daily matters, and wants to be the authority in all details. (George W. Bush has a Virgoan Mars but enough about him.)

2. February 1: Mars is in Return 4th H, and makes no applying aspects as in #1, but separates from opposition to Venus 22Pis36 in Career-oriented 10th H; Mars rules 11th H (Aries) and 6th H (Sco); Mars sesquisquares Mercury (1S07), denoting an irritant between his thinking and his actions. The stand-off between Venus and Mars--possibly karmic since both are at 22 degrees--shows awareness of relationship issues with much potential for financial disagreements, plus, tax policy issues may be in the forefront including the misguided payroll tax cuts that undermine our Social Security Insurance program every time they're allowed.

Actually, BHO's Mars Return oo February 1, 2012 is key for the president (and thus for America) because, using the Moon as a timer, Mr. Obama has a Lunar Return 3Gem21 a mere two hours after new Martian energy rushes in which gives a Moon/Mars signature to Mars Return #2. ('Moon/Mars' = enterprises begun with great vigor--Ebertin); Mars is Rx, Mars/Pluto rule 6th H of Military and Police; Sun 12AQ32 times BHO's 'un-birthday'--Sun opposing natal Sun in Leo--so it's a primary date during the year when one's agenda should be re-assessed in relation to goals--and a course change should be implemented, if needed.

3. June 18 finds a more active Mars in the Return chart with three aspects to Mars' credit, two applying: sextile Mercury 19Can55 conjunct Fixed Star Castor in 12th H of Politics and Karma; Mars is posited in 3rd H conjunct 3rd cusp 20Vir53, and rules MC 22Ari52 (goals, aspirations = war?) and 5th H (Scorpio.)

Mercury @ 19Can55 recalls the 12 South Solar Eclipse 19Can24 of July 11, 2010 with its financial stress, delays in financial progress, and market fluctuations; this was a South Node eclipse so energy drained out rather than rushed in--though the capping of the BP-Deepwater Horizon blowout seemed to be taken care of 4 days after the eclipse. (Last I heard, BP oil is still leaking into the Gulf but other oil disasters and the Fukushima Meltdown have occurred since.)

View the July 11, 2010 Solar Eclipse Horoscope which, curiously enough, shows Mars in Virgo--or, not so curiously, since 2010 is one Mars cycle ago.

Next applying aspect of Mars is a square with the Moon (We the People--4A22) with an 11th-house Moon 18Gem13 approaching the Sun 27Gem53 (12th H); a Moon/Mars square shows possible emotional outbursts, problems getting along with women, aggression, and resentment when anyone interferes with goals. Mother-in-law issues may be on the White House menu as well though even BHO's political enemies shouldn't wish that on him if they know how karma tends to come back atcha!

Also in BHO's June 18, 2012 Mars Return horoscope, Mars separates from a square with the Sun showing recent problems with or blockages from enemies (oil transport blocked at Hormuz by Iran?) and obstacles to action which can result in greater concentration on the forceful attainment of aims.

Plus, Moon 18Gem13 stimulates the recent Lunar Eclipse of December 10, 2011 which spotlighted speeches, writers, negotiations, trade, commerce, and transport. As you know, in December 2011, DC was awash with the payroll tax cut stand-off and extension of unemployment benefits, matters which must be re-addressed in a few weeks. See the Gemini Lunar Eclipse Horoscope w details if you wish which shows a T-Square pattern between Sun/Moon and--you guessed it--Mars, and which event-wise marked the alleged 'end' of the US Occupation of Iraq.


Well, there's a brief astro-peek at President Obama's Mars Return 2012, and considering how loudly Washington is saber-rattling toward Iran, my sincere hope is that waging yet another war is not the "new cycle of activity" indicated by President Obama's extended Mars Return which occurs three times in 2012 and taints his (and our nation's) entire year with concerns over aggression, contests of strength and will, and other Martian activities and interests.

~:~

For further Martian reading try US military operation against Iran would be a grave
mistake. Because it would.


Next Solar Eclipse: May 20, 2012 conjunct Alcyone (horoscope shown set for Washington DC, as usual.)

Walking down a 2010 Memory Lane to Capitol Hill: Senate Blocks Homeless Veterans' Bill (includes video.) Any 'lawmaker' blocking such a bill--or sneaking poison pill legislation into it--should spend two weeks living under a bridge, imho--sans iPhone or Blackberry, the worst punishment of all.

Looks more and more like Mitt Vulture Corporatist Romney will be the Republican nominee for president. You aren't seriously considering a vote for the GOP in November 2012, are you? It will be interesting to see how an elitist Mitt of a Mormon persuasion fares in the S.C. Primary on Saturday, January 21, 2012 especially with prominent Protestant ministers deciding to back a Catholic Rick Santorum.

Personally, if I were tempted to vote anti-Democrat (like if I hit my head on a Diebold Voting Diverter Machine and stunned myself silly), it would have to be for candidate Stephen Colbert...

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

~:~

*Uranus @ 1Ari11 conjoins the precise degree and minute of President Obama's recent Secondary Full Moon 1Ari11, a time when one should begin re-evaluating one's extension into the world for culmination is reached. A midpoint picture is formed with these potentials: Sec Sun/Moon = tr Uranus: acting independently; sudden events or separations in partnerships; sudden conflicts; shared upsets (Ebertin; any, all, or none may apply.)

Because today is Martin Luther King Day you may wish to read his Beyond Vietnam Speech of April 4, 1967--delivered exactly one year prior to his assassination.

The popular social and religious leader of the 1960s (Uranus conjunct Pluto in mid-Virgo = uprisings, riots, protests--now they square which brings up similar events and issues) greatly annoyed the powers-that-be which then took Dr. King out of the American picture for his combining of the strengths of the Civil Rights Movement, the Anti-War Movement, and the Workers' Movement into a globalist threat--a threat against globalists, who now threaten and throttle all Life as we know it with austerity for the people which helps fund more luxury and power for them.

Now it's 2012, and if you haven't, please consider the Occupy the Supreme Court efforts (Jan 20, 2012 @ noon!) of Move to Amend which refers to the corporation-favoring Citizens United SCOTUS decision of January 2010, that abomination which further undermines a nation that once favored Democracy and democracy over Plutocracy and its oppression.

Or at least, it seemed to for a while, didn't it?

Neptune in Pisces = Pineal Gland concerns?

Neptune in Pisces, the Pineal Gland, and Our Dissolving Willpower

by Jude Cowell

Since boundary-dissolving Neptune will soon dip its toe once again into the deep waters of Pisces (on or about February 3, 2012) for a long-winded swim (until 2024/25), the planet's astrological association with the human body's light-affected pineal gland ('third eye'/intuitive function) seems due for quite a bit of attention since we will be affected on a global scale.

An increase of environmental issues and damages to lose sleep over may be noted as our brains' melatonin production lowers and may need a *supplemental boost.

Studies show calcification in the pineal gland from use of fluoridated water as noted in Fluoride: Calcifier of the Soul, an interesting title considering Neptune's link to spirituality and The Divine Source, as denoted in Astrology.

Recent travels of Chiron (the Wounded Healer; the Wound) in tandem with transiting Neptune brought us the earthquake/tsunami in Japan and the Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown in 2011 with radiation continuing in 2012 to leak into the Pacific Ocean, the realm of Neptune. Thus the boundaries of our DNA are weakened and breached on a cellular level, and environmental issues become more confusing yet more critical for all of mankind.

Of course, calcification is a Saturnian process, a hardening, and the blend of Saturn with Neptune indicates 'the chronic and unhampered progress of malady, organic decomposition, undermining circumstances that lead to illness', says Ebertin, along with 'poor, sick, depressed persons' and 'diseases with causes difficult to ascertain'. (The Combination of Stellar Influences.)

Along with the pineal gland, Ebertin also gives Neptune as representing the
solar plexus, the power and will chakra, and paralysis, and Neptune in Pisces as: reserve, an inclination to mysticism, reverie and artistic pursuits; the inner or psychic life open to external influences, pessimism, a craving for alcohol, nicotine, etc, pathological tendencies and inclinations'.

So though society's artistic creativity will flourish, it seems that many people's power and will may become weaker with Neptune in Pisces though perhaps knowing this may help us guard against much of the dissolution. Drugs, including alcohol, won't help matters, only increase the weakening effects upon The Collective of a Piscean Neptune and the secretive forces of destruction which beset us.

An increase in paranoia will be part of the Piscean Neptune picture as well.

And of course you're familiar with Neptune's link to poisons, toxins, and contagions with its 'urge to merge' tendency relating to the dissolving of Saturnian boundaries, as noted above.


Yes, We've Dreamed This Dream Before...

History repeats in similar if not exact ways so astrologers tend to look back to the last time a planet entered a sign to see past effects, and with Neptune to 00Pisces, that would be 1847--off and on from April 1847 to December 7, 1848 due to the gaseous planet's frequent retrogradation periods. (Neptune's cycle lasts approximately 164 years.) This historical info hints at what sort of trends and conditions to expect during the current planetary transit.


Neptunian Events 1847

Several events listed for 1847 have Neptunian flavors to them. One such is July 10 when Leverrier and Adams, the co-discoverers of Neptune, met for the first time at the home of John Herschel, son of William Herschel, discoverer of erratic Uranus (1781.)

The association of these men creates a time link between the planets of The Enlightenment, Uranus and Neptune, by way of human beings and their astronomical activities and encounters.

Then there's July 24, when Brigham Young and his Mormon followers schlepped into the Salt Lake City, Utah area with Neptune as a spiritual indicator and significator of bodies of water--this one full of Saturnian salts!


Neptunian Events 1848

Plus, some events of 1848 resonate closely with our Neptunian topics as well: James Knox Polk became the first president in office to be photographed, one of Neptune's filmy, glamorous roles (the 'silver screen'; the arts; illusion.)

On February 26, 1848, Marx and Engels (with the backing of --?--) published the Communist Manifesto, a grand bit of Neptunian propaganda with its Saturn/Neptune 'Communism' element (Saturn = government and control, Neptune = invisible, or secret--things We the People know a little about in the US with both planets elevated in our nation's July 4, 1776 horoscope set for 5:10 pm LMT Philadelphia, PA.)

Another example occurred on May 29, 1848 when the flow of Niagara Falls ceased for 30 hours because of an ice jam which describes cold Saturn's crystallization (hardening) process acting upon a liquid (Neptune.)

Then on May 30, 1848, children could rejoice over the patenting of the ice cream freezer by William G. Young--yummy liquids hardened into flavorful, cooling treats.

But perhaps one of the more ironic events of 1848 occurred on June 26 when the first pure food law was passed in the United States. That its laudable attempts at protecting the American people have been adulterated through the decades making 'food and drug safety' in the US debatable (if it exists at all) is a Neptunian disappointment of toxic proportions and we are certain to hear more revelations of poisonings by the food, agricultural, nuclear, chemical, and other industries as Neptune lumbers slowly through its own watery realm of Pisces.

Of course, there's also the well-known connection of astrological Pluto to nuclear power, control, and waste disposal--and pipelines-- but today's post is written in honor of Neptune making a tremendously important ingress into its own sign which will soon come to pass whether we're ready or not.


With 2012 Upon Us

Naturally, the projected construction (Saturn) of Canada's Keystone XL Pipeline comes to mind with its potentials for gas and chemical leaks and the controversial, chemically-infused fracking process which threatens US water sources if the pipeline is built. Neptune's use as A Veil for secrets is on tap along with its scandalous implications of Neptunian fraud, deceit, and neglectful policies that can easily lead to lousy maintenance conditions and even to sabotage.

My personal conclusion about these difficult issues is that anything we can do to boost our and our family members' immune systems should be on top of our 2012 agenda! And please note these cautions: be careful when participating in water sports and when traveling in, on, or over bodies of water for mysterious conditions may be present--and beware gas leaks and oily schemers...

~:~

For further reading you may wish to try Significant Dates in Food & Drug Law History (pdf) or view the video of the January 10, 2012 announcement showing the nuclear Doomsday Clock being moved one minute closer to midnight so it's now judged to be 11:55 pm, as it was between 2007--2010.

And here's a link to an enlightening video interview with scientist-journalist Leuren Moret who doesn't buy the idea that the Fukushima Meltdown occurred only by Nature's fury. In fact, dear reader, type 'Japan' or 'Fukushima' into this blog's sidebar Search field and you'll find other content concerning Neptunian topics whose effects will soon be front and center with Neptune in Pisces, a perfect significator of radiation toxicity leaking into the sea and into the DNA of our present and future generations.

Yet let us not give in to nuke fears or be dismissive due to anxiety--let's get active against all forms of this worldwide nuclear threat to Planet Earth!

~:~

*Blog Note: no consideration whatsoever has been given to this blogger for embedding a link to VitaCost which I consider a cost-saving place to purchase health supplements & other stuff. Besides...I blog because I care!


SO'W's favored progressive links include:

Thom Hartmann (Thom broadcasts from Iceland again tomorrow!), Amy Goodman's masterful Democracy Now!, the young and ardent David Pakman, and Demand Progress, a good place to fight for protection of lacy Neptune's Internet, aka, The Web, which will forever change for the worse our entire Internet experiences while bringing draconian penalties (SOPA) for those who simply link to content! Links placed on blogs are what I consider to be free advertising for The Touted but it seems that Neptunian Hollywood doesn't agree.

(Of course, I say this as one who makes no income from my 'freebie' blogging which is quite different than if I made money from other people's content. But all my blogs including Stars Over Washington will be subject to shut-down by the US government if SOPA passes, and with no legal standing under which to complain. Plutocratic oligarchs play for keeps, m'peops.)

Plus, 2012 is a great time to Move To Amend the democracy-dissolving, deceptively-named SCOTUS decision they call Citizens United. (Shouldn't that be 'Wealthy Citizens United'?)

~:~

Noted Astrology

You will not want to miss Crystal Pomeroy's excellent January 10 column Mayan Metaphysics 2012 which may help to soothe the nerves of even the most anxious 2012 worrier! Crystal lives and teaches in Mexico, the realm of The Maya, so do check out her article. And as you know, the word 'maya' relates to illusion, a function of Neptune!

Plus, for personal-transpersonal astrological content, no one does it better than expert astrologer Julie Demboski who regularly provides balanced insights as she writes from the West Coast of the US concerning current planets and asteroids.


Now here's one of my Saturn (real) v Neptune (imaginary; undersea climes) drawings of a tropical fish which usually swim around in my Dreamyfish Art gallery of botanical fish portraits ensnared within favorite dream scenarios...


Yellow-eyed surgeonfish of Western Australia, all done up in pencil by Jude Cowell; if you wish, view other botanical fish portraits of a tropical nature in my Zazzle Art Shop.