July 23, 2021 Full Moon 1AQ26 conjunct transit Icarus - and America's progressed Icarus!

Daedalus and Icarus; Anthony van Dyck, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

What We Have Is a Double Cosmic Emphasis on Icarus: Internal and External

by Jude Cowell

Friday July 23, 2021: This evening's Full Moon @1AQ26 which perfects at 10:36:45 pm edt does more than reflect US Inaugural Sun (leadership @00AQ+) but simultaneously conjuncts and spotlights transiting asteroid Icarus (the mythological figure who flew too high with tragic consequences - he should have listened to authoritative advice and can also represent ). On an internal level, tonight's Aquarian Full Moon also symbolically and simultaneously lights up America's Secondary Progressed ('SP') Moon (1AQ07) in our Balsamic Phase chart, the 'Dark of the Moon' phase that our nation entered on February 10, 2021, early in the Biden adminstration, although its effects were in force for some time prior to exactitude in February 2021. Now perhaps you recognize the Balsamic phase of the Moon as the "things go bump in the night" period which I think resonates with the increase of crime and gun violence in the US, plus, to me it suggests the dimming of America's reputation as global leader in the world. If you disagree, let me know by leaving your on-topic comment/s with this post for the phase also suggests prophetic talent!

Yet my suspicion is that most if not all Americans are 'feeling' this waning phase (even the bigots but for their own reasons) and the reason I feel compelled to mention the current cosmic synchronicity is that on February 10, 2021 America's SP Icarus = 1AQ29 which makes for an interesting, and possibly an instructive, alignment. It marks a double emphasis on an internal level in tandem with the external transit of tonight's Full Moon and also spotlights Icarus' escapist urge for freedom from difficult circumstances.

Jupiter-Saturn: Checks and Balances; Expansion vs Restriction (Ds vs Rs)

Additionally on February 10, 2021, transit Jupiter clocked in at around 12 Aquarius where transit Saturn has visited off and on during its current retrograde phase in 2021; karmic Saturn will reach that degree again in early January 2022 denoting an extended period of time and influence.

Now as you know, Saturn-to-Jupiter in general suggests a period when Jupiterian things grow slack, are delayed, or temporarily disappear, and resources are limited by restrictive Saturn. This may also indicate that it's time for 'the haves' to give back and I'm already seeing this concept expressing in North Carolina as 'overpayments' of pandemic-caused unemployment benefits are being "clawed back" by the state. And in general, the planetary contact suggests accepting smaller returns on investments which, of course, implicates stock market gains, and which can possibly affect other enterprises, projects, and investments. Even the acquisition of knowledge (Jupiter) can be affected and this may apply to the Select Committee hearing concerning the 1/6 "stop the steal" attacks on the US Congress. As you know, the first hearing is set to open on July 27th next week - especially since congressional Republicans have multiple reasons for attempting to limit and hide any and all knowledge, facts, and links of complicity, that Democrats are determined to uncover through the 1/6 investigation.

Jan 6, 2014: Senate takes up unemployment benefits w Moon in Aries

*Moon in Aries: "I AM the People"

by Jude Cowell

Update: bad weather and absent senators--the vote has been rescheduled for Tuesday morning. But Janet Yellen is now confirmed as the first lady head of the Fed.

Original post begins here, Moon remains in Aries tomorrow:

A few days ago I posted brief astrological info concerning the return today of US senators to Capitol Hill with Sun in governing Capricorn and Moon in compassionate Pisces. However, by the time the Senate votes today at 5:30 pm ET, the Moon will have entered the Mars-ruled sign of Aries.

All the Democrats need for a 3-month extension of unemployment benefits is for 5 Republicans to join in and one supposes that it's possible in spite of the 2014 midterm election. Will the American people can be put first in their considerations especially since the money, whether offset by further cuts or not, will be plowed back immediately into the economy?

Well, let's consider the Earth-Fire Sun Cap-Moon Aries combo of the vote if all goes as Harry Reid has scheduled notwithstanding what the House of Representatives may do with the issue, if anything, after they return to session tomorrow:

Sun Cap-Moon Aries is a volcanic blend that can create new, fertile territory and may be described as a bulldozer. (Harry Reid?) Convictions are strong and powerful with an Earth-Fire combo with its massive ego that may not respect or be sensitive to the rights of others.

Willfulness and intense ambition are obvious traits here with a kind of a Rebel v The Establishment vibe to it. This is a great natal combo for criminal lawyers and others who must take command though material success is usually over-valued. This blend can be difficult to get along with since it is very demanding yet its astute thinking processes provide impressive leadership talent.

Perhaps you'll agree that the two Images for Integration for Sun Cap-Moon Aries describe our Capitol Hill actors this afternoon and may even bespeak the political machinations which are certain to take place over this vote:

"A Roman city-state is attacked by barbarians but its solid walls keep the marauding bandits at bay...An impetuous entrepreneur persuades a conservative banker to back an ambitious project." (Sun Sign-Moon Sign, Charles & Suzi Harvey.)

Now let's close with an apt quote from a man who shares this Sun-Moon blend:

"Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will--his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals." - Albert Schweitzer whose mid-Libra Ascendant is being visited by transiting Mars this very day!

Now 'faith and morals' are difficult to find on Capitol Hill these days, yet Schweitzer's quote sounds a bit like a Republican talking point, doesn't it? Perhaps they're all talk, no action in that realm yet his words must also apply to Republican legislators who took oaths of office to govern and serve We the People--not to dis-serve and undermine us in favor of the selfish ideology of weirdo corporatist Ayn Rand!

~:~

*Moon in Aries = "I AM the People" was a frequent saying of Reign of Terror leader Maximilien Robespierre who was born on May 6, 1758 while the Moon (people) was in Aries (I am).

Dec 28, 2013: Astrology of Unemployment Benefits Cut Off

Our Derelict Congress and the GOP's 'Hurting Obama' Game

by Jude Cowell

Since unemployment benefits are set to expire on December 28, 2013 for 1.3 million Americans, it's only natural for astrologers to take a look at that date and the condition of its two money planets, Venus and Jupiter, both of which are retrograde. The condition of the astrological Moon as We the People is an important chart factor to consider as well.

Yesterday a list of planetary changes of direction were posted to this blog where we see that Jupiter is Rx until March 6, 2014, and Venus turns Rx on December 21st (this Saturday) while conjoining US natal Pluto in late Capricorn. The Venus-Pluto contact makes for a good time in the US to plan and determine strategy though as a planetary pair, Venus-Pluto can signify bankruptcy, a real hazard for those whose unemployment benefits suddenly are withheld for an extended period of time.

These folks' Christmas shopping will tend to be suppressed with December 28th looming, so retail sales are sure to be lost, thanks to a derelict Congress.

However, Congress will take up the extension of benefits when they return to Capitol Hill in early January (if we can believe them), though even only a week or two without unemployment checks will not only put some families at risk of homelessness and/or food insecurity, but the lack will interfere with filling up car gas tanks for even the most basic errands--plus, it will take the money they would be spending out of the economy--thus hurting the America people along with hurting President Obama's favorability rating.

As for the Moon, Luna conjoins depressive, austere Saturn at 7:58 pm est on the evening of December 28, 2013 @20Sco05..'21Sco' = "A Soldier Derelict in His Duty", a Sabian Symbol which may easily refer to our veterans but makes me think first of our derelict Congress especially since Scorpio is the sign of betrayal (of the public trust and of their oaths of office--governing by not governing doesn't count around here.) This conjunction echos the recent (Nov 28th) conjoining of America's Secondary Progressed Moon and Saturn @ '3Sco' ("A House-Raising"!)

Yet Christmas is an optimistic season, and my Jupiterian hope is that Congress will act to extend unemployment benefits well before the Direct Station of Venus on January 31, 2014 @13Cap34 (opposite US natal Sun, a time when leaders are openly opposed and there may be ostentatious displays of luxury!) so if you are reading this blog (as you seem to be), I suspect that this is your hope, too.

~:~

The Sabian Symbols in Astrology by Marc Edmund Jones.

January 1, 2014: New Moon, a Grand Cross, and a Bucket

Astro-Portents of New Years Day 2014: New Moon in Capricorn

by Jude Cowell

A New Year, a New Moon--sounds quite fortuitous, doesn't it?

Well, I'm looking at a New Moon horoscope set for Washington DC on New Years Day 2014 (6:14:08 am est) with 22Sag52 rising along with fixed star Ras Alhague (a Ophiuchi: 'a desire to create balance and healing' (--Brady, though Devore mentions 'perverted and depraved tastes' and 'misfortunes through women'), and powerful underworld boss Pluto @11Cap16 followed by an out-of-bounds Mercury @12Cap50 and Venus 26Cap42 Rx. It's with a full 1st house that Washington DC faces the New Moon on New Years Day, yet we may pause for prayer since warring Mars @11Lib51 conjoins MC, the Public Status/Career/Goal Point of the chart and the most visible for the world to see.

Opposite Mars near the IC (The Drain; Endings; Domestic Scene; Roots) is quirky disruptor Uranus @8Ari40 in 3rd house and feeling his anarchist oats since entering America's natal 4th house in 2010, blind zealots and Utopians represented, according to Ebertin. Is a false flag op soon to be perpetrated on US soil? Some say so.

The explosive Mars-Uranus opposition is part of a dynamic Grand Cross with the second half formed by Jupiter Rx @16Can03 (7th h) opposing the Capricorn line-up in 1st house though Jupiter's opposition is closer by degree to Mercury than to the New Moon, Pluto, or Venus. Yet the Grand Cross planets include: Mars, MC, Sun and Moon, Mercury, Uranus, and Pluto with the ongoing Uranus-Pluto Cardinal Square separating (2S35) for now, and Jupiter acting as the handle of this Bucket shaped chart.

Planets arranged into a Bucket shape denote circumstances in which energy is focused and released via the handle planet--here, Jupiter, exalted in Cancer yet weakened, or its effectiveness and benefits delayed, by its retrograde condition. This pattern indicates an uncompromising direction of effort with little or no concern for end results. It seems there is no desire to conserve resources and there are many Americans who level this charge against the pocket-lining politicians of Washington DC--those who are in breach of the public trust come to mind.

To me the New Moon in Capricorn (the Saturn-ruled sign of government, law, and business) hints that unemployment benefits may not be extended by the end of December 2013 which will give a tremendous downward tug to the US economy as well as creating more misery for Americans who have suffered losses already at the hands of an uncaring corporate government. Hopefully I am wrong about this difficult start of the New Year, but there it is.

Best case is that Jupiter as handle shows inspiration and an adaptation of allegiances to where they can create the most benefits for the American people; on the downside, Jupiter here signifies malcontents and agitators who play the Jolly One's typical roles as professor, General, explorer, guru, priest, banker, or corporate CEO.

Cardinal Grand Cross: it's complicated

The Grand Cross of squares and oppositions indicates that quick, ill-considered action may be taken since impatience abounds. Staying power to complete projects is required and the continued cooperation of others is a must (the ACA website?) Common sense helps avoid pitfalls and it will be necessary to prevent succumbing to such things as recklessness, bad timing, over-assertion, and direct confrontations with others. Though ambitious, we must exercise more self-control even while facing one obstacle after another!

Now Pluto is, I suppose, Lord of the Eclipse (0A18), while status quo Saturn @20Sco24 (11th h) disposits Sun and Moon. Jupiter Rx is ruled of the horoscope, another indicator that the money planet's Rx condition is problematic as 2014 begins. And we haven't even discussed how the January 1st planets and Capricorn New Moon are lined up opposite America's natal planets in Cancer! Or how transiting Jupiter is retrograding back to rejoin US natal Sun (the president)!

To summarize, early 2014 is a critical time of development and it looks as though war, weapons, diplomacy, possibly explosions, financial mishaps, and even earthquakes or other natural disasters are potential dishes on our nation's menu as the New Year starts so I hope both readers of Stars Over Washington stay safe, warm, and dry, and do take activated charcoal for that hang-over if you allow yourself to party too much!

~:~

New Moons Are Followed by Full Moons

As you know, New Moons begin a phase of activity and represent a seeding time which culminates or fulfills about two weeks later at the subsequent Full Moon. On January 15, 2014, a Full Moon @25Can5j8 conjoins US natal Mercury Rx with the Sun @25Cap58, near US natal Pluto Rx, thus stimulating the US Mercury-Pluto opposition of surveillance and secrets. There are no planets OOBs in the Full Moon horoscope, but Venus is Rx @18Cap23, the 'new world order' degree of POLITICAL POWER and 'smug-armed paternalism' (Jones).

1/15/14: Mars @17Lib54 rises (ASC 17Lib23) in Washington DC and spotlights US natal Mars which is Rx by progression @18Lib+ since Summer 2006 (almost a 'Progressed Mars Return') denoting our wounded vets, other militaristic concerns, potential gun violence, protesters, activists, etc. This rising Mars--prominent in the New Moon horoscope, as mentioned above--can act as a trigger for events of a Martian nature especially since a Thor's Hammer pattern is 'aimed at' delusional Neptune @3Pis39 in 5th house.

The base of the Hammer is a Mars-MC square which creates a midpoint picture giving the January 15, 2014 Full Moon 'out of the mainstream' and/or 'withdrawal as an option' vibes though lucky Jupiter @14Can04 Rx in 9th h does conjoin Sirius, the Dog Star, and is about to rejoin US natal Sun. This transit may aid the president with obstructionist Republicans concerning budgetary issues, austerity measures, nominations, and such. Jupiter to Sun shows that 'something begun 12 years ago must be ended or move up to the next level' which sounds much like the 'leave Afghanistan in 2024' substitution for leaving in 2014.

Around the time of the January 15th Full Moon, deception will be used as a strategy, as usual in Politics, and/or communications will be other than they appear (Neptune-Pluto = Mercury--Tyl) which is also very much the usual in Politics.

The Saturn-Neptune = Pluto midpoint picture remains in effect in January 2014 so the 'denial of guilt from responsible parties' continues to interfere with social progress as syndicate criminals walk free, prosper, and live to defraud us again.

Unemployment benefits expire Dec 31, Rs rejoice!

Well, in America, droves of rich folk turned out to vote against Democrats on November 2, 2010 - to protect their own monied self-interests. And you know that they and their reps on Capitol Hill are against extending federal "jobless benefits" (unemployment 'insurance' checks of about $290 per week set to expire December 31) to unemployed US workers, many of which were laid off or made redundant by the very same class of rich folk and their kin who voted en masse on November 2.

Yes, it seems to be dandy fine with the wealthy class if millions of US children go without the basics. No skin, one assumes, off their bulbous noses. And yet such tax relief they need, pitiful things!

So why did Independents, young people, and others who voted in massive numbers in 2008 stay home from the 2010 dance? If it was so that the upper crust plutocrats could gain a leg up, you leave me sputtering. As of tomorrow I'll be off for the holiday here in the US and perhaps I'll have a quiet moment to think about all of you, for you puzzle me, you do. Trusting plutocrats with your society, your politics, and your money is never fruitful and won't make you into one of them, you know. Nowhere near, not even close.

Now Wednesday morning's SO'W post of 11.24 will tide this blog over until my return, so it's: Have a good one, Everyone! And I can only hope a few of you non-voting folk will give serious thought to giving up on something else instead - something that isn't as near and dear to you and your family's future and best interests, and that won't affect your personal livelihoods in such a dire and disruptive way as what's coming from Capitol Hill.

Or perhaps I should say, Not coming?


A vote for Republicans (or someone resembling them) is a vote for Turdblossom.

Bush signs war funding bill with Moon in Gemini

With Congress on holiday break this week, the lights at the Capitol Hill Theater were dim today as George Bush signed the $162 billion war funding bill.

Though Bush struggled against America's umemployed as not worthy of an extra 13 weeks of benefits in a worsening job market, and even as he whined about giving our soldiers an increase in GI Bill funding for receiving a better education after risking their lives for Bush-Cheney war profits, George signed his scrawl this morning as the Gemini Moon was nearing asteroid, Midas, that lover of gold of mythical proportions.

Not much of an audience for a limelight-loving Leonine performer, but it had to do for the lame quacker.

Here are the Sun/Moon Images for Integration for the morning of June 30, 2008:

"A performance of a puppetshow at an infant school Christmas play...A family plays a game of charades...Young children enacting a play wedding in the garden." (Sun Sign-Moon Sign, Chas & Suzi Harvey.)


Well, Santa is surreptiously filling his bag with lots of goodies, to be sure, but the emphasis on puppets and charades doesn't sound very dependable for people with real needs, does it?

Perhaps the charade is that there are billions left to be spent!

Yet I happily send along Congrats all the same...to Senator Jim Webb who insisted on the GI Bill increase...now how about a post for Senator Webb in a new Democratic cabinet?