Heard the one from Mark Twain? (Sun Sag-Moon Aries)

Astro-Notes on the Double Fire of Mark Twain

by Jude Cowell

"There are many humorous things in the world; among them, the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages." - Mark Twain (Nov 30, 1835--Apr 21, 1910)

Click for a bio and a view of his natal horoscope where you'll find natal Sun @7Sag34, Moon @15Ari37, and natal Ascendant @9Sco44. This double Fire Sun-Moon combo 'marks' Twain (nee Samuel Langhorne Clemens) as volatile, dramatic, hopeful, and creative, for as you know, his 'creative fire' burned brighter than most contemporaries of his day.

Yet upon our dualistic Earth, double Fire signatures set up a darker side for him to explore--the 'black dog' of depression (as Churchill called it) that howled whenever his passion for 'the vision' waned--or, brooded as he struggled to develop that inner level upon which the embers of high inspiration and wider perspective had to be stirred and banked when necessary in order to recapture a debilitating loss of meaning. And thus, after lifting himself out of the doldrums, he began again to creatively express himself in the outer world. His Mercury in intense Scorpio aided and abetted him in his work, and for this creative output he grew accustomed to being rewarded quite handsomely though finances were always an issue in his grand-scale life that lived beyond its means.

However, Sun Sag-Moon Ari denotes frankness, sincerity, courageous idealism, and restless adventurism. A vivid imagination and a certain missionary streak are notable, along with a bighearted demeanor and an irreverent attitude toward the outdated and the classic. (See above quotation for an example of his irreverence for that quaint, distorted notion long-held--still held--by white men of a haughty persuasion.)

It would seem that Mr. Twain, the writer, speaker, and journalist, preferred lots of freedom to 'do his own thing' though in the 19th century he may not have addressed his desire in so many words! Feelings of real dejection could take over if the applause wasn't loud enough--and dark moods swept in when appreciation and reward were not forthcoming. Of course, family disasters will oppress anyone if they come and for the Clemens family, come they did.

And yet with a Sun Sag-Moon Ari personality blend, Twain's zeal never waned for very long (though illness eventually weakens us all) because a natural devotion to principles supported an admirable inner belief in himself. His tendency toward impatience and an insensitivity within close relationships aside, Mr. Twain exhibited exemplary moral integrity for the most part and I allege that the issue of moral integrity peeks out of the following quote from one of his more famous novels:

"There was things which he stretched but mainly he told the truth."

His kind of "stretching' was the storytelling! Now let's close with some good advice from the American Bard that applies even more closely to We the People's truth-challenged Federal Government (its clandestine panties of frilliness so recently yanked down for all to see) than it applies to you, me, or the dog catcher down the block:

"Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

~:~

More Sag-Aries info is available from Sun Sign-Moon Sign by Charles & Suzi Harvey.

1835 - 1910 v 2013: as I type, transit Uranus Direct @12Ari24 conjoins and catalyzes Mark Twain's natal Pluto @12Ari57 Rx denoting our current time frame as one in which abrupt changes occur within general social conditions and familiar ways of life are transformed. 'New patterns' are brought along that require psychological adjustments for many people and situations may spur our hidden fears to surface within the collective mindset. Since Mark Twain often feared loss of family, wealth and possessions, my suspicion is that current fears in society are in part along those lines--and quite naturally so--especially for those whose socio-economic positions are eroded or eroding--which means most of us whether we are aware of such insidious effects or not.

The ongoing Cardinal (initiating, active) Uranus-Pluto square (a titanic generational struggle in effect: 2010 - 2015) can act as a destructive factor in the adjustment process for it is that type of intense energy we must now deal with as 'new patterns' are foisted upon us...if we allow the foisting without uttering a peep.

And btw--secret underworld organizations wish to remain secret or hidden precisely so that they may do as they will: undermine and weaken the masses without being detected, called to account, or--stopped. Frilly underpants notwithstanding!

Also see a trailer of the video that asks Are you Surviving Progress?, if you wish.

Will Congress levy taxes on US Credit Unions and Community Banks?

Another Front Opens in the Plutocrats' Middle Class Warfare

by Jude Cowell

As powerful Pluto plods through Saturn-ruled Capricorn, sign of business, law, and government, the oppressive, disenfranchising Pluto-Chiron pair of Plutocracy keeps steamrolling along...

With only 6% of US financial assets held by Credit Unions and by banks that are actually banks (which along with non-profit credit unions) benefit the middle class, working families, and small businesses, the monarchical, corporate-ruled, foreign-infiltrated US Congress is being encouraged by Wall Street mega-banks to tax credit union banks. Wall Street and its handmaidens on Capitol Hill are working claw in glove to proceed with this economy-weakening plan in which We the People are the losers and the weedy grealthy win yet another jackpot at our expense.

For the big banks feeling 'disadvantaged' by their non-profit colleagues (exs: Bank Robbers of America, Goldman-Sucks--juvenile nicknames, yet descriptive), it's about undermining the competition so I hope you'll check out CU Tax Letters Stack Up at Congress' Door which explains the situation much better than I can grouse about it (I switched from a big-name bank years ago to a credit union bank and I much prefer its lower fees which will subsequently increase under the proposed taxing plan.)

So if we care about this issue, we mustn't only lament until the perfidy is made 'law' but we must make some loud noises with our own representatives!

Don't Tax My Credit Union.

Gov Rick Perry's "special session" July 1, 2013

Friday June 28, 2013: June 28, 1914 and, Meanwhile, Back in Texas

by Jude Cowell

On this day, June 28th, in 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated, an event used to precipitate World War I. Many people know that particular world conflagration as "The War to End All Wars" though their faith in such overblown campaign rhetoric (by Woodrow Wilson who secretly pledged America into the war via international bankers but had campaigned on a 'peace platform')--well, their faith was extinguished decades ago especially when it comes to war, the Pentagon's reason for existence.

Meanwhile, back in Texas circa June 2013, you and everyone else has heard of the filibuster in the State Capitol by Rep. Wendy Davis that lead to the midnight clock running out on the abortion bill the monarchic Republicans were attempting to shove through the legislature. They further post-dated the record to show they'd taken the vote in time--by midnight--but got caught and had to declare their bill-shoving a failure at 3:03 am.

And so the prideful Texas Governor Rick Perry has vowed to call another special session of the state legislature for Monday July 1, 2013 so that the Republicans can shove the bill through in earnest this time without those pesky Democrats (and, gasp! women!) interfering.

Yet with the Republican Party, one may wonder at their weird disconnect between saving babies from abortion, a noble cause but one I believe politicians should have no say in) while passing and proposing laws that take food from the mouths of hungry kids (who already exist) and pregnant women but that's a GOP Schizophrenia for another post.

So on Monday July 1, 2013, we find that until a few minutes before 5:00 pm Texas Time, the Moon (people; the public) is in fiery Aries, then moves into Venus-ruled Taurus, sign of the stubborn bull (and the Golden Calf.) The Sun @9Can+ remains conjoined to Fixed Star Alhena (to have a mission; having strong beliefs as I'm certain that GOP leadership has) all the day and I thought you might be interested in the Sun Can-Moon Aries combination for July 1, 2013, which will imprint on all activities of that date:

This is a steamy Water-Fire blend of energies signifying potentials for moodiness, shrewdness, tenaciously surviving, and having insights. It describes those who are defensive but forthright, feminine but feisty (!), and able to protect those within their care.

Perhaps a familiar verse from the pen of someone who was born with Sun Can-Moon Aries is appropriate here:

We flatter those we scarcely know

We please the fleeting guest

And deal full many a thoughtless blow

To those who love us best.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, a poet of the 'new age' persuasion and best known for her, "Laugh and the world laughs with you, Weep, and you weep alone" verse.

Meanwhile, back in Texas, I don't believe that what austere Republicans are perpetrating all across the United States of America is thoughtless at all for it's too well-planned not to be purposeful. But its austerity/social-wedge-issues agenda is definitely meting out hard blows against our democracy as it divides, conquers, and beggars the American people.

For further reading, you may wish to check out the natal planets of Rick Perry. Click and you'll also find a video concerning how Karl 'Turdblossom' Rove of Bush-Cheney fame mentored Rick Perry.

Now there's a four-pack of villainous sidewinders coiled up together!

Max Keiser on Snowden's NSA revelations (w video)

International Confidence in US Economy 'Crumbling'

This just arrived and I'm posting it just as it came to me:

Along with exposing widespread international surveillance, Edward Snowden has revealed how exactly the US is financing its military ambitions, according to Max Keiser, who says:

"What's interesting is that Edward Snowden worked for Booz Allen. Booz Allen allegedly along with a few other companies are the masterminds behind LIBOR market rigging, energy market rigging, FOREX market rigging. And this is really the fuel that keeps the American military empire going, because the American economy, itself cannot support its military ambitions, so they've resorted to market manipulation and the kind of intelligence that Edward Snowden is able to aggregate is key to manipulating markets in ways that make Booz Allen, allegedly, the channel for billions and billions of dollars into America's military campaigns.

"And this is really about money, markets and manipulations. It's not about security. It's not to do with anything that the White House says. Remember, the White House is a puppet of Wall Street, Booz Allen, the hedge funds and the financial interests of the corrupt bankers."

So, then how do some of those big companies like Google, or Facebook actually benefit from the PRISM surveillance program? Is there a financial gain from them?

"Absolutely, because all of the manipulation involves rigging the indexes. And the indexes are all data-sensitive. So, if you can manipulate the data, you can manipulate the indexes and you manipulate the markets. And if you have advanced knowledge of that inside information you can make billions of dollars of front-running, high-frequency trading, algorithmic trading. And, of course, all the banks on the Wall Street are in on this and all the banks in the UK.

"It's very telling that the foreign minister of Ecuador said that, 'Look, you're talking about us extraditing Edward Snowden, what about bringing back those bankers we asked you to bring back to Ecuador who we caught rigging and terrorizing our market?' What about the Icelandic bankers that have been asked by the government of Iceland to be extradited back to Iceland that are being held in the UK?

What about these other instances where banking terrorists are being sheltered in the US and the UK? They're not responding to extradition agreements. So this is all about financial legerdemain. Unfortunately, Americans don't have enough money to fight their wars anymore so they have to resort to snooping, data-gathering, and market manipulation."

Will we see financial fallout between China and the US?

"Well, China has got a fantastic card to play, one trillion US dollars that they can dump on the market anytime and jack interest rates up five or six points, which would throw the real estate market back into collapse. China is pulling the strings here and China has all the cards to play. America is the biggest debtor nation in the world. Look at the bond market today (June 25), it's selling off spectacularly all over the world because confidence in the American hologram of finance is collapsing.

"They flipped the switch. They see that the emperor has no clothes. They see that there's no underlying economic activity to support the military and financial occupations emanating from the US. It's game over!"

SCOTUS decisions and the Uranus-Pluto Square

SCOTUS Acts Under Influence of 1960s Uranus-Pluto Conjunction Now Squared

by Jude Cowell

By now you've heard the gut-wrenching news of yesterday's SCOTUS decree that states no longer have to clear their plans with the feds when they wish to disenfranchise voters.

The Court's majority opinion states that, "coverage today is based on decades-old data and eradicated practices." Chief Justice Roberts wrote, "Congress--if it is to divide the States--must identify those jurisdictions to be singled out on a basis that makes sense in light of current conditions. It cannot rely on the past."

The Court complained that Congress could have acted to update the formula, but did not. Yet SCOTUS has now tossed the ultimate fate of minority voting rights upon the 'good auspices' of a feckless, reckless US Congress overflowing with buffoons and foreign agents who've determined to overthrow the sovereign government of the United States of America. No longer should our operatives sally forth into the election process of any other nation or state and give instructions on how to hold fair elections.

Apparently, America has "spread (so much) democracy abroad, she has none left to spread at home about the states--kind of like our past and current foreign reconstruction efforts, and the trillions of dollars the US government passes under tables to heads-of-state (dictators) in a vain attempt to stay on top of the global government pile of clothes-less emperors and their Orwellian districts and regions.

First it was the Rehnquist Court installing Bush and Cheney in the White House in December 2000 by stopping the Florida vote-count for no good reason (other than to throw the election Bush's way), then it was the Roberts Court's Citizens United decision in January 2010 meant to throw our election campaigns into the "dark money" pools of billionaires and trillionaires (foreign and otherwise), and now John Roberts fulfills his Reagan-era dream of gutting the heart from the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Now, thanks to the Supreme Court of the United States, the spirit of intolerance, oppression, and persecution will again walk this land--this time even more brazenly than before. For as of yesterday, it has the imprint of the Court's approval upon its passport and permission to march America in a direction which very few if any of the American people want to go.

Yes, the three conjunctions rebel Uranus and powerful manipulator Pluto in the mid-1960s timed the Civil Rights movement and its subsequent legislation signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Many people died or were injured in the passing of this legislation but it only took 5 out of 4 Supreme Court Justices to neuter what until now has been a law that protected minority voters wherever states didn't ignore its provisions or pass pre-Civil-War inspired regulations.

As a child of the Revolution and a daughter of the South, I apologize to the nation for what my 'brethren' hath wrought whenever they heat up the old states' rights v centralized federal government debate with its tiresome divide-and-conquer tactics. Yes, the stirring up of racial issues has always been one of the primary methods the power elite use to stymy our national debates and render our national progress paralyzed. Why, the so-called Civil War was engineered by warmongers and moneylenders in part as a result of foreign meddling and interference!

Sigh! It all makes me sad for America, for our children, and for anyone's ancestors who fought and died for this nation. And it's craven how the most damage to our country is now being done by those who never served themselves but have no trouble sending other people's children into battle, or gutting laws that don't personally affect them, their rights, or even their comfort.

Well, I'm about ready to hush for now and close with a list of the dates (2012--2015) of all the exact Uranus-Pluto squares I can find (perhaps you know of more?) So far, we've experienced 3 of them with 3 more to go--from Uranus in Cardinal Aries to Pluto in Cardinal Capricorn with harsh Mars-Saturn undertones:

1. June 24, 2012 @8:23 Ari-Cap; 2. Sept 20, 2012 @6:58 Ari-Cap; 3. May 20, 2013 @11:14 Ari-Cap; 4. Nov 1, 2013 @9:25 Ari-Cap; 5. Apr 21, 2014 @13:34 Ari-Cap (exactly hitting our presidential US natal Sun 13Can19); 6. Mar 17, 2015 @15:18 Ari-Cap (hitting US natal Saturn 14Lib48 (lawmakers and the legal system.)

As you know, Jupiter the Judge has just crossed World Point 00Can00 and since the Great Benefic increases or expands whatever he touches, I fret that this post understates the threat to our democracy by the Supreme Court's current and previous decisions as mentioned above. We can glean a midpoint picture from this cosmic shift with Jupiter in Cancer lining up in opposition to Pluto across the Can-Cap axis of Security, and catalyst and anarchist Uranus feeling feisty in Mars-ruled Aries:

Jupiter-Pluto = Uranus: striving for social improvements (social aspirations); pursuit of philosophical or religious objectives; achieving immense success (Ebertin.)

But of course, the Uranus-Pluto pair of energies also relates to criminals and crimes and I feel that it is a crime what SCOTUS has perpetrated upon the America people through perversion of our once-proud justice system. Not that they haven't had plenty of help from agents in other quarters.

~:~

Also on the docket: a politically minded SCOTUS is taking up the constitutionality of President Obama's recess appointments. You know, SCOTUS would not have been our 'final arbiters' of constitutionality of it weren't for Marbury v Madison 1803 which skewed the checks and balances of our three branches of government toward the prominence of a panel of unelected judges. In other words, in 1803 SCOTUS took upon themselves the mantle of power and look at the sorry way they wear it in the New Millennium (horoscope shown--you'll note that Pluto has crossed its IC and conjoins natal Sun, and soon natal Mercury in Capricorn. At Midheaven is America's natal Sun being slowly if karmically undermined.)

~:~

Dust off the grill, y'all! It's nearly time for Independence Day 2013 so America's 237th birthday will arrive just after midnight on July 5th. Have you ordered your copy of my Stars Over Washington Report on US Solar Return 2013 as seen through a common-good lens? This horoscope is 'good for' one year and you'll find a 'Buy Now' PayPal button in the sidebar at the top. So if you nab yourself a printable copy (PDF/19-20 pp) for later astro follow-alongs, you and I will be on the same astro-page for future references when they're discussed in SO'W posts and articles!

My Thanks to all who have ordered their copies already,

Jude

America's Birthday: US Solar Return 2013 (a 4th house affair)

Happy Birthday, America! US Solar Return July 5, 2013 @12:22:15 am edt

by Jude Cowell

Yes, Independence Day has rolled around again in spite of all rumors to the contrary! America turns two-hundred-thirty-seven years old just after midnight on July 5, 2013 when the Sun returns to its natal position of July 4, 1776. I tend to use America's 'Sibly' natal chart for that date at 5:10 pm LMT, Philadelphia, PA, though I prefer to relocate our national Return horoscopes to Washington DC (after looking at charts set for Philly, too.)

Below is a snippet of our Solar Return (SR) 2013 horoscope which makes plain that domestic issues and concerns (exs: Real Estate; Security) are front and center with a full 4th house of Jupiter, Sun, and Mercury Rx. As you see, the people's Moon @9Gem23 is in 2nd house of Earning Ability, Values, and the National Treasury. And since the Moon conjoins US natal Uranus (8Gem55), our revolutionary planet, we may expect that excitement, unrest, protests, strikes, and other political activities continue along with concerns such as domestic spying (Mercury-ruled Gemini, Moon conjunct 3rd cusp and US natal Uranus, the planet of Technology, Moon-ruled Cancer on the IC, etc.)

Plus, you notice that warring activist Mars @24Gem17 in the 3rd house of Communications, Neighborhoods, and the Lower Mind has recently returned to his degree in the US natal chart. In fact, as of June, Summer 2013 is replete with the US Planetary Returns of Venus, Jupiter, Mars (as noted), Sun (seen here), and Mercury in August so that 5 new cycles of activity begin in the US.

So! If you wish a much fuller analysis of America's Solar Return 2013 Horoscope on the level of Political Astrology--as seen through my common-good lens--a Stars Over Washington Report is now available for ordering via PayPal to be electronically delivered to the email account with which it was purchased. This is a 19/20-page PDF suitable for printing and remains current for one year until America's next Solar Return in July 2014. See PayPal link at top of sidebar.

Why is a Solar Return horoscope valuable?

Because through our nation's Solar Return year, we may watch planets conjoin SR planets and reach peaks of activity that inspire real-world events as transits and progressions conjoin and cross the Angles of our Solar Return horoscope, enter new houses, and form aspects to other planets and points along the way.

The US Solar Return 2013 Report is modestly priced at $1.99US and delivery begins on Monday June 24, 2013~~please allow 2-4 days for delivery. And you may wish to add: jude.cowell@hotmail.com to your email contacts list to assure your timely receipt. Be certain to add a 'dot' between jude and cowell.

Thanks, and Wishing America Many Happy Returns,

Jude, your reluctant astrologer & Daughter of the Revolution!

New Millennium Horoscope

New Millennium Horoscope January 1, 2001 12:00 am est The White House

by Jude Cowell

With the myriad of things going on in the world since the dawn of the New Millennium (and not all of it as 'bright' as we were often lead to believe beforehand), the following horoscope is quite useful for those who wish to keep up with transits of planets and points to its natal positions, chart angles and other house cusps. And naturally other techniques are valuable for comparison such as progressions and Planetary Return charts based on this natal horoscope as it relates to all of humanity and to America as the 'New Atlantis' for the much-touted 'New Age'.

Hour of the Moon (fluctuations, instability) with Sun in Saturn-ruled Capricorn:

As you see, 5th house Venus is chart-ruler and makes only one applying Ptolemaic (major) aspect--a square to Jupiter @2Gem10 Rx in the 8th house of Money, Debt, Credit, Transformation, and---well, you know the Scorpionic 8th house realms that apply. Both Venus and Jupiter are associated with money: Venus with valuable items, evaluations, diplomacy, and relationships (the attraction principle), and expansive Jupiter (the relating principle) ruling banking and bankers, politicians, religious leaders, professors, gurus and priests, adventurers and explorers, thespians, and...well, you know the rest of the roles the Great Benefic can grandly play.

Venus square Jupiter = laws vs justice, something that our once exalted legal system could claim to uplift, at least some of the time for many of the people but as you know, the US justice system has been infiltrated and corrupted and is in need of purging to get out the crooks, charlatans, and anti-government types who prefer chaos in society to law and order. That is, unless it's their psychopathic kind of 'new world order'.

In fact, the New Millennium's Sun Cap-Moon Pisces blend denotes an ability for "bringing order out of chaos" yet the miscreants of power are set on creating extreme chaos first and then rushing in to 'save the day' by repairing the negative conditions they themselves engineered. Plus, Ayn Rand's cold rationality of objectivism and Darwin's 'survival of the fittest' theory are meant to weed out the chaff--the weakest--among us.

Historically it's interesting to note that the Sun Cap-Moon Pisces blend is shared by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, perhaps America's prime mover who was very instrumental in setting up our republic ("if you can keep it," he said.) As you probably know, Ben Franklin was brethren in at least three secretive groups of his era: the Freemasons, the Rosicrucians, and the Illuminati Society of Adam Weishaupt. Much of his initiatory activities and involvement occurred while he sojourned a few years in Europe--our diplomat to France, for one example.

So there's Venus @27AQ11 conjoining US natal Moon (We the People) and Jupiter so recently separated from Great Conjunction (May 5, 2000) with austere, controlling Saturn (24Tau34 Rx) with their conjunction's notable Sabian Symbol: '23Taurus' = "A Jewelry Shop Filled with Magnificent Gems". Or at least it was. But between bubbles, busts, 9/11/01, the Great Bush Heist of 2007/2008, and inflation America's gems and jewels are now primarily clutched in certain claws and deposited in secretive offshore bank accounts rather than in the hands of the people and in the US economy.

However, at the turn of the 21st century, transit Venus to We the People's natal Moon gave most of us an emotional lift and an expectant feeling that good fortune was around the bend. And of course, corporate and government propagandists played upon those feelings to further their own best interests and keep us occupied with entertainment and trivialities (remember the 'Y2K' hustle? wonder how all those millions were really spent? for surveillance systems, I suspect.) And all while power brokers continued their 'total awareness and control' plans that crescendo upon us now.

Okay, there are many other enlightening chart factors such as planetary *patterns to discuss but I shall hush for a while and hope that those who haven't used the New Millennium Horoscope before may take it as the predictive tool that I have found it to be. And I'll keep it linked conveniently near the top of the SO'W sidebar for my own future reference (and posts), if not for yours!

~:~

*Planetary Patterns: marked by a dotted line, you see a Fist of God (or, Thor's Hammer) configuration pointing toward 8th house Saturn Rx, an Air Grand Trine if we count the Ascendant with Jupiter-trine-Neptune (the speculator-grand schemer-inflationary pair that met three times in 2009 conjunct US natal Moon and whose energies are imprinted upon the Obama presidency, both terms), and a T-Square that expresses its Sun-opposite-MC energies at Ascendant (rising.)

Experts run the world with theories as 2007 Jupiter-Pluto conjunction triggered

Since the New Millennium, we've seen 'experts' running the world via their long held pet theories which have had no history of success. With this weekend's Full Moon @2Cap09--a 'supermoon' (Nolle) because it is closer to Earth than any Full Moon will be until August 2014--its bright light is precisely what their purposefully inept theories that have debilitating consequences for the masses need:

Here are a few rays of illuminating moonlight: Experts now run the world using their theories. What if they fail, and we lose confidence in them? for your consideration.

And since master astrologer Richard Nolle coined the term 'supermoon' to describe a perigee Moon, you may wish to check out his forecasts for the June 23, 2013 Full Moon and more.

June 2013's Downer DOW and the Fed's Jupiter-Pluto

As for the stock market's plunge this week, my schedule overflowed with real world events and I wasn't able to make time for an article on financial matters. So I'll briefly mention what I noticed about the week's Fed announcement by Ben Bernanke and the NYSE reaction (which won't be comprehensive at all but here goes...)

Besides today's Summer Solstice 2013 triggering the Cardinal World Points (Sun to 00Can00:00, when important events manifest), the Sun-Jupiter conjunction of the week at 28Gem+ (a degree of Bankruptcy in the Sabian Symbols, as noted in a previous post) opposed the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto @28Sag23 on December 11, 2007, also a day of a Fed announcement.

The Jupiter-Pluto pair (big bankers, plutocrats exploiting the masses, organizers of large projects, professors of law, pursuers of fanatical aims, speculators and squanderers, influential criminal elements, extreme depletion of resources) conjoined within 15 minutes of Mr. Bernanke's public remarks that day and of course the coming Bush Depression-Financial Collapse of 2008 was in the wind in December 2007 had many only realized it.

My point is that this week's Sun-Jupiter conjunction was something of a double whammy for the beginning of the current Jupiter-Pluto cycle for Sun and Jupiter both opposed 2007's banking Jupiter and wealth manipulator, power-mad Pluto.

2013 Sun oppo 2007 Jupiter denotes an unfavorable time for religious and political activities (Obama in Europe and at the G8 Summit in Ireland this week has been called disappointing) and people may be all show with little substance (don't get me started on "amateur hour" in Congress+ this week!)

2013 Jupiter oppo 2007 Jupiter is a period when discontent with wealth or status is evident and discouraging comparisons (Speaker Boehner?) are made along with overblown efforts which impress no one.

2013 Sun oppo 2007 Pluto is not a good time for power plays, it's impossible when investigating to get to the bottom of situations, and ego-bruising conditions may abound for those in power.

2013 Jupiter oppo 2007 Pluto denotes a period of gross mismanagement, overrating conditions or people is a hazard that will cause regret, and contests of wills occur involving financial matters including taxes (IRS), debt, insurance (Affordable Care Act?), and inheritances.

Well, not much jolliness for our Full Moon weekend in June with these transits, is there? But of course as with all matters, Astrology brings to the table what no other system of analysis can bring: the element of Time so that we are assured that, after all, This Too Will Pass.

~:~

Astro-Note: there's another reason for my busy-ness this week: tomorrow a comprehensive 'Stars Over Washington Report' will be made available for electronic delivery, its topic: America's Solar Return 2013. The SR Report is 'good for' a year and I hope you'll consider ordering yourself a copy of this PDF report, suitable for printing! Watch this blog and my Twitter feed for details.

Wishing you all a Happy Weekend! Jude