From March 14, 2019: Thom Hartmann engages Professor Richard Wolff on the topic of empires and their ends with a focus on the American Empire:
Both Thom and Dr. Wolff are authors of excellent books yet every time I think of how our nation has been exploited, lied into war, and its resources frittered away for the benefit of the few, I must also think of a book long nestled upon my book shelf: Chalmers Johnson's The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic.
Mars-Rising Trump Highly Sensitive to Mars Transits
by Jude Cowell
This cosmic condition of full awareness is emphasized by the fact that in the Spring Equinox 2019 chart, Mars @23Tau08 ruffles the natal MC of Trump and suggests that he's entered a period of energetic self-promotion (more than before? impossible!) during which his demands for public recognition may increase (!) including attention from other public figures of authority (ex: despots he idolizes--and/or possibly Speaker Nancy Pelosi whose Mars Return it is!). Mars-to-Midheaven may also bring more scrutiny upon his activities, positively or negatively, and on actions of his male relatives (exs: Kushner, Don Jr, his racist father Fred). Launching some new sort of campaign is within the realm of possibilities as well (ex: a Twitter attack on a newly chosen victim-opponent?), while going to extremes cannot be ruled out especially since this describes Trump's usual way of behaving. And of course, the US Military, the movement of forces, police activation or issues, and/or veterans' affairs may also be part of his Mars-to-MC picture this week. Of course, we may expect his rage level to be increased by the fact that the furious star of violence, Algol, twinkles menacingly upon Trump's natal Midheaven.
Note that with its two-year cycle, the last time transit Mars conjoined Trump's natal MC was in April 2017; the end of April 2017 marked the end of Trump's 'first 100 days' in the Oval Office.
Now readers familiar with the natal chart of Donald Trump see the position of Mars @23Taurus as lining up to square his natal Mars (exact on March 26, 2019). This is a time when his strong survival instinct becomes even more obvious (and needed!) along with his tendency toward self-preservation-at-any-cost. Even less diplomacy than usual may be evident for the focus will be on aggression, anger, frustration, conflicts, battles, possible construction faults, and even accidents and/or injuries. Add to this transit Mars square Trump's natal Ascendant on March 30, 2019, and we have more ego conflicts, battles for top position, pushy behavior, open confrontations, social tension, and the potential for physical strain.
Then by the time transit Mars reaches his 10th house trio of Uranus (danger of blow-ups; forcing or enforcing changes), North Node (meeting with or encountering males; meetings full of conflict; anger shown in public), and Sun (risky situations, direct confrontations, vitality, energy) just after opposing his natal Moon in Sagittarius (May 2, 2019), we may all be worn out by - or simply fed up with - the anger and rage of Donald Trump.
A related post: DC Horoscopes of The March 2019 Lunations of Crisis.
Image above: Mars as seen from the Hubble Telescope.
Looking ahead to the 2020 Presidential Election, Rep. Adam Schiff warns that the election is enormously vulnerable to hacking and foreign influence. Who in America actually needs such a warning yours truly isn't certain but there it is. Election rigging and gerrymandering are par for the GOP course, too, since their anti-American policies can't win over a majority of voters to their austerity-for-you-extreme-wealth-for-me agenda.
And when we check the 2020 Election Day Horoscope we find that November 3, 2020 falls under the rays of a 4 North Saros Series solar eclipse with background themes of illusions, blocks, separations, and misjudgments so little if any comfort there. In addition, the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction sits at the natal Vertex of Donald Trump and with his natal Saturn of authority (watery and emotionally based in Cancer!) opposite. Transit Saturn, strong in his own sign and planet of control, restriction, fear, and karma has moved on to 26 Capricorn where he sits atop our Inauguration horoscope/s at Midheaven (26Cap+), The Goal.
Last but not least today we should consider 'voting Mercury', planet of communications, casting ballots and making decisions (and judgments whether clear or erroneous). At 12:49 pm, Mercury stations @25Lib53 emphasizing the importance of our election decisions on that day (and the cheats and Mercurial tricksters who divert election results). Plus, transit Mercury has recently sped through Trump's natal 2nd hou$e trio of Neptune-Chiron-Jupiter (5 to 18 Libra). It's early days yet (March 13 2019 as I type) but one must assume that information, leaks, and reports will have concerned Trump's inflated-inflationary Jupiter-Neptune conjunction of grand schemes and fraud--with wounding-wounded Chiron of blind spots snugged within its ballooning midst.
View the Voting Mercury horoscope set for Washington DC here where you'll see the Saturn-Pluto-Jupiter trio rising (social fanaticism) in process of opposing Trump's natal 11th house Saturn (24Cancer) and Venus (27Cancer), planet of values.
Of course with US natal Pluto @27Cap33, We The People are hindered (my opinion!) by the the fact that Trump's natal Venus in Cancer permanently opposes US natal Pluto on financial levels in particular and this, in part, describes the extreme intensity of his relationship with America and the American people, plus, it reveals the continual, ruthless power struggles he is determined to 'win' at anyone's expense but his own. The Venus-Pluto pair also contains potentials for organized crime, extreme wealth hidden away, and breakdowns in the social fabric (Munkasey) - breakdowns that are intended by Republicans and their enablers every time they attempt to cut our social safety net programs.
Now we may wonder if Election Day 2020 planets look favorable for Donald Trump and some do (ex: Moon in Gemini approaches his Uranus-NN-Sun conjunction--Moon = the public, in mutable Gemini = changeable moods and minds--yet the Gemini Moon opposes his Sagittarius Moon and suggests some voters' attraction to his duplicitous Gemini personality and chaotic Uranian style of 'ruling'). And yes, there is also negativity in the Election Day 2020 horoscope/s for those who care to look so if Trump is still around by Election Day 2020, as most agree he will be, he will continue to be a major, jarring force which must be reckoned with - although he may need all the underhanded cheating tactics his supporters are willing to provide if he expects to 'win' the election against what must be a tsunami of Democratic and Independent voters turning up at the polls determined to vote Trump out.
2019 America Is 243 years old = "3 Sagittarius"
by Jude Cowell
Last evening I played around with America in her 243rd year (2019) which, when translated into the 360-degree circle of the Zodiac (one degree = one year) brings our nation to 3 Sagittarius (243 degrees = 8 signs plus 3 degrees when counted from the Aries Point) because I was curious to see if the degree's Sabian Symbol held significance in relation to current events. Note that using the same method but counting from 13 Cancer, our nation's Sun (leadership) degree, gives 20 Scorpio, yet as it turns out, 3 Sag tells a descriptive 2019 tale of the moment.
Because today as I watched a few morning news shows, the phrase "playing chess" and the concept of a chess game came up more than once out of the mouths of political pundits and reporters (in relation to Mr. Trump, of course) so let's consider 3 Sag in the Sabian Symbols followed by Adriano Carelli's explanation of this degree.
First, Dane Rudhyar's interpretation for 3 Sag = "Two Men Playing Chess".
"Keynote: The transcendent ritualization of conflict" (yin vs yang, dark vs light) "ending in most cases with the checkmating of the king (the ego, the conscious self)...in a dualistic world such a conflict between forces is omnipresent. The chess game trains men to be more objective, more careful, more aware of whole situations--and less impulsive and intent upon side issues. {} it brings to the objective consciousness the basic realities in interpersonal INTERPLAY." This speaks of the "transmutation of man's natural aggressiveness under most conditions of existence."
In the Jones version for 3 Sag the word picture is the same; here are its positive and negative (unconscious/shadow side--jc) expressions:
"Positive: high sensitiveness to every possibility of accomplishment or broadened self-discovery.
Negative: unsuspected bigotry or foolish exactitude." (I'm not certain how "unsuspected" the bigotry is!)
Now I shall quote from Carelli's The 360 Degrees of the Zodiac for 3 Sag which has no word picture (not all his degrees do) and perhaps you'll agree that this version of 3 Sag sounds much like the fellow currently under siege in the Oval Office:
"A self-contradictory character: on one hand gentle and sensitive, on the other mettlesome, combative and even aggressive. His sense of charity and altruism can lead him to the hardest sacrifices that border on absolute self-denial, yet there will be something mean in it. Psychic and sexual fecundity, love of family, home and work; an aptitude for arts, engineering and perhaps architecture, though the skill in planning to the least detail be transferred from the field of material buildings to one of feelings and induce a petty scheming and plotting mentality.
People may like, love, even adore, the native, but the concourse of other astrological factors will be needed for this."
For more details see An Astrological Mandala by Dane Rudhyar and
The Sabian Symbols in Astrology by Marc Edmund Jones; also see Lynda Hill's more modern 360 Degrees of Wisdom.
Neptune in Pisces and the Disappearing GOP
by Jude Cowell
After hearing Trump's recent 'unhinged' and rambling rant at CPAC 2019, GOP strategist Rick Tyler says "it's over," for the Republican Party, "Rest in peace." Mr. Tyler predicts that once Donald Trump passes on there will be no party left which is unfortunate yet interesting since Astrology has been saying that very thing for years now as evidenced by the party's recent Neptune Return/s (2017-2018), with the last of five conjunctions perfecting on December 29, 2018! (See link, below.)
For as all astrologers know, the urge-to-merge energies of astrological Neptune, although sometimes inspiring, uplifting, and compassionate, can erode, dissolve, undermine, confuse, ruin, poison, infect, conspire, obfuscate, hide, mask, disguise, propagandize, spy, falsify, fantasize, cheat, defraud, idealize, demagogue, disappoint, disillusion, disappear, lie, mislead, doubt, disrespect, lose, steal, pilfer, rob, waste, and/or weaken whatever it touches or affects.
And since the Republican Party was founded in 1854 with Neptune @14Pis01, the party's nature on the inspirational level may not have been as grounded as it now turns out was needed in order for the political party to last more than 164 years (the approximate length of Neptune's orbital period), or perhaps a certain amount of dishonesty, fraud, masking, or wrong ideas were involved all along. Whatever the original cause, transit Neptune floating through its own sign of Pisces has provided determined forces a perfect opportunity to undermine, erode, weaken, and morph the party into the Trump-infused entity we now find squirming in his grasp, its end lamented by many.
Yet did things have to be this way for the Republican Party? No! For in Pisces there is always a choice of direction seen via the image of the Two Fishes, one swimming up toward the heights, the other down to the depths, and under the sketchy, lie-filled leadership of Donald Trump, it seems clear that the murkiest of depths are precisely where the GOP has sunk.
A vastly related post containing the horoscope of the GOP's December 29, 2018 Neptune Return: The Long Shadow of Neptune in Pisces.
Above image: my drawing Isle of Ruins, a fanciful illustration of where lost political parties go to waste away.
2019 Solar Eclipses: Across the 'Moon-Saturn' Cancer-Capricorn Polarity
March 3, 2019: currently we go about our business beneath the rays of the January 5, 2019 Solar Eclipse which manifested @15Cap45 just in time to imprint its 2 South 'joining a new group and gaining a great deal' vibes upon the 116th Congress. In Saturn-ruled Capricorn, sign of government (politics), law, and business, and sign where transformative Pluto, power planet of permanent change, now plods on his way to America's first-ever Pluto Return/s (3x @27Cap33).
Toward the end of June 2019 the background influences of 2 South wane as the next Solar Eclipse prepares to dazzle with a direction change and potentials for sudden disruption for on July 2, 2019 an eclipse perfects @11Cancer in the 3 North Saros Series with themes of 'news that transforms a situation and/or involves young people; information can cause worry, obsession, and an urge to undertake large plans; there's a need not to get carried away' for 3 North energies are 'over-excessive'. As you see, for America this qualifies as an Independence Day 2019 Solar Eclipse and is the first repetition of a 3 North solar eclipse since 9/11/01.
Last in 2019 but not least is a Solar Eclipse in the 3 South Saros Series manifesting @4Capricorn on December 26, 2019 - basically, a Christmas 2019 Solar Eclipse with Pluto-involved themes of 'sudden relationship endings, possibly with a younger person, and containing deep emotional energies of traumatic transformation'. (All themes paraphrasing Brady's Predictive Astrology.) In addition, the December 26th Eclipse Ends 2019 with Jupiter and Pluto Issues which, for me, brings to mind large-scale developers, wheeler-dealers, and power-grabbers like Mr. Trump - and his cruel, barbaric 'caging children' policy.
Now there are two 2019 Lunar Eclipses, one already past: January 21st @1Leo, and July 16th @24Capricorn which simply drips with Pluto and Politics, and points toward the Saturn-Pluto Conjunction of January 12, 2020 @22Cap46 (conjunct Trump's natal Vertex!) with its Saturnian-Plutonian vibes of compression, realism, hard work, unyielding deadlines, cruelty, and 'upsets in existing checks and balances' (Munkasey).
Above photo: the White House Washington DC (don't let the blue skies fool ya.)
Since former Trump 'fixer' Michael Cohen testified in open session on Capitol Hill last week, more and more often we hear the Trump Clump described out loud as a 'crime family'.
To run such an organization the head gangsta must have a crew willing to operate under the same criminal persuasion--a crew surrounding and protecting him, and willing to take orders and do his bidding. Donald Trump has such a crew with a core made up of Don Jr, Ivanka and Jared, and other son, Eric.
So I decided to make their planets more accessible for future reference by clumping The Clump together into one post with links to their natal charts such as I have access to them presently--some accurately timed, some set for noon:
Donald Trump Jr. (RR: A),
Ivanka and Jared (noon and noon),
and Eric Trump who actually may be the brightest bulb in the box, as it turns out.
Now naturally, these four minions (including Cohen) also appear in other SO'W posts which may be located by tapping or clicking labels of their names below this post, or by entering their monikers in the sidebar Search field. Because that's the kind of power you have, dear reader!
A Related Post: On Donald Trump as Clumsy Liar. Not that he's the only one.
February 24, 2019: The Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins reports on some of the negative effects on US taxpayers's refunds 'thanks' to the Trump-GOP Tax Cut for America's wealthy class of greedy piggies:
Remember the golden day of December 22, 2017 when Trump signed the GOP Tax Cut Bill (heist!) then rushed off to the luxury of Mar-a-Lago? And of course the non-empathetic GOP plan includes putting America's social safety net programs on their chopping block in spite of the nationwide suffering, even death, it would cause. Create the problem then pretend you have the only solution--it's so Hegelian!
Perhaps you've read the excellent column by astrologer Lynn Hayes concerning a certain political flame thrower so happy to be 'in the news' again for her advice to Donald Trump on shutting down the government (December 22, 2018 midnight est for 35 days) and her critiques of Trump that apparently led to his declaration of a national emergency which he announced from the White House Rose Garden today as away to extort billions of dollars of taxpayer money for a dubious "wall" to keep out the marauding hordes Trump fears. Now I ask you, how can circumventing Congress be anything but a power grab by the Executive Branch of government?
Disagree if you must but do check out Ann Coulter's Poisonous Rage where Lynn discusses Coulter's pile-up in Sagittarius of her Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars (Sun conjunct Mars: Miss Independent) and the shadow side of Sag which, according to Dr. Liz Greene, "The Sag is often frightened of making any commitment to the tangible world, because then he'd have to face not only the limitations of form but also the fact that his potential genius might not be quite so boundless and cosmic as he thinks it is." (My italics.) Commitment, tangible, limitations, form--all Saturn's words.
Of course, this fear relates to the ruler-ship of Sagittarius by Jupiter, the planet of boundlessness, expansion, and unlimited potential, plus, the sign's Fire element with Fire's 'dark side' of deep depression when things don't turn out to be as grand as was optimistically expected. Note that with his natal Moon and South Node of the Moon in Sagittarius, Donald Trump suffers from such 'vast optimism vs deep pessimism' issues himself. However, the pair are reported presently to be on the outs beginning with the ill-advised Trump Shutdown--or is their tiff only political theater? If genuine, Trump and Coulter may just be too much alike to get along for the long term especially considering the tendencies of Sag toward self-righteousness and the constant judgment of others, and neither have empathy for other human beings who are treated as if they're only screens upon which Coulter and Trump project their lives of fame and fortune--with the two of them playing 'starring' roles.
Yet astrologically there is one factor between them that's similar yet different: Trump was born with Pluto unaspected while Ms. Coulter was born with Saturn unaspected which emphasizes the distinct possibility of her sashaying through life completely conscience-free. Both conditions are problematic, of course, and few can handle them in a positive way yet we all must choose how we use the planetary energies we were born with. How do you think the two of them are doing so far?
For more on Saturn unaspected you may wish to see my previous post on Justice Neil Gorsuch who shares this problematic condition of 'the loner without a conscience'. Wonder if free-floating fear or anxiety is a feature of an unaspected Saturn, one of the planets known for its 'fear factor'--along with Underworld Pluto, planet of sabotage and creepiness.
Blog Note: yes, relocation is this weekend so Monday will be the start of my 'settling in' week and asap I'll be blogging at you from downtown Raleigh, North Carolina! Wish you were here (to help me unpack!!) jc
Astro-Note: Ann Hart Coulter born December 8, 1961 NYC, hour unknown; Donald Trump June 14, 1946 10:54 am est Queens, NY.
With my astrology software in mothballs due to a recent computer crash, no SOTU 2019 horoscope is possible for this post so here's a bit on the curious fact that at 9:01 pm tonight, the Moon enters Pisces just as the propagandist is set to begin his speech and hours after the February 4th New Moon @15AQ45 has passed. Naturally the sign of the Moon signifies the mood of the public and in sensitive, watery Pisces, Trump may find that the number of folks who show up to witness his diatribe in real time is rather low.
Actually, the Democrats' SOTU rebuttal just after, to be delivered by Georgia's Stacey Abrams, promises to be the more interesting of the two speeches especially since the rhetoric of Trump the Uranian has become quite predictable like a scratchy old record played many times too often. "National emergency at the border!!," cries the wolf once again, this time with the megaphone of the bully pulpit in hand. Do you believe?
Cosmic Influences
A flavor of the evening may be seen by its Sun Aquarius-Moon Pisces blend with the detached, futuristic Aquarian played by Trump and, on one level, the softer more compassionate Piscean played by Stacey Abrams. From the misty, unsubstantial Air-Water combo itself, we may expect Trump to reach out to the public and his 'backers' with the expectancy of having his fragile ego boosted by their positive responses, his 'independent thinking' on display for the world to see and marvel at. His 'mark on the world' just has to be a 'Trump Wall' for he's determined although yours truly continues to wonder if 5.7 billion dollars is the amount of some loan payment Trump has due and he'd prefer to keep all his fingers if you know what I mean. Why won't someone offer him a statue to his 'honor' instead? The pigeons would appreciate it!
Anyway, tonight's address promises a mixture of mind (AQ) and heart (Pisces) although impracticality and Trump's usual evasiveness will be evident as well. His apparent idealism may shine through but so will his tendencies toward gullibility and skimming the surface of things and childishly assuming that he's an expert on any topic you can name. How much 'sway' his words can conjure is unlikely to break any records and an uptick in Trump's approval ratings after tonight's performance may be as elusive a prey as 'The Wall' Nancy says he can't have billions for. A Normandy wall (fence) with upgraded tech surveillance equipment and more manpower and judges on the border, probably. But no bottomless money pit for a 'Wall' as Speaker Pelosi's Aries Jupiter continues going up against Trump's Libran Jupiter...in the background a role reversal Mars vs Venus conflict!
As for tonight...
A sensitive soul with a grandiose imagination, Mr. Trump will likely escape for the comfort of his private cocoon once he's done making his case tonight, all hamberders beware! And which mysterious advisers will he phone into the wee hours, hoping for positive encouragement? Drifting off-subject is a distinct possibility with Sun AQ-Moon Pisces, something off-teleprompter Trump tends toward so we'll watch for that if we watch at all.
Now Trump's SOTU 2019 may not qualify as "grand opera" but perhaps it's telling that tonight's cosmic vibes of Aquarius and Pisces are shared natally by two famous film producers, King Vidor and Roger Vadim and will be delivered by circus barker and reality TV 'star' Donald Trump in the leading role of America's current POTUS in the February 5th performance of Washington DC's Political Theater of the Absurd.
Appearing in this post: Sun Sign-Moon Sign by Charles and Suzi Harvey; above image, The Orator, a pencil drawing by yours truly.
Today is February 2, 2019, the much-touted, seldom-awaited, annual "Ground Hog Day" when the gruff-looking varmint attempts to prognosticate for the US an early or late Spring 2019. Many Americans are snowed in today, and perhaps some are without power, sorry to say. The fear level has been purposefully ramped up by government sources on the already lame electrical grid issue and on other issues so we've got that not going for us. As if America isn't up to the task of defending her cyber self yet for years we've been told how intricately intrusive is the touch of the Total Awareness system we're virtually surrounded and entwined by as its tentacles gather all personal communications and details of our spied-upon lives. Allegedly. Meanwhile, don't give promis, financial tracking, or back doors another thought.
20 Years Ago and Then Some
Basically, the New Millennium has timed if not sparked an announced 'new world order' as the 1776 version falls by the wayside before our very eyes, a natural Saturn-Uranus imperative about every 45 years - brittle and breakable yet necessary. 'Old' Saturn and 'new' or 'futuristic' Uranus last met three times through 1988 under Reagan in the last three degrees of Sagittarius. We are under this sway until their next conjunction (once) @28Gem01 on June 28, 2032.
Now the question of January 1, 2000 as the beginning of the next era vs January 1, 2001 is not a great obstacle to the basic concept of a new order replacing an old order and there are other signs along the road to its full implementation, some of which have been set up ahead of time - very robotic and all yet a cruel master. A devil, in fact. Yet if handled positively, these energies can bring improvements in society such as the progressive ideas now being expressed in the Democratic House of Congress.
And do you know that society is currently under sway of a Solar Eclipse from the 2 South Saros Series which is the Prenatal Solar Eclipse series of the New Millennium? Ongoing, the eclipse manifested on January 5, 2019 (US) @15Cap25 with its 'joining a new or unusual group' vibe, plus, 'gaining a great deal' (Brady). Prior to the dawning of the New Millennium, a 2 South eclipse occurred on Christmas Day 2000 @4Capricorn.
So if you're reading this, I figure you could be in the mood to view a 58-second Vintage Video by Grucci of New Years Eve 1999 with the Clintons (not shown) presiding at the Washington Monument that's been lit up like a gaudy Christmas Tree - soo-o-o Illuminati! - but with the capstone of the phallic obelisk mysteriously darkened. And for anyone young enough as to have been unaware of (or, not yet born!) The New Millennium Fireworks on that starry night and the rest of the spectacle, now's a good chance to catch up a little in slightly less than one minute!
A Related Post: Washington Monument: Center of Political Power?.
