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Aries Equinox 2011

The C*I*A’s quarterly report for the Aries Ingress 2011 is now available for viewing at the YouTube channel here.

On 12 March 2011 (Melbourne time) Uranus moves back into Aries (it sort of dipped its toe into Aries for a brief period from the end of May 2010 until mid-August 2010) to stay until May 2018 when it moves into the next sign, Taurus.

Uranus, being symbolic of shocks that force change to the status quo, is often associated with revolutions in the spheres of politics and social structures.  Such revolutions are not merely disruptions of the old order – they are times when a futuristic vision of human potential and creativity is brought to earth, a seizing of the very spirit of human progress, a realization of the truth that there is something divine within the individual human being that will never be suppressed, a fire that will never be extinguished.  Characteristic of such times is a challenge to traditional hierarchies that place people on different levels – this is totally anathema to the principle of Uranus, for this is an archetype that demands adherence to principles of universal brotherhood, freedom and the liberty to express individuality.

Execution of Louis XVI (1793)

Look at the chart for the execution of Louis XVI on 21 January 1793 in the midst of the French Revolution:  Uranus in Leo is exactly opposite Pluto in Aquarius.  Sitting in the sign of royalty, but also of individual creativity and dignity, Uranus is locked into a tense stand-off with Pluto, representing unavoidable, powerful transformative processes, in Aquarius, the sign of humanitarian and progressive reform.  This event was the ultimate symbol of the revolutionary period in Europe, which sounded the death-knell of the old monarchies and feudal social structures, and it retains to this day the emotional force of barbarity and terror together with the potent spirit of liberalism and its associated democratic principles which bow down to no-one but the people themselves.

First Hot-Air Balloon Ascent (1783)

Now look at this chart – for the first manned balloon flight by the Montgolfier brothers in Paris on 21 November 1783.  Note that Uranus in Cancer is square to Neptune in Libra and opposite Saturn in Capricorn.  Uranus in this aspect pattern is seen to be involved with the symbols of gravity (Saturn in Capricorn) and lighter-than-air gas (Neptune in Libra) and this illustrates the tendency of Uranus to represent the principles of breaking barriers, challenging accepted norms and limits, and proving the potential of the indomitable human spirit of discovery and invention.

Moon Landing (set for Washington, DC) (1969)

When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon at 14:56 UTC on 21 July 1969, Uranus was exactly conjunct Jupiter in the first degree of Libra.  We see here the melding of the passion for discovery and expansion of horizons so characteristic of Jupiter, with the futuristic, limit-challenging spirit of human innovation, science and daring which is represented by Uranus.  As this conjunction occurred opposite the World Point (0º Aries) it seems appropriate that it occurred coincident with an event that was of such cardinal importance to the world as a whole; further, occurring in Libra, the sign of relationship, it involved our civilization as a whole reaching out beyond itself to another world, and by doing so being able to reflect upon the planet that we call home, generating new perspectives as relationships are wont to do.

So we can see that Uranus carries with it themes of innovation, invention, scientific and futuristic activities, as well as dissatisfaction with things as they are; an urgent, impatient desire for reform or for change to prevailing conditions; a concern with what is creative amongst individuals, to liberate this divine spark of creativity and to re-shape the world in image of human potentials envisioned.  As Richard Tarnas has pointed out, the myth of Prometheus is apt as a description of the archetype represented by Uranus – punished for giving the divine gift of fire to mortals, he ended up chained to a rock – and often there is a punishment meted out by society to those who embody the Uranian spirit, those who break ranks and tell the truth, who concern themselves with liberating the rest of us, waking us up, enlivening us to the enormously powerful forces of creativity that lie dormant within, if we would only have the courage to use them.

Uranus moving into Aries starts up a new field of energy in which the archetype of Uranus will operate.  In Pisces since 2003, we have seen the forces of innovation and individual creativity operating in less conspicuous ways as befits this retiring and private sign:  the enormous success of YouTube as an unfettered mode of audiovisual communication of everything from instant reports of disasters and political developments around the globe to the private indiscretions of celebrities.  This has been a sort of democratizing of and by imaging technology, just as 84 years ago, when Uranus was last in Pisces, television began to do the same thing.  Pisces, like all four mutable signs, is concerned with our understanding of the world, our perception and comprehension of life.  Aries, however, being a cardinal sign, is about action.  Uranus moving into Aries correlates with an ‘enough talk, just do it’ sort of attitude, and we can certainly see this playing out in the world currently.

The uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Libya (as well as other countries in the Middle East) have taken the world by surprise, as befits the Uranian archetype.  Despite the fears of Western elites, peddled unquestioningly by the corporate media, that these uprisings represent an ‘Islamist’ revolutionary movement intent on establishing theocratic states across the region, the reality is that the people on the ground who are bravely taking part in these mass rallies and protests are demanding an end to tyrannical rule by fascist puppets propped up by Western powers for a variety of reasons (to ensure low-cost access to oil, to control immigration to Europe, to appease Israeli interests intent on further expansion of settlements in Palestine).  This is generally not reported because its significance is of such global magnitude that it risks a total breakdown of geopolitical relationships.  Such a breakdown would of course realign the battle-lines from ‘the West versus Islamic terrorists’ scenario we have been told to swallow for the last 10 years, to the truth of international power-relations, which is more like ‘corporate fascism and global elites versus the people and their rights to control of their own resources’.

Middle East Mandate (1920)

A good chart to examine for events in the Middle East is that for the moment when agreement was reached by the League of Nations, meeting at San Remo in Italy, to divide up the remains of what was until then the Ottoman Empire, defeated in the First World War, between the British and French, as well as provide for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.  Many of the modern Arab states take their shape from the results of this agreement, and it seems to be a particularly significant step on the way to the creation of the state of Israel.  Note the exact opposition from Uranus to Saturn – indicative of the tension between the past and the future, between borders, forces of authority and old-style rulers (Saturn) and insistent demands for freedom, independence and rebellion (Uranus).  When Uranus and Saturn combine, one can witness miracles – the concretization of futuristic innovation (like the balloon flight mentioned earlier) or one can witness explosive disintegration of structures, tyrannical rule, utter refusal to compromise and principles hardened beyond any possibility of change.  The trine/sextile to Pluto in Cancer seems to add to the mix the racial and ethnic elements of clan identification, religious affiliation, and governments based on family dynasties which have marred the region for decades.

This Pluto is of course currently being opposed by transiting Pluto in Capricorn, and as Uranus enters Aries it too will square this Pluto.  So we can see that there is enormous pressure being brought to bear on the very foundations of the current political structures in the Middle East – the origins of the state boundaries, the forms of government, and of course the central importance of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the whole region.  The involvement of Pluto is strongly suggestive of an inevitable transformation that is going to happen one way or the other, an unavoidable shifting of the centres of power.  But it is the transit from Uranus that adds the gelignite – that awakens people to the sclerotic and despotic regimes that are long past their time, and that injects the revolutionary fervour and the passion for complete reversal of the status quo.

But the shift occurring with Uranus entering Aries is perhaps being more widely felt around the world at this time, not only in the Middle East.  For this is an instance of an outer planet crossing the World Point of 0º Aries, an event which tends not to happen all that often.  The last time the 0º Aries point was activated by an outer planet was in 2008 when Pluto entered Capricorn and squared this point – and this correlated with the start of the greatest financial crisis in the history of the world – a truly Plutonian breaking down of a Capricornian structure that had become so unreal, so unrelated to the reality of people’s lives, that decay was inevitable.  And with decay there are often some very unsightly and unsavoury matters revealed – corruption in high places, theft and greed on a vast scale, and a realization that there is no life left in the traditional political processes to which we have grown accustomed – they are like the dead skin sloughed off by a moulting reptile.  But now that Uranus is activating this point, we can see the world waking up at last, becoming emboldened to take action, to take back what has been so imperiously stolen, to demand the reinstatement of basic rights – to fair representation in political fora, to resources, to sovereign banking and credit, to human rights and justice, to individual freedom and liberty of expression, to access to information and the truth of what is being done behind closed doors.  Uranus last activated this point in 1988 when it entered Capricorn, and after conjoining Saturn and opposing Jupiter the following year, history was made with the collapse of the Eastern bloc of communist regimes in Europe as well as the Tiananmen Square uprising in Beijing.

So we can see that 2011 is also likely to be a very significant year in world politics and geopolitical shifts, and not only is this related to Uranus’ entry into Aries.  Neptune moves into Pisces for the first time in 165 years in April 2011 (which deserves its own discussion) and the potent Uranus-Pluto squares, so redolent of transformative revolutionary change, will start perfecting next year.

Sun enters Capricorn

The Cosmic Intelligence Agency has uploaded the latest panel discussion, about the upcoming Capricorn Solstice, which can be viewed here. Additional written material about the 2010 Capricorn Solstice can be found in the latest newsletter on the main Cosmic Intelligence Agency site.

Olof Palme

The horoscope for modern Sweden is that cast for the introduction of liberal parliamentary government in the mid-1860’s.  On 7 December 1865, the nobility voted away their privileges and enabled the parliamentary regime to flourish as a modern democracy.*  The chart is notable for the Jupiter-Uranus opposition across the early degrees of Cancer and Capricorn, square Neptune in Aries, perhaps symbolic of the idealistic and enlightened social attitudes which have resulted in a country with a toleration for higher taxes in return for higher standards of social capital and state-provided services.

Currently, the combination of the nodal axis, Pluto, Mars and retrograde Mercury is tightly aspecting the Mercury-Jupiter conjunction, opposite Uranus, in Sweden’s chart, which seems to be putting much pressure on the political values, and ideals of social justice at the heart of Sweden’s national identity.  Can the judiciary and the media be trusted, or are they bending to a more powerful force which is unseen but which is trying to maintain control over the country’s decision-making?

Centre Chart - Sweden (1865); Outer Wheel - Assassination of Olof Palme (1986)

It is interesting to note the transits to this chart that occurred at the time of the assassination of prime minister Olof Palme on 28 February 1986, a crime that remains unsolved to this day, but which is suspected by some to have been carried out by secret intelligence operatives from a foreign country.

Palme was known to be quite outspoken in his defence of social democratic policies, pro-union ideology and criticism of the imperial violence of both the USA and the USSR in their various Cold War engagements; he was also a prominent supporter of the PLO in Palestine and the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa.  At the time of his assassination, Mars was exactly conjunct the Swedish Sun, Pluto was conjunct the Swedish Saturn and square the MC, and Neptune was conjunct the Swedish Mercury-Jupiter conjunction (and opposite Sweden’s Uranus).  The Swedish judicial system, moral sense and confidence were undermined by something subversive; an act of sabotage that struck at the very leadership and embodiment of the country’s highest ideals.

Centre Chart - Sweden (1865); Outer Wheel - Transits on 12 December 2010

Today, the same structure in the Swedish chart is being triggered by the nodes, Pluto, Mars and a retrograde Mercury, and we see the fiasco arising over the case of Julian Assange, wanted in Sweden for alleged sexual offences against two women.  The case is being overshadowed by enormous suspicions that the judiciary and government is being pressured into proceeding with the case for purely political reasons of expediency, pressured by the US Government and the powerful forces of the international corporate elite who are being increasingly threatened by the information that Mr Assange and his Wikileaks organization have been releasing into the public domain.

Centre Chart - Sweden (1865); Outer Wheel - Julian Assange (no time available, set for noon in Townsville, QLD on 3 July 1971)

Comparing Mr Assange’s (noon) chart to that of Sweden, we can see that his natal Venus-Pluto square, which perhaps represents his tendency to enter into intense relationships, including sexual relationships, which are marked by dark power-plays and hidden intrigue, and which in this situation may symbolise his assignation with the two women which is the subject of the alleged offences, has strong connections with the Swedish chart.  Assange’s Venus conjuncts the Swedish Ascendant and his Pluto squares it.

The upcoming Uranus-Pluto squares which will be occurring exactly 7 times between 2012 and 2015, will be triggering all horoscopes with significant points in the first 10 degrees of the cardinal signs – Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.  This will include the Mercury-Jupiter / Neptune / Uranus alignment in the Swedish chart as well as the Sun-Uranus square in Assange’s chart.  We can already sense the energy of this aspect that will define a generation of political activism:  fighting for individual rights against the totalitarian, all-controlling forces of the global corporate elite.  The events surrounding Wikileaks and its dramatis personae are already aligning to the fault-lines in time that the great Uranus-Pluto squares represent.

* from The Book of World Horoscopes by N. Campion (Wessex Astrologer, 2004)

Janus

Today, 10 December 2010, Mercury appears to stop its forward motion along the ecliptic, and appears to loop backwards in front of the Sun, not appearing to move forward again until 30 December 2010.  The 2010 Capricorn Solstice, and the lunar eclipse at 29 Gemini which immediately precedes it, occur right in the middle of Mercury’s retrograde period.

Mercury has three such retrograde periods each year:  its orbit lying closer to the Sun than Earth, its revolution around the Sun appears to us as a relatively quick series of loops along the ecliptic as the year progresses.  Traditionally, Mercury’s retrograde period, and especially its stations (the days when it appears to stand motionless before reversing direction) are periods of time when all manner of things symbolised by Mercury tend to go awry:  messages, letters, emails, communications get lost or are sent to the wrong recipient, confusion arises in contracts or business deals, data or information is missing or is not disclosed, and technological contrivances which support our daily business routines, like cars, planes, computers, fax machines, telephones etc., stop working properly or are subject to delays.  While this correspondence has been known by astrologers for millennia, at a deeper level it compels us to think again about how we communicate and encourages us to review how clear or conscious we are of what it is that we are revealing about ourselves any time that we enter into a conversation, business arrangement or contract.  Mercury has always been associated with the archetype of the Trickster, the two-faced Janus who says two completely different things to different people.  But we all contain this archetype within us; we all lie when it suits us, and engage in deception when passing messages around; we even lie to ourselves and convince ourselves that we are doing the very opposite.

Mercury’s domain of the conscious, rational intellect is inherently dualistic.  Messages are conveyed, but language is more than words – often the message lies between the words, in what is not said, or in what is implied but never spelled out.  The tone of voice, the style of prose, even the font all convey layers of additional meaning that fall beneath the threshold of conscious awareness but which subtly carry the intended sense.  This is the trickiness of Mercury, its very artistry, its core business.

On the day that this particular Mercury retrograde starts, Mercury is sitting at 5 Capricorn, conjunct Pluto, at 4 Capricorn.  Mercury with Pluto represents the information that is hidden from view, stolen, abducted, controlled; or, information and communication that contains great power to transform, to empower or disempower, even to destroy.  More than anything else it suggests secrets, betrayal of confidence, hidden transactions.  This gives a taste of the theme of this Mercury retrograde period, and of the solstice and lunar eclipse occurring during its span.  Obviously, the international furore over the Wikileaks release of approximately 250,000 US Embassy cables seems to fit pretty well with the astrology at present.  As governments around the world react in embarrassment to the sudden release into the public domain of sensitive information affecting geopolitical relationships, there seem to be two processes occurring simultaneously (as befits Mercury).

Firstly, the actual content of the released information is underlining the contempt that the US Government holds for the democratic wishes of people, not just domestically, but also with respect to populations in other sovereign nations:  diplomats authorized to spy on UN officials, to collect credit-card numbers and even DNA samples of foreign politicians, and conveying back to Washington assessments of Middle Eastern leaders’ views of Iran as a threat to the region despite clear proof in repeated surveys that the vast majority of Arab populations in the Middle East regard Israel and the US to be the biggest threat to peace in the region.  And this is just part of what was in the first few hundred cables released.

Secondly,  the response of the US Government (and other Western governments) to the release of these cables has been revealing of their true values:  shoot the messenger, make possession of the truth illegal, censor the Internet, tell people what they can and cannot discuss or publish, even though the information is about those very same people!

Mercury’s retrograde loop starts in Capricorn but moves back into Sagittarius:  it is government secrecy that is being examined, but the impact is also on the freedom to disseminate and publish information and the laws and moral judgments surrounding freedom of the press and the Internet.  The sheer hypocrisy of the US Government announcing that it is hosting the 2011 World Press Freedom Day celebrations in Washington on 3 May 2011 when it is simultaneously pressurizing individuals and entire corporations to stop assisting Wikileaks to release information about the role of the government in regulating and restricting our lives and democratic choices, sadly represents the less edifying side of Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius.

Centre Chart - US Declaration of Independence (1776); Outer Wheel - Julian Assange

The birthdate of Mr Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, has been released on the Interpol arrest warrant, accessible on the Internet.  As no time is available, a noon chart for Townsville, Queensland must be used.  It is notable that Assange has a close Sun-Uranus square, always indicative of a will to break the mould of what is deemed to be acceptable, together with a close Jupiter-Pluto sextile, suggestive of keen skills at exposing the hypocrisy and moral turpitude of people in powerful positions, as well as a supreme confidence in fighting large-scale moral battles.  What I find particularly interesting is that his Mercury, which is what this essay is really all about, is exactly conjunct the retrograde Mercury in the chart for the 1776 US Declaration of Independence;  in that chart, the retrograde Mercury is opposite Pluto, symbolizing the American history of intense suspiciousness of power, yet despite this, or perhaps indeed because of it, the gradual growth of what has now become a veritable industry of secret-keeping, secret-making, surveillance, intelligence, spying and covert business activities across the globe.  In releasing the US Embassy cables, Assange is communicating the very secrets that the US Government arrogates to itself, against even its own population which it supposedly represents.

Centre Chart - Australian Federation; Outer Wheel - Julian Assange (noon chart)

Assange’s chart also closely aspects that of Australian Federation (1 January 1901, 13:35, Sydney).  His Sun in Cancer is exactly opposite the Australian Sun in Capricorn (and his Uranus in Libra exactly squares the Australian Sun) which at once symbolizes his own Australian citizenship and significance to the Australian state, as well as his role of challenging the Australian government to come clean about its own secrets as well as to represent the interests of its citizens irrespective of their colour, creed, or political affiliation.  His Venus in Gemini is exactly opposite Australia’s Jupiter in Sagittarius:  his values of openness and freedom of information, the philosophy of a free, uncensored Internet, where information is shared, not embargoed, stand as a direct challenge to the prevailing state of the media in Australia (most of which is owned by one man, Rupert Murdoch), and whether it rests on any underlying principles of justice and freedom of expression, and these same values openly challenge the state apparatus to define it’s stance when it comes to the laws surrounding reporting of information that is genuinely in the public interest.  Assange’s Pluto exactly squares the Mercury-Neptune opposition across the Sagittarius-Gemini axis in the Australian chart:  he has pulled aside the curtain which has obscured the machinations of Australian foreign policy, the deceptions of its ministers, the unreliable shonkiness of the public utterances of government figures, and exposed the duplicity of politicians serving interests other than that of the people that they supposedly represent.

The whole Wikileaks episode (which has of course yet to play out in its entirety) is more fuel to the pyre that is the modern Western managed democracy, as Pluto moves unstoppably deeper into Capricorn and shines light into the dark corners of illegitimate power structures.  Like most symbols in astrology, Capricorn is a paradox:  power, governance, authority and respect can only be earned by submission and dedication to the collective will.  To lead is to embody that will, to represent it, to be accountable to it.  Although Pluto can often be experienced as harsh, and is always unavoidable, it is and always will be the great renewer, bringing life back to truth, and restoring the truth to life.

Centre: US Independence Declaration (1776); Surround: Partial Solar Eclipse on 4 Jan 2011

This bi-wheel illustrates the chart for the signing of the US Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776 in Philadelphia. There is some dispute as to the correct time, but here I have used 5pm. The most significant points made in this article are not reliant on a correct time in any case as they relate to transits to relatively slow-moving planets in the chart.

This has got to be one of the most studied horoscopes in the world, depicting as it does the birth of the most powerful nation-state in modern history. With the Sun in Cancer, together with a Venus-Jupiter conjunction in Cancer, we have an image here of intense patriotism, and a vision of unparalleled opportunities for pursuit of wealth and happiness. Cancer can of course be fiercely protective, even violently protective, and very sensitive to criticism; but it can also be childlike and whiny, and expect a lifetime of having its needs met without giving anything in return. While it would be unfair to accuse the USA as the only political entity in the world that has displayed these traits, it would be churlish to dispute the reality that it is this country that consumes more energy resources than any other, and that spends more on defense than all other countries combined. A truly hard shell enclosing a very soft interior.

With the Moon in Aquarius, the people are multi-ethnic, multi-faith and multi-cultural to an extent not before seen in any other nation in the world. One of the characteristics of American society has been the expectation that one is free, free to pursue the lifestyle and ideals that one cherishes, but without interference from the state, or from other people who have different points of view. The very large federation of states, all unique in their own way, is the concrete expression of this placement. Aquarius is the most political of signs, the most objective and principled, and the sign that looks at life as though through a prism, split into it’s many distinct hues.

Sun square Saturn gives the rather Puritan, unforgiving approach to law and order, the attachment to venerated traditions of government, and the supreme position and importance given to the Constitution and the legal profession in matters of everyday concern. Mercury opposite Pluto aptly describes the powerful oligarchs who have fashioned unrivaled communications, transport, media and information technology industries, the penchant for secret intelligence networks, and the microcomputer and digitalization of society which largely originated from American research and development.

Mars square Neptune is the perfect symbol of the fetishization of military life that has become such a characteristic feature of American culture. From the mythic westerns and lone ranger archetypes, through the Hollywood action movies, this glamorization of violence and overly physical portrayal of sexuality has progressed to a massive military sector of national activity and a strong lobby for the right to bear firearms for personal protection.

If the time is correct, Sagittarius rises, giving the country an aura of adventure, growth, optimism, freedom, but also of religious zeal and directness of expression.

On 4 January 2011 (UTC), there will be a partial solar eclipse at 13 Capricorn. This is shown in the outer ring of the bi-wheel (ignore the AS and MC on the outer ring). As you can see, this eclipse directly opposes the US Sun. This is a significant alignment and is suggestive of a time of extra importance in the 3 months before and after this eclipse. But what makes the alignment more interesting is the co-occurring transits from outer planets also visible at this time.

Firstly, the US is experiencing transiting Saturn conjunct natal Saturn (i.e. a Saturn Return). On previous occasions when this transit occurred, the following events took place:
1863/64 – Civil War
1893/94 – Economic depression known as ‘the panic of 1893′ which involved over-development of railroads and the government buying up masses of silver; this was the worst downturn in the US prior to the Great Depression in the 1930’s.
1923 – establishment of the American Law Institute
1952/53 – Korean War ends without peace treaty, CIA helps topple Iranian government in a military coup, CIA starts Project MK-ULTRA, using LSD on people without their consent, and launching an entire 2 decades of secret mind-control experiments operating entirely outside the law
1981/82 – President Reagan authorizes the CIA to recruit and support the Nicaraguan Contras, essentially fomenting a coup in a sovereign country. This operation became complicated in subsequent years by the alleged involvement of US-sanctioned arms sales to Iran to partially fund the assistance to the Nicaraguan anti-government forces (Iran-Contra scandal).

What we see in common at these times is a testing of the integrity of the justice system, the rule of law and re-definition of what are the boundaries between the government and the governed and how these boundaries are respected or transgressed. Saturn in Libra is about fairness, it is about how authority is shared amongst different groups, and ultimately it is about transparency and legal accountability. Currently we can see how the US government has changed the meaning of so many of the laws enshrined in the Constitution that it is difficult to recognize it any more. Torture is legalized, the President can elect to have any citizen killed by dictat, citizens are routinely sexually assaulted by the authorities in airports, and corporations are now unrestrained in how much they can donate to a politician’s electoral campaign. Essentially, political process has ceased to be within the realm of control of individual citizens, and Congress has devolved to a rubber-stamp for implementing the agenda of corporate elites, the military-industrial-intelligence complex and the oligarchs of high finance.

The Sun-Saturn square from Cancer to Libra in the US chart says something about the challenge of leaving one’s private comfort zone, one’s cocooned child-like existence, safe from the cut and thrust of public debate, and actually engaging with others in an intelligent, rational, balanced dialogue, where all the facts are transparently laid out, and nothing is hidden from public oversight. With the January eclipse locking into this square from the Capricorn end, the focus is directed at individual citizens’ personal responsibility towards turning things around, growing up and waking up to the reality that the government and the powers that be will continue the slide into police-state fascism until they are confronted with real opposition. The government and their security and intelligence apparatus are not projections of parental complexes within the minds of citizen-vassals; they are just other adult men and women who have usurped their positions of power unjustly and who need to be held accountable for it – this will require people to develop some backbone and stand up for the original principles in the Constitution. Saturn, Capricorn and Libra are ‘hard’ archetypes. They insist upon engagement and commitment, otherwise they will be lived out as superficiality and tyranny.

Secondly, Pluto, transiting through 5 Capricorn, is opposing Jupiter. The traditional moral codes, the religious practices and the view of the future are facing intense pressure: perhaps without any awareness of what is taking place, attitudes are becoming black-and-white, hardened, absolute, vicious even. Projections fly around, fundamentalism takes root, scapegoats are found, and all the while there is a sense of outrage over the loss of freedoms. With the opposition, there is always someone else to blame. The Jupiterian sense of optimism, common benevolent humanitarian impulses, mercy, charity: these deep archetypal aspects of national character are being put through the meat-grinder as the true reality of economic, political and social circumstances becomes more overt. Breathtaking hypocrisy is the order of the day: the FBI designs terror plots and gives young clueless Muslim patsies money to carry them out, then springs them as terrorists. Habeas Corpus has been relegated to the dustbin. Pilotless drones slaughter innocents in Pakistan in the name of ‘protecting our freedoms’. And contrary to the wishes of the majority, taxpayers’ money is diverted to the accounts of the obscenely wealthy elites, whose own greedy mistakes are thereby rewarded. If the moral universe seems to have turned upside-down, this is because the blessed archetype of the greater benefic has been gutted, pulverized and thrown on the trash-heap as Pluto exposes the rot in the morals of the national psyche.

Thirdly, the transiting lunar nodes, which are about to take their perennial retrograde steps from Capricorn/Cancer into Sagittarius/Gemini, are now transiting Venus, the lesser benefic and symbol of general social happiness and wellbeing, economic vitality and money. Specifically, the south lunar node is conjunct Venus. Suggestive of a fated time of irreversible, make-or-break decisions, the nodal axis is of course central to the phenomenon of eclipses. Something is happening with the currency around this time that may very well have implications for its value well into the future. And this will be intimately connected to general economic health and welfare of the people. My guess is that it is not a positive development from the perspective of the average citizen.

Fourthly, the US Moon is being conjoined by transiting Neptune and Chiron, at 26 and 27 Aquarius. The Neptune-Chiron conjunction has been present for the past 2 years or so, and has corresponded to a sense of disappointment, a feeling of having been deceived, which really points more than anything else to our own willingness to be deceived, our unusually keen capacity to tune into the hypnotic political mantras of highly-skilled manipulators of public expectations, ideals and hopes. Aquarius, being the sign of political idealism par excellence, has shown how everybody can be a star over the past 13 years of Neptune’s residence there; it doesn’t really matter if you don’t really have any principles, all you have to do is appeal to the group’s need for affirmation of the legitimacy of its diversity. Like a reality TV show, a sort of narcissistic reflection of what we aspire to, but with no inherent talent, vision, leadership or genuineness of character, for the last decade politics has degenerated into focus-groups, political correctness, spin and constant abrogation of responsibility for decision-making to unaccountable quangos, or to divine revelation, in the case of Bush and Blair. Obama, the Neptunian saviour who had the audacity to hope, whose change could be believed in, whose origins and identity were suitably diverse, is now reviled by a bitterly deflated people, whose projections, denial and blind emotional investment in a thoroughly corrupt system of politics has delivered them exactly what was predicted – a yes man to power, incapable of any action that might change the nation’s course. Chiron’s gift is pain, often the pain of shame, of being rejected from the mainstream of consensus normality. Two years ago, some people felt they were somehow wrong or rejected if they did not believe in the messiah; now they taste the shame of not wanting to trust their own intuitions for the sake of maintaining the collective trance. We have all been victims of trance abuse, all of us who have ever been unwillingly taken in by advertising, public relations exercises, television, political speeches, religious rituals. But what has taken place in the USA in recent years has been trance abuse on a scale that has been truly shocking to behold.

These are the flavours of the times. The world is watching developments in the USA with a keen interest, as befits a nation of such historical, military and cultural might. The upcoming eclipse, like all eclipses which trigger zero-ecliptic-latitude points in national charts, represents a particularly significant guidepost in time for the fate of this enormously powerful nation and its people. With the USA soon approaching its Pluto Return (due around 2021/22) one vast cycle of death and rebirth is about to come to a close. The 7 exact Uranus-Pluto squares will start to hit from 2012 to 2015, these being the opening squares from the seed conjunction in the mid-1960’s, and it is a matter of historical record how vastly significant that decade was in the transformation of politics and culture in the USA; this current decade may well represent something of a reprise. One thing is certain: by the end of this decade, the United States of America and its people will be fundamentally transformed.

Chart by Kairon for iPad

Molly Malone

On 7 December 2010, 1 day after the 88th anniversary of the Irish Free State, the Irish government will debate a budget unprecedented in severity, against a backdrop of international economic emergency whose scale is becoming more alarming by the week. Against enormous popular opposition, the government has agreed to the terms of a bailout package from the EU and the IMF to the tune of €85,000,000,000. The country is effectively bankrupt, and the situation has come about because of massive amounts of political corruption, inadequate regulation of financial, banking and property businesses, and a heady atmosphere of greed, profligacy and speculation that is characteristic of capitalist bubbles. While it is easy to point fingers at the government, particularly the politicians of the past 15 years or so, who piloted the state along through the boom years to its ultimate economic demise, there were few complaints from the population when the so-called Celtic Tiger was throwing credit around like confetti.

What goes up must come down, and the state is now in the embarrassing situation of going cap in hand to international financial agencies begging for assistance – which will be at great cost to the individual citizen. Indeed the cost will not merely be a financial one, but also something deeper – political power over the state’s very governance. The most important financial and strategic decisions affecting the lives of every citizen – their health and welfare, their education, their retirement entitlements – are to all intents and purposes being made by external agencies. A large degree of sovereignty has been lost, inasmuch as it ever truly existed since the events of the early 1920s.

Astrologically, these events may be observed through the prism of the long-term cycle of Pluto, the planet which represents the root-and-branch renewal that only occurs following large-scale destruction and shucking off of what has decayed, of what has become rotten and needs to be left behind. Pluto transited through Sagittarius between 1995 and 2008, which were the Tiger years, and the symbolism of Sagittarius is fitting for the expansionary, growth-obsessed and confident mood of these times. Sagittarius always knows it is right, even though it may not be so good at the critical details and practical implications of its grand designs; while its exuberance and confidence can be intoxicating, a degree of moral hypocrisy and arrogance, not to mention ‘hot air’ can often be it’s downfall.

When Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008, to stay in this pragmatic earth sign until 2024, everything changed, apparently for the worse. Capricorn is associated with the symbolism of The Tower in the tarot deck – the problem with achieving great success is that there is a long way to fall when the good times come to an end. Capricorn represents the father principle, in the sense of the planning, scheming, strategising and organising that is required to cover all bases, to insure against losses, to anticipate problems and always prepare for the worst case scenario. It is responsibility, in a word. Or perhaps reality. Which is often of the cold, hard kind. Who is it in society who takes on these roles? Parents, authority figures, politicians, law-makers, executives. People who are entrusted to take responsibility for public things, and to do so reliably, but also within the bounds of their roles, in other words subject to accountability. Good Capricorn is accountable, responsible leadership, to be looked up to, one who supports and provides guidance. Bad Capricorn is devious, sly, coldly selfish and contemptuous of those beneath him, one who glorifies the form or process at the expense of the purpose.

As Pluto has crossed this solstitial threshold from the ninth to the tenth sign, a cusp that has always had enormous mundane (political and governmental) significance within astrological lore, we have witnessed a collapse of governance on a widespread basis. Cynicism and skepticism reign anew, and there is a pervasive bitterness and frustration that people in positions of power have abused, or are abusing, their authority.

At a deeper level, the transit indicates a transformation of how we define public positions, public entities and the levels of hierarchy within society. What does a sovereign state actually mean nowadays, in an era when royal families are long gone, and vast movements of culturally diverse peoples have diluted and mixed what were once more clearly-defined polities? At a time when corporations now outrank nation-states in economic power, and supranational, unelected bodies preside over people’s economic conditions? But equally compelling is the question of what we regard as our responsibility to the public good, as opposed to what we can get out of the state for our own benefit.

Easter Rising (1916)

There are three main charts that are used for Ireland amongst astrologers. These are:

(1) the Easter Rising (24 April 1916, 12:25pm GMT, Dublin)
(2) the first assembly of the Parliament of the Irish Free State (6 December 1922, 5pm, Dublin)
(3) the Republic of Ireland, which was created when the Irish Free State finally severed its link to the British Crown (18 April 1949, 12am, Dublin)

Irish Free State (1922)

Note the position of the Ascendant in the 1922 chart, at 29 Gemini, perhaps symbolic of the divided nature of the island, two political entities, two traditions, and in the South two Civil War factions which have survived as Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, perhaps representative of different constituencies but identical in economic philosophy. This theme is repeated in the exact Sun-Mercury conjunction at 13 Sagittarius, suggestive of enterprising but ‘tricky’ and cunning business practices, the overly tolerant nod-nod wink-wink culture of profiteering at others’ expense.

Within hours of this year’s Capricorn Solstice (21 December 2010) there will be a lunar eclipse at 29 Gemini, and this lunar eclipse will be the full phase of the lunation starting with a new moon on 5 December, at 13 Sagittarius. Hence this chart for the Irish Free State is being very strongly activated in the period roughly 3 months either side of the solstice. Charles Jayne and LE Johndro, who wrote extensively on the interactions between eclipses and mundane and natal charts, repeatedly emphasised the importance of eclipses landing on the degrees of the Ascendant, MC, Sun and lunar nodes, because these chart points have zero ecliptic latitude, similar to eclipses themselves, by definition.

But there are other connections occurring to this chart. Transiting Uranus, at 26 Pisces, is conjunct the south lunar node, a point often symbolic of release of the past, suggesting sudden events drawing a line across a chapter in Irish history. In fact, Uranus stations direct on 6 December. Transiting Neptune & Chiron, both at 26 Aquarius, conjoin Mars and square Venus. This exact Mars-Venus square symbolises the violent, uncompromising desire for control of economic resources, land and sovereignty that has motivated the struggle for independence from the beginning. Neptune brings a sense of unreality, deception, perhaps confusion, but with Chiron it casts a spell of disillusionment, a bitter atmosphere of anger over how the mess of economic ruin has been to some degree self-inflicted, or at least based on a now clearly insubstantial fantasy of wealth and endless prosperity. Finally, this chart is now experiencing it’s third Saturn Return, transiting Saturn now being at 15 Libra, and closing in on natal Saturn at 17 Libra over the coming weeks. Saturn in Libra – the hard reality of justice, the unavoidable accountability to public democratic opinion, the difficult business of sharing authority amongst opposing factions. Isn’t it interesting that this chart’s last Saturn Return occurred in Summer 1982, at the height of the GUBU scandal involving a double-murderer staying in the residence of the Attorney-General, as well as the phone-tapping scandal involving the then Fianna Fail government of Charles Haughey, and an economic situation almost as dire as that which Ireland is now facing?

Republic of Ireland (1949)

In the chart for the Republic of Ireland, we can see that transiting Pluto, at 4 Capricorn, and the transiting nodal axis, at 2 Capricorn/Cancer, are squaring the MC, at 3 Libra. The MC is the point that symbolises the highest public representation or official image of the country: the government, the standing and credibility of Ireland on the world stage. The nodal axis suggests a time of one-off decisions that once made, will reverberate for many years down the road, a time with a ‘make-or-break’ feel to it. Pluto’s involvement always means something has died and needs to be outgrown, as intense and difficult as the process of sloughing it off may seem. It must be discarded because it no longer represents the truth, and will only get in the way of what must now be done.

When Pluto reaches 10 Capricorn, it will oppose the exact Moon-Pluto conjunction in the Free State chart – around 2012-13. It will be interesting to see if this will coincide with a renewal of popular feelings of patriotism and cultural belonging, as the state’s population becomes more expressive of a deep-rooted need to cling to the local and familiar, in opposition to what may be perceived as tyrannical and hostile external authorities. As Pluto moves slowly through Capricorn, there will always be the possibility of the utilisation of the scapegoat as a means of displacing bitterness, resentment and frustration. One hopes that the higher side of Capricorn can be envisioned instead, and new, more responsive and responsible institutions of governance can emerge to publicly represent and work for the needs of all citizens.

Charts by Kairon for iPad, sourced from the Book of World Horoscopes, by N Campion (Wessex Astrologer, 2004)

Image of Molly Malone by Tom Courtney [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Australian Federal Election (2010)

The Australian Federal Election has been called for 21 August 2010.  The main battle is between the incumbent Australian Labor Party (ALP) government led by prime minister Julia Gillard, and the Liberal Party / National Party coalition (LNP) led by Tony Abbott.  This election is remarkable for a number of reasons.  First, the events which took place in the government in the past 6 weeks:  the then sitting prime minister, Kevin Rudd, who took the ALP to power for the first time in 11 years at the 2007 election, was ousted in a very sudden coup by Gillard, on 24 June 2010, two days before a powerful lunar eclipse conjunct Pluto.  That a sitting PM was ousted by an internal party coup was generally regarded as exceptional and unprecedented.  Second, having ousted Rudd from the leadership, Gillard became the first female prime minister in Australian history.  Third, Abbott himself is a relatively new party leader, having himself ousted Malcolm Turnbull as leader of the Liberal Party at the end of 2009 during a crisis in the Liberal Party brought about by strong differences of opinion over a carbon-trading scheme.

Julia Gillard

Gillard is a 48-year-old industrial lawyer who is unmarried and has no children, although she has a defacto partner.  In this respect, as well as her gender, she represents a major change.  Born in Wales, she emigrated in her childhood and was raised in Adelaide.  She has worked in union politics and has experience in workplace relations law.  Her chart (untimed) shows a Gemini Moon (quick-witted, strong communication skills, but prone to change her mind frequently), a Libran Sun (a knack for negotiation, aiming for consensus, but can dodge direct action, preferring to defer to a more balanced and harmonious approach) and a Venus-Pluto conjunction in Virgo (strong likes and dislikes, a fondness for cutting debate, tastes and appearances that may stir up taboos, but also a comfort with power).  Born in 1961, she has the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Capricorn in her chart – she has a strong political instinct, an understanding of the need to win social approval in order to advance her agenda.

Tony Abbott

Abbott, 52, trained as a journalist but also spent some time studying to be a priest.  He is married with three teenage daughters, and openly professes a strong Roman Catholic faith.  He is also known to have strong monarchist sentiments.  Again, I have no time for Abbot’s birth, but his Moon is most likely to be in Aries, with the Sun definitely in Scorpio – this fits his image of a sort of ‘action-man’ figure, often involving himself in sporting events, whether swimming in his ‘budgie-smugglers’, running long-distance or going on long bushwalks in remote areas of the country.  He certainly appears to be very physically fit, and boxed when he was a younger man.  Despite his strongly conservative moral values, particularly with respect to sexuality and the roles of women, he himself projects a strongly physical and sexual image.  He is known to have a tendency to impulsive remarks which he later regrets, often revealing his true feelings with little tact.  With his Sun exactly square Uranus, he has very strong principles and does not particularly care if others disagree with them, or if they are regarded as different from the group.  He has expressed scepticism about climate-change, saying in 2009 that it was ‘a load of crap’ and has also openly acknowledged his tendency to impulsive comments, asking the public not to take these too seriously.  With his Venus at 28 Sagittarius, conjunct Chiron in the chart for Australian Federation, he resonates to the image of the ‘fair dinkum Aussie bloke’ who is not ashamed of his bluntness or clumsy articulation of what he fervently believes to be right.  But with his Saturn conjunct the Venus-Uranus conjunction in the chart for Australian Federation, he is seen by a large segment of the population as too stuck in the past, and a weight on more radical ideas of progress.

Both candidates have Mars in the same position, at 27 degrees Libra – this is the competition of ideas, an open and honest fight, a battle of image as well as political mantras.

Looking at the chart for the start of the election at 8am on 21 August 2010 in Canberra, the nation’s capital, we can see the following.  Using the traditional astrological technique of assuming the planetary ruler of the fourth house to represent the leader of the opposition, and of the tenth house to represent the incumbent.  Gillard is Mercury, stationing retrograde in Virgo in the first whole-sign house (or twelfth by Placidus).  Strong in Virgo, and the trine to the Moon will perfect during the election day – perhaps indicative of strong votes from women.  But the retrograde is hard to see as a beneficial phenomenon – more like a turn of the tide against her on the day.  I think her significator being Mercury is apt, with her Moon in Gemini natally, and her careful, exact, but boring style of talking.

Abbott is represented by Jupiter, also retrograde (but has been for some time), in Aries – this gives it a little dignity by term only.  Being exactly opposite Saturn and square Pluto, Abbott represents very strong conservative elements in the society, and perhaps has a more atavistic, instinctive style in his communication and presentation of himself.  In addition is the conjunction with Uranus – the maverick unpredictable nature.  But he fits the Aries placement, as his Moon is likely in Aries natally, and he just oozes the masculine, no-bullshit ‘action-man’ image of Aries.  Jupiter is in the eighth by whole-sign and the seventh by Placidus.

The Mars/Venus conjunction suggests it will a close-run thing – plenty of exciting competition and a fun, sociable, election night.

Even though Mercury will be trined by the Moon, the Moon is in detriment in Capricorn – the people are not happy.  They may express this through ‘turning on’ the retrograde Mercury – Gillard.

Australian Federation (1901)

Also, note that the MC/IC axis of this chart is exactly on the Neptune/Chiron opposition of the Federation chart.  So – the government is seen as like Neptune in Gemini (deceptive, vague, hard to believe, identified with vacillation on climate change, desiring to control information via internet filters, imposing an ideology on educational standards).  The opposition is seen more as Chiron in Sagittarius (basically optimistic about the future, believers in economic growth despite its environmental problems, clumsy in saying things that can hurt minorities, unashamedly capitalist in outlook).

Also note that in the election chart the Sun is exactly opposite, and separating from, an opposition to Neptune, and applying to the opposition to Chiron.  So the leadership is passing from Neptune to Chiron.  There is a sense that the position of PM and leadership in general has become excessively artificial, synthetic, trying to please everyone, afraid of offending minorities, too much use of focus groups etc.

Does this mean I think Abbott will win?  Well I think it will be very close.  Gillard’s significator is essentially strong, is trined by the Moon, and is in the first house by whole-sign houses.  The only fly in the ointment is the fact that it turns retrograde on the very day of the election.  However I keep thinking of her accession to the prime-mininsterial post occurring 2 days before a very intense and transformative lunar eclipse in Capricorn – events occurring closely prior to an eclipse can turn out with quite unexpected results.

Another factor to keep in mind is that the progressed Sun of the Australian Federation chart ingresses into Taurus on 27 August 2010, only six days after the election; for the past thirty years or so, the dispositors of Australia’s progressed Sun have been Mars and the Sun, but starting with the next government, and for the next 30 years, they will be Venus and the Moon.  Does this suggest a change to a female leader?  If the close Venus-Mars conjunction in Libra on Election Day represents the tight race, Mars being in detriment also suggests a Gillard victory.

The transiting Sun on Election Day will conjoin Gillard’s North Node and Uranus at the end of Leo, chiming in with her campaign mantra of ‘looking forward’.  This may suggest her role of symbol of radical advancement for this country to the extent that if she wins the prime minister will not only be a woman, but unmarried and without children.  Whether one regards this as a good thing or a bad thing, or even whether one sees it as an issue at all, one cannot but accept that it breaks the mould of all previous office-holders in Canberra.

Other than that Mercury station retrograde, it seems like the astrology is describing a win for Julia Gillard.  Nevertheless I think Abbott may still win.  Despite his significator being in the eighth house by whole-sign houses, surely not an auspicious position, it is locked so closely to that ultra-exact Saturn-Pluto square that he may get over the line even if only by scaring people into nightmare scenarios of economic woe and appealing to base fears about border security.

For the record, I have no personal interest in either major party winning, as I will not be voting for either of them!

In June and July 2010 there are two eclipses, a partial lunar eclipse visible from the Pacific Ocean and surrounds on 26 June 2010, and a total solar eclipse visible from the South Pacific.  The eclipses interact with the cardinal t-square in interesting ways.  Here is the C*I*A’s latest video mini-documentary which explores the topic further…