Uranus at 0º Aries

At 11:43 AM AEST on Friday 28^th May 2010, Uranus moved into Aries.  Taking approximately 84 years to complete one revolution of the zodiac, Uranus last ingressed into the first zodiac sign on 1 April 1927, and remained there until 28 March 1935, when it finally moved into Taurus.  Although Uranus will station retrograde on 6 July 2010 at 0º35’ Aries and return to Pisces from 15 August 2010 until 13 March 2011, it will subsequently remain in Aries until 16 May 2018, when it moves into Taurus.  This table summarizes the relevant dates:

Date (AEST)	Position
28 May 2010	0º00’ Aries
6 July 2010	0º35’ Aries (Station Retrograde)
15 August 2010	29º59’ Pisces
6 December 2010	26º40’ Pisces (Station Direct)
13 March 2011	0º00’ Aries
16 May 2018	0º00’ Taurus
8 August 2018	2º33’ Taurus (Station Retrograde)
7 November 2018	29º59’ Aries
7 January 2019	28º36’ Aries (Station Direct)
6 March 2019	0º00’ Taurus

Being the first sign of the zodiac, Aries represents the spark of new life, the almost pre-conscious urge to act, the impulse to step forth and initiate a process.  It is about projection of will into the world, pushing forward with directed force, assertion of self against the surroundings.  Being of the cardinal mode (enterprising, initiating, action-oriented) and the fire element (spontaneity, intuition, imagination, future-oriented, concerned with possibilities, vivacious and lively), Aries is not interested in following others, in towing the line, in exercising care and patience; Aries acts directly, impulsively, simply, bluntly.  It is the very spirit of life, of animation, of movement, of impulse.

Uranus, being the planet that represents the human urge to transcend limitations – physical, psychological, emotional, technological – is generally regarded as a somewhat disruptive influence, associated with sudden shifts of perspective, flashes of deep insight, drastic changes, unexpected developments and rebelliousness.  It is associated with intense discharges of energy, electrical currents, lightning, epileptic seizures.  Uranus tends to the bizarre, eccentric, perverse, extreme.  Like Prometheus who stole the creative fire of the gods and gave it to humanity, the principle of Uranus is the creativity of the magus, the daring to see beyond the immediate or proximal appearances in order to envision the greater context, the pure objectivity of the best scientific endeavour, the refusal to accept ne plus ultra and the audacity to challenge orthodox ideology.

Politically, the period of the late 1920’s and the early 1930’s were characterised by bold advances by the parties of the far-right (Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, the southern US, etc.) in opposition to popular and widespread socialist and communist movements.  In the USSR, the communist forces showed no limits in their use of force to impose their sociopolitical vision.  Although many of the crises and wars directly resulting from these movements did not occur until the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, this period of Uranus in Aries was a time when previously inconceivable plans and ideas (because of their extreme nature) were put into action.  The early thirties witnessed the height of the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, the legalisation and promulgation of euthanasia and sterilisation for ‘non-pure’ or disabled or otherwise ‘socially undesirable’ people in Germany, but also, positively, the Salt March and Indian peaceful independence movement led by Gandhi, and the New Deal policies of Franklin D Roosevelt in the US.

In terms of humanitarian law and justice, the International Red Cross / Red Crescent was established in October 1928, with a mission to tend to the medical needs of casualties of war regardless of political / national identification, exemplifying the capacity to promote the highest principles of the human ethic in the midst of violence and combat.

This time saw the public demonstration of long-distance television transmission as well as colour television and the start of televised sporting and political events.  This is significant as Aries is particularly associated with the eyes and the visual sense.  Movie-theatres began to screen ‘talkies’, ending the era of silent movies, adding to the immediacy of the cinematic experience.  Air travel became widespread on an intercontinental basis, with several records set for first solo flights across oceans and continents.  Other inventions included the radiosonde, the cyclotron, and the rocket-powered aircraft.

Flash Gordon (1934)

Brave New World, Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel about the future, widely seen as a reaction to the uncritical progressivism and self-centred culture of modernity, was published in 1931.  Flash Gordon, the original comic superhero, was first published in January 1934.  The Museum of Modern Art opened in New York in 1929, indicating the awareness of a major change of genre and context within the visual arts – this is arguably the most influential modern art museum in the world.

So, all up, this was a time of bold new ideas applied and enacted, sudden advances in speed of communication and transport, unfettered assumption of executive power, courageous challenge to existing authorities, identification with ‘fitness’, bravery, purity, success, advancement, unapologetic victory.

We need to keep in mind, however, that while Uranus was in Aries during these years, it was forming its closing square to Pluto.  These squares were exact on 22 April 1932 (20º02’ Aries and Cancer), 2 September 1932 (22º55’ Aries and Cancer), 9 March 1933 (21º23’ Aries and Cancer), 5 November 1933 (24º44’ Aries and Cancer) and 18 January 1934 (23º35’ Aries and Cancer).  This may explain some of the focus of the fascist policies on race, genetic fitness and mythic nationalism, as our notions of our very origins, birth endowment and our biological provenance and how these can be feared or used as the currencies of great power transactions, are redolent of Pluto in Cancer.  The Uranus in Aries part of these squares seems to be more reflective of the unwillingness to see any appropriate boundary to these notions, the refusal to be bound by older or more traditional moral guides to how these issues should be treated, and more than this, a sense of impatience with imperfections, an impetuous arrogant will to ‘play God’ in determining who is fit and capable and who is useless, and to hasten such inevitable conflict as occurs between viability and non-viability (however these terms are to be defined).

And now Uranus is back in Aries, and this time it will again be squaring Pluto, although not exactly until 2012 (after which the aspect will perfect 7 times until 2015), which will be in Capricorn this time round, the opposite sign to Cancer.  The degrees of cardinal signs affected (namely Aries and Capricorn) will be from approximately 6º to 15º, somewhat earlier than the previous series of squares discussed above.  Where Pluto in Cancer showed us the horror of untramelled forces of racism and nationalism, and the tyranny that can exist within the notion of family, Pluto in Capricorn is exposing the nasty truths underlying the state, corporatism, and social, legal, political and religious institutions in general.

It will be interesting to see what new, bold, shocking visions of the world will be fought for in the coming decade:  will we see the courage to confront the major problems affecting the globe like pollution, resource depletion and inequality, climate change and militant corporatism, or will long-unquestioned limits to human endeavour in these areas be transgressed without restraint?  Perhaps we need to focus our minds on the best of Uranus (implacable principles, willingness to change deeply, even reverse direction, creative genius, humanism, rationalism, constant questioning and never accepting traditional answers) as well as the best of Aries (leadership, direction, bravery, honesty, spontaneity) to fashion principles that may be a guide to the turbulence of the years ahead.

Flag of Thailand

Over the past two years or so, there has been increasing civil unrest in Bangkok, the Thai capital.  This has escalated in the past two months, resulting in at least 30 deaths and over 800 injuries, as clashes have erupted between the Red Shirts, who are a group of demonstrators allied with the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), and the Thai security forces, responsive to the government led by prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.  The UDD are demanding new elections and the dissolution of the current government.  They claim that Mr Vejjajiva’s party, the Democrat Party, used corrupt military and political influence to force the implementation of a new Thai constitution, following a military coup in 2006 which ousted the then prime minster Thaksin Shinawatra, leader of the Thai Rak Thai Party, a coup which Mr Vejjajiva did not oppose.  Elections in 2005, prior to the coup, resulted in Mr Vejjajiva’s Democrat Party’s overwhelming defeat.  However, following these elections, members of the Democrat Party fomented rumours that Mr Shinawatra was attempting to overthrow the long-established monarchy and form a republic in its place.  In addition, Mr Vejjajiva called for the monarch (King Bhumibol Adulyadej) to replace Mr Shinawatra, which prompted the King to issue a rare statement, to the effect that this would be undemocratic and wrong.  At the time of fresh elections in 2006, the Democrat Party not only boycotted the elections, but have now been found by an independent commission to have bribed other political parties to boycott the election as well, which deadlock resulted in the 2006 military coup.

Shinawatra led an unusually stable period of government between 2001 and 2006, and commanded large popular support in the 2005 elections.  He implemented popular measures aimed at alleviating poverty and introduced universal healthcare.  However he was accused of being disrespectful to the monarchy, tax evasion, press censorship and selling Thai assets to international investors.  In 2008 he was found guilty in absentia by the Thai Supreme Court of electoral fraud and sentenced to two years in prison, but has been living overseas ever since.

Essentially, the current civil unrest is a battle between populist pro-Shinawatra supporters who feel that he was acting in accordance with the wishes of the common Thai people, and more authoritarian, conservative forces, as well as their popular representatives (the Yellow Shirts), who have support in the military, who view his reforms as excessively leftist and his modus operandi as corrupt.

There are two main charts used by astrologers wishing to examine the nation-state of Thailand.

Thailand (1782)

Although the Thai people have a long and fascinating history, the origins of the current Thai monarchy date back to 1782, when the Khmer regime in present-day Thailand was defeated.  This was the start of the Chakri dynasty, of whom the current monarch is the ninth King, reigning since 1946.  The chart shows Uranus at 29º14’ Gemini opposing Jupiter, at 28º51’ Sagittarius, and also Saturn, at 1º13’ Capricorn.

Thailand (1932)

The more recent chart used for Thailand is that for the start of a constitutional monarchy, when the first constitution was written in 1932.  This occurred following a revolution by a mixture of military figures and civilians comprising The People’s Party.  This chart contains a close Uranus/Pluto square (at 22º59’ Aries and 21º15’ Cancer), and the Sun is at 2º10’ Cancer.

Fitting for a country with such a close and tense aspect between Uranus and Pluto, Thailand has been subject to 17 different constitutions since 1932, and has been notable for the frequency of military coups and instability of governments.

The 11 October 1997 Constitution was the first in Thai history to set up a bicameral legislature, with both houses of parliament directly elected by the people.  Saturn in the 1932 chart (symbolic of the constitution, the legal backbone of the nation-state) at 3º32’ Aquarius was being conjoined by Uranus at 4º44’ Aquarius, and sextiled by Pluto at 3º45’ Sagittarius, as well as squared by Chiron at 4˚48’ Scorpio.

Transiting Saturn at 16˚50’ Aries was conjoining the Sun of the 1782 chart at 16˚19’ Aries.  Transiting Uranus was at 4˚44’ Aquarius, but retrograding back from its conjunctions with the 1782 chart’s Pluto at 8˚10’ Aquarius, which had occurred in April and June 1997, and occurred again in January 1998.  This was a fundamental re-structuring of the executive power of the leadership of the country, really a check on monarchistic privilege, and represented a radical awakening and intensification of the communitarian and democratic spirit within Thailand.

With the cardinal t-square of Jupiter and Uranus around 0º Aries, Pluto around 3-6º Capricorn and Saturn around 0-6º Libra from now until around August 2010, potent forces are acting upon both major charts.  It is important to note that the first rumblings of the great Uranus/Pluto squares of the 2010’s make up part of the cardinal t-square, an aspect which, as we have seen above, is significant in the history of the development of the Thai nation-state.  The Jupiter/Saturn conjunction, opposite Uranus, in the 1782 chart is being transited; as is the Sun in the 1932 chart.

Thaksin Shinawatra (time unknown)

Interestingly, both Shinawatra and Vejjajiva have planets in the first degrees of Cancer, also being closely transited by the t-square:  Shinawatra has Mars and Uranus conjunct at 2º Cancer, and Vejjajiva also has Mars at 2º Cancer, as well as the North Node at 1º Cancer.

Abhisit Vejjajiva (time unknown)

In fact, one could say that the common Mars position of both men is the missing point in the cardinal grand cross of July/August 2010, which is also conjunct the Sun in the 1932 chart.  And so the next 2-3 months seem to be building to a climax of conflict as the nation is trying to determine which of these two political forces will gain the upper hand:  the populist, reformist agenda of Shinawatra and the UDD (the Red Shirts), or the more royalist, elitist and militarist tendencies of Vejjajiva (the Yellow Shirts).

The lunar eclipse of 1 January 2010 at 10º14’ Cancer conjoined Venus (justice, legal matters, peace, harmony) at 10º25’ Cancer in the 1932 chart.  The annular solar eclipse of 15 January 2010 at 25º01’ Capricorn conjoined the MC (national reputation and the government) of the 1782 chart, at 25º54’ Capricorn.  The long total solar eclipse of 22 July 2009, at 29º26’ Cancer, opposed the Moon (the people and their needs, popular expressions of feeling) in the 1782 chart, at 29º18’ Capricorn.  In the coming eclipse season, the total solar eclipse of 12 July 2010, at 19º23’ Cancer, is not far from Pluto (organised criminality, conspiracies, powerful interests) in the 1932 chart, at 21º10’ Cancer (and hence square Uranus (revolutionary forces) at 22º53’ Aries).  All up, this is a lot of eclipse activity connected with these charts, again indicating major focus on Thailand currently.

Brought to a head through the intense synergy of the combined waves of multiple planetary cycles synchronizing around July/August 2010, the tension in Thailand is an early manifestation of similar struggles which will occur around the world in the decade of 2010’s which we have just embarked upon.  These troubled times will see open conflict between rational, egalitarian, democratic and progressive politics and institutions and regimes that cling ever more desperately to positions of power and control even as they are rotting at their core.  This is the opening square of Uranus to Pluto; and Thailand, which resonates so much to the cycle of these planets, is quite fittingly introducing us to the decade ahead.

On 11 May 2010, David Cameron was invited by Queen Elizabeth II to take the job of prime minister and form a government of the United Kingdom, following the resignation of Gordon Brown.  This followed the results of the general election held on 6 May 2010, which were such that no one political party commanded an overall majority of the seats in the House of Commons.  Following intense negotiations Cameron’s Conservative Party agreed to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, led by Nick Clegg.

This result is interesting for a variety of reasons.  Firstly, it is the first time that the UK has had a coalition government since Winston Churchill’s wartime coalition between 1940 and 1945.  Secondly, David Cameron is the youngest person to hold the office of prime minister since the early nineteenth century, at the age of 43.  Thirdly, it brings to an end a period of 13 years of Labour Party government, and hence indicates a significant change of political climate in the UK.

Looking at the astrology behind this change in government, there are some fascinating insights to be revealed.

David Cameron

David Cameron was born on 9 October 1966 at 5:55am BST^* in London.  Owing to the uncertainty of his birth-time, and the proximity of his Ascendant to the 0º cusp of Libra, it is possible that he has a Virgo ascendant or a Libra ascendant.  Nevertheless it is likely to be in very late Virgo or very early Libra.  This is interesting given that at the time of his elevation to the post of PM, the transiting cardinal t-square (which is still tightening) was in the late degrees of Pisces (Jupiter at 25º48’ & Uranus at 29º25’) and Virgo (Saturn at 28º09’), and early degrees of Capricorn (Pluto at 5º08’).  Cameron has the signature 1960’s alignment in his chart, the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Virgo opposite the Saturn-Chiron conjunction in Pisces, shared by millions born in the mid-1960’s and so descriptive of the changes in collective consciousness occurring in the world at that time.  He very much represents a new generation of political leaders in this respect.

We should examine the meaning of this central 1960’s planetary configuration in more depth because it is really starting to come to prominence now, embodied in the lives of those born with it in their charts.  Virgo is the sign that follows Leo, and is of the earth element (materialism, practicality, substance, realism), whereas Leo is of the fire element (creativity, spontaneity, vivacity, intuition).  Where Leo creates, Virgo improves; where Leo orders, Virgo manages; where Leo demonstrates, Virgo criticizes; where Leo plays, Virgo perfects.  And so, where the generation with Pluto in Leo (between roughly 1940 and 1956) experiences its power-relations with the collective masses, its political agency, as declarative, self-obsessed, somewhat child-like, almost imperial and centred on strong personality and charisma, the generation with Pluto in Virgo (between roughly 1956 and 1971) views power and its expression as fundamentally corrective, managerial, precise, detailed, modelled, almost hygienic.  Classically, being both the rulership and exaltation of Mercury, Virgo has a rational, discriminative, analytical quality, but being of the element of earth, it applies such intelligence not to abstractions, but to the real world, particularly to the world of disorder, or what appears to be chaotic.  In this sense, the group born with Pluto in Virgo has a generational imperative to ‘fix the world’, to carefully assess and identify what has become disordered, and to correct it.  For this group of people, what matters more than anything is efficiency, productivity, lack of waste, and clever design.

Uranus conjoined Pluto in the mid-sixties, and started a new Uranus-Pluto cycle, which lasts around 130 years.  The first-quarter phase of this cycle, the opening square from Uranus to Pluto, is starting to occur around now, and will have 7 precise passes between 2012 and 2015.  This suggests that some of the themes which first cropped up in world politics and culture in the mid-sixties will do so again, but this time there will be a sense of wanting to make something lasting out of these impulses.  Uranus, being the symbol of Promethean fire brought from the gods to mortal humans, represents challenges to the status quo, rebellion, revolution, unemotional clarity of reason, sudden and unexpected developments, fractures in time and space.  A good image of Uranian energy is lightning, as a sudden bolt of intense energy discharging a situation of polarized antagonistic forces.  Pluto represents power, decay, inevitable transformative processes, often hidden or unseen but developing irrepressibly in the background.  The Uranus-Pluto cycle is the cycle of revolutionary changes in politics and government, of profound discontinuities in our conception of time and space, of powerful technological developments.  With both planets conjunct in Virgo in the 1960’s, there was an upwelling of anarchistic forces in the collective, from anti-war rallies to the civil rights movements to hippies, LSD and flower-power, the dawn of the contraceptive pill and feminism, massive space exploration programs and the Moon landing, the birth of microcomputers, the ‘Green’ revolution in agriculture and widespread permissiveness in moral attitudes combined with ecological and holistic views of humanity’s place in the world.

When Saturn and Chiron together opposed the Uranus-Pluto conjunction around 1965-1967, at the height of its exactitude, the forces of tradition, of authoritarian limitation and suspicion, of discipline and regulation, cracked down on this new spirit of liberation and resulted in a crisis of social cohesiveness which was most alarming to governments at the time.  Riots, demonstrations, legal prohibitions, assassinations:  the sixties was a dynamic time, an exciting time, but also a violent and frightening time for many.

And so it is this configuration that lies dormant in the horoscopes of all those born in that turbulent decade, including the new prime minister of the UK.  We would expect that, if he were to live out the potentials inherent in this configuration, David Cameron would be in a position where he is faced with an enormous dilemma, symbolized by this hugely powerful opposition of archtypal forces:  when faced with crisis, with a fork in the road, should one ally oneself with the traditional views, the accepted practices, the received wisdom (based on thinking that is often little deeper than fear and hysteria – Saturn in Pisces), or should one implement drastic and profound change of a corrective nature, based on impartial and rational analysis of the problems we face?  This is the question of our time, this is the inescapable conundrum which humanity now contemplates, pitting the truths of objective scientific observation and inference against the limiting, conservative, pusillanimous defences of the past.

With the Sun in Libra, Cameron leads with his sense of fairness, reason and tact, ideally suited to a co-operative arrangement where he sees himself providing a counterbalance to ideas, as presiding over an alternating interplay of thesis and antithesis, forever seeking a rational and pleasing consensus.  He throws about him an aura of urbanity, sophistication and intelligence, but can be given to vanity.  With his Moon conjunct Jupiter in Leo, we see his upper-class origins, establishment to the core, scion of royalty and privilege.  There is a passionate feeling of nationalistic pride, an ease with executive position, an innate instinct for what is most dignified in morals.  The pitfall is a tendency to get carried away with a grandiose ego-mythology.  Mercury in Scorpio gives penetrating insights, capacity to deal with what must be kept secret, and the willingness to confront intellectual dishonesty, despite an underlying cynicism.

United Kingdom (1801)

Cameron’s chart shows intriguing synastry with that of arguably the foremost astrological map of his country – the chart for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (the Act of Union, 1801).  As I have mentioned in previous blog entries, since most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, this chart has in a sense been superceded, but it still I think says something about the historic greatness of the British Empire and all that has been fated to happen to it since.

The prime minister’s Ascendant and MC, in the first cardinal degrees, are conjunct/square to the UK’s Uranus, at 1º54’ Libra.  Just as he has acceded to office at his own Uranus opposition, he represents the daring boldness of precocity.  His Venus at 7º33’ Libra exactly conjuncts the UK Ascendant at 7º10’ Libra, lending a very beneficial and charming edge to the image of the country.  His Jupiter at 1º37’ Leo is exactly conjunct Jupiter at 1º51’ Leo in the UK chart, suggesting self-confidence and proud identification with all that is great in his country.  Cameron’s Neptune at 20º36’ Scorpio is conjunct the UK’s Neptune at 18º44’ Scorpio, i.e. he was born at the time of the UK’s Neptune Return.  He carries within him a dream of a once-great empire, a glorious realm lost in the distant past, a vision which nurtures his deepest political instincts.  His Sun, at 15º27’ Libra, is conjunct the South Node of the UK, at 14º04’ Libra:  he identifies as a figure who is somehow fated to change the trajectory of his country in a way which connects strongly with its distant past.

Nick Clegg was born on 7 January 1967 at 5:30 AM GMT in Chalfont St Giles, near London.**  Although he has a Capricorn Sun and a Sagittarius Moon, he was also born with the Uranus/Pluto conjunction in Virgo, like the similarly-aged Cameron.

Nick Clegg

Clegg has a dynamic and driven nature, with a very exact Sun-Mars square in cardinal signs, and his Mars, at 16º58’ Libra, conjuncts Cameron’s Sun, at 15º27’ Libra.  This synastric aspect, together with the square between both men’s Sun positions, suggests that they may end up being capable of working hard together, with great dynamism, but it may not feel natural or comfortable for either of them.  Their strong Libran natures should help smooth their differences.  Clegg’s chart also shows strong synastry with that of the UK.  His Moon at 2º52’ Sagittarius squares the UK’s Pluto at 2º42’ Pisces – reflecting a private life that may cross certain long-established taboos.  His Mercury at 9º41’ Capricorn conjoins the UK’s Sun, at 10º11’ Capricorn, and opposes the UK’s MC at 9º20’ Cancer – confirming his role as intermediary or deal-maker in the formation of the nation’s government.  His Jupiter at 1º10’ Leo is also conjunct Cameron’s Jupiter and the UK’s Jupiter (at 1º51’ Leo).  His moral sense and faith in the future are expressed confidently and in synchrony with the national assumptions of superiority and greatness.

*See http://www.stevejudd.com/articles/chart-of-david-cameron/ for further information about David Cameron’s birth time, as well as a good discussion of his horoscope, written prior to the 2010 election.

**See http://www.astrology21.co.uk/c1nickclegg.html for further information about Nick Clegg’s birth time.

Total Solar Eclipse 12 July 2010 (Melbourne time)

This eclipse occurs at 7:34:38 PM UTC (time of maximum eclipse) on 11 July 2010.  The total duration of the eclipse is 5 minutes and 20 seconds.  Greatest eclipse is visible at the coordinates 19.7ºS, 121.9ºW, which is in the South Pacific Ocean.  The path of totality starts several hundred kilometers northeast of New Zealand, arcs across the Southern Pacific Ocean, crosses Easter Island, and ends in the southernmost regions of Chile and Argentina.  This eclipse is a member of Saros Series 146.

General Astrological Considerations

The eclipse occurs at 19º24’ Cancer.  The chart for the eclipse shows the following close aspects:

The eclipse degree itself forms a sextile to Mars (orb 15’) and a quintile to Saturn (orb 2º07’).

Mercury trines Jupiter (orb 53’) and Uranus (orb 3º29’).

Venus opposes Chiron (orb 1º11’) and Jupiter (orb 3º13’) and trines Pluto (orb 2º12’).

Mars is just outside orb of conjunction with Saturn, both being in the last half of Virgo.

Jupiter is conjunct Uranus (orb 2º46’), opposes Saturn (orb 3º54’) and squares Pluto (orb 31’).

Saturn squares Pluto (orb 4º25’) and opposes Uranus (orb 1º18’).

Uranus squares Pluto (orb 3º07’).

Neptune is conjunct Chiron (orb 2º02’).

Essentially, there are four over-riding aspect patterns discernible in the chart of the eclipse.  These are:

(1)   a t-square involving Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto, all of which are in the first 4 degrees of cardinal signs except Saturn which is in the last degree of mutable

(2)  a conjunction between Chiron and Neptune, both of which are opposed by Venus

(3)  Mercury trining the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction

(4)  Venus trining Pluto

The cardinal t-square is the most significant of these, as it is the formation which is dominating the skies throughout mid-2010.  It is worth noting that although there have been previous t-squares involving these planets, e.g. the last one in the early 1930’s, this one is remarkably exact.  It will be even more exact and also emphasised further about 3 weeks after the eclipse, when Saturn and Mars will be conjunct in early Libra.  This t-square deserves its own discussion but will be summarized here for the sake of brevity.  The fulcrum or balance-point of the formation is occupied by Pluto in Capricorn, indicating that immensely deep but inevitable transformations in institutions, especially governments, public authorities, corporations and banks are being forced as a result of the attempts by ‘the powers that be’ to manage the social crisis which is symbolized by the opposition between Jupiter and Uranus, both in Aries, on the one hand and Saturn in Libra (briefly joined by Mars), on the other.  This social crisis involves potent revolutionary forces for freedom from control facing down more conservative traditional appeals for moderation and limitation.  With all points of the t-square in cardinal signs, the arguments are about how action is to be taken, how a start needs to be made on tackling our problems.  This is not an argument about theory, philosophy or ideology so much as an argument about who is in charge of the changes we all want to see, and who is willing to step up and fight for these changes to be implemented, and how they should be implemented.  It is also about a new notion that fairness and social justice are things that must be fought for, that must always be taken back from those who think that they can appropriate them for their own selfish ends, rendering them little more than empty slogans.  Genuine democracy, fair resource distribution, judicial process, rule of law, freedom from debt peonage, these are the sort of ideals to which people aspire but we seldom have times when we have so much direct, undiluted drive and energy to redress what has prevented us from achieving these ends.  This is one such time.  And it is the populism and powerful passions currently prevailing that are of such concern for traditional authorities and institutions, because mass feeling and particularly mass anger is capable of forcing sweeping change, often very quickly, but change that is difficult to control.  In Aries we have the daring, the bravado, the courage to say it straight, the fresh thinking and rebellious edge, but also the anarchic anger and unthinking violence; in Libra we have the moderation, the striving for fairness and propriety, the social idealism and capacity for compromise, but also the unwillingness to be extreme when extreme measures are required; and in Capricorn we have the instinct for political maneuvering, the planning and strategic thinking, the perseverance and discipline, but also the scheming, abuse of authority and tyranny.  These are all ways of getting things done, but they may appear to be in conflict more often than not; lasting progress will be made through taking something from all three.

Pluto in Capricorn is exposing the rot on the underside of our most revered social institutions, it is forcing us to question the prestige associated with churches, governments, political parties, corporate boards, banks and courts.  Pluto’s actions being to cleanse or purge systems of what is no longer required, what has died, what is decaying, what is siphoning off energy like a neoplastic growth.

The Chiron-Neptune conjunction has been present since late 2008, and will continue into 2012.  At the time of Neptune’s return to its discovery degree of 25º Aquarius in 2009 and 2010, it was conjunct both Chiron, and on the first of these occasions, Jupiter as well.

This is symbolic of the pain of disillusionment.  Neptune invites us to believe that our ideals are attainable, that the contents of our limitless imagination can be made real, that our dreams really can come true.  But it also seduces us into a fantasy-world where we no longer care to connect with the reality of pain, suffering, depression, fear and disease.  We are sold all sorts of ridiculous notions about the world and swallow them whole:  hydrocarbons will never run out, we are in control of our environment, the market will sort out all our problems, drugs will cure all our ills, religious people are infallible and answer to a different authority for their faults etc.  Often this is done deceptively but with definite intent and purpose to obfuscate, as the enormous advertising and public relations industries attest.  With Neptune conjunct Chiron, the wounded healer, our sense of being our own worst enemy is powerful right now.  But it is more than just a sense of having fallen for such deceits hook, line and sinker; it is a feeling of being unable to cope without these comforting illusions, of being addicted to them, of being unable to accept our own very human (and very animal) imperfections.  It is a subtle feeling of loss, of mourning the accepted and shared delusions of the past while facing an entirely uncertain and possibly nightmarish future.

The opposition to Venus at the time of this eclipse points up the illusory nature of money, money as privately issued debt, and the insubstantial nature of what has amounted to vast sums of this debt, very little of which has any real backing by way of firm assets.  Venus’s trine to Pluto suggests wealth in what is hidden, perhaps what is buried or kept out of sight.  Perhaps this is symbolic of the need for currency to be less tradeable as a commodity in its own right, but more clearly tethered to real commodities like petroleum, gold or minerals.

With Mercury in Leo trining the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction, at this eclipse we have a good time to voice and to hear inspiring words that lead the way, to communicate convincingly and from the heart, and to demonstrate our personal commitment to our ideas, by example.

Specific Mundane Maps

The eclipse degree of 19º24’ Cancer is of significance in a number of mundane maps which I will discuss below.  In my view, significance of the eclipse as indicative of major change or of important events in the political entity concerned, is to some extent a function of the role that this degree plays in the relevant map.  If one of the luminaries is present at this degree, this would be more noteworthy than Pluto, all other things being equal.  But it is one of the perennial frustrations of studying astrology that all other things are never equal.  Two points in square, both at this degree but 90º separated sign-wise, would add significance.  Additionally, one must examine other prevailing transits to the chart being studied, e.g. if the cardinal t-square outlined above is also closely transiting points in a chart in which the eclipse degree is occupied by a significant point, then we should conclude that there is a major resonance occurring.

United Kingdom

United Kingdom (1801)

The eclipse degree is only 2’ arc away from the position of the Moon in the chart for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.  This chart represents the political entity created as a result of the Act of Union of 1801, bringing the island of Ireland under direct rule of the government in Westminster. Despite the reorganisation of the United Kingdom in 1922 following the secession of the southern 26 counties of Ireland, most British astrologers continue to use the 1801 chart.  Arguably there is logic to this pactice, as the 1801 chart represents the British state (and empire) at its zenith, Britannia ruling the waves so to speak.  So the eclipse certainly hits a sensitive part of this chart, the Moon, symbolic of the people, the unwashed masses, and their needs for protection and safety.  But the transiting cardinal t-square also hits Uranus at 1º54’ Libra – the aloofness and independence of Britain, its tendency to do things differently from the rest, and to apply a different set of standards to itself than towards others in areas of justice and fairness.

Great Britain (1707)

Looking further back in history, when the thrones of England and Scotland were united on 12 May 1707, this created the single country of Great Britain.  The eclipse degree is conjunct Mars, positioned at 20º01’ Cancer in this chart.  Meanwhile, transiting Saturn conjuncts the Moon at 28º23’ Virgo.  This speaks of the spotlight landing on civil strife, demonstrations, protests or riots, related to the people having to swallow restrictions on their day-to-day needs.

Queen Elizabeth II

Interestingly, the eclipse degree closely conjoins the north node of Queen Elizabeth II’s chart, at 20º07’ Cancer, perhaps indicating a change in the British monarchy.

As I write, the 2010 UK election has resulted in a hung parliament, with much popular pressure for a total reform of the electoral process, a process that still uses the demonstrably unfair (because it is unrepresentative) system of ‘first-past-the-post’ balloting.  Now that David Cameron and Nick Clegg have agreed to form a coalition government, their first job will be to sort out the financial mess that has left the UK with enormous debts and deficits rivalling those of Greece.  It will be difficult to contemplate how this will be done without major cost-cutting and tightening of budgetary measures – which will of course be deeply unpopular.  If cutbacks were seen to be fairly applied, and with a sense of social conscience, there would be less outcry, but people are suspicious that a wealthy elite has both caused the financial crisis and is still benefiting from it, at the expense of the common citizen.

Gordon Brown

It is interesting that the election resulted in the resignation of former prime minister Gordon Brown, whose chart shows Neptune (at 19º17’ Libra) closely squared by the eclipse, and the transiting cardinal t-square closely aspecting his Saturn at 1º03’ Libra, Chiron at 0º53’ Capricorn, MC at 4º48’ Capricorn and Uranus at 5º37’ Cancer.

Belgium

Belgium (1830)

Rebellion of the predominantly Catholic southern part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from the predominantly Protestant northern part resulted in the proclamation of independence of Belgium on 4 October 1830.  Looking at this noon chart, we can see that the eclipse degree opposes Neptune, at 20º01’ Capricorn.  As an aside, it is interesting that the transiting Uranus/Neptune conjunction was close by, at 18º39’/18º44’ Capricorn at the foundation of the European Union, headquarted in the Belgian capital, Brussels, in November 1993.  The eclipse may be throwing light on the national myth of Belgium, the ideology in government, perhaps pointing to deceptions, frauds and shady political intrigues and scandals in high places.

Germany

German Economic Union (1990)

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 (which was exactly coincident with a Saturn/Neptune conjunction in Capricorn opposite Jupiter in Cancer), a divided Germany re-united in stages:  economic union in July 1990, followed by political union 3 months later.  In the chart for the economic union of Germany on 1 July 1990, the eclipse degree conjoins Jupiter, at 19º17’ Cancer, and squares the Moon, at 19º59’ Libra.  Focus is being cast on the social role of German economic might, the benefits and drawbacks of financial partnership with other states, the diplomatic pressure for generosity at odds with a natural tendency to retain and save wealth.  Questions are being asked, not least within the German electorate, about why Germany is forever expected to provide for others’ needs, like a rich uncle.

Greece

Greece (1821)

When we examine the chart for the revolution resulting in the independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire, on 25 March 1821, we can see a striking series of closing squares from Capricorn to Aries involving a Uranus/Neptune conjunction at 3º Capricorn and a Sun/Mercury/Jupiter conjunction at 4-5º Aries, all of which will be affected closely by the transiting cardinal t-square.  Although there is no given time for this chart, it is today celebrated as the Greek independence day and hence it is quite appropriate to use 12 noon as a symbolic ‘crowning’ time, yielding an Ascendant of 19º25’ Cancer, 1’ out from the eclipse.

Greece (1974)

Two later charts for Greece (declaration of independence on 13 January 1822, and modern Greek democracy with the collapse of the military junta and the election of Constantine Karamanlis as prime minister on 24 July 1974) also feature prominent points at early cardinal degrees (Moon, Uranus & Neptune for the former, and Moon, Venus & Pluto for the latter), although there is little connection with the eclipse degree.  With the collapse of sovereign bonds and the widespread paralysis of the economy largely brought on by a combination of chronic government and social corruption and unbridled market speculation and predatory financial practices, Greece has become the international example of social chaos brought about by the global financial crisis.

George Papandreou

Although I do not have a birth-time for the Greek prime minister, George Papandreou, it is notable that, like Gordon Brown in the UK, the eclipse closely squares Neptune in his chart, at 18º59’ Libra.

European Union

Broadening our perspective, when we examine the chart of the European Union which came into existence on 1 November 1993, we can see that the eclipse opposes the very exact conjunction of Uranus and Neptune in that chart (Uranus at 18º44’ Capricorn and Neptune at 18º39’ Capricorn).  It also squares Venus at 19º50’ Libra.  Once again, the finger is being pointed at the common European currency, the euro, and in particular at the structures of governance backing it up.

EU (1993)

There is a prevailing suspicion that shared ideology, shared dreams of European integration, and harmonization of regulations and barriers is not enough to ground the currency and prevent speculative attacks from destablizing it.  The truth of course, is that the structures of governance required to steer and back up the currency’s value, are structures that essentially divest eurozone states of whatever sovereignty they had left, moving the bloc towards a federative union.  Perhaps this is Neptunian deception behind the Uranian collectivity, expressed through the hard political realities of Capricorn.

Czech Republic & Slovakia

Czech Republic (1993)

The eclipse also affects the position of Mars at 20º26’ Cancer in the charts for independence of both the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, which of course obtained their independence by means of the dissolution of the former country of Czechoslovakia on 1 January 1993.  Although there are points in early cardinal signs in both of these charts, they are at a minimum of 7º cardinal, indicating that they will become more relevant over the next 3-4 years during the passage of the 7 exact Uranus/Pluto squares.  Nevertheless, we should be careful about the possibility of internal tension and civil disturbances in both these countries around the time of the eclipse.

Egypt

Egypt (1953)

Moving to the Middle East, the chart for the Republic of Egypt features strongly at the time of this eclipse.  The MC is at 19º05’ Capricorn, with Chiron placed close by at 19º27’ Capricorn.  In addition, Mars at 3º13’ Cancer is transited by the cardinal t-square, especially the Jupiter-Pluto square.  This is indicative of something very obviously shameful or failed prominently positioned in the upper echelons of government, perhaps an incident that shows up the role of scapegoat that the country plays on the international stage.

Iraq

Iraq (1921)

The modern boundaries and identity of Iraq trace their origin to the creation of the Kingdom of Iraq following the British mandate of this area of the Middle East after the defeat of the Turks in the First World War.  The corresponding chart tells us something about the fate of this political entity, cobbled together amongst a variety of distinct ethnic and religious groups.  This eclipse conjuncts Venus, placed at 19º47’ Cancer, and squares the nodes at 19º00’ Libra/Aries, and the Moon at 19º04’ Aries.  At the time of the eclipse, transiting Neptune opposes the Sun (29º26’ Leo) and Mercury (29º06’ Leo).  Despite emphasis being placed on the longstanding problems of internal stability, peace and wealth creation sufficient to meet people’s basic needs (Moon square Venus), the leadership, media and business interests are seen to be corrupt to the core, unable to provide any sense of confidence in government.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia (1902)

In Saudi Arabia, the chart for the seizure of Riyadh from the Turks by the Wahhabist sect of the Nedj is taken as a crucial moment in the genesis of the modern state.  This occurred in January 1902.  The point of the eclipse opposes Saturn in this chart (which is placed at 19º22’ Capricorn).  Although not occurring at the time of the eclipse, transiting Jupiter and Uranus, which retrograde back into the late degrees of Pisces between August 2010 and March 2011, will proceed to conjoin the Moon of this chart (at 27º12’ Pisces) and square Neptune (29º26’ Gemini).  What can we make of this?  Saturn represents the core institutions of the state, particularly those that define the limits of power such as courts, legislatures, correctional services, immigration and border-control services and all traditional and respected social structures.  These are the areas to be placed under scrutiny, and the Jupiter/Uranus transits to the radical Moon/Neptune square suggest a radicalization of religious and fundamentalist feelings, perhaps a change in religious laws and a liberalization of strict and prohibitive legal codes.

Pakistan

Pakistan and India, created as nation-states in August 1947 following the departure of the British, have been bitter enemies ever since.  Border disputes and terrorist activities as well as concerns over nuclear weapon proliferation have coloured their relationship with each other over the years.  Charts for both of these countries are affected by this eclipse.

Pakistan (1947)

A popular map used by Pakistani astrologers is that for the address given by Lord Mountbatten, then British viceroy, to the Constituent Assembly in Karachi, on 14 August 1947.  The eclipse conjoins the Moon in this chart (at 18º01’ Cancer), at the same time as Saturn conjoins the Ascendant (28º54’ Virgo) and squares the MC (28º53’ Gemini), and the transiting cardinal t-square (chiefly Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto) squares or opposes Mars, at 0º11’ Cancer.  While the focus is on popular feelings and neediness amongst the common people, the country seems beset by difficulties and hard times, while deep feelings of resentment and anger contribute to violent outbursts.

India

India (1950)

With respect to India, the chart for the proclamation of the Republic (which was likely to have been elected astrologically) on 26 January 1950, is strongly  influenced by the eclipse.  The eclipse degree opposes Mercury, at 18º41’ Capricorn, and the prevailing cardinal t-square synchronizes with the angles of the horoscope (Ascendant at 4º49’ Aries, MC at 3º06’ Capricorn) as well as Uranus at 1º42’ Cancer.  Communications, transport, trade and commerce and the media are highlighted, and unexpected changes in international image, perhaps of a futuristic or technologically advanced nature may be observed.  Revolutionary forces at grassroots level may advance to prominence.

Singapore & Malaysia

Singapore (1963)

In Malaysia and Singapore, further movements along a trajectory towards strengthened nationalistic feelings may be seen.  Singapore declared independence from the British Empire on 31 August 1963, and remained a fully independent state until 16 September 1963, when it became a constituent state of the Malaysian Federation, remaining part of Malaysia until full independence in 1965.  In the chart for 31 August 1963, the Moon’s north node is at 19º32’ Cancer, which is conjoined by the eclipse.  In addition, the cardinal t-square opposes/squares Mercury, at 2º47’ Libra, and Neptune conjoins the MC at 27º17’ Aquarius.  Crises in commercial activity and transportation may cloud the international reputation of the Singaporean state, and it may see itself highlighted as being at a crucial fork in the road in terms of long-term plans and objectives.

Malaysia (1963)

The chart for Malaysian independence on 16 September 1963 also has the eclipse conjoining its north node, but less tightly (at 18º35’ Cancer).  The cardinal t-square also transits its Mercury (at 1º06’ Libra) and Neptune loosely opposes its Moon (at 26º38’ Leo).  Malaysia may also see itself as being at a crucial juncture with a sense of grave decisions having to be made that will affect the far future, but its population may feel more prone to disillusionment and endemic corruption.

Japan

Japan (1889)

The Meiji Constitution of Japan marks the beginning of the modern, relatively liberal Japanese state and its move away from Imperial government.  The map cast for the promulgation of this constitution in February 1889 has the north node at 20º57’ Cancer, conjoined by the eclipse.  Jupiter, at 0º57’ Capricorn, is transited by the cardinal t-square, especially Uranus, at the time of the eclipse.  Again, like Singapore and Malaysia, Japan is finding itself in bold relief as a country at an inflection point, a point at which it may leave its past international obligations behind and focus on its nationalist, protectionist instincts, with an emboldened confidence in acting to project its own agenda.

New Zealand

New Zealand (1907)

Moving south of the equator, the chart for the granting of dominion status to New Zealand in 1907 also has the north node conjoined by the eclipse (at 20º30’ Cancer), as well as Mars (at 20º15’ Capricorn) opposed by the eclipse.  The transiting cardinal t-square connects with the Sun (at 1º17’ Libra), Venus (at 4º05’ Libra) and the MC (at 5º57’ Aries).  New Zealand is undergoing significant challenges to its identity as an independent, peaceful and harmonious nation, with the eclipse placing a spotlight on tension or strife that may have consequences lasting far into the future.

Argentina

Argentina (1816)

Across the Pacific Ocean, the later of the two charts for the independence of Argentina, that for the declaration of independence by the United Provinces of La Plata, is affected by this eclipse.  The chart contains a full moon (Sun at 17º18’ Cancer and Moon at 20º14’ Capricorn) which is transited by the eclipse point.  The energy represented by a full moon is that of the people in opposition to those that they perceive as their leaders, or of the celebration of folk culture as opposed to identification with one leadership figure.  This eclipse may represent a time for Argentinians to question their leadership such that it more closely corresponds to the true wishes and needs of the common people.

Mexico

Mexican Constitution (1917)

The Mexican Constitution of 1917 represented the beginning of liberal democratic politics in Mexico.  The eclipse very strongly affects this chart, striking the following points:  Ascendant at 17º55’ Cancer, nodes at 19º44’ Capricorn/Cancer, Mercury at 19º43’ Capricorn and Venus at 20º35’ Capricorn.  In addition, Pluto at 2º41’ Cancer, is closely transited by the cardinal t-square.  All of this suggests a period of major transformative change for this country, at least for its constitutional framework.  One can envisage potent power-struggles, problems with powerful underworld or criminal networks and interests interfering with communications, commerce and internal peace, challenges to law and order, and a sense of events leading to a critical bifurcation in this country’s history.

Mexican Independence (1821)

One should also note that the chart for the independence of Mexico on 28 September 1821 is also receiving major transits from the cardinal t-square at present, with its Sun at 5º32’ Libra squaring the great Uranus/Neptune conjunction of the early 1820’s (Uranus at 29º19’ Sagittarius and Neptune at 0º22’ Capricorn).

Haiti

Looking to Haiti, which received full de jure independence from France on 1 January 1804, the eclipse opposes the degree of Mercury, 18º11’ Capricorn, while the transiting cardinal t-square activates the close Mars/Saturn square (between 3º33’ Capricorn and 3º27’ Libra).

Haiti (1804)

Communications, transport, media and information distribution, commerce and trade are all highlighted with underlying trends towards heavy duties, feelings of bitterness and despair, but also capacity for turning swords into ploughshares.

United States

The chart for the First Continental Congress of the thirteen rebel colonies of what were to become the United States of America, on 5 September 1774,  represents the forerunner of federal government in the US.  Interestingly, this event itself occurred at a total solar eclipse, as did the subsequent British Surrender to American Revolutionary Forces at Yorktown on 17 October 1781.

Continental Congress (1774)

The 2010 eclipse conjoins Mars at 18º32’ Cancer, placing emphasis on the tensions and unrest amongst the people, clamouring for action to be taken to reform governance.

In addition, the eclipse conjoins the Ascendant (at 18º05′ Cancer) and Mars (at 19º33′ Cancer) in the chart for the U.S. Federal Reserve Act, the law which was signed into force in December 1913 by Woodrow Wilson, in effect setting up the Federal Reserve, the private corporation that loans money at interest to the American government.  Meanwhile the transiting cardinal t-square is making close aspect to that chart’s Pluto (at 0º05′ Cancer), Sun (at 1º33′ Capricorn) and MC (at 0º22′ Aries).

Signing of Federal Reserve Act (1913)

Further stress on the Federal Reserve and the role it is playing at the heart of the system of finance, not only in the U.S., but also in the whole world, is indicated by the cardinal t-square’s aspects to the chart for the opening of the Federal Reserve in November of the following year:  Saturn (at 1º24′ Cancer) and Pluto (at 1º53′ Cancer) are very closely conjunct in the eighth house of financial transactions and debts, and are making up the empty, fourth point of the cardinal t-square formation.  It is clear that the role of the Federal Reserve in creating debt, the way it operates (privately and without adequate public oversight), and the transparency of its operations, and even the very nature of the fractional reserve system of banking which underpins it, are being scrutinised very closely at this time.  Having reached its Pluto opposition (or Pluto half-return), the Federal Reserve is at a time of reckoning; the eclipse places more focus on it.

Opening of the Federal Reserve (1914)

The eclipse also lands exactly on the position of Pluto during the days at the end of October 1929, which was the start of the Wall Street Crash.  Pluto was moving retrograde between 19º40′ and 19º30′ Cancer at this time.  Pluto is symbolic of the invisible forces of mass will, feeling and desire which are of such potency that they can destroy whole nations – it seems to have a special resonance with the activities of high finance, corporatism, monopolistic practices, cartels, organised crime, and the dark secrecy, control and power at the heart of these affairs.  Light is being thrown here this eclipse season.

Morocco

Morocco (1956)

Finally, moving across the Atlantic Ocean to Morocco, the eclipse opposes the Moon (at 19º13’ Capricorn) in the chart for independence form France, which occurred on 28 May 1956, placing focus on the needs of the people, their feelings and all that is feminine, nurturing and protective in the nation and its people.

World Map

World Map for Eclipse

The locational astrology world map for the time of greatest eclipse shows some interesting features.  Notably, the Sun and Moon are rising in Auckland and in Tokyo (which is also close to where Jupiter and Uranus are culminating and Saturn is anticulminating), setting in Marrakech, Madrid, Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen and Stockholm, and anticulminating in Karachi.  The Venus/Neptune/Chiron rise/set lines (as we saw before, this planetary combination says something about the unreal nature of the money we use) pass through Greece and very close to Istanbul, and the Venus/Neptune/Chiron opposition formation culminates/anticulminates in Singapore and New York, both international centres of finance.

Most horoscope data was taken from The Book of World Horoscopes, 3rd ed. by Nicholas Campion (Wessex Astrologer, 2004).  Other sources included Io Edition Astrology Software and www.astrotheme.com.

Martin Luther

There is one over-riding change of consciousness that needs to occur in coming years, which perhaps contains all the others.  That change is a re-enchantment of the world.

When we look to past periods of time with Pluto in Capricorn, there seems to be a theme of coming to terms with the real measure of the world e.g. Meron determining the solsticial points in 440 BCE, Eratosthenes measuring the distance between the Sun and Earth in 200 BCE, the Anno Domini numbering system of years first being used in 532, the invention of zero around 550, Magellan’s Vittoria circumnavigating the world in 1522, the solving of the longitude at sea problem with Greenwich Observatory’s Nautical Almanac and Harrison’s chronometer circa 1770.

Another theme is establishing lasting structures, e.g. the Parthenon (438 BCE), the Great Wall of China (approx. 200 BCE), the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (537), the Great Mosque at Cordoba (795).

And of course we have the coming to terms with the rotten and dysfunctional nature of large institutions which have become more interested in their own byzantine hierarchies and rules than in the function they are supposed to fulfil (e.g. the splitting of the Roman Empire by Diocletian and the establishment of the tetrarchy in 293, the Reformation (Luther nailing his theses to the church door in 1517), the American Revolution and foundation of the USA in 1776).

So I suppose what unites these themes is a compulsion to examine the nature of the chthonic realm, the world of limits and measure, of form, of substance, of social order and governance, and to tell the truth about it, to declare the facts of the matter come what may, and to use this as a basis on which to construct something better that will stand the test of time.  If this is true, then what should we be examining now?  I think it is our conception of planetary community, of global governance, of worldwide structures and their measure (e.g. population, resource supplies, ecological complexity, climate).  But also our notions of traditional authority and who wields it (the Church, corporate power, military forces, political parties).

I think holding people in positions of authority to account for their actions will be important in coming years.  The increasing sense that structures of governance have failed people (banks stealing taxpayers’ money and social security entitlements, pensions etc., the Catholic Church refusing to take ownership of its problem with sexuality, corporations and governments completely disinterested in the looming catastrophe of climate change and resource depletion) and that they need to be totally transformed, is already palpable.  There is a sense that elites are running scared, that they sense an appetite for revolution amongst the masses.

So I think its about re-defining what it means to be responsible in the world.  Traditional borders and geopolitical structures will need to be re-examined.  Local community governance will become more important (but with this will necessarily come increased individual responsibility towards one’s local community).  This will also involve a re-appraisal of holistic thinking, of communitarian politics, of inclusiveness and a long-overdue reorientation towards nature and the feminine.  Indeed, one of the burning issues will be ‘who’s in charge?’, who is directing the changes that we want to see, that are so urgent?  This is governance, and it will be transformed – I think less emphasis on paternalistic traditions and forms, and more willingness to build on truly representative forms of political representation (where men, women and children all have political agency).

Where does the re-enchantment come from, then?  I think it gradually arises from our dawning awareness of our profound responsibility (indeed our holy, sacred, responsibility) to tend the planetary matrix, to look after it, indeed to submit to its grandeur and its overwhelming power, to see ourselves as embedded within it, not lording over it and exploiting it.  It is a transformation in our conception of power-relations with our environment, a re-envisioning of a natural order that contains us, envelops us, nurtures us, sustains us (as opposed to a virgin body-land ready for violation and use).  This re-equilibration of the power balance is inherently a spiritual renaissance, because it grants agency and purpose to the natural world in which we live.  It acknowledges an ‘other’ as opposed to a narcissistic reflection of the self.

The write-up of the upcoming cardinal ingress, the Aries Equinox 2010, is now available to read on the main C*I*A website.  Click on the link in the list on the right, or just go here.  This was a joint effort by myself and Agent 144 (Peter Burns).

I’ve moved the blog to wordpress because it is a better system than blogger.

The picture in the header is of Newgrange, a 4,000-year-old tumulus or passage-tomb in Ireland, not far from Dublin.  Its central passage is aligned with the rising sun on the southeastern horizon on the day of the Capricorn solstice, such that the chamber at the heart of the tomb is illuminated with the light of the northern hemisphere winter solstice sun.

I thought this would be an appropriate image to use for a blog that specialises in mundane astrology.

It is almost as if it has been set up as an example; or, if not, as the first of a great series of falls, spectacular collapses of such proportion that they reverberate around the world, like the recent earthquake in Chile.

The land of such central historical importance to the whole project of Western civilization is teetering on the brink, and there seems to be no positive outlook ahead.

The global capitalist society is moving into a new phase, not just weapons and disaster profiteering, but impinging directly on the sovereignty of the nation-state.

People are frightened – there is great instability prevailing. When masses of people, whole populations, become united in rage, the force unleashed is of immense potency, sending tremors through the planet, with their cascades of spin-off emergencies in their wake.

We’re practically at the Cardinal Climax now – 4 months to go. Watch the first 8 degrees of cardinal, everywhere – in people, in places, in political structures, in economic structures – as the vast tsunami of concentrated initiative lifts and carries away all in its path.

Greece is in ferment; massive strikes, riots, civil disobedience.

Look at the chart for the modern Greek state. Isn’t that Piscean Jupiter up at the midheaven so symbolic of the nation famous for its age-old seafaring culture, philosophically sophisticated, echoing perenially in the deep bass of our cultural soundscape, providing the backdrop to so much of our assumptions about the universe, like the root contextualizing the chord?

So much in first-decanate cardinal points: Moon, Venus and Pluto, all being hit by transiting Pluto, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter. That’s the Moon (the people and their needs, the feeling of being Greek, belonging, and protecting the nation, popular opinion), Venus (wealth, property, resources, fairness, justice, relationships) and Pluto (organised crime, putocracy, deep power, urge to ruthlessly transform).

Look at Mars, about to station direct on the chart’s Sun. Flaring up and adding the dry hotness of flame to the already fiery spirit of sovereignty.

And transiting Uranus sitting on the midheaven, as revolutionary shocks are crackling around Athens like bolts of lightning on the Acropolis.

And the Chiron-Neptune conjunction exactly opposite Mars – this is real anger at the shameful pain of being done over, of being duped by gangsters in suits, and the feeling of being attacked by something which is turning out to be a conspiracy of such vast proportions that it exhausts belief.

Points in the first cardinal decanates are also prominent in other charts that are resonating like a cacophany of bells at the moment. Look at these tables to see. More anon.

As 2010 gets underway, it is possible to see the political temperature rising as governments recognise that the governed are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the circumstances in which they are living. As Pluto inches forward to 4 degrees of Capricorn, currently approaching its second exact square from Saturn (of three), measures are being taken of a most extraordinary kind to prevent any possibility of popular control of the unfolding of public events. Pluto’s placement in Capricorn until 2023 is coinciding with increasingly authoritarian behaviour by the elites, as they struggle to maintain their positions of power. Capricorn is symbolic of the public realm, and the desire to act in the public realm in order to achieve one’s vision of cosmic order. Charles Carter wrote:

Capricorn is Cosmic Order and Justice, embodied in the truth that “As ye sow so shall ye reap.” From this arises the virtue of respect for those worthy of respect and the faculty of appreciating the hierarchical ideal, by which the lesser always subserve the higher.
From this principle may come the delusion of formalism, or literalism, the belief that the form is greater than the spirit, the letter more important than the idea. (The Zodiac and the Soul (1968), by CEO Carter, Theosophical Publishing House, London.)

Pluto’s action in any sign is to expose its mode of functioning, or its characteristic themes, to the lowest common denominator; to subject that sign’s essential meaning to the unforgiving and brutal forces of putrefaction and destruction, so that only the core truth remains, purefied of accumulated dross. Authority, especially governmental authority, is now starting to struggle with the inevitable changes that are coming. Increasingly desperate to maintain control, it is resorting to tactics that are as blatant as they are corrupt.

As Saturn transits through Libra (albeit now retrograding back into Virgo, in which it will stay between 8 April and 22 July 2010 before returning to Libra), our principles of natural and social justice are being tested. They are being tested for their integrity, their inherent strength and capacity to endure. What are the limits in Libran affairs? How far can justice be stretched before it ceases to be just? When is fair no longer fair?

Look to current events to bear out the meaning of the Saturn-Pluto square this year. Of course, events will also bear out the prevailing Saturn-Uranus opposition, the upcoming Jupiter-Uranus conjunction and a host of other important aspects, especially around and after the Cancer Solstice. But it pays to examine the complex interference pattern of these major archetypal forces as they interact, and to do so slowly and carefully, teasing out the elements as they sweep over us.

Dr David Kelly was a British scientist and expert in weapons of mass destruction who advised the British government, prior to the start of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq in March 2003, that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction. Some three months after the illegal invasion, the BBC reported that the government’s oft-quoted claim that Iraq was capable of launching weapons of mass destruction, that could reach Western countries, within 45 minutes of being ordered, was false, and it turned out that the BBC had relied on Dr Kelly’s opinion in compiling this report. This caused a furore which resuled in a parliamentary inquiry, at which Dr Kelly was asked to give evidence. The BBC maintained that a highly-placed member of the cabinet had knowingly inserted the 45-minute claim into the dossier that was used to convince parliament of the urgent need to invade Iraq, even though Dr Kelly and others had told the government that the claim was false. Shortly after appearing at the parliamentary inquiry, Dr Kelly was found dead in a forest near his home. A further inquiry, called the Hutton Inquiry, was formed to determine the circumstances surrounding his death. The Hutton Inquiry concluded that Dr Kelly had killed himself, even though the evidence for this was practically non-existent.

Now, as the Chilcot inquiry into the legality of the British involvement in the Iraq Invasion proceeds in London, the government has announced something truly extraordinary: all details of Dr Kelly’s death, postmortem findings included, are to be classified for 70 years. They will not be allowed to be known by the public until the 2070s! Further details are available at http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23798597-70-year-gag-on-kelly-death-evidence.do

This is the sort of desperation amongst the elite that is reflected in the current planetary placements. We see the total abuse of authority and naked corruption of government (Pluto in Capricorn) as well as the testing of systems of justice required to maintain some basic fairness in the operation of social institutions (Saturn in Libra). Clearly, there is something to hide here, and these actions are those of frightened people in high places.

Another example of this theme turning up in current events is the recent US Supreme Court decision on the ability of corporations to fund the campaign expenses of candidates for federal election in the US. Up until now, it was regarded as unfair for corporations and unions to provide more than a small declared amount of funding for this purpose. However, in this recent decision of the Supreme Court, which was a 5 to 4 majority decision, incredibly the opinion was voiced that corporations’ first-amendment free-speech rights were unfairly restricted by this previous limitation on their spending (as corporations are legally regarded as legal persons). See http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1437674.html for more details.

Again we see the testing of basic principles of fairness (Saturn in Libra) at the same time as the transparent abuse of concentrated power in high places (Pluto in Capricorn). As some commentators have put it, from now on, electoral candidates might as well be known as ‘the representative for McDonalds’ or ‘the representative for Halliburton’ as the implications of this ruling for any sort of fair democratic process at elections are enormous.

Developments like these two are troubling for anyone who is concerned about basic fairness and justice in the way our societies are governed. Unfortunately further measures of this kind will continue to develop until people start to wake up to what principles of political justice are being destroyed in the interests of the elites who seek to dominate without restraint. Change will not take place until we inform ourselves of what is taking place, and this is an active process of seeking out information, not relying on it being spoonfed to us by the corporate media conglomerates, whose interests lie in nothing beyond entertainment and distraction.

As Uranus and Jupiter move up to join the fray in the early degrees of cardinal signs, we may feel that things have a chance of getting better. But this will only be the start, and it will require very clear understanding of the battles that need to be fought and won, the modus operandi of the corrupt in positions of power, and clarity of purpose in terms of what it is that we want to envision in place of the current unjust regimes around the world. As the cardinal climax approaches, it seems as though it will be like a gaetway of awareness through which we must pass before we can get to work with the tensions of the great Uranus-Pluto squares of the coming years, which will really be the grist to the mill of the current Pluto in Capricorn era.

Agent 37

There will be a total solar eclipse on 22 July 2009, mostly visible from India, China and the western Pacific Ocean. This will be the longest total solar eclipse this century and is the next in the Saros 136 series, following the eclipses of 1937, 1955, 1973 and 1991. Here is a short documentary about it.