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July 4, 2024

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Uranus and the Moon

Over the last few blog posts we’ve seen the important aspects which signify that the second half of this decade will be quite different than the first half. I discussed previously the Jupiter-Saturn square that signifies the beginning of the second half of the decade. Later I discussed the Saturn-Neptune conjunction that happens shortly after the third Jupiter-Saturn square and then finally in February 2026. This time we will discuss an important transit to the US chart that first occurs in late summer of 2024 (elections season) and will occur finally in early 2026 and that is transiting Uranus square the natal Moon.

Transiting Uranus aspects to the Moon of the United States (which simultaneously makes a hard aspect to the Sun) have shown up as an upset (Uranus) to the body politic of the people of the country (the Moon). Since Uranus has a period of 84 years, the quadrature aspects of Uranus to the natal Moon of the United States should happen every 21 years. Since such an aspect is coming up this decade, let us look at the transits of Uranus conjunct, opposed, or square to the natal moon over this history of the United States as a nation.

There is a question among astrologers whether an aspect manifests before the aspect is exact (called partile) or after the aspect is exact. In the following cases we will see examples of both though it appears that the act — war — happens after the aspect is exact more often than not. But of course remember that the aspects relate to something happening to the populace and in most case war is the concrete result, but that is only the outward externalization of a change to the people in the country.

Uranus in hard aspect — conjunction, square, opposition — to the natal moon of the United States is coming up. The first pass is in August and September of 2024 when it goes stationary retrograde right on the Moon; needless to say this is right before the November presidential election of that country. Then in the middle of May 2025 it makes a direct square to the Moon (and also a trine to Natal Pluto). Finally in February of 2026 it goes stationary direct within a quarter degree of the Moon. The United States will experience three years of Uranus squaring its Moon (along with many other interesting aspects that will be discussed in later posts) so it is instructive to look back at previous hard aspects between these two planets during the history of the country.

2002-2003 invasion of Afghanistan/Iraq after the attacks of 9/11.

There was a conjunction of transiting Uranus and the natal Moon in 2002 and 2003; this was the previous hard aspect between these two planets. The transit was shortly after 9/11 when Americans were braying for blood and it was easy to convince them that an invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan were in their best interests. The invasion of Afghanistan took place on October 7, 2001, less than a month after the attacks on 9/11. The invasion of Iraq, discussed earlier, happened about a year and a half later.

1980-81 start of New Cold War with RR also Iran-Iraq War

At the end of 1980 and 1981 Uranus was square the Moon. This period saw the election of Ronald Reagan and the start of the New Cold War (as one book titled it) and also the beginning of the Iraq-Iran war (the US was helping Iraq and Saddam Hussein! since Iran had held our hostages) and there was ongoing fighting in Central America in the countries of Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. The USS Honduras (as some wag called it), was a military base set up to allows us to support the Contras, our proxy army in Central America. All three countries saw much violence and the United States was definitely involved, most obviously with the funding an oppositional army called the Contras in Nicaragua. As mentioned previously there was also a Saturn-Pluto conjunction in 1982.

1961-62 start up of Vietnam war

At the beginning of the Sixties – 1961 and 1962 – Uranus was opposite the US Moon. This was the beginning of serious American involvement in Vietnam; many think this did not happen until the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in August 1964, but earlier in the decade Vietnam was a big flash point. Early in 1963 a Buddhist monk burnt himself in protest of the war which had been picking up steam since John Kennedy had been elected. There were already student protests at some college campuses. The book by David Halberstan The Making of a Quagmire describes this period well and shows how the United States got involved in a disaster.

1941-42 World War II

In 1941 and 1942 Uranus squared the Moon in the same type of square that is coming up — this period was 84 years ago — one Uranus cycle before now. In fact the second exact transit of this cycle was on December 20, 1941, less than two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor that got America involved in World War II. The American people weren’t terribly convinced of the need to get involved in a war that seemed mostly in Europe, but after this square (“A date that will live in infamy”) there was much more eagerness to go to war.

1918-19 World War I, Red Summer, Prohibition, Palmer Raids

The effects of this square happened both before and after the square was exact. Uranus was conjunct the U.S. Moon in 1918 — as World War I was ending — and 1919 — as the Versailles peace treaty was worked out which was the official end of the war. America did not want to enter World War I and the President Woodrow Wilson ran for his second term — in 1916 — on the slogan ‘He kept us out of War’. Six months later he asked for a declaration of war. But there was a strong propaganda push to get America into the war, lead by among other people Freud’s nephew Edward Bernays. There was also propaganda about the Huns (Germans) raping Belgium nuns (stories of heathens raping our women have also been a popular ploy to get a nation involved in a war or for a lynching); there were people who would speak of the benefits of war before movies were shown, which though still silent were becoming very popular. After war was declared it suddenly became very popular with the masses, with for example a recruiting station in the shape of a battleship set up in New York City’s Union Square. (Suggested reading American Midnight by Adam Hochschild). But another “war” was coming up, though an internal war. 1920 saw the beginning of Prohibition in the United States which lasted until 1933. Prohibition saw a conflict between those supplying illegal alcohol and the government which was trying to prevent the spread of alcohol. Also unusual was the beginning trine between Uranus and Pluto which will be discussed at a different time. There was also upcoming what is called “Red Summer” which saw a lot of racially motivated attack (cf Tulsa Oklahoma) and the Palmer raids on unorthodox opinions.

There was also an invasion of Russia by the United States and several European countries as well as Japan in summer of 1918. This invasion was an attempt to stop the Bolshevik Revolution as part of the Russian Civil War between the “White” Russians — the Menshevicks (Kerensky) — and the “Red” Russians — the Bolsheviks. American forces remained in the country until 1920. All “good” Americans were already fearful of the Bolsheviks.

In June of 1919 several explosions occurred around the country, one of which was at the Washington, DC home of new attorney General, “Fighting Quaker” A. Mitchell Palmer. After the explosion, which did not injure Palmer, his wife, or their daughter, he was aided by Assistant Secretary of the Navy and neighbor Franklin D. Roosevelt, who discovered a collarbone of the bomber who was the only one killed by the blast. But this brush with death encouraged Palmer to start a war on dissidents since he couldn’t go after the bomber who was thought to be a member of a small Italian anarchist sect. Many people were deported as a result of Palmer’s actions. Palmer was assisted by the new director of the Bureau of Investigation John E. Hoover who probably did more than Palmer to round up suspects.

1896-97 Remember the Maine

All through 1897 transiting Uranus was exactly square the US Moon. The next year the Spanish-America War broke out. At the time Cuba was a colony of Spain and the inhabitants of that island revolted against their Spanish overlords. The US cruiser Maine was in the Havana harbor when an explosion took place on the ship. It is now widely assumed that the explosion occurred on board, but at the time it was believed that the Spanish had exploded a bomb attached to the Maine. That explosion led to America’s involvement in the War against Spain. As a result of the US victory, many of Spain’s colonies, including Cuba, Puerto Rica, and the Philippines, became colonies of America. The US base at Guantanamo Bay is a result of the victory in the Spanish-American War. Empire became a way of life.

1877-78 End of Reconstruction

The Compromise of 1877 was a very important event in American history and one can imagine things being much different if this Compromise had not happened but it is seldom mentioned. The election of 1876 was inconclusive and so votes were taken with the House, Senate, and Supreme Court to determine the winner. Finally the Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner, but the Republican winner withdrew the federal troops from the South (something the Democrats wanted but the Republicans opposed) who had been there since the end of the Civil War; this withdrawal ended Reconstruction and allowed the Democratic politicians of the South to institute what came to be know as Jim Crow laws, as well as countenancing other activities that resulted from the absence of Reconstruction. Lynching of the newly freed people became a popular activity, one that sometimes drew crowds and photographers. The country has still not fully recovered from the effects of the Compromise of 1877.

1857-58 Civil War

In 1857 and 1858 Uranus was in Taurus (two Uranus cycles before now) and square the US Moon. This was the lead up to the Civil War which at the time many people could see coming. Henry Ward Beecher, a prominent preacher (whose sister wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin) in Brooklyn was providing “Beecher’s Bible” (rifles) to abolitionists in Kansas which resulted in “Bleeding Kansas” as pro and anti abolitionists fought it out over who would dominate that state; also John Brown provided his famous raid on Harper’s Ferry in the next year which many consider the tipping point to war.

1835 Remember the Alamo Texas Revolution

The citizens of Texas, which had been part of Mexico, were trying to establish that territory as a new country. The Battle at the Alamo in that region started as a battle to defeat the Mexican authorities and make Texas an independent country. The battle at the Alamo was not successful, and Texas was finally taken in as part of the United States under the Presidency of John Tyler (vote was defeated) and then officially under the next President Polk.

1813 War of 1812

The British attacked America again after they lost the American Revolution, and this was called the War of 1812. During this war the British succeeded in in burning down parts of Washington, D.C. This always results in a strong reaction. The war is best known for Andrew Jackson’s Battle of New Orleans which actually took place after the peace treaty was signed but communications were slower then.

1793-95 Whiskey Rebellion

The Whiskey Rebellion was the first armed revolt against the new country which was in the first term of the first president. At the time whiskey was very popular (the amount of alcohol consumed in early America is simply astounding!) not only as a beverage, but also as a way of transporting corn. Many farmers in Pennsylvania were angry at the taxes levied on whiskey by the federal government. There was also a Uranus Pluto opposition during the beginning of this rebellion and in 1794 Saturn was square both Pluto and Uranus, making an especially potent conflict. 1794 was the high point and climax of the rebellion. In Europe the French Revolution was going full bore and Jacobins executed the King.

1773-74 Pre-Revolutionary fervor

While the official start of the Revolutionary War took place in 1775 with the Battle of Lexington and Concord, there was much anger leading up to that battle and there was for instance the Boston Tea Party in 1773. In 1774 Britain passed five acts to punish the United States for that party, including the Boston Port Act which closed the port.

Uranus Square Moon First Pass

This year and the next two years will see transiting Uranus square the natal Moon of the United States and also make a semisquare to the US Sun.

Uranus turns stationary retrograde on the US Moon in the last half of 2024, just before the Presidential election. It then makes a clean true pass in early summer of 2025. Finally it goes stationary direct on the natal moon in late winter 2026.

Uranus Square Moon Second Pass

Uranus Square Moon Third Pass

The Three Passes

Here is a graphical ephemeris showing the three passes of Uranus square the Moon happening first in September of this year when Uranus goes stationary retrograde on the US Moon at 1. Then in Summer of 2025 at 2 there is the only direct square. Finally Uranus goes stationary direct on the Moon in February 2026 at 3.

Uranus Semisquare Sun

Finally here is a graphical ephemeris to show Uranus making a semisquare to the Sun at about the same time as it makes a square to the Moon. We see this happens in early June of 2025, December of 2025, and April of 2026.

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May 27, 2024

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A New Cold War?

What is often called the first Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union started shortly after the end of World War II. Sometimes this is called the second Cold War since shortly after the end of War War I and the start of the Russian Revolution several countries including the United States under President Woodrow Wilson sent troops into Russia to fight against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War. Diplomatic recognition of the new Soviet Union that came out of that civil war was not granted by the United States until President Roosevelt recognized the Soviet Union in 1933, thus ending that first cold war. But since most forget or never knew about that American intervention, we will refer to the cold war that started after World War II as the first cold war.

Truman Doctrine

The beginning of this cold war is widely assumed to have started with the promulgation of the “Truman Doctrine” by President Harry Truman in 1947. Nineteen Forty Seven was a big year for the birth of a new America. Later in that same year the National Security Act was passed, which among other things created that infamous three letter agency the Central Intelligence Agency, known widely as the CIA. The CIA was an outgrowth of the wartime OSS (Office of Strategic Services) and German ideas that were brought into this country by Operation Paperclip and especially Reinhard Gehlen, (https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/german-spymaster-reinhard-gehlen/) who was the head of German spy organizations under several leaders.

Birth of CIA

The reason that 1947 was such a banner year was indicated by the Saturn-Pluto conjunction that took place that summer. As you can judge by the nature of these planets and historical association, this combination is not good news. There have been only two such conjunctions since the one of 1947. The one in the early Eighties indicates the start of the”New Cold War” with fighting in several central American countries; the results of those wars we are now seeing at the southern border of the United States. The next Saturn-Pluto conjunction was in January of 2020. I initially thought the fact that President Trump had ordered the assassination of Iranian military leader Qusem Soleimani would lead to a large scale war between the United States and Iran but something else of great import happened instead.

Saturn-Pluto Conjunction of 1947

This Cold War is shown by the Long Sextile of Neptune and Pluto. The two planets conjoined in the 1890s, thus suggesting the momentous changes that were about to begin and grow more prevalent in the new Twentieth Century. After that conjunction it would take half a century before the opening sextile of those two planets occurred.

First Cold War

If we look at this graphical ephemeris we see that there is a sixth harmonic conjunction between the two outer planets — the long sextile between Neptune and Pluto. It goes from the late Forties (Number 1) to the early Nineties (Number 2). I saw several years ago that this was an indicator of the Cold War. This time period is between the Truman Doctrine and the fall of the Soviet Union. But Pluto reached its perihelion — closest to the Sun — at about the turn of the century and so there will be another long sextile in the Twenty-First Century. When I saw that many years ago I figured this could not be a return to the Cold War since that had long gone. How naive I was! There is another long sextile — but not as long — from 2021 to 2036. So maybe this will indicate another Cold War, or perhaps a Hot War which the West seems to be gearing up for.

Neptune and Pluto have an interesting pattern. Pluto has a very elliptic orbit so that sometimes it is inside the orbit of Neptune. The astronomer (and astrologer) Johannes Kepler created the laws of planetary motion that are the basis of the ephemerides that we use in astrology today. His second law states that planets sweep out equal arcs in equal time, which implies that when a planet is farther from the Sun (which is one of the two centers of the ellipse that is the planetary orbit) it moves slower than when it is closer to the Sun. Thus Pluto takes a lot longer to go through the sign of Gemini — 30 year — than the sign of Sagittarius — 11 years. As result of this speedup/slowdown Neptune and Pluto can hold the same aspect for many years.

Second Cold War?

This second long sextile occurs from 2021 (Number 1) until 2036 (Number 2) with the most intense period between 2024 (Number 3) and 2029 (Number 4).

For anyone familiar with the uses of propaganda it appears that this country is trying to build up to a war with Russia. The anger and hate directed towards Russia dwarfs what was seen during the First Cold War from 1947 to 1992. During that one we would at least talk to the Soviet Union as did Eisenhower (though he was shanghaied by a U2 flight over the Soviet Union right before the talks, but that at least it gave its name to a rock group whose leader at a recent show in Las Vegas celebrated Navalny, the Russian dissident I mentioned previously), Nixon, and Reagan, who almost abolished nuclear weapons in consultations with the leader of the Soviet Union. But that was so Twentieth Century.

After the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City President Putin was the first to offer condolences to the United States and allowed the US to use Russian airspace for an attack on Afghanistan.

Putin Catches Fish; Bush Applauds

I recently saw a photograph taken in Summer of 2007 of a fishing trip taken by both Presidents Bush and President Putin at Kennebunkport, Maine. Putin is the only one who caught anything and he threw it back. The younger Bush is applauding in the background. Bush and Putin were even at the same dance once in Russia in 2008: https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/1794537840639881245. But it is hard to imagine anything like that happening now, such as for example Biden and Putin going on a bicycle trip or even eating ice cream together.

One wonders what will end this second Cold War. Will Russia collapse like the Soviet Union did? Will the United States collapse instead, thus ending a conflict between those two superpowers. Or perhaps there will be a hot war that will end the planet and thus also this second Cold War. Stay tuned.

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February 18, 2024

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Saturn and Neptune

Previously we looked at the opening Jupiter-Saturn square — first quarter Jupiter — which portends the beginning of the second half of this decade. The second half of a decade is different than the first half, and in this case it will be strongly different. One of the reasons for this is an important aspect happening — or almost happening — a month after the third Jupiter-Saturn square which was discussed previously. It will happen exactly about seven months later. This aspect is a Saturn-Neptune conjunction at the Aries point. (Full disclosure: I have minor aspects between both Saturn and Neptune with the Ascendant and an aspect between Saturn and Neptune.)

The key phrase I use for Saturn and Neptune is “It seemed like a good idea at the time”. As one might guess with the two planets involved, the outlook is not especially upbeat. Saturn is called the “Greater Malefic” and we’ve discussed Neptune before; we’re seeing a lot of Neptune this decade — in the mundane sphere it seems to rule propaganda and deception. While a positive spin on these two planets would be “practical spiritual action” but we are talking about the world here so I don’t expect miracles and the seeing through of myths. But perhaps that is not entirely impossible. One possible positive manifestation would be the seeing through of the incredible propaganda that has saturated the world, especially in the last 10 years. Another possible manifestation, to be very optimistic, is that there will be a “spiritual” realization that we have to consciously change our ways of existing for the first time in history to save our collective butts. That’s a lot more difficult than simply stopping carbon emissions.

Conjunction of 1989

Lets look at previous conjunctions of these two planets which take place about every thirty six years. The most famous one was the previous conjunction in 1989. This saw the fall of the Berlin Wall (shortly after the second conjunction in a series of three) and in the next two years the fall of the Soviet Union and all the Soviet connected Eastern European countries. The Soviet Union broke into several countries, such as Russia and Ukraine. This was also the turn of the decade with a Jupiter Saturn. There were also the Tiananmen Square protests of April May 1989 and he Soviet Union withdrawal from Afghanistan in May 1988 through February 1989 after Geneva Accords signed April 14, 1988. Much happened under this Saturn Neptune conjunction.

But this dissolution of the Soviet block also caused many changes in the Western block. Since 1945 and the start of the Cold War, this conflict with the Soviet Union had served as sort of a raison d’etre for the West. While the West and especially the United States could believe that they had “won” the Cold War after this conjunction and so take victory laps (cf The End of History by Francis Fukuyama) there was also a lost to the West because one of their prime motivator and unifiers — fighting the good cold war fight — was no longer around — see again Francis Fukuyama. It was as if an employee who hates his boss with passion the question becomes what does he do when his boss dies.

Conjunction of 1953

The previous conjunction was in 1953. That year saw the death of Stalin (who had ruled the Soviet Union for one Saturn cycle) and the consequential exposure of Stalin’s crimes. In the Soviet Union Stalin was once considered a great leader by many people, and to this day some older Russians still honor him, but by his death many leaders considered him horrid and Khrushchev, the Soviet leader who followed Stalin’s death, made a famous speech to the Soviet Politburo denouncing Stalin’s crimes. This year also saw the end of the Korean War with an armistice but actually the war has never really been ended in the way most wars end. Joseph McCarthy, who had held the US government under his sway, was losing power and his final downfall would come the next year (Have you no sense of decency, sir?…) and his death by alcoholism followed three years after that. McCarthy seemed like a good idea at the time — the early fifties — but his communists-in-government shtick was getting a little long in the tooth by 1954.

In his last book, Planetary Cycles Mundane Astrology famous French astrologer Andre Barbault gives even more detail on aspects of Saturn and Neptune and the history of the Soviet Union than is considered here.

Conjunction of 1917

The conjunction before that was in 1917 which saw the beginning of the Soviet Revolution that overthrew the czar who ruled Russia. This revolution was partly as a result to Russian losses in World War I. In this case the idea no longer thought of as good was the Russian ruler ship by the czar. The end of World War I, which happened the next year, was followed shortly thereafter by the breakup of four empires: Russian, German, Astro-Hungarian, and Ottoman; the breakup of the latter lead to many new nations including what became Israel. The year 1917 also saw the entrance of the United States into the battles of World War I after a far reaching propaganda campaign. This entrance followed a jingoistic movement in the US, partly brought about by only the second Democratic president since Lincoln. Suggested reading: American Midnight by Adam Hochschild.

Saturn-Neptune close

In July of 2025 both planets come within a quarter degree of an exact conjunction at about 2 degrees Aries and then both go retrograde thus avoiding the exact conjunction. This occurs one month after the final Jupiter square Saturn. At this time not only is Jupiter square Saturn but also Jupiter is square Neptune. This is certainly a good start to the second half of the 2020’s, but one that promises a turn about to what has gone before.

Saturn-Neptune Exact

In February of 2026 there is the only exact conjunction at 45 minutes of Aries. Since the Aries point represents the World, this Saturn Neptune conjunction will effect and be felt by the whole world. Perhaps the “once what was thought a good idea” was having a giant 500 year long party. But it is important to realize how important this is — a conjunction of Saturn, Neptune, and the Aries Point. This is one to remember.

Saturn-Neptune Conjunction in Graphical Ephemeris

The graphical ephemeris (above) shows the first occasion where the two planets are almost conjunct but not quite since they both go retrograde at about the same time, which normally happens when the two outer planets are conjunct and go retrograde at the same time. In the same graphical ephemeris we see the only exact conjunct at the same time in early 2026.

These Saturn-Neptune conjunction of 2025 and 2026 occur at the first degree of Aries so, considering the nature of the Aries point as ruling the whole world (consider that actress Shirley Temple had Moon at zero Cancer, square the Aries point, and she was considered “America’s sweetheart” and almost everyone loved her during the dark days of the Great Depression) that the effects of this conjunction of the two planets should effect and be felt by the whole world.

Close-up of the Near Miss Conjunction

This image above is a magnified part of the close encounter of Saturn and Neptune in July of 2025. You can see how close this is to the Aries point — dark black horizontal line — and the MC of the United States — dashed grey line.

Close -up of Saturn-Neptune Conjunction

This magnification of the only Saturn Neptune conjunction in early 2026 shows that it occurs half-way between the Aries point and the Midheaven of the United States.

As has been indicated the triple conjunction of Saturn, Neptune, and the Cardinal Axis should have repercussions around the world. The previous conjunction saw the fall of the Soviet Union, changing the future development of both the United States and Russia. But this conjunction takes place at the Cardial Axis so the world should feel the change.

But that’s not all for those who live in or are affected by the United States, which means the whole world. The Midheaven of the United States is 1 degree Libra (and of course the IC is at 1 Aries) and so this conjunction is right on the US MC/IC axis and actually closer to that than to the cardinal axis. So we should expect that the effects of the Pluto Return of the United States — discussed previously — should be magnified/modified in ways that can’t be predicted. Perhaps a new political party will be formed when people realize that the Uniparty — a name that is becoming more and more common — that rules in Washington does not serve the interests of people but serves the interests of the corporations quite well. Perhaps we will see the breakup of the United states into several smaller counties so that the US will be like EU. Suggested reading American Nations by Colin Woodard and the Nine Nations of North America by Joel Garreau.

In the magnification you can see how the conjunction is between the Aries point and the US MC — and that both are close which is also an indication why the US has been so successful at controlling the world. The Aries point and the US Midheaven are only one degree apart and that conjunction is at 45 minutes of Aries so it is very tight in both cases, and even tighter to the midpoint of the Cardinal Axis and the US Midheaven. Fireworks of some type are promised, but with Neptune involved it will look like a damp squib.

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February 14, 2023

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Change Of Sign

We will soon see the first of three major sign changes for outer planets. Anytime an outer planet changes sign it is considered significant. There are many articles available that describe what has happened throughout history when, say, Neptune goes into Pisces or Pluto goes into Capricorn. A few years ago I discussed what happened when Pluto entered Capricorn. That occurred in 2007 through 2009 and the world saw what is called the Great Recession (as opposed to the Great Reset which is coming up). The previous time that Pluto entered Capricorn saw Britain become the dominant power in the (unipolar) world, which lasted until World War I when the USA took the reins of power even though it took the country another world war to act on this and believe it. And the time before that saw the Reformation start after Martin Luther supposedly nailed his theses to the church door. We will soon see all three outer planets — Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto — change sign within a 3 year period. One can see that if one change of sign is important, then three changing at almost the same time will be very very important.

In the book Astrology of Sustainability the astrologer J.Lee Lehman, PhD. talks about the transits of outer planets and mention this while discussing Pluto moving from Capricorn : “…cluelessness is a general characteristic of a period with a change in outer planet sign: the people who have benefited from the Old Regime often are slow to notice that the rules have changed.” Imagine what three changes of signs in three years for the outer planets will mean to those members of the Old Regime, that is Pluto, in the upcoming years.

Signs are, like house systems, a way of dividing 360 degrees by that ever popular number twelve starting of course at zero Aries. So whenever a planet changes sign it is making a multiple of 30
degree aspect to the Aries point. Thus when Pluto goes into Aquarius it will be sextile the Aries Point; when Neptune goes into Aries it will be conjunct the Aries Point; and when Uranus goes into Gemini it will be also sextile the Aries Point. Uranus has a period of 84 years so few are still alive who remember when Uranus last went into Gemini which was in 1942. The period of Neptune is twice that of Uranus so the last time Neptune entered Aries was 1862. Note that at that time Uranus was also in Gemini having entered that sign 1858 and 1858. The last time Pluto was in Aquarius was in 1778 when the United States was fighting its Revolutionary War. It is fairly obvious the commonality of those three periods: both 1778, 1862 and 1942 saw the United States involved in a war. I wonder what will happen this time.

The last time all three planets changed sign at about the same time, and into the same signs as they are changing into now, was 500 years ago, as illustrated above. Uranus went into Gemini about 1524; Neptune went into Aries about 1534; and Pluto went into Aquarius about 1531 — the same three ingresses we are seeing now. Since Pluto has a period of 250 years we see that this upcoming entrance of Pluto into Aquarius is only the second time since 1531 that Pluto entered Aquarius. In the Sixteenth Century Uranus was the first to change sign and Pluto went into Aquarius seven years later; Neptune was the last to change sign. By the time Pluto entered Aquarius Uranus had moved into Cancer and shortly after Neptune entered Aries Uranus moved into Leo, two signs after Gemini. Not all three ingresses happened as close together as they do this time.

Thus 500 years ago the spread for all three ingresses was about 10 years so there was not much overlap. To say that the period 1524 to 1534 was important to the shaping of the modern world is not hyperbole. One can see that the three outer planets changing into the same three signs this decade is an echo of what happened 500 years ago. At the intermediate time 250 years after that early 16th century period, Uranus went into Gemini about 1775, Neptune went into Libra — opposite Aries — about 1779, and Pluto went into Aquarius about 1777. The timing of these sign changes with the birth of the United States is quite obvious. These three ingresses also mark the Enlightenment, though that had more to do with the grand trine of the three outer planets that century. The Enlightenment is that time when rationalism replaced religion as the dominant force in societies. I have predicted previously in this blog that we will see irrationalism (that is the opposite of rationalism) replace rationalism after this change the world is going through this decade. This may be hard if not impossible to believe if you were raised in the scientific paradigm that dominates this society and has seen the adulation of scientists after World War II (they gave us the atomic bomb that ended that war was a popular outlook in America at that time) and it has only grown since in our technically dominated world. And according to the rational mindset astrology is the ultimate in irrationalism.

One way to see when all three outer planets change sign visually is by using a graphical ephemeris in harmonic six because all three of the signs being changed into are positive: Pluto into Aquarius, Neptune into Aries, and Uranus into Gemini. The heavy horizontal line is 0 Aries or in this case the positive sign boundry. Looking at the image above we see that Pluto first moves into Aquarius in the Spring of 2023, just dipping its toe in so to speak and then goes back into the safer confines of Capricorn until late winter of 2024 when it moves seriously into Aquarius until it returns briefly to Capricorn in Fall of 2024 but finally moves into Aquarius for good at the start of 2025. Neptune goes stationary at the Aries point in Summer of 2024 (to be discussed in more depth in a later post) before returning to Pisces for winter of 2025-26, finally moving into Aries for good in early 2026. Finally Uranus moves into Gemini for late Summer, Fall and Winter of 2025 and finally moves into Gemini for good in Summer of 2026.

Summarizing, Pluto moves into Aquarius in 2023 and 2024, Neptune moves into Aries 2024, 2025, and Uranus moves into Gemini in 2025 and 2026.

As mentioned previously in this blog, the interpretations that I use of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in the current context can be laid out as follows: Note these planets have multi-variant meanings (I believe that term was used by Richard Tarnas) and so those planets have different meanings in different circumstances. But for the current crisis of this decade I think the following meanings are most useful. Uranus represents the individual people and the local and natural world as well as the desire and need for freedom. Neptune represents deception and illusion and propaganda as well as diseases and vaccines and that virtual world we call the “Internet” as well as a sense of a spiritual world. Pluto represent the opposite of Uranus in the current sense, big tech, big media, big pharma, global and the not natural — that is to say the technical and industrial.

With those meanings in mind we can see that these three different ingresses represent three different currents taking over the world . The first current will be of Plutonian energies, something that we can already see though the actual ingress won’t happen until the Vernal Equinox of 2023. The energy following that will be Neptunian which suggests there will be even more uncertainly about what is happening in the world and more propaganda supporting the narrative of Pluto so it will seem like the forces of Pluto will be all-powerful since it will appear at that time that that is the only energy available, but it will be hard to know for sure. But to paraphrase a common statement, Uranus bats last. The Uranian energies will finally come in after everyone is confused and believing that Pluto has triumphed. This will be discussed in a later post. This will see the biggest change in the direction of the world for a least 500 years. As the Romantic poet Shelly said a little over 200 years ago in the poem The Masque of Anarchy — “Ye are many, they are few” or to paraphrase Uranus is/are many and Pluto is/are few.

There is also a fourth change of sign at almost the same time as the first ingress of Pluto into Aquarius and so this should actually be considered the first of the many changes of sign in this short period, and this is one for a planet that for most of humankind’s existence was the outermost planet; Saturn is changing sign from Aquarius to Pisces in early March about two weeks before Pluto makes its first foray in Aquarius. This suggests a changed from the scientific viewpoint ruled by Aquarius to a more “non-scientific” viewpoint ruled by Pisces. In fact it has already started. The last two years have seen the popularity of the phrase “Trust Science”; I see it on lawn signs in richer neighborhoods above mine. This is a profoundly anti-science statement. You trust religion but science needs controversy and a variety of opinions in order to grow. I say this as someone who actually has a degree in science even though it is only BS. A more accurate statement would be Question Science since that is what scientists are suppose to do. But I guess that belief is so Twentieth Century.

So perhaps Science is dead but we just don’t realize it and may not realize it for many years.

Since Saturn is a relatively fast moving planet we will see it’s entrance into Aries within this decade also. And that time will be also important, but that is a subject for another post.

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December 31, 2021

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The Sixth Crisis

Every 80 to 90 years in American history there has been a crisis. These crises started very small and local but each succeeding crisis was larger and involved more people, not just in the United States but in the rest of the world. To astrologers, the year range of 80 to 90 should ring a bell: The period of Uranus is 84 years and that of Neptune — at 168 years — is exactly double that. As we will see the motions of these planets interact with the chart of the United States in ways such that there are five different cycles that all come due within a period of 5 to 10 years. These cycles are Uranus coming to its natal position — called a Uranus Return — and Neptune coming back to either its natal (return) or opposite (demi-return) its natal position. These two cycles occur for any chart drawn for a birth in 1776. The next two cycles are transiting Neptune coming to or opposite to the Midheaven in the Sibly natal chart for the U.S. and Uranus coming the Descendant of the Sibly chart. These two cycles involved a certain chart of the United States. The fifth cycle is Neptune coming to the Aries or Libra point; this cycle does not involve the United States at all, but holds for the world at large. I’ve also noticed — as you will see from the graphical ephemerides shown below — that there is also a hard aspect between the Pluto and the natal North Node of the Moon each time these other transits are happening. I’m not sure what to make of this, but Ebertin’s description of the principle of these two points is intriguing. Ebertin says the principle of these two points is the common destiny of a large mass of people.

The first crisis in American history is called the Starving Time. This took place in the recently founded colony of Jamestown. The colonists weren’t on great terms with the people that already lived on this land that was new to them and also the colonists made many mistakes. The winter of 1609-10 was for them the final reckoning. They didn’t have enough food to make it through the winter and so almost 90% of the population died over that winter. Some were so desperate that they removed bodies from their graves for food. The required supply ship from England was late in coming so they were not rescued until the following spring and it took years to finally recover from the Starving Time. So while the severe crisis only lasted the season the recovery took years covering the period when Uranus and Neptune were making the appropriate aspects.

Here is when the various transits mentioned above played out for this crisis. You can follow all these in the above graphical ephemeris. Neptune was conjunct its natal position (one full Neptune cycle before the birth of the country) in 1610-11, Neptune was conjunct the Midheaven of the not yet formed United States in 1615-16. Neptune crossed zero Libra in 1614-15; Uranus conjoined its natal position in 1608-1609; and finally Uranus crossed the Descendant of the not yet born United States in 1609-10. In this case the transit of Uranus over the Descendant was the closest in time to the actual crisis, but since it took several years to recover from the damage and the almost loss of the colony important actions related to the crisis were occurring when Neptune crossed those points.

The second crisis was called in the colonies King Williams’s War and other names as well; this was just the North American part of a larger war called the Nine Years War. In North America this war involved England (including the English colonists), France, and Native Americans. This was the first of several wars in North America involving those same parties. In North America, this war was fought from 1688-1697.

Many other things were going on in this period. For the British — and America was a colony of Britain at this time — 1688 was a very important year for what is called the Glorious Revolution. This was a non-violent change to the governing of the country, which at the time meant the king. The king of England at the time was James II, younger brother of Charles II who was the restored king after his father, Charles I, was executed during the English Civil War in the middle of that century. James II of England was Catholic and was hard on the Church of England which had been established by an early Tudor king. He was replaced in this Glorious Revolution by his daughter Mary and her husband William, who was also King of Holland and a Protestant.

Four years later an event happened in America that is still talked about today: the Salem Witch Trials. These occurred in 1692 and 1693 in the village of Salem Massachusetts. Two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and 19 were eventually executed.

Also in this period the slave trade experienced a big boost. Perhaps it was the elimination of a Catholic king in England that allowed this expansion to take place. This is discussed more fully in the book Freedom’s Debt by William Pettigrew. Of course, this meant a big increase in slaves brought to America. Perhaps those who support the 1619 Project concerning when slaves were first brought to America should pay more attention to this milestone.

Starting in 1689 there were a number of rebellions in America that in ways presaged the Revolution that would happen at the next crisis. The book to read about this is The Glorious Revolution in America by David Lovejoy.

Here is when these planets made the appropriate aspects for this second crisis. Neptune was opposite the natal Neptune in 1693-94. Neptune was conjoined the Aries point and the IC of the United States in 1697-98, just as this war was ending. Uranus returned to its natal position in 1692-93; Uranus crossed the Descendant in 1693-94. So here we can see with a longer event — not just one winter as in the first crisis — that all five of these planetary indicators line up with the crises.

The third crisis was the American Revolution. This war went on from 1775 to 1783. By definition, Neptune was conjoined the natal Neptune and Uranus was conjoined the natal Uranus at this time since the birth chart is set for a date shortly after the start of the war, which is said to be the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. But both Uranus and Neptune crossed the angles that they are close to in the natal chart while the war was being fought. Note that other countries than England and its colony were involved in this war, most notably France that may have saved the bacon for America and indirectly caused its own revolution.

The fourth crisis was the American Civil War, which is sometimes called the second American Revolution (eg. historian Charles Beard). It officially started with the firing on the Federal Fort Sumter, a military base in North Carolina, by the Confederates. This happened on April 12, 1861. But events leading to that civil war had occurred for years if not decades before that event. One important occurrence was the raid by John Brown and his followers on the Harper’s Ferry military depot in the middle of October 1859. The Dread Scott decision of the Supreme Court, announced by incoming President James Buchanan in March of 1857, was another prominent forerunner.

The American Civil War did involve more than just the North and South. The nationals from many other countries enlisted and fought in the Civil War, which was seen important by them for the causes of anti-slavery and state’s rights. Both England and France were considering recognizing the Confederacy but the timely intervention of the Russian Navy prevented this from happening. The crises was already becoming international.

As can be seen in the above graphical ephemeris, here is when the appropriate transits took place. The Neptune demi-return occurred in 1857 and 1858; the Uranus return was in 1860 and 1861; Neptune was positioned at 0 Aries in 1861 and 1862; finally Uranus crossed the Descendant of the United States (Sibly chart) and Neptune crossed the IC of the US in 1861 and 1862.

The fifth crisis was World War II. The official start of this war was on September 1, 1939 when the German forces invaded Poland, but there were many events in the years before that that presaged a world-wide war, such as the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and then their invasion of China in July of 1937. For Americans the war started when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, an American military base on the American colony of Hawaii, in December of 1941.

These were the appropriate transits: Neptune returned to its natal position in 1938, 1939, and 1940 — it was exactly there in early September 1939; Neptune was at the Libra point in 1941, 1942, and 1943; Neptune was at the Midheaven in 1943 and 1944; both the Uranus return and Uranus crossing the Descendant were in 1944 and 1945.

After this war there were many changes, the most in American history. We will discuss this more fully in the next post. This time is considered the start of the Anthropocene, that geologic age that is determined by the force of human beings. Also this time was the start of the Atomic Age. The use of plastics, which was fairly limited before the war, exploded afterwards and has grown immensely since: as a result women could finally wear nylon stockings and the plastic ball-point pen proved popular.

For the sixth crisis, the one we are starting now, the Neptune demi-return is 2021 and 2022; Neptune crosses 0 Libra in 2024 and 2025; it crosses the Sibly IC in 2025 and 2026; the Uranus return is in 2027 and 2028; finally Uranus crosses the Sibly Descendant in 2028 and 2029. It appears that this crisis will last most of the decade.

Dedicated to Enid R. Leonard who has been an editor for many of these blog posts.

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June 26, 2020

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The Disenchantment of the World – Part I

For the last five hundred years, the rational side of human beings — symbolized by the planet Uranus — has grown continually, while the irrational side — symbolized by Neptune — has been considered not worthy of discussion. This growth of the rational at the expense of the irrational — a term now considered so pejorative it is used as an insult — has reached its climax in the current day. But “rational” versus “irrational” can be thought as the same type of polarity as “left brain” versus “right brain” or even Masculine versus Feminine. This dichotomy has been given many names throughout the ages. And usually one side is dominant over the other. (Fortunately, we don’t have a problem with the Masculine dominating the Feminine in this society !!!) Humanity needs both sides of this division in order to survive.

This polarity can also be seen in the concepts Apollonian and Dionysian, a dichotomy made famous by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. These names are respectively from the Greek god of the Sun — Apollo — and the Greek god of wine and madness — Dionysus; these two gods and their respective eponymous classifications represent rationality and irrationally, the two opposing ideas of this post. Nietzsche divides people into Apollonians and Dionysians; these concepts appears in popular culture in such widely divergent sources as Eugene O’Neill’s play Desire Under the Elms and Robert A. Heinlein’s novel Stranger in a Strange Land. One can even apply this division to the last two Presidents.

We sometimes confuse the polarity of Uranus-Neptune with that of the Sun-Moon. You can see this conflation in the statement, no longer popular or allowed (but current 100 years ago) that men are rational creatures while women are irrational (and for example shouldn’t be allowed to vote). Perhaps now that women are more noticed/respected in general culture it could presage a greater recognition of Neptune and all that it represents in the zeitgeist.

Gutenberg Bible

This trip into the hyper rational can be considered to have begun with the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of 1453-4 — almost exactly 500 years before the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of 1964-65 — which saw the invention of something that was incredibly important to not only the development of science but also to the Reformation and even the Renaissance itself; that was the creation of the printing press, which has been compared to the development of the Internet as a element of cultural change. Because results could be delivered in the printed form it became possible to communicate scientific discoveries easily. It is hard to list all things that have been “caused” by printing.

The first real printed document is called the Gutenberg Bible, and the first date we have for this is October 22, 1454. In the chart for this event, we see the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Leo square the Sun and Saturn in Scorpio. There is also a Jupiter-Saturn opposition, showing that this period of time is half-way through the Jupiter-Saturn cycle that began ten years earlier, the equivalent of a full moon.

English Renaissance

The Scientific Revolution in Europe started with the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of 1596 through 1598. In England, this was the High Renaissance, best known for the many famous playwrights such as Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Spenser. A man who is thought of as the father of the scientific method, Francis Bacon, was coming of age in this period and influenced by the pace of the English Renaissance. Galileo, in Italy, made some fundamental discoveries at this time that would later allow for his belief in a book published by Copernicus about 50 years earlier. Kepler was publishing a book that laid the foundation for his belief in the heliocentric theory first promulgated in the same book by Copernicus at the preceding Uranus Pluto opposition.

In the chart for an exact conjunction of those two planets at this time, we see the conjunction in Aries. This was the Uranus-Pluto conjunction one cycle after the one that saw the printing press. Many things had changed in the ensuing 140 years. When the Gutenberg Bible was printed, the Western hemisphere was unknown to Europeans. Note that because of the very elliptical orbit of Pluto, the period between two conjunctions can vary widely.

The scientific movement grew throughout the next century with, for example, the founding of the Royal Society in England on November 28, 1660, a few years after the Uranus conjunct Neptune opposite Pluto, which marked the height of the English Civil War and increasing belief in science. To see how science was growing during this period consider that Galileo died in 1642 and Newton was born less than a year later.

World Turned Upside Down

The middle of the Seventeenth Century saw an imposing astrological configuration: Pluto in Gemini opposed to the conjunction of Uranus and Neptune in Sagittarius mentioned previously. This is representative of the powerful changes that occurred in this century, with the English Civil War and all the social changes that went along with that, so many that this time has been call a World Turned Upside Down ( cf history of this period under that title by English historian Christopher Hill).

Rene Descartes

The French mathematician and philosopher Rene Descartes personifies this growing rationalism. He was born during the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of the late Sixteenth Century and died during the Uranus-Pluto opposition in the middle Seventeenth Century which are illustrated above. He invented what is called the Cartesian coordinate system (used in for example the graphical ephemeris) in which the X coordinate is horizontal and the Y coordinate is vertical. Cartesian coordinates allow one to look at reality reduced to points on a graph. This is a concepts all mathematicians know instinctively. Descartes was influenced by the teaching of Galileo and is thought to be the major influence on Newton, so one can see him as a binding person between these two great scientists.

Descartes Death

While we have a time for his death, the time of his birth is only a guess. Some suggest that Descartes, knowing the power of astrology, did not want his birth time revealed, but had no power over the release of his death time. In his birth chart, we see the Uranus-Pluto conjunction on his Sun, an indication of someone who would epitomize the Uranus-Pluto power. At his death the Uranus-Neptune conjunction was trine the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of his birth.

Descartes’ Vision

On November 10, 1619 Descartes has a “vision” where he saw the whole universe and thus human beings as a mathematical system. This vision laid the basis for his mechanistic philosophy that was to influence the beliefs of science from that day forward. If we look at the transits for that day to Descartes’ chart we see a close opposition of transiting Neptune to his Sun, almost a cliche for a vision. There is also Pluto opposite his Midheaven but since his birth time is not good, I would not give this aspect much credence. But since the Sun moves only one degree per day, the Neptune transits is correct.

While Galileo and Newton (among others) are considered the founders of modern science, it is important to note that that they had not totally entered the realm of the hyper-rational which did not develop until the later Nineteenth Century. Galileo was also an astrologer and Newton was an alchemist, interesting but seldom reported facts about two important men in the history of science.

Birth Industrial Revolution

The next century — the Eighteenth — saw the first developments of what was to be called the Industrial Revolution with the next Uranus Pluto conjunction (trine Neptune) of 1710. In England Abraham Darby created iron in a blast furnace powered by coke rather than charcoal setting the stage for the use of iron and steel in manufacturing and Thomas Newcomen created the first practical steam engine (later refined by James Watt) also advancing the coming of industrialism. At the time the Industrial Revolution was only in England, and they kept tight hold of it. The Industrial Revolution came to America with Samuel Slater (illegally) liberating the ideas from Britain and establishing them in America at the end of that Century. The Industrial Revolution hit the rest of Europe by the early Nineteenth Century. This Neptune-Pluto trine was to last most of the century, the Century of the Enlightenment.

The Grandest Trine

This century also saw the Enlightenment, where many rejected the church as a final authority and instead depended on science and reason, the science that had developed in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The French philosopher Rene Descartes is a prime example of Enlightenment thinking though he lived in the previous century. The Enlightenment is best symbolized by the Grand Trine of the three outer planets, a configuration that only occurs once every 500 years.

This growing rationalism resulted in what German sociologist Max Weber called the disenchantment of the world (die Entziehung der Welt). The magic of the world, something known to ancients and also taught in various Mystery Schools, was reduced to a materialistic, mechanistic worldview, symbolized by the Cartesian coordinate system where life and the world are reduced to just a series of events operating as if by clockwork, in which everything can be determined if we only have enough data. In fact, the mechanical clock was a paradigm for how the world and the universe were thought to work. Humans are also thought of as machines, with the mind like a computer, thought this analogy did not occur until the later Twentieth Century.

This split, this disenchantment of the world, was the subject of a popular movie about 40 years ago called Koyaanisqatsi. This title means in the Hopi language “Life Out of Balance” which describes exactly the same conflict we have been describing, that something is out of balance, that the rational — Uranian — side of out natures is not balanced by the much weaker irrational — Neptunian — side, and the movie shows what has been the result. It is not pretty, but we know the resulting world well — the passage of forty years has only made things worse.

This disenchantment has reached its peak in the current era, where it is finally seen that this worldview, that the world is ours to use, is leading in a short time to the destruction of the planet. While it was taught in that ancient text, the Bible, that humans have dominion over the world, it was not until the last 500 years that this could be realized.

There once was a world view opposed to this, believed in by so-called primitive humans who saw the world as a magic place. Perhaps in the current era the foremost proponents of that philosophy are astrologers, who claim that the planets determine/signify what happens here on earth even though science says that is clearly impossible. One can see why this view is called magic by most. For further discussion of these ideas, see The Secret History of the World by Mark Booth, or for traditionalists, The Secret Teachings For All Ages by Manley P. Hall.

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April 24, 2020

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Neptune Über Alles

We have had a whole lot of Neptune over the last few years, and it is not going to end any time soon. I’ve previously written about the Neptune transits to the Ascendant and the Sun of the United States. The last of those transits has just about finished. But coming up is the Neptune demi-return, the return of Neptune to be opposite its natal position. This occurs at almost the same time as the Pluto return. This is not too surprising, since the period of Neptune — 168 years — is almost two-thirds the period of Pluto — 248 years — so there is a certain resonance to their periods. This Neptune demi-return will be followed soon after by Neptune hitting 0 Aries and Neptune crossing the IC — opposite the Midheaven — of the US, so soon the whole world, and especially the United States, will have more than a touch of Neptune.

Second Neptune Demi-Return

Neptune the planet — who was in Roman mythology (Poseidon in Greek) the god of the Seas (and also earthquakes) — covers many ideas. In the best sense it can relate to spiritual matters, but also deception and illusion in a mundane situation or for those who are not spiritual adepts. Neptune should be strong in actors (witness Elizabeth Taylor’s birth in Neptune-ruled Pisces) who need to behave like someone they are not. But is difficult to manifest the spiritual side of Neptune when we are talking about countries (eg US) or many people in their mundane existence. In such cases Neptune can represent lies, deception, dissembling, but also vapors, poison gas, and illness, especially when the causes are not well know. In particular, with the current COVID-19 pandemic that is engulfing the world, Neptune is a fitting symbol. But remember Neptune symbolizes many things, so don’t get caught up in assigning it just one meaning, as Neptune is more difficult to tack down than other planets. Though is seems a little too obvious, Neptune can easily be associated with plagues or pandemics. More fundamentally Neptune can represent invisible or at least unclear things, as in the term “Neptunian” fog. So things now are very Neptunian — the situation is unclear, and it is almost as if everyone has an opinion of what is happening, and some quote “experts” but in a more general sense, no one really knows what the future will be, but it wouldn’t be “more of the same”.

Let us briefly look at previous times Neptune made hard aspects — conjunction, square, opposition — with its natal position. There are relatively few of these, since Neptune moves slowly around the Sun. In a human being with a limited lifespan, the stages of a life can be measured with the aspects of Saturn to its natal position, most commonly labeled with the term “Saturn Return” though other aspects are important also. But with a country, and especially the United States, the progress of the country can best be measured with the aspects of Neptune, as I indicate in the following paragraphs.

First Opening Neptune Square

The first opening square of transiting Neptune to its natal position was in 1817. This was an interesting time even if there were no stand-out events. The last of the “Virginia Dynasty” Presidents, all of whom came from the state of Virginia, James Monroe, had just been elected. It is known as “The Era of Good Feelings” when past animosities were ended. The War of 1812, which had seen the burning of the nation’s capital city, had ended two years earlier. The Federalist Party, those who had essentially started the country before there were actually political parties, and had been represented by the first two Presidents, was for all intents and purposes dead. This time represents the end of the “childhood” of the country and a time when it moved into adolescence. Not only were Presidents elected that were different than the first few, for example Andrew Jackson in another ten years, but the contentious issue of slavery was about to become very obvious and could no longer be ignored with the Missouri problem that was solved by the eponymously name Compromise.

First Neptune Demi-Return

The first time it was opposite its natal position was in 1858 and 1859. We all know what was happening then: This was the final run-up to the American Civil War, which had been developing for at least forty years since the opening square, but by the time of that demi-return the war was almost here. This Civil War marked America’s entrance into young adulthood after it “solved” a problem that had been with the country since its founding.

First Closing Neptune Square

The closing square of Neptune was in 1898. It is noteworthy how often several important transits happen at the same time — the current decade is a hallmark example of such a phenomena. But this Neptune aspect was also an example; this period saw the Spanish American War and the beginning of the Philippines War while there was a Saturn Pluto opposition. America was now passing out of earlier adulthood which was marked by the Civil War and was becoming a full adult and, wanting to be considered a “successful” country, became an empire. This can be seen as the beginning of the “American Century”.

Neptune Return

The first complete Neptune cycle, which involved Neptune returning to its natal position, was 1938 and 1939; in the same way that that first demi-return was a run-up to the American Civil War, this return was the run up to the Second World War, though most Americans at the time were just happy that the worst of the Great Depression was over. Those who paid attention to what was happening in Europe or the Far East knew something was coming down. By the end of the War, America had achieved the promise that had been set in motion at the closing square: it was truly a world-spanning empire.

Second Opening Neptune Square

The second opening square, which also corresponds to a Saturn-Pluto conjunction and much else was happening in 1980 and 1981. As has been mentioned before, this is the beginning of Neo-liberalism, that branch of extreme capitalism that has dominated the world for the last forty years, and, I believe, is coming to an end with the Neptune demi-return. This closing square represented elderhood for the country, but not in a good way — the country has become older without becoming wiser, like an elderly teenager. This upcoming decade represents hopefully a maturing out of that difficult stage. Unlike a physical human being, countries can have more than one “lifespan”. In this sense the upcoming Pluto return (symbolically, since Pluto can represent death) is the end of that stage most represented by the promise of the first Neptune return.

Since in the US chart, Neptune is close to the Midheaven, it is not surprising that the Neptune returns and demi-returns corresponds closely to Neptune at the MC or opposite the MC, which has been shown before to correspond to a crisis in America. The first such crisis was the Revolutionary War, then the Civil War, then World War II. This next crisis is coming up, and one indicator is the Neptune demi-return that also corresponds to the Pluto return, so one might guess that this return/demi-return of two outer planets will be more impressive/significant than either by themselves. But these returns also correspond to Neptune on the Cardinal axis, either at 0 Aries or 0 Libra so they also represent major changes in the World.

US history in textbooks is often divided into four periods — before the Revolutionary War, between Revolutionary and Civil Wars, after the Civil War but before World War Two, and after World War Two, that is today. So American history is conveniently demarcated by those the events, though all signify ongoing events to which those turning points — Revolutionary, Civil, World War — are significant. And it should be obvious that life before the Revolutionary War, when people were British citizens, was different than life after when they were citizens of a new country. After the Civil War, those who were slaves were now free and could, theoretically at least, vote and travel about. And after World War Two so many things changed that it is often called the Great Acceleration or the start of the Anthropocene — literally a new era in world history. We are soon to reach another one of those turning points. The time after this Neptune demi-return (and many other events which I have talked about before) will be unlike the time before (ie, now). The history of the world, when looked back at from the future, will show that there was a major change that happened in the third decade of the Twenty First century. Neptune is a big, but not the only, part of this, symbolized by the only outer-planet midpoint configuration with Neptune at the apex in 500 years and Neptune crossing the Cardinal axis at Zero Aries, the start of things.

This future could be determined by the same forces that made the last 70 (or 500) years what they have become, or it could be determined in a more democratic way. I believe it was the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume who said that in all societies the people are the ones that truly have the power, but they have been convinced that they don’t, so it does not matter. In authoritarian societies like the former Soviet Union, it was obvious that the media and the government were lying to citizens and so they paid attention to the samizdat (unauthorized newspapers), but in more “democratic” societies people don’t know they are being lied to, so it is almost a harder problem to convince them that they have the power. What we need to see now is that the individuals come to believe that they are the powerful ones and not allow themselves to be controlled by the government and that handmaiden of government, the mass media, all of whom are owned by large corporations that do not have the interests of individual citizens as their prime concern.

In the chart of the US, Neptune is square Mars. This is an extremely problematic aspect for a nation. The country in question is deluded about its use of power, which in the case of a nation is military power. It — the country — tends to believe that all uses of force are only for the benefit of others and military operations are done with the best of intentions: Deception is paramount. When transiting Neptune is conjunct/opposed the natal Neptune it is also squaring the natal Mars, further emphasizing the ingrained Mars Neptune square. This demi-return could be the time of another crusade to save the world. In the current US this crusade comes in two flavors: straight neoconservative, often the favorite of Republicans, and the responsibility to protect (R2P) which is favored by Democrats (also called “the cruise missile left”). In practical application, there is not much difference in outcome, but the R2P crowd (Samantha Powers is a good example) are often cheered in elite publications. That is the “respectable” type of intervention.

netg2020

In the fourth harmonic graphical ephemeris we can see how close the lines for Mars and Neptune are, near the bottom of the image. Neptune first comes close to Neptune-Mars in the summer of 2020 and first exactly contacts both planets in Spring of 2021. Both planets are contacted throughout the remainder of 2021 and 2022 and the last exact opposition to natal Neptune is at the end of 2022. Also visible in the upper half of the graphical ephemeris is the progress of the Pluto Return which starts and ends a little later than the demi-return.

But I don’t want to be all negative. This Mars-Neptune emphasis could be a time for self reflection (in the country) and a realization of how much the National Security State (aka Military Industrial Complex or Deep State), that was born shortly after World War II, has come to influence and even determine what the United States does. The current media mindset with Russia,Russia,Russia (they’re going to hack our 2020 elections also!) shows how much an enemy is needed. And before Russia the enemy was terrorism, and before that drugs, and before that Communism, and before that Germany, and before that Spain, and before that the South (from a Northern perspective), and before that the British.

Neptune indicates the very fluidity of the situation. It is at such a time that the maximum amount of change can be made, or else we can fight among ourselves and let our “Masters” control the situation and its outcome. But one thing is certain: with Neptune so involved, don’t accept anything at first impression, always look beneath the Neptunian surface.

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February 28, 2020

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As Fast as Molasses in January

Molasses is a product derived from sugar cane and few are familiar with it anymore, though it is often used to make brown sugar and rum. It can be a sweetening agent and it is more nutritious than for example honey. But an interesting historical event happened one January in Boston where molasses took center stage.

I’ve previously written about all the things that happened in 1919 but here is one that I did not mention, and it is not signified by what I said was the major astrological configuration of that year: Saturn opposite Uranus, the staid versus the new. But perhaps if you squint you eyes and try real hard you can see this case as the structure of the vat against the changeable molasses.

On the afternoon of January 15, 1919, at 12:40, a huge vat — 50 feet tall and 250 feet around — of molasses gave way, flooding the city of Boston, or at least the surrounding blocks on Commercial Street, with molasses. The tank was owned by Purity Distilling Company, a subsidiary of U. S. Industrial Alcohol which used the molasses stored in the vat for war purposes. That day was relatively warm for January in Boston: the temperature got to 45. The vat was on Boston’s North Beach between what is now a skating rink and a park. The location of the vat is now a baseball diamond. The 2,300,000 gallons of molasses, weighting 13,000 tons, spread in all directions in a 30 foot wave. Tenements in the region had their basements filled with molasses, and it was difficult to clean. Molasses was tracked around Boston over the next few weeks as cleanup preceded. Fresh water from fire hydrants proved unable to dilute the sticky substance, so finally salt water from the bay was used, resulting in much molasses being dumped into Boston’s harbor. The situation would have been less serious if it had happened in July. But in the colder temperatures of January, the molasses was slow and hard enough that some people and animals were trapped in it, and it was difficult to rescue some since the molasses, which had previously been warmed, was initially as fast moving as it would have been in summer months. An estimated 21 people died as a result of the molasses flood; there were 150 injuries and 14 buildings were destroyed, including a two story brick firehouse that was almost dumped into the Boston Harbor.

Later scientists built scale models of the vat to determine what actually happened. Using these measurements, they were able to estimate the speed of the molasses at 35 mph. So now we know the speed of molasses in January!

mollases

It is fortunate that we have a time for this incident, so that the angles — the MC and the Ascendant — are somewhat accurate. And the MC-IC axis definitely tells a story. As we can see from the chart for this incident, not an especially big one like the start of a major war, but something definite, that Venus, the planets of sweet substances, was at the Midheaven, and opposite Neptune at the IC, a planet suggesting a liquid or lack of clarity or uncertainty at the foundation of the subject. And if you are familiar with the planetary patterns of famous astrologer Marc Edmund Jones (who also gave us Sabian Symbols) this chart is an obvious see-saw, suggesting the theme of opposition and conflict. There is also the Saturn opposite Uranus that was talked about previously and also Mars sesquiquadrate Pluto, suggesting transformation through motion (even if only at 35 mph), and the North Beach was certainly transformed, and an opposition of Mercury and Pluto suggesting the spectators that for several weeks gathered on the North Beach to marvel at the changes in that part of the city. There is even a loose conjunction of Mars and Uranus in the tenth house, that almost stereotyped astrological signature of an accident.

And yes, it was later decided that the foundation of the vat holding the molasses was not especially sturdy. Proper trace minerals that would have hardened the steel used for the vat were not added, the sturdiness of the vat was never tested with for example water before it was filled, and this time the vat held more molasses than was usually the case. Some warm molasses was added shortly before the accident.

The molasses, imported from the Caribbean, was used to make alcohol for the First World War, and it had been a profitable business for U. S Industrial Alcohol. But then this accident happened two months after the war ended. This incident was a major source of litigation over the next years– one of the biggest set of legal cases in the history of Massachusetts, as families of people who were trapped or of animals that were lost sued USIA. There were 119 claimants involved and 25,00 pages of testimony were produced from all the trials over a three year period. U. S. Industrial Alcohol was the company that had owned the vat of molasses so important to the war that had just finished. Since there was a Red Scare happening at the time with much accusations of anarchism and communists under the bed (the crime that Sacco and Vanzetti were accused of happened 15 months later in Braintree, Massachusetts, a dozen miles south), USIA initially accused saboteurs of destroying the vat. But in the end USIA had to pay out $600,000 for the lack of technical supervision in construction of the vat.

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December 27, 2019

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Road Trip!

A perfect synecdoche — the part that symbolizes the greater whole — for the crisis of overshoot that is currently bedeviling the world is the popularity of that personal transportation device known as the automobile. That popularity formed at the beginning of the Twentieth Century because of two developments. This timing also corespondents with an outer planet midpoint as mentioned previously

The (internal combustion) automobile was invented — using the date of the patent — on January 29, 1886 by Carl Benz, whose name is still present in the brand Mercedes Benz. This was after the internal combustion engine, so important to the automobile — even though the early ones were powered by other means, such as electric batteries or external combustion engines more commonly known as steam power, eg the Stanley Steamer — was invented over the previous decades.

Automobile

Looking for the chart of this event, we see it is near the conjunction of the two outer planets Neptune and Pluto which was exact in 1890 and so colored the end of the Nineteenth Century and set the stage of the great change that would happen 100 years later with the conjunctions of Uranus and Pluto and Uranus and Neptune, which would complete the three conjunction of those three outer planets, indicating a 500 year cycle, which has been discussed in this blog many years ago. The most notable aspect at the time of this invention was the tight Jupiter-Uranus conjunction. Richard Tarnas calls this aspect one of creativity and expansion, and shows how many inventions have been developed under aspects of these two planets.

The automobile started out as a rich man plaything, because the first automobiles were quite expensive but later were later greatly reduced in price. This is similar to the development of cell phones, which once were quite expensive (and large) but soon became so inexpensive that almost everyone had one. But there were two events that changed that all and made automobiles and driving a common phenomena.

The first was the discovery of oil in Texas. On January 10, 1901 oil was discovered on Spindletop Hill in southeastern Texas. Oil had been known for centuries, and oil ls considered to have been discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859, but the discovery at Spindletop was different, it was the first gusher. The gusher at Spindletop was producing 100,000 barrels a day at the beginning. Suddenly there was plenty of oil for whatever was needed. And this led to the discoveries of other gushers also in East Texas and the Permian Basin.

Spindletop

In the chart for this discovery, one aspect stands out: the opposition between Jupiter and Neptune. One of the many items that Neptune rules is oil, the very substance that so controls the present world and is an important subject of this essay. When we combine Jupiter with Neptune, we have a lot of oil, which is exactly what this discovery represents. The orb is less than one degree. There is also a Uranus opposition to Pluto, which was one of the astrological highlights of the first decade of the Twentieth Century, and has been discussed before in the Birth of Modernism.

The second development was the Model T Ford. The first model T was produced on October 1, 1908. This was the first car for the masses; it was a relatively inexpensive car that real people could afford, and not just the wealthy. And Henry Ford, who was to become the third most wealthy individual in America in the early Twentieth Century, realized that he needed to pay his employees enough so they could afford the automobiles that they were making.

Model T

The first Model-T’s were in the first decade of the Twentieth Century, a period which I have previously called the birth of Modernism when many things changed, such as the popularity of movies and the first airplane flight. In this chart we have Pluto square Mars — transformative energy — and Saturn opposite the Sun — on this day there is some limitation, but of course we would not realize what the limitation was until many decades later.

Automobiles change their environment in so many ways. There is obvious pollution from first the construction of the vehicle from metals, plastics, and with the increasing addition of electronics to automobiles, certain rare elements such as lithium. Then there is pollution from car exhaust and wheel dust. Next consider the number of people and animals killed by these high speed devices, not only people outside the vehicles but also often drivers and passengers are killed or severely injured. Automobiles extend the range for humans greatly since they travel at high speeds, allowing the colonization of areas previously unavailable to human exploitation. This has caused the limitation of habitat for wild animals; also, the increasing spread of roadways necessary to deliver the humans to their new dwellings make travel for animals increasingly precarious. The term ” road-kill” is now a common one and that term came in to existence only because of the deaths caused automobile and the highways on which they travel.

There are several events that can be considered the first death due to an automobile: the death of a diver, the death of a passenger, the death of a pedestrian.

First Car Death – Mary Ward

The first death from an automobile happened long before the first internal combustion automobile was patented. Mary Ward was a Irish woman — astronomer, artist, author — who was killed when she was tossed from a home-made steam car built by her cousins and trapped under its wheels. She is considered the first traffic fatality. Steam (external combustion) was at the time considered suitable for cars, but it was not until the development of the internal combustion engines that the idea of the automobile took off.

In the chart for this event, the most obvious aspect is the conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto at the Descendant (but note this is a chart set for noon). Jupiter Pluto aspects are fairly common, and I haven’t gotten a handle on them. From the symbolism, one would expect a plenitude of transformation.

First Pedestrian Death – Henry Bliss

The first death of a pedestrian occurred when Henry Bliss was hit by an automobile on September 14, 1899. Henry Bliss was killed by an electric taxicab, proving that both electric cars and taxicabs existed early on in the development of the automobile, and in fact this happened in the Nineteenth Century. In this chart the most notable aspect is the opposition between Saturn and Pluto, an aspect that was also prominent in the Spanish-American War chart. Those two planets — whose conjunction will highlight January 2020 — are always ominous.

One result of our increasing fascination with the automobiles is increased death and destruction. The more obvious deaths and maiming are of automobile drivers and passengers rather than of pedestrian and cyclists. There were about 36000 people killed by cars in the last year, which is a slight decrease from the year before, but this was accompanied by an increase in the number of deaths of pedestrians and cyclists. A recent case in Germany that inflamed the public was a SUV that jumped the curb and killed four people on the sidewalk, prompting demands that SUVs be banned in that country. SUVs are now among the most popular of vehicles (other than large pickup trucks, which often are built on the same chassis as that of SUVs), driving to extinction the venerable station wagon, even though SUVs are not only more deadly to people outside the vehicle, but also, contrary to popular opinion, more dangerous to drivers because of increased probability of rollover. But people do like to feel that they are safe in their armoured vehicles high above the common driver.

But usually not taken account of, cars are deadly to wildlife and domestic animals. Think of the number of dead cats and dogs in any urban environment. And, if you live in a rural area, you are aware of all the roadkill populating the side of highways where the dead deer end up. Roadkill provides meat to those of rural areas too impoverished to afford a decent supply of store bought meat, so that can be counted as a plus for the increasing use of cars and the increasing inequality.

But besides all the death from automobiles, think of all the accidents that do not result in death but result in injuries ranging from minor to severe that may change one’s life forever. Doctors, hospitals, insurance companies and auto repair shops are provided with business by all these accidents, thus helping the economy. All these events that harm individuals increase the GDP of a country.

Before the popularity of cars, cross-country walking was a thing. Nowadays, people who walk are called “pedestrians”, a term that also means mundane or commonplace, dull. With the rise of the automobile, the increasingly few who depend on their feet for travel are considered plebeian or commonplace when compared to those who travel with cars.

The first road trip, that is across the country from one coast of the United States to the other, was a trip from San Francisco, California to New York City. It started in San Francisco in the afternoon of May 23, 1903 and finished in Manhattan on July 26 at 4:30 in the morning. Horatio Nelson Jackson, a retired doctor, was bet $50 in an upscale San Francisco bar that a car could not cross the country in less than 90 days (shades of Jules Verne). He got bicycle mechanic Sewall Crocker to accompany him in a 20 horsepower Winton touring car (certainly appropriate) which they named Vermont. Since there were no motels, gas stations, or roadside diners along the way, they packed sleeping bags. Automobiles were considered by many at the time as a fad that would not last and certainly too unreliable to make it across the country. At times they needed horses to pull the stranded car and blacksmith shops to perform the repairs. For most of the trip the were accompanied by a dog names Bud who wore motoring goggles to protect his eyes. The story soon proved popular to the general public, and after they finally reached Chicago they had put the hardest part of the trip behind them, and arrived in Manhattan early in the morning.

Road Trip Start

Road Trip End

Looking at the two charts representing the start and end of this first road trip shows nothing very spectacular. The Descendant represents (for charts in the Northern hemisphere) the West, where the trip started, and the Ascendant represents the East, where the trip ended. In the first chart, the Moon is setting in the West, where the trip began. In the second chart, the Sun is rising in the East, where the trip ends. So symbolically these two charts capture that start and end of the first road trip.

The mass usage of automobiles, having enough gasoline because of the discovery at Spindletop, started in the first decade of the Twentieth Century and has grown with each passing year. This has allowed humankind to expand, covering more and more of the land needed for mammals, insects, birds. Houses and buildings have been built on more and more land, reducing the area for wild animals. This expansion has allowed people to live in remote areas previously unavailable to all except the most intrepid explorers.

Automobiles have increasingly polluted the environment. First because of burning of a petroleum product has added carbon dioxide and aerosols to the atmosphere. But another major pollutant has been tire dust. It was recently discovered (recent article in the Los Angeles Times) that one of the major sources of micro-plastic pollution in the San Francisco Bay was particle from the tires of all the automobiles driven in the Bay Area. The amount produced by tire dust was many orders of magnitude greater that which came from other sources, such as the laundering of synthetic fabrics.

If one were an outside observer of the planet — the prototype is a typical Martian — the dominant life form of the planet Earth would be the automobile. These creatures would be seen to have a symbiotic relation with small creatures that feed them, clean them, and buy them fuzzy dice as decorations. In turn the automobiles take their symbiotes to places. Notice that much of the world is taken up with areas for this dominant life forms: Highways, parking lots, and personal parking lots called driveways with attached small homes called garages that are filled with possessions of their owners and not with the cars that they were originally designed for, have increasingly covered the surface of the planet, changing the climate, breaking up areas of land so that creatures can no longer move as widely as before, and allowing people to occupy more and more land.

The introduction of the automobile, as a recent book (Policing the Open Road: How Cars Transformed American Freedom — Sarah A. Seo) has shown, has allowed the police to intervene in our lives much more often that was previously imaginable. The idea of police stopping people of a certain race was unusual but now “driving while black” is still a common occurrence. Being stopped for such a thing as having an outdated sticker on your license plate is an almost normal occurrence. People think that when police stop them they are allowed to search the vehicle (not true) which causes many to be arrested for something other than a traffic violation.

With the population increase expected in the upcoming years, and the increasing demand for a car by the impoverished masses who are increasing their wealth, one can expect that the automobile and the trends outlined above will become increasingly dominant in the world, resulting in more and more death and destruction. That is the future we can look forward to if nothing changes!

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September 27, 2019

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1919

This year we are seeing many celebrations of events that happened 50 years ago, such as Woodstock and the Moon Landing (but no celebrations of the Manson murders or the Altamont concert). This year is also the one hundredth anniversary — a centennial — of the year 1919, and I have yet to hear of any celebration of that remarkable year and I don’t expect to hear any. But 1919 was a very important year, setting some trends that are still alive today.

To understand all that was happening, we must first reflect on the context for that year.

World War I tore up much of Europe and had countries from all over the world involved, thus the appellation “World War”. Four empires that had existed for centuries — German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian — collapsed as a result of the War. Many new countries were formed that are currently in the news, such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Syria. There was also a large scale epidemic that killed more than four times the number that died in the War. America went through many changes, some of which were not directly attributable to the war.

1919

First let’s look at the major aspects of the chart, not only the World transits that affect everyone but also the transits to the US chart. The most prominent aspect, which colored much that went on in the world, was the opposition of Saturn and Uranus. As you can guess from the nature of these two planets, that opposition is very combustible. The two planets, one that was the limit of the known solar system for millennia, and the other the first planet discovered with the aid of a scientific instrument, a discovery that captured the new world people were moving towards, one ruled more and more by science, have distinctly contradictory natures. Saturn represents limits and conservatism (among other things) while Uranus represents the new and revolutionary, so those two planets can be seen as representing the old established ideas versus the new more modern things that are coming into focus — conservatism against change. With those two principles in opposition, one can see a very major conflict. The United States was especially affected by this aspect, because Uranus was on the Moon of the United States, and thus Saturn was opposite the Moon. The people (represented by the Moon) would be an instrument of this conflict. Other aspects involving the US chart were Neptune on the North Node and Pluto on Jupiter, which is one of the core planets of the US and thus very important to the self-image of that country. All of these aspects are slow moving ones that involve the four outer planets Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
The cinema was becoming increasingly popular by 1919, and so actors finally took the business side of the movies into their own hands. In what I call an “Astrological Cliche” we have the tight conjunction all year of transiting Neptune and US natal North Node of the Moon. Neptune is associated with illusion, things that aren’t actually real, and as a result it is connected with artists and especially movies, which by their vary nature are not real. The North Node has many meanings; the one I like is that of groups or associations. The famous event of 1919 involving Neptune was the formation of United Artists (read Node-Neptune), a group for production of movies started by some of the most well known people in that field at the time: D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford. The idea originally was to involved those making movies to control things, instead of allowing business owners to control things. United Artists still exists 100 years later, though it has gone through many owners and purposes.

Starting in 1918 and continuing until 1920 was the largest pandemic of the modern world, a large outbreak of influenza known a the “Spanish flu” though Spain did not have anything to do with its origins. The month with the most deaths was October of 1918, but there were more deaths after that month than before. Unlike most influenza which kills mostly infants and the elderly, this flu struck down mostly those in the middle. And aspirin — which had only been sold for twenty years — was recommended for treating this flu, which made the death toll worse. Research has found the homeopathic doctors saved more lives than allopathic doctors because of the problems with aspirin.

During this whole period the Versailles peace conference was happening to settle World War I which had ended in November of 1918. The conference started in January of 1919 and lasted for exactly a year, though parts went on for several more years. Sections of the German and Ottoman Empires were awarded to the victors, Britain and France, so those counties got possession of among other things, Palestine, Syria and Iraq. The League of Nations was formed, an idea of American President Woodrow Wilson, even though the US did not join. Large reparations were demanded of Germany. The harsh treatment of Germany that resulted did much to upset the German populace and helped lead to World War II.

1919

As we can see from the above graphical ephemeris, the opposition of Saturn and Uranus started in late 1918 — far left of the graph — and ended in early 1920 — far right of the graph.

The Summer of 1919 is known as Red Summer (the term from a NAACP leader) because so much blood was shed in various “race riots” which happened around the country. But it also showed that the black people living in the United States were no longer willing to take hostility — resulting in violence — from the white population, and they fought back. Remember the context: The Supreme Court decision of Plessy v Ferguson which had happened at the end of the previous century had allowed Separate but Equal laws to take place around the United States, resulting in wide spread sanctioned segregation of the races. After that was the Great Migration in which a half million black citizens from the South moved north seeking work in industry. The end of World War I allowed many black soldiers to return to the United States and they began looking for work. The result of all these were attacks by white mobs in dozens of cities and hundreds of deaths. As the Ku Klux Klan put it in flyers posted in black neighborhoods: “The war is over, negroes. Stay in your place. If you don’t, we’ll put you there.”

In order to get Americans, who did not want to go to war (Wilson ran the second time on the slogan “He kept us out of war”) to be willing to fight, extreme nationalism/patriotism was promoted by ardent propaganda. Sauerkraut was renamed liberty cabbage and hamburger was called liberty steak. One result of this was the fear among many of anyone different. A. Mitchell Palmer was the Quaker Attorney General under President Wilson, and he (called the “fighting Quaker”) imprisoned and deported many people whom he considered Communists or anarchists. The Russian Revolution had occurred in 1917, and many government officials (such as the new democracy of Germany as well as in America) were mortally afraid of a Communist Revolution in their own back yards. There were many foreign born radicals in the United States as well as anarchists. So Palmer instituted what was called the “Palmer Raids” (also known as the First Red Scare) wherein Palmer organized a round up and deportation of those suspect of left-wings feelings.

The Russian Revolution of November 1917 resulted in the Russian Civil War between the Red (Bolsheviks ) and the White Russians. There was an invasion of Russia by troops from a dozen countries (such as England, France, United States, Italy, and Japan) on the side of the White Russians in 1918. Though most troops, except for the Japanese, were withdrawn in 1920, this invasion extended the Russian Civil War and caused hard feelings between the West and the Soviet Union, which extended to the Cold War after World War II and even today.

On January 16, 1919 the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified by Congress, which would result in the prohibition of the sales of alcoholic beverages starting at the beginning of the next year, leading to the the folly of Prohibition for the next 13 years, and thus to a widespread lawlessness and an empowerment of criminals. During the Twenties much alcohol was consumed, but instead of a lot of beer and wine, much more potent distilled spirits were drunk, since those were easier to conceal. There was also corruption developed among those law officers charged with upholding Prohibition, as is always the case when laws differ from the wishes of people.

Another amendment was passed by both the House and the Senate in the United States, and that was the Nineteenth Amendment which gave women the right to vote. This amendment was finally ratified by enough states in the middle of 1920. There had been an active suffragette movement before World War I in several countries of the world, such as Great Britain and the United States. Women were able to vote for President in the United States 1920 election.

Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany (who was related to Queen Victoria of England and Tsar Romanov of Russia), after his country was defeated in World War I, abdicated and moved to the Netherlands, which refused to extradite him for war crimes. The government of Germany was replaced by the beginnings of a democratic one, and the government of German was called the Weimar Republic from the city where its constitution was drafted. But there was much upset about the way the government was going, and a strong Communist movement in Germany developed. In 1919 there was a civil war between the Communist Spartacus League and the newly installed government. The government crushed the uprising and put some leaders of the Spartacus League to death, including one of its founders, Rosa Luxemburg.

An international Workers Union called the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW – Wobblies) had been formed in the middle of the last decade, and after the Russian Revolution and World War I, there developed much hostility between the established citizens and the Wobblies. This resulted in the Centralia (Washington) massacre. In Centralia on November 11, 1919 — exactly one year after the end of World War One — there was an armistice march including veterans from neighboring Chehalis. There had long been a conflict between the American Legion, prominent in Southern Washington state, and the radicals of the IWW, but with that march these conflicts flared into the open. There are conflicting stories of who fired the first shot, the American Legion or the Wobblies. As a result six were killed and more wounded and several Wobblies were convicted of murder in a later trial.
During the just ended war, there was an agreement between industries — especially the steel industry that made something that was extremely important for the war — that there would be no strikes and that the industries would treat the workers decently, unlike before the war. But after the war ended the agreement was no longer in effect. So by late 1919 the workers decided to strike the steel industry, in what is called the Great Strike of 1919. But it did not turn out well for the workers. The general public was afraid of “Bolsheviks” taking over the country; the atmosphere, as detailed above, was hyper-patriotic. The heads of the steel industry painted the strikers as possible bolsheviks and thus the strikers lost almost all public support.

Seattle General Strike

The General Strike in Seattle started on February 6 and lasted for only six days, but army troops were called in on the second day of the strike by a nervous mayor. One hundred and one different AFL — American Federation of Labor — unions joined the strike to show solitary with the shipyard workers who were on strike. There was no violence, the general strike was entirely peaceful. Many other workers stayed home and the streetcars stopped running. But police raided some union halls, and there was worry about Bolshevik Revolution in Seattle. By the time the strike was over, newspapers were cheering the fact that Seattle had been saved from the Reds. But it was a momentous event in the history of labor solidarity, and the University of Washington has a web site dedicated to this event. In this chart above we see of course the Saturn opposite Uranus, but also a Mars trine Pluto — a transformative confrontation, but (trine) not violent — but also Neptune opposite Mercury, suggesting that the newspapers (Mercury) were somewhat deceptive about the nature of the strike,

Another scandal of note during the year was the fixing of the 1919 World Series by the Chicago White Sox, who came to be known as the Black Sox for their cheating. In this incident eight members of the Chicago team were accused of losing the World Series on purpose so they would get money from a gambling organization. There was a movie made about this incident in 1988 called Eight Men Out.

One other incident in 1919 deserves mention. President Woodrow Wilson had a stroke on October 2, after a grueling tour to promote his League of Nations. His second wife, Edith, was very protective of him and few knew that Wilson was quite ill. She even signed his name on some official papers, and in fact many call Edith Wilson the first woman President. While Wilson’s health did improve he remained paralyzed on one side which reduced his ability to campaign for his League, and any thoughts he had of a third term were dashed. He died in 1924.

So during the year of 1919 we see many variations of that basic conflict of humanity, the old order versus the new, as represented by the opposition of Saturn and Uranus, and that conflict played out in many different venues. But there was also a formation of a business for the making of movies, something at the time as becoming increasingly popular. The basic core of America was beginning to be transformed, as symbolized by the transit of Pluto across Jupiter, an important planet conjunct the US Sun.

500 Year Party

An astrological study of history and politics

Category Archives: History

Uranus and the Moon

A New Cold War?

Saturn and Neptune

Change Of Sign

The Sixth Crisis

The Disenchantment of the World – Part I

Neptune Über Alles

As Fast as Molasses in January

Road Trip!

1919