The Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio – Oil, Land, Money, and War
The Sabian Degree symbolic description for the Eclipse degree of 25 Scorpio (from The Zodiac by Degrees by Martin Goldsmith):
“Before dawn, a Native American chieftain oversees the silent dismantling of an encampment of tepees.”
This significant eclipse suggests that the horrific war in Ukraine may change its “intended” course, resulting in a “silent dismantling of an encampment”. The position of the Sun in this eclipse is conjunct the dreaded fixed star, Algol, associated in ancient times with hangings and beheadings. Mercury retrograde, a “moving backwards” planetary picture, most certainly, suggests a change in course. The Ukrainians headed by courageous and charismatic Pres. Zelenskyy, have surprised Russian dictator Putin, who respects only those who are “strong” and will abuse anyone who exhibits “weakness.” Putin not only misjudged the Ukrainians, but underestimated the determination of the NATO Alliance.
Mercury, the communicator, goes direct June 2nd exactly conjunct Algol and opposite the Eclipse degree square Saturn and trine Pluto. On Nov. 19, 2021, the nearly exact opposite eclipse took place with the Sun in Scorpio and the Moon in Taurus. These positions are extremely prominent in Pres. Biden’s birth chart and shows him to be a major player in the direction this war takes and the burden of responsibility this places upon his administration.
The horrific war implemented by Putin revives the many historic lessons presented to humanity concerning what happens when ruthless military dictators are allowed to take control of nations. In recent years, we have seen the rise of many nations electing heads of state from the “extreme right” whose philosophies include expanded nationalism, overthrowing democratic institutions, and instituting police states. In recent year, Putin’s ruthless military aid was enlisted by Syrian dictator Assad, who effectively killed off half Syria’s population and demolished its infrastructure just to maintain control. Recently, Putin’s friend, hardliner Viktor Orban won election for Prime Minister in Hungary.
The lingering global COVID Pandemic and monetary inflation fueled by rising prices for oil, are currently driving populations “mad” and they are blaming their government officials who have little or no control over this.
Democracy is in a struggle for its existence!
Fossil Fuel and the Consequences:
We are being shaken out of our slumber concerning hydrocarbons and their dominance of energy matrices throughout the world. It is widely known that the consequence of this is a global warming that is creating climate catastrophes, as glaciers are melting at the poles, extreme heat and drought along with giant forest fires are increasing, and hurricanes are increasing globally in strength and numbers. But, at this historic point, our civilization will simply fall apart without massive amounts of energy. The recent pandemic during which supply chains were severely disrupted causing out-of-control inflation, illustrates our society’s addiction to oil and gas and our tragic failure to replace them. Scorpio is a sign associated with crises, death and rebirth. This “sign” takes no prisoners as consequences play out in the world.
Sri Lanka and other developing nations are experiencing a “debt” collapse without Russian oil and wheat imports, resulting in a populist overthrow of their government. Poor nations in Africa, many of which are experiencing enormous storms and floods, depend upon Russia for wheat and will starve without it. The Europeans are “sanctioning” Russian imports of oil and gas, but are still receiving oil in their pipelines, without which they would collapse. Russia is cutting off Poland from their oil pipelines, and Poland is switching over to getting their oil from Norway. Finland and Sweden have announced they wish to join NATO and the Alliance has said they will accept them.
Some people are discussing going back to nuclear fission, whose technology uses Plutonium and Uranium – the most toxic elements known to humanity. These installations need to be placed near rivers or other aquifers to cool the rods. This endangers these waterways if and when there is a meltdown or the plant needs to be shut down. Ironically, Chernobyl, located in the Ukraine, has been occupied by the Russian army, who is now leaving due to the toxic environment still remaining from the historic meltdown. Most of us remember the catastrophe at Japan’s Fukushima’s nuclear plant installed near the ocean, when a great earthquake and tsunami took place. This is not the answer.
Throughout the world, it is becoming more and more apparent that changing climates are bringing catastrophe. The Amazon rain forests continue to be cut down. The Boreal forests in northern Canada are burning because of the melting glaciers at the North Pole and the ensuing methane fires in Siberia cannot be put out. Here in the US, forest fires in California and Northern Arizona are raging out of control. Water supplies throughout the Western US are diminishing, as the Colorado river is drying up glacier melt from the Rockies and Sierras has disappeared, and underground rivers have nearly disappeared due to overuse. There is a movement to plant trees and restore forests, but this will take time and may be too late for many regions. Oceans are rising and hurricanes are gaining in size and frequency. Island nations are disappearing.
Jupiter goes into the sign of Aries May 12. This placement actually helps the chart of the Ukraine (Dec. 1, 1991), with a trine to its Sun. More support is coming. However, even if a deal is struck, Ukraine’s infrastructures have been destroyed.
In recent years, Putin has been very unpopular with the Russian people. We have seen the rise of dissident Navalny who was poisoned and imprisoned. My take on all this is that Putin knows he becomes more popular with his people when he goes to war – an old technique used when support for a leader weakens. When effective resistance of the “enemy” asserts itself, the tide changes. Putin is a psychopath who will never “give in” until enormously powerful coalitions of nations push him to the brink. There will be attempts to make a deal, but nothing will work this month under the shadow of the Eclipse and Mercury retrograde.
Ironically, with Mars in Pisces going over Neptune on the Eclipse date, there will likely be a catastrophic flood or major weather event, all connected to fossil fuel induced global warming.
The Economy:
This month’s eclipse and Mercury retrograde makes the atmosphere very difficult for the economy. The first week has Jupiter sextile Pluto (inflation) and Mars sextile Uranus, helping certain sectors such as healthcare and real estate, However, the FED’s attempt to quell inflation by raising interest rates may backfire as the cost of borrowing goes up. Financial markets will not know where to go, especially when Mars in Pisces collides with Neptune on the 17th. I would stay on the sidelines this month. Serious flooding will hit here in the US and in coastal regions throughout the world, effecting certain industries..
It has been recently reported that Jeff Bezos, whose worth is $160 billion is asking Congress to “bail him out” since he lost the bid for the space contract with NASA to Elon Musk. I have no problem with private/public alliances, but when the public (the taxpayers) has to subsidize the private corporations all out of proportion to the huge costs involved, we cannot call this fair and square. Right at this time, Congress is disputing whether or not to subsidize necessary medical costs for the public related to the pandemic. We have to face the fact that the billionaire class, the upper 1% who own more than 80% of this nation’s wealth, are running the show! The first week of this month, as Jupiter is sextile Pluto, we will likely see Congress pass a big funding bill.
The US Pluto Return:
This transit has been discussed in my previous newsletters. Many excellent astrologers have been publishing articles and having debates about this most important event. The theme of Pluto is “death and rebirth” and challenges us to embrace what has been “great” about the US in its history – The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, the embracing of the ideal of Democracy and/or equal rights and opportunities for all citizens. It is also about facing squarely our history that includes the genocidal massacres of native tribes, an economy based on human slavery, continued bigotry and hatreds of minority populations, and our embracing of unfettered capitalism glorifying greed and allowing a concentration of money and power in the hands of a billionaire class whose wealth is greater than any other individuals in human history. We have embraced the use of hydrocarbons to support a standard of living never seen before on earth. The consequences of this usage now threatens life throughout the globe with mass extinction.
This coming Mid-term Election on November 8th presents a Lunar Eclipse in Taurus conjunct Uranus. The planetary pictures on this date are so disruptive, there may be serious disputes about the “validity” of the elections themselves and a wide rebellion of people-at-large. Uranus rules technology pointing to the possibility the voting machines will be hacked or may not work. These planetary pictures also suggest severe storms in this time frame. In addition, we will have to deal with a transit of Mars in Gemini beginning August 20th and, because it will retrograde and stay in the sign until March 25th, 2023, we could see domestic terrorism, violence, and challenges to US cohesion and power. Planets in Gemini of significance have been prominent in the Civil War, WW II, and the infamous “91l”. Gemini transits have also been associated with upheavals in China and suggests a serious populist revolution there against its tyrannical Communist dictatorship and more surges in the pandemic. This is interesting since China challenges the economic and military leadership of the US in the world today.
Democracy works best when the population is well educated, has honest and open debates, and whose people are willing to work together for the greater good. Instead, at this juncture, our public education system is crumbling for lack of funds, a university education is prohibitively expensive, a severely unequal economic system has evolved that has put many people into a mindless rage, our elected legislatures are highly polarized, and cultural disagreements, especially over immigration, have arisen that threaten the rule of law.
Much of the corporate media has often abandoned honest reporting of news, now that, since 1986, regulations and laws requiring “truth” have been abandoned. In addition, commercials take up more space than most primary programs. The internet has spawned social media platforms that have often become focus groups that promote vices, lies and hate. Recently, these platforms are trying to “restrict” this toxic material, but the question lies in who decides what is “in or out”. All the while this is going on, states like Florida and Texas are “banning” books in the public schools that may teach history that includes slavery and racism or may contain material referring to non traditional sexual orientations. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has bought Twitter, ostensibly, to promote “free speech”. This brings up what our society deems “free speech” and it is a very good debate for us to have!
What lies ahead?
In 2023, this transit of Pluto will move away from the US Pluto, and go into Aquarius in 2024. Neptune goes into Aries and Uranus into Gemini, its placement in the origin chart of the US. In 2026, there is a configuration of planets forming supportive aspects with one another that are the most encouraging I have seen. My take is that the US, if it survives, will reinvent itself. My hope is that humanity will begin its march, historically, toward a higher level of knowledge, cooperation, and understanding. When Uranus goes into Gemini, it will likely make nuclear fusion applicable and put to use. The last time it went into this sign was when we created the atomic bomb (nuclear fission). This transit will likely end the age of fossil fuels.
Science and Technology:
April 4, 2022, Yahoo News “The Conversation” posted an article entitled: “Nuclear fusion hit a milestone thanks to better reactor walls – this engineering advance is building toward vectors of the future.” by Livia Caseli, Assoc. Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Zinkle Faculty Fellow, University of Tennessee, and David Donovan, Assoc. Professor of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee.
The authors report: “Scientists at a laboratory in England have shattered the record for the amount of energy produced during a controlled, sustained fusion reaction. The production of 59 megajoules of energy over 5 seconds at the Joint European Torus – or JET – experiment in England has been called a “breakthrough” by some news outlets and caused quite a lot of excitement among physicists. But a common line regarding fusion electricity is that is always 20 years away.”
“We are a nuclear physicist and a nuclear engineer who study how to develop controlled nuclear fusion for the purpose of generating electricity. The JET result demonstrates remarkable advancements in the understanding of the physics of fusion. But just as importantly, it shows that the new materials used to construct the inner walls of the fusion reactor worked as intended. The fact that the new wall construction performed as well as it did is what separates these results from previous milestones and elevates magnetic fusion from a dream toward a reality.”
In the April 2022 edition of Scientific American, there is a most interesting article entitled “Power Up – New technique puts crumbling batteries back together.” by Sophie Bushwick. They report: “For electric cars to run as long as possible between charges, their batteries need to pack a punch. One option would be lithium-metal batteries, which have a key component made of this lightweight element. This gives them greater storage capacity than widely used lithium-ion batteries, with the same components made from graphite.” This is an article worth reading in that battery technology is the other most important component in the new clean energy revolution.
Recently, a news release in The Independent.com.uk reported: “Scientists have discovered a way to make ultra-efficient solar cells on a commercial scale using the “miracle” material perovskite.”The team working on this project consists of the City University of Hong Kong and the Imperial College of London.
Actor Matt Damon and Engineer Gary White have published a book entitled “The Worth of Water” describing solutions for the lack of available water throughout the developing world. They have an approach as described on water.org that gives private micro loans to individuals in these nations that are far less expensive than the water they would have to buy locally. People can contribute to this loan system as they would to a charity, but they eventually get their money back. This is an “enterprise” solution that is superior to relying on governments with their red tape and restrictions. This is a great example of people coming up with new and better solutions to serious problems.
Final Thoughts:
As an astrologer, I am compelled to look to the planetary pictures that are here with us now and moving into the future. Nearly everything I foresaw that seemed to me to be critically unfolding in human history has happened – the good the bad and the ugly. What is obvious is that when we look for certainty, we will never find it. Change is the one thing that always happens. The questions for all of us who call ourselves human are looming. Will we survive? Will it get worse or better? Do we actually have a hand in our collective destiny?
My opinion as I anticipate the planets moving into new constellations is that we will likely survive; it will get worse and then better; we will have a series of choices to make as our future unfolds. Scientific breakthroughs will go much faster than expected; a new generation will enter the scene with newer and greater ideas; as we venture into space, a world of light never seen before will dawn.
Do not give up. Keep your minds awake and your hearts open as the prophecies are fulfilled. Commit yourselves to being on the “side of the angels”. And they will come!
Blessings,
Linda
Important Points of Reference for Astrologers:
Full Moon Eclipse at 25 degrees Scorpio square Saturn in Aquarius and conjunct the and South Node of the Moon, trine Mars and Neptune in Pisces and sextile Pluto in Capricorn on May 16; New Moon at 9 degrees Gemini on May 30; Mercury goes retrograde in Gemini May 9 and is trine Pluto May 24; Venus goes into Aries May 3, is sextile May 24and is square Pluto May 26; Mars inn Pisces is conjunct Neptune May 17 and is sextile Pluto May 22; Jupiter goes into Aries May 11 ( goes retrograde July 27, is there until Oct. 28th when it is back in Pisces, goes direct Nov. 23 and is back in Aries Dec. 22); Mars goes into Aries May 25 and is there until July 4.
