The Astrological Chart of the US (July 4, 1776, 5:10 PM LMT, Philadelphia, PA)
Saturn conjuncts the Moon of the US at 27 degrees Aquarius
Neptune is opposition the US Neptune for the last time
Pluto is returning to its Natal Position
(before it goes into Aquarius)
America – Is it The End or the Beginning?
Big questions require big answers. Questions like: What is democracy? If it is rulership by “the people”, who are the people? Is America a real democracy? Is it a “threatened” form of governance? How do we grow it, sustain it, and improve it?
It is thought that the US is the standard bearer of democracy. Our government was recently threatened (Jan. 6, 2021) with a revolution in order to install a man who lost an election. This event was led by a cult of hate – which consisted of a gun-toting mob of angry people who choose to believe in dark conspiracy theories posted on social media, rather than doing honest research as to how we got into our current situation… Interestingly, in Brazil, the ousted former president Bolsonaro fled to former president Trump’s estate and was then hospitalized in the US. This was after a wave of similar “conspiracy theorists” and election deniers attacked government facilities there. It demonstrates that the “world” is watching us.
Our current situation came about through a distribution of wealth in our nation’s history whose assets (about 80 %) are held by the upper 1% who have contributed huge amounts of money to elections in order to get tax breaks and other user-friendly laws that pave their driveways with luxury cars and their off-shore accounts with billions of dollars.
There is a struggle in Congress over extending the National Debt Ceiling. This crisis is not about “spending.” It is about tax evasion. In the book “What’s the Matter with Delaware”, former Financial Times reporter, Hal Weitzman, explores and describes this state’s role in global financial secrecy. We already know about Panama, the Cayman Islands, and Liberia being tax havens where oligarchs, billionaires, and giant corporations hide their money. It has been recently reported that the states of Wyoming and Nevada need to be added to this list.
Giant transnational banks and a billionaire class have worked hard for decades in order that they may dominate the economy… and “trash” living wages, environmental laws, good public schools, health care for all, plus the financing of higher education for the public at large. We now have a nation containing an economy led by hedge fund guys using data analysis and algorithms to move assets, including stocks, bonds, coins, and real estate from one realm to another. Meanwhile, millions of broken, homeless people’s tents line our city streets.
Last month, we saw “The Planet of the Apes” disrespectfully disassemble itself in Congress illustrating the possibility of the end of civilization as we know it. I would expect, as Mars continues its transit through Gemini until March 24th, we will see more of the same. The Republican-led House leaders, without serious budget cuts, are refusing to extend our nation’s debt limit threatening the global “faith and credit” of the US. I think this will get resolved between May and June when Mercury goes direct in May and sextile Saturn and Jupiter goes into Taurus. Meanwhile, mass public shootings in schools, malls, and parking lots continue to grow, involving deranged individuals who have been able to obtain military-grade guns.
We are the only industrialized nation not to have effective national laws restricting guns. The recent murder of Tyre Nichols by a group of police that we have all seen play out on television and is another chapter in a long story of police violence against young black men in this country. These issues will continue to confront us through the end of March when Mars leaves the sign of Gemini. In addition, millions of desperate immigrants are assembling at our borders with no effective immigration laws passed since the 1980s.
I will also repeat my warning with respect to the political position and safety of President Biden, as he takes a serious square of Saturn to his natal Sun. Biden is now under scrutiny by the media for having multiple classified documents located in his house and garage he has had there since he left both the Senate and his Vice Presidency in the Obama Administration. Although he fully cooperated with the DOJ and turned in what was stored there, Trump’s confiscation of top secret documents and refusal to cooperate now looks similar to Biden’s mistake despite the significant differences. The Grand Jury in Georgia has also recommended indicting Trump for his recorded and documented efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump’s former Vice Pres. Pence is now in this group which has possessed top secret classified documents. Both Trump and Biden are currently in “hot water”.
Here in the US, we have been confronted by a wave of worker strikes since the “working class” is fed up with low wages, long hours, limited benefits, and the people at the “top of the hierarchy” making 7 figure salaries, coupled with stock options. Inflation has diminished their actual salaries and Wall Street is “disturbed” that an increase in wages will “increase” inflation. There are millions of job vacancies in health care, education, and infrastructure. However, tech companies are laying off thousands of employees. Does this sound like crazy talk? These are the “times” we are in! Fortunately, many strikes have been settled for now. The Department of Justice has now instituted an anti-trust lawsuit against Google (Alphabet). I think this may be the beginning of “trust-busting” anti-monopoly lawsuits that both political parties will now support. The economy, in general, will improve between May and June.
Other Nations;
The new revolution against a murderous, repressive theocracy in Iran that was once popular in the 11th Century, continues this month, through the end of March.
There are protests in Israel against newly (once again) elected Benjamin Netanyahu and his “right-wing” government that seeks to remove their Supreme Court and judicial system from power. This will go on through the end of March. The Nation of Israel is in far greater trouble with severe drought and contraction of water sources. Palestinians are creating more violent attacks there, and violence is escalating. The transit of Uranus in Taurus (Israel is a Taurus nation) will continue to symbolize a “destabilization” of both the natural environment and the government there.
In Ukraine, the worst of this war will play out between Ukrainians and Russians between now and March. NATO nations have recently committed to sending tanks and other weapons to Ukraine and Pres Zelensky is talking about taking back Crimea from Russia, all to force Russia into some kind of peace agreement. I think there will be a deal made between March and June.
In New Zealand, its highly acclaimed prime minister, Jacinda Ardern has announced that she is leaving office. She led the world in stopping the pandemic in her nation, dealing with local terrorists, and promoting environmental reforms. She was one of the youngest heads of state to be elected and the first in New Zealand to have given birth to a child while in office. New Zealand has recently been hit with major flooding.
In Finland, another young woman head of state, Sanna Marin, is leading her nation into joining NATO and declaring support for Ukraine.
The Economy:
Between now and the middle of March, many economists will say we are in a “recession”, stimulated by the Fed’s raising interest rates. My projection has been that this will be short and even “disputed” as certain aspects of the economy will grow as the rate of inflation diminishes. As stated above, most of the recent layoffs have taken place in the tech industries, while other sectors (healthcare, education, hospitality) still need workers. Thus, general unemployment will not be a factor. Mars transiting Gemini until March 24th (square transiting Neptune and the Neptune of the USA) continues to plague the nation with severe storms and climate catastrophes – the consequences of over 100 years of the massive burning of fossil fuels. It also creates fear, in March, in financial markets.
As much of the world moves toward sustainable technologies – solar – wind – nuclear fusion – electric vehicles — electric heating – and architecture with buildings that protect, insulate, and discard fossil fuels – economies must be created, financed, and sustained around all of this. This is not easy. The oil and gas industries here, in the Middle East, in Russia and Eastern Europe, and in South America currently have little or no economies without hydrocarbons. This is what is known historically as: “the horse and buggy phenomenon” – the transition from an old technology to a new and better one. We need to understand that waste created by solar panels and windmills, and massive amounts of coal and oil used to manufacture these items plus the electric cars are all toxic to the environment and are not long-term solutions. Interestingly, Mercury will sextile Jupiter on the 17th, announcing a new technology. Pay attention to this area, which could really be profitable in 2026.
Science and Technology:
Nuclear fusion has been “outed” in the news media since Livermore Labs in California obtained “ignition” and new plasma technology has been announced at Commonwealth in Massachusetts. There was even a report on this on the highly acclaimed show “ 60 Minutes” last month. Most publications still editorialize that the practical use of this technology is decades away. I disagree. I will stick with 2026 as one of these chambers going “online” and maybe several sites will achieve sustained ignition.
Cleaning up pollution throughout the globe involves dealing with the catastrophic amount of plastic in the world’s oceans and waterways, which is causing mass species extinctions. In the January issue of Scientific American, an article by Sarah DeWeerdt was published entitled: “Plastic’s Messy End-Game”. She reports: “A circular plastic economy will require a coordinated effort of increased recycling, better product design, shift towards renewable resources, and an end to the production of single-use plastics.” This article is a thorough report on the extremely difficult task ahead of us to recycle or reuse plastic products and proposes solutions that are new and original. I would recommend reading this article fully as this problem is one of the worst environmental issues on the planet.
It has recently been reported that a giant magma chamber has been discovered growing underneath an active submarine volcano (Kolombo) in Greece. This volcano last erupted in 1650. It has also been observed that recently the “earth’s core” has stopped revolving. What all this means is yet to be seen.
Recently, it has been reported that the Solton Sea in California is a huge source of lithium, a major rare earth necessary for chip manufacturing. The problem is extracting it.
In the same January issue of Scientific American is a thought-provoking article by Piers Vitebsky entitled “Dialogues with the Dead.” The author shared his experiences with the Sora Indigenous (or Avidasi) people in the highlands of Odisha, eastern India, as a graduate student in the 1970s. He writes about his experiences with these people who believe in life after death and their interaction with loved ones who have passed away. The article discusses the psychological “wounding” that has taken place as our modern society disconnects from the dead, — viewing “reality” as a mechanistic materialistic condition, losing “intimate bonds with their ancestors and environment.” He speaks of the present “culture wars grounded in depersonalized, delocalized ideologies that are ripping the world apart, in India as much as in Euro-America.” Interestingly, in the quantum world, we are viewing that long-believed frameworks of space and time may be non-existent. This could lead us back to the future of humanity seeing itself as connected to the universe and, locally, to the natural world. With this view, perhaps, we might stop the present momentum that is destroying nature and the ongoing, unfortunate trend of killing each other.
Final Thoughts: A personal editorial
As long as I can remember, I have held unanswered questions in my mind as to who and what we are as human beings. As a child, I felt personally “alienated” from the world at large, even though I also felt loved by my parents. Like most people, I experienced cruelty, distant wars, social and economic inequalities, and suffering. My father, a Christian pastor, believed that the teachings of Jesus contained a universal love and divine acceptance that transcended all races, ethnic origins, economic levels, sexes, abilities, and disabilities. Yet, I observed, things did not work out this way, as history unfolded in my life and in the world at large.
Later in life, as a vocalist, I became a professional soloist in churches of differing denominations, synagogues, and concert halls that performed sacred compositions. Music became a universal language for me, honoring differing cultures and expressions, regardless of their “definition” moving humans into divine realms. I read and wrote a lot of poems in this time frame, discovering a world of creation itself that existed beyond the ordinary. I also came to see that when “dogma” was removed, all religions – Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Paganism, and others, were seeking a real “connection” to creation itself. I also experienced, like other people, these same “faiths descending into terrifying ethnic warring tribes.
I also discovered and cultivated an admiration and fascination with science as a careful examination of the world we live in and beyond, but became aware that there was a danger of this approach turning into a dogma of its own, that eliminated deeper spiritual significance, denying profound and real connections to each other and the universe.
At crucial junctures in my life, I met two exceptional women who became my mentors and friends and introduced astrology to me as a lens to view a real direction and purpose in my life. When my husband, Richard, and I met, we discovered we were on the same passionate pursuit of meaning for our lives that seemed to reside outside society’s frameworks. We took courses and read inspiring books that continue into the present to motivate us to grow in meaningful ways through all the challenges, pain, and joy life has dealt us. We shared whatever we had with our wonderful children and grandchildren through the ensuing years.
The study of astrology — that, since its historical emergence — has always observed a connection between our world, our lives, and the universe, no matter how “mysterious” it may seem– answered many of my questions about the meaning of life and consciousness itself. I observed that this study leads us to ask the “right questions” with regard to the issues and themes that arise within our experiences. It leads me to the view that there are no “unimportant” people or lives. For each individual, it outlines our talents, abilities, conflicts, joys, and sufferings and sees “meaning” in all of it. It teaches that we have to find our own “answers” and that, with this knowledge in hand, we are free to make choices.
In our present time, as our world seems to be falling apart in so many ways, astrology reminds me once again of the purpose and meaning in all of this and how we could turn what may be destroyed into a new and greater creation – that life is a process – an ongoingness – not an end result. As the great genius, Buckminster Fuller stated: “I am a verb.”
Now, instead of feeling “alienated” and abandoned, I experience a union with the magnificent, starry constellations above, whose ongoing purpose for all of us rides the crest of a wave of love that defies all our definitions of what it means to be alive. The greatest is yet to come!
Stay tuned!
Linda
Important Points of Reference for Astrologers:
Full Moon at 16 degrees Leo square Uranus on Feb. 5; New Moon at 1 degree Pisces Feb. 20, Pluto in Capricorn is sextile Venus who goes into Aries on Feb. 20; Mercury in Capricorn is sextile on Feb. 6 and is conjunct Pluto on Feb. 10, is square the Nodal Axis Feb. 15, and is conjunct Saturn in Aquarius on Feb. 27; Venus in Pisces is sextile Uranus Feb. 8 and is conjunct Neptune Feb. 15; Mars in Gemini is sextile Chiron Feb. 8, is semisextile Uranus on Feb. 18 and is trine Mercury on the Feb. 22.
