MERCURY, THE MESSENGER, gets strangled in the wires:
This is the month before arguably, the most consequential US presidential election in this century. Having just lost an icon of American jurisprudence, the great and most admired Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Americans are witnessing Pres. Trump appoint a new justice, Amy Coney Barrett, whose political and legal philosophy fits his Conservative Republican base.
Many of us expect the equivalent of a televised mud wrestling contest and none of us will be disappointed. Mercury is in Scorpio, a sign that is not afraid of dredging the pipes, hitting “below the belt”, or using colorful language in order to convince a population drowning in economic and public health emergencies that its “opponent” is a corrupt criminal, a liar, is senile, a con artist, and unfit for office.
Recently, The New York Times released Pres. Trump’s long awaited tax returns showing that he has spent all of $750. in taxes in 2016, spent more on his hair stylist than on taxes, and paid no income tax for ten out of fifteen years. His golf course properties are losing money, underlying his substantial losses in real estate while the only real money maker was his television show The Apprentice. It also showed that he owes $421 million in loans he took out in past years. The article in the Atlantic reporting Trump calling the military “losers and suckers”, plus Bob Woodward’s book declaring Trump “incompetent and dangerous” are all bad news for the president who calls all of this “ fake news.”
Trump wants the Affordable Health Care Act declared illegal by the Supreme Court while he and the Republicans have absolutely nothing to replace it. This would leave 20 to 30 million people uninsured and undo coverage for pre-existing conditions. He wants the pristine forests in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge open to logging.
What is going on in America at this time could be made into a movie for Netflix or a series on the History Channel, and probably will be in years to come.
2020 has truly been a year of apocalypse – the type that scares people into a multitude of dangerous realms – including their escaping into conspiracy “cults”, increasing alcohol and drug abuse, family violence, and, even most sadly, the rate of suicides. Many others simply go into “denial” – that COVD 19 is a hoax or all the doctors and scientists are frauds or the statistics about infection and/or deaths are false. Many people simply feel that nothing they say or do “counts.” The West Coast is burning and both the Southeast Coast and Gulf Coasts are flooding, yet their president and his followers deny that human behaviors have anything to do with it. Others feel powerless amid all this, and, all too frequently, think that no decision they make will make a difference.
Mercury’s going retrograde and its repeated oppositions to Uranus (disruption) points to opinions and perceptions swinging back and forth as it is nearly impossible for polls to be accurate, communicators to communicate, and even to depend upon the digital frameworks of communication. High winds may knock down telephone lines, disrupt the internet, and make us even more aware of how fragile our national infrastructure really is.
Meanwhile, some of the fires in the Western US may diminish as storms bringing badly needed rain into those regions are likely . In other regions, however, there may be hurricanes and tornadoes as Mercury/Uranus high winds sweep across the nation. Earthquakes will likely occur, but it is difficult to track exactly where they will manifest. The “deniers” of the consequences of climate change will be silenced.
The Economy:
The same confusion as described above will exist concerning information about the economy. Last month, the US budget deficit officially hit $3 trillion. Congress is deadlocked and unable to approve any bailout packages for the public, while people are standing in unemployment lines and small businesses are going bankrupt and may never start up again. The effort to pass something before the election will continue.
As I have discussed in many previous newsletters, there are two economies: Wall Street (big unsustainable bubble designed and decorated for the rich) and Main Street (currently suffering a mind numbing depression). A possible third economy that is seldom mentioned is the one that exists out on the streets and in homeless shelters – one of destitution and failure. This is a period that we can no longer ignore how wages have dropped, job opportunities have diminished, housing and health care have become less affordable, while we watched the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq soar, lining the accounts of the upper 10%.
Wall Street does not like this month’s transit of Venus in Virgo because it interferes with the casino mentality behind the investment community and forces people to face “facts”. Virgo is a sign that shows us that the Devil is in the details! For the past three years, markets have been fueled by corporate stock buy-backs, much which has been financed by their accruing debt. More recently, there has been a surge of private “retail traders” that have been throwing their savings into the markets since interest rates on savings is near zero. Mercury retrograde and afflicted plus Mars retrograde does not inspire people to take big chances amid all the uncertainty. All in all, I would see a more bearish market in this time period. I believe that we are at a crossroads that may lead to a serious depression that may sink all ships.
Last month, it was reported in the New York Post that JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank were named in a money laundering report involving $2 trillion in criminally linked transactions through their London locations. Kitco reported that two former Deutsche Bank traders were found guilty of “spoofing” (manipulating) gold and silver markets between 2008 and 2013. As the SEC is beginning to crack down on precious metals markets manipulations, JP Morgan Chase will be fined $1 billion for manipulations and The Bank of Nova Scotia has agreed to pay $127.5 million in fines – all for manipulating precious metals markets.
I am reminded of what President Theodore Roosevelt wrote in 1913: “To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.”
Science and Medicine:
Venus in Virgo that will harmonize with Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn this month will present positive news about vaccines and medical progress, not only with respect to COVD, but in connection with other infections as well. Presently, some 170 COVID vaccines are in development around the world, according to the World Health Organization, each one promising to protect people from the virus and help restore all the broken economies. Most guarantee about 70% immunity. However, the pharmaceutical corporations announcing that a vaccine is ready to go will have to postpone their plans since Mercury is retrograde and afflicted. They will be ready by December, but wide distribution, as I have referenced before, will not be until the end of Feb. 2021. China has already announced that they have wiped out the spread of the virus and are back to work. In spite of this, questions are being raised about their testing programs and effectiveness of their vaccines.
New ideas concerning affordable health care may emerge from the campaigns. Industries connected to healthcare may do well this month. However, there will be new waves of infection this month and more pressure put on our health care infrastructure, especially with respect to the schools, most likely bringing more students back home to a virtual education. A mutation to the COVID19 virus named D614G has already been announced.
It was recently reported that China is far outpacing the US in bringing robots to factories. Last year, the number of robots used rose 21%, with China adding 783.4, Japan adding, 354.9, Korea 319.0 and the US 299.6. This is good news for technological advancement and bad news for the labor force in all these countries.
Coming out on Netflix is a presentation by the great filmmaker, world traveler, and environmentalist, David Attenborough, who has spent most of his 94 years of life surveying and filming all the marvelous forms of life on our planet. He comprehensively reveals the dying out and disappearance of life in the seas, mountains and forests of the world and reports to us the heartbreaking news: two thirds of all species of life on our planet has gone extinct in just the past 50 years! We have such little time to protect our natural environment and to save ourselves that we need to make a profound effort to reverse our trends that have led to the burning of the West Coast forests and the increasing mega hurricanes traveling up the East Coast; not to speak of many nations in Africa becoming deserts, rain forests, the lungs of our planet being burned down in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brazil, and the oceans filled with plastic, eliminating whole species of sea life. This is the “elephant in the room,” subsuming all other challenges before human civilization in the here and now!
International Events:
Afghanistan has been working with the Trump administration to end the war there. Progress will be made this month, but Afghanistan has been at war with itself for hundreds of years and will likely remain so.
Israel, last month, signed a peace treaty with Baharain and the UAE, raising the stature of Pres. Trump as a negotiator. Other Arab nations may indicate their willingness to follow suit this month, but with Mercury retrograde, it will be unlikely to happen till after the US election.
Russia will be exposed even more for its hacking and interference in the presidential election as Mercury in Scorpio is opposed Uranus, exposing their nefarious activities.
No. Korea, as Venus transits Virgo, information will be leaked concerning Kim Jong Un ceding more of his power to his sister.
The Election:
Last month’s newsletter outlined what I think lies ahead of us in this election and, it seems, these prophetic descriptions are unfolding before our eyes. Trump will declare “victory” on election day, but the votes will not be counted and the determination will likely go the Supreme Court. If time is allowed to count the votes, former VP Biden will likely win, but if the Court rules against counting the votes, Trump will declare himself the winner.
Final Thoughts:
Data analyst, Richard Spitzer and I co-authored our book, “Our Choice – “Extinction or Evolution” and published it in Nov. of 2017. As the forecasts we made in this book are unfolding before our eyes, I am struck by how little time we may have before we no longer have a choice.
What the next “evolutionary leap” humankind makes is heavily dependent upon those who are operating from a higher realm, with a greater expanse of knowledge, understanding and wisdom, and who have a passion for engaging themselves in, perhaps, the greatest effort we have ever made – to save ourselves and all life on earth. We all need to ask if we are giving whatever we have to give to this moment in time and to the promise and prophecy offered to us by the great constellations above.
Together, we can do this!
Blessings,
Linda
Important Points of Reference (for Astrologers):
Full Moon at 9 degrees Aries semi-sextile Uranus and conjunct is Chiron Oct. 1; New Moon at 23 degrees Libra square Pluto Oct. 16; Mercury is opposition Uranus Oct. 2, goes retrograde Oct. 14 and is opposition Uranus again Oct. 20; Venus goes into Virgo Oct. 3, is trine Uranus Oct. 10, is opposition Neptune Oct. 18, is trine Jupiter Oct. 19, is trine Pluto Oct 21, and is trine Saturn Oct. 24; Mars retrograde is square Pluto Oct. 8 – 10; Pluto goes direct Oct. 4 inconjunct the North Node.
