“To argue with a person who has renounced reason is like administering medicine to the dead.”
Thomas Paine
Leo Meets Virgo – Meant for each other!
As the Sun transits through Leo… Venus, Mars and Mercury are marching through Virgo whose planetary collection will oppose Neptune, thus obscuring the Leo August sunshine with scary weather and concerns about the still active pandemic throughout the world.
If only these two signs would get together, Leo’s optimism about solutions to the world’s problems combined with Virgo’s intelligence and vigilance, we could get things done. Leo is convincing… is a master of “show business”… speaks with authority. Virgo is the master of “work” and workers rights… has the facts… surveys every detail… and thoroughly investigates everything about health remedies – both traditional and non traditional. If you do not wish to face the current existential issues, you will not want to have a conversation with Virgo. The Delta virus is spreading. People who are refusing the vaccine are becoming ill, being hospitalized, and dying. Virgo wants some answers.
This month’s transits bring us into focus with some important questions… Do we wish to ignore the truth, escape from reality, pretend to live in a self created bubble of childlike games? Or do we want to know the cold hard facts so we can make clear decisions and live another day? This is hard to discern since our perceptions differ and old beliefs often get in the way. The New Moon square Uranus on Aug. 8 is a notable “wake up call.”
The Economy:
As I posted in last month’s newsletter, there would be serious concerns about Japan’s hosting of The Olympics due to the pandemic. They officially announced in July that they would have the games but would keep the public out, which is a severe economic blow to this country’s investments. However, this is likely a sound decision since the planets transiting Virgo could signal more spreading of the virus. Their current vaccination program has only reached 20% – 30% of their population. Japan is still trying to “fix” the Fukushima nuclear crisis – using robots to repair the still “hot” undersea chambers, which is costing them billions. Their low birth rate, increasingly aging population, energy costs – all conspire to hurt this nation’s struggling economy. In addition, the Japanese islands are right on top of one of the hottest tectonic areas in the world!
Financial markets will be uncertain about where they want to go this month and will likely be selling on the 9th and the 24th. They will, however, be likely to rise on the 11th and the 25th. The only way you make money outside of your salary today is in stocks and/or real estate, since the Feds continue to keep interest rates historically low. Just as last month, the markets will rise and fall connected with the spread of the virus. Virgo is more “realistic” about where to put its money and traders will look for good long term investments. Companies engaged in “Crisper” or gene slicing technologies may be a good long term investment, along with other innovative pharmaceutical corporations. In contrast to this, Perdue Pharmaceutical which has declared bankruptcy, paid out billions in compensation from lawsuits last month for their making and mass distributing of opioids, leading to public addiction to these drugs and thousands of overdose deaths. More information will come out this month. Big Pharma will be criticized and talks in Washington will surface about stricter regulations.
A book that is creating “waves” was published last month entitled: “An Ugly Truth.” It surveys the recent history of Facebook and its practices which includes the philosophy of “profits at any cost”. The author pointed out that between 2016 and 2020, Facebook allowed posts designed around lies, hate mongering, and political posturing pushing Trump’s discredited conspiracy theories, including posts since credited to the Russians who were pledged to help Trump get elected. They quoted people who had worked for Facebook whose opinions were that CEO Marc Zuckerberg’s amoral philosophy was making big bucks rather than taking responsibility to discern the truth. As a nation, we need to look at this as much more than a problem for Facebook only, and how it has directed the actions of corporations and billionaires across the landscape of our economy for the past forty years.
As all of you who are my regular readers know, I am of the opinion that Nuclear Fusion could be the Holy Grail of massive energy production and distribution with no pollution. One of the issues with moving forward with this technology is how it would impact the economy if the current oil and gas corporations went “out of business”. This is why these same entities should consider getting into the fusion business, as sites are getting “ignition” and infrastructures are being designed. Some of them are already getting into solar panels and windmills. We cannot afford to lose time! Our livable climates are collapsing.
There is a very interesting article posted on King World News July 12th entitled The Coming Gold Based Monetary System Will Have Some Surprises” by Dr. Stephen Leeb. He traces gold fluctuations since Nixon took us off the gold standard in the early 1970s, the manipulation of gold as a commodity by the big banks, (JP Morgan Chase has been caught doing this and fined) and the massive government and private debt that has been accumulated that now exceeds our gross national product. He points out that the dollar as a reserve global currency is in trouble and the only reason this has not changed is that everyone else is in worse trouble. He reminds us that China’s yuan trades only in China, and that they are currently testing a digital yuan using block chain technology. Ultimately, it does not benefit them to continue the current trade war with the US. He thinks a new world reserve currency is inevitable that may be based on a basket of currencies backed, once again, by gold. It is worth your while to read the whole article.
China has recently outlawed Bitcoin. I think that, as stated above, China will steal Bitcoin block chain technology to create their own currency that, in the future, could potentially become part of a global basket of all digital currencies. We are on the road in the US to eliminating cash and going all digital. This is a prediction I have made in previous newsletters. Last month, President Biden announced that the Chinese paid hackers to invade our systems in a massive ransomware cyberattack primarily on Microsoft and that this assessment has been confirmed by NATO. Meanwhile, under the Biden administration, we will be continuing to put sanctions on trade with China, bringing tech manufacturing back into the US and increasing employment due to congruent investments in infrastructure. Republicans will eventually relent due to the jobs that will be coming into their states.
Politics:
The transits in Virgo, especially Mars that is in this sign until September 14, form extremely tense angles to the planets in Donald Trump’s chart. There are sites on the internet that claim Trump will be “reinstated” in office in August. This will not happen. Virgo transits in the US chart form tense aspects with the Uranus in Gemini and the Mars in Gemini square Neptune. The big Pluto and Uranus transits in Virgo in the 1960s saw the Civil Rights Revolution and the Anti-Vietnam War demonstrations. I would expect large demonstrations and rebellions throughout the country. Meanwhile, the pandemic surge in infections will continue to grow.
Pres. Biden got us out of Afghanistan, in spite of protests from former Pres. George W. Bush and former General Patraeus. The present military budget expenses comprise about 57% of the US budget. Most Americans do not want to fight endless wars and continue to pay for them.
Other nations:
Haiti: Last month saw the assassination of the nation’s Prime Minister and initiated a coup and a civil war. Their chart: Jan. 1, 1804, 12:00 PM LMT, Gonaives, Haiti, points to severe instabilities and temporary governance until April 2023, when transiting Uranus is trine their Mercury and Neptune is trine their Neptune. This island nation is a tragic legacy of slavery, colonial occupation, political corruption, and tectonic instability.
Cuba: Last month, a new “revolution” came together against the present Communist government. Their chart: Jan. 2, 1959, Havana, Cuba, shows upheavals and a possible shift into a more democratic government that is just beginning. Saturn in Aquarius will hit their Mars/Uranus square Feb./March of 2022. Saturn/Neptune square hit this in 1962/63 coinciding with the Cuban/Russian/US confrontation when JFK was president. Pres. Biden will walk a “tightrope” here by looking for a viable way to support the rebels without getting involved in a real war or “nation building”.
Israel: The transit of Saturn in Aquarius through 2023 will point to a major reorganization of this nation and change in its governance. It’s chart, May 15, 1948, 00:00 AM Tel Aviv, Israel, is being hit by Uranus in Taurus (land and territory) square Saturn in Aquarius (governance and democracy). This nation, as are the nations that surround it, is being hit by global warming and massive drought. There will be an array of crises not only connected to the use of lands, the conflicts with Palestinians, and construction, but the control and management of water.
North Korea: Their chart– September 10, 1948, 12:00 PM, Pyongyang, No. Korea – is being hit by Mars, Venus and Mercury in Virgo this month, stirring up crises around the pandemic and shaking up its leadership.
South Africa: This nation’s already high economic inequality was pushed beyond the limit during the recent pandemic. Their chart (May 10, 1994, 10:19 AM, Pretoria, So. Africa) that was reformed under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, with such high hopes, has not lived up to these expectations since it has not substantially increased education and work opportunities for the masses. Last month, citizens protested and, unfortunately, robbed and looted the cities. Pluto has hit their Uranus (rebellions) sextile their Neptune (oil and gas) while Neptune is trine and sextile their Lunar Nodes pointing to their only economy being based on their mineral resources. These resources are controlled by corrupt administrations and the economic interests of the West. Uranus (revolution) is nearing their Moon. When Saturn in Aquarius is square their Sun/Moon conjunction in Taurus, and will trine their Venus in Feb. 2022, substantial changes will take place.
Weather & Natural Events:
Virgo transits are “dry”, even though storms on the East Coast will surge on the 19th and 24th due to oppositions to Neptune. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions will likely increase. The Western US is in the midst of the largest drought in its recorded history. Forest fires are increasing in California and Oregon beyond historic records. Weather will be even more extreme this month. Water will be increasingly scarce in the Southwest. Scientists have warned us for decades about the effects of global warming and the loss of water reserves. In spite of this, we have also mindlessly depleted underground aquifers for decades whose reserves are now down to nearly nothing. A new “Dust Bowl” reminiscent of the 1930s is forming in these regions. Western Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands have been hit with the worst flooding in over 100 years.
In Spite of all the publicity around the “Green Revolution”, China continues to be the biggest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, followed closely by India. Here in the US, Pres. Biden is still renewing permits to oil and gas corporations simply because our economy would collapse without them. The amount of fossil fuel it takes to “make” all the solar panels and electric vehicles is pumping more warming into the atmosphere. Global climate emergencies will likely increase exponentially.
We all know that the gravitational pull of the Moon pulls ocean water in its direction. From year to year, as the Moon “wobbles”, it alters its position relative to earth in an 18.6 year cycle, causing low tides to rise and high tides to get bigger. The next big cycle after this one will be in the mid 2030s. If the great melt at the poles continues and we continue to produce greenhouse gases, earth’s climate may become unsustainable to human life.
Science and Technology:
Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos have launched themselves into space, their ventures being self financed since they are both billionaires. We need to remember that NASA is not part of the military and is a hybrid, financed partly by the government and partly by corporations. If we look at ventures into space as leading to the ability to mine minerals from asteroids and Mars as opposed to earth and, perhaps, coming up with solutions to the ecological disasters we have created, we can look forward to their financing by both private corporations and governments as a unified effort.
In the July Issue of Scientific American, pp 28, an article by Rowan Jacobsen entitled “Life New and Improved” reports scientists “used custom-crafted proteins to create a promising new COVID inoculation. It waves a vulnerable part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in front of immune system cells, provoking a strong neutralizing response. He goes on to report – “the new COVID Vaccine shown here is a 3-D model, was built around a synthetic protein nanoparticle and designed to create powerful immune protection.” The article emphasizes that scientists learning to create artificial proteins could revolutionize biology. This is one of the many breakthroughs in medicine and biology promised to us in this new Aquarius Age. There will be more!
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Another article in this same issue is entitled “How Dirt Could Help Save the Planet”, pp 64, by Jo Handelsman reports how: ”framing practices that retain carbon in the soil, or return it there, would limit both erosion and climate change.” This is a fascinating article outlining in detail how: “Photosynthetic carbon fixation removes carbon dioxide from the air, anchoring it in planet material that can be sequestered in soil. This process reduces atmospheric greenhouse gases and reduces soil erosion by enriching soil with carbon that feeds hungry microbes that produce sticky substances, which in turn bind soil particles into clumps that are less vulnerable to movement by wind and water.”
A third article in this publication that addresses possible solutions for climate change is entitled: “The Carbon Rocks of Oman” by Douglas Fox. It reports: “Mountains of mantle rocks that are usually many kilometers below ground are exposed across Oman and interact with the air, turning carbon dioxide into stone,” This is another amazing revelation that, among many others, could halt climate catastrophe and save our planet.
Good news! The Hubble Space Telescope that has shown us most what we know about the universe, has been “fixed.” There were great concerns that it would not be able to continue and those concerns, for the time being, have been put to rest.
Final Thoughts:
“Truth itself is the only unifying factor on earth. We are separated from love with others to the same degree that we are separated from Reality. We are in communion with others to the same degree as our closeness to Reality.”
Vernon Howard
I often hear people commenting about how “human nature” remains the same, no matter how many centuries pass, nations come and go, people rise and fall creating and destroying – just as they always have. The difference today as that there are too many of us – and we have created problems that seem too big to solve. With contagious disease and subsistence poverty rampant while global climate emergencies are emerging exponentially, it would seem we are marching forward to extinction. Worse still, too many of us are denying the truths that are rising before us to be faced and examined together. Too many of us would rather live in an isolated fantasy world, huddling together with others who agree.
As we reach a critical point in human history, an “evolutionary leap” in intelligence may present itself, similar to the one between 5,000 to 6,000 years ago when civilizations arose out of wandering hunter-gatherer human tribes. Climate, as it has before, will determine where we live on our planet and how we establish new civilizations, forms of governance, and ways of life. It will require venturing into higher levels of awareness and understanding and a social and spiritual wisdom previously only understood by a few. It will require us to come out of our self-induced trances and look at reality in the light of day.
And this could – finally – be our most terrifying experience, our most courageous step, and our only hope!
Blessings,
Linda
Important Points of Reference (for astrologers):
New Moon at 16 degrees of Leo square Uranus Aug. 8; Full Moon at 29 degrees Aquarius conjunct Jupiter Aug. 22; Mercury in Leo opposition Saturn Aug. 1, square Uranus Aug. 3, inconjunct Neptune Aug. 7, is square the Nodes Aug. 15, and opposition Jupiter Aug. 10; Mars in Virgo July 30 through September 10) is square the Nodes Aug. 10, is inconjunct Saturn Aug. 13 and is trine Uranus Aug. 21; Venus in Virgo is opposition Neptune Aug. 9, is inconjunct Jupiter Aug. 13, goes into Libra Aug. 16 and is trine Saturn Aug. 23; The Sun in Leo is opposition Jupiter Aug. 20.
