When the going gets tough, the tough get going!
(The Sun, Mercury and Mars transit in SCORPIO)
Many of my readers are already shaking their heads since none of us want to experience escalating crises in our lives, in our nation, or in the world-at-large. Climate catastrophes, a global pandemic, volcanoes, earthquakes, failed states, mass migrations from parts of the world that no longer support life – all conspire to bring us to the brink of despair, even if we are fortunate enough to be living comfortably in a safe location, are in good health, and are able to pay our bills.
The best educated and most informed scientists frequently wonder if humanity will survive as a species since so many other species, reacting to a collapsing natural environment, are going extinct at a very rapid rate. Philosophers and those walking a more spiritual journey are struggling to reach beyond the present existential crises that we are confronting on all levels – for information, inspiration, and a larger picture of the road to higher consciousness where all things are possible. Most certainly, our present social and political environment brimming over with violence, hate, and a retreat into an alternative reality that reinforces this kind of paranoia, will conspire to destroy our civilization – and buy us a ticket to mass destruction.
Scorpio is a sign whose “business” is death and rebirth, destruction and reconstruction. It highlights and exposes how far the most powerful people will go to increase and protect their own wealth at a cost to nearly everyone else. The ruler of Scorpio, Pluto, the ancient God of the Underworld, is famous for making “Faustian” bargains with people – which includes offering enormous amounts of wealth along with an infinite number of personal pleasures, in exchange for their souls. The myth warns that he will exercise this right at the time of their death as he casts them down into the underworld – at which point these people may say: “OMG What have we done?” or “Can we get out of this?” Old Pluto, simply replies: “Tough!”
There is, however, another side to all this. What if we say “No” to Pluto’s proposal. What if we stare him in the face, have the guts to look squarely at each and every crisis, and proclaim: We are going to do whatever it takes to fix this!” Many people feel that “human nature” historically has always led to the collapse of nations and empires, genocidal massacres, devouring of resources, and failures of civilizations to rise to these challenges. However, I would point to the fact that there have been and still are many people of conscience who are using their knowledge and considerable abilities to come up with solutions, at a time in which we still have a choice: extinction or evolution.
President Joe Biden:
Birthday Chart – Nov. 20, 1942, 10:30 AM Eastern Wartime
Scranton, PA, 75W39 – 41N24
All my readers may recall that I commented back in 2020, that whoever won the presidential election would face the consequences of the worse inauguration chart I have ever seen. I also discussed the December 2020 Jupiter/Saturn conjunction in Aquarius that, historically, has frequently coincided with presidents confronting life or death crises while in office.
With former Pres. Trump still “contesting” the election results and a strong minority of citizens across the nation who still believe this and that resulted in the Jan. 6th insurgency storming the capital in Washington, it is no surprise that Pres. Biden has his work cut out for him. While I write this newsletter, nearly 730,00 people have lost their lives to COVID. Our democracy is threatened to an extent not seen since the Civil War. Paralleling our own crisis, autocratic governments are overthrowing democracies all over the world.
Climate catastrophes are sweeping the globe. Economic inequality is the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s. We are now in an escalating Cold War with China and Russia. Most of this nation’s citizens wanted to get out of Afghanistan but are unhappy with the messy exit and the Taliban’s horrific takeover of the government there. The media launched massive criticisms of the Biden administration’s conducting of this project. Right-wing religious organizations are in bed with many state governments who are attempting to get rid of any woman’s right to an abortion, resulting in women protesting in capitals throughout the country. So far, The Supreme Court refuses to stop this. These same state governments are working to skew voter laws to eliminate voting rights for people who reside in low income areas and are mostly people of color. Many people are ready to overthrow the government rather than get a vaccine or wear a mask!
Pres. Biden’s whole life has been a story of personal and familial crises, deaths, losses, recoveries and comebacks. There is no realistic motivation for him to forge a personal political future at this point. His two major stimulus packages are currently where his efforts lie, along with creating a more democratic, more fair, and more economically equal opportunity environment. He is faced with not only Republicans who are obstructing everything he wants, but members of his own party that have strong connections to the corporate cartels and have serious difficulties getting along with each other. The Democrats are famous for “eating their own” while the Republicans stick together no matter how destructive the results may be. Winston Churchill famously commented that Democracy is impossible but the alternative is worse!
Interestingly, there have been two previous Scorpio presidents. One was Warren Harding, considered one of the worst presidents (The Teapot Dome Scandal of the 1920s). The other was Teddy Roosevelt, considered by many to be one of the best presidents (built the Panama Canal, busted the banking and corporate monopolies and created the national park system.)
What now?
The Lunar Eclipse on the 19th at 27 degrees Taurus involves Pres. Biden’s Sun the day before his birthday, highlighting the monumental efforts it is taking to get his agenda through both Houses. The lineup of the Sun, Mercury, and Mars in Scorpio square (in conflict) Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius resemble trying to drive a vehicle with your feet on the gas and the brakes at the same time. This is very accident prone and even explosive. There is a correction in course in December, relieving a lot of stress, especially on the so-called “debt ceiling”. However, we have a Solar Eclipse Dec. 4th right on the Ascendant of the USA opposite Uranus. This suggests intimations of war.
Two placements help Pres. Biden. One is the long term transit of Venus in Capricorn starting Nov. 5th, retrograde Dec. 18th, goes direct Jan. 28th, and goes all the way to a conjunction with Pluto the first week of March 2022, sextile his natal Sun. The second one is Pluto’s continuing sextile his Sun through March of 2023. However, in 2023, Saturn in Aquarius will square his Mercury and his Sun and Uranus that year will oppose his Mercury. This could endanger his health and safety. The only relief at that time will be Neptune (spiritual support) sextile his Sun.
All this highlights the ongoing war in the US between the role of the power of the government vs the control of the monopoly banking and corporate cartel. If all money had been taken out of political campaigns, this would be an honest contest with the possibility of achieving a balance between the interests of the people-at-large and those of the billionaire class. The Supreme Court’s ruling in 2010 in the Citizens United Case, literally disbanded all previous campaign finance reform legislation, ruling any and all money coming into campaigns as “freedom of speech.”
Biden’s huge legislative packages are ostensibly paid for by the millionaire and billionaire class, increasing their taxes and clamping down on their “offshoring” of their profits, evading taxation altogether. He has succeeded in getting a coalition of nations to tax all the businesses there 15%, eliminating, somewhat, the offshoring of profits. Recently we have become aware that South Dakota has become a tax haven here in the US for the billionaire class. Biden has become the focus of the battle of the Titans.
In addition to all this, Biden is positioned right in middle of a great effort of the “far right” to end the US as a democratic republic. By denying the well documented 2020 election defeating Trump, and storming the legislature in Jan. 6th of 2021, there are millions of Americans who would prefer a dictator around which they could form a “cult” giving them the go-ahead to manipulate the results of elections and deny large groups of people their right to vote at all. They have used this movement to refuse programs that would enforce masking or vaccinations during the biggest global pandemic in this century and even accuse the scientists and doctors of conspiring to poison or kill the population.
I predicted in multiple newsletters and in all three of my books that this is a time likely to bring about a “second American Revolution” or a disestablishment of the establishment. The US Pluto is returning to its natal position in 2022, Neptune is opposing its natal Neptune, and Saturn will go over its natal Moon in 2023. The stage is set for these challenges since, for decades, there has been an expanding economy for the very rich and a contracting economy for everyone else. Liberalization around race and the LGBTQ movements have threatened social “norms” resulting in a conservative backlash. Climate catastrophes, the elephant in every room, are hitting all over the world. Prices for fossil fuel have skyrocketed as its use escalates and demand rises. Our failure to switch to green energy is now costing us dearly. Nuclear fusion, the “Holy Grail” that would solve these serious problems has been neglected by reporters in the media. Thankfully, it is moving ahead in spite of all this.
The activation of ancient racial hatreds combined with historical revelations of a past slavery economy and genocidal massacres of native populations has stirred up the white supremacists. Just as immigrants are fleeing nations whose states have collapsed into corruption and rule of drug cartels and whose natural environment no longer supports agriculture, we are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers crossing our national borders. This crisis has confronted US presidents for decades. Obama, Trump and Biden have all tried to stem the tide and have “clamped down” without much success. Forces beyond them are at work here. The Trump ascendancy is a symptom of a huge and growing national dissent and polarization that has been brewing exponentially for over 40 years.
To top it all off, we are recovering from the greatest pandemic of this century, that has given birth to possibly the biggest economic shakeup of our times. The question remains whether this Scorpio president will help us heal and rise again from a multitude of crises, or whether he will preside over the end of this nation’s unity and cohesiveness altogether. Stay tuned!
The Economy:
We have seen a rise in oil and gas prices as more people come back to work and school following the pandemic, and OPEC can get away with it. The US leads the world in natural gas supplies, but many states have outlawed “fracking” which contributes to escalating gas prices. These oil hikes are led by Saudi Arabia and Russia who are the oil giants. Those of us who are seniors remember the oil crisis of the 1970s due to the revolution in Iran. As all my readers know, I believe that hydrogen nuclear fusion will end the age of fossil fuel, clean up the environment, and supply us with infinite amounts of energy with no pollution. Could we all imagine not only an energy revolution, but an end to massive global struggles and terrible wars over mineral deposits?
The jam-up of supply chains, a work force struggling to return, increasing wages, all point to price inflation. The stay-at-home- pandemic has given many people time to think. Many younger workers are reassessing their fates of being worked to death, underpaid, living in an employment environment that hurts rather than helps their families. Years ago, I predicted that fewer people would work for large companies and more young people would wish to start their own businesses. This has evolved into the “gig” economy, with mixed results. This notion will work if these people are trained with skills in the “trades” and are able to navigate the constantly changing landscape of technology.
If the big packages pass in Congress (I think they will, but way under the $3 Trillion package), more government money will be coming into the economy, especially for infrastructure and education. I think the second week of November will see selling on Wall Street, but recoveries toward the end of the month into December. There are so many contradictions in the information we will be getting, confusion will be the order of the day. The Nov. 19th Eclipse in Taurus highlights the high price of real estate and how the very wealthy are buying up properties, escalating prices (even new builds) to rent out at high prices. This is a “bubble” of monumental proportions which is what happens when a nation’s wealth is concentrated within the billionaire class.
The New Cold War:
The influence of both China and Russia in the world competing with the US for power and influence in the world will be highlighted this month, as their charts are activated by the Scorpio transits. The exposing of ransomware cyber attacks and hacks, China’s push to take over Taiwan, will be in the headlines, as will problems that are increasing within these nations themselves who are controlled by dictatorships. The US has pledged to protect Taiwan’s independence since 1949. American companies have made a huge mistake and that is to make most of their chips and semiconductors there, making the stakes very high. China has announced it is now testing hypersonic nuclear missiles, a technology the US already has. Both nations are warning each other of their military might.
Science and Technology:
In the October Issue of Scientific American, there is an article entitled “The Unseen Universe” by Marcela Carena. “An experiment called Muon g-2 at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois measured excessive wobbling by particles called muons. These findings suggest new particles or forces beyond those in the Standard Model of particle physics may be involved.” Discoveries about how little we really know about the universe, since about 95% of reality is referred to as “dark matter” that we are currently only able to study in relation to the tiny percentage of reality we can see, demonstrate our ongoing revolution against previously held convictions about the nature of reality. In this same issue, an article by Anil Ananthaswamy entitled “The Artificial Physicist” announces that “A machine-learning system is making shocking progress at the frontiers of experimental quantum physics.” These articles are worth reading in their totality.
Last month, Captain Kirk (William Shatner), age 90 years, went into outer space in Jeff Bezos’s rocket. He was quite eloquent in describing the experience. The backlash is that many feel that all the money spent to make this happen could be put to better use.
Last month, the New York Times announced that new private capital is going into nuclear fusion in response to rising oil and gas prices and global climate emergencies. Those of you who read this newsletter know I have been reporting on the growth of this technology for years!
Mother Nature:
For some reason, the media has given minimal coverage about the volcano erupting in Iceland, Mt. Aso in Japan, and the most powerful one on La Palma in the Canary Islands. The terrible earthquake in Haiti following a government coup is the reason so many are trying to get into the US. Recently, there was a 3.9 earthquake in the Los Angeles area. As I have reported in recent newsletters, the ongoing transit of Pluto in Capricorn plus current transits in Scorpio tend to correspond with more earthquake and volcanic activity.
An article in the same as above Oct. Issue of Scientific America was published entitled “Alaska Burning” by Randi Jandt and Alison York. It reports: “On June 5, 2019, lightning from an unusually early Spring thunderstorm ignited a blaze deep inside the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in south-central Alaska. High temperatures at the end of May had reversed a wet spring and quickly dried out the forest floor. The resulting Swan Lake Fire, about five miles northeast of Sterling, spread relentlessly for a month as the extraordinarily warm weather continued. By July 9 more than 99,000 acres had burned and more than 400 people were fighting the flames. On August 17 high winds changed the fire’s direction, causing numerous evacuations. The wind also downed power lines that sparked the fire’s direction, causing numerous evacuations. The wind also downed power lines that sparked new fires, including the Deshka Landing Fire and the fast-moving McKinnley Fire, which engulfed more than 1340 homes, businesses, and outbuildings. Fortunately no one died. ”This is a reality we have to face all the way up to the Arctic Circle that is currently engulfed in a “great melt.”
This is what we are facing now and for years to come.
Better news, is that the astrology of the Scorpio transits points to increasing precipitation that began last month may help to put out some of the California fires between now and December.
Final Thoughts:
“O look, look in the mirror,
O look in your distress;
Life remains a blessing
Although you cannot bless.
O stand, stand at the window
As the tears scald and start;
You shall love your crooked neighbor
With your crooked heart.”
from “As I Walked Out One Evening” by W. H. Auden
We are all alive together here on earth, residing in a magnificent but delicately balanced ecosystem. Human civilizations and their leaders have made decisions that are bringing to pass changes in this biosphere that may threaten all our lives. We all want to govern ourselves and change things for the better, but we don’t appear to want to take the responsibility. We remain a selfish, short-sighted species, subject to all the corporate product ads hitting our eyeballs reminding us that we “deserve” to buy and consume at will. We continue to look to “cult” leaders or autocrats who convince us they will “save” us from our enemies and solve all our problems. Many of us get “hooked” on drugs or alcohol, or simply give up altogether and land on the streets.
Then there are those who look to science; who practice critical thinking and intelligent debate and who truly wish to work together. But, they seem to be not loud enough, not sexy enough, not rich enough. Then, there are the cynics who believe we are doomed and deserve to die out altogether. We seem to live in an age in which our worst failings are constantly discussed; whose wounds are publicly exposed and get high “ratings” on television, but very few who inspire us to greater realms.
I think we must decide to love each other and ourselves, even though we are broken and flawed. We must care about each other in the face of our failures, penetrating to truths that lie beyond our “crooked hearts”. Knowing our limitations and confessing our mistakes may help us escape “the death penalty” and throw ourselves on the mercy of the court of justice we ourselves have created.
There are millions of good people who reside here among us, devoted to caring for each other and life on earth, creating new solutions to ancient problems, who have a vision of a new humanity that surpasses all current expectations, not only in science, but in the fulfillment of the promise of a human race that reaches beyond its own history to create an evolutionary leap into greatness.
We may yet fulfill the prophecy that “The Lion shall lie down with the Lamb” and “There will be no more war.”
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!
Blessings,
Linda
Important Points of Reference (for Astrologers):
New Moon at 4 degrees Scorpio conjunct Mars and square Saturn on Nov. 4; Full Moon Eclipse at 27 degrees Taurus (near the Fixed Star Caput Algol) conjunct Mercury, square Jupiter and trine Pluto; Mercury in Scorpio is sextile Venus Nov 6, goes into Sagittarius Nov. 24th and is sextile Saturn Nov. 29th; Venus goes into Capricorn November 5, is sextile Neptune Nov. 30th, (retrogrades at 26 degrees Dec. 18th, goes direct at 11 degrees Capricorn Jan. 8th and goes all the way through the sign by March 5th); Mars in Scorpio is square Saturn Nov. 10th, is opposition Uranus Nov. 17th, and is trine Neptune Nov. 29th; Jupiter is semi-sextile Pluto Nov. 18th through the 27th.
