It’s All About Human Rights and the Economy
No matter what we pretend to be – whether we present ourselves as thoughtful, “religious”, humanitarian, caring about economic inequality and the dispossessed, or, concerned about our physical environment, the deepest, darkest, parts of our collective consciousness is about “survival”, which here on earth, is forever linked to power over money, land, property, possessions. Costs of filling our gas tanks, paying our mortgages, and buying our food take precedent over the concepts of sharing, altruism, and even over intelligent debate that might solve these problems. For countless decades, we have continued to be enchanted by the highly publicized romps of the billionaires. The “American Dream” is all about getting rich.
There are far too many people who feel “left out” – hopelessly confused about who they are and what their prospects are in the current “scheme of things.” Many feel they have been “bullied”, left out, threatened, pushed around, and disconnected. These people have access, in this nation, to military-grade assault weapons. The Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” has been interpreted to mean we cannot restrict gun ownership, in short, everyone should be able to “pack heat”. Can we all just imagine the pressures on police departments throughout the country having to deal with this? The Supreme Court just ruled that the law passed in New York State that outlawed carrying concealed weapons is unconstitutional. The recent federal law passed by Congress and signed by the President contains some regulations on buying firearms that are long overdue. However, we must remember decades of the result of “gun freedom”. The “American Nightmare” is about getting killed.
The newly “radicalized” Supreme Court just abolished the right to abortion and various methods of birth control that had been guaranteed by Roe v Wade for nearly 50 years. People need to understand that the Court’s premise was that these rights are not guaranteed by the Constitution, and need to review that the ERA amendment guaranteeing women’s right to vote, did NOT pass in the 1970s. Women’s suffrage is thus no longer protected, and all the civil rights legislation that passed in the 1960s, which is also not in the Constitution, is no longer protected. Chief Justice Roberts, a highly respected Conservative has lost his ability to “moderate” the Court’s decisions. I would suggest all of us think about this! Democrats will do better than expected in the Midterm elections in the Fall.
In Russia, it is all about claiming rights to the land and riches of Ukraine and the dreams and fantasies of Vladimir Putin, who sees himself as an ancient Tzar, who has undisputed, absolute power over a newly expanded Russian Empire. His agenda – blowing up the land, the buildings, access to markets, and totaling infrastructure. He still controls massive quantities of oil and gas reserves. He is at war. Putin did the same thing in the civil war in Syria. He supplied Assad with weapons (including poison gas) which he used to kill nearly half of the population and destroy most of the buildings and infrastructure, bringing the nation to a level of absolute devastation. The sanctions the US and NATO nations have imposed on him are not effective enough to stop him. He is still selling gas and oil to other nations at elevated prices.
We have to also understand that Israel does not officially support the US and NATO in helping Ukraine. Israel is one of the nations “falling apart” since they recently “ditched” their parliament and Prime Minister and are having elections that are questionable in their effectiveness to replace their governing bodies. I have reported many times that the Uranus in Taurus (until 2025) points to severe instability in this nation.
The Middle East as a region is in major trouble as they are running out of water. Rivers are now creeks, wells are running dry, and in Israel, the Dead Sea has receded dramatically in recent years.
What lies ahead?
The Economy:
The stock market will continue its current volatility and uncertainty. Interestingly, oil and gas corporations (the energy sector) have seen their stocks fall, even with their being the cause of the inflation in energy prices that has caused the Feds to raise interest rates, and move us toward a recession. This is only one of the many ironies in this economy. The central banks have attempted to manipulate interest rates for a long time. They have now lost control over the investors, as they flee the markets into cash. My take is that for so many years, we have created a massive “bubble” stock market based on companies buying back their stock (even borrowing to do so); people have deluded themselves by getting into so-called “spacks” that have now crashed and burned; cryptocurrencies (led by Bitcoin) who had no real value or intrinsic worth, to begin with, have fallen into the ditch; and, what happens consistently in the crash and recession cycles, the grand casino on Wall Street has been “busted.”
So many young people today have no remembrance of the 1970s when the Iranian revolution caused hydrocarbons to skyrocket in price. Then Fed Chair Paul Volker kept raising interest rates to control inflation all the way through the early 1980s. This produced a painful decade-long recession. I remember when rates were at around 16%! Eventually, we accelerated offshore oil digs, fracking for gas, and getting deeply embedded with “nice guys” like the Saudis to raise the amount of global oil production. Is this deja-vu all over again? The answer is: almost. But this period will not last that long. Oil prices will eventually move down and we will not have a decade-long recession.
Currently, with the advent of the war in Ukraine with Russia, the Europeans are being exposed to their extreme dependence on Russian oil and gas. We are “heroically” cutting off Russia from the international banking system and shipping their oil to the rest of Europe, but their leaders are already having conferences with Pres. Zelensky, as to how long this will last. Ukraine simply cannot win this war without the rest of Europe and the US getting directly involved. My take is that they will try to “make a deal” between Russia and Ukraine. The deal they negotiate is likely to offer to hand over several Ukrainian regions to Russia in return for ending the war. Putin is currently bragging about himself, Russia, and its army, and deliberately stating that “the US is no longer a world power” – that Russia is taking back its position as a great empire. Pres. Biden does not want to get into a nuclear war with Russia, and rightly so. A deal will eventually be made.
Where do we go? I have advised for some time to be in cash, gold, and income-producing real estate. Long-term investments in hydrology, rare earths, and what is lying ahead – nuclear fusion – will move you into the future. Real estate, especially builders, will suffer due to new high interest rates. You will likely have to wait to get back into this sector. If you own rental properties, you will have a fairly regular income. We are in such a volatile cycle for multiple reasons, (I will elaborate on the months ahead in coming newsletters) I would suggest that you sit tight and wait things out.
What Next?
Currently, we have moved backward historically with respect to human rights and are in a cycle I have referred to as “the Dark Night of the Soul”. We are being forced to confront the old evils, abuses of power, hatreds, and violent behaviors that have been an intrinsic part of our history for generations. Humanity is about to enter a new period in our history in which most major trends will be changing.
The slow-moving planets – in 2025 – Neptune, Pluto, and Uranus will be in new signs and will likely move us to bring back efforts to sustain democracy, while science and technology will present us with amazing inventions that have the capability of solving an array of serious problems. Whoever runs for President in 2024 will be “none of the above.” This might seem like a long time to many people, it is actually in the “blink of an eye”.
Climate and weather:
In addition to everything above, the transit of Mars in Taurus this month conjunct the North Node and Uranus on August 1st will present a major series of severe weather events, including earthquake and volcanic activity. Hurricanes and tornadoes have taken a severe toll on Americans. Hurricane Ida from last year was actually worse than Hurricane Katrina, and millions of people who live in Louisiana have lost everything, are destitute, and living in government-donated trailers. The costs to both the government (FEMA) and families throughout the nation are immeasurable. Much of all this is due to climate change due to fossil fuel burning. We all know this by now.
The industrialized world is “caught” in a deadly conflict between “economic collapse” without fossil fuel and “climate collapse” that would destroy most life on earth!
Science and Technology:
Humanity is now “interstellar! The July Issue of Scientific American published an excellent article about the history of our journey into outer space. It now reports: “Forty-five years after their 1977 launch, the twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft are traveling where no Earth-made vehicle has gone before. The mission, originally intended to last just four years and fly by Jupiter and Saturn, is still going. Voyager 2 went on to visit Uranus and Neptune, and both spacecraft eventually exited the heliosphere – the region of the sun’s influence – and entered the area between stars called interstellar space. Although the voyagers are sending back information about this unexplored territory, scientists will begin turning off some of their instruments this year in hopes that the remaining devices can continue to phone home until around 2030.”
Scientific American also published an article entitled: “Climate Miseducation”, How oil and gas representatives manipulate the standards for courses and textbooks, from kindergarten to 12th grade.” by Katie Worth. This article describes the efforts of major education advocacy groups to cover the climate crisis and how the Texas Energy Council and Shell Oil worked to block this information. It is worth reading this article in its entirety to understand the scope of influence the oil companies have over the public education system.
As all of you who read my newsletter regularly know, I am an advocate for supporting the companies and sites that are working on nuclear fusion – the “Holy Grail” of limitless non-polluting energy that will eventually replace hydrocarbons, whose warming effect is creating climate catastrophes and extinguishing many species of life on earth. Lately, problems have emerged since there is very little tritium fuel to make the fusion chambers work. A recent article in the June 23, 2022 issue of “Science” point out that this is a major problem for the big chambers such as DEMO and ITER that are working to solve this shortage. However, the article reports: “Two private fusion efforts have decided to forego tritium fuel. TAE Technologies, a California startup, plans to use plain hydrogen and boron. Washington State startup Helion will fuse deuterium and helium-3, a rare helium isotope. These reactions require higher temperatures than D-T, but the companies think that’s a price worth paying to avoid tritium hassles.” It would be worthwhile to read the whole article that contains extensive information about the trials and efforts to make nuclear fusion a reality. Onward and upward!
Final Thoughts:
“This is the time of tension between dying and
birth
The place of solitude where three dreams cross
Between blue rocks
But when the voices shaken from the yew- tree
drift away
Let the other yew be shaken and reply.”
From “Ash Wednesday”, by T. S. Eliot
Humanity is experiencing a painful and vulnerable period in its history – one between the death of obsolete ancient frameworks – and the coming birth of a new consciousness of what it is to be human. Letting go of rigid hierarchies on which we depend to make decisions for us, and coming into a true “adulthood” in which we make intelligent and comprehensive decisions will not only save us from self-destruction but elevate us to a level of mutual prosperity and respect for individuality – an understanding that, in a sense, we “are each other” expressing ourselves in unique and differing ways.
Growing up is a challenging process. Many of us do not care to remember all the crazy mistakes we made – all the wrong turns we took – and even the painful but successful efforts we made to attain our goals over many years, that now often seem irrelevant. Evolution is an ongoing process, not an “arrival” at a glorious finish! I remember when a play or concert I was in and loved was over, there was a curious letdown. Performers all know about this. What sustains us is that the next time we take with us all that we have learned and keep going –we keep getting better. The human soul is a continuum. It is all an ongoing, moving, infinite process.
As we look up at the brilliant constellations in the night sky, we are reminded that the universe continues – and so will we!
Blessings,
Linda
Important Points of Reference for Astrologers:
Full Moon at 21 degrees Capricorn trine the North Node and conjunct PlutoJuly 13; New Moon at 5 degrees Leo trine Jupiter July 28; Mercury in Gemini is trine Saturn July 1, goes into Cancer July 5, is square Jupiter July 9, is inconjunct Saturn July 16, is trine Neptune July 17, and is opposition Pluto July 17; Mars goes into Taurus July 5 (through August 19), hits the North Node and is conjunct Uranus Aug. 1; Mercury goes into Leo July 19, and is trine Jupiter July 24; Venus in Gemini will trine Saturn July 12, will square Neptune July 13 and will inconjunct Pluto July 17; Jupiter goes retrograde July 28.
Uranus/Mars in Taurus conjunct the North Node
(plus the Saturn/Uranus square continuing until year’s end):
