HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Sagittarius (Jupiter) versus Capricorn (Saturn)
The Optimist meets the Pessimist:
In the calendar year, there are perhaps no two signs, side by side that disagree more than optimistic, expansive Sagittarius and pessimistic, structured Capricorn. As the Sun transits Sagittarius, it is no accident that bright, hopeful holidays present themselves to humanity – such as Hanukkah which celebrates victory, and Christmas which celebrates the birth of salvation and universal love. Festivals of light, elaborate decorations, and exchange of gifts – all put aside human animosities, and promise hope for the future, even as the cold hostile winter looms ahead. Sagittarius happily travels to family celebrations while at the Winter Solstice, Capricorn issues a general “travelers advisory.”
In an ideal reality, we need both of these signs. Sagittarius lends hope that we will complete big projects and be able to solve big problems, while Capricorn reminds us we need to get tightly organized watch the budget, and put the “right” people in charge. Jupiter needs to keep moving while Saturn stays put. In a sense, hope for the future confronts fears from the past and brings us into the present, so we have to decide – where do we go from here?
What happens to the trajectory of humanity in this period in which one age is ending and another is beginning comprises a very delicate and fragile “tipping point.” Past cycles similar to this one resulted in massive environmental catastrophes, terrible wars, economic failures, and the collapse of empires that once “ruled” the world. Winston Churchill paraphrased other wise men when he pointed out that if we do not understand history, we are doomed to repeat it.
The great Irish poet William Butler Yeats interpreted history as a “gyre” or spiral that moves upward, repeating old cycles, but expanding our understanding of them – a ladder to conscious evolution. This time of year reminds us of our limitations, but lights up the Winter skies with a multitude of lights, celebrating hope for the future – a rebirth – a victory over the forces of darkness – a humanity that will awaken to whatever needs to be done to “deliver us from evil” – saving each other and our threatened planet – and reaching upward to what has seemed a cold and uncaring universe into a “peace that passes understanding.”
The Economy:
Jay Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve, in his ongoing attempt to bring down inflation, has indicated he would likely raise interest rates again and Wall Street usually acts like they are being targeted and runs for the hills. This is because corporations piled up debts by buying back their own stock and have to pay it down at higher interest rates. The hardest hit is the public at large, which is carrying so much greater debt than before, largely because of inflation and higher interest rates, that they are running up unsustainable bills on their credit cards.
FTX, the crypto exchange has crashed and gone bankrupt. This has been a creation that has had essentially no regulation and the “coins” have no intrinsic consistent value or backing. I do not think Bitcoin will go away, but governments will have to get involved, as, among other things, this medium of exchange is being used by international drug lords and human traffickers, with no effective oversight.
Elon Musk, who bought Twitter and has fired huge numbers of his employees and contractors, is disliked by them and is “losing his luster” in general, as the stock continues to fall, along with “META” or Facebook whose shares are shrinking as well. Musk has announced that Kanye and Trump, who have been barred from Twitter due to their “hate” speech, are allowed to have their accounts restored. All this is related to the Mars retrograde in Gemini (communications) and square Neptune (confusion) that will be in effect until March of next year. It is my contention that social media is losing its magic as multiple revelations of its misuse have surfaced. We all believe in “freedom of speech” but are asking serious questions concerning young people committing suicide as a result of tweets, and extreme political groups with “dark sites” that encourage violence. Previously laws that were on the books that news media had to be held accountable, to tell the truth, were abolished back in 1987. Eventually, we will get it right, but until then, stocks in these companies will likely fall.
In November, there was an excellent article in the New York Times by Anan Giriaharos entitled “Billionaires made a strong case for abolishing themselves.” He cited Musk’s chaos and layoffs at Twitter, Bezos announcing he is “giving away” most of his fortune while massive layoffs are taking place at Amazon, and Donald Trump’s attempt to smash our nation’s institutions and attempt to overthrow the government. This is an article worth reading.
Rumors are that we will have a long hard recession. I am of the opinion that we will have a less harsh recession as we go into next year. Real estate markets will still be struggling until June of 2023 when Jupiter goes into Taurus and is sextile Saturn. Oil inflation will likely fall by then, but, in spite of Pres. Biden’s release of oil from the strategic reserve is certainly with us now. Global oil prices as a result of OPEC reducing its flow, giant oil companies raising their prices, and the war between Ukraine and Russia have all expanded the inflationary spiral. Russia is still making big money with oil price inflation, selling their hydrocarbons to nations (China and India) that have not embargoed them. I think that Russia and Ukraine will make a deal next year as this war has been a disaster for both nations. Recent meetings between the US, China, and India would suggest all the greater powers want this war to end. In March of 2023, Saturn will go into Pisces, and oil prices will start to move down.
A major problem that is hardly being discussed in the media is food price inflation. With hurricanes and flooding in Florida, rising temperatures, droughts, fires, and disappearing water resources in the Southwest, and the Mississippi River at the lowest levels in recorded history, crops and food sources are greatly reduced.
Mercury is going retrograde from Dec. 28 through Jan. 18. Avoid signing important documents or making hasty decisions during this time. Economic trends will likely reverse themselves in this period.
Politics:
As I reported last month in this newsletter, the mid-term elections did not come out as expected or as the polls projected. I predicted serious storms (hurricanes in Florida and blizzards in the North). I also predicted we would not know the outcomes until much later in the month. Most of the time, mid-terms produce a “wave” of wins for the opposite party of the President. This time, as I projected, the Democrats did better than expected and we have a near “stalemate” in both houses which means very little legislation will be passed. Republicans, who won the House by a very small margin, wish to waste their time by focusing on Hunter Biden and impeaching the President, rather than passing meaningful legislation that would address the economy. Ironically, this will protect us from “extremes” in either direction. In next month’s newsletter, I will elaborate on the very serious critical aspects coming up between January and March 2023.
Following hundreds of mass shootings in America, Biden wants to pass a ban on military-grade assault weapons, which legislation has little to no chance of passing. The availability of firearms coupled with a broken mental health system, added to generations of young men whose lives have been damaged all add up to the kind of blind rage that leads people into mindlessly shooting people in shopping malls, schools, and parking lots all over our nation. Our political and economic power systems seem to have no inclination to address this.
In Brazil, Lula’s victory over extreme right-wing Bolsenaro lends hope to a possible trend reversal that has put dictators into power over the past decade.
In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu is back as head of state. Surrounded by perpetual enemies, this nation is on constant military alert and “conservatives” tend to maintain their control there.
In Iran, the new revolution to abolish the Islamic State is ongoing and will likely continue through March of 2023.
In China, even though they have the strictest shutdowns to protect themselves, COVD is making a new surge in many of the major cities. This, and the economic problems they currently have, temporarily softens their relationship with the US.
Science and Technology:
On Nov. 6th, Newsweek reported in its Tech and Science section: Gigantic, 70-foot Nuclear Fusion Gun Could Change the World.” They go on to report: “The Big Friendly Gun (BFG) is a prototype for what UK- based nuclear fusion company, First Light Fusion, hopes will be the future of energy production. The giant steel gun works by firing a high-velocity piston, compressing hydrogen gas as it moves, and entering a cone segment that crushes the gas to a tiny point before it bursts through a metal seal. This shoots a projectile at 4.3 miles per second into a vacuum chamber where it strikes a nuclear fusion fuel target, temporarily producing the conditions in which nuclei can fuse together. First Light Fusion says it was commissioned, designed, and built for 1.1 million pounds (1.27 million US dollars) over the course of 10 months. There’s nothing else like it in the world.”
Last month, Global Data reported: “While some assume hydrogen engines to be lost,
China bets big. China, despite being one of the world’s largest makers and markets for electric vehicles (Evs) is actively exploring alternative energy technologies for automobiles to meet its sustainability goals, including hydrogen internal combustion engines (H2 ICEs) for commercial vehicles.”
Last month, it was reported in Financial Times “Many governments and policymakers are now putting their faith in hydrogen to help them achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 – believing that the way it is produced and deployed can be transformed. If they are right, hydrogen could play an essential role in decarbonizing manufacturing and displacing fossil fuels in transport and power generation.”
Last month the Artemis rocket to survey the moon launched – a joint effort from Space X and NASA. This is a preliminary effort that will involve putting humans on the moon once again, possibly in 2024.
In the December Issue of Scientific American, an article entitled “Overdose of Inequality” by Melba Newsome was published. They report: “The face of the opioid epidemic has changed from white and middle class to black and brown people. They are dying because of biases in medical treatment.” They go on to say: “In 2019 the overall drug overdose death rate among Black people exceeded that of whites for the first time: 36.8 versus 31.6 per 100,000. And with the addition of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that’s 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, Black men older than 55 who survived for decades with heroin addiction are dying at rates four times greater than people of other ages in that age group.” The article points out that black people have less income, less access to treatment resources, and are treated with racial bias. There are two crises that loom here. One is that we have the most terrifying epidemic of drug addiction and overdose deaths in our entire population, in history. Secondly, we have an income inequality gap, the largest in modern history. Thirdly, once again, people of color are under-served and under-treated.
In the Dec. Issue of Scientific American, an article is published entitled “A New Era for Astronomy”, which highlights how the James Webb Space Telescope of transforming our view of the universe.
They report: “The first photos from the James Webb telescope (JWST went out to the world on July 12, 2022. and they are stunners. The clarity and level of detail are unprecedented. Seeing the telescopes of some familiar objects – from the oft-photographed Carina Nebula to the planet Neptune – feels like putting on new glasses with a stronger prescription. Only the first batches of JWST photos have been released so far, but each image has created a stir, suggesting that in the coming years the telescope’s pictures will infiltrate the public’s subconscious just as thoroughly as Hubble’s.”
On Nov. 19, in Yahoo News, an article was posted by David Ave entitled: “New Vaccine Breakthrough could finally bring COVID to its Knees.” They report: “Lots of current vaccines target the spike protein but none of them specifically target the spine helix.. . . . .” Whereas many regions of the spike protein tend to change a lot as the virus mutates, the spine helix doesn’t. So a vaccine that binds the spine helix in SARS-CoV-2 should hold up for a long time. And it should also work on all the other coronaviruses that also include the spine helix.” This new vaccine should be available soon.
Final Thoughts:
As this holiday season unfolds, the old saying – “It is darkest before the dawn.” seems so appropriate to our times. Pluto, currently in Capricorn, – the bringer of death and rebirth – goes into Aquarius next year, and retrogrades back into Capricorn until November of 2024, when it fully embraces its transit in Aquarius. By 2025, Neptune will go into Aries and Uranus goes into Gemini – all of these planets in harmony with one another. This ushers in the Aquarian Age and the world is seen through an entirely new lens – lighting the way to a better life on earth.
Capricorn is the sign of “consequences”. We are all seeing the evils, losses, and mistakes play out in front of us – all the consequences of selfishness, greed, and the dominance of bad leaders in both public and private sectors of our societies. We are tired. We are fed up. We are ready for a time of compassion, of big solutions, of new leadership, composed of a society of humans that takes responsibility for what it has done. Maybe the promise of victory over the darkness, of all-encompassing love, will become part of our real experience, as we work with persistence to finally comprehend an unavoidable truth. We are all in this together.
May you enjoy your holiday – immersed in the love of cherished family and friends.
Linda
Important Points of Reference for Astrologers:
Full Moon at 16 degrees Gemini conjunct Mars (retrograde) Dec. 8; New Moon at 1 degree Capricorn square Jupiter in Aries Dec. 23; Jupiter back into Aries Dec. 21; Mercury in Sagittarius is square Neptune Dc. 1; Venus in Sagittarius is sextile Saturn in Aquarius Dec. 2 and is square Neptune Dec. 4 Mercury in Capricorn is trine the North Node Dec. 15 and is trine Uranus Dec. 17, is sextile Neptune Dec. 24, and goes retrograde Dec. 28 (until Jan. 18, 2023); Venus in Capricorn is trine the North Node Dec. 19, is trine Uranus Dec. 22 (Solstice) and conjunct Pluto Dec. 31; Saturn is semisextile Neptune Dec. Dec. 28 (through Jan. 6th, 2023).
