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The Jupiter/Saturn Conjunction in Aquarius:— (visible)

The astrological chart:
December 21, 2020
1:22 PM EST Washington, DC
Lat: 77W02 Long: 38N54

Note: Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions take place approximately every 20 years, take about 800 years to go through all the signs, and stay in a series of Earth, Air, Fre, and Water each for about 199 years. This process is called a mutational shift. We are now leaving the Earth series that began in 1802 and moving into the Air series.

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For around the past 50 years, our popular culture has embraced the coming of a “New Age” that promised peace, prosperity, harmony, and enlightenment. The 1960s was seen as a decade of an emerging youth culture, who looked to this possible future through the lens of their music, their “hippie” lifestyle, racial and economic equality, anti-war movements, and tree-hugging environmental ideals. They also embraced meditation, alternative religions, and sometimes drug use in order to attain the “bliss” of the human potential movement reaching for an expanded consciousness.

Obviously, this grand expectation did not result in a grand achievement. Many of the individuals who participated in this effort chose instead to move toward getting as rich as possible and made Wall Street the focus of their ambitions; thus the “baby boomers” framed the society we have now with all its contradictions, economic inequalities, environmental catastrophes, and political polarities. However, these ideals have not disappeared from our line of sight. You might say, they had been “sidelined”. Most people remember the Broadway Show “Hair ” and the song it imprinted on our collective memory: “This is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius.”

The great ages, that last approximately 2100 years, move “backward” in the Zodiac, moving the Vernal Equinox pointer through these constellational periods. We are now leaving the Age of Pisces whose beginning roughly coincided with the birth and death of Jesus Christ (the early Christians having adopted the symbol of two fishes swimming in opposite directions). Pisces is a sign concerned with consciousness expansion, spirituality, diverse religions, music and the fine arts, liquids including bodies of water, chemicals, drugs, inspiration that flows through genius, illusions and disillusions. The two fishes expressed in the symbol of Pisces could be interpreted as one fish swimming upward toward Heaven (compassion, sharing of resources, and enlightenment) and the one swimming downward into Hell (selfishness, greed and war.) The traditional planetary ruler of Pisces is Neptune, the ancient God of weather and the Seas. This Age is going out fighting for its issues: conflict among world religions, rising drug abuse and alcoholism, disillusionment with abusive governments and people in power, oceans rising due to melting glaciers and global warming, populations fleeing local disasters across oceans and borders, and the spread of civil wars and pandemics. There are those, however, who are looking to the fish swimming upward toward heaven, breaking out of the great floods and emerging into the sky, the air, and the clear light of day. Pisces, at its best, reflects the “doctrine of brotherly love” and a belief in the eternity of the soul.

The End marks the Beginning:

In the book, “The Zodiac by Degrees”, author Martin Goldsmith characterizes the 1^st degree of Aquarius where this conjunction takes place as: “A traveler comes upon an ancient temple in the desert, part of it fallen into ruin and part of it adapted for modern use.” This particular placement suggests that the previous age may fall into ruins, but will not represent a total destruction. Instead, what is left on earth and in our civilizations will likely be rebuilt within a modern framework, both technologically and in terms of our societies and cultures. Aquarius, and its ruling planet, Uranus, are associated with genius, science, breakthroughs, and an ideal of economic “equal opportunity” combined with broad respectful alliances and friendships among people and nations. This is the sign most closely associated with Democracy, science and the flow of information. It is inspiring to remember two great Aquarius men of the 19^th Century, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin, born the same date the same year! Pluto will enter Aquarius in 2023 for a twenty year transit that will likely amplify, challenge, and spread these ideas to an even greater extent. By 2026, Pluto, Neptune, Uranus and Saturn line up in a framework of trines and sextiles (harmonious) aspects that may symbolize the most exciting and opportune era in this century.

As I have discussed in previous newsletters and books, there is a “dark side” to this Age, characterized in Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” and the Stanley Kubrick motion picture science fiction masterpiece, “2001 A Space Odyssey.” This represents a kind of dehumanization that is reminiscent of the Biblical “worship of the golden calf” – an idealization of mechanistic materialism – falling in love with our robots, space ships, computers, to an extent of “replacing” humans and killing ourselves off by missing the richness and depth of human life, our collective soul, and our endless capacity to create. The looming question will be: what does “evolution” mean and what direction does it take?

Star Trek:

• As I have been reporting in previous newsletters, NUCLEAR FUSION, arguably the biggest breakthrough since the invention of the wheel is on its way to becoming a reality and will effectively end the age of fossil fuels. Smaller fusion chambers are being developed for possible use in ships, rockets, and airplanes. My target for the implementation of this in at least four large international sites, is 2026. Preceding this are three renewable energy companies: Jinko Solar Holding, Brookfield Renewable Partners (solar and wind), and Bloom Energy (Solid oxide hydrogen fuel cells to store energy), that are all already up and running. In the December 2020 issue of Scientific American, an extensive article by Senior Editor, Clara Moskowitz was published entitled “Fusion Dreams.” She reports: “Humans are an energy-hungry species, and our current sources of power are not cutting it. Nuclear fusion, the process that fuels the sun, might offer the kind of clean, abundant energy we need – if only scientists can figure it out. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor or (ITER) is the biggest and most ambitious attempt yet to harness the energy produced by forcing two atoms to become one. The $25-billion experiment in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France, is a joint project of the European Union, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the U.S. Its ultimate goal is to do what no fusion experiment has done before: produce more heat than it consumes.” She goes on to say: “Scientists hope to press the proverbial red button and turn on the reactor in 2025, with the ultimate goal of running it at full power by 2035. If it succeeds, the payoff would be gigantic. Fusion has the potential to release much more energy than burning coal or oil or even nuclear fission, which fuels traditional power plants. Fusion produces no greenhouse gases or radioactive waste.” The complement to all this are the all electric vehicles that are being widely used throughout the world that give off no pollution.
• Space X is currently launching its historic first NASA astronaut crew mission. We are on our way to sending humans to Mars, and using space robots to mine multiple asteroids and our moon. Our outer space surveying technology has been and still is traveling throughout our solar system, sending pictures and information back to us that is mind blowing!
• The terrible COVID pandemic has accelerated the development of anti-viral vaccines and medicines, all of which we will be implementing over the next two years. There are now four giant pharmaceutical companies that are ready for approval to launch a giant vaccination program. The first shots may be administered this month to emergency health care workers. I project February 21 2021 (Mercury goes direct in Aquarius) as the go-ahead time to vaccinate the public-at-large. Cures and preventative medicines for cancer are showing promise. The whole field of genetics and bio-genetic engineering is moving forward with a speed unseen in decades. Neuroscience is a rapidly developing field with potential cures for dementia, and a pantheon of neurological diseases.
  
  

International Relations and Trade Agreements:

Yahoo News announced in November that – “Fifteen Asia-Pacific nations signed the world’s biggest free trade deal, seen as a huge coup for China in extending its influence.” This includes 10 Southeast Asian economies along with China, Japan, So Korea, New Zealand and Australia with members accounting for around 30% of global GDP. The Jupiter/Saturn conjunction is on the ascendant of the astrological chart for China and Pluto will cross their ascendant in 2024-26. The US cannot continue its recent “isolationist” policies as China has now surpassed us as the biggest economy on earth and has widely extended its power and influence, including military bases. President-elect Biden has already stated he will rejoin the Global Climate Accord and re-establish strong ties to NATO.

However, the past forty years of moving American manufacturing overseas to avoid paying workers a decent wage and observe environmental laws has decimated many regions of our economy and led to the biggest transfer of wealth into the hands of the few (giant corporations and bankers) in our history. China easily stole our technology and then surpassed it in many ways. In recent years, they have “hacked” huge American data bases, including Equifax and Marriott. Since the 1990s, we have abandoned American workers and “outsourced” jobs in manufacturing to China and Mexico and software development primarily to India. These nations, have generated killer air and water pollution over their regions and continue to generate the most in the way of greenhouse gasses that are spreading over all regions of the globe. China has taken over Hong Kong’s democracy and brought it under their umbrella of a totalitarian police state. Next will likely be Taiwan’s demise as an independent entity. The South China Sea has been claimed as their territory and they are dominant in the region. We cannot ignore this. The question remains as to HOW we can re-engage.

The Economy:

This month, the “melt up bubble” will likely expand this month in the financial markets as optimism around vaccines and a more peaceful presidential transition will be revealed. The December 14^th Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius sheds a joyful light on things. Interestingly, this is the date the Electoral College designates cast their votes.

Next year, there will be a “debt reckoning” on all levels – government, corporate, and private – the largest ever recorded. Over 30 million people in the US alone owe student loans. This is why the Feds will keep interest rates at near zero levels. For some time now, I have predicted an all digital currency modeled on the block chain technology (Bitcoin) and a global economic “reset”. In 2021, Saturn in Aquarius will square (conflict with) Uranus in Taurus, forcing us to face the reality of an economic depression around the world and here in the US felt by the bottom 80% of our population. The displacement and poverty and injustice among minority populations has stood out in stark relief, as the Black Lives Matter movement has spanned this nation and the globe.

Automation is replacing human labor at a pace we have never seen before. Our political parties are still very much at odds over the government’s place in our economy and in our personal lives. We will have to reinvent more equitable economies with the speed and motivation that we are using to create all our exciting space-age technology. I will discuss this in my January newsletter.

Final Thoughts:

We will all remember 2020 as an unforgettable year of crisis and upheaval. For many people, it has been an era of stress and strain – of sickness and death. For others, it has been a time of personal reflection and even revelation about what is important to us as we journey through whatever time we have left in the span of our lives. Here in the US, we held a successful presidential election with the most votes cast in our history and one of the most secure voting systems, in spite of a pandemic, widespread conflict, and economic disaster. This points toward our ability to overcome great odds, step up to the plate, and do what we need to do.

Now, the challenge ahead is to measure up to what could be the greatest era of achievements humanity may envision. The choice we will be compelled to make – extinction or evolution – will be the motivation that could bring out our genius, wisdom, and compassion radiating from the heart – to create a new earth.

This is the season of victory over death. This is the season of rebirth. This is the season of light.

May you all have a loving and inspiring holiday season!

Blessings,

Linda

Linda Schurman

Important Points of Reference (for Astrologers):

Full Moon Lunar Eclipse at 23 degrees Sagittarius, semi-sextile Pluto, conjunct Mercury and trine Mars and square the Lunar Nodes on Dec. 14; New Moon at 8 degrees Cancer Dec. 30; Venus in Scorpio is sextile Jupiter and Saturn on Dec. 15; Mars is square Pluto Dec. 22; Mercury is square Neptune Dec. 13; Jupiter is conjunct Saturn at 00 degrees Aquarius semi-sextile the Sun Dec. 21; Venus in Sagittarius is square Neptune and square the Lunar Nodes Dec. 30.

USA Pluto returns to its origin – 2020-2022

The signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 launched a new nation and with it, a truly revolutionary idea of a government “by and for the people.” The grand and historic historic origins of this actually go back to ancient Greece with its instituting an elected Senate and the Magna Carta in England in 1215 creating a charter that contained a rule of law governing kings as well as citizens’ rights.

The notion of democracy has expressed itself through the centuries with the idea of “equality” at its core: “All men are created equal”, giving birth to the United States framed within the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. However, as highlighted in the famous book “1984”, it would seem that “Some people are more equal than others.”

In times past, royal families, rich landowners, and people of means in general comprised “equal”, while women, peasants, and here in America, African slaves and Native societies were all excluded. The history of humanity has been directed and controlled by wealthy ruling elites since humans organized themselves into what today we call “civilization.” Devastating wars have been the determining factor in the survival of most societies. Empires invaded empires determining who rose and fell, administered by military war lords and whichever nation had the latest and most brutal weapons. This continued into the 20^th Century and its two World Wars, ending in 1945 with America dropping two nuclear bombs on Japan. This event was so terrifying, these weapons have not been used since.

In the 19th Century, America fought a Civil War over the institution of slavery and legally slaves were set free. However, African Americans were marginalized, murdered, their rights suppressed, and often left out of the economic structures of American capitalism. From the Civil Rights movements of the 1960s to this very day as the Black Lives Matter movement is resurrecting the issue of inequality of people of color and the abuses of law enforcement, we are being made aware that “some people are more equal than others.” Women valiantly launched a suffrage movement that gave them voting rights 100 years ago and are still fighting to control their own reproductive rights and equal wages under the law. More recently, the “Me Too” movement publicly declared that women would no longer put up with sexual harassment or abuse. People whose sexuality is other than heterosexual have taken a strong stand for equal rights under the law for over approximately the past 5 decades.

However, over the past 50 years, wealth, which is the primary determinate of how “equal” a person is, has been seeping away from the public-at-large, working people, and small businesses into the giant holdings of mega corporations who are successfully off-shoring taxes (in places like Panama and the Cayman Islands), and being assisted by a banking system that has morphed into a giant casino. All of this has created a nation of massive discontent, whose citizens simply do not know or understand what happened to them in the first place!

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Behind it all:

What would comprise the “great equalizer”? It would be two things – broadly shared opportunities for the control and distribution of wealth and a general effective public infrastructure that includes ongoing excellence and expansion in education for all. It would require the very rich to pay taxes proportionate to their holdings. This would include, most importantly, a fair and secure election system.

From the invention of the printing press to the advent of radio and television, the mass distribution of information has become a great determiner of the direction our society takes. The US has its Uranus (invention) and Mars (action) in the sign of Gemini (communication and education). It is high time that we now recognize that the mainstream media is controlled by product pushers, snake oil salesmen, and big money rather than any kind of devotion to honest news reporting and/or fair and honest debate.

Meanwhile, the famous 1% of our population controls between 80% to 88% of this nation’s wealth. The public infrastructures built by both parties since the 1930s – public education, highways and bridges, health care (Social Security and Medicare) and more recently, connection to the internet, are all falling apart while billionaires have received giant tax breaks and constantly whine about taxes while the expanding bubble on Wall Street keeps making them richer. We have the largest debt “bubble” in our history that includes corporate debt, private debt, and government debt. The recent bailout package passed by Congress largely went into people paying down their personal debt!

As robots and computers replace workers, wages have fallen and there are fewer and fewer decent paying jobs., except at the top of the technological “food chain.” As usual, “some people are more equal than others.” A balance between entrepreneurial Capitalism and a strong broad social fabric of supports that would give people an “equal shot” is noticeably absent.

This great pandemic is a tragedy for so many people, especially for those who are the poorest, cannot afford housing, and have no health insurance. However, of even greater importance, it casts a light on the devastating lack of leadership in this nation, and the effect of the ensuing economic depression for most of our population. Meanwhile, climate catastrophes continue to escalate. The California and Oregon forest fires have spread to Colorado, burning thousands of acres and making this the worst and most wide spread Western fire emergency on record.

Pluto always generates serious life and death crises in the lives of nations and individuals. History has also demonstrated that a rebirth and renewal of major magnitude may follow. This cycle of time will reveal both.

The Colossal Crossroad: Our Choice

In recent years, autocracy (the rise of dictators) has spread in many nations throughout the world. Climate catastrophes essentially caused by humans and economic breakdowns in many nations due to the loss of jobs have been behind many of the recent civil wars that have brought this about. Many people are tired of waiting for justice and it is simply “easier” to skip democracy and vote for a dictator who promises a “simplistic fix” for the problems so many share.

It is too tempting to blame immigrants, people of color, persons whose religion or ethnic origin differ from one another for the rise in violence. We seem to be marching backwards into the tribal warfare and hate-filled societies that target “the other”, just at a time when we need to come together to solve the biggest problems humanity has ever faced. We have created a culture that literally worships great wealth and has stepped aside to let big bucks buy out the media, the social platforms, and both parties in the government itself. The ideal of democracy that would require us to respect one another, take responsibility, put our heads together, and solve all these problems under the mantle of all humans created equal and “Liberty and Justice for All” seems, at this time, to be collapsing.

The US has, at times, come very close to to these democratic ideals and the world-at-large has been admiring us and watching us, even when they succeed or fail these tests themselves. We cannot be “America first” without working things out with other nations that share our habitat. We are all in this together.

Interestingly, last month, American economists won the Nobel Prize in Economics. It was reported that they “invented new formats for auctioning many interrelated objects on behalf of a seller motivated by doing good for society rather than simply achieving the highest price possible.” The World Food Program, involving Americans, won the Nobel Peace Prize. Hope springs eternal!

THE ELECTION this month (Mercury square Pluto and Saturn) will reflect this nation’s painful conflicts and/or it could lead to a respect for counting all votes and the rule of law. This could be a wake-up call and a turning point in our history. The astrological aspects are favorable in Pres. Trump’s chart, but they diminish in the ensuing days. It could be a dispute that goes to the Supreme Court who may or not decide to either “ditch” votes or count them all. The Court generally has the “final say” on whether or not to interfere with this election. If citizens in this nation lose respect for this most distinguished body, this, alone, could initiate a catastrophic loss of belief in this nation’s democracy and credibility.

On the other hand, it could lead to our re-inventing ourselves, not only with technology, but within the process that lies within the heart of democracy itself – a rebirth of the American Dream where all people have the right to vote and an “equal shot” at “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. Could it be that this is the idea whose time has finally come?

Science and Technology:

I have frequently felt like a lone voice reporting on what I believe may be the biggest breakthrough or humanity since the invention of the wheel – nuclear fusion, ending the age of fossil fuel. Now, I am happy to share more information that is being published about this most important development – another “idea whose time has come.”

The New York Times on September 29^th, published an article by Henry Fountain entitled: “Compact Nuclear Fusion Reactor is ‘Very Likely to Work’, Studies Suggest”. He reports: “Scientists developing a compact version of a nuclear fusion reactor have shown in a series of research papers that it should work, renewing hopes that the long-elusive goal of mimicking the way the sun produces energy might be achieved and eventually contribute to the fight against climate change.”

“Construction of a reactor, called Sparc, which is being developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a spinoff company, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, is expected to begin next spring and take three or four years, the researchers and company officials said.” He goes on to report: “Bob Mumgaard, Commonwealth Fusion’s chief executive and one of the company’s founders, said ‘a goal of the Sparc project was to develop fusion . . . power as quickly as possible.’ “

As my readers already know, I have targeted 2026 as the year when these power plants will be ready to go and when a near perfect battery will be available for electric vehicles and solar panels.

Thirteen year old Jackson Oswalt was revealed on Guinness World Records.com by Rachel Gluck, to have fused together two deuterium atoms using a reactor he had built in his playroom of his family home in Memphis, Tenn. He will go into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2021 as the youngest person to have achieved fusion. This is a “wow!”

Last month the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was won by two women, Emmanuella Charpentier (France) and Jennifer A. Doudna (US) for creating genetic “scissors” which will cut any DNA molecule at a predetermined site. This area of research is commonly known as CRISPER.

With respect to the COVD pandemic, it has been reported that 10 programs throughout the world are involved in Stage 3 studies at this point. Two have been temporarily suspended but will start up again soon. Interestingly, last month North Korea’s Kim Jong un publicly shed tears in a rare apology to his people for failing to stop the pandemic, while unveiling a new intercontinental ballistic missile.

The asteroid, Psyche, is being surveyed and is now seen to be a metal object rich in minerals and may be worth hundreds of trillions of dollars in the future. NASA’s Psyche Mission is part of its Discovery Program consisting of low cost robotic space missions in the asteroid belt orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. Due to centuries of massive mining projects, Earth is running out of minerals, especially “rare earths” that are so necessary in modern technologies.

Recently, it was announced that Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s first star ship trip to Mars could fly in 4 years. This would precede 2026 – the “magic” year for science that I have been predicting for years.

I am, once again, forecasting the greatest mass movement of Americans since the famous advice: “Go West young man!” America will move out of the coastal regions – the West Coast because of fires and loss of fresh water and the East Coast because of rising oceans and more hurricanes. They will likely move inland toward the Great Lakes and the Finger Lakes regions of the country where there is some elevation, farmland and fresh water. I suggested this in my previous books and now these notions are being considered and reported in publications that currently are seeing the handwriting on the wall.

NEXT MONTH I will analyze and interpret the great Jupiter/Saturn Conjunction in Aquarius coming in December as we enter the famous Age of Aquarius that has been part of our popular culture for over 50 years. Stay tuned!

Final thoughts:

Like so many other people who are trying to decipher what all the challenges and upheavals might mean, I have been searching my soul – exploring the realm where the “gods” once spoke to the prophets and the “innocents” through the ages. Astrologers have always looked upward to the planets in our Solar System and the constellations as they seem to whirl around us with messages for our times. We are among the originators of the notion of the “idea whose time has come.”

Too often, we see only our old ideas and ideals collapsing along with all the historic experiences that are familiar and comfortable. It is evident, however, that progress in our development never happens without the accompanying quakes and shocks. The ancient empires all fell apart, leaving death and dispersal where their great cities once stood. This time period could present to all of us an alternative.

Confronted with the extinction of all life, yet equipped with the greatest scientific body of information, development and technology in history, this new era could be decidedly different. Human beings cannot remain simply “smart alligators” endlessly fighting for territory and consumed by greed. The predator/prey society is quite simply finished. These times demand properties like loving, caring, collaborating, inventing, and sharing. It calls us out to advance in our spiritual understanding – the only thing that will reveal to us the pathway out of our self-inflicted darkness and into the light where all the miraculous insights in the universe await us.

Blessings to all,

Linda

Important Points of Reference (for Astrologers):

New Moon at 23 degrees Scorpio inconjunct Eris and sextile Pluto on Nov. 15^th, Full Moon Lunar Eclipse at 8 degrees Gemini (conjunct Uranus in the USA chart), Mercury at 25 degrees Libra goes direct Nov. 3^rd (Election Day) square Saturn and goes into Scorpio Nov. 11 and is opposition Uranus Nov. 17 and is trine Neptune Nov. 23 and is sextile Pluto Nov. 27 and is sextile Saturn Nov. 30, Mars goes direct Nov. 13 at 15 degrees Aries, Venus at 20 degrees Libra is trine and sextile the Lunar Nodes Nov. 13 and is square Pluto Nov. 15 and is square Jupiter Nov. 16 and is square Saturn Nov. 19 and goes into Scorpio Nov. 21 and is opposition Uranus Nov. 27, Jupiter is conjunct Pluto Nov. 12.

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.

Mars can be stimulating, terrifying, but always interesting, symbolically, among the panoply of planets in our Solar System. It is the ancient God of War, great amounts of fiery energy, sports, the military, and aggressive behavior. It is also the God of Work in that, without it, we would all be couch potatoes or spend our lives doing little except just “hanging out.” As is always the case, all this depends upon how human individuals and civilizations direct their energy.

Mars defends us and often defunds us as the “good fight” involves a lot of money and Mars cares not how much all this costs. Within the context of a global pandemic and a collapsing economy, Mars instructs us that we must pay the price to defend our health and prop up our economic systems and it exposes us when we fail to do so. We need to remember WW II, when we built a great military defense system almost over night to lead us to victory and spent more government money than at any other time in US history. This war is a war on the spread of a terrible virus, the lives lost, the business income gone, the confidence in our institutions of governance sunk. As it retrogrades (seeming to go backwards) until its direct motion Nov. 13, our fight seems endless as we retrace our footsteps in order to substantiate our solutions to all these painful problems.

As Mars has already formed squares with Pluto (catastrophic crises) and Saturn (security and structure), we witnessed the massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, resulting in an overthrow of their government. Unfortunately, this is likely to erupt into another failed state in a region already in disarray.

Fires have broken out in multiple sites in California and Colorado and the temperature measured in Death Valley, California soared to a record 130 degrees, while triple digit temperatures have occurred at the Arctic Circle in Siberia, igniting methane fires, releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The Mont Blanc Glacier in the Italian Alps has collapsed and the Northern Alaska Ice Sheet is breaking up, while the famous Greenland glacier continues to melt. Hurricane Laura, a record level 5, hit Louisiana and Texas destroying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property. My take is that there will be many more hurricanes this month all the way through November, including one on election Day!

President Trump is attempting to attack, discredit and cripple the Post Office (Saturn) in an overt attempt to influence the voting capability of millions who will avoid going directly to the polls because of the pandemic. What so many people do not understand is that in 2006, the Congress passed legislation forcing the Post Office to fund their pension funds for 75 years in advance! There is no other entity in existence required to do this and it has resulted in massive cuts in operational costs. The Post Office is historically a most trusted public service serving people throughout the nation – even into rural areas and is a non-profit organization. Can we imagine the costs of mailing a letter if it were “privatized”?

In Kenosha, Wisconsin, Jacob Blake, another black man, was shot by police seven times in the back, igniting another and even larger wave of millions of protesters and culminating in the 57th anniversary celebration of the great Martin Luther King march on Washington, DC. The NBA temporarily suspended all their games. I think that there will be more protests and, unfortunately, more violence as Mars goes back and forth over its conflicting and explosive square to Pluto from October through December.

Other Nations:

Meanwhile, some positive news in the Middle East is the recent announcement that the Trump administration has successfully negotiated a peace agreement between the UAE and Israel, which may result in other nations in the region forging new ties with Israel, joining Egypt and Jordan who have had these agreements since the 1970s. In return, Israel has agreed to halt their developments into Palestinian territory for the time being.

I have predicted significant changes in the No. Korean governance in recent newsletters and we now know that Kim Jong Un, who may have a serious health issue, is handing more and more power over to his sister, Yo Jong, whose reputation for ruthlessness is equal to her brother’s. Japan’s Prime Minister Abe has resigned due to health problems. Protest in Belarus against the election fraud allegedly created by the dictator who has ruled there for 26 years, is getting worldwide attention. We may see further conflicts between India and Pakistan along their border.

Historically, the Mars/Pluto square has been associated with the significant loss of human lives. The COVID pandemic will continue to take its toll through the end of this year, until vaccines will be distributed next year. The Homelessness epidemic in this nation is at all time highs. In addition, what is not frequently in the headlines are the millions of people dying of disease, poverty, and civil wars especially in Central and South America, Africa and the Middle East. Climate change will continue to make many places on earth uninhabitable. Massive numbers of migrants out of these regions will continue their tragic, fateful journeys for many years to come.

The Economy – The Devil is in the Details:

Most of us now know that there is almost no relationship between Wall Street and the “real economy” which is currently experiencing a depression, massive job losses, homelessness, and small business bankruptcies. There is also little relationship between the soaring prices of stocks and real profits. We know the central banks and corporations have been buying back stocks for the past three years, using the giant tax break for billionaires, to keep the “bubble” inflated. The Fed continues to keep interest rates at near zero, fueling a real estate boom in many areas.

Giants Apple and Tesla have both announced stock splits. That disparity between the two economies will likely continue this month as Venus transits Leo, a sign that loves gambling and speculation. Congress will do “something” to fund the populace that continues to suffer, but Mercury’s square to Pluto and Saturn the week of the 20^th will make this effort limited and extremely difficult. The real economy and Wall Street will both take a hit at this time. That same week, we will likely see severe hurricanes and storms developing in the US, taking a further toll on government budgets.

It is important for people to fully realize that the Payroll Tax Pres. Trump wants to “drop” is the very fund that finances Social Security, without which, Social Security would go away in a very few years. If he is re-elected, he has already pledged to do this. He has also pledged to end the Affordable Care Act with nothing to replace it, which translates to 20 to 30 million people losing health care coverage.

It is essential for all of us to note that the giant businesses have been helped by the government and the small businesses that comprise about 75% of our economy, are being allowed to go bankrupt. In the 2008 Crash, the government and the tax payer bailed out the big banks who sold off the worthless sub-prime mortgages and allowed the people who had them to go bankrupt, and lose their housing. Right after all that, people who already had the cash bought up these foreclosed properties, fixed them up, and rented them at exorbitant prices or sold them for huge profits, creating one of the worse affordable housing shortages this nation has ever seen!

Once again, in 2020, the rich are being subsidized and the so-called middle class is being allowed to go bankrupt. As this depression continues to sink most people, those of us for whom it is possible, need to get out of debt, hold onto cash and gold, own a home without a mortgage and ride all this out until the nation, hopefully, wakes up and transforms its governance and its economic paradigm.

Currently, we are supporting an economic “caste system” that has held people of color disproportionately below the poverty line, along with many, less privileged white people who cannot get a decent job or earn a decent wage. There has been a loss of opportunity across this country with the defunding of public education, loss of affordable health care, loss of affordable housing, and even threats to clean air and water systems! The upper 1% of our population now owns about 88% of this nation’s wealth.

The “near zero” interest rate policy of the Federal Reserve, making borrowing much easier, has caused the dollar to sink in value. There has been a response to all this raising the values of gold and silver, that have already survived a number of “corrections”. Even Warren Buffet has recently bought shares in gold for the first time in decades. We all have to keep in mind, however, that the big banks such as JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have so much money they have a history of manipulating these prices on the futures exchanges.

From 2013 until March 2020, Central Bankers had sold gold short to keep the price of gold down. Holding unlimited cash to meet margin calls, they successfully kept gold down in order to prop up the US dollar. When the so called “up-tick” rule was eliminated in September of 2012, it enabled central banks to write unlimited numbers of paper “shorts” in gold, which depressed the price, while shorts were sold that far exceeded the amount of actual physical gold available and there was no relief of an up-tick, which would allow buyers to exit the market without getting caught. In March, the pandemic allowed the true price of gold to begin to be discovered by the market and the price of gold was then allowed to reflect the real price based on the world situation. Central banks lost billions when they were caught short and they could not even buy physical gold. competing with the US dollar.

Now, with all the bailouts, historically high debt built up by the government, corporations borrowing money to buy back their own stock to keep the market bubble going, the creation of massive amounts of money to fulfill these obligations will devalue the US dollar further.

I think this is creating the next bull market in gold and silver as the dollar is losing investors’ faith and confidence. Keep in mind, however, that there will be some selling of the metals in this most volatile time. Interestingly, the only reason our treasuries are still being bought is that most of the rest of the world is in the same quagmire.

The Election:

I have constructed the astrological charts for Donald Trump (June 14, 1946, 10:54 AM EDT, Jamaica, NY), Joe Biden (Nov. 20, 1942, 10:30 AM EWT, Scranton, PA), and Kamala Harris (Oct 20, 1964, 9:28 PM PDT, Oakland, CA). (I have no time of birth for Mike Pence).

These charts substantiate my previous forecasts – mainly that we will not know who wins on election day, that it will look good for Trump initially, and as the month drags on counting and recounting votes, it will look better for Biden.

In addition to the Post Office mail-in ballot uncertainties and the COVID pandemic keeping people away from the polls, we will likely have a significant hurricane barreling up the East Coast of the US – all resulting in one of the worst days in history to have an election! Ironically, an asteroid will fly by very close to the earth the day before the election.

This has directed my attention to possibly the most powerful person in the US at this point in time. That person is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, (Jan. 27, 1955, Buffalo, NY). I have to confess, I do not have a recorded time of birth and speculate that it is around 4:45 AM giving him a Sagittarius rising with Pluto, Mercury and Neptune all in supportive aspect to his ascendant. As happened in the election in 2000 between Bush and Gore, the decision to count votes after election day will likely go to the Supreme Court making Chief Justice Roberts (with his Sun and Mercury in Aquarius) in a position to lead the Court to one of the most important decisions in our history.

A conservative Republican, he is also a strict adherent to the Constitution and supporter of the rule of law. His background as an academic star and a possible genius in jurisprudence has made him one of the most qualified justices in modern history. Roberts sided with the Liberal faction of the Court recently insisting that Pres. Trump was not exempt from revealing his financial records and tax returns because he is serving as president. Roberts also presided over the Court when it decided against making the Affordable Health Care Act illegal. It is fitting that an Aquarius, with the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction in Aquarius in December, would be in a position to support our nation’s right to have its vote completely and thoroughly counted!

Science and Technology:

China now claims it has a successful vaccine for COVID, all while other big pharmaceutical corporations are doing final tests as to safety and efficacy. Three of these corporations think their vaccines will likely be ready by the end of this year. Interestingly, it has been reported that Professor Hector Aguillar Carreno from Cornell University is currently developing a vaccine with multi-virus immunity. I am of the opinion that the virus pandemic has accelerated medical progress into vaccines, immunology, and medicines for viruses in general, as science rises to the emergency occasion encompassing our planet.

AstroZenca has announced a blood plasma treatment for the virus that can be used before the vaccines are available. Studies on this treatment are, however, inconclusive. I think multiple vaccines will be announced by the end of the year and will likely be administered by late Feb. of 2021. Recent research also points to a noticeable improvement in immune response to this and other viruses that may occur by taking Vitamin D and the B Vitamins. There are also studies showing that Zinc taken with Vitamin C can help overcome respiratory infections.

Elon Musk’s company, Neuralink has announced it is going into human trials that may begin by the end of this year. Neuralink’s technology aims to achieve human symbiosis with artificial intelligence by linking electrodes in the brain and collectively analyzing neuron signals. Musk hopes to treat spinal cord injuries, prevent strokes, restore limb function, relieve Parkinson’s disease, and resolve eyesight and hearing problems. The notion is to combine the human brain and AI to create a better, smarter human. The Borg has arrived!

Weather and Natural Events:

Severe hurricanes on the East Coast and severe heat leading to enormous fires burning forests on the West Coast will likely continue this month as Mars goes retrograde in Aries and travels back over its square (conflict) with Saturn and Pluto, especially the week of September 20. as Mercury is square this configuration.

Final Thoughts:

With all the looming crises in which we are immersed, many people are simply “giving up”. Their view is that everyone in the government is a liar and/or a criminal and we have no real choices, so – why should we care, why should we vote, why should we try to do anything? Then there are those who are out there protesting, demonstrating, and digging up painful “old issues”, like equal opportunity for all, regardless of race or ethnic origin and the maintaining of a democracy. The polarization of America is making it very difficult to come together and actually do something to address the real issues of our times which would require mutual respect, intelligent debate (not hate mongering, violence, and name calling), and a willingness to work together to save humanity and perhaps all life on earth.

The mobsters, criminals, Plutocrats and dictators of the world are just waiting to pounce on a society that is indifferent, is giving in, and decides to do nothing. If we do nothing, believe me, these folks will be ready and willing to do it for us!

We are at a crossroads in history that would offer up to us an escalating trend toward annihilation or a new world bathed in in the light of wisdom and understanding. A greater consciousness resides within all of us that will show us the way. We only need to open up and make the choice.

Blessings to all,

Linda

Important Points of Reference (for Astrologers):

Full Moon at 10 degrees Pisces sextile Uranus on September 1, New Moon September 17 at 25 degrees Virgo trine Saturn, Mars goes retrograde September 9 at 28 degrees Aries opposition Mercury September 24 and is square Saturn September 27 through 30, Venus in Cancer is opposition Saturn September 2, Venus is Leo is inconjunct Jupiter September 21, is inconjunct Neptune on September 23, is inconjunct Pluto September 25 and is inconjunct Saturn on September 28, Mercury in Virgo is trine Saturn September 2 and in Libra is trine and sextile the Lunar Nodes on September 21 and Venus is trine and sextile the Nodes on September 27.

THE RACE CAR HITS THE WALL:

The transit of Mars in Aries began June 28^th and will be in this sign (because it retrogrades) until Jan. 6^th 2021. Mars is moving through its “own sign” — highlighting its inherent qualities of youthful enthusiasm, aggressiveness, willingness to fight to compete, military involvements, and sometimes extremely immature selfish behavior. The Pluto/Saturn conjunction in Capricorn points to authority, power, and societies’ governmental infrastructure that includes its science, its laws and its regulations. In short, we will be witnessing the race car hitting the wall – or selfish short-sighted people suffering the consequences of violating the laws of man and nature.

• THE COVID Pandemic (connected to the Pluto/Saturn conjunction in Capricorn opposite the Jan. Lunar Eclipse in Cancer)has, quite simply, lit a fuse, and many people will no longer be able to contain themselves. The Black Lives Matter Movement erupting into national and global demonstrations to change the tides of history is one of the many dimensions of discontent opening up a whole range of economic, political, and psychological injustices and pathological behaviors that have haunted humanity for thousands of years. Now, we are presented with Mars in Aries that retrogrades and stays in the sign through the first week of Jan. 2021. The transit of Uranus in Aries (March 2011 through May 2018) resulted in populist revolutions throughout the world, especially in the Middle East, often replacing old dictators with new dictators. Democracy has taken a “hit” in so many nations and is being replaced with armed governments taking control of “the people.” This includes China shutting down democracy in Hong Kong.
  
  
• ALL THIS would lead us to examine what these planetary pictures are presenting to humanity – what Gordian Knots we need to untangle in order to free ourselves from ancient demons with modern consequences.
  
  
• CAPRICORN (earth) and ARIES (fire) are at odds with each other during this most volatile time. This would suggest fires breaking out and forests burning. Recently, pictures have been released showing fires breaking out in Northern Siberia near the Arctic Circle where the temperatures have soared beyond anything measured in human history. The melting of the glaciers and permafrost have opened up deposits of oil and coal that have caught fire producing flames that cannot be put out. This is pumping more greenhouse gases into the air, increasing the heat and melt, escalating the whole situation into a spiraling catastrophe. I expect that forest fires may break out in the Western US. There may also be earthquakes and volcanic activity in regions most prone to these events.
  
  
• ECONOMIES around the world will be in trouble this month as, after August 9^th, Mars will be square Pluto, Jupiter, and Saturn whose disruptions will continue through the end of this year. The COVID pandemic will no longer be neatly separated from Wall Street and financial markets in general. Businesses that were open will have to close again. Governments will try to pump more money into the economy, but the problem will simply be to big to fix. By the end of this year, going into 2021, we will be in a “greater” recession. The Great Recession of 2008 was based on bad real estate loans and banking disasters. This one will be based on the collapse of businesses, large and small, who will no longer be viable after the pandemic and who are in debt up to their eyeballs. Devaluation of currencies due to massive amounts of debt incurred by governments, private capital, and banks will likely balloon. The dollar is in danger of collapse and the US does not have enough gold backing to save it, whereas, China is better positioned being the leader in the world in gold reserves. It will be governments that will have to come up with the money to pay the pharmaceuticals for the vaccines they are developing and the anti-virus medicines they are researching. The best investments for the next several years will be in metals (gold and silver) and real estate (things that are “real.) The US and many other nations will consider converting to a digital currency within the next four years and there will be talk of a “jubilee” or mass debt forgiveness.
  
  
• POOR COUNTRIES throughout the world will suffer the most, particularly in Africa, Central and South America, and the Middle East where civil wars are still raging. If there are no outlets for people to express themselves as they generally do in a democracy, there will be mass rebellions and violence. People will want to throw out their present leaders, but few will have any constructive ideas as to who will replace them. In the most recent Aug./Sept. 2020 issue of The Mountain Astrologer, Bill Meridian points to the horoscopes of India and Pakistan and how they connect in crisis mode with the Pluto/Saturn conjunction and the December Solar Eclipse. He thinks this is a powder keg that could go off this year. These nations both have nuclear arsenals.
  
  
• I NEED to call our attention in advance to ELECTION DAY, November 3rd – a terrible day to hold an election with Mercury going direct square Saturn. This would suggest we will not know who won, although Trump will likely “declare victory”. Trump is already calling the election, especially mail in ballots a “fraud”. The votes will not be properly counted, and likely held up, disputed, etc. In addition, there will likely be a big hurricane moving up the East Coast at that specific time. The COVID pandemic, the terrible storm, and so many polls not working at all, mail in ballots coming in late – all conspire to possibly involve the Federal Courts to determine the fate of the candidates. We all remember the 2000 Bush/Gore fiasco where the Supreme Court ordered that the Florida recount be stopped and Bush declared the winner. This is similar, and in some ways, worse. I would advise the political operatives get their act together and concentrate on mail- in ballots including absentee ballots, hiring reliable people to oversee the polls, making sure the machinery works, and cleaning up the election system in advance!
  
  
• MOVING into 2021, the Saturn in Aquarius square Uranus in Taurus (June through December 2021) will likely coincide with another outbreak, possibly of a flu virus and more new vaccines will have to be developed and distributed, further taxing our financial and medical systems. This configuration also would suggest threats to the solvency of the dollar (Taurus), as I discussed above. There may be a big invasion or “hack” into the internet and danger to our nation’s electrical matrix. The optimistic side of this is that medical discoveries and breakthroughs will accelerate. The process of developing new drugs and vaccines will move much faster, leading to the medicines getting to the public much sooner. I am targeting Feb. 20^th 2021 when Mercury goes direct in Aquarius and effectively moving to vaccinate through the middle of May. We will develop, out of necessity, newer and more effective cyber security systems. There is a high probability, as I said above, of the emergence of a national or international block chain digital currency. We will move closer to nuclear fusion and the perfect battery becoming a reality, as I have discussed in previous newsletters.
  
  
• An article on phys.org was posted last month entitled: “CERN experiment reports first evidence for ultra-rare process that could lead to new physics.” This article points out that the Standard Model which describes the fundamental forces and building blocks on the universe does not explain Dark Matter or the origins of matter and anti-matter in the universe. The article goes on to report “experimental evidence for the ultra-rare decay of the charged kaon into a charged pion and 2 neutrinos.” For all of us who are not experts in physics, these discoveries will revolutionize our knowledge of the physical universe and explain what we have been unable to understand about “dark matter” that scientists have said makes up the largest part of the universe.
  
  

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I have given a lot of personal thought concerning where I am going and what I am doing or not doing as I participate in this most critical time in human history. As an astrologer and a writer, I cannot “look the other way” and live in some kind of fantasy that all this does not exist; that the virus is a “hoax”, that the economy will easily recover, that climate change is not a reality. I cannot pretend that our current leadership is not exhibiting disturbing behaviors and possibly engaging in criminal activities.

Interestingly, we watched comet Neowise move through our skies last month whose name could be translated as “new wisdom”. In addition, two school girls in India discovered a new asteroid near Mars that will be headed for Earth in about a million years. As an astrologer, I have observed that the discovery of new celestial bodies corresponds to new discoveries and breakthroughs in human societies. The critical realities and events we are experiencing now, if properly faced and examined, could lead us into a new wisdom, without which we are headed down a dark tunnel of destruction. Immersing ourselves in “conspiracy theories” leads to a generalized atmosphere of fear and hate. The recognition that we are all living on Earth together leads to the fact that it is in our mutual interest to engage in a civilized debate, to be willing to work together to create an economy that works for all of us, to feel empathy for our fellow humans and all the miraculous life on this planet.

I am thankful that I can access a spiritual realm – its genius, its light, and its infinite love to guide my thoughts and actions in whatever time I have left in this lifetime. This is what really counts – what creates and sustains a life filled with meaning and purpose – what will help me to leave something of importance for my children and grandchildren long after I have departed from this tumultuous world.

Blessings to all ,

Linda

Important Points of Reference (for Astrologers):
Full Moon at 11 degrees Aquarius on Aug. 3^rd square Uranus, New Moon at 26 degrees Leo on Aug. 19^th, trine Mars and inconjunct Saturn, Mercury is opposition Saturn on Aug. 3^rd, Venus is inconjunct Saturn on August 4^th, Mercury is inconjunct Saturn on Aug. 18^th, Venus is sextile Uranus on Aug. 18^th, Mars is square Pluto August 12^th and is square Saturn Aug. 23^rd through Aug. 26^th, Mars is trine and sextile the Nodes 6^th, Venus is opposition Pluto on Aug. 30th.

NOTE:
I would like to recommend a new book by my friend and former publisher, Linda Lane entitled “Laser Lady Meets the Light Junkies”:

https://www.amazon.com/Laser-Lady-Meets-Light-Junkies/dp/0979690064/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=laser+lady&qid=1595019867&sr=8-2

As a young woman during the 1970’s, she was a pioneer in the technology of holography, creating her own enterprise introducing holography into film making, and having a roaring good time with the rich, the talented and the famous. This is a truly great read!

Pluto and Power – Revolution or Evolution:

The current transit of Pluto in Capricorn from 2008 (until 2024 when it goes into Aquarius) has challenged the very foundations of economic and political power throughout the world, but especially in the US. This is especially relevant to us because our Natal Chart Pluto resides in Capricorn (July 4, 1776) during which time we launched a revolution, created a Republic, and freed ourselves from the British Crown.

Capricorn is a sign that represents control by a “ruling elite”, whether it is government or private capital wealth or, as it is in the present time, both “in bed” together. With the US Natal Moon in freedom loving Aquarius, the original ideal was government “by and for the people” and building an infrastructure providing equal opportunity for all to succeed. The constitution and the Bill of Rights framed our new nation and its government. Now, our Pluto return is excavating a conflict that has been with us since our inception – the control of privileged entrenched wealth and power vs. the rights and opportunities of the people-at-large.

The question in this century lies with those who are the economically controlling interests today. We are not a monarchy, yet a financial empire of billionaire Plutocrats possesses over 80% of this country’s wealth and has effectively “bought” elections from an indifferent voting public, off-shored their taxes while the nation’s infrastructure is collapsing, deprived well over half of the nation’s population of any semblance of “equal opportunity” while they have off-shored jobs abroad, reduced wages, hiked the price of housing, hiked the price of advanced education, and created a for profit healthcare system that few can afford.

In 1776, the 13 American colonies were populated by those who owned African slaves whose labor built a large portion of their economy and its infrastructure. In the 1860s we fought a civil war to end this practice. For two centuries, white citizens committed mass genocide on approximately 900 Native American nations. Today, we are still, in many ways, fighting for equal rights for people of color, who have been marginalized, abused, criminalized, and impoverished by a system of “while supremacy”, racism, and a public commons that no longer works for the public. We are now reviving a revolution about police brutality against black men and women. The murder of George Floyd by a policeman while being videoed, has literally been the last straw in a series of brutal encounters from the growth of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s to the Southern resistance to the Civil Rights Protests of the 1960s, to the Rodney King protest in 1991 to the present time. The Civil Rights Revolution of the 1960s led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. cut short by his assassination is alive and well today with new generations of Americans protesting all over the nation and now accompanied by people of all races in other nations throughout the world.

However, there is a much broader issue and goes to the heart of who we are as a nation. The notion of democracy is founded upon the ideal of equal opportunity for people to economically survive and succeed. This does not describe an ideal of “ruling elite” Pluto in Capricorn but is the historic notion of equal opportunity and a government by and for the people inherent in our Moon in Aquarius. The so-called “White Supremacist” movement promotes hate and division. It is founded on fears that people of color, native Americans, and immigrants, are all going to grab their jobs and “take over” the government.

Every study done in recent times points to the fact that it is accumulated family wealth that is the primary indicator of professional and financial success. What is needed is a public infrastructure to support affordable health care, quality public education, affordable housing. In addition, we need to properly fund internet access, clean water, sewerage, highways, bridges, etc. that, due to a lack of funding, are presently crumbling. With the rich escaping taxation and half of the public living at or below the poverty line, a fair tax system that would support our all- important national framework is virtually nonexistent. People of all races, ethnic backgrounds, and family origins are simply looking for a “shot” at success, which is what comprises the “American Dream”.

The politicians described by the mainstream media have framed this debate between the so-called “Right” versus the so-called “Left”. Other words are “Conservative” versus “Liberal” or “Capitalism versus Socialism. Sometimes words get in the way of clarity and this is one of these times. Our nation’s Saturn is in the sign of Libra, the Scales – a symbol of justice, the rule of law, and balance. which would include supporting entrepreneurial capitalism with social supports and safety nets to even the playing field. Young people need to believe they have a chance to get a relevant education that gets them a decent job or trains them to work hard to create their own business, regardless of their race, national origin, or their families’ wealth. We are also being challenged at this most important juncture in the history of our democracy, and that is a clear and fair infrastructure for VOTING at the polls.

World in Chaos:

The Plutonians are getting shaken up everywhere, certainly here in the US. Nationalism and isolationism are rearing their heads just when we need some unity and cooperation against the global pandemic and the rise of a new Cold War. China is experiencing protests and revolutionary demonstrations by citizens who are against a government by a dictatorship that is erasing any democratic infrastructure that may have previously existed and is creating a massive government surveillance system to track them everywhere. Presently, the Chinese government is actually in a military confrontation with India at their border; they have recently been in skirmishes with ships from Vietnam and Malaysia; and the Philippines is reconsidering their previous request that US troops withdraw because they may need our protection. No. Korea is escalating their nuclear arsenal. The European Union is struggling to survive. Dictatorships in Brazil and Venezuela are also under fire. Russia is beginning to rebel against Putin’s absolute control. Nations throughout the Middle East, many ruled by autocrats, are engaged in civil wars. The COVID pandemic is highlighting leaders everywhere who are effective or ineffective in implementing policies to save people’s lives.

At this historic moment, a series of violent REVOLUTIONS would be a disaster, leaving behind a landscape of poverty, destruction and despair. Historically, most revolutions are instigated by an angry and uninformed populace who overthrows their governments and puts much worse ones in their place. Think of the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, and the Communist Revolution in China.

Now is the time for a conscious EVOLUTION movement that encompasses a world wide discussion of how humanity may live in concert with life on earth and in cooperation with each other. Instead of name-calling, personal insults, and shouting matches on television, we could use spirited debates with fact checking, and solutions to problems that invites people “in” rather than leaving people “out.” We could re-examine the words of great scientists, philosophers, and humanitarians who have seen the Aquarian future of the human potential through the ages and portals of history. We have seldom listened in the past. Now is the time!

The Economy:

In spite of last month’s escalation of the virus, this month’ optimism about economic recovery and medical breakthroughs suggesting virus control will likely elevate the stock market to new highs. The week of the 20^th is especially optimistic as a direct Mercury is sextile Uranus and Venus is sextile Mars. This is possibly the best month in the year as people will be out and about (hopefully social distancing with with masks in place). Venus direct in Gemini and the North Node in Gemini will likely increase socializing in spite of the risks. It will also stimulate some travel industries, but with restrictions and rules in place. With Mars in Aries through early January 2021, people will not be in the mood to be cautious.

The larger and more serious problems will show up around the second week of August, as Mars is square Pluto and the COVID consequences unfold in the form of a resurgence of the virus while earthquakes and volcanoes erupting take place throughout the world. Financial markets will likely sell off. This is a warning from the stars to act like adults and be cautious.

Science and Technology:

– Those of you who are my regular readers know that I have been directing your attention to articles on the progress of Nuclear Fusion, which I believe will be the greatest accomplishment of our century and will literally change the world. This month is no exception. An article in Newsweek on May 30^th, 2020 is entitled: “Breakthrough at the ITER Paves the Way for Energy Source that may Alter the Course of Civilization.” by Michael Claessens. The author reports that the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor being constructed in France, includes technologies being developed in China, The European Union, Switzerland, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the USA for which they have started assembling the world’s largest fusion reactor. He reports that 3,000 people will now assemble the world’s largest “Meccano” as 10 million pieces are converging to Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France) from thousands of factories around the world. Started in 1985, this agency’s first projected experiment is set for 2025 with full operation suggested by 2035.

As I have discussed many times before, this will end the age of fossil fuels and provide nearly limitless amounts of energy all over the globe.

– The June 2020 Issue of Scientific American contains an article by author Charles Schmidt, entitled “The Vaccine Quest – Only Genetic Engineering Can Create a Protective Serum in Months Rather Than Years.” He refers to multiple approaches to a vaccine involving an accelerated testing process. He writes: “protecting the globe against COVID-19 will require enormous manufacturing capacity. The DNA-plasmid and RNA vaccines have never been scaled up to millions of doses, and small firms such as Inovio and Moderna would not have such capacity in-house. According to Barouch, the adenovirus vaccine is more time-consuming at the outset, but once proved it ‘can be scaled up quickly.’ Johnson & Johnson used an adenovirus approach to generate millions of doses of a vaccine against Ebola, which are now in widespread human trials. A few groups are investigating other DNA techniques that could take longer.” It is worth reading the whole article to get a perspective on the rapidly developing rush to get an effective vaccine besides expanding the entire technology around immunization against deadly viruses and understanding the human immune system in general.

The Pandemic Cycle is far from over:

The Mars in Aries ( June 28^th through Jan. 7^th 2021) will square Pluto and Saturn from August 10^th through December 25^th 2020. It is likely that a new outbreak may occur that may actually be a mutation or alteration in the virus. In 2021, we will likely have a vaccine and be distributing it around the end of February. However, another epidemic, possibly a flu, may emerge under the Saturn/Uranus square between March and June of 2021 and, for the last time, December of 2021. This will all likely result in an acceleration in the science of immunology that will lead to faster treatments for viral infections. Sadly, this will also likely mean many more lives may be lost all over the globe. The great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius that launches a great new age, has also, historically, corresponded with plagues and pandemics.

However, modern science will likely mitigate these disasters and lead to medical breakthroughs that will transform modern medicine. Scientists have recently published studies making us aware that human encroachment and destruction of the world’s rain forests has released multiple pandemics in animals and humans never seen before. This information and understanding will increase the motivation to restore these ecosystems and stabilize potential climate changes. As nuclear fusion goes mainstream to produce energy, the age of fossil fuels will end – leading to cleansing and restoring the health of the earth.

“Beam me up Scottie!”

On June 25, 2020, an article was published by The Optical Society entitled: “Quantum entanglement demonstrated aboard orbiting CubeSat.” This science that theorized that when two subatomic particles called “twin particles” are separated, they will continue to spin in concert with one another no matter how far the distance is between them – theoretically at opposite ends of the universe – was referred to by Albert Einstein as “spooky action at a distance.” The article states: “In a critical step toward creating a global quantum communications network, researchers have generated and detected quantum entanglement onboard a CubeSat nanosatellite weighing less than 2/6 kilograms and orbiting the Earth. They go on to say: “In the future, our system could be part of a global quantum network transmitting quantum signals to receivers on Earth or on other spacecraft, said lead author Aitor Villar from the Centre for Quantum Technologies at the National University of Singapore.” Villar goes on to say: “These signals could be used to implement any type of quantum communications application, from quantum key distribution for extremely secure data transmission to quantum teleportation, where information is transferred by replicating the state of a quantum system from a distance.”

The Age of Aquarius is upon us!

Final Thoughts:

I think many of us know that humanity is at a crossroads that has never before been seen or felt before – spanning all nations and civilizations across the face of the earth. Humanity will not survive these challenges through the lens of old economic models, governing systems, or visions that no longer work. Species of plants and animals have survived catastrophes for millions of years through the process of evolution and adaptation to changing conditions around them.

These times require an evolutionary “leap” on the part of the human race, possibly into what has been hypothesized as a “super human” or a human possessing a much expanded consciousness, intellectually and spiritually. It may require a new stronger and healthier body and an emotionally advanced psyche in which to manifest. Learning how to live together without war, devouring and destroying our planet’s resources, and hating each other will present a human presence that has been extraordinarily rare within the context of history.

Some think that the present manifestation of “human nature” will never change. I believe that humans have many “natures”, some which have not yet been activated. Being “stuck” in the “fight-fright” level of the brain will lead us to extinction. Accessing the higher levels may lead us toward an expression of life only the poets, philosophers, and spiritual avatars have proposed may exist. Some of us have experienced this intermittently; a place where hearts and minds merge into a place of being, knowing, and loving beyond anything that has ever been known before.

We only need to choose: extinction or evolution. We only need to make the effort and a new reality will arrive – the all-knowing light will embrace us.

Blessings,

Linda

Important Points of Reference (for Astrologers):

Lunar Eclipse at 13 degrees Capricorn on July 5^th ,hitting the Sun of the USA, Full Moon at 28 degrees Cancer opposition Saturn on July 20^th, opposition the USA Pluto, Mercury in Cancer goes direct July 11^th and will sextile Uranus July 21^st and square Mars July 27^th and trine Neptune July 30^th, Venus in Gemini will square Neptune July 27^th, Saturn retrograde is back in Capricorn, in inconjunct the North Node until July 29^th, goes direct Sept. 28^th and all the way through the sign by Dec. 19.

Pisces is a sign that, even though it can be extremely intelligent, often seems unfocused as a result of an extreme sensitivity. It reacts to stimuli frequently by pulling away or finding avenues of “escape” from loud noises, verbosity, or being inundated with opinions and information before being able to sort things out. Pisces frequently represents those in society that have been repressed and abused. Mars (conflict and war) transiting this sign frames the horrific murder of a black man, George Floyd, by police officers in Minneapolis resulting in fire, violence, alongside peaceful protests locally and in cities around the nation. The Lunar Eclipse on the ascendant of the US is revealing racial hatreds that have been with us since our inception and have been played out on television for the past several years with murders of innocent black men and women by law enforcement. This all playing out in the middle of the biggest pandemic in 100 years.

Gemini is a bright sign that often loves to comment about anything and everything that passes by its vision. It turns the microphone up, tweets mercilessly, may talk incessantly, and, to its credit, usually expresses a high level of intellect and a good sense of humor along the way. This sign also tends, at times, to be high strung, impulsive, and short tempered. These two signs clashing with each other can either produce a “nervous breakdown”, or reveal significant insights and revelations that were previously hidden out of sight.

Pres. Trump’s Sun/Uranus in Gemini opposite his Moon in Sagittarius will take a real “hit” this month as there may be an acceleration in the global COVID pandemic and he and his family, who were exposed to the virus last month, are more vulnerable to the backlash to his policies about “opening up the economy.” His push to “reopen” business and his appearances without a mask may come back to haunt him. Senator Mitt Romney, who has been the only Republican to stand up to Trump, will see an activation of his chart this month (a sun in Pisces with Gemini rising) and may be outspoken in his criticism of Trump’s handling of the crisis. However, Romney has sided with Pres. Trump and other Republicans who want to make significant cuts to Social Security.

Trump’s response to the riots in Minneapolis has stirred up even more dissent, while an arrest of a black CNN News reporter who was showing live videos of the protests in Minneapolis within legal parameters, highlighted the racial divides throughout the nation.

The Ascendant in the Natal USA astrological chart (Sibley) hit by this Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius , opposite the US Uranus and Mars in Gemini, demonstrates how vulnerable our population is to the consequences of premature optimism concerning the spread of COVD. It reveals the major cultural, economic and racial inequalities that haunt us. It will likely present an image to the world that trends toward instability and confusion.

Interestingly, the Solar Eclipse at the end of the month at 00 degrees Cancer square the World Point hits the chart of Tesla founder and billionaire, Elon Musk, just as he is threatening to take his plant out of California and is having a meltdown over taxes and his severely reduced profits. On the upside, he also is awaiting his Space X — NASA collaborative rocket launch. The current economy, that is in a depression, does not currently support the sale of his cars. The auto industry, in general is in trouble.

What now?
This will likely be a difficult month for all of us as we are experiencing a global pandemic, economic and financial challenges, nationwide protests, and just dealing with our worst fears. Public figures will be dealing with revelations of scandals, and behaviors they would prefer be hidden, that border on shocking or just depressing. Outbreaks in parts of the nation that are “getting out” to their shopping centers combined with stormy weather, especially in the southeastern coastal regions, soaking our nation in rain and flooding many areas will force populations back into their homes and places of safety.

Mercury goes retrograde June 17^th and goes direct on July 11^th. This is not a good time to sign documents or start projects. Decisions that have made will likely stall out making solutions to problems difficult to implement.

However, the old saying “necessity is the mother of invention” could play out this month as these two intelligent signs could come up with a medical breakthrough in vaccines or medical treatment of the virus. Hidden within the conflict lies a “genius” that could surface in surprising ways. Recently, some children have had a severe autoimmune reaction to the Corona virus. This will lead scientists to uncover the reasons why this occurs, unlocking the mysterious workings of the human immune system. The number and severity of autoimmune diseases in our nation have been increasing in the past 30 years.

The Economy:
It is becoming increasingly obvious that Wall Street and the financial markets have little or nothing whatsoever to do with the “real economy” that has produced at least 30% unemployment and growing. The investment culture is simply a casino of derivatives trading and commodity manipulation arena that contributes nothing that is ‘real”. This will eventually bode well for gold and silver, even though they are heavily manipulated in both directions, for a while, while our nation is swimming in debt obligations that will be nearly impossible to fulfill. I have been warning for the past four years that this stock market has been an enormously inflated “bubble” financed by corporations borrowing money for stock buybacks. There will be some wild swings in markets this month reflecting the uncertainty of the times. Do not be surprised if many retail industries that have existed for a very long time declare bankruptcy.

Over the long term, I am predicting a massive debt “jubilee”, not all at once, but in segments over time, in the period of the next four years as we move toward a global “reset” into an all digital currency. The last year of this depression will likely be 2024.

A report recently published by Americans for Fairness in the United States and The Institute for Policy Studies states: “Billionaires fortunes soared by $434 billion or 15% between mid March and mid May and their combined net worth rose from $2.948 trillion to $3.382 trillion. These include, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zukerberg, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, and Elon Musk (whose net worth jumped by 48%)”.

This month, as Mars transits Pisces ( oil and chemicals), we will see crises in oil and gas industries that have already been in trouble for the past several years. Who survives, at this point, will depend upon bailouts since these corporations depend upon government support for their existence.

This industry has been dominant for over 100 years and has been using and abusing an enormous amount of political and economic power. Carbon gas heating up the globe, enormous toxic spills, and leaking pipelines into inland aquifers have been exposed over and over again to no avail. My take, is that their time is soon to be over. The advent of nuclear fusion, that will produce endless amounts of energy with no fossil fuel, will eventually bring these industries to an end (see below). The problem always lies in the historic resistances and upheavals that express themselves before the new cycle arrives.

China:
As we are waking up to the nightmare of all the manufacturing supply chains from China that the US depends upon, including our medicines, there is a growing public rebellion against the so-called “trade agreements” that we have engaged in since the early 1990s. China has a cheap labor force and absolutely no environmental laws that protect them from contamination. This has saved American corporations from having to pay a workers decent wage and spend money to produce “clean” products. The air and water in China are severely polluted and undrinkable. The COVID virus originated in China, as have most of the other pandemic viruses that have spread around the world in recent decades. American corporations simply do not care since they put profits before lives. They have introduced and got passed legislation in Congress to permit them to do all this so-called “outsourcing”, over the past three decades.

It is popular to “blame” China since they seem to have little regard for the sanctity of human life, environmental standards, or human rights. Their system consists of an absolute dictatorship that goes so far as to disallow any religion to exist there. They have gone so far as to put people of a religious persuasion into concentration camps where they are brainwashed and controlled by the state. They have stolen our material over the decades, including military and satellite technologies. Now, they may be running ahead of us technologically on many levels, and Americans are afraid they will outpace us and become the leading superpower in a very few years.

It is essential, however, for us to remember that American corporations got us into this, with the help of the government abandoning all sense of responsibility to act in the interests of its own people.

The rebellion in Hong Kong is currently being ruthlessly repressed by President Xi, and they have lost any semblance of independence and are under martial law. The US has many “supply chains” located there where we relocated manufacturing many years ago. Some people are afraid we are in a new “cold war” with China. I would refer to it as a “cold swarm.”

Frankly, I do not blame China – I blame us – for paying little or no attention to these trends and voting for people in both the legislature and the in the White House who are “bought out” many times over by big money. Pres. Trump has alternately praised Pres. Xi and condemned him. He has placed tariffs on Chinese imports, that only led to their placing tariffs on our farmer’s whose profits depend upon their buying our pork and soybeans. As much as he has “tweeted” about this, he has not made any significant effort to bring manufacturing and development back into our country and not one American corporation has left China and come back to the US. Apple Computer makes everything in China. Recently, he has “proclaimed” that we will be removing our industries and supportive regulations from Hong Kong, since China took over the island. We shall see how this plays out.

The Jupiter/Saturn conjunction in Aquarius that takes place the end of December this year is on the ascendant in the astrological chart of China. In 2024, transiting Pluto will enter Aquarius and begin a long journey over this same location in their chart. There are dramatic changes going on in this nation, as mentioned above, in their effort to become the world’s leading power, protect their territory, suppress any dissent coming from their people and be dominant in technology. I do not think this plan will be as easy to adopt as the current leadership plans. I foresee another “revolution” taking place there within this decade.

Brazil:
Brazil now has the second highest number of COVID infected people in the world, pushing Russia into third place. They have literally devastated their natural environment with massive oil pollution and deforesting. This month, they will likely get hit with flooding and natural disasters. Hopefully, this will lead to their overthrowing their current government leadership.

Peru, Chile, Venezuela and Mexico:
These nations will experience spreading of the Corona Virus and have serious difficulty creating effective health care systems to deal with it. The transit of Mars in Pisces along with Neptune (long term) in Pisces is a serious threat to their economies and the health of their populations.

No. Korea:
This Virgo nation will experience an activation of the Neptune/Mars in Pisces opposite their Sun that does not bode well for their stability and sanity. COVID will be spreading and their military efforts may escalate in a kind of “crazy” response to all this.

Nature, Climate, New Technologies, and the Environment:
An article in Bloomberg Green was posted in May entitled: “Nuclear Fusion Startup Gets $84 Million to Enter Next Phase” by Akshat Rathi. He writes: “US clean-energy startup, Commonwealth Fusion Systems raised an additional $84 million from major investors in Europe and Asia, underscoring that the appetite remains to back new technologies which could mitigate climate change.. Singapore’s Temarest Holding PTE and Norway’s Equinor ASA were among equity investors….. Cash will be used to build a headquarters and manufacturing facility… The company, called CFS, was founded by researchers at Mass Institute of Technology in 2018 and has now raised more than $200 million.” Their projects include a prototype reactor by 2025 and a commercial reactor by the 2030s.

As my readership already knows, I have been informing the public about this technology for the past five years. The importance of this cannot be overestimated. It will supply nearly limitless energy all over the globe with no pollution. This product will end the age of fossil fuels. It just may mitigate the devastating effects of growing global climate emergencies.

The New England Journal of Medicine, May 20, 2020 posted an article by Jerry M. Parks, MD and Jeremy C. Smith, MD entitled “How to Discover Antiviral Drugs Quickly” that is worth reading. They point out that the anti-viral treatment for HIV was not a vaccine, but has kept the deadly epidemic at bay. The same is true for the deadly Hepatitis C virus. They suggest we may have this kind of treatment for COVID even before we get an effective vaccine.

This month will see severe hurricanes and flooding in many nations throughout the world. Last month, the largest hurricane ever recorded there hit the coast of India.

Final Thoughts:
On a personal note, I am losing one of my most beloved and cherished friends as a deadly cancer is taking her life. I am joining with the minds and hearts of the millions of people who are losing their loved ones, young and old, from the Corona Virus and a multitude of other diseases who seem to all of us, tragic, unfair, and inevitable.

This historic period we are traversing together is most challenging. Nations are losing millions of families in civil wars, immigrants are losing their countries and homes, economies are failing as a global pandemic sweeps through continents indiscriminately, swaths of forests are burned to the ground, many crucial rivers are drying up while others are presenting 500 year floods. Nature is weeping. And through all this, we seem to continue to commit the cosmically stupid act of ceaselessly arguing and fighting with each other.

All of this reminds me that we are still alive and inhabiting this planet together; in all its pain and glory. The key word is “together”. The opening of the door to solving the multitude of problems and challenges that confront us lies within a profound respect for the fundamental humanity into which we are all born, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or nationality. Respect for differences combined with a sense of oneness can lead to a sharing of information and inspiration that could lead us into a new world of grand and wonderful possibilities.

How about that? Let’s take a shot!

Blessings,

Linda

Important Points of Reference (for Astrologers):
Full Moon Lunar Eclipse at 15 degrees Sagittarius on June 5^th square Mars; New Moon Solar Eclipse at 00 Cancer June 21^st; Mars in Pisces is conjunct Neptune June 13^th, is sextile Pluto June 19^th and is sextile Jupiter June 20^th and is square the Nodes of the Moon on June 26^th; Mercury is sextile Uranus on June 5^th, goes retrograde at 14 degrees Cancer June 17^th (and goes direct July 11^th); Jupiter retrograde at 24 degrees Capricorn is conjunct Pluto June 22^nd through June 30^th; Venus goes direct June 24^th at 5 degrees Gemini.

The North Node of the Moon goes into Gemini (the South Node into Sagittarius) May 5^th 2020 until January 29, 2022. Venus is transiting Gemini, retrograde May 12^th, goes direct June 24^th, and is staying in the sign until August 7^th. Gemini’s ruling planet is Mercury.

We are living through a period in human history that would be literally incomprehensible to those who came before us. Having little or no idea when the first human beings developed the ability to speak to one another, we do have a record of pictures and figures on the walls of caves that date back to 16,000 BC. Some form of cuneiform writing may have originated about 8 thousand years ago left on stone tablets by the ancient Assyrians, Babylonians, and later the Greeks and Egyptians, Indians and Chinese, as the earliest vestiges of civilizations arose.

Until the printing press was invented in the middle of the Renaissance in Europe, most people could neither read nor write. In the Western World, the Roman Catholic Church interpreted the Bible for its members and only monks, priests, and some members and tutors of the royal families were literate, writing down their version of the Bible and history in books and manuscripts. History in the forms of stories were orally passed on in families and tribes. Songs were sung that told mythological tales of heroes and villains. It took thousands of years for most people to become literate and educational systems to be developed.

In the 20^th Century, the telegraph, the telephone, the radio, the motion picture, and television were invented that truly transformed the modes of communication around the world. Since the internet, cell phones and personal computers have developed, we have been literally “swamped” with information – words and images that make it difficult for the critical thinking and in depth analysis that we all need in order to decipher truth from fiction.

From birth to death, our perceptions are shaped by language, images, and our particular culture’s decisions about what composes “reality”. Babies look around and react directly to what they feel and see around them – that is – until they learn the languages their particular culture insists they know. In our era, from that time on, somebody is trying to sell them something – a service, an idea, or a product. We might go so far as to say that the billionaire “snake oil salesman” has won the battle as to who gets our attention, which leads us to an unfortunate truth. In actuality, almost all information is molded and frame-worked by economics. Those who can afford to be the most persuasive are the richest and those the least persuasive – less so.

On a personal level, the astrological sign of Gemini, along with its ruler, Mercury, are the ancient symbols of communication. Its concerns are – speaking, writing, teaching, persuading, and selling. It is a sign that is restless, likes to travel and move around, and is seriously competitive with its “siblings” since, as children, people are competing for attention within their families, their neighborhoods, and their schools. We are still operating, in many instances, with a localized pre-civilized brain, while the mass media inundates us with ads, targeted “opinions”, arguments and debates, all of which have their own versions of “the truth.” In this time of global emergency, clear and accurate communication is a necessity!

President of the US, Donald Trump, Prime Minister of the UK Boris Johnson, and the President of China, Xi – are all born under the sign of Gemini. You may draw your own conclusions about this!

What now?

Interestingly, like the present, the transiting North Node (which moves backwards in the Zodiac) last moved from early Cancer into Gemini in September/October of 2001, when The World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked! There was also a great opposition of Pluto to Saturn at that time, similar in nature to the Pluto/Saturn conjunction we just experienced in January of this year. During that highly critical time, it was concealed that it was Saudis who attacked us, and, as a consequence, this led to our attacking Iraq, later considered to be one of the worst foreign policy mistakes in US history. The Corona Virus pandemic has frequently been compared to 9/11 as our nation is compelled to come together in a great emergency to fight for the health and safety of its people.

The looming question that now arises is a real challenge. Who is telling us the truth? I would put my money on the scientists and physicians who are fighting for our lives every day and the political leaders who trust them. Many of these people have instructed us that the key to all of this is TESTING! If we had a nationwide effective system of tests for the virus, we could probably effectively modify the spread of the virus. This, combined with social distancing, is how South Korea and New Zealand effectively controlled and ended their outbreak. Most importantly, a VACCINE will likely put an end to the pandemic, but the time line was said to be another year to 18 months before it will be available. However, recently, vaccine development and testing is going much more quickly due to new methods and the tremendous motivation coming out of the global pandemic. I think something will be announced by the end of this year.

Who or what is the “hoax?”

I would not put my confidence in a president who, as I pointed out in my previous newsletter, was informed about Corona in January, called COVID19 a “hoax”; who had a “hunch” it would amount to nothing; and who refused to be tested for the virus himself. He has already fired important personnel who were overseers of the crisis and were unafraid to tell what they know. His primary concerns have revolved around the condition of the stock market and what it will take to get him re-elected. He even insisted that his name be on the rescue checks sent out to most Americans. Recently, he recommended trying “injecting” disinfectants in an attempt to kill the virus. Communication on the part of the president is taken seriously and some of his base thought this might work. He referred to this as “fake news” although most of us heard him on live television.

It is, however, understandable, that his concerns about the economy and its Imminent collapse are at the top of his list. I am also encouraged about his decision to get out of Afghanistan and possibly other military bases throughout the world. My take, is that we will release restrictions in May on a limited region by region basis. The best month, astrologically, for “getting out” and being active is July through early August, after which I see a probable resurgence of the virus until the end of the year. What we need the most is clear, concise, and truthful communication.

Gemini, Aquarius, and scientific breakthroughs:

Gemini is an intellectual sign that, combined with planets in Aquarius, could move us quickly forward in all realms of science and technology. In the April 2020 Issue of Scientific American, author Wade Roush authored an article entitled “Tackling the Toughest Tech – A few brave investors are backing start-ups that aim to solve the world’s hardest problems.” He points out that: “Federal investment in R&D as a share of the overall economy is lower than at any point in the past 60 years.” However, he directs our attention to a “bright spot” in the world of private capital investing. He discovered The Engine, “a for-profit venture firm set up in 2016 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “designed to fund ambitious ideas in areas it calls ‘tough tech’: energy, nanotechnology, quantum computing, immunotherapy and other fields where the technical and regulatory challenges are too daunting for most venture capitalists.”

What caught my eye in this article was his reporting on their creating “components for future fusion reactors that could produce nearly inexhaustible, economical, carbon-free energy with vastly less radioactive waste than conventional nukes – an elusive goal that scientists have been trying in vain to accomplish for more than half a century. Chief Operating Officer Steve Renter says Commonwealth’s ‘Kitty Hawk moment’ – when it proves its demonstration machine can generate more energy than it consumer – could come as soon as 2025.” As my readers all know, I have predicted with the coming astrological configurations that the first fully functional nuclear fusion plant could be in place by 2026. This article is worth reading in full as we enter the Age of Aquarius during which breakthroughs will be made that will transform human civilization and may save our natural environment.

Where are we headed now?

An issue that few are discussing today is our dependence upon mining and metals, most of which have already been extracted from the planet. Without metals and rare earths, nearly all the technology upon we depend will disappear. Either some currently unknown method for recycling what we already have in use must emerge, or human civilization is headed toward a collapse. With the burning of fossil fuels, and the massive toxic accumulation of plastic in the world’s oceans, we have already been informed by scientists that we are headed for environmental collapse. On top of all this, the so-called “Green” movement has never explained to us that we have to burn fossil fuels to manufacture solar panels and windmills, and they both wear out and become useless very quickly.

I highly recommend a movie on YouTube presented by Michael Moore entitled “Planet of the Humans”, written, produced and directed by Jeff Gibbs. The link is https://youtu.be/Zk11vl-7cze. The movie thoroughly and painfully describes the “green” movement as having turned, in recent years, to burning “biomass” which is another term for massive deforesting to burn wood chips here in the US, and of deforestation from Brazil, whose government is stripping the Amazon. They also expose most of the systems connected to so called sustainable energies as being dependent upon coal and natural gas since most of them cannot produce consistent energy. To top all of this off, giants like Goldman Sachs and the Koch brothers’ giant conglomerate are financing these ventures whose promoters are – Bill McKibbon, Al Gore, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. who we thought were icons of the environmental movement. This movie is sobering, but until we face the truth we will never be free. This is the moment in time to reinvent ourselves because the consequences of what we are doing now are unimaginable.

Final Thoughts:

Recently, we have been shown pictures taken of the earth’s atmosphere during the “big shutdown”. Clear blue skies, clean waters, and the disappearance of pollution, demonstrate how the usual ways of doing business in big developed economies on planet earth is destroying the health of the ecosystem. All this is presenting us with a monumental challenge: threaten all biological life on earth or dissolve the present vast economic support systems.

In the absence of effective leadership, while being sequestered at home due to the Corona virus, many people are contemplating all this and some are so conflicted they are feeling hopeless, depressed, and mentally paralyzed. Others are opening up their “inner psyches” and receiving spiritual support they have never quite felt before. I am of the opinion that this level of inspiration comes from a “higher realm.” It is reaching out to us now as never before with visions of a new human presence on the earth – an evolutionary leap – a superhuman expression of consciousness and biological evolution.

In August of 2019, I received a great “blue light” that came to me in a meditation. It has remained present in my mind and within my heart. At that time, I did not know exactly what this would mean. Now, I realize that this vision represents the “feminine” energy, the “goddess” figure, the “Blessed Virgin”, and, interestingly, the blue uniforms of doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers, who represent the nurture and caring we are receiving now during the greatest plague in modern history.

I believe that this caring and loving presence is now here on earth to help us save ourselves. Great wars nations wage to grab land and resources, selfish hoarding of wealth, plundering the earth itself, and all the death and dying in the process is, obviously, not the way to carry on. I am already witnessing humanity “coming together” to solve this global emergency and rethinking how we can live together in harmony rather than in dissent. A balance between masculine and feminine energies can result in a healing our wounds of disparity, inequality of opportunity, and put an end to the “commodification” of life on earth.

The presence of the blue light surrounding the planetary pictures remind us that life is sacred and we are all expressions of a miraculous creation that is ready to give birth to a future filled with hope and promise – of an experience in all our lives greater than all our dreams. The constellations have summoned our souls and opened our eyes.

Blessings to all.

Linda

Important Points of Reference (for Astrologers):

Full Moon at 17 degrees Scorpio trine Neptune on May 7; New moon at 2 degrees Gemini on May 22, Mars transits Aquarius until May 12 when it is trine and sextile the Lunar Nodes in Gemini and Sagittarius; Mercury in Taurus will sextile Neptune May 7 and trine Pluto May 9, it goes into Gemini May 11 and is square Neptune May 22; Saturn goes retrograde in Aquarius May 10 and is trine Mercury in Gemini May 12; Venus in Gemini is square Neptune May 3 through May 22 as it goes retrograde May 12; Mars goes into Pisces May 13 (where it transits until June 27) and is sextile Uranus May 24; Jupiter in Capricorn goes retrograde May 14.

Full Moon April 8 at 18 degrees Libra inconjunct Neptune; New Moon April 23 at 3 degrees Taurus square Saturn and conjunct Uranus; Mars at 5 degrees Aquarius is square Uranus April 9; Jupiter is conjunct Pluto at 24 degrees Capricorn April 1 through 4; Mars at 2 degrees Aquarius in inconjunct the North Node on April 3; Venus goes into Gemini April 4 and will transit in that sign through Aug. 7;Venus is trine Saturn April 4 and is sextile Mercury April 17; Mercury in Pisces is conjunct Neptune April 3, is sextile Pluto April 7, goes into Aries April 11 and is sextile Saturn April 11, and is square Pluto April 24. The No. Node reaches 00 degrees Cancer square the World Point April 21.

The Crisis of Aquarius

Destruction, Innovation and Restoration:

Saturn is in Aquarius this month through July 1^st when it retrogrades back into Capricorn until December 16^th when it forms the “great conjunction” with Jupiter as it moves into Aquarius at the end of this year. Mars is transiting Aquarius from March 31 through May 12^th.

These planetary placements open the critical door to the Age of Aquarius that is truly dawning within this time period and challenges us, as it did our Founding Fathers, to know what we need to preserve vs. what we need to change. It may present an atmosphere in which to devise solutions to our crises through advancements in science and medicine and points the way toward understanding the responsibility of self-governance.

The ancient wise saying from Aesop comes to mind, quoted later by Patrick Henry and applies to us now: “United we stand. Divided we fall.”

Corona Virus has shaken the foundations of civilization throughout the world, revealing our vulnerabilities and highlighting, above all, what we need to know. I predicted in past newsletters a coming stock market crash and serious recession. It took this “black swan” to show the deceptions, the emptiness, and the serious flaws in our economy. It has also revealed our abandonment of effective central governance.

Pres. Trump originally named the Corona Pandemic a “hoax” that the Democrats created and then said he had a “hunch” this would not last very long. His incompetence, self-absorption, and even initial refusal to be tested for the virus was forcing our nation to deal with this crisis on our own until he finally, stood up and admitted how serious the crisis really is. Rather than saving lives, he seems more interested in increases in the stock market and “getting people back to work by Easter” (moved to Apr 30 on 3/29). Governors of many of the states have been the truth-tellers and realists in this critical time, having to fend for themselves. New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, has distinguished himself as being truthful and realistic by reporting on the desperate needs of the medical and hospital systems, as his state has the largest number of people infected and hospitalized with the virus..

The $2.2 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by the President is only the beginning of a year-long series of legislative attempts to stem the tide and will plunge us into an unsustainable national debt of a size not seen since World War II. The recent stock market bubble was financed by leveraged stock buy-backs. This reveals our assumption of the largest corporate debt in modern times. Private credit card debt has been at an all time high. Our social safety nets are in danger. This economic collapse may go down as the largest in history!

Contained within my books and newsletters, I have foreseen in the coming years, a massive “Jubilee” or national debt forgiveness (which has historical precedents) and a movement into centrally controlled block chain digital currencies. We will likely see a movement away from “globalism” and into more localized economies. When all is said and done, within the next ten years, our economic and financial frameworks will be nearly unrecognizable.

I pointed out in last month’s newsletter that Mercury going direct at 28 degrees Aquarius in March would strike us like lightening, forcing us to face multiple truths on many levels. I personally reflected last month – on a sadly deserted St. Patrick’s Day – how that wise and famous Irishman, Murphy, informed us of his law:”Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

Mars is transiting Aquarius this month (through May 13^th) and will preview and highlight many important areas of our lives. Subjects that are highlighted in Aquarius are: energy corporations, aviation industries including air travel, and technological and medical innovation.

Energy:

There is an important international crisis breaking out concerning oil and gas industries. Saudi Arabia and OPEC wish to reduce output since the price of oil and gas has been falling like a rock for the past three years. This puts many US and global oil corporations (that are heavily leveraged) on the verge of bankruptcy and oil nations falling off a fiscal cliff. Russia, whose economy is primarily based on oil refuses to comply. Putin, who recently has been allowed by his government to become dictator for life, and his pals, the oil oligarchs, have hoarded most of the oil profits (the only industry they have) into their accounts for years while he kills off anyone who threatens to protest. Watch carefully this month into May for attempts of Russia’s people to start another revolution as their chart highlights the conflict between Scorpio (the powerful) and Aquarius (the people). The last time Saturn transited here resulted in the fall of the Soviet Union. All this will be unlikely to fully emerge until the period of 2021-2023 when Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius transit these planetary pictures.

Iran will continue to attack our military presence in Iraq, as they suffer oil price declines and have been hit heavily by Corona. The Syrian Civil War has caused millions to migrate out of the nation, their infrastructure has been demolished, and the ruthless dictator Assad remains in power. Israel continues to be in a crisis with its leadership. Our valiant attempts to end our war with Afghanistan will likely run into an essential fact. That reality is – they are constantly at war with themselves. The drama over oil plays out in the Middle East with deadly consequences for most of the nations there.

Venezuela and Brazil, two major oil nations, will experience an acceleration of their respective governments in turmoil and attempts of their citizens to get rid of those in power.

Meanwhile, the march toward sustainable energy is well on its way and will inevitably replace fossil fuels. Within a decade, we will witness the end of the Age of Fossil Fuels. The near perfect battery, electric vehicles, solar panels, passive architecture, and, most of all, nuclear fusion will be progressing much more rapidly than many have expected. My target time for much of this coming together is 2026.

Aviation:

We already know the travails of Boeing last year as their presently grounded 737 Max crashed and was exposed as flawed. Now, with the spread of the Corona Virus, planes have been grounded and international travel has been severely protracted. However, this month with Venus in Gemini (travel) there will be precautions and improvements connected to air travel and possibly news concerning innovation introduced into planes designed to insure comfort and safety. The Congressional Bail Out Package is putting a lot of funding into this sector. However, between April 1^st and April 3^rd, there could be a technical problems and accident proneness with Mercury conjunct Neptune and Mars conjunct Saturn. This industry needs to examine itself and bring on new leadership.

Technological and Medical Innovation:

The medical part is obvious with a global rush to develop a vaccine for Corona that will eventually be created but suffer delays because it takes at least a year of clinical trials for it to be released. However, the current transit of Mars in Aquarius will likely enhance new research for implementing possible treatments. Necessity is the mother of invention! Other areas such as stem cell research, bio-genetic engineering, and dealing with neurological and mental illness using electrical stimulation will be moving forward.

Climate scientists will speak out this month about the rapidly accelerating melt at the poles and weather extremes, leading to many emergencies in nations most vulnerable. However, we are entering into a great depression that, in my opinion, will likely last until 2024, during which time real money will be scarce to finance many of these projects.

Before the virus struck, the US and China had been engaged in competition, for 5-G on the one hand, and in military programs designed to use energy technology containing bizarre applications and engaging one another in a new Cold War. The Chinese government (an absolute dictatorship) may be seeking to control their people with high tech spying technology and literal control over human brain function. This is the “dark side” of the Aquarian Age. Some information about these projects may “leak” out between now and May and give us all cause to be concerned.

The Economy:

Corona has been a catalyst pushing us into an inevitable financial collapse that I have seen coming for the past three years. The “plunge protection team”, big banks manipulating markets with their derivatives trades, giant tax breaks for corporations and billionaires who used their money and leverage to buy back their own stock, and a media that plainly and simply does not cover what is really going on behind the scenes on Wall Street – have all contributed to the economic debacle. Right now, cash is king. Gold and silver are a safety play. However the practices of lowering interest rates to near zero, and printing money without an end, could ruin the bond market, lead to hyperinflation of the dollar, and create zombie banks similar to those that developed in Japan in the 1990s. As discussed above, Congress is always wrangling over trillions of dollars the government could put into the economy in an attempt to stop the disaster. The Jupiter/Pluto (big bucks) conjunction this month points to the recent stimulus package they have passed that will help, but is only the beginning. This conjunction occurs again in June.

A bear market always contains “up” cycles within it, but do not let that deceive you. Between April 1^st and April 3^rd, Mars is conjunct Saturn and Mercury is conjunct Neptune which paints a rather grim picture. The following week, Mercury is sextile Jupiter and Pluto, bringing help from the government and buyers back into the market. Between the 24^th and the 25^th, Mercury is square Jupiter and Pluto, sending out warnings once again. Over the extended long term, I would invest in water stocks and water related ETFs, rare earths, and carefully examined real estate and farm land in areas least effected by climate change.

Further into the future, I think there will be some relief from the Corona pandemic April and May, problems emerging again in June (with some very bad weather), and some relief in July and early August. The planetary pictures in September through December are really tumultuous, possibly bringing back the virus just as school starts, campaigns speed up, and a presidential election takes place. I have been predicting for months now that we will not know who won on election day. An educated guess as to why this would happen has presented itself to us with the disastrous primary elections, whose voting either breaks down or is postponed, leaving us dangling in mid air. The long transit of Mars in Aries June 30 through Jan. 6^th 2021 suggests more natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, and volcanoes erupting. On election day, Mercury goes direct square Saturn, and we simply, as I said above, will not know who won – extending the verdict outward into the following weeks. I will report about this in greater detail in future monthly newsletters.

Final Thoughts

The Coming Eclipses:

On June 15^th, there is a Lunar Eclipse on the Ascendant (Sibley chart) of the US and a second Lunar Eclipse on July 5^th on the Sun of the US.

I will discuss where this may take us from the present into the future in my next newsletters, but these astrological events obviously and particularly target our nation leading the world toward endings and beginnings. In the middle of all the chaos, I am so inspired by the heroism, kindness, thoughtfulness, and the rise of a spiritual presence expressing itself within so many people that I am beginning to believe humanity may have what it takes to redeem itself. In spite of a lack of respirators and protective equipment, doctors and nurses are literally giving their lives in an attempt to save others. This level of self sacrifice would remind us of those who worked to save the lives of soldiers in the world wars!

Where do we go from here?

There are questions raised. How do we conceive of ourselves as a nation? How does humanity define itself as a species who can either destroy life on earth or save it? Are our original ideals of democracy, self-governance, freedom of thought, and equal opportunity for self actualization still alive within our DNA? Are we moving toward extinction or evolution?

Stay tuned!

Linda

Pisces and Capricorn – Water and Earth – Meant for Each Other!
This month’s configurations of water and earth serve to remind us of what it takes to create and sustain the miracle of life on our planet, how fragile this magical combination really is, and both the dangers to all that lives we have put into our bio-sphere and the myriad possibilities we have of saving it.

We have successfully engineered a global economy set up to create enormous amounts of wealth for a relative handful of persons at the expense of what economies are supposed to do: that is – grow food, create shelters, preserve clean air and aquifers, and a general sense of prosperity. The giant gap between the upper wealthy classes and remaining population in America is the largest it has been in history. Globally, human populations have grown so large that our byproducts are polluting air, water, and earth to the point that potentially catastrophic climate changes and poisonous chemicals are threatening the habitats of existing life, including ours, on a scale not seen since an asteroid hit the earth and killed off the dinosaurs 64 million years ago.

PISCES is, arguably, the most sensitive of all the astrological water signs. As many of my Pisces friends would testify, they are like “sponges” that seem to pick up what is going on around them, both visible and invisible. As a result, the potential for a lot of suffering comes into play and many people with planets configured in this sign are capable of losing their way and falling into escapism through drugs, alcohol, gambling, and eventually, depression. Geniuses like Albert Einstein, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and others have proven that their gift of sensitivity can lead them into an imaginative realm where great ideas present themselves and contributions to humankind are virtually limitless! Neptune, their ruling planet, can either initiate fearful terrifying storms and tsunamis – or bring about a penetrating stillness with an ambiance containing a flow of knowledge within a transcendent peace. Thus, the constellation of Pisces presents two fish swimming in opposite directions. This symbolism is historically associated with the religion of Christianity that offers up a choice between Heaven and Hell, with earth and the human soul caught somewhere in between! For over two thousand years, much of the human race has been trying to figure this out!

CAPRICORN is an earth sign associated with frameworks, facing and overcoming limitations, ambition to climb society’s “ladder to success”, and, often, ruthless realism in confronting the blockades created by established institutions. The range of people born under this sign is impressive, including former Pres. Richard Nixon, Civil Rights Leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and, more recently, author and former First Lady, Michelle Obama and Amazon chair and, presently, the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos. Navigating the system or overcoming it is the dilemma, since Capricorns are often realistic about what it takes to “climb the mountain.” Saturn, their ruling planet, symbolizes an awareness that order and infrastructure, both politically and economically, is necessary to attain the position necessary to be effective. At its worst, Capricorn is cynical, ruthless, and, in its climb to the top of the food chain, ignores the multiple casualties along the way. At its best, it stands for creating a political and/or economic system that works for all and leads the way to establishing something that has lasting value. Saturn insists that something must be “real” and tangible.

If Pisces the “dreamer” can get together with Capricorn the “realist”, human societies could come up with solutions for many of our seemingly insurmountable problems, largely of our own creation. The compassion and idealism of Pisces could find a framework for its implementation in the material world, creating new, more fair, and effective institutions. Rather than “blowing everything up”, we could redirect our intelligence into organizations that actually work. Scientists could come up with prevention and cures for pandemics like the Corona virus and implemented through government agencies that work.

The problem with this combination of elements is that there is no fire or air in the mix. Fire energizes, excites, and inspires people to work toward goals and the air signs lend enthusiasm for intelligent ideas and effective modes of communication. Earth and water tend to be negative or “receptive’ whereas fire is positive or “active”. Thus earth and water alone can be rather depressive, although confronting us with realistic visions of what we may or may not want to face.

A message from one of the greatest Pisces of the 20^th Century:
Albert Einstein wrote in 1949 –

“Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and it make intelligent use of his political rights.”

The Ides of March:
This month contains the Sun, Mercury, and Neptune in Pisces, with Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, seeking to find a “container’ for the flood of information coming to us from around the world. The global pandemic is making us aware that much of our medicine is manufactured in China which, as they shut down, will be difficult to buy in the US. Mercury goes direct March 9^th at 28 degrees Aquarius and this stands out as information hitting us like “lightning” whether it is the spread of the Corona Virus, the melting of the polar glaciers, massive corruption of our government, and/or the system wide failures of the mass media to tell the truth.

Last month, we had a significant stock market “correction” connected to the virus spreading around the world, and fits the requirements of the “black swan” that I have seen coming. We have been in an “earnings recession” since 2019. In addition, for some time now, corporations have accumulated an enormous debt financing this great stock market “bubble.”

Venus’ transit in Taurus this month insures that the economy and Wall Street will likely make a concerted effort to continue its expanding and hoarding of wealth, even though there may be another “correction” along the way. It is a good month to sell real estate and to take profits wherever you can get them. Gold and silver rose last month and, as usual, entities like JP Morgan Chase manipulated the prices down through their “special dealers” and computerized futures transactions. They are afraid of a panic buying in these markets. Valuable information will be released about so many of the threats to our natural environment and solutions may be proposed. Candidates running for president may direct their attention to actual frameworks to implement and pay for their proposals for healthcare, education, and infrastructure repairs. Democrats are emphasizing the wealth gap in this country, the highest in our history. The Survey of Consumer Finances and Financial Accounts recently reported that since 1989 (through 2018) the top 1% gained $21 trillion while the bottom 50% lost $900 billion!

Will the public wake up?
I am of the opinion that the greatest problem we have is small mindedness and indifference on the part of a public that is tasked with restoring or maintaining a semblance of democracy. Few seem to know how the constitutionally mandated separation of powers works in our nation, as we have a president who _seeks to impose his will on the judiciary system, _refuses to enforce laws passed by Congress such as the Clean Water act and the Clean Air Act, _is attempting to deviate public education funding to private religious schools, _is reducing funding to people on Medicare, Medicaid and Disability, _is pardoning” a whole cadre of criminals from prison ahead of the election, _and persistently lies to people about all this over and over again.

Trump has “gutted” government agencies designed to address emergencies in public health and beyond. He has hired cronies with no expertise in the cabinets and departments they supervise. He recently appointed VP Mike Pence to head up the Corona Virus emergency, who is a non-scientist and has no experience with the medical consequences of a pandemic of this magnitude. He is using his presidential campaign money to sue The New York Times for reporting on what he is doing. The corporate and banking cartel has been fine with all of this, just as long as Trump bullies the Feds to keep interest rates low, reduces taxation on the billionaires, all of which has propped up a stock market with a bubble that, until recently, was expanding – and massive corporate and government debt along with it.

According to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the regulator of the national banks, our banks are sitting on “unthinkable” levels of derivatives (bets) with a notional value that is higher than all the money in the world (~$1.2 quadrillion). The five US banks that have particularly high “contagion index values” are: Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley (who recently acquired E-Trade), Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs – and represent 85% of all derivatives held by more than 5,000 federally insured banks.

There may be dire warnings this month of a time ahead when all this debt and massive speculation will create an economic avalanche. The corona virus demonstrates how dependent upon China and the global economy to keep all this going and how fragile it all is.

Will the truth set us free or will the truth charge a fee?

The Middle East:
Talks about ending the war and withdrawing from Afghanistan, an Israeli/Palestinian peace agreement, and war ending in Syria may make progress, but will be exposed this month as not yet passing the stress test. All of these planets (Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars)) in Capricorn highlights the chart of Saudi Arabia and eventually, will further heighten their conflicts with Iran – all of which is part of the region being torn apart. War has broken out on the Syria/ Turkish border as more refugees try to get out of Syria.

Venezuela:
This nation has been in the headlines since its economy has collapsed and its people are starving. I do not see a change until the end of this month when Saturn briefly goes into Aquarius. Russia supports the current administration, stopping any overthrow of the current disastrous regime.

Nature and the Environment:
Since Capricorn rules earth masses and Pisces rules water, I expect more warming and melting at the poles, extremes of droughts and floods, and expanding the emergency financial needs around the world to fix what has been damaged. Australia is an example first of fire, then of floods, then of political fallout and financial difficulties.

The Corona virus, diminished somewhat, rages on this month, primarily in China, while the older, more traditional flu is particularly widespread this year in the US. As of this writing, it has spread to Japan, Vietnam, So. Korea, Italy, Iran, Lebanon, Israel, Brazil and just beginning in the US. China, initially, tried to suppress the news about the virus. Public health systems all over the globe need to be connected to each other, sharing information at all cost. We also need to address how we have influenced our natural environment and how widespread use of chemicals and pollutants have depressed our immune systems.

Final Thoughts:
As an astrologer, I am increasingly aware how human beings trap themselves within cultural belief systems about reality that frequently blot out truly focused, critical, and creative observations. The mass media, especially television news reporting, is filled with corporate “approved” words and phrases that are “chirped” at us, faster than a speeding bullet, and repeated over and over again, similar to the commercials that incessantly interrupt a program containing more air time than the show itself. We have had recent warnings that Russia, once again, may use social media platforms to influence our election in November.

As a species, we have created consumption economies and technologies beyond the wildest dreams of the historic human presence before us. But we have done this at the expense of the natural world around us and our relationships with each other. We have done this at the expense of our sanity. We have done this, arguably, at the expense of our soul.

It is now time, as the Age of Aquarius is arriving to meet us, that we reclaim what the Age of Pisces tried and too often failed to do. And that is – to open up to our highest selves, a humanity that through caring for one another and life on earth, may claim its special place within the evolutionary spirals of the universe itself.

Linda