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Night Sky - May 2016: the transit of Mercury, and Mars at opposition





7 MAY 2016 • 12:09AM

On Monday May 9 at precisely 12:12:19 BST {GMT+1}, Mercury begins an epic 7.5 hour passage across the face of the Sun, an event known as a transit. A transit of Mercury can occur 13 or 14 times each century. The last visible from the UK occurred on May 7 2003 and the next will happen on November 11 2019. However, there won’t be another as well presented as this year’s transit until May 7 2049. This year’s event marks the third of fourteen happening in the twenty-first century.​

Observing the transit requires caution. Through a certified solar filter, Mercury’s dot is too small for the naked eye. A solar filter fitted over the front of a telescope is the safest way to see it but if you’re unsure how to achieve this, your local astronomical society should be able to help. Many will have public viewing sessions or at the very least, know where the nearest one is being held.


Transit of Mercury 2016 CREDIT: PETE LAWRENCE

While only Mercury and Venus can transit the Sun, only an outer planet can achieve opposition. This is when it lies opposite the Sun in the night sky. At opposition a planet’s distance from Earth is reduced causing it to appear brighter to the naked eye and larger when viewed through a telescope.



Mars and Saturn in opposition

Mars reaches opposition on May 22 and the effect on its appearance will be quite striking. Around this date the brightness of its salmon-pink dot will rival that of Jupiter which has been prominent in the night sky for several months.
Both Mars and Saturn currently appear in the same low southern part of the sky, best around midnight. Saturn lies east of Mars, is dimmer and has a yellowish hue.


Mars near opposition, when it appears brighter in the night sky CREDIT: FABIO CARVALHO AND GABRIELA CARVALHO/NASA

It reaches opposition itself on June 3 but being more distant than Mars, the effects on its globe are more subtle, although this is not the case for the rings. These are composed from countless ‘particles’ of water ice ranging in size from micrometres to metres.
At opposition, the shadow cast by each particle is diminished due to geometry and as a result, the rings appear to brighten. Through a telescope this ‘Seeliger Effect’ can be seen in action from the end of May through to the second week in June.
Further afield, the familiar Plough asterism in Ursa Major is virtually overhead around midnight. The two stars furthest from the handle, Dubhe and Merak, are known as the ‘Pointers’ because they indicate the direction to the North Star, Polaris in Ursa Minor (UMi).


The Plough - aka the Big Dipper - seen in an enhanced image taken in France in March 2015 CREDIT: VEGASTAR CARPENTIER/NASA

Polaris is a middle-brightness star although its understated appearance hides a complex multiple nature. The system contains up to five suns, although two may not to have any physical connection with the other three.
Extending the natural curve of the Plough’s handle eventually leads to the beautiful orange-giant star Arcturus, the fourth brightest in the night sky. It sits at the southern end of the kite-shaped constellation Boötes. Arcturus gained celebrity status in 1933 by opening the ‘Century of Progress’, World’s Fair held in Chicago.
Starlight from Arcturus was focused through a telescope onto a photoelectric cell. When enough light had been collected, the cell triggered, switching on three and a half miles of lights along the lakefront adjacent to the fairground.
The justification for using Arcturus at the time, apart from its obvious brightness, was its distance. Estimated to be 40 light years away, the light received in 1933 should have started its journey during the previous World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.
Sadly, as star distances have refined, we now know that Arcturus is 36.7 light years away, but it was still a lovely idea.
The Night Sky in May

CREDIT: PETE LAWRENCE


This chart shows how the sky will appear at 1am on May 1, midnight on May 15 and 11pm on May 31. All times are BST. The planets are shown along with the location and phase of the Moon, when visible, at 5-day intervals. The Moon is full on May 21 st . The stars are shown as circles; the larger the circle the brighter the star. The hazy area represents the Milky Way.
Orientate the chart by holding it in front of you rotated so the compass bearing at the bottom matches the direction you’re facing. The bottom of the chart then reflects your horizon with the middle of the chart representing the view directly above your head.
Please send any comments to pete.lawrence@nightskyguide.co.uk

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...-the-transit-of-venus-and-mars-in-opposition/




https://cosmicintelligenceagency.com/transitofmercury/

TRANSIT OF MERCURY – MERCURY ECLIPSE – MAY 9TH 2016

By Agent 22 Maggie Kerr

​

Mercury Eclipse May 9th 2016
​

'Transit of Mercury’ – or Mercury eclipsing the Sun – always when Mercury is retrograde
 Occurs on May 9th 2016 @ 19 degrees Taurus – takes around 7 hours to pass by the Sun
 Always on Taurus/Scorpio axis due to the North and South Nodes of Mercury currently in these signs

 Historically carries revolutionary themes re mind/ideas/inventions
 Previous cycles 1907,1914. 1924, 1927, 1937, 1940, 1953, 1957, 1960, 1970, 1973, 1986, 1993, 1999, 2006, 2016 – next Nov 2019

 This one very active with Moon in Gemini (ruled by Mercury) sextile Mars in Aries
 http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2016/05/05/rare-transit-of-mercury-across-the-sun-on-may-9/


As both Mercury & Venus are between us (earth) and the Sun, they pass between us periodically creating ‘eclipses’. Because they are so small they don't block the Sun's light so are not generally noticed down here on Earth. But they are considered quite ‘rare’ and when you check the above dates of previous Mercury eclipses the historical associations are very powerful in terms of social change.

They have fascinating cycles in their ‘eclipsing’ that make them major players in global evolutionary affairs. The last Venus eclipse happened in Gemini June 2012 in the midst of the Mayan Calendar 26,000 cycle shift. Mayan cosmology refers to this period when our Sun aligns with the Galactic plane as a “doorway” through which Unity consciousness will come to dominate the mass consciousness of the Earth. The Mayans refer to this as the Return of Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent, and look to this timeframe within which the mass enlightenment of humanity will take place. And believe it or not this has been happening!!!

Mercury is also a very important player in these shifting times, especially since the late 1700s as Uranus was discovered, heralding the birth of the Aquarian Age. Uranus has been given the title of the ‘higher octave of Mercury’ as he connects us to new frequencies emanating from ‘the source’ energy that may be downloaded to feed through Mercury. Thus the science & technology age we are now experiencing with a major acceleration since the late 1800s, 1940s, 1960s and 1990s and beyond, has been using dear little Mercury to bring us this unprecedented wave of techno innovation…with so much more to come.

Mythically Mercury is the ‘God of the Crossroads', connecting & stimulating the trade & commerce of life plus communicating the words & ideas & people that bring forth new activity for this commerce. Traditionally Mercury rules Virgo & Gemini, the signs that bring forth ideas & then order and make them productive. In Esoteric or spiritual Astrology Mercury rules Aries i.e. action follows thought – in the beginning was the word etc. SO he is a very powerful little dude as he does his thing flitting between heaven and the underworld triggering & conveying the inspiration that drives the unseen forces of evolution.

The historical Mercury/Sun Eclipses feature many examples of revolutionary independence movements including also being a player in the French Revolution…as Uranus & Pluto were in opposition at that time.

The major factor or feature that underpins these revolutionary forces is always money & resources – i.e. Taurus/Scorpio. This eclipse cycle always occurs when Mercury is retrograde in inferior conjunction with the Sun in the axis of Taurus and Scorpio. So this cycle has great impact on collective values/money/ resources activity.
Recent previous Mercury eclipses in 1999 & 2006 brought us the introduction of the Euro, & then debt driven madness that set up the ongoing 2008 GFC.
So where are we at as this next Mercury Eclipse comes in on May 9th?

Well we are in the midst a very intense geo-political/economic phase…in case you haven't noticed! This is the result of two major sets of planetary forces.
First we have the 90 degree square between Jupiter & Saturn in their 20 year cycle…which began in 2000…in Taurus! These 2 boys have everything to do with market forces and the ‘behind the scenes dudes’ that manipulate them. We are experiencing extremely volatile times since August last year as their square began… & this completes in late May. The next conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn comes in 2020 in the sign of Aquarius when a much more conscious phase in human affairs will begin.

Next we have another totally important ‘big global challenge’ between Saturn & Neptune as they are also in square in their 36 year cycle. Briefly this is the socio/economic cycle containing the ideologies & beliefs that drive our society. It is now at its . point bringing maximum stress as the process of ‘converting ideals into practice’ or ‘preventing ideals from becoming reality’ is played out. As the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 a new era was born with the rise of a major new phase in capitalist globalization and the communist systems in Russia & China also morphed into new phases and a new era of terrorism was born to keep the global war machine rolling along…big business after all.

This current square highlights the theme of truth & lies & the whole business of what is real and what is not, and the extreme positions on offer in every stage of human affairs. Bottom line is you can't believe any of the lies & spin the old guard continue to weave in the desperate quest to stay in control. This square brings us a crisis in faith, belief & meaning for our system & in each of our lives.

So Saturn features here also…first with Jupiter & now with Neptune. This co-incidence of their two cycles is extremely rare. The Saturn/Neptune square perfects right through from June until early September after initializing in December 2015.

Both of these 20 year & 36 year socio-economic cycles are integral in the birth, development & expression of the underlying zeitgeist or inspiration that drives our economic systems. As they are both in their . phase…known as the ‘crisis of re-orientation’ in their cycles, we are witnessing the ‘result’ of the profoundly unconscious drivers of our culture, as they began their cycles in 1989 & 2000 respectively, based on fear & greed & non sustainable values. The chickens are coming home to roost…and they are not healthy chickens.

Since then we've also had another major set of planetary heavy weights doing their thing as Uranus & Pluto have been in square during 2011 through 2016. The 127 year Uranus/Pluto cycle is responsible for the progressive revolutionary forces unleashed when the seed of the new arises as a regenerative imperative to take us forward in our evolution. Yep it's a whole new consciousness arising now as so many people are waking up to the broken damaged system that runs our planet by those who feather their own nests at the expense of our planet & her people.

This revolution also involves re-connecting to our spiritual values as part of the new zeitgeist, the higher potential of the Saturn Neptune cycle from 1989. And indeed this has been arising big time as the practices of compassion & love & tolerance are returning as fundamental human qualities, and we re-connect to our natural world to be honoured & preserved & made sustainable once more, PLUS consciously working with invisible higher forces as source energy & inspiration.

OK so this Mercury ‘eclipse’ in this potent cyclic soup is a major player triggering a threshold moment, as historically these eclipses offer ‘revolutionary themes re mind/ideas/inventions’ that stimulate material world matters. Just keep in mind that these invisible evolutionary impulses & forces operate way below the ‘threshold of consciousness’, and yep sometimes we see immediate outer world events or shifts.

So, more big ups/down/extremes in global currency/share markets over coming weeks is a big possibility. But hey nobody knows what's happening anymore…the global Ponzi scheme is coming to a major head and the confusing balls are all up in the air! Certainly not a time for risky speculation over coming months, but rather careful planning & strategy based on your true values. Ultimately we are in need of a whole new financial model to arise in the next few years that returns power to productivity & sustainability, not just making gazillions through speculative trading by the elite few.

Mercury assures us that ‘our thoughts create our reality'. So here's your opportunity to transcend old limiting thoughts containing fear & insecurity. Our awakening higher consciousness allows us to manifest prosperous outcomes as we value ourselves & everything/one else in the unity consciousness of our creative life.
Blessings to us all as we move through these tremendously exciting transformational times!

Agent 22 Maggie Kerr
You are welcome to my site @ www.universalastrology.com.au for many free articles & resources, and/or to book an astrological session. I am a ‘Therapeutic Astrologer’ specializing in identifying our Soul's unconscious patterns for growth & empowerment.

Reference: Greek Astrologer George-Orpheus Matsosas current issue of ISAR Journal. That's what I love about our global astrological community as we all share our research and learn from each other along the way.

 

Saturn square Neptune And the Danger of False Narratives

Part I: Hillary & Benghazi

By Glenn Perry
Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind. ~ George Orwell


It is generally accepted that politics is shrouded in lies. This may be a more or less permanent condition, much like cloudy weather in Seattle. Yet, it seems that when Saturn and Neptune align in hard aspect those clouds crystallize into hailstones of deceit that precipitate upon the populace with a din so deafening it can drown out the voice of reason. With Saturn square Neptune exact three times this year, a transparent film of lies has settled across the globe like a toxic pesticide.

Figure 1: The Booromean Rings




Examples are legion but I will focus on three, which, because they are expressions of the same archetypal dynamic, intersect like Borromean rings: 1) the Hillary Clinton scandals involving Benghazi and her private email server; 2) the Black Lives Matter movement, and 3) ISIS propaganda that exhorts its followers to commit murder-suicide.

Given the complexity of the subject matter, I have decided to tackle these issues in four parts. Part I here explores the general meaning of Saturn square Neptune in light of Hillary Clinton’s recent travails. In our next installment, Part II, the political divide between liberal and conservative ideologies will be examined with a particular focus on Saturn-Neptune dynamics as symbolizing the birth, nature, and evolution of progressivism. Unless we understand progressivism, the remaining topics cannot be fully comprehended. Part III tackles the vexing conditions that have led to the Black Lives Matter movement, and Part IV examines the conflation of government and spirituality that is so disturbingly exemplified in radical Islam.
In what follows, I occasionally refer to the planets in terms of behavioral propensities that characterize individuals and institutions, but it should be clear that I am referring to archetypal components of the psyche, not whole people.



The Closing Square of Saturn to Neptune

The synodic cycle of Saturn-Neptune occurs over a period of approximately 36 years, starting with the conjunction, the most recent of which was in 1989, and ending with the next conjunction in 2026. As Saturn pulls away from Neptune by virtue of its faster orbital speed, it formed the first (or opening) square in 1998; the opposition occurred in 2006; and we’re currently in the closing square of 2016. In effect, it’s one long continuous 36-year cycle punctuated by four periods of acute activation that last for about one year each. And during that year, the relevant aspect will be exact three times―thus, the current square was exact on November 26, 2015; again on June 18 this year; and will once again be exact on September 10th.
Because the Saturn-Neptune cycle is a cycle, it is important to understand the phase in progress. Not all phases are alike, first because they occupy different signs, and second because each angle has its own meaning. Aclosing square, which is the angle presently occurring, constitutes the start of the final 90 degree phase of the cycle. As such, it is a Capricorn angle, for an aspect derives its meaning from the nature of the sign that constitutes that angle in the zodiac.

As a Capricorn angle, the closing square implies that Saturn and Neptune must find a way to successfully combine their respective energies and build something of enduring value. Capricorn is associated with restraint, control, and the pursuit of realistic, practical ends; thus, the relationship between Saturn and Neptune will be characterized by exactly this dynamic throughout the period in question. And since Saturn is the ruler of Capricorn, this compounds and highlights the significance of Capricorn-Saturn during this particular phase of the Saturn-Neptune cycle.




Some Thoughts on Saturn

The archetype of Capricorn-Saturn is predominantly concerned with issues of success-failure. In fact, all Capricorn-Saturn behavior can be traced to a fear of failure. To compensate for this fear, there is a focused, disciplined, goal-oriented striving that endeavors to achieve the desired end―success―which is exemplified in authority figures that serve a regulatory or executive function, such as fathers, taskmasters, bosses, CEOs, and presidents. Institutionally, the Capricorn-Saturn archetype is inherent in government of all types at all levels, the proper function of which is to establish rules, enforce limits, and maintain civic order. Internally, Saturn correlates to our capacity for self-governance and self-restraint.

Implicit in Saturn is the notion of hierarchical order as reflected in nature’s tendency to organize its parts into increasingly complex wholes―atoms into molecules, molecules into cells, and cells combine to form multicellular organisms of ever increasing complexity, culminating in human beings who further self-organize into families, communities, towns, states and nations. Planets combine to make up solar systems, solar systems to make up galaxies, and galaxies are but parts of galactic clusters. “Infinity yawns at both the top and bottom of the stratified hierarchies of existence,” writes Arthur Koestler.^[1]

While Saturn’s ultimate goal is success―that is, aspiring to the top of the hierarchy― success is a relative term, and when applied to collective human evolution we must assume that varying degrees of success-failure will characterize the current square. In effect, we can expect Saturn to test the viability and sustainability of any organization with a strong Neptunian component. Since our focus here is on the world of global politics, the following should be considered in that light.



Neptune: The Pursuit of Oneness

As ruler of Pisces, Neptune’s prime directive is attainment of a transcendent, spiritual ideal of unitive consciousness in which all divisions are reconciled into a blissful harmony. If human experience falls short of this ideal, which it almost invariably does, it causes distress and existential guilt. Human suffering due to loss, illness, poverty, old age, or victimization evokes a Neptunian response in us all, which we experience as compassion and the wish to relieve suffering. Neptune correlates to charity, aid, volunteerism, selfless service, and other altruistic activities dedicated to the ideal of an indiscriminate, all-inclusive, universal love.
Neptune’s flip side is the actual experience of suffering, which can be a gateway to the development of compassion, humility, and dependence upon a higher power. Spiritual traditions like Buddhism honor suffering as “the mud out of which the lotus flower blooms.” Christianity employs its own metaphors―purification through trial by fire, the passion of Christ, and so on. Virtually all spiritual traditions teach the necessity of suffering and its accompanying requirement: renunciation of attachment, as implied in the aphorism “Let go and let God”.

Because the spiritual impulse underlying Neptune is inherently sacrificial and submissive, it can easily be misdirected or carried to excess if driven by excessive, irrational guilt. The result can be escapism and self-undoing. Let go and let God becomes give up and self-destruct. Renunciation of attachment becomes abdication of responsibility. Surrender to a higher power is perverted into a life of dissolution, moral degeneracy, and abject dependency, often fueled by substance addiction. Not only can individuals do this, so can entire cultures, as we shall see.

While spiritual practice and charitable service is the healthy expression of Neptune, this can be misallocated via victim-savior dynamics that entail the enabling of bad behavior. Neptunian overfunctioning, or “co-dependency”, is again fueled by excessive and irrational guilt as evidenced when “saviors” feel compelled to rescue “victims” from the natural consequences of their own self-defeating actions. In this context, a victim is someone who is victimized by their own choices―to abuse drugs and alcohol, to drop out of school, to avoid work and responsibility, to be sexually promiscuous, to lie, steal, cheat, or otherwise engage in criminal behavior.

Typically the victim will manipulate the savior with intimations of blame, as if the cause and solution to the victim’s suffering lie outside themselves.Yet, by not allowing individuals to endure legitimate suffering, the savior merely enables and often exacerbates the victim’s problems. This can lead to savior burnout, depletion of resources, resentment, and more guilt. The French call such an arrangement a folie a deux (folly of two), a kind of mental illness shared by two entities caught in a vicious cycle that escalates over time.

One additional point regarding Neptune is germane: its penchant for obfuscation and fraud. Because Neptune symbolizes our desire for a transcendent ideal of infinite love and beauty, it is disinclined to recognize anything that deviates from this ideal. And since such ideals―for oneness, unity, heaven, paradise, utopia―necessarily emerge from the imagination (they have no obvious corollary in reality), Neptune signifies our capacity for fantasy. If reality deviates too markedly from the ideal, one can simply substitute fantasy for reality by superimposing the ideal over the real. Denial and deception entail the switch of an actual reality for a preferred one; hence, the Pisces-Neptune tendency for delusion, lies, and deceit.

The flip side is the Pisces-Neptune vulnerability to deception. Pisces-Neptune is the part of us that strives to reconcile duality into a unified whole; thus, it has difficulty making rational decisions that require Virgonian discernment and discrimination. A tendency toward feel-good fuzzy thinking, vacillation and acquiescence results. People often will believe what they want to believe and thus can be easily misled. As Hitler famously said, “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”

While the Pisces-Neptune capacity for surrender, letting go, and trust in a higher power signifies spiritual strength in its own domain, it correlates to weakness when misdirected. For it is precisely its malleability that makes Neptune so easily influenced by stronger wills that frequently are not divine in their intentions. The upshot is that Pisces-Neptune is often the dupe, especially in relation to figures that embody those archetypes with which it is entangled―like Saturnian authority.



More on the Closing Square

I have taken time to articulate the individual psychologies of Saturn and Neptune, for it is their combination that ultimately concerns us here. As the reader might surmise, government, under the sway of certain political ideologies, has progressively assumed the role of savior to an increasingly victimized society. During Saturn-Neptune squares, these role dynamics are tested and stressed to the breaking point.
A cornerstone of AstroPsychology is that planets signify fundamental human drives and capacities. Viewed individually, each planet operates as an autonomous agent pursuing fulfillment of specific needs. Saturn, for example, signifies our capacity for success, which entails the pursuit of Capricorn needs for order and control. When combined in aspect, however, any two planets comprise a multi-agent system in pursuit of a joint goal that exists at a higher order of abstraction than the individual goals of the respective planets.
Multi-agent systems propagate as ideas or “cognitive structures” that entail plans for how best to collaborate in fulfilling the respective needs the planets rule. In effect, a planetary pairing symbolizes a narrative that provides an explanation for the way things are and a strategy for how to proceed in order to achieve the joint goal. Such narratives are inherent in planetary combinations independent of the angles they form during particular phases of their synodic cycle.

Ideas that emerge from multi-agent systems not only have histories, as reflected in their synodic cycles, they also have consequences. Any number of different strategies can accompany a multi-agent system, some more functional than others. Core strategies are like entities that evolve over time and take different forms depending upon the signs they occupy and the particular phase (angle) they are currently forming.
With regard to Saturn-Neptune, the closing square signifies that Saturn and Neptune have reached a critical mass or tipping point in their mutual struggle to achieve a joint goal. Consequences of the unfolding 36-year cycle between Saturn and Neptune will manifest as certain types of phenomena, notably in government, as government is a Saturnian entity that can be observed, measured, and evaluated.

Government’s entanglement with Neptunian ideals will be especially apparent. During the closing square, events will occur that explicate the degree of integration in the collective psyche that Saturn and Neptune have achieved to date. In other words, the current story that undergirds their relationship is being tested. Is it wholly true, partly true? Is it functional? Is it the best we can do?

The ultimate ideal, of course, is for maximum differentiation and coordination of Saturn-Neptune so that their respective needs and functions are cooperating in perfect equilibrium. This might be reflected, for example, in some sort of global order inspired by a grounded, spiritual sensibility, a virtual heaven on earth, however remote and improbable that goal might seem. Preferably, Neptune infuses the natural hierarchical structure of society―individual, family, town, state, federal―from the bottom up, from the grass roots, from spiritual values inculcated in strong families and expressed through local churches, fraternal orders, service clubs, and voluntary non-profit organizations. Conversely, dangers lie in government policies that weaken the body-politic with misguided attempts to impose a utopian dreamworld from the top down.

Just as with individual human beings, the goal of a fully integrated Saturn-Neptune dynamic is a work in progress. Each planet is inseparably tied to the other as figure to ground. When Saturn is emphasized, Neptune is ground; when Neptune is emphasized, Saturn is ground. Each must perform its functions in its own realm, but always in relation to the other’s predominant values. Government has to perform its proper function of maintaining civic order, yet simultaneously accommodate the reality of human suffering brought about, for instance, by floods and other natural disasters. Neptune must pursue its spiritual ideal of transcendent unity, while recognizing that a government’s capacity to allocate time and resources to such ends is limited.

A fundamental principle of all squares is mutual influence and reciprocal resistance. While not being able to escape the others influence, each planet’s respective values are operating at cross-purposes. If optimally managed, inherent tensions can be welded into a composite that is stronger than either one separately. One example might be government regulations that mitigate against the outbreak of disease. Or a charitable organization which, by benefiting from tax-exempt status, is empowered to distribute resources to the needy.

More likely, however, one planet will defend itself by overfunctioning at the other’s expense. Again, this is due to the inherent difficulty of integrating forces that are operating at cross purposes. Dysfunctional strategies result from the overfunctioning planet consciously denigrating the values of the repudiated planet, while unconsciously and unavoidably being saturated with that planet’s values. The result is a compromise formation―an odd, uncoordinated mix of the two planets that to varying degrees impairs the functionality of both.

For example, a government might denigrate traditional religious values, undermine Christianity, and favor Darwinian evolutionary theory overIntelligent Design; while, at the same time, assuming the responsibilities of a charitable, quasi-spiritual organization dedicated to the relief of suffering on virtually every front―open borders, sanctuary cities, amnesty to illegal immigrants, universal health care, redistribution of wealth via progressive taxation, and expansion of entitlement programs such as social security, welfare, unemployment, disability, food stamps, and government guaranteed student loans―all of which saps the economy, exhausts tax revenues, drives up the national debt, and neglects the country’s infrastructure to the point of collapse. Note on the one hand that Saturn depreciates the authentic spirituality of Neptune, and on the other becomes so overextended from the misappropriation of Neptunian functions that it teeters on the brink of self-destruction.



The Hillary Clinton Scandals

It is not my intention here to make a case for the guilt or innocence of Hillary Clinton in relation to her recent troubles. Rather, I am interested in what they mean in the larger context of Saturn square Neptune. In other words, the controversies surrounding Hillary are not only an expression of her natal chart, but a symbol of an unfolding Saturn-Neptune mindset in which we all move and have our being. Let us begin with the facts about Benghazi.

On the evening of September 11, 2012, the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi Libya was decimated in a premeditated military-style attack by approximately 150 terrorists armed with automatic weapons and heavy artillery. The entire incident lasted about 13 hours in two separate attacks. Four Americans were killed, including ambassador Chris Stevens and information manager Sean Smith. CIA agents Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed in the second attack, and ten others were wounded. Surviving Special Forces members subsequently reported that they were ordered to stand down (not defend the compound) three times. They finally defied orders and went anyway.

In the aftermath, Hillary Clinton, in her role as Secretary of State, took responsibility for security lapses that left the U.S. post unprotected in the midst of Islamic terrorists that had sprouted in the blood soaked, toxic soil of former president Muammar Gaddafi’s death. The decision to deploy as few troops as possible to Libya was part of the Obama foreign doctrine of leaving a small footprint and not intimidating foreign governments with U.S. military might.^[2] Rather than admit the lethal consequences of their mistake, however, for the next two weeks Hillary and Obama repeatedly suggested the attack was due to a spontaneous protest triggered by an amateurish 13 minute anti-Islamic “trailer” produced by a U.S. Muslim and uploaded on YouTube.




When this narrative was challenged by reporters, Hillary and Obama sidestepped by referring to “an ongoing investigation.” Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, repeated the official line in five sequential television appearances: Benghazi was a protest that evolved into a spontaneous, unpremeditated attack provoked by a “hateful video” satirizing the prophet Muhammad.

There was, in fact, such a video, and it had provoked demonstrations in the Muslim world. But there was never any evidence that it inspired the Benghazi attack. Republicans suspected the video was a red herring to deflect attention from the real issue. For the prior two years, the American people had been told that al-Qaeda had been defeated. “Osama bin-Laden is dead and Al Qaeda is on the run” was Obama’s stump speech for his 2012 reelection campaign. Only months from the election, the attack on Benghazi contradicted the narrative and was thus a political liability.

During the weeks following the attack it was apparent that a carefully scripted official story was being systematically fed to the American public:That hateful video killed our boys. No other possibility was mentioned despite Libya’s new president, Mohamed Yusuf al-Magariaf, publically proclaiming on September 16: “The way these perpetrators acted and moved, and their choosing the specific date for this so-called demonstration, this leaves us with no doubt that this was preplanned, predetermined.”^[3]
Obama’s Rose Garden statement on September 12 did include, “No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation.” However, there’s an important difference between attributing acts of terror to a spontaneous uprising and admitting that Benghazi was a premeditated, well-orchestrated attack by al-Qaeda. That admission would not come until more than two weeks later in response to incontrovertible evidence that refuted the original narrative.

Meanwhile, both Hillary and Obama kept repeating that the attacks were due to an offensive video directed at the prophet Muhammad. As late as September 25, two weeks after the attacks, Obama said on another U.S. talk show, “The View”:

That is what we saw play out in the last two weeks, as a crude and disgusting video sparked outrage throughout the Muslim world. Now, I have made it clear that the United States government had nothing to do with this video, and I believe its message must be rejected by all who respect our common humanity.^[4]

Subsequent congressional investigations revealed that the CIA almost immediately received intelligence reports that there was no “protest” at Benghazi on September 11. In fact, the CIA’s initial September 12 executive update stated that “this was an intentional assault and not the escalation of a peaceful protest.”^[5] This language was subsequently dropped for reasons that in retrospect are clear. An email from top Obama aide Ben Rhodes lays bare the White House strategy. “Goals: To underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure of policy.”^[6]

That the preferred narrative was fabricated from the beginning is evident in Hillary Clinton’s initial press statement on 10:08 pm, September 11th, within an hour of the attack and while it was still ongoing.
Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet. The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation.^[7]


What is extraordinary about this statement is not merely that it’s a smokescreen, but the nature of the narrative itself. It subtly intimates that the cause of extremist violence is religious intolerance, and by implication any intolerance. Whether Hillary truly believes this is open to question, but that is the narrative they chose to propagate: violence is wrong, but intolerance is more wrong because it is the reason for violence.

An unexpected outcome of the congressional investigation was the discovery that Clinton was using a private server for official government correspondence. While 32,000 of her private emails were reportedly deleted after being requested, many were recovered.^[8] Of special significance are two, one sent the day of the attack and the other the day after. Within the hour following her September 11 press statement, Hillary wrote her daughter, Chelsea: “Two of our officers were killed in Benghazi by an al Qaeda-like group….Very hard day and I fear more of the same.”^[9]And in an email the following day, September 12, she recounts her conversation with the Egyptian foreign minister:




We know that the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack—not a protest. . . . Based on the information we saw today we believe the group that claimed responsibility for this was affiliated with al-Qaeda.^[10]


Two days later, September 14, Hillary attended the transfer of remains ceremony with the family members of those killed at Benghazi. In her official remarks at the ceremony, she stated: “We’ve seen rage and violence directed at American embassies over an awful internet video that we had nothing to do with.” Kate Quigley, sister of deceased Navy SEAL Glenn Doherty, said that Hillary again brought up the story about the phony Libyan protest in their private conversation. “When I think back now to that day and what she knew…it shows me a lot about her character that she would choose in that moment to basically perpetuate what she knew was untrue.”^[11]

Patricia Smith, mother of slain information officer Sean Smith, had this to say in her congressional testimony at the Benghazi hearings:



Obama and Hillary and Panetta and Biden and Susan [Rice] all came up to me at the casket ceremony. Every one of them came up to me, gave me a big hug, and I asked them, ‘what happened, please tell me.’ And every one of them said it was the video. And we all know that it wasn’t the video. Even at that time, they knew it wasn’t the video. So they all lied to me.^[12]


Likewise Charles Woods, father of Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, reported that when he gave Hillary a hug and shook her hand after the ceremony, she said, “We are going to have the filmmaker arrested who was responsible for the death of your son.”^[13] It doesn’t get any clearer than that. Not al-Qaeda, not Obama’s foreign policy of leading-from-behind, not Hillary’s failure to provide adequate security to the compound, but anti-Islamic sentiment killed the four Americans.
When confronted with these allegations, Clinton pushed back, saying that any contradictions in her statements about Benghazi were due to “the fog of war,” fragmentary and disjointed information that was “changing by the hour.”^[14] However, given the consistency and certainty of the Obama administration’s statements about the video, and given concerns about Obama’s re-election and Hillary’s looming run for the presidency, it is difficult not to conclude that Hillary was complicit in fabricating the politically expedient but ultimately false narrative. Such is the crux of the just released report of the House Select Committee on Benghazi:

Obama Administration officials, including the Secretary of State [Hillary Clinton], learned almost in real time that the attack in Benghazi was a terrorist attack. Rather than tell the American people the truth, the administration told one story privately and a different story publicly.^[15]


It is also worth noting that despite eight congressional investigations costing 20 million tax payer dollars, it has never been determined who was responsible for the order that U.S. forces stand down. Upon being informed of the attack on the afternoon of September 11 by then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Obama “immediately ordered the military to deploy all available assets.”^[16] Allegedly, he never modified or rescinded the order; yet, there were three stand-down orders according to CIA operatives who eventually disobeyed their superiors and rushed to rescue Ambassador Stevens in the burning compound. Moreover, no military assets were deployed to help the few men who fought 150 terrorists. The last two Americans were killed almost 8 hours after the attacks began. When Obama was solicited by the House Select Committee on Benghazi to address these unanswered questions, he refused to comply.^[17]


The Astrology of Benghazi

I have taken some time to detail the events surrounding Benghazi because they illustrate in microcosm a larger narrative symbolized by Saturn square Neptune. As expected, the current phase of the Saturn-Neptune cycle is crystallizing in events that reveal the relative integration of these two archetypal forces. While the events and subsequent cover-up of Benghazi occurred in 2012, the fact that it has been headline news since the fall of 2015 illustrates how planetary dynamics “pop” into acute manifestation during angles like the closing square.

An additional factor to consider is the sign positions of the two planets―Saturn in Sagittarius, and Neptune in Pisces. Since Neptune rules Pisces, its sign position does not add any new information other than it doubles-down on the basic psychology of Neptune, making it pure and strong. Saturn in Sagittarius, however, adds something new to the mix. After a brief tenancy prior to retrograding back into Scorpio, Saturn settled into Sagittarius to stay in September of 2015, where it will remain until December 2017.
Sagittarius symbolizes the principle of expansion, as exemplified in the search for truth and meaning. It rules the domain of higher learning, justice, law, ethics, morality, religion, philosophy, ideology, travel, and foreign affairs. Saturn’s two year sojourn through Sagittarius correlates to a serious, pragmatic focus on the aforementioned fields, especially with regard to perceived shortcomings and failures.

Saturn tends to contract, restrict, and reduce for the sake of economizing, cutting away unessential elements and getting to what is solid and real. In Sagittarius, examples are legion, from halting the spread of a toxic ideology like radical Islam to restricting the flow of illegal immigration. With regard to our central topic, however, it is epitomized in the House Select Committee on Benghazi, which released its final report on July 8, 2016. A highlight of the investigation was Hillary Clinton’s testimony in October 2015, right after Saturn ingressed into Sagittarius and during which there was a serious attempt to get to the bottom of what really happened and why. Hillary’s honesty in the entire matter was the overriding, central question.

It is the square between Saturn and Neptune, however, that tells the larger story. Recall that when two planets are square, one can overcompensate as a defense against the other while simultaneously being influenced by the repressed planet at an unconscious level. For example, Saturn in Sagittarius could signify an authority figure taking the moral high ground while projecting responsibility for the tragic outcomes of her own wrongdoing onto a convenient scapegoat. At a conscious level, she (Saturn) presents herself as wise and truthful (Sagittarius); yet, unconsciously is plagued by guilt (Neptune) that must be exported into the environment.

A more integrated version would entail an honest and humble admission of mistakes with a willingness to suffer the consequences, even if it means a momentary loss of status. However, until and unless Saturn’s square to Neptune is integrated, we can expect authority figures to employ false narratives as a defense against loss, suffering, and guilt.

In the Benghazi incident, all of this is immediately evident. Saturn is represented by Hillary and the Obama administration. Their foreign policy of leading from behind―anti-imperialist ethics, minimizing America’s influence abroad, and pulling back troops―is consistent with Saturn in Sagittarius square Neptune. According to the House Select Committee on Benghazi, a major reason for the attack was Hillary’s failure to provide requested troops for fear of offending Muslims.

As a result of this lead-from-behind foreign policy…[and] although the State Department considered Libya a grave risk to American diplomats in 2011 and 2012, our people remained in a largely unprotected, unofficial facility that one diplomatic security agent the committee interviewed characterized as ‘a suicide mission.’ ^[18]


This is especially interesting in light of Saturn’s square to Neptune. Recall that Neptune’s prime directive is transcendence such that all divisions that separate races, religions, and cultures are reconciled into a common unity. Applied to politics, this is a formula for world peace―the ultimate Neptunian ideal. Yet, a mature spirituality recognizes that the journey to world peace necessarily and inescapably involves suffering and the gradual dissolution of attachments that maintain separateness. Realistically, such a goal may require innumerable just wars and be thousands of years in the making from where we are now.^[19] Global unity is not something that can be forced; you cannot push the river and accelerate the pace of human evolution to comply with your political ambitions.

This is what I alluded to earlier when I said that planets in square operate at cross purposes. The Obama administration (Saturn) aspired to world peace (Neptune). Ending wars in the Middle East was a primary objective; yet, Obama did not want to endure the necessary suffering over the long term that such an ideal would exact. So, by forcing the issue and pulling out troops prematurely from Iraq, not holding the “red line” with Syria, and generally weakening our position in the Middle East, it created a power vacuum that al Qaeda and ISIS rushed in to fill.

The tragedy of Benghazi is symptomatic of a larger problem―a misguided attempt to force a premature unity―that has characterized the Obama administration from the beginning and, by implication, liberal foreign policy in general.^[20] Peace politics and the anti-war movement has always been linked to the Democratic Party. Yet, innumerable critics and U.S. Military leaders have pointed out that Obama’s legacy will be “endless war” precisely because he was afraid to actually fight one.^[21] As former Defense Secretary Robert Gates put it, “President Obama simply wanted the ‘bad’ war in Iraq to be ended.”^[22]

What I wish to suggest here is how Saturn’s resistance to Neptunian hardship (unintegrated square) is what brought hardship about. I am not proposing that loss and suffering of the sort that occurred in Benghazi is inevitable and thus we should do nothing. Rather, it is the failure to allow for at least some loss and suffering―that is, to be adequately prepared for it―that renders a system more vulnerable to the thing avoided. Hillary’s failure to protect the Embassy in Benghazi by providing adequate troops made working there a virtual “suicide mission” according to one of her own agents. And this says nothing about the mysterious stand down orders and failure to deploy U.S. military assets during the 13 hour siege.

Neptune’s signature strategy of denial and avoidance was further evident in the cover-up that followed. Rather than admit that the Benghazi tragedy was due to “a broader failure of policy,” as Ben Rhodes put it, Hillary and Obama doubled down and scapegoated the filmmaker who uploaded the anti-Islamist video. In so doing, they constructed an illusion (Neptune) that their authority (Saturn) was unimpeachable and their ideology (Sagittarius) unassailable, while projecting moral failure onto the makers of “a crude and disgusting video”. Their attempt to avoid a humiliating loss of political power echoed their larger strategy of wanting to achieve a premature global unity while avoiding the risks and hardships of war.

Jung’s dictum that “neurosis is born from a failure to endure legitimate suffering” applies equally well to the political arena. In Part II, we will examine the Saturn-Neptune origins of what may well be a political neurosis that has afflicted western culture for more than a century.

To be continued…


References
[1] Koestler, A. (1978). Janus: A summing up. New York: Vintage Books, p. 67
[2] “Select Committee on Benghazi Releases Proposed Report,” from The Select Committee on Benghazi, U.S. House of Representatives, July 8, 2016. http://benghazi.house.gov/NewInfo
[3] Kessler, Glenn. “From video to terrorist attack: a definitive timeline of administration statements on the Libya attack,” in The Washington Post, September 27, 2012. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/from-video-to-terrorist-attack-a-definitive-timeline-of-administration-statements-on-the-libya-attack/2012/09/26/86105782-0826-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_blog.html?tid=a_inl
[4] Ibid.
[5] Kessler, Glenn. “Is Hillary Clinton a ‘liar’ on Benghazi?” in The Washington Post, October 30, 2015.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/10/30/is-hillary-clinton-a-liar-on-benghazi/
[6] Hemingway, Mollie. “5 Big Takeaways From The House Benghazi Report,” in the Federalist, June 28, 2016.http://thefederalist.com/2016/06/28/5-big-takeaways-from-the-house-benghazi-report/
[7] Kessler, Glenn. “From video to terrorist attack: a definitive timeline of administration statements on the Libya attack,” in The Washington Post, September 27, 2012. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/from-video-to-terrorist-attack-a-definitive-timeline-of-administration-statements-on-the-libya-attack/2012/09/26/86105782-0826-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_blog.html?tid=a_inl
[8] Halper, Daniel. “FBI: Clinton was ‘extremely careless’ with email, but no charges,” New York Post, July 5, 2016.http://nypost.com/2016/07/05/fbi-wont-recommend-charges-in-clinton-email-probe/
[9] Kessler, Glenn. “Is Hillary Clinton a ‘liar’ on Benghazi?” in The Washington Post, October 30, 2015.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/10/30/is-hillary-clinton-a-liar-on-benghazi/
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] “Reviews of the Benghazi Attacks and Unanswered Questions,” First Session, September 19, 2013.http://www.gop.gov/resources/library/documents/benghazi/ogr-reviews-of-the-benghazi-attacks-and-unanswered-questions.pdf
[13] Kessler, Glenn. “Is Hillary Clinton a ‘liar’ on Benghazi?” in The Washington Post, October 30, 2015.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/10/30/is-hillary-clinton-a-liar-on-benghazi/
[14] Kamisar, Ben. “Clinton denies lying to Benghazi victim’s families,” in The Hill, March 09, 2016 at: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/272483-clinton-denies-lying-to-benghazi-victims-families
[15] “Select Committee on Benghazi Releases Proposed Report,” from The Select Committee on Benghazi, U.S. House of Representatives, July 8, 2016. http://benghazi.house.gov/NewInfo
[16] Bade, Rachel. “White House refuses Benghazi questions for Obama,” in Politico, 06/26/16, at: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/white-house-benghazi-obama-224813
[17] Bade, Rachel. Ibid
[18] Select Committee on Benghazi Releases Proposed Report,” from The Select Committee on Benghazi, U.S. House of Representatives, July 8, 2016. http://benghazi.house.gov/NewInfo
[19] Walzer, Michael. (2015). Just and unjust wars: A moral argument with historical illustrations. New York: Basic Books
[20] Obama, Barack, “Breaking the War Mentality,” Sundial, March 10, 1983, http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/obama-sundial.pdf
[21] Woodward, Bob. 2010. Obama’s Wars. New York: Simon and Schuster
[22] Gates, Robert. (2015). Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War. New York: Vintage Books

http://aaperry.com/saturn-square-neptune/

 

The Deep Astrological Context of October 2016

By Editor on October 4, 2016 0 Comments

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By Carl Boudreau


Jupiter recently entered Libra in the context of a major astrological transition. A powerful astrological configuration has dominated global affairs for something approaching half a century. This slow break up this configuration was the context of Jupiter’s Libra ingress.
The thought patterns and social, political and economic structures that this configuration called into being are being tested. The bill for work undone, for challenges unmet and problems neglected and mishandled are coming due.
An immense, concentrated flow of powerful energies are being re-mixed, rechanneled and re-purposed. I believe the best way, perhaps the only way, to effectively convey the scale and complexity of this transition is to take what folks in the news media refer to as “A Closer Look,” or a “Deep Dive.”
I think it is only by going over the details that we will gain an understanding of what we are up against.


The Oligarchic Alignment

By late 1971, the three outer planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, had all begun lengthy transits of the six signs (Libra thru Pisces) associated with our professional and governing elites. We might refer to these signs collectively as the institutional or administrative signs.
By the end of 1980, Saturn and Jupiter had joined Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in the administrative signs. In other words, Jupiter and Saturn also became part of what, for reasons that will soon become apparent, I refer to as the oligarchic alignment.
The basic three-planet alignment remained in effect for nearly forty years. Singly or together, Jupiter and Saturn would also have been part of that alignment for much of that time.


Force Multipliers

We need to take a moment to grasp just how much power was concentrated in this alignment and for how long.
The three outer planets are especially powerful. Individually, each exercise immense influence over an entire region of collective consciousness for an extended period. Collectively, they strongly influence the totality of collective consciousness. Their influence is global.
This influence is intensified when all three bodies are concentrated in one part of the Zodiac. It’s even greater when, was the case, the signs involved include the home signs of all three planets (Uranus/Aquarius, Neptune/Pisces, Pluto/Scorpio). These planets also had a home field advantage. It’s greater when this tight concentration spans decades, as it did in this case.
We’re talking about the lion’s share energy in the Zodiac working in close coordination in their own section of the Zodiac. Combined, these three planets probably accounted for most of the creative energies at work in the Zodiac from 1971 until very recently.
Placement in the institutional signs, Libra thru Pisces (the signs of the 1%), is another major force multiplier. Combined, these six signs and their ruling planets govern the totality of global, political and economic power in the world. The institutional/administrative signs and their native planets have comprehensive, long-term effects on a global scale.
The power in this alignment would have been augmented while Jupiter and Saturn were also transiting these six institutional signs. It would have been even further augmented in those months of the year when the inner planets were transiting these same signs. All the energy in the Zodiac was concentrated in these signs for significant stretches.


Pluto Over All

One way to assess the relative strength of planets is by their place in a given planetary cycle. For example, we can gauge the overall strength of Pluto in this alignment by its place in the Uranus/Pluto and Neptune/Pluto cycles. By this measure, Pluto, dominated the entire oligarchic alignment for its entire existence.
Pluto is known for the exercise of raw power. The terms “brute force”, “absolute power”, “total domination”, “unrelenting control” and “obsessive manipulation” are typically associated with Pluto. In so many words, the power inherent in the oligarchic alignment would have been driven by the relentless power of Pluto.


The Duration

As the planets transited month by month, year by year, the astrological power concentrated in the oligarchic alignment would have fluctuated marginally. But it would have remained at high levels throughout.
At no point would the astrological power in the remaining six signs – the signs associated with the 99% (Aries thru Virgo) – come even close to the power concentrated in Libra thru Pisces at its lowest.
Given the way sign rulerships and relative planetary power works, the energies of Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars would tend to fall into line behind the more powerful, slower moving outer planets.
For decades, as a practical matter, by virtue of derivative house relationships, the Pluto/Neptune/Uranus/Saturn/Jupiter alignment would have determined how Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars energies expressed.
Theoretically, people should have been moved to resist the formation of an oppressive and exploitative global oligarchy. Perhaps some were. However, the effect of what resistance there was appears, in retrospect, to have been minimal or judging by the damage done, insufficient.
There were bound to have been some striking variations, oscillations, anomalies and seeming exceptions along the way. But these would not have changed the overall picture. Neither would minor errors in astrological calculation. The oligarchic alignment was in full force, operating under Pluto’s firm hand for the better part of 50 years.
We are necessarily painting in broad strokes. However, this much seems certain. We’re dealing with a complex, unusually potent and long-lived astrological formation with many moving parts in place and operative for something approaching a half century.
That process and the policies, practices and institutions that came into existence during its tenure are currently in the process of breaking up. We’re talking about disorder on a grand scale and the epidemic psychospiritual stress that comes with it.


Global Oligarchy

The outsized energetic advantage of the global elites translated into even greater economic, social and political advantage than they already enjoyed simply by virtue of their position in society. As is now quite clear, this intense concentration of planetary power in administrative signs – the signs of the governing elites – rather quickly translated into global oligarchy.
The power of national elites became even greater when, as a matter of course, local and national oligarchs grew, combined and grew into global oligarchy – global rule by a small, wealthy and powerful elite.


Why a Global Oligarchy?

There is nothing inherently or necessarily oligarchical in the astrological signs, houses, planets and aspects or in the archetypal principles and themes associated with them. In fact, too, I think we were meant to resist the temptation to oligarchy.
It seems clear why oligarchic trends prevailed if we take into account our economic and political legacy as a race. The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few, or even a single individual, is a historical commonplace. There are countless examples of such.
Let us just say that as a result of this history, layer upon layer of pro-oligarchic patterning was sedimented in global collective consciousness. Given this legacy, it is not difficult to understand how a massive, exclusive, generations-long concentration of planetary power in the signs of already wealthy and powerful elites would give rise to global oligarchy.
We might say that given our history and the existence of this alignment, the emergence of a global oligarchy was overdetermined, perhaps even massively overdetermined.


Oligarchs Gone Wild

With Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in houses controlled by the 1%, the 1% decided what if anything ever warranted protest or needed reform (Uranus). They were empowered to chose which ideals would guide us (Neptune). They also decided who should hold power, how it should be wielded and why (Pluto).
For much of the time, the oligarchs also decided what was logical and legal (Saturn), who would become wealthy, how wealthy they would become, who would share in that wealth and why (Jupiter).
For going on half a century, the oligarchs made virtually all the rules. They won every hand. They decided every case. By the end, they called every shot.
But that was us, drinking our own oligarchic kool aid. We followed the yellow brick road that we ourselves had paved to global oligarchy.


The Break Out Moment(s)

The planets in the alignment had no rivals. To break the power of the oligarchic alignment, and not just vary it, one or more of the three outer planets in the alignment would have to move out of the six institutional signs into Aries.
In practice, that meant Uranus, which was coming within striking distance of its Aries ingress. When Uranus entered Aries in 2010-11 the extraordinarily powerful alignment behind global oligarchic madness began breaking up.
In Aries, Uranus’s independence of the oligarchic alignment was real but not complete. It was no longer in one of the institutional signs was no longer a part of the oligarchic alignment. In Aries, the loyalties of Uranus shifted to the signs of the 99%.
However, in terms of planetary cycles, Uranus was still subordinate to both Pluto and Neptune. They still exercised significant influence over how Uranus’s energies might express. Also, Aquarius, the home sign of Uranus was itself an institutional sign.
Looking back on 2010-11, it is clear that the spirit of protest and reform did reawaken in the 99%. The 1% did find themselves on the defensive.
When it moved into Aries, Uranus formed a square with Pluto which was exact 7 times over a period of 3 years (2012-15). You will also recall the conflicts like those of the Arab Spring, triggered by the Uranus/Pluto square.


Call for Backup

Liberal and progressive candidates won high office but their hands were still tied by the oligarchic establishment. Some political leaders just exploited the rebellious spirit to set up populist dictatorships. Uranus in Aries wasn’t going to be enough.
So some of us awakened under the influence of Uranus in Aries, but most remained under the spell of oligarchy. It was going to take more to weaken the alignment’s hold on our political and economic imaginations and, by extension, its hold on our affairs.
Neptune is next in line to leave the alignment, but it won’t enter Aries until 2025-26. Realistically, to break the grip of oligarchy we’d need an assist from one of the inner planets, namely Saturn. It is the only inner planet with the heft to put a dent in the power of the alignment.


Saturn’s Big Ingress – the Mutable T-Square.

This brings us to the Saturn Sagittarius ingress of 2014-15. In late 2015, Saturn transitioned from Scorpio into Sagittarius for the full transit.
In Sagittarius, Saturn is actually within the oligarchic alignment. Also, by virtue of its position in the various planetary cycles, Sagittarius already had significant leverage over the energies in the alignment.
Unlike its earlier transit of the institutional signs (in the 80s and 90s), however, Saturn was not under Pluto’s thumb. Saturn had true leverage. Common sense has, in fact, been gaining ground in public discussion.


Saturn Weighs In

Overall, though, in terms of planetary cycles, Saturn gained only marginally by moving into Sagittarius. Taken by itself, Saturn in Sagittarius account for only part of the improvement.
Far more importantly, I think, in Sagittarius, Saturn formed a mutable T-Square. This T-Square was the perfect vehicle for Saturn’s energies and it dramatically enhanced Saturn’s sobering, salutary influence on global affairs.
The mutable T-Square put the breaks on the creation and spread of oligarchic ideology. People became increasingly aware of oligarchy’s downside and critical of measures taken to support it.
The mutable T-Square is an engine of truth, reason, moral rectitude and spiritual uplift, a perfect complement to, or extension of, Saturn’s native powers. Locking The North Node, Jupiter and Saturn into an adversarial relationship with Neptune effectively checked the influence of the oligarchs.
The mutable T-Square is now acting as a serious restraint on the once reckless, feckless exercise of oligarchic power. The age old illusions that inspired oligarchy and the misconceptions that made it so appealing are increasingly coming in for scrutiny.
You will doubtless have noticed the sharp increases in investigative journalism, exposés, whistleblowing, information leaks, fact finding and fact checking generally. Protest movements are gaining ground. Leaders have begun calling our oligarchy what it is. They are also actively discussing alternative governing philosophies.
There has been increased pushback against the lies and illusions that support the oligarchy. Also, the oligarch’s exercise of power exclusively on their own behalf is meeting with increasing resistance.
Having said all that, energy combinations that include Saturn and Pluto are typically harsh. All the better, then, to know that Jupiter’s influence over the oligarchic alignment is now growing.
Even with Uranus in Aries, Saturn in Sagittarius and the mutable T-Square, considerable strength remains in the oligarchic alignment. Global momentum toward oligarchy continues.


Jupiter Re-Enters the Oligarchic Alignment

As I wrote in September’s post, when Jupiter entered Libra it moved from a position of marked impairment to one of relative empowerment.
The energies of the alignment were already being exercised under Saturn’s stern, disciplined eye. Jupiter’s Libra ingress will add the energies of spiritual uplift, human decency, compassion, generosity and optimism to the mix.
Jupiter’s movement into Libra will further moderate and mitigate the effects of the oligarchic alignment. Over time, it will loosen Pluto’s obsessive grip on our affairs and lessen the harshness of its influence.
Moving into Libra, an institutional sign, gave Jupiter full standing in the oligarchic alignment. In terms of planetary cycles, its current position in the Jupiter/Saturn, Jupiter/Neptune and Jupiter/Pluto cycles grant it leverage over all three of these bodies.
In the coming year, as Jupiter moves quickly toward Scorpio, Jupiter will also achieve definitive leverage over Uranus in Aries. In Scorpio, Jupiter will also enjoy a more harmonious relationship with Pluto and a more intimate, positive interaction with Saturn.
Jupiter is above all, a generous and compassionate influence. In Libra, with its leverage over Saturn, Pluto, and Neptune, it will inject common sense and decency into the fraught, vexed negotiations between the 99% and the 1%.
As I mentioned above, Neptune is next in line to leave the alignment, but it won’t enter Aries until 2025-26. That being so, we must depend on incremental change for continuing improvement. We will have to work hard for the next decade with the planetary resources already in place.


The Mills of the Gods Grind Slowly

September’s Jupiter Libra ingress could not immediately compensate for all the difficulties of August’s and September’s charts. Nor could it compensate for everything that had gone before, nor for the continuing unfoldment of events already in motion.
Neither could Jupiter’s Libra ingress compensate for all the difficulties inherent in the immense and complex transition now taking place.
Under present astrological circumstances, no single planetary ingress could do that. We are just in the midst of a lengthy, complicated and difficult transition.
If the pace of change were slower, it would be agonizing. If it were faster, change would be even more dangerously disruptive than it already is.
Having said all that, October’s vibes will be easier and less treacherous with Jupiter’s Libra ingress than without it.


October 2016

The full implications of the above are difficult to quite grasp. However, the events of October offer an opportunity for a closer, illuminating look at what we can expect in the immediate future.


Too Many Memories

We’ve just endured three eclipses in two months. Eclipses tend to bring life changing events and epochal, irreversible social, economic and political changes. Corners tend to be turned. There tend to be consequences. Chickens come home to roost.
There will be no eclipses in October. That will have to be an improvement. However, the lack of eclipses, will not necessarily bring calm or afford peace of mind.
The memory of recent events will keep people alert and on edge. We will be dealing with the aftershocks, the follow on effects, of these three eclipses. If only because of what we have been through, tension and anxiety will likely remain high. But October will have its own, additional sources of disquiet.


Too Many Moons for Comfort

In October, there will be an ‘excess of lunar energy’ to contend with. Essentially, we have a two month period (September and October) with three New Moons worth of energy to process.
This will bring higher than normal levels of mental and emotional volatility, especially after a series of three eclipses. The extra New Moon will make the psychospiritual pot boil more vigorously generally.

New Moon in Libra, Sept 30/Oct. 1, 2016 UT
Full Moon in Aries, October 16, 2016 UT
New Moon in Scorpio, October 30, 2016 UT


The Big One

We’ll also need to contend with a Mars/Pluto conjunction.
Mars Conjunct Pluto at 15º 4’ Capricorn, October 19 UT

The conjunction will be a powerfully disruptive event in and of itself. Both Pluto and Mars will be in forward motion. The conjunction is taking place in cardinal signs. Also, this is the first (and only) time the conjunction will be exact. These factors suggest a powerful detonation.
The Mars/Pluto conjunction will build on the aftershocks of the eclipses. The general excess of lunar energy will further multiply its psychosocial side effects.
The Mars/Pluto conjunction on October 19, then, looks like a high impact Mars/Pluto encounter. It will doubtless generate some very upsetting headlines in the runup, during, and in the aftermath of the blast.
The natural and man made disasters, the violent confrontations, the bitter public controversies it inflames will be impressive, I think. But the potentially catastrophic effects will be the least of it. They are likely to be limited in number and localized.
The conjunction’s effects on our politics, however, will be intense and pervasive and, in all likelihood, will affect most of us quite personally.


New Fire in the Embers

Countless bitterly contested issues remain unresolved from the Uranus/Pluto square of 2012-15. These innumerable, often vexed issues – many sharply contested – still simmer, ready to flare anew.
The issues still simmering from the Uranus/Pluto square grew out of tensions that built up between the 1% and the 99% over several decades. These issues, in their turn, have roots very deep in our collective history. The Mars/Pluto conjunction will be strong enough to expose these roots.
The restorative energies of Jupiter/Venus and Saturn will then be applied to healing and resolving these issues.


Mixing Painful and Healing Emotions

I think the best way to understand this complex, delicate and volatile prices is by looking at the dispositor chart for the conjunction. In this chart, the scary bits are clearly represented.
Uranus is in Aries, the home sign of Mars. Mars and Pluto are in Capricorn, the natural sign of Saturn. Sober Saturn has the last word in this potentially explosive quartet.
But from Saturn the baton passes to Jupiter in mutual reception with Venus. Benevolent energies of Jupiter and the sweet energies of Venus, between them, get the final word.
We see a dual process. The Mars/Pluto blast will open fault lines. Sealed passages will split open. Dormant issues will flow out amid pain and outrage.
Then, in quick succession, the sobering energies of Saturn, the soothing and healing energies of Venus and Jupiter will be applied.
The real positives of October will come from the impetus and the unusual opportunity to resolve deep and vital issues with a rare combination of healing and restorative energies.
October will not bring instant and total relief. It will bring an extraordinary opportunity to revisit and work toward a resolution of difficult issues, effectively laying the groundwork for a new world, free of much that hobbled the old world.

As part of a continuing effort to keep my astrology work accessible to all, I am posting a link to my Google+ profile for those who might find it useful as an alternative to FB.
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Source: Carl Boudreau Astrology on Facebook

http://www.theeventchronicle.com/metaphysics/metascience/deep-astrological-context-october-2016/#

 

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