THE ASTROLOGY OF 2008-2015

Below is my first ever piece of astrological writing. It was written in early 2004, and subsequently published in the Astrological Association Journal. It is a predictive piece, and I wasn't erring on the side of caution with my predictions! But I make no apologies for that.

THE ASTROLOGY OF 2008 – 2015

Much has been made of the ancient Mayan prophecies for the year 2012. Most prophecies don’t seem to come true, and why people choose to attach significance to one set of prophecies and not another is an interesting question. Perhaps the answer in this case is to be found in the chart of the moment when the Mayan prophecies began to be promulgated in the modern West.

That said, the years 2008 to 2015 are very interesting from a modern western astrological viewpoint. My prediction – which I will try to justify – is that there will be an oil crisis that will change everything. This crisis will come about either because the supply will at last be unable to meet the ever-growing demand, and/or because the major powers, anxious about the continuity of supplies, will take pre-emptive action. The major powers may become to some extent military societies as their survival is threatened, and they may take over many of the oil-producing countries in order to secure supplies, as well as fighting amongst themselves. Nuclear weapons will probably play a part in this. This situation will result in a worldwide crisis in which governments, sovereignties, state boundaries and the basic way we structure our societies will change radically. There will eventually be a Second Great Depression and possibly a reversal of the trend towards globalisation and free trade. Positively, the unreality of basing our economies around an ephemeral source of energy will gradually become accepted. The trend towards an Americanised global monoculture may be reversed as our modern oil-based materialism is no longer able to sustain itself. There will be technological breakthroughs into the use of alternative, more sustainable, energy sources, as well as into the creation of nuclear fusion reactors. This may help lift us out of the Second Great Depression.

Before I go further, the astrological configurations I am talking about are firstly the square between Uranus (early Aries) and Pluto (early Capricorn) from approx 2010 to 2015, with Saturn creating a t-square in 2010, and with Jupiter latching on in 2010 and 2013/2014; and secondly the conjunction between Chiron and Neptune in late Aquarius from approx 2008 to 2012, with Saturn opposing them individually in the run up to 2008, and with Jupiter conjoining them for 2009.

I’ll be presenting a list later of the remarkable extent to which these planets will be transiting the charts of countries throughout the world. It is this list more than anything that convinces me that major worldwide change is on its way.
As an example of what I’m talking about, the Chiron-Neptune-Jupiter Conjunction will conjoin the American Moon at 27 Aquarius (Sibley Chart) – the people – in 2009/10. Neptune – oil. Jupiter – inflation. Chiron – a wound that won’t go away, but which contains the potential for insight. Then we have the American Sun at 13 Cancer. In 1977 tr Pluto squared it exactly, and in the previous few years there had been a crisis for the Presidency over Watergate. In 2014 tr Pluto will oppose the American Sun, and tr Uranus will square it. Enough said.

There is also a connection between Chiron-Neptune-Jupiter and nuclear weapons which I will go into later.

The Chart for OPEC (the cartel which controls much of the world’s production and supply of oil) has Saturn at 11 Capricorn on the 2nd House Cusp. This obviously refers to its oil wealth and the control it exercises over it. This control is going to be blasted apart in the years leading to 2013, when tr Pluto/Uranus hits that Saturn (as well as OPEC’s 8th House Moon – its member countries with their ‘shared’ wealth’). This could be because the oil has started to dry up – Saturn – and/or because other countries move in and take over to ensure their own supplies. This is reflected in the Sun of one Arab country after another being hit by the coming transits.

The Chart for the first oil strike (in Pennsylvania in 1859) has an Ascendant at 13 Capricorn, which will be transited by Uranus-Pluto in 2014; and Sun at 5 Virgo in the 8th House, which will be opposed by 2nd House tr Chiron-Neptune in 2012/2013. The history of the use and availability of oil is clearly up for radical change. The fact that Neptune will be passing through the 2nd House suggests that the oil crisis will not just be about competition for supplies, but also an actual shortage of them.

I think we are seeing the lead up to this oil crisis beginning already. Oil companies have been having problems for a while finding new reserves, to such an extent that Shell is now in big trouble for overstating its reserves. There was also of course the war in Iraq, fuelled partly by American nervousness about future supplies of oil (Unlike many, I don’t believe it was the only major factor in the war: there seemed to be, for example, something obsessive and intensely personal in George Bush’s desire to get rid of Saddam. Also, more mythologically, both Bush and Blair were/are practising Christians, taking their countries on a crusade against an evil that just happened to be Muslim!)
In 1945 there was a conjunction of Chiron-Neptune-Jupiter at 4 Libra. From 2008 to 2012 we have the completion of the Chiron-Neptune cycle that began in 1945, and again Jupiter will be joining them for a while. One could argue that it was only in the post-war world that the grandiose, unsustainable, polluting oil-based economy (Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune) really took off (particularly as it conjoined the US MC at 1 Libra), and that as that cycle comes to an end around 2009 the chickens will come home to roost, the fantasy (Neptune) will be over, and the potential for insight into this flawed era will be present (Chiron). No doubt, as well, a whole replacement set of fantasies will emerge!

In 2006 and 2007 there will be a Neptune-Saturn opposition in the heavens, which may well manifest as apparently soluble difficulties around oil supplies, but will probably turn out to be the harbinger of the incurable (Chiron) full-blown crisis that it will turn into from 2008 onwards.

From 2006 to 2008, tr Neptune-Chiron conjoins the Chiron-Node conjunction in the Chart for the 1st oil strike, and tr Saturn opposes it. This seems to confirm what has already been said.

Pluto is squaring the OPEC Sun and the US Neptune at 22 Virgo this year (2004), and was approaching the square last year. I think we therefore have to see the Iraq war as marking a fundamental and permanent shift in US policy towards the Middle East, a shift whose nature is not yet fully clear. But it may well be that we look back and see the Iraq war as the beginning of the political shift that will eventually result in the large scale take-over of oil-producing Arab countries. In the meantime, OPEC has been keeping the price of oil artificially high by claiming it is going to cut production and then maximising its income by not doing so. In the context of the current transits, this may prove to be a dangerous game to play. The US, anxious about oil supplies, is probably in no mood to be messed around like this.

Pluto entering Capricorn from 2008 onwards suggests fundamental change in things Capricornian i.e. governments, the structures and traditions of society, state boundaries and commerce. This is intensified by the fact that Pluto will be transiting significant points in the charts of all the major powers. This restructuring may be partly military (Uranus in Aries), for reasons given, but will also be about a new vision (Uranus in Aries) for a society that is having to wean itself off its dependence on oil.

As regards technological change, it is pretty obvious that this oil crisis will create real economic pressure for new energy technologies, and humankind usually responds pretty inventively when it is forced to. If there is currently a conspiracy by the oil and motor corporations to prevent development of alternative technologies, that conspiracy will be blasted out of the water by sheer necessity.

Astrologically, we could interpret Saturn-Uranus-Pluto as powerful (Pluto) technological breakthrough (Saturn-Uranus) fuelled by necessity/survival issues (Pluto). This seems to me to be one of the potentially really nice things about the coming crisis. With Uranus entering Aries we can expect a new, dynamic and original vision for alternative technologies, taking place within fundamentally restructured societies (Pluto in Capricorn).

It would be very interesting to see charts for e.g. the first electric car, hydrogen fuel cells, modern wind power, wave power and solar cells. There is also, of course, nuclear power. Fission reactors don’t seem to have a great future due to inefficiency and pollution. Fusion reactors, however, may start to come into their own, for better or for worse, during this period, and again it would be interesting to see a chart based on current attempts to create a sustainable reaction. I will be presenting at the end some comments based around the Charts for the first controlled nuclear reaction and the 1st offshore wind turbine in the UK.

Some people predict a paradigm shift in consciousness over this period. I’m not so optimistic. Nor am I pessimistic. I just think human nature will continue to be human nature as it always has been, and any collective progress in consciousness will be short-lived – the next war or natural disaster will see to it! But at least we may end up, for the time being, with a world that is more sustainable, even though there will probably be a lot of suffering in getting to that point.

So here is a list of the hard transits (i.e. conjunctions, squares or oppositions) to significant points in the charts of many countries worldwide. To make it digestible, I have looked at just the Sun, Moon, Angles, Saturn and Nodes. Of course, statistically at least one of those points is probably going to be transited in most countries over that period, so perhaps the list isn’t saying that much. On the other hand if we take, say, the Sun, and see in how many countries it is being hit by the transits, then I think the list starts to look quite remarkable.

I’ll look into it all in a bit more detail after I’ve given the list. I have tried to choose all the major countries in selected areas of the world. For all charts in this article (except for the 1st offshore UK Wind Farm) I have used Nicholas Campion’s Book of World Horoscopes (Cinnabar Books, 1999.) Countries often have more than one chart, and though my decisions about which chart to use were not rigorous, they were NOT based on which charts had the most transits to them! Lots of countries have an uncertain moment of creation, so I did not take into account the Angles, and sometimes the Moon, in those cases. So the MCs, ASCs and Moons are under-represented in this list. I have asterisked those countries to which this applies.

For the Chiron-Neptune Conjunction, I was looking for points between 20 degrees of the fixed signs and 5 degrees of the mutable signs. For the Uranus-Pluto Square, I was looking for points in the last 3 degrees of the mutable signs and the first 15 degrees of the cardinal signs.

So here is the list (sorry about all the dotted lines, but my blogger refused to accept simple spaces!And sorry about the uneven spacing - it didn't want to play ball there either!):

Hard Transit from….Uranus-Pluto-Saturn……Chiron-Neptune
SE ASIA
Burma……………........Sun…………………….............Saturn, Node
Cambodia………….....Moon, Node
Thailand……………....Sun
Vietnam………….......Sun………………………...........ASC, Moon
Laos……………….......Moon, Node
Malaysia……………………………………….................Moon
Philippines……….....Sun………………………...........ASC
Indonesia…………....Sun, Moon, Node
Australia………….....Sun, Saturn……………….....Moon, Node
New Zealand……….Sun


MIDDLE EAST
OPEC……………......Moon, Saturn
UAE…………………………………………...............…ASC, Saturn
Egypt…………….....MC, Saturn, Node, Moon
Libya…………….....Sun, Saturn…………….........Node
Saudi Arabia*……Sun
Qatar……………....Moon……………....................Sun, Saturn
Yemen…………………………...……………............Sun, MC, ASC
Kuwait*…………..Sun……………...……..............Moon, Node
Iran…………….....ASC, MC, Moon
Bahrain*……………..……………...………............Sun, Moon
Brunei……………Sun, ASC, MC
Algeria…………...Sun
Palestine……………...………….…………........... Moon, Node
Israel……………...……………...…………….........Sun
Iraq……………...……………...……………...........Sun, ASC
Jordan*……………...……………...………….......Sun
Lebanon*……………………………………..........Sun
Morocco……………………………………............ASC, Saturn
Tunisia………………………………………...........MC, ASC, Saturn
Syria*…………..Sun
Oman*………….Moon……………………..........Saturn, Node
Turkey………….Moon, ASC

NEAR EAST
India……………..MC, ASC, Node
Pakistan………………………………………........Sun, Node

FAR EAST
China……………Sun…………………………......MC
Taiwan………….Sun………………………....….Node
Japan…………...ASC, Moon, Saturn………..Node
South Korea*…Moon………………………......Sun, Saturn
North Korea*………………………………….....Saturn
Mongolia……….Moon, ASC

EUROPE
Russia…………...Sun, Node……………….….Moon, ASC
UK (1801)……..Sun, ASC, MC, Node…….Saturn
Spain………….…Moon………………………....Sun, Node
France…………..Sun, MC
Italy……………………………………………......ASC, Moon, Saturn
Germany……….Sun, MC
Greece*…………Sun, Saturn
Austria…………………………………………....Moon, Saturn
Belgium*……….Sun………..………………....Saturn
Bulgaria.………..Moon, Saturn
Cyprus………….Saturn…………………….…Sun, MC
Czech Rep........Saturn, Moon, ASC
Slovakia...........MC, ASC, Sun, Moon
Eire...................MC, Moon.........................Saturn
Finland.............Node
Iceland.............ASC, Saturn
Netherlands*..............................................Saturn
Norway........................................................Saturn, Node, ASC, MC
Sweden............NOTHING
Switzerland.................................................MC, ASC, Saturn
Portugal...........Sun, MC
EU (Treaty of Rome)..Sun, ASC, MC
FTSE 100.........Sun, MC

N.AMERICA
USA.......................MC, Sun, Saturn..............Moon
New York Stock..Node..................................Sun
Exchange
1st atomic explosion..Saturn, Node
Canada..................Sun, MC............................Moon
Mexico*................Sun....................................Node
United Nations.....Node, MC

I want to look now at the last time there were similar configurations to see if that gives us any more information.

The last square between Uranus and Pluto was also cardinal – Aries- Cancer – and lasted from approx 1931 to 1936. At the start, 1931 and 1932, Saturn turned it into a t-square for a couple of years, channelling the Uranus-Pluto energies into manifestation. This would seem to reflect, amongst other things, the rise of fascist military dictatorships and the resulting World War, as well as the Great Depression. Certainly there was a Uranus-Pluto radical restructuring, in this case ultimately a whole new world order.

To give specific examples, the 1930s Uranus-Pluto square was transiting the MC of Nazi Germany in its early years, prior to which it transited the Moon of the Weimar republic. And Pluto was transiting the Sun, Moon and Angles of Italy throughout the 1920s, with Uranus following suit from 1929 onwards. Nothing much seemed to be happening with the 1889 chart for Japan, which suggests that perhaps the Chart is wrong. Uranus-Pluto did, however, transit its Node at 21 Cancer, which maybe suggests that the Node is a sensitive point for Japan (see later).

At the time of the Wall Street Crash in 1929, Pluto was just finishing opposing the 2nd House Cusp of the US Chart at 16 Capricorn – a perfect description for the Great Depression that the crash portended. Uranus squared it a couple of years later, and then squared natal 2nd house Pluto at 27 Capricorn. This was the time of the New Deal. Pluto opposing natal 2nd House Pluto in the mid to late thirties corresponded to the Great Depression coming to an end, and a re-invigorated American economy.

The coming cardinal t-square between Uranus, Pluto and Saturn is not as tight as in the 1930s, and it is mostly out of sign, with either Uranus slipping back into Pisces, or Saturn into Virgo. So I would predict some sort of similarity with what happened then, but not as intense. I predict wars and conquests and losses of nationhood, but not as barbaric or as all-engulfing. I also predict economic depression brought about by the oil crisis, out of which will emerge a new type of economy. At the same time, because of the quite remarkable way that the Suns in the charts of nearly all the most powerful nations are hit by the transits, I think that the consequences of this prolonged crisis will be more far reaching than WWII. Even though Uranus and Pluto transited the Suns of e.g. the US and the UK in the 1920s and 1930s, they did so separately, whereas this time they will do so simultaneously and therefore probably more powerfully, as they did for the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany.

Taking America as a guide for what will happen economically, with its 2nd House Cusp at 16 Capricorn, this point will be transited by Uranus from 2014 and Pluto from 2016. Bearing in mind the 1930s, we can predict a long Depression that will end when Pluto conjuncts natal Pluto in 2022. The economy will have a new form (Capricorn), so the present basic forms, such as globalisation, free trade and unrestricted capitalism are likely to take a knocking. This Second Great Depression comes towards the end of the Uranus-Pluto Square, and after the Neptune-Chiron conjunction, suggesting that America, and possibly the other major powers, will not be affected economically by the oil crisis in its early years, probably due to their take-over of many of the oil-producing countries.

Let’s take an approximate list of the economically most powerful countries: US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Canada, Russia, China, Spain, Italy, Australia. 9 out of 11 of these countries will have their Sun’s transited by Uranus-Pluto or Neptune-Chiron. Statistically we would expect about 4. And let’s take a look at the non-African Middle East countries. Not all of them are oil producers, but there is still a lot of interrelation. Statistically would expect 5 out of 14 to have their Suns hit, whereas in reality 11 will be.

If we were just meeting the statistical expectations for these transits, it would still be an unusually intense time, because both transits are doubles – Uranus-Pluto and Neptune-Chiron – and both are occurring close in time to each other. But on top of that, when we look at the flashpoint of rich countries and the Middle East, and the doubling or more of the expected rate of transits to the Suns, then it becomes obvious that something really major is going to be happening.

It is interesting that the Suns of the most powerful countries, except for Spain, are being hit by the Uranus-Pluto transit, whereas in the case of the Middle Eastern countries it is as much the Chiron-Neptune transit that is hitting their Suns. This maybe suggests in the case of the Middle Eastern countries a loss (tr Chiron-Neptune) because of oil (tr Neptune) of sovereignty (Sun) as they get taken over by more powerful oil-hungry nations anxious to secure supplies. And tr Uranus-Pluto maybe suggests the arising of a military attitude in the more powerful nations, who see their survival (tr Pluto) and progress (tr Uranus) at stake. The Middle East may become nothing more than a series of oil depots supplying the world’s most powerful nations.

We need also to look at what was happening the last time there was a Chiron-Neptune conjunction, which was in September 1945 at 4 Libra, conjunct Jupiter and square to Saturn.

What had happened one month earlier was Hiroshima. The above conjunction was close to the US MC at 1 Libra, and in a ghastly way symbolically describes what happened. Chiron – incurable wound, Neptune – boundless loss and vaporisation, Jupiter – big, Saturn – let’s actually make and drop a bomb. In a macabre way, Libra reflects the justification put forward by the Americans in terms of minimising the overall loss of life in the war. Libra can be sufficiently detached/alienated from instinct and from life to make such calculations.

Looking at Chiron-Neptune as a cycle of nuclear weapons-related events, we had the conjunction in 1945 (Hiroshima); the outgoing square in 1954 (the first Russian H-Bomb and the consequent idea of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)); the opposition in 1989-90 (the beginning of the disintegration of the USSR, the end of the Cold War and the receding of the nuclear threat); the incoming square in 1996-97 (couldn’t find any correspondences, suggestions welcome); and we have the next conjunction in 2009-10.

So there seems to be a fair bit of evidence to suggest a link between Chiron-Neptune and nuclear weapons. Last time the conjunction was on the US MC. In 2009-10 it will be at another very sensitive point, the US Moon at 27 Aquarius, but more exact. At the same time, the US progressed Moon will be fast approaching the US MC at 1 Libra, and Uranus will be moving in to oppose the US MC. The chart for Hiroshima at the moment of the bomb had Uranus right on the MC at 16 Gemini, having recently crossed the US DES at 12 Gemini.

So lots of repeated themes here around Uranus, the MC, Moon-Pr Moon and Chiron-Neptune-Jupiter as applied to the US Chart. Last time Neptune-Chiron conjoined the US MC, this time it will be the Moon, the people: maybe America will be on the receiving end of nuclear weapons? And with the conjunction occurring in Aquarius, we again have a sign that can be coldly alienated from life and instinct. And the justification will be Aquarian rather than Libran: Freedom? Progress?

Astrology aside, it seems plausible to suggest the use of nuclear weapons again after a 65 year break, for humanity doesn’t seem to learn much collectively in the long-term, and there won’t be many people around to remember what it was like last time. The fact that these weapons haven’t been used for so long I find remarkable, and suggests how shocking and over-awing they must have been at the time. The link-up to Saturn will be weaker this time, however, which is a mitigating factor. On the other hand, Saturn isn’t so necessary as we now know how to make them. And it is the conjunction of Neptune-Chiron that is coming up, the only aspect (so far) that has involved the actual use of nuclear weapons.

There was a Chiron-Pluto conjunction in 1940 when the German death camps started, and around the next conjunction in 2000, Milosevic, who was born under the first conjunction, began his own death camps. So we could see a repeat of this pattern in 2009-10, but with Chiron-Neptune and nuclear weapons.

Maybe the countries that will be on the receiving end of them will tend to be those with Chiron-Neptune hitting their Sun or Moon (the people). This could be e.g. Arab countries resistant to takeover by western powers, who want a quick result before the oil wells get sabotaged or another country gets in first. And maybe the countries using them will be those who have the Uranus-Pluto transit hitting their Suns i.e. most of the major powers. (Seeing as Uranus-Pluto in the 1930s was associated with the rise of aggressive military powers). In July 2012 there will be a tight t-square between Uranus, Pluto and Mars that transits, for example, the Suns of the UK, France and Germany. In 2013-2014 this same cardinal t-square, but with Mars hanging around for several months, transits the US Sun. I find it hard to imagine a more war-like configuration than this t-square.

So we can see perhaps a rather one-sided conflict between the major powers and the oil-producing nations, with many of them losing effective nationhood. And it is out of this war-like period that the Second Great Depression will arise from 2016 to 2022: the progress in alternative technologies that I have predicted (see later) may play a large part in the ending of this depression.

But what about conflict between the major powers? There will, after all, be intense competition for the oil, with nations feeling their very survival (transiting Pluto) to be at stake. We can forget about ‘advanced liberal democracy’ in such circumstances. Let’s look by way of example at the 2 most economically powerful countries, the USA and Japan.

Japan (1952 Chart) has its North Node at 28 Aquarius, conjunct the American Moon at 27 Aquarius. Tr Chiron-Neptune hits this point in 2010, completing a cycle that began with Hiroshima and the defeat of Japan by the USA during the Chiron-Neptune conjunction of 1945. That war was a lot to do with oil, Japan having recklessly attacked the American fleet in order to control oil reserves in the area. Oil and nuclear weapons both seem here to be relevant Chiron-Neptune issues. The composite Mars for the US and Japan is at 1 Virgo, opposite the composite Chiron at 1 Pisces, and the Japanese Node and US Moon in late Aquarius. Tr Neptune-Chiron hits this constellation between 2009 and 2012.

Japan, of course, is not a nuclear power. But its present leader seems to be taking Japan on a course to full military sovereignty, and I predict at the least that Japan will be a nuclear power by the time tr Chiron-Neptune hits its node in 2010, tr Pluto having crossed its Ascendant in 2009.

The progressed chart for Japan in 2008 has pr Jupiter conjunct natal Sun, and for 2009 has pr Moon conjunct natal MC-Neptune. So a new Japanese Empire, with oil as a central concern, is an obvious possibility.

So conflict between the 2 countries, maybe nuclear, and involving oil, seems possible looking at tr Chiron-Neptune and the Composite Mars- Chiron. Added to this, both countries are being hit strongly by the tr Uranus-Pluto square (see list). And the Composite Chart too, which has a Neptune, MC and Saturn conjunction from 6 to 12 Libra, will be hit by tr Saturn-Uranus-Pluto from 2011 onwards. In particular, the tr Mars-Uranus-Pluto t-square hits it in 2012. So we have multiple indicators of a radical shift in their relationship that strongly suggests conflict.

This conflict seems almost certain to have a nuclear element, but it may be a precursor to other wars that the US will be involved in, given that the Mars-Uranus-Pluto t-square doesn’t hit its Sun until 2014. As I said earlier, the Second Great Depression won’t happen until 2016, but America proved in the 1940s that it could fight 2 major wars while thriving economically.

I mentioned at the beginning that the coming Uranus-Pluto square may reflect powerful technological breakthroughs, particularly in relation to harnessing alternative sources of energy, because the motive to do so will be strongly present. It would be interesting to see charts of, for example, the first electric car, solar cells and modern wind power to see how the 2008 - 2015 transits affect them. I’ve searched the net, but I haven’t been able to come up with much.

The most relevant and reliable chart I could generate was for the first offshore wind farm in the UK to be connected to the National Grid. This was off North Hoyle in Wales on 21 November 2003. This could be seen as a chart for the future of commercially viable offshore wind power in the UK. It has the Sun at 29 Scorpio (tr Neptune-Chiron 2010-2011) and Saturn at 13 Cancer (tr Uranus-Pluto 2014). So I guess breakthroughs (tr Uranus) that make the turbines more powerful (tr Pluto) are possible here. One could also speculate on the meaning of the Neptune-Chiron transit - a new attitude in which such technology will be seen as the means of saving us from the energy crisis? And healing us of the runaway materialism of the oil age? And/or creating a whole new set of fantasies?

The Chart that I found most interesting is for the first controlled nuclear reaction in 1942 in Chicago. The Book of World Horoscopes gives a chart that is one hour later, using the same data, than does Solar Fire. I have gone with Solar Fire, but I found myself drawing pretty much the same conclusions from both charts.

As a controlled reaction, it could be seen as a chart for the peaceful use of nuclear power and, in my interpretation, the gradual emergence of nuclear fusion reactors as a major energy source between 2009 and 2020. If we go through the chart, we can see that EVERY angle and planet is being transited by Uranus-Pluto or Neptune-Chiron between 2009 and 2020 except for the Pluto-ASC square, but interestingly this will be hit by a transiting Saturn-Uranus square right at the end: the re-invigorated chart manifesting itself powerfully, under the classic transit for technological breakthrough.

So there’s a lot going on around nuclear power over this 11-year period. And no doubt it won’t just be about the peaceful use of nuclear power. A central piece of this chart is Sun opposite the Uranus-Saturn conjunction. I interpret this as nuclear fission (rather than fusion): liberated energy (Sun in Sag, and literally the energy of the Sun) through the splitting (Uranus) of the structure of matter (Saturn). Neptune and Saturn transit all three of these in 2015-16, which I think could prove crucial years: the old forms of nuclear power are dissolved and new ones are created but based on fusion (tr Neptune) rather than fission (Uranus).

A few years later (tr. Pluto-Jupiter opposite natal Jupiter, tr. Saturn conjunct natal Jupiter, Saturn-Uranus transiting natal ASC square Pluto) the creation of commercial nuclear fusion reactors will begin in a big way, and enormous wealth will be generated.

Controlled nuclear fusion is proving very difficult to achieve, and an international attempt to create a reactor is soon to begin (it’s siting has been complicated by the fallout from France’s refusal to support the US war in Iraq!) Research on this Holy Grail has already been going on for decades, so 16 more years seems if anything optimistic – or pessimistic, depending on whether or not you think it’s a good thing. It is worth noting that the North Node of the nuclear reaction chart is closely conjunct Chiron in Leo: the Sun rules Leo, and the purpose (Node) of the reaction is to replicate the energy of the Sun. Again depending on one’s viewpoint, that energy is wounding (for obvious reasons) or healing (in that it can help solve our energy problems). Or maybe it’s both healing and wounding, and always will be. This ambivalence is perhaps also expressed in the fact that Uranus and Saturn are both in Gemini of the natal chart. Maybe nuclear fission is the dark twin, due to radioactive waste, while nuclear fusion is the (allegedly) pollution-free and redemptive light twin that will be revealed by the coming Neptune transit.

It is interesting that the charts for the 1st oil strike and the 1st nuclear chain reaction have Chiron-North Node conjunctions that are opposite each other. Oil has been mistakenly treated as a limitless energy supply, and nuclear energy still carries that hope. And both to date are pollutants.

However alternative sources of energy develop, one thing that seems fairly certain is that they will be more sustainable than oil, and I think that this will be humanly, as well as economically, very important. It is basic to human life to be able to feel that we are creating suitable conditions for succeeding generations, and for a long time it has not been possible to have that feeling, due to the oil-based economy not being sustainable. This situation cannot but have created a profound unease and even despair in people (albeit not necessarily consciously experienced and understood). Its possible resolution is, I think, a cause for optimism. Astrologically, we could maybe see this resolution firstly (as already mentioned) in the new Neptune-Chiron cycle, and secondly in the transition of Pluto from lofty Sagittarius to earthly Capricorn: one possible reading of this is that as Pluto leaves Sagittarius a new philosophy arises, necessary for our survival, in which long-term economic realities (Capricorn) are properly addressed.

I’ve attempted in this article to address a very big topic with a lot of aspects, e.g. alternative technology, the US 2008-2015, Japan etc that need articles just to themselves. So I have necessarily been confined to just broad brushstrokes, though I think the article contains enough analysis to make the broad picture fairly plausible. I think what I find convincing is that so much of it (with astrological hindsight!) seems like common sense: yes of course the oil supply is going to become a problem, it’s been coming our way for years. And yes of course the major powers, who will feel their survival to be threatened, will move in on the oil producing countries. And of course this will have economic repercussions and give a boost to alternative technologies. What did surprise me was just how soon, according to the astrology, it’s all going to start happening.

Charts Used:

OPEC
14 September 1960, 12:00, Baghdad, Iraq. Placidus.
Sun: 21.32 Virgo, Moon 7.20 Cancer, ASC 9.10 Sag, MC 22.07 Virgo

First Oil Strike
28 August 1859, 16:00, Titusville, Pennsylvania. Placidus.
Sun: 4.59 Virgo, Moon 14.24 Virgo, ASC 13.29 Capricorn, MC 8.57 Scorpio

US Sibly
4 July 1776, 17:10, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Placidus.
Sun: 13.19 Cancer, Moon 27.10 Aquarius, ASC 12.21 Sag, MC 1.03 Libra

Japan
28 April 1952, 22.30, Tokyo, Japan. Placidus.
Sun 8.12 Taurus, Moon 28.41 Gemini, ASC 0.31 Capricorn, MC 20.17 Libra

US/Japan Composite
Placidus. Sun 10.46 Gemini, Moon 27.56 Aries, ASC 21.26 Sag, MC 10.40 Libra

First Nuclear Chain Reaction
2 December 1942, 15:25, Chicago, Illinois. Placidus.
Sun 10.05 Sag, Moon 1.21 Libra, ASC 3.31 Taurus, MC 18.08 Capricorn (Note: The Book of World Horoscopes has a one hour difference to this, not in the data, but in the resulting chart, giving an ASC of 25.02 Taurus, and an MC of 2.25 Aquarius.
I have found that both work).