Zeitgeist Update

The economic indicators are starting to look good: France and Germany, for example, have just moved out of recession, and Japan is also set to show growth in the last quarter, after 4 successive quarters of contraction. Some of the banks are showing big profits again, and with that we are seeing a return of the big bonuses. The financial system is putting up strong resistance to new rules designed to avoid a repeat of the credit crunch, and in the UK at least, the government seems to be caving in. So it looks like we are gradually moving back to business as usual, with very little of substance having changed.

BUT astrology tells a different story. We are in the middle of a series of 5 Saturn-Uranus oppositions, the first 2 of which were responsible for the prolonged financial chaos we saw from the Autumn through to the Spring. The unexpected events that Uranus brings are probably at their most chaotic in Uranus’ current sign of Pisces.

We have had a lull in Saturn-Uranus this summer, along with the feelgood factor brought about by the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction. A return to economic business as usual would suggest that Pluto’s entry into Capricorn and the Saturn-Uranus opposition mean nothing apart from some temporary chaos and contraction. Well they never mean this, they mean a lot more than this, they always bring in a whole new zeitgeist, in this case an economic one.

I don’t know from my own observations what is going to happen to the world economy. But I do know from astrology that we are not returning to business as usual, and that the next Saturn-Uranus opposition in mid-September is therefore likely to bring disruption, perhaps the ‘double-dip’ that people fear. That disruption will probably begin in the next week or two. I welcome that, because I don’t want things to return to how they were. Mars is in an applying opposition to Pluto until the 26 August, and this is a good aspect for digging up underlying issues that have not been addressed, and which have allowed this false dawn to occur. Particularly as the exact opposition is in Cardinal signs, which are good at initiating.

The other big sky story, which I have mentioned in passing, is the Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron conjunction in Aquarius. You could call this a big (Jupiter) healing (Chiron) dream (Neptune). Sounds a bit New Age, but you get the idea. A triple conjunction of 3 outerish planets that lasts for 6 months is remarkable. These 3 were briefly together in 1945 when the UN was founded, and before that in 1881 when the American Red Cross was founded. We have to go back hundreds of years before we find another triple conjunction, for it is is an irregular occurrence.

The current conjunction in late Aquarius is close to the American Moon (the people), and Obama’s attempts to reform the US Healthcare system must be a reflection of this. I think he will succeed where others have failed because the astrology is so brilliantly favourable. Obama as the first black President (apart from Bill Clinton!) is also part of this triple conjunction. George Washington, the first US President, was inaugurated on 30/4/1789 at 12.45 PM, with a Descendant of 28.40 Aquarius, which Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron is this year conjoining.

Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron are currently all retrograde, so whatever new dawns this conjunction will bring about are being processed right now – it is a time when obstacles need to be faced, difficulties overcome. That is exactly the stage the US Healthcare plans are in right now. Such difficulties can be a good thing, as they force things to be thought through and fought for.

Virgo is a sign of health issues, so the Saturn-Uranus opposition is just as important when considering Obama's Healthcare plans: a progressive (Uranus) and compassionate (Pisces) idea that will break up (Uranus) old systems (Saturn) of healthcare (Virgo). Put this with the triple conjunction, and you have the moment in history when this idea can work.

Kathleen Sibelius, the US Health Secretary, was born 15 May 1948. She has a Sun, Mars, Chiron t-square that is completed by the Neptune-Jupiter-Chiron conjunction i.e. it creates a Grand Cross. Perfect! She is the right person for the job. Barack Obama is in this too: he has a Uranus-North Node conjunction in Leo, opposite the triple conjunction. It is his path in life (Node) to break the mould (Uranus), which he did by becoming President, and which he again seems destined to do through the Healthcare plans.

I think the US Healthcare issue is part of a bigger question, which is does America care about its own people? It seems unbelievable from a European point of view that America should have 46 million of its poorest people without access to proper healthcare, when it could afford to do so more easily than most countries. Do the people (Moon) care (Neptune)? Or do enough of them care to make it possible? I think it is a test of the quality of a government, or of a people, how it looks after the poorest people and those who don't, and never will, 'fit in.'


Click to Enlarge

The New Moon of 20 August is at 27 Leo, making an opposition to Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron, and this runs along the Asc-Desc axis in Washington. So there could easily be some kind of breakthrough, some kind of resolution on the next few days in the debate over Obama’s healthcare plans. But they are unlikely to really start moving forward until Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron are all moving forwards again, which will occur between early October and early November.

This also applies on an individual level, particularly if the triple conjunction makes a significant transit to your chart (or if you were born with strong aspects between any of Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron). Whatever new dawn, new dream is trying to come into your life, right now may well be a time of frustration, of unclarity, of patient waiting, until the 3 planets begin to move forward again in the autumn.


Click to Enlarge

In fact we have 2 powerful New Moons in a row: the first in August opposes Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron, the the following one in September lines up on the Saturn-Uranus Opposition, which will itself be almost exact. Being in the sign of Virgo, another phase in the US Healthcare plans is indicated. More broadly, the 2 main indicators of the zeitgeist this year, Saturn-Uranus and Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron, will be particularly in evidence over the next month successive New Moons pass over them. So I expect the next month to be very formative, or very indicative, of what is currently happening in the world.

Here is my previous 'Zeitgeist Update' from June, which included an attempt to draw the 2 big sky stories together.