Neptune wears a “Pussy Hat:” the Yin and Yang of the Woman’s March & Movement

By now, you’ve probably seen the incredible news coverage: millions of women, men and children protesting in Washington, D.C., in a host of other American cities, and in cities abroad, all to express opposition to Donald Trump’s presidency and to his anti-civil rights, anti-feminist and nationalist agenda.  

Just one day after Trump swore to uphold the Constitution, so help him God, rivers of humanity filled the streets where he now lives in the People’s House, to have their say. Seas of pink hats—the signature pink “pussy” hats of the event, worn by women and men alike—provided a very “yin” spectacle of support, resistance and defiance.

It was also, however, a very “yang” event—at its heart a massive, logistically-complex and well-organized action. One speaker after another called for the powerful energy engulfing those city streets to be nurtured and developed into an even more competent, more powerful, determined and bold revolution. If we consider the chart for the event, there is reason to believe the revolution may indeed take shape.

I’ve cast the following chart for the time the first speaker began speaking in Washington, D.C., which CNN listed as 10:21 a.m. This is significant because the stated launch time was 10:00 a.m., and the chart would have been quite different had the activities kicked off at that time. Specifically, the 10 a.m. chart would have had a late Pisces ascendant, while the 10:21 a.m. chart has a vibrantly active Aries ascendant. Let’s look at the chart.

Chart #1. Women’s March on Washington, D.C. January 21, 2017, 10:21 a.m. ST, Washington, D.C. Equal Houses, True Node.

Aries rises; Uranus-Eris (Aries) occupy the 1^st house, opposing 7^th house Jupiter (Libra) and t-squaring Pluto (Capricorn). The event is clearly a revolutionary one: this was not a dreamy, Piscean crowd: it was bold, determined, passionate, and at times an even “nasty” crowd. The recurring thread of “nasty women” evoked support for Hillary Clinton’s use of that Trump insult during the campaign, and the phrase has been adopted to support not just straight women, but women of color and LGBTQ individuals as well. Pop star Madonna (one of many stars who rallied the crowd and performed) directed one crude “F*@k You” after another at any unsupportive doubters/haters.

This is interesting in light of media head Tina Brown’s observation that the overarching theme of the March was “anti-bullying,” which perhaps informed the defiant tone of some protestors. Bullies respect power and that’s about it. Brown also offered that Trump has simply exhausted the tolerance of women with his corrosive rhetoric and “King of Chaos” behavior—in fact, Trump’s natal Mars trines this event’s Uranus-Eris conjunction, so her comment is well-founded.

The crowd was also overwhelmingly young, befitting an Aries chart—Millennials were definitely out in force, and the number of children involved (often very cognizant of the march’s purpose) was  impressive. Sophie Cruz, a young Latino girl (8-9 years old, perhaps), spoke up bravely on behalf of undocumented families, saying, “Let us fight with faith, love and joy so our families will not be destroyed.” She expressed trust in “people with love in their hearts” to protect families: hearing this child’s innocent confidence and trust—and realizing how frightening the Trump presidency must really be for her family—was heartbreaking.  

Uranus in Aries disposed the day’s elevated (10^th h) Aquarius Sun, and from its 1^st house placement conjunct disruptive Eris, it captured the collective energy and revolutionary intent of the day. Opposite Jupiter in Libra (disposed by super-femme Pisces Venus), this Uranus-Eris completes the 1^st-7^th house polarity and its powerful blend of “yin” and “yang” energies.

The news yesterday morning (1/22) questioned whether the March represented a “Moment or a Movement,” and I think we see here that between the power of this polarity and its tense cardinal square to Pluto, it is potentially both. The mandate here is power for the People (Cancer opposes the focal planet Capricorn Pluto), and that requires sustained effort. The generative and protective roles of women are reflected perfectly here. In Saturn-ruled Capricorn, Pluto speaks to the chthonic, feminine energies of Mother Earth; this People power we’re seeking needs to work with these earth energies, not against them.

I was reminded of the importance of working with the Earth when two Native American women offered the final songs of the day from the D.C. stage: their ancient chants tapped into this primal chthonic Pluto, and to my mind, put the entire day into the deep context needed. Empowering the People and protecting the Earth are one and the same project in Native minds—perhaps this perspective will provide much-needed momentum going forward. 

Does that mean there will be no pushback against the intentions of the movement that comes out of all this? Clearly, no—there will be many pitfalls ahead, addressed by the following dynamics.

Pisces Neptune is the chart’s final dispositor, widely conjoining Venus (Pisces). Mars and Chiron are conjunct, also in Pisces, so Neptune rules this quartet and all four points occupy the March chart’s 12^th house. There’s an outpouring of energy waiting to be unleashed here, but for now it is blocked and perhaps undermined (Chiron) by Neptunian forces, including Trump’s belligerent, deceptive (Neptune) “King of Chaos” behavior.

Within the movement, maintaining a clear focus going forward could be a challenge. The many interest groups represented by the March could find themselves at cross purposes—for instance, working to impeach Trump as many would like will put Mike Pence in office, which many of the marchers might find even worse.

Whether that was Trump’s deliberate strategy for remaining in power despite conflicts of interest, etc. is impossible to say, but this may be an obstacle that’s difficult to overcome. “Divide and conquer” is a real possibility with the diverse priorities at stake—again, coalescing around the deeper “Earth”-centered focus at the heart of this movement would help promote core unity and unleash the movement’s energies.

Chart ruler Venus-Chiron-Mars (Pisces) squares Saturn (Sagittarius), trines Moon (Scorpio) and quincunxes Jupiter (Libra). The Mars-Chiron conjunction by itself creates the urgent motivation to act on actual/perceived wounds and blockages—yesterday’s speakers catalogued many such issues. The outpouring of support from the men in the protestors’ lives is also represented here, but the dark side of relationships (Venus) that feeds problems like sexual assault was also highlighted. Relationships can be both a joy and a burden to all—providing both the wound and the healing, but more importantly, they are a path to deeper, transformative connectedness (Scorpio Moon).

Was yesterday a type of initiatory experience for those involved? The question may be whether the movement will be able to leverage this intensity for its most constructive purposes.

The answers may lie in the 9^th house squares to Saturn and the 7^th house quincunxes with Libra Jupiter. These factors are likely to drag the movement down with economic and practical realities: as passionate as the protestors are, “real life” has a way of distracting people’s energies.

On another note, the squares to Saturn suggest that taking responsibility will be key: Sagittarius Saturn is disposed by and sextile Libra Jupiter, so the opportunity for success and growth is here—but will we be able to seed a new era of positive growth across the economy, or an era of goodies (Jupiter—tax breaks, business deals) handed out to Trump’s top-tier allies (Libra)?

With four years of Capricorn dominance looming ahead, countering the toxic, plutocratic growth that Trump’s Cabinet seems likely to push will be a serious challenge. See the October 16, 2015 post here for more on this (among other posts—this discussion has been and will continue to be ongoing).

Another challenge will be to separate out Trump’s rhetoric about bringing jobs back and keeping jobs here, from the reality that his economic team is the most anti-labor bunch we’ve seen. What policies and institutions truly serve the needs of working people and which don’t? Here’s where the false equivalency between Bernie Sanders’ agenda and Trump’s agenda is revealed; we have every reason to believe that Sanders would actually carry out his pro-labor, pro-education, anti-globalization ideals, whereas Trump co-opted a “Sanderesque,” populist message which he has already reneged upon. Early signs from his Cabinet appointments suggest that the reason Trump offered no specifics about his agenda proposals was that he never intended to implement them!

Even so, to cut through likely resistance to the movement’s inclusive, liberal-minded message, it will be important to strike a balance between a global focus (9^th house) and domestic priorities. For instance, being seen as supporting immigrant rights at the expense of priorities within our borders will be risky if the goal is broader acceptance, yet a major focus of the March was to resist Trump’s anti-immigrant, nationalist agenda.

Undoubtedly, these quincunxes and the cardinal t-square discussed above will require tightrope-walking acts to achieve other goals of the March: namely, to defend the Paris climate change agreement and related environmental priorities (represented so inspiringly by the Native American women attending the March). Jupiter is playing double-duty in both configurations. Trump has an aggressive anti-regulatory and pro-toxic growth (Jupiter) agenda, not to mention a plan to “privatize” Native lands for the sake of oil and gas development.

The determination to protect Standing Rock Sioux lands and waters from the North Dakota pipeline project was a running theme at the March and also speaks eloquently to the chart’s Scorpio Moon—protecting the Native peoples, who refer to themselves as Water Protectors.

This tension between Earth-centered concerns and the corporate bottom line is certainly reflected in the t-square formed by 10^th house Part-of-Fortune (Capricorn) opposed to earthy 4^th house Vesta, all square 1^st house Ceres. Ceres forms a very wide conjunction with Uranus (Aries), but when Trump announced his candidacy last June, they were within 2 degrees of each other. Needless to say, earth-centered issues have been political footballs ever since.

Vesta is doing her best to keep the home fires burning here, and the opposition to the 10^th house POF reflects the opposing forms of Power that we’re seeing in Washington: the People v. the Government (Saturn rules the Capricorn 10^th). Trump is busily proving that he can take things away from the People (the talk today is about his intent to defund the arts, PBS, NPR, etc.) with a simple flourish of his pen.

In the name of economic growth and jobs, Trump is rapidly overturning any vestiges of environmental protection (and civilization itself, if the arts fall victim) in favor of corporate bottom lines, so at a time when determined forward motion is demanded by mounting climate change doing real damage to people’s lives, we are now threatened with turning back the clock and losing critical ground. The very early killer tornadoes that ripped through the southeast this weekend certainly speak to this.

North Node (Virgo) trines MC-Mercury (Capricorn). In terms of the March on Saturday, this placement elevates the various pragmatic, environmental issues on the protest agenda to the level of a widely-shared, determined action plan. Women attending were concerned about concrete goals—not nebulous ideals or empty promises, and this could be what makes ongoing resistance feasible: even the busiest of women (and men, for that matter) will make time to improve their children’s lives in some way.  

Mercury disposes the Virgo Node, suggesting that this flowing aspect reflects synchrony between the imperatives of this March and the time/place those imperatives are born into; thankfully, it appears there is an opportunity to make progress on its agenda.

Juno conjoins Saturn and the Galactic Center (GC-Sagittarius) and sextiles Jupiter (Libra). This is also a significant indication that the time is right for women—many of them wives, akin to asteroid Juno (the mythic wife of Jupiter/Zeus)—to take on their power en masse. Conjunctions to the GC seem to manifest phenomena “whose time has come,” and there are often inconvenient revelations involved. Jupiter/Zeus was known for betraying and deceiving his long-suffering wife, but she had her ways of expressing wifely power, too. Similar opportunities exist in this chart.

As for how this configuration might help or hinder the March’s ensuing movement, it’s possible that we will see a whole new generation of motivated “whistleblowers”. Brave female soldiers could begin coming forward more boldly about sexual assault, determined female employees could bring more forceful litigation against the gender-based pay disparities they experience, and so on. The defunding of Planned Parenthood could be revealed in all its hypocritic detail, etc.

We might expect that the legally-significant breaking stories will begin spilling out once Saturn passes over the GC, as well (next month).

Final thoughts about an incredible weekend

Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer had the unenviable task of making his first post-inauguration public statement to scold the press for nonsense. Trump's gripe apparently, was a thin-skinned one, as usual--this time focused on how the media reported inauguration numbers. Their crime, of course, was that they cited actual visual data, rather than Trumpian hyperbole.

In the end, this maneuver was designed to suck the oxygen out of media coverage for the Women’s March, and we can probably assume that this pettiness was simply bald-faced attention-grabbing. In general, the media seems to concur that the Trump team got off to a very rocky start, with a series of such ill-considered blunders (including Kellyann Conway’s tiff with Meet the Press’s Chuck Todd over “alternative facts”—huh?).

It’s tempting to simply ignore the Trump administration's juvenile antics, however it may be possible to leverage that negative energy for something constructive in the coming 100 days of Resistance (it may take more than 100 days, but we have to start somewhere). We just have to keep our antennae alert for any attempts to divide women against each other and thus undermine any progress—it will happen, it’s just a matter of time.

Finally, Sikh activist Valerie Kaur offers a hopeful, unifying message for facing the perils of these times:

"Yes…the future is dark, on this watch night, I close my eyes and I see the darkness of my grandfather's cell. And I can feel the spirit of ever rising optimism (in the Sikh tradition 'Chardi Kala') within him. So the mother in me asks, 'What if? What if this darkness is not the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb?.... What if this is our country's great transition?" 

The astrology says we’re right on schedule!

Raye Robertson is a practicing astrologer, writer and former educator. A graduate of the Faculty of Astrological Studies (U.K.), Raye focuses on mundane, collective-oriented astrology, with a particular interest in current affairs, culture and media, the astrology of generations, and public concerns such as education and health. Several of her articles on these topics have been featured in The Mountain Astrologer and other publications over the years.

She is also available to read individual charts—contact her at: robertsonraye@gmail.com.

© Raye Robertson 2017. All rights reserved.