Beginning students of Astrology
learn that each sign of the Zodiac has its natural mode of expression: Cardinal,
Fixed or Mutable.
- Cardinal energies initiate and generate action, changing the environment by releasing new energy into a situation.
- Fixed energies give form to and stabilize whatever they touch, maintaining the status quo against the pressure to change (or against overdoing the change promoted by Cardinal energies).
- Mutable energies destabilize everything they touch, often as part of a clearing out process that eventually redefines and reconfigures our personal and collective realities in some important way. Even though our normal reference points for culture, morality, relationships, etc. can become unmoored in mutable times, mutability allows us (and sometimes forces us) to adapt and adjust to an environment in flux.
A quick refresher course—here’s how
the traditional twelve Zodiac signs break down according to these three modes
of expression:
- Cardinal: Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn
- Fixed: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius
- Mutable: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces
If we consider the natural
rulerships and exaltations of the classical 9 planets, we see that certain
planetary energies seem to express themselves more fully in certain modes, as
follows:
- Sun: rules Leo (fixed); exalted in Aries (cardinal)
- Moon: rules Cancer (cardinal); exalted in Taurus (fixed)
- Mercury: rules Gemini & Virgo (mutable); exalted in Aquarius (fixed)
- Venus: rules Taurus (fixed) & Libra (cardinal); exalted in Pisces (mutable)
- Mars: rules Aries (cardinal) & co-rules Scorpio (fixed); exalted in Capricorn (cardinal)
- Jupiter: rules Sagittarius & co-rules Pisces (mutable); exalted in Cancer (cardinal)
- Saturn: rules Capricorn (cardinal) & co-rules Aquarius (fixed); exalted in Libra (cardinal)
- Uranus: co-rules Aquarius (fixed); exalted in Scorpio (fixed)
- Neptune: co-rules Pisces (mutable); exalted in Cancer (cardinal)
- Pluto: co-rules Scorpio (fixed); exalted in Leo (fixed)
We could dig into the implications
of this breakdown at length, of course, but for my purposes in this post, one
key takeaway is that most planetary
energies play well in multiple modes.
Venus
and Mars,
for example, are by far the most versatile planets, capable of
comfortably expressing their important characteristics and influence in all three modes.
On the flip side, it’s interesting
to see the exceptions to this versatility—Uranus and Pluto—both at their most
effective and empowered in fixed signs.
Considering the instability these two often promote in concert, this might seem
surprising, however the nature of the transformational rebellion they instigate
relies on additional forces in play at the time. Mutable energies like the Saturn-Neptune square we experienced
during the 2016 presidential campaign definitely “colored” the rebellion with chaos.
Another interesting note is that
there’s a relative shortage of
energies that thrive in the mutable mode—Mercury
and Jupiter rule or co-rule two mutable signs (Gemini-Virgo for the
latter; Sagittarius and Pisces for the former). Neptune co-rules and Venus
is exalted in mutable Pisces.
The affinity between Jupiter
and Neptune is key here: growth and expansion often depend upon
undermining the status quo and on eroding structures that could stand in the
way of that expansion. Breaching a dam often precedes a flood. Bigger is not
always better, however, even in Texas! We’ve seen this dynamic in brutal relief
during this hurricane season.
Long story short, the “superpowers”
of these respective planets often contribute to an increase in chaos and
instability. Not bad dynamics in and of themselves—creativity certainly thrives on a modicum of both—but like
everything, it’s a question of knowing the breaking points where chaos and
instability can become irredeemably destructive, instead of a way to break down
outworn realities and jump start a new, productive order of things.
Not all
growth (Jupiter) or engulfing everything in one’s path for the sake of
“finding one’s level” (Neptune) is constructive: both can
be quite toxic, parasitical and even cancerous.
This raises a key point: yes, Pluto
is generally credited with the job of irrepressible destruction and
regeneration, and it’s often the culprit we look to when cancer rears its ugly
head, but again, Pluto doesn’t act alone
in this agenda: the remaining social/collective planets, including Jupiter
and Neptune,
often function as agents of that
agenda through aspects and cycle dynamics.
In fact, the chaotic
expansive/engulfing agenda of Jupiter and Neptune is not without
direction or purpose—notice that both Jupiter and Neptune are at home in
mutable signs, but exalted in cardinal
Cancer. These exaltations help explain why Jupiter and Neptune are basically operating
in a bit of creative tension with Capricorn Pluto these days. They help produce the chaos, and Pluto
capitalizes on this influence.
IMHO, Pluto
seems quite comfy in cardinal
Capricorn, and history shows that Uranus and Pluto in cardinal aspects
together can be powerfully disruptive—more
on this in a future post.
Cancer and Capricorn are both goal-oriented
and purpose-driven in their own ways, and so are the planets that enjoy a
strong affinity for these signs. Security concerns have always fueled ambition
and overly defensive—even “pre-emptive strike”—dynamics. Donald Trump’s chart
features the perfect example of Cancer’s hyper-isolationist extremes with his Saturn-Venus
conjunction. Unfortunately, he wants to express these tendencies by building
walls instead of bridges and by alienating the U.S. from the rest of the world.
A
planetary shell game
Jupiter and Neptune collude in very
interesting ways to various purposes—almost like a “now you see it, now you
don’t” planetary shell game that produces very sneaky results. Neptune’s
strength in home-sign Pisces has facilitated Jupiter’s time in
cardinal Libra because Libra ruler Venus has an affinity for Neptune
and Pisces. For example, Trump’s undermining of the EPA’s authority and
dismantling of regulatory frameworks (Jupiter and Neptune) in many environmentally
sensitive industries has fed those industry coffers and made “friends” (Libra),
but at what eventual cost?
Justifying destructive policies
because they may create a few jobs (often in “dirty energy” industries) or
because they “give power back to the States” (a favorite policy ploy) only
perpetuates and speeds up the downward spiral we’re experiencing on
sustainability, but we’ve been blindsided (Neptune) by an economic smokescreen
that disguises the dark side of these growth/expansion-oriented energies (Jupiter).
Long-term planning and doing the
responsible thing are generally not in
the wheelhouse of Jupiter and Neptune—or any mutable energy, for
that matter. This may explain why neurologists are starting to question whether
the human brain is “wired” for stopping climate change. We’re simply too
captivated and motivated by “shiny objects” to focus on long-term planning. I
would like to think that human society was not always this distractible and
scattered, unable to focus on long-term survival issues.
I think this is where the
“sleight-of-hand” in the shell game comes in: yes, we are genetically wired for
survival consciousness, and certain cultures like the Native American ones have
proven that humans can privilege the
long view over the short one when it comes to the environment, but there are
determined cardinal forces in play (Jupiter-Uranus
across Libra-Aries and Pluto in Capricorn) that use our
distractedness to their advantage: long-term thinking messes with their
short-term profit agenda. Mutable
forces can be used quite nicely to facilitate.
In this sense, Trump’s “MAGA” agenda—especially
as he characterized it in his U.N. debut this past week—reads like part Jupiter-Neptune
quest, part Uranus-Pluto crusade: it doesn’t discriminate between moral,
ethical or even wise avenues for getting what he wants, and those that are just
shockingly dark (we might even say, evil).
Why, for instance, does he choose now—in
the midst of picking a fight with North Korea’s ruthless dictator—to attack the
1st Amendment rights of our professional athletes?
Jupiter and Neptune cast a “spell” on
everything they touch in concert, combining “rose-colored glasses” and wishful
thinking with a tendency toward whitewashing and self-delusion. Saying one
thing and doing another is a typical modus operandi, and this certainly doesn’t
add to our sense of security.
Uranus and Pluto rely on “shock and
awe”—i.e., Trump’s promise to “completely destroy” North Korea with our
overwhelming firepower. Of course, this promise may be, as DPRK leader Kim
Jong-Un put it, the “sound of a barking dog.” So the 500-lb. question sucking
the oxygen out of our public discourse right now is this: could the vicious war
of words and nuclear brinksmanship these two have engaged in ever since Trump’s
U.N. appearance be a real threat to the
U.S. and to world peace?
Flying
a “kite” on the world stage
I don’t pretend to know Trump’s
plans—he’s raised duplicity and unpredictability to an art form, and he clearly
relishes keeping everyone guessing. Besides, his chart, as we’ve seen many
times in posts here, just doesn’t allow us to eliminate any possibilities. He’s an erratic player who “shoots from the
lip,” as one commentator put it—the problem is, the irresponsible game he’s
playing is “nuclear chicken.”
Despite the cloudy “crystal ball,”
however, a biwheel cast between Trump’s speech and North Korea’s radix chart does
lend insight. Trump verbally affronted several nations in that speech, but the
comments he had about North Korea were by far the most outlandish and
provocative. As we’ll see, there are some powerful interactions between these
two charts.
First, however, let’s examine the
chart for Trump’s speech this past Tuesday at the U.N. on its own merits. C-Span first aired Trump’s speech at 10:00 a.m. on September 19th,
so that’s the information we will use.
As we’ll see, there’s an incredible
“kite” formation cutting through the heart of it. The mix of mode influences
that we’ve been discussing earlier comes into play here, as well.
Chart
#1: Trump Speaks at U.N., September 19, 2017, 10:00 a.m. DST, New York, NY.
Tropical Equal Houses, True Node.
Kite:
Uranus (Aries) trines Venus-No. Node (Leo)
trines Saturn (Sagittarius); Uranus opposs Jupiter (Libra). As you can
see, a kite formation combines a grand trine—here in fire signs—with an
opposition that cuts through the heart of the “triangle” like a kite string.
Notice that to be a true kite, the “string” planet (Jupiter) must form
sextiles with the other two points of the grand trine. If we were to draw those
angles in on the chart, you would see a pretty convincing “kite” figure.
Aspects expert Bil Tierney sees the
kite as a very creative configuration that promotes the expression of “special
talents or skills.” He sees the planet at the apex of the kite (here, Uranus)
as denoting the “nature of the drive to be expressed,” and the fourth planet
(outside of the grand trine—here, Jupiter) as the “catalyst,” and its
house placement as “where special talents and skills are prone to direct
themselves.”
The opposition thus takes the potential of the grand trine (which
can be difficult to express) and “activates” it within some context.[1]
So, how would this apply to our question about the Trump-Kim war of words?
First of all, the cardinal Uranus-Jupiter
opposition (Aries-Libra) cuts across the chart’s 6th-12th
axis, suggesting a quiet, but active build-up of military strength (6th)
behind the scenes (12th). The 12th house is also
associated with institutions like hospitals, prisons, and other venues where
difficult life passages may run their course, but in the context we’re
exploring, this house might also represent the end of one or more international
relationships (the 12th is the derived 4th house from the
9th). This makes sense with the horrified response Trump received
from other national leaders to a lot of his speech.
If he ultimately acts on his
megalomania, saber-rattling and brinkmanship—especially with nuclear weapons—we
may lose many allies.
The grand fire trine combines
planets in all three modes and circulates ego-maniacal, bellicose and defiant
energies—something reflected in Kim Jong-Un’s
insult that blasted Trump as a “…gangster and rogue who likes to play with
fire.” In Sagittarius, Saturn’s power to restrain is
compromised by Jupiter’s naturally mutable influence; in cardinal Aries, Uranus
is a little too trigger-happy, and in fixed Leo, Venus is prone to rut-bound,
ego-driven drama. Interestingly, all three points of this configuration tie
into Trump’s natal chart quite powerfully (chart not shown), so Kim may be
reading the situation pretty accurately.
As we’ll see, however, this fiery energy
ties into North Korea’s chart, as well, so where will this nuclear playground
dispute go from here? With Trump saying, “I know you are, but what am I?”
One way or another, the “war of words”
is almost literally reflected in this chart.
By rulership, the Mercury-Mars
opposition to Neptune (Virgo-Pisces) reflects this “war”—harsh, belligerent
language can be attributed to Mars-Mercury, and Neptune
here provides the collective reach and overwhelming impact of those
words.
Notice the interesting way this opposition ties into the fiery grand
trine circuit. Mars disposes Aries Uranus from military-related
Virgo; Mars’ opposition to Neptune speaks to the “fog of war,”
the inevitable obfuscation and double-dealing that takes over when what’s
really being done behind the scenes becomes “classified” information.
Grand trines tend to unleash
energies that require outside outlets (i.e. aspects that tie into it), and as
we saw with the “kite” formation, Jupiter’s opposition to Uranus
provides the primary outlet. Jupiter,
of course, co-rules Pisces, so it serves to amplify whatever Neptune
is doing here. Importantly, as we’ll see when we look at the biwheel, this Mercury-Neptune
opposition reflects how the hateful rhetoric is playing out with North Korea.
The
biwheel
In fact, this is a good time to take
a look at that biwheel between this chart and North Korea’s. Unfortunately,
there’s no sugar-coating some of its features, especially considering the
context we’re focusing on here, so I won’t even try. It should be noted that
the same chart factors can certainly
be used for more positive purposes than the Trump-Kim feud—a silver lining
we’ll consider in future posts.
Biwheel
#1: (inner wheel) North Korea,
September 10, 1948, 12:00 p.m. (noon chart, no exact time known), P’yongyang,
NW, N.Korea (Book of World Horoscopes, Chart #179, p. 180); (outer wheel) Trump
Speaks at U.N., September 19, 2017, 10:00 a.m. DST, New York, NY. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node.
Interchart
T-Square: UN Mars-Mercury-Moon (Virgo)
conjoin NK Sun (Virgo) and oppose UN Neptune (Pisces); this axis squares NK
Jupiter-UN Saturn (Sagittarius). It’s hard to say if the noon time for
North Korea is accurate, so the chart MC may or may not be involved here. Even
so, this stressful configuration is worth consideration for the emotional impact
(UN
Moon on NK Sun) represented. North Korea clearly takes its
self-identity and dignity seriously—its Sun is disposed by a Libra Mercury,
which is disposed in turn by a proud Leo Venus (which takes us back to the Sun
via Leo!). Trump’s disrespectful rhetoric did not fall on deaf ears!
We considered this bellicose “flood
of words” earlier—here we see how precisely targeted those comments were
astrologically—shot right through North Korea’s “heart” (Sun)! Since the Sun
in a national chart represents both the nation as a whole and the leader, we can see why Kim Jong-Un is taking Trump’s verbal
assault not just in his role as leader, but
personally, as well. North Korea’s
government is a prime example of this conflation: the Leader is the State, for all practical
purposes.
NK Jupiter’s role here is interesting—it’s a strong chart factor, in home-sign Sagittarius. Unfortunately, the unconfirmed timing means we can’t be sure if it’s conjunct NK Moon, as shown here, or not, but the North Korean obsession with being taken seriously on the world stage suggests that their Moon may indeed be involved. In a lot of ways, they’ve been treated like the “ugly step-sister” next to the more vibrant, affluent South Korea over the years, and they’re apparently determined to grab the limelight, whether the rest of the world likes their means and methods or not.
UN Asc (Scorpio) conjoins NK Mars (Scorpio)
and squares NK Venus (Leo). This is a clear flash point for Trump’s
hostile remarks—even if it was only a speech, we can expect that it was
received as an attack and a serious affront. It was the astrological equivalent
of “throwing down the gauntlet,” insulting the other party’s dignity—on a world
stage, too!—and daring them to show up
at dawn with pistols loaded.
It’s also significant that UN
Mars (Virgo) trines NK No. Node—the North Koreans may feel that
responding to this attack is a matter of destiny (it’s not hard to imagine the
official messaging Kim’s government is extracting from Trump’s actions). It’s
more hard to imagine that North Korea’s Scorpio radix Mars won’t want to retaliate.
UN Pluto (Capricorn) trines NK Sun-UN
Moon-Mercury-Mars (Virgo). This trine suggests that corporate influence
and profit are at stake in whatever happens with this feud, and that there are
opportunities for the same. There may even be opportunities to transform their
economy in more dramatic ways. The sanctions regime that Trump is pushing for
on North Korea is onerous, and with UN Pluto inconjunct NK Pluto (Leo), however
other factors in the biwheel suggest that sanctions may not debilitate them as
badly as Trump would like.
One strong instance is the powerful fixed energy in
their chart: sanctions certainly won’t make them more cooperative.
Interchart
Kite: UN Uranus (Aries) trine UN No.
Node-Venus-NK Pluto-Saturn (Leo) trine UN Saturn-NK Jupiter (Sagittarius); this
fiery grand trine is pierced by the UN Uranus-Jupiter opposition (Aries-Libra).
As touched upon earlier, the UN chart’s fiery grand trine ties all the players in this geopolitical
drama together—we see here that NK Saturn is of particular interest in
that regard. It not only suggests that North Koreans possesses the “backbone”
required for whatever Trump throws at them, but it also ties into Trump’s chart
in a very personal way, conjunct his Leo Mars-Ascendant conjunction (his
chart not shown).
When Kim said (referring to Trump’s UN remarks) that “the
frightened dog barks more loudly,” he could have been speaking about these
chart interconnections. Who’s intimidating whom?
UN Saturn’s position at NK
Jupiter suggests that the DPRK is
feeling the pinch of sanctions and other restrictions imposed on them, but
the UN
No.
Node trine their Jupiter also suggests that Trump’s
speech will empower them somehow. This Node falls at the NK
Pluto/Saturn (midpoint, Leo), something Michael Munkasey equates with:
“Associating with those who plan and work hard before they
proceed with important work; identifying paths to those who have power or
influence to wield or sell; a destiny about holding or abusing power.”[2]
This suggests that North Korea may
be forging alliances, despite the global outcry against their missile launches
and other provocations. Not surprisingly, it also suggests that they view Trump’s
use and/or abuse of power as
justification for their own power plays, however controversial. We may take a
parallel view of Kim’s defiant actions, and the beat goes on…
Final
thoughts
Trump’s U.N. speech came across like
a bully’s ultimatum to the world—get with my
program, or be demeaned and
attacked, because all that matters is “America first.” Taunting Kim Jong-Un on
the world stage by calling him “Rocket Man” demeans the U.S. as badly as it
does the DPRK, and Trump seems to be okay with the obvious consequence: the
North Koreans will retaliate over
such indignations to save face. Trump knows how this works: he does it all the time when he's criticized.
Granted, we shouldn’t just stand by
while they lob missiles over our allies Japan and South Korea, and we must
defend our own territories as well. Even so, unless I’m missing something,
Trump seems to be spoiling for a fight, and he’s behaving like he did in his
WWF days. There’s been no attempt at a negotiated agreement—our Secretary of
State is basically toothless, and wonder-boy Jared Kushner is nowhere to be
seen.
In fact, DPRK’s foreign minister Ri
Yong Ho responded to Trump’s speech at the U.N. podium, saying that
insulting his country would only make an attack on U.S. soil more “inevitable.”
Those who closely watch North Korea know that they have more ways of attacking
us than nuclear weapons: cyber-warfare is their other weapon, and according to CNN, they’ve been using it more frequently in the past year. Do we
really want more of the same?
Of course, the more North Korea does
to defy Trump, the more justified military action will look to Trump and his most
bellicose and opportunistic supporters—war is not only great for defense
contracts, it’s a great distraction from things like Russia investigations and a wonderful pretext for declaring
martial law, stifling 1st Amendment rights, etc. Have to get those
pesky NFL players off their knees!!
The big question here might just be,
who will speak loudly enough in favor of
diplomatic solutions, rather than war? Jupiter is in diplomatic Libra for a while longer—opposite Uranus,
we should be able to come up with shockingly proactive ways of mediating this
dispute. “Let’s go fly a kite….!!!”
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.
© Raye Robertson 2017. All
rights reserved.
