“You
know the system has broken down when the clearest way out of a government
shutdown may be for the president to declare a fake national emergency.”
– Editorial board, NYTimes.com, Jan. 11, 2019.
– Editorial board, NYTimes.com, Jan. 11, 2019.
On January 21st—a mere
ten days from now as I write this—North America, South America, Europe and
parts of Africa and Asia will have front-row seats for a dramatic “Blood Moon”
total lunar
eclipse at 0°+Leo
(Moon). Since lunar eclipses only happen at full moons, this particular one
will span Leo-Aquarius—fixed signs that certainly speak to our current partial
government shutdown.
We’ll discuss this chart, but first, we’ll consider the tone set by January’s earlier new moon/solar eclipse.
We’ll discuss this chart, but first, we’ll consider the tone set by January’s earlier new moon/solar eclipse.
It was far less dramatic and hyped,
but on January 5th, the Sun and Moon converged at 15°+Capricorn, so a no-nonsense,
harsh Saturn-ruled eclipse has ruled the first weeks of the showdown
over Trump’s border wall.
The charts for these two eclipses reflect
so much about American public affairs these days, but we’ll focus primarily on
the shutdown dilemma and its broader significance.
![]() |
Click here for a comprehensive look at recent polls regarding the border wall. |
Let’s
begin
If polling can be trusted, most
Americans blame Trump for the now record-breaking shutdown and the suffering it’s
produced. Trump’s unwillingness to consider any
solution for border security that doesn’t include a physical wall is clearly
considered a problem.
In fact, many alternatives exist to a physical wall, but Trump’s
self-protective machismo has boxed him in on this so-called “vanity project.”
The more pressure he’s under, the more paranoid, shrill and verifiably untrue his border threat
claims become. Yes, a humanitarian crisis exists there, but it’s the one
created by the administration’s “Zero Tolerance” immigration and family
separation policies, not some kind of
invasion. Yes, drugs do come over the border, but the vast majority comes
through legal ports of entry.
Besides, if border security was really Trump’s concern, why would he
shutdown Homeland Security, forcing them and other essential work forces (TSA
agents, the Coast Guard, air
traffic controllers, etc.) to work for nothing?!
Whatever logic exists here is
seriously twisted and mean-spirited. For pay-less workers, it’s getting old,
real fast.
Echoing doubts from many quarters, the
Brookings Institute soundly disputes
Trump’s reasoning in a current article entitled “Trump’s
bogus justifications for the border wall.” The article points out why the
wall wouldn’t serve its stated purposes and what grave collateral damage will
be done to people, land owners, Native Americans and the environment in the
process.
Despite the fact that the Senate unanimously (both parties!) passed a government
funding bill just before the shutdown (December 22), Trump balked, supposedly scared
off by Fox pundits and Rush Limbaugh,
so here we are, facing the longest shutdown ever.
For their part, Democratic leaders in
both Senate and House (“Chuck & Nancy”) are also unwilling to budge until the government is re-opened.
They’re refusing to put $5.7 billion towards an open-ended plan that experts
know won’t solve the problems at the border: open the government first, and the Dems will be happy to negotiate
a range of solutions for border
security (not just a wall) and work
towards badly needed comprehensive immigration
reform.
So House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump are dug in on opposite
sides, and we know how Trump likes to
hear “no” from strong women!
This national “hostage crisis” is
prompting some Dems to feel that some compromise
is necessary, but can compromise happen when the options are “wall”
or “no wall?” Compromise generally happens around the edges of an issue,
giving a little here, taking a little there—considering alternative ways to
solve the same problems, in other words.
![]() |
Could this have something to do with the standoff, too? |
There’s no give and take with Trump’s
stance, however, and despite the House passing several
bills that would immediately reopen the government, they won’t reach Trump
because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
refuses to put them on the Senate floor.
So, the White House is scrambling to
find a way for Trump to save face and get what he wants by going around Congress and declaring a national
emergency in regards to the border. If this happens, the crisis will only
amplify as he siphons funds away from other necessary sources: disaster
relief funds, fire-training in wild-fire prone states, infrastructure
projects and so on.
This declaration could also put us
on the slippery slope towards unprecedented and dangerous Executive power
(i.e., authoritarian rule), but it could also give the Courts (those not
shutdown under the Justice Dept. furlough, that is) a chance to weigh in. Turning
this issue over to the Courts is risky, however, as Trump has been staffing the
Courts and Justice Department with loyalists, especially ones that have an expansive
view of Executive power (cue Attorney-General nominee, William Barr).
Bottom line, we can’t take anything for granted!
So we are caught in a seemingly
unsolvable crisis—one that will force us to trust the non-Executive branches of
our government to an extraordinary extent—and as we’ll see, the astrology
strongly reflects both the tension and the precarious nature of the situation.
The
Astrology
So, let’s examine the charts. First
we’ll consider the Capricorn New Moon (a solar eclipse) we experienced on
January 5th—our main focus here will be to see how this lunation set
the tone for this harsh month and to consider how it has impacted our national
Sibly chart (Biwheel #1).
Second, we’ll consider the January
21st eclipse that promises to impress (Chart #1), bringing the
difficulties to a head of some kind. We’ll dig a little more into eclipse
factors on this one.
Along the way, we’ll consider placements from Trump’s nativity as needed.
Biwheel
#1: (inner wheel) U.S. Sibly
chart, July 4, 1776, 5:10 p.m. LMT, Philadelphia, PA; (outer wheel) Solar Eclipse (new moon), January 5, 2019, 8:28:05 p.m. ST, Washington, D.C. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node.
Note that the Solar Eclipse chart (SE-outer wheel) here features 28°+Leo
rising—within 1 degree of exactly
conjunct Trump’s natal ASC and a mere 2°
from his Leo Mars. So it shouldn’t surprise us that the entire month has
felt like one long, angry tirade coming from the White House. Demanding and
maintaining power and control for the sake of ego and identity—not to mention digging
in his heels to achieve the same—are fair game, and to quote Machiavelli, the
“ends justify the means.”
Trump’s driven anti-immigration
advisor Stephen
Miller seems to be Trump’s “Machiavelli:” not surprisingly, Miller’s noon
chart (for August 23, 1985, Santa Monica, CA) is dominated by an ambitious
fiery grand trine between Leo Mars, Sagittarius Uranus and Aries
Eris.
Back to the Biwheel at hand:
Interchart
Cardinal Grand Square: SE Saturn-Sun-Moon
conjunction (Capricorn) opposes Sibly Sun (Cancer); this axis is squared by SE
Mars/Eris (midpoint, Aries) opposite Sibly Saturn (Libra). Just about all
of the challenges discussed above are reflected in this one extremely tense
configuration—especially since the eclipse point is involved, and it’s
disposed by and within 4 degrees of Saturn!
The stand-off between equally
determined and equally potent opponents (Trump v. Democratic leadership,
especially Pelosi) is especially visible here, with considerable stress on the
character and constitutional integrity of the nation, as well. Saturn
(Capricorn) has only recently begun opposing Sibly Sun (Cancer), but Pluto
(Capricorn) has been bearing down for years (from at least 2012). Pluto has been slowly and
relentlessly preparing the ground for the transformation and commitment that Saturn
is now demanding.
Both the oppositions and the squares at work in this
configuration have us in a bind, however: the SE Saturn-square-Sibly Saturn
and SE
Mars/Eris (midpoint) square Sibly Sun aspects raise serious
questions about what’s really motivating this conflict. SE Saturn-square-Saturn
suggests that our national commitment to being a democratic (small “d”)
republic with three
co-equal branches of government is being brutally tested.
As for the SE Mars/Eris midpoint
square Sibly Sun, midpoints expert Michael Munkasey captures the
challenge sans Eris (in Aries, her disruptive energies are heavily influenced
by Mars).
Munkasey’s first scenario below is more constructive than the second, but both
ring eerily true in today’s dilemma:
“[first] The development of the military as an extension of
internal policy; challenges to authority or hostile actions which are subdued
by guards or armed forces; a leader associated with or from a military
background…[second] the extension of aggression as a will of the people;
developing military might to be used against others; the authority of a nation
or business linked to the armed forces; violence against the chosen leaders.”[1]
Of course, the “wall,” and border
security more broadly, are both heavily militarized issues: border agents and
ICE officials impose military/police power on people, and we’ve seen enough
horror stories to go around. Those who remember the Cold War know what an
authoritarian police state looks like; perhaps we’ve forgotten since the Berlin
Wall was torn down? We should take nothing
for granted here.
Clearly, immigration and border
security are only one point of
leverage among many for Trump’s autocratic
tendencies—remember Machiavelli? We’ve seen this threat coming, but because
Neptune
(Pisces) has also been transiting trine Sibly Sun for a good long
time, we’ve been distracted and “in the fog.” Even so, this month’s solar eclipse with Leo (Sun) rising delivered a wake-up call.
For its part, Saturn is a tough
taskmaster, but it provides the grit we need to respond. We can start by being aware (Sun-Saturn-Moon)
when false choices like steel (Mars)? or concrete (Saturn)
are skimmed past us. With this, Trump again demonstrates that he plans to give nothing to get everything. SE Mars opposite Sibly MC (conjunct
the IC,
that is) reflects the militant/aggressive tactics (Aries) being used against
our traditional brand of “deal-making” (Libra).
This Mars also squares Sibly
Jupiter-Venus (Cancer)—potential volatility in or damage to the economy
(we’re seeing it), so who stands to
benefit from the building and materials contracts needed to build a wall,
and what we know about all that matters here. When asked to specify where the
$5.7 billion wall fund that Trump is demanding would be built—something that anyone approving taxpayer expenditures
like that should demand to know—Rep.
Cole (R) of Oklahoma could not say, and Trump certainly isn’t saying.
So is there a building plan for an actual border wall, or is this about
opening a free-flowing, perpetual money pipeline (something like the Defense
budget) that Trump can tap at will? For that matter, how would the
over-militarization of our border (Mars square Sibly 7th house
planets) impact the long-term American economy? CNBC Economy estimates that if the shutdown lasts another two weeks, the
economy will lose more than $6 billion (Federal
workers aren’t the only ones being
hurt).
For his part, Fed Chairman Jerome
Powell just issued a warning about the nation’s “ballooning” debt
levels: we can’t just keep piling it on to make Trump feel safe and in control
with his wall. His natal chart features a sensitive, defensive Saturn-Venus
conjunction in Cancer (chart not shown): he has lived in guarded skyscraper towers a
good part of his life!
North Node conjunct these Cancer
points of his is perhaps a sign that Trump conflates his personal sense of security with national
security and with his control over
the Treasury (this Node opposes Sibly Pluto). He often threatens to
withhold Federal funds from states that aren’t loyal to him, such
as California!
Perhaps Trump’s war on immigrants
and the “unloyal” reflects an internal
state that no amount of steel slats and concertina wire can relax. It also
makes sense that we’re seeing this issue intensify so badly right now, as transiting
Pluto
and soon, Saturn (Capricorn) oppose his Cancer points. Trump is a tough talker,
with a Leo Mars swagger and adrenalin-driven temperament, but true courage is another story. Clearly, loyalty
to him over all else (Leo) is primary when he hires people, but a January 11th New York Times report raises questions
about where Trump’s loyalties lie. A
short excerpt captures the sense of it:
“In the days after President Trump fired
James B. Comey as F.B.I. director, law enforcement officials became so
concerned by the president’s behavior that they began investigating whether he
had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests, according to
former law enforcement officials and others familiar with the investigation.
The inquiry carried explosive implications.
Counterintelligence investigators had to consider whether the president’s own
actions constituted a possible threat to national security. Agents also sought
to determine whether Mr. Trump was knowingly working for Russia or had
unwittingly fallen under Moscow’s influence.”
Apparently, this inquiry was folded
into Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation early on, so it’s impossible to
know where things stand, but we know Trump’s anxieties are not likely to ease
any time soon—Pluto will oppose his Cancer points for several years to come.
Bottom line, this debate and discord
(Eris)
over a physical barrier is about so much
more than a steel or concrete structure—it’s an opportunity to grapple with
our responsibility (Saturn) and our karmic destiny (Pluto) in this world. Is
walling ourselves off from the world—both literally and through anti-alliance
foreign policies—how we see ourselves? With SE Eris opposite Pallas (Libra), fundamental
principles of American justice are also hanging in the balance—the Wall Trump envisions carries heavy
symbolic weight and he’s clearly aware of that.
SE Jupiter (Sagittarius) conjoins Sibly ASC,
semi-sextiles SE Saturn-Sun-Moon (Capricorn) sextiles Sibly Saturn (Libra), squares SE Neptune (Pisces), quincunxes Sibly Sun (Cancer) and opposes Sibly Uranus-DSC
(Gemini).Transiting Jupiter aspects the critical
cross-quarter points of the cardinal grand cross, in other words. Perhaps it’s
lightening up the tension just a bit, but it also stimulates the ambitious
thrust of potentially volatile events (Jupiter-Sibly Uranus-DSC) and pushes
all limits (Jupiter-Neptune).
Even with Jupiter’s lighter, more
optimistic tendencies, however, its aspects here are mostly challenging, restraining
(square) or frustrating (semi-sextile, quincunx), and the angular Sibly houses
that Jupiter
aspects impact are potentially weighty. Transiting Mars very widely trines Jupiter,
as well, conjunct Sibly IC and opposing the Sibly
MC. I think we’re seeing why events have cascaded so fast and furiously
since the first of the year, and why this
shutdown feels more significant than usual.
That said, a dignified Jupiter
on our collective ASC could encourage us and support
the efforts of true compatriots. Sibly Uranus (Gemini) also
represents our Tech sector, so that may be receiving a nice boost with Jupiter’s
opposition, but in the 6th house, it’s also about federal
workers, so we’ll see how this plays out in the shutdown. The Air
Traffic Controllers’ Union is suing the Trump administration to move things
along, and other unions and employee sectors will likely follow (SE
Jupiter quincunx Sibly Sun)—sounds appropriate!
Lastly, it’s noteworthy here that cosmic
change-maker Uranus was about to station
direct the day after this New Moon chart—perhaps another reason events
began to cascade so dramatically soon after. It squared Trump’s sensitive Cancer Saturn-Venus and trined
his bombastic Leo Mars-ASC, probably triggering the so-called “temper
tantrums” we’ve been seeing in the news. For the record, Uranus is due to re-enter
Taurus on March 6th.
So much more could be said about
this chart, but the issues will still be relevant for the January 21st
lunar eclipse, so let’s move on to that moment.
![]() |
A "super blood wolf moon" and a "rare spectacle" |
The “Blood Moon” January 21st total lunar eclipse
As mentioned earlier, a full moon
eclipse is a point of both culmination and fulfillment, of deep emotional
stirrings and revelations. Eclipse expert Celeste Teal says that:
“Sometimes there’s a surge of events and new information
within days of an eclipse, either just before or right after…the events taking
place near the time of an eclipse often serve as an announcement of the issues
that need to be addressed and those that will come under review in the months
or years ahead.”[2]
Teal also argues (convincingly) that a lunar eclipse impacts
current to a maximum duration of about 3.5 years. The eclipse we’re discussing
will endure (including full and shadow periods) 5 hours and 12
minutes, which by Teal’s accounting (1 year for each hour, to a max of 3.5
years), would give this eclipse maximum astrological impact.
This may be cut short, however, by the fact
that Saturn
will transit opposite the eclipse point when it enters Aquarius in
March, 2020; Teal says that Saturn is thought to “consummate” an
eclipse.[3] Either
way, this eclipse will impact American affairs well into the 2020 election and
administration.
This eclipse will also be entirely visible here in these United States—that adds to its impact.
Importantly, Teal points out that the degree of the eclipse (0°+Leo here) will remain an
open “portal” and especially sensitive to transiting planets (especially Mars)
during that duration period. Stay tuned!
With that said, let’s examine the eclipse chart, set for
Washington, D.C. on its own. Please note that astrological software
calculates eclipses for the exact moment of Sun-Moon opposition; this
gives us a picture of the eclipse at maximum fullness.
Chart #1: Lunar
Eclipse January 21, 2019. 12:15:59 a.m. ST, Washington, D.C. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node.
Eclipse Moon-Sun (Leo-Aquarius) straddle the 10-4 axis,
conjunct the MC-IC axis. Issues of fundamental, heritage-related and
reputational importance are at stake here. This opposition also forms two legs
of a T-square:
Uranus (Aries) forms an out-of-sign square to the Moon-Sun axis. With Uranus
now direct and finishing up its tour of Mars-ruled Aries, we
could see a volatile push for change that throws the fixed points off balance.
Would that be Trump’s ace-in-the-hole, an emergency declaration that allows him
to raid our national coffers where he will? It doesn’t seem like that’s the
plan today, but our Sun-conjunct-Uranus
(Gemini) president often wields surprise like a weapon.
Sun (Aquarius) rules the eclipse, conjunct IC. As Leo’s ruling
planet, the Sun is the so-called “Lord” of the eclipse, so the Sun’s
placement at the bottom angle of the chart suggests a deep reckoning with
heritage, identity and karmic baggage. There’s a reason we’ve seen a resurgence of white nationalism in this country
(Aquarius is often associated with authoritarian/fascist tendencies by mundane
astrology), but the Dragon’s Tail in this same house suggests that to unblock
our full potential, this quandary over heritage and identity needs to be fully
grappled with and released. We need to
move on if we want to thrive in the coming Aquarius Jupiter-Saturn cycle, for
starters—a story for another day.
So many complicated issues are tangled into this one simple
placement—undoubtedly there is other deeply-rooted “baggage” (our never-ending
struggle over women’s equality, for example) that needs releasing. There’s a
new push to reintroduce the 1970s Equal
Rights Amendment and get it right this time—with a regal Leo
Moon at the top of this chart (Pelosi?), why not?
The right relationship between technology and power
(Uranus-Leo), and how that impacts our relationship with the Earth
(astrologically opposite the Sun, so conjunct the Moon here)
is all potentially at stake here. There are so
many ways we need to be using our energies, and building ineffective walls
will only undermine all of it!
Pallas rises conjunct ASC (Libra) and opposite
Part-of-Fortune-DSC-Uranus (Aries). As mentioned much earlier, Pallas
evokes issues involving humanitarian justice, perhaps even civil rights
struggles, so we might expect some new developments at our beleaguered southern
border. Trump’s immigration policies are heavily laced with xenophobia, if not
outright racism, so we’re faced with a choice here: will we devolve as a nation
into pre-1960s views of such things, shutting ourselves off from the world in
the process, or will we rise to the challenge of living justly and well in an
ever-more diverse world? Let’s examine a couple more clues.
![]() |
Artists recreate the Berlin Wall to make a point. |
Finally, this is a Dragon’s Head eclipse, which
means that the North Node falls near to the eclipse point (in a lunar eclipse,
the Moon),
which happens in this chart. Again, Celeste Teal:
“The Dragon’s Head offers an inflowing rush of new energy,
and the Dragon’s Tail [South Node] provides an extracting force, inviting the
release of accumulated energy…Even though the Dragon’s Head eclipse offers new
stimuli and often leads toward fresh opportunities of conquest, the rush of
incoming energy may come as a surprise that is experienced at first as
disruptive.”[4]
The issue we face with this
particular chart is determining who or
what in our national life is
represented by the eclipsed Leo Moon. Clearly something or
someone of great importance, being conjunct the MC. Considering that this
eclipse will impact at least the coming two years (as Saturn nears its
opposition to the eclipse point), perhaps we’re seeing our first female president?—three qualified women have
thrown their hats in the ring already. Venus conjoins Jupiter (Sagittarius) and
trines
Mars (Aries)—it’s not a bad time to make that announcement.
Mars also squares Saturn (Capricorn) here,
however, so the political road for any candidate
will be grueling. Neptune (Pisces) is the sleeper energy to watch here: it squares
Venus-Jupiter and sextiles Saturn. Channeling Neptune’s
idealism into action and tangible results will be the key to success. This is a
bipartisan opportunity; hopefully the
GOP has a more forward-looking plan for 2020 than it did for 2016!
![]() |
"People pressure – not political negotiations –gave the decisive push" |
Final
thoughts and historical echoes
We’ve been slouching towards this
painful shutdown dilemma for awhile—but this past month has been particularly
dramatic and difficult, astrologically and otherwise. The new
Democratic-majority House challenges Trump’s domination of Congress and his sway
over the majority leaders and oversight committees, and that threatens his control. This is how a representative
republic works, of course—welcome to democracy!
Unfortunately, this doesn’t work well
with Trump’s
style of deal-making (i.e., getting what he wants and “breaking” the other side): as Vox.com points out, deals are based on trust, and that’s in very
short supply:
“The disillusionment is well earned. Over and over again,
Democrats have shaken
hands on an immigration deal with Trump, only to see him abandon it as soon
as they leave the room. Nor is this ancient history. Trump went back
on his word during the negotiations that led to the current shutdown.
That was less than a month ago.”
The obvious questions after an
analysis like this are, what will it take to end this government shutdown, and
when is that likely to happen? There are few clear answers in the two charts we
considered, but even unclear answers are
helpful! I suspect that by the 21st, something far more concrete
will have happened, and it will be because enough doubt has been raised in
people’s minds regarding Trump’s purposes in keeping the government shut down.
Or
perhaps more attention will be directed at why Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell refuses to present House bills for consideration on the Senate floor,
as though keeping the government shut down suits him, as well. His wife Elaine
Chao is still Trump’s Cabinet Secretary of Transportation: why would McConnell
want to mess with that arrangement? But back to Trump’s motives for a moment.
From the research and work on these
charts that I’ve done, it’s really not clear to me that Trump wants to re-open the parts of government
he has shuttered. He has no love for the FBI, of course—and their well-reasoned
petition
to the White House that he would fund that agency fell on deaf ears
yesterday. Some of the Courts that would normally be processing civil suits
against his Trump Organization are
now conveniently hampered or totally put on hold; environmental and
humanitarian aid agencies that he has no use for are now disabled.
Thankfully the Mueller investigation
is exempt from the shutdown—but the Justice
Department is severely impacted. Again, how convenient for Trump and his ongoing
disputes with that department. Do we
seriously think he’s going to re-open the government when he benefits from it being shut down?
Then there’s the whole issue of the
FBI’s investigation into his relationship with Russia—the subject of Friday’s New York Times revelations and the
subject of Saturday evening’s breaking news from the Washington Post. Here’s where the
shutdown may (or may not—only Mueller
knows right now) fit into a larger, historical context that’s worth a quick
look.
Russia’s
constant presence in our news since Trump ran for office has raised a
multitude of questions, in fact: how did Russians influence our 2016 election,
how is it still roiling American public discourse via social media, why did a
Russian woman infiltrate the NRA, why does Putin seem to have such “pull” on
Trump, why were there so many Russians and Ukrainians at the Trump inauguration
ball (were there illegal campaign donations from these foreign nationals?), and
a host of frankly scary possibilities regarding Trump’s potential entanglements
with Russian oligarchs (and by extension, Putin).
In fact, our history with Russia and
the Soviet Union before it is long and very complicated. I bring this up here
because the January 21st eclipse chart contains some historical
echoes from the end of the U.S.-Soviet Union Cold War—specifically from the
period during which the U.S.S.R.’s sphere of influence in the Baltic states and
Eastern Europe (including East Berlin) began to crumble.
![]() |
"The Berlin Wall was built to keep people in..." |
We won’t go into that
complicated story in any detail, but in the final waning years of the 1821 Uranus-Neptune
cycle, from about 1989-1992, the Soviet Union basically crumbled economically from within,
the Berlin Wall was torn down (November 1989) and Soviet satellite states
started demanding independence one by one. Very hard economic times followed
after.
It was the celebrated “end of the
Cold War,” and after all those paranoid years of nuclear brinksmanship, not one
missile was fired. As successful as that sounds, the Soviet implosion
undoubtedly left behind some scars and resentments.
Importantly, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn had been transiting Capricorn
in 1989, with Uranus and Neptune shutting down the “old
order” of geopolitics and approaching their new cycle at 19°+Capricorn in February 1993.
The world hasn’t been the same since, right?
Perhaps this transformation would
have remained more conceptual and theoretical, but Saturn was driving events
as well, dignified in Capricorn itself and disposing the other Capricorn
points. Saturn can probably be credited for manifesting the structural
upheaval that Uranus and Neptune were stimulating.
Here’s where the echoes with today
(and the January 21st eclipse) are deafening: Saturn is again in home
sign Capricorn—this time approaching its new cycle with Pluto. In fact, Saturn’s
placement in Chart #1 above echoes Saturn’s placement in April, 1989, the
period in which the turmoil that fatally undermined the Soviet Union was
gathering steam.
By the time the Soviet Union reconfigured itself into the
Russian Federation (official in December 1991), Uranus and Neptune
were also in mid-Capricorn. Again, the January 21st eclipse echoes
those critical points, so we shouldn’t be surprised that Russia is in the news.
It’s also significant that these mid-Capricorn
points oppose our Sibly
Sun and square Sibly Saturn, at the same time they trigger echoes in
Soviet history, so perhaps it’s not surprising that we keep seeing connections
between Russia and the stress we are
experiencing as a nation right now? Much has been said about how bitterly Putin
resents what happened to his homeland in the 1980s-90s, so we have to wonder
how he (and by extension, Russia itself) has been dealing with the impact of Saturn’s
slow approach to the Federation’s radix Uranus-Neptune (Capricorn).
The
Mueller investigation has given us some
answers to this riddle, but a deeper understanding of what Trump’s role, if
any, has been in all that is another story.
Once Saturn moves on into
Aquarius, the Russian Federation will experience its first Saturn return (over radix
5°+Aquarius)—this could
be another stressful time, or a time when that nation comes into its “own” in
some way. Either way, we’re probably going to be involved, like it or not.
Simply put, the U.S. is Putin’s foil—the whipping boy adversary that helps keep
him in power. Hopefully Putin doesn’t have an even deeper hold on our
president.
To that point, the Washington Post has just posted an
article titled “Trump
has concealed details of his face-to-face encounters with Putin from senior
officials in Administration.” Maintaining deniability is a super-power Trump and
Putin share, however records of known conversations either exist or they don’t,
so who knows where this goes?
Bottom line, this is a critical
period for Russia as well as for us, and there’s no denying that our national
fates have been linked over history, for better or worse. This story isn’t
going away any time soon—certainly not while Trump is in office. Let’s hope the
Mueller investigation gets to the bottom of what it means for us today!
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 2019. All
rights reserved.