Quixote or Sancho Panza: Which Jupiter-Pluto approach lies ahead?

Tilting at windmills may be pragmatic, in the end!

“The most important thing we can do is abandon the notion that some lives are just worth less than others.” – Rachel Kleinfeld, democracy advisor and author

“Being rapacious doesn’t make you a capitalist…it makes you a sociopath.” –Nick Hanauer, New Economics

 

Those who watched the latest Democratic presidential candidate debate may have been struck by the varying approaches each candidate on that stage wants to take in regards to restructuring our capitalist economy to benefit everyone. This is no place to detail all ten of their perspectives—every candidate has a website, as we know from the last debate—but it struck me that we can divide the field roughly in two on this matter: those who take an idealistic, Quixote-style approach and those who take a more pragmatic, “money talks” Sancho Panza approach.  None of the candidates so far has suggested that the status quo is acceptable and should be perpetuated. 

The most quixotic candidates are Senators Bernie Sanders (VT) and Elizabeth Warren (MA), whose plans are grandly ambitious (Medicare for All, restructuring the Wall Street/government relationship, imposing taxes on the super-wealthy to pay for climate change mitigation, universal Pre-K, student debt forgiveness and other social programs), but to the more moderate, Sancho-style candidates (notably, former V.P. Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar), those plans are too pie-in-the-sky and unachievable. Sanders and Warren beg to differ, and Warren’s continued rise in the polls against front-runner Biden suggests that Democratic voters are split between quixotic and not-so, as well. 

Other candidates, such as Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Pete Buttigieg seem to want to hedge their bets, promoting Medicare-for-all type programs, but building some pragmatic sounding caveats into their plans. Eliminating choice between public and private healthcare programs seems to be the Rubicon they don’t want to cross—Obama wasn’t able to manage that either, with the ACA.  

Entrepreneur Andrew Yang stands out for dabbling in a bit of the idealism that Sanders and Warren so boldly promote; he’s supporting a plan that evokes European economist Rutger Bregman’s Utopia for Realists[1], which looks to stimulate the Economy writ large (Jupiter-Pluto) from the bottom up by providing every adult citizen with a basic monthly income, no strings attached. Yang arrived at the figure of $1000 per month, which he figures would elevate every household’s personal economy just enough to make a real difference—not just for them personally, but for the businesses they would then patronize with their added wealth and the overall national economy. 

For those who are gainfully employed, the extra 1K every month would add a new level of quality to their family lives; for those who are un- or under-employed (i.e., patching together their basic needs from several part-time gigs), the extra 1K would be a much-needed safety net. 

Bregman—and I assume, Yang—are also mindful that the workplace is poised to become an extremely automated place, with far fewer human employees, once the robotics/AI revolution that’s been gaining hold hits full stride. Astrologically, I would predict that we’ll start feeling more impact from this during the coming Jupiter-Saturn cycle that launches in Aquarius at the end of 2020. So yes, how we approach a world in which the workplace is radically altered should be a burning issue during this election.

The road ahead is, indeed, fraught with larger-than-life realities.

Which brings us back to the healthcare issue: universal healthcare, totally divorced from employment will be essential if the working world can’t be trusted to provide it.  Yang seems to get this, so even though he sounds like a pie-in-the-sky Quixote type on the surface, I would say that he is actually blending his experience with American business and industry with just a dash of windmill tilting. The status quo approach to massive lay-offs and labor dislocations is hardly sufficient—there must be an approach that better preserves the dignity of workers and provides help with critical transitions. 
 
As I think about this, the GM auto workers’ strike (about a week old now) seems a bit quixotic, but I wish them well because they’re striking over real needs. The workers are increasingly angry over the way they were forced to make deep concessions to keep the company solvent during the 2007-8 recession and the company’s 2009 bankruptcy reorganization and DC bail-out: not surprisingly, there’s been no reciprocity since the company rebounded and flourished once again. 

 

Canadian GM workers support the U.S. strike,even as it triggers lay-offs.

Unfortunately, even though the waning state of the three cycles suggests it's a good time to make good on past promises, corporations like GM are naturally focused on the future because they know big change is coming: they’re planning for more automation and fewer workers, which will mean less leverage for union concerns, so it’ll be interesting to see what comes of the strike. 
 
So our current carefully engineered and systemic imbalance between labor and management is part of the astrological story here, and even though the workplace and laborers are ruled by Virgo and the 6^th house, this power imbalance is also about the workings of Jupiter and Pluto (for more on power imbalances and this cycle, see the last post here). Workers are clearly cast in the role of “servants” (Virgo), but notice that the opposing sign, Pisces, is co-ruled by Jupiter. It’s no accident that workers often end up being victimized (Pisces). 

ABC news reports that GM has stopped paying for striking workers healthcare.

As the Jupiter-Pluto cycle grinds to completion, it’s raising urgent questions about the basic dysfunction that drives our capitalist system and keeps workers forever begging for the banquet crumbs, instead of sitting at the table. Do workers generate company growth and profits (Jupiter)? Or does capital (Pluto)? If the answer is workers, then why do public corporations claim they “must” give shareholder profits top priority? Why do these corporations consider workers liabilities to be minimized, instead of assets to be valued? Is a win-win kind of balance possible between these two? 
 
These are questions that need answers during this waning period for all three of the cycles we’ve been watching (Jupiter-Pluto, Saturn-Pluto and Jupiter-Saturn), but perhaps this simple shift of perspective—that workers are assets—could produce the structural change that our more quixotic candidates are looking for? 

Another perspective shift that’s catching on is in regards to America’s gun violence problem. Recent mass shootings seem to have crossed a critical line in our national consciousness and the public seems less and less willing to concede all the power over this issue to the NRA and the mega-dollars of the corporate gun lobby. If the polls and commentary are any indications, the power imbalance here—that the lives and rights of individual citizens in the line of fire are somehow less valuable than those who want to buy AR-15s with no scrutiny—has become simply intolerable. 

Of course, the well-heeled gun lobby has its media boosters and damage control machine, as well—individuals like Trump’s former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and National Review editor Rich Lowy, who have been touting gun ownership as “our God-given right.” Even Lowry admits, however, that our natural right to self-defense doesn’t mean we have a “right” to own an AR-15 automatic rifle, and that’s the crux of the matter, after all. 

As for the astrology of this stubborn quandary, the NRA’s founding chart[2] shows that the organization’s Jupiter/Pluto (midpoint, Gemini) falls within a degree of its North Node (Gemini)—we could say that it was “born” to wield great influence and throw its weight around. 

 

Donald Trump and Wayne LaPierre (NRA) in the White House in Feb. 2017.

It’s also rather stunning that Donald J. Trump’s natal Sun, No. Node and Uranus fall tightly conjunct the NRA’s North Node, with his Moon conjunct the NRA’s So. Node[3]—between that and several other connections between their charts, we shouldn’t be surprised by that mutually beneficial relationship. The key here is that this relationship could also be mutually vulnerable: public sentiment souring against one could impact the other. 
 
People power may ultimately move the needle on this issue, as well: click here if you haven’t seen the latest “Back to School” PSA from the Sandy Hook Parents, regarding school shootings. Caution: it’s both shocking and profoundly disturbing.  

We can expect all kinds of distractions from these critical issues, of course. At the moment, lowering the air quality standards in California and finding hiding places for their homeless is far more important to Trump than hammering out common sense gun laws. 

Of course, there’s the ultimate potential distraction—declaring war. Iran is the latest target for saber-rattling, but IMHO, if hostilities do break out, it’s more likely to happen after the new cycles have rolled out. There are reasons for concern—more on these in future posts.  

Climate activist, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, trying to light a fire under Congress.

A state of overwhelm

So, this election campaign is raising potentially life-altering issues, and it’s all rolling out in concert with three key society-restructuring planetary cycles. Frankly, the situation feels overwhelming at the moment—we have enough to be concerned about with the ravages of climate change; do we really have to reinvent our economic system, confront the gun lobby Goliath to save our children, and oh, while we’re at it, save our democracy?

In fact, the daily news suggests that those are the tasks ahead, and I wish there was an ounce of exaggeration in this list.  Sixteen-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg spoke before the U.S. Congress recently, urging our government to “unite behind the scientists” and to begin acting as though there’s a crisis (because there is): shouldn’t this shame Congress into more action? This teenager led yesterday’s Climate Strike in New York City—the New York Times reports that an estimated 4 million people turned out for this strike worldwide (it’s a start):

“Anxious about their future on a hotter planet and angry at world leaders for failing to arrest the crisis, masses of young people poured into the streets on every continent on Friday for a day of global climate protests. Organizers estimated the turnout to be around four million in thousands of cities and towns worldwide…

It was the first time that children and young people had demonstrated to demand climate action in so many places and in such numbers around the world.

‘You had a future, and so should we,’ demonstrators chanted as they marched through New York City.

Then, ‘We vote next.’”

Even corporations know that changes in our fossil fuel consumption are necessary—that it doesn’t even matter who is responsible for climate warming. 

This was the scene in Berlin yesterday, as teenagers led the global Climate Strike.

The reality is that it is happening and it threatens life on this planet as we know it. Maybe all states should be working towards higher emissions standards as California has, instead of allowing Trump to undermine and threaten those who dare to take action? 

So yes, the tasks ahead are daunting and will require serious transformative change—is there an acceptable alternative? 

Planting seeds

Clearly, the sheer volume and intensity of issues at stake during this election suggests that we must approach these three planetary cycles consciously—because they’re all working in tandem and will play their respective roles in nurturing the “seeds” that we plant in our society and economy between now and the time they each roll out. 

For instance, some presidential candidates are sowing fundamental, structural economic change in our election discourse. This is very scary to many Dems, especially those who can remember progressive Ralph Nader voters being blamed for Al Gore’s 2000 loss to George W. Bush. Even so, three cycles completing and beginning anew in one year should tell us something: that if fundamental structural changes are ever going to be possible, this could very well be the time. It’s certainly not the time to apologize for wanting something better out of D.C. It’s also not the time to dwell solely on beating Trump.

The shape those changes would take is far from certain at this point, but Senators Warren and Sanders both passionately question the version of capitalism that has taken over since the 1970s and 80s (accelerated in a big way by the 1993 Uranus-Neptune Capricorn conjunction), and they both have plans for a system that balances out its most abusive excesses and addresses the radical wealth inequality it has created. Yes, they run the risk of being called the "S" word, but they're not alone in thinking that a more workable capitalism/socialism hybrid system is possible that would address the extremes. And, they're not the lonely “voices in the desert” we might think. 

Nick Hanauer's podcast is influencing 2020 politics.

Jupiter-Pluto, democracy and the neoliberal economy

Billionaire “one-percenter” Nick Hanauer, the co-author of The Gardens of Democracy: A New American Story of Citizenship, the Economy, and the Role of Government, and before that, an eye-opening Ted Talk, entitled “Beware, fellow plutocrats: the pitchforks are coming,” has been encouraging American policy makers to reform our economic system to level out the playing field and reduce the always-widening, radical inequality between the upper and lower tiers. “Plutocrats” are described by Jupiter-Pluto at its greediest, of course—more is always better, and there’s no limit to the ruthless ambition. 

Hanauer has been advocating for a new, more humane, more cooperative form of capitalism for several years now because he’s worried that our economy and society will be unsustainable if  the “plutocrats” are allowed to prevail. 

He coined the term “Pitchfork Economics” (also a podcast) to highlight that the neoliberal economics that brought us the current radically out-of-balance situation was based on flawed premises. A major force behind the $15 minimum wage campaign that’s been passed into law in some states, Hanauer argues that free societies that succumb to radical wealth inequality do so at their peril because “capital doesn’t generate growth; people do.” He touts the many positives capitalism has delivered to this nation, but says the extremes of neoliberal capitalism have allowed our system to devolve into a “protection racket for the rich.”
 
Just to clarify, “neoliberal” is far from what we consider liberal in today’s politics: under neoliberalism, corporations are basically “liberated” from responsibility for anything beyond shareholder profits—they are set loose to pursue globalized markets and predatory free trade arrangements that siphon jobs and resources offshore, that privatize those resources, deregulate environmental and labor protections and impose austerity measures on target markets. Few but the super wealthy prosper under this program: wages stagnate, labor laws are rolled back or simply not enforced, politicians answer to corporate lobbies over all, and so on and so on. 

So it’s not hard to see the connection between this ideology and the economic dysfunction that brought us the “Great” recession of 2007-8 (coinciding with the late Sagittarius 2007 Jupiter-Pluto conjunction), not to mention the DC corruption that so many 2020 candidates are decrying in their campaigns. 

 

Again, the Jupiter-Pluto cycle is relevant here because everyone experiences the innate desire for growth, prosperity and success—however societies define that term—but when that desire is systematically undermined and reserved for the privileged few, there’s a toxic power imbalance calling the shots. Change tends to happen when the extremes simply go too far—bubbles burst when they’re overblown, the "Jenga" tower falls when the laws of gravity are defied. Hanauer is right that the toxic order of the day simply isn’t sustainable without change. 
 
Jupiter and Pluto are certainly not the only planetary energies at play when such imbalances take over, but they are the “usual suspects” when deference to the super-wealthy (Pluto) can be said to describe the “Spirit” (Jupiter) of our times. Even so, the eagerness to think big is characteristic of this cycle, so perhaps the “Medicare for All” health plans various candidates are pushing aren’t as pie-in-the-sky as they sound. 

Maybe such a plan has just been waiting in the wings for the right time—millions of American families could certainly benefit from the financial relief, and that would be a positive Jupiter-Pluto expression. That and getting pharmaceutical prices under more reasonable control (finally) would be a dream-come-true around the kitchen table when the bills are due. Many think that the 2020 election will be a referendum on this one big idea. 


Even so, it feels almost un-American to pin all the blame for economic dysfunction on the rich—wouldn’t we all like to be in their shoes? Yes, Jupiter and Pluto fall somewhere in everyone’s chart. The problem is these two both tend to extremes when unfettered, and it’s the job of society (covered by cycles involving Saturn) to make sure that doesn’t happen, to reward innovation and drive without leaving ordinary citizens in the dust. Quixote or Sancho?

The astrology

This is a good point to examine the 2020 Jupiter-Pluto cycle chart that will launch at 24°+ Capricorn on April 4th next year. The goal will be to consider how that cycle could manifest during the coming election year, and into the coming decade, in so far as that’s possible. Who wins the election will determine a lot about the coming years, so long-term predictions will probably remain foggy. We already know the election is guaranteed to be raucous, but as we’ve seen, there’s much more at stake than an election. 

This cycle will launch less than 3° from Sibly Pluto (Capricorn), so this elaborate cycles “dance” we’re engaged in right now is just the prelude to the Sibly chart’s Pluto return in February 2022. The new Saturn-Pluto cycle will lead the dance in January, 2020 (as discussed more thoroughly here), followed pretty closely by Jupiter-Pluto in April, and then after about 8 months’ break during which big institutional issues will probably dominate, Jupiter-Saturn should provide some breakthrough energy by conjoining just over the Aquarius cusp, square Uranus (Taurus).  

One way or another, we’ll be riding some robust social reinvention energies going into that Pluto return. Our national values will be a major transformative focus (all this is happening in the Sibly 2nd house), which could be incredibly significant, as it impacts everything, We’ve seen what happens when our president doesn’t seem to share our democratic (small “d”) values—it’s impacted everything, from the way we relate to each other, to the way our government functions (or doesn’t), to the way we relate to the rest of the world as a nation. 

With Pluto involved in both of the near-term cycles (with Saturn and Jupiter respectively), we can also expect that any collective karma that happens to be dragging us down will surface—the “return of the repressed” is one way to think about this process, which taps into our collective unconscious, where things are a bit messy, indeed. 

First Native American U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo.

In fact, the past has been resurfacing (it does so with the Saturn-Pluto cycle in particular)—you’ve seen this if you’ve followed the discussions about slavery reparations and have listened to the concerns of Native American citizens. Joy Harjo, our current U.S. poet laureate and a Native American, has observed that as a nation we’re reliving something resembling our hateful “Trail of Tears” period (a series of forced relocations of Native Americans beginning with the 1830 Indian Removal Act, signed by Andrew Jackson). 

Interestingly, when that act was passed, Jupiter fell conjunct Capricorn Neptune, having just finished squaring Aries Pluto. It also fell inconjunct domineering Leo Saturn, which trined Pluto. The tribes didn’t stand a chance against the massive forces that came down on them. 

Harjo says that many trails of tears have marred our history, in fact, including the one that’s been making its way to our southern border from deep inside Central America. It’s difficult to disagree: hatred and exclusion are not the values of an enlightened democracy, but yet these are the values that have clenched their fists around our public policies once again. 

Pluto and its cycles will guarantee that we can’t repress difficult history forever—we must come to grips with it all in order to go forward with a renewed spirit. This renewed spirit would help us embrace the magnificent diversity we enjoy in this country, rather than cave into divisive narratives; it would also help us figure out a more compassionate, less destructive approach to asylum seekers at our border. IMHO, there must be an answer to that dilemma that goes beyond erecting walls that will “fry” eggs (and people, presumably)! 

Simply put, we will never quite live up to the positive potential of the Jupiter-Pluto cycle if we can’t face the abuses we’ve perpetrated through history with these potent energies. 

Finally, because the 2^nd house also speaks to national finances—the 2^nd-8^th house polarity covers both the small “e” economy of the ordinary working/consuming world, and the big “E” economy of Wall Street investment/debt, etc ), this transition period could drive some restructuring in our economy, to better reflect values we can collectively embrace going forward. We’ll dig into this issue more in Biwheel #1 below, setting the Jupiter-Pluto cycle chart against the U.S. Sibly chart, but let’s take a quick look at the cycle chart by itself first (Chart #1). 

 

Chart #1: Jupiter-Pluto 2020, April 4, 2020, 8:03:03 pm DST, Washington, D.C. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node.
 
Jupiter conjoins Pluto and Pallas (Capricorn) and squares ASC-DSC horizon (Libra-Aries); Eris (Aries) conjoins DSC (Aries). The 4^th house placement for Jupiter, Pluto and Pallas is rendered quite potent by the wide conjunction between these Capricorn points and the Saturn-Mars conjunction in early Aquarius. But let’s consider the Capricorn gathering first: issues of economic justice and the overall social order are key here—the 4^th house impacts the grassroots level. We can all imagine several issues this may influence. Asteroid experts Demetra George and Douglas Bloch offer some interesting points:

“Pallas Athene in Capricorn denotes structural perception. One ‘sees’ through a comprehension of the structural foundation which supports form…Politically, this is a defender of law and order. There is a strong power drive for authority over others in political and social institutions. The wisdom of Pallas in Capricorn is the wisdom of order—putting things in their proper sequence.”[4]

Saturn, of course, disposes the Capricorn points, so it’s possible that its cozy relationship with Mars here will heavily influence the order implied above. It could be more like a police state, and with militant Aries Eris on the DSC (disposed by that Mars), there may be reason for concern when the Trump administration makes belligerent moves. Jupiter-Pluto wants to push for new financial horizons and unfortunately, to some power players, war is “good for the economy.” Good for whose economy is another story, never mind the human cost.
 
Even so, 8^th house Venus (Gemini) trines Saturn-Mars (Aquarius)—Big Money is poised to forcibly get a piece of whatever opportunities this new Jupiter-Pluto cycle creates. 

With a hard-nosed Aquarius Mars ruling the 7^th, conjunct Saturn, public policies towards “Others” may still be quite repressive. This is reinforced by Taurus Uranus—square Mars-Saturn, also occupying the 7^th, which may also relate to the possibility of armed conflict. There’s also the potential of cyber conflict here, however, with Uranus ruling such technology. 

 

A monument to what?

Another concern with this Saturn-Mars conjunction in the 4^th could arise if Trump feels empowered to declare a national state of emergency. He’s already pulled that “Go” card out of his pocket in order to go around Congress to fund his wall—do we think he wouldn’t use that leverage whenever it suits him and for whatever purpose? 

As we’ve seen, Hanauer urges his fellow billionaires to accept a less rapacious financial system for the sake of avoiding the proverbial pitchforks—the other, more authoritarian (Mars-Saturn) way to approach the pitchforks is to beat them back with a police state. Sounds like science fiction, but unfortunately, history (as well as current news) is full of such “fiction.”    

 

 

 

The biwheel

At this point it makes sense to bring the U.S. Sibly chart into the discussion, since the new Jupiter-Pluto cycle isn’t launching in a vacuum. Remember that all-important 2^nd house of values and finances—again, that’s where the action is! Let’s take a deeper look:

 

 

 

Biwheel #1: (inner wheel) USA Sibly Chart, July 4, 1776, 5:10 p.m. LMT, Philadelphia, PA; (outer wheel) Jupiter-Pluto 2020, April 4, 2020, 8:03:03 p.m. DST, Washington, DC. Tropical Equal Houses,True Node.

Jupiter triggers growth, but the other connections it makes in a chart seem to direct where that growth is realized in the collective. Jupiter’s “strike it rich” energy may work on the individual level—say, some lucky guy wins the lottery that day—but opportunities that “lift all boats” across society are harder to come by. Pluto is the 2^nd house “dragon” hoarding the treasure of this nation, and we haven’t had too many dragon slayers come forward lately. Even President Obama made unfortunate concessions to Wall Street to get us out of the 2007-8 recession, and he had to accept major compromises to the Affordable Care Act to mollify the corporate health care system. 

As noted above, Jupiter-Pluto-Pallas (Capricorn) and Saturn-Mars (Aquarius) fall over the Sibly 2^nd; the Capricorn points tightly oppose Sibly Mercury-Part of Fortune (Cancer) and trine Sibly Neptune (Virgo). So we can expect a distorted narrative (Sibly Neptune sextiles Sibly Mercury) about all things economy-related to dominate public discourse. This narrative could be written off as corporate spin, but as usual, the appearance of prosperity (Jupiter-Pluto trine Sibly Neptune) could sway public perception enough to maintain the status quo.  

Neptune produces inertia, which could be the pitfall of the trines to its Virgo placement. 

As noted earlier, however, if things go “military” the way the Saturn-Mars dynamics in this chart suggest they might, the prosperity that results could simply feed wealth inequality and compromise our national security. If the Iraq and Afghanistan wars haven’t taught us anything, what will?  

It’s hard to see here how serious reforms will challenge the corporate agenda—Jupiter-Pluto-Pallas semi-sextiles Sibly Moon (Aquarius), so ordinary Americans aren’t likely to get the better end of any deals and/or legislative efforts. Will trade programs continue to be negotiated on the backs of American farmers and other workers? Will the national debt and deficit force cuts to critical social programs? Nothing leaps off this chart to suggest immediate improvements, but we are talking about Jupiter here, of course, so hope springs eternal!

From the L.A. Times--an enlightened, impassioned youth is a force of Nature.

One possibility does suggest that this Jupiter-Pluto cycle could surprise us, however: the so-called “Green New Deal” (as originally promoted by Reps. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey) would require a real change of focus from our economic system, and it’s a proposal that matches the enormous scope and reach of this cycle. It represents everything Trump wants to squelch, of course, but this deal—and the climate activist movement that seems to be gaining considerable steam among young adults—could make an appreciable difference in Election 2020. 

Whatever transpires, the U.S. Treasury (Sibly Pluto) will likely experience a boost with this new Jupiter-Pluto launch conjunct Sibly Pluto, but to what extent that will translate into widely shared prosperity depends upon political will. As suggested, the national debt and deficit (Pluto) may also escalate—lots to monitor there!

As discussed in regards to Chart #1, the Saturn-Mars and Uranus dynamics are a bit precarious looking—that’s true here, as well. The squares between these planets span the Sibly 2^nd and 5^th, with Mars ruling the 5^th and suggesting that the economic “powers that be” may be spoiling for a fight. This potential volatility is reinforced by Uranus’ (Taurus) square to Sibly Nodal Axis (Leo-Aquarius), with Saturn-Mars conjunct Sibly So. Node. Surprisingly militaristic relationships are possible here, and political fireworks are likely. Uranus rules the Sibly 3^rd and disposes 3^rd house Sibly Moon (Aquarius), so we can’t rule out violence in our streets when things get rowdy. 

This could be an indication that our gun laws debate will flare up in a big way, but it could portend more generalized conflict as well. Any efforts we can make to unite for some cause across our many divides would help here—unfortunately, Trump and company go out of their way to stoke our divisions, and that’s not likely to change during the election campaign. The Dems should consider inspiring unity job #1. 

Interchart Cardinal Grand Cross: Cycle Nodal axis (Cancer-Capricorn) overlays Sibly Jupiter-Venus (Cancer); this axis squares Cycles Chiron (Aries) opposite Sibly MC (Libra). It’s frankly not surprising that the nation’s image abroad (MC) will be taking a painful hit (Chiron) as this cycle launches—how well we navigate this unusual territory might come down to how adeptly we mend fences with allies (7^th house Sibly Jupiter and Venus) and restore our mutually beneficial relationships. 

Opportunities to do so will be there, but with Cycle Saturn-Mars (Aquarius) sitting inconjunct Sibly Venus-Jupiter (Cancer), it’s hard to say how that will happen. 

It will be interesting, in fact, to see whether our NATO alliances deteriorate further under this new cycle. Will they survive Trump’s attempts to mollify Putin? Trump seems to be attempting to “have it both ways,” which evokes his Gemini nature, certainly, but he showed little commitment to NATO when he walked out of the INF treaty recently—to Europe’s dismay. 

This disjointed approach suits the inconjuncts we see here, but with Saturn-Mars square Uranus involved, the danger of bungling our way into a major falling out is very real. This possibility is reinforced by Cycle So. Node conjoined Sibly Eris (Capricorn), opposite all that activity in the Sibly 7^th and tied into the overall grand square. 

Not surprisingly, this Eris opposes Trump’s natal Mercury (Cancer-chart not shown)—yes, he’s personally invested in the prosperity of this nation (Sibly Venus-Jupiter), and he will create chaos in our relationships (i.e., trade agreements, diplomatic affairs) to suit goals we probably can’t even imagine yet.  

By Andrey Zhelkovsky

  

Final thoughts

Speaking of Trump’s nativity, it’s worth pointing out that all three of the new cycles we’ve been discussing are launching opposite his 11^th house Saturn-Venus (Cancer), so he’s experiencing the waning tensions of these cycles on many levels, both personally and in his official capacity.  It’s not all negative for him, by any means—Sibly Pluto is also opposite his Cancer points, so it’s not hard to see that he values his hold on the U.S. Treasury and the sheer power endowed on him. Congress doesn’t want to give him his wall funding? He’ll find a way to get it, even if he has to declare a bogus national emergency to do so. 

To him, this defiance expresses his strength in the face of all kinds of duress, restrictions and demands—Neptune (Pisces) transiting square his Gemini-Sagittarius points (Moon-Sun-nodal axis-Uranus) undoubtedly confirms his victim mentality; never mind that our democracy is the true victim. He definitely is the martyred hero in his own narrative, but it’ll be interesting to see how the new cycles manifest in his election campaign as they roll-out one by one. 

It should be noted that new cycles take hold gradually—we shouldn’t expect instant changes from any of them. As noted earlier, the “seeds” of new ideas that we collectively plant in our national “soil” between now and roll-out time will impact how things proceed. 

Looking for helpful change during the waning half of these cycles has been like “slouching towards Bethlehem”—more dystopic than quixotic. This makes the choices we are faced with under the new 2020 cycles all the more critical:  will we leverage their energies to expel this apocalyptic negativity and to reinvent ourselves for a more vibrant future, or will we passively accept whatever suits the “powers that be?”  

Perhaps we need to believe in a better future? Watch this space! 

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[1]Rutger Bregman, Utopia for Realists: The Case for a Universal Basic Income, Open Borders and a 15-hour Workweek, The Correspondent, 2016.

[2] Founding data for NRA: November 16, 1871, 12:00 pm LMT (noon chart, no time known), Albany, NY. Source: Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rifle_Association.

[3]Birth data for Donald J. Trump: June 14, 1946, 10:54 a.m. DST, Jamaica, NY.

[4]Demetra George & Douglas Bloch, Asteroid Goddesses: the Mythology, Psychology and Astrology of the Re-emerging Feminine, Ibis Press, updated edition, 2003, p. 105.