Monday, May 16, 2022

An agitated New Moon amid a Season of Extremes



It seems like an understatement to say that we're living in extremes times, doesn't it? 
 

 

I guess this should be no surprise: aside from two eclipses happening this past month (one just past that has been fairly dramatic already), Jupiter and Neptune have just recently conjoined in oceanic Pisces, and with Mars having joined them in that sign recently, the “seas” have been anything but calm. Then there’s disruptive Uranus, edging into mid-Taurus, so for much of the month of May, it’s been within orb or conjunct the Sun. The consequences have been notable. 

For instance, if you happen to be a Kentucky Derby fan, you probably noticed that Uranus was conjunct the Taurus Sun on race day this past May 7th. How appropriate that a horse named Rich Strike would come from behind and out-power the rest of the field, despite incredible odds against him! Uranus in Taurus can be quite the spoiler, it appears!  

Personally, I’m not into horse racing, but I do take notice when underdogs prevail in any sphere of life these days. Ukraine, led by a former comic actor-turned competent/heroic leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, seems to fit this description; the situation remains horrific, but it’s improving, Zelensky has definitely made his mark, and Ukrainian resolve has edified us all. Knock on wood, the underdog seems to be prevailing, despite tremendous losses and agony.  

Then, there’s the situation back here in the U.S. When the Supreme Court first leaked its draft opinion on Roe v. Wade on May 2, Uranus was transiting a mere two degrees from the Sun and widely conjunct the North Node at 22°+Aquarius, with Saturn transiting ominously t-square from 24°+ Aquarius. Yes, our laws are being unapologetically re-engineered by a determined Court with blatantly ideological authoritarian tendencies (a known Saturn in Aquarius pitfall), and—because the Nodal axis reflects trends in societies, these destructive winds of change need to be taken seriously.  

I wish I could say “nothing to see here, folks,” but in fact, women, if not all Americans, ignore what’s going on at our peril. I'd like to hope that the “underdogs” will prevail here, too, but unfortunately, Uranus in Venus-disposed Taurus is capable of delivering a major upset to women and to those who count on them.  

It might seem counterintuitive, since Aquarius is often associated with the great democratic revolutions of the 1800s, but in fact, Saturn often seems to express the extremes of its law-and-order-loving nature in Aquarius, a sign that it co-rules with Uranus. There’s a long, documented historical connection between societies that exercise institutional violence against their people (i.e. under “strong man,” fascistic systems) when Saturn transits this sign—see Table 1 below for Saturn’s transit dates in this sign, from 1900 to the present.   

Obviously, would-be autocrats also do their thing when Saturn is in other signs, but their efforts seem to especially benefit from this fixed air-sign transit because it helps to consolidate their hold on power. How each instance manifests varies according to all the factors at work, of course, but there are clear parallels and “themes” trailing throughout.  

Consider even recent history: Saturn was at this same point in its 1990s transit of Aquarius (2/1991-1/1994) when a neoliberal, corporate/Government alliance forcibly globalized our economic system, despite vehement public opposition. Their actions triggered mass layoffs and economic dislocation on millions, and radically disempowered American workers and labor unions. This was exacerbated and enabled, of course, by the 2/1993 Uranus-Neptune conjunction that launched its new world-order changing cycle in Saturn’s other home sign, Capricorn.  

The illusion of democracy remained in the U.S. at the time, however—there were even new democracies “born” from the implosion of what was then the Soviet Union—but new international trade deals and institutions agreed to and created in that decade constrained our government’s ability to protect workers and to ensure that everyone benefitted from the new international markets that were pried open.  

Of course, all this was accompanied by the nearly obscene rise of corporate behemoths produced by waves of extreme mergers, arbitrage deals and takeovers. Globalization also enabled the rise of the Finance industry as a way of getting around New Deal-era regulations. Government attempts to regulate business dealings at that time (a critical tool in the creation of the mid-20th century middle class) was anathema, and ordinary people paid the price.  

Where Saturn in Aquarius left off, Uranus-Neptune in Capricorn took up the slack. Times were great for those already privileged by our economic systems, but many American wage earners can also trace big backward steps in their overall economic security to this period. Wages stagnated, good jobs were lost forever, to be replaced for many with paycheck-to-paycheck jobs. American workers were all of a sudden competing with much less well-paid labor markets abroad, and wealth inequality between the so-called “99%: and the “1%,” not surprisingly, soared.  

Table 1. Saturn transits in Aquarius, 1900-present. 

Saturn enters Aquarius 

Saturn exits Aquarius 

 

 

1/1903 

1/1906 

2/1932 

2/1935 

1/1962 

12/1964 

2/1991 

1/1994 

3/2020 

3/2023 

 

 

 

For the sake of reference, Table 1 above details dates for Saturn’s transits through Aquarius since 1900; it doesn’t take much to see that “strong man” governments were prevalent during these transit periods: 

  • -1903-1906 were key years for the expansion of European colonialism, particularly in Africa and India—the heinous track record of King Leopold II of Belgium as “absolute ruler of the Congo” comes to mind. At the same time, tensions were building among other European “strong men,” leading to the catastrophe of WWI;  

  • -the 1930s were marked by the rise of Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and Spain, communist regimes, and of course, the onset of WWII;  

  • -the 1960s transit happened during the height of the U.S. war in Vietnam, not to mention civil rights struggles here at home.  

  • -we’ve already seen some of what the 1990s’ transit brought to bear, but we should note that this period was marked by the disintegration of the Soviet Union, planting the seeds for the future “strong man” government of Vladimir Putin, which launched in 1999 and is now perhaps culminating in the calamitous expressions we’re seeing in Ukraine, during this current Saturn transit; 

  • -the 2020s transit is presently supporting the disturbing rise of “strong men” in Eastern Europe (especially Hungary), and oddly-related via Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump’s continued efforts to overturn American democracy. The likely reversal of Roe v. Wade by the extremist Supreme Court that the GOP strong-armed into existence (Obama’s right to a second Court pick after Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death was basically stolen by Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell’s maneuvering) could very well empower right-wing extremism in this nation for years to come. 

    We’ve only just begun to see how far this Court is willing to go to overturn key civil rights precedents, of course: clearly, they’ve become the loyal “tool” of a would-be autocrat (and his deep-pocketed supporters) that may or may not hold office again, but will certainly continue to influence American discourse.

In fact, the corporate connection to all this is worth noting because billionaires have basically financed the anti-abortion movement across the nation for years now. From CNBC.com: 

“Since Trump became president, a small group of executives, their nonprofit organizations and affiliated outside groups, have formed a little-known multimillion-dollar fundraising operation to back groups who have lobbied and campaigned against abortion rights, according to over 30 Federal Election Commission filings and nonprofit tax filings. The web of business leaders and their affiliated organizations have raised over $40 million, with big money going to groups such as Susan B. Anthony List and its affiliated organizations. 

Corporate America has stayed mostly silent on the court’s draft decision since it was published. Even so, some business leaders have boosted the anti-abortion movement in recent years. 

Records show that donors to anti-abortion groups include nonprofits run by oil and gas executive George Strake Jr., the conservative Mercer family and a donation through the Shell company foundation run by the leaders of the oil and gas giant. 

Individual donors have given big money to groups that oppose abortion rights since the 2020 election cycle, FEC filings show. Many of those organizations opposed President Joe Biden in that election and could be active this year in the midterms, as Democrats try to hold their narrow majorities in Congress.” 

So the Court seems intent on finishing what Donald Trump set in motion with his three well-financed ultra-conservative nominees; certainly, the anti-abortion rights funding efforts noted above have only gained steam since Trump lost the election to Biden. The entire article (see link above) is well-worth a read: it names names and goes into details about the corporate involvement on both state and federal levels that people need to be aware of.  

It's probably time to remember what Fascism is about—institutional violence against human rights (especially those of women and minorities) that is designed to keep deep, toxic alliances between corporations and government in power. No surprise, these regimes often come to power on the wings of "populist" movements, whipped up on fear and panic and "Us v. Them" politics. Bottom line, what we're seeing today is not a rehearsal: this movement to strangle our (“small d”) democratic institutions with bought and paid for ideologues and to inject toxic divisiveness into our public discourse and politics hasn’t happened overnight, but it now seems to be uncomfortably close to clinching the deal. 

It’s worth noting that the conservative nationalists who have contributed to our present dilemma—many of them allied with fundamentalist and/or Evangelical religious groups (who simply don’t see women’s rights as a compelling issue)—have used our courts to gradually destroy the essential wall of separation between Church and State over several decades, and this has, to a great extent, enabled some of the results we are now seeing.  One doesn't have to be anti-religion to be alarmed by the history Katherine Stewart details in her latest book, The Power Worshippers: the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism.” Unfortunately, people have used religion throughout history to become the most pernicious demagogues of all, and not much has changed.

Religious freedom always meant the freedom to practice—or not practice—a religion as we individually see fit, free of attempts by government to establish or impose an obligatory “national” religion. Free also of attempts to discriminate against or impose controls on people’s choices, solely on the basis of religious principles. Or of attempts to inject a religious narrative into our official public discourse, as the arguments against Roe v. Wade never fail to do. 

AL Gov. Kate Ivey
This takes in other issues as well, of course: when Alabama Governor Kate Ivey defended her state’s law forbidding doctors to treat transgender children with gender-affirming drugs this week by saying, “If the Good Lord made you a boy at birth, you’re a boy...if he made you a girl, you’re a girl,” the net effect is to impose a religious narrative around a very personal, often life-saving medical decision, one over which families already agonize enough. Government should have no place in such decisions, especially for the cookie-cutter, ill-informed and tone-deaf point of view expressed by Ivey. It’s hard to imagine the draconian level of government intrusion into people’s lives that Alabama has unleashed with this law. 

Granted, Saturn’s had a lot of help from Neptune when it comes to eroding that vital Church/State boundary, and for the record, I don’t think it’s any accident that we’re dealing with all these issues while both the Saturn-Uranus and Saturn-Neptune cycles are in waning 3Q phases. The other planetary cycles will continue to chime in on all this, for sure—we’re still just getting to know the new Jupiter-Saturn, Jupiter-Pluto and Saturn-Pluto cycles that launched in 2020: the possibilities for their expressions right now are many, and we can expect that they will span the spectrum, from dark to light. Putin orders heinous attacks on Ukraine civilians, while heroic efforts like World Central Kitchen gain in strength and determination. And so, it goes. 

 


The astrology 

With all this in mind, we’ll explore the New Moon chart for May 30th . In a future post soon, we’ll examine the important cardinal Cancer ingress that’s approaching in June, but this interim lunation is also worth a look. Note: for more on the May 16th lunar eclipse, please see the May 1st post at this link. 

Before we look at that May 30th chart, however, let’s consider a chart for the shocking, race-motivated mass shooting that happened yesterday in a TOPS Supermarket in Buffalo, NY: 10 people were killed (one of these a heroic retired cop/security guard whose actions probably saved several additional lives), so it’s quite likely the event was somehow empowered by today’s (May 16) full Moon, or Lunar eclipse. The 18-year-old white male shooter is in police custody, but reports indicate the attack was carefully planned: he circulated a hate-filled white supremacist manifesto on social media before he drove for hours to this predominantly Black Buffalo neighborhood to case out the place and then carry out the shooting.  

News reports indicate that the shooter opened fire right around 2:30 p.m. that afternoon (May 14th), so the chart is fairly straightforward.  Let’s take a quick look at the highlights.

 


Chart #1. TOPS Mass Shooting, May 14, 2022, 2:30 p.m. DST, Buffalo, NY. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node. All charts cast with Kepler 8.0 and courtesy of Cosmic Patterns Software.  

Chart ruler Mercury (Gemini) inconjoins Moon (Scorpio) and semi-sextiles Pallas (Taurus), while Pallas opposes Moon. If the semi-sextile here was a sextile, this configuration would be a yod, but this is difficult enough. This Moon is quickly approaching full—again, for more on today’s Lunar (full Moon) eclipse, see the May 1st post here. A Pallas-Moon opposition can manifest in shocking ways because the People and Justice are in the crosshairs, and both suffered a big blow with the event illustrated here.  

Significantly, Venus (Aries) disposes all the Taurus points in this chart from its position conjunct Chiron (Aries), which in my observation of U.S. affairs, is often related to the karmic wound of racism that bedevils this nation. So, no surprise that this conjunction is prominently placed in the 7th house of “the Other.”  

Sun conjoins No. Node and Uranus (all Taurus) and sextiles Mars-Neptune (Pisces). Since this is a timed chart, we can trust the house placements, which are significant here. The belligerent Taurus gathering falls in the ideological 9th house and the Mars-Neptune conjunction falls in the “enemy”-related 7th house, so an apt description of the shooter’s apparent motivation. We’ve seen over several years now of Neptune in Pisces that this sign is prone to supporting and perpetuating the viral spread of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and the rise of domestic terrorism (often race-related), all of which could have played a part in the young shooter’s radicalization and the way he chose to express it.  

Sun-No. Node (Taurus) squares 6th house Saturn (Aquarius). The shooter armed himself in military/tactical (6th h) gear to pursue his shocking goals. This Taurus duo also trines Pluto (Capricorn), which in turn resonates with Saturn, suggesting that this young man’s actions were clearly an expression of deeply toxic, systemic issues in this nation. We know the drill—it's all too familiar, but no systemic solutions seem to be on the horizon any time soon, and the extremist politics of our times only promotes more hate-based and racially-motivated violence every year. The Southern Poverty Law Center tracked 733 hate groups across the U.S. in the year 2021 alone—it's a much more widespread problem at the moment than we might imagine, and it’s all happening and empowered by a far-too permissive Internet. There are obscene profits to be made from this continuing violence in both the gun and Tech/Internet industries. I have to believe there are more life-affirming ways for corporate moguls to line their pockets. 

 

The May 30th New Moon 

When a New Moon happens this late in a month, we might think we’re looking at a Blue Moon--i.e., the second of two New Moon lunations in one month; however, that’s not the case here because the first New Moon of this month actually perfected on April 30th. Still, this event does provide for an interesting and potentially impactful chart. We’ll examine the lunation on its own, first, cast for Washington, D.C., and then we will check out what it looks like when combined with the U.S. Sibly chart. 

 


Chart #2. New Moon, May 30, 2022, 7:30:06 a.m. DST, Washington, D.C. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node. All charts cast with Kepler 8.0 and courtesy of Cosmic Patterns Software. 

First impressions of this fan-shaped chart is that we’re seeing an awful lot of energy compressed into basically half the chart, primarily spanning the upper hemisphere, from the 8th-12th houses. At the risk of outrage and unrest, the nation will probably need to be focused on funding some pressing priorities this coming month. 

Sun conjoins Moon (lunation point) in Gemini in the 12th house and squares MC-Juno (Pisces). The house placement here suggests that the seed-idea of this lunation will likely be suppressed in some way; there’s a narrative or project that could be squelched, despite the fact that Gemini ruler Mercury falls in Taurus, conjunct No. Node and in the more welcoming 11th house. This could also, unfortunately, point to a new wave of Covid, which has been predicted for a while—Neptune (Pisces) at the top of the chart within reach of Jupiter (Aries, ruling the 6th), reinforces that possibility. More on this when we check out Biwheel #1 below.  

Moon rules the Cancer ASC. From the 12th, this Moon (again) points to the undermining of some narrative or local priorities (Gemini). Supply chain issues, especially with baby formula, could continue being stuck in Limbo. Needless to say, if the wait for a reliable supply drags out too long, people will become even more upset than they already are. Having your serious needs stuck in Limbo gets old fast.  

Waiting for things to happen appears to be a theme in this chart, although with a dignified and elevated Mars conjunct Jupiter (Aries) spanning the 9/10 cusp, it stands to reason that some movement, especially on the international level, is possible. Channeling that ambitious, outgoing and potentially angry energy where we need it could be the challenge: Jupiter conjoins the Sun and Moon midpoints with Pluto, the first of which raise potential ethical shortcomings (Sun/Pluto), but less troublingly, the Moon/Pluto midpoint with Jupiter suggests the generous fulfillment of people’s needs, perhaps at the hands of capable females.  

This sounds hopeful for the infant formula issue to me, although Mars and Jupiter also square the Part-of-Fortune and Ceres (conjunct in the 1st), confirming that nurturing people’s needs (moms and babies--Cancer points) should be given urgent, top priority. Will the nation rally around this issue and get the problem solved, or fall into hate filled rhetoric, suggesting immigrant babies are the blame for the formula shortage? Unfortunately, with angry Aries involved, this could go either way.  

The fact that Saturn (Aquarius) and Uranus (Taurus) span the 8th-11th houses says, even though they are now out of square orb, suggests that issues concerning government institutions will also be a major focus. This makes perfect sense, considering all the drama surrounding the Supreme Court’s recent actions: Uranus widely conjoins No. Node (Taurus), so a trend towards more disruptions to public discourse and shocking changes to our direction as a nation is entirely possible.  

 

The biwheel 

Here we’ll dig a little deeper into how all of the above is likely to impact American life in the near term by setting Chart 2 above against the U.S. Sibly chart. If it appears relevant, I’ll fill in some blanks with information from the progressed Sibly chart, dated for this May 30th lunation. Let’s begin. 

 

Biwheel #1: (inner wheel) U.S. (Sibly) chart, July 4, 1776, 5:10 p.m. LMT, Philadelphia, PA; (outer wheel) New Moon, May 30, 2022, 7:30:06 a.m. DST, Washington, D.C.. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node. All charts cast with Kepler 8.0 and courtesy of Cosmic Patterns Software. 

Sun-Moon conjunction (new Moon, Gemini) conjoins Sibly Uranus-DSC (6th, Gemini), squares Sibly Ceres (3rd, Pisces) and trines Sibly Saturn (11th, Libra). This lunation signals a period of change/upset that will impact workers, the military, the grass roots’ ability to nurture its own, and our legislators and Courts. So pretty much what we’ve already been dealing with—supply chain issues, potential shortages (baby formula comes to mind here). Military operations could be in focus. The trine to Sibly Saturn suggests there may be some faster movement in Congress and the Judiciary, which reflects that we’re now in primary season for the midterm elections. We’re also expecting the Supreme Court to issue its controversial final ruling on Roe just before it takes a summer break, so possibly within this lunation.  

Unrest over that decision (Sibly Uranus) is bound to follow, of course, and we can expect a number of difficult issues like inflation and supply chain problems to only compound that unrest: Lunation Saturn conjoins Sibly Moon (Aquarius), Sibly Progressed Moon (Aquarius, chart not shown) and squares Lunation Nodal axis (Taurus-Scorpio), which slices across the 6th-12th house axis. This axis points to health care systems, likely to again be strained with Covid numbers; the North Node trines Sibly Neptune (Virgo) and sextiles Lunation Neptune (Pisces).  

This reminds us, of course, that Lunation Neptune (Pisces) has been transiting opposite Sibly Neptune (Pisces) for at least the entire time we’ve been caught up in Covid, so we’ve been experiencing a half-return that’s been unfolding at roughly the same time as our transformation-producing Sibly Pluto (Capricorn) return, which is also still in progress. So, the hard-to-define, but deeply achey malaise we’re experiencing as a nation and Body Politic can probably be attributed to these two insistent evolutionary pressures. It’s almost like the country itself has developed a chronic case of rheumatoid arthritis: our “immune system” (Neptune) seems intent on attacking our collective “joints.” (Pluto in Capricorn).  

So basically, everything hurts and we’re extra vulnerable to viral assaults, whether those are literal (as with Covid) or mental/emotional and spiritual (the hateful venom circulating on social media platforms speaks to this, I’d say) and if we don’t treat this malaise at its roots, the progression of the disease is likely to do permanent damage on multiple levels.  

Periodic flair ups of the “disease” (which happen when other planets tie into those most-outer-planetary transits somehow) push us to take significant action. This is what happened on the 14th when Mars was transiting conjunct Neptune (both in Pisces) and opposite Sibly Neptune (Virgo) and that deeply hateful18-year old shot up a grocery market, hoping to kill as many black people as possible. His impressionable young mind was apparently radicalized into believing a pernicious “replacement” conspiracy theory promoted by multiple online sites and given a viral boost by none other than Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and some of our most extreme members of Congress. There are forces at work in our nation that are willing to sacrifice the mental health and welfare of this entire nation for the sake of political power—no surprise, Pisces-Neptune transits often demand sacrifices.  

Long story short, we saw the predictable results of this collective madness in Buffalo, and until we get a grip on this rot at the heart of our public discourse, we’ll continue to see more of the same as other triggering moments arise. For instance, as Uranus continues transiting deeper into Taurus, it will trine Sibly Neptune (Virgo), which could perhaps produce significant change and upset.  

Let’s hope that “upset” doesn’t involve the overturning of our democracy, but the renewal of our commitment to a free and just society with equal protections for the human dignity of all citizens. That can’t happen if the bodies of half our citizens are controlled by Government, so yes, we find ourselves at a critical inflection point. 

Love & Light to all!!

 


 

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, U.S. history, culture and media, the astrology of generations, and public concerns such as education and health. She’s published articles on these topics in several key astrology journals over the years, including most recently, the TMA blog. For information about individual chart readings, contact: robertsonraye@gmail.com.

 
© Raye Robertson 2022. All rights reserved.