A precarious mutable shift: the Sibly progressed lunar 2Q
This 2Q cycle point featured Pisces PSun opposite Virgo PMoon, an opposition that was reinforced by other tense or offputting energies that turned this December 8, 2008 moment into a significant and precarious turning point: TSaturn (Virgo) conjoined Sibly Neptune and both opposed TUranus (Pisces-Triwheel #3 below). A disastrous crash of the nation’s housing market followed on the Lehman Brothers crash; the banks were bailed out, but not the families whose home values plummeted, putting them “under water”—indeed, Uranus (in Pisces, in mutual reception with Aquarius TNeptune) transiting Sibly 4th opposite 10th house Sibly Neptune perfectly reflected this “watery,” but shocking housing crash and the damage it did to American home-owning aspirations.
Triwheel #3: (inner wheel) the U.S. Sibly chart; (middle wheel) Sibly progressions for December 8, 2008; (outer wheel) transits, December 8, 2008.
A serious credit crisis ensued, followed by the 2008-2010 “Great Recession”—the worst U.S. economic downturn since the 1930s Depression, and one with global ramifications. So, this cycle opposition was a major turning point for millions of Americans, struck with high unemployment and poor access to credit. The jolting and aggressive finance-centered impact of these times was evident here, with TMoon (outer wheel, Aries) over the Sibly 5th, forming a cardinal t--square with the TJup conjunction to the Sibly progressed So. Node and radix Sibly Pluto in Capricorn and the opposition of these points to Sibly progressed No. Node and Mercury (Cancer).
Speaking to the more general atmosphere of chaos and institutional conflict--not to mention the nagging lack of resolution in the wars we were waging at the time--there was the interchart mutable grand square formed by TMars (Sagittarius) opposite Sibly Mars (Gemini), all square the TUranus-Sibly Neptune-TSaturn axis slashing vertically across the Sibly 4th and 10th.
Reinforcing the financial stakes in that period, Pluto was transiting opposite Sibly Venus-Jupiter (Capricorn-Cancer) and with late Sagittarius TMercury (square TSaturn in Virgo and disposed by a heavy Capricorn TJup), it widely sextiled Sibly Moon—recovery would happen, but sluggishly and despite heavy obstacles. We were stepping into uncharted political waters—life under an Obama administration that, with the help of a waning Saturn-Pluto cycle, would attract a campaign of total obstructionism in the Senate.
Obama inherited two wars, a wrecked economy and massive unemployment, but cooperation was often elusive, especially once Congress narrowly passed his signature Affordable Care Act (ACA) on March 23, 2010 (outer wheel, Biwheel #1 below). Transiting together, Neptune and Chiron (Aquarius) conjoined Sibly Moon for this passage—healing collective wounds was a focus, but that 2010 ACA chart also featured a tense cardinal grand square (TSaturn closely conjoined Sibly MC and opposite TSun across Libra-Aries, all opposite a TMoon-TPluto opposition across Cancer-Capricorn that pulled in Sibly Venus and Jupiter (Cancer) as well—this bill's passage had structural and economic consequences that wouldn’t be that easy to undo, although the GOP would certainly try.
With the Sibly PMoon conjunct Sibly Neptune at the top of the chart by then (not shown), the People were attuned to the ideal of health care as a right, not a privilege—perhaps even as the new “American Dream.” Flashing forward, if the recent COVID pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the need for universal health care won’t be reversed.
Biwheel #1. (inner) USA-Sibly chart, July 4, 1776, 5:10 p.m. LMT, Philadelphia, PA. Source: Nicholas Campion, The Book of World Horoscopes (BWH), The Wessex Astrologer Ltd, 2004, Chart 370; (outer wheel) Affordable Care Act (ACA) passage, March 23, 2010, 12:00 DST (noon, no time known), Washington, D.C. Source: Wikipedia.org; author cast.
Both Obama terms played out during this 2Q time frame, and the final years of his term were consequential on both the international and domestic fronts: the U.S. signed the Paris Agreement in December 2015, committing us to tackling climate change, and the Supreme Court finally recognized gay marriage as a fundamental right. An increasingly loud parallel stream of right-wing opposition was mounting in response to both accomplishments, as was a parallel universe of conspiracy theories—Neptune (still conjunct Chiron) ingressed home sign Pisces on April 3, 2011 (Biwheel #2 below), transiting the Sibly 3rd, with a volatile Aries stellium (including Mars-Uranus tightly conjunct) transiting Sibly 4th (homeland). Between all seven points, they squared both transiting and Sibly Pluto (Capricorn).
Biwheel #2. (inner wheel) USA-Sibly chart, July 4, 1776, 5:10 p.m. LMT, Philadelphia, PA (see full data under Biwheel #1 above); (outer wheel) Neptune ingresses Pisces, April 4, 2011, 9:44:25 a.m. DST, Washington, D.C. Source: Author cast on Kepler 8.0.
The Anti-Defamation League reported six different incidents of right-wing domestic terrorism (actual and/or prevented) during 2011 alone—vigilantism and conspiracies to commit violence for anti-governmental and white supremacist purposes were on the rise. A waxing Uranus-Pluto square was also playing out during this Sibly progressed 2Q passage; what we probably couldn’t have anticipated at the time was how Neptunian misinformation would be woven so tightly into this volatile blend, timed perfectly for Donald Trump’s presidential aspirations. Trump (natal Chart #1 below) easily tapped into the palpable right wing hatred for Obama by inspiring a wholly manufactured “birther” movement that not-so-subtly implied a black man couldn’t possibly qualify to be president.
Chart #1. Donald J. Trump (natal), June 14, 1946, 10:54 a.m. DST, Jamaica, NY (40°N42'51”, 74°W00’23”). Source: Rodden, AA.
Earlier developments had, in retrospect, anticipated Trump’s launch: on June 25, 2013, the Supreme Court threw a bone to Jim Crow fans by overturning Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act14 with their Shelby County v. Holder decision (outer wheel, Biwheel #3 below), thus allowing states to pass vote-suppressing restrictions that would disadvantage minorities. This action evoked the 2010s Uranus-Pluto square (the 1965 Uranus-Pluto cycle launched during the Civil Rights era), but on June 25, 2013, Sibly PMoon (28° Libra) was in waning trine to radix Sibly Moon (Aquarius), but t-square the Sibly PNodal axis and the Sibly Mercury-Pluto opposition it conjoined in late Cancer-Capricorn. So, the fight was on to overcome this symbolically potent civil rights slap and to protect voting rights (Sibly Cancer Mercury disposed by Moon).
Biwheel #3. (inner wheel) USA-Sibly chart, July 4, 1776, 5:10 p.m. LMT, Philadelphia, PA (see full data under Biwheel #1 above); (outer wheel) Shelby County v. Holder, June 25, 2013, 12:00 p.m. DST (noon, no time known), Washington, D.C. Source: Wikipedia.org; author cast.
The uniquely strained relationship between the popular and electoral votes that characterizes American presidential elections featured in both the 2016 and 2020 contests, of course, but Trump’s shocking 2016 win during the progressed 2Q phase we’re exploring here demonstrated how critical voter turnout was, and how impactful social media misinformation could be. Neptune transited the Sibly 3rd of grass roots media in Triwheel #2 and was well into the Sibly 4th of the masses by Election 2016.
Trump’s June 16, 2015 campaign launch (outer wheel, Biwheel #4 below) was one of the most consequential moments of this entire 2Q phase: TSun and TMars conjoined Sibly Mars (all Gemini) and t-squared the TChiron (Pisces) opposition to Sibly Neptune (Pisces); clearly, Trump was able to tap into a deep sense of woundedness in the nation, while at the same time, co--opting its defenses.
Biwheel #4. (inner wheel) USA-Sibly chart, July 4, 1776, 5:10 p.m. LMT, Philadelphia, PA (see full data under Biwheel #1 above); (outer wheel) Trump campaign launch, June 16, 2015, 11:00 a.m., New York, New York. Source: news reports of the day; author cast.
TNeptune almost exactly conjoined Sibly PSun in Pisces, while Sibly PMoon (Scorpio) squared radix Sibly Moon, reflecting the divisions that Trump’s candidacy immediately tapped into. The transiting new Moon and Mars conjoined in Gemini—closely conjunct Trump’s natal Sun-No. Node-Uranus conjunction (Chart #1 above): Trump’s ability to leverage Neptunian energies by feigning religiosity and concern for Evangelical causes, while enabling the angry TMars-Uranus-Pluto (Gemini-Aries-Capricorn) energies also afloat, was evident from day one.
Controversies loomed even before he was inaugurated: one of these, of course, involved suspicious liaisons between the Trump campaign and Russian players who had seemed bent on helping Trump get elected. The Special Counsel Investigation that ensued bridged the end of this 2Q and reached well into the 3Q, fast approaching on March 1, 2017.
Notes and References
14 “Shelby County v Holder,” Wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_County_v_Holder. Accessed 2/7/2021.
Raye Robertson is a practicing astrologer, writer and retired 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. Her articles on these topics have appeared 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 2024. All rights reserved.
