Astrology of Now: Cold Snap

Saturday October 12th 2013
In Blue. Wassily Kandinsky: Saturn in Scorpio, Venus in Sagittarius

The weather changed yesterday and a dry, icy wind sent tiny clouds fleeting across the sky, trees rattling and swaying, branches to the floor, drifts of leaves whirling up like spirits. Autumn had arrived overnight.

Today, it’s been overcast, drizzling. We’ve lit the fire and the cats have come in to steam.

The Moon entered Capricorn, the sign of winter yesterday, of course. Meanwhile its ruler Saturn, the coldest planet, is dampening sparky Mercury with a clammy, slow embrace this year. It’s especially prolonged because Mercury is braking to retrograde.  I’ve felt it, unable to publish, because I find myself with so much to say and then editing and re-editing, cutting away until there’s nothing left. Mercury in Scorpio doesn’t like to waste words of course, but combined with Saturn it’s been – well – constipating.

Father Time kills the old year, so
the new one can be born.
19th century illustration.

When Saturn meets Mercury, the truth needs to be told, lines need to be drawn in the sand, talks can stall. Since Mercury is going to meet Saturn again on October 29 (Rx) and November 26, this is the flavour of this autumn. Saturn and Mercury together write a rulebook. This is not a warm, cuddly feeling. We’re talking difficult conversations. We’re talking about running out of time. Both these planets are connected to the passage of time.

The other word that springs to mind with this planetary set up is “intransigence“. And boy are we seeing that now in the United States with the prolonged wrangle between the Republicans and the Democrats. Here’s what The Economist has to say about it:

“Republicans are setting a precedent which, if followed, would make America ungovernable. Voters have seen fit to give their party control of one arm of government—the House of Representatives—while handing the Democrats the White House and the Senate. If a party with such a modest electoral mandate threatens to shut down government unless the other side repeals a law it does not like, apparently settled legislation will always be vulnerable to repeal by the minority. Washington will be permanently paralysed and America condemned to chronic uncertainty.”

Harold Lloyd in Safety Last (1923)

Scorpio is the sign of debt, of course, and people around the world are discussing the mother of all debts, the US fiscal deficit. It seems like we’re going to be talking about it over and over again judging from the action of Mercury in the months to come. From the same article.

“America enjoys the “exorbitant privilege” of printing the world’s reserve currency. Its government debt is considered a safe haven, which is why Uncle Sam can borrow so much, so cheaply. America will not lose these advantages overnight. But anything that undermines its creditworthiness—as the farce in Washington surely does—risks causing untold damage in the future. It is not just that America would have to pay more to borrow. The repercussions of an American default would be both global and unpredictable.”

Mercury says, time for a rethink on this one. Saturn says, the debt must be paid. This time there’s no finessing, no shirking. Someone is going to have to cough up.

We come up to the fourth hit of the Uranus-Pluto square on November 1. Pluto is in mutual reception with Saturn. In other words, the planets are transiting through each other’s signs. This makes them stronger and more co-operative. They are also close enough in aspect to be sextile, which is a dynamic, moving aspect. Both Scorpio and Capricorn are about paying ones dues, accountability. Pluto is the planet of vast wealth. He was the richest god after all. Where has America’s vast wealth gone? Who holds the global purse strings now? Who holds the debt? Who is the creditor?

Since this square hits at 10°, many many governments and international organisations will be feeling it right on their Suns. 10° Capricorn is January 1, a date when many organisations officially started.

When Pluto went into Capricorn in 2008, the credit crunch hit, Saturn was just into Virgo, a fellow earth sign and the queen of detail. So when loans were given proper scrutiny, they turned out to be completely flaky. The taskmaster made his way slowly through Libra – smoothing over the cracks of our financial system, testing partnerships in government between governments, and politics (every single European leader was replaced except Angela Merkel) – and now we’re a year into Scorpio. The planets are lining up for a serious dissection of wealth and debt.

Venus in Sag likes a flutter.

The thing about being a moneylender is that you need a client who can keep on paying the interest, a dead client is no good to at all. The Virgoans among you might enjoy this US National Debt Clock. It’s like something from The Hudsucker Proxy.

On October 15, Mars leaves the warmth of Leo for practical, critical Virgo. This is Mercury’s second sign, just as Scorpio is Mars’ second sign. So these two planets all be in mutual reception too. Virgo and Scorpio work well together. These are the doctors who can cut open a patient and replace his heart. Mars and Scorpio rule sharp things. Mercury is both the mind and conversation. Talks may become even more cut-throat but possibly more solution-oriented.

Baby, it’s cold out there, but meanwhile Venus, the planet of money, has gone into the sign of the Big Spender. The only support she’s getting is from erratic Uranus, otherwise it’s a hostile world. Expect money itself – e.g. the dollar, the world’s reserve currency – to go weird, or since it’s in Sagittarius, wild.

Finally, there’s the little matter of the eclipses on October 18/19 and November 3. The Lunar Eclipse in Aries is a wild card, the Solar Eclipse in November is smack dab in the middle of that chilly Saturn-Mercury embrace.

The Nov 2 Solar Eclipse

 

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Its an interesting article, however…

    I have been reading a lot about this battle between the republicans and obama. The republicans do not want to vote for obama care, while obama wants to break the republicans. the republicans would give in if obama gave a few bones to them but again obama wants total victory.

    I have also been reading this morning about obama retreating to a bunker along with the favoured few. There is also talk of obama enacting a ruling that would give him absolute power – a dictator if you will. Hence the bunker. But this for now is talk..

    As for the debt, it has been calculated that the interest payments can be paid and there is also the ability to continue with the basic spending ie social security, military. There there is no need for a default.

    The petro-dollar is coming to an end. The americans threw there lot in to continue with the world buying oil only with dollars and those who began to take other courses of action have been invaded. iraq, libya comes to mind. Now syria.

    But the BRICS countries/aliance are making deals between themselves now using their own currencies. They are also trading more exclusively between themselves.

    Meanwhile ‘old blighty’ continues to borrow more than it can pay. As you must know this coalition govt has borrowed more than the previous labour govt. It has doubled the national debt and it is only low interest payments that keep it viable. But they wont remain low forever. As a nation we owe more than France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. It is almost double what the Greece debt is and look what is happening there. Look what happened in Argentina when this was the case – it was wiped off the face of the map. Its only a matter of time before the realisation sinks in to investors that britain is fubar.

    Trouble is as always with politicians. They want to be voted in and they enact costly social policies to do just that – Help to buy comes to mind. This Post Office thing is a con as well – sell to the public what the public already owns.

    Sorry Chritina – its just that since 2011 when my Jupiter progressed into taurus I became interested in economics – and not necessarily main stream economics.

    • Anonymous says:

      @Jamma – I checked this about ACA or Obamacare. My findings indicate that it is mandatory for all Americans to have health insurance. Only exceptions being those on social security.

      Speaking of the Koch brothers, I seen an ad yesterday whereby they are claiming that if on earns $34,000 and above then one is in the 1% of the world. Lot of faults with this but I wont go into them here.

    • Jamma says:

      Please visit the U.S. and take a look around. Nobody here is having to choose between food and the ACA. People can opt out of it — otherwise the Koch Brothers et al wouldn’t be running those ridiculous ads with a giant Uncle Sam holding a speculum and threatening to give a pelvic exam to a young woman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FEUoNkF29o
      As for employers hiring part-time workers to avoid paying benefits, that has been commonplace for years. A good example is Walmart.

    • Anonymous says:

      Dear Anne, thank you for your input.

      First is the news sources question. I am going to throw the question right back at you. If you are following the MSM, that is the predominant and traditional news sources such as sky news, cnbc, bbc and the usual tabloids, then I would have to say that you are being mislead.

      I have read that the individual has to have and that is pay-up to obamacare, whether you can afford to or not, and whether you want to or not. In many cases individuals are having to make the choice between food of obamacare. Just to add insult to injury it is also more expensive than the old system. Not only this but employers are actually reducing hours of workers so that they do not have to pay-up.

      It also appears that the shutdown was planned months ahead, as nice shiny professional metal signs were suddenly on display announcing that the place was closed.

      I am certainly not of the right myself. Just one of the people.

      http://www.silverdoctors.com/21-of-the-best-comments-posted-by-frustrated-americans-on-the-official-obamacare-facebook-page/

      http://www.silverdoctors.com/obama-orders-federal-workers-to-make-life-as-difficult-for-people-as-we-can/

      Apart from that there is RT, max keiser, zerohedge et al

    • Anne says:

      Dear Anonymous and Christina,

      First, thank you, Christina, for a wonderful blog, which I read regularly.

      Please be aware that the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a., Obamacare, is not a bill but a law that was passed several years ago and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. As such, the debate is long since over and concessions have already been made. The ACA is modeled on Republican Mitt Romney’s healthcare plan for Massachusetts when he was governor of that state. More liberal people wanted single-payer healthcare, a.k.a. full public coverage paid for by the government. Obamacare is the concession.

      Anonymous, please be aware that the Republicans, as led by the Tea Party faction, are not interested in compromising, giving in, or doing what is best for the American people and the rest of the world. I am not a Democrat, either, but the level of political game-playing that is going on today is unprecedented.

      As to absolute power, the House Rules Committee made a new parliamentary rule on October 1 so that Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (or someone personally designated by him) is the only person who can end the government shutdown. See footage from the House floor here: http://www.upworthy.com/congress-did-something-so-spectacularly-creepy-that-its-too-unbelievable-to-make-up .

      As for the US defaulting on its debt, this has already begun: http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2013/10/14/the-default-has-already-begun/?dlvrit=126970 .

      I am not sure what your news sources are, Anonymous, but they appear to be misleading you.

    • Anonymous says:

      @Jamma—I cant say I have, I’ll look out for it though, especially as it sounds as I think it sounds about those who prepare for the possibility of total collapse.

      A good episode of the Keiser report mentions some of the things above http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aNV3pvtmJ3M

      bye

    • Jamma says:

      Anonymous — Do you watch Doomsday Preppers?

    • Anonymous says:

      Ah…. thanks for explaining. I did think when I started reading about the babarians at the gates of rome when the roman empire was basically kaput! But as I continued it appeared more like what I wrote above.:)

    • Jamma says:

      Oh … I thought he was saying that the senators and consuls and people decked out in “amethysts, and rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds” ARE the barbarians …

    • Christina says:

      No, the point is that when the barbarians did come they walked right in because the people of the city were too decadent to realise the barbarians were a threat. It’s about the end of classical civilisation… The barbarians were a solution because no one could think of anything else…

    • Anonymous says:

      I am not exactly clear what the point is of the poem that this guy wrote. I am guessing that the overall message is that its not worth worrying about, or much ado about nothing. Or as Morrisey of the Smiths put it “you say its gonna happen now, so when exactly do you mean, I’ve already waited too long, and all my hope has gone.”

      But things do happen, and can happen suddenly, on a sixpence if you will. I dont think its worth trying to dismiss what is happening in the world, or that it could not happen here sort of thinking. We need to hedge for the possibility that it could all collapse.

      But then again, I am just a fallible human being, like everyone else including you and the writer you quote. What do we know?

    • Christina says:

      Waiting for the Barbarians

      What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?

      The barbarians are due here today.

      Why isn’t anything happening in the senate?
      Why do the senators sit there without legislating?

      Because the barbarians are coming today.
      What laws can the senators make now?
      Once the barbarians are here, they’ll do the legislating.

      Why did our emperor get up so early,
      and why is he sitting at the city’s main gate
      on his throne, in state, wearing the crown?

      Because the barbarians are coming today
      and the emperor is waiting to receive their leader.
      He has even prepared a scroll to give him,
      replete with titles, with imposing names.

      Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today
      wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas?
      Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts,
      and rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds?
      Why are they carrying elegant canes
      beautifully worked in silver and gold?

      Because the barbarians are coming today
      and things like that dazzle the barbarians.

      Why don’t our distinguished orators come forward as usual
      to make their speeches, say what they have to say?

      Because the barbarians are coming today
      and they’re bored by rhetoric and public speaking.

      Why this sudden restlessness, this confusion?
      (How serious people’s faces have become.)
      Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly,
      everyone going home so lost in thought?

      Because night has fallen and the barbarians have not come.
      And some who have just returned from the border say
      there are no barbarians any longer.

      And now, what’s going to happen to us without barbarians?
      They were, those people, a kind of solution.

      Translated by Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard

      (C.P. Cavafy, Collected Poems. Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Edited by George Savidis. Revised Edition. Princeton University Press, 1992)

      Here’s the link to the website. http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=119&cat=1

      The Greek poet CP Cavafy was born, lived and died in Alexandria in the first half of the 20th century.

    • Anonymous says:

      Here is an article that sums up China’s ever growing strength – they can now dare to say this in public.

      http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/513431/20131013/china-debt-ceiling-shutdown-xinhua-de-emericanised.htm

    • Anonymous says:

      There has never been a democracy.

      Obamacare is actually costing the american people more than the insurance did in the first place. Not only that but employers are cutting peoples hours to not have to pay in to the scheme.

      The americans may need a proper health care system but whether the ordinary people want one is a completely different matter.

      Which brings us to welfare in general – a great idea – but the consequences were completely unforeseen. It has extended life span of everyone and extended the burden on the state and of the planet as a knock on effect. There are now too many people and not the resources. We are not concentrating on expanding to the moon or mars – there will be a disaster.

      Myself I am stock piling food, and other resources.

      As far as the world economy is concerned what is needed is a reset or a debt jubilee as ancient cultures used to have. The slate needs to be wiped clean for everyone.

      I am not saying the BRICS will save the world but that the American economy is doomed which in turn will fubar anyone connected to it – us.

    • Christina says:

      “Help to Buy” is devilment. It does make we wonder if Osbourne has made a pact with you know who.

      As for the Post Office sell-off…. it brought back the phrase that was bandied about in the 1970s…”selling off the family silver”. But there’s not that much left to sell.

      The point is the world economy is in serious trouble. And since the credit crunch, no one has had the will or the vision to change things, but what is more no one seems to have a clear idea of what to do.

      As for the republicans, Obamacare was passed as legislation because the American people want and need proper health care. The GOP trying to use the country’s other problems to kill the health bill. This sets a terrible precedent. It means that no legislation need ever stick…

      Also since the U-Plu square it’s become obvious that our various forms of democracy are not working well and need a complete rethink.

      It’s a mistake to look to the BRICs to save the world economy since they are actually in trouble too.

  2. Diane L says:

    Appreciate your perspective on our national debacle . . . it is an embarrassment all right. I agree w/you about the need to rethink our various forms of democracy. We’ve been trending towards plutocracies for way too long. 🙁

  3. Luana says:

    I just want to say I appreciate your thoughtful and intelligent posts, Christina, and always look forward to reading them. Fingers crossed that we’ll somehow get through this current debacle.

  4. Jamma says:

    Re truth-telling … I had a conversation yesterday which revealed that my oldest friend is a horrible racist … it’s breaking my heart that from now on we’ll be confined to discussing the weather.
    Nobody is talking about Neptune, but I wonder how much of everything that’s on the world stage right now is … Illusion.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Hi,
    I enjoy your blog very much. The only problem is that your print is so small that I have difficulty reading your wonderful articles. Can you make them a little larger?? Thanks.

    • Anonymous says:

      its the captcha that wont work – you type something in the box, hit the publish button, then everything is wiped, and the captcha does not appear.

    • Christina says:

      Yes, one of the issues I want to fix is the comments!

    • Anonymous says:

      Christina,
      when I was here on Oct 12, the print of this page article was about the same size as all the titles below your pictures, such as “Venus in Sag likes a flutter.” On Oct 13, the wrinting of your articles are bigger which you have now, and they are just fine(a bit blacker print would be even better for our eyes when you have a white background…if possible) So I thought you fixed it….anad it did make a differece. I am wondering though if my computer(windows 8) had some problems last week… Sorry for the confusion, Christina. Appreciate your rhythmical writing always. Thanks!

    • Anonymous says:

      Speaking about your site. There is only one browser that I can use to post. That is opera. Everything else is fubar!!

    • Christina says:

      I’ve upped the typeface by a point size, but I’m not convinced that’ll make a difference.
      What device are you reading this on? I’m seeing a designer on Wednesday to discuss a bit of an update, so your feedback comes at just the right time.

    • Anonymous says:

      Christina,

      Very grateful, thank you so much!

    • Christina says:

      OK, I’ll see what I can do.

  6. Anonymous says:

    I’m very curious what is going to happen at the end of the year when Mercury will conjunct the Sun and Pluto at 11 Cap.

    Mars will be at 11 Libra by then !

    mimi

  7. Thanks for this very succinct summing-up, I appreciate it.

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