What the H*** Is Up with Illinois?

February 23, 2009

First it was Blagojevich, then it was Roland Burris. And before that, an improbable presidential candidate from Illinois won the presidency. Clearly, Illinois is in the news. What’s up with Illinois?

Illinois has a long history of power grabs and corruption, and this seems to be a habit that dies hard. A look at the astrological chart cast for the time that Illinois became a state gives us insight into the hidden dimensions of current events.

The Seat of Corruption
Although planets don’t have to be used to foster corruption, in Illinois there is a tradition of doing so. We can point to a couple of areas that could be the source of such frail human expression. First, there is the cluster of planets in the 12th house — Uranus, Mercury, and Neptune — in expedient Sagittarius. Then there is the Mars-Sun conjunction earlier in the sign in the 11th. When used indiscretely, Sagittarius is a sign that rushes to judgment, revels in skipping steps, and repeats the mantra daily, “Only too much is enough, only too much is enough.”

Both Mars-Sun and Uranus-Mercury tend to act with lightning speed. And when you put planets in the 12th house, OR when Neptune enters the mix, there arises a mistaken impression that “no one will notice”. All of this ends up a toxic mix for the unenlightened.

There is one more potential cluster bomb in Illinois’s chart: The Chiron-Fortuna-Pluto conjunction on the 3rd cusp in mysterious Pisces. This reminds us of the Democratic Machine and (still disputed) vote rigging and ballot-box stuffing of the Boss Daley era. It also speaks to a mindset where much activity in government takes place sub rosa.

Unfortunate Resonance
Which of these groupings is more responsible? We don’t have to decide, because they are connected to each other so that their overall effect is augmented. They form a complex square configuration that would challenge the most honest among the powerful.

It is even more telling that this configuration is being spotlighted over recent months (since, oh, about the time that Obama announced his candidacy for the presidency two years ago), but even more dramatically since last fall, as the Saturn-Uranus opposition began to harden.

This has brought the veritable worms out of the woodwork, first in the form of newly impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich, now all those who have been touched by him, including Roland Burris. It is worth noting that each man’s natal chart ties in with this part of Illinois’s chart.

What’s Next?
If you thought Illinois were going to disappear off the map of current events, you are wrong. Saturn and Uranus continue to dance across the corruption configuration through March 2010. However, there are many other ways to use this pattern, and Illinois has many other fine attributes, leaders, and moments in history. For one thing, there will be some form of celebration for the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth throughout the year. For another, our shiny, new President Obama is from this fine Midwestern state.

On the darker side though, it is possible that the situation with Senator Burris may not be resolved until into 2010, when the Senate seat may be up for election; or if the legislature changes the law as is expected, when another person takes the senate seat after a special election.

Of course, the criminal case against Blagojevich could easily stretch on into 2010 — and beyond.