Dreams of the Future, Chimeras from the Past: Our Tangled Planetary Web and the 27th Degree

May 13, 2009

© Terry Lamb

There is a quiet orchestration occurring right now in the heavens, a celestial conspiracy to create harmonic resonance in the human consciousness at the 27th degree (anything over 26̊00'). It is at once perilous, powerful, and beautiful, with the potential to lift us up out of ordinary consciousness and create miraculous change. To get at what’s going on here, we have to look at the contributing planets and their cyclic interactions.

The Contributing Planets
From May 21 through June 10, four slow-moving planets will be at 26 degrees and change in their respective sign: Uranus (Pisces) and Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune (Aquarius). On May 26–27, Mars joins them from its position in Aries, boosting the chance of a harmonious human response. (See image above.) They will all be vibrating on the same “note” of the 12th harmonic, and this opens the door to profound change. It also allows us to check in on changes we began as a human collective in 1992.

The entire time that any of these planets is at this degree spans a broader expanse of time from April 14 through August 10. Since every planet but Mars backs off this degree, they will return to it later but in a dispersed form, with Jupiter reaching it first at the end of December, Chiron-Neptune connecting at that degree in February, and Uranus reaching it in March. This suggests that, whatever comes up now feels like a now-or-never “crunch time” that we must respond to urgently; and that a more dispersed and gentle resolution to the issues that develop will come about early in 2010 — that is, if we respond well to those issues.

The Simple Take
At first glance, this means that any person, group, leader, or nation that has planets at this degree will be transformed by these energies. It also means that issues that began showing up in April will face turning points in the next two weeks, when critical decisions will be made. What issues are we talking about?



We can get a clue about the answer by looking at the US chart. Depending on the time you use for it, the Moon may be at this degree. (However, it is not in the chart I use.) Regardless of that, the US directed Jupiter is at 27̊05' (or thereabouts) in Aquarius, the degree at which transiting Jupiter will station on June 15. (See image above.)

This is a “hook” into the US chart, and it suggests issues that affect society and its well-being. In the chart I use (Dobyns-Boehrer timed for 9:36 am), this falls in the 6th house of workers and the health of the nation. It suggests that we are not doing all that is necessary to support the engine of the US economy, its workforce, and that we are also weak in health (care). These must be rectified in order to live long and prosper as a nation.

What’s It All About?
Accordingly, here are the matters that seem to tie in to the planets at the 27th degree.

Health Care
From Max Baucus’s one-sided meetings with insurers and big pharma (pointedly excluding proponents of single-payer plans) to President Barack Obama’s more universal approach, there is no doubt that health care is on the table and will be dealt with in some form in the coming months. If it follows this time table and is addressed wisely, we will see a new plan in place by the spring of 2010.

The Economy
We have to regulate. This may mean some reinstated or revised regulations (like breaking up the big banks — a MUST!), or simply enforcing the regulations that are there (like the Sherman Act). Nothing must be too big to fail anymore; and the Wall-Street mindset of Geithner, Summers, and the big bankers must be opened to consider what is happening to the people who are (currently still, sadly) their victims. It is beyond belief that so much money could be pumped into the financial industry and so little benefit (in fact, even more punishment) extend to the people. The banks (with some exceptions) remain adamantine in their disregard for the people who drive the economy and therefore their wealth. For more on what’s going on, stay tuned to Rachel Maddow, especially her May 12 interview with Eliot Spitzer, and read the blogs of Spitzer, Paul Krugman, William Greider, Robert Kuttner, and David Cay Johnston. Bill Moyer also covers this topic regularly on his Journal, as does Fareed Zakaria on CNN.

The Environment
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is proving to be a Bushie in Obama clothing. He has refused to increase protections for the highly endangered polar bear and has allowed permits to go through for the mining of uranium near the Grand Canyon, a direct threat to the water supply of southern California, as well as the area surrounding the mining sites. These permits are currently being challenged in court.

Directed Jupiter in Aquarius in the US chart can also signify the level at which people are direct participants in maintaining or (re)gaining their freedom. Transiting Jupiter’s retrograde station on this point could signify a necessary learning curve for the public in the need to become more actively involved in creating the world they want to live in. The alternative is for lobbyists to continue to be the driving force behind the direction the country takes.

On a Deeper Level . . .
There is so much depth and richness to this set of planetary interactions. There are three new planetary cycles beginning (Jupiter-Chiron, Jupiter-Neptune, and Chiron-Neptune), as well as a trigger to one that started in 1992. The latter is the Uranus-Neptune conjunction, which occurs every 171 years or so. The word on every tongue at that time was “reinvention”. What are we reinventing? Nothing less than the way humans live on the planet, the way we dream about our possibilities, and the ways we live, interact, and communicate with each other.

Uncannily, the last time we considered real health care reform was in 1993, when Harry and Louise — a front for the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), a health insurance industry lobbying group — put the brakes on the Clinton health care plan. We get another shot at this now, as Uranus and Neptune resonate with each other once again. It gives us yet one more layer of awareness to make the right thing happen.

Lunar Illumination: Mr. Obama Goes to Town

February 9, 2009

This morning’s penumbral eclipse was not visible in locales where weather obscured it, but it is still being felt around the globe. In the United States, it has a particular impact, since it hits several significant points in both the US chart and that of our national leader, President Barack Obama. This tells me that this eclipse is one of the more important to be experienced by the nation in recent times.

Can You Say, “Stimulus Package?”
The interactions between the US chart and the chart cast for the eclipse in Washington, DC, speak to the discussion that fills the news — the economy and the stimulus package that is supposed to rescue the American people. Most notable among the interconnections is the conjunction of the US Lot of Fortune (Fortuna) to the Ascendant of the eclipse chart. Fortuna has, obviously, to do with “fortune” or money, but it also has to do with well-being or health. The health of the nation is therefore highlighted, more in terms of economic health (this being in the US 8th house) than literal physical health.

The Wound Is Being Healed.
Chiron is there too, very close to Fortuna. This suggests that a long-standing wound in the national psyche is being addressed, if not healed. These placements, found in Aries, have to do with the tendency for people in power to place self-interest over the interests of the nation.

Highlighting this factor is the location of the eclipse itself, at 21̊ Leo-Aquarius, lined up on the US Moon, the symbol of the people. The people are the linchpin in the process before us, and the people will lead the way forward. Already we can see this, as President Obama appeals directly to the public today and tomorrow through a prime-time press conference and town-hall meetings in Elkhart, Indiana, and Fort Myers, Florida. In doing so, he is making ample use of the planetary energies available to him.

Watershed Moment for Our Leader
This is something of a watershed moment for Mr. Obama, as the eclipse Full Moon opposition is aligned critically with his Ascendant-Descendant (the east-west horizon line of his chart). This can feel like a make-or-break time for him, as if he is being called upon to dig deep into his character to muster the “right stuff” for this task. He is called upon to reassess his way of relating to others, and to make adjustments — which he is doing. I believe that this has to do with his “bipartisanship initiative”, turning it into a long-term project instead of something he can use as a foundation of his approach to the legislature in the current moment.

The importance of this process to the nation is underscored by the fact that the Sun of the US chart, representing the life force of the nation, is squarely on the IC of the eclipse chart. This takes us all to our heart, to deeply question what is important to us, what makes this country thrive, and which political viewpoint (if any) we resonate with.

Given the other planetary pattern out there — the conglomerate in Aquarius — the way of the future will not be the way of the past, and the new way forward will prevail. Even though it looked last week like the Republican retro-economic plan was going to steal the stage, Mr. Obama is reshaping the dialectic quite eloquently, much to the dismay of the Republican right, which is still struggling to find its feet in the dawning new era.

I don’t believe that this stimulus package has it all perfectly correct. I’m with progressives like Novel Winner Paul Krugman, Robert Kuttner, and Rachel Maddow on what we need (so far) — to spend more on things like infrastructure and to make sure jobs are created. The government CAN do this, but it is not going to get as much bang for the buck with so many tax cuts.

Steal Back Your Vote: How to Make Sure Your Vote Counts

With the Saturn-Uranus opposition becoming exact on Election Day, I have long been predicting that election fraud would be a threat, perhaps a big threat, to the validity of our election.

A new article covering the problems in detail can be found at Rolling Stone. “Block the Vote”, by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast, defines the problem but doesn’t give us the remedies (one of my pet peeves about modern journalism). However, on their website, stealbackyourvote.org, they give the remedies — if you dig deeply enough. They have a print or pdf comic book and a movie. I got bored with the movie before I got the information I wanted, but in the back of the comic book, the following information is given. Here’s what to do to make sure your vote counts. Websites and phone numbers to other vote protection groups and initiatives are given below. PASS THIS AROUND TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. This information should go viral so everyone knows about it and makes sure they get a chance to vote.

****************** From stealbackyourvote.org **********************

1. Don’t Don’t DON’T Mail In Your Ballot
For those of you who mailed in your ballot, please tell me, what happened to it? You don’t know, do you? I can tell you that officially, three-fourths of a million absentee ballots were never counted last time, on the weakest of technical excuses. And you won’t even know it. Furthermore, tens of thousands of ballots are not mailed out to voters in time to return them—in which case you’re out of luck. In most states, new voters must now include a photocopy of your ID. Which is, like, nuts. Every time I hear of a voter going “absentee” to avoid computer screens, I want to “go postal” myself.

2. Vote Early...very early
Every state now lets voters cast ballots in designated polling stations and at county offices in the weeks before Election Day. Do it. Don’t wait until Election Day to find out you have the wrong ID, your registration’s “inactive,” or you’re on a challenge list. By Election Day, there’s little to do but hold up the line.

3. Register and Register and Register
Think you’re registered to vote? Think again. With all this purg’n going on, you could be x’d out and you won’t know it. Check online at www.votersunite.org/info/RegInfo.asp. Then register your girlfriend, your wife, your mailman and your mommy. Contact the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Rock the Vote, and your local party organization, and commit to a couple of days of door-to-door registration, especially in minority neighborhoods or at social service agency offices. And if you’ve served the time, you can sign: in almost every state, ex-cons can vote.

4. Vote Unconditionally, Not Provisionally
In 2008, they’ll be handing out provisional ballots like candy, especially to Hispanic voters. If your right to vote is challenged, don’t accept a provisional ballot that will likely not get counted no matter what the sweet little lady at the table tells you. She won’t decide; partisan sharks will. Demand adjudication from poll judges on the spot; demand a call to the supervisor of elections; or return with acceptable ID if possible. And be a champ: defend the rights of others. If you’ve taken Step 1 above and voted early, you have Election Day free to be a poll watcher. Run into trouble— you’ve been caged or purged or challenged—call Election Protection at 1-(866) OURVOTE. Then challenge the challengers, the weird guys with Blackberrys containing lists of “suspect” voters. Be firm, but no biting.

5. Occupy Ohio, Invade Nevada
The revolution will not be podcast. Let go of that mouse, get out of your PJs and take the resistance door-to-door—to register the vote, to canvass the voters, to get out the vote. Donate time to your union (if you’re not in a union, why not?) or to the troublemakers I’ve already listed here and on our site. This may seem a stupendously unoriginal suggestion, but I know of no other method more effective for confronting the armed and dangerous junta that has seized the White House.

6. Date a Voter
Voting, like bowling and love, should never be done alone. As our sponsor, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, says, make a date to ‘Arrive with Five.’ And keep this comic book in your holster - with our 800 numbers and your photo ID in your hand. And Bobby, make sure your ID says, “Robert Kennedy JUNIOR” or your vote is toast.

7. Make the Democracy Demand: No Vote Left Behind!
I have this crazy fantasy in my head. In it, an election is stolen and the guy who’s wrongly declared the loser stands up in front of the White House and says three magic words: “Count the votes.” You can have all the paper ballots in the world, but if you don’t demand to look at them, publicly, in a recount, you might as well mark them with invisible ink. Democracy requires vigilance The Day After. That’s when you check in at www.stealbackyourvote.org one more time.

JOIN THE INSURGENCY VISIT: StealBackYourVote.org

*********************

Find out when you can vote, how late you can register, and other critical information from the National Association of Secretaries of State: (Click on the link or cut and paste this URL.)

http://nass.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=149&Itemid=330http://nass.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=149&Itemid=330

Usually you must check with your local registrar of voters to see if you are registered to vote. You can learn more about it at:
http://www.canivote.org/

The largest vote protection group: http://www.866ourvote.org/

Common Cause: Holding Power Accountable

This is a vote protection and documentation project mentioned by Bill Moyers on Bill Moyers’ Journal on Friday (10/17/08):
http://www.videothevote.org/

Election Protection: 1-(866) OURVOTE - call if you may be prevented from voting before or on Election Day (caging, purging, or challenge).

Other numbers:

• Call 1-866-MY-VOTE-1 (698-6831) to report voting problems.
• Call 1-800-OUR-VOTE (687-8683) if you need legal help
• Call 1-877-SEIU-VOTE (734-8868) to find your polling place, report any problems at the polls, or speak with your local board of election.
  

Bill Moyers' voter information and protection page.

Info from the Center for American Progress's Campus Progress Blog.

For the latest on voter issues, see the videos on VideotheVote and YouTube. Watch the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC and Bill Moyers’ Journal. Read Loser Take All by Mark Crispin Miller (ed.) or see the interview with him on Bill Moyers' Journal 10/17/08. Let me know about other links and groups, and I’ll post them on Astro-Pol.

What Could be More Unusual?

In my last post, I mentioned longer term planetary cycles at work in the economic crisis. One of these is the Saturn-Uranus opposition. This is a planetary contact that builds over months to a peak on the day when it becomes exact, then dissipates slowly over months. However, since both these planets retrograde (apparently turn backward), they interact five times through July 2010. From now until then, we’ll feel the swinging pendulum of tension and release, tension and release as it changes structures in the world around us.

This is a planetary event that occurs about every 42 years; the last time was in a period that should stand out in the memory of anyone who was over the age of 10 at that time — 1965-67. This signifies a period of rapid and often startling change in the structures of government and society. At this point in the cycle, structures that have not changed through gentler means have become so entrenched that they are stretched like a rubber band. At the opposition the rubber band breaks as society makes a sudden adjustment to a reality that has (often forcibly) revealed itself. In the mid-sixties, we saw such a time of rapid change in society (made more intense then by Pluto’s involvement). This is not a bad thing — it is a necessary thing.

This makes September-October “more than your average __________”, which can be filled with the words “Mercury retrograde”, “election”,“economic crisis”, or “social revolution”. The first culmination comes on Election Day, when I at first thought that we would not be likely to come up with a definitive winner of the US presidential election (or many other races). However, now I’m having second thoughts. (We astrologers learn too.) One of my colleagues, Claire-France Perez, is predicting a landslide election, which she defines as a 22 point spread between the two candidates. This occurred at the last Saturn-Uranus opposition in the election of the incumbent Lyndon Johnson in 1964. While I’m less sure that this will occur with an exact contact between Saturn and Uranus on Election Day, such a landslide will make it possible to give a result more quickly. The word ‘landslide’ was first used by a pundit last week to describe a possible outcome in this election.

The key words here are unusual, sudden, and significant. So that leads me to what I’m pondering. On the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC yesterday, she interviewed New York Times columnist and Princeton Professor of Economics Paul Krugman in her “Talk Me Down” segment. He was worried and suggested boldly that "as soon as the election is over we're going to have to have - we can't wait until January 20th - we may have to have in effect the incoming Obama team move into the Treasury and start coordinating the rescue, because this is going to be a very, very bad transition period if we don't do anything until we actually have a new administration." The implication was, I hasten to add, that this would not be a takeover but an effort to support the country through a hard time with new energy and perspectives.

As an astrologer and observer of planetary cycles, I can assess the likelihood of this. With the dominant energies of the time being “unusual”, “sudden”, and “significant”, I would not rule this out as a beneficial possibility. Unusual steps for unusual times.