Gemini Weather Ahead

All I can do is be me, whoever that is. ~ Bob Dylan

The Sun, Mercury, Retrograde Venus and the South Node all in Gemini this week, were successfully launched by the Solar Eclipse in Gemini last weekend.  As a result, it will be very easy to go off course, busying yourself with too much information, too many opinions, asking the neighbors, calling Aunt Sue, getting lost on Facebook, and transfixed by the latest conspiracy theories traversing the internet... Try to avoid the leviathan of information overload, and being led down the garden path, or you will definitely find yourself lost in the Land of Distraction.

Born on May 24th, Gemini Bob Dylan, came out on the stage of life with a voice and a message.  Something of a town crier, Dylan’s early songs from the mid-60’s such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They are a Changin’” became banner anthems for the civil rights and anti-war movements of the time.  A time pervaded by the revolutionary and redefining Uranus/Pluto conjunction in Virgo.  This Summer, Uranus and Pluto will be exactly square, and these songs are once again valid, in a strangely reminiscent, back to the future, Venus retrograde in Gemini, sort of way. Venus retro in Gemini is a great time to sift through old albums, old loves, old memories and old friends.  Their relevance still lingers.  Thank you Mr. Dylan.

It is also good to note this week, that as Jupiter approaches its square to Neptune and Venus remains retrograde, that all that glitters is not gold.  People will make promises (perhaps even out of greed) that they cannot possibly keep, or will present something as being much more valuable than it is.  If your mind tells you that something is too good to be true, pay attention, it probably isn’t. 

All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie. ~ Bob Dylan

For the week of May 25th thru June 1st, be sure to read your rising sign as well:

Aries
While in the throes of reinventing yourself and proclaiming your individuality in a way that strikes awe in the hearts of men, you suddenly find yourself perplexed and inundated.  Try to take each item, each chore, one at a time, one day at a time.  If you allow yourself to succumb to the sense of commotion, and disarray, there will be those who will get to witness the Ram’s war cry.  Not a pretty sight.  Therefore, keep it slow, turn off the phone, and try to maintain your composure even in the eye of the storm.

Taurus
Taurus is not one for commotion.  They usually just tune out, and find some sylvan grove in which to wait it out.  But when it concerns your financial security, or some sort of hanky panky with numbers, you’ll be ready to step out with your Occupy brethren, and let them get an earful or two.  Or at least watch them approvingly from afar.  The last thing you need is to be led down the financial garden path of misinformation. 

Gemini
If you find yourself lost in all the data and words, seek the still small voice within in some place distant and perhaps rural, exotic, or by the water.  Away from the noise and bustle this weekend.  It will give you the energy to meet life on its own terms when you return to reality with both jets activated after the weekend.  However, if things get too raucous, seek some down time to defrag.  As Bob Dylan said: “People disagreeing everywhere you look makes you wanna stop and read a book.” 

Cancer
As Uranus and Pluto are closing in, it becomes more and more evident that you have outgrown your shell, and will need to find a better, more accommodating shell to move in to.  If you can’t make sense of all the information sifting through your mind, then just sit with it for a while.  Breathe.  And allow some of the commotion and worry to settle.  All changes, even good changes, are fraught with a bit of anxiety if you are not prepared.  So breathe.  And let it all settle like the pulp in a bottle of freshly squeezed apple juice.  Once it settles, the juice becomes clear again.

Leo
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Some news just seems designed to lead us down the garden path.  If something seems too good to be true, or your common sense tells you that something is simply not plausible... it probably isn’t.  Avoid buying and selling if you can, or get an expert to read the fine print.  This will help to avoid any buyer’s remorse, or regrets later on.  On the other hand, there could be some good news, or an exciting proposal to take an unexpected trip in the offing?  I would do it.  Just saying.  Could be mind bending. 

Virgo
Poor communications lead to misunderstandings with others.  Don’t jump too suddenly to conclusions.  At least not over the weekend when things are most cloudy.  This is a good time to just take some time off, play hooky... not take things quite so seriously.  The down time will give you a resurgence of energy for the week ahead, when you’ll be donning your PF flyers and whizzing about trying to make up for lost time.  You will be in top form.  However, a word of warning regarding Wednesday, when a certain amount of verbal caution would be appreciated.  Tempers could be touchy. 

Libra
Bob Dylan reflected the Gemini dilemma when he said, “Gotta head full of ideas that are driving me insane...”  Sometimes you have to quiet some of those voices in your head.  Especially the day dreamy, what day is it kind.  And especially if you wish to be more efficient, less distracted, and able to get things done.  On the other hand, some of those voices can be really really helpful... this will be especially so on Sunday/Monday when the solution to a problem magically reveals itself, or a message leads to a sudden realization.  Employ your trusty diplomatic skills around the 30th, things could get a little testy. 

Scorpio
It’s certainly true that all that glitters is not gold.  Beware of speculating on a whim.  If something proves to be too good to be true, then it probably isn’t.  But then again with Mercury traveling through Gemini, you could be pleasantly surprised after the weekend, with a solution that had previously escaped your otherwise relentless perceptive abilities.  But keep it slow.  Most errors are made in haste.  And verbal faux pas’s are no exception to the rule. 

Sagittarius
Sometimes it’s impossible to know what to believe.  You were hoping for greater clarity, but all you are left with at this point are more questions.  Forget the questions.  And stop running around on that hamster wheel that’s going nowhere fast.  Trust yourself, and your own unique ability to intuitively grasp the right road to be traveling on. The only one who can help you find that road is yourself.   Running hither and yon is just going to get on your last nerve.

Capricorn
The times they are a changin’.  Realizing that, and acting on it are two different things.  Especially for Capricorn, who although they might totally get that some sort of reinvention is being called for, are not quite so sure about all this ‘change’.  Think of it as buying a new pair of shoes, or moving into a new home with better accommodations, and more room to grow.  Because that’s what change is really about: the opportunity to evolve.

Aquarius
If something strikes your fancy this week, pursue it.  No matter how unusual or off the wall it may seem at first.  Allow your curiosity to prosper, and lead you to places, people and experiences that you wouldn’t normally pay heed to.  Through activities with neighbors or friends, you could learn something that will help to open up your mind and your world in ways that you had not previously considered.  And could be quite fun besides. 

Pisces
If you are feeling overwhelmed and inundated by data, words, facts.... allow your intuition to guide you through the noise and chatter.  Seek some quiet escape.  And then as the week winds up again... try to maintain some of that connection to that inner peace.  It might help you to navigate some of the stickier reefs and shoals around Wednesday, when patience will be a welcome commodity.  When Mercury meets Mars as it will mid-week, it’s always a good reminder that sometimes silence and reticence are virtues.

The Aries Ingress 2012

The Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and the first day of Fall in the Southern.  This is when the Sun crosses the celestial equator on its journey northward.  It is also the first day of Aries.  The Aries Ingress.  This first degree of the first sign of the tropical zodiac, as seen by astrologers, sets the tone for the year ahead.   

This year, as last, the Equinox is accompanied by unpredictable yet revolutionary Uranus.  We saw his work last year with the Arab Spring, worldwide demonstrations and protests, and the Occupy Movement.  It was a year in which we saw “The Protestor” make the ‘Person of the Year’ on the cover of Time Magazine.   Everywhere where there was some form of discontent, it was raised up several notches, accelerated via the Uranus-ruled internet.  These were a direct response to civil rights issues and the apparent inequality of wealth and power, a common theme in Uranus/Pluto cycles, which we are also currently experiencing.  It is a time when gross inequalities which people had been tolerating for some time, finally reach a point where they are no longer tolerable.  Uranus and Pluto will perfect their square to one another this year and next. 

What is different about this year’s Ingress chart is that retrograde Mercury is sitting between the Sun and Uranus, not only mediating the dynamic of change, but also mixing it up with Mars.  Mercury and Mars, both retrograde, are in each other’s signs, a relationship astrologers refer to as ‘mutual reception’, doubling the impact of the Mercury (speaking, writing, communicating, traveling, workers, healthcare, servants) and Mars (warriors, soldiers, aggression, anger, militancy, initiative) energy.  With Mercury posited between Sun and Uranus, we could be privy to some revelations.  Mercury/Uranus also has a great deal to do with the internet... having information go ‘viral’, quickly disseminating information.. so quickly that some may wish they could take it all back again (retrograde). 

This is also about issues from the past being revived and brought forward into the limelight.  There could also be ‘reversed’ decisions, and reversal of legislation.  Mars is also currently squaring the Moon’s Nodes.  The Nodes of the Moon symbolize our group ‘Karma’ as a whole, as well as our own personal sense of destiny and purpose.  This is where we have arrived as a group as a result of the choices and actions we have made in the past.  It encompasses the cultural norms, as well as the inevitable consequences of decisions made historically and recently.  With Mars squaring the Nodes there is a conflict arising within the embedded, and accepted traditions of the society as a whole.  And this will be felt whether you are in Afghanistan, Paris or Sausalito.  It’s this feeling that some sort of belief, some political ideology that is embedded in the current society, is some how hypocritical or damaging to the society as a whole, and it either creates the urge to make or force changes.  And it can easily result in anger and even larger conflict.

With Mars at the bending of the Moon’s Nodes, there is a recipe for conflict in ideation, religious views... even the possibility of religious wars.  And with the revolutionary energy of the Uranus/Pluto square it is to our advantage to find ways to promote and initiate positive changes without devolving into anarchy or resorting to violence. 

Uranus/Pluto cycles are also noteworthy for their non-violent demonstrations, and peaceful resistance movements, from Harriet Tubman who escaped her own slavery, only to return again and again through the Underground Railroad to lead more than 300 slaves to freedom; to Henry David Thoreau’s anti-war civil disobedience, to Mahatma Gandhi’s Salt March, to Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights marches in Alabama... all of these occurred during Uranus/Pluto hard aspects (conjunctions, squares or oppositions).  So in retrospective commemoration to these great activists, who used peaceful means to change the world, I thought I would dedicate this Aries Ingress to those people throughout the world today, who seek to implement change without the use of violence, aggression or rhetoric.  In other words, we can use this same energy to promote change in positive, non-violent, and constructive ways.

The Sudan

This past Friday (March 16th) actor, George Clooney was arrested along with US Congressmen, faith leaders, and human rights activists who were protesting at the Sudanese Embassy.  They carried signs that said “Stop Bombing Civilians Now!” and “End the silence stop the violence.” It is believed by many that the Sudan has been, and will continue to grow to be one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.  If it isn’t already.  Pluto is currently exactly on the Sudanese Sun at 9° of Capricorn, drawing this country directly into the cross hairs of the Uranus/Pluto square this Spring and Summer. 

Clooney is a co-founder of the Satellite Sentinel Project which uses satellite imagery to watch for aerial attacks and troop movements in Sudan and Southern Sudan, which became a separate country last year.

“What you see is a constant drip of fear,” testified Clooney, who just recently returned from a trip to the Sudan.   “We are here,” he said, “to ask two very simple questions... immediately we need humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Sudan... and for the government in Khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children.  Stop raping them and stop starving them.  That’s all we ask.”

Uganda

Also, recently in the news we saw a video go viral (Mercury/Uranus) on the internet.  This was on an issue that has been going on for decades (Mercury and Mars retrograde) but was immediately and suddenly brought into the public eye.  The video by Invisible Children was a fairly successful attempt to draw attention to the plight of children being abducted and forced to be soldiers, sex slaves and killers, by one, Joseph Kony and the ‘Lord’s Resistance Army’.  Many agreed that Invisible Children brought much needed attention to an ongoing problem, but they also raised a great deal of discussion and controversy as to how to go about solving it.

Anywar Ricky Richard knows something about these child soldiers, having been one himself at one time.  He experienced first hand the terror of being abducted, watching your family and loved ones being murdered, and his brother committing suicide.  Eventually escaping and returning home to his village, he is now the director of the northern Ugandan organization, “Friends of Orphans”.  Since 1999 he has worked to rehabilitate former child soldiers and others affected by the war.  He wrote recently in the National Geographic magazine that although he supported the positive attention that the Kony 2012 video has brought, he does not support the sentiment of militarization as a solution:

“What we want is to stop the war in a way that will not cause any more atrocities, because the people of northern Uganda have shed too much blood from this war.  We do not want to see more death and destruction in the process of ending the war.  Nobody supports Kony in northern Uganda; we are only tired of wars and now want to look at ways in which sustainable peace can be restored in northern Uganda without seeing more people dying.”

The Middle East and Neve Shalom ~ Wahat al-Salam

“My People shall dwell in an Oasis of Peace” ~ Isaiah (32:18)

Whenever we think ‘religious war’ or war period, everyone immediately looks to the Middle East and the on-going hostilities that continue to simmer on a slow boil in the region, where anger, dehumanization, rhetoric and militarization are seen as a constant.  Yet unknown to most of the world, strategically situated in the countryside outside of Jerusalem is a community of Peace.  The late Father Bruno Hussar, an Egyptian born Israeli citizen who considered himself both a Jew and a Christian, created the “Oasis of Peace” as a community where Jews and Arabs would come together in order to work out mutual fears and hatred.   Democratically governed and owned by its members which are equal part Jews and Arabs, it is not affiliated with any political party or movement.

“People would come here from all over the country to meet those from whom they were estranged, wanting to break down the barriers of fear, mistrust, ignorance, misunderstanding, preconceived ideas ~ all things that separate us ~ and to build bridges of trust, respect, mutual understanding and, if possible, friendship.”  ~ Fr. Bruno Hussar

May the Oasis of Peace go viral in 2012..... 

We should think carefully about the reality of war. Most of us have been conditioned to regard military combat as exciting and glamorous - an opportunity for men to prove their competence and courage. Since armies are legal, we feel that war is acceptable; in general, nobody feels that war is criminal or that accepting it is criminal attitude. In fact, we have been brainwashed. War is neither glamorous nor attractive. It is monstrous. Its very nature is one of tragedy and suffering. ~ His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Mercury Stations Retrograde

Radio Tower courtesy of tandri79

Mercury stations retrograde on Monday, March 12th (or the night of the 11th in Pacific Time US), and not without a little preliminary fanfare to usher him in.  Just two days prior to Mercury entering Aries, a signature of profanity and fighting words, a certain right-wing radio host, with his knickers all tied in a knot, launched a 3-day misogynist rant against a Georgetown law student, and women in general.  When people protested, he just dug in deeper and deeper, until finally his sponsors started to skulk away trying to keep his bad mojo off of their products. 

If we were to look at said radio host’s chart we see an interesting Mercury/Saturn/Uranus t-square, which is a symbolic picture for what he does (make emphatic black and white statements in support of his own narrow world view over the radio waves).   But there’s also this question about freedom (Uranus) of speech (Mercury).  Mercury/Uranus people take a ticklish delight in shaking up society, in a cringe-worthy sort of way.  Our radio host guy sees himself as his own brand of maverick.  A narrow-minded voice in the conservative wilderness type of maverick.  But is his form of what some conservatives refer to as ‘entertainment’, free speech as they claim?  Or is it a vehicle for promulgating hatred and bias? 

Transiting Uranus has been shaking up and highlighting Mr. radio host’s Mercury/Saturn/Uranus t-square, and it was just recently joined by transiting Mercury.  The rest is history. 

With Mercury and Uranus joining forces we can observe several phenomenon at play here: 1) illumination and revelations occur; 2) heresy, or proclaiming beliefs, or making statements that are in conflict with the established beliefs and customs of the society; and 3) issues about freedom of speech come to the forefront.  And due to the magic trick of Mercury stationing retrograde on Monday, Mercury’s going to be dancing with Uranus a few more times over the next several weeks. 

But we’re not just talking about the Mercury and Uranus dance, agitating the air waves, and setting everyone’s teeth on edge.  While Mercury is in Aries it has a special relationship with retrograde Mars traveling in Virgo.  They are in each other’s signs, on each other’s home turf.  A relationship astrologers call mutual reception.  This Aries/Virgo; Mercury/Mars; electrified by Uranus energy = warring of words, harsh language, defiant postures, regrettable statements made in anger.. and the freedom to be able to have your say, no matter how narrow minded, egregious or offensive it may be.  But unbridled Mars is anger... and the aim of anger is to cause harm.  Is this freedom of speech?  Or is it simply hate speech? 

Even conservative David Frum, former special assistant to George W. Bush stated:

"Limbaugh's verbal abuse of Sandra Fluke set a new kind of low. I can't recall anything as brutal, ugly and deliberate ever being said by such a prominent person and so emphatically repeated. This was not a case of a bad "word choice". It was a brutally sexualized accusation, against a specific person, prolonged over three days."

Welcome to Mercury Retrograde weather.  Apart from the usual confusion, missed appointments, and poor "word choices", Mercury retrograde seasons are actually very necessary periods in which we are allowed to pull back and catch up.  These are times for introspection, analysis, repairs and review.  And when Mercury re-enters Pisces on the 24th, expect this to be even more so.  And also expect to change your mind, perhaps more than once.  Often what seems like a really good idea while Mercury is retrograde will have its faults revealed when Mercury is direct again.  However, there is something else happening here, and that also has to do with Mercury meeting Uranus. 

When Mercury meets Uranus it can be like a light shining in the darkness.  Solutions for problems that you’ve been mulling over for ages, suddenly reveal themselves.  This is a window for invention and creative inspiration.  Something that may have been bothering you internally, that didn’t feel quite right, is clarified.  You see the light.  And once you see the light, it’s very difficult to go back to thinking the way that you did previously.  Think of it as a shift in perspective.  This is because there is a greater willingness to look outside the paradigm.  This will either feel like chaos, because things are not what you had previously thought they were; or it could result in inspired revelation. 

Either way, this is not a great time to sign contracts or make commitments.  Things are too much in flux.  Circumstances are likely to change along with your mind.  Mercury stations direct on the 4th of April, makes its maximum elongation on the 18th of April, and emerges from its shadow on the 22nd of April when it will make its 3rd and last conjunction with Uranus.   We might want to consider these wise words:

It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them. ~ Mark Twain

The Libra Equinox and the Revolution

The Cardinal Ingress charts that correspond to the 4 seasonal points, set a tone for the duration of that seasonal quarter to come.  When the outer planets occupy Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn), these are indicators for change, innovation, and initiation.  This is because they have recently crossed and now occupy, the World’s axis.  Currently Uranus (in Aries) and Pluto (in Capricorn) have been stirring up all sorts of commotion in the world.

Uranus and Pluto are still in the early degrees of Aries and Capricorn, and therefore very volatile and dynamic in these Cardinal Ingress charts.  In the Libra Equinox on September 23rd, the Sun, Uranus, Pluto t-square was hugging the angles tightly.  Over the next few years, Uranus and Pluto will be even more exact.  They came close this Summer, but will not perfect until next June.  And then will do so 6 more times. 

“Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders ... and millions have been killed because of this obedience. ... Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves ... [and] the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.” ~ Howard Zinn

Uranus/Pluto are the harbingers of revolution, change, transformation.  In this Equinox chart, the Moon (the people) was closely aligned with Mars (anger) in the sign of Leo (children), and we saw throngs of people descend on Wall Street in order to bring attention to the greed and inequity in the American financial system.  Their civil demonstration took on dramatic and even violent overtones on September 24th, when police were caught on tape brutalizing demonstrators, and macing young women trapped in an orange mesh enclosure.

Hundreds of young people had been occupying a private park near Wall Street, for 8 days, before any sort of real media coverage ensued.  It was probably wistfully hoped that these young people would just fade away into the night if they were ignored.  However with the evident abuse on the 24th of September, the NYC police department (Pluto in Capricorn) kind of inadvertently ensured that they got the world-wide attention the demonstrators needed, and the movement has only been growing exponentially.   

If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. ~ Malcolm X

The people holding the fort down on Wall Street are self-described as over-educated and under-employed.  In an interesting article entitled, “The Cancer Stage of Capitalism”, John McMurtry suggests that “our social immune system is being overwhelmed by a growing out-of-control money market cancer.”  He describes a ‘cancer’ as an uncontrolled and unregulated agent in the host body that:

• is not committed to any function of the host body;
• increasingly appropriates nutrients from the host body in its growth and reproduction;
• is not effectively recognized by the immune system;
• possesses the ability to transfer or metastasize its assaultive growth to sites across the host body;
• progressively infiltrates and invades the host body until it obstructs, damages or destroys successive organs of its life-system; and
• eventually destroys the life-host in the absence of an effective immune-system recognition and response.

These young people occupying Wall Street are a healthy immune response to the Cancer in our system, because they are drawing attention to its existence, so that the host body will recognize it, and then do something to correct it. 

Next week there is going to be a demonstration and occupation in Washington, DC, which carries the banner “Human Needs, not Corporate Greed”  and beseeches to: “get money out of politics” and “put workers before profits” as well as to “protect the planet”.

This general unrest is being felt globally, not just here in the US, with demonstrations erupting spontaneously everywhere, and in solidarity with the young people.  And this... is just the beginning.

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.  If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.  The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

Of Neptune and the Environment

Joplin, MO, after mile-wide tornado

What have we learned?  

For the past 13 years, Neptune has been in the sign of Aquarius.  It made a brief entrance into Pisces this Spring, but has returned this Summer to complete the Neptune in Aquarius cycle, before finally re-entering Pisces in February 2012.  Neptune represents the global zeitgeist, the mores, customs, the universal pathos and culture.  It represents the idealistic backdrop within the human community.  Neptune recognizes no boundaries or limits, its essential essence reflects universal expressions of compassion, inspiration, and connectedness.  While in Aquarius we were challenged to not only recognize our interconnectedness, but to make it a more ‘conscious’ reality, through inventive technology and reaching beyond our previous comfort zones.
the collective, scientific exploration and discovery, the collective consciousness, invention

Throughout the Neptune in Aquarius era we’ve been inspired to experiment and question the status quo.  Aquarius is a detached, intellectual sign.. and through its auspices, we have woven our connections through the Aquarian world of the media, the internet, networking, and the global web of ‘communications’.  Our culture has been redefined by our relationship to the internet, through technology and greater global access... we truly have become a global village.
individuality, the iconoclast, the revolutionary, freedom, the non-conformist, the acceptance of differences in culture and orientation

One of the negative sides of the ready access to information and global influence has been the Murdochian ease of manipulation of the collective by sowing misinformation and lies through this same media.  Ideally, Neptune in Aquarius has enabled a broader understanding and immediate access to injustices throughout the world, raising awareness and compassion, and a desire to help. 
But Neptune also rules masks, fakes, manipulators and liars, who have used the evolving technology and accessibility to the collective, in order to deceive and manipulate the public.
thinking outside the box, genius, networking, computers, revolutionary changes, crises

Floods in Vermont from Hurricane Irene

In the Neptune in Aquarius era we had the opportunity to consciously recognize our inter-relationships with each other on this planet... and that what anyone does on one part of the globe, affects us all.  Part of this has been coming to understand our relationship to our environment, and our affects on it.  And in recognizing what effects we were having.... do something about it.

Nine out of 10 of the hottest years on record occurred in the past 13 years (the Neptune in Aquarius era), with the hottest years ever measured (since the system began in the 1880’s) in 2005 and 2010. 

With increased heat, there is increased moisture in the air, resulting in unprecedented monster storms and flooding.   In 2005, Hurricane Katrina was not only the most costly hurricane, it was also one of the 5 deadliest hurricanes in US History. In 2010, unprecedented monsoons in Pakistan resulted in 20 million people being displaced.  In January, Australia also saw unprecedented floods encompassing an area that was larger than France and Germany combined.  For the past year it has rained in Columbia almost continuously resulting in their facing their worst natural disaster in history.  Terrifying mile-wide tornadoes cut whole swaths out of towns and villages in the Midwest of the US this year.  And record snow falls blanketed the Northeast US last Winter, while record amounts of snow and rainfall resulted in unprecedented flooding of the Souris and Missouri rivers.  And monster Hurricane Irene, the size of Western Europe, dumped heavy rains in the Northeast US, destroying whole towns, and devastating the entire state of Vermont. 

“What’s happening with the planet’s climate right now needs to be a wake-up call to all of us.” ~ Dmitry Medvedev

With larger storms, there are also going to be increased periods of time between these monster storms that suck up all the moisture, resulting in record droughts.  Droughts have more than doubled since the 1970’s.  We’ve seen this in Russia last year... and currently in Texas and Arizona, China and France.. and the poor beleaguered nation of Somalia.  The National Center for Atmospheric Research warns that huge areas of the world’s most populated areas will be experiencing extreme drought conditions within decades resulting in famine and starvation for millions.

Ironically with all this flooding.. the end result is a scarcity of fresh water and food.  Paleontologist from the University of Washington, Peter Ward, has predicted: “The scary thing is that we’ve got an intersection of declining freshwater and too many people... And the freshwater decline is due to global warming.  The lowest lying lands have the richest soil, and these are the lands that the rising sea level is going to salinize.” 

"The only plausible explanation for the rise in weather-related catastrophes is climate change," Munich Re, one of the two largest reinsurance companies in the world, recently stated. "The view that weather extremes are more frequent and intense due to global warming coincides with the current state of scientific knowledge."

 So why aren’t we hearing about this across the air waves?  Why isn’t this being made a priority?  We can partially blame the astrological weather... Neptune in Aquarius.. the manipulation of the collective through lies and misinformation.  And we can also blame ourselves. 

Selfishness is essentially conservative, and hates being disturbed. It prefers an easy-going, unexacting lie to the greatest truth, if the latter requires the sacrifice of one’s smallest comfort.
 ~from The Key to Theosophy by HPBlavatsky

In Al Gore’s article, The Climate of Denial, he points out that the major polluters themselves, along with the Ideologues that promote them, are actually bankrolling ‘pseudo-scientists’ in order to create doubt about climate change.. despite the fact that 98% of climate scientists say that the evidence is irrefutable.  These same corporations and individuals buy elected officials with bribes that the politicians themselves have now made legal.  And they spend millions of dollars on misleading ads in the mass media.  There are 4 anti-climate lobbyists in Washington, DC for every Senator and Representative in Congress. 

We were being given an opportunity to make radical and necessary changes.  Yet the United States, has not only refused to keep up with the rest of the Western world in acknowledging that there is a problem, and doing something about it, but have made concerted efforts to refute the actual evidence. 

With Neptune back in Aquarius... we’re being beckoned to have another chance, before Neptune enters Pisces again next February... the sign of dissolution.  Through Pisces we have the opportunity to work together, as one common community, swimming in this same ocean of life together.  We can be willing to make small sacrifices for the greater good of humanity and our world, or we can ignore and deny all that we have been consciously made aware of... and suffer the toxic consequences. 

Libya finds Thor's Hammer

Over the weekend, rebel forces in Libya virtually took over Tripoli, the capital of Libya.  Coined “Operation Mermaid Dawn”.. rebel fighters came into Tripoli by sea, where they joined forces with sleeper cells within the capital.  The operation took place just as a forceful planetary combination, sometimes referred to as Thor’s Hammer, was moving into position.  Right on critical points of the Libyan chart for Independence (dated 12/24/1951; 12:00 AM).  It will become exact on Wednesday-Thursday.

This configuration is made up of at least 3 planets, where 2 planets are square to one another, while each is then sesquiquadrate (135°) to a 3rd planet.. in this case retrograde Neptune, which has returned to Aquarius for some unfinished business.  Neptune is the planet of ideology, and in Aquarius, can represent a somewhat unusual form of ideology.  Saturn has been sesquare Neptune on and off from the sign of Libra, the sign of agreements, equality and fairness.  When Saturn comes up against Neptune, ideology is tested for soundness in the face of reality. 

Gaddafi has certainly proven to be extremely detached, not only from his own people, but often from reality in general.  Referred to as a ‘mad dog’ by President Reagan, he has had a reputation for being at least, somewhat, if not totally, out of touch.   Beset with delusions of grandeur, he rose to power on the wings of socialist ideals, only to abandon those principles in favor of despotism and tyranny.  It’s almost as if Neptune has come back to meet Saturn in order to route out yet another mad dictator of the day.

Libya is currently experiencing a Saturn Return, in which Saturn is at the same degree as it was at the time of its independence in 1951.  This is a time in which the leadership and structure of the country would be tested for soundness and strength.  And with Neptune in Aquarius (idiosyncratic ideology) undermining the stability of that structure, all it needed was a decisive shove.  People will put up with a lot when restrained by fear or apathy... which is kind of the way that sesquiquadrates operate, until those things that are oppressing the people are exposed...  and then along comes an active square from Mars, as it did this weekend, and what had appeared to be an irritation became an all out force to be reckoned with.  And with Mars on the Libyan Uranus, it came on swiftly and to many, unexpectedly.  They found Thor’s Hammer.

Inspired by the Uranus/Pluto (Revolutionary) Spring Uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, Libyans began holding peaceful protests after the arrest of Fathi Terbii, a human rights attorney, about 6 months ago. Gaddafi, not one to pander to insolent protestors, gave a televised speech in which he promised to hunt down protestors “inch by inch, room by room, home by home, alleyway by alleyway.”  Demonstrators were soon besieged with military force and violence, which only escalated the resistance into an all-out civil war.  NATO intervened in order to protect the civilians... eventually siding with the rebels.

Thor’s Hammer is anchored in place by a Saturn/Neptune sesquare that perfects on the 24th of August.  Under such weather, delusions confront reality, ideals struggle to find purchase... and madmen can be toppled from their thrones.  Mars, currently raging in Cancer, the sign of the people... is joining the configuration this week bringing to a head, the anger and frustration of a society that has struggled against what have appeared to be at times, insurmountable odds.

There’s another Thor’s Hammer configuration coinciding with this one.  This week, Mercury is slowing down to its station next Friday... and as it does so it will set off the revolutionary Uranus/Pluto square.  Mercury is communications, messages, news...and is sitting on the Libyan Pluto, the planet of rebirth and transformation.. we’ll be talking a lot about revolutionary activity in Libya this week... And as the walls come tumbling down, as the crumbling out-worn institutions are unable to keep up with the new generation.. the next step will be the rebuilding.

Uranus in Aries, the revolutionary warrior, is within a few degrees of Jupiter (freedom) in the Libyan chart, and when people celebrating on the streets of Tripoli and Benghazi over the weekend, were asked what this all meant to them.. people replied simply, “Freedom.”

Uranus ~ Pluto: The Underbelly Revealed

There is always more misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher. 

~ Victor Hugo (Les Miserables, 1862)

Pluto in Capricorn is showing us where power has become overwhelmingly leveraged towards the few, at the expense of the rest.  Pluto engenders the seeds of revolution, and the fall from power of those in high places, if need be.  It’s about the redistribution of power.  In Pluto weather the dark underbelly is revealed... And when in Capricorn it lays bare the underlying problems and weaknesses in the existing structures, governments and seats of power.  And when planets come to stress this position...as they have been this year, those structures are challenged for stability, strength and soundness. 

When Uranus in Aries (freedom, initiative and individuality) comes up against Pluto in Capricorn (plutocracy, oppression, fascism) there is a desire to be free at all costs.  When Aries ruler, Mars, entered the Cross through Cancer (the sign of the people) in early August we saw a lot of passion and emotion erupting.  Mars the planet of action, incited by a strong urge to defend and protect, entered the arena with Uranus and Pluto.  But the passion and anger that ensued did not arise out of nowhere.  It was due to circumstances that people had been tolerating for some time.  Powder kegs were ready to explode... all they needed was the spark to ignite it. 

London Riots ~ 2011

Astro-weather manifests in the areas that are most vulnerable and fertile.. where the circumstances exist for just this sort of explosion to occur, as we saw in London last week.  At the roots of those riots, are causes that had been festering, relative to the fact that power has been gradually concentrated at the top (Capricorn) at the expense of the people (Cancer) at the bottom, creating a state of unstable inequality.  Without a strong base to sustain the weight at the top, the result will lead to inevitable instability. 

 MSNBC world news pointed out:
The looting and rioting had nothing at all to do with the killing of Mark Duggan. That was the spark. The bonfire had been prepared by years of neglect, fueled by the anger of young men with no stake in the system, angry at everybody and quick to exploit fury at the killing of a local man....

London was not the only place to see violence last week.  In Santiago, Chile, violence broke out when student protests for changes in public education, got out of hand.  The protest began peacefully, just as they did in London, but then masked protesters broke off from the main crowd, in order to burn cars and barricades, loot storefronts and confront the police.  The police responded in kind with tear gas and water cannons.

If a problem is revealed... you can try to ignore it in hopes that it will just go away, you can blame the victims, or you can do something about it.  Ultimately, not being part of the solution, means that you are part of the problem.  And in ignoring the problem, it will only get worse, and that much more difficult to fix later on.  Among the many hot spots of unrest in the world today, one of the most heart-rending and frustrating is Somalia.

Drought in Somalia

Somalia, a country that is no stranger to war and drought, is experiencing what is being called the worst humanitarian disaster in history.  Over 3 million lives are at stake, where the risk of dying of starvation is imminent.  Over 29,000 children under the age of 5 have already died of famine.  War-torn and ravaged, politics has played a heavy role in this area of the world, where competing warlords, and a violent civil war have terrorized its citizens.  A 2-year drought, incessant conflict and poverty have created one of the most vulnerable places on the earth.

This crisis was not created overnight.  Twenty years of conflict in the region has resulted in serious consequences that can no longer be ignored.  And there has been a cry out for both the Somali government, as well as the International Community to sponsor peace-making initiatives in the nation.  Compound this with a flagrant disregard for the environment that has contributed to climate change... and global disasters are bound to be imminent in our most fragile areas such as this. 

The catalyst for change during Uranus/Pluto cycles, usually comes through a series of events that allow people to see that things are not as they thought they previously were.  A lot of upheavals occur at these times, but also a lot of good reforms can take place, changing the world in a very positive way, such as has been seen with civil rights movements throughout the Uranus/Pluto time line.  The reforms that do take place are often revolutionary in themselves, in that they change people’s perceptions on a grand scale. 

Pluto in Capricorn: 2008-2024
Uranus square Pluto: 2011-2015
Mars square Uranus opposite Pluto: Aug 3-13th, 2011
another hot week to watch next year:
Mars opposite Uranus square Pluto: July 14-21st, 2012