TGIF!

Much is happening astro-logically, especially in the horoscope of the United States. Gotta write about it, and especially for those Avid Readers and Avid Listeners who find my efforts valuable enough to support — either monthly or randomly — this forecast is for you, with much gratitude.

Here’s a reminder of patterns carrying us into the weekend:

• FRIDAY: Note your dreams upon waking. Moon opposes Neptune at 6:30 AM ET, with added depth courtesy of a trine to Pluto at 9:49 AM ET. Astrology supports a slow, deliberate start to this day, as Moon will be void until 1:44 PM ET, when it enters Libra, seeking prominent expressions of fairness and balance in relationships. Mercury turns direct at 4:21 PM ET — so be mindful in all forms of travel and communication. This whole week may feature news of global cooperation and/or freedom of expression, especially in technology, aviation — and hey — maybe astrology, too — given the Sun’s trine to Uranus, exact at 9:23 PM ET. This evening, given that the Libra Moon travels without interference until 3;52 PM ET on…
• SATURDAY…we may be in a long stretch of “on the one hand; on the other hand.” And then, a focused assertion or action in matters of justice and balance, as the Libra Moon meets up with Mars. Your Saturday night date could be sweet and indulgent, as Moon sextiles Venus at 7:57 PM ET. Humming in the background, and exact at 2:09 AM ET on…
• SUNDAY…is the last of three squares between Venus and Jupiter. The first two happened on June 11 and August 22. A square between the two planets collectively known as the Lesser and Greater Benefics suggests good times and great fortune. The flip side — and there is always a flip side — is wretched excess. Another challenge in this case could be a stubborn clash of values, which then affects who gets what sized slice of the available pie (i.e., material resources, budgets, land, etc.). Will we be hearing more about a threatened shutdown as certain elected representatives in Congress argue about budgets and spending? [UPDATE: as I was writing this forecast on Monday, I deleted an answer to that rhetorical question, and I wish I hadn’t. Fact is (this is what I deleted), it wouldn’t be a proper Mercury retrograde without a strike — especially in transportation (cars) or communication. Thus the odds favor a strike. Plus, if you recall, the chart for the New Moon has a badly behaving Mars (Mars rules cars) in the 6th House (labor). Last night (Thursday), auto workers went on strike, for the first time in US history. Astrology wins again.]  In your own personal world,  if you have planets or angles — or angels — around 15 degrees of just about any sign, you could try your luck on a lottery ticket or two. But also watch any potential for expansion…or going overboard.

No sleeping in on Monday. The Moon will not be void. Humming in the background through the weekend is the annual opposition between the Sun and Neptune, exact  next Tuesday. Here are headlines from the Sun-Neptune opposition in 2017.

And now, the news.

On Monday, I wrote about a pattern among the outer planets that appears to be reflected in the ginormous scale events we are experiencing. Pluto (power & resources) — now back in earthy Capricorn — is in a trine to Uranus (the disruptor), also in an Earth sign (Taurus). There’s rush of  activity in global affairs, as certain leaders in certain countries scramble to structure and control earthly resources, either through cooperative ventures or by fiat.  Neptune — which dissolves and/or idealizes whatever it touches — is in between Uranus and Pluto, in a harmonious aspect (a sextile) to both. Neptune is in Pisces, which refers to refugees, wipeouts, oceans, and floods. Saturn (loss, structure, strategy, karma) is also in Pisces, a sign which also refers to endings.

Here’s historian Heather Cox Richardson with the latest on North Korean leader Kim Jung Un’s train trek to Russia, where he and Vladimir Putin talked about alliances. For contrast, HCR then summed up the highlights from “a major speech today at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Secretary of State Antony Blinken.”

There’s a rush of activity on the planet, too — and here, I’m talking about the devastating floods, fires, heat waves, seismic events, and other climate change disruptions that are commanding the headlines, as in:

• “UN says most Libya flood deaths could have been avoided, as reports emerge of how 7-meter wave ‘wiped out’ buildings”

• “Atlanta streets flooded; cars submerged”
• “Tenzirt, a village wiped off the map by Morocco’s earthquake”

• “Strange lights spotted in Morocco earthquake videos may be a phenomenon reported for centuries, scientists say”.  “Earthquake lights?”

• “Millions under warning in New England as Hurricane Lee approaches.” A hurricane in Nova Scotia?

• Hong Kong issues No 1 typhoon warning as Haikui nears; billions of dollars in economic losses estimated from Saola. Two storms in a week? 

• Record-breaking wildfires have occurred all over the Northern Hemisphere during 2023, new report finds

• The world has just experienced the hottest summer on record – by a significant margin

• “Tonga volcano triggered seafloor stampede“
• “Climate protesters around the world are calling for an end to fossil fuels as Earth heats up”
• “Rockefeller Foundation commits $1 billion to advance climate change solutions”

Now, planets don’t do anything (as my teacher Noel Tyl used to say). “PEOPLE DO!” (he would then roar). And yet, there is a fascinating synchronicity between planetary patterns and events in life development. Go figure. Astrology is amazing.

Another pattern worth noting is Jupiter, which turned retrograde last month at 15 degrees of Taurus. Jupiter is currently close to Uranus, though the two won’t be exactly conjunct until April 20, 2024. Avid Readers will recall that Jupiter expands whatever it touches, and thus when Jupiter connects with Uranus, we anticipate an expansion of disruption…and since both are in Taurus, the disruption will be noticed in all things related to Taurus (land, material possessions, money, etc.). Got that? Point is, there’s arguably a BIG (Jupiter) WAKE-UP CALL (Uranus) in the news with respect to our collective earthly home (TAURUS), and we’re likely to see a re-emphasis of this wake-up call next April, for better (there’s always an upside!) or for worse.

Meanwhile…

The horoscope of the United States is receiving the fourth hit (almost!) of its Pluto Return, i.e., transiting Pluto is within minutes of an exact contact with the US natal Pluto.. Note that the contact won’t be exact — but it’s definitely being “felt”! But right now, Pluto is at 28 degrees of Capricorn, traveling backwards through that sign. Pluto turns direct on October 11 at 27 degrees 54 minutes of Capricorn. The US natal Pluto is at 27 degrees 32 minutes of Capricorn. Soooooooo close…and Pluto will stay at 27 degrees Capricorn until the end of October.

Until 2022, the US had never experienced this pattern, because it takes Pluto almost two and a half centuries  to travel around a horoscope. However, as explained in this post from January 2022,  the US has gone through periods when transiting Pluto was in a challenging aspect to the US natal Pluto, which means we can learn from past experience and know what to expect. And what we can expect is a shift in the balance of power and resources, which changed in the early 80s with trickle-down, voodoo Reaganomics (with transiting Pluto square Pluto)…and changed in the mid-30s with FDR’s New Deal (with Pluto opposing Pluto). This past experience is the astro-logic behind the economic policies advanced by the Biden administration — and here’s an example with respect to the newly declared auto workers’ strike — as it seeks to move power and resources away from a concentration in the hands of the 1%, and into the hands of everyone else. Got that? Astro-logically, it is time for a shift in the balance of power and resources in the United States, suggested by patterns it its horoscope. Another possibility — reflecting Plutonian breakdown and transformation in the extreme — is that the whole system crumbles and is born again in some other form.

• “In first known joint statement, US presidential centers (13 of ’em) sound alarm about democracy“

Not being psychic, I’m not prepared to offer an anticipation of precisely what will happen, but I sure hope you are prepared to cast an informed vote in all upcoming elections. To check your voter registration status (which you should do periodically, to make sure you haven’t been (Plutonically) purged from the rolls), go here.

Anyhoo…

Now that you understand that Pluto will turn direct on October 11, and is beginning to slow down to a virtual standstill...and you understand how Pluto’s themes of power and resources are being received in the horoscope of the United States…

…you can understand why certain things happened in Congress this week, now that certain lawmakers are back from their summer vacation:

• Instead of announcing a forward march on passing spending bills needed to avoid another pointless, painful government shutdown, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy endorsed (during a Moon void and Mercury retrograde) the opening of an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, with no evidence of any wrongdoing.

We can appreciate the squeeze McCarthy is feeling, given that in the last two weeks of August, his horoscope received the second of three passes of Saturn to his natal t-square, which includes his natal Saturn (yes, he’s having a Saturn return), which squares an opposition between his righteously opinionated Sagittarius Moon (the man desperately needs to feel respected) and his adaptable Gemini Ascendant. He also had a Mars return, and when Jupiter turned retrograde, it was oh-so-close to an exact conjunction with his Jupiter (so he’s feeling mightily expansive, in addition to feeling mightily energized and mightily ambitious/confined).

We should keep an eye on the first two weeks of January, when Saturn hits that t-square for the third time…and if he managed to hold on to his gavel, we should watch the end of March 2024 and all through April. That’s when Mars will oppose his Mars (so he can see what the seeds planted now will reap); Jupiter will finally meet up with his Jupiter; and Neptune will begin a series of oppositions to his perfection-seeking Mars. That might feel like waves washing away footprints in the sand…and it sets him up for a dramatic life change in January 2025.

Meanwhile…

• “White House set for Hunter Biden battle as Republicans look to pounce.” This headline appeared on September 7th, less than two days before transiting Mars made a provocative contact with Hunter Biden’s natal Mars (in Aries) – Uranus (in Libra) opposition.  Yesterday, the headline was “Hunter Biden indicted on gun charges after plea deal falls apart“. We do not have a birth time for Hunter Biden, but we can appreciate the anguished effort suggested in what we know of his horoscope, possibly exact in early January.

In other news…

• “What Mitt Romney saw in the Senate,” which is summed up here by HCR if you’re unable to access the linked article in The Atlantic. Romney will not seek re-election to the Senate next year, and his announcement happened in sync with patterns in his horoscope suggesting liberation, rebellion, gravitas, reality checks, and cuts/losses. Transiting Saturn is squaring his Gemini Ascendant, for one, and note that Saturn is also on the Pisces Sun of Mitch McConnell. One of the revelations in a new book about Romney (see linked article) is that Romney texted a dire warning to McConnell about reports of likely violence on January 6, 2021 (he’d gotten the info from Senator Angus King (I-ME), who’d spoken with “a high-ranking Pentagon official”). McConnell….never responded. Romney is an apt example of the potential suggested in Beth Owl’s Daughter’s Tarot Card of the Week. 
• “Outflanked by liberals, Oregon conservatives seek to move state border” (and become part of Idaho)
• “Republicans threaten to impeach newly-elected (by an 11% margin) Wisconsin supreme court judge”
• “Court tosses Alabama congressional map after GOP refuses to draw second Black district” (that was mandated by the US Supreme Court).
• “Texas Senate begins deliberations on Paxton’s future as Attorney General.” Ken Paxton was impeached on corruption charges, and the deliberations — true to the spirit of a New Moon — are happening behind closed doors.

There’s so much more to write about…so stay tuned.

In closing, in your own personal world, the weekend’s Venus-Jupiter square suggests potential for a grand old time. Venus refers to fashion, of course — and here’s what they were wearing at New York’s Fashion Week, which just wrapped. Venus refers to art, and note the timing of this obituary:

• “Fernando Botero, Colombian sculptor beloved for his rotund figures, dies at 91″

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Thank you for reading — and sharing and supporting — this Forecast.

Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia : July 27 2022: Botero Plaza (Botero square). Sculpture (caballero : rider) by Fernando Botero, a famous Colombian artist. RIP.