THE
FORECAST

High-flying idealism and a righteous mindset, driven by a need for emotional and/or home security opens the work week. The Sun and Mercury (mind communication) are together in opinionated Sagittarius and the Moon is still in motherhood and apple pie Cancer. That need for security is likely to be rattled in the early morning, especially around 12PM – 12:30PM ET, as the Moon makes its weekly clash with the never-ending Uranus-Pluto square. Choose your battles. Must you engage?

Meanwhile, Jupiter, planet of reward and expansion, turns retrograde at 3:41PM ET. In your own personal world, Jupiter retrograde can put a hold on expansion. In Leo, which refers to the energy of ego recognition and creative self-expression, it suggests you turn inward and reconsider plans for growth, making sure they are in synch with your need and/or ability to shine. As Jupiter turns retrograde at 22 degrees of Leo, you’ll feel this shift more personally if you have a planet or angle at 22 degrees of Leo, Taurus, Aquarius and Scorpio.  Jupiter will turn direct on April 9th at 12 degrees of Leo.

On Wednesday, Venus leaves Sagittarius for social-climbing Capricorn, putting an enterprising spin on social interactions for the next few weeks. If you were born with Venus in Capricorn, you could be quite adept at knowing how to use relationships to get ahead. You may wait until later in life before realizing that love is more valuable than status.

If it weren’t for the sixth exact square between disruptive Uranus and ruthless Pluto happening on the 15th, patterns would suggest a week of optimism and abundance. Instead we have a deep rumbling of discontent breaking through to the surface, especially in the U.S., whose horoscope is and will continue to be profoundly affected by Uranus and Pluto well into 2015. The issues of contention are directly related to seeds planted during the mid-60s, when Uranus and Pluto were conjunct, i.e., began a new cycle of potential liberation and transformation.

Yea verily, it is somewhat tiresome to read so many civilian journalists and pundits note the odd similarity between current social issues (e.g., civil rights, women’s rights, etc.) that are hot now and were hot then. I say tiresome — actually it’s a bit frustrating — to read and hear so many opinions that accurately point out the similarity without the added perspective of planetary cycles. Last week, for example, there was an article in the NYT about the astonishing and noticeable “tipping point” that has happened in cases of rape and other sexual assault. OK, so…why is this tipping point happening now? No answer. It was posted on Thursday, two days after a post in this forecast noted the same phenomenon occurring as anticipated, reflected by Saturn nearing the end of its two-year journey in Scorpio (with added help from The Planetary Pattern Everyone Should Be Talking About).

But I digress. One big issue of contention would be  the public protests in the U.S. and elsewhere over the failure of grand juries in Staten Island, Missouri and Ohio to indict the police officers who took the lives of certain unarmed citizens who were also African-American. Jon Stewart wasn’t the only one gobsmacked by the latest ruling  — this one last week involving the homicide of Eric Garner, whose death by a totally-against-police-regulations choke hold was captured on video. It’s another tipping point about to be reached, perhaps, suggested by the harsh reality check of Uranus-Pluto to the U.S. Sun-Saturn square.  Hillary Clinton, quoted in this NYT article about how even some conservatives disagreed with the grand jury findings, concluded:

“Each of us has to grapple with some hard truths about race and justice in America,” she said, speaking at a conference in Boston. “Because despite of all the progress we’ve made together, African-Americans, most particularly African-American men, are still more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes and sentenced to longer prison terms.”

Exactly. While the seeds of racial equality may have been planted in the mid-60s, as embodied in landmark legislation, we are at a point in time where we are going to discover if those seeds will flower or if they will die. And by “discover,” this is likely to be experienced with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.  Here is a quote from a lawmaker who applauded the grand jury’s decision in the case of Eric Garner. Take it away, Rep. Peter T. King:

“If he had not had asthma and a heart condition and was so obese, almost definitely he would not have died for this.”

Man, that is harsh. It’s all I can do to restrain myself from typing,  “If he had only been able to magically sprout gills, he would have survived being tied to an anchor and thrown overboard.” How much would you like to bet there is 1) a chilly connection between Venus and Saturn and 2) a bewildering Neptune pattern in Mr. King’s horoscope (April 5, 1944 — NY NY — time unknown)? Similar patterns can be found in the chart of Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso (Sept 20, 1940, Iisuka, Japan) who made headlines today for scolding “people who don’t give birth” and urging seniors to “hurry up and die”.

Finally, on a more uplifting note: on Friday, just after Mars entered space cadet Aquarius and aligned with the mobile Gemini Moon AND the Sun aligned with technogeek Uranus, the Orion spacecraft  got off the ground. This is a prototype of a craft that will eventually embark on manned missions to Mars…fingers crossed.