THE
I am a reporter with a unique beat. I use my understanding of planetary cycles to provide advance notice and analysis on the Zeitgeist of the day. If you have ever wondered “why is this happening now,” my insights will transform your experience of the headlines, adding new meaning and understanding. Call it Astrology for News Junkies. If you’re curious to know why the Impossible Burger is trending…or why the outcome of the 2019 Israeli elections was likely to be a shocker …or why “Woodrow Wilson, Stud Muffin” was a New York Times headline in December 2013, you will find it here, in over a decade’s worth of historical research and reporting.
Note that I do use astrological jargon in The Forecast in my effort to show how the planetary patterns are reflected in mundane events. I explain what the jargon symbolizes, so that all who want to understand the connections between astrology and the news may do so. However, I do not use astrological jargon in personal consultations, just plain English.
Astro-logical Forecast for Monday 6/24/2013: Capricorn Super Moon & Fallout
/in The ForecastOn Sunday at 4:08AM ET, Moon entered the enterprising sign of Capricorn, where it needs — as I learned from astrologer Noel Tyl — to Make Things Happen. Three and a half hours later, that Moon waxed full at 3 degrees of Capricorn, very close to the prominent Aries Point. Avid readers of this forecast will recall that the Aries Point corresponds to the solstice and equinox points: 0 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. Perhaps that’s why everyone and their dog was talking about this Full Moon being a Super Moon, as if it was a completely new and rare phenomenon, which it is not. They happen every year and more than once. Astrologer Richard Nolle coined the term”SuperMoon” in 1979 — here’s his explanation of what can be expected when the Moon is closerthanthis to Earth. Still, it is pretty darn awesome that an awareness of Something Planetary is being reflected so strongly by the general public. It bodes well for astrologers…. : )
You can charge ahead with a few caveats today, using the proactive energy of the Capricorn Moon to fuel your ambition. Be aware, however, that communications are subject to more than the usual snafus, given that Mercury is about to turn retrograde on Wednesday. Back to today: as evening approaches, the potential for a clash between an idealistic wish for emotional comfort and security may be smacked down by impersonal authority — or someone insisting on following the company policy or party line, as mental Mercury opposes the Moon at 4:20PM ET. We’ll get a break in the action as the Moon goes void at 10:24PM ET, not to enter the next sign, Aquarius, until 3:26AM ET. Take the evening off!
Now, about that Super Moon. The Full Moon was exact at Sunday 7:32AM ET at 3 degrees of Capricorn. We would have expected an easy flow of communication for transcendent/spiritual/healing purposes, especially with persons and/or institutions of authority. We would have expected a stunning upset and/or power play referring to an enterprising ambition, as the Moon was challenged by ruthless Pluto and rebel Uranus in the evening hours, ET time. I’d argue that one reflection of these patterns was daredevil Nik Wallenda’s successful tightrope walk across the (sort of) Grand Canyon, notable for Wallenda’s constant state of audible prayer. Talk about an easy flow of communication with a higher authority!
We would have expected illumination and/or release on your New Moon agenda (can you remember what that was on June 8th), which was reflected in the Sabian Symbol for 19 degrees of Gemini: “a large archaic volume reveals a traditional wisdom”. In other words, volumes and volumes of data collected and stored, reflecting the consciousness and value systems of the people collecting it. And that is one big question with a Book of Secrets or Akashic Records or any such text: who is deemed wise and/or responsible enough to be privy to the knowledge contained therein. Everyone? High priests and priestesses? Governments and corporations? Knowledge is a powerful thing, with compelling and sometimes terrible and perhaps even unjust consequences, as anyone who has read the Book of Genesis can tell you.
Given the above Sabian Symbol, one poster child for this lunar cycle has to be Edward Snowden, the former Booz Allen systems analyst who journeyed to Hong Kong, where he met with reporters from the UK paper The Guardian and informed the entire Free World what sort of data private contractors like Booz Allen have been collecting, paid for by US taxpayer dollars. It is fascinating that the Full Moon coincided with another bold move in this saga, and so are its Sabian Symbols. For the Sun at 3 degrees of Cancer: “a man bundled up in fur, leading a shaggy deer”. For the Moon at 3 degrees of Capricorn: (for the Sun at 3 Cancer) and “the human soul receptive to growth and understanding” (3 Capricorn).
I wish I could quote all four paragraphs Sabian Symbol guru Blain Bovee has penned about these intriguing symbols; as always, I recommend you get his book. But briefly, for the man bundled up in fur (3 Cancer), Bovee suggests “an image of rugged individuality in a cold environment”; the “human soul” image of 3 Capricorn is self-explanatory. One of these symbols is closed/defensive; the other is open and receptive, and therein lies the polarity/opposition suggested by any Full Moon. In your own personal world, Bovee suggests these symbols may manifest as an awareness of “creative potentials that cook within” or as a sense of personal identity that is at once between the perils of experience (life’s harsh realities) and the soul (who you are in spite of said external realities). Bottom line: in light of these challenging — perhaps even perilous — times, we are being presented with an opportunity for a greater understanding and appreciation of what really and truly ties us all together.
Astro-logical Forecast for Friday 6/21/2013: Summer Solstice
/in The ForecastAt 1:04AM ET this morning, the Sun was at zero degrees of Cancer, marking the official start of summer a.k.a. the Summer Solstice, in the Northern Hemisphere. Regular readers of this forecast will recall that solstices and equinoxes occur at zero degrees of the Cardinal Signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn), also known as the Aries Point. What does that mean, you ask.
Planets that are at the Aries Point tend to push for prominence. In the course of a year, the beginning of a new season attracts our attention because it is the turning point — the beginning of a new phase of development. Things that come into being — including people — when the Sun is at the Aries Point often have a knack for becoming famous in whatever pond they swim in. In fact, any planet or angle at the Aries Point needs to be known! Off the top of my head, Meryl Streep, William Shatner, Elizabeth Warren and Edward Snowden were all born with the Sun close to the Aries Point.
Also this morning — at 4:31 AM ET — the Moon breathed an enormous sigh of relief when it ditched moody bastard Scorpio for high-flying Sagittarius. This should lift our spirits considerably, even if it means wandering in a rose-colored haze. Others may simply find the day bewildering, as the Sag Moon, which needs to tell the entire Free World what it thinks, is squared by nebulous Neptune around 1PM ET. Can you really believe the stuff you hear today? Good question.
Enjoy the evening — take a gambol or a gamble; expand your horizons; get out into Nature; have a spirited debate or catch a foreign film. More on the planets for the rest of the weekend tomorrow.
In the news, I am fascinated to see how this week’s Sun-Jupiter conjunction in Gemini, suggesting ever so much buoyant, airy optimism impacted the horoscope of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Mr. Bernanke has the Sun in Sagittarius, Moon at the end of Pisces (exact degree unknown, as we do not have a birth time) and a rather disturbing exact conjunction between aggressive Mars and nebulous Neptune which conveys plenty of razzle-dazzle, magical thinking and an aura of glamour/secrecy. I say this conjunction is disturbing because his work involves banking — where aspects suggesting realism would be far more reassuring. OK, so he has a hardcore Saturn in Scorpio, apparently running wild in its ambition to control through the use of knowledge. Is that enough? Oh, to have an official brith time for Mr. Bernanke…
In contrast, Bill Clinton has a Mars-Neptune conjunction in Libra — right on the Libra Ascendant, in fact so, he also projects a ton of pixie dust (and possible lies), but he also has materially-oriented Taurus Moon and a sobering Mercury-Saturn-Pluto conjunction, which are most decidedly hard core and real.
Anyway, Mr. Bernanke is currently freaking out everyone by appearing to be very optimistic about the state of the economy, and with enthusiastic Jupiter opposing his Sag Sun and squaring his Pisces Moon, we would expect him to project an aura of confidence. But we must also be aware of the potential for overconfidence. With the Moon in Scorpio over the past two days, where the need was for depth and substance, not airy-fairy confections and projections, traders dumped shares, and yesterday was the worst day of the year for the Dow (only down 352 points — but still…). Isn’t that interesting? Given that Jupiter is about to conjoin Venus, Jupiter and the Sun in the the US horoscope, traders may well feel more emotionally secure soon –at least in the very near term. We shall see…
Astro-logical Forecast for Thursday 6/20/2013
/in The ForecastMore of the same from yesterday, frankly — so the forecast those of you received today for yesterday is still valid. Moon continues to dig deeply in nitty-gritty Scorpio, in a swirling buzz of idealistic information. This Moon goes void at 3:16pm ET until 4:31am ET tomorrow, and if you can take time to catch your breath in this natural rest period, you will be well-served. Chill, baby, chill.
In other news, we are in the shadow period of mental Mercury’s’ next retrograde, suggesting three weeks of normally reliable electronic and computer communication devices to go on the fritz. It is a terrible time for the good folks at Mailchimp, the service that delivers my forecast to email subscribers, to launch a series of “improvements” that for the moment, do not allow the product to function as originally designed. Hopefully you will get this forecast on Thursday, June 20th — and not on Friday, June 21st — and I appreciate your patience while my webmaster works with Mailchimp to sort things out — I’m frustrated by the snafus, too.
Astro-logical Forecast for Wednesday 6/19/2013: Heavy Light
/in The ForecastMoon entered moody bastard Scorpio at 2:39AM ET, possibly plunging us into an emotional depth that may confront an ambition, limitation, authority figure or other structuring wet blanket as Moon conjoins stern Saturn at 11:20AM.If not an emotional depth, then depth and substance of some kind is likely on today’s planetary agenda, as well as information for the sake of power and control, which is what that Moon in Scorpio needs. And let’s not forget the idealism that is likely driving today’s quest for power obtained through information, as suggested by the Mercury-Venus hook-up (exact tomorrow) that I mentioned earlier this week.
Softening the serious focus this morning is a bit of dreamy fog or clarifying intuition suggested by nebulous Neptune making a helpful connection to the Moon just before noon ET. But the hallmark of the day is the annual conjunction of the Sun and expansive, expensive Jupiter — which this year happens in Gemini. And in stark contrast to the Scorpio Moon, Jupiter and Sun in Gemini are not particularly concerned about depth or substance, but they would probably be delighted to talk about a huge dossier of telephone logs and how cool it is that we have the technology to obtain all this information, which was definitely talked about by an NSA chief testifying before Congress yesterday. But Gemini can be rather indiscriminate when it comes to facts and figures. Not so, Scorpio. Whom can we trust to be a responsible steward of so much information, ponders this op-ed noted yesterday. Shouldn’t we be more discriminating? So there’s a bit of fodder for conversation today.
Astro-logical Forecast for Tuesday 6/18/2013: Shiny, Happy* Information Overload
/in The ForecastAn indulgent challenge to the rational, peace-seeking Libra Moon at 7:05AM ET from Venus in emotionally sensitive, security-seeking is my excuse for wanting to linger a little longer in Dreamland, thus delaying the forecast. What appreciation of beauty caught your eye? Heady idealism — noted yesterday — may spark a conflict between what is rational and what is pure sentiment around 10:34AM ET, when mental Mercury also challenges the Libra Moon. There’s clear sailing for the rest of the day, which ends with exceptionally balanced and enthusiastic connections to jolly Jupiter and the Sun, which are about to exactly conjoin at the very end of Gemini.
The end of Gemini is very close to 0 degrees of Cancer, which avid readers of this forecast will recognize as the Aries Point. This is a point that demands prominence. With expansive Jupiter and the Sun blowing up like a giant helium balloon (or blimp) in the airy, information-junkie sign of Gemini, we have the potential for runaway optimism, suggested by one of my favorite songs — or information overload. And the idealistic spin that is likely to be trying to make us feel emotionally secure suggests some of that information may not be in line with reality.
One person who is personally affected by the Sun-Jupiter conjunction is Edward Snowden, whose Sun and Mars are in late Gemini, opposed by nebulous Neptune in late Sagittarius. And there he was yesterday, giving another prominent, candid interview — live — in an online forum presented by the Guardian. One of the things I find fascinating about the horoscopes of Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning: they all have Moon in Scorpio, suggesting a reigning need to be of depth and substance, even as they are concerned with knowledge for the sake of power and control. I have to write more about what’s going on in all of their horoscopes; the astrology is fascinating — but I can’t do it right now, darn it.
What I can do is share a few technogeeky headlines I noted that reflected yesterday’s Mars-Uranus sextile. Amelia Earhart’s plane may finally be discovered…and look– there’s “firebrand” technogeek (how Uranus in Aries) Bill Nye making headlines on the NYT homepage. Coincidence or conspiracy?
*Another fun song reference — enjoy!