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Astrology:Starlight Musings:
Years of Transition
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by Nancy Sommers |
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The past few years in American history have been the saga of a nation that seems to be careening out of control. Not only are we hopelessly muddled in perilous, expensive, and confusing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but our deficits are skyrocketing, our shrill bullying on the world stage has only increased the power of our enemies, we have over a hundred thousand mercenary soldiers operating unrestricted on foreign soil outside the purview of any law, and the executive branch of our government seems drunk with the heady fumes of the unitary executive, having misplaced its copy of the Bill of Rights long ago.
In addition, the global corporations have grown exponentially more powerful, with tentacles reaching into the pockets of cash-starved politicians and, consequently, a firm grip over much governmental policy. Although the newly Democratic Congress is attempting to rein in some of these excesses, their task is akin to moving a mountain with a shovel. A Herculean amount of political courage, vision, and a decade or more of tenacity would be necessary to turn this increasingly corrupt situation around.
When an individual is on the path to increasingly acute dysfunction, it often takes a personal crisis to wake the person up and mobilize his or her will enough to initiate change. The alcoholic may end up in jail or without a job or a spouse before he is willing to face his alcoholism. The anorexic may end up in the hospital before she is willing to address the negative consequences of her eating disorder. And, likewise, a nation, if it is unable to get itself back onto a healthy, balanced track, may face a period of crisis before the political will and clarity exist to make the necessary course correction.
In today’s America, it is becoming increasingly apparent to many observers that the extraordinary lack of balance and dysfunction generated by the Bush administration in both foreign policy and economic affairs are likely to lead to a series of painful corrective crises in the coming years. Some understanding as to the timing and shape of this evolving future may be seen through the lens of astrology, though the magnitude of the difficulties will depend on how successful our legislators and future administrations are in reining in the worst of the current corruption.
Since November 2005, the US progressed Sun has been in the sign of Pisces where it will remain for thirty years. Pisces is the last sign in the zodiac and, consequently, indicates the end of a cycle, in this case one which began with the birth of the nation. Around 2035, the US progressed Sun will move into the sign of Aries, and, with it, the nation will enter an entirely new phase, much energized and ready to move forward with strength and clarity.
Until then, however, a feeling of confusion and some sense of loss about national identity and goals will pervade. The previous coherence and structure will have begun to disintegrate, but the coming reality will not yet be clear. Nonetheless, the Pisces period will be an important time of germination: many seeds will be planted in the dark soil of the collective womb that will bear fruit in future years.
Another planetary configuration that helps to illuminate events in recent and coming years is the slowing, stationary, and then retrograde movement of progressed US Mars. The slowdown of Mars was increasingly apparent during the early years of the Bush presidency. In the past few years, Mars entered a “stationary” period where there was scarcely any movement at all. As of July 2006, progressed US Mars began to shift gears and begin its retrograde or apparently backward motion. During all of 2007, Mars will move a mere 41 seconds retrograde, with this speed increasing yearly until it begins to slow again in the later 21st Century and shift back to direct motion by 2087.
Mars in a nation’s chart represents the active, aggressive pursuit of the nation’s desires or goals, as well as the determined repelling of dangers to the nation’s security. It is most obviously associated with the role of the military. When a planet is stationary, its energy is at once intensified and static: unable to move forward to complete its task, but consumingly engaged.
It is no wonder that the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been very intense but stagnant for the past few years, and, only now, are the whispers of pulling out of Iraq by a deadline beginning to take hold. With progressed Mars stationary, the US has been deeply mired in war, but unable to make significant progress, especially in the past two years. Moreover, as Mars increases its retrograde, or apparently backward, motion in the coming years, the imposition of US power on the world is likely to diminish.
Retrograde Mars signifies efforts and goals becoming more inwardly directed, while outward initiative tends to become more circumspect and cautious. One can hope that in the US chart this might indicate that the unrestrained and pervasive “War on Terror” might give way to a more inwardly directed war on the use of fossil fuels, which itself would ultimately lessen the need to patrol the resource-rich areas of the world and consequently decrease much of the animosity directed toward the US.
In any event, this prolonged period of retrograde Mars during most of the 21st Century is certainly likely to see a significant decline in the hyper-militarization that has taken hold of American foreign policy and identity in recent years and move the nation toward a more discreet and judicious posture.
During the six-plus years that George Bush has held the White House, and the twenty months remaining, there has been and will continue to be a tremendous amount of planetary activity stimulating the US Mars, as demonstrated by the seemingly endless wars with which he has entangled the nation. Uranus was trine US Mars in 2001; Saturn was conjunct US Mars in 2002; Pluto opposed US Mars in 2004 and 2005; progressed US Midheaven was quincunx progressed US Mars in 2004 and early 2005; Uranus is currently quincunx US progressed Mars in 2007; Uranus will square US Mars in 2008 through February 2009; and Saturn will station on US Mars at the end of 2008 and early 2009. The 2008-9 aspects to Mars, in particular, are cause for concern.
The Uranus transit square US Mars will run from April 2008 through February 2009. It is likely to bring a significant stimulation of US military activity and, along with it, many surprises, upsets, and sudden changes in direction. With the Gulf War chart under a powerful Pluto transit through 2008, it is probable that this Uranus transit square to US Mars will bring an increasingly vicious battle for control of Iraq, although other areas of extreme conflict are likely as well.
Some triumphalism is indicated during this period, most especially in May, August, and September 2008, when significant victories may be celebrated, as indicated by very strong Jupiter transits during those times. But this feeling of exultation is likely to prove short-lived and illusory. When Saturn makes a station square US Mars in late November and December 2008 and January and early February 2009, the US military may find itself under tremendous pressure, severely depleted, and unable to master a growing crisis. The devastating cost of the protracted overextension and abuse of the military under George Bush will become fully apparent.
This crisis at the end of George Bush’s term, an appropriately troubled finale for a very dysfunctional and damaging eight years, will move the nation into a long period of necessary, though at times painful, transition. From 2009 through 2022, Pluto will be in a potent aspect to the US MC, Venus, Jupiter, Sun, Mercury, and Pluto, consecutively. This is likely to bring a series of powerful transformations that cause major shifts in the American reality.
The square of Pluto to the US MC in 2009 may bring with it the possibility of some significant, though belated, accountability for the current administration, as well as a focus on the meaning and limits of the executive branch. At the end of this series of Pluto transits in 2022, after many years of dramatic power struggles and profound changes on the national scene, the first return of Pluto to its natal place in the US chart will offer the potential for a recalibration of the role and supremacy of hidden wealth, materialism, and corporate power in American life, and a means to move forward with a very different agenda. If these perilous seas can be navigated with courage and tenacity, a new road awaits.
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Nancy Sommers,
Astrologer
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Born and raised in Washington, DC, Nancy Sommers has been practicing astrology for 37 years. A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and New York University School of Social Work, Nancy is a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in Maryland, where she combines her skill in astrology with her training in psychotherapy, imagery, and regression therapy.
Increasingly known for her accurate predictions and her writing style, Nancy crafted her website, http://starlightnews.com
Starlight News, as a response to the dismal first days of the Bush administration.
Her intent was to offer her readers the unique insight and perspective of astrology when applied to the political realities of the day.
You can reach Nancy by email at:
website: http://starlightnews.com/
blog: http://starlightnews.com/
wordpress
email: nancy@starlightnews.com
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