March 22nd 2001. 09 20 AM HASLEMERE
(Click to see enlarged chart!)
Welcome to the COSMIC UPDATE
This part of my web-site gives you an in-look at the current astrological events. I have tried to make it as readable and useful to astrologers and non-astrologers alike but this may not always be achievable. If you do come across some terms that you do not understand, you should be able to find a definition in the SCIENCE BIT. And, of course, you can always e-mail me directly with your queries and comments.
Before I take a look at recent events through an astrological lens I wonder if any of you saw the article by Colin Wilson in March 22nd's Daily Mail? The banner headline said; WHY I NOW BELIEVE ASTROLOGY IS A SCIENCE.
Colin Wilson, author of several books on the occult, including one titled 'The Occult', was discussing the recent gift of £500,000 by an anonymous female donor to fund a university degree course in astrology.
It is absolutely marvellous that someone is prepared to donate such a sum to the study of serious astrology but I wonder which university will accept the challenge?
Several academics have embarked on research projects to validate astrology but few have even dented the wall of ridicule and opposition put in place by the scientific fraternity. The late Michel Gauquelin spent twenty years examining the charts of notable athletes, scientists, politicians and artists, producing unassailable statistical evidence of correlations between certain planets and their precise points in the horoscopic circle. Yet even though these results were replicated in studies across the globe, they failed to impress any scientist.
Indeed, in the mid-Eighties an article in The Skeptical Enquirer debunking Gauquelin's findings was later found to be seriously inaccurate. In fact the results attained in this study and written up on the Enquirer were falsified because they replicated Gauquelin's findings. After a considerable furore two of the scientists resigned.
Finding a mechanism for how astrology works is crucial to its acceptance as a valid study. And another academic, Dr. Percy Seymour, lecturer on astronomy at Plymouth University, has put forward an intriguing theory. (His book The Scientific Basis of Astrology, St Martin's Press, should be required reading for anyone interested in astrology.) Broadly speaking, Dr Seymour has taken as his base Pythagorus's theory of the harmony of the spheres and put forward a proposition that the planets emit resonances which are registered on the Earth's magnetic field. In turn these resonances are 'received' by and responded to by every living thing on earth. Dr Seymour goes on to theorize that at the moment of conception the planetary resonances are 'captured' so that the embryo is not only growing in accordance with its essential harmony but is born at precisely the right moment to reflect its intrinsic planetary nature.
Food for thought eh?
THE END OF MIR
On Friday 23rd March, Russia's space station, Mir, thundered over Fiji and landed in the South Pacific, some 1800 miles south west of Britain's Pitcairn Islands.
Given that Mir in Russian means 'Peace' there seems to be a neat little piece of synchronicity here in, that Mir fell to Earth at a time when relations between Russia and the West plummeted to an all time low provoking fears of a new Cold War.
THE EXPULSION OF RUSSIAN AND US DIPLOMATS
On Wednesday 21st, the United States expelled more than fifty Russian diplomats, clearly a result of information given by FBI Special Agent and recently exposed Russian spy, Robert Hanssen.
Somewhat predictably two days later on Friday 24th Russia expelled fifty US Embassy officials due to 'activities incompatible with their diplomatic status'. Ergo for espionage.
President Bush has made it clear that this is his decision, stating to journalists, " It was the right thing to do."
I think we can see evidence of Bush's rising Mercury-Pluto conjunction here - a tough and uncompromising stance. (See COSMIC UPDATE, January 15)
March with its powerful configurations involving Pluto was destined to be a month of stomach churning events. Pluto's mythological associations with the Underworld have revealed themselves full force in political scandals, the escalation of hostilities in the war zones of Macedonia and the Middle East, foot and mouth disease, the expulsion of Russian and US diplomats and last but not least the flailing money markets.
GLOBAL RECESSION?
On the 23rd March banner headlines in the British tabloids screamed: CRASH! (Daily Express) and BLACKEST DAY FOR A DECADE (Daily Mail).
On the 22nd March share prices in London and New York recorded their biggest falls in a decade, provoking fears of a global recession.
In the autumn of 2000 I was registering concern over the effect of the Jupiter-Pluto opposition (holding sway from the late August of that year to late May of 2001.) I theorized that the boom-bust nature of Jupiter and Pluto would produce a highly volatile economic pattern. And this has certainly proved to be the case so far.
However, I had expected (and still expect) the US market to recover and we shall have an opportunity to see if this prediction bears out (sorry, no pun intended!) between now and late July.
By August Saturn will be replacing Jupiter in Pluto's sights, thus producing a Saturn-Pluto opposition. Instead of Jupiter's exuberance we will have Saturn's constraint, which on the plus side could steady the wobbly world economies but on the down side this combination could generate a depressive atmosphere, if not a global recession. And I would hazard a guess that this Saturn-Pluto opposition will preside over a long-ish bear market.
The last Saturn-Pluto opposition took place in 1966. I need to do my homework to establish the state of the world economies then, but this year would almost certainly have contained more than its share of global problems and down-turns.
As it was 1965/1966, like 2000/2001 was the Chinese Year of the Snake and Jupiter was also in Gemini. (See COSMIC UPDATE January 22nd). Both of which are coincident with economic slides.
THE JUPITER-PLUTO OPPOSITION
I have examined the effects of this aspect in TALKING COSMIC and made frequent references to it in my updates since January 9th. But at the risk of repeating myself, the combination of these two powerful influences has played a key part in many of the inflationary and explosive situations that have arisen since September of 2000.
On the 25th March in a BBC2 morning news programme my attention was sparked by one of the journalists who made a comment about the oil crisis (in Britain) in the autumn and the outbreak of foot and mouth disease also in Britain. He made the point that these two events 'blew up out of nowhere' and became out of control very quickly. 'Politicians do not like events they cannot control'.
The handling of these two events by Tony Blair and his ministers have generated intense criticism of the government. Mr Blair has been seen to be slow to react and ineffective when he does. Both the autumn oil crisis and the current foot and mouth outbreak have been a case of the Government doing too little too late.
WILL THERE BE A GENERAL ELECTION IN BRITAIN?
And in the midst of all this chaos and gloom, Tony Blair must make up his mind whether to call a general election in May.
Due to a remark he made, overheard by a news and camera team on the 23rd March, Tony Blair confided to a political friend that he had ten days to make the decision.
So what does an astrologer do? Ask a question, note the time of asking and set up a horary chart.
THE ASTROLOGICAL PICTURE
Now, I must tell you that I am not an expert on horary astrology so I cannot go into the fine detail but I can make a fair judgement. And to my mind the answer to the question: Will Tony Blair call and election before May 7th? - is…
Yes.
Here are the reasons:
With Gemini rising and Mercury the ruler of the chart in the 10th house of government, this is an 'on' chart. (The horoscope fits the question - the first rule of horary astrology.)
Does Mercury (the ruler) make an applying aspect to any other planet before it leaves the sign of Pisces? Yes, it does. Mercury is applying to Mars and Pluto - a hard 'square' aspect, which augers difficulty and certainly some severe opposition by the people.
The moon is a key factor in horary astrology and since the moon is also in Pisces, conjunct Mercury and applying to it, we have even more evidence of a 'yes' answer.
THE WEEK AHEAD
March 27th: Sun sextile Jupiter.
A happy coupling here but it will have to work hard to combat the effects of the final Pluto angle of the month.
March 28th: Mercury square Pluto.
Yet another chance for Pluto to show us what he can generate in the way of upheaval, conflict and scandal. Expect more outbreaks of foot and mouth in Europe and an escalation of the fighting in Macedonia. And yet more volatility in the money markets.
March 30th: Sun conjunct Venus
This is a glorious, happy and romantic aspect. But will it be enough to turn the markets around, reveal a light at the end of the foot and mouth tunnel? I think not. But there could be some positive news elsewhere in the world, perhaps a celebrity wedding announced.
31st March: Mercury square Mars.
A confrontational, argumentative and abrasive atmosphere surrounds events. Good for sport but not so good for peace negotiations.