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Gary Brand Astrology
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2008 PLANETARY INFLUENCES |
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by Gary Brand - written December 10, 2007, published in the January 2008 edition of Echo* newspaper |
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| This article is a look ahead at the year 2008. Mars is retrograde through January 30 so look for the red planet in the eastern sky after sunset. It will be at its brightest December 2007 – January 2008. Mars retrograde is not the best time to begin new projects unless they can be completed by the end of January. It’s better to make “New Year” resolutions on your birthday. Jupiter spends all of 2008 in Capricorn, the sign of its fall, where it is very weak and debilitated. This means that the usual benefits it brings are weakened. It will be peregrine (without any essential dignities whatsoever) and even weaker and less effective in producing benefits and opportunities most of the year: from February 27 – July 30 and from September 29 – the end of 2008. Unfortunately, Jupiter in this sign means more focus on the letter of the law than on the principles underlying the law (especially by those in power). Jupiter trine Saturn from January 1 – February 8 and again from August 10 – December 22 should benefit business some (because Capricorn is Saturn’s sign and both planets are in earth signs). This probably means that the U.S. economy will not descend into a full-scale recession during 2008. Thankfully, Bush will be powerless to wreak more havoc on the economy after 2008! For individuals, this Jupiter-Saturn trine can indicate progress toward career or lifetime goals and practical improvements. It is a favorable time to seek professional advancement, expansion, and education. | |
Saturn
opposes Uranus from late September 2008
through much of 2009. This opposition occurs, on average,
every 45 years (in the tropical zodiac) and lasts on and off for
more than a year. The last time was 1964-1966, tumultuous years
in our history when civil rights workers were slain, civil rights
demonstrations were organized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the
south, Malcolm X was assassinated in New York, and riots broke out
in Watts. The previous opposition was 1918-1919 during the
Russian civil war so we can expect the 2008-2009 opposition to bring
civil unrest or outright civil war in some countries because Saturn
represents the status quo, order, fear of change and resistance to it
by those in power, and cracking down on dissidents (like what is
happening currently in Pakistan, Russia and the Philippines), whereas
Uranus represents the need for change, individual rights and freedom,
revolutionaries, and dissention. Also during 1918-1919, the flu
killed 20 million people worldwide – primarily young, healthy
individuals because their immune systems over-reacted. The flu
pandemic was very bad for business and the economy because people who
lived in cities stopped shopping and stayed home. World War I
raged in Europe and then ended during those years, which helped
offset the economic devastation caused by the flu because it kept
people employed building war materiel. However, the army’s
practice of housing soldiers in close quarters (often in tents) on
over-crowded bases and aboard transport ships prior to deployment
overseas rapidly spread the flu, first among military personnel and
then to the civilian population. Let’s hope that history does
not repeat itself in this way!
The Saturn-Uranus opposition is exact (at its maximum strength) on November 4, election day! In addition, Saturn will square Uranus in the U.S. birth chart (July 4, 1776) from January 1 – March 10 and from June 24 – September 19. Both of these Saturn-Uranus transits mean a tug-of-war between the conservative forces representing the status quo (Saturn) and the forces of change and progress (Uranus). Although there was no presidential election during the 1918-1919 Saturn-Uranus opposition, the 1916 election preceding it was very close, with Woodrow Wilson winning by a plurality of the popular vote and by the electoral votes of only one state in the Electoral College. The last time the (leading) Jupiter-Saturn trine occurred during an election year, Harry Truman won by a plurality of popular votes in a crowded field (5 candidates). Jupiter is also sextile Uranus from February 11 – July 8 and from October 14 – December 8 so this aspect will also be in effect at the time of the election. All four of these transits suggest that the election will usher in positive changes (the election of the Democratic candidate) but that it will be close – the winner possibly drawing only a plurality of the popular vote – and the choice of major party (and possibly third party) candidates will further polarize the nation. The Saturn-Uranus opposition could also mean problems with voter access to the polls and electronic vote counts. On the other hand, the Jupiter-Uranus sextile represents the potential for positive, progressive changes, especially in technology and hopefully social reforms. Pluto makes its first ingress (entry) into Capricorn January 25, retrogrades back into Sagittarius June 13, and makes its final ingress November 26 to remain in Capricorn until 2023. The last time Pluto traversed this sign was 1762-1778 (N.F.M., p. 64 (1995)), when resentment of high taxes and restriction of colonial trade (including British searches for illegal shipments) was building and culminated in the American Revolution. As Pluto makes the transition to Capricorn, it begins to oppose U.S. Venus (the nation’s money, finances, wealth, and banking) for the first time since the revolution when colonial economics, banking and trade changed dramatically. Over the coming years as Pluto opposes U.S. Jupiter (the nation’s wealth and banking and foreign interests), more U.S. real estate, banking and other corporations previously owned by U.S. interests will be bought by or come under the financial control of foreign interests. But the selling of our economic wealth and resources to foreign powers will be a much stronger force of change in the years after 2008. Mercury retrogrades the usual three times during 2008 and these periods last an average of 22 days but the effective period, the time during which we see the effects manifest, lasts two months because it includes the times when Mercury appears to move slower than its normal speed before and after the retrograde. The Mercury retrograde periods this year are January 28 – February 18 (effective period January 18 – March 15), May 26 – June 19 (effective period May 9 – July 8), and September 24 – October 15 (effective period August 29 – October 28). See the article about Mercury retrograde for what this means in our lives. The great astrologer Johannes Kepler pointed out that Mercury retrograde is the most potent of all retrogrades because this planet has the most speed to lose (J.K., p. 13 (1601/1942))._____________________________________
Reference Citations.
*Echo is a monthly newspaper about community, the environment, health, cuisine, and spirituality that is distributed in central Virginia. |
Good Timing and Location are Keys to Success Gary Brand, Astrologer P.O. Box 3673, Tallahassee, Florida 32315 850-656-5758 © copyright 2007-2011 Gary Brand. All Rights Reserved. |
Hubble Space Telescope's images of Uranus, its rings and 8 of its
moons, which revolve around Uranus in less than a day. They
were taken 90 minutes apart on July 28, 1997. The photo on
the right labels each of the moons and arrows indicate how much they
have moved since the first photo on the left was shot. Each
image is a composite of three near-infrared images in what is called
false-color because the human eye cannot see infrared light so
visible light colors were substituted. The poles of Uranus are
almost in the plane of its orbit, hence its orientation (yes, it's
an odd ball). Courtesy of NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.