In a news article “Laural and Hardy are in the White House and it’s another fine mess for us all” published by The Wall Street Journal,[i] Daniel Henniger claims that the world has lost its nominal leader, the US president, because of his back down on a military strike against Syria for its use chemical weapons against its own citizens. In place of a military strike, the US has aligned itself with the Russian proposal to remove chemical weapons from Syria. According to Henninger, this display of weakness by the US will promote Iran’s nuclear ambitions and regional power and China’s aggression on disputed islands as examples of America’s diminishing influence. To Henninger, it is “unthinkable” that the Syrian resolution could become the new norm.
The US is supposed to behave like John Wane with his six-shooters blazing shooting himself to victory over those damn Indians, outlaws and misfits roaming the Wild West. There is some justification to this approach as nearly every empire since around 3000 BC has had to fight its way to the top, maintain its grip through strengthening its military, then collapsing when it is vanquished by a new superior military power. We have had 5,000 years of the Law of the Jungle. This is not accidental as the Aries age began around five thousand years ago in 2900 BC – with the Aries age and overflow covering the period 2900 BC – 1433 AD. However the influence of the Aries age does not disappear in 1433 AD, it maintains a continuing momentum. Aries remains very strong in the world.
This Aries’ war mongering momentum is under threat in the 21st century due to the Libra age-decan and overflow (1433-2148-2863) of the Aquarian age. The most powerful time for Libra is its overflow period (2148-2863) – but the world is in a serious lead-in period due to the Libra sub-age (1970-2148). Libra, the archetypal sign for peace, is definitely one of the key emergent signs in the world today but anyone who thinks that in 2013 you can lay down your arms and give flowers to your enemies is living in a dream world.[ii]
Firstly, it will probably take most of the current Third Millennium to replace the desire for war with a desire for peace. Secondly, different parts of the world are at different stages of political-social evolution. For the majority of the world, the gun rules either absolutely or thinly disguised behind the scene. Look at Europe. Since the arrival of the Aquarian age in the 15th century, Europe has behaved like invaders from outer space as they conquered the world, and exploited and enslaved most of its inhabitants one way or another. It’s only been in the last 60 years or so that Europe has stopped regularly killing other Europeans on a massive scale despite the fact they were the most educated and affluent region in the world for the great majority of this time.
Culture is always conservative,[iii] and the culture of violence has a long history and therefore a strong momentum. But violence is no longer the emergent archetypal energy. It is the archetype of the past, which like a bad smell, continues to hang around. While we cannot expect overnight that the world will turn peaceful, we can expect that peace and the desire for peace will slowly and steadily develop. Is the lack of a military response against Syria a sign of weakness by the USA, or an incremental shift towards peace?
To the hawks, any sign of peace is a sign of weakness. But all war mongers have the perspective of the past as their foundational philosophy despite the fact there are many justifications for the use of force against Syria. If we are heading towards a peaceful world, one way of leading the world is to demonstrate that peaceful outcomes of disputes should be favoured over violent outcomes. So is it possible that Obama is demonstrating the leadership of peace?
If we drill down into the Aquarian age, not only is the world in the Libra sub-age (1970-2148), but also within this sub-age, is in the Cancer micro-age (2000-15). Furthermore, 2013 is at the business end of the Cancer micro-age (specifically the Cancer micro-age decan 2010-15). Cancer is the sign of diplomacy and sensitivity, and is opposite the sign of Capricorn – the conservative leader. Certainly Obama has chosen diplomacy over force suggesting that he is more in tune with the evolving reality in the world than the war mongering hawks. Secondly, a Cancer period is anti-leadership. This is one of the reasons a civil war is occurring in Syria as many of its population rejected Assad as their leader (similar to a number of other dictatorial Islamic countries in recent years). If Obama, or any other leader, takes an authoritarian position in the world, they will also be rejected – one way or another.
Another archetypal affinity of Cancer is introversion. The news media has been informing us that Obama was having trouble garnering support from the US Congress and other countries for his proposed attack upon Syria. Evidently the citizens of the USA are war-weary and want to stay home[iv] rather than attack another distant foreign country and culture (see When Will the USA Retreat from the World? ). The big problem for America is that Capricorn is very strong in its astrological signature, and so America does not historically fare well in a Cancer period. America also has a tendency to turn on itself under Cancer, and the American Civil War (1861-65) occurred in the previous Cancer micro-age overflow (1851-1866) exactly in line with the Gemini micro-age decan (1861-66). We should not expect another civil war in the USA as the American Civil War coincided with the peak of a massive Cancer sub-age decan and overflow (1791-1851-1910). Nevertheless, I do expect much greater internal tension in the USA in the coming Gemini micro-age decan (2024-2029). What may be the source of such internal dissension? On a purely speculative basis, significant sections of the gun lobby may raise up in arms to protect their version of democracy from the wider version of democracy (i.e. voting at a ballot box).
From the astrological viewpoint, it will be more interesting to note what will occur to Rupert Murdoch who is playing the part of Capricorn. Anyone associated with Capricorn is either in aggression mode and/or under attack. This certainly seems to apply to Murdoch as in July 2011 Murdoch faced allegations that his extensive media companies had been regularly hacking the phones of celebrities, royalty and public citizens. He faced police and government investigations into bribery and corruption by various governments. Considering that we are still in the lead-up period to the peak of Cancer that will not occur until 2015, we can expect more fireworks from and against Murdoch. Capricorn is in the detrimental position in a Cancer period, so the gods may turn against Murdoch even more than they have in recent years.
[i] It should come as no surprise that The Wall Street Journal is ultimately owned by News Corp managed by Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch is an arch-conservative businessman that abuses his widespread media interests to further his war mongering and ultra-conservative agenda. His media outlets such as Fox news undertake a modern fascist agenda and are therefore an excellent study on how extremist capitalists can have inordinate political influence in our so-called modern democratic world.
[ii] In fact currently the whole world is as immersed in a Dream World as can possibly be due to the Pisces age overflow (1433-3574) with an extra Pisces intensity applied to the 20th century when a major Pisces hotspot occurred – the likes of which we are unlikely to experience for almost another 26,000 years.
[iii] Culture is ruled by Taurus and the associated 2nd house
[iv] Homes are ruled by Cancer
Demystifying the Aquarian Age 