Falling Terrorist Fatalities Linked to the End of Scorpio?

Some astrologers have a problem linking Scorpio to terrorists, but a simple examination of a scorpion with its stinging tail attacking whatever comes into its path seems a fitting archetypal description of a terrorist.  Furthermore, terrorist do not behave like exposed (Aries) armies, they hide like (Scorpio) spies.  However, theory is never the ruling paradigm in astrology – it is always evidence, either from statistical sources or traditional astrological methodology.  Whenever a Scorpio period appears, terrorist activity escalates.  This is why terrorism is ruled by Scorpio!

The following graph indicates the total fatalities from terrorism from 1970 to 2016.

The above graph displays a peak in 2014 (43,566 fatalities), with fatalities mildly dropping away in 2015 (38,464) and continuing this trend in 2016 (34,676).  The biggest peak in fatalities earlier than 2014 was in 2007 (12,858), and if we take the period 2007 to 2014, this coincidentally or otherwise, correlates with most of the Scorpio sub-age decan and overflow (Jan 2005 – Jan 2010 – Dec 2014). [See: Age of Aquarius for Dummies for details on the mechanics of the astrological ages]

The Scorpio sub-age decan and overflow, as with all ages and sub-periods of the ages, is not homogenous, and can be likened to the monthly lunation cycle.  As with the four phases of the Moon, each age and sub-period have four stages, but there are differences between these stages.  The first stage is always the weakest.  For example, the Age of Aquarius and its overflow (1433 – 3574 – 5697) has four stages, the first stage (1433 – 2506) is the weakest stage for Aquarius in the Age of Aquarius. This is the stage the world currently finds itself located within.

In striking contrast, this same timeframe is stage 3 of the Pisces age and overflow (732 BC – 1433 AD – 3574) and stage 3 is the strongest of all the stages.  Stage 3 (1433 to 2506) marks the 1073 years which is the most powerful period for Pisces in the 26,000 year cycle of the astrological ages. This is why, despite being in the rational Age of Aquarius, the world is more influenced by the Pisces age overflow (until 2506 AD) – and so Pisces ruled archetypes such as the USA, Europe, corporations, religious beliefs, drugs, oceans, chemical weapons and plastics appear to have a greater influence upon the world compared to Aquarian archetypes.

The four stages of the Scorpio sub-age decan and overflow:

1. Jan 2005 – Jul 2007
2. Jul 2007 – Jan 2010
3. Jan 2010 – Jul 2012
4. Jul 2012 – Dec 2014

Excluding the first and weakest of the above stages, this leaves the remaining three stronger stages affecting the period July 2007 to December 2014, which is closely aligned to the peak in terrorism fatalities as indicated in the above graph.

There are other astrological influences possibly influencing the above graph promoting 2014 such as the end of the Cancer micro-age (Feb 2000 – Dec 2014) or the beginning of the Gemini micro-age (Dec 2014 – Nov 2029).  Alternatively, the Cancer micro-age is exactly the same period as the Leo micro-age overflow, so it is also possible that the downturn in fatalities is linked to the substantially reduced influence of Leo after 2014?

Based on the evidence, it appears that all these three possible influences may contribute to the drop in terrorist fatalities, but probably only in minor ways.  The biggest growth in terrorist fatalities since the arrival of the Cancer micro-age in 2000 is in the Middle East, and the Middle East is ruled by Cancer, and so the above graph does seem to show the increasing fatalities in the Middle East since the arrival of the Cancer micro-age.  However, this increase is modest before 2007 to 2014.

The disappearance in December 2014 of Leo as an active player is hard to reconcile with terrorist fatalities as Leo is not normally associated with either terrorists or fatalities.  Leo however, does sit at the 10^th house position to Scorpio, so perhaps the departure of Leo is linked to the demotion of terrorists as perceived “leaders”?  If this is the case, it is probably a marginal reason for the decrease in terrorist fatalities.

Finally, what about the arrival of Gemini at the end of 2014?  Gemini does sit in the 12^th house position to Cancer, suggesting that the influence of the Middle East (associated with Cancer) has entered a 12^th house ending phase.  The arrival of ISIS in full regalia could even be considered a self-made problem for the Middle East as the arrival of the Gemini micro-age in December 2014 is remarkably synchronous with the beginning of the peak of ISIS – which by December 2015 held a large area in western Iraq and eastern Syria including the city of Mosul.  Its main target was Muslims who just had the misfortune of living in Iraq or Syria. This could be construed as a 12^th house self-made problem within Islam, though, without acknowledging the gross destabilization of the Middle East with the invasion of Iraq by the USA and its allies in 2003, and the absolute waste of trillions of dollars to undertake this useless folly, it’s hard to see how the self-made problem was limited to the Middle East.

I have not done any thorough research on Korea, but I have tentatively associated Gemini with Korea, as the split in Korea forming North and South Korea occurred in the opposite Sagittarius micro-age (1940 – 1955), and civil wars often occur when an active sign is opposite a key sign in a country’s astrological signature.  Just having Korea split into two is indicative of Gemini. The increasing focus on the Korean peninsula in recent times aligned with the arrival of the Gemini micro-age (Dec 2014 – Nov 2029) supports this Gemini association.

The USA can never be comfortable in any Cancer period as sitting just below Pisces and Aquarius on its totem pole, sits the sign Capricorn. Capricorn explains many of the arch-conservative social and political polices of the descendants of the self-made Puritans who arrived in America towards the end of the Capricorn sub-age (1433 – 1612) but mainly in the more powerful Capricorn sub-age overflow (1612 – 1791).  The Puritans are ruled by Capricorn.

Currently, the main adversaries of the USA include China and the Middle East with both ruled by Cancer. Cancer is also strong in the astrological signature of Russia.  The USA has taken umbrage at another Cancer country, New Zealand, for refusing entry of its warships as New Zealand declared itself a nuclear free zone and the USA will not declare which of its naval vessels have nuclear weapons. American right-wing politicians regularly denounce the strong and successful socialism of Scandinavian countries – with Scandinavia ruled by Cancer – the sign of the common people.

The American Civil War occurred in the most potent stage 3 (1851 – 1881) of the Cancer sub-age decan and overflow (1791 – 1851 – 1910) of the Scorpio sub-age (1791 – 1970).  This antipathy between Capricorn and Cancer explains why the USA was attacked and humiliated by the 9/11 attack very close to the beginning of the Cancer micro-age (2000 – 2014) as the Cancer 7^th house focusses upon the opponent, Islam and the Middle East.

Americans should beware of the astrological birthday of the American Civil War as it is just around the corner. The American Civil War (1861 -65) occurred towards the end of the last Gemini micro-age (1851 – 66) associated with either the Gemini micro-age decan or Libra micro-age decan overflow with both covering the period May 1861 to April 1866.

The same period next decade is November 2024 – November 2029, but while the micro-age and micro-age decans will be identical to the American Civil War, the Cancer influence is only from the 15 year Cancer micro-age overflow (2014 – 2029), and not the massive 59 year Cancer sub-age decan overflow (1851 – 1910) associated with the Civil War.  Therefore, while the astrology does not suggest a civil war for the USA next decade, it does indicate a major political stress zone similar to the lead up to the American Civil War.  It appears that the political atmosphere in the USA will remain and get even more tumultuous before it gets better!  Fortunately, the first coup or destabilization of the integrity of the United States government is not expected until around the middle of the next century at the cusp of the Libra and Gemini age-decans.  Age-decan cusps have a highly consistent history of destabilisation – especially for age-empires like the USA.

Once the almost 30 years Cancer micro-age and overflow concludes in 2029, the emphasis should severely shift away from the Middle East, and it may also drop with regards to China.  The second sign on China’s totem pole is Libra (including much of Asia), and with the Libra sub-age (1970 – 2148) we should expect that China maintains its new and highly influential role in world affairs, but with the absence of the Cancer period, the intensity should drop off (for a while).

Cancer is being replaced with the overlapping Gemini micro-age and overflow (2014 – 2029 – 2044) but underpinned by the massive Gemini sub-age decan and overflow (1970 – 2029 – 2088). This does suggest that the Korean peninsula may be a longer and more entrenched problem compared to the Middle East, or that there is a stronger and longer focus upon the Korean peninsula in the coming decades for better or worse.  Gemini also rules Iraq and Syria (probably due to the hangover from Mesopotamia – the age-empire of the Gemini-Taurus age).  Gemini should also produce an increase in stridency from students and youth, something that we have recently seen with the anti-gun movement in the USA, and as early as 1989 with the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in China.  Gemini, sitting at the lowly 4^th house to Pisces, is a difficult sign for Pisces-Aries Europe and Pisces-Aquarius USA and sits at the difficult 12^th house position to China’s primary sign of Cancer.

We have already seen some fragmentation of Europe with the UK’s Brexit and the growth of neo-fascism in some of the eastern European nations, with some of these nations expressing a desire for further distance from the European Union, and the USA appears to be on the path back towards isolationism.  Trump’s pitch to the USA ‘homeland’ is therefore unlikely to be a transient phenomenon, as the USA has periodically preferred isolationism.  Regardless of any sustain isolationist tendencies in the coming decades, the emphasis on the USA’s 4^th house does not suggest raising the flag of the USA high up the mast in world affairs. It is probably a significant astrological factor why the USA gets egg on its face when it has attacked other nations since Gemini arrived in 1970 – commencing with the Viet Nam  War. Furthermore, the USA tangibly rode the Sagittarius sub-age and overflow (1612 – 1791 – 1970) to economic and political glory indicating a strong affinity between the American psyche and Sagittarius.  This suggests that the American psyche is in for hard times under Gemini, apart from Gemini activating the 4^th house of Pisces.

After taking into account the influence of Cancer, Leo and Gemini associated with the drop in terrorist fatalities, the greatest likelihood is that the drop in terrorist fatalities since 2014 is due to the end of the almost 10 year Scorpio influence (Jan 2005 – Jan 2010 – Dec 2014).  Some readers may complain that there seems to be a spurt of terrorist activities lately, and this can adequately be accounted for by the appearance of a 10 month Scorpio nano-age decan and overflow (Jun 17 – Nov 17 – Apr 18) of the Pisces nano-age (Jun 17 – Sep 18), the third nano-age in the current Gemini micro-age (2014 – 29). Fortunately, this Scorpio influence should now be at an end, or almost so.

The Scorpio nano-age decan (purple)

References

Max Roser, Mohamed Nagdy and Hannah Ritchie (2018) – “Terrorism“. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/terrorism’ [Online Resource]

Note: The above ephemeris has the Gemini micro-age commencing in 2015, but since this ephemeris was produced in 2013, I have fine-tuned the timing, and it turns out that the Gemini micro-age commenced in December 2014.  This ephemeris will be updated ASAP.

Further Reading

When Will the USA Retreat from the World?

Pisces America

Cancer – the New Paradigm for the World

A Funny Thing Happened in the 21st Century – Part 1

Gemini’s Role in our Modern World (or Battle of the Brains)

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Is the World a Calamity in Progress?

Trump is Representative of the Age of Aquarius

Is the USA in Retreat?

The Real Revolution in the USA

Is Western Society Due Another Revolution?

Take Your Pick: War or Terrorism

Residents of the UK and elsewhere are decidedly upset at the new style of terrorism in their midst from ISIS aligned malcontents.  With Manchester, London, Notre Dame, Melbourne (Australia), Kabul, Baghdad, Tehran and so on, it seems that every week more atrocities appear.  There is a reason for this heightened round of terrorism and it has to do with Aries.

While most astrologers and people are confused about what age the world is currently passing through, we are actually passing through the Age of Aquarius.  Ever since the Age of Aquarius arrived in the 15^th century, rebellion, democratic reforms and progressive socio-political movements have flourished – mainly in Western culture – beginning in earnest with Oliver Cromwell in England.

The Age of Aquarius is the Age of Progress but people and societies are by nature conservative, and as a result, conservative orientated governments do all they can to prevent progress from occurring in their patch.  This is why most reforms are hard fought and can drag out of decades, if not centuries.   The newly elected president of the USA has been elected from the core base of conservative American voters, and he is doing his level best to reverse as many progressive changes as possible.  This will be as futile as trying to stop the tide coming in with only a plastic bucket and spade. (see “A Celebration 7,000 Years in the Making” )

Imagine how people will view our time 1,000 years from now.  If you want this perspective, take a look at the world in 1017 and see what our glorified barbarian “civilized” ancestors were doing one thousand years ago (in the Age of Pisces).  We will probably be seen as the cusp of the clash between primitive civilization with lots of technology leading to progressive civilization.  As long as war, conflict, open violence between countries and unnecessary deaths from drought or diseases  remains, we are still in the world of primitive civilization even if we can watch Netflix.  It could be argued that people’s focus upon their mobile devices is equivalent to ostriches having their head in the sand.

In every astrological age, a specific place was ‘favored’.  Under the Age of Gemini it was Mesopotamia (Iraq), under Taurus it was Ancient Egypt, under Aries it was Ancient Rome, and under Aquarius it is Western culture specifically focused upon the USA but with Europe in the mix.  Whichever region or culture the astrological gods temporarily favor, there resides good fortune (to a certain extent).  The astro gods have favored western culture since the 15^th century which is why history books call the 15^th century the beginning of modernity in Western culture.  Historians know more about ages than astrologers.

As the temporary leading culture, it is up to Western society to set the tone, because the actions of the leading culture filters out to the rest of the world like the wake from the bow of a boat.  Is Western culture setting a good example?  Did Western culture, spearheaded by the Anglo-Saxon nations headed by the USA, do good when they invaded Iraq in 2003?  Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and possibly up to one million people were killed subsequent to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.[1]  If, as an American, British, Australian or citizen of some other Western nation, what would you do if your country was invaded and occupied by a foreign power and up to one million of your fellow citizens killed? Now many people would just acquiesce but some patriotic souls would develop some retaliatory measure like the Free French partisans when their country was attacked and occupied by the Nazi Germans in the Second World War.

Did ISIS appear out of nowhere for no reason?  Or was the creation of this organization and similar ones the result of numerous injustices heaped upon them including the callous murder of so many innocent people in the Middle East by ‘enlightened’ Western invaders led by that champion of freedom – the USA?  Would ISIS even exist today if the Americans had not led their churlish and irrelevant war against Iraq in 2003?  This is just one example of what can create anger which organizations such as ISIS can both exploit and take to extremes.  The ongoing European Jewish invasion of Palestine over the last one and a half centuries is supported by Western nations and demonstrates very clearly to the residents of the Middle East that they are treated as dogs.  Some progressive Western nations and politicians have become aware of this iniquity.

Listening to the news today about the growing number of atrocities committed by deranged individuals, criminals and small groups influenced by ISIS feels like the world has collectively fallen prone to Alzheimer’s disease and cannot remember last year, let alone 2003. The inability of the USA led West to perceive their own complicity in the unrest of today, specifically in the Middle East, is what causes war and further conflicts.  Does selling billions of dollars of arms to the medieval Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that stills beheads its citizens and subjugates its women, lead to peace in the Middle East?  The Trump instigated ‘blockade’ of Qatar by many surrounding countries has one neighboring country threatening 15 years imprisonment to any of its citizens expressing support for Qatar.  This is just political moral corruption to the nth degree by the USA and this is not limited to Trump, it has been going on for decades, if not over a century.

Fortunately, from the astrological perspective, the world is heading away from this momentum of stupidism that the world is addicted to, but at a snail’s pace.  With Trump in the White House, it can even be argued that the snail as currently accelerating backwards, but this aberrant behavior can only last a small time.  Fortunately, the astro tide in the medium and long term is heading in the forward direction. Trump and his followers cannot stop the Age of Aquarius.

Currently the world is in the same astrological configuration as the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.  In the previous Cancer micro-age (2000 – 2014) were 12 nano-ages, and the Aries nano-age and overflow (Aug 2002 – Nov 2003 – Jan 2005) included the invasion of Iraq from 20 March to 1 May 2003.  The current Aries nano-age and overflow (Mar 2016 – June 2017 – Sep 2018) is in the Gemini micro-age (2014 – 2029).  The bad news is that when Aries is prominent, war, discord and conflict is always at a higher level. With June 2017 the apex of the current Aries period, it is unfortunately associated with what seems like a growing spate of terrorist attacks around the world.  The intensity of Aries is at its strongest level from June 2017 until February 2018 and so we must expect more terrorism at a much higher level than normal for the next 8 months.

Aries nano-age and overflow

There is a silver lining (so far) for the current increase in terrorist attacks.  Usually these Aries nano-ages bring a regional war where instead of the dead in each attack in the single or double digits, in the last two Aries periods, it was in the tens and hundreds of thousands associated with the two Gulf Wars.  However, as one of my astute friend stated, those killed or injured ‘did not count because they were not one of us!’  (See “What is in Store for Trump & the USA in 2017?” for more background details)

If the West wants to set an example, it must stop killing other people to further their economic, military or religious biases as a starting point.  Currently the USA is bombing civilians in Mosul, Iraq – this is merely collateral damage from the western perspective. Unfortunately, this will remain the degraded international socio-political reality for some decades to come, but even now, the light at the end of the tunnel can be glimpsed.

On the political front, we had Bernie Sanders in the USA and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK.  Last weekend I read in a Murdoch newspaper a report by a shocked journalist that Jeremy Corbin had 35% support from the UK voting public.  Shock and horror, how can this many people turn their back on the modern capitalist dream as promoted by Fox News?  Corbin, like Sanders in the USA in 2016, expressed basically the same progressive political and economic policies intended to reign in extreme capitalism and promote socialist ideals for the benefit of the less wealthy half of society.

Bernie Sanders

Socio-political change is slow, but interestingly, as of June 2017, the current Aquarius micro-age decan and overflow (Dec 2014 – Dec 2019 – Nov 2024) has just changed from first to second gear stepping up the intensity of Aquarius in the world.  We can expect further movement towards the progressive future for the rest of this Aquarius micro-age decan and overflow, especially in the period Dec 2019 to Jun 2022 when it shifts into third gear.  We can also expect growing strident opposition from reactionary political forces such as Trump, le Pen and conservative populace politicians everywhere.  In any Aquarius period, the mainstream or middle-of-the-road perspective suffers and extremists on the left (progressive) and right (conservative) can gain far more traction and support compared to ‘normal’ times. (see “This is the Dawning of the Aquarius Micro-Age Decan” ).  Which direction each country veers depends upon their evolutionary stage.  Immature democracies tend towards the fascist (disctatorial) conservative end such as the Philippines under President Duterte.

Unfortunately, this Aquarius orientation towards extremes or fringes also promotes “revolutionaries” who are at war with mainstream (Leo) society.  The fact that the current Aquarius period sits under the shadow of the larger Cancer micro-age overflow (2014 – 2029) places the focus firmly (but not exclusively) upon the Cancer aligned Middle East.  (see “Cancer – the New Paradigm for the World” )  Therefore, it is hard to see that while the USA and the West continue to pour volatile fuel upon the Middle East, via abhorrent arrangements with their despotic leaders, that there will be any change in the current terrorism scenario.  It’s a case of “you reap what you sow”.

To the average western person, the above kind of perspective is outside their scope of understanding even though it is expressed overly simplified in this article.  The average western person knows they are ‘good’ and their society is ‘good’, so why are these bad people trying to attack and kill them?  This is why a significant proportion of western society can be attracted to knee-jerk populace policies which can breed further antagonism that further feed the discontented urban terrorists in their midst.  While the blind lead the blind, the world we live in will remain as it is and has been for the last thousands of years.

In conclusion, for the rest of 2017 at least, we will experience more violence and conflict under Aries than what was previously considered normal, but it is very possible that this round of Aries may avoid a significant size regional war and focus upon urban terrorism instead?  It is still early days for Aries, and based on the immaturity of too many world leaders, a mid-level conflict may still erupt. While the short term future looks bleak, the medium to long term future shines in comparison. (see “The Silent Revolution” )

Reference

[1] Casualties of the Iraq War. (2017, June 4), Wikipedia, Retrieved 02:29, June 7, 2017 from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War&oldid=783729069

The 2017 Economic Meltdown? (Extract Only)

There is a growing sense by a mounting cacophony of doomsday commentators that a catastrophic economic downturn is around the corner.  This is not supported by my global economic outlook for 2017.  My previous research has indicated that the two key critical ingredients for determining the economic situation in the world is the 5 year quasi micro-age decans and 15 month nano-ages.

Only once every five years the quasi micro-age decan change, and this is the case in 2017.  In June 2017 the Cancer quasi micro-age decan (Jul 2012 – Jun 2017) comes to an end and this marks the end of the 5 year post Global Recession period.  Cancer is moderately good for the economy (because it is opposite in nature to Capricorn) but due to Cancer lacking Capricorn’s archetypes – Cancer has no backbone.  Therefore this Cancer quasi micro-age decan is a period of weak recovery.

The new 5 year period to arrive in mid-2017 is the Aquarius quasi micro-age decan (Jun 2017 – Jun 2022).  Unfortunately Aquarius is opposite Leo – one of the best signs for positive economic conditions and especially stock markets.  This does not bode well for the Aquarius period as it means that there is no strength in the coming economic conditions.  The inconsistency associated with Aquarius will mimic the changeable nature of Cancer so the market volatility of the 5 years Cancer period will continue in the coming 5 years Aquarius period.

Furthermore, the greatest bull market of all time occurred in the Leo micro-age (1985-2000) and the coming Aquarius period has the opposite intent – it wants to finalize pulling the rug out of positive (Leo) economic conditions for western economies.  This not only will occur, it most likely will be concluded with an economic recession in the period March 2021 to June 2022 – though this coming recession should be much milder than the last Global Recession.

This Aquarius period is not going to bring economic stability or any sustained growth or strength, and any vulnerability due to a weakening IT sector, digital disruption, insufficient electricity or anti-globalization is bound to become a negative economic issue as this 5 year Aquarius period plays out.

Taurus nano-age & overflow (Dec 14 – Mar 16 – Jun 17)

Taurus is the most stable of all the signs. Despite this overall economic stability, issues related to money and currencies are promoted, so we have seen all the issues re international currency manipulation with countries desperately trying to devalue their currency so their products are cheaper to buy on the international market.

Other Taurus related financial difficulties include India removing overnight (late 2016) some high denomination notes to counter the anti-tax black cash market that dominates India.  Many other countries such as Venezuela, Egypt, Rhodesia, China, Mexico (due to Trump), UK (following Brexit), Papua New Guinea, Switzerland are also experiencing financial problems related to liquidity, the black economy and so on.

Aries nano-age & overflow (Mar 16 – Jun 17 – Sep 18)

A Kuwaiti oil field set afire by retreating Iraqi troops burns in the distance beyond an abandoned Iraqi tank following Operation Desert Storm.

Aries is as turbulent as Taurus is stable, but the turbulence from Aries is not usually directed to the economy but to war.  With the peak of Aries occurring in mid-2017, we must expect an international conflict of the level of the Gulf war and Iraq invasion.  The arrival of such a war or significant conflict, above and beyond the ‘norm’ since the invasion of Iraq in the last Aries nano-age, will most likely spook the markets but usually Aries is a strong sign for the economy, so we should not expect the markets to be dragged down by this conflict other than in the very short term.

Scorpio nano-age decan and overflow (Jun 17 – Nov 17 – Apr 18)

This Scorpio period will bring the first economic shock associated with the larger 5 year Aquarius period.  By November 2017 the markets are going to be rattled and we will see a downturn in sentiment in the period Aug 2017-Jan 2018 with the strongest focus in November 2017.  This is not going to collapse the house of cards but the sentiment is one of vulnerability, lack of economic progress and a more restricted economic environment than we have experienced for a few years.

Bond Market Collapse

“After a 30-year bull run, there has been a rout on global bond markets since Donald Trump was declared President elect, with close to $US3 trillion flowing out of bonds across the globe.” (Courtesy of finance correspondent Phillip Laskersee of the Australian ABC government funded socialist media network: http://ow.ly/L24w307rrmE).

The global bond market rout is the inverse of the stock market rally of the almost 9% surge in price of stock on Wall Street accounting for a $US3 trillion flow of funds into global stocks.  This development has been precipitated by Trump’s election.   Appropriately, this is occurring in a Taurus nano-age overflow (March 2016 – June 2017) where a greater emphasis on financial issues should be experienced.

However, what caught my attention was the reference to 30 years.  30 years is twice the length of a micro-age (1/144^th of an astrological age).  Why should the bond market have a 30 year ‘bull’ run then fall by the wayside so suddenly?  The answer is at least partly explained in my post The 2017 Economic Meltdown?

“the greatest bull market of all time occurred in the Leo micro-age (1985-2000) and the coming Aquarius period has the opposite intent – it wants to finalize pulling the rug out of positive (Leo) economic conditions for western economies.  This not only will occur, it most likely will be concluded with an economic recession in the period March 2021 to June 2022 – though this coming recession should be much milder than the last Global Recession.”

There is even more revealing astrological information about this global bond market rout linked to the 30 years.  While it is entirely appropriate such a financial issue should coincide with a Taurus period, this Taurus period is very small compared to 30 years.  However, the 30 years basically corresponds with the Virgo micro-age overflow (1985-2000) and the Leo micro-age overflow (2000-Dec 2014).  In macro-astrology, both these signs belong to the ‘conservative’ 50% of zodiacal signs.

The conservative and economic stable signs are the fire and earth signs while the volatile but progressive signs are the air and water signs.  The overflow period is where each sign manifests at their peak strength.  Therefore, only two years ago, the world came to the end of a 30 year period overshadowed by two conservative influences which also usually coincide with greater than normal economic stability notwithstanding the recent Global Recession – which did not appear to upset the 30 year bond market.

The bond market rout is supposedly in reaction to predictions that the world is entering a period of higher inflation spurred on by Trump’s construction zeal.  Following the 30 year conservative but relatively stable influence, we are now only two years within a new 30 year period of the opposite intent – volatility and progressive influences.  (Even Trump is progressive and volatile on the conservative side of politics)

Certainly Trump has increased the volatility stakes and perversely, despite the fact that no recession of the magnitude of the recent Global Recession is due to appear in this new 30 year period, it is going to be very problematical for the world economy – or at least for western nations.  The difficult economic issues facing the world for the next few centuries, and particularly the rest of the 21^st century, does not result in massive recessions or economic depressions but appears to be an incremental downturn.  At each turn of the road, economic conditions slowly deteriorate and the numbers of positive economic appear with less frequency or strength.

Though the current Taurus nano-age overflow (March 2016 – June 2017) may seem like a small bit player in a larger field populated by micro-ages and sub-age decans etc, occasionally this is not the case, and in this situation, this is not the case.

The current Taurus nano-age overflow (March 2016 – June 2017) is part of the Taurus nano-age & overflow (Dec 2014-Mar 16 – June 17) – which is strategically situated as the first nano-age in the Gemini micro-age (Dec 2014 – Nov 2029).  In 11 out of 12 cases, the first nano-age within a micro-age is a preview of the following much larger micro-age – in this case the Taurus micro-age (Nov 2029-Sep 2044) leading into the more powerful 15 years Taurus micro-age overflow commencing September 2044.

So while the rout of the 30 year global bond market and inverse stock market surge – both precipitated by Trump’s election – may just appear as something interesting, these kind of financial issues will return with a vengeance in the Taurus micro-age and overflow.   The seed of the future can usually be found in the present.

 Conclusion

2017 appears to be a continuation of the last half of 2016 for the first three quarters of 2017 than a visible pullback …… but not an economic collapse.

The full article is available at: The 2017 Economic Meltdown?

Is the USA in Retreat?

Is it full steam astern for the USA?  Has the USA changed into reverse gear and is accelerating backwards?  Is this a beneficial turn of events? In September 2010 I published an article titled When Will the USA Retreat from the World? – in this post, I am basically bringing the 2010 article up to date.

My observation is that that prime factor that defines the international geopolitical situation is the 59 year sub-age decans.  Each astrological age of some 2150 years each has 12 sub-ages of 178-9 years each.  Each of these sub-ages have three decans of approximately 59 years each.  These 59 years sub-age decans appear to define the geo-political reality in the world. (For further details on the mechanics of the astrological ages – see Age of Aquarius for Dummies)

For example the bi-polar signs of Gemini, Libra and Pisces enhance global political dualities.  The recent Pisces sub-age decan overflow (1910 – 1970), apart from promoting the (Pisces) USA as the world superpower, also coincided with the rise of bureaucratic communism and its inevitable clash with capitalism until communism basically left the field of battle when the USSR imploded in 1991.

The current Scorpio sub-age decan overflow (1970 – 2029) is a mono-sign and so does not enhance polarities – especially in the first half of its reign.  The next sub-age decan overflow is the polar sign of Gemini (a dual-bodied sign) with its full effect expected from 2029 to 2089 but flexing its muscles since 2000. The world is now gearing up to this new geopolitical reality.

I expect the Gemini sub-age decan overflow will see the growing polarity of the USA and Western culture on the one hand and China plus Asia on the other.  However other possible international polarities cannot be ignored.  This does not insinuate that this new period of greater polarity will involve any significant wars or conflicts as the world is astrologically in the slow but also the inexorable  process of departing the multi-thousand years Age of Warfare. Unfortunately, 2017 will not be an example of  the world parting way from war, as war is top of the menu for 2017 (see What is in Store for Trump & the USA in 2017? ) How will the USA and China get along as sparring partners on the world stage for much of this century?

The clue is the relationship of Gemini to the major sign associated with the USA – which is the sign Pisces (see Pisces America).  Gemini stimulates the astrological 4^th house to the sign Pisces.  The 4^th house stimulates introversion, domestic affairs and avoidance of saber rattling over issues of international status.  This is a recipe for the USA to retire from its dominant role in the world and return to its more traditional isolationist approach to world affairs. This in no way detracts from its status as the age-empire of our times – it just means that the age-empire retreats to its own shores and avoids costly and divisive overseas wars or political turmoil.  Pisces’ primary relationship to the USA also indicates that the USA has two modes of operation in every theater of activity including its international role.

At the beginning of the 21^st century – with the USA engaged in two military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan – it seems inconceivable that the USA would not continue to behave like John Wayne on the international stage – shoot first and ask questions later.  Even Donald Trump appears to be a clone of John Wayne.  The USA has (as of 2016) been in its interventionist side of its nature for 74 years (slightly longer than the length of a sub-age decan). The astrology suggests that this has a time fuse on it (similar to the rise and fall of communism), and the USA is now in its 11^th hour to returning to its isolationist nature.

John Wayne in Rio Bravo, 1959

There are astrological clues that support America’s return to isolationism. While Gemini is strongest in its sub-age decan overflow (2029-89), the embryonic Gemini sub-age decan arrived in 1970 – just in time to turn significant public opinion away from the war in Viet Nam. The next increase in strength for Gemini occurred in 2000 which kicked off with the 9/11 terrorist attack on the USA.  While the USA received much international sympathy, the subsequent invasion of Iraq saw mass opposition by many former close allies and supporters around the world. The main support for the Iraq invasion came from America’s core Anglo-Saxon allies – the UK and Australia.

Protests against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C., on October 21, 1967

The next increase in strength for Gemini took place in December 2014 when the Gemini micro-age arrived.  From around this date onward we should see further examples of America’s deteriorating interventionist international foreign policy.  The arrival of the Gemini sub-age decan overflow in 2029 is the final straw.  Will the USA finally behave like an ostrich with its head in the sand?

The USA is slowly on the path back to isolationism which seemed so far-fetched when I first wrote on this topic in 2010. Donald Trump has expressed the opening wedge for a more isolationist policy.  The growing strength of Gemini, which will peak in 2029, does not stimulate the USA success in its flag waving missions, especially if it involves military conflict.  How many wars does the USA need to engage itself in to discover this truth?    The USA under Trump is turning its gaze away from foreign lands and back onto itself – for better or worse!

This does not mean China gets to take over the world.  China’s main sign is Cancer, and Gemini stimulates China’s dreaded 12^th house.  China will probably fare far worse than the USA in the coming decades under Gemini, especially from around 2029 onward.  The coming Gemini period suggests the end of China’s socio-political structure that has developed since the arrival of the Chinese communist government.  This may not mean a civil war but it does indicate much strain and tension.

The growing strength of Gemini does not bode well for Europe.  Though the USA is primarily related to Pisces – the USA is actually the Empire of the Pisces-Aquarius age.  Europe is also primarily associated with Pisces, which is why Europe also likes to split itself into two, but Europe is a Pisces-Aries continent.  Gemini does not bode well for the European Union as we have just witnessed with the Brexit vote earlier in 2016.  Gemini undermines the status and authority of Europe.  Gemini is also the fragmentation sign, and now other European countries have growing support to exit the European Union.  We are entering a very different geo-political era with the USA heading towards isolationism, Europe heading towards fragmentation and China engulfed with problems – who will be the last man standing?

In 2010 I asked – When Will the USA Retreat from the World?  Now it could be stated: are we witnessing the beginning of the retreat of the USA from the world?  It certainly looks likely.  Even the proposed border wall with Mexico suggests a new introversion.  Under Gemini, introversion is favored for the USA.  Even protectionist trade policies are a form of introversion.

Whereas the gods are lining up against the USA in its foreign intervention, they are lining up for the USA to focus on itself.  This is a core message of Trump – “America first!”  Infrastructure rebuilding and even the Mexican wall fulfill the god’s requirements!  However, when it comes to foreign intervention, the USA behaves like a little kid that keeps putting its hand in the fire and getting it burnt, but does not seem to learn the lesson.  Sometimes societies are collectively dumber than the average IQ of its population.  One unfortunate side effect of democracy is that it is government by the lowest common denominator.

References

“John Wayne” photo By Howard_Hawks’Rio_Bravo_trailer_(26).jpg: Trailer screenshotderivative work: Liorek (talk) – Howard_Hawks’Rio_Bravo_trailer_(26).jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10500530

“Get the Hell out of Viet Nam” photo: By Fank Wolfe – Vietnam War Protest in Washington, D.C. by Frank Wolfe, October 21, 1967 (NARA), CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3101997

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Further Resources from Terry MacKinnell

www.macro-astrology.com – details of purchasing the book available

The Age of Aquarius for Dummies – explains the structure and sub-periods associated with the astrological ages

Aquarian Age Economics – Examines the relationship between macro-astrology and financial cycles

At the Cutting Edge of the Aquarian Age – Cutting edge research into the astrological ages for astrologers

FaceBook – keep up to date with what is happening

 

 

What is in Store for Trump & the USA in 2017?

On the 20^th January 2017, when Trump is sworn in as president, it will be just past the glow of the Cancer full moon located in Trump’s 12^th whole-sign house.  This is a bad omen for the immediate pre-inauguration period as the 12^th house is usually related to ‘self-made’ problems and looking backwards.  While the Cancer full moon falls in his 12^th house, the lunar month for his inauguration is Capricorn ruling his 6^th house.  This indicates that his main background focus in the whole of the lunar month of his inauguration is on his new staff and new appointees.

For Americans, your new president!

February 2017 is mainly associated with the Aquarius lunar month with the full moon in Leo, Trumps rising sign.  This suggests he be will ready to plow ahead somewhat in February.  With the whole lunar month ruling his 7^th house, opposition will be very strong from whatever sources.   Trump’s secondary progressed Moon is located in his 12^th house, and will not shift to his 1^st (whole sign) house until around June 2017.  There are sure to be teething problems until June 2017 and he may make one or more significant blunders but he finally gets his full focus mid-year.

What will get Trump’s focus by mid-year?   The major issue in 2017 is war and conflict, a dependable bedrock issue for any conservative politician and this will be a real test for Trump.  Will he be attracted to the drums of war that will be beating very loudly very soon or will he keep focus upon construction?

The world is in the Libra sub-age (1970-2148), which contains 12 micro-ages, and the current micro-age is the Gemini micro-age (Dec 2014 – Nov 2029).  This also contains 12 nano-ages of almost 15 months each.  The world is currently in an Aries nano-age (Mar 2016 – June 2017) followed by the Aries nano-age overflow (June 2017 – Sep 2018) with the second half more powerful than the first half. Another way of examining this period is to examine the upper half of the whole Aries bell-curve (combining the Aries nano-age with the Aries nano-age decan overflow Mar 2016 to Sep 2018) which is the Aries quasi nano-age (Nov 2016 – Feb 2018).

This Aries nano-age definitely helped Trump in the presidential election as under Aries, people look to an alpha male leader who projects Herculean qualities to right all their wrongs.  The rest of the Aries nano-age and overflow (Mar 2016 – Jun 2017 – Sep 2018) will also help Trump because Aries rules construction, so he has the Aries nano-age on his side for building his Mexican wall plus his infrastructure program in general.

If Aries was only limited to construction, all would be OK, but its primary association is war, conflict and violence.  Expect Trump to be at loggerheads with anyone he can find both domestically and internationally because that is the nature of Aries.  Logic indicates that his main domestic opposition will be the Congressional Republicans as the Democrats have no power.  Trump may even field candidates to oppose Republicans in the mid-term elections due in 2018.  This Aries period does not indicate harmony but brute force.

A Kuwaiti oil field set afire by retreating Iraqi troops burns in the distance beyond an abandoned Iraqi tank following Operation Desert Storm.

However, the major influence of this Aries nano-age and overflow, that peaks in mid-2017 and seriously came online in November 2016, is war.  It is the same level of Aries that produced the previous two Iraq Wars.  The Allied invasion of Iraq in March 2003 was the most significant military event associated with the previous Aries quasi nano-age (February 2003 – May 2004).[1] This was also that period when bombings around the world were almost nightly news on the TV – including many suicide bombings.

Some of the more famous one’s include: a double suicide bombing at a Moscow rock concert; the Super Ferry bombing in the Philippines by the Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group; the bombs in four rush-hour trains in Madrid, killing 191 people and the beheading of an American civilian Nick Berg, in Iraq.  Another example of the extended Aries influence included the Beslan School Hostage Crisis with at least 335 people killed.

Aries rules accidents so we need to include the disintegration of the Space Shuttle Columbia during re-entry over Texas in February 2003, killing all 7 astronauts on board. Aries is also associated with health and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) also appeared with 8,273 cases and 775 deaths.

Major construction feats are related to Aries and many major skyscrapers commenced or were completed including the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero in New York City, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, which became the tallest man-made structure in the world, at 829.8 m (2,722 ft). The world’s tallest bridge, the Millau Bridge over the River Tarn in the Massif Central Mountains, France was opened and  the official opening of Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan, standing at a height of 1,670 feet (509 metres) was the world’s tallest from 2004 until the 2010.[2]

Jumping back another micro-age, to the Leo micro-age (1985-2000) its Aries nano-age and overflow (Dec 1988-Mar 1990-Jun 1991) arrived at an historic turning point with a wave of revolutions that swept through the Eastern European Bloc, starting in Poland and coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin Wall in late 1989.  This was followed by the overthrow of the communist dictatorship in Romania, and ending in December 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

However 1990 also began with a crisis that would lead to the Gulf War in 1991 following the Iraq invasion of Kuwait.  The Gulf War (Aug 1990 – Feb 1991) took place in the second half of this Aries period.  This strongly suggests that these Aries nano-ages and overflow are linked to greater than average wars or conflicts but localized nevertheless.  Though a much higher probability exist for a major conflict in an Aries period, this does not mean it will occur in every Aries period.

If Trump focuses upon infrastructure construction he has the gods on his side because Aries is associated with construction.  Also the major influence on the sub-age decan level, which defines the international geo-political situation in the world, is currently the Gemini quasi sub-age decan (2000 – 2059) and Gemini activates the 4^th house of home for the USA, the Pisces-Aquarius  Empire in the world.  As Gemini gets stronger approaching its high point in 2029, expect the USA to return to its international introversion phase.

The gods are on Trump’s side when he is focusing upon America’s heartland, and they even approve of his Mexican wall – but if he goes to war or raises the temperature in any existing conflict, the gods will be extremely displeased.  The gods specifically do not want the USA riding roughshod around the world for at least the next 75 years while Gemini is so strong!  Why? Because Gemini activates the USA’s 4^th house which automatically detracts from its 10^th house of status – the USA entered the low status period in 1970 and this low status period picked up speed in 2000. It increased in speed yet again in December 2014 and will reach its crescendo in 2029. (For more details see When Will the USA Retreat from the World? published in 2010)

In the short term, by mid-2017 a Pisces nano-age decan and overflow (Jun 2017-Sep 18- Dec 2019) first appears and will be influential for 2 ½ years.  The first half of this Pisces period overlaps the last half of the Aries period which is a fundamental astrological mechanism of the overflow effect in macro-astrology.  Pisces is the main sign for the USA so it implies that the USA will be pumping along nicely in its revolutionary conservative way during this period, especially the second half.  The economy should be bubbling and the old USA may temporarily appear like a momentary mirage.  But first, Aries takes the attention while Pisces is growing in the background.

Aside from the Mexican wall and any infrastructure projects, 2017 will be a year of animosity, conflict and almost certainly at least one serious military conflict.  It cannot be said if this conflict directly involves the USA or not, but this will be the focus of the year.  I remember reading some years ago from one war researcher who stated, after researching a thousand years of war, that “all wars are based on lies”.  In “The Art of War,” Sun Tzu said “All wars are based on deception.” Get ready for some good lies in 2017!  Pisces prefers lies!

[1] “2003 invasion of Iraq.” Wikipedia, 29 Mar. 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2013

[2] Major Breakthrough – First Nano-Age Decan Discovered? Part 3

Cancer – the New Paradigm for the World

Most people who make their way to this blog read “SCORPIO – the Sign of the Times” that I wrote in 2006.  We are currently in the process of exiting from this heightened Scorpio ‘hotspot’ that affects the world from 2005 until 2015, but with the upper half of the bell-curve located 2007 to 2011/12.  This Scorpio hotspot is currently being replaced by the sign Cancer, and Cancer will be the paradigm of note for the next five years (2012-17) but it has a wider bandwidth than the normal five years.  This Cancer period will be stronger than the effects of most five years quasi-micro age decans but it will not be a hotspot like the previous Scorpio quasi nano-age that resonated with the large Scorpio sub-age overflow (1970-2148)

For those new to this blog, a micro-age is approximately 15 years long and is one-twelfth of a sub-age (approx. 178 years).  Each age of approximately 2,150 years has twelve sub-ages.  These small micro-ages can be divided into three equal parts using traditional astrological techniques.  One third of a micro-age is a micro-age decan.  Associated with all ages and their sub-periods, including micro-ages, are quasi periods comprising the last half of the current period in question with the first half of the next period.  This explanation of a quasi-period in relation to the astrological ages can suffice at this point, and those readers wanting to delve into the subject can purchase my book “THE DAWNING – Shedding new Light on the Astrological Ages”.

If each sign has three decans, one of which is the same as the parent sign, then sometimes the parent sign and sub-period will be the same.  This is the case with the current Cancer quasi-micro age decan.   The Cancer quasi-age decan (2012-17) is derived from the Cancer micro-age decan (2010-15) and is the last decan of the Cancer micro-age (2000-15).  Due to the overflow effect, as the influence of all periods rolls over the following period similar to a wave, the full extent of Cancer is the Cancer micro-age and overflow (2000 – 2015 – 2029).  We can easily verify the arrival of this 29 year period – in 2001, the 9/11 attack upon the USA brought to the forefront of world affairs the situation in the Muslim world.  The key zodiacal sign associated with Islam is Cancer.  This Cancer period has increased the status of Islam in the world for better or worse.  In response to this attack, the USA and its close allies attacked Afghanistan and then perversely attacked Iraq – two nations in the Muslim heartlands.  The Afghanistan war has now become the longest war of all times for the USA.  The other key region in the world that has strong Cancer associations is China. Though we cannot pinpoint China’s ascent to world stardom to the exact year 2000, it has certainly exhibited its daunting lurch forward in economic development over the last ten years.

The arrival of Cancer is noticeable, but the whole period under the rulership of Cancer is not homogeneous – it is more like a giant bell-curve.  In 2007  is the beginning of the Cancer quasi-micro-age (covering the period 2007 to 2022) indicating this central area of heightened Cancer activity.  Again we can clearly see the arrival of this increased Cancer influence with the GFC that commenced with the sub-prime crisis of 2007.  In 2007 it became obvious to traders that a huge swath of derivatives based on real estate mortgages were worth far less than their market value. Homes and consequently real estate is a strong Cancer archetype.  The collapse of this sub-prime market led to the collapse of a number of banks and resulted in the GFC which was basically aligned to the Scorpio quasi-micro age decan (2001-12) that comprises one of the decans of Cancer.

Not only did the rising intensity of Cancer precipitate the sub-prime mortgage crisis, it increased the temperature in the Muslim world, and by 2011 a number of governments of Islamic nations fell to protestors or commenced civil wars or periods of ongoing dissent. The temperature increased in 2012 with the arrival of the five year Cancer quasi-age decan (2012-17) – the upper echelon for Cancer in its assigned 29 year period.  We can expect further unsettled conditions in the Middle East and we can expect China to soon peak – which does not insinuate it is ready to ‘fall’ – this is merely the dreams of American Republicans nostalgic about America being the only superpower of note in the world.

Cancer is not limited to Islam and China.  Cancer, the ruler of homes, always witnesses mass migrations of people looking for a new home and whom we sometimes call refugees – but governments and right-wing politicians and their supporters generally prefer the term illegal immigrants.  This practice by human beings over the last tens of thousands of years (hundreds of thousands of years?) to move to locations where conditions are better has now been made basically illegal.  In response to mass migrations, governments often resort to another archetype associated with Cancer and build a defensive wall (in medieval times a fortress with moat).  The USA is constructing and upgrading its border with Mexico as is Israel building massive concrete walls against Palestinians.  Under Cancer we can expect the number of refugees and ‘illegal immigrants’ to increase exponentially, and extreme approaches to ‘defend our borders’ – perhaps we should buy shares in company’s specializing in fortifications?

Another aspect of Cancer is that it is opposite the sign of Capricorn.  Capricorn represents the status of leaders and those with rank, especially with a conservative approach, plus it also rules the long-term view and long-term plans.  Both these are under threat under the current Cancer period.  The leaders of countries are falling, either democratically voted out by their citizens incensed at their handling of the GFC or falling to insurrection such as we have already witnessed in the Middle East.  In place of Capricorn long-term policy and wise decisions the world will be ruled by changeable public opinion for a number of years, as the public is ruled by Cancer.  I thought the Cancer world today was a threat to the re-election of President Obama as public opinion can swing wildly under Cancer, but in the end he was probably saved by opposing Republicans in the Capricorn camp.  Conservative leaders are on the nose to the general public and I don’t think the general public took kindly to Romney stating that the Democratic 47% of the populace were parasites on the system.

Unfortunately this lack of Capricorn long term view has derailed the international effort to curtail climate change.  At a time when leadership is required, the major carbon producing nations have their heads in the sand and are bickering about their relative carbon emissions.

Countries with Capricorn predominantly in their respective astrological signatures can expect additional turmoil.  Two countries that are unambiguously in this camp are the USA and India.  The USA was first settled by Europeans under the highpoint of the Capricorn sub-age and overflow (1433 – 1612 – 1791) – the first sub-age in the Age of Aquarius.  The USA’s conservative credentials are strong relative to the other First World nations basically due to a large fundamentalist Christian faction derived from the austere and conservative Puritans and religious folk who fled from Europe to escape religious persecution.  The first Cancer micro-age the colonists encountered was from 1687 to 1702 with its overflow period extending to 1716.  For example in 1688 the first group to denounce slavery occurred in Pennsylvania precipitating the split in American values leading ultimately to the much later American Civil War.  Another similar public statement was made by a Boston judge in 1698. In 1689 two insurrections occurred, one in Boston and the other in New York based on divided loyalties between Jacobites and supporters of the new English king, William of Orange. In 1692 twenty `witches’ were executed in Salem. In 1699 a yellow fever epidemic killed many people.

The next Cancer micro-age and overflow was (1836-1851-1866) which naturally includes the American Civil War (1861 – 65) at the end of the Cancer micro-age overflow period (1851-1866).  If this war was replicated in the current Cancer micro-age and overflow, it would occur from 2023 to 2028.  While I am not suggesting that there will be another American Civil War in the current elongated Cancer period, it does suggest that the USA will pass through a very stressful time in the next two decades.  It turns out that the American Civil war coincided with a Gemini micro-age decan (1861 – 1866).  It is therefore possible that the American psyche has aligned itself strongly to the Sagittarius sub-age and overflow (1612-1791-1970) and therefore any Gemini period may be difficult as Gemini is opposite to Sagittarius.  The Gemini micro-age (2015-29) is not just another Gemini period.  The year 2029 marks the end of the Gemini sub-age decan (1970 – 2029) and the beginning of the powerful Gemini sub-age decan overflow (2029-2089) with 2029 the very highpoint of Gemini.  So while I don’t expect another American Civil War, I do expect great tensions and stresses in the American psyche at this juncture.  This will possibly be the culmination of the stress fracture between progressives versus the fundamentalists and conservatives that appeared in the 1970s with the arrival of the Gemini sub-age decan.  Alternatively it could be a major opposition with China or the Muslim world.

India is showing no signs to date of succumbing to the Cancer micro-age and overflow.  Any strategic change may relate to its Capricorn cast system that remains a strongly entrenched social practise even if illegal.  Greater India includes Pakistan and so they may use their nuclear arsenals against each other, but unless this occurs by 2015, it is more likely to be a conventional disagreement.

There is a lot more to Cancer than refugees, American dissent, fall of leaders, lack of long term planning, China, India and Muslim countries.  My research on historical events over the last two centuries indicates a number of developments that congregate around the sign Cancer.  These include everything to do with ships, canals, food (including eating disorders such as bulimia, binge eating and food intolerance), mental health, Mexico, the Moon, mines, New Zealand, photography, protectionism, Russia, Scandinavia, temperance, water (including tsunamis and floods), women and the Working Class. I am not suggesting that this list is exhaustive as I expect great developments towards curing the disease cancer during the current Cancer period, which is already happening.

More blogs on these subjects associated with the sign Cancer is planned!

Pisces America

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in Bali (5 – 9 October 2011).  With an eclectic mix of presenters from Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas, this writers festival provided a first account insight into the world today – warts and all.  One recurrent theme introduced by a variety of writers focused upon the destructive political and social input from the USA upon many countries outside of the developed western world.

Before providing the relevant details of the political skulduggery undertaken by the USA since the Second World War (to keep the world free) let me be clear that I am not anti-American, and though I will be dealing with some of these negative issues associated with the USA, I will also be discussing many positive qualities associated with the USA as presented by various writers at the festival. This is actually the essence of this blog post.  There are two distinct sides to the USA, and while many people acknowledge one side or the other, depending upon their personal political views and allegiances, it is necessary to recognise both sides to fully comprehend the Pisces psyche of the USA.

In my recently published book, The Dawning – Shedding New Light on the Astrological Ages, I basically introduce the USA onto the world stage as the modern empire of the Pisces-Aquarius age. In a similar fashion, Ancient Rome was the empire of the Aries-Pisces age, Ancient Egypt the empire of the Taurus-Aries age and Sumer (Mesopotamia) the empire of the Gemini-Taurus age.  Each of these empires introduced specific peaks of achievement associated with the age-pair of the times, with a distinct focus upon the first sign in the age pair.

Mesopotamia of the Gemini-Taurus age introduced (Gemini) writing.  Ancient Egypt of the Taurus-Aries age is known for its massive pyramids, stone temples and monuments carved out of mountains – appropriate for Taurus – the fixed earth sign of solidity.  Ancient Rome of the Aries-Pisces is renowned for its mighty armies that not only created the largest ancient empire based on its military might – it actually pioneered modern military techniques (basically shock and awe).  Aries is the sign ruled by Mars – the god of war.  In the same vein, the USA in the current Pisces-Aquarius age (1433 – 3574) is the champion of Pisces in the modern world – and even on a simplistic level, this can be seen by its cultural capital, Hollywood, which has conquered the world through movies (movies are ruled by Pisces, the sign always associated with fantasy in all its shapes and guises).  Furthermore the USA is the champion of the ethereal corporation – which are fake bodies given the status of real bodies in the legal system, and thus has provided the backbone of the modern capitalistic world.  Most things that are fake are associated with Pisces. All these associations are explored in far greater detail in The Dawning (see:
http://www.macro-astrology.com).

The focus in this blog however is on the bi-polar nature of the USA due to its primary association to Pisces.  The USA is not the Pisces Empire of the modern world, but the Pisces-Aquarius Empire, but Aquarius plays second fiddle to Pisces in the Aquarian age due to the Overflow Effect (see: Is the Aquarian Age Like a Block of Granite?).  Basic zodiacal sign symbology for Pisces displays two fish swimming in opposite direction.  This is reflected in American politics,  foreign policy and society.  At the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival of 2011, the two fish of the USA were on display (without anyone realising the Pisces connection, other than myself).

The author and journalist Tariq Ali is an expatriate Pakistani living in exile in London due to his political views – having a political view in Pakistan is dangerous!  In the two sessions I attended that included Tariq, he repeatedly described how, since the Second World War, the USA has actively undermined the political integrity and the fledgling democracies in the Middle East, in the same way that it did in South America.  Tariq basically stated that the USA would undermine any country that it perceived to be against the foreign policy interests of the USA.  This is a well-documented and widely known fact. Towards the end of the session, Tariq wittingly stated that Australia was the USA’s fixed aircraft carrier in the region.

Andrew Fowler discussed his new book The Most Dangerous Man in the World (about the rise of Julian Assange to international prominence).  One of the reasons Julian is fighting his extradition to Sweden, is that not only is the Swedish government conservative, it was also a stopover point provided by the Swedish government to the Americans sending alleged terrorists to other countries for torture.  The Americans have demonized Assange as a spy with the complicity of the New York Times, and in a show of political corporate (Pisces) support, American companies such as MasterCard, Visa and PayPal pulled the plug on donations being provided to Assange.  Even though the New York Times published some of the information provided by Assange’s Wikileaks, they stated that Julian was a source, not a journalist.  Journalists are protected in the USA due to freedom of speech – but sources do not have this protection.  Even the New York Times was complicit in the demonizing of Assange.

In the session “My Egypt” with Gamal Al Ghitani and Khaled Al-Khamissi, about word on the street in Egypt, it came out that Assange’s Wikileaks provided some important information that helped garner support for the overthrow of the Tunisian regime through people-power.  Wikileaks revealed that American diplomatic sources secretly discussed how they would not support the Tunisian government due to its corruption and despotism.  This fact alone gave moral support to the democratic revolutionary elements in Tunisa – and the rest is history. Tunisia was the first despotic regime to fall, setting in momentum the unrest that spread to Egypt, Bahrain, Syria and other Middle East countries.  So while the USA demonizes Julian Assange, it appears that his altruistic desire to reveal the truth about what our politicians and diplomats are really doing behind the scenes and ultimately on our behalf, has already borne some fruit.  I wonder how the American Founding Fathers in their revolutionary zeal would view Julian Assange?

The final political session “Coups, Crusades and Revolutions” with Horst Geerken (Germany), Oya Baydar (Turkey) and Tariq described a litany of interference by the USA into the internal affairs of many countries resulting in the deaths and persecution of many people – many of whom were just members of a trade union or expressed left-wing political views.  Horst was resident in Indonesia in the early 1960s in the final years of the non-aligned President Sukarno, and witnessed the USA backed military coup against him led by General Suharto.  Once installed in power, the USA gave the names of communists, leftists and sympathisers to be neutralized, and consequently between one and three million Indonesians were murdered, with the numbers killed in Bali particularly high. This is all documented in Horst Geerken’s book A Gecko for Luck.

The reason why the USA orchestrated coups around the world and militarily intervened wherever necessary (Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan etc.) has evolved since the post-World War Two period, but the initial purpose was to contain and stop the spread of communism. There is no doubt that the growth and development of communism in the first part of the 20^th century was an evil and duplicitous enterprise carried out by ruthless and unscrupulous supporters.  Its evil was such that communism was probably equivalent to one of the horses of the apocalypse.  The duping of much of the western intellectual and leftist political supporters morally supporting the evil of Stalinist-style communism was perceived by the USA as the enemy within – and in retrospect this view was basically correct, even though the enemy within were not aware of their own ignorance.  It should be remembered that the key sign in the current Pisces-Aquarius age is Pisces – the sign of gullibility and deception.  Furthermore the first part of the 20^th century was a Pisces hot spot – possibly the last Pisces hotspot of such magnitude for almost another 26,000 years.  Even many western intellectuals and academics were hypnotized (Pisces) by the communists.

The post-war American political agenda had communism firmly in its gun sights, and it did not waver in facing the enemy wherever it tried to break out from its support base in the USSR and China.  Unfortunately America utilised the Pisces technique of demonization and adopted any means, fair or foul, to defeat its enemy – basically the same technique of the communists.  From the militaristic American perspective, the appearance of communism or its supporters anywhere in the world was cause for great concern and it did everything it could to eradicate its enemy and supporters.  If a fledging democratic government had to be overthrown by a military coup – so be it! If millions of people had to be killed, even if they were only of a left-wing political persuasion – off with their heads. America took the view that the end justifies the means.  This may seem incongruous with a democratic nation, but the history of democracy shows that democracy to date has always been limited.  For example in Athens in Ancient Greece, only the male landholder could vote, and they also owned slaves.  In the modern example, while the USA is internally based on democratic institutions, its role, and foreign policy in the international arena has always been based on self-interest (no different than most other powers in the world). Pisces involvement is in the fact ‘the end justifies the means’ – any number of deceitful and sordid calamities could be bestowed on any country deemed an enemy or opponent.

Since the collapse of monolithic communism, the USA was bereft of an enemy.  9/11 solved that problem, and the USA has engaged in a new reign of hostilities against Al-Qaeda or its supporters and allies in the Middle East, or using its War Against Terror to invade or undermine any country it so pleases – in much  the same way it has widely done since the Second World War.  I am sure that none of the key players in the inner American political establishment feels anything other than justifiable righteousness in containing its perceived enemies – be they the former communists or the new breed of terrorist networks.

Most people in the world believe that their personal actions and beliefs are correct – this underlies the Pisces illusion of our modern age.  The unconscious reasoning goes something like this – if I am correct, then anyone who disagrees with me incorrect.  If these incorrect or deluded adversaries cause a problem, or I perceive they may cause a problem, I can further enhance their incorrectness by demonizing them in any way I like.’  This was done to the extreme in Nazi Germany, Stalinist USSR and Mao’s China.  It has been done to homosexuals, some minor religious groups, major religions against other major religions, people who use drugs – and in some countries, people who drink alcohol and most recently to illegal immigrants.  Any use of demonization is evidence of Pisces (i.e. delusion and deception).

The USA, as the Pisces-Aquarius Empire of the modern world, has mythologised its minor Aquarian revolutionary nature that prompted it to become an early democracy in a world basically ruled by monarchical elites.  There is no doubt that the sentiments expressed by America’s Founding Fathers will echo through the world for millennia to come.  Despite this strong Aquarian element in the American psyche, the Pisces element is the senior partner.  One way this Pisces element manifests is that, by and large, American’s believe their own propaganda.  They are proud of their leading role in the world and particularly their democratic traditions – but they let the mirage of their self-assessment over-rule reality.  The reality is that countries may be relatively democratic within their borders, but they behave outside of their own border just like countries have always done since countries were first invented – they act in their own self-interest and, if powerful, they do all they can to make other countries obey their will.

In total contrast to Americas’ international relations, one of the final sessions of the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival named “Traversing Cultural Divides” highlighted three different people who have fled to or immigrated to the USA, and now call it home, plus one Afro-American.  Basically Arthur Flowers (USA), Chris Abani (Nigeria), Edel Rodriguez (Cuba) and Shirley Lim (ethnic Chinese Malaysian) waxed lyrical about the benefits of living in the USA, and the many opportunities this gave them.  They believe that anyone who sets their mind to it can live the life they deserve in the USA and achieve fulfilment in their lives.  Such success is not born of race, social status or religion but their own effort in an egalitarian society.

For example Shirley Lim’s family has lived some generation in Malaysia, but Malaysia will not treat them as a full citizen due to their ethnic Chinese background. Edel Rodriguez grew up under Castro in Cuba until his family fled to Florida, USA. Rodriguez acknowledges his childhood memories and he would like to be buried in Cuba when he dies, but in the meantime he is a successful graphic artist in the USA. Chris Abani relates to one incident in the USA, his adopted home, where he had to stay in a strange city one night, in a hotel with no friends to call upon.  The helpful and friendly staff informed him that the tree he could see from his hotel window was famous for lynching Negroes in the not too distant past.  As a black African himself, this did little to make him feel at home. Nevertheless, all the panellists were firm in their conviction that no country in the world gave the same degree of freedom and opportunity as the USA.

The USA has pioneered more than democracy, it has been at the forefront of technological evolution for almost a century, and has recently extended itself into cyber world. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are two leading lights in the new technological world.  In a recent article in The Global Edition of the New York Times[1] it was revealed that sentiment was so high following the death of Steve Jobs, that following the release of the new iPhone 4S, many customers stated that the “4S” meant “for Steve”.  The USA has provided leadership in the cyber world as evidence by the inroads that various American companies have achieved – from IBM, Microsoft to Facebook, Google, Wikipedia and so on.  These innovative developments have been lapped up by a hungry and mainly appreciative world.

In should be noted that Steve Jobs was proud of his (Pisces) drug use – he was a product of the 1960s and 70s and he was an unabashed proponent of this aspect of his life.  The USA led the world, yet again, in those revolutionary and liberating times of the 60s and 70s with marijuana and LSD high on the list.  As one online commentator stated – if Steve had been caught, he would have been put in a (Pisces) cage.  This yet again displays the two fish Pisces paradox that is the USA. On the one hand, the USA led the new drug fuelled world, but simultaneously enacted one of the most draconian laws against drug use in the western world. Currently the American war on drugs is dissembling Mexico and causing untold hardship around the world in its stance against an evolutionary social development that American conservative elements do not like.

Where else in the First World does any other country other than the USA has such a large block of citizens who refute Darwin’s Theory of Evolution in favour of creationism?  This same fundamentalist Christian block maintains an arch-conservative political influence that beggars description and has no known parallel in any other First World country.  The American conservative bloc is another manifestation of the two fish associated with Pisces.

America presents itself as an Aquarian freedom loving democracy – but this is nothing more than ‘white man speaks with forked tongue’.  Americans are not consciously malicious, like everyone else they believe they are doing the right thing in the right way, but even their approach to Julian Assange and Wikileaks indicates a chink in their Pisces armour. They prefer that the delusion of their democratic mystique is maintained rather than be scrutinized and have reality appear.  Assange was merely putting on public display the reality of American foreign policy.  What the American government was telling its citizen’s as its justification for war was in stark contrast to the facts that their own intelligence service provided.  Reality has no association with Pisces other than Pisces is the sign of ‘lack of reality’.  Pisces is associated with public relations and spin – America does everything it can to maintain the mirage of its own spin. Pisces is an ill-defined archetype which is an inherent part of its nature.  It is more like a mirage or fog than a solid object.

Finally, there is no suggestion that the stance and approach that the USA adopts in its foreign policy is in any way inferior or worse than most other nations, past or present – it is just that America is the most influential nation in the world, and so its actions are noticed the most – and criticised the most. The UK was equally malicious in the age of the British Empire as were most European countries – and most countries in the world given the chance.

There is an urban myth developing that the USA is being overtaken by China.  One writer put this in perspective – I think it was Tariq Ali from Pakistan.  Basically he said that if you take the next 10 leading countries in size, after the USA, add all their respective defence budgets together and then double this figure – it still does not equate to the USA’s defence spending.  Though this may be an exaggeration, the military power of the USA is not about to be usurped.  One columnist recently referred to the rise and fall of empires, and stated that the USA had at least two decades left as the world’s superpower. This is where the astrological ages provide greater clarity.  The USA, as empire of the Pisces-Aquarius age, will be at its exalted position for many centuries, if not for another 1,500 years or so – but with some significant turmoil and changes coming in due course.  The first major unsettling development due for the USA will not occur before the middle of next century.

The USA is an enigma within an enigma – it is Hollywood on the grand scale in every sense. It is a mixture of fact and fantasy, where fantasy is presented as fact, and facts are often presented as fantasy. It promotes the glamor of democracy and the deceit of an international bully.  For me this was encapsulated by President Bush immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Bush stated to the effect that “.. he would make the world safe for Americans”. What about everyone else in the word – don’t they also deserve peace?  This is Athenian democracy – it is for the elite only.

In a session “Happiness in Human Nature” Rodaan al Galidi, a long term refugee in Jordan from Iraq, and currently resident of Holland since 1998 reflected upon a CNN news report of the war in Iraq.  “800 Iraqi’s were killed today and an American soldier was shot in the leg”.  CNN then went on and described the convalescence required, input from his family members and other details from the soldier’s wound.  The USA promotes an elitist democracy but hides this reality.  This is Pisces pure and simple. Nevertheless, the USA is the empire of the Pisces-Aquarian age, and the real Aquarian age empire will not appear for at least another 1,500 years. The USA will be perceived as a stepping stone along the way towards real democracy in the same way that ancient Athens is considered the starting point of the western democratic tradition.

As a major consolation for idealists and rationalists, if the Stalinist communist model had been successful and the world had succumbed to their brain-numbing political model of terror, subjugation and genocide, the USA would appear as a saint – but only in comparison.  Now we know that the USA is not a saint but we are left with the Pisces choice – is the glass half full or half empty? Being an optimistic Sagittarian, I take the USA glass to be half full. Furthermore there are exciting times ahead for the USA and the world (see: A Celebration 7,000 Years in the Making).

In relation to Ancient Rome, the USA position today is equivalent to the year 145 BC for Rome.  Rome did not attain its maximum territorial size until around 250 years after 145 BC. 145 BC was towards the end of the period known as Supremacy of the New Nobility (287–133 BC) where there was a kind of balance of power of the aristocratic senate and the plebeian assembly. However this was the most militarily active era of the Roman Republic and it left many Roman citizens bankrupt and dependent upon the state due to the deteriorating economic circumstances.[2] Following 133 BC, Ancient Rome teetered between normalcy and crisis, and various reforms were attempted. The world is not static, and this also applies to the USA.

So in conclusion, when many friends and acquaintances throw their hands up in collective horror at the shenanigans of the USA in world affairs since the Second World War, I remind them that for every evil deed done and every corrupt or deceitful action take, that on the other side of the coin, America attains some major development, goal or produces something uplifting for humanity. The IT revolution is being led by the USA, and the ubiquitous cell phone has been shown to play an important part in recent revolutions – as is the case with social network websites. The two fish will always be stuck to the USA, and unfortunately they swim in opposite directions.  This Pisces paradox lies at the core of the American psyche. To accept only one side is to be part of the delusion. Most people choose one fish or the other as if these individual fish adequately describes the USA.  Unless cognizance is given to both fish, that seem intrinsically opposed to each other, than no real understanding of the age empire of our time can be made.

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[1] Sat-Sun Oct 15-16 2011 Pg 15

[2] “Roman
Republic.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 19 Oct.
2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2011.

Now available online and at major book stores.

For a complete background to the above blog, see THE DAWNING, published in 2011

Revolution in the Middle East

The rather sudden and startling quest for greater freedom and democracy in a number of Middle Eastern countries in the last few months is part of a greater orchestration towards political and social evolution around the world that commenced with the French Revolution (in the late 18^th century) aligned with the arrival of the Scorpio subage (1791 – 1970), and continuing on in the Scorpio subage overflow (1970 – 2148) due to the overflow effect associated with all ages and their sub-periods. The Scorpio subage is the third subage of the Age of Aquarius (that commenced in 1443 AD – see figure 1), heralding in the modern world. 

Figure 1 – the first four subages of the Aquarian age

 

 

Most historians and historical reference books indicate that the Modern World commenced in the 15^th century – or, at a minimum, the 15^th century was an extremely exalted time in the history of human society.  Apart from a plethora of other supporting facts, the 15^th century was the first century that humans (i.e. Europeans at least) could comprehend the whole world for the first time due to the maritime exploits of its sailors circumnavigating the world. The arrival of ages is marked by highly significant events!

The arrival of the third subage within the Aquarian age, the Scorpio subage in 1791 basically demarks the end of the Early Modern Period (according to many historians at around 1800) and the beginning of the Modern Period.  Within the Scorpio subage (1791 – 1970), the most significant large scale political revolution that has ever been experienced in the world, took place.  At the beginning of the Scorpio subage most countries in the world were ruled by monarchs or local aristocracy (the USA was the black sheep of the time being already a rudimentary democracy).  By the end of the Scorpio subage in 1970 most of these monarchs had been overthrown and replaced with democratic governments, communism or military juntas.  Only in some less politically developed regions, particularly in the Middle East, did the old monarchial way of life continued – mainly propped up in the 20^th century by Western and European nations to ensure a ready supply of fossil fuels.

The arrival of a new astrological period such as an age or subage does not affect the world uniformly.  The arrival of a new period is like the bow of the boat – surging into previously uncharted waters and leaving its ever expanding wake as evidence of its passage.  This wake then slowly affects all other regions of the world.  The wake from any age or sub-period of an age is even larger after the end of its own period (as represented in figure 1).  The primary focus of the initial Scorpio surge mainly affected western nations (including all of the Americas), but by its close in 1970, over half the world was deeply affected by its wake including an independent and democratic India on the one hand, and a communistic China on the other – but bereft of its former ruling class or aristocracy.

The transference from the Scorpio subage to Libra subage in 1970 actually marks an increase in tempo for Scorpio (due to its ever widening wake).  Libra has arrived, but it is the new kid on the block, and the wake from its bow wave has relatively little impact in the world in comparison to Scorpio.  Until near the end of the Libra subage in 2148, Scorpio is the dominant sign in the world (at the subage level).  The transition between the Scorpio subage and Scorpio subage overflow was marked by the revolutionary sentiment expressed in the late 1960s and early 70s resulting in the almost choreographed student and youth demonstration and riots throughout much of the western world. Other spectacular icons of this period are the hippy movement that sprang out of San Francisco, the music revolution first associated with the Beatles, the Woodstock festival in New York, the anti-war movement against the Viet Nam war, the French student uprising that nearly toppled the government and feminism at full bore and armed with the newly invented oral contraceptive (associated with sex – another Scorpio archetype).

It must be remembered (or recognized by the younger generations) that western society in the 1950s was extremely conservative, mono-cultural, with women knowing their place in society and much stronger fascist elements compared to western society of 2011. The arrival of the 60s and early 70s baby boomers with their long hair, drugs and free love temporarily created the normal fracas when any establishment or society meets a new evolutionary sociological phenomenon.  This is why students peacefully protesting the Viet Nam war were gunned down and killed in the USA, restrictive drug laws savagely enforced to persecute the new social movement and contentious objectors to compulsory military serviced were sent to jail. By and large the formerly stodgy and arch-conservative west has moved on to a certain degree since those heady days of the 60s and 70s. The formerly frowned upon music of the 60s and 70s now appears regularly in TV commercials, men can have hair whatever length they like but, except for some isolated pockets of enlightened thinking, the west maintains a witch hunt against recreational drug users, treats homosexuals as second class citizens and has not given full equality to women. The west is in the ongoing and long term process of assimilating the new cultural paradigm that appeared in the 60s and 70s and it will probably take another 150 or so years before some reasonable progress is made.

With the arrival of the Scorpio subage overflow in 1970, the bow wave of the Scorpio juggernaut continues to spread its influence.  However if you think that the revolutionary spirit has been a little subdued for the last few decades then you are quite right.  This is because subages have smaller periods within them called micro-ages.  Micro-ages are almost 15 years in duration (plus another 15 years overflow) and until very recently, the micro-ages encountered at the beginning of the Scorpio subage overflow have been conservative micro-ages (see figure 2).  

Figure 2 – the first four micro-ages of the Scorpio subage

The conservative (and stable) micro-ages belong to the Earth and Fire signs – Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn, Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. The conservative Virgo micro-age was in place from 1970 to 1985, followed by the conservative Leo micro-age (1985 – 2000) with both periods promoting stability over change but also enforcing the status quo as much as possible. It is only with the current Cancer micro-age (2000 – 2015) that we begin returning to the progressive but destabilizing signs.

Not only is the world returning to progressive micro-ages, this process is still accelerating.  The historical effects from any period associated with the astrological ages are always relatively sluggish to appear in a kind of delayed effect.  So while the current Cancer micro-age rules from 2000 to 2015, it is not until its overflow period (2015 – 2029) that it can fully express its Cancerian intentions. However a significant shift in gears appeared at its halfway point of Cancer micro-age in 2007 in its climb up Mount Cancer – and the current revolutionary fervor in the Middle East is part of this Cancer play (along with numerous floods around the world always associated with Cancer). 

Why the Middle East?  Each region and country is associated with an astrological signature.  One key component of any astrological signature associated anywhere where Islam is strong is the sign Cancer.  Islam shares the underlying commonality of Pisces with Christianity as both came into existence in the Pisces age (along with Buddhism).  However Christianity formed near the peak expression of the Scorpio age-decan of the Pisces age (8 BC) while Islam formed much closer to the peak of the Cancer age-decan in 713 AD (see figure 3).

Figure 3 – the age-decans of the Pisces age

 This is why in Islam their view of paradise is closely associated with rivers (ruled by Cancer), they follow a lunar calendar (the Moon is the ruler of Cancer), and many female adherents either voluntarily or are forced to hide themselves away under burkas and veils (Cancer rules shyness and places a focus upon women).  These are just a few of the major Cancerian associations to Islam.

With the revolutionary Scorpio subage overflow (1970 – 2148) passing over the Cancer micro-age (2000 – 2015) it is reasonable to conclude that Scorpio’s revolutionary archetype will marry with Islamic Cancer to produce revolutionary ferment in the Middle East.  But this is not the end of the story.  Within the Cancer micro-age (2000 – 2015) are three micro-age decans of Pisces, Scorpio and Cancer in chronological order with the Scorpio micro-age decan influential from 2005 to 2015, and particularly in 2010, 2011 and 2012 (see figure 4). 

Figure 4 – the micro-age decans of the Cancer micro-age

This little Scorpio micro-age decan resonates with the Scorpio subage overflow (1970 – 2148) to create a veritable Scorpio hotspot.  Hotspots, like their name suggests, are more potent than their surrounding periods in stimulating action outside of the norm. Certainly the unrest in the Middle East is extraordinary.

Nevertheless the kind of revolutions we can expect will not, as a rule of thumb, be focused upon violence but with a firm preference to peaceful methods.  This is because the world is in the early stages of the Libra subage (1970 – 2148) and Libra is a peaceful sign opposite violent and militaristic Aries. This does not mean that those expressing revolutionary sentiment will not use force, but their use of force will be in most cases be in response to the force unleashed against them by power-mad autocrats.  Lest you judge these Middle Eastern societies harshly for their despotic rulers, anti-democratic ways and highly visible levels of corruption, you do not need go very far back in history to find the same abominable behavior in western society.  For whatever reason, the Aquarian age has arrived relatively early for the west, but it still took about 500 years to ensconce itself in Europe – Europe was a bloody nightmare for the first 500 years of the Aquarian age.  So we should not be harsh in our judgments of other society’s shortcomings.  The only real difference is that when the west went through its democratic catharsis over the last 500 years, no one was sitting on the sidelines criticizing or forcing them to be democratic with a gun held at their head as the USA did in Iraq. At least with the current Middle Eastern unrest, it is the vision of the citizens that is demanding the change – not an outside entity.

Also see: SCORPIO – the Sign of the Times …. Revisited – Part 1 –Revolution and Tyrants 

When Will the USA Retreat from the World?

The dominance of the USA in world politics since the Second World War is clearly obvious. This coincides with a significant Pisces hotspot in the Pisces-Aquarian age (1433 – 3574) between 1910 and 1970 that strongly promoted the USA in the world due to the fact that the primary sign for the USA is Pisces. Recently chinks in America’s armor has all kinds of pundits and commentators predicting the USA’s fall from its exalted position – usually coinciding with the rising might of China. My soon to be released book on the astrological ages (see www.macro-astrology.com) compares the astrological signatures of China and the USA and how these two nations will weather the 3^rd millennium.  The USA wins hands down but China will most likely take the yin position to America’s yang for most of the current 3^rd millennium.

The most dominant sign in the 3^rd millennium is Pisces because the whole of the 3^rd millennium sits in the Pisces-Aquarian age that commenced in 1443 AD – and Pisces is the dominant sign in the Pisces-Aquarian age (and is also the dominant sign for the USA).  Pisces is a dual-bodied signs so it promotes dualities and polarities. For most of the first decan (one-third) of the Pisces-Aquarian age this duality has mainly played out in Europe.

Firstly the Catholic nations versus the new Protestant nations, then the various opposing blocs in Europe exemplified in the Napoleonic Wars leading into the 20^th century with Germany and its allies against the rest of Europe and played out in the two 20^th century world wars. Finally the short-lived Cold War expanded the scope out from Europe to the rest of the world with communism and capitalism firmly fighting for dominance. Since the collapse of the communist USSR and the arrival of capitalism into communist China the capitalist-communist divide has all but dissolved. However Pisces demands – as a rule of thumb – an ongoing political and cultural polarity in the world.

The strength of these political polarities wax and wane – within the Pisces-Aquarian age – depending upon smaller cycles within the ages. My observation is that that prime factor that defines these waxing and waning of  political dualities sits with the sub-age decans.  Each astrological age of some 2150 years each has 12 sub-ages of 178-9 years each.  Each of these sub-ages have three decans of approximately 60 years each.  These 60 years sub-age decans appear to define the geo-political reality in the world.

For example the bi-polar signs of Gemini, Libra and Pisces enhance political dualities.  The recent Pisces sub-age decan overflow (1910 – 1970), apart from promoting the USA, basically defined the rise to power of communism and its inevitable clash with capitalism until communism basically left the field of battle when the USSR imploded in 1991.  The current Scorpio sub-age decan overflow (1970 – 2029) is a mono-sign and so does not enhance polarities.  The next sub-age decan overflow is the polar sign of Gemini (a dual-bodied sign) with its full effect expected from 2029 to 2089. The world is gearing up to this new geopolitical reality and since 2000 the world has entered into a period with increasing Gemini influence – a kind of preparatory period for the Gemini sub-age decan overflow.

I expect the Gemini sub-age decan overflow will see the polarity of the USA and Western culture on the one hand and China plus Asia on the other.  This does not insinuate that this polarity will involve any significant wars or conflicts as the world is astrologically in the process of departing the multi-thousand years Age of Warfare. How will the USA react to this slow but inexorable rise of China as its sparring partner on the world stage?

The clue is the relationship of Gemini to the major sign associated with the USA – which is the sign Pisces.  Gemini stimulates the astrological 4^th house to the sign Pisces (Gemini is four signs past Gemini in the zodiac).  The 4^th house stimulates introversion, domestic affairs and avoidance of sabre rattling over issues of status.  This is a recipe for the USA to retire from its dominant role in the world and return to its more traditional isolationist approach to world affairs. This in no way detracts from its status as the age-empire of our times – it just means that the age-empire retreats to its own shores and avoids costly and divisive overseas wars or political turmoil.

The following sub-age decan after the Gemini sub-age decan overflow (2029 – 89) is the Aquarian sub-age decan overflow (2089 – 2148).  Aquarius is not a dual-bodied sign so it implies that whatever is behind the China-USA duality that exists for most of the 21^st century – that it will not extend into the 22^nd century to any degree worth mentioning.  Aquarius is the second strongest sign in the USA’s astrological signature. This indicates that this Aquarian sub-age decan overflow (2089 – 2148) should be positive for the USA but though evidence is scant – it also suggests that the USA will remain introverted or non-interventionist.  The most dominant micro-age between the two world wars of the 20^th century was the Aquarian micro-age overflow (1925 – 40) when the USA again retreated form the world after the First World War and tried to avoid international controversies – only to be rudely awaken in 1941 by the Japanese.  The sign Aquarius seems to make the USA orientate itself upon itself.

At the beginning of the 21^st century – with the USA engaged in two military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan – it seems inconceivable that the USA will not continue to behave like John Wayne on the international stage – shooting first and asking questions later. The USA has (as of 2010) been in its interventionist side of its nature for 69 years (slightly longer than the length of a sub-age decan). The astrology suggests that this has a time fuse on it (similar to the rise and fall of communism), and the USA is now on the countdown to returning to its isolationist nature.

There are astrological clues that support America’s return to isolationism. While Gemini is strongest in its sub-age decan overflow (2029-89), the embryonic Gemini sub-age decan arrived in 1970 – just in time to turn public opinion away from the war in Viet Nam. The next increased in strength for Gemini occurred in 2000 which witnessed the unprecedented mass opposition to the US led war in Iraq (and Afghanistan) by many former close allies and supporters around the world. The main support came from America’s core Anglo-Saxon allies – the UK and Australia. Here we are witnessing the whittling down of international support for America’s international interventionism.

The next increase in strength for Gemini takes place in 2015 when the Gemini sub-age (2015 – 29) arrives.  From around this date onwards we should see further examples of America’s deteriorating interventionist international foreign policy.  The arrival of the Gemini sub-age decan overflow in 2029 is the coup-de-gras. The big question is – will the USA’s retreat to isolationism be positive or negative?

I have made a big deal about the USA’s bi-polar nature oscillating between being interventionist on the world stage and being isolationist but there is another polarity associated with Pisces that should also be associated with the USA. Pisces is the ‘serve or suffer’ sign. Astrology indicates that it is not so important if America is interventionist or isolationist but rather whether it is serving (the rest of the world) or suffering as a consequence of not doing ‘the right thing’.

If you examine the history of the USA you will notice many examples of the USA ‘serving’.  The USA selflessly served liberals in Europe when it came belatedly to their rescue in the two world wars.  The USA also enacted the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 which basically protected the rest of the Americas from interference from colonizing Europeans.  The USA also attempted to protect China from the same marauding Europeans in the 18^th century.  Whenever the USA actually helps or serves it receives accolades.

When America follows its self-seeking policies or follows the demands of its industrial-military complex to engage in yet another conflict it is increasingly being jeered and even ostracized. America’s secret is not to focus upon the oscillation between isolationism and interventionism but to orientate itself to truly helping those nations, regions and people that need help.  Whenever America serves it reaps its benefits, whenever it follows its self-seeking policies (oil in Iraq) it suffers.  Once America suffers enough it will retreat back to isolationism – not realizing that the problem was not its intervention in the wider world, but its self-seeking intervention.

The USA is slowly on the path back to isolationism but this may seem far-fetched at this point of time. However there is a highly volatile micro-age that the USA must pass through between now and the arrival of the inward-looking Gemini sub-age decan overflow in 2029. The Cancer micro-age overflow (2015-29) indicates much conflict in the USA as historically whenever Cancer is strong there is much discord in the USA (due to Capricorn being the third sign on USA’s totem pole and Cancer is opposite Capricorn in nature).  For example, the last Cancer micro-age overflow coincided with the American Civil War.  The previous Cancer micro-age overflow (1687-1702) also witnessed much internal strife in the American colonies.

Prognostications upon the Cancer micro-age overflow (2015-29) must wait for another blog entry – but my instincts tell me that the USA of today will be very different to the USA of 2029. So while it seems incongruous that the USA of today will turn away from the wider world and mainly be concerned with its own affairs, after the tumult of the Cancer micro-age overflow (2015-29) is another story.

Will There be Peace in the Age of Aquarius?

 This week I received an email stating that the ‘Aquarian age will not truly begin until the whole of humanity is at peace’.  This is not a lone sentiment as many people look expectantly to the Age of Aquarius for a millenarian change.  Peace, security and harmony, for example, are all qualities that any sincere person would like to see manifest in this contrary world.  However will the Aquarian age respond in kind?

Peace has different meanings for different people.  For some peace means absence of war.  However if there is no war are people necessarily at peace?  I have also heard that peace is not the absence of war but a quality of its own.  In other words, someone can experience peace even in prison, the middle of a battle or war, but in a time of peace people may feel discontent.  This suggests that at a minimum, there are two kinds of peace, peace in the world, and peace within an individual.  My email commentator was looking for peace in the world.  However is peace possible in the world if people do not experience peace in their own lives?

In the early 70’s I had a reasonable exposure to the Hindu religion for a short period.  In the Hindu religion they have an interesting philosophy that this world is `maya’.  Roughly translated, maya means ‘illusion’.  This is not to suggest that what we experience, see and feel in this world is an illusion like a cartoon, but an illusion in the sense that it does not incorporate the ultimate reality or Truth with a capital ‘T’.  In the Hindu philosophy that I encountered, the ultimate reality is only found within an individual person.  This is probably the source of the urban myths of the states of nirvana, enlightenment or liberation.

Someone experiencing nirvana, enlightenment or liberation is like a lotus in a swamp.  The lotus is beautiful but exists and grows from the murky and muddy waters of the swamp, representative of the maya of this world.  From the Hindu perspective there is never peace in this world as peace and maya are mutually exclusive.  If the Hindu sages are correct, there will never be peace in the Aquarian age or any other age, but people can individually be at peace in any age.

Even if peace cannot exist in this world absolutely, the level of war, violence and mayhem varies over time.  Some periods of time seem less violent than others.  Some societies appear very peaceful while others are violent by nature.  For example before the Maoris arrived in New Zealand, an earlier group of Polynesian settlers lived there peaceably.  After the Maoris arrived these earlier settlers disappeared but a remnant group continued to exist on an island far off the east coast of New Zealand.  The whalers of the 19^th century discovered this remnant group and informed the Maoris.

The whalers subsequently took the Maoris to the island and the Maoris commenced killing the inhabitants.  The hapless inhabitants did not know what to do because all forms of violence was so far removed from their reality that they did not understand what was happening to them even as they were being slaughtered.  This fierceness of the Maoris’ saved them from defeat by the British in the 19^th century, and in place of conquest the British government entered into a treaty with the Maoris that continues to this day.

Some societies are comfortable with violence and other societies are not.  At certain times in history violence has been the dominant theme, while at other times a more peaceful existence ensured.  History indicates that the upsurge in war commenced about 5,000 years ago which coincidentally was aligned to the beginning of the Aries age in c.2916 BC.  Aries is ruled by the planet Mars, the traditional God of War.  Aries and war go hand-in-glove but Aries does also foster sport, competition, construction and achievement.

Before the arrival of the Aries age the world did appear somewhat less violent.  Historians have noted a general lack of defensive structures or armaments in Europe over 5,000 years ago.  This compares with the 1^st millennium BC where Europe was a series of hill fortresses on high military alert and there is wide evidence of swords.  As one historian noted, there is only one thing you can do with a sword.

Despite the lack of widespread warfare over 5,000 years ago, one of the oldest cities in the world is Jericho dating from 9000 BC.  From its earliest days Jericho was fortified by a defensive wall.  Obviously it needed a defensive wall to ward off raiding parties from surrounding inhabitants.  So even well before the violent Aries age, violence was still around, but historians state that it was not so widespread or as entrenched as later periods.

The arrival of the Aries age in c.2916 BC saw the arrival of mass warfare.  The Mesopotamians turned increasingly to war and the first empire gained through military means was the defeat of the Sumerian by Akkad under Sargon who reined from 2270 BC – 2215 BC.  From hereon in the history of the world is virtually the history of war.  At the end of the Aries age when the momentum of Aries had reached its full power, the little village of Rome was formed, ushering in a new age of war under the military-orientated Romans.

One quirky problem the Romans encountered as their empire expanded is that neighboring cities within the Roman Empire could not fight each other once they were incorporated in the Roman Empire. The traditional approach to government by the Romans was to allow conquered cities to maintain their own government.  However what these city governments wanted to do most of all was go to war with their neighbors.  This the Romans would not allow so often the sulky citizens refused to maintain their own governments.

The whole military and war momentum has continued in the world to the 20^th century but there are now indications that since the 2^nd World War the incidence of war has significantly subsided in the world.  Many people are not convinced however, but this is probably due to the unpainted wall syndrome.

The unpainted wall syndrome basically means that if a room has three walls freshly painted, and one wall in its original state, an onlooker will focus their attention on the unpainted wall.  If the unpainted wall is then painted except for a small one foot by one foot patch, this is where the focus will lie.  If this is painted but a mark or blemish is left in the painting, the attention is drawn to the blemish.

The unpainted wall syndrome applies to war in the world.  Wherever war, discord or military action appears, the media will focus upon it, and the general public will be made keenly aware of the effects of the war or skirmish.  The fact that modern media is incredibly adept at bringing war and conflict into our living rooms in full colour and in stereo increases the impact upon us.  But the fact remains that the effects upon the world by war is very small and shrinking despite the invasion of Iraq.

If Aries is linked to war, the opposite sign, Libra, should be linked to peace.  To a certain extent this is true.  This is good news for the world because the Aquarian age has three decans and the first decan encountered in the Aquarian age is the Libran decan – the sign of peace.  The full effect of Libra’s peace potential will not occur much before 2148 and the world may experience a mini Golden Age of Peace roughly between 2148 and 2863.  This may be peace on a relative scale (i.e. far less wars and conflict compared to the last 5,000 years).  But don’t despair if you are holding your breath for a more peaceful world – peace is progressively appearing, and the peace momentum shifted up a gear in 1791.

How could the peace momentum increased from 1791 when there have probably been more people killed in war since 1791 compared to all the previous wars in history with most killed in the 20^th century?  The answer is rather simple but overlooked.  If the world is to remove itself from its violent past, that commenced around 2916 BC, then some deterrent effect to starting wars should occur.  This is exactly what has happened.

Examine the following significant wars in the 20^th century which excludes civil wars, internal strife or border disputes as these types of conflicts have a different dynamic the internal wars usually involving throwing off an oppressive ruler.  After the war will be given the protagonist and if they won or lost the war:

1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War – Russia Lost

1914 -18 First World War – Germany & Austria – Lost

1939-45 Second World War – Germany, Italy & Japan – Lost

1950-53 Korean War – North Korea & China – Lost

1951 – Chinese Invasion of Tibet – China Won

1956 The Suez Crisis – UK, France & Israel – Lost War (won the military assaults)

1959-74 Viet Nam War – USA Lost

1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion – USA and Cuban expatriates Lost

1967 Six Day War – Egypt, Jordan, and Syria Lost

1979-89 Invasion of Afghanistan – USSR – Lost

1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War – Iraq Lost

1982 Falklands War – Argentina Lost

1990-91 Gulf War – Iraq Lost

2001 9/11 Terrorist Attack on USA  – Al Qaeda in Afghanistan – (Afghanistan) Lost

2003 USA’s Coalition of the Willing invasion of Iraq – USA (In Progress)

Based on the above 15 major wars or conflicts, but excluding the invasion of Iraq by the USA and the Coalition of the Willing, because its outcome in uncertain, the only war won to date is the invasion of Tibet by China in 1951 but even the long term success for China of this invasion is uncertain.  The moral seems to be that if you want to lose a war then start one including a pre-emptive strike!

This may be a bad omen for the USA in Iraq, but not necessarily so in Afghanistan.  The Afghanistan Taliban government protected Al Qaeda and while under this protection Al Qaeda attacked the USA.  Al Qaeda started the war and the Afghanistan government fell due to its support of the protagonists.

If there is to be a deterrent to war, having the protagonists continually losing the war is a good start towards peace.  The momentum towards avoiding war will continue in the lead up to the mini Golden Age of Peace forecast for between 2148 and 2863 but here is the problem.  The major problem facing the world in the 21^st century is not war but pollution.  Even if the world avoided war and conflict it could suffer far worst consequences from the effects of pollution and global warming.  Are we facing a no-win situation?

In the 1960’s and 70s the world faced the prospect of nuclear annihilation.  Now in 2008 the nuclear arsenal remains in place but in the addition of the ongoing possibility of nuclear annihilation, we are facing environmental annihilation in a worse case scenario, or significant environmental problems in a best case scenario.  What kind of world may be left when the mini Golden Age of Peace arrives mid next century?  Will there be peace because there will only be a remnant population left in the world following the disastrous consequences of environmental damage?

Are the Hindu sages correct?  If we want peace perhaps inner peace offers the greatest security and surety?  From the astrological standpoint the prospect of inner peace is currently at a peak due to Scorpio.  Within the Aquarian Age, the effects of the Scorpio sub-age are at their peak between 1970 and 2148 leading up o the mini Golden Age of Peace.  Scorpio is the sign that indicates rebirth, metamorphosis, regeneration and inner strength thus implying that enlightenment, nirvana or whatever is on the menu.  In any Scorpio period people feel vulnerable and lack security due to the instability in the world which is prone to cataclysmic upheavals in Scorpio periods.

The sign Scorpio indicates weakness on the outside but strength within.  The source of peace in a Scorpio period is within.  Maybe the path of inner awareness is the most reliable path to peace in this world of ours at this point of time.  If the requirement that the world be at peace before the Aquarian age arrives is correct, it is unlikely we will ever have an Aquarian age.