Australian Federal Election - November 24 has been called

Well the Australian Federal Election has finally been called, after what many have considered to be a long-running false election campaign over the past few months. Although I have been looking at the charts for possible election dates since earlier this year, I had thought the chart for a November 10 election looked very strong for Rudd. But now that the date is confirmed for November 24, we can finally examine the correct chart. I have learned from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) website that all federal elections start at 8 am, Canberra time (which will be AEDT). Casting the chart for Canberra, the national capital, we find 4º Capricorn rising, with its ruler, Saturn, at nearly 8º of Virgo in the ninth house. What is this event about? It is about the serious business of cleaning things up in our country, particularly our sense of morality as a people. Restoring accountability in matters of justice. Not backing out of our duty to stand and defend our rights to speak the truth.

In the blue corner, we have Mercury, the trickster. In the red corner we have Jupiter, the greater benefic.

While Mercury can be secretive, controlling and manipulative when in Scorpio, it can also be strongly persuasive and certainly unwilling to admit defeat. But in this chart, Mercury’s master, Mars, is badly (but prominently) placed retrograde in the sign of its fall; hence Mercury is not terribly happy either in how it expresses its Martian qualities. Mars is in the house of foreign affairs – a symbol of solar Cancerian Bush, the guy who has only had to say jump and Howard has asked how high? Mars ruling the houses of risk-taking and gambles, and prison camps?

Mercury is very close to perfecting a square to Neptune, and has recently been opposed by the Moon. And the Moon is a very strong one – it is in its exaltation in Taurus, and has only 11º or so to go before it reaches Full. The Moon is always symbolic of the people, the great unwashed masses, the vast sea of collective need. In Taurus, the people are strong, know what they desire, and are determined to have it. They have their minds made up. And they are about to demonstrate their power decisively.

Look at Neptune. There’s always something missing about Neptune. It gives things an aura, an atmosphere, a hint of something about to be but not quite certain. The sense of ‘things appear slightly unreal, things aren’t quite right in some undefinable way.’ Mercury is heading straight into square with Neptune, so Howard will struggle with his image, his ‘on the nose’ and ‘past sell-by date’ persona.

The Moon, however, has already perfected the square and is now moving on. The people have been deceived enough and are leaving it behind them.

At the very least, I think this t-square pattern suggests that Howard has quite seriously disillusioned the people, they are not willing to believe him any more.

Incidentally, the people are on Venus’ turf: a strong yet pleasant insistence on fairness and temperance.

OK, what about Rudd?

Jupiter is ensconced in its very own daylight domicile, beholden to nobody. Except, of course, the power that he is on the verge of entering. Its only aspect is the conjunction with Pluto. It is in the Sun’s triplicity (leadership), and Saturn’s term and face (authority).

But in the Twelfth House? OK, it’s a bit far from the Ascendant, and it’s in a different sign from the Ascendant anyway. So I don’t think it’s possible to get out of it that way. No, there’s just no other way to say it, folks: Rudd is in prison. But so is the Sun in this chart, the identity of the people, who they follow, the leadership of the nation. Almost like it is with Rudd that their sympathies lie.

Notice wi-fi iPhone iPod myspace facebook world-of-warcraft Uranus in Pisces, sitting directly on the IC (the people). And Uranus stations direct around 9pm on the night of the election! Do you reckon the people might be getting a bit restless? Perhaps in the mood for a change. A change that is yet more surprising for the media through which it is being propagated – no longer at the beck and call of journo hacks, people are sharing their own views directly with vast numbers of others on blogs, and telling each other the truth about how they really feel about things. This is such a beautiful symbol of popular revolutionary feeling.

Now the other interesting thing we can do, is compare this chart to that for Australia, i.e. the 1-Jan-1901 1325 Sydney chart. Let’s see where the chips fall, so to speak. And look at that! Rudd’s significator in the Election chart, Jupiter, is just under 2º away from conjoining Australia’s Jupiter. With Pluto sitting right on Australia’s Mercury (which is Howard’s significator in the Election Chart).

And the Moon in the election chart, is exactly conjunct Australia’s Moon. The people are deciding on their representation, what better synastric aspect describes Election Day in Australia?

These are strong suggestions of radicality in these charts.

Like so many have been doing in the last few months, I call it for Rudd.

The Jupiter-Uranus Square

A comment from Agent 12 about what's happening in Burma right now got me thinking about the current Jupiter-Uranus square. This has already reached exactitude twice, on January 23 and May 11, and the final pass will occur on October 10. As Agent 12 observes, in the chart for Burma (January 4, 1948, 4:20 am 6+E, Rangoon, Burma [16º47'N, 96º10'E]), Jupiter, which rules the chart, is placed conjunct the Ascendant in the first house, at 15º46' Sagittarius. Because the MC/IC axis is at 14º54' Virgo/Pisces, Jupiter closely squares the meridian. The degree of the final pass of the Jupiter-Uranus square will be 15º35' Sagittarius/Pisces, with transiting Jupiter on Burma's Jupiter, and transiting Uranus on Burma's IC.

Now Jupiter I feel shows the general sense of morality within the nation, the prevailing sense of justice, the sense of right and wrong, of just intervention by the gods, so to speak. I think Jupiter has a lot to do with politics, for this reason, and it is not accidental in this regard that it finds its exaltation in the sign of the Moon. Squaring Uranus, there is tremendous restlessness, a strong desire for change, a spirit of justified revolution. But it is revolution with a real sense of righteousness, of battling against the forces of evil, of bankrupt ideology. I think, given the fact that it is the closing square, there is also a feeling of 'last chance' about this time - a sense of having to kill something off, something that seems to be dead and needs burial.

So the alignment is fitting Burma's chart like a key in a lock, Uranus transiting the 4th cusp of the people, Jupiter transiting Jupiter, representative of the country's image, the monks and religious beliefs of the nation, and also the people (ruling the 1st and 4th cusps).

But it also made me think of current events in Australia too. In Australia's chart (1 January 1901, 1:25pm, Sydney), natal Uranus is at 14º19' Sagittarius, so it is being conjoined by transiting Jupiter and squared by transiting Uranus. In Australia's chart, Jupiter is ruler of the 9th (intelligentsia, media, judiciary & moral sense) and the 11th (parliament and political networks). Hence the almost unbearable tension at present in the run-up to the Federal Election. There is certainly, judging by the rock-solid polls all year, a strong feeling that there will be a change of government, but given Mr Howard's delay in calling the election, this seems to be causing considerable restlessness and impatience.

I will post a more detailed article on the transits to Australia's chart in November 2007 (when the election is likely to occur), in the next day or two.

Cycles of Pluto

I was reading about the subprime mortgage meltdown in the USA the other day; it sort of segued into a general read-up about the Federal Reserve and the whole notion of a private corporation charging the entire population for the privilege of using their banknotes. Apparently the notion of a private group of men who benefit from the financing of whole nation-states was seen for the con that it is as far back as the days of the American Revolution. Even Lincoln in the 1860s could see the threat of a private financial oligarchy, and was responsible for introducing 'greenbacks' as currency issued and backed by the government alone.

However by 1913, the balance of political power in Washington DC was such that enough politicians could be bought off to enable the passing of the Federal Reserve Act, and the establishment of a private corporation that loans money to the US Government, the Federal Reserve. In case you didn't know, the 'Federal' in Federal Reserve is purely an epithet - it is not part of the federal government, it is a purely private corporate entity that bestows to loan the people of the USA their everyday currency, at a price. If you look up the Federal Reserve in a phone book, it will not be listed under federal agencies, because it isn't one - it is entirely private. Why, you ask? Why can't the government just use its own power (as entirely derived from the people that it represents) to issue currency? The answer is that, unfortunately, we are not ruled by our elected governments (if, in fact, you can even call them elected at all); we are ruled by stupid, blind, avaricious men who have no insight into their ignorance. These men abrogate the power that can never healthily be utilised by a single person, they worship this power and sell their entire lives, their very soul, to the feeling of control over others. They never undertand the basic truth that power can never be possessed, like it is a commodity; power transcends our very individuality, it is a greater force in which we share, a power which we tune into from time to time to propel us through times when something inside us dies. As a result they, mostly unknowingly, inflict great hardships on their fellow human beings, for really no ultimate meaningful gain at all.

All this language is very Plutonic. And only next year, Pluto in the chart of the Federal Reserve, reaches its opposition to its natal place. The harvest is being reaped; the results are shown as clearly as they can be; the ultimate culmination of this energy is fully illuminated for all to see. People are seriously talking about a collapse of the dollar, a sudden crisis of confidence in the entire system of wealth creation, a feeling of having to start again with a different appreciation for reality (the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction at the Sagittarius/Capricorn cusp this austral summer is representative of this).

I always feel Pluto when I enter a situation where I am involuntarily moved to feel an emotion - it's like I'm taken on a rollercoaster ride of feelings, always frightened that I will be discovered for the weak, needy, gutless little thing that I am inside. Like I've had my clothes torn off me against my will. That's Pluto.

But why is it so intense? I think it is to do with the sheer immensity of the cycle which it sweeps in time; 248 years is a looooooong time - many times a human lifespan, and so not necessarily sympathetic to individual human concerns, like trying to stay alive, for example.



To illustrate the mundane application of Pluto's cycle, I have explored its complete transit of a chart using the example of the Act of Union of England & Wales with Scotland, in 1707. Now this is when the island of Great Britain became one legal and coronial entity, and hence I think is of immense significance to what we now refer to as the UK. Although Ireland joined with Great Britain in the Act of Union in 1801, to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, most of it seceded again 121 years later and became an independent republic, an act that Scotland has not experienced to date. For this reason, I regard this chart as a very good one to use for the present-day entity of the UK.

All cycles can be understood in terms of a simple metaphor, that of the four seasons of temperate climes. In order to understand this metaphor, it is useful to visualise the start of the year being at the vernal equinox, i.e. at the time when the Sun is crossing the celestial equator towards the hemisphere in which we happen to live. In the Northern hemisphere this is the Aries equinox, and in the Southern hemisphere it is the Libra equinox.

At the vernal equinox, or at least during the season of spring at which time the vernal equinox occurs, new life emerges through the surface of the earth as plants which have been quiescent throughout the winter begin to stir into life. This is analogous to the ‘seed moment’ of a cycle, i.e. the start of the cycle. When the cycle we are studying consists of two planets’ relationship with each other, this part of the cycle corresponds to the conjunction or ‘New Moon’ phase. In the context of an individual horoscope, this corresponds to the position of the planet at birth.

Ninety degrees further around the cycle, we encounter the opening square aspect. This is analogous to the summer solstice, the point of full flowering, the time when the purpose of the original seed is displayed for all to see. This is a time of commitment to purpose, in spite of changed circumstances. It is a time of fluorishing of life in all its colour and vigour, the peak of natural vivacity, the lush and fragrant warmth of midsummer promise. This corresponds to the first quarter phase in the lunar cycle and the first square of a planet to its natal position in a given horoscope.

Another ninety degrees further around, we come to the 180º point from where we started, analogous to the autumnal equinox. This is where the plant bears fruit, where it disseminates its essence, where its seed is dispersed, where it releases its very identity into the collective matrix. This is the opposition point: things cannot develop any further in a positive, outgoing, growing direction; rather, they must start to decline, to shrivel, to concentrate, to conserve and to prepare for hardships ahead. This corresponds to the Full Moon phase of the lunar cycle and to the opposition point of a planet to its natal place.

Finally, after a further ninety degrees, we arrive at the 270º point, or the closing square aspect. At this stage we have reached the depths of winter, the fallow, resting and preparatory stage of the life cycle. It is at this time that harshness of environment and the absence of life take centre stage. This corresponds to the last quarter of the lunar cycle and the closing square of a planet to its natal place.

As the depths of winter recede, we find ourselves back at the vernal point, where a new cycle of life begins again.

It is possible to examine the myriad other aspects which relate different stages in the cycle to the starting point, in between the four stages mentioned above, e.g. the sextile and trine aspects (60º and 120º respectively), or the quintile aspect (72º). However, for the purposes of this exploration of outer-planet cycles it may be simpler to restrict ourselves to the conjunction, opposition and the opening and closing squares.

Pluto takes 248 years to orbit the Sun. Unlike the rest of the major planets, Pluto has an orbit which is significantly at an angle to the plane of the solar system, and is more elliptical than the other planets’ orbits. This means that it tends to pass along some parts of the ecliptic faster than other parts. For example, it took around 10 years to pass through Scorpio (between 1984 and 1995), but around 32 years to pass through Taurus (in the nineteenth century).

The effect of this is that, depending on when one was born, the opening square, opposition and closing square of Pluto to its natal position may occur at an earlier or later age.

For example, an individual born on 1 January 1910, with Pluto at 25º Gemini will experience the transit of Pluto squaring its natal position (25º Virgo) in 1968-69, or almost at the age of 60. Contrast this with an individual born on 1 January 1960, with Pluto at 6º Virgo, who will experience the same transit (Pluto at 6º Sagittarius) in 1998, which is only at the age of 38.

This is a very significant observation, as it points to the possibility of more clearly distinguishing between psychological issues which occur at certain stages in the lifespan being related to astrological cycles, and those which seem to be universal life patterns. Further, it suggests that individuals of different generations may find that the archetypal experiences signified by these aspects mark their generations out in a certain way.

Back to Pluto’s meaning. Pluto represents the awareness of the universal forces of destruction and renewal which are at the very core of the fundamental mysteries of life: birth, biological determinism, genetic inheritance, reproduction, sexuality, death, collective power and social control. Perhaps a good metaphor for the Plutonian archetypal experience is that of puberty: one is forcibly pulled through a metamorphosis of body and mind, enduring changes which are both intensely compelling yet frighteningly uncontrollable, to emerge as the butterfly from the chrysalis – transformed and ready for adult life. Being an outer planet, this archetypal energy is impossible to fully harness or encompass within a single human mind or spirit – it moves through us at certain times and we must let it pass rather than fight it or attempt to possess it. When Pluto is strongly configured with other planets, events and appearances become tinged with crisis, with the emotional intensity of survival and animal instinct, and we become more conscious of how we respond to the flows of power in the social matrix.

At the opening square of Pluto to its natal place, the very essence of the Plutonian archetype comes out in full bloom – the individual displays the positive, creative and socially transformative potential that lies at the interface of the person and the society in which he or she is a part. This is the stage when the person realises and acknowledges the fact that society enacts its collective crises through individual people who make individual decisions about how they use their power to transform their environment. This stage of the Pluto cycle is the stage of recognising the nature of Pluto, of seeing it for the force that it is, of understanding the pervasiveness of the power to transform at every level of our lives. Once witnessed on this very personal level, it can be wisely understood and this wisdom used for good, or it can be misapprehended and used for purposes of destruction.

On a more immediate, personal level, this stage of the Pluto cycle corresponds to the dawning awareness that political realities, i.e. matters related to how power is shared amongst people, are personal realities, all the time, everywhere. Every decision made, no matter how seemingly frivolous, is gravid with potential ramifications on the lives of others, on the environmental matrix, on the future, and on our very evolution on both personal and collective levels. To come to terms with this reality is automatically to align oneself with only one of two opposite philosophical and ethical perspectives: to accept one’s place in the greater scheme of things and dedicate one’s life to helping humanity to evolve; or to assume that one’s own survival is of paramount importance, and any and all considerations relating to the rest of the species or indeed the rest of the universe, are entirely irrelevant. There is no in-between with Pluto, and at the time of the opening square situations tend to arise that will present us with this dilemma.

At the opposition, which can only be reached at a minimum of around 90 years of age, but can be as much as 190 years, the harvest of what was built and cultivated in the previous years is reaped. The true extent of the implications of what was started at birth becomes apparent. In the typical human lifespan, such events may not be readily apparent, but they be observed more easily in charts for mundane events, such as the inauguration of nation-states or coronations of royalty.

Looking at the transit of Pluto opposite natal Pluto for the chart of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in May 1707 referred to above (Union of England and Scotland, 12 May 1707 at 12:00 PM GMT (1 May 1707 OS), London, UK), occurred in the years 1780-1798, during which revolutions against royalty occurred in France and also in the newly-formed United States of America. In this example one could argue that the seed of consolidation of power in one monarch (in the radical chart, Pluto is in Leo) will inevitably result in the fruit of revolution from the people in opposition to this. It is precisely such titanic forces of immense power and collective will that take so long to mobilise and to disperse, that are symbolised by the long slow cycles of Pluto.

The closing square of Pluto’s transit to itself corresponds to the time when the impact of the destructive qualities of the Pluto archetype and the harshest circumstances of its reality become centrally apparent. There may be a renewed effort to re-vivify the ideals of the seed moment, to try to return to the glories of the past, despite an underlying deep recognition that this particular entity, idea or paradigm is dying, is decaying as all things naturally must do. Looking again at the UK 1707 chart, we can see that the last-quarter square of Pluto to itself took place in the period from 1866-1883. This was the period when the era of Pax Britannica came to an end; the long period dating back to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, during which Britain claimed unrivalled world power and prestige as an industrial powerhouse and naval force, came to an end with potent unification movements in Italy and Germany, and the end of the Franco-Prussian War. The effect of these events was that Britain’s role as sole superpower came to an end, and the age of the New Imperialism began, when European and American powers carved up the globe between them. Hence, we can see that while the political and royal entity started way back in 1707 was still very much alive and powerful - and indeed under Victoria its power was formidable – it was entering a period of crisis, a period of trying to hold onto what it felt was its natural dispensation, even though it was really the beginning of the end of that dispensation.

By the time of Pluto’s return to its natal position at 20º Leo, in the early 1950s, Britain was a different country altogether, its position as pre-eminent power ceded to the USA (and perhaps the USSR at the time) and its political culture markedly more socialist and less sympathetic to monarchical executive privilege.

What is the C*I*A?

The Cosmic Intelligence Agency (C*I*A) is a network of individuals living around the world who share a vision of the world soul, or Anima Mundi. Agents of the C*I*A are committed to raising consciousness of universal forces at play in our everyday world, forces which can be observed in the ceaseless cyclic movements of the cosmos. The logo for the C*I*A is shown above. Please visit the central C*I*A website by clicking on the link to the right, and feel free to get in touch and get involved in advancing the cosmic perspective!

Libra Equinox 2007

Ingress charts for the solstices and equinoxes are very rewarding to explore. For me, each of the four charts for each year are used to have a look at what's happening around that time, as well as giving us some ideas about where things might lead in the subsequent 3 months. I know other people use the Aries Ingress or Capricorn ingress for the whole year, but I like the non-hemispherist utility of using all 4 charts.

Mars rules the chart – this is a season of conflict. The Mars opposition to Pluto is only a degree past exact, and squares the Sun. Power struggles big time! Notice the close air trine from Mars to Mercury (involving sextile to Pluto) – vigorous debate, about non-trivial things, things of great significance that people feel instinctively about. Mercury is right at the Descendant, suggesting that the debate is surrounding foreign affairs and relationships with other countries.

The grand air trine between Mars, Mercury and Neptune is the intoxicating entertainment spectacular that the election campaign and the election itself will become on the airways and internet.

Jupiter is approaching the square of Uranus, only less than 3 degrees out. There is certainly impatience with the apparently slow speed of progress. It is a rather explosive and unstable pattern. Yet the Part of Fortune is wth Jupiter, which is powerful in its own sign. Jupiter rules 9 and 12, so it stands for the media, the intelligentsia, the moral authorities, as well as the secret services and carceral institutions. Considered opinion favours change, but seems to be insistent on laying something to rest.

Venus opposes Neptune. Venus, being Lord 2 & 7, is the treasury and foreign nations. Now Venus has fairly recently turned direct (9-Sep-2007 at 2:14 am AEST) and hence finance and foreign affairs should improve, but it is still only just separating from that opposition. Now with Venus being in 4, this suggests the big-bucks boys and the foreigners are right in our own back yard, but opposed Neptune there’s something glitzy and unreal about it – it’s all a bit fake. With the perfection of the aspect now passed, and Venus having just stationed direct, I suggest this is the image of the APEC summit, now just past.

The people, represented doubly by the Moon (the natural significator as well as Lord 4), are in the mood for politics (in Aquarius), but they’re looking to be inspired and possibly deceived.

Mr Howard is represented by Saturn, modelling himself in a Virgo-practical grey-brown waterproof overcoat in front of the Opera House. What better location for 5th house symbolism? With the South Node, Howard is representative of the past. Unaspected, Saturn is disconnected from what’s really going on.

Mr Rudd is represented by the Moon. Cosying up to Neptune in the house of government, Rudd is certainly popular and probably seen as a bit of a saviour by a lot of people, but perhaps deceptive and untrustworthy by others. The Moon is in Saturn’s territory – Rudd is confidently projecting himself as PM-in-waiting.

The Beginning...

Well you've got to start somewhere and sometime.

What is really going on out there? What are the essential changes, beneath the world of appearances? What tale do you see being told right now? Mundane astrology has always fascinated me the most. It is to imagine the whole world as an organism, its rhythmic life processes rippling around the sphere like waves of excitation in neural tissue. It is to observe the ebbs and flows in the tidal waters of the world soul, the Anima Mundi.

Stay tuned - I will post soon about the Libra Equinox.

ThirtySeven