Here's another message from my colleague PMH Atwater (see August 31), on how astrology is figuring into our growth process these days. I always like to see how unseen forces might be affecting us. . .
What is so special about all of 2006, 2007, and 2008 is the continuous and intense interplay between Pluto and the Galactic Center, along with a parade of strong, heavy configurations of various types that leave us with little time to recover before another rolls in. Exhaustion and depression have been common complaints. It's like we the people are constrained to simply run in place, even when it seems like we are making progress. Add to this the downturn in our country's energy factors and our place in the world (progressed Mars now retrograde in our nation's chart — for 70 years!) along with another major downturn in our nation's chart to occur one month after the elections in 2008, and you can see that it really doesn't matter who wins the Presidency. What does matter is that the average John and Jane Doe wake up to the fact that this is our country and it is us who must change it.
On September 2nd, Saturn made its initial move into the sign of Virgo, an earth sign, and will be there for 2 1/2 years. Virgo is business, jobs, education, health, that which is practical and down-to earth. Saturn says "get real." So what are we seeing, right on cue? Mortgages and mortgage brokers failing at a rate that is unbelievable and the economy in such an unusual slump that it is virtually in recession. Toys are jerked from shelves; food is proving unsafe. No matter were you turn in the practical, physical world around you, there's another challenge — another opportunity to reassess, revamp, and reconsider. We knew this was coming, and we were right — it's here. And, Pluto begins its shift into Capricorn — January 2008 until January 2024. That's a long run, one which will take us from a focus on freedom, inspiration, religion, spirituality, imagination, intuition, the arts, gambling, and world travel to quite a different factor — one centered on banks and banking, politics, government, corporations, big business, earth changes, security, status, achievements, sacrifice, and nationalism. (Take a look at what's happening already in Russia with the rise of the Nashi — young people encouraged by Putkin to act in a manner similar to the Nazi Brown Shirts before Hitler took over.)
These movements are part of the larger movement in our universe, called "The Great Shifting," where the cosmic year does a complete roll-over, ushering in a whole new 25,920-year cycle. We really cannot compare what is now happening in the energy world and directly affecting us, to anything else we have record of. We can get hints from the geological "record" and from memories encoded into each of our dreams and hearts, but, that's about it. Yes, the activity between Pluto and the Galactic Center, not to mention T-Squares and other strong configurations, have been unusually intense throughout this entire summer, right now, next month, and again in December, and, yes, next year will be another "doosy." Where we kid ourselves is in seeking predictions instead of waking up to the order of the day, which says "be in your center — practice what you preach — and be flexible and ready to change on a dime."
Every natural cycle, in my opinion, is in good timing. We become ready for what a new phase brings because it comes. There is a synchronicity here, and it is good to know the general flavor of a new phase, both the positive aspects and what is likely to happen as fear distorts the tendencies. We can be ready for real action, we can be on the lookout for people who want to control others with their belief systems (aren't we already seeing this in our current administration?). We may soon be seeing the real loss of external freedoms, the trashing of our constitution, at the need to fight within our own country for what we came into existence to embody. Certainly, this is no time to be asleep!
