Spring Has Arrived and More

On Saturday, March 20, the Sun entered Aries marking the beginning of the new Spring season. This along with the increasing speed of Mars, as it begins to accelerate in its direct motion, informs us that after a long time of review, we are now able to being to move forward again. This will be growing in strength for the next several months as Jupiter is also accelerating as it moves quickly through the sign of Pisces where it will conjunct Uranus in Aries. In fact, what is emerging now for us, is apt to become very important in the coming months.

The sign of Aries is cardinal fire and archetypally is the ultimate in the creation of new cycles and new beginnings. Also, it is where we must initiate, originate and self-motivate. The willingness to face new possibilities requires courage and faith. Without this, Aries cannot thrive. It will become weak and even depressed, for too much safety can diminish and even damage the Aries gifts. Although Aries is focused on oneself and can be unaware of others in its considerations, this is not a bad thing, for self-sufficiency is the Aries way. Aries learns its lessons from doing, not from thinking or analyzing. Can the Ram get itself in trouble this way? Of course, but a few cuts and bruises are signs of a life well-lived and even badges of courage. Wherever Aries is located in our natal chart is where the newly emerging freshness and vitality is taking place for us. It is where we must learn to be a warrior fighting for what matters to us at our deepest Soul level. And it is something we can feel, for it is our Spirit that is guiding us toward a distant future. When we are connected to the Wisdom in us, faith ceases to be blind, but is an unseen, yet real force that guides us as a beacon of light that can lead us safely to shore. Feel the excitement of Aries yet?

Health Care

With Mars turning direct, the so-called death of health care reform that had been forecast during the Mars retrograde cycle, has been resurrected and turned into reality. There are a lot of reasons being given for why this has occurred and certainly how the American public really feels about it is yet to be determined, but the astrology of it is most interesting.

What has been propelling the desire to reform the health care system is the very unusual transit of Jupiter and Uranus in Pisces alongside the fact that with Neptune in Aquarius, a mutual reception is created between these three planets. What mutual reception means is that two planets are in the signs ruled by the other. In this case, Neptune is in the sign ruled by Uranus while Uranus is in the sign ruled by Neptune. Further, Jupiter in the sign of Pisces rules Neptune as well. This means that the planets act as if they are together and powerfully strengthens this planetary pair. Neptune is the planet of compassion and the sense that all of us are connected and need to be willing to sacrifice self-concern in favor of a greater good. The mutual reception I just referred to has been in play for the last several years and so has the issue of health care.

At the same time, there is a significant opposition between the planet of change (Uranus) and the planet that often resists change (Saturn). The way Saturn can work is to bring up all sorts of fears about what change could or might mean. It wants to keep the comfort of the status quo and so when they oppose each other it brings about deadlock and stalemates until finally the side of change wins, at least for the moment. Saturn basically says that what has worked so far, will continue to work long into the future. We see this operating in the health care issue as the passions on both sides have been and still are extremely high. It is my feeling that what brought this around finally was the Mars retrograde review process and the realization by the Democrats and Obama that they had to do something to show real results. The election of a Republican to the Massachusetts Senate, a very liberal state, was one catalyst as they saw that even their own base was unhappy with their not taking action. Another factor was, I believe, the unintended consequences of the decision by Anthem (one of the largest health care insurance companies in the U.S.) to raise the rates of its customers by 39% in California and other Western states. This action seems to have catalyzed many people while also convincing many undecided politicians that reform was necessary. When the enormous increase was announced under a Mars retrograde, I suspected an outcome like the one that has occurred. Mars retrograde is a terrible time to make this kind of announcement because unintended consequences and reversals are quite common at this time. I suppose that for those who favor reform, however, this unlucky decision on the part of WellPoint is turning out to be quite helpful. Life is often odd like that, it seems. Neptune rules the process of letting go or sacrifice of ego and personal needs in favor of something higher. It is the planet of mysticism. With it being so strong right now, many are seeing a need to cease the ignoring of those of us who cannot help themselves.

However, and this is a big however, the Saturn opposition to Uranus and the upcoming square to Pluto is creating an enormous crisis in this country. The capitalistic system itself is seen by some as being in great jeopardy. The hostility about this is enormous. Not only is their significant growth in the tea party movement but the intensity of the hostility is extremely high. An incident that demonstrates this occurred last week at a tea party rally where men berated and vocally humiliated a man with Parkinson’s who was asking for charity. They threw money at him, told him to go to the other side of town where people gave handouts and so on. The tape of this went like wildfire through the internet, demonstrating how high the passions are right now. And. the wife of Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, is involved in creating a tea party chapter herself. Sides are being drawn and intensifying while the truth is that the transit of Uranus square Pluto hasn’t fully begun yet.

Many of my readers hope for great progress in the coming years and though I wish that also, what I see for the U.S. is not consistent with those hopes. An example of what is coming is that already the governors of 14 states are planning to sue the U.S. government as soon as the Health Care Reform Bill is signed into law. The conflict between the two very different visions of what America is supposed to be, is growing and hostilities are increasing by the day. This is not likely to stop intensifying for the next several years.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this. If you would like to make a comment, I would encourage you to do so.