Weekly column: Analyzing the potential impact of Sun and Pluto in Aquarius

Review

“Fortunately, the Congressional Budget Office provides a monthly budget update and recently reported: The federal budget deficit totaled $509 billion in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. That amount is $87 billion more than the deficit recorded during the same period last fiscal year: Although revenues this year were $83 billion (or 8 percent) higher, outlays rose more—by $170 billion (or 12 percent)….Net outlays for interest on the public debt were substantially higher, increasing by $73 billion (or 49 percent), primarily because interest rates are significantly higher than they were in the first three months of fiscal year 2023.”

James Freeman, “If You Think Biden Is Unpopular Now… Wait until the reckoning for his spending spree.” Wall Street Journal, January 17, 2024.

Global stock markets were under siege early last week and then suddenly reversed, perhaps reflecting the switch about to take place this weekend as both the Sun and Pluto leave Capricorn to move into Aquarius.

In Asia and the Pacific Rim, it was a tale of two worlds. Japan’s Nikkei and India’s NIFTY indices soared to a new 33-year high (Nikkei, on Friday) or a new all-time high (NIFTY, on Tuesday). However, China’s Shanghai Composite fell to its lowest level in nearly four years, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell to its lowest level since November 2022.

All the indices we track in Europe were under pressure, with weekly lows on Wednesday, January 17. These were the lowest prices for the German DAX, Netherlands AEX, and London FTSE in seven weeks. But each turned around and rallied modestly into Friday, though well off their multi-year or all-time highs.

In the U.S., all three major indices we follow made a weekly or multi-week low at the mid-week but then rallied to new all-time highs on Friday. Brazil’s Bovespa followed the opposite course and fell to a 5-week low by Friday. The disparity in the regional indices of the Far East and the Americas is rather stunning and unusual but not so out-of-character when one considers the big switch about to take place with the geocosmics.

Sharp price swings were also the order of the week in the crypto markets. Bitcoin dropped nearly 20% from its yearly high of January 11, when the ETF bonanza was approved, to its intraday low on Friday. Ethereum also dropped over 10% in the last week.

Gold and Silver behaved a little like stocks at first as Gold dropped to a new 5-week low on Wednesday, the same day Silver fell to a new 9-week low. But both had decent rallies into Friday, though nothing as dramatic as U.S. stocks. Conversely, Crude oil continues to tread water in a congestion zone between $70 and $75. That is likely to change the closer we get to mid-April when Jupiter (co-ruler of Crude Oil) nears its 14-year conjunction with Uranus.

Short-term geocosmics

 As ever, saying what Mr. Trump would actually do is very hard: he has few fixed beliefs, is a chaotic boss and can reverse position several times a day. In a town hall in Iowa he said he would be too busy in his second term to seek retribution against his political enemies. That was a few hours after his own campaign sent out an email with the subject line: “I am your retribution!” Businesses often say that what they fear most is uncertainty. With Mr. Trump that is guaranteed. This unpredictability could make a second Trump term very much worse than the first. “Donald Trump Is Winning: Businesses Beware,” The Economist, Leaders section, January 18, 2024.

Pluto is back. And this time with the Sun.

That is, on Saturday, January 20, the Sun and Pluto together will cross the boundary moving from Capricorn and into Aquarius. It is like both celestial bodies are leaving the sign of the past and entering the sign of the future. In fact, the Sun and Aquarius both pertain to the future. This double ingress represents a potential “flip the script” scenario. Right now, the script that is heavily weighted in American politics is that Donald Trump and Joe Biden are the inevitable candidates who will face off again in the November election. Each side expresses an almost arrogant belief that this is a fait accompli. Yet, both of these men are aged (Capricorn), and both represent the power conflicts of the past (Capricorn) and present, but not the future (Aquarius). The majority (Aquarius) of Americans do not wish this rematch. Thus, if “the script is to flip,” this is the time for that dynamic to make its entry. This is a big deal if you are a Western tropical astrologer, and it explains very well the turmoil the world is going through. It also coincides with Pluto transiting near (conjunct) the natal Sun of Robert Kennedy Jr, Nikki Haley, Michelle Obama, and Dean Phillips. The Sun/Pluto is a crucial indicator of their solar return charts for this year. It represents exposure to power, as in being empowered or disempowered.

Pluto, the god of the underworld, symbolizing a force of power that can elicit emotions of fear and terror, is crossing 0° Aquarius for the third of five times between March 2023 and November 2024. But fear and terror are reserved for those who think they have power — relentlessly trying to hold onto it — but refuse to surrender it to advance the well-being of the collective (Aquarius) when reforms are clearly called for. Nobody escapes Pluto unscathed without an admission that change (reform) is in dire need of being put into action, of correcting that which is clearly not working for the betterment of the majority. The majority, the masses, are represented by Aquarius, so the entire world will not escape unscathed unless there is a major reform of the use of power on the planet. It’s a major battle for humanity’s future. Denial is not a winning strategy in a cosmic situation like this.

Pluto can symbolize corruption. But it can also signal an effort to get rid of corruption. And this is where Aquarius can come in and be a positive agent of change. If Pluto (the planet) represents the power to transform, then Aquarius (the sign) presents the means to do so via innovation and originality. The goal of Aquarius is freedom. It procures that by invention and discovery plus the application of a futuristic type of knowledge that benefits the masses, which comes from an innate understanding of what the world needs at this moment.

Of course, in the early going, this type of knowledge is revolutionary and, therefore, a threat to those in positions of power (Pluto) who are determined to resist change. Even worse, they may act violently against their real or perceived enemies in their quest to hold onto power. But with Pluto, surrender is necessary – and it ultimately comes or is forced – after which the promise of reform and freedom are realized. Thus, Pluto in Aquarius can be turbulent and violent in the beginning. But this is only the first phase of a purging process that leads to freedom (and reform) through the simultaneous themes of innovation and invention.

The importance of 0° Aquarius cannot be overlooked either. This was the degree of the “New Aira” (thank you, Kat Powell, for that), when Jupiter and Saturn conjoined on December 21, 2020, to begin a 140+-year cycle of the Great Mutation (Jupiter conjunct Saturn) taking place in air signs for the first time in about 800 years. Whenever an outer planet crosses this point now, an important characteristic of the New Aira is activated. When Pluto first crossed it going direct in March 2023, four major banks went under, and panic swept financial markets. But also, the excitement of the AI technological renaissance blasted off with ChatGPT and Nvidia. Now Pluto will go direct again over 0° Aquarius, this time with the Sun. It is time for Aquarian leaders to stand up, expose the problems of societies and governments, and offer solutions.

The Sun in Aquarius is never an easy trading period. In Aquarius, things don’t go according to plan. Markets can rally or fall sharply when everyone is expecting the opposite. Thus, we can anticipate the next month will not go according to expectations or current narratives. This means traders need to be very nimble, especially now, with the Sun and Pluto both entering Aquarius, but also next weekend when Uranus (ruler of Aquarius) turns direct. This is one of the strongest reversal or breakout signatures in astrology pertaining to financial markets. It’s a breakout if a market is near its yearly high or low. It’s more often a reversal if it is undergoing a corrective countertrend move. In politics, it means front-runners may start to lose momentum, and reverse their apparently invincible standings. Or, they can break out to even greater margins and never look back. It can be either/or, or both. One party may break out, while another may reverse. That’s why the next three weeks are critical for Americans who do not want a rematch of what happened in 2020. That’s why the switch from Capricorn to Aquarius could “flip the script” now.

With Aquarius and Uranus highlighted for the rest of this month, large price swings may be noted in technology stocks, like the NASDAQ index. It could also coincide with high winds, electrical blackouts, earthquakes, and other natural calamities. At the same time, it is favorable for those who are receptive to having sudden insights and innovations for a vision into the future. Timing is not always accurate and the ability to easily connect revolutionary ideas with others may be absent. Others may think you are strange and weird (maybe you are). But the vision may be very clear and exciting to the one who plays host.