Weekly Column: The economic recovery has downshifted

BREAKING NEWS: Shortly after the weekly column below was released Friday evening, “… the Supreme Court rejected a bid launched by Texas and backed by President Donald Trump that sought to undo Joe Biden’s election wins in the key swing states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The ruling dealt a death blow to Trump’s desperate and unsuccessful efforts to reverse Biden’s projected Electoral College victory.”

Review and Preview 

The economic recovery has downshifted, with job growth slowing and layoffs persisting at a high level amid rising coronavirus cases and related restrictions. The number of workers seeking unemployment benefits climbed sharply by 137,000 to 853,000 last week, the Labor Department reported.– Eric Morath, “Unemployment Claims Increase Sharply,” Wall Street Journal, December 11, 2020.

It seems to be a case of buying the rumor, selling the fact.

Stock markets were on a tear this past month due to anticipation of new COVID-19 vaccines being readied for release. Last week, many were approved, and some vaccine programs actually started, such as in the U.K. Many equity markets made new all-time highs again last week, such as in the U.S. and India, and others like Japan’s Nikkei, made multi-decade highs, right into our December 8-9 two-star geocosmic critical reversal date. But then the rallies on “the fact” started pulling back into the end of the week. Several even made new monthly lows, as in the DAX and SMI in Europe and the Shanghai Composite in China. It didn’t help that a stimulus relief package was on again (hope, rumor) but then taken off for the 19^th nervous breakdown of U.S. Congressional leaders, leading to the pullback in the U.S.

In other markets, Gold and Silver fell into our December 9 two-star CRD (critical reversal date) as heliocentric Mercury began its trek through Sagittarius that will last until December 20. Crude Oil continued rising last week to its highest level since the pandemic crisis low of April. Bitcoin continued pulling back all week following its all-time high of 19,929 on December 1.

This coming week finds the solar eclipse square Neptune on Monday, the day the electors of the Electoral College meet for the purpose of certifying the election results of the U.S. presidential election. There is some controversy over this, as I will discuss in this next section of this week’s column. This is also the week that Saturn and Jupiter ingress out of Capricorn and into Aquarius and approach their conjunction next week, on December 21. This is a huge event for modern-day astrologers. All this while the wild heliocentric Mercury moves through the wild sign of Sagittarius. With the eclipse in Sagittarius also in effect, everything emotionally is exaggerated, including hopes and fears. Striving to be objective and realistic is going to be a major challenge for many people right now, including world leaders.

 

Longer-term thoughts

Mr. Paxton (Texas Attorney General) argues that the four states (Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Georgia) have harmed his state and violated the Elections Clause of the Constitution by holding elections with major procedural irregularities. He’s saying Texas can be harmed by the way another state manages its elections. He wants the court to intervene and order the four state legislators to deny Mr. Biden their electoral votes… he wants the (Supreme) Court to tell state legislators to nullify those certifications – and then presumably, either hand their electoral votes to Mr. Trump or deny them to either candidate. But to take Mr. Paxton’s case, the Court would … essentially overturn the election results in four states and disenfranchise millions of voters… Mr. Paxton (is) joined by 17 other states and President Trump…– “Texas Tries an Election Long Shot,” Wall Street Journal Opinion Page, December 11, 2020.

“Let us call it what it is, a coup attempt with Trump working to change the outcome of the election and Texas leading the way with 17 states joining in a lawsuit to overturn it.”– Joy Edelson, Letters to the Editor, Arizona Republic, December 11, 2020.

I have a very close friend, who is a strong Trump supporter. In fact, I have many friends who are strong Trump supporters and many who absolutely detest his attempt to undermine/revoke/overturn the results of the November 3 election via the courts. Some people think Trump is the messiah (literally, we get letters claiming that), and others think he is the anti-Christ. But this friend always asks me if Trump is going to win these lawsuits and remain as President, to which I ask: “Do you really believe that?” To which she replies, “Hope springs eternal.” Ah, the wonderment of Neptune in Pisces.

I am receiving many emails from readers, newspapers, interviewers, friends, and critics who are truly concerned about the President and his supporters’ attempt to overturn the 2020 election on claims of fraud. So let me spend some more time here explaining it from the cosmic viewpoint as I see it because… you are interested in how I (and other astrologers, perhaps) view this from the cosmic perspective. This is my view.

President Trump elicits extreme reactions, which is no surprise to students of astrology. His ruling sign is Leo (ego). His ruling planet, the Sun (self-image and ego), conjoins Uranus (extremes), and he is born under a lunar eclipse in Sagittarius (exaggeration). We are not discussing a “normal” or “average” human being. He is located somewhere on the extreme that alternates between brilliant genius (Sun/Uranus in Gemini) and crazy, abnormal, dysfunctional, and disruptive (Sun/Uranus also in Gemini, involving the ruler of the chart). His niece, psychologist Mary Trump, describes him as the most dangerous man in the world, while many of his supporters believe he is the embodiment of the second coming.

But here – and right now – is when and where it becomes dysfunctional, crazy, and delusional for him and for the nation. Transiting Neptune – the planet of transcendence or detachment from reality – is making a T-square to his natal Sun/Uranus opposite Moon (lunar eclipse). He believes he won the election despite losing all lawsuits (so far over 30) due to the fact that he and his supporters are unable to present sufficient evidence of their claims of widespread election fraud (Neptune also) to overturn the results. Yet they continue to “believe,” as if their “belief” against all evidence (so far) to the contrary makes it “real.” This is the classic definition of a delusion. This is a classic expression of a mismanaged Neptune transit – at least until the reality conforms to the belief.

That so many people buy into this narrative-without-evidence – is reminiscent of the historical event I recounted in the Forecast 2020 Book under a similar long-term planetary setup in 2020 that is like that which unfolded in 1518, when the residents of Strasbourg were struck by a sudden and uncontrollable urge to dance. This “dancing epidemic” claimed the lives of hundreds of people who died from sheer exhaustion. They couldn’t stop themselves. They were obsessed and deliriously happy about…. nothing that actually happened or was real. The psychological break from reality spread to other areas of the region too. It was a strange exhibition of masses being affected by a strange ailment that no one could really understand, but it affected and alarmed many, even to the point of dying.

In the U.S. right now, transiting Neptune (principle of delusion) is in a very challenging aspect to the President’s natal chart, but it also makes a T-square to the U.S. founding chart. That is, Neptune is now in opposition to the U.S. Neptune and squares its natal Mars. The delusional contagion (Neptune in Pisces) is antagonizing the Martian dynamic (bravery, courage) of the entire nation. If you are for the President, you are asked to show courage and stand by his “belief” and make it your own belief, regardless of the lack of supportive evidence. If you are alarmed by the spread of this “belief-without-evidence,” you instead want your elected representatives to stand up and show courage and resistance to this mass hysteria, and you are disappointed in their lack of courage to do so. This is the challenge of Neptune in a hard aspect to Mars: to show courage when it is needed, to stand up for what you believe is right. Both sides are doing this, being called to do this, but one is obviously more aggressive than the other.

The expression of Mars, or “courage,” is being distorted by its inability or unwillingness to integrate with the principles of Neptune. When integrated, Mars/Neptune creates sensitivity and concern for the welfare of all. It is selfless (not self-centered). It works tirelessly to promote peace and healing. You find this setup in the charts of counselors and people in the healing profession. However, when distorted and in conflict, it can engage in false beliefs, accusations, and rumors that cause harm to others, lead to acts of anger (Mars), even aggression. It can symbolize an attempted coup d’état if carried out to an extreme, especially if Jupiter or Sagittarius are also involved (they are this time).

Is the U.S. possibly in a dangerous situation? Yes, it is possible, especially with Monday’s solar eclipse in Sagittarius square Neptune, the very day the Electoral College electors meet to validate the election results. This is followed by the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction on December 21. We note that Saturn moves from Capricorn to Aquarius on December 17. Jupiter moves  from Capricorn to Aquarius on December 19. And on December 21, the winter solstice, they come together at 0° Aquarius. That is symbolic of a big change for the future (Aquarius), but not a return to the past (Capricorn) or rejection of a vote by the majority of this nation –unless it can be proven otherwise. Jupiter and Saturn can represent a Supreme Court decision. Still, the decision is more likely to move forward, into the future, not backward into the past, and against the will (vote) of the majority (Aquarius) – unless it can be proven otherwise.

Jupiter will then advance to square to Uranus on January 17, 2021. These are two wild and crazy planets trying to work together in an atmosphere of extreme differences. This is also near the time of the inauguration (January 20). Could there be disruptions? It is possible. I also suspect the stock market will explode to new highs around that time or fall sharply then or soon after. Jupiter/Uranus is one of the most important – maybe the most important from a trading standpoint – of all geocosmic signatures correlating with stock market cycles. But it is not indicative of a stable situation.

We also note that January 17 is about midway between the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction of December 21 and the first passage of the Saturn/Uranus square on February 17. It is an explosive time socially, politically, and probably financially. It is a time of wild accusations and potential disruptions. But as I see it, the disruptions are not because the Courts have changed the outcome of the election, not with Jupiter and Saturn in conjunction. The disruptions and disturbances are because the courts do not decide to change the outcome of the elections. In true Aquarian fashion, they champion the vote of the masses, the majority – unless it can be proven otherwise.

How will it all work out? Eventually, I think it will work out and Donald Trump will not be sworn in as president, and there will not be a coup d’état, or at least not one that succeeds. Pluto transits in opposition to Trump’s Saturn. His role is ended, terminated, as President. There may be conflict, and there may be large protests and even violence between now and February, especially the week of the inauguration. This is not an overturn of the election results, but rather the start of yet another reset from the Saturn in the Capricorn era of 2017-2020, which itself was reset of the previous seven-eight years of Uranus in Aries.

Could I be wrong and somehow Donald Trump is inaugurated for another four years on January 20? It has happened before. Do the true believers in Trump know something that I don’t know? Maybe. Or maybe I know something they don’t know. The thing is, I am not drinking the Kool-Aid in this instance, in this analysis I am sharing. I am only reading the nature of the cosmic cycles as I have come to understand them in my lifetime. I think Jupiter and Saturn are very important in the next week, in the next two months, in the next 20 years, in the next 140 years. I don’t see them coinciding with a court decision to overturn an election that would disenfranchise millions of voters without ample evidence of fraud. This doesn’t mean fraud did not happen. I am sure it happens to some degree in every election, even this one. But I do not think there will be enough evidence to convince jurists (Jupiter and Saturn) to change the election results and discard the votes of millions. That would be so “un-Aquarian.”

I see Neptune’s position in the President’s chart and the U.S. chart as a “wish,” a “belief,” and for some, a “fear,” that it can, will, or might happen. But I don’t see it as reality. On the contrary, it’s all Neptune – an illusion, a distraction – where “hope springs eternal.”  But reality will end up in the here and now, within the next few weeks.

I also see it all behind us with the spring equinox that finds Jupiter in Aquarius on the Ascendant for Washington D.C. That is a symbol of hope, optimism, and freedom again, for the next 3-6 months. It addresses the needs of the majority of the population. Until then, sit back and watch the drama, or stand up and show courage (not anger and violence), and stay safe.