Watergate 2024: The Mayberry of Political Scandals

Posted on July 3, 2024 by ohioastrology

Folks choosing a feel-good movie after a long day may pick classics like The Sound of Music or The Lion King or a holiday classic like Miracle on 34th Street or a host of romantic comedies or Disney animated films.

During these tumultuous times, my feel-good movie is All the President’s Men. This 1976 classic details the investigative journalism that revealed the 1972 Watergate break-in and subsequent coverup that forced 36th US President Richard Nixon to resign in 1974.

For those lost in the multitude of political scandals that have happened since – “scandals” like much of life have accelerated in recent decades – Watergate is an industrial complex in Washington, DC that housed (and maybe still does, can’t tell) the National Democratic Headquarters.

As part of a general smear campaign against Democrats, on June 17, 1972, five men supporting the Republican party attempted to bug the National Democratic Headquarters and were caught. As they could be linked directly to the president and his “men” through a re-election campaign “slush fund” money trail, Nixon authorized a cover-up.

Two Washington Post journalists – Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein – worked obsessively to unravel the labyrinth of details and obstructions. Woodward has continued a journalistic career branding himself as the revealer of the secrets and behind-the-scenes machinations of the American political elite.

The Mayberry of Political Scandals

In 1974 Nixon resigned and many of the men involved in the Watergate cover-up were convicted of felonies, perjury and obstruction of justice. Many plead guilty. Many did time.

How quaint!

Today this seems like an episode of The Andy Griffith Show where Mayberry sheriff Andy Taylor is fair, wise, and eternally patient. Bad behavior is corrected through situational monitoring – his son Opie always learns by experience. And, of course, bad guys, when they appear, get their due justice.

Times have changed in America. We’ve moved from Mayberry to Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire. Like Byzantine history, American politics changes every day, every minute. It’s always a wonder to me why people (men generally) jumped into the extremely dangerous role as Emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

Power is that alluring.

In today’s Byzantine political climate, what would happen if a Watergate-like break-in crime were to occur?

Watergate Today

Let’s look at the major elements of the Watergate scandal and see how they might play out today. Cultural shifts are represented by the outer planets of Uranus (sudden change, technology, awareness), Neptune (idealization, spirituality, escape, dissolution) and Pluto (destruction, transformation).

Slush fund

Then: In 1952 Nixon was accused of having a secret “slush fund,” or secret money used for campaigning. This led to his famous “Checkers” speech. During his presidency (elected 1968), Nixon continued to maintain a secret slush fund which was tied to the Watergate break-in. At that time it was not a legal practice.

Now: In 2010 the Supreme Court case Citizens United allowed “corporations and outside groups” to spend unlimited money on political campaigns. Slush funds are no longer needed as lots of money and campaigning can be done on one’s behalf with full immunity from moral malfeasance. Nixon today could have been like presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012 and simply say, “I don’t know who these people are who are doing these things on my behalf.” Easy-peasy.

What happened? Uranus and Neptune were both changing signs around 2010. Uranus went from Pisces which dissolves into Aries which asserts. Rather than dissolving the slush funds, Uranus made the nebulous nature of campaign funding an accepted practice. Neptune moved into the sign it rules – Pisces. Neptune idealized the secret funding of campaigns – Citizens United is doublespeak for Citizens InTheDark. Uranus in Aries made it sound like people were “united” in supporting unknown entities with large pockets contributing to election messaging.

Facts

Then: While politicians have always lied and hid information, there was still a standard in journalism to provide facts to support news. If the news said that a man walked into a room yesterday, it probably did happen. Of course, there were times when “facts” were nebulous, like whether one lone shooter actually assassinated John F. Kennedy. But we do know Kennedy died.

Now: Journalistic standards have not gone away, they’ve just been buried in a pile of junk news that is pushed to citizens every day, all day. The politicians would like us to disregard good journalism as it’s counter to their own narratives. Like food, Pop Tarts can be a much tastier snack than carrot sticks. Americans may be trying to eat healthier, but we don’t think healthier. That may be a trend for Pluto in Aquarius that has just begun.

What happened? Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008 destroying and transforming government. While many would like to see government “destroyed,” it’s simply transformed into a different power structure. Pluto is about power and coercion. Government still exists but is now run by elites and corporations through puppet figures. Uranus in Pisces provided understanding of the power of technology to manipulate and Neptune in Pisces is bringing us a society that has no foundation of understanding with which to collaborate.

Pay phones and camera-less parking garages

Then: Woodward had a source on “deep background” in the executive branch who in recent years has been identified as Mark Felt of the FBI. Felt provided bread crumb trails that helped the two journalists down the trail of the scandal. To hide Felt’s identity, Woodward used pay phones and met Felt late night in parking garages.

Now: Today, where would Woodward and Felt meet to have private conversations? I’d say “nowhere” but there are probably people doing this today and not explaining the how or why of it. And one can turn off a phone and its ability to trace, but then later we turn it back on so it’s evident we’re hiding. Cameras are everywhere so there’s path that won’t be on film at some point.

What happened? Pay phones went away when hand-held devices became more prevalent as Uranus moved into “me” Aries and Neptune into Pisces. Pay phones also use coins which are becoming less and less available. Camera-less parking garages? Cameras seemed to appear everywhere during Pluto in Sagittarius when foreigners (very Sagittarius) carried out a terrorist attack. Uranus in Aries brought all the things government does in this regard to the individual level. You too can put up a camera! My neighborhood site had a posting recently about someone running through a person’s backyard. Today, everything needs to be in Pluto-in-Capricorn control and order. There was a time kids running through backyards did not cause great fear. Our homes were not fortresses.

Telephone books

Then: In one scene we see Woodward trying to find a person in all the phone books that are available on the phonebook shelf. Oh my, I think, wouldn’t it be so much better if there was an Internet where he could just find someone?

Now: Today the information is more easily accessible but also can have a cost. Phonebooks were provided to every household for free when landlines were prevalent. But the company providing them was a monopoly, so the cost was embedded in the service. Technology provides numerous points of contact with which to “monetize” an interaction so it probably costs more to gain the same information, although must faster.

What happened? Technology is still the big story as Uranus and Neptune had traveled through Aquarius bringing us our hand-held devices. The “monetize” part of the story is pure Pluto in Capricorn. Capricorn’s keyword is “I use” and nothing in the world, no interaction, should go unpaid. Neptune in Pisces has added the glamor of this monetization process where the Average Joe and Jane now dream of a Social Media Stardom.

Bugging

Then: Listening in on others’ conversations was called “eavesdropping” and considered a bad behavior and a crime. (For the visual, there was something called a “Peeping Tom” describing men who looked in windows at other people doing stuff).

Now: Pluto at the end of Sagittarius when some violent religious activities took place led the government to diminish civil rights and allowed more surveillance. It’s the old program of changing things when folks are in a fear state

What happened? Smartphones are “smart” not just for the consumer but for any “smart” entity that wants to get in and listen. Folks are more aware now that anything said on the phone (or text) is recorded somewhere as we see the results come back to us in social media feeds. Don’t believe? Give it a try but be careful. As with cameras, this is pure Pluto in Capricorn using, controlling and monetizing.

Watergate Lessons

What are the lessons of Watergate?

For the voting public, it was proof of the lies, misdemeanors and felonies committed by politicians. It was a big deal in 1972. Today, an ex-president being charged with rape doesn’t raise an eyebrow. The voting public went into acceptance. Technology assisted by providing so much stimulation, that distraction is a new norm. And even if one wanted to trace the lies and malfeasance created by politicians, there would not be enough time in a day.

For politicians, the lesson was “don’t get caught again.” The best way not to get caught is to change the rules. And the best time to change the rules is when folks aren’t looking because they are busy with something that is super interesting (like 24/7 feeds of entertainment) or something that is super scary (terrorist attack, spreading illness).

There would be no “Watergate” today because there would be no acknowledged crime; the information war about the crime has become the news.

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Hunter Biden for President!

Posted on June 13, 2024 by ohioastrology

This week President Biden’s son Hunter was convicted of three felonies related to gun purchases. Based on current trends in American politics, this makes him the perfect presidential candidate and a perfect replacement for his aging father: he’s young, vibrant, a gun owner, a drug user and now a felon.

Awesome! He has the perfect resume for “rebel-in-chief” – an American “culture code” studied by Clotaire Rapaille – and appears healthy enough to last four to eight years.

What astrological characteristics can Hunter Biden leverage for his campaign?

Hunter Biden Horoscope

Astrotheme provides a time of birth for Biden so I’ll go ahead and use that although it can’t be verified.

Born February 4, Biden is Aquarius sun and Venus with moon and Mercury in Capricorn. We’ll stop here for a minute. Four of the ten celestial bodies in the horoscope in Capricorn and Aquarius makes one what used to be called a “cold fish.”

Affection does not come easily to either sign. Share ideas, talk about daily life, explore opportunities for success, share information about the stuff you have or plan to buy but don’t talk about feelings. Conversation is best that expresses feelings the least.

As with all energies, there is polarity or the continuum of the energy. This makes every energy both an asset and liability, a blessing and a curse. For this Capricorn/Aquarius combination, the liability is in personal relationships where feeling is difficult to express.

The asset is that it’s perfect for what are considered difficult situations like rounding up the family and organizing a funeral after the death of a loved one. More emotional types might feel paralyzed after the loss of a loved one unable to act. Capricorn moon can control its feelings and move forward with duty and obligation.

It’s also good for business where the profit motive overrides other concerns and tough decisions are made that affect others’ lives.

So why is such a personality drawn to drug use as Biden has apparently been?

Drugs are different things to different people – and there are many different types of drugs – but for this type of personality drugs can help overcome natural reserve and melancholy. The drug Biden is accused of using is cocaine which provides energy and confidence.

Does Biden lack confidence?

Let’s move to Biden’s natal Mars in Aries. Mars is where we assert ourselves and it loves being in Aries since that’s what it rules. Biden is naturally assertive, that’s good. But Aries is square to Capricorn which creates the feeling of constant frustration with a world that doesn’t move fast enough. I’m guessing there are a lot of speeding tickets in Biden’s file cabinet.

Mars in Aries combined with the Capricorn / Aquarius energy adds to the “asset” side of non-feeling with the ability to do things like lead others in war where you can’t apply feeling, empathy or compassion otherwise you can’t do the job.

The liability side is that others think you are self-centered and do not care about anyone.

Natal Uranus in Libra opposes the Mars in Aries so there are constant challenges of Libra relationship against Aries self-interest. What’s occurring to Biden this week is exactly that. If he wasn’t the president’s son, but, say the son of a rich but relatively unknown real estate developer, this charge could have been avoided through money and influence.

But he is the president’s son so Uranus has come knocking (as it does for the common man as well).

Let’s move on to Biden’s natal Jupiter in Scorpio opposition to Saturn in Taurus. Today transiting Pluto is in Aquarius squaring this opposition making what’s called a T-square. Squares create tension. If Biden isn’t tense right now, then the feeling function has been snuffed out entirely.

With Capricorn moon and Aquarius sun, Pluto’s transit through Capricorn and now Aquarius means that Biden can’t escape Pluto transformation (and destruction). Pluto can’t be ignored. It’s already passed his moon bringing issues of emotional restraint to the surface and now will begin approaching his sun. Pluto is currently tucked between natal moon and natal sun. It’s a shadow over both, looming and threatening to take over.

But it hasn’t . . . yet.

The natal Jupiter-Saturn opposition involves the Scorpio-Taurus axis which is body, money and tangible items and in opposition involves lessons on sharing, self-esteem, intimacy and body image. In women I see “good girl/bad girl” issues here where natural sensuality creates feelings of guilt and fear of becoming a social outcast.

In men? Men need to tell me as society has been more accepting of male promiscuity than female promiscuity. But maybe inside they feel guilty and dirty as well. Women can feel like “whores” or “sluts.” Not sure if men have an equivalent inside image.

Upcoming Uranus and Neptune transits

The upcoming transits of Uranus moving into Gemini and Neptune moving into Aries in 2025 are positive transitions for Biden.

If the Astrotheme horoscope is correct, Uranus in the last degrees of Taurus and all of Gemini is a 12th house transit for Biden. The 12th or last house of the horoscope represents our subconscious or what is hidden not just from others but from ourselves. For Biden, it will lend sudden, intuitive insights into what lessons are being learned in this life.

Neptune in Aries will enhance natal Mars in Aries. Neptune in Aries will glorify and idealize things Aries: self, assertion, motivation, action, warriorship and possibly war itself.

For Biden, this may very well be a great time to run for president. These Aries “missteps” of today may very well become Aries ideals of the next 15 years.

It’s possible in future years we’ll see more Biden-Trump presidential competition with different, younger, second- and third-generation Bidens and Trumps.

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29 Degrees of Pisces

Posted on May 30, 2024 by ohioastrology

If I were a journalist writing about astrology for a cheesy tabloid and developing a sensational headline to sell thousands of copies, it would read “Neptune in 29 Degrees of Pisces is planning to swallow up your reality any minute. Hang on!”

But I’m not that kind of astrologer.

And what’s a cheesy tabloid? If you were just out of the birth canal and your momma’s first interaction with you was to take a picture of you for social media, you won’t know what a cheesy tabloid is (was). It was printed on paper and contained the crazy news of UFO sightings and famous women without makeup and genetically modified creatures and presidents paying off hookers and the first announcement of celebrity divorces and secret government plots.

Today that’s the regular news.

Then no one believed a word of it. Today we believe it all.

How do we know what’s true?

29 Degrees

In the 360 degrees of the zodiac, Aries is the first sign and Pisces the last sign. Each of the 12 signs spans 30 degrees from 0 degrees to 29 degrees (and 59 minutes and 59 seconds) when it then goes into the next sign.

At 0 degrees, the energy is “new” and folks with lots of planets in early degrees are like travelers to a new country, open to experience with a bit of naivety not understanding that you don’t eat cut fruit from the roadside stand.

With planets at later degrees, including the 29th degree, one has been around the block, seen a few rodeos, lived a bunch of lifetimes including some as monks in caves. Sometimes we call these folks “old souls.” They sometimes hide away, weary of life on earth.

29 Degrees of Pisces

Neptune, the planet that rules Pisces, has been in traveling through this sign for the last 15 years. It’s now in the 29th degree of Pisces and next year in 2025 will move into Aries.

What’s Neptune about?

Today I’ll quote Astrograph which has a succinct description:

Both God of the sea and the ruler of Pisces, Neptune finds exaltation in Cancer. Neptune, associated with universal love, is said to be the higher octave of Venus, which rules individual love. Neptune represents the universal ocean of oneness with all beings. Therefore, Neptune is highly compassionate, idealistic, and imaginative. It is considered a planet of inspiration, dreams, and psychic receptivity. Neptune rules spirituality, and all things subtle. The more negative manifestations of Neptune include deception, trickery, deceit, guilt, and addiction associated with drugs, alcohol, or even media and fantasy. Its position in a person’s chart would indicate where there may be confusion or illusion, and also great creativity in the poetic and musical fields.

The big earth news from the last 15 years is the rise of technology in daily life. At the end of this cycle, we now are told that we don’t even have to think, that it will be done for us. Yet at the same time we spent 15 years feeding the think tank.

Did we give our souls away?

Slot machines provide emotional stimulation by providing highs (thoughts and potential of winning) and lows (reality of loss and no money to continue) in a constant cycle of manic depression.

Social media can do the same.

Neptune and Pisces do not have strong emotional boundaries so often take on others’ energies or become a savior or scapegoat in others’ eyes.

While being a scapegoat is horrific, being a savior also creates unrealistic burdens which is why cult leaders get so destructive: the daily grind isn’t what a savior should be doing.

Scrabble

Since Neptune has been in Pisces there has been a lot more debate about what’s “real.” While news has always been questioned (and questionable) by those who consume it, today there’s no common agreement about the most basic of elements of 3D-reality.

Neptune is dissolving our shared agreements.

Which brings me to Scrabble, the great word game of tiled letters that scores points as you form your words against others’ words.

Many years ago I played Scrabble with the “word freaks” who have special Scrabble dictionaries which include “oe” or wind in the Faroe Islands, a word not at that time in the official dictionary. Since that time more and more word variations have made it into online dictionaries – language always changes so it makes sense.

Yet playing with a super competitive friend, I discovered that every utterance has made it into the online dictionaries. While that provides more options for the game, it has started to feel like any and every word was acceptable.

What’s the point of playing a game without constraints? There’s nothing to perform against.

If every word is valid, then no word is “unreal,” and our shared Scrabble reality – like other shared realities – has been dissolved in the tidal wave of Neptune in Pisces.

Related blogs

Neptune Spirits

Mutable signs dissolving in a glass of Neptune

Neptune the Metaphysical Fourth Dimension

The Green Generation Smokes Neptune in Pisces

History Continues Itself – The Opium Wars

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Jupiter in Gemini: Liver and Lungs

Posted on May 27, 2024 by ohioastrology

Rich in symbolism, astrology applies to the spheres of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual existence. The physical symbolism includes understanding of the body which contains illness but is not limited to illness. Astrology describes the relation between physical and mental/emotional/spiritual. In literature the heavy person was jolly – that’s Jupiter and Sagittarius. The thin, wizened taciturn character was mean or severe – that’s Saturn and Capricorn.

The body like the spiritual life can be ignored until something bad comes along then we want to eat healthy and perform spiritual practices. Like financial planning for retirement, the care of body and soul are best started when young.

Not a medical professional, I steer away from the health aspect of astrology. Yet the spiritual community and increasingly the traditional medical community are aware of the relationship between our mental, emotional and spiritual state and our physical state. Western medicine sees the relation between lack of social connection and ill health but not the lack of spiritual connection. It’s still a gap.

Spiritual health focuses on internal solutions and the physical health focuses on external solutions. Internal solutions are long and tedious but may be longer lasting. External solutions create immediate benefits but may not be long lasting and/or create dependencies and side effects.

Hypochondria, I believe, a Virgo trait that comes from overthinking. Hypochondriacs get ill, just like anyone else, but may have greater notice and response to the small ailments that more optimistic and jovial signs ignore. Lots of people ignore physical signs until it’s too late to cure or improve. Not Virgo.

Jupiter and Gemini

Jupiter just moved from earth sign Taurus to air sign Gemini on May 26.

The planet Jupiter rules the liver, the organ that processes toxins in the body. A naturopath once told me the liver rules “one thousand things” in the body. Listening to a Chinese acupuncturist recently, she described systems that might be called “liver” or “heart” but do not relate solely to that specific organ. Finding an abstract on The pan-liver network theory: From traditional Chinese medicine to Western medicine the liver is described as “the ‘general organ’ that is responsible for governing/maintaining the free flow of qi over the entire body and storing blood.”

Qi is the universal life force, a concept we don’t have in the West unless you’re a fan of Star Wars (“follow the force Luke”). Terms from other countries are prana (India) and ki (Japan – i.e., reiki).

Gemini as sign of the twins rules some “twin” body parts like the lungs and the nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic). Ruled by Mercury, Gemini is the sign of communication, learning, siblings, local environment and mental stimulation.

Jupiter moves quickly going through a sign in about a year – it represents things you remember at the end of the year as we celebrate a new year and reflect on the old. Yet what we’re seeing with Jupiter (and Saturn too) is that they transit a sign before the outer planets which a year or two later then move into those same signs. Jupiter and Saturn are like bridges into the large energy shifts that are occurring.

In a little over a year, Uranus will start moving into Gemini as Jupiter starts to move into Cancer. Pluto will be in air-sign Aquarius (and staying there) so that two of the outer planets are in air. Neptune will have moved into fire-sign Aries which trines the air signs.

In other words, the pandemic is over. Memories appear short in these times when we process more information in a day than our ancestors did in  . . .  a decade? A lifetime?

Healthwise the effects of those years reside in our livers and lungs. Liver – toxins physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Toxins in the liver create anger and in this small city on the globe, post pandemic there has been much flaunting of the rules if not the law (street racing, ignoring red lights, etc.).

On lungs, respiratory illnesses spread easily between the social human via kisses and hugs as well as speaking, sneezing and sharing food. As kids get the most kisses and hugs, it’s no wonder they are the spreaders of illness at daycare. And if you’ve ever been sober talking to someone drunk or paid extra to sit close to the stage on Broadway, you’ll notice a lot of spit.

During the pandemic, the outer planets were in earth (Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Taurus) and water (Neptune in Pisces). Earth and water are trine, they get along.

Now the energy is moving to the opposite – air (Pluto in Aquarius, Uranus in Gemini) and fire (Neptune in Aries) which are trine. Earth and water are introverted; air and fire are extroverted. The street racing has just begun.

La Vie Boheme

In the mid 1860s when Uranus was in Taurus and then Gemini, the lung illness tuberculosis was an epidemic. In the opera La Boheme (“the bohemians”) depicting that era we see the artistic life of painters, poets, musicians and philosophers. Creative existence is challenged by the realities of poverty and illness (tuberculosis) – air/fire vs earth/water. (The opera was adapted into the very popular Broadway play Rent and the song La Vie Boheme.)

Earth and water are most likely to pay the bills and stick to the family concerns for fear of loss of physical and emotional security.

Air and fire, in contrast, are less rooted in security and practical matters and follow ideas and dreams. They appear more faddish although in our social media age what were called fads are now common occurrences. Like air and fire, fads move and pass very quickly now. Who can even remember when kids were dumping buckets of ice on their heads? What was that popular diet everyone was on?

The movement from earth/water to air/fire can bring a new La Vie Boheme for a populace that has been taxed by too much earth fear and water heavy emotion.

And the pendulum swings.

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Fire Signs Have More Fun: The Art of Manifestation

Posted on May 23, 2024 by ohioastrology

About 12 years ago – a Jupiter cycle if you’re an astrologer or have been reading lots about Jupiter in the signs – I was sitting at a stop light returning home and an image popped in my mind. It was an image from my pre-teen years.

The image matched my then current reality. What I’d imagined so long ago I now had. It looked a bit different, sure, but it was the same idea.

This was my first understanding of manifestation. What I had at that time was not what I thought I wanted or thought I planned. It matched in quality the pre-teen image although the details were different because my pre-teen mind imagined the outcome only, not the road leading up to it.

Examining this I understood that I got what I truly wanted. From that time on, I’ve learned to enjoy what I have because at some level I’ve sent the message that this is what I want. If I don’t like it, I can simply change my mind.

In the last couple years, my lessons in manifestation have speeded up to the point where I mention someone’s name and the elevator opens to their presence. In this type of lesson, I’ve discovered the Buddhists and (and Hindus too?) are right – thinking creates reality.

It’s both an awesome and terrifying discovery. The resistance to it is that, of course, sometimes there are innocent victims, especially children. But in the big picture, this world we live in is a result of our thoughts both positive (inventions, technology) and negative (war, strife, unworthiness).

Fire Signs Have More Fun

If you’ve ever done a personality profile, you’ll learn about your strengths and weaknesses. Often weaknesses are considered “inferior functions.” Each type of personality profile uses different segmentations to analyze the individual.

Astrology has four elements which represent the opposing concepts of thinking (air)/ feeling (water) and sensation (earth) / intuition (fire).

In my early days of blogging, I considered thinking/feeling. As fire is my inferior function, I’ve just realized that fire represents manifestation. I’m learning about my inferior function. Intuition doesn’t entirely fit this concept for me. But, then again, spiritual ideas of manifestation are not held in the West.

As the universe would have it, I’ve been surrounded by fire energy since birth (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius). Fire, for those without, always seems to have something “happening.” It can be what earth signs call “drama” or what air signs call “fun.”

If you don’t have a lot of fire in your horoscope, the fire signs will seem to be having more adventures. They walk down the street and run into an interesting person that leads them to a life in a foreign nation. They sing karaoke and then are spotted by a talent agent. They are out of work sitting at a coffee shop and notice an ad for freelance, high-paid work. They trip while walking and see coins on the sidewalk.

Fire has more adventures because it ventures out. In blogging about Sagittarius luck years ago, I concluded that luck doesn’t happen unless like Sagittarius you are a seeker of new experiences.

Fire manifests. Manifestation comes from the heart (ruled by Leo). The “heart” in our daily lives represents how we feel, our joys and desires. If you believe you deserve a nice life with nice things but deep down feel unworthy with an indelible stain, life may not serve up nice things.

Fire more than the other elements can bounce back from perceived failures. The failures don’t go as deep as they do for earth (“once bitten twice shy”) and water (“why did this happen to me?”). Air can bounce back as well but may lack the inner drive of fire but gets along well with fire manifestation by providing the ideas.

Your Manifestations

Planets and houses in the horoscope are where manifestation is most likely to be evident although the entire chart represents how we experience life.

Do you believe there is something in life you want but never get? The horoscope can help dive into those subconscious beliefs formed in early years that are feeding the manifestation.

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Jupiter in Gemini – New Explorations in the Air

Posted on May 21, 2024 by ohioastrology

Today while driving I noticed a vulture high in the sky being hounded and attacked by a couple of crows. Bird territorial fights are not uncommon. The crows in my neighborhood often chase out the couple of hawks who hunt in the area.

While I noticed this fight, I had to quickly turn my attention back to rush hour traffic. Driving and bird watching are not companion activities.

The fight was high in the sky, unnoticed and unimportant to the busy humans below. How many bird skirmishes go unnoticed? It’s like an alternate reality, this bird drama. We pay no attention.

It’s so high in the sky.

The Shift to Air

Speaking of high in the sky, the planetary energies have been shifting since the pandemic when earth (practical affairs, tangible items, the body) and water (personal and collective emotions) energies ruled the skies.

Pluto is shifting into Aquarius, the fixed air sign. This faraway planet has been going into Aquarius and back out in Capricorn for the past year. Soon it will stay put in Aquarius.

“Age of Aquarius” was a song by the 5th Dimension suggesting love and peace will prevail. Aquarius is peaceful enough as it’s mostly busy with ideas. Love? Well, Aquarius is known for fraternal (brotherly, friendly) love but not the wet kisses kind of love.

Last round of Pluto in Aquarius 248 years ago was referred to as The Enlightenment and focused on human rights. Enlightenment came from ideas. Ideas also led to industrialization. In France royalty lost their heads while in Britain they merely lost their colonies (and their minds?).

Will this transit focus on the rights of man?

Life in the 18th century was very different than today. Is it fair to say men lived closer to the earth, in both good and bad ways?

Today it can be difficult to get a dinner companion to look you in the eye. We’ve moved from a life of sensation (earth) and feeling (water) to detached interaction often meant to create emotional reaction. We live more in our heads than in our bodies. This activity called “exercise” is needed because our bodies don’t always move around enough.

And like the vultures and crows, there are all kinds of objects and waves in the sky that we don’t notice in our busy lives like satellites and cell phone signals. And like the vultures and crows, they have lots of interactions that we busy humans ignore.

There are plenty of fights occurring today about body and land. But will there be fights about what’s in the sky? Will there be fights in the sky? Is it okay if a drone hovers over my backyard? What if the technology disturbs my body? What if I’m trying to find information that doesn’t want to be found?

If we did want to promote the digital rights of man, how would we communicate if the very platforms of digital are owned by private citizens? Possibly when Neptune goes into Taurus in 2039 we’ll go back to the printing press.

Jupiter in Gemini

And now comes Jupiter in Gemini in a few days – the red carpet for longer and more intense air sign transits as Gemini is the mutable air sign. Jupiter travels around the sun in about 12 years so spends about a year in a sign. After Jupiter leaves Gemini, Uranus will begin to move into this sign.

Jupiter – it’s about expansion. In most areas of life expansion is nice, like having a bigger house and lots of food. Consequently, it’s considered to be a benevolent planet that brings luck. For me, Santa Claus is ruled by Jupiter’s sign of Sagittarius. In fact, in mythology jolly characters are usually physically large.

And this is the other side of Jupiter – excess.  Too much food, too much spending, too much unhealthy physical stimulation and pleasure – Jupiter is known for this too.

Jupiter in Taurus has been transiting while Uranus is in Taurus bringing lots of awareness to Taurus property, body and where consumer goods originate.

In Gemini, Jupiter will expand communications, education, travel, social interactions and play. In other words, the post lockdown “Roaring 2020s.” Get your flapper dress ready.

Ruling adolescence, Jupiter in Gemini will be inquisitive and adaptable but not very responsible. This is a transit where we may learn all about cleaning up the earth, but not a transit where we wake at 5 am on a Saturday to pick up trash on the side of the highway. In adolescence we want to grow up, but we still have the last bit of childhood in us.

That’s not to say that Gemini doesn’t consider deep and serious subjects. Like an air sign, it sees lots of connections and is ever the journalist. But waking up at 5 am is different than thinking about waking up at 5 am.

Ruled by Mercury, Gemini’s mental agility is often faster than his fellow men allowing what’s called swindling. Snake oil. Con artistry. That sort of thing. The 45th US President is a poster-child for the negative but entrancing qualities of Gemini.

The Future is in the Air

As noted in OHA blog The Future is up in the Air, much of life in the developed countries is digital. Our days are spent looking at screens.

While the air signs – Gemini, Libra and Aquarius – would all be interested in digital life due to its highly stimulating quality, they are also social signs that like a good party. Gemini can have a conversation with anyone; Libra is looking for love; and Aquarius is looking for a good idea or reason to be with the group (it was probably an Aquarius who developed the T-shirt that announces your identity).

Yet digital life today provides greater and more constant stimulation than can be offered by a human or two; social media offers thousands or millions of points of stimulation. Who has a friend like that? Who has been to that kind of party?

If the future, which is now, is in the air, Jupiter in Gemini will continue the exploration of the skies of the mind. Maybe we’ll even learn what the crows and vultures are thinking.

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Ride the Astrological Cyclone

Posted on May 4, 2024 by ohioastrology

Watching the play Ride the Cyclone I was reminded of the play Forever Plaid. In both plays a musical group dies suddenly in an accident and has an after-life experience. In Forever Plaid a musical quartet circa early 1960s is driving to their big concert and is hit by a bus full of Beatles fans. After life they perform their concert.

Ride the Cyclone, I figured, was the modern version, with modern characters (choir group) who do modern things like question their sexual identities. The play is modern in this way and, to my surprise, quite astrologically modern too!

Ah, about time! The younger folks are getting astrology. I’m still on the earth. It’s a joy.

[Spoiler alert: below are descriptions of characters but no detail on plot or ending.]

Characters

We meet our choir group characters after they’ve lost their lives on a roller coaster called The Cyclone. As each of the six character’s life is reviewed, we learn his/her astrological sign.

Ocean

The first character whose life is revealed – an ambitious girl named Ocean – was appropriately assigned Capricorn, born December 22 in the very early degrees of the sign. Her first song (song list can be accessed from link above) is Life is Getting Better Every Day, a reference to her desire for Capricorn for continuous improvement for the climb up the ladder of success.

Success and its feared opposite – failure – is addressed in her second song Thank God I’m Not You where she measures her successes against the low-standard career expectations she has for her friends. Her friends, as expected, don’t appreciate this. Welcome to Capricorn snobbery.

Noel

Born March 5, Noel the second character up for life review, is a Pisces. While I thought Ocean’s Capricorn ambition was an accidental assignment, by the end of Noel’s revealing of inner fantasy I realized, “Wow, this is really accurate. Poetically so.”

Poetic and feeling equals Pisces. Noel we learn is homosexual and not able to express his yearnings in his small, remote town. His secret dreams are from La Vie Boheme (modern: Rent) and involve a dissolute street life in Paris (I think) wearing women’s black lacey undergarments while serving a customer.

Who would dream of that?

In real life, this not so pretty. In a Pisces imaginative life or reading about the Parisian artists of the 18th and 19th century a hundred years later, this artistic life of colorful characters, 148 proof absinthe and abject poverty can seem romantic.

Noel sings Bad Romance and a French Edith Piaf song that translates into I don’t have any regrets. For sad, short-lived, unfulfilled Pisces Noel, he doesn’t have anything to regret, regretfully.

Mischa

Next up, Mischa the Ukrainian who feels two things: anger and passion. He’s a Leo (August 18) – no surprise. Donning his hip-hop, rock star persona, he was full on center-of-attention Leo.

Our actor who played Mischa was very, very Leo – the sign of the actor. As such, I developed the common short-term theater affliction of having a crush on him. It happens all the time. They don’t know about it. Hurts no one.

Somewhere in Micha’s song and expressions he notes something to the effect that he hides his true, tender feelings behind the hip-hop persona. Leo rarely expresses the insecurity that can lie deep within. And in true Leo fashion, he was in love, had a fiancé. Death interrupted his plans.

His song list contains songs like Locked out of Heaven and Death of a Bachelor. Dramatic like Leo, but true.

Ricky

Until the time of his life review, we hear little from Ricky. He’s quiet. What sign is quiet?

Ricky, we find, is Gemini (June 5) which isn’t a quiet sign but one ruled by Mercury (communication). So why is Ricky so uncommunicative?

As a true Gemini (the twins), Ricky has a double life. One is on this planet, one not. Fireflies, Starman, Life on Mars – if you know a Gemini, don’t expect their “other” life to be understandable. Best let them live seamlessly their two or more lives or it will lead to untruths or unnatural silence.

Cyndi Lauper and David Bowie inspired Ricky’s off-world persona. While is purpose on his other planet is to save a feline race, he’s not really on a hero’s journey like Leo. He’s more like a traveling salesman/savior.

He’s quirky. He moves around. He’s Gemini.

Constance

Best friend – but we sometimes wonder why – of Ocean is Constance. Sweet, shy, and tolerant. She’s a November 14 Scorpio.

The playwright focused on the sensitive side of Scorpio. When we learn about her hidden feelings, we find the more intense Scorpio side. Good as Hell, for example, is her song. Scorpio tends to see life’s decisions – all of them – as serious as life and death.

Her friend Constance’s Capricorn snubs do bother Constance, we learn. And that small town she lives in – she’s not as happy, contented, and tolerant as she appears. Her deep feelings arise.

Passionate like Leo, Constance’s Scorpio side reveals as Just Watch Me Now.

Jane Doe

Also losing her life in the roller coaster disaster is an unidentified girl referred to in police language as “Jane Doe.” Unfortunately, her head was severed in the accident.

“Head,” I pondered. Aries rules the head.

Spot on here. Our headless girl sings Dancing with Myself. This is appropriate for Aries which rules the self, the identity. It’s the “me first” sign. Losing the head is losing the identity (today it’s losing one’s brand) which makes us dead.

Without identity, Jane wanders lost most of the play. Aries isn’t generally “lost” but I’ve never met a decapitated Aries.

Six zodiac signs

Another fascinating aspect of the astrological awareness of this play is that it contains six of the twelve signs but no opposing signs.

CharacterSignOpposite
OceanCapricornCancer
NoelPiscesVirgo
MischaLeoAquarius
RickyGeminiSagittarius
ConstanceScorpioTaurus
JaneAriesLibra
  • Ocean (Capricorn) and Constance (Scorpio) have an astrologically positive relationship called a sextile.
  • Constance (Scorpio) and Noel (Pisces) have an astrologically positive relationship called a trine (both water signs).
  • Mischa (Leo) and Ricky (Gemini) have an astrologically positive relationship called a sextile.
  • Mischa (Leo) and Jane (Aries) have an astrologically positive relationship called a trine (both fire signs).
  • Jane (Aries) and Ricky (Gemini) have an astrologically positive relationship called a sextile.
  • The only two “hard” aspects are Noel (Pisces) and Ricky (Gemini) who are both mutable signs; and Mischa (Leo) and Constance (Scorpio) who are both fixed signs.

In a horoscope we also look at the degree of a sign – it’s from 0 to 30 degrees – and look at the exact geometry of it. If we did that here, the relationships aren’t as exact except the two hard aspects.

Well done! Very balanced, very interesting. Allows each character its uniqueness.

Age of Aquarius Theater

As we age, our futures are shorter, so our interests often shift from personal identity and future opportunity to health, family, community, and any “bucket list” items left undone.

In my own experience, generations aren’t simply separated by time and different musical tastes – they are different realities. Older generations shrink in volume and media is targeted to larger segments of the population.

Expecting Ride the Cyclone to target a younger generation, I was pleasantly surprised to find accurate reference to the ancient art of astrology. It’s a play for youth and a play for 2000-year old astrologers.

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The Unbreakable New Year’s Resolution: Pluto in Capricorn Generation

Posted on April 27, 2024 by ohioastrology

Last week when the U.K.’s House of Commons approved a bill that would ban tobacco sales for anyone born 2009 or later, I so desperately wanted to provide astrological input. Why 2009? Make it 2008 when Pluto entered Capricorn: January 5, 2008, to be exact.

Why leave out the people born in the first degree of Pluto in Capricorn?

Like the rest of the Pluto in Capricorn generation, these soon-to-be-non-smokers were born into a world of increasing Capricorn-style structure and control. First (2008) came the global financial crisis and housing market meltdown. Toward the end of this transit (2020) came the global health lockdown. Surveillance (voluntary and involuntary) increased quite a bit during this transit.

And now in the U.K. Pluto in Capricorn can’t smoke.

Outer Planets in Capricorn

From the mid 1990s the outer planets of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto have all passed through Capricorn which rules social structure including rules, laws, governments, corporations, and ideas of success. Traditionally Capricorn is related to reputation. As a personality it’s a rule-follower and can be controlling. The United States has natal Pluto in Capricorn so is evolving through and with Capricorn energy.

Uranus brought inspiration and innovation to Capricorn (1988-1995). In the US we were in the second term of Ronald Reagan and deregulation and “trickle down” economics which now appear to have been “trickle up.” MBA studies increased.

Neptune brought idealization and glamorization to Capricorn (1984-1998).  In the US, this transit began a few years into the Reagan Administration. Stakeholders, stockholders, business plans and return on investment pushed aside any other type of civic concern. Charles Dickens writing in the mid 1800s on US culture saw the love of money. That hasn’t changed but during this transit “greed” became an archaic word.

Pluto brought destruction and transformation to Capricorn (2008 – 2024). While in many countries there appears to be government chaos, in 2020 the major governments of the world conducted a health lockdown at the same time. That’s a first. And increasingly much power exists outside of government.

Outer Planets in Aquarius

After Capricorn comes Aquarius which is group consciousness, shared ideals, futuristic ideas, technology and rebelliousness. While Aquarius relates to brotherhood, it focuses on the mental aspects and not always the physical or emotional aspects of community.

Uranus brought inspiration and innovation to Aquarius, the sign it rules (1995-2003). I recall the time during this transit where folks came up to me in the airport wondering how I liked my Kindle. The Kindle now looks as technological as a newspaper. Reputation became “brand identity.” Business focused on technology rather than products you can put in the cupboard. Innovative new business models were developed.

Neptune brought idealization and glamorization to Aquarius (1998-2012). The technology innovators bypassed the traditional power structure which had been based on wealth and privilege and became powerful through collecting, selling, and using data. These innovators became the new models of business success. Today it’s difficult to find an interaction that doesn’t include technology.

Pluto has just entered Aquarius. How will it transform technology? While we have 20 years to explore, there appears to be a cyber war occurring that most days is simply background noise. The large organizations like banks and governments are the defenders of our data – Capricorn. What happens if/when Capricorn subsides?

Pluto in Capricorn Generation: Don’t Smoke

While it’s difficult to defend the self-destructive behaviors like smoking, regulating addictions leads economically to black markets and if one bad habit is banned, when the rest?

If Capricorn profit is still the goal of our work activities, how do ban the product and leave the business? Do we ban the business or the consumption?

The Pluto in Capricorn generation isn’t yet old enough to vote so they must abide their elders and a lifelong New Year’s Resolution to not smoke. But as Pluto moves into Aquarius and this generation has more political rights, they may try to change rules they have inherited.

The leaders who thrived during Pluto in Capricorn need to be careful – telling Aquarius not to do something may lead to that the very Aquarian trait of rebelliousness. Remember that last time that Pluto was in Aquarius we called the era “The Enlightenment” a few old political systems were discarded for new political systems.

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Everyday Reincarnation

Posted on April 14, 2024 by ohioastrology

While watching an old BBC British mystery show, I was pleased to see the actor of a minor character who was being drilled by the Detective Inspector (aka DI) had risen through the years to be a DI himself in another BBC mystery series.

There must be a whole acting school in England just for mystery series. I often wonder if actors work hard to get these roles hoping one day for a long stint as a detective. The successful series can be ten to fifteen years running although some series swap out characters – something more common in British television than American television outside of soap operas.

Which leads me to a thought I’ve often had in media-land: how easy it is to recognize an actor, know he/she is an actor, yet seamlessly and easily adopt them as any character they are playing. We even give them awards for doing this. And we love them so much even if they play bad people.

It’s everyday reincarnation.

For entertainment it’s okay. Just don’t change on me in “real” life.

Everyday Reincarnation

Here in the West we are taught that reincarnation is not real, is not possible. Yet like death, it’s everywhere. In the natural world around us, death occurs constantly. So does reincarnation.

In the Western countries it’s common to work for corporations and change jobs at any time. Like the actors in BBC mysteries, I was fascinated, too, while younger and working in banking how bankers could come and go. One day you work for this bank and sell its products as being the best for your needs. Another day you change jobs and now that bank is the best for your needs.

Reincarnation.

Or we find the love of our life, plan a future and have intense experiences before it changes and ends. And then we do it again.

Reincarnation.

We watch it all the time, we do it all the time.

The Horoscope as Character

Reincarnation and death are taboo topics in the West because we have a strong sense of self. THIS IS WHO I AM. Death ends that. So does reincarnation.

When we change jobs and then tell our customers that this company (not the one I just left) is the best, then we are like the actor in the BBC mystery series playing a new role. And it’s completely normal and accepted behavior. No one questions it. It’s a job.

The horoscope represents the character we have come to play in this incarnation on earth. The horoscope is multi-faceted: often our consistency is forced because we believe we need to play the same character for our entire lives. This is what leads to what’s called hypocrisy.

The fixed signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius are better than cardinal and mutable signs at staying in one character which results in roles of leadership. Do you want to follow someone through the desert or jungle who seems to be one person today and another tomorrow? Fixed signs are focused to obsessive.

  • Taurus focuses on items of the world making them financial and business leaders
  • Leo focuses on self-expression making them actors and leaders of causes
  • Scorpio focuses on emotion making them strong religious, community and family leaders
  • Aquarius focuses on ideas making them leaders of innovation and technology

The cardinal signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn like to initiate new experiences with others on a personal or social level. Cardinal signs like to start new things in order to grow the self. Cardinal bounces experience off others in a personal or social setting making the character adjust to the environment.

  • Aries focuses on self-assertion and wants to be first in line regardless of where the line leads making it competitive for its own sake sometimes inadvertently becoming the follower it dislikes
  • Cancer focuses on personal emotions and likes to “belong” whether to family or other family-like group and will rarely disengage from an emotional source of energy creating dependency
  • Libra focuses on personal relationships and often takes on the character of the other in a relationship in order to form a sense of self
  • Capricorn focuses on social success and wants to climb the ladder, any ladder, as long as the climb takes them higher into levels of social respect

The mutable signs of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces are the most changeable and least attached to one “character” in life. These signs can be greatly taxed by demands for consistency and become irresponsible in the eyes of fixed and cardinal signs. By not being attached to one character in life, they are very creative.

  • Gemini focuses on stimulation, learning and growing which means that it is constantly changing character; does a seed look like the flower it will become? Do babies look like adults?
  • Virgo focuses on work, health, diet and pets and is the one who creates and follows all of the new work and health trends; as a sign seeking perfection, it’s rarely satisfied with things as they are
  • Sagittarius focuses on foreign and unusual experiences to grow beyond the personal and social culture and experience heightened sensations which can lead to wandering off from daily responsibilities
  • Pisces focuses on collective spiritual experiences and is your resident psychic or emotional antenna; sometimes Pisces is the scapegoat which allows us to see all the stuff we don’t like in ourselves pasted onto others
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Dissolving Saturn: Saturn in Pisces

Posted on March 9, 2024 by ohioastrology

It happened again today. It’s clearly a new pattern or trend and not a strange anomaly. A vehicle completely stopped at a red light decided to make the left turn.

As with the other few times I’ve seen this in the past few months, the vehicles were completed stopped. While I always say we’re most psychic when in our vehicles, there’s no way to confirm intent. From the outside, however, these recent scenes did not give the sense of rebellion or flagrant disregard of traffic rules. They seemed like natural responses that would occur had the light been green or we’d been at a four-way stop.

When I say I’ve seen this a few times, I am discounting the woman who parked in front of the grocery store entrance, having almost hit a pedestrian, and walked brazenly inside the store and through a couple aisles. She appeared to be under the influences of substances that do, indeed, separate realities.

What does this mean?

In the three-dimensional world, in this location at least, it means one can no longer assume that if one has the green light those with the red lights will stop.

In the spiritual world I hear that “timelines are collapsing.” While I’ve been trying to understand that, today the astrological significator became evident.

Saturn is collapsing.

Saturn in Pisces

Saturn in the dissolving sign of Pisces means Saturn is ineffective. Saturn, which until the Age of Enlightenment in the mid-to-late 1700s, was understood to be the last planet in our solar system, represents “last” in the sense of limits and boundaries. Boundaries (like don’t harm me) are enforced by rules. Rules are enhanced by systems such as legal systems and regulations. To enforce legal systems and regulations there must be a stable authority whether as government or tribal leader or respected elders.

Those who don’t honor social structures are boundary crossers believing that “you” and “I’ are one.

The sign of Pisces is just that – merging into the whole. Pisces as such is otherworldly, spiritual and creative. For Pisces not comfortable with these great gifts there is self-sabotage, self-pity and childlike dependency. It’s difficult to be “otherworldly” in the “world.”

Positive boundary crossers in the religious and spiritual worlds understand “we are one” to mean that harming others harms oneself. The golden rule of treat others as you want to be treated can be inverted to others will treat you as you treat them. These are the types that don’t steal your wallet. If your religious and spiritual leaders do want all your worldly possessions, read on.

Negative boundary crossers not motivated with religious or spiritual intent understand “we are one” to mean what you have I should be able to dip into. Your pocket, your wallet – I want them and will take them. These types feel owed. This may be due to personal unmet needs, open manipulation or societal discrimination that promotes negative responses.

Paying for services rendered isn’t a boundary crossing, it’s very Saturn. It’s an exchange of energy deemed equal, or at least as equal as possible.

No Traffic Lights

Traffic lights are definitely Saturn – limitation, boundary and rule. Pisces ruled by Neptune represents fog. If the traffic light is bathed in fog, you can’t see it. Likewise, if power is lost lights are out and humans must remember the traffic rules they learned in high school but have rarely used.

With Saturn in Pisces, it’s like the traffic lights are in fog or inoperative. It’s like they are not there, like it’s simply a four-way stop.

Does this represent different “timelines?” I suppose, if one timeline is earth bound and the other from a foggy world with no electricity.

As I age, I understand the foggy world without electricity. It’s the ocean, the great expanse of water that soothes so many a human soul. Who wants to sit at traffic lights when they are concurrently listening to the lapping waves and crying seagulls while submerging their toes in the sand and inhaling the salty breeze?

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