Short-subject Commentaries are posted on a single web page for each calendar month. Each new Commentary is placed at the top. This results in Commentaries appearing in reverse order. The Predicted "Break" Has Happened The January 26 Celestial Wheel Commentary, below, stated:
The State Of The Union Address The January 26 Celestial Wheel also discussed G.W. Bush, stating that from January 28 to May 24, his planetary cycles of Mercury/Mercury/Jupiter stimulate big plans. Yet, Bush's January 28 final State Of The Union Address, was vapid, or, as Froomkin of the Washington Post wrote on January 29, Out Of Gas. Seven years of Bush's lying still hasn't sunk in, or perhaps the media has just become a parrot. (If you doubt this, or have forgotten Bush's lies, read 935 Iraq Falsehoods.) The only way to deal with a liar is to reject what he says and hunt for the truth he twists or conceals. Well, Froomkin seemed to figure this out the very next day. That column, Bush Thumbs Nose at Congress, revealed what Bush is actually doing with his right hand -- permanent military bases in Iraq -- as he attempted to disarm everyone with his left hand vapid speech. Here's a New York Times editorial, The Fine Print, which concludes with, It is more evidence, as if any were needed, that Mr. Bush never intended to end this war, and that he still views it as the prelude to an unceasing American military presence in Iraq.
Saturn/Ketu Disease Although not mentioned recently, The Celestial Wheel has been concerned about illness brought by the August, 2007 through April 2008 Saturn/Ketu conjunction in Leo. (See the June 11 Celestial Wheel Commentary.) This results because Saturn is chronic illness, tail-of-the-dragon eclipse point Ketu dissolves, and the sign of Leo is ruled by the Sun, which is an indicator of the body. The longer transiting planets influence, the greater the head of steam builds. In the past week or so, there have been several articles about Bird Flu. Here's a sampling, Bird flue hits India as Turkey and Indonesia detect case A Pandemic That Wasn't but Might India swoops on homes in night raids to halt bird flu. Bird Flue Sweeps Indonesia, India, Tibet.
Clients have also experienced illness from this combination, for transits impact globally. In some cases, it's just recurrence of Saturn's chronic ills, like arthritis. For others, health is truly jeopardized. Overseas travel can be risky, and it's important to take care of your health. Certainly at the onset of any malaise, visit a physician.
Winter Storms Arrive This timeline, first published in the January 13 Commentary, below, identified a period of planetary turbulence beginning at month's end and continuing through much of February. That Commentary also described the impairments to planetary energetics.
The January 21 Commentary, also below, described the inception of these harms in the global stock markets gyrating on Monday, January 21. Responding to this emerging recession threat was the Federal Reserve's drastic drop in interest rates of 0.75% and the the government's immediate attempt to enact an economic stimulus package. Also notable has been the tough sparring by Democratic candidates.
Global Impacts
Predictions for specific events are elusive, but one can be made with certainty -- on January 29 something big is going to break somewhere in the world. As Mars is machinery and Mercury communications equipment, expect a major wreck or breakdown in a basic, or infrastructure area. Vehicles would be a natural risk, for Venus (vehicles) is afflicted by violent Mars, and Saturn aspects both of Venus's signs of Taurus and Libra. (Note: the Mideast and East are a half day, or more, ahead of the U.S. time zone.) As Saturn and Ketu harm the fifth house of investments and Mars the ninth house of wealth, there will be more panics in overseas stock markets, and Mercury's retrograde will make it very difficult to sort out the issues. The markets will also need, but not benefit from, government intervention because the fifth house is also government. Confirmation comes from the Sun, the planetary indicator for government, weak in Saturn's sign of Capricorn. The governmental Sun is further jeopardized because it is linked to mental Mercury in confused retrograde motion. Sun/Mercury ties the solar ego to the mercurial mind, narrowing mental vision and blocking out alternative views. Mark your calendar for these sensitive dates, for often one can dodge planetary karmas by avoiding risk. Certainly, this entire period is negative for launching new enterprises or tasks. There is a season for everything, and this season is for being quiet and circumspect. You may also be finding a physical energetic ebb, for Mars is energy, Saturn endurance and organization. Energy levels will not improve much for a while, and certainly the upcoming Mercury retrograde will mentally cloud whatever you attempt to accomplish.
Storm Impacts Upon The U.S. Chart
Aggressive and destructive Mars' greatest harms, however, are by virtue of its ruling the fifth house of investments and the twelfth house of loss -- and crossing over the four planet stellium in the U.S. seventh house of relationships during the next few months. This suggests the stock markets will continue on a rough road through the spring. Yet, Mars can also bring physical destruction, particularly on the above-identified sensitive January 29.
Can G.W. Bush Rescue The Country?
So, no, Bush can't help the country now.
The Presidential Primaries As first identified in the November 16 Celestial Wheel Commentary, the presidential primary results continue to favor different candidates. Fickle voting results because Mars influence upon Jupiter stimulates advocacy, Saturn/Ketu bring impatience and the Mars transit breaks long-standing seventh house relationships. A further issue in forecasting primary results is the lack of confirmed birth times for the candidates, particularly Clinton, Obama and Romney. It turns out that the birth times for these three came exclusively from Frances McEvoy, as posted on Astrodatabank, and Ms. McEvoy passed on December 10,2007! For an excellent explanation of this birth time issue, see Astrology of the 2008 Election -- Birth Data Problems. The Celestial Wheel has published few observations about the presidential race, in part because of the birth time issue, but one appears to be useful. The October 8 Celestial Wheel Commentary explained that applying the Baby-Boomers yoga, the candidates for the general election will be Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney, and Hillary will win. (The Baby-Boomers Yoga was identified in the February 6, 2006 First Baby Boomers in depth forecast.)
A Little Early -- But Right On Schedule The January 13 Commentary, below, predicted severe winter storms globally (figuratively, not literally), especially from month's end and through the first week of February. Areas of concern were: On Friday and Saturday, I sent subscribers email alerts about January 19, the beginning of Mars (being) weakly destructive January 19 to February 12, stating, tomorrow will likely be an unhappily stressful day in the world, and for many individuals. I did this, not just to update my prediction, but also to emphasize the upcoming dangers and losses are significant -- for it seemed subscribers were not really taking these cautions seriously. This morning's headlines, describing massive sell-offs in global securities markets, validates these concerns and serves as a wake-up call for those not taking heed. The Drudge Report said it best, GOOD THING IT'S A HOLIDAY! Stocks fell precipitously as investors found the proposed U.S. stimulus plan inadequate and worried further that the subprime meltdown was spreading throughout capital markets. The introductory paragraphs in the Washington Post article, Stock Markets Plunge Across the Globe summed up the issues,
Is A Recession Coming? The Celestial Wheel has forecasted economic harms since last summer, and most recently in the December 30 Predictions For The New Year. Whether the U.S. economy would slide into a recession this winter and spring was not predicted. However, as today's global stocks slide occurs just as the planetary karmas begin to worsen, a firm prediction can be made that the accumulated weight of adverse influences at month's end through the first week of February will trigger a severe economic retraction. Hopefully, this will be short, as the planetary karmas improve beginning in June. Of course, with the U.S. stock markets closed today, we won't know until tomorrow how U.S. investors will act, and whether global markets will continue to be depressed. Further losses appears likely, especially since tomorrow is Tuesday, Mars' day of the week This is counterbalanced slightly with the perceptional Moon full in Cancer. Certainly, tomorrow will be emotional, one way or the other.
Setting The Stage For Winter Storms
Winter Storms Approach As transits are like weather with a global reach, there is a bunch of upcoming and overlapping challenging transits that will bring substantial and repeated winter storms throughout the world. These will also naturally seriously impact many charts, both nations and individuals. Continuing the weather analogy, if a nor 'easter hits, all of New England will suffer -- but some people will find this a minor inconvenience while others will experience major setbacks and upsets. (Note: This same sort of concentrated planetary karmas occurred last winter, as described in the February 15, 2007 Celestial Wheel Commentary. LIke the actual weather, calm periods are interrupted by severities. If you would like to refresh your memory about last winter's turbulence, take a look at this Wikepedia page listing major events during 2007.)
These impactive transits include retrogrades of Mars, Saturn and Mercury, solar and lunar eclipses* and Mars aggravations. Retrogrades weaken planets' ability to influence. Eclipses, in blocking the all-important Sun and Moon, negate. Mars aggravations occur primarily due to its retrograde taking it to the very edge of Gemini at the end of January. (*Because an eclipse occurs when one of the Moon's Nodes -- in Vedic, Rahu or Ketu -- is close to the Sun or the Moon, eclipses are transits.) Here's the listing, and below, these dispositions are also visually displayed in a timeline.
How the individual planets operate and relate together is somewhat complex and thereby is best examined in detail upcoming Celestial Wheels -- to make specific predictions. Yet, some simple statements reveal fundamentals. Saturn's retrograde harms its capability for organization and brings losses and suffering. Mars retrograde impedes action and achievement and disrupts machinery. (I've been waiting and waiting for the computer tech and car mechanic to complete repairs.) Mars grinding to a stop at the edge of Gemini make it simultaneously powerful and weak. An analogy here would be that a sudden engine surge breaks the car's weakened transmission. Mercury retrograde brings communications failures and confusion. This reaches a peak on the February 6 solar eclipse, for then Mercury conjoins the Sun and is absolutely combust -- burnt. Eclipses, in their negating effects upon the Sun and Moon block the Sun's power and the Moon's benefits in life. Also, because eclipse effects begin about two weeks before the astronomical event and continue for a week or so later, this blocking begins in mid January and continues through all of February.
A Storm Prediction & The Mars Asteroid One firm prediction can be made now. Just a glance at the timeline reveals an intersection of all these planetary energies at the end of January and into early February. These will bring a massive and unexpected storm transforming landscapes ranging from: the political candidates, to real estate, to the securities markets, to the economy, to the Mideast to the Bush Presidency.. (Note: Considering that these planetary energies build up through January, some of the above areas are already affected -- Wall Street plunges on credit concerns.) Too, there's the upcoming asteroid flyby Mars, discussed at the end of the In-depth December 30 Predictions For The New Year. The above car transmission analogy suggests the asteroid would harm Mars in some fashion, even if it doesn't actually hit the red planet. Arizona subscriber E.J. excitedly responded to this prediction with this tongue-in-cheek comment, It's going to make the entire solar system wobble! As stated above, this forecast is applicable to world events and your to your personal experiences. How you will be impacted depends upon your Vedic chart. An obvious suggestion is to use care and be moderate in your activities. If you feel stress and you're already an astrology client, a quick Chart Update will give you specific cautions for and suggestions to mitigate harms. Alternatively, a Life Consultation will illuminate your karmic path during this roughness in the larger context of this incarnation's purposes.
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political candidates
Saturn retrograde December 20, 2007 to May 3, 2008