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#72

Through The Second Gilded Age

December 1, 2007

Peering Into The Far Future

     This is a periodic In-depth Forecast, originally intended to analyze the U.S. chart's prospects for the final year of this 10 year Second Gilded Age.  That final year coincidentally begins today, December 1.   It is the first In-depth since the June 3, 2007 Bush Presidency Update. 

     However, as often occurs when unveiling hidden karmic currents, results did not match the hypothesis -- that the U.S. economy will likely collapse during the next twelve months.  Instead, the research lead to a different scenario, one in which the U.S. survives this Second Gilded Age -- only to later fall into a severe depression resulting from Gilded Age excesses.

      Digressing briefly back to the Bush Presidency Update , that forecast correctly predicted Bush's precipitous popularity drop in June and July, and his approval level remains at that low ebb.  Bush's losses last June and July reflect the long-suffering public finally and firmly rejecting his seven year power grab and oft demonstrated incompetence.  This Second Gilded Age, courtesy of the Bush administration, has poisoned the sweet well of capitalist democracy and stimulated a failed attempt at international hegemony via a faked War On Terror.   Now, Bush's shrunken stature at home and abroad, together with adverse planetary influences in his Vedic chart, prevent him from saving himself.  A short man who digs a deep hole cannot climb out. 

     The U.S. chart's 10 year Moon cycle, beginning December 1, 1998, with its characterizing intoxication with power, brought the Second Gilded Age,   At home, the label fits with Bush's huge tax cuts for the rich, greed creating the real estate debacle, government corruption, abusive business practices, huge imports and massive illegal immigration -- undermining the middle and lower classes.  Abroad, Bush's attempts to dominate the world via his War On Terror, resulted in two failed wars, the threat of a third (Iran), horrific borrowing (to finance these misadventures, tax cuts and imports), a tripling of oil prices and the consequent evaporation of global support and trust -- including for the dollar.  These international failures, of course, only make the domestic situation worse in this age of globalization.  

     It is important to note, however, that G.W. Bush didn't bring this Second Gilded age but rather he is a product of it.  So, if it hadn't been Bush, another Republican President of similar ilk would have come.  However, it is worthwhile noting Bush fits the mold particularly well -- the U.S. chart and Bush's chart both have the material Moon in the third house of desires -- stimulating this intoxication with power. that overrides America's trademark shared democratic values. 

Vedic Dasas

     There's a final Vedic Astrology consideration to describe before launching into the U.S. chart analysis.  As most subscribers should understand by now, a Vedic chart's Dasas (planetary cycles)* are the underlying karma, the river of life -- down which the chart owner travels in his lifeboat.  (Transits are the positions of the planets in current skies.  These are secondary karmas and influence like weather events on the Dasa river.)

     This forecast focuses upon the Dasas to offer a broad and long term overview of the U.S. river of life during this last year of the Second Gilded Age, and what lies ahead in the upcoming seven year Mars Dasa.

(*There are five levels of Dasa planets, each shorter, less impactive and influencing the Dasa planets above it.  The major Dasa planet cycle runs from 6 to 20 years, the minor planet lasts a year or two, the second minor planet runs a few months, the third minor level planet lasts a weeks, the fourth level planet runs for days.)    

The U.S. Second Gilded Age

     Those exhaustive surveys of U.S. history through the Dasas identify how the planets in the U.S. chart operate, enabling insightful interpretation of the major and minor Dasa cycles. After all, he who forgets the past is condemned to relive it.

     Part I covers the first set of the main nine Dasa planets, beginning with Rahu and ending with Mars, from 1776 to 1895. 

(Note: All Dasas begin on a December 1 and end on a November 30.  Thereby, the current 10 year Moon Dasa began December 1, 1998, and its final year begins exactly one year from the publication of this forecast.)

     All 9 planets run their Dasas during the country's first 120 years.  (Note: if this were a person's chart, the 120 year length would represent the natural life span for an evolved human being.)  For a country born more than 120 years ago, as the U.S. was in 1776, the Dasa planet sequence then repeats.  Part 2  thereby covered the second Dasa cycle -- Rahu through Moon Dasas, from 1895 through 2008.  (Only Mars has yet to be run a second time.)  

     Because Part I fitted the planets into history, their influences upon this chart became well known, as stated above.  Part 2 thereby began by summarizing the qualities of each planet in this chart.  That listing is inserted in the Appendix, below.  It's a terrific tool for predicting the impacts of both the major and minor Dasa planets for

(Here's an example of using the Appendix, through 3 Dasa levels, to enable a short term prediction.   The October 7 Celestial Wheel Commentary stated, ...the U.S. chart finishes its benign and excessively optimistic Moon/Venus/Jupiter Dasa planet sequence October 26; then Saturn replaces Jupiter, stimulating a harsh reality check.  That Saturn subcycle ends January 31, 2008.  Referring to the Appendix, certainly the Saturn qualities in this chart of economic reversals; distrust of foreigners have occurred with negative economic reports and increased resistance to illegal immigration.  Yet, this Saturn subcycle does not obviate the Moon-major Gilded Age.  It only modifies it for a brief interval.)

Gilded Age Sulfurous Yellow

     Vedic Astrology assigns colors to each of the planets, and the Moon Dasa can thereby be understood in the mix of planetary hues relating to the Moon.  The Moon's color is white, and it sits in Aquarius, a sign ruled by Saturn, whose black, dark brown and dark blue colors mix into the color of mud.  Yellow Jupiter throws an aspect to the Moon. Combine these three colors, and the result is a noxious sulfurous yellow --associated most often with the devil, hell, dragons and pollution. 

     That color certainly describes this Second Gilded Age, including its Ayn Rand world of capitalists running smokestack industries spewing polluting sulfur because of downgraded environmental restrictions.  Continuing the color analogy, our common consciousness is filtered through this sulfurous yellow, poisoning perception -- like sulfur-creating smog degrades urban life.  So, our perception is not uplifted through rose-tinted glasses of joy and charity but rather is dragged down to the sulfurous yellow of greed and selfishness.  The power-elite naturally embraces that, but the rest of us have to deal with the depressing reality, coughing through the fumes, and doctors to heal us either unaffordable or too busy becoming mini-tycoons themselves.   Longtime subscriber M.L. in Maryland, who can peer through the haze, said it very well,

     The sulfurous yellow Moon Dasa is wealthy because of the aspect from wealthy Jupiter to the Moon -- and also that the worldly Moon itself throws a powerful aspect to the ninth house of wealth.  It's the third house Moon's intoxication with power, plus the Moon's rulership of the evil eighth house of hidden power (life and death), that brings Gilded Age misuse of power.  Integral is the wealthy elite garnishing its position at the expense of the lower and middles classes, which erodes the economic system.  We see this most noticeably now in the dollar -- international perception correctly sees this stratification of America's economy, which includes bringing horrific debt, as undermining the currency.

Mars Dasa -- The Upcoming Depression

     While the next few months promise to be difficult economically for the U.S.,* it isn't until the upcoming seven year Mars Dasa, beginning in a year, that the economy will fall on its own weight.  The Financial Panic of 1893 (Part I) occurred during this Mars Dasa (1889-1895), and although there was a rebound, another recession hit -- bringing a major depression. (Note: January, 1893 was Mars major and Mercury minor Dasa.)  It wasn't until 1897 that the country regained its economic footing.  Yet, as nothing occurs in a vacuum, the causes of this depression had its roots in the First Gilded Age.  This is discussed in Part I and also in historical analysis in EH.net, The depression, which was signaled by a financial panic in 1893, has been blamed on the deflation dating back to the Civil War, the gold standard and monetary policy.. a general economic unsoundness (a reference less to tangible economic difficulties and more to a feeling that the economy was not running properly), and government extravagance. 

(*The Moon/Venus/ Saturn cycle through January is followed by two difficult cycles of Moon/Venus/Mercury and then Moon/VenusKetu, which ends May 31,, 2008.  These karmas are aggravated by difficult transits, causing economic stress.  Then, the Dasa planets change to Moon/Sun, and because the Sun is wealthy in this chart, the economy will begin to recover.  This topic will be addressed in upcoming short-subject Commentaries.)

     Another informative article on Wikepedia described the severe and extensive labor protests during the 1890s depression  Actually, protests by unfairly treated workers began during the 1878-1888 first Moon cycle. The 1886 Haymarket Square labor riot was so noteworthy, it's taught in every high school American History class.  It's provocative that immigration played a major role then, as it does now.  The EH.net article also states, Immigration, which had averaged over 500,000 people per year in the 1880s... averaged only 270,000 from 1894 to 1898.  Massive immigration in the 1880s made robber barons obscenely rich, but the surplus labor resulted in lower living standards that bred labor protests -- just as illegal immigration in this Second Gilded Age has stimulated a roar of protest from a middle America pinched by flat wages and rising expenses.

    Here's the next piece of the historical puzzle.  It was the Mars Dasa's depression and labor protests that ushered in the beginning of the Progressive Era.  As stated in Part I,  The excesses of the Gilded Age had become its undoing.  This combination of violent protest and economic hardship paved the way for the Progressive Era's reforms during the next Rahu cycle.   Wikepedia introduces its article about that period as,

     Given these historical Dasa parallels, we should expect this final year Second Gilded Age to end with a still sound economy, while the public increasingly objects to being unfairly treated, especially protesting illegal immigration.  Then, during the seven year Mars Dasa that begins December 1, 2008, the economy will collapse under the accumulated weight of Second Gilded Age abuses.  That depression will be accompanied by popular protests that culminate in the Second Progressive Era.

     Following the Dasa pattern of the Financial Panic of 1893, when the U.S. chart was running Mars major and Mercury minor, the upcoming depression would also begin during Mars/Mercury, which runs May 31, 2012 to May 28, 2013.  Note that this interval includes the end of the Mayan Calendar December 31, 2012.  That year has also been seen by many soothsayers and psychics as a time of great turmoil and loss.

     Two other observations are worthwhile here.  The Introduction discussed Bush's ratings drop and his pivotal role in bringing Second Gilded Age abuses.  He will thereby be the target of public objections during this final year of the Second Gilded Age.  Besides the economic unfairnesses Bush has created, he pushed hard for comprehensive immigration reform, which middle America has now solidly rejected.  There will also objection to his endless War On Terror.  As the U.S. Moon Dasa does not indicate war, it is logical to reject this war as Bush's invention to advance his Second Gilded Age agenda.  These karmas can be seen in Bush's Vedic chart, which will be discussed in future Commentaries.

Appendix

Summary Of How The Planets Behave In The U.S. Chart

      With all nine planets having run their cycles, how each behaves in the U.S. chart has been demonstrated.  Here's a summary for each:
 

      Rahu  Turmoil and change; fear of and rebellion against overbearing authority; creating a democratic secular government and free market; mystical beliefs seen as protective; inventions; sexual neurosis

      Jupiter  Balancing fears of outside control and sex; mystical religious revival; consensus building for democratic rule; wealth expansion; sexual indulgence; ethically driven war; prosperity from war, inventions

      Saturn  Technical innovation; infrastructure development; economic reversals; distrust of foreigners; public protections; pioneering spirit

      Mercury  Discord with foreigners; inventions; boom and bust growth, standard of living improvements; social challenge; mysticism

      Ketu  Unusual war; unhappiness and protest; religious insight; unexpected wealth; economic growth

      Venus  Striving for cooperative progress; international trade; economic expansion; social justice; compassionate war; prosperity from war; innovation; overindulgence; relationship problems

      Sun  Supportive government; innovations; wealth; unrestrained economic expansion; power elite

      Moon  Intoxication with power; resource development; wealth and power concentration in an elite; abusive business; government corruption; pork-barrel spending; cuts in social spending; dirty-tricks elections; enforced moral purity; popular protests

      Mars  Widespread violent protests against inequality; economic depression