Jupiter, the great benefic, the planet of luck, abundance, growth and fortune, is finally out of Capricorn.  He's free at last from that sign's weakness and oppression.  Recall that Capricorn, called Makara, is a Sanskrit word which means "sea dragon" or "water-monster".  It is the origin of the Hindi word for crocodile.  (See the February 4 And Then There Were Six.)  Makara is Jupiter's fallen sign, where he's weakest. (As examples, his benign wisdom degrades in Makara to shameless boasting and honest wealth into theft.) This sign is owned by restrictive Saturn, the great malefic, which has been lurking in Makara since January 2020, eager to pounce upon planets transiting there. So, Jupiter has been both weakened by Makara sign and oppressed by Saturn.

Due to retrograde motion, Jupiter has been into, out of and back into Makara from late March 2020 to mid November 2020.   Since then, Jupiter has been stuck in Capricorn to finally escape two days ago -- April 6.  If you feel a tinge of optimism seeping into your consciousness, this is Jupiter shining again.

It's interesting Jupiter has been rendered useless in Makara since last March (2000), just as the virus was taking hold and beginning to spread into a pandemic.  This also closely coincides with what the March 10, 2021 Continuum discovered -- the transit chart in later February 2020 mirrors the 9-11 chart.  In both, Jupiter, the Moon and Mars are conjoined/opposite to Rahu/Ketu (the eclipse points) in the Sagittarius/Gemini axis.  Here are those charts.

February 18. 2020*

(*March 10, 2021 Continuum used February 8, but the eighteenth works better for two reasons.  First, the Moon is included in this Sagittarius/Gemini axis.  Second, later in February better matches when the virus headed toward pandemic status.)

There are two points here.  First, what I call the 9-11 combination is so tremendously influential that, that as the March 10, 2021 Continuum explained, it heralds a new era,

Second, as Jupiter then transited into Capricorn -- weak and afflicted -- in late March 2020 and finally left this Makara sign just two days ago -- he was not able to counter the virus for this one year period.  But he can now use his great beneficence to enable beating the disease now because of the successful vaccine program.  This is somewhat a conjecture, rather than pure Vedic Astrology, but it makes intuitive sense.

Related is the twenty year Jupiter/Saturn conjunction, called the great conjunction by astronomers for the two largest planets conjoining.  Vedic Astrologers have a special meaning for this because Jupiter and Saturn are the planets of social evolution, and when they join, they begin a new twenty year era.  (See the October 25 Pins And Needles.)  The last Jupiter/Saturn conjunction was May 28, 2000, and this recent one occurred December 21, 2020.

It seems that the twenty year Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions, happening so close to the 9-11 configurations, signify massive societal change.  They could do this separately or together. As for the latter, one reinforces the other.

Yes, this is conjecture, but it gives a convincing argument for the twenty year Jupiter/Saturn conjunction's new twenty year era being activated by a monumental disaster -- 9-11 in 2001 and the virus in 2020.  As such, it gives credence to the virus's role in transforming society -- or at least accelerating the Second Progressive era under the eighteen year Rahu Dasa in the U.S. chart -- 2015 to 2033.

Following this thought along, with Jupiter slammed for a year beginning in March 2020, but now free to express himself, he may truly signify the virus being subdued, if not beaten, over the next few months by the vaccines -- as mentioned above.  Another reason for this virus optimism is that Aquarius, where Jupiter is now, is the U.S. chart's third house of creativity, where its Moon sits.  As the Moon is the benefits in life and Jupiter expands and improves, this combination brings solutions to problems.  It's also true that Jupiter in Aquarius is positive for wealth, but overall it seems the wrenching transformations in society from four years of Trump plus the virus will impede the economy for at least a few years until its transformed and reformed.  In injured leg is repaired by surgery, it take time before the person can walk again, and even longer before running.

On another planetary front, the wicked conjunction of warrior Mars with Rahu (head-of-the-dragon eclipse point) will end April 13. The March 29 That Was The Week That Was   explained this destructive conjunction, exact March 18, continued thereafter to signify harms, Even as planetary energies build to indicate events before actual conjunctions, this joining of Mars and Rahu has been so potent that harms have continued beyond Friday's exact conjunction.  There was yet another mass murder yesterday, Five dead in shooting at South Carolina home.  These seem to be in the news every day.  Wikipedia reports ass killings for this year: January 35, February 43, March 48.  While this is alarming, perhaps it will result in some reasonable gun controls.

Another Mars/Rahu combination in Taurus is Mars hitting Trump's chart. The March 29 That Was The Week That Was   explained, ...Mars leaves Taurus April 13, but before he does, he'll attack Trump's high degree Rahu and Sun during his last week in Taurus -- April 6 to 13. And For Trump, Mars in Taurus will find him shouting in the wind, braying like a donkey or even tilting at windmills -- a favorite conspiracy. That influence will naturally begin as transit Mars approaches transit Rahu in mid March but then truly erupt in early April when transit Rahu crosses his birth chart Sun (career) and intensifying toxic Rahu.

Already seeing his influence vanish, it could be that this newest yelling, blaming, accusing diatribe will be rejected by many more folks. And remember, there's another major solar eclipse coming June 10 that should finish him off,  ...the June 10 annular solar eclipse at 25:40 Taurus -- just two degrees from Trump's Rahu, four degrees from his Sun -- and three degrees opposite his Moon. This must be a heavy hit for him, bringing the same sort of defanging energy that brought Trump down in the December 14, 2020 eclipse.

The Celestial Wheel 2002-2020©
Doug Riemer

This forecast looks ahead to late July to provide some general planning information.

Thankfully for the globe, the Mars' transit over transit Rahu in Taurus ended April 13.  Discords and violences all over the world hit hard during transit Mars travel through Taurus from February 21 to April 13.  Note carefully here that the planetary karmas were truly global because only transits -- where the planets are in today's skies -- were involved.

However, transiting planets also impact birth chart planets in specific charts, which is what's happening for the U.S. chart.  That chart doesn't have any planets in Taurus, for example.  So Mars through Taurus wasn't awful. for the U.S.  But that chart does have four planets in the next sign of Gemini and two more in the succeeding sign of Cancer.  Thereby, the U.S. chart is hit hard by Mars this spring and early summer.  But this is nothing new.  Mars always rampages across the U.S. when he transits Gemini and Cancer, which passages have been recently happening in the late spring to early summer.

The March 29 That Was The Week That Was   stated,

Let's break this down and expand a little on predictions.  Unpack is the hip term.  First, here again is the U.S. chart and current transit chart (signs but no houses) to enable visualizing Mars' transiting movements.

Mars is in Gemini April 13 to June 1
During this interval, Mars immediately causes damage as he begins crossing four planets.  Just four days into this this transit, Mars has already stimulated (again) white supremacy, minority and voting issues.  He also brought yet another mass murder (Indianapolis) when transit Mars crossed the U.S. birth chart Mars.  When he soon crosses Jupiter and Venus, Mars will stir up issues of law, fairness, compassion, wealth and women's rights.  Remember, though, only through turmoil comes change.

Mars is Pitta (fire) and is called the planet of storms.  In this Vata (air) sign, Mars brings windy storms, especially tornadoes. There's some kapha (water) energy as well for Jupiter and Venus being kapha planets.  Expect, then, some heavy rains and flooding with these tornado inducing storms.  Fortunately, there are no other transiting planets in Gemini April 13 to June 1 excepting fast moving Venus and Mercury dip their toes into that sign.

A lot of turbulence was predicted for those Mars transits.  Notably, tornadoes were forecasted, and Wikipedia reports, The tornado outbreak sequence of May 2019 was a prolonged series of destructive tornadoes and tornado outbreaks affecting the United States over the course of nearly two weeks...

Mars is in Cancer June 1 to July 20
The eighth is the terrible house of hidden things, which indicates more scandals surfacing from its dark watery depths.  Also, the eighth in the U.S. chart has Mercury (intellect) with frightening head-of-the-dragon Rahu (foreign and dark skinned).  It is this combination that makes people feel they are under attack.  As the eighth is also the occult and mysticism, America's mystical paranoia issues from Cancer.  That's like lighting a firecracker when Mars passes through that sign.

Afflicting Mercury, the respiratory system first, infectious Mars will stimulate the virus early on.  Mars hitting toxic Rahu next will also feed the virus, as well as bringing other violences.

As for weather, when in that Kapha (water) sign, Mars stimulates hurricanes.  This is before peak tropical storm season.  So if you're at all vulnerable, make your hurricane preparations soon.

The Celestial Wheel 2002-2020©
Doug Riemer

The (above) April 17 Mars Rampaging -- Again initiated the discussion of Mars' two-year transit through the signs of Gemini and Cancer.  It specifically noted this is familiar, for the U.S. chart does have four planets in the next sign of Gemini and two more in the succeeding sign of Cancer. ...the U.S. chart is hit hard by Mars this spring and early summer. But this is nothing new. Mars always rampages across the U.S. when he transits Gemini and Cancer, which passages have been recently happening in the late spring to early summer.

U.S. Chart

Certainly god-of-storms Mars in airy Gemini is bringing windy storms (including tornadoes), and flooding too.  Millions of Americans brace for severe storms, flash floods and possible tornadoes this week.  Not mentioned previously is fires caused by Mars being fiery.  Already there is an early-season major forest fire in Arizona, An Arizona wildfire that's 'raging out of control...

These should be familiar because Mars has been transiting through these two planet-laden U.S. chart signs in spring/early summer for years and years.  That has signaled more severe spring storms and fires in Gemini and early-season hurricanes in Cancer -- to which we've become accustomed.

Why this is happening is a mystery.  When the ancient Hindu Seers divined Vedic Astrology, they didn't know about climate change, although certainly changing climate during the millenniums is not new.  So perhaps they did in their thousands of years of observations.  The climate always shifting over time.  Our belief the climate is steady is simply not true and is based upon the last 170 years being stable and benign.  Remember hearing the about little ice age from 1300 to 1850?  George Washington's army at Valley forge in 177-78 froze that winter.

Cold was also a big driver in Americans moving west.  In the first half of the 19th century they fled the New England cold for warmer climes and eventually made it to sunny California.

And the ancient Indians certainly couldn't have known the U.S. would be uniquely vulnerable to tornadoes and hurricanes due to geography -- cold air from the west and north colliding with warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico in the South.  And they couldn't have known America would bind its colonies together into a nation state yielding a chart at 6:17 PM July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia with 6 planets in Gemini and Cancer -- that spawned these storms when Mars transited through those signs.  Or could they?

There's a caveat here.  Although Mars has been transiting Gemini and Cancer spring/early summer in recent odd numbered years, when you run the astrology transit wheel forward or backward by years, you find Mars doesn't circle in the zodiac in exactly 2 years.

Mars' motion through the heavens is actually a little faster.  It thereby takes Mars slightly less than 2 years -- about 23.5 months -- to circumnavigate the heavens.  Moving faster, then, each succeeding year Mars transits through these two zodiac signs a couple of weeks earlier.  Running the transit wheel backwards, we find Mars transited through Gemini and Cancer spring/early summer during the 1970s time frame (even numbered years).  That's 50 years.  However, because this is a 2 year transit interval, Mars' 23.5 month astrology orbit brings him back to the spring/early summer interval for transiting Gemini and Cancer spring/early summer in half that time -- 25 years.

Have there been upticks in spring/early summer storms every 25 years because that's when Mars transits Gemini and Cancer?  That is beyond the scope of this forecast.  While certainly god-of-storms Mars must influence, he isn't the only destructive planet.  And transits are truly secondary karmas (influences) to primary karma Dasas -- planetary cycles.  So one can't predict results from a nation chart using only the transit of 1 planet..

This astronomical explanation of a Vedic Astrology transit seems dull, even boring, and certainly dense.

There are lessons, however, that we can cull from this discussion.

1.  The climate is changing, and during tumultuous Rahu Dasa in the U.S. chart (2015-2033), we must expect major weather events that are mirrored in societal changes.

2.  This year promises to bring more extreme weather and societal shifts.  Coming at the end of the Trump era -- in which he destroys existing political structures and then blows himself up -- we can expect, and have already seen, early progress during Biden's administration.

3.  It would seem that the hard right is fighting its hardest to hold back the tides of change, but this racial extremism, what the Celestial Wheel calls mystical paranoia, burns itself out.  These next few months, when Trump pushes hard again against loss, he will only cause disruption and infighting.  And the white racists in desperation mounting further attacks upon democracy, can signal the end of this horrific upwelling of hate, fear and racism -- HFR.

Let's see what happens.

The Celestial Wheel 2002-2020©
Doug Riemer