readoldthings

Fortune's Wheel

I've been avoiding discussing astrology for a while, because I found that I was often skipping over charts, like that for Summer 2022, that basically said "Things will be fine for a little while" but focusing on negative charts, such as that for the Fall Equinox just past. In fact that's why I didn't do a post for that particular Equinox; I find that sort of astrological ambulance-chasing unseemly and was annoyed with myself for engaging in it.

That's a preface by way of saying: The subject of this post is tomorrow's Lunar Eclipse. All eclipses are negative indicators in mundane astrology, and this one's a doozy.

What I'd like to do in this post is share the Eclipse chart and an interpretation of it, and then talk about what I think it means and what we can do about it.




The Eclipse

Every eclipse is a malefic indicator, the equivalent of a curse being pronounced in the Heavens. Its effects are most prominently felt in those areas in which the eclipse is visible; in this case that includes North America. (That eclipses occur so regularly may be taken as a commentary on the nature of life on Earth.)

The primary subject of an Eclipse Chart is, naturally enough, the luminary which is being eclipsed-- the Moon, in this case. We therefore begin by looking at the Moon's placement, dignities and aspects; this will tell us much of the information the chart has to convey.

We find the Moon in the Seventh House, in the sign of Taurus. The Seventh House rules foreign nations, foreign affairs, and war, and an eclipse in this House indicates trouble in all of these areas. Issues related to foreign conflict will come to the foreground. The sign of Taurus relates to Earth and its produce and to the economy and material goods. 

Right off the bat, we have an indication of trouble in foreign affairs affecting the economy and, quite possibly, food supplies, especially grain. In my way of looking at astrology, Taurus is especially the sign of Ceres, the agricultural goddess who rules wheat fields. When I said that, did you think "Ukrainian grain exports?" So did I. Whether it's that or some other area, the war in Ukraine is likely to cause serious trouble to the material well-being of the United States, moreso than it already has.

The Eclipse is conjunct Uranus. Uranus is a malefic planet, ruling chaos, revolution, and explosive change. Taurus is the sign of Uranus's Fall; in this sign he is at his most destructive. The suggestion is that whatever economic trouble comes out of this eclipse may be precipitated by a sudden, explosive event. Did you think "Retaliation for the sabotage of the Nordstream pipelines?" So did I. Did you think "Chinese invasion of Taiwan?" I thought that too. 

The conjunction to Uranus is just one of the Moon's aspects; let's discuss the others.

The T-Square

When two planets oppose one another, and both also make a square aspect (that is, a right angle) to some third planet, a larger aspect called a T-Square is formed. The opposition and the square are both aspects of conflict. In a T-Square, a 3-sided conflict is calling out for a forth side to create balance, but the forth side is unavailable. The whole thing collapses, like a table with one of the legs removed. In our T-Square, all of the following planets are involved:

The Sun
Mercury
Venus
Saturn
The Moon
Uranus
Mars

Yes, that's most of the sky. Or, to say it another way, most of the Visible Mundane Gods whose activities govern life below the sphere of the Moon. Let's take them one group at a time.

The Sun is in the First House, in the sign of Scorpio. Scorpio is the sign of Mars, the god of war. The First House represents the people as a whole; Scorpio is a sign of conflict, disease, and death. The Sun in the First House, afflicted by square to Saturn and opposition to Uranus and the Moon, suggests open conflict between the people and their leaders, and their head of state in particular. The Sun is conjunct Mercury and Venus, which is harmful for those planets, though the Sun benefits. Mercury represents the news media and the "chattering classes" generally; Venus represents the arts and entertainment industries. Together with the Sun, they suggest the coalition of entertainment, academic and media industries that have marched in lockstep behind the Biden administration. As I said, the conjunction to the Sun is a harmful aspect called "combustion"; a planet afflicted by combustion functions as though it were blinded by the Sun's rays. The Administration attempts to dominate its lackeys in the various TV, internet, and education related sectors; these go along, as they're unable to see clearly. 

Rotating the chart 90 degrees, we come to the second pole of the T-Square. This is a single planet: Saturn. Saturn was traditionally known as the Great Malefic. He rules restriction, limitation, conservatism and tradition, poverty, time, and death. In this chart he is in the Fourth House, in Aquarius. The Fourth House is particularly important as it rules the party currently out of power-- as of this writing, the Republican Party. It also rules agriculture, mining, and the rural areas of the country generally-- or to say it another way, "flyover country." Saturn is retrograde, suggesting a Return movement. He is in conflict with the coalition represented by the Sun, Venus, and Mercury. Saturn clearly represents the Republican Party and, in particular, its populist wing, attempting a return to power. 

It's worth noting that Saturn is in Aquarius. In modern Astrology, Aquarius is Uranus's sign; it shares Uranus's symbols of individualism and going one's own way. Here we have the interesting paradox that the power which represents conservatism also represents rebellion and individual freedom; more on this in a moment. 

The third pole of the T-Square we've already had a chance to consider. By itself, the Moon represents the people, and, specifically, that part of the people with the ability to participate in politics. This class-- call them the political class-- are represented here by the conjunction of the Moon and Uranus. It's worth noting that Uranus also rules sexual minorities, and the Moon represents women and women's issues; Uranus conjunct Moon suggests both the Feminist movement and the Rainbow coalition. 

Mars is also involved in the T-Square, in two ways. First and obviously, he is trine Uranus. Mars is the planet of war and conflict, and here he is lending his fiery energy to Saturn, representing the rising conservative movement in conflict with the Establishment. 

Mars also is in mutual reception with Mercury. "Mutual reception" is a condition in which two planets occupy each other's signs. In this case, Mercury is in Mars's sign of Scorpio, while Mars is in Mercury's sign of Gemini. The suggestion is that there is a hidden link between the two planets. In effect, they can be said to occupy one another's positions and possess one another's dignities. Saturn-- the conservative Populist movement-- can also be seen to be aided by a Mercury-- that is, a coalition of academics and media personalities-- of his own, though this is still smaller and "underground" compared to the visible Mercury, which is loyal to Biden. Biden, meanwhile, also has a Mars on his side, and a hidden Mars at that. Of the two signs that Mars governs, Scorpio is the more subtle, deceptive, and cruel; Aries represents open and honorable conflict, Scorpio hidden, secretive and destructive conflict. 

It should be noted that Mercury also rules thieves and liars; each side has these as well. Moreover, in my own experience Gemini and Scorpio are the two most difficult signs in the Zodiac. 

The Saturn-Uranus Square

Another critical thing to note about this Eclipse is the direct involvement of the Saturn-Uranus square. This aspect has been the primary astrological indicator and symbol of the chaos of the last few years. 

Saturn represents: Stability, conservatism, restriction, limitation, order, patience, wisdom

Uranus represents: Chaos, radicalism, sudden change, revolution, expansive growth, technology

The square aspect between these planets represents the conflict between these two archetypes, which we've seen play out over and over again in the last few years. It's interesting to note that Saturn is in Aquarius, which is, in modern Astrology, the sign Uranus rules; Saturn is acting Uranian, in a certain sense. Meanwhile, though Uranus is not in a sign of Saturn, it is in Taurus, which shares much of Saturn's symbolism as it also relates to Earth and to fixed conditions. Thus we have these odd reversals that have also dominated public life during this time, with liberals demanding censorship, quarantines, and restrictions on movement, and conservatives demanding liberty and flouting authority. 

The Saturn-Uranus conflict, and the weird reversed symbols that come with it, is also represented by the conflict between the United States and Russia. Russia is conservative and naturally collectivistic, not to mention cold; these are Saturnian symbols. But we see Russia acting as a Uranian force, pushing the breakdown of a world order which has grown rigid and inflexible. America, meanwhile, is the world's great Uranian power; a revolutionary society whose best-known characteristics include individualism and technological innovation. And yet America now stands in a Saturnian role viz-a-viz Russia and the world as a whole, as it pours endless billions of dollars into maintaining an old and probably outworn system of global power. 

The First House

It remains to take note of the First House-- which is usually also the first thing we consider when looking at a mundane chart, but this is a special circumstance. The First House and its ruling planet rule the chart as a whole. 

Here, as we have seen, the First House is in Scorpio, which is ruled by Mars. 

Mars, in this chart, is in Gemini, in the Eighth House. But in another sense he is here in his own sign of Scorpio, gaining power by his presence in his own sign and in the First House, but afflicted by all the trouble that comes with the T-Square. Mars in the First House represents-- here I quote H.S. Greene-- "a martial and aggressive spirit both in home and foreign affairs, with rumors of war or actual war, strikes, riots, murders, fires, assaults, ill-health and death from martial diseases." Mars in the Eighth House, meanwhile, represents death by violence, and the deaths of those ruled by Mars-- especially soldiers. Either one or both are possible. 

Mars makes two other aspects, squares to both Jupiter and Neptune. Jupiter and Neptune are conjunct one another and retrograde in Pisces in the Fifth House. Pisces as a sign is ruled by Neptune in modern Astrology, but was Jupiter's traditionally. Both Neptune and Jupiter relate to religion, and Pisces is the especial sign of Christianity; the Fifth House relates to children, child-rearing and early education. Jupiter is also the natural ruler of the economy, and doubly so as in this chart he rules the Second House of natural wealth, while Neptune rules the mass political movements of the modern world, especially socialism and its variants, but potentially also Populism. Neptune also rules delusion, illusion, and insanity. 

Expect serious fights to continue over transgender and other Rainbow issues, as well as Critical Race Theory, in the classroom. Church and religious motives will be involved-- as we already know. Jupiter and Neptune are both retrograde, which is a debility suggesting backward movement. In Economic turns, that probably means re-cession. In education, the news may be better-- although Neptune is afflicted by Mars, it is the only planet in this chart that has much dignity, being in the sign that it rules, conjunct benefic Jupiter, and trine the Sun, Mercury, and Venus. A re-turn of sanity to the classroom is very possible.  

Duration

It remains to note the duration of the Eclipse. Raphael has it that the effects of a lunar eclipse will endure for as many months as the Eclipse is visible; in this case, that means around five months, taking us through April of next year. Surprises can come at any time during this period. The location of the Eclipse in a fixed sign (Taurus) tells us that the consequences will endure long after this period, and the element (Earth) tells us that these effects will make themselves known in a big way in daily life and economic affairs. 

In Summary

At the end of the day, is this anything you didn't know? The United States is sliding toward a major crisis. The election is the beginning. Trouble will manifest both in foreign and domestic affairs; each will reflect the other. My hope is that we won't see a return of the rioting and violence of 2020 after the upcoming election, but we very well might, if we see a "red wave." Abortion and, er, "gender affirming care" seem to be the hills that the Democratic Party wants to die on, and it's looking like they're going to get their wish; more particularly, it's looking like these may be the excuses for the next round of "riots, murders, fires and assaults," as H.S. Greene put it, or "mostly peaceful protests" as CNN would say. 

Moreover, we can expect internal conflicts to be mirrored by conflicts abroad. What that will mean is uncertain, but only because there are so many things that could go wrong. It's already looking like China might move against Taiwan this year, and a US even more split internally might give it the opportunity; Russia may pull off a decisive winter offensive in Ukraine; US and Russian forces might engage in direct combat, with consequences I shudder to even consider; all of these may occur against a backdrop of rioting and civil conflict. The details are unknown and unknowable until we meet them; the pattern is one of strife at home and abroad, each feeding into the other.  

The House of Atreus

Have you ever read the trilogy of plays by the Aeschylus, that goes under the name Oresteia, or House of Atreus? In case you haven't, here is a quick summary. 

In Episode 1, Agamemnon, leader of the Greek armies, returns home from Troy triumphant, but his victory is tainted by his having sacrificed his daughter to Artemis to ensure victory. He is immediately murdered by his wife, who rules the land as a vicious tyrant with her lover Aegisthus at her side. 

In Episode 2, Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, returns home and kills his father's murderers, including his own mother-- but with the immediate consequence that the gates of Hell burst open and the Furies descend upon him. "See, they swarm and throng-- black blood of hatred dripping from their eyes!"

In Episode 3, Orestes has been hounded throughout the land by the Furies, in payment for his matricide. He finally finds his way to Athens, and takes refuge at the shrine of Athena. With Apollo at his side, Orestes and the Furies each plead their case before the goddess, and judgment is given by a jury of twelve Athenians, with Athena herself as tie-breaker. Echoing an earlier statement by the Furies themselves, Athena instructs the jury to act according to this standard:

"Let no man live uncurbed by law nor curbed by tyranny."

In the end, Orestes is acquitted. With Apollo, he returns to Argos, pledging peace between his nation and Athens.

It's my view that we in the United States are in a situation similar to that recounted by Aeschylus-- who was himself an initiate of the Mysteries, it's worth remembering. One party, itself already tainted by sin, and another takes power, only to reap the reward of its own misdeeds. Back and forth it goes.

I believe that, for Agamemnon, we may read the old Republican coalition, which included most of rural white America. Like Agamemnon, these are the people who reaped the karmic whirlwind for their support of the evils of the old guard, especially the Bush Administration. Notice that the "opioid crisis," anti-white racism in the schools, forced masking and so on especially target and apply to the people who were most likely to have said "Strongly Support" when asked the question "How do you feel about President Bush's invasion of Iraq?" in 2004.

For Clytemnestra, we have the Democratic Party, with its tyrannical female and feminized leaders, who govern now uncurbed by law. In Clytemnestra you see an embodiment of what's been called the "Devouring Mother" archetype-- the form of female leadership that rules by restriction and surveillance, fear and guilt, and above all, refusal to allow its charges to grow.

But who is Orestes, and where are we in the cycle? Was it Trump's slaying of Hillary Clinton that unleashed the Furies-- those hideous female demons-- from Hell, who now hound Trump and his supporters throughout the land? Or is it the case-- and this is what I suspect-- that Trump is, in effect, our Agamemnon, and we are still under the rule of Clytemnestra (Kamalytemnestra), waiting for an Orestes to take the guilt of matricide and the horror of Hell upon himself in order to free the nation from the curse?