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by Terry Lamb

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New to astrology? Read on and ignore the technical bits. There's plenty here for you too! Why don’t I write horoscopes for each sign?

I HAD WRITTEN THE FIRST PART of the forecast in mid-September, before the crisis hit. Since then, everything has changed — or perhaps we could say it’s the same, only more so. The economy is making a (big) much-needed correction. Since the 1980, we’ve been working under a deregulation philosophy: Let the market do what it will and the wealth will trickle down to the masses. The problem with the “trickle-down” theory is that it doesn’t work; what happens is what has happened throughout history under similar circumstances — the wealth goes up the chimney to the top rung of the economic ladder. The giant whooshing sound is what you hear when all the wealth being squeezed out of the workers to be enjoyed by those at the top.

Regulation is meant to counterbalance that most natural of human expressions — greed, and that most common of public conditions — financial naivety. Good regulation arises from the consciousness that government should be there to protect the common good, the good of the commons.

The commons is an old-fashioned name for the collective of a community — a nation, culture, city, village, and so forth. The commons was a central area (what we in America may call a park) where people gathered for meetings, to exchange goods, or just to enjoy leisure time. Commons are easy to find in towns in the northeast, formed early in the country’s history. As you move west, they become less common. In the last 30 years, the concept of the commons has been shunted to the background, along with all concepts relating to the good of the people and their communities. In this “Me first” period, the American culture has become more competitive and less interested in the good of the whole. It has lost the awareness that we all rise and sink together, that we’re all in the same boat. Somehow we’ve lost track that we are all one people (in the country, on the planet, etc.) who must depend on each other economically, ecologically, socially, regardless of whether we share the same beliefs. We’ve lost track of the concept of the Commons.

We are getting a big lesson in the commons and the vital importance of the people as a whole. When the workers are left out of the economic equation, the true wealth leaves the society. We are relearning that wealth must be distributed to the lowest levels of society and allowed to waft up the economic chimney to those at the top.

All of this is tied to the lessons we are learning through Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius as it is being contacted by Mercury during its retrograde transit of Libra. Even though this is a harmonious contact, sometimes harmony makes it easy for the water to flow over the dam. Through Chiron and Neptune, we have painfully identified the flaw in the culture’s perception of the role of the worker and the economic model currently in favor. This is prompting a refocusing process that can result in an increased emphasis in the commons in our value and our regulatory system.

All laws and regulations are based on the values of the people that create them. When it was popular to think that a free market was a fair and prosperous one, pro-regulation forces could not muster the political will to get pro-worker regulatory changes. In the changing economic realities of a global economy, deregulation led to the creation of low-cost jobs overseas at the expense of the American workforce, among many other factors assaulting many Americans.

This undermining of the common good cannot continue, and some are calling for a complete rethinking and overhaul of the economic system. This is an excellent time for such an initiative.

Authenticity Is Key.
I mentioned in September’s forecast how important this Mercury retrograde would be (in combination with other factors; I talked about it in terms of fair play, and the campaign is unfolding as suggested. Now we know that the economy is going through a new period of catharsis as well.

Mercury spends the period from August 28 through 8 AM on November 4 (Pacific Time) in Libra. The key word for this period is authenticity. We are learning to recognize the difference between truth and appearances, both personally and in the world at large. While Mercury is making generally harmonious contacts, their effect is amplified by the planets that are being contacted, by a couple of contacts that are activating, and by other contacts that are happening at the same time.

Primary among these is the Saturn-Uranus opposition, which is intensifying as we speak. The contact occurs about every 42 years; the last time was in 1965-67. This signifies a period of rapid and often startling change in the structures of government and society. At this point in the cycle, structures that have not changed through gentler means have become so entrenched that they are stretched like a rubber band. At the opposition the rubber band breaks as society makes a sudden adjustment to a reality that has (often forcibly) revealed itself. This may be the feeling in our personal lives as well, whether because we are directly affected by Saturn-Uranus (e.g., we work for government), or we feel an internal restructuring as we notice other areas of our lives that require change.

In the mid-sixties, we saw such a time of rapid change in society, made more intense by Pluto’s involvement. This time Pluto is not interconnected, but it is waiting in the wings for its entrance on the scene in May 2010.

This makes September-October “more than your average __________”, which can be filled with the words “Mercury retrograde”, “campaign”,“economic crisis”, or “social revolution”. The first culmination comes on Election Day, when we are not likely to come up with a definitive winner of the US presidential election (or many other races), but we will have a preliminary result. One of my colleagues, Claire-France Perez, is predicting a landslide election, which she defines as a 22 point spread between the two candidates. This occurred at the last Saturn-Uranus opposition in the election of the incumbent Lyndon Johnson in 1964. While I think it is less likely with an exact contact between Saturn and Uranus on Election Day, such a landslide would make it possible to give a result more quickly.

As Our Story Opened . . .
The first contacts Mercury made to begin our story occurred September 12, with deepening concerns about Sarah Palin (including her apparent lack of knowledge and her “troopergate” scandal), Hurricane Ike, and Barack Obama’s tougher stance. We’ve had a chance to observe the build-up of tension in the economy as Mercury slowed and turned around on the 24^th, just in time for the first debate. Dramatically, the last debate falls on October 15, the day Mercury returns to forward motion. We could then entitle this Mercury retrograde chapter as “The Debate Retrograde”, but it is much more.

This chapter of the economic crisis began with the downfall of Lehman Brothers and the bail-out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the role that shameless lobbying played in breaking down the regulations that protected the American public from such debacles. The way that lobbying undermines the American system may become more prominent, and the candidates may have to reveal their positions more fully as the campaign continues.

That the economic crisis is partially timed by the retrograde of Mercury is revealed by the fact that the economy and associated crisis reached a complete standstill as Mercury reached its station. As Mercury picks up speed, people will move into problem-solving mode. While the economic issues are larger than the Mercury retrograde, they are timed to it temporarily.

Mercury Retrograde and the Candidates
As I mentioned last month, the Mercury retrograde period favors Obama’s chart more than that of McCain. We have a track record to support this notion, as Obama did very well during the previous Mercury retrograde periods this year, in February and June. In February of course, he surged ahead of Hillary Clinton in the primaries. In June, she conceded the race to him.

Those two retrogrades were in air signs. The air signs are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. Mercury was retrograde in January in Aquarius, while in June it was in Gemini. The one we are experiencing now is in Libra, and it makes only one glancing contact with Obama’s chart (a near-square to his Saturn) before it turns around. Just as with the two previous retrogrades, it makes harmonious connections. With McCain’s chart, this retrograde makes a major contact with his Ascendant and MC (and by implication the other angles, the Descendant and IC). This can be life-changing. Given the fact that McCain already has a planetary event making a massive impact in his chart, the Saturn-Uranus opposition, he may not fare as well in this retrograde period.

This does not guarantee any particular outcome for Obama with the coming retrograde; it only supports the notion that he does well under Mercury retrograde in air signs. And, since Mercury is also associated with the media, we are sure to see some media self-examination and perhaps rethinking of their role in the way the election is moving. They seem to respond to complaints; after Senator Clinton’s surrogates whined about how they were treating her, they backed off; it was reported that McCain was getting a free ride, and the McCain campaign has been allowing a very narrow scope of questioning of the Republican running mates, about which the media seem to be very docile. For more on the election, listen to my presentation, “Who’s Gonna Win?”

Getting the Economy Right
One of the things that makes retrograde transits so powerful is the fact that the retrograding planet makes three passes over the same patch of sky and the planets in those degrees. Mercury makes its second and third passes during October. We will see the resolution of the economic crisis — as much as can be accomplished right now — timed with the Mercury contacts, as well as contacts with Saturn and Uranus. They occur on October 4, 6, 15, 25, and 30.

Mercury returns to forward motion on October 15. This suggests that we’ll return to a new “business as usual” then. Changes supporting new levels of authenticity will continue to unfold as other planets take their turn in the limelight, and Mercury will return to being a trigger of awareness on a less momentous scale.

Contacts with Saturn and Uranus occur on October 3-5, 11-12, 17-18, 23-25, and 30- November 1. These dates will bring us further tremors in the existing social, economic, and political structures and more evidence of a major shift in public opinion.

And If That Weren’t Enough
There are other significant planetary events in October that would take the headlines but for the events already mentioned. First is the return of Chiron to forward motion on October 25. Coinciding with this change in direction, we will be more focused on our own healing process, from our spiritual growth process to our economic situation. Although I have mentioned several other themes associated with this healing process, Chiron is also teaching us the Aquarian lesson of detachment or objectivity. We may experience a great deal of fear when we’re being told day after day that the economy is being destroyed. Although no one can judge how real our fears are but ourselves, a lack of attachment helps us to see our situation more clearly and create solutions more quickly. Chiron is giving us a chance to make a healthy disengagement more a part of our reality. If you are looking for a situation in your life that is related to Chiron’s cycle, look to events that occurred on or around February 5, May 11 and 25, and August 10. Because Chiron is in Aquarius for several years and will continue there, this is one stage in an ongoing learning process.

Even though it occurs on November 1, we’ll be feeling it in October as Neptune also returns to direct motion. Chiron has been traveling with Neptune all year, so these two planets’ energies are intertwined and our lives with them. The healing process we are experiencing with respect to disengagement also involves an element of surrender to what we know inwardly to be true. It results in the quality much-valued in the I Ching philosophy of “inner independence”. When we are inwardly independent and we encounter challenges, we can deal with them more naturally and beneficially because our emotions are not running us. We can operate without the ego “sitting at the throne of the self”.

On October 6, the Sun squares Jupiter. This signals the closing phase of the yearly Sun-Jupiter cycle, when we tie up loose ends and solidify the rewards we have been receiving. If we have done well, we may be able to sustain those rewards even beyond the Jupiter cycle, which ends January 5. Jupiter has to do with expansion, education, and enterprise. Significant dates in this cycle are December 27 (2007), April 10, May 9, July 9, and September 7.

We can watch for how well we’re working with the unexpected in our lives by observing how we do around October 12, when the Sun quincunxes Uranus. If you’ve been paying attention to these subtle interactions, you’ll see how pulled apart we can feel as we grapple with energies that are very different from each other. Here, Libra and Pisces can be used to create spiritual harmony or beauty, but it must arise out of sudden events — whatever life presents to us in the moment.

Saturn-Chiron: Not to Be Overlooked
One more thing: Saturn quincunxes Chiron after years of contention leading to greater awareness as they opposed each other. Here Virgoan practicality must be blended with Aquarius detachment to create solutions, applicable in the world of government and economy. The shattering of old structures escalating under Saturn-Uranus is aided and abetted by Chiron over 17 months from May 08 – September 09. Technology is the result of Virgoan-Aquarian collaborations. Although this is felt on the level of world events, we also feel it inside. We may find it desirable to continue a retooling process to adjust to emerging realities. For instance, a businessperson may decide to redesign their website — again — in response to the latest trends. People with planets in Virgo or Aquarius will feel this more than others.

Pluto’s Final Days
For only six more weeks, Pluto will be in Sagittarius. Now at 29 degrees, it means that every ending is seasoned with transformation until then. When this planet of change re-enters Capricorn, we will have had six months to prepare for the new reality we glimpsed early in the year. For now, we can continue those preparations. The most important preparation we can make is in the development of flexibility and practical skills.

Healing the Great Wound
So now we are healing the Great Wound and we have the will in the public to do it, even if not everyone understands it. Even though we can trace the effects of the current economic pattern to actions taken over the past 30 years, the wound runs much deeper — the misunderstanding that we are all islands, that we are separate and independent of each other, among others. This concept is an old as humanity and will not be healed overnight. Yet to survive as a species we must find the balance between self-preservation and interdependence with others. This is the challenge we face, and if we can conceive it we can make the sea change required to resolve it. With each person that reaches their own peace with this concept (and any other), we contribute to the hundredth monkey process and create the tipping point that changes everything.

Significant Planetary Events

Mercury, Chiron, Uranus, and Neptune are retrograde. Venus and Mars are in detriment. Sun and Jupiter are in fall.

All dates are based on Pacific Time.
Blue = harmonious/Red or orange = challenging/intense
Events in bold are more significant.

© Terry Lamb