Obama Administration and the Saturn/Uranus opposition

Now that September is upon us, the third Saturn/Uranus opposition, in a series of five, becomes exact on the 15th. The first opposition in this series was on November 4, 2008, the day that Barack Obama was elected. That election played out perfectly the symbolism of these two planets. Saturn ruling the traditional, the establishment and the accepted while Uranus rules the revolution, change, the novel and the new-fangled. In February of 2009, at the second in this series of oppositions, Obama signed the stimulus package, a huge legislative act. Will September bring another major piece of legislation? Mercury is retrograde from Labor Day until the 29th. This is not the time to start something new but it is a good time to revise and review existing works or works in progress. TARP was passed while Mercury was retrograde and they have been adding and amending it ever since. And Congress and the American people are still not sure where the money went and have no oversight in regards to those funds. Whether or not a health care reform bill gets passed this month, the act and the issue will drag on until July 2010 when the final passage of the Saturn/Uranus opposition occurs. At any rate it appears that Obama has already sold out to Big Pharma, by agreeing to ban the importation of cheaper drugs from Canada and not allowing the US government to negotiate the price of drugs here in the US. So much for change you can believe in. Since Obama was elected under this Saturn/Uranus opposition it stands to reason, astrological reason that is, that at each successive opposition something major will occur in his administration. The final two of the oppositions occur on April 26, 2010 and July 26, 2010. Watch the action around the 15th of this month and on the dates of the final two oppositions. June of 2010 should be particularly volatile leading up to the final opposition. Remember, you heard it here first.

Patrick Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, and Relationship Astrology

In Synastry, the astrology of human relationships, we examine the interaction between two horoscopes. We look at the alignments, called aspects, of the planets between the two. Some alignments promise perfect harmony while others guarantee conflict. Between Patrick and Ted there are a multitude of aspects, some easy and harmonic, others not so easy. Easy or hard aspects aside; if these two had been strangers and met through a work relationship, at a social event or even on the street, the encounter would have been life changing. The first thing I notice when looking at these two charts is that Ted Kennedy’s Pluto sits right on Patrick’s Sun symbolizing the fact that Patrick was born into a family of great power and wealth. That aspect as well as Patrick’s Moon placement connected to Ted’s Saturn indicates that Ted was definitely the authority figure in Patrick’s life. He often played the stern father. It also indicates that a lot of work was involved for them to understand each other. Their relationship was not without emotional tensions. They may have butted heads but it was through these disagreements, arguments and lively discussions, which I think they both relished, that they came to understand and respect one another. There is an aspect of ease between them that indicates a free and easy communication when the issue was close to the heart. There was an intuitive bond between them. Often they did not need words to communicate. Ted’s a Pisces while Patrick’s a Cancer, so they got this Water thing going on, elemental compatibility. They sense, intuit and feel empathy towards one another. Patrick has more Water planets and planets in Water houses which gives him an intuitive edge. Ted, while a Pisces, has a lot of Earth with Mercury, (how he thinks and talks) and Mars (how he acts) in Aquarius. This gives him great intellect as well as that booming voice. Their relationship was not without ups and downs, it was dynamic, ever changing and I am sure richly rewarding. Now a little bit about Patrick, because he is here with us and Ted, God rest him, has gone to that great Senate in the sky. It is not surprising when you look at Patrick’s horoscope that he is involved in Mental Health legislation. He has the perfect planetary placements for this. He feels it, he wants to help and he needs to help. Patrick has talked about his issues with depression. What I see in his horoscope reveals a receptive individual. He is sensitive to the environment around him. He absorbs the vibes like a sponge. It is important for him to be around positive people and in a positive environment. Patrick is a private person and does not reveal his feelings and emotions easily. Early on, Old Teddy, no doubt, had to pry them out of him with a crowbar. That said, we need to keep are eye on Patrick Kennedy. He is a lot sharper than he looks. And never forget, he learned while seated at the feet of the Master.
After note: Flipped on the TV awhile ago and over at Fox News, where they often characterized Ted Kennedy as the devil incarnate, they are falling all over themselves praising him to the skies. Funny that.

Ted Kennedy

After Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Ted always seemed to me to be a bit of fluff. I figured he got elected on his brother Jack’s coattails. He looked so vulnerable while lying flat on his back after that plane crash and then there was Chappaquiddick. I didn’t think he had it in him, whatever “it” was. He was elected to the Senate on November 6, 1962 and he held that seat for 47 years. This just goes to show you how wrong a girl can be. That 1962 election was the year of Ted Kennedy’s first Saturn Return which occurs around the ages of 29 years to 31 years. This is a person’s astrological coming of age, when you put aside childhood things and venture into adulthood. If you want longevity, Saturn is a good planet to have around. At 6 AM that day, the time the polls opened, the Moon was at 28 degrees Aquarius, right on Ted Kennedy’s Mars, Mercury, Sun conjunction. Jupiter, the Greater Benefic, was smack dab on Teddy’s Sun, a gift from the Gods. In Mundane Astrology, the Astrology of events, the Moon rules the people. In Aquarius it is all about the brotherhood of man, revolution and power to the people. Kennedy, an Irish Catholic, running against George Cabot Lodge, a member of Boston’s blue blood society represented those Aquarian ideals. I don’t think I ever fully appreciated all that Ted Kennedy went through all these years. First was John F. Kennedy’s assassination. I know, Oklahoma City was shocking, the Twin Towers were frightening; but I don’t think anything will have the capacity to stun the way the assassination of John F. Kennedy did. I mean, stop dead in your tracks stunned. It was such a loss. The following June, Ted breaks his back in a plane crash, barely escaping with his life. Four years later in 1968 Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated. Another shocker. The following year was Chappaquiddick. A horrible tragedy where a young woman died. The common perception is that Ted Kennedy got drunk and drove off a bridge. And we will probably never know what happened during those missing ten hours. I don’t condone bad behavior nor do I judge. As an Astrologer, for me, it all comes back to Saturn. Ted Kennedy has Saturn in his first house, the house of the personality, the physical body and how you present yourself to the world. It’s a strong position to have in a natal chart. Saturn brings you the harsh lessons of life. Saturn rewards you when you do the work and makes life hard when you don’t. Saturn gave him that first election but you can be sure that he worked hard for it. A long slow recovery from a broken back, restriction of movement, and a long period requiring patience is classic Saturn. Cheating on an exam, cheating on your wife and getting caught is Saturn’s way of keeping you in line. With Ted Kennedy, Saturn kept at it until he got the message and when he got it right, Saturn rewarded him. In his later years he was happily married, had the respect of his colleagues, the love of his constituents and a good relationship with his children. And that’s my next blog, comparing the natal charts of Patrick and Ted Kennedy. What was their relationship like? Stay tuned.

Whitehouse, Reed and the Community Dinner

I went to the Community dinner at the Johnston Senior Center hosted by Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed about health care reform. This is the second community dinner put on by Whitehouse that I have been to. The last one was in February in Warwick. The subject then was healthcare as well. How this dialogue is fueled by our prejudices was aptly illustrated by two people who said basically the same thing and how the crowd reacted. In February, an American with a small business spoke about the rising costs of providing health care to his employees. He spoke of how the State of RI has allowed BCBS a 12 percent increase and how the rising health care cost were destroying our ability to be competitive on a world market and how he can no longer afford to provide health care to his employees. The point was made and well taken by the crowd. Last night a man spoke who was originally from Germany. He spoke with a heavy accent. He related how he had been in business in Germany for 25 years and in business in the United States for 25 years. He made the same points as our American friend from the February meeting, about costs and competitiveness. He also dared to make the claim that Germany’s health care system was better than ours, particularly in Cancer treatment and research, citing the Hollywood types, (Farah Fawcett) who can afford and do go to Germany for treatment. People expressed outrage, cries of “Why don’t you go back to Germany.” And “How dare you, my ancestors fought for the freedoms you enjoy.” Same subject, same issues within that subject and same conclusion but a markedly different reaction. Americans need to get their heads out of their asses. The World Health Organization ranks the world’s health systems. France is number one and Italy is number two. Germany is 25th while the United States sits at 37. Costa Rica is 36. Think of it, Costa Rica has beaten us in the health care game. The Organization also ranks life expectancy. Here in the United States the average life expectancy is 70 years, we are ranked at 24. Japan is number one with a life expectancy of 74.5. And Germany, they are at 22 with a life expectancy of 70.4. What a lot of people fail to realize is that a lot of this rhetoric about health care is driven by insurance and drug companies. Two health insurance companies control 80 percent of the market. Insurance is supposed to spread the risk around, insure vast numbers of people and the healthy pay for the sick. What has happened is that the insurance companies only insure the healthy and as a result reap huge profits. Now, I do believe that business has a right to a fair profit, but they do not have the right to gouge the American people. We don’t need Franklyn Roosevelt, the President who pushed through Social Security; we need Teddy Roosevelt, the progressive trust buster.

Tom Ridge, Terror Alerts, Pluto in Capricorn

Tom Ridge says that when he was Director of Homeland Security he was pressured to raise the terror alert when President Bush’s poll numbers went down during the 2004 election. Like that’s a big surprise. How about during his entire term of office, since 9/11, every time his approval rating went down; the terror alert was raised. A fact pointed out to me during those years by a savvy 16 year old. This kid, like all kids, used the internet to great advantage. He pulled up all of the polls and terror alerts with the coinciding dates that each occurred and saw the clear pattern. This is something the power brokers haven’t quite gotten yet. For as many gullible Americans there are that believe anything a talking head on television says, there are a growing number of citizens, young and old alike who search and research the subject and know the truth and are able to form an informed opinion. They also know when the talking head, be it a politician, a pundit, a “news” person or whatever is talking out his or her ass. We know that the emperor has no clothes and that the man behind the curtain is a carnival shill. This revelation is symbolic of Pluto’s entrance into Capricorn and it is only the beginning. Pluto went into Capricorn in 2008 and will be there until 2023. To give you a sense of what Pluto does, think back to 1995 when Pluto went into Sagittarius. Sagittarius is about such diverse subjects as philosophy, religion, publishing, travel and distant cultures. Pluto changes what it touches and usually the first thing that happens is that the crap comes to the surface. Put Pluto (sex) in Sagittarius (religion) and what have you got? All the sordid, lurid details came out. While the Catholic Church may seem the same on the outside, you can bet that internally a lot of changes have been made. The publishing industry has undergone major change as well. The shrinking newspaper and the expanding online content attest to that. So now, Pluto in Capricorn is set to change all things Capricorn. Capricorn represents government, authority figures, big business, and heads of state. The structure and form of our society, society’s rules as it were, all fall under Capricorn’s purview. So the real sleazes (not the honest do-gooders) who represent our authority figures in government, media and business are about to be exposed in ways they cannot foresee. As an example of how Pluto works, during the Watergate break in, Richard Nixon was being hit by a Pluto transit. We know how that turned out.

Frank Caprio, Campaign funds and the 2010 General Election

The Providence Journal has been conducted an inquiry into General Treasurer Frank Caprio’s political fundraising and discovered that he had received funds from the national litigation firm Grant and Eisenhofer a firm that had been awarded state business. Caprio has returned the funds from employees of this firm and others that may be involved with state business. The question is would he have returned it if the Journal had not started the inquiry. Does he, Frank Caprio or the Rhode Island people believe that these firms would donate money to a campaign fund out of the goodness of their hearts? Frank Caprio is a 60’s baby with the powerful Uranus/Pluto conjunction in Virgo opposite Saturn in Pisces. Today the opposition between Saturn and Uranus is reversed with Saturn in Virgo and Uranus in Pisces. Saturn represents the status quo, the traditional, the structure and foundation of society while Uranus signifies the radical, the new, and the innovative. When things get rigid and hide bound, Uranus comes along and says, “OK, time for a change. “ If you’re ready and willing to change it’s easy, if not, sudden events force you to change and sometimes it can be quite unpleasant. We see the polarity playing out in society now, with the health care issue symbolizing the great divide between Saturn and Uranus. Frank Caprio has this opposition hitting him on a very personal level. His reality, things he thought would never change are changing. With Sun, Mars and Mercury in Taurus, he is a Taurus’ Taurus. Taurus is fixed and can be stubborn. When Taurus digs in, it takes a powerful force to move the Bull off that perch. This firmness of purpose has benefits when one has to stick to a project through to completion but can be a drawback when old outmoded ways need changing. By the same token, due to current transits, Frank Caprio will surprise those around him by taking sudden, unexpected action. He will act and react in unanticipated ways. Taurus does like the good life and the things that money can buy but they have a code of conscious and are loyal and faithful to their friends and their causes. By the time of the 2010 election, Saturn will have moved on into Libra, while Uranus remains along his Saturn/Uranus/Pluto axis. Jupiter joins this party. Jupiter signifies expansion, the large and the grand. Jupiter, while called the “Greater Benefic” does not always signify good things, just lots of it, whatever it may be. With unpredictable Uranus in the picture, that is just what it is, unpredictable. With Uranus, if you can think of it, that’s not it. Other factors on that day indicate a lot of work with women, tact and diplomacy playing a big part. In the meantime, tune in around the first week of November 2009, Caprio will be in the headlines again.

Guns and Political Rallies

In this country the Constitution guarantees us the right to bear arms. Those that bring guns openly to political events are making a statement affirming that right. But even in the Old West the Sheriff reserved the right to relieve you of your six shooter while you were in town; in the interests of public safety. Given the history in this country of assasinations, shooting rampages and the like, we can only hope that those carrying guns to political rallies don't have any loose screws rattling around in their cranium.