(image credit: Dark Star Astrology)
So much has already been written about and discussed by astrologers about the pandemic known as COVID-19, I do not simply want to regurgitate all of what is by now common knowledge (i.e., the Saturn-Pluto conjunction that occurred this January during a Capricorn stellium comprising the Sun, Ceres, Saturn, Pluto, and Mercury) almost two months after this particular coronovirus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
Yet I do feel that there is much to add that I hope will serve the purpose of helping all those who find this article or have discovered my newly revived astrology blog. I am not here to offer false hope, empty platitudes, or unwarranted fear, but to call it as I see it. And back in the day, I did see January 2020 as kicking off a potential apocalypse (which literally means to uncover or reveal), possibly World War III. Two clients of mine recently remembered that I'd predicted this, though during the era of the Uranus-Pluto square (2012-15), it was hard to believe that things could get even worse.
Although COVID-19 first showed up in late 2019 (hence the "-19" appended to the shortened form of "coronavirus"), China publicly shared the the genome of this virus on January 12, 2020: the very day that the Saturn-Pluto conjunction was exact. Interestingly, the Moon was in Leo, the sign of royalty, and "corona" refers to the virus's crownlike spikes. Its "novel" nature does not refer to a long work of fiction but to its being a new strain for humans, yet on the day that its genetic coding was made available, the planetoid Chiron, the Wounded Healer, was in the first degree of Aries (which happens to be the first sign and "newborn" of the zodiac). Even now, many people believe that COVID-19 is a hoax or just another flu (which itself is a remnant of our last pandemic of 1918).
Just as COVID-19's very existence or seriousness has been up for debate, so has its origins. What is apparent to me is that large and/or exotic animals were involved (Mars in Sagittarius making a wide but approaching square to Neptune in Pisces). Certainly, the so-called wet markets in China, where live and dead animals coexist, have been scrutinized. Mars in Sagittarius also points to international travel being a crucial factor.
I am writing this from my apartment in New York City, which until very recently was the epicenter of the pandemic, when New Jersey overtook New York in terms of new cases. However, even though new cases and deaths have steeply declined in New York since its peak in early April (just past the Full Moon, with the Moon in Scorpio), the city remains locked down as other states are opening up, as well as previously ravaged European countries such as Italy and Spain. It was clear to me last month, which featured the steepest rise in unemployment in history, the combination of a president who is essentially a failed businessman egging on protesters desperate to get back to work (because the United States is the only first-world country that lacks universal healthcare, mandatory paid sick leave, and government assistance) would lead to an increase in illness and death. A public health emergency should not be politicized or used as a weapon against individuals in the name of big business, yet with a Capricorn stellium in its genome chart, this is exactly what we are seeing, along with the reality that so many US workers deemed "essential" are risking their health for peanuts (or peanut butter).
The United States is two years away from its first Pluto Return, yet the most unlovely, cruel features of Pluto in Capricorn (e.g., corporations and "too big to fail" businesses and banks valued over people, abusive authority figures, autocracy, dictatorships, rampant materialism, extreme greed, the gap between the haves and have-nots grown to the size of the Grand Canyon) that have been increasing since 2008 have been exposed to the light, thanks to the COVID-19 genome's Sun conjunct the Saturn-Pluto conjunction. This pandemic has revealed the rot (Pluto) within the foundation (Capricorn) that, under the current US administration, is essentially forcing everyone who lives here to fend for themselves. Science (represented by Venus at 28 Aquarius) is unaspected in COVID-19's genome chart, but interestingly, it was after Mercury turned direct on that Venus during the second week of March that the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
Indeed, the astrological culprit responsible for the delay, secrecy, and denial concerning COVID-19 was Mercury, which turned retrograde in Pisces, the sign of its detriment, in mid-February. Three precious weeks were lost that could've been used for tracing and testing. It is true that not all leaders and governments handled the growing crisis in the same way, but certainly, it was not handled well in the United States. With the Centers for Disease Control defunded and providing faulty tests (unlike the diagnostics created by WHO), and with the president claiming back in March that he was not responsible for dealing with COVID-19 and favoring his own hunches over science, favoring red states over blue for needed supplies, essentially pitting states against one another and constituents against their governors, it is no surprise to me that the United States' patchwork approach is going to lead to even more devastation, or that the administration is apparently okay with millions of Americans dying until (or unless) there is a cure or a vaccine -- that this is the price of getting back to business. What does give me pause is that many Americans themselves see COVID-19 as "only" killing the elderly (symbolized by Capricorn) or people with compromised immune systems and/or preexisting conditions including diabetes and high blood pressure, and so to hell with them: it's time for the relatively young and fit to suck it up and make like the lord of the flies. Another frightening factor is that the Far Right and its followers are behaving like a death cult.
What gives me comfort is the knowledge that there are also people all over the world who look upon this time-out as a wake-up call to change their lives at a very deep-rooted level (Pluto in Capricorn) and also try to save the planet we call home (which, since its name is Earth, especially resonates with the earth signs Taurus, Virgo, and yes, Capricorn) and build a better world before it really is too late. I myself feel that the best aspect of this pandemic has been having more time to think instead of sleepwalking through life feeling increasingly numb, and that "getting back to normal" would be a tragic missed opportunity for all of us to fix some longstanding personal mistakes and, as much as it is in our power to do so, societal mistakes.
Mars in Pisces is a difficult placement, and I predict that the coming transit of Mars in Pisces (May 13 - June 28) combined with a retrograde Venus in Gemini will be a challenge to many people's health, particularly involving the lungs, arms, and hands. It may also be a period when those who have ostensibly recovered from COVID-19 find that the illness has left permanent damage.
This summer will be marked by Saturn returning to Capricorn after spending three months in Aquarius, as well as Mars in Aries. This will be a period where "getting back to normal" by "getting back to business" (Saturn in Capricorn) will take precedence over the so-called social distancing that has thus far been the hallmark of Saturn in Aquarius, and there will also be increased violence with Mars in Aries that could result, by the time of the Mars-Saturn square on August 24, in martial law.
I have been asked by some of my astrology students and clients if I see a second wave of COVID-19 later this year. Although I am concerned that Saturn back in late Capricorn from July until mid-December could put us back where we started this past winter, resulting in another mass lock down as Saturn moves back into Aquarius, what concerns me more is that in the United States, the first wave has not yet peaked when you take New York City out of the equation.
Hope this has given you some food for thought. I shall write more about the astrology of COVID-19 and other matters, but if you are interested in joining my weekly astrology classes on Zoom, please contact me with your email address. I am also available for private consultation.
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