Mercury Square Uranus: Tread Lightly; There's a Crack in the Ice

If you don't have something nice to say today, it may be best not to say it, for we are on a Mercury-Uranus square (exact 3:48 p.m. ET). A friendly debate may well turn into a full-on fight; constructive criticism is more likely to be interpreted as just plain mean.

Unfortunately, even after the square passes, we are just not getting much in the way of smooth, flowing aspects in the final few days of 2013: just after midnight ET the Sun squares Uranus, later on Monday Mars squares Pluto, and on the 31st Mercury conjuncts Pluto and squares Mars. Harmony must be somewhere out there, but it may not be so easy to find. Nerves are frayed. Patience has worn thin. Egos are bruised. Hissy fits are abounding.

For 1.3 million Americans (plus who knows how many dependent family members), the cause of this distress is very simple: being cut off from EUC (extended unemployment compensation) today, just a few days after Christmas. Hel-lo, Scrooge!

It is obvious to me that the White House does not have an astrologer on its staff; otherwise, this would never have happened -- not only is national unemployment still much higher than it was back in 2008, when EUC was first implemented (by then president Bush -- yes, United States of Amnesiacs, a Republican!), but we are only midway through the Uranus-Pluto square that astrologers have been ranting about since 2012 (or 2011 for the early birds). This is potentially a highly revolutionary aspect; the last Uranus-Pluto square happened in the early 1930s, and the New Deal (along with the associated and much-needed WPA) may have saved the United States from a truly ugly revolution. It is also worth keeping in mind that the depression that Germany went through during the same decade of the '30s triggered not a New Deal, but the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party and the exit of civilized law and order, which culminated in the Holocaust and World War II.

As we still have 15 months of the Uranus-Pluto square to go, the jury is still out about which way the United States will go. With Mars tying into the Uranus-Pluto square, an increase in civilized protests may result -- Mars will be in Libra until late July, and retrograde for part of that time; Libra is not a sign noted for its bellicosity. I am all for civilized protests, yet at the same time, in this current climate, I do not know what, if anything, will change as a result of genteel protesting. It is certainly possible that the generation with Pluto in Libra (born 1971/72 - 1983/84) will not react in a genteel manner with Mars passing back and forth over its collective Pluto, but like a bunch of modern-day charming yet ruthless Bonnie and Clydes. Remember that the short-lived Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011, run mainly by the rising Millennial generation, generated a lot of "they're so entitled and unorganized" criticism before the protesters were forced out of Zuccotti Park. Any future protests will have to take a different tack in order to garner not only respect, but the "fear and awe" that may be necessary in the face of crushing, Scrooge-like meanness from the Right and "sorry, but we need to throw you under the bus" attitude from the Left.

Stay tuned, and if anyone from the White House happens to be reading this, I am available for astrological consultation via Skype.

Gathering Storm Clouds: Moon-in-Scorpio Thoughts on the Uranus-Pluto Square

The Uranus-Pluto square, the first of seven over the next three years, is exact in just three weeks, June 24. Yet we have been feeling its extremely difficult energy since last spring, when Uranus settled into its seven-year stay in Aries: the Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street movement, the Going Still Further Down the Toilet global economy, global climate crises, the apocalyptic mood that homes in on 2012 as the end-times. Never mind that the Mayans themselves have discounted that one fragmented tablet; thanatos, the death wish, seems stronger than ever.

Greetings, Uranus-Pluto square! Long time no see. In fact, most of us on Earth haven't ever had the pleasure of making your volatile aquaintance, for last time you were in town was back in the early 1930s. It was the Great Depression. The U.S. got FDR and the New Deal; Germany got Hitler and "the Final Solution." Where will the chips fall this time, keeping in mind that while history may not repeat itself, it frequently rhymes? (Shout-out to genius Mark Twain.) Thanks to the technological advances of the past eighty years, we truly are the world nowadays; isolationism, aka a nation's sticking its collective head in the sand, simply isn't possible anymore. Yet the U.S. seems to have a little bit of a complex about being the world's policeman. Where is the balance? Not here, bro.

During the last Uranus-Pluto square, Neptune was in Virgo; one manifestation of that "famine" placement was the Dust Bowl of the U.S. Midwest. But now Neptune has begun its transit of the opposite sign, Pisces. Over the next fourteen years, the world's collective immunity to disease will weaken; pandemics (think bird flu to the Hitchcockian degree) are likely, and oceans (and marine life) will become more vulnerable to toxicity. Throw in the Uranus-Pluto square, and this goes far beyond a tempest in a teapot (or Tea Party). Start building your ark or oxygen tent now, and for God's sake don't move to Venice, even though it is possibly the most beautiful city on the planet.

Everything seems to be spinning out of control, and no one seems to have any rational solutions to anything. Collectively, the mood is one of increasing panic. I wonder if any world leaders follow astrology, or have an astrologer on their staff? Based on the rankness that's been going down, aka "the new normal," I seriously doubt it. As personal liberty and the concept of having something called options are threatened or simply ripped to shreds, revolution is inevitable. The tipping point will be reached during the Uranus-Pluto square era of 2012-15. Within the next three years, and probably a lot sooner than that, previously apathetic people of all nations will join last year's early birds, the canaries in the coal mines. Heads will roll and blood will be shed (Uranus in Aries) in a growing battle of individuals, and individuality, against corrupt, rigid governments, banks, corporations, "the 1%," and the Old Guard in general (all representative of Pluto in Capricorn). The revolution will b not merely televised (that's so 20th-century!), but online 24/7, in Google-translated techno-color and mad-mashup YouTube clips.

Pick your battles wisely during the next three years...before they pick you. On a lighter note, here in the Big Apple, our billionaire mayor had better prepare himself for legions of protestors -- fat, thin, rich, poor, healthy, sick -- to hurl Big Gulp sodas at his head.

Mayor Bloomberg Obviously Doesn't Have an Astrologer on His Payroll

...for he decided to have the NYPD come down on the OWSers with the Moon in Cancer. In plain English, he gave the order to boot them out of their makeshift home with the Moon (ruling the home and the public) transiting Cancer (the sign that is ruled by the Moon). And under darkest cover of night, with a media blackout, confiscating of personal belongings including the OWS library, and police brutality.

No, no, and no.

Mayor Bloomberg, and any other politicians or 1%ers who may have accidentally stumbled on my humble li'l ole blog, I am offering my astrological services to you (for only 100X as much as my customary fee) so that when the Uranus-Pluto square hits the fan next year, you will not be carted off to the 21st-century version of the guillotine. For the 99%er revolution, which cuts across generational, religious, cultural, and gender lines, has just begun.

Funny, I observed 10 or 15 years back that the next major war in the US was going to be a civil war. At that time, I envisioned the East and West coasts vs. the heartland; now I see it will be less geographical or generational in nature, and more about such Capricorn-ruled institutions as government and banking brought to its knees (the part of the body ruled by Capricorn/Saturn) as Uranus in headstrong, fresh-blood Aries makes the square to Pluto in Capricorn.

The US was born out of revolution (US natal Pluto is 27 degrees of Capricorn; Moon is placed in rebellious Aquarius). It could very well be that the key to its survival is more of the same. In the words of Pluto: Regenerate or die!