Astro Crashes

Stock Market Panics Past and Future

By Robert Gover

Part I: Panics Past
Part II: Future Panics
Part III: Why 2008-2019 is likely to be the most difficult economic time so far in US history. 

This is NOT about Sun Sign astrology. 

It is the for most distant-from-the-Sun planets which have the most to do with the economy and stock markets. 

Planets nearest the Sun are Mercury, Earth, Moon, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. 
Planets most distant from the Sun are Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.   

            I will review the astrology of past panics in order to show how to know when the next is possible, likely, or all but certain.  I will explain each astrological chart as we proceed. 

USA’s Birth Chart

            July 4, 1776. 

Main Points of Interest:

• Sun ¢  square Saturn §
• Mars ¥ square Neptune ©

            The NATURAL CYCLES we’ll deal with here are those made by the outermost planets: Saturn §, Uranus ¨, Neptune © and Pluto ª. 

            Average Years to Orbit Sun: 

            Saturn 29.5
            Uranus 84     
            Neptune 165

            Pluto 248

Primary angles or aspects as viewed from Earth: 
            CONJUNCTIONS: When two or more planets occupy the same space with a 10-degree orb, as viewed from Earth.  
            SQUARES: When two or more planets form a 90-degree angle as viewed from Earth.  
            OPPOSITIONS: When two or more planets are found 180-degrees from each other, as viewed from Earth.     
            TRINES: When two or more planets form a 120-degree triangular angle as viewed from Earth. 

            Squares and oppositions are difficult, harsh, malefic.  Energies seem at a four-way stop with no stop signs or traffic lights. 
            Conjunctions are either beneficial or difficult depending on aspects from other planets. 
            Trines are good, helpful, harmonious.  Energies flow together like merges on interstate highways. 

CYCLICAL CONJUNTIONS AND OPPOSITIONS

Planets periodically arrive at the same longitude or 180 degrees opposite each other, as seen from Earth. 
Example: the Sun and Moon come conjunct every 28 days.  We call this the New Moon, and note that it begins a new Sun-Moon cycle, which culminates at the Full Moon when Sun and Moon are 180 degrees opposite each other.   
The outermost planets move much more slowly, as viewed from Earth.  The following are average years of conjunctions and oppositions. 

            Saturn-Uranus: 45
            Saturn-Neptune: 36
            Saturn-Pluto: 33.8

            Uranus-Neptune: 171
            Uranus-Pluto: 127

            Neptune-Pluto: 495 years

WORST CRASHES GRAPH

SOUTH SEA BUBBLE CRASH CHART

            Notice the cluster of planets in Sagittarius, especially Saturn at 20 Sag. Square Pluto at 26 Virgo (down around 6 o’clock).

SOUTH SEA BUBBLE CRASH AND USA CHART

            Comparing the USA’s birth chart with the South Sea Bubble Crash, note Saturn opposite the US Mars and square the US Neptune, and Pluto conjunct the US Neptune and thus also square both Saturn in Sag and the US Mars at 21 Gemini.  This pattern will repeat during the 19th and 20th Centuries whenever the US stock market crashes. 

RULE OF THUMB

With but few exceptions, every time there has been a stock market crash steep and abrupt enough to cause panic, the US natal Mars-square-Neptune has been afflicted by transiting planets forming oppositions, squares and/or conjunctions. 
Not every time this pattern has formed has there been a panic, however.  The two exceptions in US history are the turbulent years of the 1960s and the 1830s during President Andrew Jackson’s term. 
            Therefore the RULE OF THUMB is this: 
Whenever the US Mars-Neptune square is opposed or squared by the outermost planets, there is danger of a stock market crash.  The outermost planets are Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. 
There is minimal danger when it’s the nearby planets afflicting: Sun, Mercury, Moon, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. 
There is maximum danger when more than one of the outermost planets oppose, square or conjunct: Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. 
            Usually, it is a combination of inner and outer planets which bring panics.  Mars and/or the Moon often act as triggers when Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto oppose or square the US Mars and Neptune. 

PANICS DEFINED

Surprise, amount lost and speed of loss are the key features of panics.  When 20% or more is lost in a brief period, panic ensues. 
            From 1962 through 1974, there were a series of downturns lasting months or years, which are described as crashes in an NBER Working Paper by Frederic S. Mishkin and Eugene N. White titled “U.S. Stock Market Crashes and their Aftermath: Implications for Monetary Policy.”  Over months or years, losses were significant but no single crash during this time period was abrupt enough to be considered a panic. 
            I include a series of crashes during the early years of the 1930s great depression because most experts expected a recovery after November 1929 but the market continued a series of surprising plunges, exacerbating and prolonging the panic of ’29.  

ASTROLOGICAL SUMMARY OF PAST PANICS     

            1857: Neptune and Mars in Pisces.

            1869: Saturn in Sagittarius. 

            1873: Mars in Sagittarius; Sun, Mercury, Jupiter in Virgo. 

            1893: Pluto, Neptune, Sun, and Venus in Gemini. 

            1903: Pluto and Venus in Gemini; Uranus in Sagittarius; Jupiter in Pisces.  34.1% loss from Feb. to Nov. 

            1907: Pluto in Gemini; Saturn in Pisces.  40.9% loss from Dec. 1906 to Nov. 1907. 

            *1916: Mars in Sagittarius, Chiron in Pisces.  From Nov. 1916 to Dec. 1917, the Dow dropped by more than one-third.  This loss is spread over too long a time to qualify as a panic, but I asterisk it here because of the amount lost: 34.9%.   

            1920: Saturn in Virgo; Mars in Sagittarius.  The Dow plunged precipitously in October 1919.  Before the turnaround in the summer of 1921, the Dow had lost 41.2%. 

            1929: Saturn in Sagittarius; Jupiter in Gemini.  Oct. 28 and 29, Dow lost 24.5%. 

            1932: From peak reached in Sept. 1929 to end of Nov. 1929, Dow lost 37%.  To May 1932, loss was 81.8% 

            1937: Mars, Moon and Moon’s Node in Sagittarius, Chiron in Gemini, Neptune and Mercury in Virgo.  From Aug. 1937 to April 1938, Dow lost 39.3%. 

            1946: Uranus and Moon’s Node in Gemini, Mars and Venus in Virgo.  From May ’46 to May ’47, Dow lost 25.3%

            1987: Saturn and Uranus in Sagittarius; Moons Nodes in Pisces and Virgo.  Oct. 19 Dow lost 22.6%

            1997: Mars and Venus in Sagittarius; Moon’s Nodes in Pisces and Virgo.

            April 3, 2000: Pluto, Venus and Mercury.  Dow lost 19.6% during this month.  

            May 15, 2001: Pluto, Mars and Moon in Sagittarius; Sun in Pisces. 

            September 11, 2001: Pluto, Chiron in Sagittarius; Saturn, Moon in Gemini; Sun in Virgo. Dow had lost 22.9% by December 2001.  NASDAQ fell 50.7% from July 2000 high to December 2001.  

SQUARES AND OPPOSITIONS

            Note: oppositions, conjunctions or squares formed to the US Mars and/or Neptune by only one of the outer planets do not correlate with panics. 

            The worst panics coincide with oppositions, conjunctions and squares from more than one of the outer planets plus backup from Mars, Moon, or other inner planets. 

            When a planet is opposite Mars from Sagittarius, it is simultaneously square Neptune.  And when a planet is opposite Neptune from Pisces, it is simultaneously square Mars. 

            No one knows WHY squares and oppositions bring the most difficult of times.  That they do has been established over thousands of years of observation. 

BIWHEEL CHARTS

The following biwheel charts show USA’s nativity on inner wheels, and on outer wheels the positions of planets for each stock market panic. 
           
What to look for: Oppositions, squares and conjunctions to USA’s Mars-Neptune square. 

PANIC OF 1857

            In February 1857, the US natal Neptune was opposed by transiting Mars and Neptune in Pisces, putting this pair also square US natal Mars in Gemini.  This T square pattern coincided with what is now called the Panic of 1857.  "Economists attribute this panic to over development in the West and excessive railroad construction during this period."  (McWhirter) 

Black Friday, 1869

            On what was called Black Friday, September 24, 1869, Saturn moved into an opposition to Sam’s Mars, forming the T square with Sam's Neptune. 
            "This panic was mostly a Wall Street affair.  Stocks had advanced to high levels from a long period of speculation since the Civil War and a reaction set in.  Money rates were at their highest level since 1857 and 1860."  (McWhirter) 

Black Friday 1873

            The next crash to be cursed with that fabulously evil word happened on Friday, September 19, 1873, when Mars at 13 Sagittarius widely but effectively formed an opposition to Sam’s Mars-square-Neptune that created the T square, with Jupiter and Mercury together in Virgo conjunct Sam’s Neptune.     
            This sunk the nation deeper into its third great depression, called at the time “The Secondary Post-War Depression.”  The New York Stock Exchange closed its doors for the first time in history on September 20, 1873.  It remained closed for 10 days. 

Panic of 1893

            The Panic of 1893 led to a depression but not a great depression.  "The sharp and irregular depression of 1893 came at a time when prices were the lowest they had ever been in the economic history of this country.  Crop failures both in 1893 and 1894 were numerous."  (McWhirter).  In the 1800s, when most Americans were what we now call "family farmers" (before the rise of agribusiness corporations), stock market panics and crashes often coincided with crop failures.  Also in the 19th Century, what are now called “severe corrections” were called depressions.  Economic language has since been refined.  We now distinguish between panics, corrections, bear markets, recessions, depressions and great depressions.  
            Neptune, Venus, the Sun and Moon were the culprits in 1893.  The T square includes the Moon in Sagittarius opposite Sam’s Mars, which was simultaneously being conjoined by transiting Venus at 18 Gemini, Neptune at 11 Gemini, with help from the Sun at 9 Gemini, all thus tied into a square to Sam’s Neptune in Virgo. 

Rich Man's Panic, 1903

            This one found Sam's Mars-square-Neptune afflicted by five transiting planets: Uranus at 25 Sagittarius, Jupiter at 15 Pisces, Neptune and Venus in Gemini conjunct Sam's Mars, and T Mars at 27 Virgo conjunct Sam's Neptune.  This was called The Rich Man's Panic because it affected newly enriched railroad and industrial investors.  Rails dropped from 110 to 92 and industrials dropped from 64 to 47.  I include a chart for this one because it shows Pluto about opposite where it is now. 

Panic of 1907

            The Panic of 1907 arrived when Saturn reached 22 Pisces, opposite Sam's Neptune and square Sam’s Mars at 21 Gemini, which was simultaneously being hit by transiting Pluto at 24 Gemini, forming a T square.   
            This was a classic.  It was not followed by a great depression (Saturn was in Pisces at this time and has always been in Capricorn for great depressions), but in terms of dollars lost, it was horrendous.  It followed what is called The Corporate Prosperity period from 1905 to 1907, when corporate stocks rose dramatically.  The primary economic measurement of those times, The Business Curve, dropped 26 points, to 18 points below normal.

Crash of 1916

            From a peak in November 1916, the market tumbled down to bottom in December 1917.  This doesn’t qualify as a panic but is astrologically interesting because of the positions of Mars and Chiron, opposite and square US Mars and Neptune.   As the market continued to drop, Sun and Mercury traveled through Sagittarius opposite US Mars, apparently adding downward pressure.  By December 1917, the Dow had lost 34.9%. 

Crash of 1920

            This time the US natal Mars-square-Neptune was afflicted by Saturn conjunct Sam's Neptune in Virgo and transiting Mars opposite Sam's Mars.  Another T square.  This brought plunging stock and bond prices coupled with high interest rates.  "The Business Curve dropped 26 points below the normal line.  During most of the year of 1921 Saturn was in conjunction with Jupiter (in Virgo) and both planets were opposite Uranus (in Pisces)."  (McWhirter). 
            This period was called a depression, although its duration was brief and today economists find the word recession more apt to describe it. 

Panic of '29

            What kicked off the great depression of the 1930s was really a series of severe crashes.   Prices roller-coastered down, down, and further down to eventually hit an unprecedented low by 1932.  Picking October 24, 1929 as the day when panic first become palpable, the US natal Mars was caught between an opposition formed by Saturn in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Gemini to form another T square with Sam's natal Neptune in Virgo.  By the end of November 1929, the Dow had lost 37%. 

Great Depression Takes Hold

            The astrological reason the Panic of ’29 led into the great depression of the 1930s was the positions of Saturn and Uranus.  Saturn moved opposite the US Sun (and thus also square the US Saturn) while Uranus moved opposite the US Saturn (and thus also square the US Sun).  This formed a rare Grand Cross pattern, which has never failed to coincide with every great depression in US history since the Revolutionary War.             
The low for stocks was reached in May 1932.  From peak to low, the Dow lost 81.8%. 
Summary: Panic happened when the US Mars was caught between an opposition of Saturn and Jupiter, both simultaneously square the US Neptune.  Great Depression took hold as Saturn and Uranus moved on to form the Grand Cross to the US Sun-Saturn square. 

Crash of 1946

            In 1946 a slowly unfolding crash occurred after stocks hit a peak in May and fell 25.3% by May 1947.  Slow-moving Uranus was conjunct the US Mars and, during this downturn, squared planets transiting through Virgo, most notably Mars and Venus, conjunct the US Neptune as this crash accelerated.  Due to its length, this does not qualify as a panic but it’s noteworthy because of the position of powerful Uranus. 

Anomalous Exception 1966

            1966 is why this system of predicting stock market panics is a Rule of Thumb, not an iron-clad rule.  With Uranus and Pluto conjunct the US Neptune, opposed by Saturn, Mars, Mercury and Chiron – and all those planets square Jupiter in Gemini conjunct the US Mars – we could expect a major panic.  But there was no panic.  Instead of a panic there was a production boom.  The nation’s attention was on ramping up the Vietnam War, investing heavily in the rapidly expanding military-industrial complex. 
However, we might see this pattern as creating a delayed reaction in the stock markets, for the Dow peaked in November 1968, then moved downwards to lose 30.6% by June 1970, when antiwar protestors were making headlines.
           What this anomalous period highlights is the dialogue between hard planetary angles and cultural beliefs.  Gearing up for war was believed to be what got the country out of the 1930s great depression.  Thus, it was believed that gearing up for the Vietnam War would boost the economy and raise stock prices.  This it did - until the antiwar movement swelled in 1968. 
            During the turbulent years of the early 1970s, stocks rose again, but fell 45.7% by December 1974.  The Watergate scandal drove President Nixon to resign in August 1974.  The belief in war as an economic boom was undermined. 

Oil and Neptune

            As stock prices fell, Jupiter opposed the US Neptune and the Moon’s Nodes were opposite and conjunct the US Mars, creating the pattern which usually crashes stocks.  But this was during the OPEC oil embargo and Neptune rules oil.  Transiting Neptune opposed the US Uranus while transiting Jupiter opposed the US Neptune.  Adding to the mood of angst was Saturn conjunct the US Sun, square Uranus and Pluto flanking the US Saturn. 

Black Monday 1987

            On another Black Monday, October 19, 1987, Saturn and Uranus were both in Sagittarius, opposite Sam’s Mars, square Sam's Neptune, with the Moon this day conjunct Sam’s Neptune.  This was the most dramatic one-day drop to this point in history.  Saturn by itself brings frustration and disappointment.  Uranus conjunct Saturn adds surprise, drama, and the unprecedented. 
            With Pluto at 9 Scorpio making a protective 120 degree angle to Sam’s Sun in Cancer, this panic did not bring down the whole economy, thrilling though it was for investors.  Important people recited the old incantation and, presto, prices rose almost as dramatically as they'd plunged.
A lot of market-watchers believed this crash would lead to another great depression.  Believers in "mass psychology" as the primary market mover were also baffled by the quick recovery.  The last time transiting Uranus had moved opposite Uncle Sam's Mars, it had coincided with the Rich Man's Panic of 1903, one 84-year orbit of Uranus ago. 

The 1990s

Stocks skyrocketed up during the 1990s – a continuation of the overall pattern of the 1980s.   A brief downswing in 1990 was called a crash but it really didn’t qualify as either a crash, much less a panic, for stocks lost only 14.7%.  When Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan warning of “irrational exuberance,” investors responded by pumping up the biggest speculative bubble in US history. 

Record Drop of April 2000

            By April, 2000, what was called the Dotcom Bubble, which had built up during the late 1990s burst in a record plunge.  Pluto and the asteroid Chiron were conjunct in Sagittarius, square Mercury and Venus in Pisces.  This formed a grand cross pattern with the US Mars-Neptune square. 
            Between this date and September 11, 2001, the NASDAQ lost nearly 49 percent, the S&P lost 23 percent and the Dow dropped 11 percent.

Crash of March 2001

            The Dow suddenly dropped 436 points on March 12, 2001. 
            Transiting Pluto and Mars in Sagittarius were opposite Uncle Sam's Mars in Gemini, while the Sun in Pisces was opposite Sam's Neptune in Virgo to form a grand cross pattern with Sam's Mars-Neptune square. 
Two days later, when the Moon moved conjunct Mars in Sagittarius, the Dow and NASDAQ dropped again, and by week's end the determined shorts were flush with cash. 

September 11, 2001

            The devastating attack of 9/11 which brought down the Twin Towers in New York and hit the Pentagon in Washington, threw Wall Street into turmoil.  Fortunately, that turmoil was temporary.  However, stock prices have not yet recovered the levels they reached before 2000.  Since 2000, the NASDAQ has fallen from around 5,000 to 1,200.  The Dow has fallen 3,000 points from its peak of 11,722. 

The Exception 1837

            The stock market crash of May 10, 1837 is the single exception to the Rule of Thumb that crashes occur when the US Mars-Neptune square is hit by oppositions and/or squares.  This panic was preceded by a speculative bubble and, some believe, it was triggered by President Andrew Jackson’s undermining of the Second Bank of the United States during his term in office. 

Pluto’s Long-Range Effects

The 1990s unfolded during one of Pluto's perihelion passages.  After swinging so far into outer space it is more than twice the distance from the Sun as Neptune, Pluto swings back to spend twenty years inside Neptune's orbit.  It "surfaced above the god of oceans" last in 1989, coinciding with the end of the Iron Curtain, with revolutions in Eastern Europe and the old Soviet Union, thus effectively ending the Cold War: another example of Pluto's transits leaving a wake of revolutionary change.

Conquistador’s Pluto

Pluto moved from 8 Sagittarius to 13 Cancer during from 1506 to 1522 when Spanish conquistadors were searching for gold in the Caribbean and Central America – coinciding with Native Americans dying diseases imported from Europe to which they had no immunity.  Estimates of Indian deaths range from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions.

US Revolutionary Pluto

Pluto next moved through Sagittarius and into Cancer from 1752 to 1768 coinciding with growing discontent in the 13 original Americans Colonies.  These were years of social upheaval following the French and Indian War leading up to the Declaration of Independence and Revolutionary War.

Economic Imbalance Pluto

As a new record gap between rich and poor grows, Pluto again moves through Sagittarius and into early Capricorn from 1998 to 2014.  Never before in known history has the contrast between wealthiest and poorest been greater.  Some kind of revolutionary resolution to this imbalance can be expected to manifest when Uranus squares Pluto from the summer of 2008 to 2019. 

FUTURE STOCK MARKET PANICS

If the Crash of ’29 was like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, what’s leading us to the next great depression is like white-water rafting down the Snake River. 
This long secular bear market began in early 2000 and will gradually get worse and worse till the economy bottoms out between 2015 or 2016. Or, if we collectively make all the wrong decisions, it could extend to 2020 and beyond.  Based on my research into the history of economic and planetary correlations, I look for the 2000-teens to be the most difficult period in US history so far.  
Investors who do not understand that we are now in a long secular bear market may be fooled by periodic upswings, and/or bull run-ups within this overall long bear period. 

ASSESSING THE CHANCES OF FUTURE CRASHES

From Q4 of 2005 to Q1 of 2007, chances of a panic are minimal because none of the outermost planets will move opposite either the US Mars or Neptune.  However, two eclipses and Pluto’s position in late Sagittarius may impact the vulnerable dollar, or bring the feared Asian Flu pandemic, or both, plus more weather-related or geophysical catastrophes.
           With Saturn opposite Neptune and both hitting the US Nodes and Moon, there is danger of another decisive drop in the dollar’s value against the euro and other currencies.  There is also danger at this time of a pandemic, for the worst flu epidemic in the past century (1918) occurred with Saturn and Neptune conjunct in Leo, and Saturn opposite Uranus in Aquarius.  Saturn will next oppose Uranus in 2009 and 2010.  If the feared Asian flu pandemic doesn’t hit in 2006, watch out for 2009.  Since Neptune rules oil and there is already a growing shortage of oil, this period could see another spike in gas prices, perhaps rationing.  Any or all of these worldwide problems could impact financial markets.  

Another Dollar Scare?

The eclipse of March 29, 2006 could have a subtle effect on the overall economy, suggesting another time of danger for the dollar.  My surmise is that these two eclipses will lead into the series of increasingly severe stock crashes through 2007 and into the 2000-teens.    
           Beginning in 2007, the build-up of “hits” to the US Mars and Neptune are such that we can expect a series of panics, each likely to be (or seem) worse than the previous - something like the late 1890s and first decade of the 1900s, when Pluto was opposite where it will be for this upcoming period. 

May 2007

           On May 5, 2007:  a Grand Cross to US Mars-Neptune square to be formed by Pluto, Uranus, Jupiter, Mars, the Moon and Venus.  Scale of 1 to 10: this one ranks around above 7 for certainty and severity. 

Spring 2008

           By May 2008, Uranus will have moved within orb of an opposition to the US Neptune and thus also square the US Mars, indicating a danger time for stocks.  On a scale of 1 to 10, I rank this about a 5.  With only Uranus afflicting, there could be a crash but not a full-blown panic.

Summer 2008

           By June 21, 2008, Uranus and Pluto will be within orb of a square, which in turn will form a Grand Cross to the US Mars-Neptune square.  This looks like the beginning of a record series of plunges for stocks.

Summer of 2008 Extended

            By August 2, 2008, the grand cross to the US Mars-Neptune square will be formed by Uranus, Pluto and transiting Mars conjunct US Neptune.  Another 9 on a scale of 1 to 10.  This one could have tie-ins to 9/11/01, for Mars at 19 Virgo will be exactly where the Sun was when that attack occurred, within orb of a conjunction with the US Neptune.  The Sun symbolizes the nation’s leader and there has been growing suspicion that the Bush Administration knew a lot more about 9/11 than it has been willing to release from its Neptunian fog of “top secret” and “classified.”   

Elections 2008

           Notice that Saturn has replaced Mars conjunct the US Neptune by this time, creating another and more virulent grand cross.  Venus conjunct Pluto in Sagittarius adds to the virulence.  Pluto will be between the Earth and what the Mayan called the universal mother’s vagina, others have called the Galactic Center, a dark crevice in the Milky Way.  This is where the Sun will be at dawn on the Winter Solstice 2012 when the Mayan calendar ends. 
For stocks, another 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. 

February 2009

           Although Pluto has moved beyond orb of its long opposition to the US Mars by February 2009, Uranus and Venus in Pisces, Saturn in Virgo and the Moon in Gemini promise drama in stock markets.  With the opposition of Saturn and Uranus exact, I expect this to be 95% certain of being surprisingly severe. 
Between late 2008 and 2010, Saturn will form three exact oppositions to Uranus and three exact squares to Pluto.  Even if none of these planets formed harsh angles to natal planets in the US chart, the indications are for worldwide economic troubles.  But with Saturn, Uranus and Pluto forming hard angles to the US nativity, it will be the US economy that is hit the hardest. 

2009 Continued

March 2009

            With Uranus precisely opposite the US Neptune, and the Sun adding power to this opposition, plus Saturn still conjunct the US Neptune, this looks like a continuation of the series of crashes launched around the beginning of 2008.  I expect the question at this time, as it was back in the early 1930s, “How low can it go?”  It dropped over 80% back then; it may do about the same around this time. 

Spring 2010

           April 2010: Uranus and Jupiter in Pisces, Saturn and Moon in Virgo.  This looks like another rough period for stocks, although it may seem like a comparative lull in the dramatic drops of 2008 and 2009.

November 2010

           November 2010: Grand Cross by Uranus and Jupiter in Pisces, and Mars and Mercury in Sagittarius.  Around 8 on 1-10 scale.  But this looks like the beginning of a transition of stock market crashes into a great depression, a transitional period likely to continue through 2011 and beyond.  It may seem like a lull in a long horror show for bullish investors.  Some may even believe a recovery is neigh.  Don’t be fooled.

Winter Solstice 2012

            This date is famous as the Mayan prediction of the World’s End.  I don’t think the world will end but I strongly suspect our human perception of it will undergo radical alterations.  Stocks as are likely to be viewed as they were at the nadir of the last great depression, as we move swiftly into the next.  The important planetary cycle at this time will be the tightening of the Uranus-Pluto square which in turn creates a grand cross pattern with the US Sun-Saturn square.  With Saturn in Scorpio forming a grand trine with the US cluster of planets in Cancer and Neptune and Chiron in Pisces, the full impact of this next great depression will be tightening its grip.

Great Depression, Social Upheavals

            The eclipse of this date will hit the US Saturn, which will be caught in a great-depression grand cross by Pluto at 15 Capricorn opposite the US Sun, and Uranus at 16 Aries opposite the US Saturn.  Meanwhile, transiting Saturn square transiting Neptune form a T square to the US Uranus in Gemini, suggesting fiery conflict, at home or abroad, or both.  There is a prevailing belief that it was World War II that pulled the USA out of the great depression of the 1930s.  This belief may add misery and prolong the upcoming great depression.  It may also trigger a full-scale revolt of the American people against government.  It is sure to pit protectors of the status quo against those who believe the US government no longer serves the American people.

GRAND CROSS AMD GREAT DERESSIONS

Show USA natal chart with Sun-Saturn square marked.

There have been four great depressions in US history: the 1780s, 1840s, 1870s and 1930s. 
Great depressions are not to be confused with periods of less hardship or shorter periods of hardship, often inaccurately or vaguely called depressions or recessions.  The 1890s fits this category. 
Great Depression Defined
            How can we distinguish recessions and depressions from great depressions?  Dr. Ravi Batra provided this definition in his book Great Depression of 1990, Simon and Schuster, 1987:   
            "A recession usually lasts for one to three years, during which the rate of unemployment, while rising, is generally below 12 percent." "When a recession lasts for more than three years, and/or the rate of unemployment lies between 12 percent and 20 percent, the economy may be said to be suffering from a depression." "When unemployment remains high and business stagnates for six or more years, the nation’s plight may be called a great depression."  Thus, depending on its severity in depth and length, the downswing of the business cycle may be defined as a recession, depression, or great depression.”  (Page 106).

            Show Images of Grand Cross coinciding with all four great depressions in US history:  the 1780s, 1840s, 1870s and 1930s. 

No Grand Cross, No Great Depression

            Years when Saturn returned to Capricorn but did not form square to any other “malefic” planet in Aries.

Biwheel chart for 2015

            Upcoming will be Pluto in mid-Capricorn forming a grand cross with Uranus in Aries. 
            To understand why this grand cross formed by Pluto in mid-Capricorn and Uranus in mid-Aries promises both a great depression and a revolutionary period, let’s review the history of past Uranus-Pluto cycles. 

URANUS-PLUTO CYCLES

Uranus and Pluto come conjunct every 127 years approximately.  Likewise, they form oppositions once every 127 years.  Whenever their conjunctions oppositions or squares have simultaneously hit sensitive points in the USA’s nativity, dramatic events have unfolded. 

The Sixties

            Last conjunction 1965-66 occurred conjunct the US Neptune, square the US Mars, and for a time was opposite transiting Saturn.  It coincided with the civil rights movement, antiwar movement, draft resistance and counter-culture movement.  Jim Crow laws were scrapped, public schools were integrated, African Americans were allowed to vote.  Women demanded equal rights.  Pro- and antiwar factions clashed, sometimes with deadly violence.  Despite a sanitizing of this historic period by the corporate media, 40 years later Americans quietly continue the “culture war.”
            The Uranus-Pluto conjunction acts something like the Sun-Moon and/or New Moon conjunction: it’s a seeding time, to be followed by primary phases, a square (which will become exact in 2014 and 2015) and then an opposition (2047-2048, Virgo to Pisces) and another conjunction (2104 at 7 Taurus).

The Thirties

            By 1932, Saturn had moved through Capricorn into Aquarius but the Uranus-Pluto square, from 20 Aries to 20 Cancer, coincided with some of the most violent revolts of this great depression. 

First Decade of 20th Century

           Uranus and Pluto were opposition each other from Sagittarius to Gemini, afflicting the US Mars-Neptune square.  A series of severe stock market panics occurred, coupled with social upheavals against big corporate trusts and “Muckraking” journalism.  coupled with social upheavals against big corporate trusts and “Muckraking” journalism.  President (Trust Buster) Teddy Roosevelt became a reformist.  The business establishment fought back and in 1913, the Federal Reserve System was created.  In effect, Congress gave up control of creating and controlling money and handed it over to a group of bankers. 

Bacon’s Rebellion

           A hundred years before the American Revolution, back in the 1670s, Uranus in Aries squared Pluto in Cancer, coinciding with social upheavals in the Colonies.  The climax of these upheavals was Bacon’s Rebellion, during which the town of Jamestown was burned and the aristocracy fled to the Eastern Shore, now known as the Delmarva Peninsula.  Under Nathaniel Bacon, English indentured servants joined forces with African slaves.  The long-range outcome was a tightening of laws segregating Black slaves and White servants, effectively color-coding the American working class for centuries to come. 

Upcoming

Uranus and Pluto will come within 7-degree orb of square in 2008 and this square will be within orb till 2019. 
It will first form a grand cross with the US Mars-Neptune square – expect the financial markets to undergo turmoil leading to major changes.  It will then form a grand cross with the US Sun-Saturn square – expect a decade like the Sixties combined with the great depression of the 1930s.
           Past great depressions have always coincided with a new record imbalance of wealth distribution, pitting Haves against Have-nots. 
           Add effects of global warming to the next period of economic difficulty and social upheavals. 
Geophysical upheavals and extreme weather are likely to cause military forces to drop their weapons and come to the rescue of the endangered.  
           Protectors of the status quo will feel threatened by changes they cannot control.  As during past periods of rapid, radical change, a new ruling class will emerge.  Old cultural assumptions will be forgotten and new beliefs take hold. 

ECONOMIC QUESTIONS TO BE RESOLVED

Two social forces poised to clash are civil and mercantile.  Key question: Who should control money?  Should governments continue borrowing from bankers, creating unending debt for taxpayers?  Or should government manufacture currencies and control currency distribution through banks? 
           The best monetary systems expand and spread wealth to all sectors of a society.  A good argument can be made that the monetary systems of the ancient Athenians and Romans proved so durable because civil authorities controlled.  Perhaps the USA needs a fourth branch of government to control money, one that is in cahoots with neither the federal government nor the banking industry, but is dedicated only to social well-being.   
            “The stars do not compel.”  Humans respond to challenging times according to their beliefs and cultural assumptions.