The Year of the Water Dragon, 2012
If you follow international affairs, the Chinese New Year chart stands out like a good deed in a naughty world, to quote Willy Wonka. When we look at the AstroCartoGraphy Chart for that date, the hot spots are as obvious as Target™ signs in a shopping center.
While in recent years the planetary energy has been over China and India, highlighting their spectacular economic growth, this year the energy has shifted to south east Asia and the Middle East. The overall indicators are not about abundant growth, but about adjustments, course corrections, consolidation and the changing of the guard. Mars in Virgo, stationing while forming a trine to Mercury in Capricorn, is about the combined tools of maturity and efficiency and their influence is pervasive.
First we'll look at the world scene and then we'll forecast for the USA
The Sun Moon alignment is focused on Pakistan and Afghanistan, so expect them to become more assertive about their sovereignty. They will find allies in China and be at loggerheads with the USA. Big surprise, right?
Iraq is in for a rough year, bisected by the Midheaven line of Pluto in Capricorn and crossed by Ceres ascending in Aries, there is a deep struggle to gain control of underground resources. As much as the battles will be masked as religious, it is power over oil and other natural resources that brings them to conflict.
A Mercury Midheaven line passes right through the Straits of Hormuz, separating Iran from their neighbors across the Persian Gulf. It’s crossed by Saturn descending in Libra and Jupiter ascending in Taurus lines that bisect this vital piece of water.
This means that powerful, opposing forces, one local (Saturn - Iran), one distant (Jupiter - USA), are in a hard headed game of verbal one-upmanship, played out in front of the media (Mercury). Mercury is favoring Saturn, so the international press and public opinion may see the USA sanctions as overly harsh and their actions as over reaching. Meanwhile, Venus in Pisces favors Jupiter, so the Asian economies will see any obstruction by Iran of this critical passageway as impacting their 'rice bowl'. In this case, the strong hand is with Jupiter, but that opposition doesn't allow for seeing the other's point of view.
Fortunately, neither Mars or Pluto is part of the equation so the chance of a violent outbreak escalating is small. But expect the media to be all over this. On the other hand, with Mercury involved, people will be talking so a successful diplomatic solution is possible, although it will come with some hard bargaining.
At the same time, Egypt and possibly Saudi Arabia will see some violence and uproar. The other hot spot is Venezuela as Mars is sitting stationary, right over this country on the Chinese New Year. Expect El Presidente (Hugo Chavez) to step over the edge, be inflammatory, and maybe suffer a return of his health problems. Mars in Virgo highlights health issues and it is sitting stationary on his natal Venus/Pallas conjunction in Virgo. Taken with some other indicators, he will be feeling this very personally. With Uranus (in Aries) and Vesta (in Pisces) IC lines bracketing the country, he won't be the only person acting erratically, so domestic uprisings may be an issue as well and expect women to instigate the challenges.
With the Uranus/Ceres in Aries Midheaven lines passing over Beijing, we see that the wholesale change in Chinese leadership is not cosmetic. Seventy percent of the central leadership is changing in China. A modern team with a global view is arriving. The modern leaders of China are very different from most of the countries of the world, where politicians and military leaders are favored. In China, the leaders are trained as engineers and scientists. The new leaders are people who grew up in the time of computers and the internet, who can visualize the world beyond their borders. Uranus likes to shake things up and Ceres (the largest asteroid) takes its shepherding roll very seriously, so expect surprising initiatives.
Jupiter, in very stable Taurus, aligned with the east coast of Australia and the east coast of Japan may forecast a good, steady year ahead. Australia's conservative banking policies saved them from the damage that much of the world's economies absorbed. Expect them to continue on that steady path. The angles favor a calmer earthquake year in these regions, something that Japan could use. However, Pakistan and Afghanistan may experience severe earthquakes because they sit at the critical right angle to Jupiter and Saturn’s continuing opposition.
Last year this spot off the coast of Japan was occupied by a very tight Mars, Sun, Moon, Ceres conjunction and a Tsunami erupted from deep in the sea along that latitude line, destroying their nuclear industry and devastating the country.
Both India and Israel will experience major challenges related to women’s rights, in the courts and probably in the streets. In eastern India (Calcutta) the issues will focus on the rights of wives and be primarily legal in nature. In Israel the issues will be martial rather than marital and focus on the rights women have earned through their military service. The issue of work as a contribution to society will be at the forefront. The fact is that the conservative segment of this society that puts up the biggest blocks to women’s right, is often exempted from military service, subsidized by the government and has a sixty percent unemployment rate among the men. That stands in sharp contrast to the significant contributions women have made to this very prosperous society. Right Golda?
USA
Of course, we want to know what is going to happen in the USA and the rest of the Americas this year. In recent years the skies over the Americas have been mostly clear during the Chinese New Year. How has this manifested? The fastest growing economies have been where the planets were overhead: China, India, Asia and Brazil. The only planet in the skies over the Americas this year is Mars in feminine Virgo, off the eastern coast, in the direction of the sunrise.
This shows the country experiencing the dawning of a new approach in how we deal with the world. Virgo is the sign of the efficient, small, precise, perfectionist and machine-like. Mars is the military but many of the military successes in the past year have been due to small, precise groups, SEAL teams and drones. Interestingly, those drones are the future of the military which is about higher technology, precision, highly trained and reasoned. It shows being cautious about causing undue damage. That all describes Mars in Virgo, stationary.
What does it mean? Virgo is practically the patron sign of Washington DC. The Federal Triangle upon which the city was laid out depicts the Triangle of Stars that surrounds the constellation Virgo, Regulus, the heart of the Lion, Spica, the grain of wheat in the Virgins hand, and Arcturus, the principle star in the constellation Bootes, the shepherd.
Mars is sitting stationary, about to go retrograde, in the center of this triangle. The only aspect that Mars in Virgo makes is a trine to Mercury, the planet that rules Virgo, showing a very practical complicity. This ties everything to Saturn in the sign of the diplomat, Libra.
Mars stationing and retrograde is not a comfortable position for this aggressive planet. In careful Virgo it is measured in its actions. Likewise, the USA likes to be aggressive. It is used to exporting bombs. In contrast, being careful, reflective and diplomatic is not the way we normally think of ourselves.
However, those clear skies over the past several years show that America’s not where it’s happening right now. We need to adjust to different conditions and work on our own game, rather than planning on always being on center stage.
Instead, we need to focus on listening to our own drummer and improving our skills and tools. This will include standing up for those who are victimized. Women will be important leaders in the Americas at this time, and advocates for women’s rights internationally. Virgo is one of the primary signs related to education and that martial energy will promote new educational initiatives, especially in terms of practical skills. Virgo relates to practical and technical education, the crafts person, the natural healer, the technician, the tool maker, mechanic and engineer.
Mars stationing in Virgo is a less violent position, so it’s time for America to spend less attention exporting war and more time teaching its people to do things again; to be healthy, thrifty, to value energetic work and dedication takes precedence over fame and celebrity. Expect aggressive work on diet and nutrition and the rejection of the foods that are making Americans sick. That is probably overly optimistic, but that’s the trend we think we are going to see continued.
So, who is going to win the Presidential election, President Obama or Mitt Romney? (Yes, we are putting ourselves out there by anticipating that Romney will be the Republican candidate.) The symbolism is pretty clear. Mars is high in the sky, in the same sign as President Obama's natal Mars. Mars is trine Mercury, (the press, youth and small business). Venus in Pisces, in mutual reception with Jupiter shows Romney, a Piscean, being supported by big Republican money. Venus is exalted in very squiggly Pisces, but she sits low in the sky. Mitt will be treated nicely, as an honored guest, but not asked to sit at the head of the table. President Obama will be seen as a warrior chief, while Romney will be seen as a rich hairdo, self concerned and self indulgent. Americans elect warriors to fight for us.
Globally it’s a very positive year, with all of the planets direct except Mars. People will feel empowered, willing to use their talents and energy, but at the same time, careful. With Venus (exalted) and Jupiter in mutual reception and a positive aspect between Mars and Mercury in practical Earth signs, and an exact trine between Neptune and Saturn, major financial planets, we’ll continue to see financial improvements.
The key to that success will continue to be small businesses, the grass roots economy, the good common sense and energy of ordinary people moving the economies forward. Of the two million private sector jobs that have been created in the USA in recent years, all but one hundred thousand were created by small businesses.
Meanwhile the profits and cash reserves of large corporations are at all time highs as they make fewer workers increase their productivity and efficiency. Cutting costs while increasing productivity is a sure formula for increasing profits. Many of the these small businesses have grown up with the big corporations as their customers.
Of course the big corporations could use some of those profits to increase payrolls and reduce unemployment, but with Neptune and Saturn in those impersonal air signs, and Jupiter in tight fisted Taurus, that’s not going to happen until after June, when Jupiter leaps into entrepreneurial Gemini. Then we'll see. With Jupiter working with Neptune in Pisces, an enthusiastic vision of the future will return and that is an essential part of the American personality and American success.
2012 and The Mayan Calendar
In case you are worrying about the end of the Mayan Calendar, realize that calendars are human inventions, trying to make sense of complex celestial motions. They either end when a new one is implemented, or when they are recalibrated. In China they did that with the advent of each new dynasty. In the west, we’ve done that when the current leaders had a strong back ground in star gazing and astronomy, so staying in step with the seasons mattered to them.
The stronger the central government, the greater the need for a good calendar, to schedule planting, harvests, trials, and of course, tax collection. Julius Caesar, when he was consul of Rome, and a great lover of the sciences, instituted the Julian calendar. In the 1500’s, when the Church was the only international government in Europe, they established the Gregorian calendar that we use today. In truth much of it was a refinement of the Julian calendar.
The Mayans are day counters and they recognized that they needed to establish a time to recalibrate their calendar. So, they chose as their marker the conjunction of the Sun with the Galactic Center, at the vernal equinox, as it crosses the ecliptic on the first day of winter in 2012. The Galactic Center is a source of powerful esoteric knowledge, so they probably projected that this conjunction would herald a shift in humanity’s path. It makes a very good marker.
A little side note as the calendar authors: The Mayans were correct in their thinking. Their calendar does need to be adjusted. It projected 2012 as the year of the conjunction, but when you look at the alignment with the stars, it is off by a couple of degrees, which equals two to four years, but when you are calculating over a couple of thousand years, that’s not too shabby.
There are other shorter term transits over the next few years that show the kinds of upheavals that create new nations and movements (Uranus in Aries and Neptune in Pisces). Feeling a bit unsettled by the times is natural. These are similar transits to those in the late 1840's when numerous revolts happened, countries were established and social shifts occurred. That's when Switzerland was established as a Republic and California together with the southwest became part of the United States.
The conjunction with the Galactic Center describes a long term process that is patient and irresistible. It has its own lessons about humanity's spiritual evolution, and those are lessons we continue to learn.
Copyright 2012 Ralph & Lahni de Amicis
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