Recently, we gathered about 25 people together to burn out 2009 and bring in 2010. Several astrologers, healers, artists, creators, visionaries and loving members of the Santa Fe community were present and we re-cap some of their insights here:
Ahad Cobb - ahad@cybermesa.com
The coming two years represent the Saturn return in the chart of the United States, which happens about every 30 years. If you look back in US history, this has traditionally been a time of fundamental reorganization of government and its relationship to the people. I think the Obama Administration is restructuring the government, its powers, its responsibilities, its limits, as far as they can. This is a time to hold very positive thoughts about our outcomes.
The Vedic astrology view might be helpful here. Using the chart of the United States, the first six years of the Clinton administration were a supreme success with prosperity, success in ideals, and a paid off deficit. The last two years of Clinton and all eight years of Bush were a time of weakness, delusion, corruption and deceit. Practically the day of Obama's election (October 26, two weeks before the election, the U.S. shifted into its seven-year Mars mahadasha. First of all, Mars is involved with the Sun, Jupiter and Venus in the U.S. chart, giving a great deal of power and mastery in achieving prosperity and achieving one's ideals. Mars/Mars period was last February or March. Since then we've been in Mars/Rahu, a period of creatively working things out amidst confusion. The positive thing is this spring: April, when Mars gets out of its holding pattern, we shift into a Mars/Jupiter period from then until the end of the year. This is very positive in terms of harnessing our ideals and implementing them on every level. Remember, Mars is a god of war, and Obama is not a peace president. Hopefully, Jupiter's influence will make it act with greater wisdom, but still there's insertion into other people's lands.
The creative intelligence of the nation, with the success of the health care initiative, I'd like to believe that Congress will be empowered by the administration to come up with positive initiatives, maybe not solutions, but new approaches to problems that are facing us. Spring through the end of the year is a much better period for the nation.
Arielle Guttman - www.sophiavenus.com
Uranus, Saturn, Pluto will offer us change, transformation, and a changing of the guard. This is winter solstice, but by summer solstice, Uranus and Jupiter both will have gone into Aries, and entered into the tense Saturn/Pluto square in effect now. Once that happens, the vision, the action, the leadership, the new direction, the "what-can-I-do" and "how fast can I do it" should start kicking into gear. The time in May, June, July and August-actually till the end of the year-we will have the added benefit of Jupiter & Uranus dancing together, in effect. Uranus stimulates the group mind. In Aries, where it will be for the next seven years, we will see it stimulating the individual call to action; we shall see the pioneering efforts towards the forming of a new world.
For at least three years, I've been observing the conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune that has taken place over 2008-2009. Of course, it offered me hope and inspiration, and I think the recent election and inauguration was part of that. But I also feel it was this triple conjunction that gave Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. Yes, for political reasons we may not understand, he committed 30,000 more troops to war simultaneous to him accepting a prize of peace. But the eminent elders of the Nobel committee awarded this prestigious honor to Obama because he is inherently a man of peace: he stands for peace, he writes about peace, he talks about peace. So again, it is the hope of peace that his prize represents.
The Venus Star changes: Venus is the planet of love, at least that's how we've interpreted it over the ages. Actually, Venus is the planet of love and war; it possesses a dual nature, an alternating heartbeat with yin and yang characteristics. We've been in a morning star/yang cycle since late March 2009, but in January (January 11 to be exact) it will go into a yin cycle, and will become an evening star. Since March, the morning star in Aries, there's been double yang, lots of fiery temperaments, hostility, my will, temper flare-ups on lots of levels. We go into a yin, earth (Capricorn) cycle in January and will be experiencing that softer energy, but more management-driven type energy of Capricorn in effect until late October, when it again becomes a Morning Star (Scorpio). This is the heartbeat of Venus as we experience it on earth: we have two Venus changes this year. Between February 12-16, we will see a beautiful beaming of love to earth by the conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon. This is also the Chinese New Year. An incredible time.
Jupiter will spend a fair amount of time in Pisces for the next year, its higher minded sign of rulership. Saturn will spend the next two years in Libra, its sign of exaltation. These two planets, representing the left and the right, are in their own best signs. So I am putting out that we will all be acting from higher-minded principles.
Steven McFadden - www.chiron-communications.com
(offering his insights via email from Lincoln, Nebraska)
As for 2010, the main observation I would make is, of course, the Saturn-Capricorn theme. Anyone who looks at their chart this year should note the House where Capricorn has its influence. That observation comes from the transit of Pluto through the sign of Capricorn, and the major dance that Saturn (ruler of Cap.) does in opposition to Uranus and in Square to Pluto. The "Field of Dreams" is over and done with. Now we are all in the "Field of Reality." With that understanding alive deep in my soul, I have turned my personal efforts over to what I have come to term "21st Century Agrarianism." I see symbols of the forces at work in the sky, and I see what is going on with soil and crops and food on the Earth, and I urge people to listen carefully to the "call of the land," and to make haste responding wisely to the call.
Otherwise, a major portent that calls my attention is, of course, the waxing square of Uranus in Aries to Pluto in Capricorn. The conjunction of these two planets in Virgo back in the late 1960s was the major significator of all the revolutionary change that characterized that era. Now that the planets have matured in their cyclic relationship, and will be forming the waxing square starting in late Summer 2010 and continuing on into 2011, I expect all kinds of revolutionary developments that will express both positive and negative characteristics. Revolution will be a key word evolving out of this era, and I feel that those of use who lived through and were impressed by the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in the '60s now have an opportunity and a responsibility to see that the revolution brings forth true advancement in our relationships with the Earth and with each other.
Heather Roan Robbins - www.roanrobbins.com
This time acts like magma coming up through the earth and breaking out the old structure. Saturn, Uranus and Pluto form a T-square this year; the last time they really danced together like this was 1965-1967, a time of such cultural breakthrough. As the T-square moves from mutable to cardinal signs, I'm expecting less whining "why don't YOU do something about this" and more proactive "what can I do?" We have left one era and are moving into another. People who are looking over their shoulder and wondering when we're going back to that other place are going to be in trouble; we're not going back. We need to think about how can we move forward and search for a collective new vision. I'm excited about the movement into action instead of complaint.
Neptune, Chiron and Jupiter run conjunct all fall, winter and this spring, stimulating the efforts to try and come up with health care reform proposals. The H1N1 virus is a reminder that my health is your health: if we don't take care of each other, we're in big trouble. We're too closely connected now. It has taken something like a flu virus to remind us that we need to take care of the collective health of us all. Individually, it is a very different story, stimulating an opportunity for a healing crisis in each one of us, where we need it most.
I watch the Sun Spot cycles, which is a very humbling process for an astrologer, because we cannot really predict them, only work with them. They have roughly an 11-year cycle between maximum peaks of activity. When this happens, it stimulates a lot of political changes on earth, with more diseases of inflammation and heart and less of lowered immune system. We had a small solar maximum when Bush came into office and we saw a conservative revolution. A new solar cycle of activity was supposed to begin last year, but the Sun went quieter than it's been in ages. We all felt that momentum for change, but then it was hard to get wind in the sails; it felt like there was so much work to do. Our president has been working very hard trying to turn around a very large ship. But the new cycle may finally be beginning after a long quiet spell. One large solar flare is cooking now, and it may help us move into the next layer of change. While the Sun is quiet, it is an opportune time to look into the arts and spiritual practice. But I think we'll see some energizing solar flare action about the time Jupiter and Uranus enter into Aries (mid-2010).
Marcia Starck - www.earthmedicineways.com
Saturn/Pluto: 2010 is a tremendous year for transformation within ourselves and very much for the United States. This is an opportunity. Yes, there are challenges with the recession, but we could have an opportunity to restructure the whole economic system with Pluto opposite the Venus Jupiter. conjunction in the USA chart.
Heather's thinking about solar flares (fire) and I'm thinking about water. The December Mountain Astrologer has an article about the importance of water. Jupiter is going into Pisces, on January 17th. Jupiter, Uranus and the Moon will all conjunct in Pisces, before they go into Aries. The Lannan Foundation is hosting Maud Barlow who has written about and researched the water issue. What is it in 2010 about water: how we use it, how we lack it, and how it represents our creative force. With Jupiter conjunct Uranus before they both go into Aries, we can look at our own use with water. Jupiter has already been conjunct Neptune (water) IN 2009 bringing water to our awareness, which represents creative and healing energy.