… a story of Saturn and Pluto
People can have strange tastes in politics. In seeking to explain a predilection amongst some voters for strongmen, researchers have come up with the idea of that there may be an “authoritarian” gene. Others point to the tendency for people who have had authoritarian fathers – as Donald Trump had – to be attracted to politicians and policies, which prioritize control and power. It appears that people with this predilection despise weakness in others, much as their own weakness was focused upon in their upbringing. (Note 1)
Hero-worship
What is clear at the time of writing – January 2019 – is that there is a wave of authoritarianism sweeping through governments worldwide. Quite apart from the usual suspects of Putin, Trump and Xi Jinping, there is Erdogan in Turkey, Sisi in Egypt, Duterte in the Philippines, and a growing list of authoritarian personalities in Europe both in power, like Orban in Hungary, or getting into positions of power in democratic strongholds like Holland, Denmark and Sweden.
What makes this interesting, and rather disconcerting, is that people find it worthwhile to vote for them. It’s not the politicians that have engineered this, but their populist bases – who have become the (near) majority of the electorate in some democratic countries – that have searched them out. They are not voting for climate change policies, for better social security or for better education, they are voting for a savior.
They want someone who assuages their fears – of being swamped by hordes of immigrants, of losing their national identity, of losing their jobs to cheap labor, and generally of losing out materially to poorer people from the undeveloped world. They want to feel great again, and choose leaders who speak to that need. They want walls, and the politicians are delivering, whether through Brexit, through Trump’s weird wall, or through trade barriers.
A World-changing Planetary Alignment
If anyone is in doubt, this is clearly a reflection of the astrological dynamics of Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. These two planets will build a wall, which will collapse under its own weight. They last conjoined in 1982 and previously in 1947. (Note 2.) Because of the eccentric orbit of Pluto, the conjunction has a cycle of anything between the current long cycle of 38 years to a short cycle of 30 years.
During 2020, Saturn and Pluto will be very close to each other, making the exact conjunction just once on January 13th. What makes 2020 special is that Jupiter also conjoins Pluto, making a triple conjunction, which last happened in Capricorn around the year 1248, and before that in the year 549. It was in 549-559 that the Goths ravaged Italy and sacked Rome for the last time, signaling the definitive end of Italian power. And, of greater relevance for 2020, the year 1248, at a time of internal strife in Italy, was the time the gold ducat was introduced by Venice, which was in its ascendancy at that time. The ducat gained wide international acceptance until as late as the 20th century. This is an indication that the banking world itself is due for a historic transformation post-2020.
Irrational Exuberance
So, let’s have a look at the lead-up to this transformation, as Jupiter moves through Sagittarius in 2019 then through Capricorn in 2020. The US dollar has been the mainstay of world finance for a century and America is going to be one of the key places where economic upheavals take place as the 2020’s begin. At the time of writing – December 2018 – Jupiter is in Sagittarius, where the only major aspect it makes before it enters Capricorn is the square to Neptune in Pisces. This is where bubbles are made – big bubbles.
The Jupiter-Neptune square takes place in January, June and September 2019 before entering Capricorn in December. Currently stock markets are wobbling up and down, mainly because of Trump’s aggressive trade policies. Jupiter will be conjoining his Moon and opposing his Sun most of the year, so we can expect a lot of hyperbole about how great America (Trump) is, but at some point, the bubble is sure to pop, certainly by September 2019. At this time, Saturn opposes the US Sun, which will be a key setback for the US president. Also in September, Mars in Virgo moves to square Jupiter in Sagittarius, which both activates the Mars-Neptune square in USA’s horoscope, and Trump’s Sun and Moon. This so powerfully activates the USA Mars-Neptune that if there is going to be a time for impeachment, this could be it.
Turning the Screw
As the moon’s nodes are now on the Cancer-Capricorn axis, the eclipse cycle will activate the triple conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto which will probably have massive repercussions. For example, the lunar eclipse on January 10th, 2020, is at 20 degrees Cancer-Capricorn, and around that day the Saturn-Pluto conjunction is exact at 22 Capricorn. As Jared Kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to President Trump has the Sun at 20 Capricorn (square Pluto at 24 Libra), this does not bode at all well for him. With an investment in a huge office complex at 666, Fifth Avenue in New York (yes, that’s the number) gone sour, and its subsequent sale at a loss this year, family finances are not what they have been. January 2020 will likely bring a further crisis and Kushner’s definitive fall from power, and will affect Trump through the powerful connection they have via his daughter, Ivanka.
Trump himself has his Saturn at 23.48 Cancer conjoining Venus at 25.44 degrees, so 2020, and the months leading up to the election, is going to be the time when his economic edifice is going to be under extreme pressure. This could bring down his economy, not least because, if his tax returns are ever going to see the light of day, it will be at this time.
US (Sibley) chart: 4th July 1776 17.11 Philadelphia AS 12.21 SG
The Power of the Dollar
Trump’s economic troubles could also bring down the American economy, because his financial astrological signatures are intertwined with the USA. The economic signature in the US horoscope is Pluto at 27 Capricorn in the 2nd house, opposite Mercury retrograde at 24 Cancer in the 8th house. This Mercury-Pluto aspect reflects the undercurrent of economic corruption in America not least through political lobbying and big business. From this opposition springs the never-ending series of conspiracy theories, theories about fake news, manipulation of social media and the general undermining of trust in truth.
USA gained independence in 1776, and Pluto, with an orbital cycle of nearly 250 years, is returning to its position in the birth chart, which is a process stretching from 2020-2023. With the eclipse cycle and Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto opposing Mercury in 2020, this is the time when economic secrets come to the surface with a vengeance, when corruption is exposed, when old rules and old ways are abolished to be replaced by new, and when there will be the mother of financial crises.
It is at this time that banking institutions will go through a major transformation, similar to how the ducat became a new economic standard back in 1248. Uranus going through Taurus will be part of this revolutionizing process, probably through cryptocurrencies and block chain technology, making banks in their traditional form redundant.
Growing Repression
It could seem that things are difficult right now, as the United Kingdom approaches the cliff-edge of Brexit, as Europe struggles with right-wing nationalism, and as the USA goes through the purgatory of Trump, but the chances are that the pressure will gets much stronger in 2020. The reaction of autocratic leaders to discontent is to sow discord and chaos, evoke crises particular abroad, or to use repressive tactics. In the USA, what works is to feed the fears of the populace, which is why Trump likes to conjure up the dire threat of immigrant caravans through Mexico, and why he tweets Dark State theories. The USA has very democratic traditions, which makes it difficult to use government agencies for repression, but as the vice closes on Trump, we can expect attempts to do just that as Jupiter moves up to form the triple conjunction.
The same autocratic tendencies can be expected elsewhere in the world – things will get worse before they get better. Repressive tactics will increase in Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, in innumerable countries, and as Jupiter moves through Capricorn, laws will be enshrined to exert more and more control on populations.
The Great Conjunction in Air
Conjunction cycles tend to show endings and beginnings, and as 2020 draws to a close, at the winter solstice on December 21st in fact, Jupiter finally moves to conjoin Saturn, inaugurating a 200-year cycle of Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions in Air Signs.
The first conjunction takes place at 0 Aquarius, which is the degree the Sun reaches on January 20th at every presidential inauguration. This is so new – the last one took place over 600 years ago in 1405 – that it seems a foregone conclusion that the next president will be new. Trump is the black swan who had to preside over the disintegration of American political structures, and his job will be done.
The transit of Uranus through Aquarius took place as the Internet was developed and Neptune’s subsequent transit merged the hearts and minds of the world population through Facebook and social media, so it is very likely that the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius will cement these processes in lasting social structures that will influence every area of our lives. Particularly politics. Whilst politicians like Macron in France and May in Britain struggle to get any agenda through, power has gravitated to social movements organized on smart phones whose influence will only grow stronger.
Revolution
The coming Jupiter-Saturn conjunction cycle in Aquarius will evoke the dominance of people power. Historically, people power has manifested as revolution. As autocrats strive to increase their vice-like grip over the populace, people will unite to undermine this grip, and the end of 2020 is the time when the balance of power will decisively shift in a process lasting throughout the 2020’s. It will be at its most destructive in 2023-24, which will amongst other things usher in a new revolution in Russia and the demise of Putin. Pluto’s last transit of Aquarius coincided with the American and French revolutions.
With the new age of Air, democracy will be decided both locally and universally. On-line systems with unique identifiers with two-step verification will enable people to vote securely and remotely in real-time. Issues may well be decided by mini-referendums rather than through centralized institutions like parliaments. Just as banks are disappearing from the High Street, just like cash evaporates to be replaced by smart devices, government institutions will depopulate and decentralize. It might not look like this will happen whilst planets conjoin in Capricorn, but when they leave, autocracy will also evaporate to be replaced by something which might look a bit like democracy, or perhaps like something else for which we have no name.
Adrian Ross Duncan
19th December 2018
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Authoritarian_Personality
2. 1947 was the time India threw off the yoke of colonialism, and Israel reconstituted itself after the Holocaust. 1982-3 was the time of the missile crisis in Europe and “mutually assured destruction (MAD)”