The layers of meaning and influence of an eclipse will unfold over time, but the days immediately surrounding the exact day can bring events that take unusual turns.
A big national story at the eclipse was the arrest on July 16 of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates in his home after being mistaken for a burglar. At his press conference on July 22 President Obama addressed the incident, which has been much discussed for the racial and class issues it has raised.
Like any good Leo Sun (not to mention being the world’s most famous political leader), the president can’t do much without creating a stir. He did create a furor at the news conference by commenting that police “acted stupidly” in arresting Gates. The president’s remarks became the big news story at a time when he was seeking to build public support for his health care plan. Obama’s progressed Moon is now at 27°01′ Aquarius, exactly conjunct the US Sibly Moon — signifying the public — at 27° Aquarius. Surely the US populace is in need of support and recognition by the president and he is in the unique position, remarkably so right now, to make decisions that have a huge impact on us all. I think the urgency of the health care debate is symbolized in part by this once-in-29-year aspect.
His progressed Moon is also on his natal south node at 27°01′ Aquarius; I didn’t see the press conference, but some reports suggested that he seemed a bit disheartened or weary. Who wouldn’t be with that combination?
Maybe another display of this aspect is the excessive media attention right now to the “Birthers movement” whose adherents don’t believe that Obama was born in the USA.
Back to the eclipse, which falls in Obama’s natal 6th house of public employees. Some say the president insulted all the police in the land with his comment. Obama’s natal Mercury is at 2°20′ Leo; although out-of-sign, that’s still within 3° of the solar eclipse at 29°26′ Cancer.
After acknowledging that he could have used more “calibrated” language, the president then said he hoped to turn the incident into a “teachable moment, where all of us, instead of pumping up the volume, spend a little more time listening to each other.” (1) Sounds suspiciously Aquarian to me.
So, apparently, the police officer and the professor will join the President at the White House for a beer.
How’s that for Neptune, Chiron, and Jupiter to the rescue? (These three bodies carry a mighty healing force and are just slightly over one degree apart.) The arrest was perceived as an injustice and that is receiving attention. The president hopes for a “teachable moment” (Chiron and Jupiter), bringing disparate parties together for a beer (Neptune). That sounds like a good idea for lots of different situations these days.
Notes:
(1) Bloomberg.com
4 Comments
Very good, Mary! I knew there must be some astro-significator responsible for this…
Hi, Mary, I did see the press conference and thought the President was articulate, as usual, though more tell than show. Some commentators later described him as being in ‘campaign mode’, the familiar territory of Sagittarius-Jupiter emphasis where selling ideas/beliefs is the name of the game. And, as you point out, the eclipse fell on Obama’s natal Mercury-Jupiter opposition in 6-12, a strong astrological reflection signaling communication-health-improvement.
His rogue – unguarded – comment was such a surprise! I think he is usually such a remarkably thoughtful (and careful) public speaker…bet he can’t believe he said such a thing either. We’ve seen that the eclipse contacted N Jupiter which rules Obama’s 11th House, the house of friends. So, perhaps the eclipse boost coupled with T Mars – close to his Gemini Moon in his personal 4th – triggered his rush to defend Gates, a friend.
And now, on to (liquid) damage control…in the form of a ‘teachable moment’ (appreciated your Aquarian acknowledgement!).
Firstly, the professor might not have been “mistaken for a burglar” but the police could have been intentionally misinformed. Thus the race question arises before the police blundered onto the scene.
That takes us back to the pre-election atmosphere in which Democrats divided themselves into Obamaphiles + Clintonites, most probably on sexist lines as much as anything else. But the result was that the conservative mainstream were forgotten in the headlong rush for “change”.
Americans are now being dragged back to the reality of a disgruntled white population still not quite comfortable with the speed at which they have had to adapt to the new multi-cultural/multi-ethnic reality. It is now being made everybody’s problem – as it inevitably must as we are all “our brother’s keeper”.
Thus changing suddenly instead of gradually disenfranchised a significant proportion of the population + there is inevitable blowback at a later stage. That is where America is at now + this is the result of the Democrats running their two main candidates for president against each other right to the end.
The result was that an odious divide was created on the grounds of sex + race but with no respect for seniority. Thus the older female was forced to accede to a very secondary position in a rank popularity contest + $$millions were wasted in the process.
Clinton represented the older voter + many women + ethnic minorities. She could have appealed to the conservatives more successfully on both sides. Obama had the popularity but obviously not the broad depth of respect in the wider community. That has now shown up as a serious flaw in race relations.
The challenge for Obama is to achieve that but it is being done from a back-to-front position as he is effectively the junior of the two. Having an older white man as vice-president hasn’t helped that much. Then again, perhaps this is Biden’s chance to do some good as regards “a teachable moment”?
Mayhaps as each of us realizes that we ARE our brothers/sisters NOT their keepers, we will recognize the ‘cosmic joke’ of DIFFERENCES = color gender generation religion etc = “DRAMA” .which ‘plays’ like repeated re-runs of a ‘popular program’ that had FAULTy mis-information and canned applause !! Also, if this country believes that Seniority brings Wisdom, then why put the ‘old folks’into someone else’s’Homes’? Only old politicians are wise?
Comments are closed for this article!