Prior to his death in 1968, the eminent British astrologer, Charles E.O. Carter, stated that he would not delineate an individual nativity without taking into consideration the previous Capricorn Ingress horoscope. It had been his professional experience that a Winter Ingress chart that preceded the birth of an individual would show the wider societal context into which he had been born.

In a similar vein, when calculating the Capricorn Ingress as a mundane horoscope for the nation’s capital, astrologers can observe what the country is likely to experience during the next year. For the USA in 2009, here is our Winter Ingress:

Upon viewing the overwhelming preponderance of planets in the first quadrant, one immediately perceives that 2009 will become a year of survival for the United States. As the only Winter Ingress horoscope in American history to have an exact Sun-Pluto conjunction on the Cardinal Point, the depth and extent to which the United States will have to change during the next year is at the present time unfathomable to all but the astrologers who have the techniques and methods to make such a forecast.

2008 will go down in history as the year in which the worst and most vile practices of free-market capitalism were exposed by the ingress of Pluto into Capricorn. It would be educational at this time to review the Capricorn Ingress from last year in order to see just how the United States has come to its appalling realization of the drunken orgy of greed being played out through a manipulation of financial instruments such as derivatives and mortgage securities in order to obtain illusory, short-term profits:

 

The Sun conjunct a fallen Jupiter and opposed by a fallen 9th house retrograde Mars speaks volumes about the shameful degradation of ethics and morality within U.S. financial markets. The fiddler playing while Wall Street burned was clearly illustrated by the 2nd house (investments) Venus in detriment and in exact square to a 5th house Neptune (addiction to high-risk financial practices and the casino mentality).

The colossal $50 billion Ponzi scheme constructed by disgraced Wall Street financier, Bernard L. Madoff, has shocked even the most inured and grizzled market veterans. It was indicated in the rising degree of last year’s Capricorn Ingress horoscope.

Libra 13 from Sepharial’s translation of La Volasfera:

A pillar of black marble standing upon a rock, roughly hewn.

“It denotes a person of peculiar and sometimes melancholy and
misanthropic nature; apt to contract false or unprofitable relations with
his fellows and with the opposite sex. The native will make a bad match,
and will be unfortunate in wedlock, with probable separation. The
native, in centering his affections upon one object, will be liable to
disappointment in life. It is a degree of SOLITARINESS”.

The malefic nature of the fallen opposition between retrograde Mars in Cancer and a direct motion Jupiter in Capricorn cannot be overstated. This aspect can only form once or twice in a century and last occurred in the Heavens in December 1913 at the outbreak of World War I, and again in December 1960 in the exact degrees of assassinated president John F. Kennedy’s lunar nodes. (A fallen direct motion Mars in Cancer opposing a fallen retrograde Jupiter in Capricorn recurs in the Heavens after a little longer than either one or two sidereal cycles of Jupiter {11.86 years}. In the 20th century, for example, these oppositions recurred in June 1925, August 1949, May 1972, and August 1996.)

Turning our attention back to this year’s Winter Ingress, one is also struck by the rising Mars to which the Moon makes her first application. It goes without saying that the incoming administration of President-elect Obama will have to be decisive, competent and courageous, all Martian virtues. The MC in any mundane horoscope represents the leader of the country. Mr Obama is the fortunate recipient of an exact trine of Venus to the Ingress Midheaven and he is sure to earn the affection of the populace through his even-tempered handling of one crisis after another.

The Moon in exact sextile to the Ascendant signifies that the public will cooperate with each new proposal put forward by the Obama administration in order to tackle the troublesome economic problems now facing the country. Each application of the Moon tells, in sequence, the story of the year to come. Starting with that sextile to Mars, the new administration will get off to a good start with its bold and decisive governmental programs to help stabilize the middle and working classes.

Unfortunately, however, she next applies to a square with a fallen Jupiter and the money from declining tax revenues in a recession will not be there in the Treasury to finance the enormous cost of the social and infrastructure programs being quickly legislated by the new Congress. By the end of the year, that lunar square to Jupiter will have produced deficit spending at levels unheard of in American history.

The American banking system, shown by the second house in this Ingress horoscope has its ruler, Saturn, stationary retrograde and inconjunct to Neptune. This implies that there are additional structural weaknesses in the economy that have not yet fully come into view. Beyond the subprime mortgage meltdown of 2008 lie two additional financial crises awaiting the American public in 2009.

These are the Alt-A and option ARM loans that are about to cause additional massive defaults and foreclosures similar to what we have seen in the subprime market. The former were foolish loans made with alternative documentation – such as reduced borrower income and asset disclosure; while the latter were loans made with initial low teaser rates that then rolled over into much higher interest rates with a significant increase in one’s monthly mortgage payments after a two-to-five year period. The value of these two additional categories of controversial mortgages is estimated at $1.6 trillion; whereas the subprime market is estimated at $1 trillion.

As we gird our loins for 2009, a year that according to its Winter Ingress horoscope will produce survival conditions in the USA unseen in its 233-year history, one must take comfort in the fact that the economic transmutation of America brought about by its upcoming Pluto return is being guided by higher spiritual forces that will not allow the nation to perish.

However, extreme stress levels amongst the populace should be anticipated during 2009 as millions of additional Americans fall prey to unemployment, lost health care benefits, defaults on mortgages, and all of the other trials and tribulations to which our society will be subjected. This may result in an epidemic of spiritual escapism as a response to natural denial about the severity of the economic collapse occurring in our midst. If these mental coping tactics then fail to work, alcoholism and substance abuse may follow, as portrayed by the rising degree for this Capricorn Ingress chart.

Sagittarius 25 from Sepharial’s translation of La Volasfera:

Three cups of wine standing upon a table in the form of a triangle.

“It is the index of a mind that is given to excessive indulgence and undue
enthusiasm in matters of a spiritual and mental nature; one who will
follow out his projects regardless of consequence, impelled as it were
by a species of mental intoxication. The substance and form of this
symbol is allied to the higher nature, but should the carnal appetites
gain an ascendancy over him, he will in all probability degenerate into a
debauchee. Moderation should be his watchword even in spiritual
things. It is a degree of EXCESS”.

As if we needed more evidence, last week’s Full Moon brought a few daring new players on to the front pages in a continuing display of the general upheaval, corruption, downfall of all we’d like to believe in. Pluto in Capricorn rocks!

Sordid though it is, since the news has touched many big political names (i.e., Jesse Jackson, Jr.) and even gotten our not-as-yet-President Obama to have to defend himself, I figured it was worth a look. (And, dear readers, I’m committed to finding more uplifting stories the next time I write!) For now, I’d like to try to objectively see some of the astrology at work.

Although we don’t have birth times, both individuals have planets caught (shall we say trapped?) by the mutable grand cross between Sun, Mars, Moon, Saturn and Uranus that was the striking pattern of Friday’s lunation.

On Tuesday December 9, the day before his birthday, Illinois Governor Blagojevich was arrested on extensive charges of conspiracy and soliciting bribes. Reading from a stunning 78-page document, the stalwart federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald mentioned a few specifics of Blagojevich’s alleged behavior, and noted that the conduct “would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.”  (1)

Blagojevich was born on December 10, 1956 in Chicago. (2) His natal Sun is at 19° Sagittarius, which is now being squared by Uranus, heightened by its (November 27) station direct at 18°44′ Pisces. (Uranus, of course, wakes us up, sometimes rather uncomfortably; I did read an early headline on Huffington Post that the Governor was “blindsided” by the arrest.)

The Moon was in Pisces the whole day of his birth; if he was born at noon, the Moon would be right at 21° Pisces and exactly squared by this Full Moon. Whatever time of day he was born, the less-than-savory possibilities of a Pisces Moon are part of the story: An article from the online New York Times refers to a long time colleague describing the governor’s behavior in recent months as no longer merely “callous” but “into something closer to panicked or delusional.” (3)

Blagojevich has a strong Mars in rulership in Aries: “Whatever else may have come apart within Mr. Blagojevich in recent months, one quality, unabashed ambition, has been a constant, his colleagues and his critics say.” (4)

Transiting Mars has been conjunct Blagojevich’s Sun in the past few days, and as of this morning, public statements say that he’s not going away without a fight, although that stance is bound to change quickly.

Psychologically inclined astrologers may note that Blagojevich had a progressed New Moon in April 2008 at 11° Aquarius, conjunct Chiron at 12° Aquarius. Blagojevich has Uranus opposite Chiron natally, and this 29- year cycle in his inner life seems to have begun with a very public exposure of wounds asking to be healed.

Another grim newsmaker this week is Bernard Madoff, star of a huge story in the financial world. Madoff, the former head of the NASDAQ, is chairman of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, which he founded in 1960. On Thursday December 11, within 24 hours of the Full Moon, he was arrested by the FBI and charged with fraud. As we would expect given the tenor of the times (not to say Pluto’s dalliance with Mercury on the world axis), this is no small matter, but is alleged to involve $50 billion – the largest investor fraud ever blamed on a single individual (!)  and  “what may be the largest Ponzi scheme in history.” (5)

Madoff’s natal Neptune (which can signify deceit, fraud, and general nefarious activities) is at 18°37′ Virgo – the Full Moon was all over his Neptune: Uranus, at 18° Pisces, is opposite Madoff’s Neptune, and the Sun conjunct Mars in Sag and the Moon in Gemini squared the planet of illusion and subterfuge. Talk about a front page worthy ‘snap-out-of-it’ moment! (Remember, as mentioned above, that Uranus is especially strong due to its station direct at 18°44′ Pisces on November 27.)

Born in New York City on April 29, 1938, Madoff is a Taurus Sun, the sign of money and finance. (6) The Moon moved from Aries into Taurus that day. Very late that night, Venus also moved from 29° Taurus, both in rulership and at a critical degree, into Gemini.

Not to pick on planets in detriment and fall (I have one myself and so far have managed to stay out of this kind of trouble), and without knowing times of birth, there is something to note about the condition of key planets for each gentleman. Blagojevich has Venus in Scorpio and Jupiter in Virgo – both benefics are in detriment (and Saturn in Sagittarius is not too happy in Jupiter’s sign either). Madoff has an uncomfortable Saturn as well – in its fall in Aries. Without awareness and hard inner work (which can be shown by other planets helping or assisting) poorly placed planets can signify real areas of trouble in a life. Saturn brings necessary limits and boundaries; when impaired it may signify a struggle with discipline and judgment – as if the inner mechanism to hear life saying “no” – and recognizing when to stop – is not quite connecting.

Both men have North Node between 26°  – 28°  Scorpio, which has something to do with the reality that sharing resources, wealth and power may be a good direction to head in this life. This is a curious idea, as Pluto conjunct Mercury at 1°  Capricorn has brought them both into prominence for what appears to be a spectacular blind spot regarding that notion. Here’s to the Full Moon keeping us all on track!

Footnotes:

(1) New York Times

(2) Wikipedia

(3) & (4) Both quotes from this New York Times article

(5) New York Times

(6)Wikipedia

Here is the the mundane horoscope for the City of Mumbai (when its name changed from Bombay), cast for  August 12, 1996 at midnight:

 

Mumbai has a very rare fallen Cardinal T-Cross comprised of the opposition of Mars in Cancer and Jupiter in Capricorn and each in square to a fallen Saturn in Aries. This aspect configuration can only form once in a century. Just the fallen opposition of Mars and Jupiter alone is considered quite malefic and an aspect such as this occurred in December 1913 at the outbreak of World War I.

This severe debilitation of Jupiter in the mundane horoscope produces an effect wherein the transit of Jupiter can bring the results equivalent to a transiting malefic.

One observes that transit Jupiter opposed the Mumbai Moon (ruling hotels and restaurants) as the terrorist attacks commenced (9:30 PM local time; 16:00 GMT on 26 November 2008).

One sees that at the incorporation of Mumbai, Pluto was stationary in 00° Sagittarius. When Muslim extremists launched their terrorist attacks, Pluto was in 29° 59’ 59″ Sagittarius. On the last day of Pluto in Sagittarius (religious extremism and violence committed in the name of religion), it is ironic that a city incorporated at the ingress of Pluto into Sagittarius should have the fate to be attacked as Pluto finally leaves this sign.

Although we don’t have a time for Michelle Obama’s birth, we know that she was born on January 17, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois. (1) The Sun is at 27° Capricorn and Venus is at 1° Pisces, trine her husband’s Venus at 2° Cancer. The Moon changed from Aquarius to Pisces at about noon on the day Michelle was born. Mercury had just stationed direct on January 15 at 4° Capricorn. Mercury’s speed is, therefore, very slow. A slow Mercury is a signature of a deliberate, careful manner of communicating, emphasized also by its placement in cautious and thoughtful Capricorn. I think that careful Capricorn has been easy to see in her media appearances. Many commentators noted her composure and poise during the tense days of the campaign and that quality of steadiness and steadfastness are true marks of the mountain goat at its best.

The Capricorn urge and ability to accomplish shows itself in her biography – she graduated from Princeton University (with honors) and Harvard Law School, as well as being married to president-elect of the US.

The north node is at 11° Cancer, and the south node at 11° Capricorn. We can infer from this the great importance of her role as a mother – her personal focus will undoubtedly be with her daughters, especially while they are young, as well as in fulfilling her professional obligations.

Without a time of birth, one thing we can do is set the prenatal solar eclipse chart for the place of birth to get a feel for the big themes and purpose of the life. Michelle Obama was born several days after a solar eclipse – curiously, the same eclipse that preceeded Sarah Palin’s birth in February 1964.

If we look at the solar eclipse chart, January 14, 1964 (2:30 pm CST, Chicago, Illinois) the Sun Moon conjunction at 24° Capricorn falls in the 8th house. This is a signature of 8th house matters being paramount for expression and fulfillment of the the life purpose. The 8th house, of course, signifies resources shared intimately with others. Capricorn will naturally take very seriously the matters involving the intimate partner. Barak Obama’s natal Saturn, co-ruler of his Aquarius rising chart, is placed in its own sign at 25° Capricorn, exactly on Michelle’s prenatal solar eclipse. I think this is a striking symbol of a marriage destined to be connected to governance and the public life.

(1) biographical data from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama