Lunar Eclipse at 29 Gemini

 A lunar eclipse as photographed by NASA from Merrill Island, Florida

The holidays are always an emotional time. And since this year we get a Lunar Eclipse tossed in on top of the whole deal just as the Sun is about to mark a major yearly transition by arriving at the Capricorn solstice…?

Solar eclipses are associated with the rise and falls of nations. And major personal life transformations. But it’s a safe bet that if we took a poll, almost everyone would remember events marked by Lunar Eclipses.

It’s that kind of mundane astrological event. (And don’t get me started on why something global is called ‘mundane’! Technically it may be correct, but why anything truly GLOBAL is referred to as mundane…? That just seems wrong!)

Getting back to the subject…unlike the Solar Eclipse process which evolves and unfolds over three long years, Lunar Eclipses are prompt.

Seriously prompt!

So when I tell you that this season’s Lunar Eclipse is going to happen on December 21st at 8:15 in the morning UT/+0 time, if you know your chart would be aspected by an event at 29 Gemini, set your clock and buckle up!

(About that aspecting thing? We’ll get to that in a few minutes, too.)

So what do we know about this eclipse?

Well, we know it’s going to take place at 29 Gemini.

Twenty-nine degrees of any sign is referred to as ‘critical’…meaning ‘high intensity.’ So this is where all the Gemini precepts of making choices and learning how things work/don’t work, or how they go together (or don’t) come to a high water mark. Particularly if this eclipse aspects your chart.

If it doesn’t? Well, it’ll probably just be a bit of a red letter day anyway. Too much of this, too many 'that's.. …people calling, strange driving, odd news…you know, one odd duck of a day even though nothing specific goes on you would point a finger at!

Lunar Eclipses being one particular version of a Full Moon, the basic image is Moon opposition Sun: the Moon faces the Sun in full aspect and thus the ‘full face’ of the Moon reflects the Sun’s light.

Always a ‘high water mark’ (think: high tide) and always a marker of increased emotionalism, the Lunar Eclipse brings in a quality of grounding issues by involving Earth (symbolizing a big dose of reality) and the Lunar Nodes (society and/or ‘how life goes along’).

In this particular eclipse, it’s the Moon which is at 29 Gemini – the Sun is at 29 Sagittarius, straight across the zodiac. But 29 Gemini has a reputation. And what is that reputation? That rep is all about ‘difficult transitions.’ It’s said that the more difficult the problem you confront, the greater rewards can be.

But first you have to deal with the challenge, slay the dragon, climb the mountain – and all that stuff.

The ‘challenge’ is personal and emotional – the lunar part. And its intense – the 29 part. And it involves making choices, organizing yourself, dealing with what your priorities in life should be (never mind what you’d like them to be) and learning how to do something either from the ground up, or better than you know how to do it going into this moment.

As for what ‘that thing’ is, that’s represented by the other side of the Lunar Eclipse coin: the Sun and Lachesis sitting cozied up together at 29 Sagittarius.

 'A Golden Thread' (the Greek Fates) by Strudwick

Again, this is an intense degree. So whatever the issue is, its in your face, in your gut, in your way.

Second, Sagittarius (never mind the 29 part) is part of the zodiac’s interactive quadrant. So this isn’t about how you feel about yourself (exactly)…it’s how you interact with life. Sagittarius being a fire sign, the issue is either about what you have imagined will work and whether it does…or your feeling like there’s nothing out there for you – the proverbial ‘life is empty, I can’t imagine anything good can come of anything.’

There are certainly shades between these extremes, but especially with the Earthy/reality and societal eclipse note thrown in, the question of the moment is basically about feasibility, workability and functionality.

This last comes particularly into focus as we consider Lachesis, one of the Greek fates. Her job was to ‘measure out’ how long a life (or something) would last.

And that goes rather well with Lachesis the asteroid, an object which has a rather notably stable orbit and apparently stable speed. So the combination brings us to ‘duration’ and ‘consistency’…or how long a particular situation or status quo will last. Or maybe can last.

The lore for 29 Sagittarius speaks to physical fitness and in a more general sense, our ‘fitness’ for anything and how extreme stress at/on/through this degree can produce a physical or mental-emotional breakdown. As an interesting sidebar, there are also commentaries in the text about lacks of self-confidence, self worth and/or maturity.

So that’s what we’re getting ‘past.’ Providing this eclipse tests your chart, this could be a grand moment of petulance, or a complete break down. With the Moon of this chart just one degree past fixed star Betelgeuse, either that we thought would be easy isn't - or we sure wish it was. And with this pair (Moon/Betelgeuse) being ruled by a Mercury which, still in retrograde, is at this moment atop the Galactic Center gives us the clue that whatever it at hand, it's the result of choices past.

And since Mercury in Sagittarius is so often an indicator of imperfect/incorrect positions or choices made in haste, there could be some 'oops' in the mix.

No matter what happens, there is a choice of how to deal with it and ultimately, the need to sort out what we do choose in our life versus what we simply have to deal with.

And how we react to either? In most cases, that’s a choice too. Not all obviously – but most.

For those with planets, axis points or nodal positions between 25 Gemini and 4 Cancer, this eclipse has your name written all over it. Just remember – lunar eclipses are events, not life changing epics….unless of course, your chart is also aspected by 13 Capricorn (the January Solar Eclipse)? If so, then this is likely to be a situation which is part of an extended life upheaval. Your job is to sort out what your choices are and to deal with them realistically.

For those with planets, axis points or nodal positions between 25 Sagittarius and 4 Capricorn, you’re facing a need to assess a situation clearly and rationally. Wishing and hoping isn’t going to fix things – decisions are in order.

For those with planets, axis points or nodal positions between 25 Pisces and 4 Aries (OR) 25 Virgo and 4 Libra, you are being challenged. On the Pisces/Aries side the question is can you deal with the choices which need making. On the Virgo/Libra side, the challenge is to make the choice with some degree of clarity as to what the aim is and what you need to take into account along the way.

For those with planets, axis points or nodal positions between 26 Libra and 4 Scorpio (OR) 26 Aquarius and 4 Pisces: this is an opportunity to express yourself more fully. On the Libra/Scorpio side, this is about gaining access to answers and possible new options. On the Aquarius/Pisces side the options are social and societal. Will you choose to go out there now and build on past efforts?

For those with planets, axis points or nodal positions between 27 Capricorn and 1 Aquarius (OR) 27 Scorpio and 1 Sagittarius, this is a strenuous moment – specifically one which calls upon you to make changes. The Capricorn/Aquarius vibe is all about recognizing that ‘your way or the highway’ doesn’t work and the Scorpio/Sag side needs to pick up the personal slack. There is a marked tendency to try to evade responsibility here which won’t work – you can make the changes or face the emotional bruises which will result from clamming up, resisting and in general, refusing to get your ego out of the way.

For all involved…whoever you may be…the good news is that Lunar Eclipses go off like an exploding firework, then they’re over. By the time three months has passed, we generally are already moving on.

The sole exception here is as stated: IF you are someone whose chart is also aspected by the incoming January Solar Eclipse at 13 Capricorn, then this is just the beginning of a three year evolutionary shift described by the point about to be (solar) eclipsed.

And you probably already know what that’s about.

Meanwhile, here’s to a good Lunar Eclipse! May all your choices bring you happiness, health and the joy of personal prosperity!

 

      

 

Uranus, the UK, Chart USA, Wikileaks and the Obama Administration (Pt. 2 of previous post)

 

The White House

photo credit: UpstateNYer (2006) 

In case you’ve forgotten, Uranus went direct a couple of days ago - on the 5th or 6th, depending on where you were.

In the United States, a serious case of Politics broke out over a proposed tax/stimulus proposal announced by the Obama White House.

When I commented on same a couple of days ago (link to THAT BLOG) I promised I’d finish the chat by looking at the Uranus station against the charts of the Obama Administration and Chart USA.

I am now officially keeping that promise. And considering what just happened in London (i.e., riots in the street) after the British Parliament voted to raise college tuition three-fold as part of a tough austerity program, this blog seems even more apt. (link to NY Daily News story on same).

And yes, a blog on the current UK government might be interesting too. If I have time, I'll dig up that chart.

But for now, to finish with Things USA(merican). After all, we can look at any country and get a feeling for the astro-dynamic since this Uranus station is global.

That this station has been in Pisces, a sign about how we feel and how we deal with our feelings seems apt. More to the point, Pisces being a sign of collectives and how mass generated, communal emotionality functions, that gives us a good dotted line between what’s happening in the US against events in London.

So here’s Chart USA: the US Appomattox chart erected for the end of the Civil War when a US broken apart by secession re-unified as the nation it is today.

  Chart USA (Lee surrendering to Grant

at Appomattox Courthouse, VA - April 9, 1865)

I’ve blogged about this chart extensively – here’s the LINK to the first of a 7-part series of articles here on the blog.

That the current Uranus station occurs in an exact square to the 10th house natal Uranus of Chart USA is a bit tip off. The 10th being the ‘highest’ house in the chart, Uranus’ position here indicates things in government and things coming from specifically the ‘highest’ branch of the US government - the Executive branch, that headed by the President.

That this Uranus is in Gemini makes the matter about communication, and choices. Uranus symbolizing changes, breaks and breakages (departures), anarchy, disruption, breakthroughs, innovation…this is pretty much the list of descriptions being used by people on all sides. Did the President ‘break’ with his own party?

Would this bill ‘break’ the US economy or innovate (renovate) it?

Squares are always challenges which work both ends of the square against the best interests of the middle, as it were. So with the 10th house being the house of government, and the 7th house (where the station took place being about ‘what we present to others’ (and thus how others react to what we show ourselves and our choices to be)…that certainly works!. Moreover, the natal Uranus in this chart is conjunct Atropos (endings) and fixed star Betelgeuse (the easy way). So it’s easy for people to walk out on this sort of event – or to put it maybe a bit more accurately, this dynamic represents situations where people feel walked out on (looking from the 7th house end) or which make them want to walk out!

It’s not shocking that there’s been a Uranus/sudden  end of relative pleasantries, either. Nobody’s happy….the President is sounding patient but irked,  Congress as a whole isn’t happy, a whole lot of  Democrats are downright teed off, Republicans are feeling unappreciated and a lot of the American people are feeling pretty darn disgusted with the whole state of politics and government.

And what happens when people feel that peeved? Well, look at London. Those who saw how the car containing Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall got pelted with paint balls and one of the bullet-proof windows battered in…that’s what happens. That kind of ‘outbreak’ is very Uranian.

About Chart USA though…? It’s also worth noting that where the square is coming from (Uranus’ station in the 7th house) has Uranus making this station conjunct Scheat. This is a ‘turn’ in what the people (and Congress as the representatives of the people) are being handed. And what with Uranus taking a turn to direct motion, it is the people and/or the Congress which will in the end will rule the day.

Americans can take that for granted, but it’s an interesting statement in itself. Congress is right there in Washington, of course. But if the American people don’t like this bill, this is an indicator that their rising up in protest can be heard.

And no matter what happens, it’s a pretty sure bet that it’s a tough week to be answering phones in any congressional office.

While we’re on this subject, let’s not forget the Wikileaks mess. That began on November 28th as Uranus got into the degree where it would but days later go on station.

 The WikiLeaks logo

The whole Wikleaks matter is another form of this Uranus square: presenting to the world (the 7th house ‘audience’) documents/communiqués (Gemini) broken/stolen (Uranus) from the US government (10th house). With this Uranus station taking place in late Pisces, that this is something unpleasantly challenging is the square. That it’s happening to the US government is very 10th house. That it ‘breaks’ government  communication silence is leaking Gemini documents.

That it happened in a ‘behind the scenes’ secret way is very Pisces. That it involves how others feel about the US and its government is the station taking place at 26 Pisces, a 3rd decanate degree which like all 3rd decan degrees is about something you do not control which represents the opinions of others. 

It’s very Wikileaks. It’s also very London riots. Get the connection?

And back to that position of the station being conjunct the Chart USA Scheat. With the station taking place at 26 Pisces and Scheat at 27 Pisces (fixed stars do move, if very slowly – Scheat is now at 29 Pisces)…with the Chart USA Scheat set off by Uranus it’s a slew of ‘bad press’ (Scheat), which would be both the tax/stimulus proposal and the Wikileaks disbursement.

More than that, with the station at 26 and Scheat at 27 in this chart, we haven’t heard the end of this dynamic as yet. Uranus will transit 27 Pisces basically for all of January 2011. As soon as the New Years’ weekend is over and business resumes, Uranus hits 27 Pisces.

And let’s not forget…there’s a Solar Eclipse on the 4th. So prepare for more sudden Uranian shifts of status quo - whatever that status quo may be.

Moving on to the Obama Administration, there we have two charts: the ‘official’ (governmental) time for the inaugural (12 noon EST +5/January 20, 2006/Washington, DC)….

 Obama Administration - 'official' noon chart

(transfer of governmental power)

….and the time when President Obama actually took his oath of office, which was five minutes later.

Obama Administration - Presidential Oath chart

Either way, the Uranus of the chart is in the 11th house - the house of society - at 19 Pisces. That defines this Uranus as ‘emotional changes’ in a sign (Pisces) which is all about rationality versus fantasy in a house (the 11th) which on the psychological level is about ideals versus functionality.

The Uranus of this/these chart(s) being conjunct Uranus/Achilles, the native quality is ‘stunning strength’ against ‘broken strength.’ With Venus cuddled in alongside (at 17 Pisces) this administration went into office with huge (possibly unrealistic?) hopes pinned to its inauguration.

But there are other sides to a Pisces Uranus in 11 as well. This combination would be unsteadiness or instability (Uranus) of affection (Pisces) and response (Venus). In a governmental chart this would also denote an instability of ‘income’ – can we say economics and taxes, people?

Now…down to a couple of details. In the public-governmental inaugural chart (the shift of power from Bush to Obama), the 12th house of that chart is at 27 Pisces. And that would make Uranus’ station at 26 Pisces a picture of Uranus having ‘backed’ of the 12th during retrograde.

Did this administration ‘back out’ of (retrograde) its 12th house communing-with-public/mass-opinion into the economic/corporate 11th house only now to ‘take a turn’ there? It appears to look and sound like that.

And now, having taken this station, at the very end of the ‘economic’ and societal 11th, Uranus will again  marches forward into the 12th, land of communal feelings/mass emotionality and so often where we experience our own emotionality so that we will realize where and how we have limited ourselves.

Uranus will reach this inaugural/administration 12th house cusp in January, when Uranus transits 27 Pisces. And let’s not forget - 27 Pisces is also the exact position of Scheat when the US reunited.

And for those who don’t like that Scheat, I have another Scheat you can try on for size. It’s in Obama’s Oath chart – the 12:05pm chart for Obama’s swearing in. That chart has 29 Pisces on the 12th house, making disapproval by others Obama’s great vulnerability as President.

This begins to tie in very strongly with Obama’s personal chart and that first blog of a couple of days ago: this man listens and reacts to expressions of upset and/or disapproval. So if the citizens of the United States want their President to do something, all they have to make their voices known.

LOUDLY.

Otherwise, this chart describes a man taking a job where he will listen to whatever chorus of disapproval is loud, louder and loudest – whoever they may be. And that, considering what has been coming out of the Republican quadrant of Congress against the past two years of muted mannerisms from the Democrats…that may explain some, if not much of the genesis of this whole current fracas to begin with.

On the other hand, let’s face it – when you’re President of the United States, someone is always annoyed with you.

With all of this noted, what may be the astrological headline here is the combination of Uranus going direct AND Mercury going retrograde. Mercury being communications, that certainly exacerbates anything communication, while pointing at all things Gemini, such as Chart USA's Uranus.

In addition to this, Gemini is the 6th house of both inauguration charts - a clear allusion to what the 'job' of this administration is. It also says that any 6th house entity (the classic 'employee' which in this case would be congresspeople, civil servants and members of the military) will be 'thinking things over' and reflecting over the next few weeks.

Then there's the President's personal chart...

 

President Barack Obama - natal chart

....with it's 3 Gemini Moon, which is echoed rather poignantly by the President's 2010 Solar Return chart...

President Barack Obama - Solar Return 2010

...where the 4 Gemini Moon in the 6th house of health-work-service in perfect square to calculated (societal) Lilith in the 3rd house plainly pictures his difficulties with legislation (Gemini), Congress (6th house), and public policy and/or sentiment (calculated Lilith in Pisces and the 3rd house of communication).

The solution here is to understand where others are coming from and to be able to make a choice (Gemini) which is 6th house functional but which in its essence embraces the societal/Lilith issue. 

And that's the hard part, since Lilith in either form (asteroid/personal or calculated from the Moon's orbit/societal) speaks to that we totally want to deny.

Yet we can't.

With Mercury going retrograde with Mars having just entered Capricorn (link to blog on same) and the pair of them coagulated with Pluto (emotional transformation) and the North Node (what we need to do) says something absolutely has to indeed be done.

But since this is Capricorn, there's a structural component which is about structural (not intellectual) conservation with an eye to durable, pragmatic, practical considerations.

Given that most (maybe all?) of the proposals in the President's package are set to expire in 2012, while some might argue that the 'durable' functionality here refers to  jump starting the economy. But that doesn't work in astrological terms. If the issue was purely the economy, the astrological sign would be Aquarius, not Capricorn.  Capricorn is much more about cost cutting. About austerity - as unpopular as that may seem.

Then we add in the other symbol involved in the Moon-calculated Lilith square pictured in Obama's solar return. That other symbol is Chiron in Aquarius, the signature of that we know not how to do until we get into the process of doing it, which teaches us how. So while he can argue the matter of an injured Aquarian economy, the Aquarian Chiron/Pisces Lilith in square to the Gemini moon also says that the greater injury is has many factors, not the least of which is a Congress, workforce, citizenry, national infrastructure and work habits not yet adapted to today's modern, changing world.

This aspect also speaks clearly (if perhaps covertly) to the fact that 'health' as a concept is still a big US problem. Health care, the health of the job market and the health of how decisions get made are all a bit problem.

A political problem, perhaps? With Obama's natal Moon conjunct the administration's 1st house Pallas (wisdom) - which is itself in opposition to the administration's Moon, biting the bullet, instigating the cuts to bring all into line are like as not things the President and his whole administration understands.

He/they are obviously loathe to take an even harder, more austere road. And if you want to know why, just look at what happened in London. The UK has hit a financial wall and is being forced to play a bad hand.

The Obama Administration appears to be trying to stave off a like moment. They're willing to talk a little bit about bad possibilities but given the factious American political will - understandably - is not willing to sound too dire. Jupiter...then Uranus will soon enough cross into Aries and conjunct Chart USA's 7th house Sedna.

Don't know about Sedna? Sedna is all about the need to give up childlike, childish and sometimes just plain selfish or self-centered demands. Sedna is that lesson about deferred gratification and the need to let go of what we really, really want in order to find our own power.

Here's a link to an entire ARTICLE ON SEDNA.

This moment of Uranus and Jupiterian cluing the people and nation we know as the United States of America is coming along pretty darn soon, too. Jupiter will move into Aries in late January and Uranus gets there come March. Whether the transits to Chart USA's Sedna (at 0 Aries 01) evoke positive or negative actions/reactions probably has everything to do with how much reality everybody has managed to swallow between now and then.

One thing's for sure, with January's Solar Eclipse at 13 Capricorn occurring in the national 4th house of the people conjunct Kallisto with a sound square being struck as a challenge to Pallas (wisdom) in 7, who the USA really is, and what its people really believe in or even recognize about themselves is about to come up for re-examination.

Could it be that President Obama (and the Obama  administration) knows all this and that the President has chosen to fall upon his political popularity sword? That seems impossible for a politician, right? And yet...

All that we can (and will) discuss later. Meanwhile, how America got from a managed level of debt and a prosperous economy to where it is now is easy to debate, but not every productive to argue about. The real question is what the US will do now. Very used to its power and prosperity, America is going to be challenged by a growing inability to do all things and be all things in the world.

Things have got to change. And with this Uranus/Uranus station square, they may - in a shorter run than many suspect.

But that's a whole other blog, so let's not go there.

At least not today, I mean...

Is Obama Eclipsed by BP?

President Obama is having a hard time dealing with this BP matter. Do we know why? Or what it represents in his chart? 

Yes, we do. 

So let's start with the basics: unless you're a 'Birther' you're using a chart for August 4, 1961 at 10am (AHST/+10) set for Honolulu, Hawaii. That horoscope has Amphitrite at 3 Capricorn in the 11th house and 19 Cancer on the cusp of the 6th house.

The importance of that? That would be about this summer's eclipses, the first of which (the lunar) occurs at 4 Capricorn on June 26, with the solar eclipse being at 19 Cancer on July 11.

So how "far out" (i.e. prior to the actual time) we can expect to begin feeling eclipse effects? With lunar eclipses, it's usually a couple of weeks - which would put its effects as beginning just as June got into gear people. But solar eclipses? They last longer (3 years) in the unraveling to 'final results' and they start much farther out.

The Deepwater Horizon explosion occurred back on April 20th and there's no question but that Obama was duly and swiftly told it had happened. But he didn't start getting focused on as a prime 'player' in the drama until the early days of May, which would be about 2 months out from the July 11th solar eclipse at 19 Cancer.

As a solar eclipse begins being 'felt,' the general effect is one of breaking down existing status quos. Things we have relied on no longer prove reliable. The old simply doesn't work...and yet people being people, do you think they get wise to that fact the minute something goes wrong? 

Absolutely not! People are people. And let's face it, as head of a giant government dealing with a foreign company, Obama tackling the structure of BP isn't as easy as going to get a fresh pencil from his pencil cup.

The June 26 lunar eclipse at 4 Capricorn will hit Obama's Amphitrite (his 'overwhelm point') in the 11th house, a house which typifies social matters, income and corporations. Ruled by his quirky if innovative Aquarian Jupiter (conjunct a strong and structural Saturn) we do know Obama is never out of ideas. With this pair situated in his 12th house, he's very big at working behind the scenes and yet will respond to public need: the 12th house is the house of universal connections, so what his people need, he will do.

This 'common chord' exaltation is also part of what tells us Obama is such a talented orator, too.

Some will say this means he's just 'playing the part'? And let's not kid ourselves, Obama is capable of playing a part, but with his Sun being in the 6th house of civil service and employees opposition a 12th house Damocles (the perils of power) he is highly, highly unlikely to do anything which he thinks is against the greater, universal good.

Another nice point about this Damocles/Sun opposition: Obama knows the value in working and working and working to avoid the disaster. So he won't goof off. And when it comes to the bottom line, he has what it takes to cut through the garbage and issue the hard-core order.

But let's be real: Obama has a fixed Sun and Ascendant - he is disinclined to be hasty or lead by assertion. Obama has a built-in 'quease-meter' which causes him to dread  missteps, too - which isn't all that bad considering he's the guy with the war codes.

So back to the point...lunar eclipses tend to manifest right on schedule and produce sudden 'realizations.' Often the cold water thrown in the face of expectation, for a whole slew of astrological reasons...(North Node=necessity + Uranus/innovation +  Kassandra/'I SO Don't Believe You!' + Pelion/Facing a really BIG Mountain + Industria/Work Needs Doing)....all of which are in a Leo 7th house? Well, let's just say BP is likely to hear words from The Obama Quadrant (no matter who gets to say them) about this time. And let's be real - one of the reasons why Obama will step up (or send someone to do the job if he thinks it makes a better point) is because Obama will be sick of taking flack about the time the lunar eclipse rolls around.

The degree of said eclipse (4 Capricorn) is rather known for warm hospitality. But it's also the tofu of zodiac degrees in that it tends to take on the coloration of any transiting effect - such as an eclipse.

Natally having Amphitrite at 3 Capricorn (conjunct the eclipse) tells us there's an understanding of 'a system overwhelmed' in Obama's brain. And lunar eclipses being notorious for either complete bliss or wet blanketing reality, if BP hasn't got the well under control (the 'bliss' thing) they can expect a big splash as Obama's verbal foot hits the Gulf - and he won't just be puddling Dixie.

Maybe more to the overarching point however is the July 11 solar eclipse at 19 Cancer. If we give that a 2-month 'breakdown window,' that takes us back to May 11, which is when everybody really started focusing hard on the office door leading to the Oval Office. Okay...but given that this is the 6th house of Obama's chart we're talking about, it would be natural for him to start out using and not seeing the failings of anything or anybody which could even vaguely be referred to as a 6th house "employee." That would include his own staff, the US military, the general American civil service as a whole - and of course the entirety of BP and its hired PR gurus.

With Echo standing right before this 6th house cusp we would expect Obama to start this 'breakdown period' out by 'echoing' what he's been told - which is exactly what he did. But then we get to the crux of it: asteroid Lilith at 20 Cancer, Sabine at 21 Cancer, Icarus at 22 Cancer and Atropos at 24 Cancer.

Lilith is maybe the hardest symbol in this entire sequence: it's literally the thing you don't want to see about or in yourself. Add to that Sabine (forced rape/enslavement), Icarus (foolish overstepping of safe limits) and Atropos (cut offs, ends) this is a picture of many things.

Considering this is all in the sign of Cancer and therefore ruled by the Moon, we need to look at Obama's Moon to delineate it. And we find said Gemini Moon in the 4th house of family, homeland and national populations. Exactly conjunct Lust, looking at this as Obama AS a civil servant (which as President, he technically is), he's not just fixated on what his country needs, but his country's fixations. With Polyhymnia and Nessus standing right nearby he understands how happy the people are with their way of life and that they jealously guard their right to have what the want.

And no, that's not always good. Nessus is a legacy of poison which says a lot about the oil spill. Fortunately for Obama (and the country) this Nessus of his is not at his Descendant - which in the long run says this oil spill will not be the focus of his legacy. Unfortunately for Obama, it being at his IC/Nadir (the bottom of the chart) does mean it's a problem he's going to have to deal with. And keep dealing with. And deal with some more...the 'more and more quality' of this not coming just from the IC (and the fact that he's going to be President yet for a while) but because Gemini is ruled by Mercury and Mercury is in Obama's 6th house - the house of work, effort, continuing to try.

With his Mercury opposition the Aquarius Jupiter, we can guess that new safeguards and innovations are going to come out of this oil spill disaster. We are also likely to learn a lot about oil as a toxin.

Apart from all that, this Mercury also marks part of Obama's job as President to be a  bearer of bad news to the people of the United States. And with Mercury opposition an Aquarian Jupiter, one of his messages is things cannot go on as they have - we can't keep doing things as we've been doing them. 

Remember that campaign all about 'change'? That was Obama in sync with his chart and hence, astrologically, part of why he won the election - his people didn't 'feel' internal contradiction.

Just as obvious, however, is the fact that he doesn't like having to play the stern daddy (Moon in 4th house is always, always, always a family issue!). And as Obama was being elected, he certainly never knew the scope or arenas he would be facing which all needed serious change.

Unfortunately for him, the firm and if necessary stern daddy thing is part of the  territory of the job so long as he's the guy IN said job.

The good news is that once Obama reaches the point where he sees the real 'blackout' of the eclipse (replete with its nauseatingly apt parallel to an oil slick)...then he'll actually find the answer, part of which lies in part in making the American people SO angry that they become willing to make all the necessary changes.

All things happen when they happen. He can't rush things vis-a-vis BP or the American people...or himself.

You think this is just about an oil spill? It's not just about an oil spill. BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster is literally and figuratively barely offshore. The really deep water is about sustainability of life as people know it - the totality of that life. Obama having Vesta (service) conjunct Algol (male aggression) at the bottom of his chart makes him an interesting figure serving in a powerful position at a crucial moment in time; he would seem tailor made for the combination of assertiveness and supportiveness people need to hear from and feel is on their side.

What Obama probably knows without liking that he knows (Lilith) is that there are yet harder days to come.He also knows that we can all survive this - but that there are huge prices yet to be paid. Where we are now, the water is truly deep - but we have not yet plumbed the abyss.

Looking ahead, the January 2011 eclipse will hit Obama's Kalypso/Vega-the ability to care about others no matter how different their priorities or concerns. You think he's got it hard now? Wait! Fortunately the harder things get, the better Obama sees in the dark...like the rest of us, he just has problems getting out of his own way, which everyone defends when it's a private issue and which we seem to totally forget when it's a CEO or head of state.

Oh yeah....right. They're a person too?

Yes, they are.

Things aren't going to be easy and we may all stub or toes, but Americans chose a capable guy when they elected Barack Obama. He won't like doing it, but if he has to he'll drag the entire country through its stinking valley of darkness and denial, and that's what a country really needs from a national daddy.

In the meantime, just don't stay out after curfew.

And forget getting the keys to the White House limo.

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