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Greetings fellow earthlings,

I write this column about the USA and the current political situation with a sense of duty as a citizen of this fair land and beautiful world. Though I cringed many a time during the second Presidential debate my heart was warmed by a couple of questions posed to the candidates by the audience members. The question about devotion to country shifted the tone on that stage; and the last question “What strengths do you see in the other?” completely changed the energy. I felt a surge of love and calm as I recognized that on the main, the American people are not fooled, nor distracted by, the fiasco that is the current political scene. This inspired me to be direct with my astrological opinion regarding the chart of the United States of America. I use the so-called Sibly chart: July 4, 1776 5:10 PM Philadelphia, PA.

The nation is experiencing a number of direct planetary transits that are “activating” latent energies and patterns intrinsic to it. Using the Sibly chart, they are as follows:

Jupiter square Sun and conjunct both natal Saturn and the mid-heaven.

Saturn conjunct the ascendant, oppose Uranus, trine Saturn. Approaching an opposition with Mars.

Chiron oppose Neptune.

Uranus conjunct Chiron and square Mercury.

Neptune trine Jupiter and Sun; and inconjunct Saturn.

Neptune conjunct the progressed Sun.

Pluto oppose the Sun and square Saturn.

Folks, this is a LOT! If the USA were a person, I’d be talking seriously with him or her.

In a nut shell, what you’ve been sensing is true – we’re in a time of great and incredible tension. This is a karmic test. It is a real test; a test of our integrity as exhibited by our natal Saturn, exalted in ethical Libra. This test involves who we choose as our leader. Transiting Saturn to the ascendant marks not only a new beginning and identity but a period of reflection. This is when we get to re-do and re-create our image and structure. The questions the country asks at this time are: “do we want to keep doing this? Is there a better way?”

In the USA chart, at the birth of our nation on July 4^th 1776, Mercury was retrograde and opposite Pluto. In 2022 this country will experience a Pluto return – an important completion of that powerful, transformative cycle. Currently, Pluto’s slow insidious opposition to our Cancer Sun will continue as Pluto travels on to eventually oppose Mercury in the USA chart. In other words, we won’t be done with this critical transition until 2021. That’s an election cycle away. It seems we come to our senses and stabilize after the election in 2020. That election process will be especially intense as Pluto, guardian of the underworld, opposes Mercury in the USA chart – a lot of dirt will be thrown then. Very similar to what we’re experiencing now.

Pluto’s current transit to the USA chart means that we get to listen to ugly stuff, stuff bubbling up from the bowels of humanity. Pluto transits can be very nasty and this one is no exception. Pluto’s opposition to the USA Sun and square to the USA Saturn is a real struggle for our identity via our leadership. We felt Pluto strongly at 9/11/2001, again when the housing market collapsed, and now, at this election.

The USA is, and always has been, a divided nation. The country’s population is split into two distinct groups. The Sibly chart has mutable Sagittarius rising. On 9/11/2001 when the twin towers came down, Saturn was opposite Pluto on the ascendant/descendant of the Sibly chart. The experience of dualism occurs with diverse opinions and polarized views. The rising sign and descendant of the chart Sagittarius/Gemini reflect this dualism.

In the meantime, the next four years sees Saturn oppose Mars, Venus, Jupiter, the Sun, and Mercury in the USA chart. We’re headed for some lean years and some strict re-structuring. It’s time to invest in the essentials – food production, clean water, the electricity grid, community business. Things could get so tough that the majority of folks quit taking needless medication and watching empty TV and pick up a shovel and get to work planting potatoes. That can’t be bad, right?

First though, the new administration is going to have to deal with blocks and obstacles starting with the new term in January 2017 and running to November of that year, as Saturn opposes Mars in the chart. Late 2017, Saturn enters practical Capricorn for the first time in 28 years and opposes Venus in the USA chart. This could feel like a shortage of cash. Those interested in growth as usual will be disappointed. This transit is not about growth. It’s about taking care of what you have and making do. If you’re interested in recycling and animal husbandry, you’ll love this down-to-earth, back-to-basic time.

The last time Saturn was in this position (1987 – 1988) Black Monday occurred (at that time Saturn was conjunct the ascendant and opposite Mars and transiting Jupiter was conjunct our Chiron); George H.W. Bush was elected; the Gulf War took place, as did the trial of Oliver North; there were massive protests in support of abortion; coal and Boeing workers went on strike; the Berlin Wall came down, and the Cold War eventually came to an end.

How do the transits of the next four years affect you personally? Look for the Capricorn/Cancer axis in your chart and examine the houses they’re in. Also look back to 1987/1988 and 2001/2002. What was going on for you then? How did you handle it?

Here’s my advice, as your astrologer, buy local and prudently. Develop community connections, invest in local agriculture, make your home energy efficient, take up a hobby, and buckle down. This too shall pass and there are many rewards along the way.

With blessings for health, peace, and sanity,
Your astrologer,
Dulce

Greetings, dear Ones!

Thanks for tuning in to my cosmic report.

2015 has been creeping up on us as yet another pivotal year. Major shifts have occurred, the tipping point has been reached, the Age of Aquarius has long been with us. The Cardinal Cross, which began in 2011, ends late 2015. We know what we’re dealing with – the same old really important stuff of sustainability, climate change, wars, species extinction, where to get power and energy from, and so on. We also know many of the answers and are collectively galvanizing ourselves toward sensible long-term solutions by way of collaboration and innovation. We are moving very quickly toward second tier consciousness.

http://davidrainoshek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Spiral-Dynamics-Stages.jpg (Ken Wilber).

If you tune in you can feel the excitement. 2015 is a year of straddling energy, in which planets, notably Jupiter and Saturn, straddle two signs, shifting our focus. It’s also about the development of our other senses, the aspiration of the human race to reach toward the light of consciousness, mindfulness and right action.

This comes to us by way of the cosmos and the beautiful forces of both light and shadow seeking integration. A marker of our shifting experience is the continual process of ending duality. One way this occurs is through stern Saturn’s move into philosophical Sagittarius – for the first time in 28 years. Those of you who are 28 to 30 years old or 58 to 60 years old are likely to experience Saturn’s sojourn as significant, as will those in the signs of Sagittarius, Gemini, and to a lesser extent, Virgo and Pisces. Saturn governs reality as we know it – call it the principle of karma in the realm of humanity. As Saturn spends the next two and a half years moving through the wisdom and vision of Sadge, our collective challenge is to acknowledge the presence of spirit and the intelligence that moves and creates life. Please check out Brian Swimme’s work – The Powers of the Universe to truly understand our celestial origins from the viewpoint of science and consciousness.

Things are not totally clear cut however, as Saturn, who begins 2015 in optimistic Sagittarius, spends half the year back in Scorpio (see below). This “straddling” of signs occurs for Jupiter too, which is the other significant move of the year. Jupiter transits mid-year into Virgo. This is an important 12-year cycle especially because Jupiter is the ruling planet of Sagittarius (the same sign Saturn is in). Jupiter is the active principle behind learning and philosophy. Jupiter teaches, preaches, inspires, guides, leads, adventures and publishes.

Virgo works on the density of the physical plane – organizing the cells of the body, connecting tissue, the mystery of DNA, (health care and medicine, nursing), wordless communication, animal behavior, plant life, and so on. Jupiter is happiest in the ethers, contemplating the vast mysteries, and may feel overwhelmed by Virgo’s reductionism. And yet at the same time this is exactly what we need right now – a deeper understanding of how we can shift our physical selves toward greater health. Imagine contacting your friend with telepathy; visiting yourself in the past to offer encouragement, travelling to your future to fine tune your path. The many routes of reality become more accessible over the next year or so if you’re willing to fully inhabit your sacred temple – your body. See too, how this attention will positively influence our relationship to our Earth.

In the words of dreamer Robert Moss “Since time is always Now, we can slip in and out of linear time, at least on the level of the mind… we are ready to become conscious time travelers… We can seek to rise above the perspective of these personalities to that of a Self on a higher level who can read patterns of connection and help reweave them for the better” (The Boy Who Died and Came Back, New World Library 2014). I’d like to add here that time travel is a specialty of mine and something I can help you with via the tools of alchemical hypnotherapy.

The key words for Saturn, Sagittarius, Jupiter and Virgo are: discipline, rigor, restriction, routine, authority, government, vision, truth, dogma, spirit, religion, foreign affairs and foreigners; education, wisdom, politics, teaching, travel, routine, order, service, perfectionism, analysis, animals, grains, genetics. Weave these words together in a poem to map the unfolding year in your own creative way. Keep in mind that Jupiter won’t enter Virgo until August 2015 triggering your poem. If you want to know more about truth and flow please read James Redfield’s The 12^th Insight. In there you’ll discover that importance of being truthful, and how truth keeps you aligned with the ebb and flow of synchronicity and how synchronicity unfurls to guide you to your full, glorious potential, service to others, and ultimately world peace. No kidding!

So let’s look at some of the cosmic details:

2015 starts with a waxing Moon, stable and grounded. The practical Capricorn Sun trines the Taurus Moon, inviting stability. Yet the Cancer Full Moon on January 4^th has the capacity for a breakthrough. Some deep and powerful shift is required of us all, especially Americans, if we’re to make it a good year. From where I write this (Thanksgiving 2014) military action seems possible. This could be internationally, or locally, and related to social rights issues.

The practical and somber, yet lusty energy of Capricorn gives way to social, fair minded Aquarius on January 20^th with a New Aquarian Moon. The 0 degree of this lunation is part of a series begun in late 2014, suggesting that in many ways we are starting over. Beginner’s mind is required. We have to see things freshly with the eyes of curious space travelers or children. The very next day, January 21^st, Mercury retrogrades at 17 Aquarius all the way back to 1 Aquarius before turning direct February 11^th. Avoid making major purchases during Mercury retro periods , launching businesses or having paper work or contracts done, until the master of communication turns direct. However, if any of these things should occur do not panic. Rather check out the list of successful businesses that did start during Mercury retrograde – quite possibly Coca Cola was one of them.

The other Mercury retrograde periods of the year are: May 20^th to June 12^th (13° Gemini to 4° Gemini) and September 18^th to October 10^th (16° Libra to 1° Libra). These are good times in which to retreat, particularly to rethink strategy or to rewrite or reflect on matters, especially those associated with relationships and communication. Slow and lazy vacations are great during Merc retros.

Venus, the planet of love and values, also retrogrades this year. During her “disappearance” do NOT get married, or make or promote anything of beauty unless you are of old acquaintance and then just want to in reveal over and over in it. Venus’s retrograde is great for reconsidering aesthetics, lingering over past art, and revisiting old love or financial affairs, but not for moving forward on anything related to beauty, money, art or love. Venus retrogrades July 26^th at 0° Virgo to September 7^th at 14° Leo.

As mentioned, the year begins with a retrograde Jupiter who turns direct April 9^th. If you have a business to launch, wait until after Jupiter turns direct to gain the maximum benefit of the planet of expansion. If you’re buying, prices may be cheaper while Jupiter and Venus are retrograde so keep your eyes open for good deals during those months. Yet be sure you’re getting what you want, not something that’s merely cheap.

In the meantime the old slow beings keep to their cycles. Saturn retrogrades at the Ides of March and slips back from Sagittarius into Scorpio June 16^th. Saturn turns direct August 3^rd and finally re-enters sunny Sadge September 19^th. Uranus and Pluto, at times tightly and at other times loosely, maintain the Cardinal Cross which totally depletes itself at the end of the year. This is truly something to celebrate! The Cardinal Cross is a long sustained period, starting around the time of the Arab Spring, in which Uranus and Pluto are in square with one another, creating global stressors, political change, weather pattern upsets, governmental shifts, economic crisis, social revolution, inventions, and all kinds of phenomenon designed to shake the status quo. As 2015 comes to a close we can expect things to settle also.

In short, 2015 is a year of transition. Our real work begins in 2016. 2015 is about learning the ropes, shifting perception and feeling free, brave and creative enough to live fully and with joy.

Finally, Chiron the Wounded Healer and Neptune the Muse, continue their slow sojourn in gentle Pisces. We still have much healing to do. Forgiveness is still the path. And I mean radical forgiveness (see Colin Tipping’s work). When we can truly see with the heart and feel with our spirits that all is in divine order and when we can trust that we are held in the arms of love, then we can let go of our small selves. This is our greater journey toward becoming the homo luminous we must become in order to live in harmony with all the other species on our beautiful earth home.

Bless you, and thank you for being fully who you are.

Your pal,

Dulce

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