Discussion Thread
Dawn of a New Era
Already on the eve before the Inauguration, majestic hints of the coming dawn were streaking the darkness of our four-year national nightmare. The memorial service led by the incoming President Biden was the first moment of unclenching and calm we had had since the Trumpian era began. In embracing the reality of our collective pain and loss, we at last commenced our collective healing.
The following morning, three hours before the festivities began, as Air Force One left the DC area with a departing Trump, the fetid stench of four years of corruption and deceit began to lift. By mid-day, as the Inauguration events began to unfold and, most especially, during the galvanizing speech given by the newly sworn-in President Joe Biden, the nation felt itself settling into the clean, crisp, and calm freshness that follows a dark, cataclysmic, and treacherous thunderstorm. The magnificence of the new day could not be overstated.
Every four years, as the nation embarks on a new presidential term, the swearing-in moment signifies the birth of the next four-year cycle. Thus, the Inaugural chart is repeatedly born anew into a differing pattern for each presidential term. In the January 20, 2021, Inaugural Chart, drawn for 11:49 AM, we find the energy signature for the new Biden administration clearly described.
The most notable and the tightest planetary configuration is the Mars/Uranus conjunction (6Taurus40 and 6Taurus44) square to Jupiter (7Aquarius23). This combination signifies an enormous amount of energy, perhaps best described in the words of Martin Luther King as marshaling the “fierce urgency of now.” This somewhat agitated and impatient imperative to get things done is consuming and expansive. It describes an intense mobilization of force against an enemy, whether that be the pernicious and ubiquitous corona virus or the upsurge of domestic terrorism.
The Mars/Uranus/Jupiter combination remains extraordinarily strong from January 20, 2021 all the way through August 2023 due to Inaugural progressed Mars moving to perfect its square with natal and then progressed Jupiter, implying a significant amount of purposeful accomplishment by the Biden administration. This will be further strengthened by tertiary progressed Uranus perfecting the square to Jupiter for the entire first three years of the Biden administration, adding an innovative and creative flavor to the multitude of problem solving.
Difficulties and frustrations may thwart or at least restrain progress, however, when transiting Saturn is square to Mars/Uranus during 2021. We may also see an intensifying of the government’s need to quell violence at that time. The first transiting Saturn square is from February 5 to February 13. Moreover, from roughly February 6 to February 8, Inaugural Mars/Uranus will be particularly agitated by the crossing of the tertiary progressed Moon. Given that these few days are those leading into the Impeachment trial of former President Trump and also happen during the Saturn transit square to Mars/Uranus, it is quite possible we will see an increase in potentially violent protest from February 6 to 8 that demands a forceful and ongoing response (Saturn) through February 13.
We note that transiting Saturn will also be conjunct the US South Node (6Aquarius36) from February 4 to February 12, a configuration that suggests the restraining (Saturn) of a distorted or misguided urge to unbridled freedom (South Node in Aquarius) at that time. This is yet another indication of a confrontation between the military, police and/or national guard and a Trumpian mob both before and during the Impeachment trial.
The second period to watch for a hyper stimulation of the Mars/Uranus conjunction comes when the progressed Inaugural Moon will conjunct Mars/Uranus and then progressed Mars from August 20 through September 23, 2021. Again, we are likely to have a time of tremendous energy in the Biden administration and an aggressive agenda that will either be somewhat thwarted or restrained by the exigencies of reality in the form of a Saturn transit square Mars/Uranus from September 8 to October 12 (8 minutes shy of exact). An alternative possibility is that there will be a potentially violent confrontation between protesters and government forces during this time.
A similar pattern emerges earlier in the summer when tertiary progressed Mars crosses the Inaugural Ascendant (10Taurus19) from June 25 to August 26, again suggesting a very active and aggressive Biden agenda that may agitate and inflame a violent response. Transiting Saturn will square Inaugural Ascendant from July 18 through July 31, again pointing to some kind of restraint and frustration of this forward momentum and/or a need to quell violence.
Thus, the most significant aspect in the Inaugural chart points to sustained, aggressive action against a determined and vehement foe, whether it be the virus, the far-right extremists, environmental degradation, or some foreign adversary. Most likely, it will be all of the above, especially into mid-2023. Significant restraint on the Biden agenda, however, may begin during 2023 when the progressed Inaugural Sun moves to conjunct natal Saturn (3Aquarius56) and progressed Saturn building from February 2023 through June 2024. This progression will highlight the Sun/Saturn conjunction in the Inaugural chart which points to slow, steady, well-thought-out and disciplined action. It is also possible it indicates a somewhat exhausted Biden or the loss of one or both Houses of Congress during the next mid-term election. It is, therefore, all the more reason for Biden and his crew to focus on the fierce urgency of now, as they are clearly doing at present, during his most likely two most effective years as president.
Explosive Denouement
At this point, I am only shocked that anyone is shocked. We have been on a steady trajectory for the events of the past few days ever since Donald Trump bullied his way into the Oval Office, and maybe even before that. He has been fueling and forgiving the far-right extremist fringe and their addled conspiracy theories since the beginning. And now that the deranged and paranoid Trump is wounded and backed into a corner, he has crossed the last in a series of previously uncrossable boundaries. Again, why is anyone surprised? Of course his rabid ranting and his unhinged demagoguery has incited the mob to violence. Where did we think this miasma of fury-filled grievance would inexorably lead us?
As mentioned in a previous post, the US is now under a progressed aspect that brings sorrow, loss, and profound stress to the American population: progressed Moon square to progressed Saturn (2Scorpio56), from mid-December 2020 to mid-January 2021. This is currently being intensely exacerbated by the transit of Saturn (2Aquarius56) from January 2 to January 11, and then will be further inflamed by the transit of Mars (2 Taurus56) from January 10 to January 12.
It is clear from this configuration that the drama unfolding before our eyes is not yet over. Ignited and encouraged by the storming of the Capital, further right-wing aggression is being planned in many parts of the country. The House of Representatives is about to push through a second impeachment of the president. The FBI is searching far and wide for the culprits of January 6 and no doubt will encounter armed resistance in its quest. Expect the upsets and the stress to continue to build through January 15.
Meanwhile, a strong police and national guard response will be increasingly on the scene to counter “Trump’s army” of seditious, violent, rampaging hordes. From January 13 to January 17, we will have transiting Jupiter square to transiting Uranus, and then from January 17 through January 20, we will have transiting Mars square to transiting Uranus. Both of these combinations suggest sudden and powerful events and forceful intensity. It seems likely from this we will witness a lot of violent clashes between Trump’s militias and government forces right though Inauguration Day and perhaps into the following morning. After January 15, it seems quite likely the tide will turn very much toward law enforcement, as the progressed Moon/progressed Saturn begins to wane and the American public begins to feel its strength returning with the dawn of a new administration that actually can be counted upon to serve justice and the people’s needs.
The Long-Awaited End of 2020
Only a few days left in this horrible, very bad year. Clearly, 2020 is a year that will go down in infamy. The New Year chart of 2020 showed us, using tertiary progressions, a waxing Saturn/Pluto conjunction that intensified throughout the year and was further energized by tertiary Sun conjunct natal Saturn during November then tertiary Sun conjunct tertiary Saturn and natal Pluto for all of December. This translates into a year filled with a building struggle for survival on multiple levels, with a cloud of hopelessness and stress pervading everything: the pandemic increasingly is overwhelming us; the economy is beyond stressed except for those at the top; and people are losing their homes, their incomes, and their access to food. At this point, the huge and pervasively threatening Russian hack of multiple federal agencies is merely icing on a very noxious cake. Truly, this year cannot end fast enough.
The good news, of course, is that the 2021 chart is nowhere near as horrid. There is some difficulty suggested in that goals will be impeded and need a great deal of compromise and forethought to be accomplished, due to tertiary Mars square to natal Saturn and then tertiary Saturn, from August through December. But there will also be tertiary Jupiter opposite the Moon during the same period, suggesting that people feel some sense of contentment and optimism. Again, there is nothing close to the dreadful, ongoing stress we found in 2020.
According to Joe Biden’s chart, December is also an incredibly stressful time for him. From December 18 to 26, transiting Saturn is square to his natal Moon. Moreover, his progressed Moon is square to natal Saturn from December 5 to January 2. The recently announced investigation into his son Hunter, compounded by threats of a special counsel looking into Hunter as a revenge tactic from the outgoing slimeball, is clearly weighing on and upsetting Biden. In addition, the Christmas holidays without son Beau must also be stressful. Moreover, with his understanding of foreign policy, Biden understands the huge challenge of the Russian hack and the tremendous difficulty in fixing the damage it created and responding appropriately. And of course, the spreading pandemic with its accelerating death rate will fall on his shoulders even with the hope that the new vaccines now bring. The Moon/Saturn combination is one of grief, loss, deep stress and anxiety. The good news here is that it will diminish after early January.
Despite the shift in energy implied in the coming 2021 New Year chart, we can still expect the end of December and the first half of January to be emotionally very upsetting in the US, likely at least in part due to the pandemic’s heavy toll, although natural disasters and Trump’s dark impulses cannot be ruled out as causative. The progressed US Moon is now square to progressed US Saturn from December 19 through January 15. In addition, from January 2 through January 11, transiting Saturn will be conjunct US progressed Moon and square to progressed Saturn. Again, the Moon/Saturn combination suggests intensified grief and struggle, and in the US chart it points directly to those within the US population. It should be noted that Hurricane Sandy and its immediate aftermath came during the transit of Saturn to progressed US Saturn in late October and early November 2012.
These are clearly very fraught days in the US. The waning days of a deranged and narcissistic ruler, with little to restrain him, is clearly a huge danger that should not be dismissed. Moreover, the burgeoning pandemic and the horrifying death rate show no sign of abating in the immediate future. For now, we can hold onto the reality that a new administration will be coming on January 20, and a massive cleanup following Hurricane Donald will commence, though it will take a great deal of time, patience, and strength to find our way through.