As the endless news of oil spill depredations slowly and relentlessly saps our collective spirit, I thought a time table of the next couple of months would be useful. As mentioned previously, President Obama and the US are under several very difficult progressions and transits. As these slowly peel away, there is likely to be sense of increasing resolution or, at least, regaining the upper hand, of some difficult situations.
As of about June 1, solar arc Saturn was exactly quincunx Obama’s Sun, As the pressure from this aspect began very slowly to separate, the first partially successful attempt by BP to siphon some of the oil took form. There is a great deal of questioning about how much is being collected, but something is better than nothing, and there are plans to put a larger piece on soon in order to collect more. Hence, a tiny ray of hope amidst the muck.
As of June 17, Obama’s progressed Moon will be in an exact semisquare to his natal Saturn, an aspect that has been building since May 23. This is greatly intensifying the progressed Mercury square to natal Saturn and bringing a feeling of sadness, heavy burden, and extremely difficult circumstances that must be addressed. Within a few days after June 17, we may see another layer of pressure removed from the current crisis as this aspect begins to wane.
From April 26 through early June, we felt the US progressed Moon square to natal Mars. People were increasingly angry and agitated, and we were at war – against a spreading and destructive oil spill. By June, the US progressed Moon moved to a conjunction with natal Neptune, growing in strength through June 27. The feeling here is one of loss, confusion, difficulty in taking effective action, hope morphing into disappointment, and feeling deceived. Every new fix for the oil spill has become a letdown; every estimate of the amount of spill has proven false.
While at least some of the anger of the Moon/Mars progression is now waning, the numbness and ineffectiveness of Neptune has taken over. After June 27, a measure of this vague confusion will begin to dissipate, but June through August will also bring the transit of Neptune to the US Moon, a somewhat similar aspect. Thus, one layer of the vague and recurrently disappointing powerlessness of Neptune will begin to be resolved by the end of June, but another layer will begin to build and will be especially strong in August. It is not clear if this summer’s Neptune transit to US Moon will be about the oil spill or something else, perhaps a newly floundering economy.
We have previously spoken of the nearly two-year transit of Pluto opposite US Venus, from late January 2009 through most of October 2010. Especially when in a tight orb or when strengthened by the transiting Saturn square to Pluto, this aspect has brought a great deal of overwhelming anxiety to the US population, both related to the economy and to terrorism. Pluto is now retrograding back towards the opposition to US Venus, and we have a new dimension of this overwhelming anxiety revolving around the impact of the oil spill and exacerbated by the above-mentioned progressed Moon/Neptune aspect which makes us continually unable to get a real grip on this disaster.
Beginning around June 25 and continuing through August 4, both Jupiter and Pluto will be in a hard aspect to US Venus, with transiting Jupiter actually in a square to transiting Pluto from July 4 to August 3. Jupiter will also be sextile Obama’s Moon and semisquare his Ascendant for much of this time. Pluto will be quincunx his Moon. This suggests a renewed optimism and sense of power and control over events in the land. The oil spill may seem more manageable, the financial bill seems likely to pass, and the Elena Kagan nomination seems likely to succeed.
Some kind of power struggle is likely to build in late July (7/15 to 7/27), however, due to the last Saturn/Uranus square, followed by dramatic, transformative, and possibly violent events from July 28 through August 5. Mars will move to oppose Uranus (7/28 to 7/30), conjunct Saturn (7/29 to 7/31), square Pluto (8/2 to 8/5), and oppose Jupiter (8/2 to 8/5). We will move rapidly from the optimism of Jupiter to the sense of burden, loss, sorrow, and anxiety of Saturn.
Saturn will begin its last crossing of the US Midheaven and then square to US Venus from August 1 through August 23. Within this period will be the particularly onerous final Saturn/Pluto square, August 13 to August 22, in almost exact hard aspect to US Venus, and likely emanating from events occurring from July 28 to August 5. There is the potential for catastrophic weather events or natural disasters, severe accidents, or some noteworthy act of calculated violence in a war zone or from terrorism. Whatever the source, the first three weeks of August seem likely to bring some new challenge, sorrow, anxiety, and upset to the nation that begin to be resolved and significantly eased by late August.
Indeed, the end of August seems to be some kind of turning point. Although many critical challenges will confront Obama in the coming years, including a difficult though not catastrophic election, some of the buoyancy of the Obama presidency seems likely to return after August. The president’s progressed Sun will move into Libra as of September, strengthening its progressed trine to Jupiter (since July). The progressed Inaugural Sun will move into a conjunction with natal Jupiter as of October. And by late November, Obama’s progressed Venus will quincunx natal Jupiter, further strengthening the progressed Sun trine. All of these aspects suggest success, optimism, and popularity beginning to infuse the administration in the fall, after enduring a long, difficult siege with Saturn and Pluto from 2009 through the summer of 2010.