Year Review 2007

This article should be read in concert with Mundane Matters – Forecasting the Year – 2007

January 2007

Firstly, I am indebted to my friend Bernard Eccles who gives a forecast for the following year as the lecture before the Christmas party at the Astrological Lodge of London. Last year I had already written by analysis but had several ideas which were bubbling under. Bernard helped to bring some of them up into the verbal realm.

Firstly, you can see that this is the last year before Pluto moves into Capricorn and that Jupiter will conjoin with Pluto in December at 28° Sagittarius. The last Jupiter Pluto conjunction was at the end of Scorpio at the time of the launch of the national lottery which is a pretty good example of vast wealth, or at least the potential for it.

These late degrees are indicative of a phase ending. Even though the conjunction phase of a cycle usually symbolises a beginning Bernard suggested, and I firmly agree with him, that the new phase will be Capricorn flavoured rather than Sagittarian.

The transition from Sagittarius to Capricorn is about applying the ideas you have come up with in a practical way. Capricorn is all about mastery of the physical plane. What ever we think we know which we’ve worked out during Pluto’s time in Sagittarius will now start to be applied. This can seem a bit worrying.

There are other echoes of this theme. Jupiter will trine Saturn this year but it will do it five times, twice in fire in 2007 – Jupiter in Sagittarius, Saturn in Leo – and three times in earth in 2008 – Jupiter in Capricorn, Saturn in Virgo. Now last year we had Jupiter square Saturn which is usually associated with financial instability and economic mishaps. Nothing outstanding happened. Things carried on pretty much as they had been; there was no need for an adjustment. Debt continued to increased, real estate prices continued to rise and no bubbles burst.

Trines show an easy flow of energy and fire trines may be the easiest of all. Things begin continue to increase without restraint, there is no restriction, no caution and no comeback. Saturn – and you can see that these things are Saturnian qualities – is currently in Leo where it is generally less than happy. It is the sign of his detriment and no one calls an objective game when they’re not feeling their best. Jupiter is in Sagittarius where he is extremely happy and more than willing to lead an out of sorts Saturn astray.

What I believe may happen is that when Saturn moves into Virgo – 2nd September – we get to have objective rules once more, rather than subjective temper tantrums. Then, when Jupiter moves into Capricorn where he is in detriment Saturn will have the upper hand. This is now an earth trine and the results will be seen in the physical world. This will be 2008 and Pluto will also have moved from fire to earth. The whole tone will have changed.

As I said, trines show an easy flow of energy. Not necessarily good or bad – and those terms are incredibly subjective – but easy, uninterrupted, flowing, dynamic and consequently difficult to arrest or change.

There are several obvious candidates where this type of thing may take effect. The most obvious is the property market. The economy may have to make some adjustments. The underlying tone will move from fire to earth. Ideas, vision and faith may no longer be enough to base things upon. People may demand real measurable outcomes which have practical application. This may be a shock to some.

However, we have a way to go before then. There are two major cyclical phases which will complete this year. Jupiter will square Uranus three times this year, pitting the two Jupiter ruled signs against each other and Saturn will oppose Neptune for the second and third times. The first opposition was in 2006.

Lets look at Jupiter Uranus first. This is the final incoming square from the conjunction in 1997. This took place in early Aquarius close to the ascendant of China and at the time that the then leader – Deng Xiaoping – died BBC News Source.

The incoming square is associated with dealing with the consequences of ones actions. This is the autumn period, what ever has been learnt and harvested during the opposition phase – 2002 Leo/Aquarius – must be reintegrated into the organism to prepare for the next conjunction or seed moment. In plants this is when the seeds are all that is left of the fruit and any vegetation must die back and the sap falls to the roots. It is sunset, what was visible is about to move out of sight.

Thinking of China, this phase of the cycle doesn’t sound quite right. From what we know it seems that China is emerging, more like the opening square than the closing one. However, this could go two ways. Deng was a reformer and died on the conjunction which was close to the Chinese ascendant; we don’t really know how he influenced what has happened over the last ten years. Which ever direction China is going – increasing in democracy, increasing in capitalism, increasing both (don’t for one minute think they have to go together) – then this is the period where the first part of the plan has to be evaluated. In keeping with this phase of the cycle – sun set – what happens now is not necessarily visible or apparent. They need to assess the first cycle as they move towards its final phase.

The Saturn Neptune opposition shows the culmination of the events which were started under the conjunction in autumn 1989. The major event was the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of communism. This cycle is particularly sensitive to these events: 1948 – conjunction, publication of the Communist Manifesto; 1917 – conjunction, Russian revolution; 1953 – conjunction, death of Stalin. Events within the UK are following logically on from here. We see an expansion of Eastern European expansion into the EU and integration of these countries into the modern economy. Put against the background of Pluto in Sagittarius we see the overtone of apprehension around immigration in context.

As Saturn moves towards the end of Leo in the summer it will cross the ascendant of the Kingdom of Iraq. This may coincide with some conclusive activity in the region. It may be that the three regions could become even more unstable. The break up of the existing state should not be discounted and although this sounds obvious we should look out for developments over July and August.

The last thing I will mention is the retrograde planets. Mercury always has three retrograde periods of around three weeks each, all in the same element which this year is water. Water is about trust and feelings. Retrograde periods in this element could signify an emotional attachment which has been severed, a perception of betrayal or a realisation of something unfortunate which has only previously been accepted on an intellectual level.

Venus and Mars are also retrograde this year. These are the rarest retrogrades and significant in many ways. Venus signifies what we love, admire and value. The backwards motion of Venus can signify that someone has been pushed too far regarding their values, that the point of diplomacy has been passed and force must now be brought to bear. Mars is also related to violence. Sometimes the period of the Mars retrograde can relate to an outbreak of violence. This was true with the Kosovo crisis.

Mars begins its retrograde in Cancer conjunct Sirius. This is a very emotionally potent position and is towards the end of the year. We must look to the progress made in the first half of the year to gauge the potential of the second half.