PLANETARY ENERGIES

In astrological terms, 2009 began on December 27 with the New Moon in early Capricorn, with a Mars Pluto conjunction very close by. That day also saw an exact Venus Neptune conjunction which was reflected in Christmas feeling very peaceful for many people this year. But the Mars Pluto conjunction spelled the opposite of peace for  others.

This New Moon offers the beginning of a new phase of deep transformation. At best this manifests as healing, spiritual reinvigoration, and the energy to make real change; at worst as violence, vengeance, and the opening of old wounds. On December 26, Israel began bombing the Gaza strip, in a rapid escalation of violence that has continued every day since; on Jan 1 Russia cut the Ukraine’s gas supply; today (Jan 2) the Sri Lankan army entered the Tamil Tigers territory for the first time in a decade, while UK troops handed back Basra airport to Iraqi civilians. Just as Iraq looks to be calming down, the Israeli-Palestine conflict intensifies and other simmering struggles are revived.

Whether we live in a war zone or are fortunate to live in relative peace, this Capricorn New Moon, so powerfully aspected, gives us the potential to radicalize at the material realm: to give away or throw out what we no longer need and use; to make better systems for dealing with money and resources; to take the time to imagine how our lives could work better; to dare to dream big about our material world, individually and collectively; to make concrete steps to establish sustainable and workable ways of putting food on the table and a roof over our heads.

Capricorn rules big business, and this New Moon conjunct Mars and Pluto heralds major changes in the way we collectively do capitalism, and can be seen as the real beginning of Pluto in Capricorn. This is a major phase, and colors the next decade and a half. The holes in the fabric of the free market capitalist model have recently been revealed, and out of this phase of chaos will come deep change. Some of these changes will be revolutionary, altering elements of capitalism we have thought permanent, like the shareholder model and the high street. Attitudes and behavior at all levels, from investors to consumers, will shift. The biggest business growth will be in the field of energy, and just as real estate was a prime area of investment and individual focus in the last decade, so energy will preoccupy us in the years to come: how we use it, where we get it from, how we pay for it, and how we share it. 

Planetary activity in 2009

2009 brings us four periods of retrograde Mercury (11 Jan-31 Jan; 6 May-30 May; 6 Sept-29 Sept; 26 Dec-15 Jan), showing us when to schedule in downtime, and periods to avoid a major move, decision or signing of a contract.

Then there is a more unusual retrograde Venus (in Aries, 6 March-17 April), showing a time NOT to get married! And a phase in which all of us, and Aries in particular, can reassess past relationships and possibly heal old wounds.

There are six eclipses, (Jan 26; Feb 9; July 7; July 21; Aug 5; Dec 31). Four of these are Lunar, and two are Solar (Jan 26 and July 21). July 21 is a Total Solar Eclipse, visible over China and the countries to its West and South-East.

Especially notable astrologically is the Solar Eclipse of January 26 which falls conjunct Jupiter in early Aquarius and signals a buoyant and inventive month. Most of the other planets in the eclipse chart are between 20 and 24 degrees giving a problem-solving configuration involving Mercury and Mars in Capricorn, Venus and Uranus in Pisces, and Saturn in Virgo. People with 20-24 degrees active in their charts, especially in these signs, are likely to be very busy throughout February and for several months on either side of the eclipse. 

Major planetary aspects in 2009

We have two main aspects dominating the year: Jupiter conjunct Neptune in Aquarius (May 27, July 10, and December 21), and Saturn opposite Uranus (Feb 5 and September 15). Check the link for the piece I wrote back in October about Saturn/Uranus: we’ll continue to see the struggle between fact and fiction, realism and blind hope, rebellion and authority, throughout the year. 

Jupiter conjunct Neptune is a wonderful aspect, and colors the whole year. It signals a time of hope and of a rebirth of spirituality. (My book on independent spiritual practice is being published this year and I am sure there will be many other contributions to the collective pot this year on the subject of holistic spirituality.) Occurring in the sign of Aquarius, we can also expect inventiveness infused with collectively inspiring and healing values and motivation. I think of Jupiter conjunct Neptune as the Boddhisattva aspect, combining optimism with spiritual sensibility.  

As the year draws to a close, exact on November 15, there’s a nasty square between Saturn and Pluto, signaling a jolt in the collective fabric as we reorient ourselves to the concluding major phase in the dance of these planets. This cycle began with the conjunction in 1982 and the worst of the Cold War, was followed by the first square which coincided with the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and peaked with the opposition at 9/11, 2001. This last square at the end of 2009 represents the onset of the clean-up and resolution stage of this long cycle that culminates in 2020. So the next ten years are all about resolving the conflictual cycle that saw its roots (in this phase) in the early 1980’s, the era of trickle-down economics and the xenophobic flavor of the Reagan years. The fallout of cutbacks in social services begun in that era will become horribly apparent as the economy slithers around on its own thin ice. The US/Russian relationship will once again be front page news (and this long cycle also relates to the rise in terrorism and its links to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan). Finding solutions to these and other related issues will be more possible now, once the tension of the square has spent some of its energy.  

Russia’s massive oil and gas reserves, which for most of the 20th century were under-exploited because of the deadening carapace of Soviet Communism, will increasingly be a source of power and control. Russia is a Plutonian country, with the chart of the Bolshevik revoluton giving a Scorpio Sun. This chart also shows a very late Sag ascendant and Venus at 0 Capricorn, currently being influenced by Pluto. Pluto transiting this area of the Russian chart has coincided with the invasion of South Ossetia and the current struggle with the Ukraine. In both of these conflicts Russia has used tough action to bring former territories back into line. The control Russia potentially wields over much of Europe through the increasing reliance on Russian gas is likely to be one of the major themes of the coming years. Pluto is transiting the Russian first house: the nation is ready to assert itself after a long period of licking its wounds and reorienting after the collapse of its previous political and geographic structures. 

Taken altogether, this year 2009 looks like an exciting, volatile, vital phase. Numerologically it’s an 11/2 year, signifying the presence of unusual energies some might call magic, and the possibility of forming magical partnerships. Spiritually, it’s a very energized period. Don’t fall victim to economic turmoil paranoia, do think outside the box. Crisis does indeed bring opportunity. 

With love and my wishes that you have a spendid, loving, magical 2009,

Lara