Dear Friend and Reader:
I’m back with the next installment of the Top Five Events of 2012 — and this is a hot one. It’s part of Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check. — the 2012 annual edition of Planet Waves, which by the way is available for general sale to all readers, by sign. Subscribers may still get the 12-sign discount rate. We will mail another all-12 discount special offer to our subscribers soon.
So, what’s the big event? Mercury stations retrograde on Election Day. Exactly on Election Day. That is to say, right in the midst of everyone voting in the highly anticipated, so close it could be a tie, who the heck are all these weirdos, one and only 2012 presidential election: exactly on that very day, Mercury goes retrograde in Sagittarius. I know — I could not believe it either.
Notably, Mercury has only ever stationed one other time on a presidential Election Day — in 2000, when we had Bush v. Gore and the loser won.
Now, for the second time in American history, Mercury is stationing exactly during an election. What is this about? In this segment, I cover the basic possibilities: it looks like some kind of scam, such as an overt case of election fraud. There is lying and denial; and since it’s in Sagittarius the courts may be involved. Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius, square Neptune, has a bit of the religious huckster or confidence man to it. In that way that astrology can be bizarrely literal, this chart is the perfect image of the political landscape — and it is volatile.
What could possibly go wrong? Well, what could go right? We could get a wakeup call to civic involvement, and it’s on this note that I end the discussion: with a call to civic action. This presentation includes a bonus track — an interview with Planet Waves contributor Astrodem, a political consultant in Washington, D.C. Astrodem is not an official writer for Planet Waves, just someone who contributes his ideas about astrology and politics as a commenter. You will get to meet him in the bonus segment.
Even if you hate politics, you will enjoy this edition of the Top Five Events of 2012. The link includes access to all of the previous editions — and here is the ordering page.
Lovingly,
Astrodem was the subject of the interview about the 2012 elections, above. These are his comments on listening to the interview. -ef
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Your description of Mercury’s movements was particularly helpful.
I should have made this point in the interview, but election reform is not going to happen in the aftermath of an election result fiasco for a very simple reason. The eventual winner is (by definition) the beneficiary of the fiasco and therefore has no incentive to change it.
The Bush tax cuts are absolutely going to be an issue in the 2012 election. But keep in mind that the negotiations over what happens to them are likely to happen with THIS Congress, not the next. Those negotiations will likely take place during the lame duck session (they will probably run through the 2012 solstice!). And it’s likely to look like a lot like the drama that just finished playing out over the payroll tax cuts, or the drama over debt ceiling during the summer, or the various government shutdowns. Despite what you may think, I do believe the Obama administration wants to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. The problem is that they want to extend them for the middle class — and that gives the Republicans leverage. Nov – Dec 2012 is going to be really interesting for all kinds of reasons.
awoke this morning with another level of understanding re the shift we are a part of. We really ARE a part of it. Not happening to us or around us. We R It. And so “Explains” the perceived anxiety(flu). I have spent my life “shaking up’ the world around me – only now just realized that. Boy am I slow. For now this way of our being is the new norm. (Shaking it).
The Mother is Awake.
She is no longer dormant.
It is Winter
But Spring will soon be here.
I was researching when these types of aspects have happened in the past. I found that on Feb 15, 1974, Mercury went retrograde in Pisces at 11 making a square to Neptune in Sag at 9. Pluto is retrograde in Libra at 6.
Here is a link to the chart:
http://serennu.com/astrology/drawchart.php?inday=15&inmonth=02&inyear=1974&inhours=19&inmins=46&insecs=00&z=t&addobj=&inla=38n18&inlo=77w58&h=P&gh=g
Significant events of the day included:
Three distinct tremors in Arkansas that were 3.3 or greater magnitude. There was an explosion in an Arkansas oil field. It was thought that one of the tremors caused a leak in a natural gas pipeline.
There was a publication over increasing concerns about the safety of drinking water. The report stated, “Safe drinking water threatens to become almost as scarce and costly a resource as petroleum in the not-so-distant future.” “Overconfidence or apathy seems to pervade the public’s attitude with respect to drinking water,” said Dr. J. H. Lehr, executive director of the National Water Well Association, told a Senate committee in 1972. This is the report citation: Hamer, J. (1974). Drinking water safety. Editorial research reports 1974 (Vol. I). Washington, DC: CQ Press. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1974021500
The EPA convened a public hearing in Spokane, Washington to review a petition supported by Crop King Chemical Company to allow for an exemption to the ban on DDT. The approval was based on a determination that in the absence of alternative controls, DDT was necessary to increase yield and to prevent economic losses.
Nixon reviewed a report forwarded on February 15, 1974 on domestic safeguards, as directed by NSSM 120 and the subsequent memorandum of May 4, 1971 for the Chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. “The President noted the conclusions of the report, and particularly those regarding the needs (1) to weigh the possibilities of sabotage, plutonium contamination threats, an armed attacks (for example, by terrorists), along with the nuclear device threat, (2) to have a continuing process of threat assessment and establishment of appropriate countermeasures, and (3) to maintain fully adequate and essentially equivalent, in terms of quality and extent, safeguards systems in the licensed and license-exempt sectors.”
Thank you
I had several things happen where I said to myself–“but Mercury’s not retrograde anymore”–so, I’m not alone, nor crazy thankfully–
Amanda, I agree that this Mercury/Sagg horse has been hard to unsaddle. It keeps twitching and snorting and flicking its hooves at me. (Or us, apparently.) I was talking with Shanna last night and reviewing some other details of this Rx, such as that Merc/Uranus trine, both retrograde, both in fire signs – and then ooopsy, Uranus goes direct. On the *freakin’* Aries point.
From that moment on, it felt like the horse melted into a supercollider particle stream. Bambambambammpopbam…
It would be one thing if the accompanying Eclipse (and tonight’s Solstice) had been visible, but the contrails went up high and heavy yesterday and the day before the Eclipse blotting the sky. So my natural ‘grounding’ mechanisms are all fogged out. (I have no Earth in my chart so most of my anchoring is sidereal.)
Anyhoo, at least we have a few hours till the Yule. As I have mumbled elsewhere, my intuition says that this time-bridge between Yule and New Moon is yoked (coniunctio) to the period just before and during the Full Moon/Eclipse.
Upward, through the “fog.” (ahem)
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Hand raised here, Amanda… Wonky, weird, mired, fogged in. If I ddin’t know better, I’d think I was doing the two step/three step: two steps forward, three back.
My Maynard calendars arrived – Pacific time. Michigan, I think, is still in the Eastern time zone. Is this a sign that I should move?
Aword – oh, yeah, flu type symptoms, muscle spasms in back, digestive unrest… Got it here. Ugh! Back to the corner to figure out what is triggering this besides the usual “I can’t stand this holiday lunacy”.
Sigh. Maybe all the “thwartions” are a reminder to “stand still” with the Solstice and believe that it will all get better when Jupiter stations direct. Or so I’m telling myself.
Right? Please?
JannKinz
Interesting installment of the top 5 events podcasts! Wouldn’t we all be better off if Steven Colbert ran for president. 🙂 Given what happened the last time Mercury stationed on election day, I’m pretty worried about this election. The Republican candidates are one scary cartoon character after another. And looking at Obama’s record these past few years, some days I wonder if he’s not a Republican disguised in an Obama suit.
On to the election and the chart for the election – Eric what do you think of the possibility of the electoral representatives going to the electoral meeting and not voting how their constituents chose them to vote? I know it’s happened at least once (does the election involving Polk sound right?). Technically a number of them flipping how they were supposed to vote would change the election And if that got out to the public maybe it would be enough for us to get rid of the electoral college.
Looking at the Merc Rx chart on Nov 6th a few things jumped out at me besides what was discussed in the podcast. The IC is at 10 Leo pretty close to the Moon conj memoria at 14 Leo. Would the IC speak to what’s going on behind the scenes? And with it pretty close to the Moon conj Memoria could that indicate some kind of “gut check” or emotions/emotional memory from the past playing into how people vote or how the players behind the scenes act.
It’s also interesting that Quaoar is conj Mars in the 7th. That seems to really speak for action being driving by “family values”. If Quaoar is our creation myth, our family patterns going back generations – so many of those are derived from catholicism and other religions. Between that conjunction and what’s going on at IC if seems to have the feel of people voting with their gut based on family values/religious values.
Quaoar and Memoria both speak of the past and there is sure a huge helping of that in the Republican party – it’s the same old dudes every time running for president. Even the idea of Jeb Bush isn’t that new or fresh since he is part of the Bush dynasty.
What are other people thoughts on this?
But then we have Uranus in the 11th house. And the 11th is the context beyond our family, it’s a point of public intersection, it’s what we have to offer, and our larger community. And there you have Mr. Revolution in Aries. And he’s opposite the dude pushing the boulder up the hill for eternity, Sisyphus. Feels like an opposition between a new system and continuing to do what doesn’t work (the way our political system has been for so many presidents). I wonder if that Uranus brings us a larger public backlash/revolution against the guys in the government continuing to roll the same boulder up the hill with the same failed results.
I agree Amanda! The past couple of days have been no sleigh ride!
Bustin’ through something here…..suddenly sick with “flu”‘ better known as ‘anxiety out the whazoo’ – and with fever last night.
Transiting Venus has just hit natal Venus at 0 AQ 6th house and exact square to MC. And about a dozen Moon aspects. Among other things.
Really hurts. Thanks for sand-dancer — I managed to watch a bit of that. Lovely.
xo
ok, raise your hand if this first week of mercury working back out of shadow has been even wonkier, more frustrating and full of thwarted moves than the actual Rx?
makin’ me crazy, here…
My friend recommended planet waves to me and I have been very impressed! I
have begun to look forward to it each week.