{"id":70559,"date":"2013-09-30T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2013-09-30T04:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=70559"},"modified":"2013-09-30T07:47:06","modified_gmt":"2013-09-30T11:47:06","slug":"what-government-shutdown-and-sun-square-pluto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/astro-daily\/what-government-shutdown-and-sun-square-pluto\/","title":{"rendered":"What Government Shutdown? (and Sun square Pluto)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note, Friday we published my extended monthly forecasts for October, covering the astrology I describe in this post for your sign and rising sign. Planet Waves website members have already received them in their inbox. New members will be able to get instant access by signing up<\/strong><\/a>. You can do also this by phone — call Chelsea at (877) 453-8265. — efc<\/em><\/p>\n

Today the big story on cable news, at least here in the United States, is the looming federal government shutdown. That’s supposed to happen Tuesday, they tell us. I am impressed by how nonchalantly the whole thing is being taken, and how a small minority of Republicans in the House of Representatives is managing to run the whole show — apparently, into a wall.<\/p>\n

\"It's<\/a>
It’s always sunny in Washington, DC. Photo by Emma Summers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This has happened before, in the 1990s, under the leadership of the aptly-named reptilian Newt Gingrich, a Republican who was speaker of the house. When in doubt, throw a tantrum.<\/p>\n

Mercury ingressed Scorpio Sunday, joining the grand water trine. Speaking of Scorpio, the Sun making a square to Pluto (the modern ruler of Scorpio, exact Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 9:27 pm EDT, chart below) and as it does, getting fully involved in the Jupiter-Uranus-Pluto-Typhon configuration (formerly known here as the Uranus-Pluto square). <\/p>\n

Also on Tuesday, Mercury enters the shadow phase of its autumn retrograde, which is from Oct. 21 to Nov. 11. Due to the retrograde, Mercury will be in Scorpio for about two months. Then Friday, the New Moon happens in Libra with the Sun and Moon (together, in a conjunction for this event) square Jupiter, opposite Uranus, square Pluto and conjunct Typhon. This is the peak astrology of the year — we are in the big moment, which extends well into November. As we slip into this churning, bubbling whirlpool of intrigue, which has great potential for us as individuals, a few politicians in DC are playing a game of chicken with the federal government. <\/p>\n

This can impact the millions who work there and the hundreds of millions of people who depend on it for things like defense (occasionally necessary, and meanwhile the military will not get paid), air traffic control and national parks being open so people who use them can have fun and\/or do business (such as guided rafting tours). We covered this in Friday’s POL column<\/a>, which I will share with you here in case you don’t receive our member mailings — it gives most of the background you need.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here, I will ask my readers not from the United States for a moment to indulge in my thinking globally and acting locally. I’ll get back into the astrology a few paragraphs down — I think that readers in the States need some background.<\/p>\n

\"Do<\/a>
Do not stare at his face for too long. Weird things can happen to you. Photo by Jillian Rayfield \/ Salon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One thing to recognize is the faux nature of the crisis. Between the not-so-lunatic-fringe Republicans in the House of Representatives, and the average politician-type Democrats serving there, there are probably enough votes within the House to continue funding the government and avoid a huge, costly mess. <\/p>\n

But there is a rule in the House of Representatives that a majority of the ruling party has to approve of something before it can go to the whole floor. What I am not describing here is some cable news spin: minoritarianism<\/em>, as it’s sometimes called, is a commonly used, very old legislative tactic for one party to block the ability of the other to get something done.<\/p>\n

It’s been going on for a while. The federal government in the U.S. has been in gridlock since the midterm elections during Obama’s first term. Voters gave the Republicans a majority in the House, and John Boehner, who seems to be some kind of a demon or cold-blooded ET in a really weird-looking orange human body that cam smoke cigarettes in its sleep, became the allegedly second-most-powerful man in the United States. He also has little control over his conference, which may be the whole point — the stated goal of the Republicans is to fuck up Obama any way they can, even if it means eight years of obstruction and delay. And if the party can blame a small minority of Republicans for doing this, all the better.<\/p>\n

The result is that next to nothing is getting done. For most productive and practical purposes, the government has been shut down for a while. Of course, it would be nice if the lack of productivity could get rid of spying on our email and phone calls, drone attacks in our “ally” Pakistan’s territory, the National Defense Authorization Act, which turns the entire United States into a “battlefield” in the war on terrorism, Monsanto being able to do anything it wants, and so on; that all seems to be business as usual. On the really creepy zombie DNA mutation robo murder stuff, they all agree on what matters.<\/p>\n

When it comes down to a politician (Obama) getting credit for something potentially useful, (the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare) which was originally an idea of the conservatives<\/em> (the Heritage Foundation thought it up, as private-sector enriching answer to the Democrat plan for single-payer coverage) and approved by the Supreme Court (which nobody was expecting — the conservative Chief Justice took Obama’s side), that cannot be. Plus, the whole thing is delusional — many provisions of Obamacare are already in effect. The train has left the station. <\/p>\n

\"Sun<\/a>
Sun square Pluto, set for Washington, DC. I usually set my charts for where I am but at the moment, the focus is on Washington so I’ve put the chart there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is notable is that these things called insurance exchanges go into effect this week — online state-by-state clearing houses where people can shop for health insurance. That is the thing that the ‘Pubs want delayed — the actual, useful access point into health care. So…if this seems like psychosis, it probably is. An ultimatum is the most honest form of communication — but not when you’re demanding that someone do something impossible or self-destructive.<\/p>\n

I know my readers in England and Canada and Oz and France and Scandinavian countries are thinking, “Really? This is about blocking people from going to the doctor?” Sorry to say it but yes.<\/p>\n

As for the astrology. In a sense it’s the perfect metaphor for what is going on (that’s the point, right?). However, there are many more creative ways to take it. Said another way, the aspects we’re about to experience have some potent potential. It starts with introspection, and the willingness to work out one’s own inner power struggles (Sun square Pluto). That same aspect could lead a person to act like a dictator, which is one of the things we’re seeing.<\/p>\n

Mercury in Scorpio, entering shadow phase, looks to me like the start of an intriguing discussion of sex; note that this happens concurrently with Sun square Pluto (the modern ruler of Scorpio), so the direction of movement, thought and consideration will be specifically inward. But Mercury is saying that the thing to create or welcome is a dialog (of a Scorpio nature). There are going to be some strong currents pulling you down there, and considerable pressure to work out your inner material rather than projecting it into your relationships.<\/p>\n

This boundary becomes more meaningful as the week goes on. The thing to remember about Friday’s Libra New Moon is that it’s opposite Uranus, which is astrological shorthand for “full of surprises.” Any astrologer who has been practicing for a few years, and who has been paying attention, knows that a major event like this with Uranus in the picture is entirely unpredictable.<\/p>\n

I can tell you at least this much: the more inwardly you direct your focus through the early part of the week, the more fun, productive and creative the astrology will become later in the week.<\/p>\n

Note, Friday we published my extended monthly forecasts for October, covering the astrology I describe in this post for your sign and rising sign. Planet Waves website members have already received them in their inbox. New members will be able to get instant access by signing up<\/strong><\/a>. You can also do this by phone — call Chelsea at (877) 453-8265. — efc<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The result is that next to nothing is getting done. For most productive and practical purposes, the government has been shut down for a while. Of course, it would be nice if the lack of productivity could get rid of spying on our email and phone calls, drone attacks in our “ally” Pakistan’s territory, the National Defense Authorization Act, which turns the entire United States into a “battlefield” in the war on terrorism, Monsanto being able to do anything it wants, and so on; that all seems to be business as usual. On the really creepy zombie DNA mutation robo murder stuff, they all agree on what matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1734],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70559"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70559\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}