By Michael Wolfstar
The EU’s Restructuring Challenges
As the Uranus-Pluto square shapes up, forecasters are seeing slow or zero growth in the global economy. Central to their concerns are the seemingly daily crises in Europe as Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and now Italy have had to accept extreme austerity programs in exchange for bailouts financed by the European Central Bank. A chart for the formal and constitutional inauguration* of the European Union (November 1, 1993; 12:00 am; Brussels, Belgium) helps astrologers gain perspective.
The EU Sun and three other planets are in Scorpio, the sign associated with pooled finances. The EU is a capitalist collaboration aimed at rivaling the United States in its economic and political clout. The Sun at 8º Scorpio is exactly conjunct the U.S. Scorpio Ascendant, which reflects the unusually close ties within the transatlantic alliance. Together, these integrated economies account for half of the world’s GDP.
The major dynamic in the EU chart is a tight T-square involving the Mars-Pluto conjunction in Scorpio, Saturn in Aquarius, and the Taurus Moon. This T-square happens to align with the U.S. Moon in Aquarius, further accentuating how major economic crises in Europe influence American financial markets. Over the last two years, the EU’s progressed Sun conjoined the natal Mars-Pluto conjunction, which corresponded to the difficult bailouts of Greece, Portugal, and Ireland.
Transiting Neptune is currently in late Aquarius where it opposes the EU’s progressed Ascendant at 29º Leo. Last week, this configuration was activated by transiting Mars, which brought the crises in Greece and Italy to a head. The dramatic restructuring problems are bound to continue over the next few years, as progressed Saturn forms an exact square to natal Mars. Europe will undoubtedly continue to drag down the U.S. and world economy as it works out the details of integrating its haves and have-nots.
Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Project
Last Tuesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a report confirming that Iran is intent on obtaining nuclear weapons. Since 2003, U.S. intelligence has issued warnings about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but after the Bush administration erroneously declared that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, U.S. credibility has been severely damaged. The report by the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog changes everything.
Iran’s Sun at 11º Aries (April 1, 1979; 3:00 pm; Tehran) puts the nation in line for fundamental restructuring as the transiting Uranus-Pluto square advances through the cardinal signs over the next few years. It’s not hard to imagine that Iran has a secret weapons program, considering its Mercury-Mars conjunction in elusive Pisces, which becomes more evasive by the square to Neptune.
Over the last three years, transiting Uranus has activated Iran’s Mercury-Mars, which most likely has energized the nuclear program with technological developments. In fact, in 2010 Iran reported to the IAEA that its facility at Natanz would be used to enrich uranium using the same technology that could produce weapons-grade uranium. Israel openly wonders why a nation rich in oil and gas reserves needs a nuclear reactor to generate electricity.
In 2012, the Uranus-Pluto square forms a hard aspect to Iran’s 4th house Uranus, which suggests domestic upheaval of some kind. The relevance of Iran’s 4th house Uranus became evident over this past weekend. That’s when the transiting Sun was conjunct natal Uranus and a mysterious explosion destroyed a missile site. Was it sabotage? Transiting Uranus forms a trioctile to Iran’s Uranus in early April 2012, when we might anticipate an uprising of sorts, or possibly a pre-emptive strike by Israel.
Garrett McNamara Meets the Enchanted Ocean
Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara set a new world record last week by successfully riding a 90-foot wave. Video** of the astonishing event went viral, and shows him being towed to the mountainous wave by a jet ski. Then he cascades down the wall of ocean, momentarily disappears in the tube, and then miraculously emerges as the crest comes crashing down.
Garrett McNamara was born with a Sun-Jupiter conjunction in Leo (August 10, 1967; Pittsfield, MA; time unknown), an expansive, lucky pairing that enjoys doing things in a big way. The Sun-Jupiter squares Mars in Scorpio, which makes him a daredevil, a gambler, or one who likes to challenge fate to prove his mettle. And with Mars quincunx Saturn in Aries, he seeks out the greatest challenges possible.
The Sun also squares Neptune and conjoins Ceres, two softer aspects that instill his extreme surfing with a sense of romantic mysticism. For the past ten years, he’s been on a kind of spiritual quest for the perfect wave - which he found in the unique geological conditions at Nazaré, Portugal. "I feel so blessed and honored to have been invited to explore this (underwater) canyon and its special town," he said. "The waves here are such a mystery."
Transiting Mars and Neptune opposed each other on the day he rode the nine-story high wave. It’s as if the enchanted ocean (Neptune) reached out to the heroic surfer (Mars in Leo). GMAC, as he’s called, had his progressed Sun conjunct Pluto ten years ago, when he took on his mission. Last week, as his progressed Sun entered Libra and was favorably octile Jupiter (45º), he made surfing history.
* The EU has had a steady, but slow evolution, with at least half a dozen significant treaties and official start-ups. This chart is the one favored by Nicholas Campion in The Book of World Horoscopes.
** See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHtE3R1W028
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