Welcome back to the second of my Astrology discussions. This is going to be a continuation of the prior week's discussion, focusing on Jupiter and Uranus' transits. Afterwards, we can conduct an analysis of certain eras, examining these outer planet transits, and seeing if we can see their effects on the society at that time. I also picked out a few individuals where we can see these outer planet effects in their individual lives. Lastly, I want to analyze how the transits correlated with certain timeline effects with the COVID-19 pandemic, and how might we see that in the individual's life.
I am focusing on the outer planets first, as I feel they are a good representation of the larger cycles that society goes through. Historians can point to time frames that had common themes, for example, we can look at the Age of Enlightenment in Europe where we see a major advancement in scientific, political and philosophical ideas. The individuals of society were, in a way, jointly undergoing change at the time based around these new ideas, and incorporating them into their own lives. We see how Age of Enlightenment ideas then fuel the following time period, where a number of colonies and countries began declaring independence, or desiring a change in how their society operated. By isolating the transit of the outer planet in the Astrological sign, we should be able to see a trend in society which represents some age, era or trend in that area of life the planet represents.
- Uranus in Taurus: May 15, 2018 to April 25, 2026
With Uranus, astrologers usually relate Uranus with technological advancements, or it could relate to the renaissance of intellectual, political and philosophical thinking. Combined with Taurus, where we are testing the things we initiated from Uranus being in Aries, what advancements can we see in society that are being tested now? Uranus was in Aries between May 27, 2010 and March 6, 2019. In my view, social media became very prominent in our lives over this time frame. We had online chat rooms, forums, Instant messenger, all brought to us by the development of the personal computer and the internet in the prior time frames, but what did society do with these things are Uranus entered Aries? We can see a larger number of social media platforms launch between 2010 and 2011 (Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, Google+, Twitch) and even the early explores of social media are becoming more established during this time (Facebook goes public with it's IPO.)
How has social media progressed since it's conception? Near the end of this Uranus transit through Aries (2018-2019), we see which social media platforms stood the test of the public, where Facebook and others blossomed, while certain ones like Google+ did not. But, what else has come from these social media platforms? Some individuals might point to how it is being used as a political tool to wedge our society, but it was also a great tool to connect with individuals over the world during the pandemic.
Another technology development we see is the establishment of cryptocurrency and other digital currency over these Uranus transits. Bitcoin starts near the beginning of this Uranus transit of Aries, and we see Bitcoin becoming more valuable as Uranus progressed into Taurus. NFTs are another tech developed, where we try to turn content into an digital asset to be traded, but we see societal adaptation of that technology is low, so is it to the benefit of society to have NFTs?
The prior time frame of Uranus in Taurus was June 1934 to May 1942, which is close to the time frame of World War 2. A lot of technology outside of weaponry actually improved during this time frame. We see advances in microwave technology, which becomes more prominent as society progresses into the later 1900s. Medicine also progressed, as penicillin was discovered just before this time frame, but did not meet mass production needs until after World War 2 started. I suppose the pinnacle of the work in this time frame was the development of the atomic bombs, and that begins a whole line of scientific research and development as society aged.
What other advances can we see in society in this Uranus in Taurus transit? I would say political and societal rights groups have become more established in this time frame. We can see movements such as Black Lives Matters and the Proud Boys being founded during Uranus' transit in Aries, but I would say they became much more prominent as Uranus entered Taurus. A push for LGBTQ rights also became prominent during these two time frames, as society pushed for these in the prior cycle, and now we have the opportunity as a society to move in that new direction. Yet, as Uranus entered Taurus, we start to see LGBTQ rights becoming questioned more heavily by those who have a different opinion.
- Jupiter in Aries: May 10, 2022 to May 16, 2023
Returning to Jupiter in Aries, what can see in life that represents this initiating energy for a new growth/direction in society? Since May 2022, I would say there has been some major political polarization coming to the surface, as the current USA Congress is investigating what happened in the prior presidential term. On one political side, we see a sudden push from the Supreme Court with rulings that back a more conservative ideology. Certain individuals also feel compelled to go out and openly support their conservative political organization. On the other political side, individuals are looking for avenues within our current structures to counter the moves of the other side, as they feel they can work within the built system to initiate change, or otherwise they go to the streets and protest their unhappiness with the decisions being made by the courts. Either way, we can see both groups are pushing for a new direction now that society has passed through the pandemic. The things that worked before the pandemic no longer meets our current needs, and we can see that through inventory shortages, inflation, job vacancies, etc. How do we initiate those changes? Well, it has to start somewhere, and I think that is why we are seeing a lot of people voicing their discontent with politics, business, careers, just society's structure in general.
Jupiter's prior transit in Aries was between June 2010 and June 2011. I think another example of society moving in a new direction is the market of Bitcoin began to develop around this time. Bitcoin began to be trade for a few cents, but in the following 12 years, we can see those cents have transformed into a couple thousand dollars. This also is the time frame after the 2008 Recession, and society is beginning to recover from the economic downturn, which we can see the stock market enter a new growth phase over the following 12 years Jupiter cycle too.
Since we have seen examples of the planet transits, why not try this theory that planets in certain signs represent an age or era for society. Perhaps we can look at certain time frames and see how the planets are working together to represent society at that time.
*Industrial Revolution (1600s-1800s)
I picked this larger time frame, as I feel it is a good demonstration of a Pluto cycle. At the start of the Industrial Era, we have the East India Company charting out from Europe and establishing trade with parts of India and Southeast Asia. Through their operations, the East India Company began establishing a global market in a way, trading for spices, fabrics and other goods in East Asia, and importing them back to England. Eventually, we see this connection the East India Company established with Asia lead to England becoming a cotton exporter in 1750s, and a more significant market hold going into the 1800s. We can see Pluto begins to enter Aries around 1577, which is not far from the start of the Industrial Revolution, and Pluto completes a cycle through the signs by 1822. I would like to think we established a number of base business principals based, which had to be built upon over this time frame. The cycle starts with people seeking to establish trade from Europe to Asia/India, and eventually leads to more global markets becoming established as well as the creation of factories. This is a good demonstration of how one's currency ability transformed over the cycle of Pluto. Middle class citizens at the start of this cycle did not have access to foreign marketplaces, but at the end we can see how markets and trade evolved, along with currency. Not to mention, the East India Company faced a lot of challenges and competition in it's pursuits, which refined what it was attempting to achieve over the course of Pluto's cycle through the Astrological signs. We see slavery was used around the start of the cycle, but by the end individuals were demanding fair trade and equality, as they also wanted to be a part of the society they saw developing. Society had to test ideas and rework them, and this takes time for ideas and concepts to evolve, as we need to observe both sides (or multiple sides) of these topics and personally evaluate and learn these things on individual levels.
*Reconstruction Era (1865-1877):
Right after the Civil War in the United States, we see rights established for the recently freed slaves, and the challenges that come along with moving in that direction. I notice this time frame is roughly matching up with Neptune in Aries (1861-1875.) We see that while the Northern states won the Civil War, having the former confederate states agree to and enforce the new rights of their black citizens provided a challenge. We can see Chiron joins Neptune in Aries in this time frame too (1868-1878.) Polarization of political ideology is also apparent between how black citizens were treated in the south vs northern states, as we can see certain polarized groups coming to their own power around this time. We can still see the effects established at the start of this Neptune cycle, as now that Neptune is in Pisces along with Chiron in Aries, those similar civil rights ideas are coming to focus again. Did we actually figure out the right way to treat people back then, or did we really just establish two of many possible choices on how we can co-inhabit the planet.
Individually, how can we see these outer planet transits in our own individual lives? For example, Ronald Reagan has Chiron transit over his natal Moon as he entered office. Shortly after the 1970s, we can see how Reagan partially “picked a side” with Chiron moving over his moon around the time he entered office of the President. He largely ignored the AIDs epidemic, and also began the War on drugs in the US, while also implementing “Reaganomics” which we still see the effects of today. In a way, we could see how he was a polarizing president based on a number of the things he chose or chose not to address in his career.
Franklin D. Roosevelt is another individual with an interesting transit around the time he enters his first presidential term. Saturn is beginning to conjunct his Sun on the first year of his presidential term, and we can see he is also dealing with a Chiron Return. At this time, the Great Depression was raging on in the USA, and within his first few months of office, Roosevelt enacted legislation to better help the country through those testing times. Perhaps, to Roosevelt, his first presidential term was a test from his view, as he just went through being diagnosed with polio around the time Pluto conjunct his Moon around 1920-1921.
Instead of an individual, why not analyze when the atomic bombs were dropped in World War 2. We see Neptune and Chiron are beginning conjunction in Libra at the start of the evaluation of using the atomic bombs, but as these two planets conjunct, we can see the effects the atomic bombs had on the citizens in the two bombed Japanese cities, and the effects on military individuals on the US side that were exposed to the nuclear blasts as well. Before the bombs, military leaders were evaluating using the bombs versus a ground troop approach, but the island fighting was wearing down both sides. Were we going to sacrifice individuals on both sides to end the war trying to regain the Pacific from the Japanese, or were we going to use the bombs in hopes of swiftly ending the war? Once we saw the effects of the bombs, I feel society determined that never again will we want to see those bombs.
And a more recent event in transits: COVID-19. Right around the start of COVID-19's initial discovery, we see Jupiter entering Capricorn on December 2, 2019. Nearly a month later, Saturn and Pluto conjunct on January 12, 2020 in Capricorn, we see a virus becoming a concern in China, but it is not until after the Sun conjuncts both Saturn and Pluto do we see the virus becoming more properly identified as COVID-19. Once the Sun conjuncts Neptune, we see it becoming more of a global concern, as countries begin declaring various emergencies around the time Sun conjuncts Neptune on March 5, 2020. If Saturn represents the challenges and pinnacle of society, would Saturn passing Pluto (the planet of transformation) somehow produce a societal problem for us to face? It highlighted a number of problems that I believed existed before in society, but the parameters of the pandemic pushed these issues to the forefront, and I feel these issues are being explored because of Jupiter's transit joining Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. The Sun's transit to Neptune shows how it took time for the events of COVID-19 to develop, as the virus would need time to go through infection cycles and spread into various countries.
How did the events of the pandemic affect you? We can see the themes working together in society with the slower moving planets like Saturn and Pluto, but how can we see our personal role in all this? This is where I feel Natal charts and Return charts come in to play. Everyone underwent changes in their life related to the pandemic, but how did their specific life change due to the pandemic events? I would say people with personal planets in Capricorn or early Aquarius placements may have been the most affected career wise, as all those slow moving planets would have conjunct a number of these personal planets. Did you change job, or did your work responsibilities change, or did you gain the ability to work from home? Another group that is affected would be the individuals with personal planets in Pisces. I noticed a trend with these individuals exploring more of the spiritual/esoteric side of life during these times. These individuals seem to be moving away from the traditional roles and ideas of society, as they see from their view and experiences how our past societal structures do not work, and the events of the pandemic demonstrated that to some degree to them. We also see a new era of human rights emerging from the pandemic for those with personal planets in Aries due to Chiron's transit, whom may feel attracted to the political, social or civil rights groups forming around this time. Not to say these transits through the signs are true for everyone with personal planets in Aries, Capricorn, etc., but perhaps we can see a trend in how the slow moving planet(s) changed each individual's life.
Do you feel the examples of the planetary transits are a good representation of Astrology in real life? Is there an era, time period, person or thing we want to examine astrologically? Let me know your thoughts and feedback on this or any of the discussions.
