Aspects for the week beginning 1 February 2015

Greece

“I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world…”

~ Socrates

The Greek electorate made history last Sunday, by  voting in a communist leader Alexis Tsipras, head of the  Syriza Party. He has formed a surprising coalition with the far right party, in a combined anti-austerity thrust.  Conditions in Greece have become so intolerable that this outcome was inevitable, and this event has many ramifications for Greece, Europe and the world.

Greek Chart

I use the chart of 24th July 1974, which represents according to “The Book of World Horoscopes” by Nicholas Campion “the current republican, parliamentary regime” dating from the collapse of the military dictatorship. With Saturn exactly conjunct Mercury and conjunct the Ascendant, it is not an easy chart. Furthermore, the Moon is exactly conjunct Pluto in the 3rd House (square exactly Venus), a condition in which it would be difficult to keep buoyant. Jupiter squares the Nodal Axis, which could indicate karma swinging to extremes of excess.

Alexis Tsipras was born only 4 days into this regime, and therefore he is totally in tune with modern Greece and able to embody its aspirations and understand its needs.

The transits for Greece at the time of the election show a time of great uncertainty, with transiting Neptune exactly square the natal Neptune. This can also describe the extreme poverty of the nation at this time. The recent karmic Uranus/South Node conjunction squares the natal Ascendant at the top of the chart, with Pluto opposing the Ascendant: drastic times, seemingly Greece against the world.

Alexis Tsipras

To what extent can one person change the world?  Certainly Tsipras can speak on behalf of Greece. We do not have a birth time for him, and there are differences with the chart of Greece generated by the four days.  Some of the extreme difficulties are softened, and some great strengths appear.  Alexis has the Sun exactly sextile Pluto, a game changer if there ever was one.  Mercury has moved to an exact trine with Jupiter, alleviating the exact conjunction with Saturn, and enabling positive thought and hope.  The Moon has moved away from the exact conjunction with Pluto, taking it out of the pit of despair.  Neptune is within one degree of a trine with the Sun, providing inspiration. Tsipras is not fuelled by faith or religion, he’s an atheist, but I think he has a powerful instinct for the common good. He has taken a huge risk in promising so much, including a vow  to renegotiate Greek debt (Pluto rules debt) but the Greeks have put their faith in him.  In history, the mould breakers and ground breakers are not always destined to carry through the work, but he is still young at 40.

For his victory, the big guns have come out, in that Pluto is trine his natal Sun, and Neptune sextiles his Sun.

He has put his money where his mouth is straight away: immediately implementing a minimum wage, privatization schemes halted, and pensions reinstated.

Economic Implications

On the one hand, the Greek people have been criticized for not working as hard as the Germans, whose leader Angela Merkel is insisting that Europe will not cancel the Greek debt. On the other hand, huge sums of money have been loaned to Greece by the Eurozone, without looking at the humanitarian context, in the manner of a loan shark then rapping on the door of someone who has no chance of repaying. The money was diverted to the wealthy, and the poor and even the middle classes were not recipients.

The current economic policies of the western world, coming under the banner of Neo-liberalism, and popularized in the era of Reagan and Thatcher, is not working for common humanity, and money is not flowing along healthy lines.

Thus it is that the  Greek populace, and Tsipras, have said enough is enough, Neoliberalism is not the way. There must be an alternative, even if it means the drama of Greece leaving the Euro and returning to the drachma.

It is no coincidence that this crunch has come just before the last Uranus-Pluto square. The Uranus-Pluto square has taken destruction, chaos and anarchy to their extreme, and change has got to come.

Europe

The event does send ripples astrologically through the chart of the European Union: notably Mars sextile its Sun, galvanizing it to action. But Neptune squares its Mars, so action options are confused. Jupiter trines its natal Saturn, which gives some hope of bringing things into balance.

There’s a shock for the Euro chart too, in this week’s events: Uranus squares its Mars. But Neptune sextile the Euro Mercury: sensitive negotiation to take place.

Angela Merkel

Interestingly, there are many links between Angela Merkel’s chart and that of Alexis Tsipras, it could almost be said they are born adversaries. He challenges her directly with his Uranus-opposite-Chiron exactly square her Sun, forming a T-square. There is a dizzying array of aspects between Neptune, Uranus, Chiron and Pluto in their charts, all challenging planets. And in an exact conjunction Tsipras’ Saturn pins down Merkel’s Jupiter.  In their interaction, Tsipras is by no means powerless. And morally, there is a case for compassion to be made, in the same way that Germany’s debts were forgiven after the war.

Other European countries, notably Spain and Italy, may follow Greece’s lead, so this may be the start of something which grows and may change the economic system we use. Austerity would never be popular, but the widening gap between rich and poor in many countries, including the U.K., is not the right order of things. Writing in the 19^th Century William Morris was appalled by it:

“The contrasts of rich and poor are unendurable and ought not to be endured by either rich or poor”.

Or as an Auschwitz survivor put it last week:

“There is no Them and Us”

Demis Roussos

The lovely Demis Roussos died on the day of the election. His larger than life image is shown by Jupiter close to the melodious Libran ascendant  and conjunct Chiron, a triple conjunction which trines another triple conjunction, namely the Sun, Uranus  and the North Node in Gemini.    He led an unusual life, born in Egypt but moved to Greece where he established his musical career. His heyday was the decade of the 1970s. One of the defining moments of his career was his single “Forever and Ever” reaching no. 1 in the U.K. charts in 1976, which coincided with transiting Chiron forming an exact trine with his Moon in 3^rd House (which represented the emotion he put into his vocal expression).  That certainly would have been a triumph of his capacity of healing through music.  A strange episode in his life brought him to an incident of hijacking on a plane in June 1985.  It was on his Solar Return (birthday), his natal Sun being in the 9^th House of foreign travel in Gemini (flight).    He was released, unharmed, fortunately.  It is a curious timing that he chose to let go of life on the day of the election – perhaps he felt able to entrust the nation to the new forces.  With the Sun conjunct his North Node his karmic mission was as a performer – his trademark flowing kaftans will not be forgotten.

The Glory that was Greece

Ancient Greece is my favourite arena for past life memories: the elegance of its Art, Architecture, Philosophy…It is likely that you had some lives there too, dear reader, as it was a long civilization.  I make no secret of my desire for the restoration of the Elgin Marbles.  So how about now for the British government, at least as an act of charity, to give them back to the Greeks instead of loaning them to the Russians?  It may help to restore some dignity, raise the vibrations of the Parthenon, and bring in more tourism.

Aspects

Venus will be conjunct Neptune at tea time today, an aspect which is in the best possible taste.  The food on the table should prove delectable, the accompanying soundtrack uplifting, and any artwork visible from the dining table is likely to express great beauty!  Perhaps it is the same old food, the same old music, and the same old walls, but you will suddenly see the merit in  everything that surrounds you.  Or eat out at your favourite diner…

It is a week of mainly harmonious planetary links, though that is not to say there aren’t background difficulties.  Venus for instance has just had a relationship setback with Saturn, and may be wary of the reliability of her relationship with Neptune.  There is emotional tension in the air coming up to a Full Moon this week, and some may be affected by this.

But tomorrow (Monday 2^nd) lunchtime we have a sextile between the Sun and Uranus, which is good preparation for the Leo Full Moon the next day, in that balancing the Sun (ruler of Leo) with Uranus (ruler of its opposite, Aquarius) will help balance your mood, and your inner relationship with the two signs which will be the arena for the opposition of the Sun and Moon.  But in the meantime, innovation, originality and creativity all benefit tomorrow.  You may surprise yourself with the ideas you come up with and implement.

So by Tuesday evening (3^rd) you may be practiced at zipping from the principle of group membership (Sun in Aquarius) to the principle of individuality (Moon in Leo), owning all the nuances in between, such as needing your own space, and expressing yourself in a group, and creative innovation, and balancing boundaries in relationships.  The Full Moon comes just after 11 pm in the U.K. so if you haven’t mastered this hologram, you may continue to work with it in your dream life, and your Higher Self may be able to synthesize the information and bring it through as a coherent message.

Late morning on Thursday (5^th) brings another sextile which may be of benefit, though a little more prosaic.  Mercury sextiles Saturn, so the application of  close and detailed work can be achieved, but bearing in mind that Mercury is still retrograde.  If you don’t quite manage to complete such a task, you know it will come to pass soon after Mercury goes direct (February 11^th ).  This aspect will recur on Thursday 19^th to be more precise, if you want to note in your diary when it comes round again and you can pick up those particular tools once more.

At tea time on Friday (6^th) the Sun opposes Jupiter, so it may be time for fun and frolics, but there will be elements in society which take that too far, so there is a possibility of fun and frolics getting out of hand.  Leos and Sagittarians for instance may get ultra competititve, and practical jokers and class clowns may take a joke too far.

The appeal for Good News

Janet wrote under comments last week:

“Thank you for broadcasting the brilliant news about Ebola nurse, Pauline Cafferkey, because her story gave me an idea to suggest on your blog. Given that you often have to write about conflict and distressing situations all over the world, I had wondered if you, or any blog reader, could offer up a weekly good news story, something for which we should show gratitude.”

What readily springs to mind is the story of disabled pensioner Alan Barnes (Aged 67) who following a mugging has had a donation of over £200,000 from the public, including contributions from all over the world.  Please let us know if you have any other stories to share.

The week in bullet points:

• Today – sweetness and light
• Tomorrow – brilliance
• Tuesday – emotional high tide
• Thursday – work ethic
• Friday – a joke too far