Aries ingress 2011

First off I owe an apology to readers of this blog who have been wondering why no posts appeared over the last several months. Other responsibilities swallowed the spare time that would normally have gone into mundane astrology; it’s some measure of this that I didn’t even have a chance to cast the Aries ingress chart for the United States until the evening before the equinox itself. Still, better late than never, and I expect to be able to post more regularly over the months to come.

In mundane astrology, the annual spring equinox or Aries ingress chart is the foundation of the traditional art, the basis for prediction. For any nation, the chart cast for the capitol city foreshadows the events to come for the next year, or a portion thereof.  The size of the portion depends on the sign rising at the moment of the Sun’s entrance into Aries: a chart with a fixed sign rising governs the entire year, one with a common sign rising governs six months, and one with a movable sign rising governs three months. The chart for this year’s Aries ingress has Libra rising, so it’s going to be another year of many changes, and the chart below governs the three months from March 20 to June 21, 2011.

The method I use for mundane charts is largely derived from the writings of William Ramesey, a 17th century English astrologer whose work is among the most complete accounts of traditional mundane practice available at present. In Ramesey, the ascendant and the planet ruling it represent the people and the nation as a whole, while the tenth house and the planet ruling the cusp of the tenth represent the head of state and the government. Other houses and their rulers have other meanings, following the normal rules of astrology, and certain planetary positions have distinctive meanings as well.

In this chart, with Libra rising, the planet representing the people is Venus, which is in the fifth house and peregrine – that is, not in any of its dignities.  A peregrine planet is weak and wavering, and that’s amplified by the one planet that aspects Venus strongly, the Moon, who rules ebb and flow. Venus in the fifth house, out of its dignities and trined by the Moon, suggests speculation, and this indication is strengthened by the approaching conjunction of Venus with Neptune, the planet of dreams, delusions, and the collective imagination, who is also in the fifth house. It’s very possible that a new speculative bubble will begin to take off in the next few months, though it will be some time before it reaches full spate.  It’s just possible that the same influences will take their expression in the form of some other kind of unreasoning popular fad, but a speculative bubble is the most likely option, since Venus also rules the cusp of the second house, the house of money.

The Moon plays an unusual combination of roles in this chart, because the cusp of the tenth house is in Cancer, and so the Moon as ruler of Cancer here represents Obama as head of state. The Moon is usually a second significator of the people, and this along with the Moon-Venus trine makes a surprising prediction:  During the three months ahead of us, Obama will find himself suddenly a great deal more popular with the American people than he is as I write this. It’s unlikely that this will be the result of any great achievement on his part; the Moon as his significator makes a fine representation of the drifting, aimless nature of his presidency to date; as the ruler of the passive planets, the Moon also suggests that whatever gives him his popularity will be a product of events that Obama will not cause, and over which he may have no control.

Obama’s newfound popularity will not be universal by any means.  Venus, the significator of the people, also rules the ninth house, which – being twelve houses from the tenth – represents secret enemies and hidden weaknesses of the head of state.  Amid the general wave of support for Obama, in other words, there will be plenty of people who, silent for the moment, continue to dislike and distrust the man, and may be counted on to oppose him and whatever momentary policies he may adopt. His political opposition, represented by the fourth house, also remains recalcitrant; ruled by Saturn – Capricorn is the sign on the cusp of the fourth – the opposition remains more closely attuned to the mood of the common people than the administration is.  Pluto in the fourth house lends a jarring note; the (dwarf) planet of generation and corruption, ruler of all that is hidden, subversive, and transformative, Pluto in that position suggests that the administration’s domestic opponents may be pursuing their agenda beyond the limits of ordinary politics, into potentially very risky territory.

The most important of the events boosting Obama’s popularity is signified by the applying opposition between Jupiter and Saturn. This is a traditional sign of war, and in this ingress chart the opposition is angular — that is, located in the strong houses of this ingress chart – and aligned with its first and seventh houses,  and and thus much more likely to affect the United States directly. Saturn is in the first house, representing the American people, and Jupiter is in the seventh, representing whoever the enemy happens to be. The seventh house is ruled by Mars, who is dignified by term and face, but in the weak sixth house and under sunbeams, that is, within 17° of the Sun. Jupiter is dignified by triplicity, and Saturn is exalted but retrograde; all things considered, the United States will win this one, but it won’t be anything like as quick or easy as the initial round of media cheerleading will insist.

The role of the media is worth watching from another perspective. Mercury, which rules media and communications, is also in the seventh house, and dignified by term.  Once the war begins, the United States is likely to lose control of the media war, and overseas news media sympathetic to the enemy will likely succeed in embarrassing the US government and military in a big way. Saturn in Libra normally indicates “great and notable events,” in Ramesey’s phrase, and Saturn retrograde in Libra – especially in a chart close to sunset, as this one is – indicates wars, quarrels and bloodshed.

Another indicator of major changes is given by the Sun’s position.  The sun is a secondary significator of the head of state, but seems more often than not to indicate the government rather than the president himself, and here – because Leo rules the eleventh house of legislative bodies – the Sun may stand either for the administration or for Congress.  In this chart it’s in the sixth house, and half a degree from exact conjunction with Uranus, the planet of sudden change and disruption. The indication here is that during the next three months, the Obama administration will be shaken by a drastic shift; since the sixth house governs subordinates, one real possibility is that an important cabinet member will resign under a cloud; another is a Congressional upset of some nature. Since the conjunction will take place less than a degree from the cusp of the seventh house, this will be associated with the war, and may involve serious public disagreements about its conduct.

Wars and cabinet shakeups all take place against a wider background, and in this case, that background is far from favorable to the United States.  The Lord of this ingress, the planet governing the three months it describes, is Saturn, the Greater Malefic.  As lord of the year and a powerful influence in the first house, Saturn indicates economic troubles, distress, unemployment, and declining public health. Mars in the sixth house, it may be worth noting, indicates feverish illnesses; this year’s flu season may be a good deal worse than usual. Since the Sun is in the sixth house at the moment of ingress, health issues will be important, and so will labor relations; there is a strong possibility of strikes and other forms of labor unrest in the months ahead.

The one positive note in all this is that Saturn, though retrograde, is dignified by exaltation and face, as well as angular in the chart. This suggests that one way to deal with the troubles of the next few months is the unwelcome but effective approach of patience, perseverance, and caution.  Saturn’s retrograde state can be used to advantage here; anything having to do with the past, or with returning to some previous condition or approach to things, will tend to be favored if it’s done patiently and carefully. Great leaps forward will be in short supply in the months to come, and those that are attempted are likely to end messily, but thoughtful renewal of those things that used to work, and may well work better than their current replacements, will be a much more successful strategy.

— Seren