The Libra Ingress occurs over Washington DC at 9:54 pm on Saturday, 22 September 2018.  This is the technical moment of the Autumnal Equinox, and so this is the moment when we may analyze an astrological chart for a sense of the next political period in the country’s life.  I’m publishing twenty-four hours ahead of time, although John Michael Greer beat me to the punch on this.  For the last couple solstices and equinoxes, I’ve posted my analysis of the chart, so you can decide for yourself if I’m accurate or not.  I use Whole Sign houses (following Chris Brennan and Hellenistic Astrology)

Normally, we look to the Aries Ingress chart to determine if we’re going to analyze every three months (cardinal signs), every six months (mutable signs), or every year (fixed signs).  Back in March, the Aries Ingress (or Spring Equinox) occurred with a Cancer ascendant — thus, the chart should be performed every three months this year.  I’ll have to do this analysis again in December, as the next three months are likely to be a bit of a ride.

The usual arrangement of planets, signs, houses and aspects is in play, but there’s some shifts: I’ve started recording them in a chart or table (mostly so I don’t forget meanings between Ingresses!). The idea (for me) is that astrology should be a kind of algebraic equation that takes planetary positions and their relationships, and converts them to a semi-standard set of words and meanings; so I should try not to change the meanings of things too much between readings.

The Chart

Which brings us to Saturday’s reading, for the Libra Ingress.

The Sun is in Fall in Libra. This an essential detriment, suggesting that the President will be more limited or constrained than he has been in the last two cycles. However, the Sun is in close conjunction with Mercury, representing media and news organizations; and both are in Libra and the Fifth House — this suggests a growing alignment of interests between the mercantile and business communities, the news media, the President, and the American aristocracy (i.e., the wealthy).  We should not expect to wake up on September 23 and see the New York Times celebrating Trump’s many achievements… but things are going to head in that direction.  The owners of the news media, themselves beholden to the billionaires and multimillionaires, are going to find that they get better mileage between now and December out of supporting the President than tearing him down. Additionally, the wealthy are going to discover that the Presidential policies of taxes, trade wars, and bureaucratic constraint do serve them — and they’ll want to see more stories celebrating these goals.

The Sun is in a house directly opposed to the legislature, particularly the majority party there. There may be a shift in party control of Congress in the next election; but because of the niceties of America’s electoral process, the new Congress will not be seated until January. There may be time for significant mischief before the new team takes their oaths of office. Additionally, the ruling sign of the 11th House is Mars, representing the military — military matters may be occupying Congress’s attention in the next three months.  Mars is peregrine in Aquarius, suggesting both a cyber or electronic war of some kind…. and a certain amount of wandering (or blundering) from intelligence failure to intelligence failure.  An October surprise (some poor country gets invaded, or at least blamed for American failures) can’t be ruled out.

The Sun and Mercury are both in a tight square aspect to Saturn and the Part of Fortune. The Part of Fortune is in the 7th House in Sagittarius, while Saturn is in Capricorn in the 8th House.  There are going to be some significant shifts in the nation’s wealth, with the interests of people whose wealth depends on foreign trade finding themselves increasingly at odds with the president’s policies.  Saturn, representing corruption and rot (among other things), is in the House of the cabinet and the bureaucracy — we’re going to see additional examples of kleptocracy (rule by the thieves), extending down past the cabinet-level officers into the middle reaches of the bureaucracy.

The Moon represents the people of the country as a whole. The Moon is waxing, in Pisces and in the 10th house. The voice of the people is likely going to grow louder in the next three months, and be a stronger influence on the counsels of government.  At the same time, the opinion of what “The People” want will be somewhat nebulous, shifting, and pulled this-way-and-that.  The co-presence of Neptune in the same sign brings forward two issues to the government — the challenges of drug addiction and the bad behavior of  pharmaceutical companies on the one hand; and the rise of popular movements like socialism.  Neptune’s retrograde motion will blunt these forces, but will not wholly block them.

Venus, representing the creative industries, is in the sixth house, in Scorpio.  There will be more creative activity in the working classes in the next three months, more curiosity and coherent interaction between the working classes and the creative industries. We may see the beginnings of a shift in fall fashions toward a working-class sensibility.  At the same time, these creative pursuits may carry a bit of a sting or pointed criticism — and carry a level of anti-intellectual bias, given the squares between Venus and the Third and Ninth Houses (representing primary and higher education programs)

There are no exact oppositions in the chart except the ever-present one, between the North and South Nodes of the Moon. Here that suggests a rising tension between the primary schooling system in the US of K-12 on the one hand, and the higher education programs of college and university on the other.  The public schools are going to get more in the next three months (possibly the Time magazine article, and regular strikes, will have something to do with it), while there will be a turning-away from higher education. There will be a sort of sneering frustration from the creative and working classes about this academic infighting,

Uranus is in Taurus, in the 12th house, and retrograde.  It’s likely that the empty seat on the Supreme Court will be filled with a reactionary, anti-revolutionary figure — though given the nature of Uranus to upset and overthrow all kinds of certain and sure things, it’s quite likely that the current nominee will not be the final office-holder.  At the same time, the judicial system and punitive system may undergo a bit of an upset. Saturn is in Capricorn (which it will be until 2020), and there’s a tendency for new kinds of prisons to emerge every thirty years or so under this influence.  The trine relationship between Saturn and Uranus suggests corruption and rot in the judicial system will become more visible; and that a revolutionary upset in the courts and prisons is more likely once Uranus resumes its direct motion.

At the same time, the square between Uranus and Mars, and between Mars and Venus, suggests a level of competition for resources, personnel, materiel, and attention, shall exist between the military, the legal system, and the working classes. Jupiter‘s presence in the Sixth House in Scorpio indicates an expanding pressure from the working classes on the courts and penal system for reform, and for something resembling actual justice.

The Second House, representing the financial industry and the stocks and bonds markets, is ruled by the Moon.  If there is any regulation at all, it is likely to favor the People — that is the owners of the stocks and bonds and mutual funds and so on — rather than the managers (the finance industry professionals).  As this will suit the wealthy quite well (most of their wealth is in these kinds of instruments), a restriction on the money managers is likely due.

With the vacancy on the Supreme Court, and the status of women’s rights to have an abortion if they choose somewhat on the line — I look to the Seventh House to understand the place of women in society in the next three months. The Part of Fortune is found high in the third decan of Sagittarius, a position that Austin Coppock has described as a horse’s skull. The drumbeat about the potential loss of women’s freedoms is likely to be loud in the next three months, although women are likely to experience financial gains as a whole between now and December.  The ruling planet of Sagittarius, Jupiter, is co-present in the Sixth House with Venus, suggesting that working class women in particular are likely to see significant gains and expansion of their economic well-being.

The Fourth House, representing the land and the rural people who live on it, is governed by Virgo, one of the houses of Mercury.  Mercury’s co-presence with the Sun suggests a degree of alignment and connection between rural people and the President, and a level of care for the interests of farmers.  The harvest is likely to be acceptable but not spectacular this year — however the presence of Saturn in Capricorn is likely to bring a great deal of rot and ruin to people’s gardens.

Pluto retrograde in the 8th house in Capricorn suggests that the Cabinet will find itself significantly influenced by the energy and mining industries — look for some renewed interest in highly-toxic pipelines across endangered land, and bribery at the highest levels for the various permits and paperwork.  The trine between Pluto and Jupiter indicates a degree of collusion between the courts and the drill-boys… and a good many jobs opening up on the deep frontiers where mortals toil in the mines and quarries.

All of the visible planets except the Moon are in the Occidental half of the chart (houses 4 through 9) — as a whole, the country will be reacting to visible challenges, and many challenges will be visible.  As a nation, there will be a sense of struggle and difficulty made visible.  Two of the three invisible/non-visible planets, Neptune and Uranus, are Oriental (the eastern half of the chart, houses 10 through 3) — invisible challenges beset and make waves within government, and raise new opponents through the courts and penal system and abroad, as old rules and habits are overthrown.  The US is making enemies it doesn’t even know yet in its prisons — and immigrant detention facilities — and those enemies are likely to get stronger as Uranus turns direct.

Relations with foreign allies are represented by the Seventh House, ruled by Jupiter in Scorpio.  The nation is likely to sting and harm a number of its allies in the process of crafting policies more favorable to its working people… but the Part of Fortune, representing the place where the money is, is also out of the country.  The challenge of the next three months is to figure out where that wealth is, and how to put that wealth to work in America, rather than abroad.

•••

I don’t know that this is a perfect analysis.  You’ll have to read those older two columns and decide whether or not I’m on the right track in my analysis.  Still, I hope that my effort at mundane (or judicial) astrology brings you some useful tips for navigating the next three months of the year.

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