Inspired by John Michael Greer, I decided that I wanted to learn some judicial astrology (the process of reading charts for national events, rather than natal astrology for individuals).  My take on the rules of Judicial Astrology is that when the Aries ingress is in a movable sign then we need chart for each of the solstices, for every theee months of that year.  Back in March 2018, the ascendant at the Aries ingress occurred in the sign of Cancer, suggesting three months; the ascendant of the Cancer ingress also occurred in the sign of Cancer, again suggesting three months. And the ascendant of the Libra ingress occurred in the sign of Gemini, suggesting six months of stability — except… 

Of these four ingresses, that into Aries about March 21st is considered by many astrologers to be the most important. All of them require to be studied, but there seems to be a general tendency among students to treat this map as if it were a sort of horoscope of the whole year to follow; and it is to be noted that the astrological year begins with this event, the entry of the Sun into Aries, and not on January 1st. There is and old rule to the effect that this map does not rule the whole year unless one of the four fixed signs is rising at the time, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, or Aquarius; that if a common sign rises, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius or Pisces, it rules for six months only; and if a moveable [i.e., cardinal] sign, Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn, its influence extends over three months only. If this rule were applied and the Aries map were, in any given year, found to govern the whole twelve months, the other three maps would be regarded as subordinate in influence.  But sufficient evendence does not seem to have been collected in modern times to justify any close approximation of this rule; and accordingly the Aries ingress is usually taken as the first consideration in all cases. 

— H.S. Green, “Mundane or National Astrology”, reprinted 2004 by Astrology Classics

I take this to mean that the presence of a Cardinal sign at the ascendant of the Aries ingress means that all four charts have the potential to be equally significant, and that we may suppose that we live in an era of particular upheaval with changes occurring every three months.

I provide next, my handy guide to the key rules of Mundane or Judicial astrology — that the Sun represents the ruler, the Moon represents the people, and so on.

You should probably review the earlier charts to see whether or not I was right. The full article about the Libra ingress in September is here.  I think I was a little bit too vague, a bit too eager to play both sides of the fence. In general and in my ongoing practice, I’m finding that I think that astrology should tell some definitive story, rather than make an effort to lay out multiple possible destinies without preferring one over the other.  And yet, of course, astrology speaks in the language of archetype rather than reality — it’s not destined to produce one result over another, only to tell stories that look and sound and feel a certain way, their shape determined by the cyclical placements of planets in a circular grid.

Some of the things I predicted for September until now:

• Growing, vocal complaints from the people about drug addiction;
• A shift or partial shift in the composition of the legislature;
• military preoccupations with cyberwarfare continue to dog the military
• trade wars, and controversy with Congress and the courts.
• a rising call for change from the primary and secondary school environment
• A reactionary right wing figure on the Supreme Court
• pressure for prison reform from the working classes
• the country mostly reacting to change, rather than deciding on a course of action.

I must admit, I feel that I did pretty well in my predictions. However, you should read for yourself. (These discussions of the charts are largely me learning-in-public how to be a mundane astrologer, and should likely not be used for future government planning purposes, either).

Still, let’s take a look.

The Ascendant is in Cancer again. The chart is good or three months of predictions. What I type here will likely hold true until the next Aries ingress. The next Aries ingress occurs at 4:58 pm on March 20, 2019, when the Ascendant will be in Virgo… chart good for six months, Equinox to Equinox… next year might see a little more governmental stability with fewer sudden changes.

The Sun in this chart is in the seventh house — the leader focused on relationships with foreign countries, particularly allies; and perhaps focused on the women of the nation and their issues.  The Part of Fortune is located here (that circle with the X through it ⨂), suggesting that issues of trade shall continue to occupy the President’s mind. At the same time, the Sun shall be under the rulership of Saturn for the next three months — issues of age, health, and well-being shall weigh on him, and he is likely to be constrained and limited in a variety of ways.  The Sun is semi-square to Venus, suggesting that the leader will be experiencing significant friction with the country’s economic and social elites and with the creative class.

The Moon  in this chart is in the 12th house. This represents secret enemies and the nation’s rivals.  The Moon will be full just about a day later, so we see the people wholly focused on their leader’s actions, and yet very nearly in full opposition to him.  The Moon is square in a hard aspect to Mars; there may be a growing friction between the activities of the armed forces and the opinions of the people.  The Moon is also in Gemini, a place where it has no special dignity, but where it tends to be witty and spontaneous, proactive and energetic… and yet unfocused and flighty, rushing from topic to topic too rapidly.

Mercury is nine degrees from the Sun, occidental to it and setting before it (and rising before the Sun at dawn these days). Mercury is said to be under the beams, suggesting that the media industries will have difficulty getting out from the Sun’s shadow, and largely reporting on the Sun’s activities — however, Mercury is going to be communicating directly with the working classes, and telling stories intended to appeal to them on several fronts. These stories may be intended to shore up their support for the leader; or to pull away that support.  Mercury is direct at this ingress, and in Sagittarius, indicating a willingness to launch one arrow after another.  The communicative planet is in a separating conjunction with Jupiter, suggesting that many of the messages may have to do with law and the courts — the country’s working classes will be hearing a message of the law that may not be to their liking.

Venus is in Scorpio in the Fifth House, trine to Saturn. Recent changes in the laws suggest that prison reform is on its way, and that there’s an opening for a set of parallel goals between the chain-gang labor force and the needs of the creative class, and the desires of the economic aristocracy: the labor force wants freedom, the creative class wants to get high, and the economic aristocracy wants to make money off the people getting high. Many expert weed-growers are in jail or in the underground economy; expect opportunities to open up so that these three groups can work together.  Further modifications to the prison reform bill may pass, and a series of other legislations may open up opportunities in the fields of marijuana growth and distribution — some people wanting to get high, and others wanting to work to grow the way in which they will get high.  Venus in Scorpio tends toward the dramatic and the painful, though, so don’t expect this to work out without a fight, and a few nasty (perhaps fatal) stings.

Mars is riding high in the sky in the ninth house. Square to the Moon, more or less, there’s a suggestion of a growing tension and an awareness of crossed purposes as the military focuses its attention on the transportation networks, the communications systems, and higher education.  Many have regarded the bloated education-debt in the United STates as cause for concern; will it require military intervention?  Mars also represents the country’s manufacturing sector — there may be increased emphasis on building machinery and increasing local production of hard goods domestically. The fiery planet of anger’s presence in watery Pisces indicates that there may be a flashpoint of steam-heat: be on the lookout for burning oil platforms in the next three months, or fires upon the water, or additional wildfires that almost require military intervention.

Jupiter is the planet of the law courts and justice. The separating conjunction between Mercury and Jupiter suggests a potential disconnect between what the courts and law enforcement do, and what gets reported in the news.  Nonetheless, Jupiter is in his own sign of Sagittarius — we may look for a renewed respect for the law, and a renewed and targeted application of the law, duly and responsibly reported.  For the moment, Jupiter is under the beams, like Mercury: eclipsed by the Sun’s own power. However, the leader’s influence over the courts is waning — and soon Jupiter won’t hide in the Sun’s rays any more; other actions may become possible.

Saturn rules the sign of Capricorn in the seventh house, co-present with the Sun and thus exercising rulership.  Old age, limitations, the weak and disenfranchised, will all be placing limitations on the Sun in the next three months — and even when the Sun sets, the slow pace of Saturn will keep the old scythe-bearer in the sky, waiting for the Sun to approach him (which he’ll do on January 1).  The weak and decrepit may be eclipsed and under the beams of the Sun; but Saturn’s children, the oppressed and constrained, remain in the interested eye of the nation’s allies and friends.

The North Node has entered the sign of Cancer from Leo (which means that the South Node is in Capricorn now, as well).  The North Node represents more, while the South Node represents less.  In this chart, Cancer represents the first house and The People, who are likely to desire more for themselves (at the expense of allies and their leader alike), and to pull more to themselves in service to what they feel they need and want and deserve.  This pull has the potential to be quite rash, like a trash-shredding machine that pulls in everything around it and pulverizes it, making space for yet more to be pulled in.  At the same time, foreign nations will wind up with substantially less, particularly allies used to being able to trade effectively with the United States. Vomiting out what they cannot use, they will be desperate to feed the American maw… and the presence of the Sign of Fortune in the 7th house means that they may wind up with the better part of the trade, anyway.

In terms of planetary placement, Saturn and Jupiter are the only planets with rulership by sign in the chart. This suggests that the judgments of the courts, the actions of law enforcement, and the desires and whims of the elderly, are likely to be especially prominent in the next three months; there may be some additional attention on the captive populations of indentured and prison labor, as well as some ongoing focus upon the needs and rights of the oppressed.  These issues are likely to be overshadowed by the Sun’s uses and abuses of relationships with foreign nations, but hybrid creatures — like the elderly disabled, or foreign refugees, or enslaved migrant workers — may still rise to international attention.

Mercury and Venus, meanwhile, are both in a state of detriment in this chart. It is likely that the creative industries represented by Venus will continue to suffer from a kind of dramatic meltdown as the wrestle with the emotional turbulence of the present era; they are as likely to be co-opted by the economic and social elites as to work for their own power within the existing system.  Mercury, meanwhile, remains close by the courts, eager to report the slightest change in the status of various individuals — however, the swift-speaking planet is likely to swiftly outrun the more plodding investigations of law enforcement and the careful deliberateness of the courts. Look out for speculation that runs faster than the laws decide, and journalists who report beyond the facts.

I’ll wrap up with a couple of looks elsewhere in the chart.  First, we’ll look at the 11th house, governing the legislature and local community governments. Here, the sign of Taurus holds sway, ruled by Venus in Scorpio. As we discussed earlier, Venus is captive to the political and economic elites; however, the chart shown here fails to show the position of Uranus, representing revolutions and upsets, in the early degrees of Taurus.  It is likely that Congress will not accomplish much in the next three months, as it remains the captive tool of the nation’s hidden aristocracy and its military forces — however, a turnover is in progress, and changes may appear that are wholly unexpected.

The other houses worth taking a look at is the third, representing the inland transportation network, the internal routes of communication; and fourth, representing the minority party. Each of these signs is ruled by a planet in detriment: Mercury rules the fourth house, suggesting that an analysis of the highways and byways of America shall be highlighted in the next three months — and found wanting.  Meanwhile, Venus rules the fourth house, which tells the story of the minority party, the land and the agriculture of the nation.  It’s difficult to tell these days what party is actually the minority, because we’re between the election of November and the seating of the new Congress in January — but a rebalancing and revaluing of the scales may be underway, with few options found to be worth their weight or the trouble of carrying the goods.  The empty nature of the house suggests that food supplies may carry a sharp bite, and that we may feel the sting of more food-borne illnesses than just some bad lettuce.

So…

1. The leader attempts to remain more focused on foreign affairs and trade in the next three months;
2. The people, represented by the Moon, grow brighter and more clear-eyed about the nature of the world, but remain captive to their own daydreams and their secret foes;
3. The courts assert their sovereignty with the assistance and perhaps connivance of the media services, attempting to affect the common people and the working classes, but this effort may be outshone for some time yet;
4. Issues of age, ill health and captive foreigners may continue to dog the ruler and affect relations with foreign governments;
5. There may be a growing tension between the People as a whole, and their own military, which may be wrestling with long-range logistical challenges, overseas operations, and higher-education problems.
6. The creative class, the minority party, and the legislature as a whole remain in a degree of captivity to political and economic aristocracies, but a revaluation and upset may soon be in order.
7. Food-borne toxins may continue to affect the food supply.

We’ll review how I did in another three months.

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