THE SOOTHESAYER INTERNET

February 2008

“Decoupling” – A nasty divorce between the financial world and the real world.

The now collapsing world of structured financial instruments, collateralized debt obligations, sub-prime mortgages, bond insurance companies, and a whole variety of derivatives into a mound of imaginary, non-existent values all came about as the financial industry (led by bankers and hedge fund managers who got enormous tax breaks) “declared” that they had long ago “decoupled” the investment world from the “real economy”.

There is now a looming nasty public divorce as real people, losing real houses, real jobs, real credit, and real retirements are tumbling down from the American Dream into the American Nightmare and will soon demand a hefty settlement; more than the ridiculous Bush refund of $600 per person to “restart” the economy.  Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, as quoted in Opednews.com recently said, “The Federal Reserve and the Bush Administration didn’t want to hear anything about these problems.  The Fed has finally gotten around to closing the stable door (on sub-prime lending), but after the horse has already bolted!”

Those of you who have been reading this newsletter know that I have warned that the corporate and financial robber barons were busy as bees bankrupting the system by using  the global economy as their personal crap game.  This disaster certainly rates being labeled as more than the common term “credit crunch” which offends me in its trivialization of the biggest banking collapse in history – a black hole of collapsing sub-primes, credit card debt, adjustable mortgages, and moving the U.S.A. and many other nations from credit into debt economies.  Sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East and Asia have already contributed billions of dollars to Citigroup and other banks, but the black whole continues to collapse and “spaghettify” all that money into the center of the greatest banking disaster in modern history.  The Fed’s lowering of interest rates is further tanking the dollar.  Prices are rising, fueling inflation  The government: i.e. the Congress, the Federal Reserve (Alan Greenspan helped to create this), and the President all spun tax breaks for the super rich, historically low interest rates, and looking the other way, as their economic ideology that was creating a “strong economy”.

Real wages for the average middle class American have fallen over 12% since 1970 as outsourcing of the work force to slave labor abroad has accelerated.  Many couples are working two jobs, taking turns taking care of their children and pushing themselves to exhaustion.  People’s choice in general has been to get into ultimately unsustainable credit card debt, and use the formerly accelerating value of their houses as an ATM machine to finance their medical bills, children’s college education, etc.  Now as the world of finance is collapsing, there is nowhere to go.

In this ”decoupling” divorce, there will be no property to divide, no child support, no alimony, no health insurance, decreased employment, no winners at all.  Only history will be the ultimate judge.  Pluto, now in Capricorn, is beginning its transformation of our civilization into uncharted territory.

The Economy:

 Mercury went retrograde Jan. 28th and will go direct Feb. 19th.  Mars went direct Jan. 30th, square the U.S.A. Neptune.  All this points to further scandals, revelations of fraud and uncertainties and a tendency to sell whatever you own: property, gold, stocks, especially as Mercury backs up over Neptune between the 1st and the 3rd.  Gold and silver will likely rise between the 5th and the 7th as Venus in Capricorn is sextile Uranus in Pisces.  However, I think there will be another general asset selling, including gold between the 18th of Feb. and the 9th of March.  Starting around March 17, I think gold will head toward new highs.  My regular readers know I am a gold bull as a substitute for severely fluctuating currencies and turbulent times.

I will review my recommendations that have been on this site for the past four years: l) Pay down your debt (better still – get out of debt), 2) Buy gold, silver, energy, farm commodities, and water stocks, 3) Band together with family and friends (maybe expand your house to include these people moving in)\, 4) Get into local organic gardening 5) Insulate your home for energy efficiency, 6) Install solar panels, 7) Become more of a local community activist – get to know your neighbors, 8) Study the candidates and vote in the general elections, 9) Meditate on a daily basis to keep calm 10) Open up your hearts and minds to higher and more inspiring realms. 

Politics:

 This presidential race will be a fight to the finish.  I will comment on the charts of the candidates when the nominating process is finished.  One of the major problems astrologers have is access to the correct times of birth for people running for office.  Super Tuesday as a decisive day will present some problems with Mercury retrograde.  I hope the problems are not related to the voting process.  The media (except for PBS) has framed the presidential debates as boxing matches and rarely concerns itself with the investigation of substantive issues.  Not one candidate has thoroughly outlined what he or she would do if our banking system collapses, the government goes bankrupt, or how to ward off global depression.  Ron Paul is the only one who is explaining these issues, and people just give him blank stares.  Their ignorance of how the economy operates and what has truly happened to us is mind-boggling.

The 21st presents a lunar eclipse in the 2nd degree of Virgo, associated with civil rights and the struggle for racial equality.  This should be interesting for Barak Obama and his supporters.  Both Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama have a fighting chance; so it’s hard to call.  Both John McCain and Mitt Romney are in the final stages now.   However, if either one is nominated, they will get hit very hard by the Saturn/Uranus opposition in the Fall, suggesting health issues for McCain and scandals for Romney.  Don’t rule out Mayor Michael Bloomberg running on an independent ticket.  He will likely decide this month around the time Mercury goes direct on the 19th.

Other Nations:

 There is a solar eclipse in the 18th degree of Aquarius on the 7th.  This is the famous “unmasking” degree and is featured in the charts of Iran, Pakistan, China, Israel, and the U.S.A.  In the American chart, it has been associated with scandals and assassination attempts.  There will be secrets revealed about our activities in connection with the above nations.  I am concerned about the rising military power of NATO and their willingness to consider using nuclear weapons, circumventing sovereign nations and the U.N.  This is a potentially dangerous trans-national group of military generals who are supposed to represent their respective nations, but could take power into their own hands.  Presidential candidate John McCain keeps spinning the “military threat of the Islamic extremists” as a center of his campaign, along with the increased military hegemony of the U.S. as an imperial power.  Nobody is mentioning the Israeli-Palestinian horror and our occupation of Iraq as being at the center of this.  Meanwhile, it is the Middle Eastern Islamic governments that are trying to bail out our banks!    As Pluto enters Capricorn, we have to be vigilant about restraining military governments of all shapes. 

Pakistan may give up its secret as to who assassinated Benazir Bhutto and what terrorist groups are involved.  Mars in Gemini is also stirring up more violence for this nation.

Iran may be in the process of changing its government.  This is a secretive nation, but secrets may be revealed about what is going on between its president and the mullahs.  There may also be revelations concerning the Bush administration’s intense desire to  attack this nation.  I doubt that we will start a war with Iran, but there are seriously violent aspects (Mars opposed Pluto) in March, stirring things up.

China may decide what it wants or needs to do about their positions in U.S. Treasuries and whether it wants to put more money into U.S. banks. This is a complicated problem for them since their economy depends upon the American consumer.  There is also an indication, with Saturn in Virgo, they are having labor shortages and their labor is demanding higher wages and better conditions.  This may be the beginning of the end of cheap products imported from China.  They will also be making some important decisions about sustainable energy development and doing something about their increasingly polluted environment.  Recently, they have been hit by the worst snow storm in 50 years and this month’s Mercury transit could bring more of the same.

In Israel, there is finally a genuine effort toward a separate state solution with Palestine, but this month, with Mercury retrograde in Aquarius, their will be further conflicts as all food, electricity, water, etc. has been cut off from the Palestinians.  This is a humanitarian disaster of epoch proportions and the U.S. need to intervene.

Kenya has recently exploded into “ethnic cleansing” violence after a disputed recent election.  Saturn has hit the ascendant of this nation, threatening its identity and disputing who will be in charge.  These conflicts will last well into 2009.

Final Thoughts:

 The times we are living in are frequently shocking, challenging, scary, exhausting.  They are also exciting, inspiring, and moving.  They can evoke a passion for change that propels us out of our complacency to challenge the obsolete, the corrupt, and those whose insatiable hunger for perpetual power threatens our very existence as a species.  These same cycles have risen and fallen before throughout history.  The difference is that today, these ancient, repetitive, destructive patterns threaten our magnificent planet and all its delicately balanced life forms.

People whose pathways are committed to a spiritual way of life are telling me that a new consciousness has arrived; a new light containing an infinite spectrum of lifetimes lived within the energy of a blinding love so great, that it will propel us out of the darkest of nights.  We simply have to be very quiet, very still, and know that it is here within each and every one of us.  We are going through a constellational transformation never seen before, and it will not come easily, but be comforted that it will come.

Linda

Linda Schurman

Note: I welcome all your comments whether they are critical or complimentary.  This site represents astrology as a tool for a deeper understanding of the themes and issues of our times.  This period in which we all live may be the most critical time for human civilization ever!  It is my wish that we all do our best with whatever talent we have been given, to further the survival and evolution of life on planet earth!

our email is: schurm@operamail.com