THE SOOTHESAYER INTERNET MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

January 2008

Happy New Year!

This year is a historical marker for the transit of Pluto in the sign of Capricorn (Jan. 27 – June 26, ’08, Nov. 27, ’08 – Jan. 24, 2024).  I am of the opinion that this transit is a pivotal point in human history – a period during which we will either totally collapse or evolve into a historic higher level of manifestation.

We will struggle with a global climate that is likely to threaten the existence of millions of people whose land will become uninhabitable; whose natural resources will become exhausted, and whose societies could disappear.  We will see the roulette-wheel global economy, run by giant global corporate elites, lose its momentum under a massive mountain of unsustainable debt.  People will begin to rebel against their governments, the financial barons, and most people and institutions who are the current wielders of political and economic power.

To illustrate this, we must look at the last two transits of Pluto in Capricorn: 1516-1532 and 1762-1778.  The mid 1500’s saw the rising momentum of the European Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation that overthrew the absolute political power of the Roman Catholic Church, and the entry of the Bubonic Plague from Asia into Europe, killing anywhere from one third to one half of the world’s population.  The second, most recent    transit coincided with the American Revolution that gave birth to the United States and its noble attempt at a democracy “by and for the people”.  The powerful British Empire was humbled.  France, having bankrupted itself financing the Americans and having to deal with record-breaking famine, started to fall apart, and as Pluto entered Aquarius, the bloody French Revolution was launched.  Capricorn is the sign of the establishment, the controllers, the systems that hold the fabric of a society together.  Pluto is “the demolisher” who exposes the demons who reside within any construct, and who gives birth to an entirely new form.  The first transit gave birth to the notion of religious freedom and the second transit gave birth to the ideals of a democratic government and free market capitalism.

What makes this transit so profound, is that in 2012, the Winter Solstice hits the exact center of the galaxy (26 – 27 degrees of Sagittarius), and Pluto in Capricorn is square Uranus in Aries.  The Pluto/Uranus square in cardinal signs last took place in the 1930’s, a decade of military dictatorships and the Great Depression.  The Winter Solstice point at the galactic center takes place about every 26,000 years!  The famous Mayan prediction for this time is that we will enter the “fifth world” and experience their deity, Quetzalcoatl, who will return to earth to reveal human destiny.  The ancient Hindu prophecies about this time refer to the end of the Fourth Age of Kali  (darkness and destruction)  and the return of their “savior God”, Vishnu, who will take humanity into a higher, more spiritual stage of existence.  These archetypal legends point the way to an a painful destruction of the old ways and a profound shift of consciousness into a possible glorious manifestation of human civilization never before envisioned.

January ‘08

The first couple of days of this month will contain retrograde Mars opposed to Pluto at a critical 29 degrees of Gemini and Sagittarius.  This is a violent aspect and suggests an environment of escalating war and terrorism.  Mars goes direct on January 30^th square the U.S.A. Neptune, making matters worse in that the violence is senseless and without purpose or clarity.  Mercury goes retrograde on the 28^th and goes direct Feb. 19^th.  This makes it difficult to comprehend what needs to be done either to end the war or to deal with the banking and credit crisis.

The Economy:

Interest rates and oil prices are continuing to feed the inflationary spiral.  Both Venus and Mars will square the U.S.A. Neptune, helping the “cabal” spin their propaganda that things are improving and that the world of finance is “decoupled” from the real economy.  But, as more mortgages default, bankruptcies are declared, the federal deficits climb, jobs are lost, and derivatives crumble, the President’s lies that “all is well” will likely fuel a lot of anger.  The week of Jan. 21^st is highly unstable as Mercury goes over Neptune (confusion and deception) and Venus will be opposition to Pluto suggesting more problems with the dollar.  Jupiter will trine Saturn suggesting people will shun  speculation and move toward whatever “security” they can find.  The American consumer, whose spending now accounts for a record 72% of G.D.P., will no longer have his house equity to use as his ATM.  Credit card debt and default will escalate.  The entire global economy mostly counts on the American consumer whose fortunes, except for the privileged few, are tanking. 

Gold will likely be up early in the month and then drop.  It will likely come up again the first week of Feb. and drop again.  As I have stated many times before, January through early March, there will be a great attempt by the powers-that-be to take gold down. This is a good period to buy, because it may reach an all-time high by middle to late March.  Oil prices will fluctuate and confuse us as to the direction they are taking.  Yet, we all know they will ultimately continue to rise.  The dollar is falling and other nations want out.    However, since they depend on America to fuel their economies, there is a great conflict between those wanting to flee the sinking ship and those who vote to prop us up.  Last month, Abu Dhabi and China bought interests in our banks to save them from collapse.  More and more, other nations are buying America’s financial institutions at fire sale prices.  This will continue.

Over the long term, this will be a commodities economy and investments in farm products, oil, gas, uranium, coal, metals, and water will be the way to go.  Other areas are water management and purification companies, and solar technologies.  Internet and wireless technologies will continue to gain, but be careful to look into corporate governance.  This is a very bad time to be in bonds.  It is interesting that Warren Buffet recently announced his intention to get into the bond insurance business.  A number of insurers of tax free municipals and other bonds are in real trouble because they hold worthless CDO’s and used them to get high credit ratings that are now lost.  Maybe Buffet will step in and insure these bonds.  We’ll see.

Politics:

In the past, the early primary winners have had an edge.  This time, polarized Americans will not likely cave into this.  It will be a fight to the finish.  Mars opposes Pluto Jan. 1^st-2^nd and again March 5^th – 7^th. Early this month, Hillary Clinton’s chart is conflicted but is in a fighting mode.  Barak Obama and John Edwards both have a chance against her, but all the aspects say it is too close to call.  Mike Huckabee is also at an advantage in this period, but he lacks the financial support that Mitt Romney has.  All this will have changed by March.  When the nominees are determined, I will give an analysis of their charts.  When Mercury goes direct in Aquarius around Feb. 19^th, we may hear whether or not N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg will run for the presidency as an independent.  Ron Paul may make a surprisingly strong showing at this time.

If ever there was a time to register as an “independent” it is now.

Pres. Bush’s last “State of the Union” speech will be made this month.  The transiting North Node is on the Moon of the U.S.A. and Mars is afflicted.  He will have a very tough time convincing Americans of anything.  Dick Cheney has disappeared from sight for most of the past several months.  The “cabal” let the word get out that there is to be no attack on Iran at this time.  Mars square Neptune this month will likely release another scandal about this administration. 

Other Nations.

Iraq will have violent irruptions early this month, but with Venus in Sagittarius, there will be movements toward an ultimate balkanization of the area.   I think troops will begin to leave in September and temporary peace agreements may be made among the factions, but a unified Iraq may never take place.  The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recently estimated that there are over 2.3 million internally displaced persons within Iraq, and over 2.3 million Iraqis who have fled the country.  They suffer from an escalating lack of food, shelter, water, electricity, sanitation, healthcare and employment.  Bush’s war has completely devastated this nation. The group Just Foreign Policy (an independent and non-partisan mass membership organization) estimates the total number if Iraqis killed so far since the U.S.-led invasion and occupation to be 1,139,602!  To date, at least 3,896 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq.  The fact is that even though the so-called surge has reduced the fighting, hopes of reconciliation between the factions have all but vanished.

Pakistan’s ethnic and political polarities are highlighted this month.  The assassination of Benazir Bhutto has thrown things into an even more chaotic state.  Her sun at 29 degrees of Gemini has Pluto opposed to it and Mars conjunct.  During her reign, her husband fleeced the treasury, she strongly supported the Taliban, and she governed as a “feudal” or member of the arrogant and elite aristocracy.  An election is scheduled this month with both Mars and Mercury retrograde, making it very tough to hold things together.  It may be postponed or wind up undecided.  The people will be confused as to where they are going and who will be leading.  Unfortunately, Pres. Musharraf will be unable to significantly pull the people together at this time.  This planetary picture resembles a civil war.

Israel and Palestine, although still confused, are moving toward some kind of peaceful co-existence., but none of these aspects will assure a long-lasting peace.  Jupiter’s transit into Capricorn will make some positive aspects in the Spring.  However, this month, there may be movements toward changes in political leadership in both nations.  The period of May through June of this year with Mars transiting Leo will hit the chart of Israel, igniting tendencies towards violence and war once again.  There may be a peace agreement cobbled together by September under a stellium of planets in Libra, just before the U.S. presidential election..

Venezuela will suffer upheavals again this month as Chavaz’s appeal among his people is starting to diminish.  Other members of his government are vying for power.  The Mars/Pluto opposition hits their natal chart heavily symbolizing open conflict. 

Mercury’s entrance into Aquarius on the 8^th, retrograding the 28^th, going direct Feb. 19^th will all highlight China’s position and clout as a major economy and a holder of U.S. debt.  They may decide to stop buying U.S. Treasuries. They are also in a frenzy, trying to clean up their polluted air and water for the Olympic games.  The prospects for the completion of this project look dim.  Their leadership is conflicted about more economic growth vs. more investment in environmental cleanup and sustainable energies.  The U.S. currency crisis is of real concern to this nation, whose currency, the yuan, is attached to ours.  They are buying portions of U.S. banks.  This will ignite more polarizing anger in the U.S. but we must take responsibility (mostly Alan Greenspan) for the sub-prime crash and ensuing derivatives disasters yet to come.  American elitist gamblers and a generalized public indifference to what has been happening, will cost everybody in the end.

Russia’s chart looks stronger this year.  They hold huge oil reserves and Putin has succeeded in pulling their economy together, taking advantage of the growing oil crisis.  He will continue to lead the country for a while as Neptune continues to trine his stellium in Libra.  This nation will have less stability in 2009.

Germany benefits from the transit of Saturn in Virgo and Jupiter in Capricorn.  Angela Merkel has proved to be an outstanding leader.  This nation may take the lead in green technology and solving some of the critical problems arising from global warming.

Final Thoughts:

As most of you know by now, my book, “What Next” was published this year and has been selling well over this site.  You also may know that I have a passionate commitment to doing whatever I can to share any and all information about what we can do to alter the devastating course that American imperialists and wealthy elitists have taken in this historical period.  This course has led us into a horrible black hole war, a giant meltdown of both the economy and the global climate; genocidal destruction of the poor and the environment in the “developing” world, destruction of the middle class in America, and violations of our Constitution and Rule of Law, to name only a few things!

I have had a decidedly mixed response to my efforts.  Many people are truly enthusiastic and appreciative of my efforts and have been stimulated to become better informed, more involved in the political process, and have made personal decisions that have helped them financially.  They are standing up to the moral depravity of our nation’s leaders and are committed to use their talents and energy to make a difference.  Others openly admit to me they simply “don’t want to know, feel powerless, and have very little faith that they could effectively change things”.

As we all know, we are all terminal.  This life in this form is the one chance we have to make a courageous choice to face what needs to be faced, to change what needs to be changed, and to present the legacy of the continuance of life and love to our children and grandchildren.  There is no place to hide but in the light, no place to go but up, no life to live but in the now.  This is the beginning.

May I extend my personal best wishes to you all for a Hopeful and Fulfilling New Year!

Linda

Linda Schurman

Note:  My third blog article for 'The Huffington Post' will be posted early this month, in their “Living Now” section. 

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