THE SOOTHESAYER INTERNET
 

 September 2010

Libra and the Versus Society

Tea Baggers Versus Coffee Makers

Recently, we witnessed a Tea Party rally in Washington, DC; an organization that is secretly financed by the likes of the multi-billionaire Koch brothers (see the article in the Aug. 30^th New Yorker Magazine by Jane Mayer).  They yell about budget deficits (that depend upon taxes) and their “solution” is to get rid of all or most of the government backed programs and the taxes that finance them.  In the Tea Party world, in the Fall of 2008, with the crash of the housing market and the stock market, Social Security (privately invested in stocks) would now be non-existent (as are most people’s privately invested retirements), there would be no unemployment insurance, no Medicare or Medicaid.  Our elderly and unemployed and homeless would now be begging on all the streets and highways that would be in such disrepair from lack of tax money, vehicles would be stalled out.  Since there would be little or no tax money for police, crime would be rampant, as it is now in many cities that no longer have enough tax money to retain them. However, most Tea Partiers are firearm friendly and are armed to the hilt, so we would all have the “God-given Constitutional right” to shoot each other.  The giant monopoly corporations, hedge fund managers, and billionaires would have an even larger share of the economic pie than they do now.  This would bring most of the rest of us down to financial nothingness.  In Rand Paul’s world, the oil companies like BP would still reign supreme with essentially no regulation (leave them alone), as would the pharmaceutical corporations, industrialized farming, and all the rest of the already disappearing jobs would be outsourced to slave workers abroad.  In reality this is all a continuation of the cycle of destruction instituted by Bush and the Republicans and compliant-with-Wall Street Democrats that has led to this newest and even greater Great Depression.  However, these media spooks are still spinning weapons of mass distraction, such as Pres. Obama being a closet Muslim born in Kenya, and a “secret terrorist”.

Meanwhile, the Coffee Clan people in Washington continue to launch legislation that does essentially nothing, such as the recent so-called Financial Reform Bill.  The president’s press manager sees the Progressive Wing of his party as pushy, aggravating, and too far to the “left”.  Timothy Geithner and Laurence Summers are still “there”, protecting the derivatives traders’ hundreds of trillions of dollars along with the Wall Street giants such as Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley, whose bonuses and perks are bigger than ever and are all in an “economic recovery”.  Joblessness is escalating at such a rate that we are in shock, as are budget deficits because of the lack of tax money which will not be paid by unemployed people or billionaires with the cherished Bush tax breaks.  Pres. Obama is appearing, in reality, to be a right-leaning Democrat, a Protestant, a product of Harvard University, and most obviously influenced by his grandparents from Kansas.  He has gotten to the place where he now is by following the traditional well-worn path to success in our society and by not stirring up controversy.  Ironically, the craziness from the “right” has to conjure up something that is the opposite of what he is to mobilize people into a frenzy of racism, fear, and stupidity.  By stupidity, I mean that these very people are standing for candidates that have and will continue to bring them down.  There is plenty to criticize about the ineffectiveness of this administration without hate-mongering and making up lies.  The versus society, launching itself “against” everything is accomplishing nothing.  The public-at-large is ready to vote everybody out of office, and understandably so.

What we need is a Teddy Roosevelt or Harry Truman who will take on the centers of entrenched wealth and “shadow” power, challenging them on behalf of “the people”, addressing the “real economy”, and restoring the laws that originally kept jobs in the country and rules governing Wall Street. 

The sign of Libra is about the role of government, the rule of law, the balance of power,   liberty and equality.  Saturn is in Libra in the horoscope of the American Revolution and the birth of the United States.  At this historic point, as Saturn in Libra makes its last square with Pluto this month, we are aware that “the people” are getting shafted again.  The real and original “Tea party” was about taxation without representation and British monopolies controlling trade.  As Pluto in Capricorn is moving toward its return in the U.S. natal chart (in 2020), we are being reminded how far away we are from the great ideas that formed our nation.

Earthquakes and Volcanoes:

At the end of this newsletter, I am including an excellent article by astrologer, Buryl Payne, who is soon to publish his book on global tectonics, the planet Venus and other planetary configurations in relation to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.  Last month, I mentioned this activity in relation to Indonesia.    Mt. Sinabung, a volcano in Western Indonesia on the island of Sumatra just erupted for the first time in 400 years.  The same day, there was an earthquake in Iran.  This month contains some important indicators of Earthquake activity of significance and it is worth reading about this in the article below.

Mercury retrograde, direct and Pluto direct.

On September 12^th Mercury goes direct. Pluto goes direct on the 14^th.  Ventures that have been on hold will begin to move forward and motivations will clarify, as the ability to communicate ideas and solutions to problems takes on a new momentum.  However, both Jupiter and Uranus are retrograde back into Pisces and Neptune is still retrograde in Aquarius.  Thus many of the old issues are returning to haunt us;  i.e more problems connected to the Gulf oil eruption, flooding, oceans rising, and climate change.  As Venus and Mars move forward, peace talks in the nations of Israel and the Palestinians will be in the headlines that may have run into difficulty while Mercury was retrograde.

The Economy:

As I have been reiterating for months now, bearish news will likely effect financial markets.  Wall Street cannot avoid the “real economy” any longer.  As Venus goes into Scorpio on the 9^th, it gets ready for its retrograde movement from October 8^th through November 18^th.  Questions as to the future solvency of currencies will come forward.  Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke made a statement last month to the effect that he would resort to “unconventional” means to keep the economy going.  Could this mean that Helicopter Ben will start printing money to ward off a deflationary depression and create hyper-inflation?  It is one way to pay down the giant federal deficits.  I predict currency inflation, even though people are in a cycle that that would normally deflate prices.  Remember the 70’s stagflation?  Something similar awaits us because, in spite of the frenzy to drill for oil in the deep waters and “frack” for gas in Pennsylvania and New York, we have, in reality, reached peak oil and have yet to make a major effort in the direction of sustainable energy.  So energy prices will go up even with demand going down.  The contradictions we face are enormous. 

Gold rose last month in the face of efforts by the Cabal to keep prices down and in a time period that gold usually falls.  Silver is also showing upward momentum.  Rumored short positions in silver would point to major attempts at manipulation, but everyone can’t be controlled.  Between the 9^th and the 19^th of this month Venus and Mars will sextile Pluto which should be bullish for metals.  Another sector to which people are paying little attention is the area of rare metals that are extremely scarce; those that are used in our computers, chips, cell phones, batteries, etc.  Energy stocks, rare metals, uranium, gold and silver are all areas in which to invest for the long term.  There are rumors circulating about proposed legislation that would find a way to tax gold.  First of all, if you own gold stocks and sell them at a profit, you will pay capital gains as you would on any stock gain.  Secondly, a lot depends on records of what you originally paid for your gold and keeping track of where you sell it.  This would be an arduous task for the government.  This is not on my list of major concerns at this time.

Many scientists are predicting global fresh water shortages throughout the world due to mountain glacier melting, climate extremes, and droughts.  They are estimating that  within a decade we will be brought to the edge of desperation in many locations throughout the globe.   It is not easy to figure out how to invest in water because we are seeing the beginning of disputes with companies that are using aquifers to fill their bottles for sale to the public at large.  In addition, many cities that privatized their water companies earlier are trying to take them back since corporations have allowed municipal water systems to deteriorate and are charging more money.  The future lies with desalination technology and companies who come up with water recycling plans that are cost effective.  This area is more than worthy of our attention.

Other nations:

Pakistan has been on the “endangered” list of countries for the past two years and suffered a flood of biblical proportions last month.  Their corrupt head of government seemed indifferent to the whole thing as he continues to rob the nation and do nothing to help the people.  This month, No. Korea and So. Korea will reflect crises and change connected with their leadership that already began last month as Mercury goes direct and moves over important points in their charts. Israel will, as suggested above, seem to make an effort toward peacemaking early this month, but I doubt this momentum will be sustained over the long haul.

Iran is important on the world scene for reasons both obscure and obvious.  The obvious is their ability to construct a nuclear weapon.  The more obscure, at least here in the West, is that they are the largest and most influential Shia Muslim nation.  There is an ancient and escalating war between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam.  Saudi Arabia is the leading Sunni nation and Iraq is still torn apart between these two factions.  The entire region could disintegrate in a religious war for control that has been going on since the prophet Mohammed was murdered and the religion divided.  The transits of Venus and Mars in Scorpio this month through October will activate these issues.

Weather:

I am most concerned about severe hurricane activity between now and the 13^th, with Venus and Mars inconjunct Uranus in Pisces.

Final Thoughts:

As we face the harsh realities of our times, there is a generalized bewilderment about what we need to do to turn the tide that would seem to be leading us toward civilization’s collapse and perhaps even extinction.  Many of us are at a loss to come up with grand solutions to a planet telling us that we have over-populated, polluted, cannibalized, and ignored all its warnings to us.

For over five thousand years, humans have embraced the notion that we live in a predator/prey world in which, in order to survive, each individual person or tribe must go to war with another person or tribe in order to survive.  Ideas involving earth as a living organism out of which we were all born, an omnipresent intelligent universe in which we all participate, and a human presence based on cooperation and respect for nature and one another, are revolutionary and have had a limited expression in history in the lives of very few.

New inventions and scientific discoveries will help.  Localized templates involving communities dedicated to local organic farming, water recycling, entrepreneurship, and effective involvement of people in local governance, will all help.  Sustainable energy use and abandonment of fossil fuels will help.

What is needed is a great shift in consciousness that goes beyond an intellectual exercise – an elevation in resonance, an expansion of our collective soul, an experience of knowing and loving that goes beyond a fleeting experience and instead becomes the very fabric of our being.  May we all summon the will, the strength, and the faith to rise to this monumental task. 

  Linda

Linda Schurman

article by astrologer, Buryl Payne

"From September to November a rare multi planet line up will influence the weather, earthquakes, volcanoes, and people.

Just look at the diagram of the solar system!

Dynamic Solar System: September 22, 2010.

Planets from left to right are: Uranus, Jupiter, Earth, Venus, and Mercury which is square to this line up.

Of course the Moon, as it swings each planet, will exaggerate or diminish planetary influences like a dizzying roller coaster ride. Next to the Moon, Venus is the closest planet to Earth, coming as close as about 30 million miles away every 584 days.

Solar activity will be higher than normal and there maybe earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions all around the ring of fire, plus who knows where else. A cursory look at some previous earthquakes shows Venus and the Moon together or exactly on opposite sides of the Earth when there were earthquakes. At such times Venus was closer to Earth than normal.

The Moon’s movement affects the tides. The Sun affects the tides. Venus has a measurable effect as well. Put the three of them together as in a full or new Moon and there could be ‘rock slides’, which to us, tiny creatures, may be perceived as earthquakes.

Last time Venus was close to Earth, on March 26, 2008 there were earthquakes off the Oregon coast. They occurred with increasing intensity as Venus moved to its closest point on its journey past Earth and when the Moon was either trine or conjunct Venus, then diminished in the same pattern.

Billy Miers, a controversial UFO contactee, claims there would be a huge Earthquake (Magnitude 9) off the Oregon coast, but didn’t say when. Psychics who talk about future events often don’t know times; it is planetary positions that indicate times but don’t always serve as predictors of what will happen at that time.

A geophysicist at the University of Oregon, Gene Humphreys, predicts a big earthquake off the Oregon coast within the next fifty years.

When the earthquake in Haiti hit, Venus was on the other side of the Sun, in exact alignment. When the earthquake in Chili occurred, Jupiter was exactly aligned with the Sun on the other side. Jupiter is 100 times as big as Earth, it is further away than Venus.

When Mt. St. Helens erupted, the Moon was conjunct with Venus. Also Venus was near when a volcano in Russia erupted, and when a large eruption occurred in the Philippines. Over and over, Venus is involved. No wonder the Mayans feared Venus when it neared the Sun. Even warring behavior occurs frequently when Venus is near the Earth. Does Venus deserve to be associated with the Greek goddess of love?

Another researcher, astrologer David Williams, observed Jupiter-Uranus cycles usually coincided with low periods of business activity. Certainly that seems to be the case nowadays, but maybe we can change things, at least temporarily.

According to Edgar Cayce, a man known for his psychic abilities, mass meditations could help quiet solar activity and make things easier for people to live tranquilly thru the coming transition. Over three million people proved that global peace meditations could repeatedly reduce solar activity in the eighties. It’s time to repeat the experiment.

The eve of the full Moon on September 22 would be a good time to organize a party. Spend just 7 minutes of party on visualizing a calm Sun and Earth. After all, are we the Masters of our fait or the Puppets of the solar system?

" 

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!

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