Mountain Astrologer magazine is one of the most respected publications/websites for serious students of astrology -- Richard Tarnas (see Experience 3, Discussion Board for June 8 &10) mentions it in his interview, and one of the links below mentions him.
The Mountain Astrologer blog post for June 10, "George Floyd & Our Social Unrest," talks about racism, the near absence of astrologers of color, and the unacceptability of making astrological "predictions" after the fact.
While it would be easy to try to define this social unrest through astrology (after the fact, as usual), the cause — racial prejudice — has been a part of the foundation of America from the beginning. Perhaps both the pandemic and the social unrest are events that are preparing the world for the social, humanitarian changes that we astrologers assume will be a part of Pluto’s upcoming transit through Aquarius.
Several other posts over the past couple of months discuss correlations between celestial phenomena and current events.
- Reflections on Coronavirus and the Saturn-Pluto Conjunction
- Thoughts about the days we are in.... discusses the current positions of generational planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) in relation to the horoscopes of the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, and throws in a fascinating curveball related to Hygeia, the fourth-largest asteroid in the solar system, also known as the "minor planet," 10 Hygeia. This minor planet/asteroid takes 5-1/2 Earth years to orbit the sun. If "Hygeia" sounds like "hygiene," as in, oh, I don't know -- handwashing -- you're on the right track
- There are two posts by Australian astrologer Brian Clark that have more to do with archetypal psychology, maybe, than astrology, but, if you let them, can really expand your field of vision about the moment we are living.
The first is "At Home With Hestia: a return to center," and gives a nod to the asteroid Vesta (the Latin name for the goddess Hestia), which is the brightest asteroid in our solar system and takes 3.63 Earth years to circle the Sun.
The second is "Pan and the Pandemic: Love in the Time of Capricorn." This one traces the genealogy of the Greek god Pan to his roots in Sumerian myth -- the names and symbols we use for the astrological constellations derive from the traditions of this 7000-year-old civilization. And of course, medieval depictions of the Devil borrow heavily from characterizations of Pan and Capricorn.
Richard Tarnas's book is called Cosmos & Psyche: Intimations of a New World View. It is a masterful exploration of cultural and historical cycles going back at least 2000 years.
I mentioned "generational planets" above. What does that mean? The farther out from the Sun a planet is, the longer it takes to complete a trip through the Zodiac. In astrology, the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars are considered "personal planet" which relate directly to a person's character. The other planets are related to longer cycles that have demographic significance. Here are all the "planets" with their orbital lengths expressed in Earth time.
- Sun - 365 days
- Moon - 28 days
- Mercury - 88 days
- Venus - 225 days
- Mars - 1 year, 320 days
- Jupiter - 12 years
- Saturn - 29 years
- Uranus - 84 years
- Neptune - 165 years
- Pluto - 250 years
