ASTROLOGY, POLITICS, AND HISTORY – 04/04/17– TIM LYONS

ALTERNATIVE FACTS, NEPTUNE, AND THE U.S.A. HOROSCOPE

…presidents, when not outright telling lies, feel obliged to shade the truth most of the time. This is called politics; when a President lies successfully, he is called a statesman. – Gore Vidal: “Wiretapping the Oval Office”

U.S.A. 2 WHEELER 040417

DONALD TRUMP 2 WHEELER 040417

Horoscopes: 1. Notice transiting Neptune in the 3rd house of the outer wheel, closely squaring the United States ascendant. 2.  Notice secondary progressed Mars at 9Libra25 in the second house of the outer wheel, just past its square to natal Mercury at 8Cancer51.

I assume that by now you all find yourselves awash in our current president’s disregard for anything resembling consensus reality. Mr. (appropriately initialed) DT’s many, myriad, and multitudinous lies have been well-documented. Unfortunately for those of us seeking to cut through bullshit, the documenters come from a group I have dubbed the Four Fabricators of the Apocalypse (FFOTA): the main stream media (MSM), often reporting on the “findings” of that unblessed trinity of liars, the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA.

Who to believe? DT, who, despite his many recorded untruths, stretched truths, and cruel fantasies, has not yet gotten himself impeached (though not, one might think, for lack of trying)? The FFOTA, a group of entities that, individually and in various combinations, have a reputation for lying unrivalled in the modern world, with DT having neither their skill nor their longevity in practicing the prevaricating art.

When lying rears its two-faced head, many astrologers will point to Neptune and Mercury as the usual suspects, and quite rightly so (though other factors will sometimes play a role, of course). No surprise, then, that Mr. DT has those planets in square in his natal horoscope, with Mercury at 8 Cancer and Neptune at 5 Libra: the man builds mental structures from falseness. DT’s secondary progressed (SP) Mars remains within orb of squaring that Mercury (see the outer wheel of the two-wheeler chart; look for SP Mars around the 8 o’clock position), telling us that (considering the appropriate orbs) that the aspect marked DT’s entire campaign period: forceful (SA Mars) fantasies masquerading (Neptune), at least in his mind, via words (Mercury) as truth.

But let’s put Mr. DT to the side for a moment and notice that transiting (TR) Neptune has, for some time now, found itself squaring the United States’ Sagittarius ascendant. (See Neptune on the outer wheel of the 2-wheeler, down at the midnight position.)[1] Conclusion: though DT, perhaps with the psychological DTs, has a life-long tendency to mistake fantasy for truth (i.e. he has that Mercury-Neptune square), the United States as a whole finds itself in the throes of fantasy epidemic that, resulting from the viruses emanating from both DT and the FFOTA, has taken root in what we might call the “national psyche.” Furthermore, the U.S. natal horoscope has, like Trump’s, an afflicted Neptune. To grasp the situation, we need to recognize that both DT and the FFOTA have, to put the matter mildly, some resistance to truth-telling. Both have lied and will continue to do so. Recommendation? Withhold belief.[2]

What, then, does TR Neptune portend or offer as it squares the U.S. Sagittarius ascendant? As I have often said before, that ascendant symbolizes the way the United States has always insisted on expansionist ideology. Some centuries back, the expansionist tendency expressed itself through the slaughter of the native peoples of this continent, a process buoyed by ideologies like Manifest Destiny (a term coined around the time of Neptune’s discovery); more recently, it has expressed itself through such misguided ventures as the Vietnam War, CIA-driven incursions in South and Central America, and all manner of neo-liberal policies.

The ascendant symbolizes the way the nation expresses itself in the world; Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter, suggests ideology, expansion, and foreign nations. Jupiter, the ruler, is in Cancer on the cusp of the 8^th house: in order to further this expansion, the United States depends on the resources, property, or monies of other countries (8^th house), and sees this process as necessary to the national security (Cancer). The placement of the natal (N) Sun and Mercury in Cancer and the 8^th reiterates this tendency.

Thus the theory: the accusations emanating from the FFOTA have little to do with a concern for honesty in politics and everything to do with the way DT stands in the way of the neo-liberal program – an expansionist doctrine in sophisticated garb – put forth by Obama, both Clintons, and many other so-called liberals, among others. I don’t mean to suggest that we shouldn’t concern ourselves with DT’s dishonesty and cruelty, but we should remain wary of the motives of those who oppose him – particularly the FFOTA, for history shows that their dishonesty and cruelty rivals DT’s and has a much longer track record.

As noted, the U.S. natal horoscope has a close square from Mars in Gemini in the 7^th up to Neptune in Virgo in the 9^th; with Gemini and Virgo as the two Mercury-ruled signs in the zodiac, we see again the Neptune-Mercury question, again with the admixture of Mars (as in DT’s SP Mars aspect). That Mars-Neptune square suggests a tendency to misrepresent situations (to again put the matter mildly) as a prelude to aggression. Neptune in the 9^th house suggests, on the one hand, deception connected with foreign countries and, on the other, a deceptive national vision. Surely “American Exceptionalism” and “Manifest Destiny” give us excellent examples of such a vision; just as surely, such notions promote aggression. With Neptune-ruled Pisces hidden away (intercepted) in the 3^rd house, this deception will affect national opinion while running beneath the surface.

As for the “foreign country” element of the 9^th, Neptune’s position in that house suggests both deception from foreign countries and deception about them lodged in a hidden way in public opinion. Let’s admit that some foreign countries deceive some of the time; let’s further admit that both the Soviet Union and Russia have at times qualified as one of those foreign countries. But the U.S. citizenry has fallen for domestic deceptions before and watched the horrific results: consider Iraq in both 1991 and 2003; consider the ongoing series of misrepresentations regarding one Latin American country after another for many decades; consider the series of lies and misrepresentations that led to and gave continual support to the U.S. invasion of Vietnam; consider the refusal of the MSM to detail the crimes of U.S. allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia. Once we’ve considered those, we can go back to the 19^th century and before.[3]

If the U.S. ascendant in Sagittarius represents, among other things, this country’s desire for expansion based on an ongoing desire to accumulate (Jupiter, ruler of that ascendant) values (e.g. resources) of other countries (Jupiter on the cusp of the 8^th) in an ongoing attempt to maintain “national security” (Cancer, the sign location of Jupiter, midheaven ruler Venus, the Sun, and Mercury), the square from Neptune suggests deceptions related to that expansionist ideology, with the deceptions emerging from the press and affecting national opinion (3^rd house). Add to that N. Mars in the 7^th, suggesting that the United States will generally see the aggression as coming from others, with conclusions drawn largely from the aforementioned  ideology (Neptune in 9^th square Mars in 7^th) and you have a nice picture of the current situation (and, of course, many in the past).

When we look at matters this way, Trump’s lack of adherence to truth (to speak euphemistically) appears not as an isolated incident but as part of a national pattern. We can call DT to order as much as we wish, but we court disaster if we don’t pay attention to his accusers, scrutinizing them with even more care than we do DT, for they seem much more skilled at what they do than does our good president (which, admittedly, isn’t saying much). We should see the problems facing us as national ones, connected not only or even primarily with the madman currently sitting behind a big desk at the end of Pennsylvania Avenue, but with a process that goes on more or less constantly.

A final note: if we ask what astrological factors have brought the Mars-Neptune square to the fore these days, we don’t have to look beyond what some astrologers will consider the usual suspect: check your ephemeris and you will find that the same TR Saturn that has given DT so much grief in recent weeks has, and will, made challenging aspects to that natal aspect. If you feel worried, congratulate yourself on your wisdom.

[1] I use a variation of the Rudhyar horoscope, using the time Rudhyar offered but not using a Sibley horoscope.

[2] TR Neptune is moving slowly toward DT’s Sun-Moon opposition, the same opposition that now, due to the transit of Saturn conjoining his Moon and opposing his Sun, has brought DT all sorts of challenges from the ruling hierarchy. As Mr. Melville put it, long ago, ‘something more may follow from this masquerade.’

[3] Neptune in the 9^th can also suggest incoherent foreign policy. That seems like an accurate description of what has gone on for some time now, but let’s put the matter aside for now.