Background II - 2010-2012



The end of the world?
The whole period from 2010 onwards is astrologically note-worthy; it doesn’t matter whether the astrological practitioner subscribes to a traditional pre-18th century approach or a version that includes the outer planets.

First there is a shift in the Saturn Jupiter cycle from Earth to Air signs which completes in 2020 and is a significant stage in an 800 year cycle. Also, as a result of precession (1 degree every 70 years or so), the star Regulus will move from the Tropical sign of Leo to Virgo during this time too. Regulus is the last of the four stars, designated by ancients as representing key points in the universe, to shift from a fixed to a mutable sign. The previous shift of one of these stars was around 1730, prior to the start of the industrial revolution and Regulus has spent 2200 years or more in Leo, so this is not some regular annual festival! And then, of course, there is the square involving Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus Aries from 2012-15, another combination which has not occurred in the same form in the last two millennia. It should be no surprise then that predictions of major change are rife.

Now allegedly 2012 is a particularly big year for those changes. According to some, the Maya ended their calendar on 21 December 2012 in expectation the world would also be ending.

I, however, find it curious that anyone would want to predict the end of the world. It’s not rational; if the world doesn’t end, you’re wrong, if it does end, you’re dead and no-one knows that you were right. It’s a lose-lose scenario. Perhaps if one believed in a particularly vengeful god, then awareness of potential world ends might be useful but, even then, surely the rational response is to behave as if any day might be the last and not gamble on praying for redemption the day before some specified future one?

As to the Mayan calendar; well, the calendar on my wall ends on 6th January 2009, but I just plan to go out and get a new one. In all probability, as 2012 represented the completion of a grand cycle, it was a convenient date to end the calculations in the happy belief they could compute the next stage later. And, let’s face facts; as far as the old Mayan civilization is concerned they were in fact being rather optimistic thinking they’d make it to 2012.

Therefore I will not be predicting that the world will end on 21 December 2012, or indeed on any other date. But, based on the alignments already mentioned, I shall be predicting some major shifts.

Let’s look, then, at the infamous cardinal cross.....


How cross are the cardinals?

The point at which the four planets are all in cardinal signs and in closest orb of each other is around late July to early August 2010, although they are sufficiently close to have impact from April to October of 2010, and again -with only Jupiter missing- in June/July of 2011. But on 7th August 2010, when Mars and Venus conjoin Saturn, the moon in Cancer completes the cross, so this looks to be the most significant period.

After 2011 Saturn moves into the later degrees of Libra, which should weaken the effect. However, on the other hand, the square between Pluto and Uranus does not actually perfect for the first time until June 2012, and will extend until 2015, which will ensure that the patterns established in 2010-12 are reinforced rather than resolved quickly.

We should remind ourselves again what the cardinal signs represent: action, and crystallization of ideas into events. By itself, this is neither good nor bad. It merely shakes things up at bit. However the exact way that things are shook up depends on which planet is in which cardinal sign and in how they relate to each other. They most definitely do not follow identical patterns, unless they are in identical positions and relationships. There are, nevertheless, key themes that we can consider:-

Aries has the nature of the unrestrained impulse to do something: to lead, achieve, acquire, determine or position oneself. It is not terribly considered. This impulse, may however unfortunately be perceived by others as attack, invasion or the acquisition of territory (physical or otherwise) that “belongs” to others.

The energy of Uranus is also as unrestrained as you can get. As the bringer of impulsive initiation, it can be highly creative, but it can also be violent and seemingly irrationally independent if opposed leading to riots, explosions and general unrest. Fancy storming a castle?– Uranus in Aries is up for it. Fancy going where no man has gone before? Uranus in Aries is up for it.

Since Uranus effects tend to be quite distinct, a good way of understanding, not just the impact of Uranus in Aries but the different shades of the cardinal signs as well, is to look at its previous visits to these signs:-

Uranus was last in Aries, beginning in 1927/28,


As well as the expected assassinations, explosions and natural disasters, and severing of ties between countries we find:-

  • Freedom of expression encouraged by the repeal of prohibition in US
  • Some key dates in television development
  • Key dates in aviation history
  • Key dates in Chinese 20th century history
  • And obviously the Wall Street Crash and Depression from 1929

Uranus was in the early degrees of the other Cardinal signs as follows:
1948/1950 Uranus in Cancer. The sign of cancer is more about the home and family than the individual and thus it encourages protection of family and nation. So rather than freedom of expression found in Aries, the impulse is now focussed on protecting the group under whatever umbrella is acting:-


  • So we have the UN Declaration of Human Rights, formal apartheid in South Africa, McCarthyism reaching its peak in the US. Eire was also re-designated the Republic of Ireland
  • More key dates in television occurred, including the formation of the European Broadcasting Union, and the first stored-program computer began operation at Cambridge University.The key to the latter is the storage. Cancer likes to hold on to things, in this case electrical information.
  • In aviation history we have the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight ( i.e. home to home)
  • More key dates in China with the forming of the current political structure
  • Currency devaluations in UK and elsewhere
  • And USSR testing of atomic bomb while US commenced work on the Hydrogen bomb

1968-69 Uranus moved into Libra.
Libra is focused on opposition, partnerships, pacification fairness and appearance:-

  • So emphasis was on fairness with civil rights, feminism protests and gay rights and opposition to these movements with assassinations such as that of Martin Luther King and divisions in US over Vietnam. The period also brought Woodstock. It also heralded the new Libyan regime, something of an experiment in governmental style.
  • One other interesting but small manifestation was the defacing of 10 paintings in New York, in Broadcasting regular colour television broadcasts began in the UK and in computing the inventions of Hypertext and Arpanet were signficant.
  • In aviation there was the first manned Apollo mission and the moon landings as well is the first Concorde test flight.
  • In China the Cultural Revolution occurred
  • In financial terms the US repealed the requirement for a gold reserve to back U.S. currency and in Japan their biggest bank robbery
  • And France became the 5th nuclear power

1988/9 – Uranus moved into Capricorn. Capricorn is all about structures and their destruction. It is less nurturing than Cancer, less free and concerned with the individual than Aries or Libra

  • The US and UN went to war on the drug networks and we had the fall of the Berlin Wall and ending of the communist block. Keeping previous threads alive, in Ireland's the first universities since independence were set up and the Libyan story reached a crisis point with the Lockerbie plane bombing
  • In broadcasting amd media Sky satellite television was launched in Europe and big mergers began withTime Warner.
  • In aviation history it was about military might with the stealth bomber and breaking out of the solar system as Voyager II passed Neptune
  • In China the Tiananmen Square protests occurred
  • And in finance the Bank of Japan raised rates leading to the peak of the bubble while in the US the Savings and Loan Crisis occurred.
  • And rather than bombs, we have a particularly interesting event where a geomagnetic storm caused the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid
So, already, without even looking at the charts of any countries or markets, we can get an idea that Uranus is Aries is likely to bring a desire to lift restrictions, crossing of new boundaries in broadcast and aviation/space and potentially atomic energy a well as key changes in China, and more financial instability.

However, Uranus in Aries’ ability to act will be affected by the planets in the other cardinal signs.

Jupiter, expands and emphasises all that it touches. In conjunction with Uranus it will make any situation more explosive. The need for freedom from any form of oppression and for change will be huge, as will the potential for new creations and explorations.

Since Libra represents, above all, relationships, and is the opposite of Aries, it also represents where the Aries initiating spirit meets obstacles. It is all about competition or compromise. Saturn’s previous sojourn in Libra was marked by new political parties, strikes and riots in opposition to the ruling structure (Saturn is especially good at sieges, sit-ins and stand-offs), assassinations as well as partnerships and women’s’ rights and issues. So we can expect that the changes that Uranus will want to introduce will be resisted on the grounds of equality, fairness and invasiveness.

And finally we have Pluto in Capricorn. As we have seen Capricorn is about impersonal structures, Unlike Cancer, which is about protecting family or national structures. This is an important difference, since in the 1929-30 economic crisis, although Uranus was in Aries, Pluto was in Cancer and not Capricorn. As a result, the outcomes will not be identical. It is far more likely this time, that it is the structures and infrastructures of capitalism that suffer the greatest damage or require rebuilding, rather than individual families or groups.

It is also worth remembering that in 1930, Saturn was in Capricorn, not Libra, the emphasis was on relying on government intervention to preserve the structure. In Libra it is far more about righting the balance. 2010 may be tricky but it does have compensations (possibly literally for some).

And finally we must not forget that we are “protected” still, through all this time, by the sextile (60 degrees) between Pluto and Neptune. This aspect appears to have encouraged growth for many decades, or perhaps it has just deluded us that things are good, as is the way of Neptune- does it matter which, provided we don’t have to wake up from the dream?

Variations on the theme
So now we understand the general themes of the period, it is also briefly considering what variations could occur.

As mentioned, usually benign, Jupiter will magnify the challenging effects throughout 2010, but by mid 2011 it will be in Taurus, where it can consolidate rather than accentuate. It is not, then, all doom and gloom for years. There are potential periods where constructive decisions can be taken.

Furthermore, Jupiter will be forming a sextile relationship in June 2011 with Neptune, which will have moved into Pisces. So Jupiter will be trine Pluto, and sextile Neptune. Despite the continued difficult Uranus and Saturn aspects, this is probably the best opportunity that governments will have to address any challenges they face, and for any new developments to get the funding they need to take off.

In 2012 the environment looks less attractive. Uranus squares Pluto properly for the first time in June and again in September. Neither Saturn nor Jupiter form favourable aspects until October when Saturn finally reaches a sextile with Pluto and a trine with Neptune. And although these are not unfavourable aspects, they are not boom events either. Saturn and Pluto in soft aspect merely makes adjustment to the hard times a bit easier than they might otherwise be. Nevertheless, this combination probably means that the property credit situation will finally start to settle down.


That concludes the second part of the background introduction. Parts III and IV, which take us from 2013 to 2020 will have to wait to later in the year, however. Now it’s time to move on to the specifics; the next posting will start to look at the main currencies…

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