What a way to kick off a new year! A Full Moon on New Year’s Day [6:24 pm (P) 9:24 pm (E)] in feminine, nurturing Cancer sets the tone for 2018. The Sun and Venus are closely joined (less than 2º apart), offering plenty of love and an inclination for peace, which can be achieved via respect and order, traits of the Capricorn sign where they’re positioned. Venus is exactly halfway between Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn at their midpoint, a place where their energies fuse. This indicates we can use our hearts for Pluto’s changes to Saturn’s systems and status quo, coming from a place of love. That’s the plus side. If expressed negatively, hard-hearted frugality, greed and Plutocracy will inflict a destructive influence. Kindness is more likely to rule the day, assisted by a wonderful Grand Trine (the best blending of planetary forces) between the Cancer Moon, compassionate Neptune in Pisces and a pairing of Jupiter and Mars (portending big action) in transformative Scorpio, which the Sun and Venus expand into a Kite pattern, giving the Grand Trine’s benevolence a lift. There’s a lot for which to be hopeful in 2018!

[This is an excerpt from the Overview of 2018 in the forthcoming ebook Janet’s Daily Plan-its 2018, by Janet Booth, which will be issued in the first week of 2018.]

The winter solstice comes around every year on the shortest day and longest night. The Sun, in its annual circling of the zodiac, begins a new season as enters the first sign of winter. In the northern hemisphere, that’s Capricorn. The “ruling planet” (like an emissary) of Capricorn is Saturn. It visits its home sign for 2-3 years of its roughly 30-year orbit. The Sun and Saturn don’t enter any sign simultaneously on any regular schedule. It fact, this team-up is extremely rare! A search of 1,000 years (1500 – 2500) turned up only four instances of Saturn at the zero degree of Capricorn as the Sun joins it on the winter solstice: 1664, 1870, 2017 and 2370. As this marker in the heavens portends, we are in a truly historic moment.

I don’t know what happened at the prior two occurrences, but let’s look at what I wrote (in September 2016) about this solstice for my Janet’s Plan-its 2017 Celestial Planner:

This may be one of the most significant seasons in decades! Whatever begins (and a lot will be initiated in this New Moon phase) can have sweeping effects because Saturn, ruler of winter’s first sign, has just entered Capricorn and occupies the zero degree, indicating worldwide impact. It’s teamed with the Sun (associated with leaders); big decisions are in the works. The Moon (representing the public) is in Aquarius, sign of the masses and a rebellious sign. Two planets in Scorpio, the sign of economics, play key roles. Mars squares the Moon: “natives are restless” and could be resentful and aggressive. Jupiter at the powerful middle degree of Scorpio is semisquare the Sun and Saturn, creating a conflict between expanding and holding back. This could pose problems for the class with money and power depending on the help they give those in need. Sympathy comes from Jupiter trine Neptune. Venus (planet of personal assets) connects to the Uranus-Chiron semisextile: there will be surprises in finances, but not all bad. Perceptions are clouded with Mercury Retrograde and square to vague Neptune.

Now that the moment has arrived, we see there is indeed a big decision with far-reaching impact, with a leader in the middle of it. It’s the passage of the USA’s sweeping tax reform, pleasing the rich and vexing the rest, amidst angry public protests and abysmal poll numbers for the plan. Scorpio is the sign related to taxes and insurance, and the tax cut bill contained the twofer of removing the underpinning of the Affordable Care Act ( “Obamacare”) by dropping the tax penalty for not having health insurance (the “individual mandate”). This effect of the new law was hardly reported. In fact, President Trump admitted he wanted to keep it quiet.¹ The Mercury-Neptune square aspect is famous for deception or at least, misdirection, like a magician’s act: “Look over here at this hand” while the other hand is doing something sneaky, preparing to fool you. The Jupiter-Neptune trine did not seem to deliver sympathy so much as amplify the reverse Robin Hood con: the deficit could increase more than 10% of its current $10+ trillion² in order to provide 80% of the tax cut benefits to 1% of taxpayers.³ Even the tax breaks foreigners get on investments in the USA is more generous than the deal is more average hardworking Americans. Individuals’ financial picture, signified by Venus, has a Uranian sudden impact, expressed in a Chiron fashion, either hurtful or helpful. As the asteroid Chiron’s nickname, the “wounded healer,” suggests, the new law gives some people a boost and for others, it will be a bust. Mercury Retrograde suggests the whole plan will come up for review and revision sometime down the road.

Using the July 4, 1776 birthday, the USA was born during a Mercury Retrograde period and frequently revisits decisions and policies. A natural time to revise this policy would be when the next major planet crosses through the zero degree of Capricorn. That will be Jupiter on Dec. 2, 2019. And at that time, Mars, the planet of battles, will have made its biannual lap around the zodiac and will be basically where it is at this winter solstice (only two degrees away). The drama that begins now is apt to see another act then. Oh, that sounds like another prediction.

¹ “We didn’t want to bring it up. I told people specifically ‘be quiet with the fake news media because I don’t want them talking too much about it.’” http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/20/politics/donald-trump-thinks-he-tricked-everyone-into-repealing-obamacare/index.html

² https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/28/us/politics/tax-bill-deficits.html

³ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/09/29/gop-tax-plan-would-provide-major-gains-for-richest-1-percent-and-uneven-benefits-for-the-middle-class-report-says/?utm_term=.d955ba58c67e

Chuck Todd finished his MSNBC MTP (Meet the Press) Daily show  on Friday, August 19 with an editorial comment about “fake news that millions follow every day” and when he named it, my jaw nearly dropped: astrology! He spoke about astrologers’ predictions for the August 21 solar eclipse in a condescending manner, although I must agree with him that many astrologers do make statements that are so broad as to be weak. (I’m sure I’m guilty of this from time to time myself.)

Todd’s source was a Newsweek article discussing the work of astrologers Wade Caves and Marjorie Orr among others. Citing how this eclipse is “of a kind that also occurred in 1909, 1927, 1945, 1963, 1981 and 1999” [by which he meant the Saros Series, although he didn’t know what that means], Todd went on, “one astrologer points out that a lot of news happened in those years,” following with a question, “Did a lot of news happen in the other 94 years of the century?” What he did not say, and what that article does say, is that Orr described how major events aligned with those eclipses, all in “years which coincide with major political events, including President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death and the attempted assassination of President William Taft.”

Todd does talk about how this type of eclipse (of this Saros Series) is associated with violence and health issues, which I confirmed in Bernadette Brady’s extensive examination of Saros Series in her book Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and The Lark. (I did a search online for years with major illnesses in the US and of these years, only 1981 stood out as significant, for a measles epidemic and AIDS beginning to be documented.) Todd then teased, “So if you or anyone you know has health problems in say, the next few years, don’t say you weren’t warned.”

It’s easy to make astrologers look foolish if you misquote them! And in slanting the words of astrologers, Todd is contributing to the fakeness of his “news.” He seemed to readily adopt from the article the criticism of Duncan Steel (space scientist and author), who says, “If people believe that the forthcoming solar eclipse ‘means’ anything for the U.S., for Trump, for the world, then they are deluded.” I wish both would read Bill Meridian’s The Predictive Power of Eclipse Paths. They’d see how powerful such paths are and how they do indeed portend great events and have done so throughout history. The article also mentions how Caves has “singled out certain dates that could prove significant: October 10, November 21, November 26 and December 17 through 19.” If Wade Caves turns out to be right, will they apologize to astrologers?

One item in the MTP commentary got me scratching my head, that this was the first total solar eclipse with a path exclusively in the United States since 1776. This implies that there was one then, which there was not. (That year was notable for having four solar eclipses, quite rare, but none of them was total nor centered in the US.) Perhaps that statement is better interpreted as the first since they nation began in 1776, although that’s also incorrect. On June 8, 1918, a total solar eclipse swept across the country, within weeks of when the US joined the Allied Forces in WW1 and there was a “Spanish ‘flu” pandemic. For a good discussion of what’s true and what’s not about this eclipse, see this blog from NationalEclipse.com, Debunking the National Eclipse.

The eclipse shadow cuts through the heart of our country, with the sun is at least partially blocked across all 48 contiguous states. Ancient astrologers would say this portends a major change or crisis for America. Are we about to be ripped apart? Maybe we’re already on the way!

There are so many divisions in America: income inequality, racial tension, religious differences, urban versus rural interests, gun activists versus gun control advocates; the list goes on. Not only are the two main political parties at extreme odds, they’re warring within their parties! We can’t agree on what basic American values are and when rights should be curtailed for safety.

The eclipse occurs in Leo, the sign of royalty and leaders, the sign ruled by the Sun. In a solar eclipse, the Moon, which indicates the People in a chart of world events (called “mundane astrology”), overtakes the Sun. Symbolically, this means the People supersede the leader. It can also mean the fall of a leader. And this eclipse hits Trump’s chart front and center. The degree of the zodiac where it occurs (around 29 degrees of Leo) is precisely the degree rising at the moment and place of Trump’s birth. This eastern horizon degree, called the ascendant, is the most important and personal part of a chart. It represents incarnation in the body, including genetic make-up and appearance as well as personality. This eclipse may presage a health problem for our President or an existential crisis for him and the country, such as whether he will continue at the helm. Already, so early in his first year in office, there is talk of impeachment or invoking the 25th Amendment (for a case where a president is unable or unfit to serve).

Here’s an interesting synchronicity: Trump is already out of the White House. It’s being renovated. It symbolizes our country, which needs renovations, too. Last fall, the popular vote was “eclipsed” by the electoral college for the second time in this new century (the first being the “election” of Bush 43 by one vote in the Supreme Court). Although our economy appears vibrant (and its strength should not be gauged by the soaring stock market), weeks from now we could be thrown into chaos (and possibly default) when it‘s time to re-up the debt ceiling. Proposed changes to the tax code to eliminate mortgage interest deductions could precipitate a housing market slump or crash similar to ten years ago. And if charitable deductions are axed, there goes the help non-profits offer Americans needing assistance beyond what government gives.

And then there’s the North Korean problem. That one’s really scary, especially when you consider Trump has a Mars line running right through the Korean peninsula. Planetary power lines exist for any moment, including everyone’s birth time, and show where on earth various planets were rising, setting, culminating or anti-culminating (hitting the bottom of the chart) at the time. Presidents’ Mars lines frequently show areas of conflict during their term. An example is George W. Bush, who has Mars lines in Afghanistan, where he began America’s longest war, and Arizona, home state of his rival, John McCain. On a more peaceful note, there’s Jimmy Carter, who brokered an agreement between Israel and Egypt near a trio of his lines: Venus (peace, teamwork), Neptune (non-judgmental, forgiving) and North Node (bond, liaison). But his Mars line crosses with a Jupiter line, indicating a huge conflict, not far from Tehran, where Iranians held 60 Americans hostage for 444 days, contributing to the end of his presidency.

Trump was born with Mars just three degrees above his natal ascendant in his birth place of Jamaica, NY. Due to the earth’s curvature, at Trump’s birth moment, Mars was exactly on the ascendant in our nation’s capitol. Rather than “Making America Great Again,” it seems as if Trump is at war with America: with Congress, the judiciary, the press, and a large percentage of the people. So even if there is no physical effect on Trump, this eclipse signals that he is already being eclipsed. His power is waning. Close staff and advisors are gone. Economic advisory councils have abandoned him. His approval rating is at an historically low level. And that, Chuck Todd, is not “fake news.” It’s the truth of astrology as shown in the news.