If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget about it. This is real astrology for the real world. If it's real astrology for yourself that you want, you can get it by phone or in print. And if you need help deciphering the astrological glyphs in the graphics accompanying this article, see Astroglyphs: Astrological Symbols Guide. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT). Also please be aware that, while I never change a forecast once it's published, I do post errata to acknowledge typographical errors and the like.
We are all a part of everything
The future, present and the past
-- Charlie Daniels
 

June is one of the turning points of 2009. It’s not the dramatic month that everyone thinks of as hugely eventful in the moment. But later, looking back on it, I think we’ll realize that time and events began to shift direction in June.

For one thing, there’s the worldwide financial system. (We couldn’t speak of a world financial system a few generations ago; but in this era of globalization, we take it for granted.) The Venus intersolar cycle that began on January 14 has acted as a counter to the downward momentum in global markets and economies – weakly at first, with the February 5 Saturn-Uranus opposition intervening. Which is why my February forecast advised that the period around February 5 (the Saturn-Uranus opposition) and 9 (the lunar eclipse) signified "panic in the markets, panic in the streets, people in need of rescue, just a whiff of revolution in the air . . . a top-out of the financial markets – followed by a drop-off, under the onslaught of yet another revelation that the financial system is critically dysfunctional, and the economy is swooning."

Sure enough, major equity markets swooned starting February 6. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), for example, fell from 8,280 to 6,627 between February 6 and March 6: a drop of 20%. But by the time Venus went retrograde on March 6, the intersolar cycle took off as Venus loomed larger and brighter in the night sky. More or less simultaneously, major equity markets began a rally right on schedule, as mass psychology came under the sway of an "everything will be alright after all" mantra. This was exactly what I called for when I wrote in my February forecast that a "bear market rally is due from March-April until sometime this summer." Events so far have followed the celestial script pretty closely. Again, take the DJIA for example. During the peak of Venus’ intersolar cycle, the March 6-April l7 retrograde, the DJIA rose from 6,627 to 8,131; an increase of 22.6% in six weeks. In the six weeks from April 17 to May 29, the index went from 8,131 to 8,500; an increase of just 4.5%. That’s still an increase, but clearly the thrill is gone. As I pointed out in my 2009 World Forecast Highlights:

All things considered, I see the January 14-June 5 Venus intersolar cycle of 2009 as arguably the most positive part of the year, as far as financial markets and economic development go. They don’t go very far, alas: I see hopeful signs and encouraging fits and starts, but not enough underlying strength and stability to get any lasting traction. The macro trends dominating the year as a whole remain deflationary until they turn dangerously inflationary, and that’s not a good place to be. But that’s where we are, and it’s better to know it than not.

Venus’ intersolar cycle comes to an end this month, on the 5th. The flower won’t wilt and disintegrate in a flash, but the bloom is definitely off the rose from here on out. Mass psychology starts to falter; the markets lose a lot of their upward momentum and settle into a trading range. There’s probably a lot of turbulence in the markets and in mass psychology around the time of the June 22 SuperMoon and the Sun-Pluto opposition on the 23rd - but nothing falls off a cliff just yet. That happens this summer; maybe as early as late July, and pretty much a lead-pipe cinch by the time of the September 15 Saturn-Uranus opposition. Saturn having turned direct last month (on the 16th) and Uranus being a fraction of a degree from its July 1 station throughout June, these two planets are slowly creeping back into alignment. (Look for the Moon-Saturn alignment on the 28th, and know that Uranus is on the other side of the sky.) Uncertainty returns, apprehension replaces avarice, greed yields to fear.

I’ve already written that the current economic downturn will be a W-shaped (or even double-W) recession. The summer downturn following Venus’ intersolar interlude exemplifies this: a wave of optimism comes along and crests, then a trough of pessimism sets in.

What I foresee is not a scenario for the faint-hearted, but it’s not the apocalypse either. That major equity markets could drop 40-50% (e.g. a DJIA in the 4,000-5,000 neighborhood) is not a happy prospect, admittedly. And having temporary localized breakdowns in the financial infrastructure that leave people without access to money, goods and services for a few days at a time (worse, in some cases) is definitely not for the faint of heart. But these are things we can prepare for, at least to some extent; as opposed to armies of crazed zombies on a killing spree amidst the ruins of a dying civilization crumbling across the whole of a Mad Max wasteland planet.

Seriously, to hear some people tell it, we’re facing the end of the world. It all sounds so dramatically dire and disastrous! I’d probably have more readers if I did the Chicken Little thing, and droned on about the Apocalypse. But it ain’t gonna happen. The reality is much more prosaic: these are tough times, but they’re not the end of time. We’ll get through this, one way or another – the vast majority of us will, at any rate. I’ve suggested a few of these ways in the past . . .

What will trigger the next panic? With the May 27 alignment of Jupiter and Neptune remaining within a fractional degree of being exact all the way through the end of July – including the next (retrograde) alignment of these two planets on July 10 – it’s pretty much a sure thing that massive deficit spending aimed at stimulating the economy and the financial system will continue growing astronomically. I’ve already pointed out where this is headed, in my 2009 World Forecast Highlights:

. . . there’s a sobering irony in the pyramid on the reverse side of the US dollar bill: this currency used to be real, and now it’s a pyramid scheme. That wouldn’t matter much to the grand scheme of things if the dollar were merely the currency of a single nation, even a rich one like the United States. But it’s the international reserve currency, the major asset held in central banks around the world. National currencies have collapsed many times throughout history. Never before has there been a collapse of what amounts to a global currency. That’s what follows the Jupiter-Neptune triple conjunction of 2009, as the US prints more and more fiat currency in an attempt to spend its way out of recession. It works for a time, because demand destruction caused by hard times around the world will keep inflation under control at first. (This year’s Venus intersolar cycle heralds a brief bounce anyway.) But as the dollar is debased through government-directed capital spending and free-basing monetary policy, inflation begins to raise its head once more, wringing the last bit of savings out of the system. (Look at the interest you’re getting and tell me it isn’t true!)

The realization is growing around the world that dollar debasement is dragging the US toward national bankruptcy. Any move in that direction (e.g. a downgrade of US debt) could trigger an equities crash. Likewise any danger to President Obama - whose natal chart gets some alarming Mars activation in July, September and October, as noted in my 2009 World Forecast Highlights – could trigger a panic. (Not to mention the August lunar eclipse opposing the Sun and Saturn's transit over Mars in the President’s birth chart.) Speaking of Mars, the on-and-off September-October Mars alignments to various eclipse degrees hike the risk of military conflict (including terror attacks), putting everything a little more on edge. (This isn’t the big danger I’ve spoken about that comes at the end of 2009 into 2010, but it could be enough to start a panic.) My suspicion is that there won’t be one single cause, but a combination of factors that upsets the delicate balance between a stumbling economy and a collapsing one.

This kind of financial crisis will probably entail more than the usual number of "Freaky Fridays" I’ve been warning about for so long now – including the multiple bank closures in a single day that occurred on several Fridays in April and May. So far, so good . . . but what will we do if the bank that gets shut down on Friday doesn’t re-open the following Monday? Or would we prefer that the bank does re-open, even if the money is worth less with each passing day? (The latter is the choice our governments are making for us.) Frankly, I’m expecting both, before this is all done.

The Mercury intersolar cycle that began on April 26 (and included the May 7-31 retrograde) finally concludes when the little planet reaches its maximum elongation west of the Sun on June 13, the night of the Moon-Jupiter conjunction (just a couple days before Jupiter’s retrograde station). By way of background on this cycle, please see the relevant passage in my 2009 World Forecast Highlights. For now, I’ll simply mention that through the end of Mercury’s intersolar phase, you may as well plan on a higher than normal quota of strikes and other disruptions affecting transportation and communication (e.g. postal, phone, mass transit, trucking, airline, shipping, dock and warehouse workers, teachers and all manner of media). Weather both terrestrial and solar (including geomagnetic storms) can play a role in the kind of breakdowns described here, but human effort (and sometimes malicious action) is a part of the mix as well. Power failures due to infrastructure breakdown and computer network disruptions caused by hacker attacks, software vulnerabilities and the like are also just a crossed wire or a keystroke away from a major mess during Mercury’s intersolar phase. Make sure your security software is current and updated!

In this regard, President Obama launching a national cybersecurity initiative within a couple days of Mercury’s May 31 direct station, and on the very day of Neptune’s retrograde station (conjunct Jupiter) is very much on point. And since Jupiter and Neptune, as mentioned earlier, are within a fractional degree of exact alignment all month long, it’s a safe bet that cybercrime and cyberwarfare will remain a newsworthy topic throughout June . . . along with deficit financing, social engineering, health care, idealistic and religious themes and space science.

Mother Nature comes on strong this month, what with the first SuperMoon since January lining up in the sky on the 22nd, in the form of a new moon at 1° 30' Cancer – the first in a series of three new moon SuperMoons, in fact. Regulars know what this kind of alignment entails: "from extreme coastal tides to severe storms to powerful earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the entire natural world surges and spasms under the sway of the SuperMoon alignment - within three days either way of the exact syzygy, as a general rule." (For more, see my 2009 World Forecast Highlights.) This does not bode well for crops in the fields this month. Weather extremes seem poised to hurt yields, and consequently raise prices on foodstuffs at a time when most other prices are tending lower. Added incentive to stock the pantry with non-perishables if you can . . .

This particular SuperMoon alignment takes place on the same day the Moon reaches maximum declination north of the celestial equator: a combination that signifies an extreme lunation, with enhanced tidal pull on the atmosphere, oceans and crust of Planet Earth. Of course we should expect an upsurge in significant seismic and volcanic activity and strong storms with heavy precipitation and high winds, as well as unusual high tides during the June SuperMoon window, which extends from the 19th through the 25th.

As always, the June 22 SuperMoon is planetary in scope. Be prepared, wherever you are at the time, for extreme weather and tides, plus notable seismic activity (including volcanic eruptions and magnitude 5+ earthquakes). Amplified risk areas suggested by astro-locality mapping this event include a longitudinal zone through the Rocky Mountain range in the New World as well as through Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Russia in the Old. There’s also a horizon arc that sweeps northeasterly across South America from Peru to Venezuela and out into the Atlantic to graze the Canadian Maritimes and the southeast coast of Greenland; passing from there across northern Russia into Mongolia, China, Indochina, Indonesia and western Australia.

The June SuperMoon is probably the biggest geophysical stress signal of the month, but it’s far from the only one. Additional periods of higher than normal storm and seismic activity run from the 4th through the 10th (surrounding the full moon on the 7th and the lunar south declination maximum on the 8th); the 14th-17th (centering on the Moon’s northward crossing of the celestial equator on the 15th); and from late on the 26th into the 29th, bracketing the Moon’s southward crossing of the celestial equator on the 28th.

Where’s the harm in making sensible preparations for the June SuperMoon and the other geocosmic stressors this month? What's the worst that can happen, if the worst doesn't happen in the way of powerful storms, extreme tidal surges, and moderate to severe seismic activity? What’s wrong with having a few extra fresh batteries and candles, some extra bottled water and canned goods, maybe a full tank of gas and an evacuation bag packed just in case? (The US Department of Homeland Security has a detailed evacuation kit inventory that, to quote them, "could mean the difference between life and death".) And maybe you'll think twice about being in transit and more than usually vulnerable to the vagaries of weather hazards and delays during the indicated geocosmic stress windows. These may amount to only minor inconveniences, if nothing major happens. But they're the kind of sensible precautions that can make a big difference if the worst does come to pass. I can only call the dates of elevated risk. You have to make the decision, and take the action, to be prepared or not.

Last but far from least, I’m delighted to mention the Venus-Mars conjunction on the 21st, in the midst of this month’s SuperMoon window. Venus and Mars have been within a couple degrees of each other for a couple months, and finally get it together under the aegis of a near-simultaneous Sun-Pluto opposition and of course the ongoing Jupiter-Neptune conjunction. It doesn’t get more hedonistic and sensual than this, so don’t let it go to waste! I figure this one’s good to go at least from the 11th through the end of the month. A garden of earthly delights . . .

SPECIAL FEATURE: This month's birthdays of the famous and infamous (with astrological birth charts)