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.
Focus on your future, rather than on the past.
-- Gary Ryan Blair
The Mars Maximum cycle that began during the last week of September looms larger and larger in the sky, and in the flow of life this month. It builds to a crescendo at the end of January, as the Red Planet makes its close approach to Earth. You should know what to look for: haste, heat, fire, danger and conflict literally and figuratively are more and more on the rise during the Mars Maximum that holds sway from now into late May, 2010.
The Mars Maximum now underway began the same day (September 23) that the US, Great Britain and France exposed and denounced Irans secret nuclear facility to which Iran responded within days by launching a barrage of ballistic missiles in what was termed an exercise unrelated to the nuclear program controversy. Clearly, these Mars Maximum cycles promise saber-rattling and threaten worse. And since this one specifically ties in with the chronology of Irans challenge to the West over nuclear weaponry, we can infer that this conflict will only intensify this month, and for months to come. However it would be short sighted to assume that this will be the only arena of elevated tension and conflict, the kind of atmosphere that cultivates inflamed passions, hot tempers and rash, even violent action - of the criminal and military type, from terrorist atrocities to large scale military conflict.
Bear in mind that this isnt just happening out there in the heavens or in the sphere of geopolitics. This is also taking place within us and in the people around us. This is a time to be safety conscious, to rein in the animal spirits within and channel them productively rather than letting them loose on anyone who gets your goat. If people are cranky, if youre short tempered too, realize that this is just the nature of the time/space field for now, and do your best to ride it out with as little drama and damage as possible. And realize too that this has months yet to go, so get a grip.
Look for the first week of November for evidence of this Mars trend, what with the Red Planet coming off its October 29 square from the Sun and November 2 square from Mercury (under a full Moon that makes a T-square pattern with Mars at the focal midpoint); not to mention the Moon-Mars conjunction on the 9th. The new moon on the 16th reprises the Red Planet theme, coming within days of the Venus-Mars square on the 19th. There being a combination of factors at work here (Venus squaring Jupiter tying Mars into a T-square), there ought to be plenty of Mars stuff making headlines through the end of the month.
Has the downturn in equity markets finally come? Im mystified that it didnt kick in earlier, but there are so many moving parts to take into account . . . I still expect there to be a "W or double-W" recovery curve, which ultimately takes equities into a second down-leg. With the Fed ginning up money and thereby devaluing the dollar, the equities have to go up just to keep pace. If they dont, we have a stagnation if not a drop in absolute prices, along with a simultaneous decline in relative value. Its not a question of if, its a question of when. And with Neptune remaining in the degree of its November 4 direct station all month long, and Uranus likewise being with a degree of its December 1 direct station point all month, the wonder is that it hasnt already begun.
Mayhem and fiscal insanity aside, there are also the ongoing storm and seismic risks associated with the November geophysical stress windows heralding strong storms with damaging winds and heavy precipitation, as well as moderate to severe (magnitude 5+) earthquakes and volcanic activity. These I figure to be in full force as the month gets underway, and through the 8th under a combination of factors (including the full moon on the 2nd, plus the Moons north declination extreme on the 5th and perigee on the 7th). Another batch kicks in on the 11th and runs through the 19th (centering within a few days either side of the new moon on the 16th). And finally, there are the risk windows due on the 22nd and 26th, and from the 29th into early December.
In closing, dont forget those "Freaky Fridays" this month the day US regulators seize failing banks. I know its fashionable to believe that the so-called "Great Recession" the longest US economic downturn since official statistics were kept is over or nearly over. But what I see, as Ive said before, looks like a "W or double-W" recovery curve. Septembers Saturn-Uranus opposition and Pluto direct station look like a convincing reversal point in the first up-leg of the W even though the major equity markets didnt notice much (or for very long) at the time. Take the US economy, for example: even with the federal stimulus programs that have propped up the residential real estate and auto sales figures lately, the commercial real estate and credit markets are on life support and unemployment continues to rise. The foundations have taken another hit, even though the façade still looks pretty good.
Bear in mind, as Ive been saying for years now, this isnt the end of the world nor is it even a sudden collapse. But it is the settling of the soufflé, and theres still a lot of that settling yet to go on our way to a brave new world of global finance and geopolitical power.
SPECIAL FEATURE: This month's birthdays of the famous and infamous (with astrological birth charts)
