20061221

Planetary gearshifting, part seven:
America vs. The Orbiting Lord
of the Underworld

What follows is an excerpt from a compelling piece in Vanity Fair, but the astronomical placements are all off. Pluto, for example, has just entered Sagittarius -- it won't be leaving that constellation and transiting through Capricorn for several years, which is one of the central aspects of Lutin's article.

My New Moon/New Year wish is that Western astrologers will become more familiar with astronomy and precession of the equinoxes. Then, forecasts like Lutin's might offer more insight and relevance.



"Pluto in Capricorn is going to change America from the inside out, threaten our very existence, challenge our economy, and divide the country politically. The government is going to be so paranoid during those years that it doesn't really matter who gets in in 2008.

"Pluto in Capricorn means the ascendance into overt power of corporations in relation to the government. But that situation will change when Pluto enters Aquarius, at the end of the 2020s.

"Uranus in Aries is going to be the 1960s all over again. The greatest time of upheaval will be between 2015 and 2019, when the square of Uranus in Aries to Pluto in Capricorn will create the seeds of revolution everywhere. Forces of repression are going to clamp down even harder on those who want to speak their minds.

"Then, in the years 2023–25, the final stages of the Pluto return and the Capricorn effect will reach a climax. Some astrologers believe that an empire lasts no longer than one Pluto cycle, and by 2025 this cycle will be played out. And no matter how you look at it, the U.S.A. is an empire.

"Just as the British Empire began enduring sunsets after the fledgling colonies won their independence, our turn may be coming. The Pluto return of 2025 will demand a redefinition of the United States and create the ultimate identity crisis. We will have to put ourselves on the line, as we did in the 1770s."

This was the sixth gearshift.