But there is another holiday that has grown in modern times as a sort of secular cousin to the Solstice Festival. This is the New Year celebration that circles the globe on January 1 in those countries that use the Western calendar. At the stroke of midnight in these many nations, the New Year is born, and within that birth moment may be seen the seed characteristics for the coming year.
In every January 1st New Year chart, the Sun is around 10 degrees of Capricorn and falls close to the nadir (known as the IC) of the chart, the place in the chart where the Sun will always be found at midnight. Depending on the longitude and latitude of the city for which the chart is drawn, the Sun's nearness to the IC can vary by several degrees, but the Sun degree itself may vary only up to one degree. Thus, a strong planetary aspect to the 10 degree Capricorn Sun in the New Year chart may be experienced in some measure by all of the countries that celebrate the New Year on January 1st. It is noteworthy that during some of the most difficult and devastating years of the 20th Century - 1915 and1916, 1930, and 1944 and1945 - Saturn has repeatedly (through retrograde motion) crossed either conjunct or opposite the New Year chart Sun.
Those nations for whom the Sun additionally falls very close to the MC/IC axis and for whom a strong planetary aspect therefore contacts both the Sun and the meridian axis, will experience such an aspect more intensively. This will be especially true if the transiting planet retrogrades back and forth across the degree of the Sun and the meridian axis during the course of the year.
In many cases, the meridian axis falls close to a 90-degree angle to the horizon line in the chart. When this happens, any planetary aspect that hits the meridian axis will also aspect the horizon line (the Ascendant/Descendant axis). Such an aspect will have a tremendously powerful impact because it will affect the Sun, MC/IC axis, and the Ascendant/Descendant axis.
An example of this comes with the New Year chart for Berlin, Germany on January 1, 1945. Here we find the Midheaven at 8 Cancer, conjunct Saturn at 7 Cancer, opposite the Sun at 10 Capricorn, and both planets in square to Neptune conjunct the Ascendant at 6 Libra. During the most crucial months of defeat - March and April 1945 - Saturn, the planet of loss and grief, squared the Ascendant/Neptune, recrossed its own place and the MC, and opposed the Sun in the New Year chart. During much of the summer and fall of that year, Neptune, the planet of confusion and chaos, recrossed the Ascendant.
In the Washington, DC New Year chart of the same year, we find Jupiter very close to the Ascendant square to Mars a few degrees from the IC. The angular planets in this chart, Mars and Jupiter, are much more indicative of victory and success. The Saturn/Sun/Neptune T square is still in the chart, suggesting a painful year for much of the world, but the significant angular planets point to a very different outcome than what was experienced in Germany.
The year 1930 was a time of great sorrow and difficulty for America. This was the first year of the Great Depression which followed the Stock Market crash of October 1929. In the New Year chart for 1930 we find a Venus (1 Capricorn), Mars (2 Capricorn), Saturn (3 Capricorn), Sun (10 Capricorn), and IC (7 Capricorn) conjunction square Uranus on the Descendant (both at 7 Aries). During the course of the year, Saturn squared the Ascendant and crossed the IC and the Sun three times. It was terrible year with an increasingly dismal economic situation, widespread hunger, and increasing unemployment.
An example of a difficult New Year chart where there is no involvement of the angles comes with the chart for January 1, 1861, the year the Civil War began. Here we find the Moon (3 Virgo) conjunct Saturn (9 Virgo) square to Venus (9 Sagittarius) and square to Uranus (9 Gemini). Retrograde Saturn moved to a stationary conjunction with the Moon from late March through late May 1861, including the beginning of the war on April 12. The infamous and devastating battle of Bull Run on July 21 occurred just as transiting Saturn returned to square Venus. The pain and sorrow of the first year of the American Civil War can thus be seen by the natal hard aspects of Saturn to the ruler of the MC (Moon) and the ruler of the Ascendant (Venus), both triggered during the course of the year by transiting Saturn. The Moon and Venus are also indicators of the emotional pulse of the people and are very susceptible to the distressing energy of Saturn.
As we move to our own time, the chart for the 2003 New Year again demonstrates the significance and sensitivity of the angles. Although Saturn was far from the Midheaven in the January 1, 2003 chart, by August it had moved to conjunct the MC and oppose the New Year Sun. During the period of the Saturn transit, we had the power blackout in the Northeast US, the bombing of the UN in Iraq, and a brutal suicide bombing in Jerusalem. The latter two events, which came on the same day, caused a wave of worldwide sorrow and hopelessness (Saturn) over two intractable problems: the situation in Iraq and the ongoing struggle in Israel.
As Saturn returned to an opposition with the 2003 New Year Sun around Christmas, we were deluged with terror alerts, canceled airplane flights, and the absolutely devastating earthquake in Iran. The New Year 2004 chart then took hold at midnight on January 1, 2004, locking Sun/Saturn opposition into the birth chart for the entire upcoming year.
The birth chart for the New Year 2004 is a particularly difficult chart, and those difficulties will be made manifest most acutely during the first 5 months of the year. There is a T-square involving Saturn (9 Cancer), the Sun (10 Capricorn), and Mars (9 Aries), that will be experienced by all nations using the Western calendar, suggesting that the year will be a harsh one world-wide in many ways. The countries where this T-square falls very close to the angles in such a way that Saturn will cross and recross the Midheaven and square the Ascendant are: the US, Britain, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. These are the nations to watch for particularly trying times in the months January through May, when Saturn’s harshest impact will be felt.
The New Year charts for the US, Britain, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan suggest onerous, burdensome, painful experiences (Saturn/MC) weighing down and frustrating the indigenous goals of these countries (the Sun/IC). Mars sitting on the Descendant, the point of open enemies or partners, suggests open warfare with enemies and likely criticism from friends or partners. The Midheaven is also indicative of the government, as is the Sun. And so, angry criticism of the government and possibly violent protest is included in this picture. Because we are looking at a T-square, the energy is never really balanced. War and incendiary attacks (Mars) cause problems and difficulties and do not go as planned. There is a sense of constant disruption and struggle. The most frustrating and harsh times will be when Saturn crosses the MC and squares the Ascendant and then returns to recross the Sun and square Mars. In the US New Year chart, this covers the entire period from January 16 through May 14, 2004.
It is also likely that periods of particular violence against any one of these nations could be unleashed by an intensification of Mars in the New Year chart. This will be particularly true in April and May 2004. The Jupiter station will be quincunx the New Year Mars from April 5 through May 21, 2004. Transiting Mars will cross the MC, oppose the Sun, square the Ascendant, and square Mars in the New Year chart from May 16 to May 23, 2004. In the US chart, stimulating the same April and May period with intensified aggression, anger and violence, we find retrograde Pluto waxing in its second opposition to US Mars, peaking around May 23. April 22 through May 4, 2004, will be particularly dangerous, with the Mercury station trine Pluto, and Mars and Venus opposed to Pluto. May 15 through May 23 will also be a potentially violent and perilous time, especially for aggressive action from the US.
In astrology, similar predictions can often be made using different techniques. In previous articles, I have discussed the Pluto station opposite US Mars during the January through May 2004 period as a time of intensified engagement with a ferocious enemy and a generally turbulent period. I have also noted that the general period from June 2003 through early 2005, due to the enormous amount of Saturn influence in the US chart and George Bush’s chart, is likely to bring failed policies, scandals, and intractable problems for the country and its leadership. The 2004 New Year chart can be seen to confirm these predictions using an entirely different technique. The period from mid-January through May is likely to be immensely challenging and painful, and the general tone of the year is one of difficulty, burden, and struggle with enemies. Although the December 2003 and January 2004 timeframe seems to be bringing some success and increased popularity to George Bush due to a strong Jupiter and Venus influence previously discussed, I feel this is a temporary reprieve. In February and March, and more dramatically by late May and early June 2004, the consequences of the Resident’s blighted policies will become ever clearer. As the 2004 New Year unfolds and its inherent struggles and misfortunes become manifest, George Bush will be crushed under the weighty robes of Empire.
