The concern is that as the dollar weakens, it becomes a less attractive investment for sources of foreign capital, which currently pour $2.6 billion dollars per day into the US. If these investors, some of the largest being the governments of China and Japan, decide to decrease their investment in dollars, the Federal Reserve will be forced to raise interest rates high enough to lure some of that capital back in. Higher interest rates will then place a strong downward drag on our vulnerable economy, as well as greatly exacerbate the already record-level debt of American consumers, possibly pushing many into bankruptcy. A downward economic spiral would then unfold in the US, while the world struggles to find a new fiscal homeostasis, most likely one that is far more reliant on the more stable and strengthening euro. The first step might well be a shift in the oil trade from dollars into euros.
In early September 2004, a brief moment of panic ensued among economic experts when foreigners did not show up, for the first time in recent history, at a routine sale of US Treasury bonds. They returned for their regular purchases the following month, but the unnerving memory lingers on. A recent statement by China that it was pulling back on its dollar investments instigated a sharp decline in the value of the dollar and the Stock Market, both of which rebounded the following day when China rescinded its report.
Predicting the ups and downs of the immensely complicated American economy is never a simple and straightforward matter. Using astrology, however, we can attempt to interpret some of the signposts along the way. I have been predicting for several months that the crossing of the US 8th house Mercury by Saturn, from September 2004 through May 2005, would cause a contraction (Saturn) of the US currency (8th house Mercury) and a loss of investment (8th house). On September 9th, when foreign sources of capital failed to buy US Treasury bonds, the first passage of Saturn across the US Mercury was 4 minutes past exact, with the Moon conjunct transiting Saturn that day acting as a trigger. In the meantime, oil prices were steadily rising, reaching $50 by mid-September, and it was announced that Medicare premiums had gone up by 17.5%.
The second passage of Saturn across US Mercury will be from December 28, 2004, through January 11, 2005. This is again likely to cause a significant contracting pressure on US currency, and it may be more severe than the first crossing due to the simultaneous action of some other aspects. The progressed US Moon will be square to natal US Saturn from mid-December through mid-January, suggesting that events may be in some way restrictive or upsetting for the American people. In addition, transiting Chiron will be crossing the Inaugural Midheaven from December 29 through January 14, suggesting some kind of crisis for the administration.
What is particularly interesting about this latter aspect, Chiron conjunct Inaugural Midheaven, is that it will be present for the 2005 Inauguration and thus will imprint itself on the entire second term of George Bush. In addition, Chiron will be three and a half degrees from the Sun in the 2005 Inaugural chart and exactly square to the Moon’s Nodes. Thus, the Chiron/Midheaven/Sun conjunction square the Nodes in the coming Inaugural chart will describe one of the dominating themes of Bush’s second term.
In Greek mythology, Chiron was a centaur who had been abandoned by his mother and subsequently trained by his foster father, Apollo, in the arts of healing. During a battle between the centaurs and Hercules, Chiron received a wound from a poisoned arrow that never healed, causing him pain for the rest of his life. In astrology, Chiron is known as the “Wounded Healer” and introduces the theme of painful wounds or crises that lead to awareness and the possibility for constructive, compensatory action in response. The wound itself really never heals, but it can lead to positive results in the urge to overcome the pain.
This extraordinarily strong Chiron placement in the 2005 Inaugural chart suggests that there will be some kind of “wounding” or perhaps a series of crises (wounds) that create limitations and that block the goals and ambitions of the second Bush administration. With Chiron first hitting the Inaugural Midheaven (of the 2001 chart) in early January during the Saturn transit to US Mercury, it seems possible that the first half of January will contain some element of wounding that will go forth to haunt the second term. It may well be that the economic conditions created by the blindness and obstinacy of the first Bush term may harvest some painful results or a crisis that become a “wound” that hampers the second Bush term. In addition, Iraq is another fertile ground for speculation about wounds that may create a permanent hobbling of Bush’s next four years. But however it plays out, it would seem that with this inordinately predominate Chiron in the 2005 Inaugural chart, we will see an administration that is crippled in some way, struggling mightily to compensate for its difficulties, and only able to really move forward by admitting to its mistakes and letting go of its arrogance and ideological blindness which caused the “wounds” in the first place.
To get an idea of how progressions and transits play out with such tight natal aspects so that the natal aspects continue to influence the unfolding life described by the chart, it is useful to look at the Chiron-related progressions and transits in the Inaugural chart. Using 12:02 PM for the coming Inaugural chart, the conjunction of Chiron and the Midheaven is separated by 41 minutes of arc. (This figure may vary if the swearing-in is a bit earlier or a bit later.) Using secondary progression movement, the Midheaven will wax in its conjunction to Chiron during the first 8 months of the term, at which point it will be exact, around September 2005. This 8-month period will show us the meaning of the Chiron Midheaven conjunction and how it may indicate some frustration for Bush’s second term ambitions.
Transiting Chiron will be conjunct the Inaugural Sun three times: 2/15 -3/3/05; 7/1 – 7/17/05; and 12/1 – 12/15/05. The transit of Chiron to the Inaugural Sun will manifest the struggles of the chief executive (Bush) against some kind of external difficulty. These three periods may signify some kind of crisis and realignment of Bush’s goals in response. The first, being accompanied by Jupiter conjunct Bush’s Jupiter/Moon conjunction, may be drowned out by some positive events in other areas and a general mood of bravado, unbridled optimism, and arrogance. The second transit, in July 2005, will be accompanied by Saturn opposite the Inaugural Sun and followed by Uranus square Inaugural Moon and opposite Bush’s Mars. It will likely bring some significant events and a potential crisis for the administration. The third, in December 2005, will also likely be difficult for Bush since it will be accompanied by the transit of Saturn to his Pluto/ Mercury conjunction.
During the final 18 months of Bush’s second term we find: tertiary progressed Inaugural Chiron conjunct Inaugural Sun from April 2007 through July 2008; solar arc Inaugural Chiron conjunct Inaugural Sun from July 2007 through July 2008; and solar arc Inaugural Saturn opposite Inaugural Chiron from November 2007 through November 2008. All of these various and overlapping time periods are potential times when a significant crisis or breakdown may impact the administration, impeding its ambitions, and forcing awareness and a need to proceed differently then planned. They will be accompanied by transiting Uranus opposite Inaugural Mars from April 2007 through February 2008, suggesting anger and aggression from an embattled administration, and transiting Uranus square US Mars from April 2008 through February 2009, suggesting the possibility of some military confrontation or otherwise aggressive confrontation by the US against a perceived opponent.
As mentioned in my previous article, Saturn is also very strongly placed in the 2005 Inaugural chart, as well as in the coming transits to Bush’s natal chart for the next few years. Saturn generally brings increased burdens and responsibilities and tends to be extremely difficult when one has not been disciplined and humble. A path of arrogance and irresponsibility generally leads to painful Saturn transits during which limitations are finally enforced. Chiron, on the other hand, seems to bring painful experiences that force a regrouping and an awareness that can potentially be very creative, although the wound itself may never be resolved. It does not necessarily derive from one’s own lack of discipline nor can it be resolved simply by hard work, but it does offer the possibility of an unexpected and very creative path. The story of how these two will interweave in the next few years has not yet been told, but it will clearly be a hard slog for George Bush and his administration, and the learning curve will need to be quite steep. The current grandiose and much heralded ambitions for the second Bush term will see many twists, turns, and obstacles, and much is likely to be left by the wayside. A distinctly different mood will be hitting the administration by late January 2005, and it will not resemble the adrenaline rush of earlier times.
