Panic and Investment
The word "panic" is derived from the Greek god Pan, who dwelled in a dark and doorless cave, implying that the god resides in the most inaccessible realm of the unconscious. Only crisis can break through the wall into his secret chamber. He amused himself by giving the lonely traveler sudden frights, thus the universal association. He was despised by the other gods, but they enjoyed exploiting his powers. Apollo wheedled the art of prophecy from him, and Hermes copied a pipe from Pan claiming it as his own invention, then sold it to Apollo. Thus the brilliant sun god received both his music and his prophecy from the ugly and untamed god of nature.
Is it all wrong? Or is it all right? I can only fiddle with the details of my own life, correcting them as I go, assuming that the larger entity over which I have no control is correcting itself. And so another stock market panic has come, and as history determines, a correction is due in time. What's wrong seems to fix itself.
I have a South Node in Scorpio in the 7th house, and I withdrew all my money from the stock market because I'm learning not to merge with others this lifetime.
But most people have to learn that and Pluto, Scorpio, and the 8th house govern shared resources -- stocks, bonds, business merging, and all assorted investments. When bonded in this manner, an emotional and sexual aspect is included, and shared joy and panic is often the result. Greed, lust, ecstasy, agony loss, gain, decay, and growth are all part and parcel of the thing.
I think panic can be a temporary benefit as a bridge to necessary action but beyond the initial burst it probably becomes destructive. With Pluto ending in Sagittarius and Uranus in Pisces coming into opposition to Saturn, panic is the rage, even for the uninvested. The full moon in Pisces conjunct Uranus set off the Uranus-Neptune mutual reception as well, and this could mean that some of the fears are ungrounded. Not that they aren't needed as awakening, and of course, some are valid.
Pluto is coming into Capricorn, ruling the established financial systems, so this is largely what the next years are going to be concerned with. A reckoning with all kinds of group investments. Pluto brings the detritus to the surface but at the same time the healthy replacement is woven into the whole. So while some suffer great loss, others grow and gain as with all circumstance.
You can see that quite well with the passage of Pluto through Sagittarius. Culture and holy wars brought up decay, but all the while remedial acts were underway. The result is evidenced by the control and diminishing of the Catholic Church, the revolution set into motion in the Islamic world, and by the advances in American culture seen in the emergence of the first minority candidate for the presidency in history.
So panic is nudging the nation into the next phase, and how that goes remains to be seen. There are some interesting facts to consider.
Barack Obama has Scorpio on the natural Capricorn 10th house cusp, so his destiny is well connected to this kind of merging and transformation. It is most evident in his huge magnificently run campaign, including his fundraising ability and his expert management of the money. Most investors are satisfied with how he spends their money, and the group particiption of workers at ground level is creating enormous power and energy in its consolidation. All Saturn-Pluto. It's likely that this skill will be extremely beneficial in tackling the challenges ahead with Pluto in Capricorn, and as I said earlier, his Saturn in Capricorn conjuncts US Pluto.
Also there's Joe Biden with his four Scorpio planets, Sun-Venus exactly conjunct Barack's midheaven. A reform of the system is a possibility. Behind the scenes are legislators who are eager to participate in such a transformation, perhaps preparing a new government for the first Pluto return.
When FDR came into office to deal with the Depression, Uranus was in Aries for innovation and when it went into Taurus, a lot of the problems were solved. He had four planets in Taurus square an Aquarius stellium so he was the man of the time delivering practical financial solutions to the collective. In ten years Uranus will be in Taurus again trine Pluto in Capricorn. It will be interesting to see who the leader is then.
One good thing at present is Joe Biden's Moon in Taurus, an innate feel for money and it's use. I think he'll be a good model of reasonable money management, considering he has about the least amount of wealth of anyone in Congress, living simply with values like ordinary people in the country. This could be part of the preparation in developing a more modest approach to consumption and investment in the coming years.
The thing I like about that bestial scary Pan is his key to the unconscious cave where frightful crisis strikes, then leads to the enlightenment of Apollo. No matter than the pipe was stolen. You know you can't trust that sprite Hermes. He's good at commerce though.
From The Mythic Tarot: Liz Greene. Illustration: Juliet Sharman-Burke
posted by jm at 1:22 AM
16 Comments:
No other plantary analysis needed than to consider that Neptune in those times (1792-1806)was transiting Scorpio:
Jefferson, at war with Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury in G.Washington's Government, said, working at ousting his collegue:
"To spend money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding" (today, September 2008 would be more exactly to salvage what you still can) "IS BUT SWINDLING FUTURITY ON A LARGE SCALE" so far for Neptune and today's situation and Jefferson then...
I think one can certainly try, but I have my doubts as to whether or not the future really can be cheated. That's assuming a lot of power. And history sort of disproves it over time.
I have a limited view of human power. Survival continues with alarming strength so the future must be solvent enough to ensure it.
Interesting thing though. With Pluto in Capricorn I think it's possible that the Hamilton government-business model might be revisited in contrast to Jefferson's.
Hope you don't mind a complete and utter digression, but I've been wondering alot about patriotism, its definition and how it seems to mean different things to different people. The GOP signs that say "Country First" seem to mock me. How do the candidates charts' reflect this? i.e., I didn't feel patriotic after 9-11.. didn't feel compelled to wear a flag pin, like so many. I felt compassion and sorrow, yes..but not pride in country. On the other hand, when I went to see a space shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral last year, I wept for the possibilities for my country. I felt proud. Is patriotism reflected by strong Uranus? Jupiter? Saturn? What?
Hi JM, completely agree with your vieuw that the future can not be cheated, and that humans (as probably bees an ants etc.), do not really master their destinies. And they never will. If it where so, the universe (or at least this planet of ours) would be iniundated by millions of little devils.
By the way is that the reason you show a picture of Pan today? You truly have good taste (talking of the picture, not of the devil, of course).
Do you know why "The Horned God" of the pagans was called Lucifer?
His sign (Capricorn) starts when (at leat in the Northern Hemisphere) the days start getting longer.
That's why the catholic church (expert in human affairs as she can be - worth reading Luke XVin this respect), "jumped onto the pagan "Saturnalia - festivities" and transformed them into what today we celebrate as Christmas, Moose - pulled sled included!
Incidently, and that's where one can understand why Galileo Galileu was almost burned on the shaffot, his theories, astronomical (but in those times astrology was closely linked, as it should be), would have proven, to whom wanted to know, that J.C. was born in spring and certainly not during the shortest days of the year.
May explain why the Brits (Stonehenge) an the French (Celts as well in their origin) have a somewhat critical or special relationship with the more latino - type Catholics. But that's another story.
Loved to see that your Pan is not without any means, holding, I suppose simbolically, Adam and Eve by the strings!
Should not forget astrology in all this: You choose to show this for the least unexpected picture of Pan when Jupiter in Capricorn received trine aspects by Lua and Saturn, exactly. Just had an insight, so wanted to tell you...
Have to imediatelly correct what I said just before about the special abilities of what has become today's Vatican: It's not Luke XV (sorry for the typo), but Luke XVI, the only chapter of the bible which I remember by heart.
(Was some entity trying to trouble my otherwise, at least I believe, clear thinking?)
At the risk of being invasif to JM's blog (don't even know him? or her? but I appreciate the opportunity), and having a spare minute, I will give my "answer" to the very intruiging question which "Anonimous" asked about PATRIOTISM:
1)Astrologically speaking its a matter of Houses X and IV, I think.
2)I am Swiss, born there to a true alpine patriot father (and mother)(God bless them as you say so nicely in America!) during WW II, in mid April 1943.
My old man spent the best 4 years of his life, age-wise that is, dressed in white, white skiis and armament etc. in the bitter cold preventing the Axis (Hitler/Mussolini) from crossing the Alps.
What my father (and most of the Swiss army then, did not know, was that teir very own government (not that it was not democratic!) let the fascists of that time use in permanence the Gotthard tunnel, direct link between Germany and Italy, troughout the war. That's why at a certain stage my paternal grandfather, not in the army, but master of the local railway station, was almost killed by an american bomb. (Must be that you guys had realized that someone of the opposite side was using so-to-say-clandestinally our railways...)
When at high school I found out about all that, only because our history professor was leaning to "the left", my then well indoctrinated "patriotism" received a little shock. (I am, because of that still today the "black sheep" in my Swiss family. So what, now I live in Brazil).
3)Patriotism must have always existed, even with the nomads. In their case, according to glaciations or seasons, the frontiers of their territory where more flexible (the origin of wars???)
Now to the word: patriotism, patria etc: Pater = father. Patria (in Latin) however is in the feminin! Is it that those "manipulators" in Rome (not the Vatican, this time, but well before), had detected some sentimental link (your experience, Anonymous, while whatching that space craft taking off), with "mother earth".
So, ingenuously, a "magic word" or "power word" came into existence: Patria, Father and Mother in one concept!
Now we must talk astrology: You are apparently American, dear Anonymous (after all why anonymous, are you afraid of your own shadow?).
Father is related to Midheaven, Mother to House IV.
Since years I am using what I consider the "true horoscope" of the U.S.A. , Philadelphia, July 6, 1775, 11 AM LMT.
Using this chart, Sun was at 22:40 Gemini, in X. House IV in Sagittarious, containing Pluto, but in Capricorn already.
What the Americans I happen to know (must be some 300), practically all good patriots (better than I for certain) indicate(d) to me was or is a clear link to Sun in Gemini in X:
Alert, mercurial (its all $, almost), intelligent, loving (patriotism) their origin, and expansive. Thats because of the corrolary of Gemini, Sagittarious, occupying, being your House IV, the mother! America has never tried to dominate the world, as a male (father) may have tried to do. No, in my vieuw the U.S.A. have a tendency, (sometimes obnoxious) to "mother" the world.
That's where it get's complicated, very much so, when oil or arms deals get into the way at the same time. But who is perfect?
Hope JM will pardon me for having used all this space of his/her's, but the question was a stimulating one indeed!
I would love to get out of the stock market, since I personally think the stock market is nothing but a mass hallucination. It galls me that my employer practically mandates 401k retirement funds. It seems to me that we can amass all this "retirement wealth" but it's imaginary, just like actually currency these days. For all we know, the rules will change somewhere down the line and then they'll say, "Oh this no longer applies. You're outta luck." All those imaginary earnings that you could have done something with, poof, gone.
And the bailout of AIG to the tune of $85 billion? Nothing but fiat currency, or money that is created out of thin air, by the Federal Reserve, which is a private bank, and not part of the federal government. A bunch of greedy bankers, as always, driving this madhouse on wheels.
I completely agree joe about the illusion. I still adhere to my principle; "If I don't have the cash in my pocket, I don't buy it". We've been herded into this thing for a long time and I think many people are going to re-think their finances.
I always felt extremely uncomfortable about the stock market and when I got out it changed my life, being so relieved to be free of that bondage and the emotional roller coaster.
It used to be different. A more sound investment with guaranteed return. Then the day trading took off and it became theater of the absurd.
I couldn't stand giving my money to others to make more money while I got crumbs or lost. So out I went. Easy money is always a temptation though, so there's lot of work ahead. Everyone's greedy. The bankers are the symbol.
The only plus maybe, is the newly printed money leading to inflation which will reduce consumption. All ahead as Pluto transits Capricorn.
Blaming the system is easy, but taking charge of one's self is the more difficult and rewarding choice. I think some feel like suckers at this point and that's never pleasant. But greed is one of the most ancient problems we all have to face. Pan, panic, Saturn, the devil, human nature, and the near future. I think we'll eventually have to change the way we do business.
A bunch of greedy bankers, as always, driving this madhouse on wheels.
I think the real driver is elsewhere.
Anon, that's such a great question about patriotism. Pride comes under the influence of Leo and the Sun but I think patriotism might be more complicated than that. Cancer is associated with tribal belonging and maybe fear and protection are part of patriotism. Attachment to home and need for parenting. My rulership book says Mars is the influence.
I didn't feel patriotic after 9-11 either but I do feel proud of my country's achievements, and the same urge to make this place good as I feel about making my home a reflection of my pride in self. I know when my relatives come to my home-town I want them to like it and I feel great when they do. I chose the place, though, so it's an extension of me in that respect. But it's really the same urge that makes a person want to have the finest yard on the block, I think, and the most beautiful well-behaved children. It runs deep, maybe to ancient ancestral/clan feelings.
I think maybe a strong Jupiter would reflect the specific feelings of patriotism and any tendency to sing the praises of, well, just about anything.
So it could be a combo of pride in the self and fear that makes people stick together and proclaim love of country.
Every country is unique and people identify in varying degrees with the special qualities of homeland. Many belittle patriotism but it's a natural urge to be proud of place and culture. "Country first" baffles me though. And the idea of killing and dying for country is beyond my grasp, except for real reasons of defense when natural survival mechanisms kick in.
McCain and the Republicans I think just use the concept for political gain, so I can't really tell whether or not he really feels that way.
I believe Obama does truly love this place even though he struggles to find his place and roots. He has moon in the 4th house which shows an attachment to home, lots of Leo for pride, but a non-combative Mars in Virgo which doesn't associate war with honor and pride. I do think he's sincere about his American story and dream ideas. His Kansas roots are deeply American.
McCain has Mars in Leo which might lean more toward identification with military might, but he's so psychologically weird, it's hard to tell anything about him. Very confused with the Saturn in Pisces opposite Neptune. And paranoid. He doesn't seem pleased about suffering for his country. Maybe he feels he's owed something. I don't know.
It seems for some loud screaming patriots it's not love of country at all, but misplaced frustration, hate, and fear.
I do know I felt incredibly proud when I saw the crowd at Mile High supporting Obama's nomination. A lot of people felt it. So we seem to be wired for the group feeling of belonging to place, and I know that many still feel it despite their country's grave mistakes.
It's a larger expression of love, loyalty, and belief in redemption. I think people are re-visiting it with Obama's nomination and separating patriotism from the traditional displays.
So interesting. The crash and understanding of wrong-doing juxtaposed with Obama and once again being admired by the world because of him. Very complicated. I think the ability to feel good about one's country comes back to feeling good about one's self. Some, of course, feel less attachment than others, but way down deep, I'm not so sure.
Patriotism must have always existed, even with the nomads. In their case, according to glaciations or seasons, the frontiers of their territory where more flexible (the origin of wars???)
One of my theories is that the advent of agriculture led to warfare as we know it today when land became a commodity, products were stockpiled, and protection of assets and territory changed with the sedentary lifestyle. And yes, the frontiers were less flexible, becoming less so as populations increased. Rigidity mounts, fear mounts, possession mount, agility decreases, and warfare rises as survival includes invasion and theft. Tribal differences are also magnified in the increasing aggregations. The evolutionary reasons for this are what I'm working on.
Hunters and gathers could move quickly to escape danger, while those burdened with possessions became bogged down with the weight. Nomads seem to be in-between.
So the collection of commodities symbolized by the "stock" market triggers fear based on acquisition, not natural enemies. Then it seems that more acquisition mistakenly equals more protection.
Another theory I read suggested that man was once preyed upon and the ancient memory turned him into a predator with no natural enemy. Thus the violent aggressive impulse searches for its mark. Perhaps evolution will diminish the aggression. But violent warfare is all throughout the natural world, man and animal. An army of ants is probably more destructive than one of men.
Good point. Patriotism could have arisen as man associated himself with place.
So, ingenuously, a "magic word" or "power word" came into existence: Patria, Father and Mother in one concept!
Also interesting and makes sense. That would put it on the 4th-10th axis, the major supporting beam. Very good thought that this beam includes both genders especially at the top. It always intrigued me that Capricorn is feminine yet the father. Sometimes the tribalism of female Cancer is even more destructive.
If you take the major cross. We start with ultra male Aries, then to ultra female Cancer, male but really in-between in Libra, then a real mix in Capricorn.
Pater-patriotism-Motherland. Or just a place to put love and longing.
America has never tried to dominate the world, as a male (father) may have tried to do. No, in my vieuw the U.S.A. have a tendency, (sometimes obnoxious) to "mother" the world.
That's where it get's complicated
This could be. Yet the NN in Leo speaks of a more male role eventually. The last attempt at conquest and empire building seemed way out of character.
Interesting. The invasion of Iraq came when Saturn was in Cancer indicating the mother role in protecting people, so it was stated. Then it morphed into a story of conquest as Saturn transited Leo. That didn't go so well. Now with Saturn in Virgo, the fix is the story, but that still leaves the country with a confused role in the world. As Pluto opposes the mothering Cancer stellium, fascinating things could develop.
Part of the mothering is the taking in of immigrants and I wonder if that will have to be controlled as Pluto transits Capricorn.
Over at http://www.astrobarry.com/2008/sep1808.php there's a good article on "money magick."
Cheers!
Why does history "travel westwards"? This phenomenon, well known by historians, is of actuality now that one of your candidates (for VP, but only one heartbeat away...) is from Alaska and Obama was born in Hawaii.
It strikes me that this is one of the differences "in the atmosphere" of this election. Lots of tiredness regarding Washington D.C. and now for sure N.Y. as well. Giuliany, Hillary, Lieberman, none of them got much enthousiasm for representing "New York", the East.
And then comes one of my favourite, frivolous, but so often true rule: "never 3 without 2", as the French often say.
It started with "scorpionic" Richard Nixon, then for second came radiant Ronald Reagan and now, let's see!
P.S. Looking further out to 2012, if Schwarzenegger is thinking he could one day walk on RR's trail, he must by now have realized that to be a good President, the best assets to have is charisma and the second humor, but these are assets one does not acquire.
CORRECTION: In my yestereday's comment I mentioned "the true horoscope of the U.S.A. (July 6, 1775, 11 LMT (a.m.) Philadelphia PA. I forgot to say that I am using the SIDERAL HOROSCOPE, not the tropical.
The difference is considerable in that the Sun is in Gemini and in house X. Corresponds perfectly well with my knowledge of your country and what so far I could observe with Americans and their specific patriotism; (only to remember the phantastic response you gave to the Sputniks by sending your man to the Moon). I quote for anyone interestd in these technicalities Helen M. Boyd, author of a fascinating book about the controversial varieties of maps of the US which float around: "The Sideral Gemini Sun in the 10th house is indicative of what the US hopes is her place among the family of nations: always the first, always to lead rhe way!"
Her book ISBN: 0-88231-007-0.
Since JM cares so much about esthetics in his blog, whish to contribute by being precise (you have already to cope with my english and my typos, thanks for your understanding)
jm's blog has high and ethical standards, indeed. :o)
Ordinarily I would say Schwarzenegger would be ineligible to run for president because he was not born in this country, but since he was elected governer despite that, *and* the flap over Obama's and McCain's birthplaces, it wouldn't surprise me if eventually that requirement were "eased" as the Republicans like to say.
I see patriotism as a vehicle for other ideals, generally, whereas nationalism is the limit of many people's ability to love.
"Give me liberty or give me death" was one man's sharp call to arms during a time of combat on native soil. But the broader phrase "Country first" appeals more comfortably to nationalism, which has been called a chauvinistic false brand. It is what is meant by "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."
Nationalism can open doors to extreme expressions of power that undermine the higher ideals claimed by patriots. Hence, the reactive nationalism in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks was immediately concerning to people I knew.
There are concentric spheres of interconnectedness to the individual personality growing in realization and in relationship to family, friends, more extended group affiliations, the world and the cosmos. Rings within rings, like the orbits of planets and stars. Healthy boundaries are organic, permeable membranes allowing creative flow and exchange. We become less defined by rigid boundaries as by our creative flow of energy, to and from the center. More field than particle.
You who mentally gaze on the stars even when they are hidden from your physical eyes have expansive spirits. The stars speak to you; they remind you of your innermost selves. This is in contrast to many who erect emotional walls around their hearts, and this is literalized as boundaries built physically and manifested as enemies at the gate, real or imagined. Proposals emphasizing martial dominance or national walls are essentially wrong-headed. The better approach to the real is to recognize underyling needs and to engage with them in a sustainful fashion.
It is akin to choosing either chest-beating heroics for our figurehead or enough everyday heroism so that no heroes are needed. It begins with basic trust in the self.
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