Wheels in Time

The Mills Grind Slowly
The Wisdom of Jupiter in Pisces

On January 20th, two days after Jupiter enters Pisces for one year, President Obama marks his first year in office and the country is disappointed. Simple truth. There's nothing anyone can say to change that. It's necessary and it's not necessarily bad. It's part of the sequence required to create the conditions for improvement since rebellion is written into the guidelines. One's personal relationship with the figure need not change another's while people learn to live and let live in Piscean fashion. The two Jupiter-Neptune conjunctions were the prelude to this time, where impossible fantasies of a better place were abandoned to be reestablished with a workable plan and a reasonable time frame. A long one not based on a god figure. The inspirational religious icon worked with Pluto at 29 Sagittarius but things have changed after all.

Jupiter is going to ask that you eventually suspend illusions in preparation for a stark look at reality and the long Pluto return ahead for the United States. Anyone in office now would be in the same position since surrender at the end of the Pisces cycle is payment for passage into vigorous renewal and has nothing to do with the personalities. It's collective desire, especially with Uranus in Pisces as well. The end of the rope, the beginning of the next trip. Square one.

People were innocently hoping that things would be fixed but it isn't time now. You can't do that successfully through the panes of illusion fabricating windows, and while the unraveling is still in progress. So Jupiter in Pisces naturally will be disappointing for many considering the outrageous high that preceded this year. It happens that way. At the same time, the artistic and spiritual nature of Pisces applies just as much, and I think they will go together. The political situation is not in that category as yet, however, so displeasure in that segment is well placed.

As illusions disappear and Pluto inches forward opposite the USA Cancer stellium, it could become easier to look at the unadorned picture. In a few years Saturn in Scorpio forms a mutual reception with Pluto in Capricorn, a very interesting time when the system turns in on itself in an attempt to get to the source of itself. It's not the Democrats. It's not the Republicans. It's not the corporations. It's not the bankers. It's you. And me, of course. And It. By expecting a leader to make it all better you pass off your own responsibility. It won't happen that way. The changes needed in the system are fundamental and go back to the origins of the country, which should become clearer as the transit progresses and the relationship of government to business versus public good is revisited and sorted out. It's never been quite right.
Along with the mutual receptions will be the Uranus-Pluto squares and Pluto opposite USA Sun, an amazing opportunity to grapple with these dilemmas, a guarantee of high level dialog, and a more mature look at leadership. Criticism is part of progress, and this year's 50-50 view of the administration is an excellent sign of this progress. A very reasonable alignment. Unpopularity and independence are as important as following. Increasingly so.

The relationship of the public to leadership is infantile at this point and the lesson is hitting home with the south node in Cancer, along with Pluto opposite US Venus, triggered by the last full moon eclipse. A long station of the node at 21 is going on now as the first year evaluation starts. The dependent ones refuse to criticize while the feisty ones place too much resentment on the person. It all boils down to the continuing parental relationship this country insists upon trying to break free of itself with the Pluto return. With Pluto in Cancer, it worked, as you could see in the case of FDR. But this time around, we're due for what promises to be a rude awakening with hard growing pains if the populace is to learn what good governance is. This body is produced by the entire collective society and if it is functioning improperly, then the roots of its breakdown are within you and me. The source of the correction is not in the current president. An overall diminishing of stature will probably be the norm for awhile culminating in some resolution with the Pluto opposition to US Sun. Excellent leadership comes when the essential remedy has been found within the body politic, the job of investigative Pluto with his side dish of destruction if need be. The process will not be short changed. Have you ever tried to short change Pluto?

I've lived through many scripted presidencies and I'm not impressed, although they're all perfect for the time. The problems of society go deep and far beyond and I feel more of an urge to look at those than the figurehead in charge. If you're confident in your love for him you won't have to jump in panic and useless defense when others speak out against him, and there's a lot of that ahead. For some, an immunity will be needed.

The forces are aligning to arouse the public out of its stupor and this figure is the one who will be doing the aggravating. He's going to do a lot more than he already has to make the citizens angry as they emerge from under the Cancer security blanket and Uranus in Aries stokes its revolutionary fire. He's not going to heroically lead radical reform, he has other destinations. He'll help get us there in a convoluted way, though, as we come to understand how reform will really come about. Resisting leadership is part of it. The planets won't do it either, and probably not the Mayans. The planets merely reflect the conditions in which we as a whole can act if we so choose.

Heavyweights are appearing on the blogs now disrupting the dream scape in some places with a Saturnine relentlessness for good reason. They're bringing in facts and figures and unpleasant details often removed from the celebrity gossip that's not entirely instructive. The impulse is to reject them, hate them, but you can still maintain your allegiances while taking advantage of the education they offer. If we are to accomplish the positive development desired we'll have to abandon some naivete and learn how our government works separate from personal attachments, gullibility, and sentimental longings. This is Capricorn's area of expertise.

The sword these people bring to the cocoons is not going to disappear. If you spit them out, others will return to replace them. The energy of this conflict will turn into meaningful synergy as the people themselves come more and more into contact with their potency, and less dependent on the leader's. Judging others and basing actions on whether or not they like someone you do (Cancer) will probably not change the government. The emotional aloofness connected with Capricorn is not an easy thing for Cancer to allow, but the ultra personal is becoming an increasing impediment to productive growth. The nursery school mud pie caged monkey orgy of American politics will have to draw to a close as economic factors dominate in the next years and real administrative talent becomes attractive. You might be shocked at the difference when it arrives.

It could well be that some of the fear and rage toward strangers on the far side of the globe gets turned inward toward America's own system and leadership, especially as Mars continues its retrograde progression headed to Saturn in its search for enduring peace. Well placed battles would be the ideal in the coming years. Battles within ourselves rather than with everyone else exclusively. Wars against evil have been proven ineffective, and no human is without internal conflict. Therein lies the source.

Jupiter in Pisces conjunct Uranus can point to real common need and the expanse of time necessary to get to improvements, even uncovering some eternal facts that never change. The infinity of Pisces can be both comforting and overwhelming, as is the duality. Hope springs jubilantly from sorrow so the down cycle is actually a good thing. Some fear that they'll get trapped in the anguish, but that's unlikely. Despair will kick you out eventually.

I once had a vision of the universe as a giant machine with turning gears, all well oiled and operating beautifully in synchronization to keep the system functioning in buzzing humming harmony. It's no wonder that we see our lives as a wheel in astrological terms. Each one of us is a gear, I think, a vital wheel in the operation of the cosmic mechanism. The significance of every one a given.

Each of us has a unique path to health and collective contribution written in our wheels meshing to create an integrated whole. It's the fixing of these gears that will determine our political future and all are responsible for their own, peppered with shared responsibility. Perhaps this year in Pisces to Aries and back to Pisces will illuminate that creative infinite individual possibility guiding those who are interested to the real integer.