In my forecast from October last year, I described 2020 as an “unusual year with a number of striking constellations” and referred to the three conjunctions that Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto form with one another. Strictly speaking, we are experiencing five slow-moving conjunctions this year, since one of them, Jupiter / Pluto, takes place three times. At the moment the second Jupiter / Pluto conjunction has been formed, and thus the retrograde one. The sequence of conjunctions has now turned out to be a series of “astrological meteorite strikes”. Just as physical meteorite strikes have dramatically changed the world several times, these astrological events seem to bring about profound social and global political changes.
Most people hardly remember – if they even noticed it – that the world was on the brink of a major war in January that could have triggered a global conflagration. Under the Saturn / Pluto conjunction, the United States attempted to assassinate Iranian General Soleimani, in which a number of states in the Middle East were involved. The balance of power in this region has changed drastically since then. The first of the three conjunctions of Jupiter and Pluto occurred in April, and we were in the midst of an almost global economic and social life lockdown. Now, during the second of these conjunctions, we’re experiencing the Black Live Matters movement, which is causing serious unrest, at least in the United States. Jupiter, the principle of cultural diversity, and Pluto, the god of darkness, find it difficult to get along. Earlier planetary encounters between the two opposing forces led to serious riots against African-Americans, including 1919, when hundreds of the cruellest murders of people in this population group were carried out (the two planets had approaches for 2,5 degrees in spring 1919 after the conjunction in 1918). Martin Luther King’s murder took place in 1968, six months before the conjunction; a wave of social outrage was triggered shortly after the conjunction in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to leave her seat to a white man. There is another astrological aspect. that could play a role in the US riots: Jupiter brings repressed traumas (Pluto) to light or at least activates them. The events of 1919 entered the literature as “Red Summer”, but have largely been forgotten, that is to say they have been pushed out collectively.
The WHO 2020 forecast predicted that we were facing a mega-infection wave that would cross the globe at least twice, and the press has already compared it to the Spanish flu. For a short time this seemed to me possible from an astrological point of view, since in 1918, at the beginning of the Spanish flu, Jupiter and Pluto actually formed the conjunction. It is now evident that this assessment, like any previous WHO forecast of upcoming epidemics, was completely over the top. Instead of many millions of deaths, as feared by the WHO, just over half a million deceased worldwide are currently victims of this year’s Corona virus (as of early July 20, source: Wikipedia). For comparison: According to the WHO and CDC, up to 650,000 people die of the flu each year; the Spanish flu claimed between 20 and 40 million victims.
Of course, the symbolism would have been appropriate if we had had to deal with many (Jupiter = fullness) dead (Pluto), which was the case in 1918/19. Obviously, this is currently not the subject of this constellation. In my annual forecast and in the last newsletter, I described the planetary meeting primarily as “interplay between power (Pluto) and law (Jupiter)”. The more appropriate term would actually be “collision”. A conjunction may give a powerful new impetus – if two fundamentally different principles are involved, there is a struggle for supremacy. Of course, there will be no absolute winner – both principles will be released into the new cycle after the conjunction has ended. But now it is decided where existing rights (Jupiter) are to be abolished (Pluto), where necessary legal reforms must take place and where powerful interest groups (Pluto) gain the upper hand over previous law.
In the case of Germany, this process takes place in house six, to which topics such as health, care, transport, administration and livestock farming are assigned. Regarding our healthcare system, a number of new regulations and laws have been passed in recent months that critics say will primarily benefit powerful financial investors.
Another aspect of Jupiter / Pluto that we are currently experiencing clearly is an atmosphere of fear (Jupiter fullness / Pluto fear). Some are afraid of a virus, others are afraid of the government, some fear the power of the pharmaceutical companies, other dictatorial tendencies. It seems that almost everyone is afraid of something – some of too much control and power (Pluto), others of too many freedoms (Jupiter) that we just took for granted. Such tension between contradictory fears leads to a division of society in many states, which will keep us busy at least until the end of the year (Jupiter stands for our values and our trust, Pluto for the nuclear fission). Both education and the principle of traveling, especially traveling abroad, i.e. to other countries, are attributed to Jupiter. We haven’t even seen the closure of schools and universities and the travel and entry bans due to fears and panic (Pluto) in this comprehensive form during the world wars.
The conjunction will take place for the third time in November, precisely during the US presidential election. We are currently experiencing the United States as a particularly divided country. Even if President Trump polarizes the country like hardly any president before him, the reasons are deeper. The leadership elite is deeply divided over the course the country should take in the future. This primarily affects fiscal policy and America’s military supremacy in the world, which is currently declining.
From my forecast for 2020 for the United States: “As I said, the intensive debate on finance will continue until 2021, although resistance to government policies is likely to peak in 2020. This comes less from the population, but above all from powerful financial circles. The three conjunctions of 2020 will occur in the US financial house, indicating both a severe crisis and the first impulses for a powerful new start. However, whether and when these impulses will only become apparent in the years after 2020. President Trump himself has an extremely difficult year ahead of him. The Saturn-Pluto conjunction will be in opposition to his Saturn, with Pluto tension running through the year for him, making him the toughest confrontation with the subject of power- and fainting during his tenure. ”
Conspiracies and battles for power – “You too, my son Brutus?” – always have been and always will be. The critical stages of the Jupiter / Pluto cycle do not describe rare events. Conjunction, opposition and the two squares take place four times within about 14 years. At these times there are significant social conflicts between law and power. Anyone who believes that powerful political (Jupiter) conspiracies (Pluto) are rare events and would hardly play a role in world affairs, should avoid astrological predictions for States and the World and generally not deal with politics. There are also other interesting hobbies.
Speaking of Caesar: When the notorious and strict ruler (born 100 BC under the Sun / Saturn opposition) in 46 BC proclaimed himself dictator, Jupiter and Saturn formed the conjunction, which was then called the royal constellation and was seen as a good omen for the ruler. Caesar deliberately chose the date, but the conjunction was opposed to Jupiter in his birth chart, which may well be interpreted as exaggerated hope.
Shortly afterwards, four months before Caesar’s assassination, the conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto happened in November 45 BC, which I associated in my annual forecast with spectacular attacks. Preparations for the sovereign murder may have taken some time, as a total of 60 senators were stabbed and 20 more were inaugurated. Incidentally, Jupiter is the supreme of the gods in Roman mythology, and the Idas of March, to which Caesar had been warned, marked the day of the full moon in the middle of the Roman month dedicated to Jupiter. Obviously, the royal constellation does not tell us which ruler will be favored. Indeed, after Caesar’s death, the Roman Empire suffered from chaos and civil wars for over 70 years. The next royal constellation, the every-20-year-meeting of Jupiter and Saturn, will occur in December, shortly after the presidential election in the United States. No matter how the election will turn out, we’re facing serious upheavals and the United States may be facing one of the worst crises in its history. Just like the time after Caesar’s death, we are experiencing the transition to a new, approximately 200-year epoch, in which the conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn will occur in a new element. At that time the sequence of the royal constellations moved from the water element to the fire element, now the conjunctions change from earth to air. We are at an important turning point of history.
I am aware that in times like these, when fears and crises play a special role, focusing on such difficult trends can certainly promote fears and discouragement. But astrology describes things in an eternal flow and individual areas of life as cycles with a number of different stations.
Every conjunction is the end of an old and the beginning of a new cycle. Such transition times can be powerful, but also confusing. And sometimes only dramatic events can bring about change. Let’s look again at the Saturn / Pluto conjunction of January. The US leadership has acted as it has always done, relying on its military superiority to assassinate the Iranian general. When President Trump and his advisors stepped in front of the cameras, the shock at the reactions from the Middle East and in the world press was clear to see in their faces. Never, not even towards the end of the Vietnam War, has an American leadership rowed back so far and tried to prevent the worst. There seems to be some reason to believe that this is a turning point in America’s quest for supremacy in the world. But no matter where the journey is going – neither powerful dark forces nor the bright ones will ever prevail for a long time. Only a constant struggle of all forces, symbolized by the planetary principles, enables development. That is what astrology describes.