if you’re into astrology: mercury turns retrograde — i.e., looks like it’s moving backwards as seen from earth — from december 26 tomorrow until january 15, 2010.
and three more times in 2010:
* April 17 – May 11
* August 20 – September 12
* December 10 – December 29
this year mercury goes retrograde four times, the 4th continuing into 2010:
january 11 to february 1
may 7 to may 30
september 6 to september 29
december 26 to january 15, 2010
here’s to a happy new year, even if things are likely to get worse before they get better. and here’s good stuff i found on the web trending into 2009 by professional astrologer steven mcfadden. excerpts:
… the major planetary patterns that characterize the coming years: the recent entry of Pluto into the sign of Capricorn until the year 2024, and the ongoing, dynamic opposition of Saturn and Uranus for next two years…
The numbers of the year 2009 add up to an 11 – a Master Number year. Master Numbers (11, 22, 33, etc.) are especially vibrant and intense. When a Master Number characterizes a period of time, it’s understood that the general energy patterns of that period demand more of people, while also representing the potential to give more in return…
The numerological vibration of 2009 is a mirror, or equivalent, of…the basic vibrational signature symbolized by the Saturn-Uranus opposition (2008-2010). As above, so below on our Earth: the opposition signals forceful encounters with reality and unavoidable demands;it also crackles with electric opportunities to go forward, creating new ways to live, to organize and to govern ourselves…
Big shift. Big changes. No road map. But there are paths…
…a healthy goal to embrace for the year ahead is acceptance — acceptance of major changes and new situations. We are well underway with an unavoidable process of re-defining our security, prosperity, consumption, power, and also corporate identity and function in the world. That’s reality, and there is value in swiftly and gracefully accepting it. Staying stuck in wishing that things would not change, being stubborn and resisting change, blaming others and refusing to forgive, will be problematic stances that function as obstacles to optimum adaptation.
…an effective way to work toward the goal of acceptance in the year ahead, is through observation. While there may be no road map for the changes, a mode of observation would tend to restrainimpulsive or panicky behavior. By observing what is happening, and then responding carefully and pragmatically to new conditions, what needs to be done gets done.
…a markedly emotional year, a human intensity that would be mirrored in substantial earth change and climate events, with a predominant theme of water (too much water as in the case of heavy rains and floods, too little water as in the case of shortages or drought, or ice shifts as in the case of Earth’s Poles).
…we haven’t seen anything yet. Much more is to come. [But] avoid latching on to that nugget of prophecy…for the year ahead also brings great opportunity.
…in 2009 we reach a tipping point for spiritual awakening and for dynamic, positive sustainable initiatives. Critical mass approaching.
Saturn in opposition to Uranus unfolds five times, marking a span of time when the forces of change and revolution directly confront forces representing the status quo. Uranus mandates change and innovation. Saturn tends to resist it. When these planetary Titans are in opposition, the clash is on…
In celestial collaboration with the long sojourn of Pluto through Capricorn (2008-2024), the Saturn-Uranus opposition symbolizes a foundational shift in consciousness over the globe, evolving most of us inexorably from ideological debates and risky, unsustainable economic behaviors, into a time characterized by an unavoidable need to respond to Earthly realities via pragmatism, restraint, and discipline. The imminent questions revolve not around whose God, cosmology, or philosophy is right, but rather what works? What puts shoes on your feet, a coat on your back, and a glass of clean water on your table?”
believe in astrology or not, it should be impossible to ignore the co-incidence of pluto’s transit from sagittarius (where it was for the last 12 years) into (the next sign) capricorn at 9:03 a.m. thursday morning and the bloody mumbai terrorist attack that started wednesday night and blasted on for some 60 hours, killing almost two hundred and wounding more.
. . . the city was taken just as Pluto was in the last arc minute of Sagittarius; literally hours before it entered Capricorn. . . . Whoever orchestrated this attack, reasonably described in today’s Daily News as an invasion of the city, fancies himself a master of the universe. If the psychological warfare implication of staging the attack the day before Thanksgiving is not apparent, take a look; because we are all connected by the nervous system known as the media, this is a worldwide event, and it will weigh on the mind of everyone taking a day with their family today.”
the planet pluto has always been associated with upheaval and transformation, and the sign capricorn with hierarchies and structures including governments and business corporations as well as religious institutions.
When it was discovered as a pinpoint of light on a photographic plate on February 18th 1930 , the world was in upheaval – financially because of the Wall Street crash, and politically because of the rise of fascism in Europe . Scientifically, early work on splitting the atom led to the development of the atomic bomb, ultimately threatening the survival of humanity. Psychologically, demons that had been conveniently projected onto the devil and all his non-Christian works were unearthed within our own psychology as a part of our nature.”
Pluto orbits the sun about every 250 years, so a quarter of a millennium elapses between its passes through Capricorn. The last time it was there was from 1762 to 1778, during the American Revolution. The time before that, 1516-1533, Martin Luther’s Protestant revolt created a religious and political crisis for Emperor Charles V and the Catholic Church. No matter how far back we go in recorded history, Pluto in Capricorn periods correspond with revolutionary changes to the existing world order.
The powers that be, however, never go down without a fight. Pluto and Capricorn do have some things in common – they both love being in control, for example – and so we can expect more of the “Big Brother” style surveillance and invasion of privacy that are already spreading through the United States and other countries such as Great Britain. . . . Government will seem to believe that, in order for freedom to be kept safe, it must be locked away.”
Capricorn energy is about creating a solid foundation for all endeavors. Anything lasting and worthwhile requires dedication and effort. Pluto in this sign will destroy anything failing to meet these standards, in order to birth something better. Gone is the instant gratification era of Pluto in Sagittarius (1995-2008). Capricorn rules all hierarchies and structures. Pluto in Capricorn will lift the veil of secrecy, exposing what’s really going on in government and corporations. The bigger and more bureaucratic the entity, the greater the need to transform – or die.”
Pluto in Capricorn will test the durability and regenerative resources of leaders and governments across the globe, as well as business and the corporate world. Old or staid structures will collapse or come apart at the seams if they cannot redefine their nature and cope with changing conditions and needs. The renewal or discarding of traditional practices or beliefs will play a part in this for Capricorn draws from inherited wisdom and practice. Those traditions that find new life will serve to guide modern leadership while those that are uprooted or outmoded will pass into oblivion. . . . No doubt, Pluto in Capricorn will bring us a new breed of leaders and administrators, noted for determination, practicality and organizational ability. Some of these will offer useful service where others will be ruthlessly ambitious and materialistic.”
Pluto transiting Capricorn thus promises radical changes in social and political organization, financial management and social perspective on finances, ideas about fame, celebrity and social strata, and a stern look at our management of collectively owned resources.
We might learn how to manifest more gracefully, to end world hunger, to share resources wisely. On the other hand, we may see an even sharper split between the haves and have-nots. There will be substantial changes in the ways we organize money – financial institutions we thought were solid will falter, prices and exchange values will be all over the place, and both personal, corporate and national wealth will change, both up and down. The ways we relate to resources of all kinds will be questioned, changed, and reorganized.
. . . During this phase we may discover something that will make life on earth more abundant. We may also have something we thought was deeply necessary taken away.”
dito sa atin, walang patayan tulad ng sa mumbai, at wala ring matinding protesta laban sa gobyerno tulad ng sa bangkok, subalit di dapat isipin na porke’t walang malawakang manifest outrage ay hindi iniinda ng bayan ang nagaganap na mga drama ng gobyerno — lalo na sa executive and legislative branches — na malinaw namang selfish and vested interests of the few ang namamayani instead of the interests and wellbeing of the many.
di dapat isipin na balewala sa taongbayan ang nagaganap na pagbasura sa impeachment complaint sa mababang kapulungan (how baba the pigs). dahil ikaapat na ito in as many years, paulit-ulit lang naman daw, say ng isang representante ni gma, so therefore ay walang katuturan. say ko naman, nadadagdagan ang impeachable offenses ni gma every year, so therefore it’s never been just same-old same-old. everytime it’s something old, something new, something buried, something true.
di rin dapat isipin na balewala sa taongbayan ang testimonya ni joe de venecia, kahit too-late-the-hero, tungkol sa personal involvement ng arroyo couple sa nbn-zte deal, gayon din ang lagayan blues to kill last year’s impeachment complaint. di rin balewala ang bolante hearings sa senado dahil palinaw na nang palinaw ang pasikot-sikot ng fertilizer scam. lalo nang di balewala ang pagtulak ng charter change by hook or by crook, at ang pagpigil ng simbahan sa reproductive health bill kahit ano pang pananakot ng mga obispong nakapalda, gayon din ang walang katapusang jet-setting ni gma, at kung anuano pa niyang kapabayaan at kasalanan sa taongbayan.
sa palagay ko the collective mind of the pinoy is neither asleep nor overcome by apathy. who knows, it may be quietly absorbing and assimilating lessons learned over the years since edsa ’86 and gearing up, slowly but surely, for an issues-oriented electoral show of people power in 2010.
for those of us who were part of edsa ’86, indeed nakaka-nostalgia the current bangkok version flying yellow colors and featuring massive throngs of people (rather than politicans a la edsa dos). and then, again, tapos na tayo diyan — we’re done with picnic-type revolutions and short-term cosmetic changes. time to move on to a higher level of mind and action for deep-seated change, if not at the polls, then in another improved edsa. trapos, beware!