tales from the underworld

the may 2004 forecast

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go to past forecasts.

jupiter and pluto are retrograde.

jupiter sextiles saturn (waning)	8°56' virgo/cancer	may 1
venus opposes pluto (1st of 3)	21°52' gemini/sagittarius	may 1
chiron enters its retrograde period (stationary retrograde)	26°08' capricorn	may 2
mercury trines pluto	21°50' aries/sagittarius	may 4
full moon lunar eclipse	14°42' taurus/scorpio	may 4
jupiter returns to direct motion (stationary direct)	10°11' gemini/virgo	may 5
sun squares neptune	15°21' taurus/aquarius	may 5
mars enters cancer	0°00' cancer	may 7
mercury re-enters taurus	0°00' taurus	may 15
neptune enters its retrograde period (stationary retrograde)	15°23' aquarius	may 17
venus enters its retrograde period (stationary retrograde)	25°56' gemini	may 17
new moon	28°33' taurus	may 18
sun enters gemini	0°00' gemini	may 20
mercury sextiles uranus	6°38' taurus/pisces	may 21
mars sextiles jupiter	9°22' cancer/virgo	may 21
mercury trines jupiter	9°27' taurus/virgo	may 23
mars conjoins saturn	11°19' cancer	may 24
sun squares uranus	6°43' gemini/pisces	may 27
mercury squares neptune	15°22' taurus/aquarius	may 27
sun squares jupiter	9°55' gemini/virgo	may 30

all dates are based on pacific time.

every 19 months, venus writes the headlines. this will be true again starting may 17 (plus a little before) for about six weeks (plus a few times after). this occurs when venus turns retrograde, which happens when venus, moving faster than earth, catches up with and passes us. however, this retrograde period promises to be more memorable than those of recent years, because she is tying together so many other planets in the heavens.

venus is not usually thought of as the messenger of the gods, nor as a trigger planet, involved in the timing of events, but i have found that she can be a powerful timer of events. even without the other timers at work during this period, the sun, moon, and mars, we would have plenty to talk about. the critical period of her emphasis is april 3^rd through august 6. we can expect to see a string of related events on a particular theme occur during that time.

the song of inanna

the sumerians had a moving and eloquent story to describe venus’s retrograde period, the song of inanna. in it, they tell of the queen’s descent into the underworld. she travels through seven gates, and at each gates, she is required to give up some of her riches, until she is stripped of everything. once in the underworld, she suffers as the skin is flayed from her body. left for dead, she struggles back to the surface with the help of ninshubur, a sprite who whispered encouragements in her ear as she fought against her own despair to survive.

the sumerians had an intimate and enduring relationship with the heavens, and their stories reflected their creative understanding of how their gods’ paths this story tells of venus’s descent into the sun, its subsequent “visit to the underworld” when it is swallowed by the sun and invisible to the naked eye, and her reddened (‘bloodied’) ascent into the morning sky. all this occurs when venus is retrograde. indeed, at the time she turns retrograde (backward from her normal direction of motion), she is high in the western sky at sunset but then begins to sink into the sun. she is not visible for 9 days, after which we see her in the morning sky. she climbs higher each day for another 2 ½ weeks, a brilliant harbinger of the coming dawn.

what the sumerians viewed with reverence and anticipation every 19 months, moderns ignore yet respond unconsciously. this venus retrograde promises to be momentous, primarily because she contacts jupiter and pluto three times during her special transit. as she does so, pluto also receives other contacts, making this a milestone period that we will all remember long after the 18-month cycle that starts now has passed. for more on her story, read queen of heaven and an excerpt from the wolkstein-kramer translation.

planetary pinball

astrology is like a pinball game. the more planets that get hit, the more points you score. by this measure, the coming three months should take a grand prize. the intertwining of the planets over the coming months is intricate and complex. it’s easier to talk about what planets are not involved in this process (mercury, saturn, chiron, neptune) than the ones that are. each time they interact, whether directly or indirectly, we get clues to the threads of our life that are being furthered. we’ve already had several clues to what is coming over the next three months and beyond.

however, this is not the first time that we’ve gotten a clue to the events of this time. the first big insight we got occurred from late august through september last year. (see my august and september forecasts.) this was clearly, from an astrological perspective, a seed-planting period. at that time, these same planets interacted — moon, sun, venus, jupiter in a cluster across the heavens from mars and uranus. pluto was not yet involved, but in september moon, sun, and venus contacted pluto.

 since there are so many interactions, i’ll explain them contact by contact.

adventures with venus

the contacts that are most significant are generally those that occur three times. this is because venus goes over them once, then backs over them while retrograde and must pass forward over them once again. for every date i mention, check your journal or appointment book to see what you were doing. write down the events that occurred. the more powerful the events early on in the process, the more likely something of real impact will occur in your life. this undoubtedly means that your chart is being contacted directly by the planets as well.

a word now about interpretation: this is nothing to be afraid of. the i ching says “this is a time of great potential and therefore a time to take great care.” we want to use this powerful time with forethought, fully conscious that the events that we trigger now will have an impact for years to come, perhaps on the rest of our lives. from the soul’s perspective, this is “the moment we’ve all been waiting for”, because we can grow. it is a time of rapid progress, which means that events will surge out of our control. now, we usually don’t like that in the moment (it scares us), but in the long run, this is how long-standing, stagnant situations get resolved. during these times, we have to let go (surrender to the process) and allow events to take us where they will, because they are going to do that anyway. if we resist, we exhaust ourselves fighting the flow, and then we have no energy left for the transition.

this is what typically happens with a retrograde period, especially if our chart is being hit by the planet in question. during that time, we lose control over events in the area(s) affected. now, astrologers are sensitive about this losing control stuff, because we like to say that astrology is not fate. however, it is ludicrous to think that we have control to begin with, except over our own thoughts and actions. we can channel the planets’ energies and direct them to co-create the effects we (think we) want. but we have to adjust our desires and expectations to fit the situation we’re in. most people think of doing this (if they do at all) only when they’re not happy with the results, and by then it’s too late to make any changes. the definition of a wise person is one who “works the energies” all the time. we can call it constant vigilance, or we can call it self-discipline. if you work the energies when they are “back-burner” non-volatile, then when the heat gets turned up, the effects are more to our liking.

now it’s too late to set a different tone for what’s to come over the next three months, at least with respect to what venus activates. however, we can learn from this period and plan for the next one, plus there are other cycles still in the “planning” phase.

venus and uranus

one of the most powerful ways that planets interact is when three (or more) are involved in a process called “translation of light”. this colorful term describes the process by which a faster-moving planet makes the connection between two slower moving planets that aren’t currently in contact. it’s like a courier who takes messages from one person to another. the messages only flow in one direction, from the earlier planet to the later planet (most of the time — read on), and there can be only one message per translation.

because uranus is still early in pisces, it is not involved in the “triple-hit” squad. venus made one pass over uranus, on april 9. however, it will still be activated, and an even more important pattern will be triggered — perhaps the most important of this period in the overall scheme of things.

that contact will begin a translation of light from uranus to pluto, courtesy for courier venus. this is a critical event, because whenever uranus and pluto connect, fireworks go off. remember the upheavals of the 1960s? they occurred when uranus and pluto conjoined each other, starting a new 100+-year cycle. there is a new contact occurring in 2009–15, and we will catch a glimpse of what that holds during these four months (starting april 9).

this contact signals life-changing, earth-changing events. just as the ecology-environment movement started in the 60s, so now must we bite the bullet and figure out how to have our cake and eat it too. we must learn how to use energy without using up the earth. so what’s happening now? don’t we have gas prices that are unexplainably high with no signs of going down? can you guess (as i have) that energy and fuel are going to be the hot potatoes of the period between now and 2015? go on line and search for “peak oil”. this is the term used to describe the event of using up all the oil reserves that it pays to extract from the earth. discussions of peak oil revolve around when we will run out (perhaps as early as 2009) and what will happen when we do. a new book, out of gas: the end of the age of oil by caltech physics professor david goodstein, details two possible scenarios: get smart now, or kill the planet by switching to coal. (i would like to thank jim shawvan for first pointing this issue out to me.)

so why are gas prices so high? according to democratic sources, the saudis are trying to do bush a favor by cutting back oil supplies now causing the prices to skyrocket, then releasing supplies in the fall in time for the election, so that prices go down and he gets re-elected. this is a typical venus retrograde event (changes in prices and availability), and it is the perfect harbinger of a peak oil crisis at the time of the real uranus-pluto contact starting in 2009. generally, as oil supplies run low, we could expect prices to rise, but this kind of artificial shortage is the worst kind of manipulation of the market and the political situation that hurts people needlessly and makes them into helpless victims. (i’m getting my new hybrid car today. ☺)

perhaps this is the real story behind everything that’s happening right now: why gas prices are high; and why bush invaded both afghanistan and iraq.

venus and pluto

even though i’ve talked some about pluto, and the real story is in the venus-uranus-pluto interaction, venus-pluto has a story to tell all its own. as venus and pluto made their first contact on may 1, the israeli likud party was in the process of saying “nay” to sharon’s pull-out plans for the west bank and gaza strip. because venus and pluto will oppose each other, we can expect people to oppose each other based on a great divide in their opinions. this is not the kind of interaction that inspires confidence or reconciliation because those involved typically do not have any interest in coming to an agreement. rather, power plays are the rule. of course, with conscious awareness of the issues and energies, differences can be overcome (although it would have been easier on the trine a couple months ago). but when you’re in the midst of the struggle, as israel’s leaders are, negotiation and conciliation seem impossible. all they can see is the obstacles and how big they are right now.

this may be the same for us (or any other group or issue out there right now). if you are at an impasse about something, can you see past the obstacles? do they seem insurmountable, bigger than you? the first step to overcoming them is to knock them down to size. this comes from objective analysis and fact-finding (gemini, venus’s sign location) to get at the truth (sagittarius, pluto’s sign location). this is what is happening, whether we activate it consciously or not, so some truths will become evident during this time. this may provide some refreshing public insights into political trends in the us, particularly with respect to the bush administration. it is amazing to me how much of substance about the falsehoods and ineptitude has been revealed about this administration and how little it is being reported in the mainstream american media. a revolution must take place first in the way “information” is presented to the us public, before they can understand what’s really going on.

this may actually happen somehow. there were glimmers of the truth during last fall’s “seeding” time. we saw the first chinks in the neocon armor, when some allowed that maybe the u.n. should be involved (in what has turned out to be a limited “my-way-or-the-highway” fashion). this was tantamount to admitting that they had made a mistake, although you will never hear any admission of error or apology from this crew.

the 9/11 commission may have more truths and revelations as well. although its activities have been following other planetary tracks, so many of them converge now and 9/11 itself occurred under this planetary energy, that a few more fingers could end up pointing in the same direction — the flaws of the current administration.

of course, the ultimate event that is timed to coincide with the venus retrograde period is the pull-out of us occupying forces from iraq in the handover to self-governance. the handover is set for june 30; venus’s retrograde ends on june 29. in the meantime, who expects peace in this region during such a contentious planetary pattern? if the leaders got real (how about if secretary of defense rumsfeld and asst. secy. wolfowitz were forced to resign?), there could be a turn around, but this is not a likely scenario.

the hot dates for venus-pluto interaction are may 1, june 2, and july 25.

mars and your relationships

mars has been at the front of the band banging the cymbals. it contacted uranus on march 28 and pluto on april 24. it is a volatility factor all its own to be reckoned with, and it is a trigger of explosive events when it contacts the wild-card planets, uranus, neptune, and pluto.

venus has been chasing “that man” for months now, with no success. she will eventually catch up to mars on december 5, but before then, she’ll make a conciliatory, harmonious connection on july 16, so you may not have to wait until the end of the year for things to pan out. so, if you’ve been frustrated about a relationship in your life, and you just can seem to penetrate the obstacles that keep you apart, look for critical events now to open the doorways to happier events in july and december. this will also be true in financial matters.

the sun heats up the stew

when the sun enters gemini on the 20^th, activity will escalate. remember on march 11, when madrid was bombed (spain’s 9/11). that was the sun’s interaction with pluto. we get the next sun-pluto interaction on june 11. on june 2^nd, when venus touches off pluto for the 2^nd time, it will begin carrying pluto’s energy to the sun. so, when venus and the sun meet on june 8, pluto’s energy will carry an added punch.

adding spice to the cauldron is the fact that a rare astronomical event is occurring for this venus-sun contact. venus is transiting across the face of the sun from our perspective. although venus transits the degree of the sun from the near side every time it is retrograde (every 19 months), it is rare for it to actually cross the sun’s orb. the last time it occurred was in 1882. it will happen again on june 6, 2012, after that not until 2117. this adds impact to the contact, since this is technically a dead-on connection. whatever happens then, the us media are going to do a lousy job of reporting it. (try public tv/radio and the bbc.)

looking at the chart for the time of the contact, it shows a sudden event about to occur. many forces are about to release, like a rubberband that has stretched to its breaking point. the venus-sun-pluto interaction shows economic difficulty caused by the repressive influence of inflated oil prices, the mushrooming us deficit/cost of the iraq war and war on terrorism, and the off-shoring of us jobs. it also shows an unexpected event about to occur, which could involve or impact the stock market, causing a sudden drop and removing our blinders as to the real state of the economy. congress will also be in a quandary about something. (okay, so they’re always in a quandary, but this will be larger than usual.) in addition, there is likely to be at least one terrorist event on foreign soil in the day or so after the venus event.

jupiter adds flavor

we can’t get the full picture without considering jupiter’s role. it was involved in the seed-planting planetary event last august. although it has not yet interacted with pluto, it will do so later this year, as it does every three years to fulfill a cycle of social and economic change. this year’s interaction begins with this venus retrograde, since venus will carry the energy of pluto back to jupiter, which it will contact on june 19 — another translation of light. this plants the seeds for a final climax of jupiter-pluto activity on august 6.

their last contact occurred in may 5, 2001 at about the time of bin laden’s threat to the us. this was also the energy under which the dotcom bubble burst and the us presidential “selection” was made by the supreme court. this is also likely to signal difficulties in israel, just as it did in 2001.

jupiter is a magnifier and broadcaster. whatever is already there, it’s made bigger and more evident by jupiter. just as in world affairs, our private lives will be invigorated by this blast of energy. may 30 gives us the first stage of jupiter’s thread in this tapestry, then venus introduces stage 2 on june 19, but watch for the culmination on august 6.

the role of the moon

ever since venus entered gemini, on april 3, the moon has been carrying its energy forward to uranus, jupiter and pluto once a week. the dates of these contacts were on thursdays and fridays, april 8–9, 15–16, 22–23, and 29–30. the moon will continue to trigger events caused by people who are in emotional reaction as long as these planets remain in the mutable signs, gemini, virgo, sagittarius, and pisces. the hottest time for this will be from april 8 through august 6.

what about those other planets?

there is some other action out there, and it will become more important in coming months. mars briefly interacts with saturn and chiron, while the latter two continue to dance with each other, as they did last fall. the first of these is the start of chiron’s five-month retrograde on may 2. it will be in contact with saturn until july 2005, although they are many degrees apart right now. mars and the sun activate their contact in june and july.

neptune enters its retrograde, also lasting five months, on may 17. this planet’s peak passages often go unnoticed, since it has to do with dissolving influences rather than distinct events. it is noteworthy that this is the same date as venus’s station, adding a “crisis of faith” dimension to whatever venusian issues arise. however, the faith aspect will play out in a different, longer time frame that involves events that occurred around march 18. peak dates for neptune’s cycle are february 2, august 5, and october 24.

the lunar eclipse on the 4^th was the last of the series in taurus-scorpio that have touched our lives for the last two years. this one repeats the contact we had last november during the “harmonic convergence”. we have had time to cleanse past influences, and now we can begin our transition into new phases of life and the activities they will bring.

if you’re feeling overwhelmed . . .

there are a lot of details presented here, and you can skip the astrological rationale if you want and just read the interpretation of them. write down the dates in chronological order, but link the ones that tie to each other in a series. it is complex, but understandable. reading it twice may help. i sure had to think it through more than once to understand it myself. long after we experience these transits, we’ll still have more to understand. you’ll be rewarded by giving it thought and discovering how the events of your life fit this pattern.

from a spiritual perspective

remember that these events play out against the backdrop of venus’s descent into the underworld, and in this case, she is really meeting the lord of the underworld, pluto. with all the other planets she’s meeting, it’s getting pretty crowded down there! we hope that her flesh is not flayed from her body as in inanna’s story, but if it is, we know that she still survives to bring another cycle to us. her companions will help. neptune will be there giving her faith from a trining position (and to us as well). mercury (ninshubur) will be in mutual reception with (supporting) her, then in gemini with her in june, whispering in her ear. saturn and mars will not lend their support to pluto, staying out of her way.

we know that everything that happens is for the good. i won’t pretend that everything that happens at this time is going to be good news, but it will eventually lead to good news. one of our greatest human strengths is to create opportunities out of liabilities. a situation would not exist if we didn’t need to learn from it, so our job is to do so. if we look at each event or experience as an opportunity to grow, we have the openness we need to create what we want. when we maintain a “blank mental screen” without projecting any expectations onto events, we have the most power to create what we want. remember, it is in times of change that we have the most power to shift our circumstances.

don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because something hasn’t changed in a long time that it can’t or won’t. when we close the door on doubt, we open the door on limitless potential. get in the habit of replacing your doubts with a vision of perfection for the situation in question. (this includes even the current us leadership.) we will all go through a dynamic process of transformation in the coming weeks, and if that introduces an element of uncertainty, it also introduces the spark of the miraculous. from relationships to world affairs to the price of gasoline and our personal self-esteem, new truths will place each situation on the road to improvement by the end of this time.