If you read my last post about the Full Moon in Cancer, you’ll remember that I talked about the Nodes switching into the Channel of Community with the themes of “us vs. them”. During this Full Moon, The North Node was was in gate 37, line 6 labeled “decapitation”. I thought it might be heads rolling within Trump's administration, but now I see it was Maduro’s capture. It was interesting to actually hear the word “decapitation” used to describe this mission from various political analysts.
Once I looked at the chart for Venezuela, I understood the timing of this capture a lot more. Venezuela happens to have its natal Sun within one degree orb of the U.S.'s Sun. Not only that, but their Independence Chart also happened during a Full Moon. Remember, all of the personal planets were out-of-bounds so this Full Moon promised to be over the top. And this capture certainly fit the bill.
I also found it interesting the chart has Pluto conjunct the South Node in Pisces, with transiting Saturn and Neptune nearby. This transit is creating a T-Square with natal Saturn in Sagittarius on one side, and Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury in Gemini on the other. These planets are aspecting the President’s natal planets in Sagittarius and Gemini. Specifically, the Country’s Saturn aspecting his natal Moon is oppressive. It is rumored that Maduro’s video mocking the President's dancing is ultimately what incited him to pull the trigger.
Venezuela's progressed Saturn is perfecting a conjunction with the Country's natal Moon, illustrating the mutuality of this moment. This confirms a dark period for the Country and its people. Venezuela’s people are likely feeling oppressed right now, emotionally and materially.
Saturn-Neptune Cycle
As I was researching the cycles, I noticed that the Saturn-Neptune cycle seems to coincide with U.S. interventions or coups. For instance, when Saturn and Neptune met up in Leo in 1917, the U.S. intervened in Russia, supporting the anti-Bolsheviks to suppress communism.
When Saturn and Neptune met up in Libra in 1953, the Prime Minister of Iran was overthrown in a coup orchestrated covertly by the CIA in partnership with the United Kingdom. The reason: the country had nationalized its oil reserves.
Interesting to note that now that we're heading into the Aries cycle, Trump's goal seems aimed at taking us back to the concessionary system that used to be in place before Countries started nationalizing their resources. Under the previous system, producer states owned the oil, but Western firms managed production and marketing, ultimately retaining the bulk of the profits. Twenty years after the coup, a severe backlash occurred which installed the current and more radical regime. Are we repeating a cycle?
The Aries cycle is ruled by Mars so it’s going to be much more confrontational than the Libra cycle, which was ruled by Venus. Venus is more diplomatic, covert. As Stephen Miller recently said, we are done with the “niceties”; we are into Aries domination now. But since our country was founded when Saturn was in Libra this approach is inconsistent with the values this country was founded on.
There is definitely a positive case to be made for being upfront about your intentions. Some people would rather be confronted with the truth than have it be hidden underneath an artificial veil. But how quickly an Imperial Power forgets their own fight for Independence against a dominating force. We all desire a certain amount of individual sovereignty to make our own choices, to be free from excessive domination, also Aries.
We are shining a bright light on this shadow side of our country. Do we want to be a country known for its unapologetic stance for the right to steal other countries' resources? To what end? Do sanctions actually work when it leads to destabilization and mass migration? At what point does a country have a right to intervene in another country’s sovereignty? And how much should we take from a country if we do intervene? If we are simply replacing an internal devil with an external devil, how does this make sense? The people of a country should benefit from their own resources first and foremost, don’t you think?
In 1989, when Saturn and Neptune met up in Capricorn, we set up a coup to depose Dictator Manuel Noriega from Panama. He was suppressing Democracy and supporting Colombian drug cartels, but had resisted relinquishing control after drug indictments. Since the conjunction happened in Capricorn, the Administration was more conciliatory in its obligation to notify Congress.
Our Saturn-Neptune Cycle
Our Independence happened right after a Saturn-Neptune conjunction at 18 degrees Virgo. Saturn in Libra is applying to an opening semi-sextile with Neptune in Virgo, meaning as a country we are beginning a new Saturn-Neptune cycle. We are now experiencing a Full Moon of this cycle; Saturn and Neptune have been opposing natal Neptune and are now coming to oppose our natal Saturn.
We are facing the reality behind our country's spiritual principles; who we say we are versus who we actually are underneath. This administration has been putting out a lot of disinformation, but there is one thing they have been quite honest about: total domination is the goal and we’ll take it by force if necessary. This has been an undercurrent of our country for a long time. But it's being spoken out loud now for everyone to examine. Is this really who we want to be in the world? Is this who we are as a country?
The Monroe Doctrine
The other chart I want to look at is the Monroe Doctrine chart. Or the "Donrow Doctrine" chart as it's being called by our President. This is nothing new. The chatter about “Spheres of Influence”, “Network States”, or more optimistically a “Multipolar World” where no one dominates has been discussed both inside and outside of astrological circles for some time.
in Trump's first term. Fiona Hill famously testified about Russia's interest in exchanging Venezuela for Ukraine. And there are multiple indications that Ukraine is in serious danger right now. Whether this is actually a hidden agenda remains to be seen, but it does appear we are taking one step closer toward this vision.
President James Monroe delivered the Monroe Doctrine as part of his seventh annual message to Congress on December the 2nd, 1823. AI clocks the delivery at 12:00pm. It was a significant annual address outlining U.S. foreign policy, warning European powers against further colonization or interference in the Americas, in exchange for the U.S. not meddling in European affairs.
What stood out to me right away, is the ascendant at 28 degrees Aquarius, which is the exact degree of the upcoming February Eclipse. The second thing I noticed is the chart’s Pluto at the Aries point, which will be activated during the Saturn- Neptune conjunction right after the eclipse.
Ebertine’s description of the combination of Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto is “difficult growth, illness, and depression.” We are creating new power structures while dissolving others, cyclically, accomplishing nothing. The grand trine of Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Mars paint a similar narrative. There's “a lack of stamina, instability, misguided direction” implied in this trine.
Who’s next? The pattern seems to be that this administration likes making a splashy example of one or two targets, resorting to extortion of the other targets. I do a light analysis of a few of the country’s on the President’s hit list in my New Moon in Capricorn Video, if you want to check it out. I was especially amazed at the karmic connections in Trump and Denmark's chart.
New Moon in Capricorn
This is the fourth of six New Moons at the 28th degree, with the fifth New Moon a Solar eclipse in February. Appropriately, the sixth New Moon in Pisces will officially close out the cycle that we've been slowly moving through. We are releasing whatever idealistic fantasies we’ve been hanging onto since the Eclipse at the 29th degree of Virgo squaring Neptune at the 29th degree of Pisces.
The Moon is still out-of-bounds, but all of the other personal planets have come back in-bounds, thankfully. However, this does not make this New Moon any less intense with Mercury and Mars both applying and under the beams of the New Moon and Venus separating and applying to Pluto on the other side. The pace has quickened as we attempt to remove the shackles of the old to forge something new. There's a tension between the structure of Capricorn and the anarchy of Aquarius.
Shortly after this New Moon, all the personal planets will meet with Pluto, with Mars triggering Pluto right after Neptune shifts more permanently into Aries on January 26. Mars rules Neptune in Aries so they will now be working together. And Mars in Aquarius triggers revolutionary energy, especially as it moves into the latter degrees of Aquarius. We will soon get a breath of fire, leaving behind the chaos of Pisces. We are likely to see an uptick in protests, people fighting for their rights, and for the causes they hold dear.
Saturn and Neptune together at transiting the last degrees of Pisces is symbolic of the out-of-control chaos we are feeling in the world right now. Anything that has been hanging on by a thread is being washed away. We are receiving some final lessons about the nature of chaos and how we can master it in a world that seems to have gone mad.
But what we can change versus what we can't change is Pluto's domain. Pluto can cause chaos as well, but with Pluto, we meet the limits of our personal power to change our circumstances. Pluto can smack down hubris in a flash. It's often during those moments when we think we've done something great, that we take our eye off the ball and get whacked.
Dane Rudhyar describes Capricorn as “the phase of life in which the state assumes control over the individual”. This is what we are seeing play out on the world stage with the seizing of Venezuelan oil reserves, the state assuming control over the resources of other countries. Mixed with Aquarius anarchy, we haven’t really thought about what comes next. We seem to want quick fixes when there are none.
This New Moon reminds us to respect our limits, both as individuals but also as those who seek to organize and restrict individual sovereignty. The New Moon is on the Cross of Laws with a theme of "enlightened self-interest". We either "naturally handle restrictions and limitations, ensuring identity and security." Or "we ignore limitations and pay the price”. After we confront Pluto and process our limitations, ready-or-not, a big shift is coming as Uranus stations direct on February 3rd, leading into the eclipse on February the 17th.
Saturn ruled Capricorn is one of the hardest Moon placements. Saturn puts huge restrictions on the Moon's natural expressiveness, creating deep repression and inarticulate sadness, perhaps even a chronically melancholic nature. And many of us are feeling the collective grief over the senseless killing of Rene Good in Minneapolis (I speak to this event chart in my New Moon in Capricorn Video).
The ruler of the Moon, Saturn, at the last degrees of Pisces, conjunct Neptune in the 10th house, is forming a mini-talent-trine with the New Moon in the 8th house and Uranus in the 12th house of the standalone chart, located in Washington DC. Saturn-Neptune is also creating a t-square with the angles of this chart at the last degree of Gemini and Sagittarius. We need to direct our energy toward that last degree of Virgo to find release. We are facing the dark truth about our current reality and processing our current limitations about what we can and cannot change. We need to find our focus. We cannot let the masters of chaos take away our sanity.
There is an opportunity for mutation, to ascend our limitations, to take advantage of whatever opportunities rise to the surface during this New Moon. The orchestration of chaos on the world stage is meant to distract us from what is essential. As Bill Carlson writes in The Gospel and the Zodiac:
The Master, the divine self within each of us is asleep and needs to be awakened so that we can direct our attention towards our goal and not be caught in the frantic rush of activity which dissipates our energies and weakens our resolve
If you remember, the Saturn-Neptune conjunction is on the Cross of the Sleeping Phoenix. It's about waking up, waking up to the reality of our situation, and either embracing it or falling back asleep. We each have a choice. The choice right now is to not get caught up in all of the distractions to a paralyzing degree. It can make us ineffective. It can make us so exhausted, we have no energy to apply toward getting us out of the fuckery 😄 that we've somehow found ourselves in; to offer up new ideas for the collective.
We need to fight for an alternative vision to the dystopian one that our leaders are offering us today. Aquarius in its higher expression is pragmatically optimistic. Combined with Aries, we can finally confront what changes are needed to accomplish this optimistic and life-sustaining vision for the future.
New Moon in Capricorn Video:
New Moon in Capricorn Video