Cardinal Climax: Fasten Your Seat Belts, A Turbulent Decade Ahead!

During 2010 the slow-moving planets of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto will align into a T-Square configuration (when two or more planets in opposition make a square to a third planet), all within zero degrees of the World Points of the Cardinal signs. The World Points are 0 degrees of the Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn) and 15 degrees of fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius). Planets located at these degrees express their archetypal power on the global stage with direct and unequivocal force, like a super volcano ready erupt.

Click chart below for larger view.

Although there have been previous T-Squares involving these planets, e.g. the last one occurred in 1932, what makes this one historically significant is that it isexactly aligned along the World Points. The last time civilization witnessed an outer planetary alignment of this magnitude was in 410 A.D. which coincided with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the world’s first global superpower, and was followed by a period of massive cultural, demographic and economic decline and disruption for approximately 400 years.

The Roman Empire

 

There were more than 20 powerful planetary alignments concentrated in the late spring and summer of 2010, involving Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto. This celestial phenomenon has been termed by astrologers as the “The Cardinal Climax,” since during a typical year, only a small number of planetary alignments occur and they are often spread throughout the year rather than a few-month span.

Dionysian and Promethean Archetypal Force

The world has been feeling the nascent effects of the Cardinal Climax since the fall of 2008. By mid-summer of 2010 the Cardinal Climax peaks in intensity and continues its waning effects throughout the first half of the decade. Many astrologers believe that the Cardinal Climax will not be all that dramatic; rather, it will be simply be a turning point in history, believing 100 years hence when historians and astrologers look back that they will be able to identify a period of time when a paradigm shift occurred for human civilization, and that the summer of 2010 will be at the center of that span. However, other astrologers, such as myself, believe that the Cardinal Climax represents a tangible intensification and acceleration of imminent environmental catastrophe and near-term exhaustion of natural resources, in conjunction with the passing away of an old paradigm that has defined our civilization for the past 2000 years, as a new one struggles to be born.

Thus the Cardinal Climax will signify the tangible intensification and acceleration of environmental catastrophe and the near-term exhaustion of natural resources challenging the very power structure of our civilization as the new paradigm is set in motion. This new paradigm will manifest through a reawaking of the zeitgeist, an archetypal force, that will constellate the Dionysian impulse for revolutionary empowerment and the Promethean thrust for radical change (economic, social, military, and scientific) that will sweep the world with tremendous force transforming everything that it touches in the years ahead.

Cardinal Climax Planets and the Meaning of Their Aspects

Before we proceed further, below is a definition of each planet within the context of mundane astrology that makes up the Cardinal Climax:

• Jupiter: A nation’s rule of law and its judges; it rules the upper classes of society; charities, philanthropic institutions, the “high arts” and the established culture of any nation. It represents a culture’s dominant religion (e.g. Christianity in the U.S or Shinto in Japan), publishing, universities, and a nation’s sense of future and manifest destiny. As Jupiter represents the principle of expansion, growth and the impulse to ascend and grow, is linked with a nation’s free market exchange system and commodity markets. It also rules over free trade, international commerce, a nation’s import/export and business sector. It also rules the beliefs and principles of a nation’s constitution. It is closely associated with a nation’s sovereign wealth as represented by its Gross National Product. In politics it is associated with what is termed the conservative “right” who embodies the unquestioned and accepted social truth in a society.
• Saturn: Rules to principle of structure, materiality, time, concrete manifestation, history, and tradition. In a society it rules government authority and how it controls and administers public policy. It also rules a nation’s hierarchical layers of government, such as its administrators, its bureaucrats, along with formal policies and procedures. It also rules property, insurance, and state institutions that which creates order in the society. It represents the elderly and retired population living off state pension and entitlement programs. It represents the civil service system, government bureaucracy, and the national security state of any nation.
• Uranus:  Political, social, and technological revolutions. Economic change, reforms, strikes, political dissidents, heavy industry, new technology, political and liberal social activist. Political parties and innovations in society that are in need of collective change.
• Pluto: It rules the secret convert organizations such as the CIA, the NSA. It rules military black projects and what has been term by alternative media as the shadow government. It rules the gambling and racketeer criminal underworld and organized crime such as the American Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza.  It rules political grass-root movements that initiate massive reform sweeping change in a nation.

November 2008: Saturn Opposition Uranus

The prelude to the 2010 Cardinal Climax began back in November 2008 during the Saturn/Uranus opposition, the first of five that coincided with the Great Stock Panic of 2008 that saw a 27% drop of the S&P Index in less than 4 weeks. Saturn/Uranus cycles are associated with the stripping away what is outmoded, obsolete, and unsustainable, and realigning a society to a higher ideal and life purpose. Therefore, Saturn/Uranus transits often indicate periods of extreme economic stress that coincide with major market corrections and low points in an economic cycle.

November 15, 2009: Saturn Square Pluto

The next major planetary event occurred on November 15, 2009 when Saturn squared Pluto, the first of three aspects that coincided with the debt standstill of Dubai real estate market that nearlytriggered a systemic failure in global financial markets. Saturn/Pluto historically has been observed to be a period of massive socio-economic stagnation, resistance, and breakdown.

In Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View, astrologer Richard Tarnas writes that

“the Saturn/Pluto cycle coincides with especially challenging historical periods that are characterized by intense contraction: eras of international crisis and conflict, empowerment of reactionary forces and totalitarian impulses, organized violence and oppression, all sometimes marked by lasting traumatic effects. An atmosphere of gravity and tension tended to accompany these three or four year periods, as did a widespread of epochal closure: ‘the end of an era,’ ‘the end of innocence,’ the destruction of an earlier mode of life that in retrospect may seem to have been marked by widespread indulgence, decadence, naïveté, denial, and inflation.” (p. 209, Viking Penguin, pub.)

January 31, 2010: Saturn Square Pluto

The second pass of the Saturn/Pluto square occurred January 31, 2010. This event coincided with the declaration of the “Recession is Over!”, by eight out of ten government economists as Wall Street forecasters were predicting the greatest financial comeback story in stock market history, with the Dow Jones Industrial moving well past 10,000, even though there were a number of disturbing economic storm clouds ahead.

What many public investors did not realize was that the Dow 10,000 in March 1999 was not the same in value as the Dow 10,000 in November 2009.  For back then in March 1999:

• United States unemployment was 4.2 percent. In 2009 it was 10.0 percent and rising.
• Oil traded around $16 per barrel. Oil in 2009 was trading above $80 a barrel.
• It took 91 cents to buy one Euro, in late 2009 it costs almost $1.50.
• An ounce of gold cost $280 in 1999; in November 2009 $1050.
• The national debt was 40 percent of GNP. By fiscal 4th Quarter of 2009, it was over 70 percent of GNP.

May 22, 2010: Jupiter Opposition Saturn

The next planetary event occurred on May 22, 2010 when Jupiter opposed Saturn, the first of three alignments that occurs every 20 years that often brings significant changes in institutionalized government. It also correlates with demographic shift, reallocation of power, changes in established social hierarchies, financial restructuring and reengineering of  national infrastructure in regards to service, manufacturing, and transportation sectors,  the development of natural resources, and the implementation large scale scientific, construction, and public work projects.  The second Jupiter/Saturn configuration coincided with a major slide in the U.S. stock market, capping the worst May for the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1940, while the Euro slumped and Gold and U.S. Treasuries rose in response to a downgrade of Spain’s debt rating. The next and last Jupiter/Saturn opposition will occur on March 28th, 2011 during America’s Saturn Return.

May 27, 2010: Uranus Ingress Into Aries Conjunct the World Point

The celestial build-up continued with Uranus ingress into Aries on May 27, 2010. Uranus – the outer-planet associated with change, innovation, and revolution – conjunct the World Point (0 degrees of Aries) signifies a quantum leap in human civilization. This will begin the shift in the collective global consciousness toward rebellion against the status quo and the restricting political, social, and economic structures.

June 8, 2010: Jupiter Ingress Into Aries Conjunct Uranus

This was followed by expansive Jupiter’s ingress into Aries and conjunction to Uranus on June 8, 2010. This was the first of three conjunctions that Jupiter and Uranus will make between now and January 2011. The Jupiter/Uranus cycle occurs every 14 years and appears to have much to do with the growth and awakening of human consciousness and furthering the evolution of mankind. In particular, it encourages the growth of the Promethean spirit of rebellion, emancipation, innovation, defiance, and self-will.

This first conjunction of Jupiter/Uranus is extraordinary in that it occurred at the World Point at 0 degrees Aries, sending out a powerful broadcast across the global collective and awakening the Promethean impulse for heroic individuation. Therefore, we can expect pervasive adventurism, a widespread interest in the occult sciences, and a sudden cultural shift away from the conventional and conservative. We can also expect during this period bold scientific initiative, daring epic pursuits, and a renewed interest in manned space exploration, along with revolutionary developments artificial intelligence, alternative energy systems, and the development of wireless power technology.

On a personal level the Jupiter/Uranus archetype is associated with the timing of major personal breakthroughs involving a sense of unexpected and sudden blissful awakenings. These types of personal breakthroughs often involve an extraordinary expansion of consciousness, psychological rebirths, brilliant intellectual insights and sudden intuitive leaps in understating and realizations, and cognitive blissfulness in what has been known as “peak experiences.”

Historically the major alignment of Jupiter and Uranus are noted for periods of vast scientific discovery, technological invention, and creative breakthroughs in the arts.  This planetary alignment is also recognized for periods in which great artistic achievement and major cultural milestones occur along with vast social liberation and the emergence of celebrated artists, musicians, writers, and poets. According to astrologer Richard Tarnas, Jupiter/Uranus alignments coincide with a major transfer of power from a long-established world view to a radically new one.

The Jupiter/Uranus alignment in June 2010, a world transit, coincided with the once-in-a-lifetime transit of Uranus opposition Uranus for those people born in late 1968 and through mid-1969. Jupiter and Uranus both crossed their natal Uranus at the same time. This recent event was in fact the same extraordinary convergence of personal and world transits that happened with Galileo, Descartes, and Einstein.  In each case their great scientific breakthroughs were recognized, celebrated by the established hierarchy of their respective eras and quickly circulated into the larger public when the Jupiter/Uranus world transit precisely coincided with their individual Uranus-opposition-Uranus personal transit.

Effects on the charts of the Fed, the U.S., the UK, Germany, Greece, Macedonia and Japan

June 21, 2010: Summer Solstice and Jupiter/Saturn/Uranus/Pluto Grand Cross

June 26, 2010: Partial Lunar Eclipse

The Summer Solstice (when the Sun ingress into 0 degrees of  Cancer) on June 21, 2010 filled in the point of the Cardinal T-Square, featuring  Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto, forming an energetic Grand Cross. This was shortly followed by a Partial Lunar Eclipse on June 26th, 2010, when the light of the Moon mysteriously darkens at the luminous height of a Full Moon. The Full Moon at 4º46’ Capricorn was united with Pluto in opposition to the Sun/Mercury conjunction, completing the Cardinal Square by all four elements – Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. This was a preview of the complex Cardinal Climax phase that was forming in the heavens on July 31, which had powerful set of effects upon the world. This configuration is powerful and complicated at once. The need to take action is urgent.

The Lunar Eclipse made intense contacts with the horoscopes of Germany, Greece, Macedonia, and Japan. It also buffeted the U.S. chart, the UK chart, European Union chart, and the Federal Reserve chart.  Eclipses have traditionally been viewed as a bad omen. The presence of Pluto indicates a reawakening of the Kali archetype of death, destruction, and recreation, a time when matters come to light in the global collective on issues that have been brewing under the surface. Forceful collective action and power struggles are likely manifestations where the common people (the Moon) rise up to meet head-on a powerful elite (the Sun).

“The Third Depression”

This high-powered celestial event brought a number of looming crises and issues to the collective forefront. First, with the methane gas fears in the Gulf of Mexico and, second, with the economy as the Dow lost 10% in Q2 and the S&P 500 ending below 1,040 while the CBOE volatility index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, went above 34. An indication that the alleged recovery in the U.S. and Europe has essentially stalled with echoes of mid-1931, as the price of gold continued to soar while the yield on the 10-year Treasury bonds hit their lowest levels since 1962. This event also coincided with the aNew York Times editorial titled “The Third Depression” written by op-ed columnist and Noble prize winner for economics Paul Krugman. Krugman wrote:

“We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost — to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs — will nonetheless be immense.”

July 11, 2010: Total Solar Eclipse

On July 11, 2010 the second solar eclipse of 2010 occurred. This was a total eclipse, when the whole of the eclipsed body of the Sun is blocked out and darkened at the New Moon. Solar eclipses signify beginnings and usually manifest as events in the outer world. This eclipse occurred at 19°24′ of Cancer, tightly conjunct the malefic star Wasat, a star of Saturn (karma; restriction; sorrow) and Mars (violence; action; conflict; warfare). Wasat is a malevolent influence, awakening violence and destructiveness as a first principle, governing chemicals, poisons, and gas. The symbolism of the Solar Eclipse correlated with the large buildup of methane gas coming from the BP Gulf Oil spill as the concentration of oil in the water began to break down, creating methane and hydrogen sulfide, depleting the oxygen and creating the possibility of a dead zone in the Gulf. There were also reports of the discovery of a large methane bubble under the Gulf that could explode and cause a major tsunami.

Astrologically, solar eclipses signify the fall of the mighty. Significant flaws in a system that have been marginalized and have direct bearing on stability are revealed around this time. Dell Horoscope astrologer Bill Meridian says,

“Any event that occurs in the week around an eclipse takes on extra importance, Events that occur in the week prior to an eclipse also have a fated quality, in which affairs do not turn our as expected. In the week after the eclipse, matters and decisions are important but do not take on a fated quality. Turning to birthdays, a birthday in the weeks around an eclipse promises an important year. If the birthday is in the week prior to an eclipse the year will take an unexpected turn. If the birthday is on the day of the eclipse, it will be a most a fated year over which the person has little control.”

Solar Eclipse and the U.S., Germany, Russia, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, the Chicago Board of Options Exchange, and the New York Stock Exchange

The horoscopes of the United States, Germany, Russia, and Japan are buffeted by the solar eclipse along with both South Korea and North Korea. The Solar Eclipse chart buffeted both the horoscopes of the [NYSE CHART] New York Stock Exchange and the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. This event coincided with a report from CNBC that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is repeating a pattern that fell during the Great Depression. Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, said, “The economy is still in the gravitational pull of the Great Recession, and all the booster rockets for getting U.S. beyond [its gravity belt] are failing.” Also, investor confidence fell over the possibility that the American recovery has stalled just as the Asian economy hit the buffers as China’s manufacturing index, which has been falling since January, hit 50.4, just above the break-even line of 50. Momentum seems to be flagging everywhere, whether in Australian building permits, Turkish exports, or Japanese industrial output.

The days of believing the Obama propaganda about a jobs recovery are over. The trillion-dollar corporate handouts (neatly named “stimulus”) may have kept big business in the money for the past 18 months and artificially propped up the stock market, but small business is the real canary in the coal mine.

Saturn (ruler of restriction, control, depression, karma, and errors) at 29°27′ Virgo conjuncts the U.S. Mid-heaven; therefore, a crisis of confidence in the nation’s leadership will occur as a result of the Obama administration’s slow and incompetent response to the BP Gulf oil spill and his poor handling and prosecution of the war thus far in Afghanistan.

The Solar Eclipse Saturn to the U.S. Midheaven may also augur that the trillion-dollar corporate handouts (neatly named “stimulus”) that essentially kept the stock market artificially propped up and big business in the money, for the past 18 months has run out of steam. Therefore, it is likely that the days of the Obama Administration official position about a jobs recovery is over.

Astrologist Linda Schurman of Ithaca, NY, who accurately predicted a major oil spill back in January 2010 on Coast-To-Coast AM – the most listened to radio show of its kind in the world – believes the Solar Eclipse on July 11, 2010 could coincide with a crisis in Russia. According to Schurman the spill will be contained by September, accomplished through incremental processes.

July 26, 2010: Saturn Opposition Uranus

Then Saturn makes its last opposition to Uranus on July 26, 2010. French astrologer Andre Barbault has found that the Saturn/Uranus cycle is strongly related with the politics of order, reform and reorganization. The Saturn/Uranus opposition coinciding with the longer Uranus/Pluto cycle augurs the collapse and deconstruction of the current system in order to clear the way for radical social and political reform to occur.

July 30-31, 2010: Mars Opposition Uranus Conjoined Saturn
August 3, 2010: Mars Opposition Jupiter Squaring Pluto

On July 30, 2010, potent Mars also opposed Uranus and conjoined Saturn on July 31, 2010. Mars then opposed Jupiter and squared Pluto on August 3, 2010, bringing buried aggression to a crescendo. Therefore we can expect a breakdown in political relations and increased tensions, which will likely erupt as foreign crisis especially in the Middle East and the Korean peninsula.  Also, this multiple planetary alignment coincided with a solar C-class flare that erupted from a sunspot and mixed with a rare form of magnetic filament. The combination of this produced a coronal mass ejection. As a result energy infrastructure will be increasingly vulnerable to unanticipated severe weather events caused by changing climate patterns leading to a greater frequency of brownouts and supply disruptions for business.

August 3, 2010: Jupiter Square Pluto

Jupiter then squared Pluto on August 3, 2010. The Jupiter/Pluto cycle has been known to closely correlate with the growth of international terrorism. It also stirs the collective impulse for power, ambition, and extremist behavior and relates to the rise of plutocracy, where the degree of economic inequality is high while the level of social mobility is low. Economically, Jupiter-Pluto alignments can produce booms and investor optimism, but it equally it can create economic policies based on unrealistic future projections. Therefore, we will see an acceleration of quantitative easing (increasing the supply of printed and digital money when the bank interest rates are close to zero) by the central banks that will likely set the stage for rampant monetary inflation that can lead to currency devaluation.

In societies in crisis, Jupiter-Pluto alignments often bring long-held discontent of the populace to the surface; therefore we can expect a rise in populist movements and grass-roots activism to dramatically increase. In regards to international politics Jupiter-Pluto alignments can augur military action in an atmosphere of acute tension. Therefore, we must continue to monitor events in the Middle East, the Korea peninsula and the Eurozone.

August 16, 2010: Jupiter Opposition Saturn

On August 16, 2010 Jupiter opposes Saturn for the second time. This alignment closely coincided with the stock market dive as depression fears worldwide grew. Fears that the United States and Britain could slip into a protracted depression intensified as markets and investors became foreboding as Federal Reserve and the Bank of England took a very guarded economic outlook.

Therefore, we will likely see business and industry continue to contract amid a large-scale generational transition. Also, we will continue to see financial losses – from both the personal and corporate – increase.  The old way of doing business gives way to the “new;” however, the tensions and stresses in the global economy will peak in this time period. Smaller banks will continue to fail under the crushing weight of nearly $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate defaults that begin in the year 2011. This will continue to the year 2015.

Peak Oil

August 21, 2010: Saturn Square Pluto

On August 21, 2010 Saturn squared Pluto (3rd time). The Saturn/Pluto cycle corresponds closely with the history of petroleum production. Based on a number of independent projections 2010 will be the year of what has been termed by scientists as “Peak Oil,” meaning that worldwide demand for oil will outpace production.Therefore worldwide oil production in the year 2030 will be the same as it was in 1980. However, the world’s population in 2030 will be both much larger (approximately twice) and much more industrialized (oil-dependent) than it was in 1980.Consequently, worldwide demand for oil will outpace worldwide production of oil by a significant margin.

John Hofmeister, the former Shell executive and author of his new book Why We Hate the Oil Companies, at a World Affairs Council meeting predicted Americans are on the path toward blackouts and gas lines, and the federal government’s tools to prevent it are broken. “Within a decade I predict the energy abyss looks like brownouts, blackouts and gas lines,” said Hofmeister. “Our federal government, when it comes to energy and the environment, is dysfunctional, it’s broken, and it’s unfixable in its current form.” As a result, the price of oil will dramatically increase, and oil dependent economies will begin to crumble, as international tensions soar and resource wars soon follow.

You Say You Want a Revolution

June 24, 2012: Uranus Square Pluto

On June 24, 2012 Uranus will square Pluto. There are seven (7) exact squares between Uranus and Pluto within a three-year period from 2012 to 2015.The square between Uranus/Pluto features power struggles, with imminent revolutionary feelings. The Uranus/Pluto square will intensify the impulse for radical and sweeping social change that will cause great disruptions in society resulting in accidents and deaths from violent civil insurrections against perceived authority figures deemed responsible for the economic crisis. Thus the current class structure and social hierarchy will be shattered, while a new form of social order is created. Based on previous Uranus/Pluto alignment, we can expect an intensified awakening of countercultural activity, increase drive for personal freedom, and a reawakening of feminist movements in many conservative, risk-adverse cultures. It will pressure radicalization in the personal beliefs and ideas calling for public action, especially among youth, replacing a former way of thinking with a fundamentally different way of thinking. It will drive artistic innovation and experimentation, resulting in an explosion in cultural creativity in the arts, literature, music, and film and continue to accelerate technological and scientific advancement.

Cardinal Climax and the Mayan Calendar: the “Sacred Hall of Mirrors”

September 19, 2012: Uranus Square Pluto

The Mayan Calendar Long Count calendar end date will occur on December 21, 2012, nearly four months after the second Uranus/Pluto alignment on September 19, 2012. This event according to Mayan astrology marks the end of a 25,625 year long cycle that began 3113 BC. According to Mayan prophecy it signifies the transition from one world age, to another. The Mayans call this period from 1999 – 2012 the “Sacred Hall of Mirrors” that according to them will be both a time of cataclysm and the dawn of a new era in human civilization and global consciousness. From the perspective of contemporary astrology the horoscope of the Mayan Calendar end date for December 21, 2012 at 5:13 AM in Chichen Itza, Mexico shows the Sun along the World Point at 0 degrees of Capricorn at the Winter Solstice shortly before dawn. Jupiter is at 8 degrees of Gemini is inconjunct both Saturn at 8 degrees of Scorpio and Pluto at 8 degrees of Capricorn. This is a rare, fated aspect pattern called the Yod, or Finger of Fate. The Moon is in Aries, separating from a conjunction of Uranus, while the Sun exactly sextiles Neptune and forms a stellium with Mars and Pluto in Capricorn. In addition, the Sun is extremely close to the Galactic Equator which is the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Sun will take 36 years (2058) to progress through this crossing point called “The Sacred Tree” by the Mayans.

The Thirties and Sixties in a 21st Century Context

The meeting of the Uranus-Pluto cycle, initialized by the Cardinal Climax, with the longer Mayan galactic cycle, will likely present the human civilization with a convergence of major challenges in many forms that could well represent something like a combination of the 1930s and the 1960s in a 21st Century context. Therefore, this decade will be one of enormous historical change and crisis, requiring the global community to radically expand the scope and depth of its vision in order facilitate the transition from a Type 0.7 to a Type 1 (Type 1 can harness all of the energy of its home planet) civilization. The transition to a Type 1 civilization will require not only a massive leap in power generation, but the collective will to make the necessary political and economic reforms that will allow new technologies to flourish that will ultimately be both liberating and empowering for humanity.

Earth Changes

The high number of powerful planetary alignments leading up to the Cardinal Climax have coincided with  particularly dramatic natural events over the past 6 months or so which have affected the collective in significant ways – from the Haiti earthquake to the Icelandic volcano drama and now the devastating and seemingly unstoppable oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Although many astrologers believe the Cardinal Climax will coincide with the intensification and acceleration of Earth changes and environmental crisis, it will most likely not augur any single and immediate dire event. However, I believe many of the Earth changes predicted by American psychic Edgar Cayce, such the increase in intensity, frequency and unpredictability in earthquakes, volcanic activity, weather anomalies such as violent storms, accelerated global warming, coastal flooding, heavy rainfall, huge thunderstorms, flash floods, protracted droughts, extremely high winds, heat waves, very hot and dry summers followed quickly followed by very cold and snowy weather, and a continued weakening of the Earth’s magnetic field.

Solar Cycle 24

The Cardinal Climax also coincides with the Solar Cycle 24, charged particles from the Sun   that we call solar flares or coronal mass ejections that have an intricate interaction with the Earth that can affect our magnetic field and weather. In fact NASA scientists have recently sent out a press release highlighting possible dangers from increased solar activity as we head into the Solar Maximum (that began on 8 January 2008 will peak in May 2013 with 90 sunspots). Also there are signs of a possible magnetic pole shift related to changes occurring within the Earth’s core.

Areas of the USA vulnerable to power system collapse in response to an extreme geomagnetic storm.
Source: National Academy of Sciences.

The Middle East and the Cardinal Climax

Many nations horoscopes have planets located along the World Points and thus will be directly affected by the coming crisis. For example, many nations in the Middle East such as Yemen, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Palestine, Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Jordan, Sudan,Kuwait, Turkey, and Afghanistan will be powerfully affected by the Cardinal T-Square.  Many of these nations are major oil exporters to Europe, Asia, and the United States. Although oil production in the Middle East has been climbing since 2008, the higher consumption of oil by China and India has been eating away at OPEC’s spare capacity to produce greater quantities of oil. The effects of even a small drop in oil production in the Middle East could be shocking to the global economy as the financial system is entirely dependent on ever-increasing amounts of cheap oil to continue, in order for economic activity to expand. Therefore we can anticipate possible price shocks to oil as the prospect of war, terrorism, civil unrest and nuclear proliferation in the Middle East increases during the Cardinal Climax.

Europe and the Cardinal Climax

The Cardinal T-Square will distress the horoscopes of developed countries in Europe, such as Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. These are nations with low economic growth, rising government deficits, declining tax revenue, and low birthrates with a growing aging population – all factors that endanger the future of the Eurozone. The combined public and private debt of the most troubled European countries – Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Eastern Europe – is nearly $9 trillion. Therefore we can expect a period of austerity and significant changes in Europe in the months ahead. The Cardinal Climax may well signify that we have arrived at a tipping point, where no amount of bailout funding from European banks will be sufficient, and the Greek crisis may be fiscal harbinger of a much broader sovereign-debt crisis to come.

The United States and the Cardinal Climax

The United States horoscope will be directly affected by the Cardinal Climax as well. Since the financial meltdown in 2008, the U.S. government has been doing a series of unprecedented fiscal maneuvers to prevent the U.S. economy from collapsing. In order to free up capital and keep banks solvent, the Federal Reserve (Fed) created over a trillion dollars and sent it to big investment banks in return for tons of worthless mortgages that many regional banks amassed during the housing boom from 2000-2008. In return, for letting the banks unload over a trillion dollars of worthless securities (debt) directly onto the taxpayer, the investment banks obliged the Fed by buying billions of treasury securities from the government (at nearly zero percent interest), and stock securities to re-inject confidence in the stock market.

The efforts of the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve may have halted the next great depression in its tracks, but what has been termed as “solving the crisis” has not solved anything but only  postponed it. Although some economic indicators in the U.S. have improved since the meltdown, unemployment in particular remains high as incomes continue to fall. Home foreclosures continue to rise, and small businesses (that create 75 percent of new jobs) continue to struggle and close, as regional banks across the nation go under. Major infrastructure deficiencies remain, corporations continue to outsource manufacture and service sector jobs to China and India, and unrestrained illegal immigration has still a vexing problem.

As a result, the U.S. has drifted toward a bifurcated society between an obscenely wealthy class and shrinking middle class. Pervasive financial pressure on middle-income families continues to promote an increasingly polarized form of politics that advances “bread and circus” topics (intended to distract attention from government policies), as critical “bread and butter” issues that affect ordinary Americans in their daily lives are marginalized. This partisan polarization, that continues to create the illusion of policy differences between the major political parties while excluding any third party influence that may be antagonistic to corporate power, has and continues to be the main source of dissatisfaction throughout the nation.

Currently more  than 80% of Americans see problems with America’s two-party system – with 31% believing that it is seriously broken and that the nation needs a third party. This figure, along with a fragile economy whose fiscal capacity is all but maxed out, increases the prospect for social revolution as a daunting possibility. The political fallout of the Cardinal Climax may be the rise civil unrest, tax revolts, and large-scale protest and dissent. New York astrologer Michael Lutin also believes civil dissent is inevitable, saying “expect the American public to split and take sides between those who refuse to yield to change and those who demand it.”

Due to unabated economic decline, growing unemployment and public dissatisfaction with where the nation is going, the Cardinal Climax could signify the rise of  a potent grass-roots reform movement throughout the U.S. that will come from a demoralized citizenry who feel abandoned by their government. This movement will demand major economic reforms, a restructuring of the tax system, strive for state sovereignty, and fight to reverse the concentration of wealth and power from a deeply entrenched and advanced oligarchy that is composed of an elite ruling class (members of either the Council of Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, or the Bilderberg Group), who command industry, commerce and U.S. foreign policy and act as puppet masters for both major political parties.

Specifically the Cardinal Climax will hit the U.S. natal Venus and Jupiter. Venus has rulership over a nation’s money supply and the value of its currency, and Jupiter has rulership over its institutional holdings and sovereign wealth. President Obama is poised to increase the U.S. debt to a level that exceeds the value of the nation’s annual economic output, or Gross National Product (GNP), a step toward what has been termed as “debt super cycle.”  This “debt super cycle trend” suggests that U.S. economic growth will not be enough to support excessive borrowing if interest rates go up instead of down. Therefore, we will likely see a dramatic contraction of the U.S. money supply (almost matching the decline seen from 1929 to 1933), despite near zero interest rates and the biggest fiscal bailout blitz in history.

Will California Be For the U.S. What Greece Is For the Eurozone? 

Looking further, a number of U.S. State horoscopes are distressed by the Cardinal T-Square such as Colorado, Michigan, Louisiana, Rode Island, and most notably California. California, the 8th largest economy in the world, used to symbolize the promise of America’s future, but now is the national bellwether for economic decline, suffering a budget crisis last year that was so austere that if it were a country it would be on the brink of insolvency. California is so strapped for cash that it has recently resorted to paying its state workers with IOUs rather than money. In Chief Executive magazine’s annual survey of “Best and Worst States for Business”, California comes in 51st place out of 50 states (District of Columbia is included in the rankings). In fact, Jamie Dimon, chairman of JP Morgan Chase, has warned that American investors should be more worried about the risk of default of the state of California than of Greece’s current debt woes. With the approaching Cardinal T-Square the question is, will California be for the U.S. what Greece is for the Eurozone?

The United States, Canada, the Eurozone, and Japan have been steadily moving away from manufacturing toward a consumption-based economy as they continue to outsource manufacturing and services to China and India. However, private sector growth in a consumption-based economy requires that corporations pay low wages to produce cheap goods.

The End of the Consumption Economy

For example, in order for Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retail store, to remain profitable it needs to make money off of inadequately paid workers who do minimum wage labor in a store that is patronized by other underpaid or underemployed people.  These customers are buying cheap goods that used to be manufactured in their local communities but are now made in China, India, and other Asian countries. So even if nearly everyone was employed, many middle class Americans still wouldn’t have enough money to buy what the economy is capable of producing. Therefore, the Cardinal Climax may augur the beginning of the end of the consumption driven economic model in this nation based on low wages/and cheap goods that has essentially replaced manufacturing since the inception of NAFTA and globalization of U.S. corporations.

President Obama and the Cardinal Climax

August 26, 2010: Obama’s Sun Ingress Into Libra on World-Point Axis Transiting Saturn

Even President Obama’s horoscope is not exempt from the effects of the Cardinal Climax. His Solar Arc directed Sun will ingress into 0 degrees of Libra on August 26, 2010, putting it along the World-Point axis and will be transited by Saturn. This symbolism indicates Obama will be tested and coerced by circumstances beyond his control to shelve his progressive vision that he was elected on, in order to salvage a nation that has been in a state of economic decline over the past decade. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll taken shortly before the June 26th Lunar Eclipse indicates Americans are more pessimistic about the state of the country and less confident in President Barack Obama’s leadership than at any point since Mr. Obama entered the White House. Sixty-two percent of adults in the survey feel the country is on the wrong track, the highest level since before the 2008 election. Amid anxiety over the nation’s course, support for Mr. Obama and other incumbents is eroding. For the first time, more people disapprove of Mr. Obama’s job performance than approve.  There is a widespread feeling that the government doesn’t work, that it is incapable of solving America’s problems. Americans are fed up with Washington, fed up with Wall Street, fed up with the ill-conceived stimulus and bail-out programs, and fed up with a misdirected and costly healthcare program. But most importantly, millions of unemployed American’s feel abandoned by their President, as their fear deepens that the American dream is vanishing before their very eyes.

As America continues to suffer the ravaging effects of the Cardinal Climax the novelty of Obama’s “Change You Can Believe In” will have run its course, along with the power of his position as the non-Bush president. The Cardinal Climax will demand that the nation’s leadership be held at a much higher standard as Saturn’s influence in particular does not permit making errors without significant consequences. Thus Obama’s decline in popularity will embolden his opposition to attempt to block him at every turn. Obama will have to perform extremely well under the sagging poll numbers, growing political opposition, and looming economic crisis to ensure his re-election in 2012. With so many direct hits to the U.S. horoscope, we can expect one crisis in America seemingly begetting another, with the time span between each crisis getting shorter and shorter. As the global economy and geopolitical affairs continue toward what appears to be a turbulent and perilous course, the emergence of the Cardinal Climax effects may augur that the U.S. economy may be heading toward another financial crisis that will be much worse than the sub-prime crash of 2008.  Whether it is a financial tsunami wave from Europe, the BP Oil debacle, or war in the Middle East (that threatens the world’s steady supply of oil), or Earth changing event such a 7+ magnitude earthquake or a Category 5 hurricane, any one event could easily derail a fragile U.S. economy whose fiscal capacity is all but maxed out.

Mexico and the Cardinal Climax

The planets in Mexico’s horoscope will also be buffeted by the Cardinal Climax. The drug cartel-driven style of guerilla warfare that has seized entire Mexican towns and killed over 20,000 citizens last year will likely spread beyond its borders. The influence of the Cardinal Climax on Mexico’s natal Pluto will embolden the drug cartels to weaken the Mexican military’s efforts to contain the civil infighting. Since the U.S. is the biggest consumer of illegal drugs in the world, we can expect the violence in Mexico to cross over the U.S. border, which will likely result in a military response by Washington.

Japan and the Cardinal Climax: Japanese Economy

The Cardinal Climax will buffet both the 660 B.C. Japanese Imperial horoscope (when according to legend Emperor Jimmu ascended the throne in Nara), and the1889 Meiji Constitution horoscope, which marks its move away from Imperial government and the beginning of the modern, relatively progressive Japanese state.

Japan was one of the hardest-hit countries during the global financial crisis in 2008. The collapse in exports to the United States and Europe had put the final nail in the coffin of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had ruled Japan for the past 55 years. The LDP was swept from power in September 2009 by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which promised to end the economy’s dependence on exports and promote a more balanced economy.

The DPJ, however, has proven no better then its predecessor at dealing with Japan’s deep-seated issues such as long-term deflation, falling tax revenues, rising deficits, huge public debt, and top-heavy demographics. In fact, there seems to be an obvious lack of decisiveness among the DPJ and Japanese policymakers about how to deal and resolve them. Japan’s economy continues to operate far below capacity, and its debt to GDP ratio, already the highest in the rich world at 190%, continues to rise.

Japanese policymakers also believe that there is no imminent debt crisis since they view low productivity growth as insidious and deflation as a monetary problem rather than something that is potentially catastrophic. However, many global economists argue that the combination of deflation and weak growth combined with high debt makes Japan prone to a Greek-style collapse since it is vulnerable to a sudden drop in investor demand, especially if domestic savers stop buying Japanese Government Bonds.

History shows that when nations reach as high a level of indebtedness such as Greece and have as few prospects of growth, they will almost certainly default. Like the U.S., Japan independently controls its monetary policy; so domestic default, in which the older generations who hold most of the government bonds will see the value of their investments cut in half to reduce the pressure on the younger generation, is an option. However, this solution would threaten social stability in a risk-adverse culture and come at enormous political cost to both major political parties; but with the emergence of the Cardinal Climax it may be the only viable option for Japan to consider.

At any rate, as the Japanese policy makers continue to muddle their way through, the effects of Cardinal Climax will make it clear to investors that the situation in Japan is unsustainable and unless radical policy changes are made, the government will go bankrupt. However, the reluctance for the government to do anything radical is extremely Japanese in character, and yet that is what is precisely needed.

Even Japan’s new Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, warns that his country may default.  In June 2010 he said to the Diet,

“We are the next Greece! Our country’s outstanding public debt is huge. Our public finances have become the worst of any developed country. We cannot sustain public finance that overly relies on issuing bonds. As we can see from the Eurozone confusion that started in Greece, there is a risk of default if growing public debt is neglected and trust lost in the bond market.”

Japan and the Cardinal Climax: Women’s Empowerment Movement

Cardinal Climax will most likely ignite the rise women’s empowerment movement in Japan. The Uranus/Pluto square by world transits will directly hit the Japan’s Venus, igniting another feminist movement that will strive for equality and self-sovereignty that will infuse itself into Japanese culture. The Cardinal Climax indicates that stress and struggle during that process will be high, but women in Japan will emerge from this decade with considerably more political and economic power than now.

The Meiji Constitution horoscope has the north node at 20º57’ Cancer, conjoined by the Solar Eclipse.  Jupiter, at 0º57’ Capricorn, is transited by the Cardinal Climax, especially Uranus, at the time of the Solar eclipse.  Like Singapore and Malaysia, Japan is finding itself in a crossroads in its relationship with China as Beijing continues to project its ever-increasing power and influence throughout Asia.  This may put tremendous pressure on Japan to leave its past international obligations behind and focus on its nationalist, protectionist instincts with an emboldened confidence in acting to project its own agenda.

Japanese women’s gender empowerment index in 2008 was ranked 58th out of 108 countries, down from 42nd in 2006. The Uranus/Pluto square by world transits will directly hit the Japan’s Venus, igniting another feminist movement that will strive for equality and self-sovereignty that will infuse itself into Japanese culture. The Cardinal Climax indicates that stress and struggle during that process will be high, but women in Japan will emerge from this decade with considerably more political and economic power than now.

Tension Between North and South Korea

The horoscopes of both developed and third-world countries in Asia are not exempt from the effects of the Cardinal T-Square. The nations of South Korea, Singapore, Mongolia, Nepal, and Indonesia will be highly stressed by the Cardinal T-Square. The geopolitical turmoil between North and South Korea is to be especially noted as the risk of war with North Korea has dramatically increased as of late, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Il ordered his military to be on combat alert after South Korea officially blamed his regime for the March 26th sinking of one of its warships that killed 46 sailors.

Just as climate scientists debate the existence of a “tipping point” beyond which rising global temperatures are uncontrollable, the Cardinal Climax may exemplify the economic tipping point beyond which control of the U.S., the Eurozone, and other nations is beyond the powers of government.

World Financial Markets and the Cardinal Climax

In regards to world’s financial markets, the Cardinal Climax buffets the horoscopes of the New York Stock Exchange, the U.S. Dollar, the Federal Reserve, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, and the Toronto Stock Exchange. Therefore we can anticipate a wave of increasing alarm over the global economic outlook. Harry Schultz of Harry Schultz’ International Letter accurately predicted the market crash in 2008 and was one of 2009’s top 10 performers because his forecast accurately called the 2009 stock market rally. He writes:

“We collectively are poised at a heart-stopping moment in economic times. On the one extreme side, the world is on the edge of massive deflation and depression. At the other extreme, we could enter depression followed by sudden hyperinflation. My view is: Both these extremes are possible. Certainly deflation is, on balance, in play today and gaining ground as money supply is actually declining!

“Hyperinflation seems impossible when there is not much inflation in most economies. But, hyperinflation is a monetary event, not an economic one, and will happen on an overnight basis, not via a general uptrend in inflation data. Meantime, as of this writing, gold is holding very near its high, as most stock markets are bungee jumping. This implies the unexpected hyperinflation is pending, because if it were exclusively deflation ahead, gold action would be less buoyant.”

Schultz currently recommended asset allocation:

• 30-40% government notes/bills/bonds
• 8-10% stocks (non-gold)
• 10-15% commodities
• 40-50% gold stocks and bullion

The Barbault Planetary Cyclic Index: Massive Technological Progress Ahead

The Barbault Planetary Cyclic Index is based on the fluctuations of the alternative movement of the ascending (0-180) and descending (180-0) phases of Jupiter, Saturn, and the outer planets and is an indicator of global economic stability and political relations. The Barbault Index begins a steep downward phase drop starting in July 2010, where it bottoms in 2020 during the Jupiter/Saturn/Pluto conjunction. The Index begins a steep upward trend from 2023 that indicates a period of rapid economic growth, development and optimism. Astounding technological progress will be the central feature of this decade. In fact, it is even arguable that during this period we can expect the rise of artificial life on Earth with greater-than-human intelligence. In 2024 there is a Jupiter/Uranus conjunction in Taurus and the Barbault Index peaks in 2026; therefore we can expect this period to be historic in the development of computers that are essentially awake possessing superhuman intelligence – A.I. These large computer networks will become sentient and the development of computer/human interfaces will give humans superhuman intelligence.

We can also expect a major breakthrough in the biological sciences that will improve the quality of human life by dramatically extending lifespan with minimal aging and improve human intelligence. It is likely that humanity will be at a turning point by being the first species to be on the verge of taking control of its own evolution. Also during this decade, different types of technology – genetic, robotic, information, and nanotech – will converge and lead the human enhancement capabilities that will begin to literally change what it means to be human.

Astrologers, Personal World Views and the Cardinal Climax

One of the most important things to remember about the Cardinal Climax is that nothing will be the same for many people heading into this new decade. People who come to terms with this and are open to radically expanding the personal worldview will be much better than those who do not.

This issue also applies to many professional astrologers who preferred not to talk about the Cardinal Climax or go on record in ways that would create public anxiety or panic, because they don’t believe the predictive power astrology or marginalize its effects. Of the small group of astrologers that have made mundane forecast based on the Cardinal Climax, very few in the astrological community listened. Since most modern astrologers are essentially doing psychological astrology which focuses essentially on the present rather than the future, many astrologers ignored the forecast and their warnings, preferring to keep a persona of false “New Age” positivism to themselves and their clients.

It is my position that all forecasts, whether mundane or personal, are always made well in advance so people have time to plan, adjust, anticipate and appropriately respond in ways that are both empowering and liberating in accordance with their self-will.

Of course this is not easy to accomplish when the media and public at large is saying and doing one thing while you are saying and doing another. But that is the very nature of mundane astrological forecasts. History has continued to show that those who do not face the realities of astrology and forecasting fail to be of service to the public at large, or to their clients – until it is much too late. Many people directly affected by the Cardinal Climax are now attempting to neutralize their transits that have been in effect since 2008. This makes it very difficult for people to make progress especially after they have lost their jobs, homes, and the support of their local communities.

It is a universal law that timing is everything, and this is especially true in astrology. To me, the very nature of astrology is divination or speculative forecasting. Those astrologers who do not understand this fact will fall short of providing people the necessary time and space to help them make “informed” decisions and changes as they so can choose in accordance with destiny – rather then based on collective consensus of others.

The Cardinal Climax and You

Although everyone will feel the effects of this planetary alignment, as it will be global phenomena, some people will feel it more then others, especially those born with

the Sun in the early degrees of

• Aries,
• Cancer,
• Libra, and
• Capricorn,

or the late degrees of

• Pisces,
• Gemini,
• Virgo, and
• Sagittarius.

Those people born during certain years will experience it most intensely, which include: 1950, 1951, 1959, and 1968, 1969, 1975, 1981, 1984, and 1990.

A total life revolution is likely for those individuals whose horoscopes are directly affected by the Cardinal Climax. The changes induced by the Cardinal Climax will affect them in a profound way, as deep psychological force become more active, creating inner tension in their personality structure that coerces them to move and grow beyond their current way of living. In order for many to constructively integrate these powerful archetypal forces in their lives, they will be required to dramatically advance and expand their philosophical belief-systems and general worldview. Failure to do so at this time will result not only in missed opportunities due to obstinacy and false perceptions, but anxiety and depression. It is likely that many ongoing but unfinished task projects will be interrupted by circumstances beyond their control, requiring that they make major revisions in both personal and professional goals.

Regardless of their age, they will have a profound sense of disenchantment, frustration, and sensory overload that will require them to conserve their energies and avoid excessive strain on their health. Many of the old and outworn structures (such as relationships, habits or routines) that they have built up their life will suddenly fade away, since this is a period of endings followed by new beginnings, and many of those structures were getting in the way of their continued growth and development. The key to thriving during this period will be for them to redefine themselves along their diamonic (spiritual force or genius) calling, or inner personal truth, so that they can become and achieve what they have always wanted.

Because the Cardinal Climax configuration will affect the collective, the drastic changes those effected will encounter during this period will largely be the result of social and economic forces beyond their control, creating the feeling of being an unfortunate pawn placed in the middle of unprecedented historical events.  But these outer events even though they appear impersonal, will play a vital role in the individuation process and personal development.

By accepting this period as a challenge for growth and self actualization, those directly affected can allow the old order and ideas about their life to pass away that will pave the way for a rebirth into a new and move fulfilling way of life.

Predictions For the Cardinal Climax

In conclusion below are some long-range predictions based on the speculative effects of the Cardinal Climax:

• The years 2024-2026 will bring a new paradigm for our civilization, as well as a new energy infrastructure.
• Many people who have held long-time positions in all fields will see their last years in their prospective jobs, to be replaced by a new generation that does not have the legacy connections to the Powers-That-Be.
• The decade of the 2010s will be similar to the Great Depression years of the 1930s, and the Counter Culture and Social Revolution years of the 1960s.
• By mid-2010, Greek, Irish, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian workers will protest the draconian austerity measures imposed on them by their own governments to ensure payment to creditors holding sovereign debt.
• By 2012, social unrest will go global with strikes, riots and protests by unions, student groups, the unemployed, pensioners, and disenfranchised populace who are on the verge of losing everything.
• By 2012 the European Union will be in danger of disuniting as the economies in Eurozone continue to decline.
• In a global climate of economic volatility and geopolitical instability, gold and silver will continue to prove to be a safe haven for wealth.

William Stickevers
August 15, 2010