A new age in the UK – The Age of ?

Sagittarius 2019

It is a crucial time, speaking astrologically. It is time for a major new age – but of what? How will we look back at this time? It’s up to us.

Last month my Sex, lies and deep fake post covered the important planetary cycle of Saturn and Pluto. The conjunction of these two next year is a ‘one-hitter’ and takes place in January 2020, but of course has a much longer effect, as we are witnessing. However there is another planetary cycle afoot – or should I say aloft? – which involves Jupiter. Our sign of the month, Sagittarius, is aligned with Jupiter, so it is a fitting time to discuss his meetings with Pluto next year. And yes, I say meetings, as this conjunction is a three-hitter. Jupiter meets Pluto on April 5th, June 30th and November 12th, 2020, so the whole year will have a background flavour of their combined energies to add to the important Saturn-Pluto cycle. As with the Saturn-Pluto meeting, they too meet in Capricorn, so 2020 might be Capricorn on steroids again. This was the title of my 2017 post which discussed another point in this Jupiter-Pluto cycle. What will you do this time?

Sorry it’s politics

I can’t help it – the UK election has taken over my screens, and, astrologically speaking, it’s fascinating. In my defence the elections are very relevant as a symbol for this Jupiter-Pluto cycle, as Jupiter is associated with vision, strategy, belief systems, the law and – yes – politics and politicians. 2020 would be an ideal time to fundamentally transform (Pluto) political systems (as well as universities, and justice and legal systems) but instead we are getting the other (back?) side of Pluto – sneaky manipulation and nasty trolling. And lots of propaganda – helped along by (very creative if often dodgy) use of social media. And I suspect the UK is not the only place this is happening!

But Pluto doesn’t give up

Pluto wants radical reform and we could go with the cosmic flow. The UK, however, seems to want to go down kicking and screaming. I watched the last leaders’ debate before the elections that are yet to take place on 12th December, between Boris Johnson, the current Prime Minister, and Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition. It is so disappointing to see the two sides (although we have seen debates with other leaders) performing business as usual. The questions came from what was supposedly an audience representing voters, but how is it credible that there were no questions – not one! –  on the environment. Was Greta Thunberg a figment of my imagination?

Were there other voices?

The UK went crazy when the Liberal Democrats’ leader, Jo Swinson, suggested she could be prime minister. Ok – I agree it’s not likely with the current system, but in principle it’s true. She was called deluded, a disgrace and a liar. Clearly, changing from a system where two parties sit adversarially (is that a word?) opposite each other in parliament to something more fitting for modern times is going to be difficult. I really haven’t seen much of the Green party, and of course the independents, who defected from the Conservative party, haven’t had a look in. But at least Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, had some air time due to the current number of MP’s the SNP have in Westminster.

Who don’t you want?

As I have said in other posts, the UK is not used to coalition government. It seems to be stuck in the old idea of a winner and a loser. The ‘first past the post’ voting system was set up so that your representative could speak for you in parliament. The principle was that you voted for your local politician. Now it is more like a presidential election. You get Johnson or Corbyn. The rest seems irrelevant! Try as they might to get policies across, the only thing that seems to matter now is which one of those you don’t want. So instead of voting for your local decent human who has values and policies in line with your own, voting is becoming ‘tactical’ to try to keep out who you can’t countenance. How ludicrous and sad is that?

Entrenched values and classes

Jupiter represents our faith, religion, philosophy or strategy. And to some extent the values we believe in (Venus also plays a role in this). How we vote will depend on a kind of hierarchy of what we believe to be most important. The general idea is that we vote for policies and our local candidate, however we really choose based on things like telling the truth, background, class, compassion, taking bold decisions, being able to sell, humour, professionalism, innovation, equality, associations, etc. etc. Many people who have truth-telling at the top of their values list would never vote for Boris Johnson, no matter what his policies might be. He has been branded a privileged racist.

And many would never vote for Jeremy Corbyn as they see him as someone who cannot take the lead with bold decisions, no matter what policies his party has. He has been branded as a communist, antisemitic and much worse. The smear campaign has worked well. The language on both sides is extremely judgemental – Jupiter’s downside.

What does Jeremy believe?

I can’t count the number of times that people have said Corbyn is weak because he doesn’t come out on one side or the other on Brexit. Is he a leaver or a remainer? He has said he will be the ‘honest broker’ on a referendum after he secures a new Brexit deal. He will remain neutral. Many people get so outraged by this idea. Surely he is supposed to represent the people! Why do we need to know what he believes? The answer given is that he can’t possibly negotiate a leave deal if he’s a remainer. That’s like saying even though you work for a company where you have to do what you are told but don’t agree with it, you can’t do it. It’s nonsense.

Clearly, many have ‘having an opinion’ as a number one value. It is supposed to show leadership, but does it? I think it just makes people feel safer if you can put someone in a box. Being a remain or leave party is easier to pitch, but it certainly doesn’t unite the populace and all it often really highlights is a personal opinion which, frankly, MP’s are not paid to have! But Pluto together with Jupiter can make us choose sides – and that’s an unhelpful way of using this energy.

Obsession with beliefs?

We make decisions daily based on our norms and values, but I suspect we don’t often stop to think what they are or what priority they might have. This election makes that all the more important. Pluto with Jupiter tends to make our beliefs more fundamentalist – we don’t want to change and the result is entrenched views. We stop listening to others. However, no outcome will be perfect and if you feel you have to vote then what to do? Of course the ‘first past the post’ system should be reformed with this planetary cycle, but it is what it is for now. I’m glad I don’t have a vote! It’s true these elections are of vital importance as 2020 is ‘one of those’ years. It is indeed a vote for the ‘soul of the nation’. It’s a huge year astrologically so what kind of UK do you really want?

The bigger picture

Jupiter represents the bigger picture, the helicopter view, and Pluto represents research, so I thought I would take a step back and see what this pattern might really be about and how we could use it at global, country and personal levels. Although the Jupiter-Pluto cycle is around 12-13 years long, each conjunction occurs in different signs. The last few beginning-ends of this cycle were 2007, 1994, 1981, 1968, and so on. I wrote about the conjunction in Sagittarius in 2007. This time I wanted to look at when it occurred in Capricorn to try and get some clues as to what it may mean this time, and that was very enlightening.

It doesn’t happen often – the last two of these were 24 February 1771 and 18 January 1522! Both of these dates are in periods that have to do with separating religion from the state. 1771 was in the middle of the ‘Age of Enlightenment’. There is too much history to go into here, however Martin Luther was a key figure in taking on the power of the rich churches. 1522 was no less important as it was in the middle of ‘The Reformation’ period. Events then led to Henry VIII breaking away from the rule of Rome and the Catholic church. At the time Kings were involved of course, but these are two major upheaval times in history where seeds were planted that created the idea of religious freedom. Many who went to American colonies were escaping religious persecution.

The link to our theme today is that philosophy, religion and belief systems were key elements of many events that resulted in rebellions. It is interesting, then, that anti-Semitism, with intervention in politics by a rabbi, and Islamophobia, have been key elements in UK campaigns. Fighting for your own beliefs is the link with today and the church still carries a lot of weight in politics, both in the UK and in the US.  We will look back on 2020 as one of those crucial years in both politics and religion, but what will we call it? Reformation II, Enlightenment II or Back to the Dark Ages? Some promoted policies, particularly in the US, seem to be heading that way!

If history is anything to go by, rebellions are on the cards. We all need to see how we can honour differing beliefs, be it Brexit, the environment or anything else. Separating ‘religious’ Brexit fervour (the Church?)  from politics (the State?) might be what is required. At a personal level we need to have faith in our own power and go for our true passion. And with Saturn in the mix, not be afraid. Fear has been a major factor in the election campaign. Personal and global responsibility is the antidote.

Not an easy election

Because nothing seems to have been reformed in the UK voting system, I fear democracy might be in for a rocky ride. When many vote strategically, against what they really want, I’m sure it won’t end well. If we gripped the true opportunity of this time, change could be really positive – Jupiter is an optimist and in Capricorn an optimistic realist! But Pluto consciousness needs an upgrade. Old power needs to let go for good things to happen.

Who might be in with a chance? 

I don’t usually offer predictions as I don’t really think it is possible, however I will say something about the UK chart. I think countries attract the leaders they need. Anyone elected as a leader needs to be a good ‘fit’ with the country chart. I have written on this before regarding company leaders and when discussing the Dutch elections.

So what is the UK looking for?

The chart most astrologers use is 1st January 1801, which of course has the Sun – leadership – in Capricorn. As the Sun also connects to Saturn (aligned with Capricorn), the country needs a leader with the Saturn-Cap archetype. The Sun also connects to Mars – so  the Aries-Mars archetype is required as is Ceres, the dwarf planet I use to signify (among many other things) all things green and democratic. We need her archetype in the mix. It would help to have the Libra Ascendant (the face of the country) represented and also the UK’s Cancer mission.

I looked at Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn, Jo Swinson (Lib Dems) and Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) – the four leaders of parties who hold the most seats at present. I also looked at the charts of Sian Berry and Jonathan Bartley (joint leaders of the Green party) for another reason I will discuss. I’m afraid Jeremy and Jo don’t have much in common with the UK chart, so my guess is neither will ever lead the country. That’s not to say their parties might not do well though. It’s a different story for both Boris and Nicola, they both have several connections, so perhaps it is not surprising that they already have leading roles. The only one Boris doesn’t have is Mars which Nicola has in her feisty personality. She doesn’t have Saturn-Cap but she has the rest. I suspect they will both do well.

Together the co-leaders of the Greens, Sian and Jonathan, have all the necessary archetypes. I think they might do well this time, not only for this reason, but also because of the sky on voting day. Ceres the ‘mother planet’ of the Greens is sitting right on the Sun of the UK chart on voting day. As the planet of Green, democracy and negotiation, I think this favours parties with green credentials, however as Ceres loves a bit of negotiation, this suggests a hung parliament to me. At the end of voting for the day at 10 pm both Ceres and Pluto in the UK chart are triggered by something too complicated to explain but suffice it to say that this also leads me to believe it won’t be a simple result.

The Moon

All day on voting day, the Moon is in Boris’ and Jeremy’s sign of Gemini. That might favour both of them, which is unhelpful! The Moon represents the mood of the people – so perhaps there will be changing of minds at the booths and the polls will be wide of the mark. But the poor old Moon which represents the populace in the UK chart, is still being hammered – on voting day particularly by Saturn. Will this mean even more misery? I hope not.

Good luck UK!

Faye Blake

Interesting websites

An interesting if scary article by Michiko Kakutani on propaganda and lies.

An introduction to an interesting film about planetary and human revolutions where Professor Richard Tarnas talks astrological archetypes – he calls it Archetypal Cosmology.

An interesting video on democracy – Daniel Ziblatt will be speaking in Amsterdam for the Johns Adams Institute on January 16th, 2020. Good cosmic timing with Saturn Pluto and Ceres together on the 20th!

On 1771

An interesting fact I found while researching : In 1771 Joseph Priestley, an English minister, grasped the rudiments of the carbon cycle after his experiments showed that mint in a sealed jar refreshed the air. Shades of really understanding climate change?

A nice article on 1771 called annus mirabilis by Emily Cockayne.

On 1522

and this! New Pope ​Compromise Candidate Elected – (shades of things to come?) The Aged Adrian

9 January 1522
Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens, a sixty two year old Dutchman and former tutor of Charles is elected new Pope Adrian VI. Wolsey stood for election as pope but received  few votes.
(from www.henryviiithereign.co.uk/1522.html)

For astrologers?

And by a fellow astrologer Jessica Adams on Jupiter-Pluto conjunctions 

Quote of the month

Couldn’t resist