The Jupiter - Uranus Cycle: "Breaking loose"

As noted in Part I of this series, Jupiter relates to a nation's common beliefs and values as well as its sense of well-being, prosperity, and laws which ensure justice and control a population's behavior, generally (hopefully!) in a peaceful way.

Uranus was discovered during agrarian and industrial revolutions in England as well as the American and French revolutions. It's linked to all revolutions and innovations in society, upheaval at all levels in a nation and rules political revolutions, economic change, strikes, political dissidents, wars, breakdown of order, reforms, heavy industry, and new technology. Astrologer, Richard Tarnas, has pointed out in his excellent treatise, "Prometheus the Awakener," that Uranus really should have been named Prometheus since his influence fits that mythological figure much better than Uranus.

The transiting Jupiter to natal Uranus cycle for the USA began with a conjunction on 24 July 2012. It was followed by a waxing square 21 September 2015 and a waxing trine 20 October 2016. Trines represent an easy flow of energy and suggest a smoother or less visible change than an opposition or square, which imply conflict. Out of curiosity, I checked to see what occurred on that last date, since it was shortly before the election. Much to my surprise, it was the day of the 3^rd and last presidential debate!  Clearly something changed at that time, invisible though it may have been to the pollsters.

At the time, Uranus was conjunct minor planet, Eris, named for the goddess of discord and ruler of minorities, immigrants and factions. This took place in the 4th house of the Sibley Chart which includes the opposition party, which at the time was the Republicans. By all appearances, at that point the citizenry had made some decisions. (Note that my predictions for 2016 emphasized reversals, surprises and transformational change, which hinted at a different party occupying the White House following the election. However, remember that these transits to the Sibley chart reflect the state of the country and its citizenry and are independent of who actually occupies the White House. Either candidate would be dealing with similar issues.)

The remainder of this Jupiter - Uranus transit to natal cycle will play out with an opposition to the Sibley Uranus on 18 December 2018, a waning trine on 27 January 2021 and a waning square on 8 February 2022, so it has a ways to go.

It's also worth noting that the cosmos itself is in the throes of a Jupiter - Uranus cycle as well, in this case an opposition, which affects the entire world. The first hit occurred 26 December 2016 when Uranus was retrograde and held for several days because Uranus stationed in that degree, infusing additional punch as the Trump Inauguration approached. Jupiter stations retrograde 6 February, bringing the second hit our way with Jupiter retrograde (which if you recall from Part 1, relates to ethics issues) on 3 March 2017. A third and final one, at least for a while, is coming 28 September 2017. These are times when you can expect increased unrest, demonstrations and protests worldwide.

This cosmic opposition is further strengthened by the Solar Eclipse coming 26 February 2017. Eclipses are powerful, not only in their effects but duration since their influence is known to last not only for some period following their occurrence, but sometimes manifesting even before the eclipse itself. Since eclipses are intimately associated with the Lunar Nodes which astrologically serve as gateways, bringing in new events and situations, they may be the key to this extended timeliness. The positions of all the planets in effect for this cosmic event are important as well since they likewise infuse the event with their respective energies.

The eclipse itself occurs in Pisces in the Sibley 3rd house, which includes neighboring countries, infrastructure related to transportation, and communications. Eris' placement in the Sibley chart is in the 1st house, which makes an interesting statement that the USA is indeed a country of immigrants, particularly at its founding in 1776. The fact the solar eclipse sextiles Sibley Eris, however, implies a situation is brewing in this regard and my best guess is that it's going to involve the USA's relationship with Mexico and the issue of illegal immigration. Sextiles represent opportunities and are usually gentler energy than squares and oppositions. However, there are other aspects related to the eclipse which are less friendly.

Most important events require numerous transits, not just one, to set off something significant which is usually news worthy. Thus, there is more at work here than a simple sextile between the eclipse and Sibley Eris. The eclipse squares Sibley Uranus in the 6th of workers, suggesting its affect on the many who cross the border to work in this country whose livelihoods will be in jeopardy. Transiting Eris brings even more energy to bear since she's conjunct transiting Uranus, and as if that's not enough, transiting Mars is there as well, all in the sign of Aries, the warrior.

Eris, as noted earlier, relates to immigrants, minorities and factions and thus includes numerous hot topics. Under immigrants, we have illegal immigration, sanctuary cities, birthright citizenship and resettlement of refugees, to name a few.  For minorities, we have the Black Lives Matter movement and various others. There are more factions than could ever be listed here, but they include such issues as the environment, animal rights, climate change, women's rights, religious rights, and abortion. Polarized ideologies are what tear a country apart, which occurs when freedom evolves in different directions over time, eroding the common beliefs on which a country was founded. It's impossible to keep everyone happy, especially when tolerance fails due to the extreme nature of opposing beliefs. (For more on that topic, see "Why Democracies Fail" on my blogsite here.) At a certain point, is unity even possible? As originally stated in the Bible and quoted by Abraham Lincoln on June 16, 1858, prior to his presidency as well as the Civil War, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” This does not bode well for the USA's future.

Back to this volatile group comprising Mars, Uranus and Aries, all three are quincunx Sibley Neptune, the planet of idealism, socialism, idealism, subversion, pollution, oil, pharmaceuticals, confusion, inflated or artificial trends. This often delusional planet is placed in the Sibley 9th house of ambassadors, higher education, courts, religious institutions, media, foreign affairs, foreign trade, laws governing foreign immigration, overseas exports, the Secretary of State, and Supreme Court.  Thus a combination of these two elements will manifest as the planet absorbs and behaves according to its zodiacal environment. A quincunx is an unstable aspect that indicates the need for an adjustment, change of course or in some cases, as Catch-22 with no easy answers. Furthermore, this trio is opposing transiting Jupiter as part of the global Uranus - Jupiter opposition. While it isn't exact, it's less than a degree away. It is thus very likely that this is going to see some serious unrest, demonstrations, and protests at the domestic as well as international level.

Given President Trump's expected heavy hand in dealing with this issue,  I wouldn't be surprised to see massive protests, many of them violent, with regard to any intent to stop, much less deport, those in violation of immigration law. These individuals have not been reluctant to express their objections in the past by protests which have included burning the USA's flag. The current administration will not grant as much forbearance to these acts of rebellion as the previous one. The issues of sanctuary cities is related as well, these being cities that choose to ignore immigration law and serve as safe havens for those in the country illegally.

Jupiter stations direct on June 9 amid a confluence of aspects that indicate changes of direction and potential conflict, considering the square between transiting Uranus and Sibley Pluto, suggesting a major power play. This hard aspect is further slammed by the Cancer ingress on 21 June. Ingress charts tend to define the character of the season to follow, which suggests a lot of push-back and hopefully peaceful negotiations. Uranus stations retrograde 3 August with more ominous indicators, especially since the station maintains the square to Pluto. Other indicators imply major upsets, protests and power grabs, a potentially violent change of direction, rebellion on the part of illegal immigrants or terrorist activities including possible military involvement. Mars transiting the Sibley 8th house is definitely not favorable. Problems overseas and/or oil issues as well as the potential for weather disturbances (perhaps a hurricane) are likely. These long-duration hard aspects continue to get slammed by the August eclipses and other station charts which I'll cover in a subsequent post. It's the complex interplay of aspects and cosmic events that show most dramatically that the coming year is going to loaded with conflict at various levels.

Thus, the Jupiter - Uranus cycle which, in its simplest form, relates to breaking free, has a substantial power boost from Eris and Mars in Aries along with Uranus, suggesting active and potentially violent protests. Their placement by transit in the 4th house suggests these will come from not only the people and relate to the national heritage, but the opposing party. It's also important to note that this nasty partnership will affect individuals as well, perhaps to a high degree, if it aspects their natal or some other chart. It will make people more argumentative and forceful in expressing their opinions and less tolerant of others. I've already seen this break up families and friendships, much of it often based on inaccurate information. Back to the quote "A house divided against itself cannot stand," note that this is a very dangerous trend. The solar eclipse 26 February 2017 has Mars, Eris and Uranus in close conjunction, making it extremely strong, so bear that in mind and keep your cool the best you can.