Resolution Unlikely

11.1.04


This week is unlikely to deliver the desired resolution.

From what I watch and read in the media, from what people I encounter tell me and from what I observe firsthand, I conclude that we are collectively uneasy.

Eclipse periods shake up our lives, like a metaphoric spinning of the wheel of fortune—wherever it lands sets the mood for the succeeding six months or so—and we still haven't fully 'landed' since last Wednesday's fantastically spooky-looking lunar eclipse (see photos of it here). The emotional spigot was unscrewed in the sign of Taurus, pouring forth feelings related to our sense of security and rootedness ('what is, after all, most fundamentally valuable to my practical well-being?'), and we're still stumbling to regain footing. And all this during the already-intense Scorpio time of year, that ghostly season when we confront scary residue from the past, knowing it will continue to haunt us so long as it roosts untouched in the shadowy recesses.

Of course, this week, there's also that little thing… maybe you've heard of it? the US presidential election… and it's got a lot of Americans (and others) feeling kind of hot and bothered. Mere moments before this monumental election, I'm challenged to write these words of so-called wisdom, knowing they will be posted all week, knowing many of you will read them after the election has happened and (presumably… possibly?) a candidate has emerged victorious.

As you know, I'm unwilling to forecast a winner in a contest that has not happened yet. The future is not written in stone, and, at the time of this writing, neither are the election results. I will not preach simplistic idealism (sure, go ahead and vote… it makes all the difference) or jaded disillusion (sure, go ahead and vote… but it doesn't make a damn bit of difference). And I cannot opine that you should go ahead and vote for the candidate of my choice (whose name, incidentally, I have not offered up), for, if he wins the election, our great nation will succeed in all its goals and, if he doesn't, we must live through hell on earth.

I am quite sure, however, that, no matter what happens this week, a large chunk of the American populace will react with strong emotions. One group will be ecstatic, and another devastated. Or, alternately, all of us will linger in anxiety and unassuredness, saddled with recounts and legal battles, unable to move immediately onward. Official certified results or not, it's very possible we'll remain a fiercely divided country. We've brought a lot of emotions to this table, perhaps (or perhaps not?) more than during other elections of recent memory, with the debacle of the 2000 election and 9/11 and the Iraqi war so piercingly fresh in our consciousness. Isn't it simplistic to expect these to settle down after one single event, one day or one week of supposed conclusion?

The good astrological news for this week involves a conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in Libra, a prototypical symbol of serendipitous peace-and-love. This aspect alone might suggest a beneficent, ultra-pleasant and tension-free tone to the week… and I certainly hope it plays out close to that interpretation. (Interesting to recall: The Venus/Jupiter conjunction occurs right on John Kerry's natal Neptune/Midheaven conjunction, representing favorable expansion in his profession and/or public reputation.)

But Libra's hand-holding and nice-making doesn't always portend genuine peace and love—sometimes, instead, it reeks of superficial consensus, polite conflict avoidance or inability to shape firm decisions. And not only is Jupiter a traditional sign of good fortune, it also symbolizes excess… which, in this context, could signal too much performed concurrence or unanimity; pleasantry to the extreme. It's hard to imagine buying that party line, no matter which party it comes from.

My skepticism (which I'm willing to admit could prove totally unwarranted) stems from understanding the inherent conflict between (1) feeling deep and powerful personal emotions and (2) playing nicey-nice in order to get along with others. The declared outcome of a social contest does not automatically generate emotional resolution… and, in fact, it sometimes causes the opposite. Astrologically, this tension plays out in this week's square between Mars, also in attempting-to-balance Libra, and Saturn in watery emotion-filled Cancer. When Mars squares Saturn, actions are forced to proceed with caution, as free motion is blocked by inhibition and an authoritative sense that things must happen a certain way. In this case, Mars makes the conciliatory moves toward harmony, but Saturn holds firm in its required prioritization of personal emotional well-being.

Incidentally, both Mars and Saturn are in detriment, which means they are traveling through the signs in which they are least comfortable (i.e., signs opposite to those they rule). Neither particularly likes behaving in this fashion. (Also interesting to recall: Saturn in Cancer is quite close to George W Bush's natal Saturn, imprinting the Saturn-return energy, the quintessential reaping of what you've sewn, on this election for him.)

Adding more uncomfortable planetary behavior to the mix is Mercury, our esteemed thinker and communicator, who moves into Sagittarius, a sign of its detriment as well. Mercury in Sagittarius has a tendency to go off half-cocked, moving so quickly and broadly in its thoughts and words that it misses key details—and often offends sensibility in the process. It craves general conclusiveness and doesn't have the desire to dilly-dally along the way. Mercury in Sag also squares Uranus in Pisces this week, further speeding its pace and stimulating rebelliousness in the intellect arena. Throw in the week's third quarter Sun/Moon square, as well as the passing confusion wrought by the Sun's square to Neptune, and we've got a lot of dynamic tension to counterbalance the Libran effect of forged calm.

In my humble opinion, the best method for any of us to weather the results of this week's news is to put it in a larger perspective, preparing for the inevitable… that is: Nothing will be settled. And that is OKAY. So many of us feel these macro-level emotions so mightily, they impact our ability to operate successfully in day-to-day duty… and we think these emotions are about a single presidential election, the weak and inconsistent and hard-to-read Kerry and the moronic and dishonest and knee-jerk Bush… but I venture to say we've misinformed ourselves. These emotions are, more properly, about freedom and morality and world unity and decades upon decades of collective karma… and we've projected them onto these two men, at a particularly poignant moment in our development.

Beyond that, we remain poised on the cusp between two macro-level astrological ages, an undeniably anxiety-provoking transition from enveloped Piscean spiritual surrender to cool Aquarian scientific brother-and-sisterhood. As good Aquarians-to-be, we must temper our emotional reactions—temper, not deny—in order to ride out the tremendous societal change at hand.

Dare I say it, this election is far from being any 'end'… with the astrological dynamics increasing in fervor over the coming few years, it's more like a beginning. All the while, we persist, living lovingly and optimistically. It's the only reasonable choice we have.