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ASTROLOGICAL FORECAST
July—August, 1990
By Terry Lamb, M.A.
Major Planetary Events
Mars square Saturn 2256' Ari/Cap July 2
Sun conj. Mercury 1030' Cancer July 2
Sun opp. Neptune 1312' Can/Cap July 5
Cancer Full Moon 1539' Can/Cap July 7
Sun conjunct Chiron 1847' Cancer July 11
Mars enters Taurus 000' Taurus July 12
Jupiter opp. Saturn 2207' Can/Cap July 13
Sun opposite Saturn 2201' Can/Cap July 14
Sun conjunct Jupiter 2229' Cancer July 14
New Moon Eclipse 2904' Cancer July 21
Sun enters Leo 000' Leo July 22
Pluto stationary dir. 1459' Scorpio July 25
Saturn opp. Chiron 2051' Cap/Can July 30
Lughnasadh Aug. 2
Mars opposite Pluto 1500' Tau/Sco Aug. 4
Full Moon Eclipse 1352' Leo/Aqu Aug. 6
Solar Cross-Quarter 1500' Leo Aug. 7
(True Lughnasadh)
Sun square Pluto 1501' Leo/Sco Aug. 7
Sun square Mars 1949' Leo/Tau Aug. 12
Jupiter enters Leo 000' Leo Aug. 18
Leo New Moon 2715' Leo Aug. 20
Sun enters Virgo 000' Virgo Aug. 23
Mercury sta. retro. 2334' Virgo Aug. 25
By now we can begin to see the tremendous influence that the major conjunction in Capricorn is having on our world. Last year, we saw the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact alliances as they had existed since the end of World War II. We have seen glastnost and perestroika bring about slow changes in the Soviet Union. The changes in other parts of the world have been equally profound, although deemed less newsworthy.
In the United States, we have seen almost universal belt-tightening. With a few notable exceptions (e.g., outrageous court settlements, medical payments and salaries for sports and movie stars), nearly every segment of the economy is being affected, and that affects you and me.
The challenge at this point is to deal with the manner in which the economic changes affects us individually, and this is not always easy to do. The question often is, "How do I deal with factors that are larger than I" While this transit is in effect, we are faced with situations where we put our energy into a venture or experience, and it does not return that which we expect. The larger factors affecting the group consciousness (such as the nation, the business world, a given corporation, the Third World, etc.) are changing rapidly. Investors are thinking twice about projects that would have engendered no hesitation 5 years ago. This rethinking is good—and important if our planet and the species on it are to survive. However, such hesitations trickle down. An investor decides not to fund a project supporting the burning of the Amazon rainforests. This affects Brazil's economy, which affects the Chicago bank that invested in Brazil, which affects the prospective Chicago homeowner who cannot get a loan because the bank has no available funds at affordable interest rates. We can all see the effect of the (selective and sometimes ill placed) belt-tightening in Washington—the increasing hordes of the homeless, failing agribusiness, and so on.
Somehow we will make it through the "economic drought" and general upheaval of consciousness, for what is happening to consciousness is awesome. The potent energies of the new recovery psychology’s, family systems theory and so on are worthy of an event that comes only every 1542 years (the cycle of the triple conjunction). In fact, the dysfunctionality of our society can only be broached under such a transit with its profound effects, for this dysfunctionality is equally profound. It is the underlying cause of what has gone awry for much longer than 1500 years. The denial at the core of dysfunctionality allows people to cut themselves off from life such that they can destroy it, by failing to feel its suffering as it dies. The only way we can live with the suffering of others without feeling it ourselves is to deny its existence, whether the others are baby seals, the California redwoods, or people of another race or nation.
Spiritually, the effect of these times will manifest in the awakening process that is happening globally. This is the "planetarization of consciousness" described by Dane Rudhyar, the father of modern psychological astrology. This growth of global awareness has been occurring since the beginning of the Saturn-Uranus-Neptune cycle 1542 years ago. This was when the European cultures began colonization of the Third World and the Turkish Empire was on the rise. Whatever else these may have done, they brought the people of the world together. They made those in the far corners of the globe aware of the others on the globe—a necessary step in creating global awareness. Now, we are on the verge of this awareness, with the need to rectify the imbalances created by the conquering cultures.
The effects of this conjunction on those who have not yet reached adulthood can be difficult to comprehend. They are the crack babies, the babies born with AIDS, the children of the homeless and the abused. There are also the children born in more enlightened settings with this conjunction in their charts. They will wear this conjunction as a badge and help with the reconstruction of a new world once they reach adulthood.
At this point in the pattern, we have two more years to go in the conjunction process. We are dealing with the beginning of its most critical phase. This is the Uranus-Neptune conjunction, which is still in its formative stages.
This conjunction is usually associated with spiritual revolution and transformation, and political revolutions with fanatical elements; situations involving subterfuge, confusion and falsehood coming to light; and accidents of an insidious nature, especially those involving liquids and toxic substances. As we can see, all these situations seem to be part of the global experience.
However, there is relief coming as Saturn moves away from Uranus and Neptune. Although it is still in Capricorn, it has begun to go its separate way. Saturn is affecting people with planets in the last half of Capricorn. Many of them have been hanging on to things for many years that they must finally release. It's not that Capricorn's are stubborn, it's that they're usually too frightened of the changes that they must make to actually venture forth into them voluntarily. By now, the influences in their lives that must be changed are so unbearable that they will sweat and strain and finally make the final leap (or what they think is the final leap!) off the cliff, only to find that there is life after death. Meanwhile the people in their lives breath sighs of relief—at least they did it!
The conjunction also affects the other cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, and Libra) in the same manner, but not as profoundly as is Capricorn.
The fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) are as troubled as ever by Pluto, which is in the mid-degrees of Scorpio. Those with these signs prominent can look forward to transformation and liberation from situations that have outlived their relevance. The eclipses also affect these signs, falling in Leo and Aquarius. Eclipses bring overt changes in daily experiences and foci—things we can all relate to and which are readily apparent, even to the outsider.
The mutable signs are relatively unaffected, save for the Mars retrograde period that is coming up late this year.
JULY: This month starts off with the implosive force of Mars square Saturn, a signal that it's time to dig in your heels and pull steadily on that load you've been carrying. Rewards will come in the long run, although you may wonder how you are going to make it through. Don't worry, the transit only lasts about 3 days, peaking on July 2nd, the day that the aspect is exact.
You will perhaps notice a shift in your thinking around this time as well, as we transition to the more conservative half of Mercury's cycle. For the next two months, we will all pull in the reins and deal with what was started at the beginning of May rather than taking on new ventures.
On the 5th, we reach a crisis in faith, perhaps a peak of confusion if we do not deal all that well with Neptune energies. Think back on what was started around the first of the year and became an issue around April 15th for clues to what you will experience at this time. With the Full Moon on the 7th, look for a theme of nurturance and compassion to surface in issues that must be resolved at this time.
On July 11th, the Sun conjuncts Chiron. This is a yearly event that carries the energy of transformative processes with it. Although Chiron does not provide the nature or motivation for spiritual transformation, it does provide the vehicle for it. If you will experience a Chiron transit during the next year, you can expect the transformative influences of the other slow moving planets (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) to be activated. The last degrees of cardinal signs again feel the effects (see Saturn above).
When Mars enters Taurus on July 12th, we can all look forward to more stubbornness surfacing in our daily dealings. On the positive side, Mars in Taurus will stabilize the energies afoot at that time and prompt the use of those energies constructively. Mars will be in Taurus until the 31st of August.
On the 13th, we reach the halfway point in a 20-year cycle, when Jupiter and Saturn oppose each other. They conjuncted in 1981 in Libra. I call this the Reaganomics cycle. The value of this economic energy will become apparent over the next year. I think President Bush will have a difficult time rationalizing any further carry-over of this policy. My perception is that Bush feels torn between being himself, following in Reagan's footsteps and trying to please the factionalized elements of the Republican Party. He clearly has his eye on the next election, but the economy may fail to support him at a critical time. (The Mars retrograde transit will be hard on him this fall.)
Personally, this transit will clarify your own personal economic cycle, the one you started in 1981. Look back to see how far you've come since then and determine in you're on track to complete the cycle successfully at the turn of the century.
On the 14th, two more events serve to highlight the effect of Jupiter and Saturn on our lives. This is the Sun's conjunction with Jupiter and its opposition to Saturn. Since the Sun is adding its light to the full phase of the Jupiter-Saturn cycle, we can expect many events and experiences to culminate during mid July, especially July 7-14. The Sun-Jupiter conjunction beings a new yearlong Jupiter cycle. Make a wish or two—you'll have a year to fulfill them.
Completion energies will fill the air as we move toward the New Moon on July 21st, for this is no ordinary New Moon—it is a total solar eclipse transiting the far | 
