Astrologer Bill Attride

Sun Enters Sagittarius (November 22, 2023)

 Jake Baddeley

The Story of Creation

Today you enter the realm of Sagittarius, and at this time of the year, and ever present somewhere in your very own chart too, you seek to understand who we are and why we are here. You look within for answers, and outwardly to the worlds around you, and most importantly you share with one another too.

We do this because it is how we became human. We are made by our relationships, we are formed by shared experiences and realities, and we have told our stories which shaped and formed what it means to be human continuously. It is in Sagittarius that we hold our wealth of experiences. Whether by petroglyphs, pottery, or paintings, or by song, opera, dance, or by fictions and non-fictions, or through spirituality, philosophy, math, science, numbers, in all these ways of weaving our story we have shared our knowledge and wisdom. We are what we made of ourselves, and this is our human story.

You have just left the time and space of Scorpio. It is there that you experience the forge of Spirit, which is that all of Creation is formed and driven by the power of Alchemy, which is the mystery and majesty of combination. Yes, all that is, from the most infinitesimal to the most celestial, all of this is Spirit arranged into the numerous hierarchies of the manifest, from the densest to the most ethereal, and all of “that” is in a constant state of unfolding, combining, and transforming.

What we experience for ourselves, and all that we perceive in the worlds around us, is what I like to call “the dance of spirit” through the many forms of matter. This is the fundamental Story of Creation, that from the One came each and every monad of spirit ceaselessly moving many forms or temples of manifestation. And for each particle of Spirit, for every spark of the Divine, they must leave any matter-form once it has outlived and served its purpose. What we witness in all the hierarchies of Creation is a series of forms and lives one after the other, which we experience as the ever-unfolding path of birth, death, and rebirth forever and ever.

Yes, it is in Scorpio that you “meet the truth”, that you are an Immortal in a mortal body. And that your life will be lived bound to this reality: if you have Joy, you will experience Pain, and if you have Love, you will experience Loss. This is the gift of becoming self-aware, so that in any moment when you find yourself with such a pain or loss, but also when you experience an unimaginable joy too, you are moved into an altered space, to a realm beyond words. You have to wait for your feeling to become an intuition, and that intuition to become a thought, and that thought to become part of your story, and then your story can become part of the knowledge and wisdom of the world too.

Now you enter the realm of Sagittarius; here are found the Temples of Truth. Because your journey is part of the human journey, and many, many souls have come this way before. Yes, the truth of much has been discovered (and rediscovered) and is held in the great teachings of the ages. The greatest sages that we know such as Confucius, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Zoroaster, Pythagoras and so many others known (and so many more who are not), held high the lamp of truth for us to find our way.

But what these known and unknown “keepers of the flame” found is what you will find too, that Truth is omnipresent and everlasting. Why, because it forms the very substance and meaning of the Universe. The truth is out there, and it is within you too, as it forms the warp and weft of the entire universe. That is why you can perceive it, that is why you can know the truth. Because what you see out there in the stars above is the same truth that shines in your very own heart too.

At the root of it all, is the Divine Light of the One, the same light that is your higher self, and who forever guides your journey of awakening. From life to life, the path you follow is forged by you as you listen to the Eternal Light within yourself as you see it equally shining all around you too…yes, the whole of the Universe is “shining” with the Light of the One.

It is by reaching within, and equally by reaching out to one another, it is by this weaving of your story and by all these stories of Creation, it is by this that you will slowly but surely move forward with Love and Humility to Wisdom and Peace.

This is the gift of Sagittarius.

This is the Story of Creation.

2023-10-29 Radio Show Transcript — The Pulse of Life and the Astrological Cycles of Order and Disorder

Astrological Musings — The Pulse of Life and the Astrological Cycles of Order and Disorder (October 29, 2023)

(If you wish to listen to the show instead, here is the link on BlogTalk or Apple Podcasts)

I thought it would be helpful after my last show to pull back once again and take in a larger perspective so that we might see how the planets are shaping and informing the circumstances of our past, present, and future. As you know by now, I find that what is most significant for our understanding of these influences is formed by two factors, the zodiacal positions of the major outer planets, combined with their intersecting series of alignments or aspects, and it this sign/aspect combination which shapes and forms the energies and influences in any particular period.

The dance of the planets, what we might also call the Pulse of Life, is formed on the deepest levels by Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus because they, both individually and through their combinations with one another, create the long wave influences that inform and shape the rise and fall of peoples, cultures, and civilizations throughout history. I will review where we are now as understood by this patternmaking today, but I also want to speak about another indicator that some mundane astrologers use to understand the tides of history over the centuries. I believe you may find the Cyclic Index intuitively instructive and helpful in understanding where we have come from and what may lie ahead for us all.

Pluto
We begin, as usual, with the Long-Wave planets Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus, by looking at both their individual positions and by their cycles of relationship with one another. Pluto has begun the transition from the sign of Capricorn, (where it has been since 2008), into the sign of Aquarius where it will remain from 2024 to 2044. If we look at its previous passage in Aquarius from 1778-1798, we can certainly note that it was a very eventful time in the world indeed, encompassing in the Western hemisphere both the American and French Revolutions which led to the continental wide wars of Napoleon Bonaparte.

When we look at the past historical periods of Pluto in Capricorn, it consistently heralds the time when a particular institutional order for society, (the institutions of family, community, economic, and political), begin to fundamentally break down. Why is that? It is because these structures formed to meet human needs were established in the late 1700’s and 1800’s. This institutional order was made to fit and to meet the needs of that time. But now we and the world have changed so very much that these systems and structures can no longer meet our needs, they are inadequate. Sometimes it is they, and their products or services, that have become the very source of some of our problems today.

With the advent of Pluto in Aquarius, we might hope and believe that our world would move away from the turbulence of recent memory and back to a more integrative and peaceful time. But if history is any guide, we are probably going to be faced with some very great challenges indeed, just as our ancestors did in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. We do not merely emerge from a broken system into a fully functional paradigm of meaning and order.

Why? Because while it is certainly hard to maintain an orderly life as an institutional order unravels, and it is painful and hard to let go of what you knew and counted on…yes, it is hard to say goodbye. But if you think that the passing of an age takes fortitude and strength, I think we will find that a greater courage and vision will be needed to build our New World as Pluto moves into Aquarius. It is always harder to build than to destroy. But at least we can take comfort from the truth that we will be moving forward with the hope for a better tomorrow, and not living with regret for what is lost or escaping into delusions of a world that never was.

Neptune
Meanwhile, Neptune is finishing its journey through Pisces, which is from 2011 to 2025-26, (with its previous passages being from 1848-1862 and 1685-1698, and the one I believe that is very much like our own, because it was also a time with Pluto in Capricorn, and that was 1521-1535). With Neptune in Pisces, the veil between our worlds and between one another has become so very permeable that we find ourselves in a veritable sea of illuminations and illusions, with visions of the greater community of spirit colliding with divisions formed by fears founded in half-truths and lies. What we will find is that as Neptune moves into Aries from 2026 to 2039, we will see a new vision of the world and of ourselves begin to unfold, as we move away from doubts into certainties, from a sea of confusion into a call to take up our mission to build the “new world”. And this will bring a welcome relief to many, but it is certainly not an indicator of “peace in our time”. No, the fight over the future will certainly break the old order and realign peoples and nations as it has done before, in fact as it did so in the previous periods of 1862-1875, during and after our Civil War, and from 1698-1712, which witnessed a European Wide War over the Spanish Succession, and from 1535-1548, with an existential struggle between the Catholic and Protestant orders in Europe, and again it is this period is the one most like our time when Pluto was in Aquarius as it will be now.

Uranus
And thirdly, we have Uranus moving through the sign of Taurus now from 2018 to 2026, (with previous passages being 1935-1942 and 1851-1859), and it is historically significant that each of these Uranian passages, modulated through Taurus which is the sign of Value, accompanied major dislocations, disruptions, and upheavals for the experience of value in each of those periods (and I would certainly think we would all agree in our time too).

Cycles of Relationship
What is also very instructive and special about our time, and also significant in forming the Cyclic Index Indicator that we are going to examine next, is that we have had all three outer planets form their conjunctions with one another over the past century. That is all of them began a new cycle of relationship in the last 130 years or so.

Neptune/Pluto
The most important marker of periods roughly every 500 years is the Neptune/Pluto cycle. Their last conjunction took place in 1891-92 in Gemini, and it really is a better moment to mark the beginning of the so-called millennium than the year 2000. The previous conjunctions were 1398, which also heralded the start of Neptune/Pluto series of conjunctions in Gemini, whereas the previous conjunctions were in Taurus in 905, 411, then 84 BCE, and the “great one” of 578 BCE, which is when all three outer planets formed a grand triple conjunction in Taurus, and as I have noted before corresponded to the time of Confucius, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Zoroaster and Pythagoras and many others who “sowed the seeds” for the quickening of our civilization.

This is the fundamental cyclic relationship governing our history, the root cycle formed by the relationship between Spiritual Will (Pluto) and Unconditional Love (Neptune), or how the universal substance-energy which is the Divine Light or Love is shaped by the many hosts of willing beings in our solar system, and for us by we humans. Pluto brings about transformations for the very structuring of societies and cultures, and Neptune provides the dreams, visions and inspirations that are informing these transformations of the containers of reality shaped by Pluto.

Their cycle, like any cycle, will go through various stages from conjunction to the next conjunction, formed by the waxing semi-square, to the sextile (where we have been since the 1950’s) to the square, to the trine and finally to the opposition and then back again to the next conjunction. Perhaps in a later show, we can examine this series of aspects for the previous cycle from 1398 to 1891, and then compare it to our own so far, and also fold in the relevant cycle relationships of the next two pairs.

Uranus/Neptune
The second of the big three cycles begins at the conjunction of Uranus with Neptune, and their cycle is about 170 years. Their last conjunction was in 1993 in the sign of Capricorn. The previous conjunctions were 1821 also in Capricorn, 1650 in Sagittarius and 1478 in Scorpio. This is the cycle of relationship formed by the relationship between Freer Mind (Uranus) and Unconditional Love (Neptune), manifesting culturally and spiritually as the interweaving balance between Individuality and Communality. The combination of Uranus and Neptune reveals the ongoing dynamic relationship between Reason and Faith, Science and Spirituality, and one could see their dynamic dance as forming what we might call the worldview or paradigm (or paradigms) of an age. A new paradigm of meaning was formed and guided the world starting in 1821; that one has ended now and a new one is unfolding, and it is slowly revealing itself and becoming more evident now that we are 30 years from their last conjunction in 1993.

Uranus/Pluto
And then we have the third major cycle which begins at a Uranus/Pluto conjunction, and their cycle of relationship is on average about 125 years. Their most recent conjunction was in 1965-66 in Virgo. The previous conjunctions were 1850 in Aries, 1710 in Leo and 1598 in Aries. Their combination forms the relationship cycle between the Spiritual Will and Freer Mind, and we can see that in history it forms an indicator of a radical change, at times revolutionary or sometimes reactionary, and often both! Whereas the Neptune/Pluto combination provides the overall structuring and restructuring of a 500-year period, the Uranus/Pluto combination creates more bursts or breaks in the energy and form of a people or culture, whether that is being made by a new idea forcing its way into an old structure to break it apart, or by a reaction to new ideas that meets with the Will of the old regime as a counterrevolution with conservatism fighting to restore or maintain an old order.

Cyclic Indicator Index
Now after this review of the three outer planets and where we are now, I want to include this other technique for evaluating what we might call the balance of energies, of expansion and contraction, of greater integration or disintegration as shown by what is called the Cyclic Index Indicator.

What the Cyclic Indicator reveals is a general index of the state of planetary influences, and it is created by adding up each planet’s position relative to the others. What we do is add the degree separating each planet from another, 10 degrees, 90 degrees on up to 180 degrees, so that by this method we are getting a final summation number that shows how spread apart or close together the planets are from another.

For example, for the outermost planets, we take Uranus and see how many degrees it is from Neptune and note that, and then how many degrees from Pluto and then add that together to form one value. Then we do the same for the separation of Neptune to Pluto, and that becomes another number. We add those all together to get the complete Long-Wave Number for that moment.

Then we do the same for the three combinations of Saturn with Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Finally, we add Jupiter to the mix by determining how far it is from Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. What we have created by all those additions of the separations of planets to each other is what mundane astrologers call the Cyclic Index.

What we will find is that in periods of time when the overall spacing of the planets is growing, that they are each more spread apart from one another in the Zodiac, that those periods coincide with historical conditions that are more positive, more conducive to growth, more integrated with one another. And when the spread between all the outer planets is declining, we seem to move into historical periods of more disorder, of greater disintegration and loss.

Intuitively it makes sense, that when there are more points of connectivity that can inform and balance out one another, a greater potential for the integration of the whole is made possible. And when the planets “clump” together, there is a greater imbalance and lower level of integration and greater instability.

Let’s examine then what it shows for recent historical periods (and here I will just note the most significant events in any period), and then let us take a look at our own moment and what the Cyclic Index shows for our future. Historically, the index can reach its lowest levels when the planets are most concentrated or closer together (and therefore potentially more unstable), and this will happen when the three outer planets reach their conjunctions with one another. In fact, with two of those outer conjunctions occurring in the 1960’s and the 1990’s for us, this alone can account for how challenging our time has been. But the planets can also be spaced apart for some time, and then the index moves less up or down, and then it will eventually return to a more challenging period when they move closer to one another producing sharper swings in the index.

Cyclic Index Periods
Looking at the 20^th century, the Cyclic Index had been climbing since the 1880’s and 1890’s, but turns downward from 1901 to 1907, then it rises again and then plummets downwards from 1913 to 1919, or the First World War.

It turns upwards until the late 1920’s, moves down into 1932 which saw the Great Depression, moves up somewhat until 1938-39, and then plummets down again, (and far worse than in 1913-1919), to reach a bottom point in 1944 where it begins to climb again. This is the period of World War II.

It turns down again in 1951-52, reaching the bottom around 1956. This is the Korean War and other Cold War clashes. It then rises from the mid 1950’s until around 1964-65, when it turns down again until 1970-71. This was the Vietnam War.

It rises up once more, then turns and plummets quite strongly from 1976 to 1983. This was the period characterized by both inflation and stagnation in the US economy, termed Stagflation, principally created in the real world by the unfunded debts of the Vietnam war and other political-economic struggles.

Then the index rose from 1983 to 1990, then it turned downward until 1997. Though the USA and much of the world was benefiting in the 1990’s from the end of the Cold War due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, throughout the world regions were facing disruption and chaos in such events as the First Gulf War, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, the Congo Wars, and many others.

The index turned upward around 1997-98 and continued to climb until 2003. This was the beginning of the War on Terror, with the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the beginning of the Iraq War.

The index turned down again in 2003 until 2010. This period saw the Iraq war fuel a rise in Islamic terror driven by Sunni/Shite struggles for power, (which would eventually lead to the rise of ISIS), and the mortgage debt bubble bursting forcing the USA, (and the much of the world), into what many have called “the second great depression”.

The Index rose from 2010 through 2014, which saw the slow recovery of the USA economy but equally the rise of the Tea Party movement and a rising battle over the political structure in the USA between majoritarian versus minority control for the states and federal governmental structures.

The Index has fallen from 2014 to, well, to just now in 2023-24, as it has slowly begun to turn upwards at this point. As in the past, the turning upward of the index does not appear to be evident until a year or more afterwards, (just like when it turns downwards, it takes time for that to be fully appreciated as well).

The Index will continue upward from 2024-25 until 2030-31. Does this mean we can expect that our general conditions will improve? Though the Index is one among many factors to consider, we can at least hope that its general indication for the tenor of the times may promise an improving world condition over the next many years ahead.

Moreover, whereas earlier in the 1800’s and 1900’s there were larger swings in the index and deeper dips, the index is now moving into a more constrained up and down pattern as we move through the rest of the 21^st century. Perhaps this too promises a stronger likelihood of integration and balance for the future.

But of course, these methods of trying to understand our world, as revealed by the individual planets, and by the planetary pairings, along with the Cyclic Index, do not and cannot reveal the content of our lives and the reality we face. That content, our lives, and our world is made by us, and what we create or destroy depends upon how we understand and respond to so many influences and energy-forms that we are experiencing and that we are also creating too.

If we choose the path of Light and Love, if we choose to understand, and forgive we can move forward, as we take and make the very best from these avatars of spirit that hold the story of Creation for us.

Let us live and learn to dedicate our lives to do what we came here to do, which is quite simply yet profoundly to do one thing, we came to learn how to be a better human, and how to live on this planet with understanding and love.

Astrological Musings — The Pulse of Life and the Astrological Cycles of Order and Disorder

Astrological Musings — The Pulse of Life, Astrological Cycles of Order and Disorder and the Astrological Cyclic Index

In my sixth show of 2023, I thought it would be helpful to pull back once again to take a look at the “big picture”, that is to look at the major planetary influences and their historical significance for us. Along with the usual big three of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, I also want to include something we have not considered before, which is the general index of planetary influences which mundane astrologers call the Cyclic Index. What might it indicate for our period, and how does our period compare to those of earlier historical moments? What do we mean or understand as Order and Disorder. Tune in and find out.

If you wish to suggest a subject or topic for a future show, please email me as I would be happy to hear from you. My email is: [email protected].

Here is the main link to Astrologer Bill Attride Radio:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/astrologerbillattride

Here is the link to the show on Sunday October 29, 2023 @ 2 pm EDT:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/astrologerbillattride/2023/10/29/astrological-musings-the-pulse-of-life-and-the-astrological-cycles

The phone number to call if you wish to ask a question during the live show is: (516) 531‑9638.

Please join me on Sunday October 29, 2023 @ 2 pm EDT as we look at the current astrological indications and what they mean for you.

If you miss the show, it will be available as a Podcast shortly after on BlogTalk or my Apple Podcasts.

Sun Enters Scorpio (October 23, 2023)

The Forge of Creation

Today we enter the realm of Scorpio. For the next 30 days, and forever present and ever active somewhere in your own chart too, we bow our heads to the source of all meanings, to the seed of all truths. Yes, it is in Scorpio, the deepest realm in the Circle of the Living Ones, it is here where we meet the mystery and find revealed the majesty of Creation; it is here, behind one and all, that we stand in the everlasting light that forms the beating heart of Spirit.

In the time and place of Libra, you make yourself ready for this moment of consummation. You form the spaces of your relationships, with your family, friends, colleagues, loved ones, and strangers too. Libra is the vessel, the space that you make where you will meet one another. And it is there that the magic can happen, formed by consideration and love, you shape the vessel of your creation, this space of relationship, guided and formed according to what you offer and what you ask of each other.

But Scorpio is the experience, the process, the magic itself that is the science of Chemistry, the mystery that is Alchemy. Because the source of Creation, the protean force which fuels the stars, and you and me, is the combining, fusing, and joining of one with another. How any monad actually combines with any another, whether that be an atom with an atom, a molecule with a molecule, or a being with a being, ranging all the way up to the greatest hosts of Creation, this is the Forge of Creation, this is Scorpio’s realm.

From the mightiest to the miniscule, the whole of the Cosmos is the story of the One made manifest by all of the greater and lesser ones becoming what and who they are by and through joining with one another, in the mystery of combination, by the magic of Alchemy; the story of the Cosmos is forged in the sacred crucible of Union.

For us humans, with our hearts and minds to guide us, we endeavor to create our unions with understanding, with wisdom and care, with courage and humility. We know that it is here that the “magic” may happen, where through our joining with one another we will let go of that which is lesser within ourselves, and so discover the greater that is within us and between us too. Yes, here in the forge of creation, we know that in order to grow we must sacrifice something in order to make room for the magic of growth to appear.

The only thing we need to overcome, as always, is our fear. What if we reach out to them and they say no; what if we make a sacrifice and our union fails; what if…

In every sign, in every realm of life, there is opportunity and there is danger. We make our way upon the path of awakening by living in faith and turning away from our fear. In Scorpio, the root of our fear, the root of all fears, is met to be mastered. At some point, in every life, we face the irrefutable fact of our journey, that we are “Immortals in mortal frames”, and that all that we are and have will one day be no longer. Yes, the truth that is the root and fountain source of our need to understand, all our spiritual teachings, our religions, our philosophies, and sciences, all of our needing to know comes from this inescapable fact that our existence in this form and in this time will end.

And so here in Scorpio, we face our fear and find our faith. We feel the truth as much if not more than we know it or understand it, that will come later (in Sagittarius). We feel the truth by our very experience of self-transcendence in the forge of Spirit, in the mystery of Union, because we feel the illusion of our material forms as just that, an illusion. We feel the truth and we see it in one another’s eyes, in those precious moments when we join with one another and find ourselves more deeply than ever before through one another. It is then that we see the light, the eternal shining in each other’s eyes, the Light of the One, and we feel it through and through, and so we hold one another and forge our Faith that we are Immortals who are dancing through these mortal realms, and we have absolutely nothing to fear, because, because, we are made of this One, we are made and are remade by our everlasting Love.

So, turn to one another and join in celebration of Scorpio’s time, in that today we have one another and every moment we are here is precious. Let us join hands and lift one another to our greater life and create a more beautiful ray of everlasting light.

And when that time comes, for our paths to bend apart from one another again, let us not say goodbye, let us not weep and mourn, but in gratitude in grace face our parting with glad sadness. Let us feel the truth that stands behind the whole of Creation, made in the forge of Spirit, and lovingly say to one other “fare thee well my dearest one, until we meet again…may our love be as love must, may it be evermore, as we stand together in the light that will not fade away”.

May the Light of Truth, Love and Understanding be with you always.

Sun Enters Libra – The Equinox (September 23, 2023)

The Way of Being a Better You

Today we enter the second half of the Zodiac, and you can feel it in the air. The days and nights are equal, that magical play of lights and shadows is shifting once again, and so we should dance and sing and celebrate this new spiritual season. We should lift our hearts and bow our heads as we move through the gateway of the Equinox and into the sacred Sign of Libra.  

At this time every year, and forever also found somewhere in your own chart too, we need this gift of the spirit, perhaps more than ever, so we that we may guide our steps upon the path of light, as we lift our hearts and minds, and turn to one another. Because now we enter this most special space, the space we made between I and thou, our luminous bridge of creation, our beautiful relationships.

But you must understand this essential truth, that we not only make this space that we live, work, and play in, but this space of relationship is also what made us into who we are too. We are here because of one another, and we are made by one another. Your experience of you would not be, and we could not become who we are meant to be, without this space where creation lives and where our dreams come true.

Since the beginning of our human journey, we have been formed and informed by all our relations, by our mother/father, by brother/sister, by our friends, by our colleagues, by strangers and by our dearest loved ones. Most of what we think and feel as ours, as our own creation, is truly made by our interrelationships with one another, and by this combining of our minds and hearts we have lifted one another up to our mutual self-fulfillment. It is in this special, sacred space of relationship that we create with one another; it is here we that we share and shape one another by our words and deeds, and so we move out of the illusion of our seeming separation from one another because we are made of one another, and we are truly inseparable.

Throughout the arc of each life, from the springtime of youth, through the summer of adulthood and into the fall of our later years, we are held in a hierarchy of relationships by those who care for us and those for whom we care. We meet one another in the space of relationship, to give and receive what we need from one another according to the nature and quality of our relationship. We form patterns of action and reaction, responding to one another, by giving and receiving, so as to foster our mutual growth and self-realization through sharing with one another.

But over time our patterns may become too fixed and determined, and if we are not attentive, we may move away from a truly living, adaptable relationship into one of ever more rigid reactions to one another. We may grow together, but we can also grow apart. We may deepen our understanding of one another or lose our way in a house of mirrors of misunderstandings.

This time and place of Libra reminds us that our relationships are just like us, and that they too are “living beings” of spiritual space filled and formed by energy-forms of our making, and we must tend to them just as much as we tend to ourselves. Just as we need to renew and refresh our own self, we need to equally help our spaces of relationship to grow and change too.

Use this time in Libra to reexamine all your relationships, as you will find the help you need now to break from old patterns of reaction and choose new responses to meeting one another’s needs.

Use the gift of Libra to grow into your better selves through one another, because, after all, we are the path, we are the way, to one another’s self-fulfillment.

Every one of us, and indeed all of the beings in this cosmos, are held together as the One Body, and the One Mind, and the One Spirit of Creation.

It is by Libra that we know and feel this essential truth of our spiritual nature, “that we are all related”.

We are here because of love. We are made by our love.

There is but one truth.

Love one another.

2023-9-17 Radio Show Transcript — Astrological Musings — A look ahead to 2024

Astrological Musings — A look ahead to 2024, what is ahead for the USA, and for Joe Biden and Donald Trump (September 17, 2023)

(If you wish to listen to the show instead, here is the link on BlogTalk or Apple Podcasts)

It has been two months since my last show, and I thought that we might want to turn our attention to the astrological indications for the USA in 2024. Of course, we are all very aware that the coming year will be shaped, or maybe better warped by presidential election politics, and so I will also consider the current major party candidates for the presidency, the charts of Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Given that the election is more than a year away, we certainly know that there will be many twists and turns in the tides of history between now and November 2024, so we simply cannot imagine or foresee at this present time what we will encounter then, and that it may even turn out that only one or neither of these two candidates will end up on the ballot. But for our purposes today, given what we do know, let us see what the year ahead holds generally for the USA, and specifically for Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

The USA
Let’s begin with what will certainly be true and consider the chart for the USA. One of the principal cycles that astrologers use to frame the arc of the life of a person, or in this case a country, is to consider the progressed chart, and principally the Sun/Moon cycle from New Moon to Full Moon and then back to the next New Moon, a roughly 29-year cycle.

For the USA, 2024 will be the year for its ninth progressed New Moon. The progressed New and Full Moons should be understood as framing a cycle of unfoldment for any being. Some of the more meaningful pairings of the New and Full Moon for the USA were the 1846 New Moon leading to the Full Moon of 1861, and the US Civil War.

The 1965 New Moon reaching its climax of the Full Moon in 1979, which led to the turning away from the policies and programs of FDR established in the previous New Moon of 1935, and also Lyndon Johnson’s efforts to broaden the civil rights and social programs in 1964-65. This expansion of Civil Rights and of Social Services, were framed and blamed for the inflation and stagnation of the late 1970’s, but that economic malaise was really brought about by the unfunded debts from the years of the Vietnam War. It was this turning that formed the counter-revolution to the New Deal and also to the Great Society programs, pushed by neo-liberals and Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980.

The 1994 New Moon during the Clinton presidency came a climax with the Full Moon of 2008, and another debacle for the USA, where once again the unfunded wars, this time in Iraq and Afghanistan forged a credit market/real estate bubble which resulted in a financial market meltdown, forming what really was the second great Depression for the US at the end of the Bush Presidency.

And now we have the present-day New Moon in 2024, and a new seed of meaning for the USA is being planted once again. What will be the result at the Full Moon in 2038, who can say. What we do know is that just as in 1816, or 1846 or 1935 or 1965, we are at a turning and the tides of history are sweeping through the story of America with the promise of new beginnings…but it is up to every one of us to make the most of this opportunity.

But we also know that this is the first New Moon after the first ever Pluto return in the USA chart. Pluto is located in the second house of the USA, the house of value and the wealth of a nation. Pluto rules the will and the power of Alchemy, and it this spiritual root power which drives the entirety of Creation as the seemingly infinite varieties and hierarchies of energy-forms combine to grow and transform one another, and it is this “engine of creation” which forges the many manifestations of spirit in all the hierarchies of life.

The return of Pluto brings an end to the first cycle of value and of power in the USA. Which means we are equally at the beginning of a new order of value and power too. Indeed, we are at the moment of a major restatement and restructuring of the value of the nation. The value of any nation is fundamentally formed by the power of the people. Yes, it is the Will of the people, and their alchemy of combination, that forms the wealth of the nation.

For the first 250 years of the USA, this “Will of the People”, through their political combinations, that is the exercise of their capacity for self-determination and freedom, was limited by customs and laws. In the very beginning, the will and power for political self-determination was only held by male, white property owners, (and not an insignificant part of the property for some of those was ownership of other human beings!). But slowly through the decades, this right of self-determination by combination was extended through the extension of the right and capability to vote. It has not been a straight line, and there have been advances and retreats, but the struggle for one person/one vote, and the ability to join together for the common good has made progress over the arc of the history of the United States.

After the great expansion of self-determination by emancipation of slaves after the Civil War, the counter-revolution of Jim Crow laws in the south broke the promise of freedom and denied the right to vote to the non-white populace, especially in the South. Then with the granting of suffrage to women, the United States experienced the greatest extension of self-determination in 1920. And after the Civil Rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s, the re-establishment of the right to vote was extended once again.

But in the past few years, we have seen both a legal and operational push to restrict voting rights and the ability to vote again, especially after the Supreme Court gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act in 2013. The Voting Rights Act had required certain states, those which had a history of suppressing voting rights, and principally in the south, that they were required to submit any changes to voting policies and procedures to the Justice Department for review. As soon as the 2013 ruling came down, many of those states began to restrict the right and ability to vote. That along with other measures by those seeking to reassert or maintain the rule of the minority over the majority has once again put question exactly what form of democracy will prevail in the USA.

This is why the return of Pluto, and the question of the Will, of who has the power to determine the future of the USA is again driving the story of the USA now. The question is this, will the majority of US citizens be able determine the future of this country or will they not.

So, it would seem quite fitting and timely that the major transit in the chart of the USA in 2024 is Uranus squaring the USA Moon. In a national chart the Moon literally rules “the people”, and each time Uranus makes a significant pass over a point in a chart, roughly every 21-22 years, there is a shock and release of new formations. The most significant alignments of Uranus to the USA Moon for the 20^th century until now were the conjunction of 1918, the square of 1941, the opposition of 1961, the square of 1981, and the conjunction of 2003. Now in 2024 we will be at the next waxing square.

The principle behind Uranus holds the process of individuation and the experience of freedom. As it moves through any space in a chart, and over any element in it, it serves to elicit growth through the breaking up of old patterns and meanings. The Uranus square to the USA Moon of 2024 is a waxing square, and if we consider the last two times it aligned with the USA moon, we can see that it has coincided with a tremendous shift in the consciousness and actions of the US population.

The first waxing square was in 1857, which coincided with the division of the people of the country between those who believed in the equality of human beings, and those who believed some humans were destined to be subordinate to others.

The second waxing square was in 1941, and during this period the USA was deeply divided between those who wished to withdraw from a world at war, a existential battle between Fascism and Freedom, a war by dictators and autocrats against those who believed that individual freedom is a right that should be safeguarded and extended to one and all.

So here in 2023 and 2024, as Uranus squares the USA Moon once again, the people of the USA are going to be shocked in order to awaken in order to free us from our self-made limitations. We will need to use the many crises we are confronting to remember the promise of America, which is held in our compact with one another and forged by the integral two-fold principle of individual self-determination which can only be preserved and shaped by our communal responsibilities to one another. That in facing our challenges with and between one another, we choose to turn from the destructive passions of “us and them”, because we agree to be bound by our sacred oath to the essential truth of our constitutional covenant, which is we are seeking to forge a society where all may live freely and fairly with one another, and that this principle must guide every person, and every form of union and community, as we rededicate our purposes to make possible a better future for ourselves and our descendants.

Now as I mentioned earlier, we cannot know for certain what will happen during the next many months leading up to the party’s conventions or who will be on the ballot in November 2024. But presuming that the leading contenders today are the choice, let us briefly consider what is happening in 2024 in the charts of Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

When considering the chart of any individual, one can obtain a very quick sense of what are the major themes by looking at the most powerful transits, those formed by the three outer planets, that are currently in effect for their chart. In 2024, the planets Pluto and Neptune, and Uranus are all making strong transits to both Joe Biden’s and Donald Trump’s charts.

Biden
For Biden in 2024, Pluto is squaring his Moon while trining his Neptune. Given the slow-moving nature of Pluto, this double transit is certainly shaping his life in 2023 and 2024. The Moon rules our emotional life, of how we meet and respond to our needs and the needs of others, and most especially concerns those closest to us, our loved ones, our family, and our most important emotional attachments. This Pluto transit is very challenging, but it can lead us onto the path of emotional transformation and integration.

What is being offered by the intense pressure that Pluto always brings is an opportunity for greater insight into Biden’s own emotions and that of his loved ones. Since Pluto rules the Will and the lesson of control, Biden will be challenged to maintain self-control, to turn away from any attempt to control another but instead to help himself and any other find their own true path to self-acceptance and self-control. For me this intense experience is there for us all to see in Biden’s challenge of dealing with his son’s legal troubles.  The challenge and opportunity for Biden is to maintain being centered and balanced no matter how challenging the circumstances are now, as he is faced with the test of emotional self-control which will foster ever deeper determination and a resolute spirit.

Meanwhile, Pluto is forming a trine to Biden’s Neptune, and this is a very uplifting and inspiring transit. Neptune is the avatar of Unconditional Love, of spiritual compassion and sacrifice, and Biden’s natal Neptune is located in his 10^th house of public life and career. Biden is being offered a gift to explore a deeper meaning for his life, as his spiritual nature is stimulated to explore the true meaning of sacrifice, which means to live a life in a sacred way, where one gives up the lesser to honor the greater within and around us. He will feel and know, at least for himself, that what matters now is more important than himself, and that by following the path of selflessness and sacrifice he is fulfilling his destiny, given his Neptune is in his 10^th house of career, that his work in this life is not a job but a calling.

As if to magnify, but equally humble him, the planet Neptune itself now is forming a trine to Biden’s Sun and Jupiter this year, and to the Sun and Venus in 2024. The Sun represents the “self”, and Jupiter rules the moral compass, and Venus rules the experience of value and love. Biden’s experience of himself is being shaped in subtle ways, as he finds a deeper spiritual purpose in his life, a more profound understanding of his moral purpose, and a more inclusive experience of love for others.

Lastly, Uranus is opposite Biden’s Mercury in 2023, but forming a sextile to his Jupiter in 2024. For 2023, that means that Biden’s mind is being stimulated and shook up, as he has been experiencing exciting and stimulating insights, but also finding that communications are very unpredictable, and he will have several shocks that could throw him off balance. The challenge is to bend as others challenge your way of thinking, and to be patient when his insights are not as well received as he thinks they should be. The challenge is to remain open to new ideas and not to jump to conclusions or respond without some time to consider how best to do that.

For 2024, Uranus sextile Jupiter is most definitely a fortunate alignment. Often it brings unexpected and good news to an individual. As opposed to 2023, Biden will be able to cope better with any sudden changes, and even enjoy the opportunity and challenge presented by the unforeseen events that he encounters during 2024.

Trump
For Trump, he has Pluto making a two-year aspect of the inconjunct, or 150-degree aspect to his Ascendant for 2023 and 2024. The 150-degree aspect is one of adjustment and attunement, of pain and suffering if one does not adjust, or renewal and healing if one does. Pluto rules the will and the issue of control, and the ascendant is the manner in which we meet each moment in the eternal now. This transit indicates that Trump is experiencing a shift in his all his relationships this year, and specifically in how he experiences the balance of power between himself and others. The test and opportunity of Pluto is always about sacred space and the will, and the question is whether one can work with Pluto to develop ever greater self-control and self-mastery in one’s life, or misunderstand or misuse Pluto and so experience the loss of control and/or of being more controlled by others because of a lack of self-control.

Of course, Trump’s special experience of himself is as being an exceptional man, an iconoclastic avatar that shatters conventions and norms, and him being “out of control” is sort of his brand. Perhaps he will be able to master himself when needed in these two years, or perhaps he will be faced with the truth that those who fail to respect the boundaries of others will face their own loss of self-determination in the end.

At the same time as Pluto is forming the 150-degree aspect to Trump’s Ascendant, Neptune is as well. Now that is some coincidence! (And of course, I do not believe in coincidences). Whereas Pluto is about the Will and one’s self-control, Neptune is the avatar of Unconditional Love and Sacrifice. Neptune is offering to shape Trump’s experience of his relationship with himself and towards others so as to incorporate a greater degree of humility and sacrifice. But if misconstrued and misapplied, if the spiritual message is not expressed as it can and should be, then he will amplify his experience and expression of personality to assume a greater degree of martyrdom. Whether he is able to balance his being exceptional and powerful while also making a true sacrifice, well that will be seen in how well understands the difference between making a sacrifice and being the sacrifice. As most of know by now, Trump does not “do humble”, and he can only exist by being a winner. If he is losing whether in the courts of law or public opinion, he will most likely blame that upon others.

Finally, Uranus, which is called the awakener, the bringer of shocks and earthquakes, whose purpose is to bring challenging tests so that we might be freed from our self-limitations and grow into our fuller potential, is reaching a signature position in Trump’s chart. Uranus in 2024 is moving over Trump’s midheaven, over the point of destiny and into the 10^th house of one’s public life. Uranus in a way is “Trump’s planet”, as he is born with Uranus rising before his Sun, and it is the highest planet in his chart and placed in his 10^th house. Trump is an icon breaker, and his not-so-secret power is that he is not faking it, he is an unstable, unpredictable, and shocking person. But for any individual, whenever any planet reaches their midheaven, you have reached a moment of reaping what you have sown, and it is not at all certain what will happen. Normally, with Uranus what you expect is not at all likely to happen, and you get the unexpected instead.

When Uranus reaches the 10^th house of an individual it will indicate the time that they must break through to a fuller, truer experience of their public life. Uranus brings change, and it is rarely a gentle transition from one form into another, and most individuals describe it as shocking. Since it has reached Trump’s house of his path and purpose, and we must also remember that his path is to be an icon breaker, perhaps he will have to react or act in an even more dramatic manner than ever before. Perhaps he will break through to a freer expression of whatever he is here to be, or perhaps he will face the whirlwind that is of his own making.

Uranus is the avatar of Freedom, and each of us must find that one true spiritual path where our greater freedom can only be made and secured by being the path for more freedom for others too.

Astrological Musings — A look ahead to 2024, The USA, Biden, and Trump (September 17, 2023)

Astrological Musings — A look ahead to 2024, what is ahead for the USA, and for Joe Biden and Donald Trump

In my fifth show of 2023, I thought it would be timely to take a look ahead at the astrological indications for 2024, with a particular focus on the USA, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump. Powerful forces have been and are still moving through the chart for the United States. What are the messages of the stars for our troubled times?

If you wish to suggest a subject or topic for a future show, please email me as I would be happy to hear from you. My email is: [email protected].

Here is the main link to Astrologer Bill Attride Radio:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/astrologerbillattride

Here is the link to the show on Sunday September 17^th, 2023 @ 2 pm EDT:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/astrologerbillattride/2023/09/17/astrological-musings-a-look-ahead-to-2024-the-usa-biden-and-trump

The phone number to call if you wish to ask a question during the live show is: (516) 531‑9638.

Please join me on Sunday September 17^th, 2023 @ 2 pm EDT as we look at the current astrological indications and what they mean for you.

If you miss the show, it will be available as a Podcast shortly after on BlogTalk or my Apple Podcasts.

Sun Enters Virgo (August 23, 2023)

The Sacred Way, the Path of Sacrifice

The Signs of the Zodiac, what I call the Circle of the Living Ones, are the Divine patternmakers, the stories of Life, which hold and modulate the one Energy-Form of Creation, which is Divine Love. And it is this story of Creation that forms the worlds and beings of the Cosmos. The energy-forms that are the Signs of the Zodiac are omnipresent and ever active, and yet we humans, being bound by the laws of karma and time, also experience them as unfolding serially, like a real story, the story of Spirit in our journey around our star.

Today we enter the next story of the Zodiac as we move from the sign of Leo into Virgo. And somewhere forever in your chart, and most certainly at this time every year, we need to remind ourselves of the most precious and essential story of Virgo in our lives.

Because after all the stretching and strutting in Leo, after trying to release the self into ever more authentic forms of self-realization, whether in leadership, in creativity, and in all the ways of loving, you have a need to adjust, refine, adapt, and integrate all that you have done well, and also not done so well too.

Yes, after every performance there comes the review, after every move into a new form of self-expression there will be the necessity and opportunity to evaluate and consider was it good enough, could it have been better, and how might you make that so. This is the blessing of Virgo, the gift of observation, analysis, ingenuity, and adaptability, and by these gifts of the spirit to bring about more adeptness, refinement, and perfection in all your forms of being.

In Virgo you learn what not to do, and how to be better. You heal yourself, and by this you can help others to be better and to heal themselves too. For it is not just about you, because Virgo bends your love towards how and why we are here, which is to help one another, to be of service to one another, to be the love that we are made of for one another.

Yes, in Virgo you move into that sacred realm of Service and Sacrifice. In order to improve yourself, to correct your mistakes and refine your capabilities, to do this you must make sacrifices, you must attend to the necessities of becoming better and so let go of that which is less important and lift yourself into a greater awareness and life purpose.

Likewise, you are never alone, and you will be called upon, time and again, to give up something you want (or think you want), because the need of another is greater. They may need your help, or guidance and support, and by sacrificing yourself you lift them and yourself to a higher way of being.

To live a life of purposefulness, of meaningfulness, of dedication and sacrifice for the betterment of yourself and for your companions in this journey, this is the heart of Virgo. And this is part of the story of Creation which began with the greatest sacrifice of all which was of the One to form us all.

The story of Creation is that the One Divine Spirit divided into the many and became manifest in all the countless hosts of energy-forms, who are each a spark of the Divine. It is by their individual and collective self-becoming that the innumerable beings of light made the worlds and the many lives that form the spaces of Space, what is for us, a seemingly infinite duration of this “day of Brahma”.

In effect, this was the first and ever-enduring “Sacrifice” at the heart of Creation. The Unmanifest became the Manifest, and what was One in essence became the One in the Many. This is the heart of Creation, that behind all of “that” is the one universal Energy-Form, Divine Unconditional Love.

This is the story of Virgo. It is that you and all of Creation exist because of the first Sacrifice, and that all that is Creation is made by the greatest of sacrifices, where the One became the many. And that is why we must, as “ones of the One”, in our turn, sacrifice for one another, and for the many, so that we may serve the One and be as we will always be, one with the Divine Spirit.

At the heart of service, and in each and every sacrifice, there is the light of Divine Unconditional Love. And that is why we bow our heads and join together in the great invocation. so that the story of the One will forever hold our lives and hearts to Path of Light and Love:

THE GREAT INVOCATION

From the point of light within the Mind of God

Let Light stream forth into our minds

Let LIGHT descend on Earth.

From the point of love within the Heart of God

Let Love stream forth into our hearts

May LOVE increase on Earth.

From the center where the Will of God is known

Let purpose guide our wills

The PURPOSE which the masters know and serve.

From the center which we call Humanity

Let the Plan of Love and Light work out

And may it seal the door

where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.

Venus Retrograde in Leo (July 22, 2023)

Venus Turns Retrograde, July 22 to September 3

It seems quite timely for our solar journey through Leo this year that we also begin today to experience a wonder-filled opportunity to realign our experience of value, beauty, and love. Venus turns retrograde today, turning direct on September 3, and moving from the 29^th to the 12^th degree of Leo. Venus retrogrades once every 18 months for around 40 days, so it is one of the rarer opportunities provided by the “dance of the planets”.

Of course, no planet “goes backward”, and for an inner planet like Venus it is formed by Venus passing Earth, like a racer overtaking another racer on the inside track, in her orbit around the Sun. But of course, what you and I need to understand is what does this means for us here on Earth; what can we learn or understand about our journey from this story of Venus now?

Venus is the avatar of our experience of value, the vessel for your appreciation for the hierarchy of values in your life, holding your experience of all the many forms of beauty, and it equally shapes the embodiment for your personal forms of love too. In your own chart, whatever sign Venus is in will hold your experience of your personal values and love.

But for all of us, whenever Venus is moving through Leo as it is now, we are made more aware and sensitive about the Leo experience of and approach to value, beauty, and love. Venus in Leo centers our experience of value as being rooted in our need to love and create with the divine light of self-fulfillment. We are here to be true to ourselves, and this authenticity is forged and preserved by your unconditional love for yourself and in your unconditional love for one another.

The question you are being asked with Venus retrograde is are you being true and authentic? Are you being true to your deepest nature, so that your performances, your creations, and your love for another is genuine and anchored in your love of yourself and equally by your respect for one another.

But if your creations and actions are circumscribed and calibrated so as to gain the approval of others, when you seek to get the love that you believe you lack, so that you must get it from another, then you will hear the applause but know it is not for you, and no matter how much they seem to love you, it will not heal your heart.

Venus retrograde in Leo is an opportunity to go within and see yourself more truly, to love and respect who you are. And then with this understanding of truth and beauty, you will go out and show a greater love and respect to those with whom you share this life. You will stretch yourself to become more of your true self, you will free your spirit to soar into the as yet unknown heights, and by this you will reveal the love that shines at the heart of one and all. And when you do this, you will be seen and loved for who you are, a spark of the Divine.

What this means is that you will spend the next few weeks reexamining your own values, considering your own means of self-realization, of creativity and leadership. And by this you will find that you will equally need to consider the values you share with others, the values that you make, share, and live through one another. The principal question will be the one of respect, respect for yourself, respect for one another.

From this gift of Venus retrograde, good relationships will get better, difficult relationships may be repaired and healed. And for those relationships where the bridge of shared values has been eroded or broken, it may signal a time for each of you to let go of that form of relationship altogether.

Sun Enters Leo (July 22, 2023)

Sun Enters Leo

Today we mark two shifts in the “Houses of the Holy Ones”. The Sun leaves Cancer and enters Leo, and on the same day Venus turns retrograde in Leo too. The dance of the planets is shifting tunes now, and you should pay attention to the opportunities and challenges that are presented to you by your companions in the stars.

Of course, we must take special care, and we know that this is true even more than it was before, to consider what we might encounter in the physical weather we meet with day after day. And that is why we lean upon and rely upon science, along with our own intuitional nature, to navigate the dynamic dance of the energy forms that form our ever-changing weather patterns, and cope as well with the larger climate changes we are certainly experiencing now.

But there are many dimensions in this universe, and many types of energy-forms that form and shape what we experience here on the Earth. For us, the Dance of the Planets forms the great “Story of Spirit”, with our Earth travelling around the Sun, and then in combination our planetary companions dancing with one another and with us, they form intricate patterns of meaning and inspiration that can guide and inspire us as we walk the path of light which forms our spiritual awakening.
One of the principal shapers of our awakening is the yearly journey of our Earth around the Sun, as it forms not only one of the primary drivers of our physical forms of weather, but equally forms or informs our spiritual-psychological journey of humanity’s awakening.

You have spent the last 30 days with your star moving through the space of Cancer, and the opportunity you met in the first of the Water Signs was to find your way to the center of you, to truly feel the warm embrace and connection with what lies at the heart of you, (and as you go deeper and deeper, what lies at the heart of one and all). In having met with your “self that is your center”, it is in this time of Leo, and certainly somewhere always in your own chart too, that you know you must be you. In Leo you strive to release your true self, as you stretch yourself upon the stages of the world, to live and embody the life divine, and reveal to one and to all who you are, which is a creator, a leader and lover of life, as you shine like the star that you are.

Yes, it is in Leo that you stretch into the undiscovered nature of who you might be and become, you attempt a new form of expression, an extension of yourself into new spaces, into new roles, new dances of spirit, new ways of being “you”. And if you can do it, if you reach that higher mark, then others see these gifts of the creator in you and they smile, and they laugh, and yes, it is all about this, they love who you are. Because this is the heart of it, this is what is in your soul and out there now for the world to see too, it is the Spark of the Divine, pure unconditional love made manifest by the creator that is you.

Forever somewhere in your chart, and especially at this time of the year, you celebrate the spark of the Divine whose center is “Everywhere” and whose circumference is “Nowhere”, for you are one of ones of the One, dancing these songs of Spirit in every step that you take through the wonder that is Creation.

And when you are true to yourself, then you shine like the star that you are, radiant with the joy and the love that is your spark of the Divine. But just like the stars in the firmament above, your light divine will not, does not, and cannot ever shine alone. You feel this in your heart, and you know this in your soul, that you were made for one another, and you make one another who and what you are. So that every one of us is who they are because of the love we have for one another, for the love we share with one another, and so you can only be you if you live with love for one another.

For this is the heart of the teaching, you are made of love, and you are here quite simply to love one another. It is in your space of Leo, and always at this time of the year, that you see the wonder in all of the creations of Creation. And what is that? It is the One, the Creator, it is the Divine, which is shining in everything and everyone, illumined by the Love of the One.