A New Paradigm? - The Astrology of April 2014

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The Astrology of April 2014 - A New Paradigm?

For years, in many democratic nations, two relatively small elite groups, one essentially conservative, one essentially liberal, have controlled political, economic and cultural debate and all but dictated outcomes.

In recent months, a decidedly more inclusive, pluralistic, "multi-polar" approach to resolving important political issues has been suggested by and supported in the charts. This month’s analysis is about this proposed New Paradigm.

I will describe the astrological evidence for its existence and describe its likely effects in the real world. We can then decide for ourselves whether the New Paradigm is a real thing producing observable effects in the world.

March Recap

March’s aspects sent transformative energy deep into our hearts and minds, motivating and empowering us to explore new ways of thinking about our lives and the world around us.

The social, political and economic structures that shape society are rooted in our minds. This suggests that these inner changes are, indeed, laying the foundation for a New Paradigm.

April & January

April’s chart resembles January’s in relevant ways. A Grand Cross in Cardinal Signs is embedded in a Kite. An intense blocking energy is harnessed to power an inclusive, wide-ranging debate process instead. In January, local and state level activism too the lead.

Accordingly, this winter, politics did not follow the old right-left paradigm. In the US, Washington gridlock morphed into a complex dialogue between the local, state and national governments.

Conservatives began to compromise with liberals in ways that scarcely seemed possible. The conflicts were still readily apparent, but they were at least partially overcome to produce progress.

In the US, at least, Liberals and conservatives cooperated, however grudgingly, on key budget issues. A number of states moved forward with the legalization of pot and marriage equality.

Grassroots protest against fracking surged. There was resistance to drug testing of welfare recipients in Florida, action against voter suppression laws and a range of other issues. These trends continued in February.

It became clear that stepped up grassroots activism was now part of the landscape. Things are still happening that no one would have anticipated, given the epic confrontations of recent years.

April’s Chart

April’s combination of Grand Cross and Kite, augmented by the effects of two eclipses, will make the emerging trends of this winter the new normal. The changes brought about this winter will firm up and the trend toward compromise and progressive reform will grow quite noticeably. 

The sharp, deeply ideological conflicts will remain apparent, but it will become clear that regressive forces in both conservative and liberal camps have lost ground.

An “imperfection” in April’s Kite will bring income inequality and the forces that keep it in place to the fore, demanding that it be actively addressed.

The Bad News Squares

In general, the issue of political and economic fairness is foregrounded in April.

Mars retrograde is in Libra in the 5th; Jupiter is in Cancer in the 2nd; Uranus in Aries is in the 11th, and Pluto retrograde is in Capricorn in the 8th. The Cardinal signs are all placed in fixed houses, further ensuring conflict.

Jupiter opposes Pluto along the financial axis, which governs the relation between individual and collective finances. 

The power and wealth of the government and the finance industry (Pluto in Capricorn in the 8th) is massed against the productivity and prosperity of individuals (Jupiter in Cancer in the 2nd).

Uranus opposes Mars along the the axis connecting individual and group interests. The expectations and aspirations of the individual (Mars in Leo in the 5th house) are pitted against group ideals and aspirations (Uranus in Aries in the 11th).

Accordingly, in the public arena, conservative ideologies are arrayed against liberal, group-oriented ideologies.

This Grand Cross in Cardinal Signs embodies the central economic and ideological issues of our times.

The Good News Kite

Fortunately, the great tensions of April’s Grand Cardinal Cross are imbedded in a Kite which absorbs its severe tensions.

The Kite is organized around the financial axis; the opposition across the charts financial axis runs from the base to the apex of the Kite. 

It looks perfectly placed to relieve the fierce tension over fundamental economic issues. The Kite’s trines and sextiles will allow input from many sides, from high and low.

Into the Political Sunshine

An all important sextile is missing in the Kite. And that is a good thing.

The gap in the Kite leaves an opening that extends from the early degrees of the the 8th, thru the 7th and most of the 6th house.

The bodies in the 7th house are Quaoar, Pholus, and Ixion; all are retrograde in Sagittarius.

Two influences, are poised to slip rough the opening left by the missing sextile, bypassing the filtering, moderating, integrative powers of the Kite.

One influence governs the ideas (Sagittarius) that shape societal attitudes (Quaoar, Pholus and Ixion) and the partisan alliances (the 7th house) that ensure that new laws don’t change the status quo.

Another influence (Saturn retrograde in Scorpio in the 6th), highlights the exploitation and hardship of working people.

Combined, these two influences will penetrate to the heart of public debate and demand that the issues they represent be dealt with in their raw, unfiltered, unmodified form.

This gap in the Kite will block the ideological alliances that hammer new laws into the shape of old laws; these alliances and their work will instead become an issue. They will be identified as part of the problem and made the target of legislative action.

The likely outcome, over time, will be legislation that blocks the interference of these groups, opening the way for genuine reform of labor laws and the creation of laws that address income inequality.

Be mindful that all these bodies are retrograde. The debate will go deep and reform will proceed over time. In general, retrograde motion indicates an inclination to back away from prevailing attitudes and beliefs.

Harbingers of Things to Come

These events will likely be part of an emerging trend. The US labor force is governed by Taurus in the 6th house of the US natal chart. Uranus will transition into Taurus in 2018-19, ushering in, I believe, a new era of labor activism and reforms.

As I write this, the US National Labor Relations Board ruled that football players at Northwestern University, with campuses in Chicago and Evanston, Illinois, are university employees and can unionize. Appeals could take years to resolve. (Saturn retrograde in Scorpio in the  6th.)

To the extent that economic events in the US are indicative of emerging global trends, this suggests a global resurgence of labor activism and labor reforms.

However, we needn’t necessarily anticipate an epic confrontation between labor and management. If the New Paradigm is a reality, coming reforms will be the result of a much more open, inclusive debate. Solutions adopted will be more innovative and less polarizing than similar solutions in the past.

The Beginning of the Beginning?

There are also two eclipses in April.

• April 15th ~ a total eclipse of the Full Moon in Libra. (GMT)

• April 29th ~ an annular eclipse of the Sun in Taurus. (GMT)

Using the Sun and Moon placements in the composite chart, the lunar eclipse energy would flow through Leo in the 3rd house. The solar eclipse energy would flow through Taurus in the 11th house. These placements are square by sign, but trine by house.

Taurus, the sign governing personal income and finances, squares Leo, the sign of personal and interpersonal exploration. The House of Aquarius, governing idealized interpersonal and group values, is trining the House of Gemini, the house of community.

Using these composite placements, the eclipses set up an intricate tension between individual and community expectations.

These placements suggest a negative and positive developments that will push people to reconcile the needs of the community with the needs of its members.

Predictions

Privately, April’s eclipses will firm up psychological and spiritual transformations supported by recent charts.

We commit to a new course for ourselves.

Publically, people will revisit issues of political and economic fairness with deeply revised attitudes and personal opinions.

Gross income inequality and the mechanisms that perpetuate it will be examined in a new light and with a renewed will to eliminate it.

All issues will be addressed more openly and inclusively.

A Test Case

The eclipses also suggest a turning point in the emergence of the New Paradigm. If my hypothesis is correct, from April onward, we should expect to see more open, inclusive, constructive debate and fewer confrontations.

The crisis in the Ukraine makes a good test case. Many are predicting a return to Cold War conditions between Russia and the West.

If the New Paradigm is a reality, then the Crimean and Ukrainian crises will proceed along far less confrontational, far less destructive lines than other, comparable crises.

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