While one might merely cast ‘The Forever Club’ or ‘The 27 Club’ as but a bizarre case of coincidence, astrology tells a different story, the story of a significant energy configuration that highlights the personal paradigm shift from one phase to another, from adolescence to adulthood.

Astrologically, The Forever Club or The 27 Club could also be called ‘The First Lunar Return Club’, for around the age of 27, the progressed Moon returns to its natal position and conjuncts the natal Moon. This progressed lunar return precedes the Saturn return, the time that Saturn by transit returns to its natal position, which occurs between the ages of 27-30.

Society may assume that adolescence ends at the age of 18 or 21 or whatever age it denotes, but in truth we move from adolescence into adulthood during this period of age 27-30.

When we are 27-30 can be an especially difficult time, a time when we are asked to grow up. The securities and the stabilities of our younger years are ripped asunder and at this period in our lives we may feel as though we are in deed on shaky ground. This is a time when we question what we are doing and what we have been doing. It is also a time when to borrow from the Christian Bible’s book of 1 Corinthians 13:11: “when I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways.”

The transition between childhood and adulthood begins with the first Lunar return which then segues into the Saturn return.

During this phase of our lives, relationships can go through tremendous pressure, even breakups. Our career path might seem less like our intended dream job and more like a bramble path. Women start to feel their biological clock. Men feel like their youthfulness is slipping away.

We are asked to look back, see what is working for us and what no longer does, then clear out much of the foundations of our past and move forward, although often moving forward without a clear playbook or a defined destination.

Although the 27 Club has been memorialized by the number of musicians who passed at that age, it is a Club that each one of us pauses at, must consider where we have been and then determine to cross the threshold, go through the transition, the transformation, and the alchemical process from childhood into adulthood.

Having received various emails yesterday and today in regard to the ‘new, startling discovery’ by a Minnesota astronomer that the zodiac signs have changed, forcing each and everyone of us to possibly shapeshift into a preceding zodiac sign rather than the one into which we were born; I feel compelled to correct the misunderstanding projected by this astronomer.

This claim is not new. This claim is not startling. And this claim is not a discovery.

On the contrary, this claim shows a total misunderstanding of the connection, or lack thereof, between astronomical constellations and the zodiac signs.

So, let me explain and clarify. And to do so, we might want to bear in mind the concept of micro-perspective and macro-perspective.

The Zodiac Signs are defined by the Seasons of the year. The beginning of Aries occurs at the time of the Vernal Equinox, the beginning of Spring. The four Cardinal Signs represent the four cardinal points or the beginning of the seasons: Aries, Spring; Cancer, Summer; Libra, Autumn; Capricorn, Winter.

On a micro level, on a personal and individual level, the Signs into which we are born are related to the seasonal variations. And NOT the backdrop of the constellations.

On a macro level, whereby we see the Sun vis-à-vis the backdrop of the constellations, there has been a variation based upon the precession of the equinoxes, or the earth’s wobble. Due to gravitational pulls from the moon and the sun on our ellipsoid-shaped earth, our earth tends to wobble as it revolves around the sun. If one were to extend a line from the earth’s axis outward, that axis would describe a circle in space. But from the earth, it looks as if the heavenly bodies are revolving through the heavens, while the earth remains motionless. If we were to watch the relative movement of the sun and the constellations year after year, it would appear that the sun is moving at a slower rate than the constellations. Recognize, however, that we are considering apparent movement, movement as seen from our earth perspective. Noting the position of the sun relative to a fixed star, we would find, after approximately 25,920 years, the sun and fixed star to be in the same relative position they occupied 25,920 years earlier.

This wobble of the earth creates what is referred to as the Great Year, the Sidereal Year or the Platonic Year whereby it takes the Sun some 25,920 years to come back to its ‘original’ point. And if we consider the twelve zodiac signs, each ‘epoch’ or human era is seen as being approximately 2,160 years in length.

The present era is the Aquarian Age and earlier eras were seen as corroborative of Astrological Ages. Prior to the Aquarian Age, we had the Piscean Age, a time when personal salvation was achieved through the grace of master teachers. During this era, we had such teachers as Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster, Lao Tse, Jesus Christ, Mohammed. This Age with its symbolism of Pisces had the two fishes interlinked by a connecting bond, one fish swimming upstream into the spiritual, the other fish swimming downstream into the material. Epitomized by Christian theology, this Age depicts many symbols of water and fish. We had Jesus walking on water, turning water into wine, making his disciples ‘fishers of men’, casting bread upon the water, and the early Christians drawing the lines of the fish in the sand to signify their connection to their faith.

Prior to the Piscean Age, we had the Age of Aries and during this Age we see many depictions of the Fire Sign and its symbol of the ram. Yod-he-vau-he appears to Moses in a burning bush. The shofar, the ram’s horn, was used to signal festivals. Lamb’s blood was placed on the door mantle in order for the angel of death to pass over. And when Moses descended from the Mount and saw the Israelites worshipping a graven image, the image they had created was that of the golden calf, a symbol not of the new age of Aries but rather the preceding age of Taurus.

From a macro perspective, the precession of the equinoxes does show this movement of the sun vis-à-vis the constellations and gives an indication of that particular cultural epoch. On a micro perspective, the seasonal changes give an indication of our Sign of the Zodiac and our personality characteristics.

In this day and age, a time when knowledge is to be available to all of mankind akin to the Aquarian symbol of the water bearer pouring knowledge and understanding upon the land, true inquiry has been lost to superficial learning and information, sometimes accurate, sometimes not, as provided in wikipedia, websites, blogs and consensus opinion.

In 1968, the artist Andy Warhol made a prescient comment:
“In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.”

This statement is ever so true, but the fame may not be based upon true inquiry, or remarkable insight, but rather hype and information transmission.

And so it is for this Minnesota astronomer.

Unfortunately, his statement while riling a lot of people up, only served to confuse apples with oranges.

Should we be surprised? We should not be surprised when we find people using any semblance of credibility to make statements that might not be within their field of expertise.

A few years back, a handful of astronomers after much back and forth decided to demote Pluto from being a planet. Astrologers realized that such a depiction did not relate to the astrological influence of Pluto, an influence of which we all became profoundly aware when Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008 and our world turned upside down.

Pluto speaks to transformation, to shapeshifting and that transformation can either be subtle and gradual or drastic and explosive. Since 2008, we have certainly seen the latter, as a key phrase I use for Pluto became increasingly evident: build upon rock or build upon sand.

In the Autumn of 2008, western capitalism began to show its excesses with extreme greed and severe financial manipulation to bring down various financial institutions and shake the world economic system to its core.

While it would be preferable for specialists to stay within their own realm of expertise, it goes without saying that people like to muck about in areas of which they have little true understanding.

It’s a sign of the times but we should avoid buying into the semblance of assuming that we are speaking about the same thing when, in truth, we might be talking about apples and oranges.

Much ado about nothing…

My verbiage may be somewhat dramatic, but I fear we have been lulled into a sense of complacency. Or could the disposition be one of overload and overwhelm whereby we have become numb and even catatonic to the world changing around us?

From the 23rd of July through the 10th of August, the currents seem rapid and the waves tsunami-like. The key players in this configuration all link up to the Grand T-Square of Saturn, Uranus and Pluto with Jupiter and Mars being significant contributors to this hurly-burly energy vortex that can dive down, down, down, all the while that things are being presented as being up, up, up.

Although we have all heard the words of being on the road to recovery, various black swans, even if surmised or hypothesized about, may only now be coming into evidence. Black swans are those unexpected and highly significant situations that put a damper on the consensus and throw monkey wrenches into the spokes of the wheels of any semblance of normalcy and regularity.

I have repeatedly suggested that the economic crisis, referred to as the Great Recession of 2008-2009, was but the tip of the iceberg and the iceberg becoming far more evident and even more dangerous as we come into 2011.

With the world economies being far more integrated than in times past, any pebble in the pond can cause ripple effects far and wide. And the ripple effects towards the end of July into early August could be quite severe.

Some of the present patterns operating have a resonance to patterns that occurred during the latter part of the 1920’s into the early 1930’s, and also occurred during the 1770’s.

The T-Square about which I am extremely concerned, is the Saturn in Libra opposed Uranus in Aries and both square Pluto in Capricorn, also known as the Cardinal Climax.

On the 24th of July, Jupiter transiting Aries squares Pluto. The 26th has Saturn opposed Uranus, the last of the five opposition aspects between the two planets that have gone on since the Autumn of 2008. The 30th has Mars opposed Uranus, followed by Mars conjunct Saturn on the 31st. As we come into August, Jupiter squares Pluto on the 3rd. The 4th has Mars creating a T-Square as Mars opposes Jupiter and squares Pluto. Things that start towards the end of July could crescendo around the 4th of August with continuing ripple effects felt on the 7th with Venus opposed Uranus, Venus conjunct Saturn on the 8th, Venus opposed Jupiter on the 9th, and Venus square Pluto on the 10th.

These times would suggest a strong commitment to conservatism regarding investments, with a bear-like approach, and limiting financial expenditures. Either holding strong for the long-term, and perhaps a very long term, or cashing out might be wisely considered. Any equity market rallies could prove to be bear traps, tempting the unsuspecting and oblivious to buy into the hype that ‘happy days are here again’.

Trust your instincts. Listen to your inner voice. Even if we do not like what we feel or intuitively understand, do recognize that one of our characteristics is a true inner knowing.

The energies during these times of late July – early August are explosive. There could be war-like intonations, violent actings-out, severe atmospheric storm systems and intense earthquake or volcanic activity.

Since the energies can be too hot to handle, there can be miscues, wrong actions and even reactions that are overboard and likely unwarranted.

The collateral damage of recent economic malaise can be reaffirmed with increased unemployment figures, credit crunch problems and even too big to fail ventures falling on hard times.

Even sovereign debt could prove a worry with austerity measures announced being received by demonstrations and violent protests in the streets.

We might even become aware that some of the proposed solutions, and even the remedies implemented, have little impact to address, much less relieve, economic problems. Analysts now concede that the stimulus programs in the US had only short-term implications avoiding a collapse of the global economic system but negligible long-term effects, except for ratcheting up the tax burden for an indefinite period of time.

Will it become apparent that the ‘recent recovery’ has only been a bear-trap rally and that the likelihood of a double dip recession is increased?

Possibly so. I do not wish to be the harbinger of ‘doom and gloom’. I would prefer to leave such characterizations to the likes of Dr. Nouriel Roubini of NYU, named ‘Doctor Doom’ by The New York Times, or Dr. Marc Faber of the Gloom Boom & Doom Report, also often referred to as ‘Doctor Doom’.

Where is Chicken Little now that we need her?

Okay, maybe I need to accept the role. What I am trying to make you aware of is the fact that rosy pictures regarding the world economy are distortions seen through rose-colored glasses. The sky is falling! Should I repeat it? The sky is falling!! But not in the literal sense as much as the figurative sense. We are moving from one paradigm into a totally new paradigm. In the process, certain situations and institutions are likely to go by the wayside. Similar to our moving residence, there are collateral costs — in time, expense and emotion.

There are some very stressful energies coming up, and I would suggest, one more time, that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg and that the iceberg can become more evident during this latter part of July into early August with some of its implications and consequences felt more severely in 2011.

To change analogies for the moment, let me suggest and make you aware of potential black swans…

While black swans can be positive events or negative events, they share the characteristics of being unpredictable and highly impactful. Based upon the forthcoming energies, I would suggest the following negative black swans could come forward.

Black Swans A’Swimming…

1. The end of July and early August could see some earnings announcements and forward earnings estimates raise questions as to the strength of the economic recovery and job creation. If we are in any form of recovery, which I suggest to be minimal at best, then the recovery is a jobless recovery with continued high unemployment and the need to implement long-term unemployment benefits. With such a high degree of uncertainty both in regard to the strength of an economic recovery and the costs associated with new programs being implemented, companies would be leery of investing in greater job creation.

2. As of July 12th, there had been for the year 2010 in the US 91 failed banks and 10 failed credit unions with the FDIC suggesting that failed banks may peak in 2010. Or not.

3. Foreclosures & Bankruptcies. Yogi Berra made famous the philosophy of ‘It ain’t over ‘til it’s over’. We could see spikes in home foreclosures and personal bankruptcies and even corporate bankruptcies. Yes, the wave of foreclosures and personal bankruptcies may not yet be over.

4. Sovereign Debt. We have been made aware of the problems in the Eurozone with Greece being bailed out from likely default, but there are other problem countries in the Eurozone often referred to as the PIGS [sometimes PIIGS], with Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain being worrisome nations with severe debt problems. But we might also consider nations such as Japan, the UK and the US with potential debt problems as well.

5. Nations, States, Municipalities. We are seeing the debts of nations ratcheted up during this great recession. And we are hearing of various US states [e.g. California, New York, Illinois now being referred to as Greece by the Lake] running huge budget deficits. Municipalities are looking to avoid bankruptcy by consolidating services with other municipalities or contracting out services.

6. The Baltic Dry Index, often used as an indicator of global trade levels, shows a slide of over 50% since late May, giving concern regarding slower global economic growth and a stalling of the global economic recovery.

7. Different Strokes for Different Folks. While some countries are emphasizing austerity [EU] over stimulus [US], even stimulus programs have offered nothing more than a short-term shoring up of financial structures with little long-term benefits to job creation or economic development. Printing money can grease the wheels but eventually a price has to be paid [need we historically recall the experience of Germany between the two World Wars?]. Austerity programs cut back on social services, benefits and the like thereby impacting the consuming public. With 70% of the US GDP consumer spending, if consumers don’t spend, then the economy has difficulty in growing.

8. Consumer reluctance. The level of anxiety in the public is based upon the future and the need now more than ever to save for a rainy day. Unfortunately, when it rains, it pours and the consumer may find that their disposable income is weakened by deflation, user fees and various forms, overt and covert, of tax increases.

9. Geophysical Activity. I have often suggested that part of the Pluto in Capricorn influence is the idea of building upon rock or building upon sand, with the latter being swept away. The energies now could ratchet up geophysical activity in the form of volcanic and earthquake activity. Could we see more volcanic activity out of Iceland with its economic impact due to disruption of European air travel?

10. Storm Systems. The potential for increased damage from various storm systems seems strong with high winds and flash floods.

11. Demonstrations and protests. The energy is so intense that it may affect people as if every day were a Full Moon day. People are likely to be taking to the streets venting their frustration, giving evidence of their sense of vulnerability.

12. Some of the energies of this time do speak to increased terrorist activity. Whether attempts can be foiled or not, any sense of terrorism can ratchet up the anxiety level.

13. Crop damage. With aberrations in climate conditions, and extremes in temperature and in precipitation, we should have concern about crop damage and its impact on food costs.

14. Et Al….

Remember that black swans are highly unpredictable and highly impactful.

I do not raise these issues to create anxiety or fearfulness. Rather, I suggest that we have been conditioned, even prepared, for even more significant waves. But let’s always keep in mind that we are never given more than we can handle, even if we find ourselves surfing the precipice.

To reiterate, conservatism regarding our investments and our finances would be encouraged for this end of July early August period. It would be wise to bear in mind that next year could be even more challenging, especially for various governments and countries, including the US, the UK and China.

Taxes, in their various forms, are likely to be significantly increased.

But, despair would do nothing except bum us out. Through our due diligence, our ability to be flexible and adapt to changing conditions, we can in deed have brighter days through better ways.

To close, I would suggest we all keep in mind the words and sentiments of Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If’ [please read as gender-neutral]:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; 

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 

But make allowance for their doubting too; 

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 

Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating, 

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, 

Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch; 

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; 

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute 

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run – 

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, 

And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!

You gotta love it.  Man seems on the rampage, always with a focus to control, master, make things his own.  From a detached, objective viewpoint, it often seems that Man goes forth with a little bit of information, professing a desire for understanding but with opinion and personal issue baggage as determining factors.

During this so-called Information Age, it is disconcerting how little information is revealed.  Oh, there is more than enough information about this celebrity, that celebrity, diet items, health fads and all the trendy things that most people consider as making up the substance of their lives.  But important information seems to be less nowadays rather than more… ironic for a time often denoted as an Information Age.

Like you, I have often found myself startled into revelation by information that has come to me often in circuitous ways or certainly not from the expected sources of information transmission.  One such situation occurred recently as I received an email telling me of the US NASA mission to bomb the Moon.

I was stunned, dumbfounded and I was asked to comment.  So, here is my comment.

Like a kid in a candy store, Man has a tendency to want what he wants without consideration of the impact of his actions or even the desire to be in harmony and syntony with his environment.

The scientists and rationalists explain the bombing of the Moon as an exploratory investigation to determine whether there is any sign of water on the Moon.  Not only is this mission to assuage curiosity but also to give or detract credence to the possibility of human colonization of the Moon.

For me, someone who has been immersed both in natural sciences and intuitive sciences for many decades now, I am staggered by the cavalier attitude and what I consider the personality disorder of Man.

Should I be surprised?  Probably not.  I remember when a Mars probe was first discussed with an emphasis upon whether there was life on Mars.  I believed that there was a question, as important if not more important, that had to be asked first.  And my question was: what is the definition of ‘life’ on Mars?  Was it life as depicted and perceived by Man?  Was life far broader than Man’s experience or understanding?

My question by the science community was neither asked nor answered but rather accepted without comment to be life on Mars as equivalent to what would be considered life on Earth.  And for me, such investigation was not merely severely limited but also a waste of time.

And now we come to the present and the scheduled October 9^th bombing of the Moon by a Centaur rocket missile aimed at a crater close to the Moon’s south pole.

I object.  I object not solely on the limitations of scientific perspective and standards of investigation.  I object more strongly because of the reflection it exposes of Man’s disassociation from himself and the total discounting of the emotional, the intuitive, the feminine and the Mother, all representative of the Moon symbolically.

But is it any wonder that Man, so emotionally disconnected and so perversely tormented within himself, that he should launch an attack on the feminine, on the Mother?  Man has placed himself on a pedestal, attempting to be a god but with all the foibles and frailties of humanity, and consequently only a god in his own mind.  Man has trashed his environment, fouled the atmosphere, polluted the waters, ravaged the earth.  And now he considers possible colonization of another space body?!

This attack on the feminine that I see with this NASA bombing of the Moon does not surprise me.  Perhaps I have been inured to this process by what I have seen in society itself.  Man sees himself as the creator, the generator, the hunter, the master.  Unfortunately, he has not done too good a job in this role.

In the process, he has diminished and even rebuked the power and gifts of the feminine.  Man has ridiculed emotional intelligence, reviled sustenance and nurture, condemned the intuitive and feeling nature.

I found Man’s attitude playing out in the last US Presidential Election.  The standards for women were much greater, far more stringent than for men.  No matter one’s politics, it was evidenced both in the Democratic Party primary campaigns and in the General Election with two standards set — one lower, less confrontational standard for the men; the other harsher, more critical standard for Senator Clinton and Governor Palin.

Man has turned against his Mother and for me this is truly represented by this callous and narrow-minded bombing of the Moon.

It does not surprise me.  Man has a tendency to go forth, set in his ways, fixed in his opinions.  The day for true investigation, open discussion and a willingness to change opinion based upon new information and revelations is gone.  Man stands by his opinion, his judgment without wavering, willing to do wrong even when right is revealed.

On a tangent, I find that even the rush to judgment on climate change is indicative of this unwavering viewpoint, buying into consensus opinion, to the point of closing off to other possibilities, other factors that could impact the eventual outcome.

Once again, Man has put himself on the pedestal and emphasized that Man’s actions are creating a global warming trend.  Man points to various evidence, and evidence only supportive of his opinion, to buttress his argument that through the use of fossil fuels man is creating this warming trend.  If that were the only factor in climate change, then, yes, Man has created a warming trend.  BUT that factor is not the only factor.  Other significant factors that would contribute to a contrary cooling trend, and there are more to discuss than time and space allows for here, to take into account include:

1.   Natural Climate Cycles.  The natural climate cycle by itself would now be leading towards a cooling trend.

2.   Solar Activity.  Sunspot cycles have been shown to have an impact on climate conditions with us presently at an extreme solar minimum.

3.   Geophysical Activity.  The increase in earthquake and volcanic activity can create a blanket of dust particles blocking out solar radiation thereby lessening earth surface temperatures.

4.   Man’s Countervailing Influences.  A change in the use of the land — deforestation, desertification, urbanization, etc., — impacts climate conditions by changing the albedo or surface reflectivity of the earth.

Unfortunately, Man goes blindly into the night.  He assumes that he wants Truth but often only seeks truth that corroborates his opinion.

There is no turning back from bombing the Moon.  The scientists, the rationalists, emphasize that space clutter bombs the Moon regularly.  There is nothing to fear, they assert.

I would say otherwise.  What there is to fear is Man, his actions, his self-importance and an old belief system that Man can master the universe.  It has led us down the garden path before, does so in the present and may well do so in the future.

The bombing of the Moon is but one more indication of Man’s battle within himself and his need to lash out at the world and at himself.  For Man forgets that similar to the Tao whereby the seed of the Yin is contained within the Yang and the seed of the Yang is contained within the Yin; he too has the seed of the feminine within his own being.  Attacking it is clearly indicative of a severe psychological disorder.

Areas of concern for me, and areas of concern I would suggest you keep aware of, are related to the following:

1.                    Financial stability with the potential of a significant downturn in financial markets with the realization that the housing market and banking system problems may have been the tip of an iceberg, with other problems regarding global financial matters becoming ever more evident in a domino-theory type scenario.  Could problems arise with increasing credit card defaults and commercial real estate?  Please know that historically September and October can be very difficult months for the financial markets.

2.                    A sharp decline in the value of US dollar. Already we have heard the BRIC nations [Brazil, Russia, India and China] raise the question of the reliability of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency and their suggestion of a different reserve currency.  A shift away from the US dollar could further fuel devaluation of the US dollar.

3.                     Health issues.  The WHO has already declared the H1N1 influenza virus a pandemic, raising the alert level as I write from a phase 5 alert to a phase 6 alert level.  With people under stress from the changes occurring in our world at large and with the stress placed upon the immune system at the time of changing seasons, this Autumn period could see a spike up in concerns about influenza virus and it’s ability to metamorphize. It is essential that we develop a good health regimen, concentrate on our well-being and create programs to strengthen our immune system and a healthy attitude.

4.                    Geopolitical issues.  There is a significant shift in energy as we come into the mid-Autumn period, a shift that can put significant pressure on relationships — relationships between countries, relationships in personal interactions.  Toward the end of this year and over the next two years, we may see increased friction between countries with various pacts and trade agreements pitting some alliances against other alliances.  We could also see a step up in domestic violence, as people unable to adapt and change with shifting conditions, vent their frustrations and anger on those closer to home.

5.                    Baton Passing.  Like life itself, superpowers change.  The 19^th Century belonged to the British, the 20^th Century to the US.  I believe the 21^st Century belongs to the Chinese. During the end of this Summer and into the Autumn, the baton passing may become increasingly evident.  It does not have to occur with stretching the muscles of one’s military might.  It can occur quietly, albeit swiftly, by means of economic muscle stretching.  The Chinese have been pursuing various trade agreements with different countries, have been buying up foreign companies of natural resources, and hold a significant percentage of the US national debt.  Recent economic crises have placed the Chinese in a potent bargaining position.

6.                    Although we have been going through a recent period of deflation, are we likely to see incipient signs of inflation as economies start to pick up with the help of governments’ stimulus plans?  With the printing of money, increasing the money supply, could the volatility of these times flip from a deflationary cycle into a hyperinflationary cycle?  As noted at the G20 summit in London in April, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel was less enthusiastic than her colleagues of national leaders for stimulus package after stimulus package.  There is the wise saying that those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.  Prior to the ascent of Hitler and the Second World War, Germany experienced a period when printing money became non-stop and the mark virtually worthless.  Deflationary cycles were followed by inflationary cycles and the rest is history.  Will we learn from history?

7.                    Could another wave of foreclosures dampen the sense of the housing market having bottomed and in process of turning around?  To remember Yogi Berra’s words ‘that it ain’t over ’til it’s over’, the housing problem may not have been totally resolved and there could be further foreclosures and price decreases in some housing markets.

8.                    Unemployment figures.  While our society is going through a major transformation, the question needs to be raised as to whether there will be the same level of demand for labor as in times past.  If productivity is increasing, technology advancing and industries shifting, could these factors play to a lessened demand for labor?  If unemployment continues to go up, what are the ramifications for the unemployed unable to meet their financial obligations and service their debt load?

9.                    Post-consumer society.  What if some of the changes occurring happen to be changes on a fundamental structural level?  What if we are moving away from being a consumer society, where in the US 70% of the GDP is the consumer, and moving instead to a post-consumer society?  The implications would be strong for governmental agencies both in terms of revenue streams through taxation and in terms of the size of the economy.

10.                 Stimulus Packages.  With a contraction in the economy, governmental agencies [federal, state, county, municipal] may be forced to find additional funding.  And if the economy is slow to turn around, what other non-governmental agencies might seek federal assistance?  We might wonder whether more bailouts are in the works. 

I am NOT into doom and gloom, but I do believe that these times demand that we be AWARE and MINDFUL, look at circumstances and the various possibilities unfolding and not merely accept the spin or the consensus opinion of what appears to be going on.  Once we are aware of the backdrop, even if we cannot be fully cognizant of the implications of the twists and turns of life unfolding, then we can make our choices and determine the best for our lives no matter what the backdrop of the external realities are around us.

On Saturday evening, December 8th, I shall be giving a talk sponsored by the Center for Conscious Creativity on ASTROLOGICAL ENERGIES: 2008 A Year of New Beginnings.

A brief synopsis of my talk is given here:
“Through the centuries humanity has looked to the stars for guidance, understanding and a foretelling of events. But does astrology have relevance in the twenty-first century? Or is astrology merely an archaic carryover of humanity’s ‘superstitious’ past? In this evening’s program, I shall discuss the relevance, even importance, of astrology as a tool by which we can become more aware of ourselves, the different cycles in our lives and the cycles operating on the larger scale of humanity and the collective consciousness.
The times they are a’changing. As we go through a paradigm shift between the old ways and the new patterns, it is essential that we have a roadmap to make us aware of the conditions lying ahead. I shall explain the paradigm shift and explore the new formats in contrast to the old parameters. I’ll also offer my insights on the year ahead as seen from an astrological perspective.
The year 2008 provides a major threshold and a crossing from life as we have known it into a new paradigm. Various cycles are being completed, new cycles begun during this coming year. In this program, I shall discuss the dramatic energy shifts occurring during 2008.”

My program begins at 8:30 PM and runs until 11:00 PM and will take place at the Theosophical Society – Annie Besant Lodge, 2560 N. Beachwood Drive in Los Angeles. The fee is $20.00. For registration and tickets, please contact the Center for Conscious Creativity through their website: www.consciouscreativity.com

On Tuesday evening, October 16th, I shall be giving a talk through Greenwich Continuing Education at Greenwich High School on ASTROLOGICAL ENERGIES: 2008 A Year of New Beginnings. The year 2008 provides a major threshold and the initiation and completion of various cycles.
Among the topics I shall address:
1) Structural changes – How will this coming year’s dramatic, even drastic, changes impact society, the climate, the stability of the Earth, and each of us?
2) US Presidential Election – What are the indications for the leading candidates for the US Presidency?
3) The health of the nation – What are the areas of health we need to watch for and how can we best condition ourselves to meet any health challenges?
4) Economic indicators -Where is the economy going? What are the indicators for the United States, China, India and the European Union?
5) Immigration – Has the world become nomadic? Will immigration put strains on social services with severe repercussions regarding nation states policies?
6) Housing markets – Do softening property markets indicate a potential bust in the making? My program begins at 7:00 PM and runs until 9:20 PM. The fee is $34.00. For registration, please contact Greenwich Continuing Education at 203.625.7474.