Astrologics - The Wanderer

The Wanderer

By Hannibal Giudice, Astrologer/Futurist

December 2002

I shot an arrow into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where...H.W.Longfellow

Greetings Dearhearts,

Seasons Greetings to all and to your loved ones. December, our twelfth month of the solar cycle, ends with the Sun entering the Sign Capricorn - governed by the cycles of the planet Saturn. Fittingly, it's time to talk seriously about Santa Claus and his shadow, Ebenezer Scrooge. They are but two of the many global Capricorn "winter myths" that bear the same essential message and are the ones most familiar in our culture. It's also time to talk seriously about learning and relearning lessons about an issue involved with a basic Saturn function - governance - and facing reality; in this case, the reality of the essential nature of the American people. It's always a good time to remember that the magic in the mythos is that what makes Santa a joyful success, allows Scrooge to be a successful pariah.

Myths exist solely in the realm of immortalized perfection and manifest solely in the realm of mortal choices.

Santa Clause - Capricorn's "Super Daddy"

Survival, Success, Prosperity

The role that these mythical characters personify manifests in our individual and collective experiences/expressions and emanate from the deepest primordial elements of the human psyche. At certain "times" the collective experiences associated with each zodiacal Sign -as embodied by these mythical archetypes - are emphasized and modified with a profound social impact. Such has been the nature of recent "times" for Capricorn and will be again, starting just before the beginning of the next decade. As I promised in the September issue -

"There's another story in the making here and the final chapters have yet to be written. It's about the fundamental shift in values in the collective consciousness that is in the process of gestation at this moment. It's a change that goes back to the early 1980's when the new mantra was "Greed is good!" I'll treat this item in future issues."

Well, today is the past's future. The major spotlight in today's issue is the zodiacal Sign of Capricorn and it's most significant "times" of change and cyclic evolution through time - through history. Coincidently, time and history are both in the domain of Saturn who, in yet another costume, appears as the myth of Father Time.

"History repeats itself. That's the trouble with history, damn it!" - Clarence Darrow

A more comprehensive expression of this same aspect of history was provided by the 20^th century philosopher George Santayana who warned that if we did not learn from the lessons of history, we were destined to repeat its mistakes. The problem is that the significant "repeats" of history are separated by a considerable length of time, skipping past many generations. The basic issues of comparable past "times" were experienced in a greatly altered environment, but their underlying processes are always the same. The only way we can recognize them in modern times is to identify the character of the mythical actor beneath the present costume, and check out the last time they were on stage. These Capricorn archetypes/personas are on stage with a leading role whenever the three outer planets - Uranus, Neptune and Pluto - transit their Sign/character. For various reasons, the planet that makes the most obvious impact in the popular culture - especially in the United States - is Neptune. Our cosmic "Dream Machine" is on a 164-year cycle and last transited the sign Capricorn beginning in the early 1820's where it remained through the mid 1830's. Neptune came back into Capricorn in recent "times" beginning in the early 1980's and set up residence until the late 1990's. These are obviously not brief periods as Neptune spends 14 years in each Sign.

The outer planets don't just visit - they move in!

Neptune functions as idealization which, in itself, is neither good nor bad. The function that can produce the ideal of perfection, and noblest visions, can also euphorically induce the nightmare of glamorized illusions and addictive delusions. Neptune rules the sea, the primordial source, where all is one. Since most of our problems stem from the negative within human behavior, it will receive greater focus. Not repeating mistakes should be the first order of business in this case, just as the first order of business for Capricorn is survival. I must remind you, however, that the greater picture in all such Neptunian transit "times" in history is always far brighter and full of positive growth.

Capricorn has to do with mastery of the physical environment. The Capricorn mantra "I use" relates to useful management of the physical resources of the material world. In the domain of Capricorn we find the quintessential business person - the manager, boss, banker, stock broker, insurance executive, shop owner, captains of industry and the individual entrepreneur. Capricorn is also the historian, archivist, genealogist, archeologist and other occupations dealing with the past and tradition. Capricorn represents the "father" (structuring) function much as it's opposite, Cancer, embodies "mother" (nurturing) function. Together, they constitute the polar axis of stability (Capricorn) and security (Cancer) that operate symbiotically within all individual cyclic processes. The methods of its symbol, the goat, are deliberate, measured, patient and practical in its upward climb to the top of success and achievement, employing the methodology of deferred gratification. Its noblest expression of success is motivated by an underlying sense of responsibility. Winter begins at the solstice in Capricorn - a time when an irresponsible lack of preparation for the season meets out a harsh punishment. Otherwise, it's reward (gift) and party time for those who were reasonably responsible throughout the year. Most importantly, at the highest level, it represents the personal success in mastery of the physical reality according to collective values. Ultimately, individual success at the expense of the collective brings the same final results as does salt water in slackening the thirst of a dying man adrift at sea.

In the school of time, Capricorn graduates as either Santa Clause or Ebenezer Scrooge.

Alastair Sim in The Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol

Ebenezer Scrooge first showed up around 1821 when Neptune entered Capricorn, but that was just the latest version of similar social characters that appeared throughout history - every 164 years, to be exact. It's true that Dickens didn't publish his legendary "A Christmas Carol" until 1843, when the planet had moved into the next Sign of Aquarius, but it was clearly based on a "character" that emerged in society in the prior two decades, when Neptune was in Capricorn. Ebenezer Scrooge embodied the most negative aspects of human behavior of the time. The 1820's to the mid 1830's was the time of the beginning of the Industrial Revolution that marked the development of the infrastructure of mass manufacturing and the practical application of numerous advances in technology such as the steam engine. Life as we know it today with all its modern technological capacity and economic abundance would be an impossible dream without what began then. A time with all its wonderful achievements - along with all its dehumanizing values. This was a period in history when success in business and status symbols were idealized and human beings mistaken for machines. Initially, not many took notice that the exploding economy was accompanied by an ever-increasing homeless problem. Sixteen-hour workdays for adults and twelve for children, along with a myriad of wretched social ills, were more the rule than the exception. Many of the worst evils began to be addressed by the time Neptune entered the next sign of Aquarius (between mid 1830's and late 1840's). But the remedial social and economic legislative efforts and increased social consciousness during what historians call the "Age of Reform" that characterized the 1840's both in America and Europe was not fully adequate to the job. If it were, we would not have been so susceptible to one of the greatest world wide socio-economic delusions of all time - communism. Karl Marx published his socio-economic "reform" solution in the "Communist Manifesto" in 1848 and unleashed as big a mass delusion as the opposite notion that laissez faire Crony Capitalism represents the only functioning option under a free enterprise system. History has pretty much dispensed with the first mass hallucination and will, within the next decade, deal with the second.

The Almighty Dollar

Celebrated artists and writers are usually the first to acknowledge the negative shifts in social values that occur with major planetary transits. The renowned American writer of that time, Washington Irving, coined the term "Almighty Dollar" in decrying the increased inclination of his fellow countrymen to the worship of materialism - a classic dysfunctional Capricorn expression. In his epic work, "Democracy In America", published in 1823, the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville gave the world the first comprehensive view of this "democratic experiment" in the New World. Along with many laudable observations, he nevertheless summed up the prevailing materialistic American character as a nation of go-getters and hustlers. Historians tell us it was a time marked by greed and avarice when folks were obsessed with wealth, upward mobility, image and social status. On the other hand, Washington Irving also gave us positive Capricorn contributions in works like "Rip Van Winkle" and "Legends Of Sleepy Hollow". This was America's first historical reminiscence; a young nation's awakening to their own (albeit short) past history. The same was true with James Fennimore Cooper's Revolutionary War novel, "The Spy", his "Leatherstocking Tales" and the tales of Chingachgook, the last Mohican. The birth of the historical novel in Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe" at this time was but one of many that idealized and glamorized the revived interest in the Capricorn historical emphasis. Folks in Plymouth Massachusetts finally woke up to just where "was that rock" where the Mayflower first birthed, and built a memorial. At the same time, the citizens of Philadelphia just managed to save Independence Hall from a developer's wrecking ball. That's right, the very "home" of the Declaration Of Independence and The United States Constitution! The underlying demands of the cycles of time are always appropriate to the needs of the times. The human response is a matter of choice and a measure of growth through time. In 1823, there appeared in the Troy, NY Sentinel, a poem by Clement Clarke Moore entitled "The Night Before Christmas" and the myth of modern day Santa was synthesized (from previous cultural legends) and permanently impressed in our culture in our most ennobling (idyllic) Capricorn values. The Santa persona has been etched; first in childhood and then in the "adult child" sever since as the embodiment of the idyllic "daddy" (authority) function.

The birth of modern (Capricorn ruled) archeology came in 1821 when the French linguist Jean Francois Champollion cracked the enigma of the hieroglyphics on the famous Rosetta Stone that Napoleon had brought back from his Egyptian conquests years earlier. For the first time in over a millennia we were able to read the language of an ancient society that had been around for thousands of years and had such a significant seminal impact on other world's cultures both during and after its existence. The Capricorn field of archeology virtually exploded in academia and the popular culture from that point on. Dotted along the frontier of the day (the Midwest of today), towns with Egyptian place names like Cairo, Thebes, Karnack and Memphis sprang up. A complete classical revival was in vogue as well, including the architecture, history, art and literature of everything Greek and Roman.

There was considerable positive growth in society, both socially and economically during this period, but also much that left a negative residue of social and economic issues that, as mentioned earlier, have yet to be adequately resolved. They will be within the next decade.

Michael Douglas in the film "Wall Street"

The Roman poet Marcus Manilius wrote of Capricorn: "Thy cold o'er Winter Signs doest reign...makes Brokers rich."

The Ghost of Ebenezer Past

Right on time - Capricorn time - Scrooge returned in the early 1980s, sporting a new "Armani" costume. "Greed is good", bellowed Michael Douglas in the early 80's film "Wall Street." Douglas essentially portrayed a 20^th century remake of Ebenezer Scrooge, who was also a young, upwardly mobile man of his time; or perhaps you could say, a yuppie ahead of his time. It would be well to revisit Scrooge's life story to remember how he finally got to be what he infamously became. Again, artists and (screen) writers are the first to intuitively recast the appropriate mythical archetypes straight out of humanity's central casting - the collective unconscious. Stockbrokers and bankers, who were previously thought to be dull and boring, suddenly became charismatic and sexy. The ethical values of the 19^th century laissez faire Capitalist were revisited and suddenly the same social dysfunctions reappeared as the homeless and disenfranchised gathered in mounting numbers in the streets of our cites in the midst of increasing affluence. We were told it was largely a "voluntary preference" for the unprecedented number of folks to be sleeping on sidewalk subway grates for warmth in the winter.

"Are there no jails, are there no workhouses?" - Ebenezer Scrooge

Not all captains of industry succumbed to the lure of profit over people in the previous Neptune transit and not all did so this time either. But enough did, and in a significant increased percentage comparable to the days of Scrooge & Marley, Ltd. The ratio of personal compensation of the fat cat CEOs vs. their employees that exploded in the last two decades was as ludicrous in true value as the obscene price-to-earnings ratios of their stock. Workers were assuaged with the glamorized lure of a cut in the boondoggle with inflated stock shares and "expert" financial management of their retirement investments. Right! On the upside there has been honest economic growth, dramatic application of new technology, streamlined management, increased productivity, along with a healthy entrepreneurial expansion. Most importantly, a universal goal of individual investment/ownership has been established that will continue to grow in the coming decades and will ultimately have the most profound economic effect throughout this century. Much good did happen the last time as well. But the downside was shadowed by corrupt accounting, insider trading, and a new (previously illegal) and deadly cocktail mix of market research with capital investment. Ethical and legal codes of conduct were subordinate to the new golden rule - "the one with the gold, makes the rules." The "crooked E" in the Enron logo was symbolic of a crooked Economy that saw the vanishing of nearly eight trillion dollars in value and the loss of a lifetime of retirement investment savings for countless workers. The ghost of the crooked Ebenezer past has begun to evaporate now with Neptune transiting Aquarius, just as it did during last time when Dickens penned his immortal epic. Neptune rules all forms of escape into a false reality such as alcohol abuse and drug addiction. For those most seriously addicted to wealth and status and drunk with the self-righteous arrogance of power, Neptune's intoxicating vapors have vanished. The limelight and "photo opps" have become a glaring spotlight and mug shots. For many it will be as awakening from a beautiful dream into a nightmarish reality of their own creation.

Harrison Ford in the film Indiana Jones

Since when was an archeologist a sexy and glamorous profession? Since the early 1980's and Indiana Jones, that's when. Both archeology and history majors, saw an unprecedented raise in college campus' that has sustained high levels beginning right about the (Capricorn) time we would have expected - the early 80's. Forensic science from other disciplines have since been applied to past archeological discoveries resulting in an enormous increase in the depth of knowledge of what we thought we knew. Moreover, the number of new sites and the amount uncovered in just the last two decades has been staggering, greater than the sum of all such activity in the past. Modern technology has imploded into archeology during this "time" with satellite imagery, DNA analysis and a score of other new tools for investigation. Additionally, it will take them the next 20 years to fully explore what has been excavated just in the last 20, and at least that much time to lay pick and brush to the sites begging to be unexplored. Archeological topics on the (two) History Channels, The Learning Channel, The Discovery Channel, A&E, etc, and a host of specials and documentary presentations have all appeared during this time and continue to attract a dedicated and expanding audience. The overall increase in the interest in history and archeology in the popular culture since the early 1980's is unprecedented in modern times except, of course, if we return to an earlier - Capricorn time.

I have chosen the economic and historical aspects of the Capricorn process for the purposes of this chronological comparison. There are many other comparisons that can be made with additional themes related to Capricorn, but that would be too lengthy to cover in this limited space. The ones chosen are perhaps the most significant in the culture and should best illustrate the basic underlying premise.

Joyful reward for goodness

Santa didn't really have to return. He's been increasing in value ever since his first (modern) appearance in the 19^th century. His lessons are implanted in earliest childhood and are reinforced by the "inner child" of adults. Santa joyfully brings material rewards for good (responsible) behavior and reluctantly, coal in the stocking for irresponsible behavior. A successful entrepreneur, managing an efficient workforce of (Virgo) elves, Santa teaches that there are few if any free giveaways in life and still even greater joy in succeeding and sharing. Ironically, as far as the actual "dollar value" to the economy is concerned, the perpetuation of this seasonal "myth" is responsible for the infusion of an enormous economic value in countless businesses - year after year. So much for an imaginary jolly fat guy in a red suit that every adult admits (only to each other) doesn't really exist! Ebenezer will again fade into the pages of history while the "Santa" within the human soul will prevail, refreshed. Don't forget, in the end Ebenezer turned into Santa in every way including the infectious and irrepressible humor. They were the same person all along; it was always a matter of choice.

The reason why I've indicated that the final chapters on the remaining problem "Capricorn" issues will be written in the next decade is the fact that Pluto will enter Capricorn in 2009 and remain throughout the second decade of this century. Pluto had last "visited" Capricorn nearly 250 years ago, at a time just before and during the American Revolution. Pluto's regenerative mandate produced a new form of (Capricorn) governance as well as economic structure some 250 years ago and will so again starting in the next decade. After dealing with humanity's power trips in the name of religion (Pluto's current assignment while in Sagittarius) it will next deal with similar dysfunctional behavior in the business and economic arenas. The cosmic mandates require that there are major fundamental changes that need to be made in both the structure of the American government and the economy. There will be more about these overdue changes in future issues. Obviously, much remains to be done.

"Wir werden zu trueh alt, und zu spaet klug!"

"We get too soon old, and too late smart" is the English version of these old German words of wisdom. I'm speaking of the issue of governance (Capricorn) in American society relating to the use and abuse of substances such as drugs and alcohol. When America makes a mistake it's a big one. One example was maintaining slavery long after it had been outlawed in most of the civilized world and paying a dear price for a long time after. Another was the Alcohol Prohibition that not only failed miserably but resulted in bankrolling a powerful "industry" of organized crime that has had such a pervasive and costly influence both socially and economically in American society ever since. Such is also the case for the fundamental approach the American government has been taking on this issue since the turn of the 20^th century as regards the use and/or abuse of drugs - treating it as a law enforcement issue as opposed to a medical one. Despite the overwhelmingly disastrous evidence to the contrary, the current "war on drugs" policy continues to wreak havoc in society on so many levels that the cancerous ripple effect has reached tidal wave proportions. Centuries from now, Americans will shake their heads in as much disbelief over the stupidity of the war on drugs as they do now concerning the institution of slavery or Prohibition. Slavery and Prohibition (alcohol/drug) are different moral issues to be sure, but have underlying similarities in terms of governance within the context of the American culture that is at the root of the problem. And the key to understanding the complex American culture is contained in its birth chart. Everything America has ever been or experienced was embodied in the choice of its moment of birth. There isn't space or time to delineate the USA chart here - that will be covered in depth in another permanent section of the web site in the future. When I do, you will more clearly see why I maintain that the governance of such issues in American society will never succeed with the current approach.

Of all the crimes in society, it is self evident that homicide results in our most tragic and devastating losses. The homicide rate is also a base line for the rate of all other violent crimes, which produce a shocking ripple impact to society that is nearly incalculable in human and economic terms. It is more than just a coincidence that the homicide rate in America parallels legislative efforts to criminalize substance use, thereby creating and perpetuating the very culture of crimes of the most pernicious kind in society. I realize that this whole subject is a hotly debated topic in the political (and ostensibly moral) arena at this time and to untangle the seeming mountains of evidence and arguments on both sides of the issue in the space allotted here would be impossible. If one were to research this subject solely from sources within the worldwide medical and law enforcement community, a great deal more sanity and wisdom on the subject would emerge than the one currently in vogue within the national political arena. The argument is not a simple conservative vs. liberal or moral vs. immoral stance as is the general impression fed by the "generals" of the popular media and the Washington DC superstars. If it were so, respected conservative theoreticians such as William F. Buckley, (among many) would not have taken such a strongly opposite position to the current insanity on this issue so long ago. There are far more intelligent, effective and infinitely less costly (both in economic and human terms) solutions to this problem. In time, America will again (as always) be forced to see the truth.

Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse, Washington DC

Missing in the above statistical chart is the additional hidden cost, that the current laws have on the "Illness & Death" and "Health Care Costs" categories, which is estimated at 50%. As far as I'm concerned, that should be added to the "Crime/Black Market" category. The 20^th Century "war on drugs" is the centerpiece of an overall legislative approach to substance control has been the most costly failure in human social engineering since slavery and Prohibition. For all the trillions of dollars that this social Frankenstein has cost (directly and indirectly) thus far, illegal drugs are more available today than ever and there is no end in sight to the mounting toll in human and economic loss. We are unquestionably losing this war by any rational measure while at the same time bombarded with the propaganda of ultimate victory - always just over the horizon. If we could only hire more cops, build more jails, arm and train more foreign cops/soldiers, hire more prosecutors, fund more public and private agencies and so forth, we're told, it would solve the problem. Sadly, we're not "taking a bite out of crime"; we're chewing on razor blades and bleeding to death, economically and socially. Now, the major astrological directives for this subject are shifting with Uranus entering Pisces this year and Neptune following suit a few years down the road. Pisces (ruled by the planet Neptune, who else?) relates to many things, including "intoxication" by any means. Some of the same reasons that forced the end to Prohibition will also apply the deathblows again in the coming years. The economic desperation of federal, state and local governments during The Great Depression finally tilted the scales in favor of repeal of the most ill conceived amendment to the Constitution in US history. Leading the growing list in the years ahead is the increasing economic squeeze in a restructuring economy and the very costly WW III war on terrorism. In the final analysis, the balance will always be tilted by the economic factor when it comes to America, as this too is the promise in her birth moment.

Cannabis Sativa hemp plant

This is the smoking herb of choice that the (official) United States' Ambassador at Large, Louis Armstrong smoked every day of his adult life. The roll call of other notable and responsible personalities in the public and private sector in the same category would probably surprise most people. Were folks like Bing Crosby derelicts? The true story as to just how this herb got on the government's banned substance list in the 1930s reads like the plot of a Franz Kafka novel. Sifting through the sea of hyperbole that has been promulgated on this subject is a challenging task but worth the effort. One small example among many -

Fact: "Twenty-one percent of state inmates incarcerated for violent crimes were under the influence of alcohol alone at the time they committed their crime...the number of those under the influence of marihuana alone was too small to be recorded statistically." (In this case, a tiny fraction of one percent)

Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

We are told over and over that, while marihuana may not be all that "serious" an issue, it leads to "hard" drugs. I guarantee you that if caffeine or tobacco were illegal, it won't be long before folks would be stupidly, rebelliously sampling more dangerous goodies from their drug dealer. Alcohol Prohibition turned lots of people into "criminals" overnight and provided the bankroll for the permanent establishment of the business of organized crime, the effects of which have continued to grow with copycat "Mafia" cartels all over the Americas and the world. Every time we lock up a drug dealer, there will always be at least one or more killings to take over his turf. Echoes of the Mafia turf wars. Every time someone is locked up for pot possession, we've sentenced someone to graduate crime school and will release an embittered, hardened criminal into society who see little choice than resort to real crime against life and property. Simple marihuana possession constitutes half or better of all drug arrests. Compute the costs for courts, police enforcement, incarceration, etc and you'll realize that it cost every American a brand new car every ten years. Folks, we're talking about something that grows like a weed from seed. This is America; the most agriculturally sophisticated and environmentally blessed country in the world, populated by a society of innovative/rebellious folks. The government has been trying to stamp out the moonshine in the Appalachian states since the birth of this nation - care to check how much progress they've made in over 200 years? And there's more than just the great outdoors that the government will never have enough helicopters to survey. There are already over a million commercial indoor "plant" terrariums in use (sold) in America and thousands being shipped every month. Best informed estimate is that over ninety percent of these units are harvesting pot - four crops per year! The government would have to raid every attic and basement from Alaska to Florida and then we could all kiss the price of a house goodbye along with that new car.

The laws against marihuana will be the first to fall, starting with the groundswell of individual State initiatives that has already begun over the issue of medical marihuana. Expect this to become a major political issue within the next seven years while the planet of rebellion and innovation, Uranus, transits the Sign Pisces. This isn't an individual political party issue and we will see enlightened support on both sides of the aisle.

Forecasts Past and Future

I'd like to suggest a review of the comments I made in the October issue regarding the confrontation with Iraq. It would appear that George Bush got just about everything he could reasonably expect politically by the end of the year both domestically and internationally. Which was pretty much what I indicated would happen. There will be more on the Iraq situation in the January issue. Stay tuned.

Before I go, however, I'd like to leave you with a quote from the preface of the magnificent novel "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, written (1847) during the time when Neptune last transited Aquarius as it is doing now. It was as much time for a social reform then as it is now.

"Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns."

Be good to yourselves,

Hannibal