Having looked at the general indicators in the Biden administration chart from Part I, we move on now to the expected outcomes, foreign and domestic. The Biden team’s efforts for the domestic front are ambitious and look positive. But foreign affairs look to be a different matter. Comment in independent media points to the Biden cabinet in relation to foreign affairs to be populated by neocons and regime change adherents. Given that the Trump administration and Obama before him were unable to achieve significant foreign affairs victories, there is little to suggest this administration will have much effect, either, in that realm. We start here with foreign policy and then end our review on a more positive note.
The astrology for the Biden administration, from Part I, suggests that foreign policy will rely heavily on sanctions (Saturn) via the banking system, ruled in this case by Jupiter (8th house, Sagittarius). You won’t hear about that sort of thing in the mainstream, except as it is aimed at ‘protecting American interests’ and ‘countering threats’. Biden’s foreign policy needs very careful watching, as it has every indication of being even more interventionist than previous administrations, though in a more subtle fashion. Such foreign policy will be used to justify big spending on the military.
The 12th house (hidden enemies of the state, secret services, conditions against the public welfare, etc.) has a stellium with powerful influences – the Moon, Mars, Uranus and Eris – a volatile and potentially explosive combination of factors.
Biden’s picks for Defense Secretary and Secretary of State, in comments, have essentially stated the policies undertaken by the Trump administration relative to foreign policy will stay intact, the odd exception being the attempt to return to the JCPOA. In reality, those policies have been establishment policies for years, especially since the turn of this century, only with different faces to them with each succeeding administration.
Biden’s record on foreign policy has been interventionist, and it is shown in his cabinet nominees relating to foreign policy. In one positive sign, though, Biden has offered to extend the New START treaty for another five years, reflecting the Asc=Sun/Mer midpoint. That will be a big relief to many, who were alarmed at the escalation in nuclear weapons seen during the Trump administration.
However, from the previous link, Biden has, “…”tasked” the US intelligence community with conducting a full assessment of Russian interference in the 2020 election, the Solar Winds cyber breach, Russia’s use of chemical weapons against Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and the alleged bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan…Biden was committed to holding Russia ‘to account for its reckless and adversarial actions.’” Any ‘proof’ of said items of investigation will be flimsy at best and would be used to target specific Russian initiatives via sanctions, such as the Nord Stream II pipeline, for instance, referring back to previous statements regarding banking and sanctions. We can probably fully expect an intelligence report ‘confirming’ one of the aforementioned items.
This administration’s approach to foreign interventions will be less overt and will no doubt continue with Trump’s foreign policies on the whole, and, “…is more likely to look like this: More starvation sanctions. More proxy conflicts. More cold war. More coups. More special ops. More drone strikes. More slow motion strangulation, less ham-fisted overt warfare.”
This administration will likely try to put the onus on Iran to return to conditions of the JCPOA unilaterally before any sanctions are lifted, for instance, before the US returns to the agreement. Such bargaining positions are usually the case in US diplomacy. But Iran’s intentions have already been made clear enough. Unless the US returns unilaterally (because the US pulled out in the first place), the JCPOA will likely meet its end. Both sides need to de-escalate. Negotiations in the meantime will be fraught, as there is no trust between the US and Iran, as indicated by the Neptune/Node t-square in the chart. West Asia has become a very dangerous place and will require careful handling.
The banking sector is a worry with regard to foreign policy with this administration, with the south node in the 8th house (foreign banking, sanctions, taxes, losses), and the midpoints to Saturn are not uplifting. The south node in the 8th indicates that the same-old-same-old will be the name of the game when it comes to sanctions and the like.
We will see the action of Eris in the 12th house largely through the media of all sorts, with the intelligence community heavily involved. If Biden is able to start pushing through his plans, for instance, especially the BBB plan, then we will start to hear howls of “Communism!”, “Socialism!”, smears on Biden’s character, dire predictions for the economy, and attempts in general to scare the public away from any kind of progressive policy. Don’t believe any of it. If so, it will mean Biden’s policies are starting to work. At the same time, the propaganda machine – Wizner’s Mighty Wurlitzer – will be cranking out its steady and probably increasing stream of propaganda targeting foreign states who do not wish to play by the US rules-based order. From here, we move on to more positive indicators.
Coming back to the Meridian axis, if Biden does as he says he wants to do on the domestic front then much of his administration’s time will be spent on domestic matters. That will especially be the case in the first year. Unless they get the domestic front sorted, and quickly, the nation’s economic situation will lead the nation down a slippery slope. There is reason for optimism on that front, as mentioned before.
The nation’s finances, represented by the 2nd house, are ruled by Mercury in this case. The Sabian symbol for the degree of that house cusp is of interest, as well as the north node being in that house, trine to Mercury: “An airplane performing a nose dive.” On the surface, the symbol may sound dire. But in his interpretation of that symbol, Dane Rudhyar describes it as, “A superior ability to challenge nature and to play with danger.” A nose dive is an acrobatic feat, controlled by the pilot, so s/he hopes. This administration will either lead us out of the crisis or result in a huge crash. And this brings us to probably the most important and indicative statement in Biden’s inaugural address:
“Now we must step up. All of us. It is a time for boldness, for there is so much to do.”
Boldness, indeed. With this statement we see Biden speaking through his combined Sun/Jupiter trine and his Sagittarian Ascendant, ruled by Jupiter. Janet Yellen, now confirmed as Treasury Secretary, has echoed the sentiment. Jupiter is big, giving and bold. On the US Ceres by direction, Jupiter is activating also the US Uranus by square. It is a combination that calls out for big changes and bold enterprises. Biden also has a Ceres direction in his chart, to his Saturn and semisquare his Jupiter. He feels he is at a crossroad as well as the nation. This harks back to the Jupiter=Mars/Uranus midpoint in the admin chart – bold plans and immediate grasp of the situation. There is historical precedent with that direction of Jupiter to the US Ceres, noting that Ceres also represents ‘bread’, as in feeding the populace.
The oligarchs in the US find themselves in a position similar to what they faced at the onset of the Great Depression, with rising public awareness of inequity and why, increasing social turmoil and demands from the public that government do the job the people desire. Pluto at the MC is a double-edged sword: It points to both the growth and development of strength, or to the abuse of power and antisocial conduct. With Eris squaring the Pluto/MC conjunction, we will see who is deemed ‘the fairest’ – the people or the oligarchs.
The historical precedent for the present is shown in the direction of Jupiter opposite the US Uranus and square the US Ceres, in 1932, at the worst part of the Great Depression, with soaring unemployment and huge losses of savings by the public. There are similarities and differences between the Great Depression and the COVID crises. But the point here is the scale of what needs to be done, which is huge, and the role of the oligarchy in both cases.
As a result of the Great Depression, Roosevelt won power in the 1932 election, in a landslide. His response to the crisis was bold, swift and supported the public, largely by taxing wealth, taking control of the money supply, with massive infrastructure projects which created millions of jobs, stimulating public spending and so forth. We hear similar themes to Roosevelt in Biden’s 14 January speech to the nation. Roosevelt’s policies were vehemently opposed by the financial elites of the day.
Just over ninety years previous to 1932, there was another astrological and historical precedent to the present direction of Jupiter in the US chart, in 1841/1842 – the riot at the White House of 1841. Jupiter was directed opposite the US Ceres and square the US Uranus at the time. This was one of the most violent riots ever to take place at the White House, and it was centered on Tyler’s veto of a banking bill. That, and opposition to other Whig initiatives, eventual got him thrown out of the Party. The banking bill would have advanced, “…the power of the federal government at the expense of the states, bestow[ed] benefits on a financial elite, and undermine[d] the cause of sound money. Tyler wisely wanted nothing to do with it.” Perhaps that rings a bit familiar to today’s events.
In each of the preceding cases of the Jupiter direction, the US was in considerable financial straits. There were moves by the status quo at each instant to further their grip on power, with parallel moves to counter that coalescing of power in the hands of a few people of great wealth. Today, we are presented with the same situation. Keeping in mind that directions by solar arc activate the same points throughout a chart roughly every 90 years, the differences between each period will be shown in the transits. We don’t have the space to address that here, save for two important transits in the present period, which in fact were conjunctions: the Saturn/Pluto conjunction across from the US Mercury (the latter ruling the 7th and 9th houses) from the 2nd house (banking and economy) and the Jupiter/Saturn Great Conjunction trine the US Midheaven, also from the 2nd house.
Both of the just-mentioned conjunctions have signalled an eventual reorganization of the US economic system, the eventual end of the hegemony of the US dollar and the gradual scaling back of US adventurism abroad as a result of the first two items. By ‘eventual’, we are talking a period of only a few short years. There will be another crisis in a few years that should rapidly precipitate those events just cited. That crisis, too, will have historical precedents. We will leave those for another post.
On a final thought regarding the administration chart, we have the Sabian symbol for the degree of the MC: “A woman entering a convent.” That symbol is suggestive of a couple of ideas – a retreat into intensive spiritual discipline and withdrawal from the concerns of a worldly life. It is interesting and perhaps revealing the oath of office was taken before the appointed hour, giving this degree for the MC. The world is a different place in certain key areas than it was even four years ago when Trump took office. This administration faces tests in existential areas – financial, economic, defense, alliances, social divisions, tech, health and more. Is Biden the man for the job? Many people think not. Many more people are hopeful he is. Only time and actions will tell.
The prevailing sentiments of any administration can be tracked by watching the progressed Moon of the administration chart. That was certainly the case for the Trump administration. At the end of his term, the progressed Moon was square his admin Mars and had been conjunct his admin Saturn in the month preceding. The writing was on the wall. A fall was in the making for November 3, with conflict to follow. Progressed Saturn was square his admin Mars throughout his term. We will go through such a train of progressions through his administration in a future post. It makes for a good study in the astrology of governments.
As for the progressed Moon in the Biden administration, the progressed Moon squares the admin Sun in a couple of weeks, lasting through March, showing tensions with Congress, which are to be expected, the strain of leadership and challenges developing to the same (Sun equated with leaders) and the reaction to his first State of the Union Speech, which happens in that time frame. Then, beginning ca. mid-May we see a real test of leadership developing, lasting throughout June. At that point we will see the mettle of this administration and the relative strength or not of a recalcitrant opposition in Congress.
Personally, I along with many others hope Joe Biden can pull off what he outlined in the list of bullet points, preceding. It would give the nation confidence and set us on a better footing. Opposition will be fierce from some quarters, but he has the experience within the system to know how to get things done. His opportunity is clear and present. If he is a true leader, one who can unite the various factions pro and con to his call, then the nation will advance. May his words of unity at his inaugural address be of substance, instead of hollow pabulum for a suffering nation. We will see soon enough. The astrology is there to make a real shift toward the public good. Americans, seize the day!
Featured pic extracted from wallpaperbetter.com Artist is Wuhe Qilin.