The Capricorn solar ingress 2023

The Sun enters Capricorn on the 22^nd, marking the Capricorn solstice. Given what has happened in the last quarter in Israel we hope for a ceasefire and an end to the carnage in Gaza. That conflict will dominate in this post on the ingress. Does the ingress figure hold the signs for such hopes? For more, read on…

The Capricorn solar ingress takes place on 22 Dec 2023 at 03:27 UT. The ingress chart is below (bigger):

Some review of the last quarter is in order before diving into this chart, though, which will give us the context for this quarter going forward. We start with the following, from the post on the Libra ingress:

“…we note Neptune forms midpoints on the day [of the Libra ingress] with Uranus/Pluto and with Mars/Saturn, marking this quarter as being particularly ‘memorable’. The Uranus/Pluto influence gives more of the mystical side to the quarter, whereas the Mars/Saturn brings us back to sobering reality…”

Well, it certainly was a ‘memorable’ quarter. We note from the planetary indicators for the year that Mars made the exact square to Pluto the day after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, denoting a violent event along with a ‘grievous and grave loss’, from the interpretation of the Mars/Saturn midpoint with Neptune. From October 7^th on the Libra quarter became more and more ‘interesting’, in the sense of the fabled Chinese curse (“May you have a long and interesting life”). There are three posts on this site describing what happened on October 7^th and what it might mean in the years ahead (HERE, HERE and HERE)

Then we continue with the forecast from the last quarter:

“Some tough decisions will have to be made this quarter, shown by the quincunx between the Sun and Saturn. Added to that is the Sun=Mer/Mars midpoint, denoting the probability of quarreling and finger-pointing.”

So let’s see – find a diplomatic solution to the long-standing problem between the Zionists and the Palestinians, or double down militarily? We all know what happened. Now other tough decisions are being made as we move into the Capricorn quarter, as in enforcing a ceasefire in between Israel and The Resistance, or posture and throw bluster, hoping the warring parties get the message and stand down. We know how that one is going as well. Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis are resolute and are not bluffing. Israel is much the same, but soon enough they will have to choose, especially if the US refuses to enter the fray militarily.

As for quarrelling and finger-pointing we can see that across the board on all sides in the West and Israel, whereas the rest of the world has decided and is moving on from the old imperial model. Especially pressing on Israel is their economic situation, with a clear 80% of their port traffic from the Suez having suddenly disappeared due to the Houthis shutting down their shipping from the Red Sea. Europeans have made some hard decisions, too, but have chosen the path of the US and Israel, noting it is the European elites who decided, whereas the people are strongly in support of the Palestinians and want to see a ceasefire.

Further afield, fingers are being pointed in NATO and Kiev as to why the Ukrainians failed to win the war. Fingers were pointed at Netanyahu in Israel for allowing Al-Aqsa Flood to happen and he in turn blames everyone else for the failures of Israeli intelligence and the IOF. Continuing with the last quarter:

The US and its EU minions will somehow have to cope with their loss in Ukraine, which will be all-too-evident this quarter. This is not some happy-go-lucky indicator. And Saturn is retrograde, showing matters are still in the works, probably to come into evidence when Saturn turns direct on the 5th of November, when the quincunx will be within 30’ of arc to the exact ingress degree. That is also a year away from the US presidential election and there are increasing calls from the Democrats to ditch Biden…”

Yes, the copium in Europe is growing as the European elites finally get it that Ukraine is a lost cause. What do they do, then? – they talk about bringing Ukraine into the EU, $50 billion in aid and possibly into NATO. Hungary has wisely said “Nem!” and scuttled the talks for now. On the other hand NATO says they need more cowbell, in that the Russians will be coming for their scalps once they are finished with Ukraine. Nothing like scaring the populace to ‘justify’ military expenditure and bad policy. So Biden and the media tell us. NATO says, “More!”, as in NATO states and spending. The Norwegian Wood says Ukraine is closer to joining NATO now than ever. Hope springs eternal in Wonderland.

But the economic situation in Europe is about to go belly-up in no time if a ceasefire is not called in the next week or so in Gaza. The Houthis have shut down shipping through the Suez, not by their decision, but because shipping companies refuse to insure ships passing through a possible war zone. The main shipping companies of Europe and BP refuse to insure the ships traversing the canal, forgetting the fact the Houthis are only targeting Israeli ships or ships headed to Israel. Russian ships pass through, no problems. They still sell their oil to Europe. Sanctions? What sanctions? The Turks are happy to process it for them and sell it on.

The ‘hard decisions’ are already showing. When BP stopped shipping through the Suez, Dishy Rishy and Keir ‘Working Class’ Starmer dutifully did their duty and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, whereas before the UK ‘abstained’ at the UN vote on the ceasefire. We will see more of that sort of about-face in Europe (or 360° as ‘Ms. Geometry’ Baerbock calls it) the longer the genocide in Gaza and the West Bank continues. Then there was this, from the last quarter:

“Tensions within governments and other disasters will increase during this quarter. At some point will come a moment of reckoning this quarter, perhaps early next month, when Mars transits square to Pluto, activating the Plu=Sun/Ura midpoint: “A radical reformer, the desire to rearrange things. – Tragic experiences, great physical suffering, sudden physical restrictions. (Imprisonment).” Then in early December Mars again aspects Pluto by semi-square, bringing with it more fun and games.”

That paragraph pretty well summarizes the Libra quarter, and how! We especially note the bolded text and the human tragedy that is Gaza. Then we end with the following:

“And finally, we have the Plu=Sat/Nep midpoint starting from the end of September to the end of the year: “Heavy emotional depression, difficult growth or development of one’s faculties. – A serious illness.” Will the powers-that-be try to foist another pandemic upon us? We’ll see. But that midpoint also highlights something else: The increasingly poor state of affairs in Ukraine, as well as the geo-economic outlook for the West.”

That Saturn/Neptune midpoint will be with us until the end of January. With all the context just given, what does this quarter hold, then, looking at the chart for the Capricorn ingress? To start, Mars goes out-of-bounds on the ingress. It is also in parallel with the Sun and Pluto by declination, a very explosive combination. In addition it forms a midpoint with Uranus and Pluto in the last days of this year, persisting off and on until the middle of January. Mars will remain out-of-bounds for a month, increasing tensions, militarism and rash judgements. It is somewhat similar to this midpoint:

Sun=Mars/Pluto: “A hard-working person, the ability to work till collapse or complete breakdown. Injury, accident, violent measures, an upset or shock caused through the intervention of Higher Power.”

Regarding the midpoint just mentioned, we have the following:

Mars=Ura/Plu: “Fanaticism, an act of violence, the mania of destruction, a state of precipitation. – “The stage of bending or breaking“. – Injury, accident.”

With the preceding points about Mars there is a developing situation with the IOF, Biden and Netanyahu, wherein Bibi is becoming adamant along with the IOF about attacking Hezbollah into Lebanon. The US has pled with Israel for restraint while there are ongoing negotiations with Hezbollah to withdraw.

If there is to be an attack on Hezbollah it will be one of Israel’s biggest mistakes to date. Alastair Crooke just outlined the scenario in an interview. The Israelis are not behaving as rational actors. The public sentiment now is adamant that Hamas and Gaza must be destroyed and Hezbollah pushed back to north of the Litani. Indications are the next couple of weeks could be very precipitous in West Asia.

From our review of the last quarter and for example, the defense minister of Israel, Galant, has said he wants to go after Hezbollah in January to push them back to the north across the Litani River. The IOF has yet to defeat Hamas in Gaza, and they are still a long way from doing so. How well do they actually think they would do against Hezbollah? There is another reason to go against Hezbollah, and it is due to the weakness of the IOF: To draw the United Staes into an active military role in the war.

We know the saying, “Pride cometh before the fall”. Hezbollah has already defeated the Israelis before and they are much stronger now. Irrational actors will make poor decisions during that month of Mars OOB, irrational actors like the IOF, acting out of a sense of revenge and hatred.

Then, there is the little matter of the Red Sea, where the Houthis have effectively shut down Israeli shipping through the Suez. Container traffic to Israel is down 85%. And now the Pentagon has moved the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group from the Persian Gulf into the Gulf of Aden, threatening (so they think) the Yemenis (Houthis). The Houthis have likewise threatened to strike the oil fields in Saudi Arabia and the UAE if they join in such strikes against Yemen. West Asia would burn.

Meanwhile the Houthis have forced the UAE to send freight to Israel overland via Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Who are the rational actors here? Hezbollah, on the other hand, is showing restraint in the face of what is happening, while slowly dialling up the pressure on the IOF. It goes along with an old military axiom: Never interrupt your enemy when they are busy making mistakes.

However, continuing with the chart, a cursory look at the ingress figure without taking declination and midpoints into account, looks to be a more agreeable and hopeful figure than the Libra ingress figure. The Sun is trine Jupiter and the Moon, in a partile approaching trine to the Moon and sextile to Saturn. It is difficult to get much luckier (and wealth-building) aspects than that in a chart. And we will see some of that – for rational actors – people and nations who can overlook their emotions and work strategically for long-term solutions. Capricorn Sun is famous for such successful enterprise, across the fields of human endeavour.

We might ask, then, which is more important – aspects or midpoints in terms of energetics? The fact is they dovetail. And midpoints are magnified when the base planets are in aspect. Now, with the aspects we see a strategic thinker and planner can do very well with this figure and throughout this quarter, using crises to good effect and for resolution of conflicts. The conflicts are shown in the midpoints for this quarter, while the strategic planning is shown in the aspects to the Sun. The latter are the most important considerations in a solar ingress.

Looking further into the aspects we see Mars in an approaching square to Neptune, magnifying rhetoric and the play for hearts and minds. We are likely to see more censorship in the West as the situation in the Levant comes to a head, which it will this quarter, while the spin on the loss of Ukraine will be at a high point as well. Then there are the economic matters.

One of the big drivers for Europeans will be economic factors, which are causing a shift to the right in politics across Europe and a backlash against all sorts of liberalism – neoliberalism, woke-ism, LGBTQ+ and so on. We see the same backlash across the West, while the rest of the world already pretty much rejects the extremes of liberalism and are seeking avenues outside the old post-WWII order. With the Suez shut down temporarily economic pressures will increase for Europe, albeit with a lag, as prices rise due to demand and delays in shipping and container ships are now being rerouted around the horn of Africa, as they were before the Suez Canal opened.

In closing with this brief overview of the quarter now commenced, we are looking at a point of precipitation, difficult for the Levant, but productive of a much more fruitful future, with the caveat that future is won by the rational actors. Those actors lie outside the Western orbit. The days when the Western naval and land powers ensured the flow of goods through the Asian transit choke points such as the Suez, Malacca Straits and Strait of Hormuz are over. From here we commence the true Asian century in terms of economic growth and prosperity. It is happening before our eyes.

There will be a ceasefire in Gaza. Economics, political pressures and public outcries will force it. It will come in this quarter unless the more powerful states in the region drop their vigilance. The latter is unlikely. In a big way, this is the moment for which the Resistance has been waiting and building. They have the wherewithal to bring this war to a close, at least in its active phase. The patient approach is the best way because it avoids catastrophic actions.

Strange or unexpected partnerships will be in evidence and manifest as the quarter unfolds, shown by the opposition between Venus and Uranus. There is much going on behind the scenes about which we know little to nothing.

Great evils are being challenged and will in all probability be defeated – the evils of apartheid and extremist ideologies. The future belongs to the patient, to the long-term planners, to the level-headed with common sense, which Capricorn in its positive expression exhibits. In the midst of the storm blowing around us, stand calm in the center and meditate for freedom and prosperity for all peoples.

Featured pic from DeviantArt