The Monetary Revolution of 2014 (2013?)

For as far back as I can remember, I had only ever heard about one economic great depression in this country -- that, of course, being the Great Depression which spanned from October of 1929 until December of 1941. Tonight I became aware that the U.S. has already experienced four great depressions in its history. From astrologer Robert Gover:

Saturn in Capricorn and Great Depressions

Every time the U.S. suffered through a great depression, Saturn was found in mid-Capricorn, square (90 degrees from) one of the "heavy" planets in mid-Aries. These heavies have been Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Mars. When Saturn has arrived in mid-Capricorn without Pluto, Neptune, Uranus or Mars being in mid-Aries at the same time, no great depression has occurred.

There have been four great depressions in U.S. history: the 1780s, 1840s, 1870s and 1930s. These are not to be confused with periods of less hardship over shorter time spans, often called depressions or recessions.

Anyone with a history book and a computer can inspect this pattern by acquiring astrological software and erecting two charts. One chart is for July 4, 1776,the United States, and the other for a date when a past great depression was at or near its most severe point. The two charts are then superimposed, the depression chart over the United States chart, creating a biwheel or synastry chart.

The Saturn Cycle

Until the 1990s, America experienced great depressions in roughly 30 and/or 60-year cycles. It takes Saturn 28 to 30 years to circle the zodiac. Whenever Saturn arrives in mid-Capricorn without squaring Pluto, Neptune, Uranus or Mars in mid-Aries (for instance, the 1910s and 1960s), the country has experienced economic or social problems, but not great depressions.

The United States was born on July 4, 1776, with the Sun at 13 degrees Cancer square Saturn at 14 Libra. Cancer is opposite Capricorn and Libra is opposite Aries, so by superimposing a chart for each great depression over the U.S. birth chart, a grand cross pattern becomes evident.

One way to visualize this is to imagine the U.S. birth chart as a clock face, and the twelve planets as the hands of a solar system clock. The clock face remains stationary while the twelve planetary "hands" endlessly circle the clock's outer rim, the zodiac. Great depression time has arrived when the grand cross pattern is formed by Saturn moving opposite the U.S. Sun, and another heavy planet moving through Aries opposite the U.S. Saturn in Libra.

Visualize mid-Capricorn as being at the 12:00 position, and mid-Cancer (the U.S. Sun) being at 6:00. Mid-Aries is at 9:00 and mid-Libra (the U.S. Saturn) at 3:00. All four great depressions in U.S. history have occurred when Saturn is at 12:00 and Uranus, Neptune, Pluto or Mars is at 9:00.

The Depression of 1783

The first great depression in the new nation's history became an undeniable fact around December of 1783, when this grand cross pattern was formed by Saturn at 12 degrees Capricorn square Mars at 13 Aries, with both simultaneously opposite and/or square the U.S. Sun and natal Saturn. Also involved in this grand cross were Uranus conjunct the U.S. Sun in Cancer, and Neptune conjunct the U.S. Saturn in Libra.

With Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Mars all involved in the 1783 grand cross, this first great depression is viewed by economic historians as being equally severe as the one that hit in the 1930s.

The Depression of the 1840s

The second great depression held the nation in its grip about 60 years later (during the 1840s) when Saturn in mid-Capricorn squared Pluto in mid-Aries to form the grand cross pattern with the U.S. Sun and Saturn. Mars added to the grim times by being at 14 degrees of Libra conjunct the U.S. Saturn.

Other Historic Depressions

It's interesting to note that while Saturn has anchored all four great depressions from mid-Capricorn, the planets occupying mid-Aries have been Mars (the 1780s), Pluto (the 1840s), Neptune (the 1870s) and Uranus (the 1930s). Uranus and Neptune were also involved during the 1780s, "fortifying" the grand cross.

As we shall see when we look at the 1870s and then the twentieth century, the grand cross pattern anchored by Saturn consistently correlates with great depressions. Yet when Saturn opposes the U.S. Sun without forming a grand cross with Uranus, Neptune, Pluto or Mars, no great depression happens.

In part two, we'll see that this grand cross pattern repeats with the great depressions of the 1870s and 1930s, but when there is no grand cross (the 1990s) no great depression occurs.

We'll also look at an ominous pattern due to become exact in 2014, a grand cross formed by Pluto in mid-Capricorn square Uranus in mid-Aries, and we'll look back in history for indications of what this one will bring.

The Depression of the 1870s

The United States suffered its third great depression during the 1870s. This time Saturn's trip through Capricorn formed a square with Neptune in Aries to create the grand cross with The U.S. Sun and Saturn, with Mars in Libra adding power to this most malevolent aspect.

The Depression of the 1930s

Sixty years later, the U.S.A. went through what is arguably the worst great depression of its history. I say "arguably" because existing historic data indicates that the great depression of the 1780s was as bad, or worse.

A biwheel chart for January 1, 1931, near the depths of this great depression, shows transiting Saturn at 13 degrees Capricorn square Uranus in Aries to form the grand cross with the U.S. Sun and Saturn. Ominously, Pluto was nearly conjunct the U.S. Sun in Cancer at this time.

What About the 1960s?

When Saturn arrived in mid-Capricorn opposite the U.S. Sun in the early 1960s, there was no heavy planet squaring Saturn from mid-Aries, and there was no great depression. Instead, the developments of the 60s were unprecedented (Uranus) and transforming (Pluto).

The Boom of the 1990s

Economists who track the 30- and/or 60-year rhythm of great depressions were sure the 1990s would send the U.S.A. into another. Dr. Ravi Batra's book, The Great Depression of 1990, was a bestseller in the late 1980s. But this time, when Saturn moved opposite The U.S. Sun, it was accompanied through Capricorn by Uranus and Neptune, with all three sextile (60 degrees from) Pluto in Scorpio. There was no grand cross, and no great depression.

Instead, during the 1990s we have had a record run-up of stock prices (speculative bubble), coupled with a widening gap between rich and poor, the two conditions that have always been extant when previous great depressions arrived.

Will the Bubble and Gap Bring Us Another Depression?

As we move into the new millennium, Saturn isn't due to arrive opposite the U.S. Sun until January 2019. At that time, it won't square another "heavy" in Aries. Thus, based on past astro-economic correlations, we can expect to suffer no great depression during the 2020s.

However, we are not likely to make it to 2020 without suffering something like a combination of the 1930s and 1960s. This is because Pluto, when it arrives opposite the U.S. Sun, will be square Uranus in mid-Aries to form a grand cross with the U.S. Sun and Saturn.

A Pluto-Anchored Grand Cross

What can we expect from a grand cross anchored by Pluto instead of Saturn? Past history of Pluto-Uranus combinations are instructive.

Pluto was conjunct the U.S. Sun in Cancer and square transiting Uranus in Aries during much of the great depression of the 1930s. Pluto and Uranus were conjunct in Virgo, with both conjunct the U.S. Neptune (which squares its natal Mars in Gemini) for that dramatic decade of upheaval now known as the 60s.

Pluto and Uranus in the 1750s

The last time Pluto was in Sagittarius was the 1750s. At the beginning of the French and Indian War, Pluto was at 12 degrees Sagittarius (about where it is right now) and Uranus was square Pluto at 11 degrees Pisces. This war was a major turning point, setting off the holocaust that decimated Native Americans and coincided with the social ferment that led to the American Revolution.

For a colony to rebel against its mother country was unprecedented (Uranus) and spelled the death of old kingdoms and the birth of new democracies (Pluto). The American Revolution virtually turned our assumptions about governance upside down.

Pluto and Uranus in the 1960s

The Pluto-Uranus conjunction of the 60s changed American cultural assumptions about race, gender, economic justice and the right of government to induct people into the military.

It's therefore a good bet that when Pluto and Uranus create a grand cross with the U.S. Sun-square-Saturn in 2014, we can look for another time of social upheaval and changing cultural assumptions. Whatever revolutionary angst has built up the most force will manifest (Pluto) in ways that cannot be predicted (Uranus).

Tied to the Past

Although the Pluto-Uranus combinations of the 1700s and 1960s moved us toward democracy, something like an umbilical cord continued to tie us to medieval autocracy. What had developed by the 1990s was governance by plutocracy masked as democracy. The rich still controlled democratically elected lawmakers.

The Pluto-anchored grand cross of 2014 appears destined to sever the umbilical cord to medieval autocracy and establish a purer form of democracy. How this will come about, however, is unpredictable (Uranus).

Saturn and Great Depressions Part 1
Saturn and Great Depressions Part 2

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