Astrology 2007: The Best, Biggest, and Most Anticipated

A totally subjective and random look at the wonderful world of astrology in 2007

Biggest astrology trend (a repeat from last year): Astrology blogs. They’ve been growing exponentially. Check out Jeffrey Kishner’s Astrology Blogger Directory, a “comprehensive guide to every Western astrology blog on the web.” By the time you scroll to the bottom of the list, you’ll be in a new time zone, your head spinning in a blissful astro-blogosphere tag cloud. Then check out the blog podcasts and vidcasts. Top Ten Astrology Sources will also keep you happily busy for most of your waking hours.

Second biggest astrology trend: Interest in Mayan cosmology and 2012. Although the apocalypse is what’s simmering in a part of the collective consciousness right now, respected experts in Mayan cosmology are not forecasting any sort of 2012 pre-Columbian rapture. John Major Jenkins’ Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 (which doesn’t really predict an apocalypse and is probably the best of the 2012 books--a fascinating read) has steadily outsold most astrology books on the list of astrology bestsellers. Bruce Scofield’s How to Practice Mayan Astrology has been finding a much wider readership. And there’s been an endless parade of other 2012 books.

Planet of the Year (and probably next year, too): Saturn. When contacted, Saturn merely griped that he could not accept the Planet of the Year award because he was too busy “tightening my rings, sir.” Indeed, Saturn’s coming off the opposition to Neptune, went into Virgo, and recent discoveries indicate that Saturn’s rings are a lot older than previously believed—and thus, perhaps, in need of a little adjusting. Oh well, it’s been a SERIOUS year. Even the comedians have been hard-edged and Comedy Central’s Stewart and Colbert haven’t been doing new shows due to the writer’s strike (although they are scheduled to come back in early January). Pluto’s about to go into Saturn-ruled Capricorn and Saturn’s starting to face off against Uranus. No wonder Saturn’s tightening his rings. He needs to be ready. Damn ready.

Dwarf planet of the year: Ceres. Now that global warming has our full attention, the recently elevated planet Ceres—the goddess of agriculture and seasonal change—is getting a lot of overdue respect. And you gotta love the sub-plot involving a mythic underworld Amber Alert.

Astrology book of the year: Wish I had time to read more books, but there’s been precious little time this year. I’m still trying to catch up with books from several centuries ago. However, my favorite book this year (even though it was published last year) was Venus: Her Cycles, Symbols, and Myths, by Anne Massey. Venus seemed due for a major makeover and Anne Massey masterfully brings her into the 21st Century—yet Venus still maintains an ageless symmetry. A real eye-opener.

Cosmic event of the year: Pluto conjunct the Galactic Center certainly helped to explain a world in transition. For an excellent discussion of this alignment, see Lynn Hayes’ article on her AstroDynamics website.

Most anticipated astrology event that hasn’t happened yet: Tie between 2012—the Mayan calendar end date—and the U.S. election on November 4, 2008. At this point, it is not clear which will be more transformational. Technically, a national election is not an astrology event per se, but this one will coincide with the exact opposition of Saturn and Uranus. Runner-up: Pluto’s entry into Capricorn.

Astrology event most anticipated by me personally: the mid-2007 waning of the Saturn-Neptune opposition. It hit a few of my own planets and I’d just about had it up to here with that alignment, although Neptune kept fogging things up to the point where I could never quite figure out what “it” was.

Least noticed astrology event: The discoveries of other solar systems. The astrology reaction’s generally been like, “Yeah, if I was born on some planet orbiting 47 Ursa Majoris, I might care.” But according to Zane Stein and Debbi Kempton-Smith (authors respectively of A View from Chiron and the irreverent classic Secrets from a Stargazer’s Notebook), these exo-planets might be a lot more potent than we think.

Biggest astrology frustration: The lack of solid birth times for most of the presidential candidates. AKA Looking for Hillary…and Barack…and Mike…and John (at least the one from North Carolina)…and…I realize there are more important issues facing our world today, but hey, if they can answer questions from a snowman on YouTube, the least they can do is have some aide dig up a birth certificate and post it on the candidate’s MySpace page. Inquiring astrologers REALLY want to know.

Best planet, all things considered: Earth. The character of the Stage Manager in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town commented that of all the worlds in the known universe, “Only this one is straining away, straining away all the time to make something of itself.” Hopefully, we can make something better of our own small planet in 2008.

Pluto in Capricorn and the Asteroid that Might Hit Mars

There is a chance that a large asteroid could hit Mars on January 30, 2008. That is just four days after Pluto makes its entrance into Capricorn—and the precise day when Mars goes stationary direct while it is less than 3° from the U.S. Mars. According to the Associated Press:

A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1 in 75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on Jan. 30, scientists said Thursday.

"These odds are extremely unusual. We frequently work with really long odds when we track ... threatening asteroids," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The asteroid, known as 2007 WD5, was discovered in late November and is similar in size to an object that hit remote central Siberia in 1908, unleashing energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb and wiping out 60 million trees.

Whether or not the asteroid actually hits Mars, its status as front page news is a synchronous harbinger of Pluto's arrival in Capricorn.

Although Mars is presently in Gemini, Capricorn is the sign of Mars' exaltation (exaltation is one of the essential planetary “dignities"). Pluto brings things to the surface, and while Pluto travels through Capricorn, we are going to see a lot of Mars through this association—along with Saturnine efforts to control and temper Mars' fiery nature. Exaltation does not mean that Mars simply gets to run wild in Capricorn. It means rather that Mars’ tendency to rashness is stabilized and better controlled in Saturn-ruled Capricorn. This sounds positive—Mars is more restrained—but much depends on who or what is doing the restraining.

Mike Huckabee

The Iowa caucuses are only two weeks away, with the New Hampshire primary soon to follow—and then the big primary blow-out on February 5.

I predicted recently that Mike Huckabee would do well in the Feb. 5 super-primaries, based on the Feb. 6 eclipse hitting his Jupiter. That forecast was made before Mike Huckabee’s amazing surge. It is now looking more and more like he will do very well--and possibly win--in the early Iowa caucuses. He’s a Virgo Sun (like John McCain) and Scorpio Moon (like Mitt Romney). Here’s Noel Tyl’s uncannily accurate interpretation of the Virgo Sun-Scorpio Moon blend:

…mental energies and conventions take on emotional projection. The fastidious ego must be established as the authority, the controlling force. The “missionary spirit” can dominate the work style. The emotions can overexaggerate self-importance. (from Noel Tyl's Synthesis and Counseling in Astrology)

Pluto in Capricorn and Pushing Daisies

Popular TV shows that feature black humor and death: a "blooming" Pluto in Capricorn trend?

Pushing Daisies (a phrase meaning “dead”) is a new ABC TV series about a young man, Ned, whose touch has the power to briefly resurrect the dead. There are some complicating factors, such as the fact that there's a one minute time limit on each resurrection. If the person stays alive for more than a minute, one touch from Ned can kill that person. And after a minute, someone else has to die. Although its theme is death, Pushing Daisies has a light-hearted tone and has been on many critics’ top ten lists.

Poking fun at death is nothing new, but its mainstream appearance on a finely crafted network TV show just as Pluto is about to go into Capricorn seems significant.