Uranus Enters Aries

The Uranus transit to Aries is pretty big time. After a 7 year stint in Pisces, Uranus moves to Aries (the first sign of the zodiac), restarting it's cycle around the sun. This happens about every 83 years. Uranus is a planet notorious for bringing out the unexpected in any situation; it revels in suddenness and delights in last-minute plan changes, complete reversals, and shock effects. As a result, it's also good for jolting us out of any circumstances that may have us feeling stagnant, or even trapped. In this transit, Uranus' energies will likely become empowered, driven to action (sometimes as far as a complete ignorance of obstacles or consequences) by the Aries ram, which is considered the symbol of self. The intensity of impetuous Aries, a masculine cardinal fire sign (pretty much the boldest of the bold), combined with the uncertainties of Uranus make for a very exciting time.
Uranus last transited into Aries on March 31, 1927; one week later, the Bell Telephone Company transmitted its first television image from New York to DC. I'm expecting some major technological advances over the next few years, as Uranus tends to carry with it some serious genius potential. However, these advances will carry consequences, which is where Aries will come into play; as we boldly ram our way into worlds of new technologies, we'll likely (in true Aries spirit) overlook the potential externalities of our developments. Will these new technologies destroy our labor markets? Will they widen the gap between the rich and the poor? Will they even further destroy our Mother Earth than we already have?
Archie Dunlop, a professional astrologer, has his own concerns:
"My most disturbing suggestion about Uranus moving into Aries relates to cell phones. The planet Uranus is about technology, and is also about radiation - after all, in symbolic terms Uranus has a link with uranium. The sign Aries, in traditional astrology, relates to the head. Under these circumstances, Uranus' stay in Aries could see the first hard evidence that use of cell phones can lead to brain tumours.
Interestingly, a WHO study has just been released, looking at the correlation between cell phone use and cancer. The results have been labelled 'inconclusive', and that's probably not surprising. Cancers can take decades to develop, yet use of cell phones only really took off in the late 1990s. Still, the study did suggest that very heavy use of cell phones could increase the chances of getting certain types of brain tumour.
The WHO study has received a lot of press coverage, and it came out as Uranus was moving through the last degree of Pisces, in preparation for its switch into Aries. Few people seem worried by its findings. However in a couple of years time, when Uranus is firmly in Aries, another study could come out, that's a complete bombshell.
In the mean time, play it safe. Your cell phone is a useful device, that can save your life in an emergency. However until Uranus leaves Aries, in 2019, you shouldn't make assumptions about its safety."
Interesting.

Pseudo-Black Thursday

Around 2:30pm yesterday, May 6, 2010, Wall Street experienced a scare reminiscent of the stock market crash of 2008. Amidst a day of downwardly sliding stocks, the Dow suddenly plummeted an alarming 998 points in under half an hour. Our ongoing fears that the debt crises (one of which is coming to heated point in Greece, but we'll talk about that later) in Europe would spill over into American investments had been realized. Or had they?
Certain sources have received information that a trading glitch may have triggered the initial decline (marked by a 40% plunge in Procter & Gamble, a commodities mega-corporation considered one of the most solid investments on Wall Street) which sent stockholders into a selling frenzy, abandoning their more volatile assets for safer holdings such as mutual funds.

This activity is a textbook play for Mercury's retrograde cycle; throwing a wrench into the machine that is the American economy matches the classic M.O. of our favorite trickster, Hermes. Amongst three quarters of encouraging economic growth comes a mini-crisis that almost sparks a nationwide panic founded upon a simple miscommunication or computing error.
Keep in mind that electronic forms of communication are highly subject to the woes of Mercury's anti-communicative influence. Just because your messages are contained within your trusty computer-box does not make them invulnerable; in fact, electronic messages often work on a delay, and are much less reliable than face to face communication. Expect Mercury to take every advantage it can in disrupting these forms of communication.

Meanwhile, Greek's economy spirals as it bears the burden of a debt crisis combined with a regional economic downturn. The European Union as well as the IMF have proposed "bailout" measures for the country, but are debating it amongst their respective governing bodies. The people of Greece can only pray that the Moon's travel through Pisces will leave an air of compassion and sensitivity for the less fortunate, inspiring the EU or IMF to come to their aid.
These issues plaguing the Earth's globalized political economy draw strength from an opposition in our sky; Jupiter, ruler of the Gods and symbol of power and growth, opposes Saturn, which represents conventions and boundaries. When power (assuming it intends to grow, as capitalist economies do) clashes with systems and structure, some degree of crisis is inevitable. Political divisions become most apparent, the economy's cash flow diminishes, and a confidence in the system is lost. However, oppositions are not necessarily deconstructive; these two planets may likely come to an understanding to yield change. Therefore, this will be a time for crucial decisive action by Greek leaders. But enough about them... how does it affect us?
As the value of the euro declines against the dollar, America seems to be riding the waves of Jupiter through our Moon, which are both currently moving through Pisces. Jupiter, a ruling planet of the Pisces sign, can foster the rapid growth of the economy as well as bring out a large economy's excessive wastefulness, often manifested as an increasing division between the rich and the poor. As our country still boasts a 9.9% unemployment rate (which beats the hell out of Greece's 20%), hopefully the Moon's transit through Pisces will inspire in us a sympathy for the human condition, and an awareness of the economic and social oppression that many people refer to as "misfortune". Poverty and unemployment are not necessarily synonymous with misfortune, but rather the byproduct of a wasteful economic structure. As Greece's economy flounders and forces economic reform, perhaps we best heed their example and evaluate our own situation to ensure that the same "misfortunes" do not befall us. Pluto (which ironically also tends to incite power struggles) currently rests in Capricorn, telling us to accept the changes, losses, and economic woes, let go of them, and to start planning responsibly for the future.