This week starts right out with the New Moon in Virgo, establishing a new cycle of diligence and discernment.

It couldn’t come at a better time. The brazenness of the propaganda coming out of Washington and its European allies these days is truly astounding, although not any more shocking than the depths to which mainstream journalism has sunk. Finding an objective source of news is nearly impossible, and thoughtful readers are hungry for factual, unbiased reporting. It’s not likely that the major media suddenly

will become responsible, but it does appear that some important facts will rise to the surface this week that could be game changers.

The New Moon falls on Monday morning in the United States (see the handy lunar phase widget to the right). A few hours after the New Moon, Mars conjoins Saturn in Scorpio. I’ve been writing about this for several weeks. It’s scary, no doubt. Astrologers throughout the ages have considered Mars and Saturn as the “malefics” – troublemakers. Mars is the planet of war, and Saturn represents restriction and sorrow. Scorpio, meanwhile, is associated with violence, ruthlessness, death, and shadowy figures.

Adding to the fright factor, Mars conjoins Saturn just as both planets form a grating inconjunct with unpredictable Uranus in Mars-ruled Aries, while Venus in overbearing Leo forms a conflicting square to Mars and Saturn this week. Toward the weekend, the Sun opposes Neptune, the planet of deception and confusion.

Sounds dreadful. But I don’t think we need to look to the future for events to unfold according to these planetary alignments, because they’re already in play. We’ve seen several examples in the past week. That’s not to say there won’t be more. However, I just want to remind you that aspects such as a Mars-Saturn conjunction can be felt more than a week on either side of the exact date. The Saturn-Uranus inconjunct stayed at the exact degree for six weeks. As we’ve seen, many ongoing global conflicts degenerated during that timeframe.

More importantly, there are aspects this week that provide “outlets” for these aggressive energies and that favor rational thought, if not new information that cuts through the propaganda and spin. In a way, it’s a good thing that the Mars-Saturn conjunction is taking place at this New Moon, because its potential for mischief is diminished, and the chances are increased that some of its positive potentials will manifest. Let’s look at the chart:

In the chart calculated for Washington, D.C. (apologies to my international readers), the Ascendant is 16 degrees Libra, with the Sun and Moon in the eleventh house and chart ruler Venus at 16 degrees Leo in the tenth house. Libra is the sign of diplomacy, an indication that negotiated agreements could prevail despite alarmist rightwing warmongering.

Venus is square Mars and Saturn. My take on this is that there’s a pronounced struggle between those who are advocating for diplomacy and those who want to bomb something. Mars and Saturn are in the second house, which represents the nation’s banks, stock market, and monetary reserves. There’s more than a little symbolism in the most menacing aspect in the chart appearing in the financial sector. Saturn in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn are flip sides of the same element, which is wealth and power in the hands of the few backed by military control and ruthless suppression of dissent. Most of us take it as a given that the driving forces behind foreign aggression are the investment banks, defense contractors, and energy industries. Venus, the planet of peace and diplomacy, is a thorn in the side of these guys, as represented by the square from Venus to Mars and Saturn.

Even more interesting, she is “cooperating” with Uranus, which is in a tangle with these powerful forces and preventing them from charging forward. It’s unclear who or what Uranus represents here. In the past, I’ve associated it with the spontaneous protest worldwide. However, these revolutions for the most part have been co-opted by covert operations of governments seeking to exploit the turmoil for their own national interests.

I just read a transcript of an interview with Sergei Glaziev, an advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and was immediately struck by how perfectly the opening described the manifestations of the current Uranus-Pluto cycle, with all the complications by interactions with other planets, especially Saturn in Scorpio. The transcript on CounterPunch is well worth the read, even if you don’t agree with everything he says. Here is the first section:

The world today is going through an overlap of a whole series of cyclical crises. The most serious of them is a technological crisis which is associated with changes in the wavelengths of economic development. We’re living in a period when the economy is changing its structure. The economic structure that has been driving economic growth for the last 30 years has exhausted itself. We need to make a transition to a new system of technologies. This kind of transition, unfortunately, has always come about through war. That’s how it was in the ’30s when the Great Depression gave way to an arms race and then the Second War World War. That’s how it was during the Cold War when an arms race in space gave rise to complex information and communication technologies which became the basis of a technological structure that has been driving the world’s economy for the last 30 years. Today we are faced with a similar crisis. The world is shifting to a new technological system.

“Technology” is a keyword for Uranus, which raises an intriguing possibility for what Uranus represents in the New Moon chart. Although history and especially economic trends run in cycles, there is one important difference in the current Uranus-Pluto cycle that makes it unprecedented, and that is the presence of global connection via the Internet.

You’ll recall that protesters around the world relied on the social media to coordinate their actions. Of course, it didn’t take long for government agencies to infiltrate and use the Internet to their advantage, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development did in Cuba. Anyone who wants to have a genuine debate in the social media and comments sections on news sites has to wade through a swamp of posts by trolls paid to spread government and corporate disinformation. Nonetheless, those same forums are a powerful means for thoughtful citizens to share information that counters the official spin. In the New Moon chart for Washington, Uranus is conjunct the Descendant, or seventh-house cusp, by exact degree and minute. In mundane astrology, the seventh house represents allies and open enemies. What could be more threatening to government control than a global network of citizens seeking and sharing the truth?

The thing is, as I mentioned last week, the truth will disturb a great many, even those who consider themselves to be intelligent and politically aware. As an example, the militarized response by police to protests in Ferguson, Mo., shocked the public at large, even though there were those of us who knew the extent to which police departments had become more like military units. This might have stayed hidden, if not for the shooting of Michael Brown. There are plenty more revelations like this to come.

The New Moon in Virgo is co-ruled by Mercury, the planet of communications, and Ceres, named for the goddess of the harvest. Mercury represents the analytical side, while Ceres is more attuned to Virgo’s health- and service-oriented side. With Mercury in his own sign, the analytical and fact-oriented side of Virgo will predominate in the week ahead. Mercury in Virgo wants all the details and will study them exhaustively to arrive at an objective, logical conclusion.

In the New Moon chart, Mercury provides an “outlet” for the Mars-Saturn conjunction via a favorable sextile. So it’s possible that facts, logic, and objective analysis will prevail over the alarmist warmongering. The nation’s top general actually used the word “apocalyptic” in describing the new threat from the Islamic State. Apparently, painting each new target regime as the “new Hitler” has become so worn out that it’s not enough to whip up public support for yet another costly foreign incursion. It has to be the mother of all terrorist groups, the Islamic “caliphate” that will not be defeated any time soon. It’s the Pentagon’s dream come true, which immediately makes it suspicious. I don’t know about you, but I want a lot more information about these guys. Fortunately, Virgo is all about information. It’s time to painstakingly unravel the web of lies.

In our personal lives, the drag on our mental and physical energy is loosening its grip. Just about everyone I know has been in its pull. We should be able to make some progress on all fronts this week, however modest, although that’s not to say there won’t be ongoing irritations. How severe they are depends on where Mars and Saturn are transiting your chart. However, I doubt that a completely new issue will pop up out of the blue. It’s even possible that under the Mars-Saturn conjunction you’ll experience a crisis that dislodges a heavy obstacle that’s been holding you back.

The Mars-Saturn conjunction in sextile to Mercury in Virgo is also favorable for doing a lot of mental heavy lifting. If you have a paper to write, an analysis to complete, or some other tedious task that you’ve been dreading, get it on it first thing Monday morning. That definitely would be me. I can’t seem to catch up on reports and consultation follow-ups to save my life.

Likewise, if you’ve been putting off cleaning out the garage or reorganizing your closet, you can get a lot accomplished under this hardworking transit. Mental “housecleaning” also is favored. Sometimes we hang onto our self-delusions because if we faced the truth, then we’d have to do too much work or make uncomfortable changes. If you’re really motivated to get out of denial, this Mars-Saturn conjunction is the friend who does you a favor with some tough love.

There’s a lot more I could write, but I need to stop there and get this forecast posted.

Wishing you all much love and courage,

Pat

© Pat Paquette, RealAstrologers.com, 2014.