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The Uranus Cycle and Congressional Investigations
Last week The Washington Post reported that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had met several times with the Russian ambassador during Trump’s campaign last year. Sessions’ recusal from the investigations into the Trump-Russia connection is only the latest admission of high-level secret meetings coming to light. Currently, the FBI and five congressional committees are in various stages of investigating this growing national controversy.*
The Uranus cycle tells us that this scandal has legs, because it’s making its periodic hard aspect to the U.S. Mercury-Pluto polarity. Challenging Mercury-Pluto aspects are known for their compulsive need to get to the truth, to find out what’s hidden. In the modern era, whenever transiting Uranus makes a hard aspect to Mercury in the 9th house of judiciary affairs, Congress has called for an independent Special Prosecutor (Uranus) to carry out a high level investigation (Mercury-Pluto).
The last time this happened was in the late 1990s when Uranus was in Capricorn and opposed the U.S. Mercury while conjoining the U.S. Pluto. Due to Uranus’s retrograde cycle and the three-degree orb between Mercury and Pluto, the transit can last two years. In August 1994, Kenneth Starr was appointed to lead the Whitewater investigation, which eventually led to impeachment charges against Bill Clinton.
Twenty-one years earlier, i.e., one quarter of the Uranus cycle, the Watergate scandal led to the resignation of Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974. At the time, transiting Uranus was exactly squaring the U.S. Mercury (orb: 0º03’). And one quarter Uranus cycle before that, when transiting Uranus conjoined the U.S. Mercury in 1954, we had the infamous McCarthy hearings. These historic correspondences make it clear: over the coming month as transiting Uranus activates this Mercury-Pluto axis, we can expect growing calls for a Special Prosecutor to begin investigating Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
Emmanuel Macron and the French Election
A regular reader wonders if the centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron has a chance in France’s presidential election. "Will the French go right, left or left-of-center?" Five candidates are currently in the running, with the first round of voting scheduled for April 23. Then the top two candidates – likely Macron and Marine Le Pen, according to polls – will face off on May 7.
Emmanuel Macron was born with his Sagittarius Sun conjunct Juno and trine Saturn (December 21, 1977; 10:40 am; Amiens, France), a practical, ambitious combination that advances steadily through hard work and competence. His Sun also conjoins retrograde Mercury and opposes Black Moon Lilith, indicating a deep thinker who doesn’t like to be pigeonholed into one political philosophy. In contrast to Le Pen, Macron wants to further France’s integration with the European Union.
Macron’s Taurus Moon opposes Uranus, which carries a built-in conflict between being conservative (Taurus Moon) and being independent (Uranus). In various interviews he has described himself as being neither left nor right, neither socialist nor liberal, but advocates "a collective solidarity". He published his book "Révolution" in November 2016 when transiting Uranus was exactly conjunct his progressed Ascendant. By "revolution" he means finding the third way between conservative and liberal policies.
Conditions around the natal or progressed Midheaven offer a guide to his potential success. His progressed Vesta is now at 28º Scorpio, and less than one degree from conjoining his Midheaven. Progressed Mars at 28º Cancer is precisely trine his progressed Vesta on April 23, which looks very promising. Also on April 23, transiting Uranus is precisely trine his progressed Part of Fortune, another very favorable indicator. We should be seeing him in the runoff on May 7.
SnapChat’s Amazing IPO
Six weeks ago, an article published in Forbes magazine derided Snapchat’s evaluation of $3 billion. But last week, when Snapchat made its Initial Public Offering, the shares soared, rising from the $18 asking price to close at $27, and making the social media company worth over $30 billion. Snapchat’s appeal is its disappearing messages and photos, making it most popular among millennials.
SNAP’s IPO took place during an ephemeral Sun-Neptune conjunction in Pisces (March 2, 2017; 11:19 am; New York, NY). With Gemini Rising, Mercury is the ruler of this chart. Its location at 8º Pisces is also conjunct Neptune, but is auspicious since it’s precisely conjunct the recent Solar Eclipse at 8º Pisces. Mercury, the natural ruler of communication, activated the huge potential associated with this eclipse.
Investors went bananas over this IPO, a state of heightened euphoria shown astrologically by the exact opposition between Jupiter and Uranus. The strong evaluation is supported by the Moon in Taurus conjunct Ceres. However, an IPO doesn’t have much of a chance on the national scene unless it has close ties to the national horoscope. SNAP’s Part of Fortune at 16º Leo is exactly conjunct the U.S. Midheaven, putting the fledgling corporation in an elevated position.
The seventh house may describe competitors, and in SNAP’s IPO horoscope we have Saturn, the 800-pound gorilla known as Facebook. SNAP’s user growth decelerated over the last few months, growing only 4% after Facebook deployed apps similar to Snapchat’s. Still, investment advisers are keen on SNAP’s ability to monetize its popularity among millennials. But with Venus turning retrograde in this chart, SNAP has a difficult path ahead to prove its lofty evaluation.
* For a more detailed list, see the Voice of America’s report: http://www.voanews.com/a/several-investigations-under-way-trump-russia-connections/3747336.html
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