Richard Nolle for January 2000, and I recommend going to his website to see the complete overview for 2000:
THE IRREPRESSIBLE SATURN SQUARE URANUS
One way or another, all of January is very
much under the shadow of the Saturn-Uranus
square, the Y2K aspect. As seen from Earth -
i.e. from a geocentric perspective - these two
planets remain within a five degree orb of their
square aspect (90 degree arc) through January
10. The aspect was exact last year, on
November 14. And it has been within five
degrees of an exact square since the end of
May '99. But don't think that the geocentric
square easing after January 10 means the end
of the Y2K aspect. The heliocentric square -
the 90 degree arc between these two planets as
seen from the Sun - is exact on January 29,
2000. It's been within five degrees of partile
(exact) since mid-July '99, and doesn't leave
this range until mid-August 2000. If you read
last year's forecast - or my Year 2000 Forecast
Highlights - you know what to expect:
breakdowns in high-technology infrastructure
(principally computers and communication) as well as criminal assaults on that infrastructure. The latter
will be of two types: for financial gain, as well as to wreak havoc either for sheer vandalistic gratification
or to make a political point. Computer viruses and hacker attacks are bound to be a part of this, but some
of the chaos will stem from inherently poor system design. (Short-sightedness and the law of unintended
consequences will always exact their toll.) True, these manifestations will be worse in some places, not so
bad in others. But given the increased state of global interdependence, don't ask for whom this bell tolls.
While it certainly has its disruptive potential, I've already indicated that this same planetary
configuration is the herald of savvy innovations in the computer and technology fields: new operating
systems emerging or gaining a larger foothold, communication break-throughs that deliver ever greater
functionality for an ever smaller price. So even as we're all busy fixing messes of one kind or another,
there will also be new and better technological toys coming on line to play with. In other words, even in
the midst of chaotic unplanned (but not unexpected) breakdowns and devilishly ingenious assaults on
computerized systems and the like, there will also be progressive innovations: clouds yes, but silver
linings too. Of course, if you're the beneficiary of the older technologies and operating systems being
challenged by the upstarts at times like this, you're likely to look on the Saturn-Uranus square as a sign
that the barbarians are tearing down the ramparts.
SATURN DOES A STANDSTILL
Coming to an apparent standstill in our skies,
Saturn reaches its direct station on the 12th,
ending the retrograde that began August 30,
1999. With it, as predicted, came the start of
last year's major market correction - although it
fell a few percent short of what I expected and
indicated. This month's Saturn station is
sandwiched neatly between the Venus-Pluto
conjunction on the 9th and the Mercury-Sun
conjunction on the 16th. Look for heavy trading,
the kind that makes brokers richer - and most
everybody else broker, at least in the short run.
Saturn remains within a single degree of its
station point all the way through February 13
(when Mercury squares Pluto). Odd that this
should correspond so closely to a couple of key
dates in the US Federal Reserve schedule: the
release of the Beige Book on January 19, and
the Federal Open Market Committee meeting February 1-2 (coming close on the heels of the January 31
Sun-Saturn square). My guess is that this peculiar confluence signals some profit-taking and portfolio
sector-shifting, probably occasioned by a Beige Book that makes a Fed hike look very likely in
February. If you're a long-term investor with a quality portfolio (not too heavily weighted in those
over-valued stocks de jour), you can probably sit safely on the sidelines for this one. As indicated in my
Year 2000 Forecast Highlights, "an economic collapse of the 1929 variety (is) still some years away."
But if you're a day-trader loaded up on "highly speculative, liquidity-driven stocks from companies that
can't turn a profit" - well, then you might want to sell short. (With that heliocentric Saturn-Uranus in
effect now, some of the Internet high-fliers are apt to take a beating for a while.)
MARS SQUARES PLUTO
The trend of heightened Mars activation that
began in November and continued through
December spills over into January, with the
Red Planet's square to Pluto on the 19th.
(It's within five degrees of exact from the
12th through the 25th, so the carnage should
taper off to normal mayhem levels after
that.) If you don't already know what to
expect, I can summarize it in one word: duck!
Conflict and confrontation are the name of
the game at times like this, and recklessness
is the order of the day. Steer clear of the sort
of places trouble is likely to strike, as much
as possible. Bear in mind that teenage angst,
road rage and all manner of short fuses can
easily ignite many a powder keg during this
final burst of martial energy. Now you know
why running shoes are the preferred
footwear of school kids. (Can Abercrombie &
Fitch be far from bringing out their kevlar line?)
Meanwhile, the grownups who hypocritically bemoan it all are busy with more sophisticated pursuits - of
the criminal, terrorist and/or military variety, for example. I suppose the waning of the Mars-Pluto
square after the 25th must mean there's nobody left to kill in Grozny. Not that poor Chechnya will be the
only hot spot . . . nor that all the mayhem happens by design. Haste makes waste at times like this, when
spectacular accidents tend to become fairly commonplace. Be careful out there - especially in the fog, the
heavy rain and snow. Not the best of times for travel by boat, rail or bus . . . how come they don't put
seatbelts on those things, anyway?
This looks like more than the garden variety of accidents in transit, incidentally. Fires, chemical spills,
gas clouds, noxious substances, explosives . . .
GEOCOSMIC SHOCK WINDOWS
The geocosmic shock windows for the month
are particular critical phases in the
Earth-Moon cycle - enhanced in some
instances with a solar component. During such
times, there's an increased potential for strong
storms and unusual flooding (inland due to
heavy rain, coastal due to high tides either
alone or in combination with windstorms and
heavy rain). A higher than normal risk for
moderate to severe seismic activity is also in
effect during these critical phases: this
includes Richter 5 or greater quakes as well as
volcanic eruptions. Watch the headlines, you'll
see what I mean. These are times to avoid
travel if possible, or at least to allow for
weather-related delays. At home, make sure
your emergency supplies are ample - just in
case Mother Nature takes aim at your
neighborhood.
January's shock windows start off with the new moon on the 6th. In effect from the 3rd through the 9th,
this looks far more significant than the average new moon - although not quite in the same league as an
eclipse or SuperMoon. (A SuperMoon, in case you don't know, is a perigee-syzygy: a new or full moon
that occurs with the Moon at or very near its closest approach to Earth.) This particular new moon occurs
close on the heels of Earth's perihelion (nearest approach to the Sun), and on the same day the Moon
reaches maximum declination south of the equator. Like all such geocosmic alignments, this one is
planetary in scale. Which means there's no place on Earth that's absolutely safe. Still, there are a few
risk zones that stand out: Hawaii, South Africa, the eastern Mediterranean Basin, China, Indonesia and
Australia; also the Venezuela-Guyana and Peru-Bolivia border regions.
The next shock window is a small and probably relatively mild one, in effect within about 30 hours either
way of the Moon's northward equatorial crossing on the 13th.
The SuperMoon total lunar eclipse of
January 21 shapes up as by far the most
ominous geocosmic shock window of the
month. It's in effect January 18-24, and
comes only some 30 hours after the Moon
reaches both its maximum declination north
of the equator and its perigee (closest
approach to Earth) on the 19th. Batten down
the hatches! Although its potential is
planet-wide, this one appears to be
especially strong along a northwesterly arc
that extends from the southwest tip of Africa
into the Middle East, curving from there
across Russia and over to the Aleutians,
curving from there down to Hawaii; as well
as on a north-south line extending from the
west coast of Australia straight up into
eastern China and Mongolia, and last but not
least along a north-south line running from eastern Canada down through the eastern Caribbean into
South America. (This latter zone lies at the heart of the region where the entire eclipse will be visible.)
Rounding out the geocosmic risk windows for the month is the relatively short and probably mild one that
extends 30 hours either side of Luna's southward crossing of the equator on the 26th. This is followed by
the initial phase of February's SuperMoon eclipse, which will start leaving its mark beginning on the
29th. Although potentially planet-wide as usual, the astro-locality map for the February 5 partial solar
eclipse focuses on east Africa and the western British Isles, the US Midwest and eastern Canada, New
Zealand and the far eastern stretches of Russia; and along a northwesterly arc from west India through
Pakistan, across Russia over to Scandinavia. (Watch for this one to wreak havoc with power and
communications infrastructure.)
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