Anne Massey’s astrology blog

Budget Canada January 2009

Sunday, January 25th, 2009 | Current Planetary trends, Mundane astrology

Throne Speech and Budget finally arrive following the October 14, 2008 elections, the controversial Coalition threat and proroguing the Parliament. The budget will be tabled January 27, 2009. I don’t know the time of the budget announcement, but apparently it will be broadcast by CTV at 13:00 PST. I expect the session to open at 10:00 EST in Ottawa. Much of the timing appears rather irrelevant. But let’s note that the Parliament resumes following a Solar Eclipse, which in itself might indicate that this is not the time for grandstanding. True to form much of this information was made public days prior to the official budget. The tempest in the teacup and the coalition threat has faded out of the picture—the ‘threat’ has subsided. At 10:00 in Ottawa 12°Aries 14′ is Ascending, Canada’s Ascendant is 17°22′ of Aries. This sign ascends very fast at Northern latitudes. At 10:39 Taurus will be on the Ascendant. Cardinal signs such as Aries imply fast action. The ruler of Aries, Mars is exalted in Capricorn and in the 10th house separating from a recent conjunction to Mercury, this is an indication about how the details were already leaked before the budget was to be tabled. This little detail might also mean that some of the statements or promises will be retracted, probably within two weeks of the budget.

My astrological analysis back in December was that it would. http://www.annemassey.ca/2008/12/04/power-battles-on-parliamentary-hill) Yes, the newly minted liberal leader, Ignatieff is still making rather ‘weak’ statements about not ruling out the possibility of defeating the budget. I seriously doubt he will. Prime Minister Stephen Harper involved the opposition parties in creating the upcoming budget. It is all going to be ‘over reactive’ in hindsight, but here we are. I fully expect this budget to pass; there won’t be adequate cause to defeat it. I expect a broad scope of important spending in it. The current planetary configurations are not showing pressure for change. There may be heated debate and posturing on parliamentary hill in March—April and there is likely to be requests for extra monies, some for the Winter Olympics in 2010. Some of the decisions at that time are likely to lay the groundwork for the next election, but I doubt it will be a quick as the people in the opposition would like-might be as late as 2012. Whether Harper is still the PM is a different matter. In this post I am looking at the astrological analysis of my conclusion.

Tabling of the Budget

I want to know what the budget has to offer and what I need to do with our investments and in order to do so I read the astrological indications in order to make an informed choice. So this budget follows the eclipse of January 26 at 6° Aquarius 30′, which is not causing great impact in the chart for Canada shown in this posting. However, an eclipse always shows that something unprecedented is happening; this cycle is also 19 years in duration. Therefore we had one in January 1990. The interest rates at that time were extremely high. We bought our house in Canada that year; I opted for a six month rewritable, something I would not do this year. I would wait for May and the unprecedented low mortgage rates. The mortgage interest rates currently do not reflect the 1% Bank of Canada lending rate, during March and April I expect this to change. Venus will be retrograde and this will have an impact on interest rates, it did in 2001.

Budget Session Chart

The chart is cast for 10:00 EST, in Ottawa, for the opening of the Parliamentary Budget session. Let’s find the players in the Canadian chart to see what kind of power they hold in this event chart. The government is Saturn, the natural ruler of the tenth house in our nation’s chart. Saturn is in Virgo (yellow highlighting), retrograde and in the sixth house; Mercury and Mars are in a separating trine representing something that has taken place already. Saturn from a Hellenistic perspective is in a position to defeat enemies. It was forced to do so by the opposition, which formed the coalition.

Venus as well is separating from an opposition—same conclusion this has taken place already—however, the Saturn-Uranus opposition is applying, this is yet to come. The first occurrence took place November 4, 2008. December 1, 2008 was the date the Coalition agreement was signed. In the sky, Jupiter, Venus and the Moon were all together in Capricorn at around 22-23°. On budget day, Mercury and Mars will be at that degree! The opposition party is represented by Venus (pink highlight) in our national chart, on the day of this much anticipated budget Venus is moving away from an opposition to Saturn, which in our national chart is the ruler of our 10th house, which represents the government. How literal astrology is at times, the opposition challenged the party in power but that has passed.

Venus is exalted in Pisces and in the twelfth house, which represents behind the scenes activities, power and naturally backroom politics. Venus is a brilliant evening star until April and she reached her greatest elongation from the Sun two weeks ago. This shows how the opposition leader is distancing himself from power battles and/or from seeking power at this time. The Sun rules the fifth house of leaders in our national chart and is intercepted in this event chart-there is no access out. I think that his hands are tied because there will not be enough problems or causes in this budget to defeat it. The Moon-Neptune connection further underscores the dissolution of a coalition.

The identifiers for the government and the opposition both have contact with Mars and Mercury in the powerful tenth house. Mars is exalted in Capricorn and dignified by being in this power place. Mars in our national chart rules the eighth house of treasury and the first house of national identity and our actions. I would assume this is one of the most important budgets in a long time (however, I have only lived in Canada for the past 18 years, and have not studied the historical budgets).

This budget is likely to be very extensive and will try to accommodate the needs of the many as the eclipse is in Aquarius, which is associated with common wealth-what is good for the many not just the one. I expect to see huge infrastructure spending because Pluto is in Capricorn. I expect all kinds of investment in the future—the sciences, higher education and technology because we have a mutual reception between Uranus and Neptune, and Jupiter of expansion is in Aquarius. I expect that the eligibility for employment insurance will be significantly extended because Saturn is in Virgo, which represents the workforce. The military personnel is also likely to see new benefits, Virgo is the sign we associate with the military. During Saturn in Virgo years and for Canada in the workforce sector, the service-, production- and construction industries are emphasized. Now that Saturn (the government) is moving toward that Uranus (which also represents reform and revolution), pressure from the people has forced the government to address these issues. This influence continues through July 2010. The topics of lengthening the eligibility to employment insurance, public funding of infrastructure projects and addressing environmental issues are a shoe-in for the budget. The Moon-Neptune connection might state that the budget is too idealistic—however, all of the Aquarian planets in our eleventh house (green highlighting) are screaming that we must spend money for the common good. Naturally at the same time, the politicians are trying to ensure that we let them continue to hold onto power.

The action of Mars is to cut and I expect tax cuts to both businesses and individuals and it wouldn’t be a surprise if there were cuts in government size; the level of service to taxpayers looks to be going down with the Mars-Saturn connection, which logically would mean less people working at providing that.

The Saturn-Uranus aspect repeats from 1919-1920 and 1965-67. During the former, Saturn was in Virgo and Uranus in Pisces just like now. During the latter period Saturn was in Pisces and Uranus in Virgo; and Uranus was not alone it was with Pluto. The current Saturn-Uranus cycle began in 1988 in late Sagittarius, which according to many sources is the Ascendant for the US; and over the past 3-5 years Pluto was at the US Ascendant. None of the cycles work in isolation. Nor do the events that coincide with the cycles. Many financial analysts feel that the US mortgage crises originate with the programs the government launched in 1988-89. Prior to that time, people needed to have a decent down payment in order to qualify for a mortgage, and grew smaller and became none by the time the bubble was ready to burst. Up until that time, mortgages that were amortized over 20+ years were not commonplace globally—now we can or could up until now, get a 40 year mortgage regardless of how old we might be. We learnt to buy on the never-never. Those of us older may recall a time when having a credit card was an exception not a rule.

The Economic Recovery

The chief economist for the Bank of Canada stated that his prediction for recovery from the current recession is July 2009 for Canada. My husband piped up, “that sounded like what you do, honey”. Economists apparently predict, eh. After 21 years of doing astrological analysis professionally, I like to think that I look at planetary cycles and what they traditionally mean in relation to our lives and or the markets. I pick dates to invest and dates to renew our mortgage—I do not make big financial decisions without consulting my ephemeris or the computer program these days. These give me the positions of the planets.

Canada's chart with notations

Let’s look at what economic cycles from an astrological perspective are in play and could we possibly be out of the recession by July in Canada as some of the experts are saying. I have talked about Pluto in Capricorn and the radical change in direction in terms of wealth distribution and the fact that we are at the dawn of the technological era, thus people are going to be displaced and need to adjust to the changing workplace. This reflects a similar theme as the world experienced when the Industrial Revolution began—farmers became factory workers. Today we need to learn to embrace technology. Pluto settles into Capricorn by the beginning of 2010, thus 2009 is likely to be the toughest one.

The comment from the chief economist for the Bank of Canada and the time periods he stated, down payment of national debt during the past eleven years replaced by spending that money on investing in infrastructure and going into debt to the tune of 64 billion dollars. The time frames mentioned in his statement 11 years of paying down the national debt replaced by investing infrastructure instantly brought to mind the lunar cycle. Back in the early 1990s I was studying economics, calculating and plotting interest rates, real estate markets etc. The dates and graphs I was drawing based on the course text looked like the cycle of the Moon, but did not appear as precise as the astrological cycle.

Let me explain. The Moon ventures north and south on an axis, and there are several years when the Moon goes out of bounds every two weeks for several days. This follows the Equinox and Solstice cycle but is a monthly cycle. Investors using the Gant method count days to arrive at the up and down cycle, which is actually defined by astrology and the change of seasons. The Moon cycle is 19 years. There are 11 years when the activity of the Moon is wild and 8 when it is more stable. We are in the unstable period. This one ends in May 2011, and we begin more stable times. The cycle the economist was referring to has to do with the nodal cycle—for decades now whenever the north node of the Moon has moved into Capricorn we have seen higher interest rates, which are offered when the economy is good and there is less need to stimulate it-it is the lender’s market. That arrives in June!! However, we need to take into account that Saturn its ruler at that time is in Virgo, which always causes a slump in available jobs. Further we have the Moon in her volatile cycle. I wish I could concur with the overly optimistic predictions of the economists but I cannot. Often during the cycle of the Nodal axis in Capricorn-Cancer construction goes down, it did last time (early 1990s) and therefore there is less for sale and the demand goes up. The mortgage rates, however, are likely to drop considerable, opening the door for buyers. This particular cycle begins in July and ends at the end of 2010.

In May 2011, the calmer times are beginning at one level, but on a second level we have Uranus in Aries opposite Saturn in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn—these form a T-square pattern which will mean more turbulence in the economy. The situation we are in globally will not bypass Canada; remember we have cardinal angles in our national chart. I think that 2009 will go down as the year of most bankruptcies we have ever seen—not just personal ones but some gigantic corporations will cease to exist. One of the interesting concepts in astrology is about the behaviour of outer planets in Cardinal signs—a change in direction, reversal of fortunes. This year it is only Pluto but in 2010 and 2011 Uranus and Neptune will move into Aries, which is the most volatile of the cardinal signs. And of course, in 2011 Jupiter will also be in Aries, expanding and growing whatever it encounters on its path. The cardinal signs are often referred to as the world axis. What tends to happen is that tides shift in the other direction when the outer planets, Jupiter-Pluto, move into the cardinal=action signs. While Pluto is in the sign of management i.e. Capricorn, any company that is not efficiently managed is likely to be ‘forced’ to cease operations.

I would think that we begin to see actual recovery around 2013; I do agree with the economists that the situation isn’t as challenging in Canada as with our neighbour the USA. There are dates, which are pivotal in terms of the markets and in astrology identified by cycles of the outer planets. The financial Jupiter-Saturn cycle, with its 20 year cycle, began with the conjunction of the two planets in September of 1921 at 26°Virgo46′. The cycle we are in currently began in 2000 when the two planets held their meeting at 22°Taurus43′. In terms of astrology, these two degrees are linked by an aspect (angular separation) of 120 degrees, a trine. In terms of financial astrology, the aspects are not good or bad, rather they bring action. If they are nice, harmonious aspect the action happens without hindrance or obstacles. They may create havoc, but we cannot stop it just like we cannot prevent an avalanche. The other stressor, Uranus-Saturn opposition, takes place 43-47 year intervals. This time we have four successive ones. The first was the US Election Day in 2008; we will have two this year and another two in 2010. Following the opposition the governments across the globe began to acknowledge that recession was upon us, and that our ‘fortunes’ were tied to the US economy for better or for worse.

Note that this is analysis of the astrological cycles as they relate to the world of money and should not be considered to advice to invest or withdraw from the markets. I am not a stock broker, financial astrologer or an investment advisor. I am an astrologer who is just as worried about personal investments as the next person. I am writing some of this to see what I should be doing to ensure that we will continue to have our modest nest egg. I have chosen investments with astrology and it has served me well. But I do consider the stock market as gambling.

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