Spring Ingress 2022

Opening Remarks


As the Ascendant is in the mutable sign of Gemini, this chart is in effect for the next six months. The Summer Ingress chart will modify it, and then the stormy Autumn chart will supercede it.

The keynote of this chart, as I see it, is delusion. During this time, very little in the area of politics will make much sense or bear any direct relationship to reality.

And before we proceed, another note: Starting at the beginning of Lent on March 2nd, I shut down my social media accounts and stopped following any kind of news or politics, excepting only such local news as directly affects my family and myself. As far as I know, the only things that happened in the last 2 weeks were a sudden warm spell followed by the heaviest snow of the year, and the announcement of a plan to expand a nearby shopping center.

And yet I’m going to discuss national news and events in this blog post. But I’m also going to turn comments off on this blog for now-- we can check back in after Easter.

The Sun and Moon

The Sun represents the head of state in a mundane chart; Joe Biden, in our case.

We find the Sun on the cusp of the Eleventh House, distantly conjunct Neptune.

In an Ingress Chart, we ignore the Sun’s placement by sign, and focus on the House. The Eleventh House is the House of the Legislature, and especially the lower house. The placement of the Sun here suggests that Biden will be particularly involved with Congress during this time. In all likelihood, this refers to the upcoming midterm election, in which Biden will, of course, be making every effort to ensure that his Party retains control of the Legislature. The Sun’s most important aspect is the conjunction to Neptune, which itself is separating and distant. This suggests that Biden’s power is very limited at this time. Neptune rules the Tenth House of the Executive Branch, as opposed to its head, in this chart, and that suggests that it is the entrenched bureaucracy that is calling the shots. And it also suggests that they are insane.

The Sun is also sextile the minor planet Pluto. The sextile is a helping aspect, and Pluto rules hidden things and the underworld. The suggestion is that, as we’ve seen from the beginning, Biden has hidden allies, probably within both the intelligence community and organized crime.

The Sun makes one minor aspect, a semi-square to Venus. Semi-squares are similar to squares, indicating conflict and frustration, except that, as minor aspects, they tend to indicate energies which are subtle, dampened and below the surface, not fully manifest.

Now, Venus in this chart rules the Fifth House of the entertainment industry and the Twelfth House of hidden enemies. Venus also rules women generally, and in this chart she is very badly placed, conjunct Mars and Saturn and square Uranus. Biden has a hidden enemy, and she is plotting against him at this time, probably with the help of allies in the entertainment industry. Venus’s placement in the cadent Ninth House weakens her, and the semi-square is, as I’ve suggested, an aspect which describes matters which are going on behind the scenes. Don’t expect things to come to a head before Fall.

The Moon in a mundane chart rules the people generally-- but especially, that fraction of the people who have the power to participate in the political events of the day.

The Moon is barely involved in this chart. She is in the Fifth House, in the last degree of Libra, afflicted by a square to the minor planet Pluto, and by an Inconjunct to the Sun.

Now, the Inconjunct is another minor aspect, found when two planets are 150 degrees apart. That’s 30 degrees more than a trine, the aspect of harmony, but 30 degrees less than the opposition, the aspect of direct conflict. More than anything else, the inconjunct is the aspect of frustration. It suggests an energy that is unable to express itself either in the form of harmony or conflict. The two planets, rather than giving voice to each other in either a positive or negative way, just shut each other down. The president is struggling with his allies in the Political Class, and they’re struggling with him, but neither side is able to openly express the point of their opposition. But look for this conflict to break open after the Summer Solstice, when the Inconjunct between the Sun and Moon gives way to a square.

The square to Pluto in the Eighth House is a troubling sign. The square is fairly close, within two degrees of exactness. The Eighth House is the House of Death, and recall Pluto’s rulership from above. I don’t think that the indication here is “mass death,” but recall Pluto’s sextile of assistance to the Sun. Unexpected deaths among celebrities, especially women, have a sinister quality to them at this time, and the explanation you hear in the media is probably false.

The Ascendant

The First House or Ascendant rules the people generally. In our chart, the Ascendant is in Gemini, which is ruled by Mercury.

Mercury’s condition in this chart is very mixed. On the one hand, he gains strength from his placement in the angular Tenth House, and he is also conjunct the benefic planet Jupiter. On the other hand, he is in Pisces, the sign of both his Detriment and Fall, and conjunct Neptune, ruler of Pisces and Lord of delusion.

In order to understand Mercury’s placement in this chart, we need to remember that he is also ruler of the Fourth House, which rules rural areas and the Opposition Party. The Tenth House rules the Executive Branch and, as such, the Party in power. Mercury’s placement here forecasts open conflict between the Bureaucracy and the Democrats and the rural population and the Republican Party. Expect the conflict to be very loud and very heated--

And also, more or less insane. Neptune is the significator of the Democrats and afflicts the significator of the Republicans by both planetary (Neptune conjunct Merucyr) and sign (Mercury in Pisces) means. Both sides are delusional at this point, and to involve yourself in their conflict is to subject yourself to their delusions, in the same way that friends and family of schizophrenics often end up taking on schizophrenic delusions.

The conjunction to Jupiter, who rules the Seventh House of foreign affairs and war, suggests that there is foreign involvement in the conflict. It also suggests that the conflict will be over foreign affairs, particularly sharp disagreements over the handling of the Russian issue. But again, neither side has anything to say which is worth hearing, as both are completely delusional.

House II: The House of Wealth

The Second House rules the nation's wealth. In this chart, the House Cusp is in Cancer, which is ruled by the Moon. The Moon, as we have seen, is fairly weak, afflicted by Pluto and the Sun. Expect fluctuations in the economy, exacerbated by the poor leadership of the Biden Administration. Speculative bubbles may burst, with painful consequences.

House III: All The News That's Fit to Hide

The Third House rules transportation, communication, and the news media; in modern times, it is the House of the Internet. In our chart the Third House is in Leo, which is ruled by the Sun.

The president, Congress, and the election will be among the main topics of discussion online during this time, but little of it is worth listening to, as no one has any idea what they’re talking about. The truth is hidden.

Pluto’s sextile to the Sun tells of deliberate manipulation of the online discussion by intelligence agencies and other bad actors.

House IV: The Flyover House

The Fourth House represents the interior of the country, the farms and mines, and the opposition party. The House Cusp is in Virgo, which is ruled by Mercury, whose difficult position has already been discussed. Above all, expect the conflict between Washington and the interior of the country to worsen.

House V: TV, Stocks and Kids

The Fifth House rules the entertainment industry, financial speculation, and children. The House cusp is in Libra, which makes Venus its ruler.

On the surface, Venus appears to be in about as bad a position as a planet could be, afflicted by conjunction to Mars and Saturn, square to Uranus, and semi-square to the Sun, and weakened by placement in the cadent Ninth House.

There is a wrinkle to all of this, though, and that is Venus’s relationship with Uranus. As these two planets are in signs ruled by the other, they share a relationship called mutual reception. Mutual reception points to a hidden connection between the two planets, and many modern astrologers say that each planet can be treated as possessing the other planet’s dignities.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t greatly improve matters; Venus in Uranus’s position is in Taurus, which is her rulership, but still afflicted by squares to Mars and Uranus itself. Moreover, Uranus is in the Twelfth House of hidden enemies. At best, the mild dignity which Venus gains may keep some speculative bubbles from bursting, and lead to a few successes in Hollywood instead of the unmitigated disaster for the entertainment industry that Venus in Aquarius would indicate, but trouble in every area ruled by the Fifth House is still likely. Again, look for celebrity deaths; they aren’t what they appear.

House VI: Health, the Working Class, the Military

The Sixth House represents public health, and also the working class and the military. As the House Cusp is in Scorpio, this House is also ruled by Mars. Here there is good news and bad news. The good news is Mars’s conjunction to Venus, which is bad for Venus but good for Mars; the bad new is his square to Uranus.

Of course, the mutual reception between Venus and Uranus is active here as well. I do not believe that war is going to break out at this time, but it needs to be said that there is some danger of it.

A while back, I looked at the Capricorn Ingress charts for Moscow and Kiev-- the Capricorn Ingress was in operation when the war in Ukraine broke out-- and determined that the Uranus-Saturn square was the cause of the conflict. In this chart, the two planets have moved out of aspect from one another, but Uranus now squares Mars, which rules both war in general and the US military in particular. Now, since Uranus is in the Twelfth House of hidden enemies, an open attack on the US is not likely. But Uranus is the Lord of Chaos, and when you’re in his hands, anything is possible; recall how unlikely the events of the last few years would have seemed even as recently as 2015, and prepare accordingly.

House VII: Foreign Affairs and War

The Seventh House represents foreign nations and war. As the House Cusp is in Sagittarius, Jupiter is its ruler. Jupiter is the planet of expansion, empire and power; in this chart he clearly indicates Russia, the expanding power, more than anything else Jupiter’s position is strong but mixed, in the angular Tenth House, conjunct Mercury and Neptune.

Mercury is the planet of communication, and in this chart he is at his worst. Before I disconnected from the news, the thing I saw most clearly about the Ukraine war was just how much better the Ukrainian side was at propaganda, at least in the US. Every day I would see obviously nonsensical memes about the Ukrainian resistance flying about, and people who really should know better by this point parroting the pro-Ukrainian line verbatim. This will continue over the next few months, and it will worsen. Mercury rules lies, Neptune rules delusion, and both afflict Jupiter; this suggests that everything we think we know about the war is a lie, but it also suggests that the Russian leadership is also lying, and also delusional.

House VIII: Other People's Money

The Eighth House represents foreign wealth; it also represents death. As the House Cusp is in Capricorn, and so Saturn is its ruler.

For once, Saturn’s position in this chart is fairly mild. He is distantly conjunct Venus, and weakened by placement in the Ninth House. I therefore don’t expect mass death in the US at this time.

There is a caveat, however. Mutual reception isn’t well understood by astrologers; my view is that each planet is given the other planet’s dignity from its own perspective. That is, when we consider Venus, we look to Uranus, and vice versa. But from the perspective of other planets, the planet is still itself-- so Saturn is conjunct Venus, not Uranus.

This may be incorrect, however; it may be that Saturn should be considered to be conjunct Uranus in this chart. In which case... hold onto your hats.

House IX: God's Law, Nature's Law, Man's Law

The Ninth House represents the Supreme Court, religion, science and higher education, as well as "imperial affairs," as the older books put it. As the cusp of the House is in Aquarius, the ruler is Uranus. This is a very busy House in this chart!

Uranus, as we have seen, is in Taurus, in the Twelfth House-- but, due to the mutual reception, he is also here in Aquarius, in the Ninth House, and, therefore, conjunct Mars and Saturn.

This is very troubling.

Uranus rules chaos; Mars, war; Saturn, sudden falls from power, the Ninth House, imperial affairs.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the next six months will see at least one absolute disaster from the perspective of US foreign policy. It may be an event that will not seem especially dramatic at the time-- or, rather, which will seem like it shouldn’t have disastrous consequences-- but its consequences will be felt for years. And it may be something akin to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. Pray that it is not.

House X: The Powers That Be

The Tenth House rules the Executive Branch of government as distinct from the president himself. The House Cusp is in Pisces, and so Neptune is the House Ruler.

Neptune is very powerful in this chart, being angular and in the sign of his rulership, but he suffers afflictions as well. His major affliction is Mercury, who is at his worst in this chart. Ruling communication, lies, and the Opposition Party, Mercury in this House suggests an open campaign of calumniation against the Executive Branch and the Democratic Party. Mercury gains strength from the conjunction to Jupiter, but so does Neptune-- the suggestion is that both Parties are using the Ukraine crisis to their advantage. The conjunction between Neptune and the Sun points to the alignment between the president and his Party, but this alignment is also a source of trouble; a conjunction to the Sun is called combustion. In combustion, a planet is temporarily blinded, as if by the rays of the Sun, and this contributes to the delusional thinking we’ve been discussing. Everyone is out of their minds.

House XI: Congress

The Eleventh House represents Congress, especially the House of Representatives. As the House Cusp is in Aries, Mars rules this House. Aries is the sign of Mars, the God of War, and we’ve seen that Mars is afflicted by square to Uranus, though aided by a conjunction to Venus. This tells us that, as we know, control of Congress is the major area of contention at this time. The conjunction to Venus strengthens Mars, and Venus probably represents either Nancy Pelosi or Kamala Harris (president of the Senate).

House XII: Hidden Things

The Twelfth House represents national institutions, prisons and factories, and hidden enemies. The Twelfth House cusp is in Taurus, and so this House is ruled by Venus. And Uranus is here, in Taurus, the sign of his Fall, afflicting Venus and Mars by square.

There is trouble brewing behind the scenes, and it will burst into the open at some point in the next six months, probably in relation to foreign affairs. I can’t tell you what it is. It will involve our national institutions and our empire, and it will involve the uncovering of scandals and hidden dealings. I hope it doesn’t mean war, but that isn’t impossible. It's more likely that we'll see a minor event, or an event that would be minor in ordinary times, blown out of all proportion, leading to scandal and ruin.

Above all, Neptune rules the day at this time. As a planet, Neptune rules delusion and madness. We know from mythology that he punishes hubris and crimes against the gods. He is lord of the sea and shaker of the Earth, and his sudden furies can drown whole nations. Stay out of the fray of politics if you want to avoid his anger.