The Galactic Centre & the Credit Crunch
Written: November & December 2011
Published: 19th December 2011
The topic of this article is the 'credit crunch' and the financial crisis, going back to its origins and looking at it astrologically. Whilst it has been discussed by many astrologers from various angles, as far as I'm aware it hasn't been discussed much - if at all - from the one put forward in this article.
One of the slightly uncomfortable things about having a website is that you can look back at things you've written years ago. Sometimes you smile, and sometimes you cringe. Sometimes you think 'Did I write that?' - in both positive and negative senses - and sometimes you think 'If only I'd written a bit more'.
In the spring of 2006 I wrote and published an article about how there was a gathering of planets in a small section of the Zodiac, and that each of them, one by one, would cross the Galactic Centre. I made some speculations about it symbolising possible changes at cultural and economic levels, but didn't have any clue or inkling what was to happen later.
The
Milky Way appears to run like a river of stars through our night sky.
The core of our galaxy has a gravitational centre around
which the entire galaxy revolves, as well as a radio source (which is
thought to be the location of a supermassive black hole) around which
local stars orbit.
Concurrently I had another couple of articles about a crisis in western capitalism, based on the series of oppositions between Saturn and Uranus, but in neither of those nor any other articles was I attempting to make a forecast or prediction of an economic collapse or system-shattering bankruptcies and the like, and it's important to point out and note that nor am I attempting to retrospectively claim that I made any forecasts of that nature. What I want to do in this article is talk about how, since the crisis broke, I've looked back at what happened and at the astrological correlations for the purposes of learning - about both life and astrology - and I'm also seeking to add to the understanding of this momentous event by drawing attention to an astrological phenomenon that has so far not been as big a part of the discussions as, in my view, it needs to be.
Here is a quote from what I published in April '06:
"In December this year there will be a gathering of planets in a small part of the Zodiac. These planets will, one by one, line up with the centre of our galaxy. What makes this especially important is that Pluto, the slowest-moving of all the planets in our solar system, will be lined up with the galactic centre for the first time in nearly 250 years. This is therefore a potentially epoch-making event. From a business point of view, these alignments with the galactic centre may well affect the stock markets. Significant changes are likely in society, as each planet 'plugs in' to the galactic core, which is thought to be a black hole. These changes may then be reflected in shifts in various economic situations. Whether any market shifts are upwards or downwards, or a combination of both following one after the other, is unable to be foreseen, but culturally, and perhaps also economically, this is likely to be a momentous period of time."
Pluto first exactly conjoined the Galactic Centre
on 29th December 2006
on 29th December 2006
I went on to list some of the Sagittarian themes that were prevalent in the media at that time, but one that I wasn't aware of was casino banking, which seems to me to be quite a Sagittarian pursuit.
A further quote from what I wrote back then:
"As well as this clustering and aligning of planets, in December Saturn will make a trine aspect to Pluto. The aspect will be within three degrees orb from October onwards. In December, while the aspect is within one degree of orb, Saturn will appear to stop moving in the sky and then look as if it is travelling backwards (this is known as retrograde motion). What this means is that there is an intense change afoot in the arena of state and corporate power. This applies particularly as Pluto - representing plutocracy - will be within one degree of the galactic centre at various points for the next year or so, and within two degrees for a while longer."
Pluto exactly conjoined the Galactic Centre / Galactic Core on 3 occasions: December 2006, July 2007, October 2007.
However it was within 1 degree of orb throughout these 3 periods: February-May 2006, December '06-January '07, June-November 2007.
If you widen the orb to 3 degrees it was conjunct the GC from early 2005 to late 2008.
However it was within 1 degree of orb throughout these 3 periods: February-May 2006, December '06-January '07, June-November 2007.
If you widen the orb to 3 degrees it was conjunct the GC from early 2005 to late 2008.
Later in the article I went on to say:
"Economically, these cultural processes may well affect the economies of the countries involved, and their stock markets too. Shifts in mood in the national and international psyche may reflect investments, spending habits, and levels of fear. Insurance, taxation, and corporate accountability may well be high on the agenda. From October onwards, peaking in December-January, then tailing off before returning around July-August 2007 for further review. It is most especially this latter period when, history shows, stock markets may be affected by the Saturn-Pluto trine, but in December 2006 when Saturn stations in the later degrees of Leo it will connect with the charts of several of the worlds largest stock markets. Whether that will manifest through institutional restructuring and reorganising, or through market fluctuations, or both, remains to be seen. Looking at previous occurrences of Saturn-Pluto trines we find that the USA's Dow Jones stock market index has usually fallen, however we cannot even 'guesstimate' what may happen to world stock markets this time around. The situation is far too complex, not least because when Pluto was last conjunct the galactic centre in 1758/9 none of the world's stock markets existed, so we have no historical experience to draw upon. And, of course, the world was a very different place in the 18th century."
I remember when I was writing those words what I had in mind was the idea that a publicly-noticeable event might occur during the dates mentioned. Obviously the credit crunch didn't come to the general public's awareness until 2007, however what happened in 2007 clearly started happening in 2006 and earlier.
Wavy top line
is the Saturn-Pluto within 8 degrees of orb - the curve rising and
falling shows the aspect moving towards exactness and then falling away
from exactness. 2nd line from top shows when Saturn was within 1 degree of orb of a trine with the Galactic Centre. 3rd line from the top shows when Pluto was conjunct the Galactic Centre within 1 degree of orb. 4th line down shows Saturn trining the GC within 2 degrees of orb. Bottom line shows Pluto conjoining the GC within a 2 degree orb.
After the credit crunch attained widespread awareness researchers naturally began to compile a retrospective time-line of the crisis, to understand better how it formed, when it formed, and if it could have been avoided or minimised. Of course its roots stretch back decades, but it was possible to point to the first signs of the crunch forming in recent years and to see those signs building in frequency and magnitude up to the point of the sudden collapsing of the system. It's my contention that the alignments with the galactic core are closely linked to what happened, and that we'll only understand way down the line, with plentiful hindsight, the deeper nature of the event and its meaning. I never thought and still do not think that it was as simple as 'Pluto went into Capricorn', not least because the Saturn-Uranus opposition has long been associated with a crisis of the western economic system and must be taken into account, in addition to the Saturn-Pluto aspect mentioned above. I also wonder whether the full nature of what went on is yet known to the public at large, and if not then that would prevent us from making proper sense of it both through our usual thought processes and through astrological analysis.
A time-line of the first inklings and signs of impending collapse shows that these Galactic Centre dates, combined with the dates of the Saturn-Pluto aspect, closely correlate with a sea-change in the various markets and activities involved. Here is a brief overview:
- During 2006: Various warnings (about the housing bubble, about Collateralised Debt Obligations (CDOs) and Credit Default Swaps, about the so-called 'sub-prime' market) of a coming crisis and in some cases attempts to reduce exposure to 'sub-prime' mortgages.
- December 2007: Goldman-Sachs says (after the fact, according to Wikipaedia) that it began reducing its exposure to 'sub-prime' mortgages this month. Goldman-Sachs also begins betting against the housing market, whilst continuing to sell CDOs to its clients. Others claim these risk decisions were made in the spring and summer of 2007.
- January 2007: USA bankruptcies in mortgage and 'sub-prime' industry.
- February to March 2007: The 'sub-prime' industry collapses. HSBC has huge losses in mortgage division - the first major 'sub-prime'-related loss to be reported. Alan Greenspan's comments set off market tremors, bankruptcies continue.
- August 2007: Worldwide 'credit crunch'. USA's 2nd-largest mortgage lender goes bankrupt. European Central Bank (ECB) injects record amount of money into markets.
- September 2007: Run on Northern Rock- first full-scale run on a UK bank in more than a century.
At 1:19am in London (2:19am in Paris) on 9th August, the Moon was in the degree and minute of Gemini directly opposite the galaxy's core. Although it made its announcement on the 9th, BNP Paribas had actually made the announced changes on the afternoon of the 7th, just one day after the Saturn-Pluto trine was exact.
Wavy
top line is the Saturn-Pluto trine within 8 degrees of orb - the curve rising
and falling shows the aspect moving towards exactness and then falling
away from exactness. 2nd line from top shows when Saturn was within 1
degree of orb of a trine with the Galactic Centre. 3rd line from the
top shows when Pluto was conjunct the Galactic Centre within 1 degree
of orb. 4th line down shows the Moon in Gemini opposing the GC within an orb of 1 degree. Bottom line shows the Moon in Sagittarius conjoining the GC within a 1 degree orb.
At the core - of galaxies & economies
It was only in the early 20th century that scientists were able to specify the galaxy's centre, and even then it was a close estimate that took a while longer to confirm and to refine the accuracy of the measurements.
It was a USA scientist named Harlow Shapley who first came up with an accurate estimate of its position. He was born with Venus less than 1 degree from the galactic core, in a close square with the Moon's nodes, a quincunx with Neptune, a trine with Mars and last but by no means least a semi-square with the Sun. His estimate was published in the February 1918 edition of the journal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, in an article called 'Globular clusters and the structure of the galactic system'. In it he described the location of the galaxy's centre like this:
"Two clusters, NGC 7006 and 4147, are separted by a distance of 100,000 parsecs, which may be taken for the present as the diameter of the system of clusters. The centre of the system appears to be at a distance of about 20,000 parsecs, but there is considerable uncertainty in this estimate because of the probable lack of complete data for clusters more distant than 30,000 parsecs. The centre, which lies in the region of the rich star clouds of Sagittarius near the boundary of Scorpio and Ophiuchus, has the coordinates RA 17h 30m, Decl. -30 degrees."
To show how accurate he was, modern measurements calculated backover for February 1918 give the coordinates as:
- Right Ascension: 17h 41m
- Declination: -28d 58m
- Right Ascension: 17h46m 27.3s
- Declination: -29d 00' 15"
- Ecliptic Longitude: 267d 01' 28"
- i.e. 27 degrees 01 minutes Sagittarius
The
Galactic Centre / Galactic Core is located just to the right of
the constellation Sagittarius, within the ringed area
Astrologically and astronomically the core of our galaxy remains somewhat mysterious; despite recently settling on the idea that there is what they call a 'supermassive black hole' there, it has still not been able to be absolutely proven, and scientists are still in the process of studying the region. In the not too distant future no doubt further discoveries will be made in both the science and the significance of this part of the sky. In the meantime, I think it's clear that the planetary movements across this area of the Zodiac, aligning with the supermassive black hole approximately 27,000 light years away from us but which we indirectly orbit, were part and parcel of the financial crisis - its timing and its magnitude. A crisis which has, appropriately enough, been described as having left a black hole in our economies.
Related info & link:
Link to original article on this website from April 2006:
"Galactic Centre Planetary Alignment: December 2006"
Galactic Centre / Galactic Core's area of supermassive black hole
All positions are in Zodiacal Longitude (i.e. Ecliptical Longitude)
The Zodiac Sign is Sagittarius:
entry into Sagittarius was circa 70 AD and
exit from Sagittarius will be circa 2224 AD
All positions are in Zodiacal Longitude (i.e. Ecliptical Longitude)
The Zodiac Sign is Sagittarius:
entry into Sagittarius was circa 70 AD and
exit from Sagittarius will be circa 2224 AD
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