|
BILL HANSEN is innovative in the field of cycle research and prognostication. His unique style of chart interpretation, a blend of ancient knowledge and modern statistical methods, results in highly accurate and practical information that you can use. Bill has contributed four valuable techniques to the field of astrology: a simplified method of natal and transit interpretation; the Relocation Plotter; the Diurnal Planet for a Year Progression technique; and the Dice Oracle. Meet Astro Bill
|
|
|
DECLINE- The Fall of America?
by Bill Hansen
What you are about to read may be frightening or enlightening. But we as a nation are surely on a course, like the English and Roman Empires before us, toward decline.
For those of you unfamiliar with my writings, realize that I interpret the cosmic signs based on historical records rather than pure symbolism, in so much as, history repeats itself – but always with a difference.
The path of the planets across the sky is measured along the ecliptic – a 3600 circle that starts at the vernal equinox when the Sun’s apparent path along the ecliptic intersects the equator from south to north. The ecliptic is the actual path of the Earth around the Sun. All the planets appear to move back and forth, above and below, this line. Located just 50 31’ 48” south of this line at 260 Sagittarius 08’ (or celestial longitude 2660 07’ 53”) is the Galactic Center. This region, about 20 across, is rich with stars. There is an estimated million times greater star density at the core of our galaxy. So if we lived close to the galactic center (GC) the sky would be filled with bright stars like Sirius and the night would be as bright as 200 full moons!
Astrophysicists increasingly lean toward the idea that our entire galaxy may be a living organism capable of self-communication. Signals of some kind seem to be coming from the galactic nucleus. Waves of electromagnetic and gravitational radiation, and possibly other unknown energies, are expanding from this region of space. What makes this of particular astrological interest is the fact that Pluto has only been aligned with the GC three times since the discovery of America. Pluto, planet of transformation (death into new life), orbits the Sun in 247.7-years; so the first time it was aligned with the GC was in 1510, and the second time was in 1758. Its third crossing took place on December 7, 2006.
The star Aculeus in the constellation of Ophiuchus lies close to the galactic center (2650 50’ celestial longitude 80 51’ south latitude) and, thus, can be used as a convenient way to measure the movement of the stars and other cosmic points against the precession of the equinox over long periods of time. Aculeus is also of interest because its meaning is linked to the Pluto and galactic center conjunction.
The first Europeans to briefly set foot on the North American continent were the Vikings under Leif Ericson in the year 1000. The Vikings did not, however, change the continent as did later expeditions beginning with Christopher Columbus in 1492. In fact, there is no satisfactory proof of any transatlantic crossing between 1015 and 1492. Numerous excursions to America, around Cape Horn of South American and all the way up Western America, and around Africa, and Drake’s circumnavigation of the world were made after Columbus discovered Cuba and the Caribbean islands.
This Age of Reconnaissance was to fulfill dreams of tapping the riches of the East. It resulted in a new continent being discovered, looted, and developed. The carnage that results to the native inhabitants of the New World is testimony to the dynamic transformation symbolized by Pluto crossing the GC. The first English settlements in Jamestown (1607), the Plymouth Pilgrims (1620), and the Massachusetts Bay colony near Boston ten years later eventually resulted in the transformation of the New World. The Indian populations revolted and were subjugated, natural resources were utilized and taken over (owned), and a new culture was established. America was born.
The next Pluto GC alignment (corrected for equinox precession) peaked December 2, 1758. This was another epochal period in American history. The two great powers of the world at the time, Great Britain and France, had fought three wars between 1689 and 1748. The fourth war, the Seven Years’ War (known in America as the French and Indian War), was the culmination of the conflict between these two expanding empires. The origins of the French and Indian War lay in a territorial dispute over the Ohio valley. Although under French control after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, the French had only trapped and traded with the Indians and settlers in the region until around 1750 when they constructed a line of forts. In response, Great Britain called a conference in Albany to coordinate defense efforts among the colonies and to negotiate an alliance with the Iroquois tribes. The 1754 conference failed to seal a pact with the Iroquois but Benjamin Franklin presented a plan for uniting Great Britain’s North American colonies in defense of British interests while giving the colonies greater power over their own affairs. British officials were uneasy about giving greater self governing powers to the colonies but colonial unity was still a long way off and the French threat was imminent.
War broke out in 1756 and lasted until 1763. By 1760, however, the war in America was over after the fall of Quebec and the capture of Montreal. Great Britain had won the struggle in North America. Great Britain obtained the territory east of the Mississippi as a result of the war. Statues to King George III were erected standing for the most powerful empire on earth. The war produced significant divisions between the colonies and Great Britain however. The British had no desire to exert complete control over colonial affairs, but they did want tight supervision of trade, the cooperation of colonials in local defense, and more financial contributions to the costs of imperial administration. The colonists, on the other hand, resented increased taxes, forced enlistment into the royal navy, and the presence of British soldiers in their midst.
Dissent grew as spokesmen like Patrick Henry declared that the king had negated the original pact between Britain and the colonies. Another lawyer, James Otis, when so far as to challenge the English Parliament’s authorization of general search warrants (“writs of assistance”) to find colonial smugglers of slaves. The Great War for the Empire, as the Seven Years’ War was called, brought to mind the divergence of opinions between Great Britain and its American colonies. As a result, many colonials no longer felt a need for British military power to protect them. The British realized the consequence of the war in North America by identifying six problems:
(1) a colonial disorganized command structure, (2) inefficient administration, (3) lax enforcement of trade regulations, (4) wide resistance to taxation, (5) mistrust between colonies, and (6) extreme theoretical divisions in colonial politics.
We are now living during the third great Pluto galactic center alignment since the inception of our nation. The two previous alignments have several common denominators that aptly fit many of today’s circumstances. These “trends” are the meaning to this grand alignment.
The first theme is invasion. The voyages of discovery during the 1500s were in fact based on the expansion of wealth and trade. The French and Indian War and the greater Seven Years’ War of which it was a part involved an expansion of territory for the British and colonials. Both “invasions” were resource driven, just as our conquest of Iraq is a resource war over the free flow of oil.
The second theme is resource acquisition and protection. Land, and the resources it holds, must be held by arms and braced with laws. The early American settlements fought dearly to maintain their foothold on the New Continent. They had their Christian beliefs and British law to support the villages and towns that sprang up around forts.
Territories were carved out of the wilderness – purchased or taken from the indigenous people of the area. The 1700’s were no different as the British rallied support among colonial militias and allied Indian tribes to fight the French and their Indian allies in the rich Ohio valley and all the way up to Canada. Establishing a democratic rule of law in Afghanistan and Iraq, training armies and police to enforce the laws, and garnering the support of as many tribal allies as possible, are the main missions left after our invasion of the Middle East. The English and colonials were successful in defeating the French, just as the settlers defeated the American Indians. And so America, now like the British, has successfully invaded and appears to have won for the moment.
The third theme is cultural change. The Indian tribal cultures were radically altered by the advent of English and European customs. A semblance of French tradition lingered in some regions long after the English took control of North America but English common law, beliefs, and other European mores soon dominated the eastern portion of the continent. The European culture gradually merged with the Indian and rapidly
Although cultural change of the conquered took place gradually, the enforcement of political change came immediately. When the war of conquest was over the winner’s political structure was forced upon the loser. Conflicts – be they aggressive wars of conquest or rebellions against invaders - naturally produce scores of dead and wounded, many more deaths through the spread of disease, and inevitable mass migrations. The American Indians are a perfect example of how conflicts displace people by the factors just mentioned. The French left in droves after the French and Indian War to their safe havens. The British gained ground in the conflict, especially overseas. And so America became an English speaking culture with British laws as its base.
The eighth and last theme is demise. The Pluto GC alignment signals the beginning of the end of an empire. The Indian nations lost control of their domination of North America. The French abandoned all claims to the hemisphere and regrouped to expand their empire in Europe only to lose it with the fall of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1814. This would also be the year that the British lost the War of 1812 with America – never to threaten her again but destined to be her friend. The War of 1812 had also crushed the Indian confederations that Westerners believed blocked westward growth. This started a period of forced “removal” of Indians to the West away from expanding white settlers. Spain as an empire was also crumbling with it tenuous hold on Florida soon to end.
What, then, does the Pluto/GC alignment mean for America today? Pluto symbolizes pulling apart or away from something. It is the planet of death, renewal, and new life – transformation. Divorce after a time of love is represented by this asteroid-behaving, semi-planet. Powerful change, forced or inevitable, is what Pluto represents astrologically. Something comes to an end and a transformation into a new way of living results. This is so reminiscent of the themes just presented.
The star Aculeus, located just over 30 south of the galactic center, is closely positioned to the Pluto/GC. The astrological meaning for Aculeus, gleaned from centuries of star correspondence with human behavior, is linked to the constellation in which it is found. According to tradition, when Scorpio lost its claws to Libra, it also lost most of its position with the ecliptic. Ophiuchus lies over a much larger area of the ecliptic than Scorpio. The Sun travels primarily through the stars of Ophiuchus from November 21 to December 16, rather than the stars of Scorpio. Ophiuchus could, therefore, be the thirteenth zodiacal sign. The Greeks thought of Ophiuchus as Serpentarius - the Healer.
This was the god Asclepius, son of Apollo. Asclepius is usually depicted holding a staff with a serpent entwined - the symbol now used for Western medicine. Asclepius was the ship’s surgeon on the Argo who became so skilled at being able to bring patients back to life the gods smote him with a thunderbolt for fear that his healing powers would exceed theirs. Centuries later the Christians altered the myth to fit their philosophies. Ophiuchus became Saint Paul with the Maltese Viper; Moses holding up the blazing serpent in the wilderness; and, lastly, Saint Benedict standing among thorns.
What these myths tell us is that the constellation Ophiuchus is associated with healing and carefulness, rejuvenation, wisdom, and rebirth. Asclepius was said to have the blood of Medusa in his veins. Medusa’s blood on the left side was fatal poison, while the blood on the right was beneficial. Ophiuchus is thus connected with all aspects of healing: medicines of herbs, drugs, and alcohols.
The stars Aculeus and Acumen are the stinger in the constellation of Scorpio. As Pluto roughly aligns with this star their significance blends. Aculeus stands for attacks that strengthen. It is part of a nebula and, therefore, linked to blindness. Roman soldiers were tested for eyesight by being able to see or not see this and other nebula. The reference to eyesight has a corollary meaning as insight or inner vision, intuition and common sense. Associated with physical, verbal, or spiritual attacks that one is able to endure and become stronger as a result, Aculeus is an apt cosmic symbol for the Pluto alignment. It means being challenged and subjected to defamatory gossip and accusation. Health can be jeopardized in the process, especially if one gets angry and becomes aggressive. Wise and prudent uses of force are called upon or harm results.
How do the eight themes of the Pluto/GC alignment relate to current (circa 2007) and future events?
(1) Invasion: the 2001 terrorist attack on America started the war to eradicate radical Islamic world terrorism. Osama bin Laden, the architect of Jihad against foreign meddlers on Muslim holy lands, was to begin - and apparently end - in Afghanistan. The Afghan government tumbled and the protection given to bin Laden’s training bases was stripped. Osama bin Laden and many of his followers, however, slipped away while remnants of his al-Qaeda and ex-government Taliban forces continued an underground fight. Interestingly, the man clandestinely placed in power by the United States in Iraq (Saddam Hussein) would play a pivotal role in the growing War on Terrorism. Hussein’s Iraq was first invaded during the George Bush, Sr. presidency after he invaded Kuwait and threatened the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. A second invasion of Iraq took place after the Taliban were driven from power in Afghanistan; this attack was largely based on the false premise that Hussein possessed “weapons of mass destruction.” The U.S., like the English and European settlers, and the British and French governments, were now the invaders.
(2) Resource acquisition/protection: U.S. military bases were quickly established in friendly neighboring countries and in enemy territory after being overrun. Staging areas, supply routes, and remote depots were also set up in the region, each being protected by thousands of troops, aircraft, and naval arms. Most important were the resources - the oil fields and essential infrastructure for a continued military action. Most civilians, on the other hand, were left with fewer hours of electricity, not fully functioning sewer and water systems, or the means to rebuild their war-torn country and earn a living. Thus an insurgency war started amid tribal animosities that bordered on civil war. This harkens back to the long Indian wars, the alliances between tribes and between some tribes and the American colonists and the English and French.
(3) Cultural change: Whereas the American Indians were driven from their lands in mass migrations and mostly decimated by disease, tens of thousands of Iraqis have left the country. Sanitary conditions and unexploded ordinance will take their share of innocent victims without extensive deaths due to disease or lack of essentials. The people of Afghanistan and Iraq, however, will never fully recover from the cultural changes that are being forced upon them by our occupying troops and logistic support teams. America was forever more changed somewhat by the French and less by the Spanish, and more so by the English and European settlers. Corporate America has come to Iraq and to a lesser degree in Afghanistan for oil contracts. Trade will be a legacy too if a pro-western government can stay in power. Expect McDonalds and other American icons of culture ranging from electronics to clothes, to movies and music to infiltrate Iraqi and Afghan culture.
(4) Cooperative control: America, like the British earlier, has no desire to complety dominate and control their conquered lands. What is desired is tight supervision of trade, cooperation of the Afghans and Iraqis to police their people, and to draw up democratic constitutions so that the free world can cooperate and trade with them. Most importantly, favorable agreements between European and American oil companies and distributors must be made and protected to ensure that the vast oil reserves of the region are traded in dollars and shipped to allied nations.
The first four themes of the Pluto/GC have been met or are being made. The fifth through last theme have yet to fully manifest.
(5) Backlash: Almost immediately after the fall of Baghdad and the surrender of the Iraqi military an insurgency grew. Baath party members and Hussein loyalists were not incorporated into the new government, nor were most ex-soldiers provided jobs. This resulted in a huge, mostly Sunni, revolt. Soon Shiite and Sunni factions were fighting each other and coalition forces as well. The splintered, on-going fighting is reminiscent of the three century Indian wars. Normal relations didn’t resume between the U.S. and Britain until long after the War of 1812. The same will apply to Iraq and Afghanistan. We face a long series of protracted struggles in these countries. The war on Muslim extremists is like a wildfire. It will spread with remarkable speed, die down, and reemerge in unexpected new directions. Terrorist cells are spread all across Muslim countries in Africa, the Mediterranean, Middle East, Asia, and Indonesia. Only in our national interests will we intervene to weed them out.
As I predicted in Earth Changes and the web article “Inflation Warning and the War in Iraq,” the U.S. is in a Vietnam style guerrilla war that can not be won. When can we stop fighting? Who do we stop fighting? Iran and Syria poise significant threats. Will they be next on the list of terror nations to be overthrown? The instability within Pakistan is another major problem since al Qaeda militants have infiltrated the country and its mountainous border with Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden is probably hiding in these mountains. We are supporting Pakistan troops in an effort to contain them. But what happens if the Pakistan leader Musharraf falls and the country erupts in sectarian violence? There are forces aligned against American presence in the oil rich region like kindling waiting to be ignited. The Pluto Galactic Center alignment (see Special Report on website home page) lends further collaboration to realignment of nations and a shift in the balance of world power.
What new alliances could be formed to counter U.S. and NATO aim in the region? This process is already underway. Russia, buoyed by huge oil wealth, is helping Iran and others with nuclear development. Putin has found a way to remain in power after his presidency. Bush is attempting to bring more peace to the Middle East in his last year as president. Only two Arab nations, Egypt and Jordan, have signed peace agreements with Israel. The Kurds in Northern Iraq want to be autonomous and run the rich oil fields in their territory; meanwhile, guerrilla factions are battling Turkey and the latter has launched massive raids into the mountains to drive the insurgents out. There are plenty of hotspots and nations eager to realign. China, for instance, has a deep pocketbook for oil rich Darfur in its business alliance with Chad.
(6) Retreat: As the Indians, the French, and the British retreated from lands that they could no longer hold, so too will Americans leave Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other occupied territories invaded during the war on terrorism. What will be left behind is a permanent legacy like that left by Genghis Kan, Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire, and Napoleon. This great legacy is a smattering of their culture, politics, and trade connections. America defeated will have gained what her corporate sponsors wanted in the first place – new markets. U.S. and a few allied oil companies will provide Iraq and, perhaps, Iran if she is overthrown, with the expertise and equipment needed to pump, refine, and distribute black gold. Valued contracts worth billions of dollars will, hopefully, keep America afloat in the middle of her rising national debt.
(7) Alliance: The Indians, French, and British each became U.S. allies in time. And so will the Afghans, the Iraqis, and other Muslim countries due to economics and cultural exchanges. The human price before this stage is reached, however, may be staggering.
The fourth theme is cooperative control of the conquered people. The colonists and their British overlords’ first-of-all wanted their settlements to survive. This necessitated trade and peaceful cooperation with the Indians. The arrangement to live with the Indians and to purchase tracts of their land didn’t go as planned. Conflicts and wars periodically broke out; nevertheless, treaty after broken treaty did allow many of the Indians to become allies at times and to provide valuable knowledge, help, and trade to aid the new comers. Eventually, it was the Indians, not the settlers, who would be decimated and evicted. A similar type of conditions applied to the British expectations for colonials. The British had no desire to exert complete control over colonial affairs, but they did want tight supervision of trade, the cooperation of colonials in local defense, and more taxes to fund their imperial holdings.
The fifth theme is backlash. The various Indian tribes eventually revolted against the colonies when treaties were broken or their livelihood was oppressed. Sometimes rival tribes joined together to fight the whites. One of the most significant of these uprisings began during the spring of 1763. Under the leadership of Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa tribe, several Indian tribes launched a general attack against white settlements and outposts from Detroit to western Virginia. Over 2,000 settlers died in the two year engagement. Similarly, what the French and Indian War made clear was that the colonists resented increased taxes, forced enlistment into the royal navy, and the presence of British soldiers in their midst – and sometimes even in their homes. These disagreements were the first storms of rebellion brewing. They would eventually come together and spark “the perfect or grand storm” of the American Revolution.
The sixth theme is retreat. The British lost their American colonies a decade after the Pluto GC alignment, just as the French lost much of their North American holdings after the French and Indian War, eventually selling the rest in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana treaty guaranteed existing Indian rights, but President Jefferson soon began to talk about the government’s manifest destiny to “civilize” the Indians and convert them into small farmers. The seeds of the Civil War were being sowed at this time too. Northerners and Southerners argued over the spread of slavery to the new territory that doubled the size of the colonies. Although the French and later the British surrendered their land and political rights in the New World, their cultural influence remained and was incorporated into the social structure of Americans. The Indians, too, were force-fed the American culture.
The seventh theme is alliance. The Indians, the British, and the French eventually became our allies.
(8) Demise: This is the last and most difficult phase in the grand alignment of Pluto and the galactic center. It will take years to unfold … but manifest it will.
The great, indigenous Indian nations of the North American Continent were eventually driven from complete power in less than three centuries; they lost most eastern lands after the second Pluto/GC alignment. Financially strapped by the end of the Seven Years War and unable to successfully tax the colonies to pay for her war debts, the British Empire gradually shrank. It would take two hundred years before Britain’s role as world leader passed to America. The United States has been the dominate power and economic engine of the world since World War II. The Pluto/GC alignment signals the beginning of the end of American supremacy. It may take several decades, even a century or more, before America passes the torch of leadership to another nation or united group of nations.
But a cyclic study of history suggests that the footing for this exchange has been set. We can only identify the signs of decay within: rising national debt, falling value of the dollar, political corruption of the Constitution, continued rise in importance of the military/industrial complex, unwillingness to adequately prepare for an end to the era of oil and the growing threat of global warming. Whether America will successfully meet these challenges or succumb to one or more of them is yet to be seen. Another nation or united group, nevertheless, will soon ascend as we descend.
END
Article written by Bill Hansen 2010. All rights reserved.
|
|
|
HOME