Recently in Mundane Category

Much has been said about the fact that President Obama has not pressed China on human rights during this trip, and that China has not released any dissidents as they have in the past during previous visits from US Presidents.  Human rights advocates, of which I like to think I am one, are calling for the US to take a stronger role in applying pressure on China to improve its human rights record, to free Tibet, to buy more American goods, to expand democracy within its borders.

The problem is, the US has lost its power where China is concerned and Obama is well aware of the lack of leverage he has to assert the usual demands.  China has very quietly over the past few years been buying up the US debt in the form of treasury securities, and currently owns nearly a quarter of the US debt.  That is more than any other nation.  

In 1988, foreign interests owned only 13% of the debt; by 2007 that figure had climbed to 25%.  At that time, Japan topped the list of foreign holders of US debt with $644 billion compared to China's $350 billion.  China now leads the way with $800 billion which generates about $50 billion a year in interest for that nation.

The US has clearly lost its bargaining chips in the face of these facts.  If China loses interest in its investment in US bonds and tries to dump its holdings, it could collapse our economy.  Such a move would also mean a collapse in China's investment, which is a no-win for everyone.  But there's no doubt that the balance of power has shifted as the ownership of the United States has moved to the East.

The current cycle involving Saturn (challenge and limitation) and Pluto (endings and transformation) is tightly aspecting the Midheaven in the chart of the United States.  The Midheaven in a national chart describes its government and its standing in the world, as well as the President of the country.  Pluto began to square the Midheaven back in 2008 as the nation floundered under economic pressures, and Saturn is crossing the Midheaven right now as Obama attempts to bring the American message of democracy, human rights and spending to the Chinese.

I think we will look back on this period over the next few months as Saturn moves back and forth over the US Midheaven, and realize that this was the time that global power shifted to the East.  I wrote about this last month when George Soros indicated that China needed to be included in any global discussions. 

China is certainly behaving as if they understand that the balance of power has shifted.  Hopefully the folks that run things in Washington will wake up to that before it's too late. 

The formal launch of the new Windows 7 software by Microsoft took place yesterday, October 21, at 11:08 am in New York City according to Cnet's live blog.  The chart for this event has the Sun in Libra and Venus in the 10th house of the public, which bodes well for its acceptance by consumers and it has already generated some favorable reviews..  

Sagittarius is rising in the chart, echoing the general optimism and favorable reviews that surrounds the launch of Windows 7.  The Moon is also in Sagittarius, though it sits in the 12th house which is not generally advantageous for electional charts and suggests that few people will actually care about Windows 7.  Still, the Moon is in a favorable sextile to that 10th house Venus which will offset any negative effect.  

Saturn is precariously close to a conjunction to the Midheaven, or public exposure of the product, and that suggests delays and disappointments in its success even though success is relatively assured with Venus elevated in the that 10th house.  But conventional wisdom recommends never buying the initial version of any Microsoft product, so Windows 7 may remain hidden in the 12th house for quite some time. 

Honduras is not a country that has been much in the news, but in June of this year president Manuel Zelaya, who had attempted to rewrite the constitution of that country to permit a president to serve two terms, was ousted by a military coup ordered by the Honduran Supreme Court.  Zelaya re-entered the country illegally last week and demanded reinstatement and the fall of the replacement government.  The government reacted by suspending civil liberties and instituting martial law in many places in the country just as Saturn opposed Uranus exactly.

My bible for national charts is Moon Moore's Book of World Horoscopes, but written back in the 1960s it lacks the benefit of knowledge of more recent history.   Moon used the date that Honduras seceded from the Central American Federation as the date for the national chart of Honduras, but the military ruled the country for many years until 1979 when the country returned to civilian rule (source: WIkipedia).  A new constitution was approved in 1982. Still, the new constitution did not particularly change or alter the country in any way so I am going to go with Moon's original date of November 5, 1838. 

That chart reflects very well the nature of the Honduran government, which like many Latin American countries has bounced back and forth between civilian and military rule   The Sun in this chart is in Scorpio, the planet of power and drama.  Scorpio is not very concerned with democracy or the will of the people - there is an intense desire and passion with Scorpio that holds on to power with an iron grip.  The Sun conjoins Mercury, planet of communication and movement, signifying that despite the fixed nature of the Scorpio Sun, the national identity (Sun) is changeable or Mercurial  (Mercury).  The national identity is further stressed by a square from Neptune, planet of illusion and confusion, making it difficult for this country to settle on a role that suits it for any length of time.

The Mercurial nature of the country is reflected in the unaspected Gemini Moon, since Gemini is ruled by Mercury.  The Moon in a national chart describes the common people and the public mood, and in Honduras they are not afraid to make changes where changes are needed.  

Mars (aggression)  in the chart is opposed by Uranus (revolution), so we would be surprised not to see a continual erosion of the power structures (Scorpio Sun) by rebellion and radical changes.  However, Saturn (restriction and oppression) forms a square to both planets, reflecting the power (Scorpio Sun) of the military (Mars) to squash any such rebellion (Uranus).

Over the past few months transits to the Moon in the Honduras chart revealed that change was coming (Uranus square to the Moon) but that this change, though potentially uncomfortable, would ultimately facilitate healing for the nation  (Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune trine Moon).  But now that Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune have moved away there is just the square of Uranus and Saturn to the Moon, and martial law has been declared to quelch (Saturn) the rebellion (Uranus) that has resulted from the militarized society.  

Transiting Pluto is in a tight square to the nodes of the Moon in the chart - the evolutionary path of the country, an indicator that the current events will have an ultimately transformative (Pluto) effect that will have the power to create lasting change.