December 2019: Solar Eclipse & a Planetary Conclave in Sagittarius

By Edith Hathaway © 2019

December 2019 brings some extra acceleration and intensity due to eclipses on Dec. 26, 2019 and Jan. 10, 2020. They occur at 9:59 Sagittarius and 25:52 Gemini, respectively.  (All planetary positions are sidereal zodiac/Lahiri ayanamsha.)  In addition, we have a Sagittarian focus for nearly eight weeks. This includes the entire month of Dec. 2019 and from Nov. 21, 2019 to Jan. 12, 2020.  Adding tr. Pluto to the nine classic Vedic planets, five planets are in Sagittarius from Nov. 21 to Dec. 24; seven planets are in Sagittarius from Dec. 25 to 27, and six planets in Sagittarius from Dec. 25 to Jan. 12, 2020.  The Sagittarian realms of life include international trade, travel and communications, higher education, education in general, the law, religion and journalism.  Thus we know in advance there will be a huge focus in each of these areas from Nov. 21, 2019 to Jan. 12, 2020, and increasingly so the closer we get to the Solar eclipse on Dec. 26, 2019.

Tr. Pluto is of special interest, being in the Vargottama sector of Sagittarius (26:40 to 30:00 degrees) for 10 months during these dates: Oct. 28, 2019 to Feb. 24, 2020; June 28, 2020 to Dec. 30, 2020.  This gives the planet extra strength in Sagittarius, repeating in the same sign in the Navamsha, the most important of the harmonic charts.  During its 15 years in the sign of Sagittarius (on and off from Feb. 8, 2005), Pluto has the power to spearhead major transitions in all these Sagittarian realms, especially as it nears the end of the transit on Dec. 30, 2020.  This is due to Pluto’s Vargottama status in any of the dual signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius or Pisces.

Pluto’s orbit is so irregular that it can take anywhere from 12 to 33 years to pass through a sign. This can have the effect of uniting whole generations, especially when the major transitions take longer to gestate.  Pluto spends longer in Aquarius through Cancer, notably Pisces, Aries, Taurus and Gemini.)   Note Pluto’s relatively shorter orbital cycles from Oct. 1968 to Dec. 2020.

Tr. Pluto in Gemini for 28 years: Aug. 20, 1905 to July 13, 1933.
“               ”   Cancer for 21 years to Jun 29, 1954.
“               ”   Leo for 14.3 years to Oct. 9, 1968.
“               ”   Virgo for 13 years to Oct. 1, 1981.
“               ”   Libra for 12 years to Oct. 4, 1993.
“               ”   Scorpio for 11.3 years to Feb. 8, 2005.
“               ”   Sagittarius for 15 years to Dec. 30, 2020.
“               ”   Capricorn for 19 years to Jan. 16, 2040.

Pluto is the planet of radical transformation that often occurs through elimination and renewal, but a total breakdown is often needed before renewal can occur.  Operating here in a fiery sign, Pluto has powers of depth perception and also psychological manipulation.  It knows how to rock the boat and bring the truth to the surface, often after it has been hidden for some time, all of this happening in the high tech Information Age, thus enabling Pluto to do its underground work over a far wider spectrum, with unprecedented capacities for global surveillance, but also the capacity to bring totally new kinds of trade and information wars.

Mythological Pluto is a predator, and we see Pluto at work here in the arena of human trafficking, surveillance and the mainstream media, where propaganda often replaces fact-based investigative journalism.  Opinion polls are heavily weighted for desired results, and information and language are often manipulated so that the truth and the facts are hidden from all but the most discerning citizens.  Social media giants (Facebook, Google/Youtube, Twitter) now regularly censor and de-platform both users and employees who disagree with their Leftist agenda. They call it “hate speech,” but in reality it is anything that departs from their ideology.  In higher education, Conservative lecturers are usually boycotted and anything but Leftist views among students and faculty are soon punished with lower grades and no tenure.

Ironically, as information becomes more accessible worldwide, high standards for faculty and students are steadily eroded as demands for multicultural diversity trump actual depth of knowledge, experience and accreditation. Consequently, higher education, and increasingly secondary education, yield lower and lower academic results and the loss of critical thinking.  Meanwhile the highest standards of scholarship are subject to indoctrination and intimidation. This is both damaging and potentially dangerous in realms where unbiased and top level research is sorely needed, such as in climate studies, where a huge division persists between Left and Right.  All these issues come to a head with so much planetary focus in Sagittarius, and the impact is always international in scope.  For instance, the number of student visas is being questioned, especially when those students stay and take jobs from American graduates, and with salaries at lower rates.

Media giants work with governments in both democratic and communist nations such as China, and also in direct confrontation with citizens’ rights of free speech in democratic nations.  Ever since The USA Patriot Act of Oct. 2001 and the expansion of cyber surveillance and cyber warfare, the basis of any real privacy is gone and civil rights greatly weakened.  Wikileaks (founded in 2006) and a handful of brave Information Age whistleblowers informed us of this reality from the time tr. Pluto entered Sagittarius in Feb. 2005.  And they were neither protected nor anonymous.

Tr. Saturn is also Vargottama in Sagittarius from Dec. 26, 2019 to Jan. 24, 2020, when it makes its final exit from Sagittarius after 2.3 years.   The Saturn-Pluto conjunction at 28:38 Sagittarius (Jan. 12, 2020) may indicate the last gasp of obstruction to the changes that both planets are trying to make in the Sagittarian sphere of life, Saturn for 2.3 years from Oct. 26, 2017.  The Saturn-Pluto conjunction occurs two days after the Full Moon eclipse at 25:52 Gemini on Jan. 10, 2020.

Solar eclipse – USA

A brief review on how to read the North and South Indian charts.

From here on, we focus mostly on the Dec. 26th Solar eclipse, an annular eclipse at 9:59 Sagittarius, with some commentary on the Lunar eclipse Jan. 10, 2020.  Since tr. Jupiter is at 11:12 Sagittarius, it is the closest planet to the Solar eclipse degree, giving reason for optimism and expansion, even if Jupiter is technically combust the Sun.   Also, Jupiter does well in a fire sign and rules Sagittarius. This is further confirmed by the ancient astrologer/astronomer Ptolemy, who said: “The planet having closest configuration with an eclipse dominates it.”

The Solar eclipse chart for Dec. 26, 2019 set for the U.S. capitol has the Ascendant at 10:37 Virgo in Hasta nakshatra.  The sign lord Mercury and nakshatra lord Moon are among the large stellium of planets in the 4th house of this chart.  This includes six classic Vedic planets, in this order: Mercury, Jupiter, Sun, Moon, Ketu, Saturn, and also Pluto at 28:03 Sagittarius (not shown in this chart).

The 4th house in mundane astrology puts the focus squarely on matters related to the land, agriculture, crops, weather (including earthquakes and/or volcanoes), and the termination of anything. The Opposition Party to the current government is also shown in the 4th house.  In the U.S., this is the Democratic Party.  The Sankhya Shoola yoga is also featured.  This yoga occurs when all Vedic classical planets (except Rahu and Ketu) appear in only three houses. Shoola in Sanskrit means “thorn” or a sharp pointed object.  The yoga implies that someone or something is a “thorn in one’s side” and it gives a lot of added focus and intensity to the person, organization or event being featured.  In this case it is the 4th house: the Opposition Party.

In the U.S. the Opposition party (the Democrats) are stepping up all their efforts to remove President Donald Trump from office, since they never accepted the results of the Nov. 2016 election.  The Trump-Russia hoax took almost three years and $45 million of taxpayer money and proved no criminal actions by Trump.  They came up empty-handed, but not without resolve to find some other crime they might use.  The President’s July 25, 2019 Ukraine phone call is now the basis of an Impeachment proceeding in the U.S. House of Representatives. However, one full week of witness testimony in Nov. 2019 revealed no criminal actions by Trump other than those assumed or presumed through second and third-hand sources.  One key piece of witness testimony, that of Mark Sandy (White House Budget official), was withheld from the televised hearing, when he confirmed the only reason that President Trump was withholding aid to Ukraine was to first find out how much aid other nations were contributing to Ukraine.   Even with this piece of exculpatory evidence, Democrats are proceeding on Dec. 4, 2019 with Impeachment Inquiry hearings by the House Judiciary Committee, this time to determine the Constitutional basis for impeachment.  Impeachment is required by law to be a bipartisan process, but 81% of Democrats support it and 81% of Republicans oppose it.  So it does not fulfill even those basic requirements.

On Dec. 9, 2019, shortly after these next Impeachment hearings begin, The Inspector General’s Report is due to be released on the FBI counterintelligence investigation 2015-2017 into the Trump campaign, codenamed Operation Crossfire Hurricane by the FBI and its lead investigator, Peter Strzok It was conducted by a group of heavily partisan investigators, as shown by a wide range of texts and messages.  Michael Horowitz, author of the I.G. Report, is scheduled to testify before the same House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 11, 2019.  These events so closely together highlight the amount of public attention the Opposition Party is garnering through its extreme animosity towards President Trump, in turn highlighting the large number of planets in the 4th house of the eclipse chart.

In the midst of all this, the 2020 Democratic Presidential candidates’ race is heating up, and candidate Joe Biden is receiving unwanted attention for bilking millions from Ukraine and $1 billion from China while he was Vice President. Even so, President Trump is taking all the criticism for daring to ask the Ukrainian president to look into “corruption” in his country in his July 2019 phone call.  Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama is not supporting his former Vice President in the 2020 race, and now vows to oppose Bernie Sanders if he should make significant headway while advancing through the primaries.  This exactly repeats the actions of the Democratic Party Establishment in 2016, when Sanders looked poised to win the primaries, and investigations of Hillary Clinton’s emails, use of a private server, and the fraudulent Clinton Foundation were systematically squashed by Democratic allies in the FBI and Dept. of Justice, the same ones doing the Trump-Russia investigation: Operation Crossfire Hurricane.

More Sagittarian themes running strong in December 2019 involve corporations such as Google and Boeing. Major events for each company are scheduled to occur in December 2019. Coincidentally, their first trade charts each have Virgo rising.  (Google – 1st trade: Aug. 19, 2004, 9:30 am, New York, NY, Ascendant: 11:25 Virgo; Boeing – 1st trade: Sept. 4, 1935, 10:00 am, New York, NY., Ascendant: 29:47 Virgo) This puts tr. Saturn is in the 4th house – a low point for any company or individual, though this shifts when tr. Saturn exits Sagittarius on Jan. 24, 2020 after 2.3 years.  In Dec. 2019 Boeing is seeking recertification of its 737 Max jets, after billions of dollars in losses and cancellation or postponement of orders for these 737 Max jets.  Introduced in 2017, these jets crashed twice during tr. Saturn’s transit through Sagittarius:  1) Oct. 29, 2018 in Indonesia, and 2) March 10, 2019 in Ethiopia.  Hundreds of people were killed in each crash, including pilot, passengers and crew.  The cause was reportedly a faulty sensor, a specific tech feature that may have forced both planes to do a nose dive seconds before they crashed.

Meanwhile Google and its subsidiary Youtube are officially changing their Community Guidelines and Community Strikes protocols for Youtube videos, as of Dec. 10, 2019.  This is being billed as pragmatic, but will effectively de-platform even more independent and conservative journalists than those already de-platformed and de-monetized in the last several years.  It is yet more Information warfare by Big Media on U.S. citizens and journalists.  In this context, another reason for referencing social media giants Google and Youtube is that the mainstream and social media giants are almost totally allied with one party in the U.S.: the Opposition Party.  This is not a healthy situation for a democracy, and abandons the true purpose of journalism.  Twitter will ban all political ads for the 2020 election.  Facebook will exempt politicians from third party fact-checking, allowing them to run ads with false claims. Bloomberg News will not cover ANY Democratic presidential candidate, since their owner Michael Bloomberg is now in the race. They will not vet any of the Democratic Presidential candidates, which is their job as journalists.  All this repeats the eclipse chart’s 4th house emphasis.

The USA chart

It is important to consider an overlay of the Solar eclipse planets on to the national chart. The USA chart (Kelleher) has the Ascendant at 8:59 Sagittarius.  This puts the USA Ascendant within one degree orb of the Dec. 26, 2019 Solar eclipse degree and two degrees from tr. Jupiter.  This is very positive, especially for promoting the affairs of the nation-state and of patriotism, all within the realm of Sagittarius, where Jupiter is strong.  Jupiter is also Digbala (best possible angle of the chart) in the Ascendant. Further, the U.S. is running Rahu-Jupiter Dasha from June 10, 2018 to Nov. 2, 2020.  This gives more emphasis to tr. Rahu and Jupiter, both of them currently transiting the Ascendant and Descendant of the USA chart. 

A brief review on how to read the North and South Indian charts.

President Trump has made his “America First” campaign clear since 2015, and he has adhered to his campaign promises not to engage in unnecessary foreign wars and to focus on strengthening the economic well-being of American citizens.  To this end, he has succeeded enormously in bringing back American jobs from overseas, boosting the U.S. economy, and as of Oct. 2019 raising employment among women and minorities to levels not seen in 50 years.

When we look from this perspective, we see that the Solar eclipse favors President Trump and the cause of national identity and national borders, especially at a time when the U.S.-Mexico borders have been overrun and Democrats have refused to admit it is a problem and refused all but minimal funding for a strong barrier and security forces along the southern border.  Remembering that Jupiter is a key factor in analyzing this combination, the overlay of the Solar eclipse Sun-Moon-Jupiter on to this USA national chart gives strong support to President Trump and to the issue of patriotism and national pride. Tr. Jupiter is in the USA Ascendant and aspects four planets in the 7th house: Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Sun.  In Jan. 2020 the Lunar eclipse at 25:52 Gemini is close to the USA Sun, i.e. the President, with tr. Jupiter at 14:47 Sagittarius closely opposite natal Venus and Jupiter in Gemini.

You could argue that so much Jupiter action, including in Sagittarius, is expansive and favors an increase in immigration.  Though the expansive factor is correct, we must bear in mind that Jupiter in Sagittarius also strongly favors the national identity and integrity, along with patriotism.  The Opposition Party favors giving funding, housing and health care to illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens and veterans. In their drive to push for more and more immigration, the Opposition Party supports operations that delegitimize Border Patrol and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). They support “Sanctuary states and cities,” where local Police are instructed not to work with ICE, and where 100s of criminals are released into the community on a regular basis rather than report them to ICE.

President Trump and his supporters in the Republican Party favor protecting legal American citizens over illegal immigrants, of whom there are up to 22 million currently in the U.S.  Meanwhile, by itself, the Solar eclipse chart set for the U.S. capitol shows the enormous amount of attention the Opposition Party – the Globalists – have in fighting those who, along with the President want to preserve and defend the U.S. Constitution and U.S national borders.  For all their talk about “Constitutional crises,” Democrats also say they want to make many changes in the U.S. Constitution, including eliminating the Electoral College.  In addition to their support for unlimited mass migration to the U.S. and socialism in most areas of life, this is a recipe for non-stop power and control by a cadre of Democrats.

During the EARTH period (1921 to 2199), when the Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions dominate in EARTH signs, especially during the core of the EARTH period (1961 to 2080), Jupiter is greatly weakened.  This is due to the Graha Yuddha   – Planetary War – in which Saturn wins over Jupiter and dominates far more in the EARTH period. Thus the nation-state is definitely imperiled during the EARTH period.  When we see an eclipse or a Solstice chart (both here) that has a strong Jupiter, we see some reprieve for the nation-state within the context of a larger era when corporate and/or cabal dominance can overpower nation-states.  What may not be apparent to those unaware of the facts, the United Nations is a strongly Globalist organization leading the charge to weaken the power of individual nation-states. They are in an alliance with the U.S. Democrats in their quest for Open Borders.  The U.N. wants to eliminate the power of nations to secure their own borders, and they are dictating mass migration to be legal in every nation in the world.  Ironically, the U.N. cannot enact and enforce its own laws – a very odd situation, unless you consider this EARTH period, the threat to nation-states, and tr. Pluto in Sagittarius.

The most important target of the Globalists right now is the United States. United Nations programs such as Agenda 21 and Agenda 30 make this abundantly clear. Having begun in 1992, Agenda 21 will reach its 28-year Saturn return by 2020, and thus a certain point of reckoning. Apropos the Dec. 26th Solar eclipse, it is exactly on a key planet in the U.N. chart (Oct. 24, 1945, 16:45 EST, Washington, D.C., Ascendant: 26:58 Pisces).  In that chart natal Ketu is in the 10th house at 9:59 Sagittarius – exactly on the Solar eclipse degree.  Ketu is also current Dasha lord: July 26, 2019 to July 26, 2026.  With the eclipse exactly on Ketu and in Ketu-owned Mula nakshatra, it may have a negative effect, even with Jupiter’s positive influence. Also, tr. Saturn in the 10th house can bring a fall from great heights.  We will see if Saturn’s exit from Sagittarius Jan. 24, 2020 yields any important information about the U.N.  There could be some serious setbacks in the U.N.’s Open Borders project for the U.S. and elsewhere.

Solar eclipse – UK

A brief review on how to read the North and South Indian charts.

The Solar eclipse chart set for London, UK shows the eclipse planets and the stellium in Sagittarius in the 2nd house.  This indicates that financial and banking matters, the London Stock Exchange and national wealth are of major concern, and will have a lot of weight in the final outcome of the upcoming election Dec. 12, 2019.   Mars is rising in Scorpio, so this could be quite a battle, though Mars has less power at just 0:22 of the sign.  In the UK the political party in power (the Conservatives) are striving to achieve Brexit, i.e. exit from the European Union and greater control over their own nation, including control over mass migration. The Labour Party is fighting against it and supports mass immigration – as do the U.S. Democrats. So everywhere we keep seeing the Globalists (the Left) vs. the Nationalists (the Right). The Nationalists support more national autonomy and less control by unelected bureaucrats pushing for one world government and minimal power by individual nation-states.  In this election, Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to gain more Conservative seats in Parliament.  He needs this in order to stop the ongoing blockade against his attempts (and before him those of P.M. Teresa May) to achieve the Brexit that was voted in by the British people in June 2016 by a clear margin of 52% to 48%.

In this important national election on Dec. 12, 2019, UK citizens will vote once again to determine their national leadership. As of late Nov. 2019 it looks likely the Conservatives will gain many more seats in Parliament and finally leave the European Union.  Prior to this, at least 75% of the laws passed in the British parliament were created by unelected bureaucrats in the EU who have little knowledge or concern about the intricacies of life in the UK.  Like the USA, Britain is poised and ready to reclaim more of its nationhood, and we see hints of this in the Sun-Moon-Jupiter combination in the Dec. 26th solar eclipse, especially rooted in Sagittarius.

Solar eclipse – China

                               A brief review on how to read the North and South Indian charts.

Lastly, the Dec. 26th Solar eclipse set for Beijing, China has the Ascendant at 7:43 Aries, with the stellium in Sagittarius in the 9th house.  Though Ascendant lord Mars is not well placed in the 8th house, the eclipse in the 9th house in Beijing indicates at least a serious intention and focus on hammering out an agreement with the U.S. in the U.S.-China trade talks.  This placement also shows how hugely dependent China is on international trade. Venus in the 10th house is a strong indicator of peace and/or peaceful intentions. Though it is not easy to get completely accurate information from sources in Communist China, it is known that U.S. tariffs have had a harsh effect on the Chinese economy, which is much weaker than the U.S. economy. Because of this China is much more ready than it lets on to come to some conclusive agreements with the U.S. on trade talks.

In my article on the U.S.-China Trade Wars  (Dec. 30, 2018),  I predicted the following: “…[T]the Trade War between the U.S., China and other nations should be resolved by late Jan. 2020, though some issues such as with intellectual property rights could drag on up to late 2020 – with the U.S. Presidential Election Nov. 3, 2020 and the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Capricorn Dec. 21, 2020.”  We know too that tr. Pluto finally exits Sagittarius Dec. 30, 2020 after 15 years.

This timing coincides with the final exit of Saturn from Sagittarius Jan. 24, 2020 after the long and concentrated eight weeks of planetary focus in Sagittarius. This ends Jan. 12, 2020 and includes two eclipses, one in Sagittarius, one in Gemini.  In the China national chart (Communist China, Oct. 1, 1949, 15:15, Beijing, China, Ascendant: 12:47 Capricorn), the Dec. 2019 Solar eclipse occurs in the 12th house close to the 12th house cusp.  Since the 12th house is one of losses and expenses, as well as secret plots, spies and conspiracies, this is yet another indicator that China could finally come to terms with the U.S. and settle at least some parts of the U.S.-China Trade War by late Jan. 2020.   Since the 12th house can indicate secret treaties, it is possible that the U.S. and China come to some secret agreements that are not all made public.  This would fit with the huge importance Chinese culture places on saving face, especially if some parts of the agreement showed too much weakness to the Americans and would not meet the approval of the Chinese Communist Party bosses.  Face-saving was a major factor when President Trump was dealing with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un, and it could again be pivotal in forging an agreement between the U.S. and China.

[Update Dec. 3, 2019: Today Google announced that its two founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are stepping down as CEOs after 21 years and turning over the reins to Sundar Pichai, an Indian immigrant who joined the company in 2004. Google has been facing antitrust probes from federal and state officials, along with complaints from employees’ perceived weakness in handling allegations of sexual misconduct, as well as Google’s Pentagon contract to develop artificial intelligence and Project Dragonfly, proposed work with China.]

[Update Jan. 20, 2020: .  The U.S.-Japan trade deal was signed Jan. 1, 2020; the U.S.-China trade deal (Phase 1) was signed Jan. 15, 2020; and the USMCA (U.S.-Mexico-Canada) trade deal was passed by the U.S. Senate Jan. 16, 2020.  On Jan. 31, 2020 the U.K. marks its first official stage of Brexit, leaving the European Union.  A transition period  is expected to extend up to Dec. 2020, though Prime Minister Boris Johnson would like to accelerate the schedule.]

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Selected References:

From the author:

From other sources:

 

 [This article also appears in the December 2019 issue of AstroLogic magazine, an on-line magazine.]

Copyright © 2019 by Edith Hathaway. All rights reserved.