On October 30, 2009 Saturn enters the sign of Libra.  New York based Astrologer Mitch Lewis sent out his newsletter this morning, and I wanted to share parts of it.  "Saturn is about to enter Libra, the sign where it is exalted. It will square Pluto three times in the coming year, and this is an aspect unto itself that demands our attention. Because Saturn will also oppose Uranus at zero degrees Libra, this will set up a most powerful t-square that I will continue to discuss throughout the coming months. It culminates in July 2010, a period that may produce some very interesting and difficult situations in the world.
 
Saturn will square Pluto this month for the first of its three passes. The second pass is on January 31st 2010 and the third is August 21st 2010. Near any of the three passes there could be an event that would signal the stress that is buried within the collective. When a square is set up it tends to test situations that began on the conjunct or opposition. In 2001 Saturn opposed Pluto, setting up the energy necessary for the 9/11 attacks. Now they are in square. What have we learned since then? And what will we learn from the coming tests. The F.B.I. recently broke up what seems to have been a cell or group of cells concentrating on (where else) New York City. That shows just how intense the energy is as this square begins. Our heightened awareness and recognition of our vulnerability is one way our society has changed since that opposition. I certainly hope we are able to prevent another situation, but time will tell. As always I am just as concerned about the affects another attack could have on our civil liberties. For Americans being free is perhaps more important than being safe, although we shouldn’t have to choose between the two. In New York City they are putting cameras everywhere. It’s a bit disconcerting to realize that you are being watched all the time. I do hope our elected officials (Republicans or Democrats) understand that 1984 was a cautionary novel, not an instruction manual.
The last pass of this square on August 21st 2010 occurs shortly after the last pass of Saturn opposite Uranus at zero degrees cardinal. That square completes at 2 degrees Aries 57 minutes. America’s Venus is 3 degrees Cancer 06 minutes. Could it be any closer? And as we know, it is the inner planets that set off events influenced by the outer planet.  Venus has much to do with our agriculture and food supply, as well as our collective wealth in general. We could have some difficulty with food, perhaps as a result of changes in the environment. I am quite sure that next summer will be one of those dips I spoke of in the markets. How deep a dip depends upon how deep the pool is.
 
Saturn rules the housing industry and the banks. Its journey through Virgo resulted in an auditing of the banking industry, exposing its decaying underbelly and demanding a reckoning. The government of and by the people is ruled by Aquarius, and its co-rulers Uranus and Saturn. It was the combination of the two planetary influences that led to the government’s bail out of the banking industry. Uranus sought unusual solutions to the problem, and Saturn created a seemingly secure foundation upon which those changes could be instituted. Just how secure it really is will be seen in time. Now as Saturn begins its trip through Libra we may see a balancing of the financials markets (real or not) and a return to the laissez-faire approach. After all, Libras do not enjoy direct confrontations and would be apt to accept compromises in the name of peace. That would be a big mistake. It was a warped system of economics that brought us to this precipice, and one more jolt could send us reeling for years. In July 2010 about a trillion dollars of commercial debt comes due. Nobody, not even people in the industry, seems to know what to expect, but with the complicated and stressful transits we will face next summer I have little doubt that there will be a price to pay. And as always, it is the middle class that will pay it, one way or another.
 
I find it interesting that GM has decided to ditch the Saturn car company just when we need more foundation, structure, stability (in other words, more Saturn) in our culture. Decisions made by a strong portion of the collective (such as the de-planetisation of Pluto) have profound implications that should not be ignored. The death of the Saturn automobile is a metaphor for our inability to deal with our responsibilities as a society.
 
By now we all realize that much of the wealth accrued over the past several decades simply did not exist. It was paper money built on packaged debt sold and resold again and again. It was all Jupiter and Neptune, not Saturn.
 
We will finally pass a health care reform bill and it will be a toothless tiger. Without a public option there will be little reform at all. Now, most people pay a $20 co-pay. It is only a matter of time before the insurance industry passes the increased expenses that any reform costs them onto the consumer, and we will all be paying $50 to see a doctor. This isn’t reform, it’s a shell game.
 
There is some optimism that things may have bottomed out financially. That is not the case. Jupiter will conjunct Neptune for the last pass on December 21st 2009, and until that aspect passes and a sense of reality reenters our collective consciousness, I wouldn’t put too much credibility in any runaway rally in the stock markets. But there is a way to make money investing in this economy. I think we are in an era similar to the period of1966 – 82 when we had a bear market for 16 years. Every time the markets ran up, they failed. They made new highs twice only to collapse. The “dip” of 1973-5 is a perfect example of what I expect to occur during the coming decade. Right after that precipitous plunge they began a rally from 577 up to 1,014. Then they dropped several more times. The DOW closed out 1965 at 910. They closed in 1982 at 884. That, boys and girls, is a 16 year bear market. You can not buy and hold stocks indefinitely now, unless you are young and looking 20 years down the road. Stocks should be bought, held while the markets are rallying, and then they should be sold and profits should be taken. Then when the markets dip again they can be re-bought. (You may not be able to do so in your retirement accounts.) I have seen many savvy traders get wiped out trying to pick the tops or bottoms of a market. The smarter ones showed patience and took a nice piece out of the middle. --Mitch Lewis