First, let me say that I totally renounce and disown that charlatan rodent weather prognosticator, Punxsutawney Phil, who on Groundhog Day 2023 predicted six more weeks of winter. He’s often wrong, and I’ve tried to defend him in the past, but he has been so colossally off the mark this year that I can no longer continue with his charade. On the other hand, if by that prediction, he meant “six more weeks of the same,” then he’s been spot on!
The traditional first anniversary gift is paper, but no peace treaty looms on the horizon between Russia and Ukraine as the war grinds on into its second year. Perhaps the modern version, the gift of a clock, would be more appropriate, to time the conflict’s duration. What many predicted would be a triumphal progress for the Russian army a year ago, with expectations that Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv would fall in a matter of days, has turned into a long, hard slog, mainly serving to illustrate the resilience, spirit and determination of the Ukrainian people, and the relative weakness and ineffectuality of the Russian armed forces.
On Sunday, 19 February 2023, transit asteroid Troemper exactly conjoined transit Pluto, symbol of criminality and devastating change or transformation, inaugurating a new cycle for the former president. For this update on Donald Trump’s legal woes, I’ll be focusing on progressions, an astrologic technique I rarely employ. The birth chart is a dynamic thing, continuing to evolve and unfold as we age; secondary progressions are a method of forecasting which equates one day of planetary movement with one year of life. So, if you want to know what things are highlighted and on the move for age 30, for example, you look to a month after birth.
On Valentine’s Day 2023, former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley jumped into the 2024 GOP presidential nominating pool. It remains to be seen whether it was a swan dive or a belly flop. In a three-minute video Haley touted her credentials and philosophy, taking a few sideswipes at Donald Trump, in the shallow end of that pool, by calling for a new generation of leadership, reminding folks that Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven out of eight recent general elections, and asserting that she’ll stand up to bullies.
On 6 February 2023 at approximately 4:17 AM local time, the border region between Turkey and Syria was rocked by a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake, estimated to be one of the deadliest of the decade. As of this writing (Feb 12), more than 34,000 are confirmed dead, with much of the debris yet to be excavated for survivors or remains. Known as the Kahramanmaras quake, for the nearest large city, the epicenter is closer to Nurdagi, a smaller town on the outskirts.
They say karma is a bitch, and that may be especially true now, with asteroid Karma in a protracted conjunction with Pluto. Evildoers beware! For two months, from mid-January through mid-March 2023, this powerhouse duo will be out for payback, settling old accounts and teeing up retribution via devastating transformation of circumstances. Karma is the principle of being called to account for prior bad acts, while Pluto counts among the denizens of its bailiwick things like sex and scandal, criminality and resurrection. Two souls currently dealing with the resurrection of past transgressions, and the high probability that the time has come to pay for them, are actor Alec Baldwin and former US president Donald Trump.
