The biggest news in 2008 is the entrance of our slowest moving planet Pluto into Capricorn on January 25. Pluto will be in Capricorn until January 21, 2024; it remains in a sign an average of 21 years, although because its orbit is so elliptical it stays in Scorpio 12 years and in Taurus 32 years. Pluto takes 248 years to circle the Sun; the last time it was in Capricorn was from November 8, 1762 to December 1, 1778 during the American Revolutionary War.

Pluto in Capricorn will overturn old structures, particularly in government. We would expect more revolutions and anarchy in this cycle. Pluto also rules the masses of people so people's political movements will be more prevalent. Since Capricorn is an earth sign, we will see huge changes in the way earth's resources are handled. Hopefully, solar and wind power will be utilized more as fossil fuels become a thing of the past. Biodynamic gardening and more alternative ways of growing food will also become more widespread.

Capricorn is ruled by Saturn; Saturn's negative vibration can be crystallized or overly structured without allowing for change. Many of our institutions that have remained in antiquated forms will no doubt undergo huge changes, since Pluto will enable us to see their shadow sides and so revolutionize them.

Jupiter, our largest planet enters Capricorn on December 18, 2007 and will conjoin tiny but mighty Pluto on December 11th in the last degrees of Sagittarius. One week later it will leave Sagittarius and enter Capricorn for the next year. This important late Sag conjunction may be a symbol for the year ahead. One thing we might expect is a lot of activity in terms of negotiations between countries. On November 27, there was a gathering in Annapolis, MD of all the Middle Eastern countries to begin a new Mideast peace process for Israel and Palestine. This energy should continue in 2008 with hopefully, some positive results.

Jupiter will trine Saturn in Virgo on January 21 and again in September. The harmonious flow of these two planets in earth signs will work well to address the problems of pollution and toxic wastes all over the earth. Saturn continues in Virgo and will oppose Uranus in Pisces within one degree the end of October and November. Uranus' opposition to Saturn in Virgo will bring to the fore many health issues, among them the controversy over compulsory vaccinations, which occurred in November 2007 in Maryland.

There is a solar eclipse in 18 degrees of Aquarius on February 7, which is conjunct the planet Neptune. This may bring wet weather to much of the world and could be a time of tsunamis in south east Asia. Two weeks later, we have a total lunar eclipse in 2 degrees of Virgo conjoined Saturn. This may be a challenging time weather wise as well although Pluto does trine the eclipse.

On August 1, we have a total solar eclipse in 10 degrees Leo auguring a hot dry summer for many while on August 17 we have a partial lunar eclipse at 24 degrees Aquarius conjoined the United States' Sun.

Looking at the chart of the United States (I use the Sibly chart, July 4, 1776 at 5:10 PM in Philadelphia), there has been a lot going on and many of these influences will continue into 2008. On November 15, Mars went retrograde in 12 degrees of Cancer conjunct the United States' Sun. It will go direct on January 31, 2008 in 24 degrees Gemini. Retrogrades often provide us with the opportunity to pause; Mars retrograde suggests pausing in some action. During this time period, on December 3, 2007 the NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) came out with information on Iran, stating that Iran stopped its nuclear arms program in 2003. This put a potential halt on any plans to bomb Iran for the United States, though Bush and his cronies still are saying that Iran is dangerous and that the Iranians could go back and develop uranium for nuclear bombs. Contrary to the intelligence report, Bush is still making a confrontation with Iran a cornerstone of the US foreign polic and will not negotiate with the Iranians.. It appears that the Iranian nuclear threat was more ghost than reality.

This brings us to Neptune, that grand old planet of illusion, which has been inconjunct our natal Neptune the past year. Inconjuncts or quincunxes are aspects which manifest like irregular rhythms, and often in an individual's chart, they indicate a physical or health problem. Neptune at 22 degrees of Aquarius was opposite Saturn at 22 degrees of Leo in June of 2007. Our natal Neptune is 22 degrees of Virgo. Neptune will transit 22 degrees of Aquarius through December of 2008. The latest deception that has been revealed in our country is the destroyed CIA tapes that depicted harsh interrogation of two terrorist suspects. Congress is demanding an investigation into this action; there were warnings from both the White House and congressional leaders to preserve the tapes. CIA director Michael Hayden disclosed the destruction of the tapes on December 6 in a letter to his staff telling them that the identities of the interrogators in the 2002 sessions needed to be protected. Many more deceptions have been unveiled during this transit-- the Scooter Libby case, the Valerie Plame case, and other cover-ups by the White House and neo- cons.

In 2008 Uranus opposes our Neptune, which will no doubt uncover many more of the lies our government has been prone to. The exact opposition is in May of 2008 and by then we will know who the presidential candidates are from each party. However, Uranus squares Mars first in April and hopefully, this administration will not be beating the war drums then. With the opposition to Neptune, we need to make sure each state has paper ballots and clean voting machines. Transiting Saturn in Virgo does not conjoin Neptune until August of 2009 and by then we will have a new President and Congress. Saturn will also square our Mars at that time. Could Saturn transiting our Neptune bring into reality part of the American dream for real democracy, or will it embed more illusions into our core?

Jupiter will transit the United States' Pluto in December of 2008; with our natal Pluto in the second house of finances, this could help with mortgage rates and perhaps ease the economy. However, Pluto will not make its return to our Pluto until February 2022. By that time, we will have had the Saturn Pluto conjunction in Capricorn (2019), and perhaps we will have had our own revolution where our government is no longer ruled by the corporate world.

In the Solar arc directions for the United States, Jupiter is conjoined the asteroid Pallas Athena within one degree and next year will be conjoined our Moon in Aquarius. This certainly seems to suggest some feminine power becoming prominent. Uranus by solar arc is conjoined our natal Pluto and was exact last year when so many homeowners foreclosed on their mortgages. Hopefully, the Jupiter transit over Pluto will help our economy and 2008 will bring more financial stability to those in need.

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