The last two weeks of March stirred up contention on many fronts. Perhaps you noticed increased tension in communications and decision-making in your personal life. The push of force was stronger than the willingness to come to consensus. Leadership is taking the upper hand now as an energetic of spring. This will be an advantage in business and in politics.

For a few weeks of late March into April, the power of leadership and strong intention will outweigh the struggle between the old ways of political negotiation versus the urge for radical change to get something done. Since Obama took office, the dueling forces in Washington have made it almost impossible to make real improvements for the nation. As a result, dissatisfaction and anxiety are mounting as a general state of the people. We might be surprised to see the President act powerfully in April.

This is a good time for gearing up to make personal changes. Physical energy in general is high. You might notice the urge to take a walk, get some exercise and be active. Take this in to account in your business planning. Use the energy as initiative to start new routines. It is a good period for sorting, recycling, and reviewing what you have learned in the winter.

April 18 to May 11 is that regular review phase we see three times a year. This time the focus will be around what we need to be more secure. In that, we find what we are willing to release. Social connections are a positive way to renew friendships and build alliances. Swap parties can be a way to find new homes for the “stuff” you don’t need anymore, while getting together with people you haven’t seen for a long time.

It is good to feel the energy in forward motion again after such a sluggish winter. There is potential for creative activities in the spring season that is exciting to watch unfold. The current of energy has brilliant and inspired ideas. There is a quality of achievements possible in this time that can bridge giant gaps of need and desire. If YOU have a great idea, pursue it. This can be a time of breakthrough and discovery. Just look at the level of genius some of our young people are displaying, like the winner of this year’s Intel Science Talent Search.

“Erika Alden DeBenedictis, 18, of Albuquerque, developed a software navigation system that would allow spacecraft to exploit low-energy orbits for the physics & space sciences project she submitted to the Intel Science Talent Search. According to the NASA-approved Interplanetary Superhighway concept, the gravity and movement of planets create a network of low-energy opportunities that allow for more efficient transit routes through the solar system.” (http://apps.societyforscience.org/sts/69sts/DeBenedictis.asp)

The spring of 2010 is the early bursting through of new social concepts, new answers to solving some of our community and national problems. While we still face a few dynamic hurtles in the way of big planet transits this month, they are a part of the ripening process of a changing world.

Spring brings action

If it has felt like slogging through a bog in trying to move life forward these recent winter months, you can soon look forward to a change of energy. Mid-March will find us ready to put plans in action and take up new causes. This slack time is useful for review. From this, we learn what needs changing. In a time when the economy is so uncertain, we become more creative and inventive.

The first half of the month will work better if you tune in to your gut instincts and be attentive to the subtle things going on around you. Socially, it is a great time for connections, networking, and sharing insights on how to get by in tough times. In fact, this is a great time to collaborate with others. Be sure to keep your communications as clear and too the point as possible. This is a time when there can be confusion because we don’t articulate precisely what we mean. Watch out for vague commitments. Substance may be lacking. This will improve after the New Moon on March 15. Real promises can be taken seriously from the 17^th to 20^th.

Spring arrives on March 20, setting the stage for releasing the growing pulse in the undercurrent of society. Government is becoming increasingly a stupid game among the governing crowd to see who can create the biggest mess and not take responsibility for a country in distress. I might even suggest some potentially sinister activities being planned behind the scenes. Heaven forbid.

On the national level, there is a powerful force working to contain and control. President Obama is using Executive Orders to move presidential powers beyond the logjam of Congress. We do not hear about these things on the evening news. (You can learn about it on the internet, however.) There is a very slow transit coming on to the USA Moon, which represents the people of the nation that is likely to contribute to increased disillusionment, increased anxiety and fear, as well as an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. How do we combat massive collective depression? By working to support each other within the community and sharing information on ways to work together for our own security at the local level.

This time last year, I was expecting something like the Tea Party movement. I am surprised at who actually became the key players. Sarah Palin is becoming a major flag bearer for the movement. She is serving as an icon authority for the creation of delusion, disinformation, and inflammation of negative feelings. She speaks the language of fear and anger. There is a growing faction of opposition building up toward a crescendo in August. The energy of revolution is rising.

The last days of March are the turning point relative to the eclipses of December. The energies will support completion of projects and final tweaks before presentation. The Full Moon, March 29, will feel like a release of pressure. Solutions to problems will surface as we move into April. In the tradition of spring-cleaning, the first week of April will be a perfect time for things to come to the surface, whether that’s information or lost items.

The longest cycle is that of Pluto, which is about 248 years. Pluto’s influence is on the collective level and it exposes the themes relative to issues of power, control, and influence. On November 26, it changed signs into Capricorn, which governs capitalism, corporations, large structures, and governments. The event of this day is the attack on Mumbai, India. This attack illustrates the focus on prestigious people, Corporate Executives, Diplomats, and Israelis. Sophisticated and highly skilled mercenaries carried out their mission using a new mode of attack on strategic targets: targets that reflect the corporate economic hierarchy that has no national boundaries. This is the beginning of a 15-year theme where dramatic changes and deep transformations will take place.

Another important cyclic influence, as discussed in my last article, is the opposition between Saturn, the planet of order and status quo, with Uranus, the planet of revolution, invention, and surprising changes. The two planets will meet five times between November 4, 2008 and July 26, 2010. The link is directly to issues of the mid-1960’s, such as equal rights for minorities, ecological concerns over nuclear energy, and a war that had no value. All of these issues are revived, and situations are changing rapidly. The glass ceiling of race and gender is disintegrated.

The times call for a review of values and a renewal of vision for the future. While the fear-factor tends to hold people back from taking action in their lives on many levels, we have a wonderful opportunity to re-invent our selves and our society, even in the midst of this economic crisis. The talk of “green” jobs and “green” living is in perfect alignment with the strong earth element of the planetary positions. It is a time to make adjustments willingly, that bring us into greater alignment with collective values that support life.

Every being on the planet breathes. There are no boundaries in air or water. It has been an illusion that there are boundaries of nations on the earth. Shifting our awareness to the earth as a living entity will change the course of action in our approach to living “green”, which means sustainability. Many industries will become obsolete in the next 15 years. Looking to the future means imaging the many ways to live a more natural life, connecting to the earth and to each other.

The month of December is marked with dramatic astrological contacts that essentially set the themes for 2009. The Winter Solstice is a strong chart, followed by a very potent New Moon, on December 27, with six planets lined up in Capricorn, sending a message that many organizations, nations, and or corporations will need to collaborate to deal with issues that affect all.

The transition of the Presidency is coming to be an international unification to fortify economy and security. The decisions made this month are setting a direction for many years. Obama’s announcements of his cabinet and administrative staff are included. It is important to be alert to the shifts now that will affect us all globally.

International terrorism is seeded from the imbalance of wealth and power. Pirates, suicide bombers, and corporate crooks are the bi-product of a power sector of society that forgot humanity in the movement to unprecedented levels of ownership with equal disrespect for life. To change the growing trend, I believe it takes courage to face moving to a new general attitude of universality in humanity regardless of origin. No life, no country is more important than another is in the deeper truth. My wish is that starting at community level, we work together to improve the quality of life for ourselves, and our neighbors to be more self-sufficient and ecologically secure. Then, we work out from that point and change the world for the better. This period is likely to bring forward innovations and inventions from the younger pool of talent. As elders, we should listen hopefully to the imagining of our young people. They will make it so.

Wall Street’s meltdown came just after the change of direction of planets that represent power, big money, and super corporations. This change of direction has the effect of a rubber band pulled taunt and released. Changes occur rapidly. What we are witnessing is the deflation of the expansive greed of these powerful entities, which went out of control during the years since 2001. That was the full moon phase of two important planets that govern structure and the growth of power figures.

We all remember the World Trade Center disaster. This marker will identify many levels of experiences that ended one way of life and began another. This was the peak of the cycle that began in 1982 (Reagan was President) and ends in 2020. Just as the moon begins to shrink through the waning phase of its cycle, we see the waning in the financial growth cycle. Panic and fear are elements of this phase similar to the third quarter moon. This is a harvest phase that will wane further into the winter (dark) of the growth cycle. No one feels prepared for this coming phase.

The first half of October is an unstable period with much discussion “up in the air.” This time of review and reorganization will focus on financial issues mainly, but will include issues of trust in all forms of relationships. There is so much to be revealed in this two week period that it is hard to imagine who, what, and how in these scenarios.

The second half of the month will bring some conclusions, but undoubtedly, more questions as well. The likelihood of a Congressional agreement on the Wallstreet bailout plan looks to be much later in the month, perhaps as late as the last week of October.

Tension will be high by the last weekend of the campaign. I expect some event that will be very challenging to everyone. This period will reflect past events of the mid-60’s. The events of this period will call out the generation born in that time to come to leadership. The voices of these people will call for many changes. Things that will benefit all the people will be the key issues, like health care and energy alternatives. We can expect a revolution of society to be the historical stamp of the 2008 election.

A common theme in the pair of eclipses, solar and lunar, ignites the ideals that most Americans are prideful of: freedom of speech. The eclipse pattern brings bright attention to the range of potentialities people are likely to experience should it be so that every word on phone or email, or even spoken in groups comes under threat of government ears.

By the lunar eclipse August 16, momentum will be gathering among influential journalists and progressive business leaders led by some of the dissenting political leaders. We will see this as a turning point in the presidential campaign. The high side is that people are beginning to pay more attention to the process and to the rhetoric. Strong ideals will fuel demonstrations and a new social movement is about to birth itself.

Depending on the outcomes of the political conventions, we may see activism in America like the mid-‘60’s. The high side is that there are young voices speaking with wisdom that will have more impact than the traditional political players will expect. Peace, ecology, and consciousness are becoming ‘mainstream’ again. Green is the buzzword for awareness and caring. Virtues are coming into the conversation about the future of American and of the earth. We see growing evidence of the younger generations taking their places in politics and other influential positions, such as journalist who call out for truth and fair practices in business and in government.

Women of all ages are becoming more vocal and involved. September brings an active month of the feminine crusaders and activists. They bring attention to the growing economic issues that are falling hardest on low-income mothers, and the elderly. These problems are in the spotlight at the full moon, mid-month. They do not just cry out, the women are moving toward real and just action. They lead a revolution of rejuvenation in the community supporting each other and a new economy of mutual benefit.

When times press hardest on us we rally with new ideas, goals, and inventions. Inspiration is upon us. The next great idea, the next great gatherings that bring back the heart to the center of the people in sharing is on the horizon. August and September will give us awareness of what needs doing next.