CHODESH NISSAN: FIRST THE PLAGUES, THEN THE REDEMPTION

"When Israel went out of Egypt" (Psalm 114:1) occurred under the sign of Aries," states the caption to an illustration in a 1769 Haggadah manuscript from Amsterdam, scribed by Yehoshua ben Mordechai of Wolentz. . In the painting, a lamb can be seen floating in the sky; connecting Aries to the Pesach sacrifice.

CHODESH NISSAN: FIRST THE PLAGUES, THEN THE REDEMPTION 

Chodesh Nisan 5780 (March 26 – April 24, 2020)

 

Why is this Chodesh Nissan different from all others which have gone before it? It’s the first time since the original Chodesh Nissan during which the Israelites experienced the Ten Plagues from the safety of their dwellings that we’ve huddled indoors, either alone or with our families, praying that the Angel of Death will pass over us.   

The celestial cycles have spoken: the Saturn-Pluto conjunction of January 12 kicked off these traumatic times. April 4^th will see the first of 2020’s three Jupiter-Pluto conjunctions triggering larger and larger waves of powerful paranoia, doubt and fear. Government crackdowns on personal freedoms during times of great global pandemics may trigger rebellious reactions by those whose trust in our societal structures and institutions have already been eroded by the untrustworthy actions of those institutions themselves. 

Nissan is the month in which we remember and reenact the deliverance which seemed impossible by human standards, and yet came anyway. The Full Libra “Super” Moon of Erev Pesach April 8 brings hope as we recall how the burden of Egyptian slavery was rolled away in a single night – the night we hid ourselves indoors. 

The Last Quarter Moon in Capricorn with the Sun square Pluto April 14 on the eve of the seventh day of Pesach reveals the impotence of top-down structural solutions to a crisis which can only be addressed from the bottom up. Individual responsibility rather than governmental caretaking or corporate culpability turns out to be the defining difference between life and death. 

The Sun/Saturn square April 20 reveals the uselessness of an “us vs. them” mentality. The decisions you make today determine your own future as well as those you’ve never met. The virus of contagious collective fear must be battled by individual faith. Choose wisely and choose life while you still can!

Saturn in Aquarius and Celestial Notes for This Week

This week: At 15 minutes before midnight Eastern Time on Sunday March 22, Saturn entered Aquarius, and will spend the majority of the rest of 2020 playing zig zag, running between the final degrees of Capricorn and the first degrees of Aquarius, before settling in for the long haul of about the next 2 ½ years of Saturn in Aquarius, beginning in December 2020. 

This is the first time Saturn has been in Aquarius since the last time, the last time being February 1991 through the beginning of 1994, more or less, considering the retrogrades at both the beginning and the end of that period. But this Saturn in Aquarius differs in that it contains the conjunction of Saturn to Jupiter, the Great Conjunction, in the sign of Aquarius for the first time since 1405. This happens in December of this year, and the entire year is a lead-up to this celestial portent which signals the paradigm shift, change of world leaders, systems, and the end of the old cycle, beginning of the new. We’re in labor folks, and we’re dilated to 10 and we’re pushing! We’re pushing!

Also Sunday Mercury, back in Pisces but finally going in the right direction, that is to say moving forward, makes a sextile to Uranus in Taurus, which is going to make vague information (that’s Mercury in Pisces) more embodied (that’s Taurus) and solid, maybe in a surprising way or from someone “different” or unique, or perhaps it’s the information itself which comes as a surprise. Venus in Gemini sextiles Neptune and with the Moon in Pisces conjunct Neptune, I’d worry about too much data overload confusing everything, and the inability of those at the highest levels to see the forest for the trees. 

Monday March 23^rd, Mars in Capricorn conjuncts Pluto. Friends I’m going to try to spin this as positively as I can, but I just can’t sugar coat it, much as I’d like to! Mars in Capricorn is big business, Pluto in Capricorn is big power and big money. The conjunction of these two may trigger outrage and then maybe some outright rage later in the evening when the Moon leaves passive, too easily victimized by external circumstances Pisces and goes roaring into Mars-ruled Aries. 

The astronomical New Moon in Aries Tuesday morning makes a conjunction to the asteroid Chiron, the Wounded Healer. You know what I’d love to hear when that happens? “Hello, we’ve discovered a cure for the Corona Virus!” I hope and pray that’s the call. However because of the Mars/Pluto machinations of the previous day, what I’m the most worried about is Wednesday’s conjunction of the Sun in Aries to Chiron in Aries. With the Cardinal Fire sign of Aries, which remember is the Tribe of Yehuda so just think Yehuda energy but basically unrectified because this is the world we’re living in – The Sun illuminates the pain of this whole world, which is Chiron in Aries. Chiron is “the wounded healer,” this asteriod’s legend and archetype is this: a centaur who lived on Mt. Olympus as tutor to the children of the gods, Chiron was wise, kind, and beneficent to all – maybe a little bit too much so, for because he took pity on the human race and taught them the secret of fire, Zeus, the king of the gods, punished his centaur / tutor by giving him a wound which would never heal. The only relief Chiron could get for his wound was to heal others who were also wounded. So we have Chiron in Aries, the sign of blood, the sign of fire, the sign ruled by Mars, conjunct the Sun. I’d like to hope this means the healing ultraviolet rays of the Sun illuminate the consciousness of all of mankind and remove the primal woundedness from each person through self-awareness. OR it could be a violent (that’s Aries) manifestation of woundedness (people rioting via Zoom?) because the government is dragging their feet around sending relief and dealing with this thing? 

Rosh Chodesh Nissan comes on Thursday and the Moon enters Venus-ruled Taurus. Now things start to get real. We’ve moved out of Solar Pisces and even now out of Chodesh Adar into Chodesh Nissan – the month G*d willing of REDEMPTION, for the Jewish People and the Human Race, may it be so! 

The Moon in earthy Taurus squares practical Saturn in Capricorn on Thursday, prompting investment into solid and concrete value – stocking up on canned goods? Toilet paper? Buying stock in Weight Watchers because you know from all this stress-eating their stock is going to go sky high in the summer? The Moon in Taurus also makes a conjunction to Neptune Thursday evening, and a sextile to Pluto Friday morning. The rich get richer and the poor get angry. Revelations of powerful elites receiving favorable treatments and financial outcomes may stress the general public to the breaking point. That’s on a national level. On a personal level: Emotions are going to ping-pong all over the place, from hopelessness to empowerment, from fear to desperation to climbing the ladder of faith all over again. That’s a description of the New Normal but it’s also Thursday and Friday by the stars. 

Saturday which is the 3^rd of Nissan is Shabbat Parshat Vayikra, Venus in her home sign of Taurus trines Jupiter in Capricorn, and later trines Pluto in Capricorn as well. If you listen to Venus in Taurus what she’s saying is this: take a bath. Eat some chocolate. Make love. Jupiter and Pluto are only too happy to oblige, empower, and facilitate her requests. I suggest you cooperate as well. We are all going to need the most de-stressing of activities to counteract all the stresses going on all around us as the days turn into weeks of social isolation.

The Capricorn Hot Spot: Getting Hotter and Hotter!

I didn't know how eerily accurate I was when I wrote in December that the Solar Eclipse / New Moon in Capricorn December 25th was the energetic kick-off to an entire year of momentous global stress.

Dec. 31, 2019:
The government in Wuhan, China, confirmed that health authorities were treating dozens of cases. Days later, researchers in China identified a new virus that had infected dozens of people in Asia.

I've also written / spoken extensively about the Saturn-Pluto conjunction on January 12, 2020 and the gigantic structural changes / destruction of the old.

January 11, 2020:
On Jan. 11, Chinese state media reported the first known death from an illness caused by the virus, which had infected dozens of people.

Here are three dates coming this year for the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction which will see a lot of stress around a GIGANTIC (Jupiter) RAW, UNRESTRAINED POWER (Pluto) around "life and death issues" (Pluto, modern ruler of Scorpio, again - death and rebirth, the phoenix rising from the ashes, self-immolation to be born anew from the ashes of destruction, etc.)

APRIL 4 - Jupiter & Pluto conjunct at 24 degrees Capricorn
JUNE 30 - Jupiter & Pluto conjunct at 24 Capricorn RETROGRADE
NOVEMBER 12 - Jupiter & Pluto conjunct at 22 Capricorn

All three of these Jupiter-Pluto conjunctions happen right on top of the same degree of the zodiac where the Saturn-Pluto conjunction occurred January 12 this year.

Because these conjunctions take place so close to the USA's natal Pluto, it's possible the declaration of martial law may occur if panic, hoarding and looting set in. Let's hope I'm really, really wrong about all of this!

Pluto is the god of the underworld, of course. And fabulously wealthy (that's where we get "Plutocracy"). I feel there will be a huge (Jupiter) gap between how the rich ride this out compared with how the poor are able to (or not able to). But isn't that always the case? We see that even now with how the US government is throwing trillions of dollars at the economy to prevent a total meltdown, but most of the money is going to those who already have money. The truly poor will not benefit from this influx of cash - and it's the truly poor who need it most.

Pictured: The USA's natal chart with transits for 3/26/20. Note the position of Pluto in the USA's natal chart at 27 Capricorn, within 4 degrees orb of the the Capricorn "Hot Spot" which has been continually irritated and will continue to be so until after November.