While struggling California suffers through a raging energy crisis, the current misadministration acts as if the beleaguered state is a foreign country. The noble federal spirit of unity and support in times of crisis no longer stretches 3000 miles west from Washington. Perhaps it is simply because there are no longer enough Republican votes to harvest in California's majestic landscape. Or perhaps it is because the Bush campaign-contributing Texas energy barons are so lustily enjoying their economic rape of California, and the Compassionless Conservative doesn't want to spoil the party. In any event, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's inadequate and futile agreement to cap only the most outrageous energy prices during the direst of circumstances is little more than the casting of crumbs into the wind. A crisis exists in an area that comprises one-sixth of the nation's economy, and, without intelligent leadership from Washington (currently an oxymoron), it cannot help but have a powerful ripple effect throughout the land.
Using the astrological indicators available, it is possible to gain some understanding of the current California energy situation and how it will unfold over the coming months. The most helpful chart in this regard is the one drawn for the swearing-in of Gray Davis as Governor of California on January 4, 1999. Here we find that Pluto, the planet of inexorable and profound transformation, is square the Ascendant. The Ascendant in this case indicates the Davis Administration itself and its interaction with the people of California. Pluto here suggests the need to purge deep-rooted problems that first must be relentlessly exposed to the light of day before they can be transformed. Thus, California's misguided energy deregulation program and the toxic web of thievery and abuse that stemmed from it are currently being telescoped for the world to see. Ultimately, Pluto's presence indicates the death of the old system and promises the eventual rebirth of a healthier and more functional means of energy distribution.
The timing for this profound and painful cycle of "death and rebirth" may be pinpointed by the transit of Pluto to the exact degree of the square to the Ascendant (13 Pisces). In other words, when Pluto reached 13 Sagittarius in December 2000, the problem began to come into focus. (If the swearing-in was a couple of minutes later, this would move to January 2001.) The transit continues through much of 2001 into mid-November. Two things will intensify its impact. First, from June through early October, Pluto will be stationary within one degree of squaring the Davis Administration Ascendant (13 Pisces). This will deepen and concentrate its action. Secondly, Saturn (13 Gemini) will join Pluto by opposition in late July, also squaring the Davis Administration Ascendant and creating a very tense and difficult situation. Saturn brings with it strict discipline and a general feeling of restriction and belt-tightening. Blackouts are likely, as already predicted, as well as tight measures for energy conservation. Although the period from late July to mid-August will be the most severe and harshest of the entire cycle, both planets will be actively impacting California from late July into mid-November.
Another astrological configuration suggesting a year of difficulty for the Davis administration is the solar eclipse of December 25, 2000. Although this eclipse did not fall on an angle anywhere in California (which would be a clear indicator of tremendous impact), its ruler, Saturn, fell exactly on the Nadir of the eclipse chart drawn for Sacramento, suggesting some kind of collective suffering or difficulty for the people of the state. It also fell on the exact same degree as Davis' Sun (4 Capricorn) in his own natal chart (December 26, 1942).
Historically, eclipses are harbingers of troubled times, lasting from 12 to 18 months after the actual event, though they must be read in the context of all other planetary factors in play at the time. A solar eclipse is, in essence, an exact conjunction of the Sun and Moon that falls within about 12 degrees of either the North or South Node of the Moon. The subsequent transit of the Node over the exact degree of the Sun/Moon conjunction often will trigger the eclipse's action. This activating transit of the December 25 eclipse takes place in the month of August 2001, concurrent with the Saturn/Pluto opposition squaring the Davis administration's Ascendant. The eclipse previously was triggered in January 2001, during the time Uranus was at 19 Aquarius and Mars was moving into 19 Scorpio, both positions semisquare the eclipse point. There was a series of rolling blackouts at that time.
In the midst of this difficult but transformative year for Gray Davis and California, there are periods of very productive, creative, and sometimes frenzied energy. The first was from late March through much of April 2001 as Mars crossed the MC and the 10th-house Mercury of the Davis Administration chart. The second period comes in late May and all of June as not only Mars, but also Jupiter, makes powerful aspects to the chart's MC, Mercury, and Jupiter. This portends a time of renewed optimism and energetic, constructive engagement. In mid-November, as both Saturn and Pluto move away from their exact aspects to the Ascendant, and the struggles of the summer begin to fade, there are two indicators of a period of great confidence, success, and general good feeling. Transiting Jupiter will be opposite the Sun in the Davis administration chart and tertiary progressed Venus will be conjunct the Ascendant. Both of these take place in the second half of November and early December 2001. `
Interestingly, the Bush administration will be having its own share of very significant difficulties from June through August 2001. It is quite likely that one thorn in the side of the Resident in Chief will be some very angry and righteous protests from beleaguered Californians. The simple act of firm, consistent price caps to carry California through the next six months would have saved many people much grief.
