INTRODUCTION

Contrary to numerous recent reports, there are many good reasons to conclude that the monetary sky of our planet is not actually falling.

Predictions of imminent economic collapse have been circulating in the New Age community for at least three decades. The scenarios thus promulgated generally feature the failure of all paper and electronic media of exchange, the end of society as we know it, the return to a primitive state of life and barter, and extreme shortages of all commodities. Some also contain visions of either complete anarchy or the establishment of a vastly predatory government in the U.S. and around the world.

To all this a careful analysis of astrological influences can respond with a very different outlook. In other words, there are very good reasons why the sky is not now falling and will not be falling at any time in the future with which we currently living human beings are concerned. This report examines those very good reasons.

FUTURE TRENDS

Prediction of future trends by astrological methods is based on the measurement and interpretation of several different classes of phenomena. Among these, one of the surest indicators of planetary economic trends is planetary pair relationships.

• Planetary pair relationships are created by the interactions of the slowest moving planets in our solar system as they are observed within the plane of the solar system, which from the earthly point of view is called the ecliptic or zodiac.

Viewing within this frame of reference, we see these planets move in cyclic relationships one to another, converging close to the same division of the zodiac at one point and then some long time after, finding themselves at maximum separation. In astrological language, this is to say that planets move from conjunction to opposition, and then back to opposition again.

Roughly the same thing happens each month with the lunar cycle. At New Moon, the Moon and the Sun are seen from the Earth to converge in the same division of the zodiac. In fact, they converge so closely that the Moon - with its bright side to the Sun - is nearly invisible from our perspective. Two weeks later, the opposite relationship of the Moon and Sun is apparent, as the fully illumined orb of the Moon is plainly visible. This happens when the Moon and Sun are each on opposite sides of the Earth, and therefore at opposition. New Moon equals the conjunction phase; Full Moon the opposition.

This same idea can be applied to the planets, even though they are much farther out in space than is our Moon, and of course not at the very center of the solar system, as is our Sun. Why so? Simply as a matter of perspective. As we look out from our vantage point on space and the solar system, we see the sky as if it were a great circle around us. Therefore there are times when any two outer planets in their own orbits around the Sun appear to us as close together. Other times, far apart. This is their conjunction-opposition cycle, equivalent to the New Moon-Full Moon arrangement.

THE PATTERN OF THE SUN-MOON CYCLE

As all good observers of nature know, a new wave of energy is generated at New Moon, initiating trends which eventually to come to fruition at the following Full Moon. After the Full Moon portion of the cycle, the energy of nature begins to slow down and rest, arriving at the deepest moment of rest in the hours just before the New Moon occurrence. Thus it can be said that energy increases or waxes from New to Full; it then decreases or wanes from Full to New. This is a key pattern to bear in mind when thinking about outer planet relationships as well.

THE OUTER PLANETS

• The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto

These outer planets are much farther from the center of the solar system than is the Earth or even Mars, and as a result, their periods of orbit around the Sun are concomitantly much longer. For example, the Earth goes around the Sun in one Earth year, Mars in about 2 ½. Jupiter takes 12 Earth years to do the same, while Saturn makes the trip in just under 30, Uranus in about 84, Neptune in 165, and Pluto in just short of 250. These figures are the amount of time for one body to circle the Sun. However, if these outer planets are taken in pairs to conform to the pattern set by the Moon-Sun relationship, the periods of time indicated by the slowest moving planets grow even longer. Thus, taking the outer planets in pairs, there 10, the cycles, ranging in duration from nearly 500 years in the case of Neptune and Pluto to a mere 12 years in the case of Jupiter and Pluto. The rhythms thus generated have can be and have been correlated to planetary affairs with illuminating results.

It was none less than the great Greek philosopher Plato who injected this idea into astrological thinking. It was he who promulgated the following idea, which is based on the law of correspondences, or the notion "As above, so below."

Here is Plato's idea:

• When planets are in conjunction, all of society implodes.
• When planets are in opposition, all of society expands, innovates, and prospers.

I encountered this idea in the mid 1980s. At that time, not much research and reporting on planetary pair cycles had been done in the astrological community. However, the seed thought had been laid down by Plato centuries ago, and it only remained for the concept to take root and flower. I began to think how this conjunction-opposition theory might be applied to the solar system as a whole and the major cyclic influences.

MAJOR CYCLIC INFLUENCES

Major cyclic influences are those that drive the overarching trends and world developments on our planet. The conventional discipline of economics shows that globally significant developments are not isolated occurrences, but rather peaks and troughs in trends that build up over many decades, and in some cases, over centuries. Only the time periods connected with the outer planets can correlate to such collective developments. Thus, it was these I studied. My ultimate product was a time line on which all 10 of the planetary pairs were mapped, with the conjunction phase at the base line and the opposition phase at the peak. In this way, I created a visual display that quickly revealed the balance of outer planets at or moving to conjunction versus those at or moving to opposition for any given point in time. I could therefore see the likelihood of economic contraction on one hand or forces that would make for economic expansion on the other.

As good fortune would have it, I made this rather startling discovery in the summer of 1987, just in time to foresee the stock market debacle ahead. This deep stock market valley was signified by the approaching conjunction of the planets Saturn and Uranus. This meant that at least one rhythm in the outer planet chorus was about to reach its moment of deepest rest. The same had occurred in the 1940s, at which time the DJIA had taken a significant downturn.

I therefore used this information to make a prediction for a multi-million dollar investor for whom I was working on a consultancy basis at that time. He in turn used my prediction to save himself from the Black Monday debacle of October 1987, cashing out of his holdings in time to largely avoid the losses sustained by most others at that time. To my mind, this was a convincing and stunningly successful entry into the world of economic trend forecasting. And it was all based on the time line display of planetary pairs in action, my model for graphing out the complex rhythms within which we live.

POWERFUL LONG TERM PLANETARY CYCLES

Now here is the good news.

• The model shows that the three most powerful long term planetary cycles are all WAXING or moving from the equivalent of NEW to FULL from 1993 until 2047.

In simple and straightforward terms, this means that there is massive support for continuation of the innovative and enterprising spirit which sustains commerce and profitability until the year 2047. Only at that point is there a significant drop-off.

At 2047, the Uranus-Pluto cycle will reach opposition and the energies of innovation which it sparked at its mid 1960s conjunction or New Moon phase will begin to fall off. However, even at that point, the Uranus-Neptune and Neptune-Pluto cycles will still be in the waxing phase. The next opposition will be in 2080 (the Uranus-Neptune) and then the final in 2140 (the Neptune-Pluto). This means that the years 2047, 2080, and 2140 signify points at which commercial trends will exhaust themselves. Note that the first of these does not occur until approximately the middle of the present century, which is now some 40 years into the future. Even at that point, there will remain two of the most powerful cycles proceeding in full flower until late in the present century, at which one will drop off, the other carrying forward until the middle of the 22nd century.

I have used this model since the 1980s to predict and analyze stock market trends as well as general economic conditions. It was right on the money in 1987. It accurately foretold the appearance of major new technology in the early 1990s and the consequent surge in profitability. Likewise, it pinpointed the onset of market instability in 2000 and the severe contractions of 2001 - 2002. It also correctly predicted the slow recovery which is even now in evidence throughout the planet.

If you're still reading at this point, you will note that I have said nothing about planetary disaster in 2012, nuclear winter, imminent collapse of all world financial systems, runs on the banks, decimation of the credit card industry, or the failure of paper money. That's because I don't think there exist astrological bases for such predictions.

In the case of 2012, the predictions made by many sensationalist sources simply don't tally with the facts of planetary pair theory. 2012 does contain a 90 degree relationship (or square) between Uranus and Pluto, but this is a waxing square, equivalent to the First Quarter phase of the lunar cycle, and hence a key turning point in the increasing momentum of energy established by the New Moon or conjunction phase of these two planets, which occurred in the mid 1960s. The many innovations in technology and in social justice which arose during that period can be confidently expected to generate intense creative advance in and around the year 2012.

You will note that, along with failing to lament 2012, neither have I decried the Saturn-Neptune opposition of 2006 - 2007.

It is true that there will be an opposition (or Full Moon phase) between Saturn and Neptune in 2006 and 2007. This should and will represent the exhaustion of potential from the New Moon phase, which occurred in 1989 when Saturn and Neptune were conjunct in Capricorn. It is true that the exhaustion of this cyclic impulse can bring economic slowdown. Further, on the heels of the last Saturn-Neptune opposition during the early 1970s, there arose conditions which led to the Middle Eastern Oil Embargo with its ensuing recessional dynamics, which fact suggests that there may be a repeat of that scenario. Many therefore ask: Doesn't all this bode ill?

As world conditions at present testify, the Saturn-Neptune opposition repeating in 2006-2007 is sure to bring certain effects. However, the degree of such effects is the crux of the matter. The Saturn-Neptune cycle has a duration of 36 years. This is small thing compared to the Neptune-Pluto cycle at 500, the Uranus-Neptune at 172, or the Uranus-Pluto at varying lengths due to the extremely elliptical orbit of Pluto but always greater than 100. All of these major outer planet cycles remain at the current time in their waxing (or growing) phases and do so until 2140, 2080, and 2047, respectively. These are far stronger and more comprehensive in impact than a short 36 year cycle which comes and goes with relative rapidity. The background giants control the main surge.

As can be seen, it is important to realize where the Saturn-Neptune cycle fits into the bigger context, which shows that an opposition of this cycle (working against the waxing phases of the more powerful cycles) is not going to provide enough destructive power to wholly crush world commerce. It will have an effect, yes, but an effect not as dire or bleak as many seem to suggest. A sense of proportion is needed in analysis of world trends, as opposed to a moribund foreboding which morphs itself into superstition. And I might point out that Saturn and Neptune in combination (like they are at the current time) can promote unnecessary fears, even amounting to paranoia. Churchill's famous World War II statement would seem to be apposite here.

Thus, even though we have the Saturn-Neptune opposition in 2006-2007, which is similar to that of the mid 70s, the outlook is not as bleak as might be imagined. And it is not so bleak for a very important reason. The Saturn-Neptune opposition of the mid 1970s took place in the WANING or dying down part of a key planetary cycle - the 172 year long Uranus-Neptune cycle. The energy of that cycle was dying down and had been dying down since the turn of the 20th century, when its Full Moon phase had generated vast amounts of creativity in the form of new modes of ground and air transportation, invention of new materials, and general electrification. That cycle did its big thing around the turn of the century and then began to fade out, finally dying to be reborn in the early 1990s.

The Uranus-Neptune cycle is a long one - about 172 years. This is longer and therefore stronger than the relatively puny Saturn-Neptune weighing in at a mere 36 years from conjunction to conjunction. So, the 172 year item outclasses and overcomes the 36 year item. It's bigger and stronger and therefore conditions the general set of developments more pervasively than does the relative lightweight Saturn-Neptune. The Uranus-Neptune cycle was dying in the mid 1970s, but since that time, it has been reborn.

Yes the heavyweight Uranus-Neptune is up from the floor and ready to fight again. True, he was knocked out cold in the late 80s and early 90s, but since that time, the mighty giant has found its feet and is back in the ring, wearing the colors of the new global business place powered by the internet, universal payment systems, and any number of new communication and transportation technologies which will arise.

CONCLUSION

Whether ecologically sensitive persons like the emerging technology or not (an issue I assuredly well understand) is another matter. However, the fact remains that long term cyclic factors are in place showing that world commerce is well situated to continue - even in the face of the Middle East situation, the conservative agenda, Bush, you name it.

These long term cycles are about the march of time in the form of Humanity, which is a much larger proposition than the current worries of the day. The good news for all of us in this is that there is no imminent collapse of the global monetary system due. Nor is there any convincing astrological evidence for a sudden global famine. Common sense tells us that there will be fluctuations in supply and demand, but the pervasive doomsday scenarios sometimes heard in New Age circles these days are to my mind far off the mark. There is no question but that they fail to take into account the indications of planetary pair analysis, for this view of time's unfolding shows that the sky is not falling currently and is not likely to get any nearer to the Earth until at least 2047, and even at that point, it will not be near enough to cause total systemic collapse.

In conclusion, it can be said that the next really worrisome date of cyclic exhaustion is 2047, which is in the middle of the current century, now some 40 years away. This turning point will be relevant for today's children, but for today's adults, it is not an immediate source of concern. And even for today's children, the real dates of concern do not fall until 2080 and 2140. Even at that point, the sky may only be so near as to allow for the plucking of a few stars. Further, if one accepts the notion that power of belief creates reality, it makes no sense to expect the worst from these cyclic happenings. In fact, it makes much better sense to view all astrological activations as energies which may be sculpted to the highest good of all with rich mental pictures of abundance for all, goodwill, right intention, and right effort.

It is for all these reasons that I advise a seasoned and reasoned optimism for the present and future. It is also for these reasons that I advise today's adults to continue minding their material status as if it mattered, being a sound basis for spiritual practice and service in the world.

AUTHOR: M. Temple Richmond