Astrology in July 2016 – Parallels with 1965 and 1968

by Robert Wilkinson

In the light of recent events here in the US, with white and brown cops killing black men, and a black man killing several Dallas cops, I thought it seemed strangely familiar to a hot and very bloody Summer a long time ago.

From a Washington Post front page story “Former top cop: America is ‘sitting on a powder keg’,” we read:

The former top cop in Washington and Philadelphia said Sunday that the country is ‘sitting on a powder keg’ amid outcry over a number of fatal police shootings, including two last week that prompted nationwide protests.

And he fears that ‘some incident’ will take place at the national political conventions later this month.

Charles Ramsey, the former D.C. police chief and one-time Philadelphia police commissioner, said on NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press’ that this is a ‘volatile time’ for the nation.

’We are sitting on a powder keg,’ he said. ‘You can call it a powder keg. You can say that we’re handling nitroglycerin, but obviously, when you just look at what’s going on, we’re in a very, very critical point in the history of this country.’

Ramsey’s comments came after police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota, and then deadly sniper fire in Texas, where five officers were killed and several others were wounded.

I remember such a time. Though tensions had run high throughout the entire early civil rights era from the late 1940s through the mid-60s, it seemed that everything was amped up a hundred fold by the mid-60s. By 1965, police racism and brutality spilled out in Los Angeles, triggering the Watts Riots between August 11-17, 1965, that left dozens dead and tens of millions in damages.

From wiki: “The report identified the root causes of the riots to be high unemployment, poor schools, and other inferior living conditions for African Americans in Watts. Recommendations for addressing these problems included "emergency literacy and preschool programs, improved police-community ties, increased low-income housing, more job-training projects, upgraded health-care services, more efficient public transportation, and many more." Most of these recommendations were not acted upon.”

Since events like this are far-reaching in their causes and effects, we have to examine outer planet positions to see larger collective factors in play. In August 1965, we find Saturn at 16 Pisces, Uranus at 14 Virgo, Neptune at 18 Scorpio, and Pluto at 16 Virgo. It’s easy to see that the Virgo-Pisces axis created a powerful line of tension and polarization at that time.

As an aside, there was also a Mercury retrograde, showing it was related to things past. Sure enough, there had been other LA riots in earlier decades, and all the commissions studying the problem found the exact same causes as the Watts riots, listed above. And of course, the outcome of the Watts riots yielded the same result that nothing was done to correct any of the problems related to those earlier riots.

The assassination of Malcolm X in 1965 and then James Meredith in 1966 had a direct effect in creating the “Black Power” movement, where urban minorities banded together for collective safety and support. As urban unrest and increasing police brutality escalated, it created a powder keg at was sure to explode at some point.

Fast forward to 1968. The year began badly with the Orangeburg Massacre on February 8, when SC state police killed or wounded 30 people protesting against segregation. That was followed by riots nationally in 110 cities in the weeks after Martin Luther King Jr. was shot by a white supremacist on April 4. Again, from Wikipedia:

The anger exhibited in the Washington, D.C., 1968 riots was not solely about the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. There were pre-existing poor living conditions for blacks in the city and the assassination of Martin Luther King was the straw that broke the camel's back pushing the city into chaos. Blacks were frustrated about unequal unemployment rates, segregated housing systems that had blacks in far worse housing communities, police officers that were targeting blacks and an education system that ignored black children.

These riots were all over the country, and primarily the result of all of the above reasons, along with police brutality against people of color in every major city. It seemed as though the streets of America were urban battlegrounds pitching the oppressed versus the oppressors, and tensions were as high as they could be.

Robert Kennedy was shot in June 1968, and an atmosphere of grim despair hung over the nation. It seemed as though people were getting shot or brutally beaten with great frequency, and there was no peace or justice on American streets. It was police power all the way, and Nixon gladly ran on demonizing all who protested, for whatever reason. Again, the parallels are unsettling.

Things came to a violent head at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where thousands of protestors came together in late August to try to get publicity to end the war, end social injustice, end racial injustice, and generally to get the nation’s attention. It resulted in what was later termed “a police riot,” where the Chicago police became brutally violent and hurt hundreds of people.

In August 1968, we see Saturn at 26 Aries, Uranus at 28 Virgo, Neptune at 24 Scorpio (where it went SD in early August), and Pluto at 22 Virgo. While the oppositional tension of 1965 was past, the Spring 1968 riots mainly involved Jupiter in late Leo square Neptune in late Scorpio and Saturn in Aries quincunx Pluto in Virgo.

By June through October Saturn became the nozzle for a very powerful Yod, or Finger of God, involving Neptune and Pluto. During that period Saturn was between 21 and 26 Aries, Uranus was between 26-29 Virgo, Neptune was 25-28 Scorpio, and Pluto was 21-22 Virgo.

And now we’re in the Summer of 2016. In the buildup to the current “powder keg” that threatens to explode this Summer, we’ve had shooting after shooting of mostly unarmed and unthreatening black children and men by white policemen over the past months and years. It also seems that many of the primary causes of the 1960s riots are the same problems at the root of much of today’s urban unrest.

In the past several weeks we’ve had several high profile police executions of unarmed black men and women, and one horrible night where a man posted pictures in social media of him scowling, giving the world the Black Power closed fist salute, just before he killed several white cops in Dallas in retaliation for the unjustified killing of black men in recent weeks.

And what are the current astrological factors? Between mid-June and mid-July, we find Mars in the exact sector of Scorpio where Neptune was in 1968. Since the Spring, Uranus has been in the exact sector of Aries where Saturn was in 1968. In the Spring, Jupiter was in the same sector in Virgo as both Uranus and Pluto in 1965, and it now approaches the sector where Uranus and Pluto were in 1968, where it will be joined by both Mercury and Venus over the next few weeks. Then Mercury will retrograde back through this very volatile span, going direct in late September at 15 Virgo, the hot zone for Uranus and Pluto in 1965.

When we add the general friction and discontent indicated by Saturn square Neptune, we see that the on-going power structure and its rules (indicated by Saturn) is in direct and close conflict with the prevailing public atmosphere (indicated by Neptune). In August, there will be numerous T-squares made by Mercury and Venus in Virgo square to Mars and then Saturn while opposing Neptune, with the latter part of August dominated by Mars conjunct Saturn square Neptune as Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter occupy the sector in Virgo where Uranus was in 1968.

While past is often prologue, we can head off what looks to be a long, hot, potentially violent Summer by stopping the killings and de-escalating the tensions. It would seem that with the current parallels, what’s inflaming tensions and making America into a “powder keg” is the same set of factors that inflamed our nation 50 years ago.

What we cannot allow is for another crypto-fascist demagogue to take power over our government, offering us “law and order” in return for smashing our civil liberties and sending thugs into the streets to beat protesters, as was done in 1968 and 1969. That decade ended with a bang when the government decided their uniformed jackboot mercenaries could shoot to kill students for no reason at Kent State and Jackson State in May 1970. This must not happen again.

Though the parallels are somewhat astonishing, we do not have to repeat the worst part of our recent history. We must stop the police from being judge, jury, and executioner all in one. They must stop killing men and women of color for minor traffic infractions and petty crimes that ultimately harm no one.

We must de-escalate the violence. That means backing off the violent rhetoric in hate radio, decreasing the polarizing rhetoric in the news media, stop demonizing protesters who are standing up for their rights, and above all else, stop killing each other in the streets. If we don’t, it’s going to be 1968 all over again, and that would be a true national tragedy.

May calm heads and hearts prevail in this Summer of national discontent. Though the political conventions and campaigns feed the worst of the polarization, may we all see a way beyond the hatred of either or both candidates, the hatred of the platforms of either or both parties, the hatred of the globalism that is the source of despair and anger for millions, the hatred and fear that divides the races, and the hatred of “the other."

We are one Life, one Love, and one Race – the human race. This is the time to be strong in our resolve to live in alignment with our Soul, and not our fear-based personality. We must not repeat 1968. Our nation and its future are at stake.

© Copyright 2016 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Nic]

Glad you commented on this. It is true how many similarities are present not only in the US situation but in many ways in the world at large. As you say: " Most of these recommendations were not acted upon.” That is, we did not learn the lesson then so it is repeating itself. This time we have more experience, there is more social awareness and critical thinking has grown. We do have a better chance to change and improve things. The past does not need to be repeated. Seems like the world options are polarised between separation versus integration. The can manifest in racism, all kind of discrimination (gender, economical, nationality,etc), wall building of all kinds or between integration as equals as one humanity sharing one planet (and purpose). There are plenty of examples of this trend too. Fortunately.

Blessings be to all.

[sue]

Taken from " The Wrath Of GOOD"
Ode to the many missing links
on this chain of wishful thinking
The deeds of man have caused a stink
Their ship of fools is sinking

7-7 ...180... 33

[chickie]

Another REPEAT!!!

[sw]

Great post Robert. Thank you.

[ThanQ]

Very interesting read. Thank you, Robert. I've seen and I can feel people acting out of FEAR and RESTRICTION all around me. I should say that I work with the public. Customer service, basically. At two separate jobs and in my social life, I've stood up to and had to stare down at least seven bullies for the last 6 months or better. On Friday, the 8th of July, while the sun was opposing Pluto, I foiled my biggest bully's character & job assassination attempt(s) on me. Pluto is currently in an exact conjunction to her natal sun. Then, later that day, the least expected bully closest to my heart erupted with manipulative behavior(s), and also had to be foiled. I'm still recovering.

[ThanQ]

@Sue: I'm vry interested in the knowing the
name of the author of the poem you've quoted.
The Wrath of GOOD [?] The concept has been reoccurring to me.

[Janet Green]

Yes, as others have said, thanks for your commentary on this. It really does seem that we are headed down the same path. I keep repeating the words of my son who said, "Don't worry mom. It could turn out even better than you think." I hold that high vibration out to step out of the fear and stand with light, love and courage to face what happens next.