Apocalyptic warnings about inflation and the cost of living in the UK should theoretically involve a punishing of the wicked and rewards for the faithful. Given that the last bout of high inflation in the 1970s resulted in Margaret Thatcher’s election to power, it might seem to some a misnomer.
Inflation now stands at 9% the highest since the 1970s oil crisis when a sudden supply shock sent the oil price soaring by 300%. Inflation climbed to 12.9% in 1974, 24% in 1975. By 1976 Labour PM James Callaghan was forced to go cap in hand to the IMF for a loan. Maggie was elected in 1979 and by 1983 inflation had sunk back to 4%.
In the early 1970s when the economic woes kicked off, the UK 8th house Mars was – as ever – heavily challenged by tr Saturn in Aquarius in square; and by the Solar Arc Neptune just into the UK financial 8th house heading to conjunct the Mars as the economic crisis escalated. Tr Pluto was in a blocked square to the UK Solar Arc Midheaven and moving to a disruptive conjunction to the UK Uranus; with a panicky, devastated tr Neptune square the UK Pluto. And the Solar Arc Pluto was moving to conjunct the UK 11th house Saturn across the mid 1970s as well. By the time of the 1976/77 bailout tr Uranus in Scorpio was opposing the 8th house UK Mars. If not apocalyptic, certainly catastrophic.
Not all of that is repeating now but there are enough red flags of similarity to raise alarm. The Solar Arc Uranus moving through the UK financial 8th house will conjunct the Mars by 2025 for an economic shock of considerable proportions. Before then there is a stuck, powerless, image-denting Solar Arc Pluto square the UK Sun within the next six months; followed by Solar Arc Saturn in a disruptive, economically-destabilizing opposition to the UK Uranus by late 2023 at the same time as a lacklustre, undermining Solar Arc Sun square the financial 2nd house Neptune. And the Solar Arc Midheaven is catching the tr Uranus hard aspects this year and will square the Neptune by 2024.
This year and next the tr Saturn square tr Uranus will rattle up the UK’s Fixed Venus, Neptune, Saturn which will also make for a rocky ride.
Andrew Bailey, Bank of England chief has been sounding warnings and getting blamed for the Covid money-printing spree and low interest rates. His own chart and that of his term both have heavy Neptunian swamps writ large this year into a discouraging 2023/24. Not a walk in the park.
The Bank of England chart, 27 July 1694 JC, is in for a gruelling few years with the uncertain, undermining tr Neptune conjunct Neptune and square Saturn now till 2025; a logjammed and scary tr Pluto trine Mars in 2023/24; and the tr Saturn Neptune in Aries moving to oppose the Mars in 2025 and then square the financial Venus until 2026. By 2026 tr Uranus is preparing to exit the UK financial 8th house which will bring to an end an unstable and unpredictable economic phase. See previous post May 14 2020 for parallels with the 1970s.
All that money wasted on covid loans and reckless Boris largesse. Sigh.
ADD ON: FT May 19 2022:
Britain has the highest inflation in the G7 of advanced economies —– and the country’s inflation problem has more signs of persistence than in many other European countries.
The astrological patterns are so interesting. Almost soothing, or distracting at least. Talk of a windfall tax prompted me to look at the oil and gas windfall tax that Margaret Thatcher’s government brought in, in November 1980.
I don’t have an exact date, but in November, 1980, there’s transiting Saturn and Jupiter in Libra aiming to balance things out. Jupiter is conjunct the UK Uranus (a windfall?!) and Bank of England Mars in Libra that month, with Saturn (Libran Mrs Thatcher?) crossing the UK ascendant. With immaculate timing, Jupiter 2022 has just opposed all that from Aries. Back in November 1980, Uranus in ‘other people’s money’ Scorpio had just passed it’s square to UK Saturn in Leo. (Uranus in Taurus will next square UK Saturn next August, 2023).
1980’s Tr Neptune in Sagittarius moves to square the Bank of England’s Neptune in Pisces – a Neptune pairing that seems very ‘now you see it, now you don’t’ magic show. The next windfall tax the Thatcher government imposed would be on bank deposits, in 1981. I struggle to imagine this happening today.
Worth noting, too, that there was a Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act in 1980 in the US. US inflation had then reached 14%. It has been called ‘The Great Inflation’. Neptune was making a t-square with US Mars/Neptune ‘natal’ square.
“All that money wasted on covid loans and reckless Boris largesse. Sigh.”
There was a thriving black market economy up here in the north of the UK. Tradesmen (and women) who were furloughed carried on working for ‘their friends and family’ ie on the side. Neither were the wealthy immune to making money out of tragedy. And who pays? The poor, the disabled and the elderly – as usual.
I can understand why Boris is not willing to distribute every more largesse – it never goes where it is really needed and he knows it.
Thanks Marjorie. It looks like a very rocky ride, as you say. And one affecting the world, as the effects of Covid and the War in Ukraine shake all our systems and certainties. The Saturn/Uranus effect, plus Pluto in those late degrees of Capricorn, and probably Neptune in Pisces somewhere in the mix. The effects of inflation sometimes lead to civil unrest or even revolution. And here we are, in the UK, sailing into the storm on the Ship of Fools.
For European economies, there’s this from Statista.com:
“As of March 2022, the inflation rate in the European Union was 7.8 percent, with prices rising fastest in Lithuania, which had an inflation rate of 15.6 percent. By contrast, the inflation rate in Malta was 4.5 percent, which was the lowest in the EU during this month. The current rate of inflation in the EU is higher than at any other time, with the peak prior to 2021 recorded in July 2008 when prices were growing by 4.4 percent year-on-year. Before the recent rises in inflation, price rises in the EU had been kept at relatively low levels, with the inflation rate remaining below three percent between January 2012 and August 2021.”
For the USA, in April 2022:
“In April 2022, prices had increased by 8.3 percent compared to April 2021 according to the 12-month percentage of change in the consumer price index, respectively the monthly inflation rate for goods and services in the United States.”
According to Statista, Japan currently has the lowest inflation rate amongst developed economies – 1.2% in March this year. Russia, unsurprisingly, has the highest – 16.7%.
And I noticed that the Mars, Uranus, Nodes line up at 18 Taurus at the end of July, beginning of August this year will oppose the UK Neptune in Scorpio. This seems like a moment of great energy and potential instability, perhaps with military manifestations, and also suggests the energy crisis and property prices in general.
Oh geeze my sun is at 18 Taurus.
In the early 1970’s interest rates in Germany were 18%+….
Thanks Cassandra. Unimaginable for most of us nowadays!
The UK will have transiting Pluto entering Aquarius and opposing its Jupiter in the 10th house next year – that should be fun. Especially as it is around the time of the budget! Along with transiting Pluto in Aquarius quincunx Uranus in the 12th house. Uranus in in orb of the UK’s Ascendant. Some surprises in store for us next year then!
I suppose the eternal questions is, could any of this have been avoided if we had not Brexited?
And could you do a similar chart for the EU, the US and Indian economies, Marjorie?
The reason for including India is that I saw a map which showed India as having the highest GDP, either totally or per-capita in the past year.
I agree on the Brexit point. Our trade has not picked up to pre pandemic levels unlike other European countries and the US.
How much economic trouble is due to brexit?
Our Brexit trade cannot really pick up with new trade deals, as the much hyped new trade with Asian Pacific countries, was already in place, or 75% was. Leaving little room for new ones. Couple this with America’s trade, which has stayed the same and there is little trade to add. The other factor curtailing our exports, is that we import many of the parts needed for trade. As were were a member of the EU supply chain for years. The long delay in imports and additional cost, has hampered our exports, which are down. The perfect storm.
The counter-argument to that would be that the exact same astrological influences would have been there, Brexit or no Brexit. Therefore, logically, whether we were in the EU or out, we would have faced the same storm, perhaps in a different way.
Yes. However, the question most interested Astrologers will ask at sometime is: Is astrology fate or free will? As identical charts can produce a positive and a negative. Likewise with Brexit had the Conservatives elected a different leader, more experience in politics , yet with the same chart, would the outcome have been different?
I agree. The storm and calm will happen and we have little control over how, when or where. Free will does not lie with events which occur but in how we deal with those events. That is why astrology is so great – it prepares our minds in advance for the storm and calm which is to come.
After we joined the EU within a couple of years our GDP had risen by 10%
India see post Dec 26 2021