There has been suggestion from President-Elect Obama that his administration may initiate some kind of public works project, aiming to improve the country's infrastructure, providing employment for millions of those who have lost jobs as a result of the current economic climate. I learned about a previous project of this nature after our visit to the summit of Mount Scott, last week, it's in the Wichita Mountains, a short drive from our home. The road to the top of the mountain was constructed as part of the Works Project Administration (WPA) - brainchild of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, it was established in May 1935 and ran until 1943.
A plaque at the highest point of Mt. Scott shown below, and yours truly after we drove up the WPA road last Tuesday. It was windy up there!
The WPA offered work to the unemployed on an unprecedented scale by spending money on a wide variety of projects, including construction of highways, bridges and public buildings, slum clearance, reforestation, and rural rehabilitation. In Oklahoma alone 825 schools were built, the most in any state.
Astrologically, only the outer planets would connect to this prodigious enterprise, being long term, and affecting a whole group of the American people. In May 1935 at the establishment of WPA, the outers stood as follows:
Saturn 8 Pisces
Uranus had just entered Taurus - 1 to 3 degrees
Neptune 11 Virgo
Pluto 23 to 24 Cancer.
Because the WPA's establishment date coinicides with Uranus changing signs I think that planet's transit was very significant. Uranus, the radical, bringer of change, entering Taurus, the Fixed Earth sign, concerned with property and practicality. Taurus is ruled by Venus, it also relates to the arts. The WPA, as well as pioneering a wide variety of building and engineering works throughout the states, also provided programmes supporting the arts. Writers produced guide books, indexed archives and newspapers, conducted historical research. Unemployed artists worked decorating post offices, schools and public buildings, produced murals, sculptures, and posters (above & left). Musicians organised orchestras and community singing.
So, in view of the date of its establishment, its novelty and the span of its influence, I see WPA as firmly in the domain of Uranus. Any project along the same lines brought forward in the near future will not be Uranus-led though. Uranus is now in dreamy, spiritual Pisces. It is Pluto's imminent move into Capricorn which will most likely spark a new programme of community work projects. Capricorn is the Cardinal Earth sign of the zodiac, still very practical, but more business-driven than Taurus. Works undertaken may not include any nods to the arts this time around, the project will be more concerned with keeping commerce free-flowing. Roads and bridges connecting urban areas and between states might be a priority.
Saturn, Capricorn's ruler representing structure/infrastructure, is now transiting organised Virgo (Mutable Earth) and will blend easily with Capricornian aims. Meticulous organisation will be a feature of any new works project - count on it! That's something which was lacking in the WPA, when foggy, dreamy Neptune transited Virgo, with Saturn in similarly dreamy Pisces. The WPA had many critics, confusion and waste were said to be a common feature. Our current Saturn in Virgo will not stand for that!
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REMEMBRANCE
If I were still living in the UK, I'd have been wearing a poppy in my lapel for the last few days. It's a custom not widely followed in the USA, though the UK's Remembrance Day and USA's Veterans' Day share the date: 11 November.
I can't get a poppy for my lapel, so attach one to my blog instead....
LEST WE FORGET
A plaque at the highest point of Mt. Scott shown below, and yours truly after we drove up the WPA road last Tuesday. It was windy up there!
The WPA offered work to the unemployed on an unprecedented scale by spending money on a wide variety of projects, including construction of highways, bridges and public buildings, slum clearance, reforestation, and rural rehabilitation. In Oklahoma alone 825 schools were built, the most in any state.Astrologically, only the outer planets would connect to this prodigious enterprise, being long term, and affecting a whole group of the American people. In May 1935 at the establishment of WPA, the outers stood as follows:
Saturn 8 Pisces
Uranus had just entered Taurus - 1 to 3 degrees
Neptune 11 Virgo
Pluto 23 to 24 Cancer.
Because the WPA's establishment date coinicides with Uranus changing signs I think that planet's transit was very significant. Uranus, the radical, bringer of change, entering Taurus, the Fixed Earth sign, concerned with property and practicality. Taurus is ruled by Venus, it also relates to the arts. The WPA, as well as pioneering a wide variety of building and engineering works throughout the states, also provided programmes supporting the arts. Writers produced guide books, indexed archives and newspapers, conducted historical research. Unemployed artists worked decorating post offices, schools and public buildings, produced murals, sculptures, and posters (above & left). Musicians organised orchestras and community singing. So, in view of the date of its establishment, its novelty and the span of its influence, I see WPA as firmly in the domain of Uranus. Any project along the same lines brought forward in the near future will not be Uranus-led though. Uranus is now in dreamy, spiritual Pisces. It is Pluto's imminent move into Capricorn which will most likely spark a new programme of community work projects. Capricorn is the Cardinal Earth sign of the zodiac, still very practical, but more business-driven than Taurus. Works undertaken may not include any nods to the arts this time around, the project will be more concerned with keeping commerce free-flowing. Roads and bridges connecting urban areas and between states might be a priority.
Saturn, Capricorn's ruler representing structure/infrastructure, is now transiting organised Virgo (Mutable Earth) and will blend easily with Capricornian aims. Meticulous organisation will be a feature of any new works project - count on it! That's something which was lacking in the WPA, when foggy, dreamy Neptune transited Virgo, with Saturn in similarly dreamy Pisces. The WPA had many critics, confusion and waste were said to be a common feature. Our current Saturn in Virgo will not stand for that!
*****************************************************************
REMEMBRANCE
If I were still living in the UK, I'd have been wearing a poppy in my lapel for the last few days. It's a custom not widely followed in the USA, though the UK's Remembrance Day and USA's Veterans' Day share the date: 11 November. I can't get a poppy for my lapel, so attach one to my blog instead....
LEST WE FORGET
We have the poppy here, T, and observe the minute of silence at 11on 11/11 every year, flags lowered, Last Post, etc, traffic stops, etc. Very moving.
ReplyDeleteAs to BO, I think he can make something wondrous of the clean slate he's been given, once the appalling mess is cleaned up.
Great shot of you way up so high on the WPA road. It must have been windy!
XO
WWW
These schemes are excellent if voluntary and done by communities, but Brownski over here is thinking of a mass project. The cost will be horrendous in borrowing, and we'll be paying for it for the next fifty years.
ReplyDeleteI have my poppy with me today, and remember.
Hi AN ~~~ Anything that doesn't include killing other people is fine by me - however expensive!
ReplyDelete;-) If the schemes are well-run and closely monitored I think they must be A Good Thing - and in the US a necessary one. The money would most certainly be better spent (in the USA's case) on such schemes than on futile wars in the Middle East.
WWW ~~~ Yes, it is moving. We used to stop work and remain silent with the telephones switched off for two minutes on 11 November.
ReplyDeleteThere's such a lot of good feeling behind Obama - that has to make a difference. How different from the feelings about the current incumbent!
Poppies were used in Rhodesia and still are in South Africa.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post for 11 11 too.
Hi Michelle - thanks, and thanks for the information !
ReplyDelete