Battles and Loops

 Hat-tip here

Today is the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the Netherlands.

From this piece in The Independent - a British newspaper -

The Battle of Waterloo will be celebrated with a national memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral to mark its bicentenary on Thursday (today) – and while descendants of those who fought there will be among the VIP guests, they have been warned that it will not be "triumphalist". Nonetheless, it has to be said, the Duke of Wellington's victory over Napoleon and the Bonapartists at a little ridge near the hamlet of Mont St Jean, 11 miles south of Brussels, was so complete that "Waterloo" has become synonymous with a crushing defeat.

But, it must also be added, that is not how it looked in the spring of 1815. Radical MPs such as Sam Whitbread, son of the brewer, were appalled at the prospect of Britain being dragged into another costly war against Napoleon. The Commons were just as divided as during the debates before the Iraq war in 2003. Whitbread and other Radical MPs accused Wellington of going to war for regime change – just as the anti-war MPs accused Tony Blair over Saddam Hussein.

Reading on, about the upshot of the Battle, and circumstances in Britain when soldiers returned home, the story of Waterloo bleeds into an uprising in northern England, I've blogged about this before:
The Peterloo Massacre in Manchester. In the present article circumstance leading to it is mentioned thus:

.....the bloated Prince Regent, who was as much reviled as the newly-restored Bourbon monarchy in France. In the same year as Waterloo, "Prinny" commissioned John Nash to turn his beach house in Brighton into a fantasy Moghul palace – the Royal Pavilion – and refurbish Carlton House at vast expense. The Government was so alarmed that Lord Liverpool, Lord Castlereagh and the Chancellor Nicholas Vansittart wrote to the spendthrift prince, warning him to rein in his spending as the only means of "weathering the impending storm"

The storm they feared broke in Manchester on 16 August 1819 when an estimated 60,000 men, women and children crowded onto St Peter's Field (now the site of the Radisson Hotel) to hear a powerful public speaker Henry "Orator" Hunt – the Tony Benn of his day – call for representation in Parliament for the burgeoning industrialised towns of the Midlands and the North, who had no MPs in the Commons to speak up for their people. And among the crowd was one Waterloo Man – John Lees – whose story can stand for many... (the story, of subsequent bloodshed, continues).

See also British Museum website for this illustration of the Peterloo Massacre:

The Manchester Yeomanry ride down women, children, and men, making for a platform (right) in the background, where Hunt stands with three supporters. The foremost points his sabre at a fainting woman with children round her, who is supported by a man; he says "None but the brave deserve the Fair." A little boy, holding his mother's kerchief, exclaims: "Oh pray Sir, doan't Kill Mammy, she only came to see Mr Hunt." Another man rides up furiously, saying, "Cut him [the boy] down, Cut him down." On the left the yeomanry ride forward in close formation. Above them the head of the Regent (poorly characterized) emerges from clouds, supporting the beam of a pair of scales. The heavier scale is inscribed 'Peculators' [Ministers and placemen], the other 'Reformers'. He says: "Cut them down, doan't be afraid, they are not Armed, courage my boys, and you shall have a vote of thanks, & he that Kills most shall be made a Knight errant [cf. No. 12811, &c.] and your exploits shall live for ever, in a Song, or second Chivey Chace." Hunt, hat in hand, exclaims: "Shame, Shame, Murder, Murder, Massacree [sic]." Two others echo "Shame." They have banners, one surmounted by a cap of Liberty.
Septemeber 1819. Hand-coloured etching

As has been said before in posts here, and in comments, it seems we are trapped in a loop - do you detect it? It's always us and them: us = ordinary people; them = the wealthy ruling elite and/or corporations. Like east and west, ne'er the twain shall meet, except in bloodshed and violence.

Oh...this is depressing...let's end with the song: Waterloo, the song with which ABBA won the Eurovision Song contest in 1974.

Saturn in Virgo Heralding New Rules -

Saturn in the early degrees of Virgo is making a showing already.

Three news items this week, from the USA, UK, and New Zealand seem to me to be Saturn in Virgo related. Some of the things astrology connects with Saturn are rules, laws, discipline, restrictions and teaching. In the zodiac sign of Virgo this strait-laced planet will feel quite at home. It's not Saturn's home sign (that's Capricorn) but it is another Earth sign, and friendly to anything connected with service, health, wellbeing, and attention to detail. So we can easily detect the connection in the following, soon to be implemented, new rules:

In the USA: "Could You Pass the New Citizenship Test?" - exam for would-be citizens re-designed for the first time since since 1986.

In the UK, a new updated and expanded version of "The Highway Code", first in 8 years.

My personal interest in the first item leads me to wonder, would it be impolite to suggest that those who administer immigration and citizenship matters in the US should take a new test of competence themselves? I'm waiting very impatiently for the Citizenship and Immigration Service to get their act together and open the packet I sent to them in July, containing my own application for US citizenship. I'd be overjoyed to take their test tomorrow ! But it looks like an extremely long wait is ahead for me, and many like me. Can you tell I'm seething with annoyance? It probably doesn't help that Saturn is at present coming up to be quincunx my natal Sun, with Tr Uranus sextile natal Uranus feeding feelings of rebellion.

I can't comment much about the UK's Highway Code. I've forgotten what it's like to sit in the passenger seat on the other side of the car and travel on the other side of the road. I don't drive, by the way. In the UK I didn't need to - plenty of public transport and sidewalks. For at least a year after I first came here I'd routinely go to the driver's side to get into the car - much to the amusement of HeWhoKnows. One thing I discovered here, which is different (I think) from driving in the UK: when an ambulance or fire fighting vehicle is approaching, or behind, one is obliged to pull over. HWK always does this even if the road is completely clear. It's a caring and courteous requirement (Saturn was probably in Virgo when someone implemented the rule!)

And - the third news item:

In New Zealand: The New Zealand police have launched a wiki open to anyone wanting to edit and make suggestions to the Police Act as part of a wider revamp. New Zealand's current Police Act is nearly 50 years old.

NZ Police Superintendent Hamish McCardle, the officer in charge of developing the new act, said the initiative had already been described as a "new frontier of democracy".

"People are calling it 'extreme democracy' and perhaps it is. It's a novel move but when it comes to the principles that go into policing, the person on the street has a good idea ... as they are a customer. They've got the best idea about how they want to be policed."

Now THAT's what I call democracy! Good for the NZ police!

New Prime Minister for Britain

I've been away from Britain, my native land, long enough to feel estranged from the politics there, but I understand that Tony Blair's imminent departure may mean that Gordon Brown will be Britain's next prime minister. I've read all of Dharmaruci's blogs on the subject at Astrotabletalk, and feel uneasy, to say the least, about Gordon Brown as PM. He and Tony Blair transformed the Labour Party into what they term "New Labour" - something it was never, ever meant to be. In my view it's now a watered down version of conservatism - it has been said that the swing to the right was needed in order for Labour to win elections. That's a little scary - and sad.

Left-wing Labour MP John McDonnell will attempt to gain sufficient support to run against Brown for leadership of the party. That is good news! I much prefer the look of McDonnell's natal chart. Born 8 September 1951 in Liverpool, he has Sun, Mercury and Venus in work and service oriented Virgo - Sun sextiles Uranus in Cancer. Jupiter in Aries trines Mars in Leo. His Moon would have been in Sagittarius, whatever his birthtime, and may possibly form aspects with Pluto and Mars. To me that chart describes someone with a good balance of practical common sense and dynamic go-getting. Saturn, strongly placed in Libra where it is traditionally "exalted", and semi-sextile natal Mercury represents tact and diplomacy, keen sense of justice and fairness - an excellent placement for a politician. Gordon Brown, born earlier the same year shares similar planetary placements for Saturn and the outer planets. The significant differences, I'd say, are placements of Mars and Jupiter. These are trined in Fire signs in McDonnell's chart, but in Brown's they both lie in Pisces, with his Sun and Venus - too much! I think this could result in a kind of blinkered outlook, lacking perspective.

There's more information in an excellent blog post about John McDonnell at The Nether-World by Davide Simonetti.

It seems doubtful at present that John McDonnell could oust Gordon Brown, but you never can tell!