The applause-seeking Leo Moon went void at 8:46PM ET on Tuesday, not to enter Virgo until 9:22PM ET on Wednesday. What fine, festive mess will be left to tidy up on Thursday, hmmm? During the void, stick to routine tasks, and see  if you notice any odd twists or flakes in your efforts to move forward in a straight line. Roll with whatever crisis crops up and reserve judgement and/or freak outs until the Moon is back in gear. With a Leo Moon void, I could imagine a spontaneous party — even during business hours. I could also see a creative project taking an imaginative turn, with unexpected results. I could also see a fiery drama king or queen running wild.

And now, the news.

Social media was buzzing during Monday morning’s Moon void, when a data dump claiming to be posted by Anonymous outed a number of politicians as members of the Ku Klux Klan. Not so fast, said Anonymous, denying responsibility for the dump. Scuttlebutt has it that the real Anonymous list will be released on Thursday, when the Moon is in detail-conscious Virgo. Accordingly, Anonymous has promised to dot all i’s and cross all t’s.

I was intrigued by Beth Owlsdaughter’s Tarot Card of Week, also posted Monday. It was a rare pull of the card most associated with the “shock to the system” potential of the Uranus-Pluto square. While the seven exact hits of that never-ending square are now in the rear view mirror, the two planets will move to within one degree of each other between now and December 26th, building tension.

So perhaps whatever Anonymous has to share on Thursday will be a bombshell, but already there have been other disruptions to the status quo. On August 11th, I wrote:

I’m interested to see what will hit the headlines when Jupiter is at 17-18 degrees of Virgo this November and next March and July. These were the degrees of the game-changing Uranus-Pluto conjunctions of 1965 and 1966. I expect we’ll see expanded progress on the seeds planted at that time, including, but not limited to: awareness of climate change and other ways human behavior is impacting ecological systems; awareness of subatomic particles, e.g. the Higgs boson; health care systems such as Medicare (which was created in the mid-60s). Read your history books and fill in the rest of the possibilities.

So what hit the wires on Monday, with Jupiter at 17 Virgo? “Shocking” statistics that the mortality rate for white, middle-aged (45-54) Americans has been increasing since 1998. So we’re talking about people born in the mid-60s, on the Uranus-Pluto conjunction. The causes of death: cirrhosis of the liver (from alcohol; note that Jupiter rules the liver), prescription drug abuse (painkillers) and suicide. This group was born with Neptune (potential escape, drugs, spirits) in Scorpio (potential self-destruction). Those born between 1964 and 1967 also have Saturn (limit, control) in Pisces (suffering, empathy, dreams — and all other Neptune keywords). These are challenging horoscopes!

The death toll so far — half a million — may exceed the number of Americans who have died from AIDS (650,000). But scientists who study these things are being challenged to come up with an explanation for why this group of people: white Americans of a certain age — are dying of these diseases at an increased rate, whereas middle-aged Americans who are Black or Hispanic are not. And neither are middle-aged people in other countries. What makes this group of white folks so vulnerable — compared to those in the six other industrialized nations studied?

It seems they are not just middle-aged White Americans; they are UNEDUCATED middle-aged White Americans who are financially stressed and escaping the pain through drugs, drink and suicide  — a hardcore reality check for those who believe in the American Dream (Mars square Neptune in the US horoscope). I find this fascinating in light of this month’s square between Saturn (reality check) in Sagittarius (higher education!) and Neptune (dreams, drugs, alcohol, endings) in Pisces (ditto, as Neptune is the ruler of Pisces).  

What else makes this group or middle-aged, uneducated Americans unique? Hmm…well…all the other countries provide healthcare (Virgo) to their citizens. Their healthcare systems are not driven by the pharmaceutical industry (Neptune).  They work (Virgo) less than their American counterparts. Their diets (Virgo) are healthier — what they eat, as well as the quality of what they eat. Have you read The China Study yet?

It’s interesting that mortality rates for Black Americans in this age demographic are apparently still declining. Apparently there is a “pronounced racial difference in the prescription of opioid drugs”, perhaps a silver lining for those not handed scripts for painkillers like so much Halloween candy.

What’s really surprising is the surprise expressed by the researchers in the study:

“It knocked us off our chairs,” said Anne Case, an economics professor at Princeton University who worked on the study. Since discovering the trend, Case and her colleague Angus Deaton, also an economics professor at Princeton, have shared the findings with healthcare professionals. “We wanted to make sure we weren’t missing something,” Case said. “Everyone’s been stunned.”

Dear Ms. Case: if you understood anything about astrology, you would see in five seconds that the people born in the mid-60s have planetary patterns suggesting certain specific needs. The potential strengths and weaknesses are clear.  For example, with the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Virgo, many have digestive and allergy issues. This is one of plenty of other expectations we might have about those born with these planetary pattern. Add Saturn in Pisces to the mix and we see a potential for anguish and a need for escape. Compared to the other countries in the study, the United States could well be a precarious place for them to live. I could go on about the patterns in the U.S. horoscope which would be particularly challenging, but that is a subject for another day. In any case, Ms. Case — knowing a little about astrology might keep you from falling onto the floor.

In other news, there were plenty of upsets in yesterday’s elections. It’s a good year to be running for office if you are a maverick, as seen in Kentucky. Fear of co-ed bathrooms overcame voters in Houston, and an anti-discrimination bill was repealed.  Let the record show that decades ago, opponents to the Equal Rights Amendment warned that if it passed, co-ed bathrooms would be everywhere. The Amendment was not ratified.  We now have co-ed bathrooms, but women still make only 74 cents for every dollar a man makes. Go figure.

The third installment in the NYT’s series about forced arbitration is a doozy. It also speaks well to the surreal square between Saturn in Sagittarius (law, belief systems, dogma) and Neptune in Pisces. “In Religious Arbitration, Scripture is the Rule of Law”.  Separation of church and state — and tort law? Surely we will see more on this issue as Saturn moves through Sagittarius for the next two years.

UPDATE on Jon Stewart, starting with a bit from my forecast on March 11, 2015:

Meanwhile, for anyone who has a planet or angle at 4 degrees of Gemini, Pisces, Virgo and especially Sagittarius, you may have been feeling pressured to make an ambitious reach or streamline in the weeks leading up to the beginning of February. Saturn hit 4 Sagittarius on February 9th and has been sitting there since then. Well, guess what? Your squeeze continues through mid-April, as this weekend Saturn will turn retrograde on that degree, giving you an opportunity to rethink and retool your strategy (Saturn will continue appearing to move backwards into the end of Scorpio before turning direct on August 2nd). The results of your hard work should be apparent around the first week of November, which is when Saturn will hit 4 Sagittarius again.  Jon Stewart, if you’re reading this, it applies to you.

It should be no surprise to learn that yesterday it was announced that Jon Stewart has signed a four-year deal with HBO. Last week, he announced that he and his wife were opening an animal sanctuary in New Jersey. No charge for that tip in March, Mr. Stewart.  Not that you asked. Disclaimer: Mr. Stewart was once asked about his birth time at a taping of “The Daily Show”. He could not imagine why that piece of information might be significant. Take a look.

Not that anyone should believe in astrology. As a wise astrologer once said, “I don’t believe in astrology!” And then, after a dramatic and stunned (on the part of the interviewer), pause, he continued, “Astrology is something to know about”.

What’s going on in your horoscope? Here’s the 411 on personal consultations. We will have an excellent discussion together. FYI, your astrologer is giving herself a well-deserved raise on November 29th.

Thank you for reading this forecast.