Please note this article is not only for the UK market or reader. Please scroll down.The word 'mortgage' means 'death-pledge' or 'death grip'. It stems from medieval times when, if one fell on hard times, one solution was to seek to mortgage a property you already owned in order to get cash.
The American Heritage Dictionary has this to say on the etymology of the word Mortgage....
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English morgage, from Old French : mort, dead (from Vulgar Latin *mortus, from Latin mortuus, past participle of mor, to die + gage, pledge (of Germanic origin).
WORD HISTORY: The great jurist Sir Edward Coke, who lived from 1552 to 1634, has explained why the term mortgage comes from the Old French words mort, “dead,” and gage, “pledge.” It seemed to him that it had to do with the doubtfulness of whether or not the mortgagor will pay the debt. If the mortgagor does not, then the land pledged to the mortgagee as security for the debt “is taken from him for ever, and so dead to him upon condition, &c. And if he doth pay the money, then the pledge is dead as to the [mortgagee].
To the astrologer, who deals in the language of correspondence, this places all mortgages under the 'jurisdiction' of the planet of death, Pluto. It gives them an association with the sign ruled by Pluto (Scorpio) and, by polarity the sign Taurus. Taurus has the planet Venus as ruler and Venus is the natural significator of money. The Scorpio/Taurus axis is concerned with what one has and what one owes i.e., debt taxes, income etc.
As many followers of our profession may already be aware, the planet Pluto has just completed 13+ years in the sign of expansion, buoyancy and over extension, Sagittarius. It now moves for the next 17 years into the sign of honour, Capricorn- the sign of contraction and realism and by extension, the sign of honouring one's debt and taking responsibility for what one has done to secure one's status (mortgaged house).
Tracing the passage of Pluto through the signs is intriguing. Home ownership in the UK has really only been a national pursuit since the late 50's early 1960's when Pluto was in the sign of Virgo. Virgo is an earth sign. It is the sign of duty, service and servicing. Bricks and mortar are from the earth and people took practical steps to secure their future by buying into 'buildings' and servicing mortgages on them. In the early 1960's Saturn, which I shall discuss later, was strong in the signs of Capricorn and Aquarius.
So, Pluto, then in Virgo, speaks of small, routine matters that we attend to as a matter of duty. One's that help our life to move along as smoothly, efficiently and orderly as possible. Mortgages did indeed begin to become more routine and commonplace but the emphasis was still on tidy, practical and manageable sizes of loans. No one would lend money they didn't feel could be safely repaid. In the 1970's however Pluto moved into the sign of Libra, the property boom for couples and co-habitee's (Libra), really began to take off as you could borrow over two times (Libra) your earnings or legally have someone stand as co-borrower ( Libra) or guarantor of the debt.
Then Pluto hit Scorpio in the mid '80's' and debt started to escalate. Pluto in Libra had brought a boom in 'beautifying' (Libra/Venus) our home and entering into competition (Libra) with neighbours for the nicest looking house/garden etc. Furniture and 'home' stores began opening everywhere. A classic Keeping up with the Jones' syndrome began. Indebtedness soared and within a few years of Pluto moving into Scorpio there was a natural correction as people realised that with interest rates rising, stockmarkets crashing, they couldn't afford to repay their loans and many homes were repossessed and bankruptcy abounded. (Scorpio). Borrowing conditions were (temporarily) transformed (Scorpio).
Still, however, a popular myth persisted - 'you just can't lose with property'. Everyone refused to see there was a fundamental problem with the system of borrowing and instead we all lived in a perpetual state of optimism, brought on in no small part by politicial decisions and the lining of the pockets of all those in the legal profession concerned with the selling (conveyancing) of a house.(Sagittarius.)
Inflation was curtailed and in 1995/6 World trade, imports/exports (Sag/Jupiter) and feelings of abundance increased again. Despite recent memories of the boom and bust era of the early 90's, lending began to go through the roof while interest rates remained low and the house market went wild.
SATURN IN THE PICTURE
Mortgages and debt are ruled by Pluto but it is the planet Saturn which is the planet astrologers give to the physical property itself. Saturn rules strutures. It is therefore of prime importance when assessing the housing market - Pluto is just the invisible charge/debt on the property. Additionally, within these long term Pluto cycles, the day to day ups and down of the market continually respond and adjust to the 2+ year per sign cycle of Saturn. This can be witnessed by the peak in 2003-7 that coincided with the entry of Saturn into the sign of 'my home is my castle', Cancer. Swiftly followed by Saturn's entry into the sign of gambling, speculation and 'the bigger, the more bling-bling the better', sign of Leo!
As soon as Saturn hit the sign of Virgo - the sign of the manageable and day to day practicalities, while Pluto concomitantly began edging to the end of Sagittarius, it all began to come tumbling down. Here's a graph to prove it -
Saturn moved in Virgo at the beginning of September 2007.WHAT NOW?
So, what now. Well if you are living in the USA, or the rest of the world, different cycles are also interweaving and should be looked at for specific markets but, as far as the UK ( a Cancer/Capricorn country i.e. tradition and home ownership) - and in general terms for the US - the economic outlook is all too obvious. It's Grim with an intentional capital G.
If you want to know why then skip back a few posts and watch the film Money As Debt. The house market and the economy are obviously interlinked and Pluto will be in Capricorn, while Saturn moves, square by sign, through Libra, from 2010 - 2012. This suggests some form of house sharing system - perhaps this type of scheme will become more prevalent..... Housing Cooperatives
With Jupiter in the sign of Aquarius and then Pisces during this same time period, 2010-2012, community spirit and charitable concerns will reach an all time high. Estate Agents (Realtors) as we know them today will be virtually dead in the water. Selling homes by word of mouth or via the Internet will take priority. Families may join together in houses. Humanitarianism and democracy will rule and money from bricks and mortar will become a thing of the past as new materials especially metals, plastics, glass, wood, (even strong paper) and ecologically friendly materials are used to construct many new houses.
Sorry to be the voice of doom here for all those depending on a rebound and trusting that one day the house prices will rise to current levels again, but I just don't see it. 'The Death grip' and economic mismanagement has squeezed it dry.
If you are in the UK and want to vote in a new party at the next election perhaps we should all consider this one The Money Reform Party! Even if you are outside the UK this Reform Party site, whilst a few years old (very prescient of them) still makes for an interesting adjunct to the Money As Debt video that I featured a few posts ago and explains what is going on with the turmoil around the bailout bill and the stockmarket.
US ELECTION
In my newsletter which went out about a week ago I mentioned that I believe the Democrats will be the party in power in the USA. I now see this is reinforced by Jupiter's move into Aquarius next year - the natural sign of democracy. One is naturally assuming the Democrat will be Mr Obama, but all astrologers have noted the adverse aspects to his chart and we can only pray that Mars in his eighth house, soon to be bracketed by Saturn and Uranus is - as Ebertin* says: a state of challenging others to a decisive fight, and not the alternative of 'an act of violence and deprivation of freedom' for Barack.
If you have added your name to my mailing list (see box top left) since the mail out then you will receive a copy today. If not then you can see it here and adding your name will ensure you get the next one - typically only 4 per year.
So far the horary chart has proven to be pretty accurate. The horary was written prior to the surge in the economic meltdown of last week and the announcement by Mr McCain that he and Mr Obama would work together to resolve it. I had written hours before " So Obama is caught up with McCain (Mercury); both are in the position of seeking the job (10th) but also both are caught up with Mars. What does Mars represent? Obviously fighting, strife and strong debate but also as ruler of the 5th and 12th, speculation and the stock market (5th)"
and I wrote
"this means it is about to turn on its heels. Mercury in this chart represents the Job of President (10th ruled by Mercury) and it represents John McCain as ruler of the 7th. So Mercury is like someone who has got to a dead end and has no option but to turn around and go back".
The media reported Senator McCain's 'suspension' as an unprecedented situation. I had written
"Uranus in Pisces could be taken as unexpected chaos or an unprecedented situation. Uranus occupying the 3rd house of Obama and the 9th of McCain in this chart does suggest something of this nature i.e., an unexpected announcement" and "this reinforces the rule that this chart is not fit to judge because something is about to change". And so it was!
The NY Times reported ' The events have been fast moving I wrote "The Moon being fast in motion also suggests things are moving fast and it is out of bounds so America (Cancer) is in uncharted territory"
David Letterman took the highly unusual position of being very hostile to Senator McCain when the Republican candidate abandoned his appearance on Letterman's show in the wake of his announcement that he was stopping his campaign to go back to Washington, DC to help with the bailout bill, but was later seen preparing for the Couric interview. I wrote " Mars also rules his turned 11th so maybe McCain feels under attack from the party benefactors or TV station coverage. McCain is also so closely tied to the economic problems instigated by his party that it could be that which is weakening him".
There is much more in this horary yet to unravel so do take a look. Please also let me just say here that my primary motivation with everything I write about astrology is to help people to see THAT ASTROLOGY WORKS and should be given a far higher respect than it currently is. I apologise if all the above sounds like an 'aren't I clever' speech. It's not me, it's the astrology that is clever!
Thanks for reading.
* Ebertin: Combination of Stellar Influences (1972)
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