Significant changes are on the horizon for world leadership, according to the stars. Bridget Penrose noted that 2017 would see a wild ride for the newly minted Trump administration, as well as an increase in violent crime in Indianapolis, as well as difficulties within the City-County Council.
“This upcoming year is also nuts, astrologically speaking,” she said. “We have two big planetary changes, with Saturn moving into Capricorn in 2017 and Uranus moving into Taurus in 2018, then retrograding out, then moving into the Bull for a seven year visit in 2019. The last time Uranus was in Taurus was 1934-41, which was during the Great Depression.” Penrose stressed that the next seven years won’t be another Dust Bowl, but will still see huge changes in finance, industry, and traditional business practices. “We’ll see an acceleration of innovation across the board. Lots of technology, more ‘smart’ applications to everything from medicine to building rockets. There will be a lot of shiny new ways of doing things, but they will come at a cost.” The costs, she explained, will be taken out in fewer mainstream jobs with steady wages and benefits, less tax revenue to build vital infrastructure, greater income inequality, and less social stability over the next several years. “People will have to get very creative, and do things that might have been unthinkable in the past, just to survive. As Uranus moves through the very stubborn, traditionalist sign of Taurus, a so-called normal world is turned topsy-turvy. It will be especially hard on those born from 1975-1982, the latter part of GenX, when Uranus was in Scorpio.”
Penrose’s outlook on the global economic picture is not especially rosy for 2018. “I wish things looked better, especially for Indiana, but it’s hard to pull optimism out of this hat,” she said, examining several charts. “Disruption all over the place. New rules, stiffer penalties, less room for error — that’s Saturn in Capricorn, Jupiter in Scorpio in 2018. There are indications we’ll see a couple of mega-mergers in retail, possibly with Amazon buying a bricks-and-mortar chain. Indiana, which is very dependent on manufacturing and agriculture, could start to see job losses as technology takes over more and more of those industries. People like to think there are jobs that are ‘tech proof,’ but they are mistaken. The banking industry will adopt more tech, and the days of local branches and paper checks cashed with a live teller will close. Other financial transactions will also become more automated, requiring fewer accountants, tax preparers, brokers, and money managers. Within a few years, most people will order their groceries from their phones and have them delivered by driverless vans. All those dozens of stockers and cashiers at the local store will be rendered obsolete. They’ll have to find new jobs, retrain, relearn, or start their own businesses to survive in the new economy. Tech is cheap and getting cheaper, while employees are expensive.”
In the United States, Penrose sees continued turmoil in the Trump administration and Congress. “The investigations into possible collusion in the 2016 campaign will continue throughout at least the first half of the year. There’s a lot of information to digest. A lot going on behind the scenes. Whatever the outcome of the Mueller investigation, it will tear to ribbons what little trust we have in the election process.”
Penrose also stated that Queen Elizabeth II may suffer a severe setback in the coming two years, possibly connected to the loss of her husband Prince Philip. The chart for Great Britain is also under strain in the coming years. “Brexit is going to happen and it will be very unpleasant for the British people. Hard truths are coming, and it may tip them into economic decline and at increased risk for terror attacks.”
In the United States, Penrose sees political disruptions. “The mid-term elections will be full of surprises and upsets. These will be tough elections to call, polling will be unreliable. Lots of political in-fighting. It’s the run-up to a pretty explosive 2020 election year. Women will take more seats in local and federal government in the mid-terms.”
Penrose also notes that Indianapolis will see budget issues in the coming two years. “There’s an indication that tax revenues will fall more than expected at the state and local level, while demand for services is increasing. It looks like the public safety budget will be the one area that will be safe from cuts. It also looks like the personal and public cost of the opioid crisis will skyrocket for the next couple of years.”