i found this video to be quite fascinating... bear in mind that when he mentions the placement of the outer planets he is using the sidereal zodiac... he even hints at a prediction near the end of the video on the topic of finances and the usa by quickly discussing the federal reserve chart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7ppi6qrqX0

Thanks James - this is a very thought provoking video and very well made too. Ken is a very good astrologer. I don't share his enthusiasm for the sidereal zodiac but most of what he says is zodiac agnostic.

What a siderealist would miss about this critical period of time is the fact that all transpersonal planets change tropical signs in a very short period of time. The emphasis moves from earth and water to fire and air. So not only do we have these aspectual relationships between the transpersonals forming up, with the involvement of Saturn conjunct Neptune at the beginning of tropical Aries, but we also have the step change that is the sign shifts.

Uranus moving into tropical Gemini (in the last few days) for example seems much more apposite for the technical developments Bowser summarises at the end of the talk rather than Uranus remaining in early Taurus in the sidereal zodiac. Pluto moving into Aquarius (and not remaining in sidereal Capricorn) seems to have a similar message about technical and scientific change.

Perhaps sidereal sign changes bring us something else. However, in my view, the transpersonal tropical sign changes seem to intensify and amplify Ken's message rather than undermine it.

The following graphic is a timeline of the shifts that I prepared with a colleague for a recent talk at our local astrology group. The highlighted area in early 2026 seemed to us to be the critical period of time for major cultural, political, economic and scientific shifts.


All the best.

hi ed

thanks for your thoughtful response here and the other post here in the news section of another obscure british astrologer which would be interesting to know more about...

sidereal rules and tropical drools, lol... well, it could just as easily be the other way around - tropical rules and sidereal drools, lol! i am agnostic to the topic of which zodiac, but the idea of applying terms onto them that are the same regardless is a weird concoction that i have much greater difficulty with.. well - being blunt, the whole terms/bounds thingy as i was mentioning in a previous thread is essentially bonkers as i see it.. but, to each their own..

yes, you've articulated an important observation on the change of tropical zodiac signs for all of these outer planets... if tropical ingress counts for anything - it is an important observation that demands an ongoing discovery process for us astrologers.. your pictures and times here are very helpful for all of this...

i tend to think the changes will be layered due the geometrical relationships which count for just as much - maybe more, but what can we expect?? andre barbault singled this time frame out as an important moment in this century cyclically speaking...

i would like to see peace break out, but we seem to be headed in the opposite direction.. ironically president trump has spoken about finding a solution to some of the world conflicts and that is a nice change, although it is hard to know what to believe or not to believe with trump... i read a discouraging overview on the nuclear weapons and lack of treaties from a russian fellow that is cause for concern.. i hope things get resolved in favour of peace... you might have to have a translator feature on your browser to read this if you are interested...

thanks for your post here!

https://profile.ru/military/kakuju-rol- ... h-1724768/

Thanks for the response James. Whatever zodiac one uses, it is clear that globally we are in the middle of a huge cultural and political shift. The question in my mind, which Kenneth aludes to, is around the future of what we might call 'enlightenment' values, amongst other things, the importance of reason and the rule of law. I wonder whether the astrological significators considered by Kenneth will, over the course of the next few years, lead to a reaffirmation of these values, or their complete undermining and demise. It seems in the balance at the moment, but perhaps the trine and double sextile being less challenging aspects lends us some hope. (I accept that 'enlightenment' values are not universally shared, and probably don't deliver all that they promise - e.g. equality - but the alternative presented by Trump and other populists and authoritarians doesn't seem very appealling.)

All the best. Ed

Interesting video from Kenneth Bowser. Thanks for sharing James.
I am surprised that he did not use Fixed stars in his delineation since one of his book deals with this aspect of astrology.
This current combination of Pluto, Neptune and Uranus - midpoint wise - can be read as
"Sudden commencing of development which cannot be judged as to duration, direction and process. The step into the unknown for the world" as per the Rulebook.

I recently read the last book of Giuliano da Empoli, "The Engineers of Chaos" which serves as a broader, reflective tone—laying bare the deeper patterns and warning signs for modern democracy:

And I asked ChatGPT to make a resume of what he says in his last chapter to better understand the current worldview.

1. Technology as a Perfector of Political Chaos

He revisits how the convergence of three tech-driven forces has reshaped politics:

Social media’s immediacy: The demand for instant engagement makes emotional—or simply provocative—content dominant.

Emotional amplification: Content that stirs anger, fear, or outrage garners more clicks, perpetuating polarization.

Psychographic micro-targeting: Sophisticated data tools allow messages to be individually tailored—disrupting the public sphere .

Together, these elements produce what da Empoli dubs a new political formula: messages engineered not to persuade broadly but to inflame, fracture, and mobilize specific emotional factions.

2. The Breakdown of Collective Reality

Continuing his critique, da Empoli emphasizes that:

Democracy traditionally relies on a shared public discourse—common facts, institutions, and narratives.

Instead, today's voters inhabit "filter bubbles"—personalized realities shaped online—leading to fragmented, mutually incompatible political universes.

This undermines not only policy debate but the very notion of democratic legitimacy and accountability.

3. Populism’s Anatomy Laid Bare

Da Empoli reiterates how populist leaders—from Trump to Salvini and Orban—did not emerge by chance. They were propelled by data scientists, spin doctors, and "engineers of chaos" who wield:

Algorithmic insight into emotional triggers;

Micro messages tailored to individual fears and desires; and

Media strategies that embraced scandal, outrage, and spectacle over reasoned debate .

He stresses that this isn't fringe mischief—it’s become politics as usual in many democracies.

4. A Moment of Reckoning for Democracy

In his closing reflection, da Empoli examines potential paths forward:

Mainstream liberal democracies are at a crossroad: Institutions and traditional parties must either adapt to this disruptive environment—or be sidelined forever .

It’s no longer enough to expose lies or restore facts. What’s needed is rebuilding the emotional connection that democracies provide without fracturing.

To reclaim their relevance, democracies must offer immediacy and agency—without sacrificing deliberation and shared reality.

Bottom Line

The last chapter serves as both a diagnosis and a call to action. Da Empoli firmly asserts that:

“The code and rules have been rewritten.”

Democracy isn't broken—it’s outpaced by new techno-political methods. The only hope lies in adapting both emotionally and structurally: to create political spaces that are engaging yet disciplined, emotionally resonant yet underpinned by shared truth and collective purpose.

Ouranos

ed and ouranos

thanks for both your replies... trying to decipher what the astronomy/astrology foretells is very thought provoking either way! let me address you both individually..

ed

major cultural and political shift - yes... obviously the astrology applies to the whole planet, but will take different individual forms.. we are indeed in the middle of major changes and it would be hard to articulate them all, and get a scope on the long term trends and patterns and what they portend here as it is all in a state of flux and will be for some time... maybe some patterns are appearing - war and the thought of war being one of them..

i think the use of certain terms that have become popular, are a direct byproduct of the media manipulating the masses.. to give an example.. the use of the word ''authoritarians'' usually refers to trump, putin, orban and etc, although ouranos "ChatGPT" includes salvini and leaves out putin, lol.. ( i guess it was an italian version of CHatGPT, lol).. let me ask you this as a uk person - do you think the fact that one can't protest on the genocide in gaza or that the money the uk gov't gives to continue it's war on russia in ukraine is ''democratic''? i think these terms are being turned on their head... no, instead the real authoritarian leaders are those pulling the strings of starmar, macron and merz - all of them very much in the mold of authoritarian leaders who have no interest in the welfare of their own citizens and instead are determined to move towards a direct war in europe again, after all these years, as they have no other vision to offer short of spending more money on their military industry,coddling their banking interests and preparing for war...

i am not sure where the manipulation of the masses via the media fits into the astrology here - but until this is addressed, their will be a lot of misdirection and misunderstanding of where we are at here and a way to move forward - all as i see it of course..

ouranos

the book and author you cite sounds very interesting... i have read a few related books this year which i will mention.. wolfgang streeck ''Taking Back Control?: States and State Systems After Globalism'' which came out in the past year, and another book by clara e mattai, "The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism" - released as a paperback in feb 2025.. aside from the role of the media which i have tried to touch on with ed, the role of finances are certainly central to much of what is going on here.. the idea of capitalism and democracy juxtaposition in such a way that neither work, although you are not going to read about that anywhere, any time soon in the msm!! if you're more interested, i recommend both books - one by a german, and the other by the grand daughter of an italian who was murderred by the same fascists from 100 years ago in italy..

i think social media is a real blight on the planet, so you'll get no argument from me on that... but i continue to believe that AI whether it is chatgpt or what have you, will also be used in all sorts of manipulative and underhanded manner... i am essentially opposed to it all, until we come to terms with the values and importance that ed implies in his post to me - ''enlightenment'' values, or the ideas of equality and international law which is adhered to as opposed to this wacky term 'rule of law' which seems to be a term to circumvent actual international law... i suppose the problem when certain international institutions have been captured, is that they no longer function in the manner they were intended for..

your quote on the midpoints of pluto/uranus = neptune here is certainly relevant and applicable! here it is again

""Sudden commencing of development which cannot be judged as to duration, direction and process. The step into the unknown for the world" as per the Rulebook."

thanks both of you for the exchange.. i don't have any answers and it is fascinating to live on the planet here at this moment in time.. peace be with you both..

----------- an addition

ouranos

bonus link for you on the value and merits of AI -
https://thefloutist.substack.com/p/chon ... -invisible

Thanks James and Ouranus.

That book certainly sounds interesting. Thanks for highlighting this text Ouranus.

I have been thinking about the Francis Fukuyama's 1992 book the End of History and the Last Man. In this book he argues that western liberal values were on the verge of becoming (or had become) the default political and cultural standard across the world. Now I am sure the ideas he advances are more nuanced than they might seem, but current events do show how fragile political consensus is, and how vulnerable institutions are to political, economic and military pressures. Fukuyama's book was written during the heady days of the post-Cold War era and the approaching Uranus-Neptune conjunctions in 1993.

These conjunctions occurred three times in 1993:

2 February
20 August
24 October

all at around 18-19 Capricorn.

This conjunction of Uranus and Neptune was preceded in 1988-1989 by the separate conjunctions of Saturn-Uranus in the final degrees of Sagittarius (1988) and Saturn-Neptune (1989) at around 10-11 Capricorn. For those of us lucky enough to be alive at the time it seemed to be the dawning of a new era of hope with the fall of the Berlin Wall, democratisation of Eastern Europe, and the end of apartheid in South Africa.

The dates were as follows:

13/02/1988 01:58 Sat Con Ura exact 29°55'08" Sag 29°55'08" Sag
26/06/1988 19:06 Sat Con Ura exact 28°47'21" Sag R 28°47'21" Sag R
18/10/1988 14:26 Sat Con Ura exact 27°49'29" Sag 27°49'29" Sag

03/03/1989 11:44 Sat Con Nep exact 11°54'49" Cap 11°54'49" Cap
24/06/1989 05:12 Sat Con Nep exact 11°14'20" Cap R 11°14'20" Cap R
13/11/1989 12:39 Sat Con Nep exact 10°21'52" Cap 10°21'52" Cap

02/02/1993 09:06 Ura Con Nep exact 19°33'39" Cap 19°33'39" Cap
20/08/1993 09:54 Ura Con Nep exact 18°48'13" Cap R 18°48'13" Cap R
24/10/1993 21:08 Ura Con Nep exact 18°32'40" Cap 18°32'40" Cap

What really needs to be remembered is that these changes were brought about by decades of political activity by many people, often at great cost to themselves, who believed in justice, equality and human freedom, all liberal values.

To me it seems very relevant that today, with Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto arraigning themselves in this extraordinary formation during 2025 and 2026, that many of the same struggles need to be fought again. Given the extreme challenge, over decades, to establish democracies in Eastern Europe (and historically, over centuries, in the west), it seems reasonable to conclude that it must be easier to defend what you have, however imperfect it is, rather than lose these democratic rights and have to win them back again.

Many of you may not know Tony Benn, a democratic socialist from the UK. He is an interesting character and was much maligned, along with his other left-wing colleagues, in the UK's right wing press during his years as a Cabinet Minister and Labour Party MP here. As a result of the malignant press coverage he received he was much misunderstood by people in the UK. However, Benn saw exactly what people faced daily in their struggle for dignity and self-determination:

"There is no final victory, as there is no final defeat. There is just the same battle. To be fought, over and over again."

"If democracy is ever to be threatened, it will not be by revolutionary groups burning government offices and occupying the broadcasting and newspaper offices of the world. It will come from disenchantment, cynicism and despair caused by the realisation that the New World Order means we are all to be managed and not represented."

And:

"Change from below, the formulation of demands from the populace to end unacceptable injustice, supported by direct action, has played a far larger part in shaping British democracy than most constitutional lawyers, political commentators, historians or statesmen have ever cared to admit. Direct action in a democratic society is fundamentally an educational exercise." (In New Politics (1970))

I think there are two ways in which people are controlled. First of all frighten people and secondly, demoralize them.

Interview with Michael Moore in the movie Sicko (2007).

Just some thoughts.....

Ed

Thanks Astralwanderer for pointing out the background cycles as a reminder of where we are coming from.
Another one worth mentioning here is the Uranus-Pluto cycle started in the 60's around 19 Virgo and which is currently at 0 Aries (World Point). Richard Tarnas has written extensively about this one, showing up how it has shaped the evolution of technology in our life. The beginning of miniaturization of electronic components, medical devices or mechanical systems (smaller in size with Virgo) with the advance of micro-chips in computers.
This Uranus/Pluto cycle started on the Fixed star Asterion and in 2006, astronomer Margaret Turnbull labeled this star as the top stellar system candidate to search for extraterrestrial life forms. This is because its spectral type GO V is similar to the Suns. (https://astrologyking.com/asterion-star/)

Technology has become so important in elections of leaders in the world that da Empoli said that the best candidates for an election today are those who understand 'technology' and an engineer is to be preferred over an experienced politician. And one that stirs the pot like Trump creating chaos over consensus. He has all the codes created by the engineers of chaos.

Abraham Lincoln said:

"You can fool some of the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."

Thanks Ouranus. I will keep an eye out for that book.

I tend not to participate much in social media. I prefer these old school forums. The information flow is much more manageable.

All the best. Ed