2009 - The Gathering Clouds

The Coming Financial and Economic Meltdown

by Drew Lawrence

The year 2009 is beginning to appear as the year the financial and economic house of cards is likely to fall. On the heels of the upheaval we are currently experiencing with the cave in and collapse of a number of America’s big investment banks, the gathering clouds in troubled skies indicate ominous times to come.

First, let us look to our history, from a Vedic Astrological perspective. The yearly chart or horoscope of any country in the world can be calculated from the moment the Sun and Moon are in exact conjunction in the sky in the sign of Pisces. The latitude and longitude used is that of a particular nation’s capital. Why this specific moment? The conjunction of the sun and moon is an inception point or more correctly, a conception point when father Sun and mother Moon conceive the child who will symbolize the karmic reckoning for the coming year.

We will use the United States as our harbinger since what happens there is likely to affect the greatest number of people around the world. In 1929, the stock market crashed. This ushered in the so-called Great Depression. In the US Yearly Chart for 1929, we find Jupiter in conjunction with the North Node, Rahu, in the 8th house of the chart. Jupiter represents finances, cash flow, money, economy, etc. When Rahu and Jupiter are together, it is a yoga or planetary combination for bankruptcy. Rahu’s gathering gloom of ruin, collapse and karmic retribution threw its dark shadow on the path of progress. The 8th house of the nation’s chart represents failure, undoing, reversal, sabotage and death.

In the USA’s Yearly Chart of 1987, Rahu again confronted Jupiter in a dark alley, this time in the 12th house, and made him pay the ultimate price once again. This assault resulted in Black Monday and the markets crashed yet again. The 12th house represents loss, mismanagement and theft.

More recently, in 2001, the US was attacked by foreign terrorists on September 11th, better known as 911. At that time, Jupiter was in conjunction with Saturn in the 8th house of the Yearly Chart of the US. Though not Rahu, Saturn can behave in a similar manner but is more likely to bring a war-like attack from an outside aggressor or comparable devastation. As a result of this seemingly unexpected assault, the economy experienced a near meltdown, which lasted well into the next year. People went nowhere and did nothing.

According to the US Yearly Chart of 2009, the US is heading toward an economic reversal, the likes of which have never been experienced before. The official date of this chart’s inception is March 26, 2009. In this chart, Jupiter, representing finance and economics, is situated in his sign of debilitation, Capricorn, in the 8th house of failure and reversal. And right nearby, also in Capricorn, is his old nemesis, Rahu. This is exactly the conjunction that took place in 1929 but this one is worse since Jupiter is at his weakest disposition in Capricorn. The details of how this will unfold are anybody’s guess. But at this writing, Lehman Brothers Bank has just filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch has been sold off to Bank of America like salvaged remnants in a fire sale. Only two US investment banks remain — Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The duration of this Yearly Chart’s effects is one year beginning March 26, 2009. Within that time frame, Jupiter will go into retrograde or backward motion from June 15 until October 12, 2009. This may result in the increase of economic and financial woes during this four month period.

Let us examine the underlying malaise which may have contributed to the coming collapse. America, as well as many other countries around the world (and not just Western countries), are embroiled in materialism. They live to shop, spend, acquire and consume. This is further encouraged by the government itself and certainly by the advertising and marketing agencies. If you want to know the goals and objectives of a society and its people, just look at its ads and billboards.

The largest and tallest buildings being built throughout the world are a testament to materialism — big corporations involved in banking, insurance, oil consumption, etc. In ancient times, they were temples, cathedrals and churches built as a tribute to God, for the purification and salvation of the people. The current spate of erect buildings is a tribute to the profits of oil gougers, insurance companies who bend over backwards to avoid paying claims, and banks who attach surcharges when customers call them on the phone and ask to speak to a live employee for help or clarification.

It is interesting to watch these investment banks and brokerage houses fail, those who chant the sacred mantras, “From Greed Comes Profit,” or “From Fear Comes Loss.” It is one thing to protect your money with wise investments with a desire to make it grow and expand. It is another thing entirely when the infectious virus of greed takes over as it did in the case of corporate energy giant Enron. Self undoing is sure to follow. And so too, it appears yet again.

Another example of greed is the sub-prime mortgage debacle when the mortgage companies and banks gave mortgages to people who could not afford them or who could not afford an increase in the interest rate. So many of these people have been foreclosed on and their homes seized by the banks who are forced to carry this bad debt.

Other contributors to the existing chaos over recent years are corrupt clergy, churches and religions, corrupt political leaders, corrupt business leaders, and corrupt accounting firms.

So-called investors and speculators are able to gamble and speculate on the very staples and commodities that people depend on to sustain their day to day lives, such as oil for driving to work and heating our homes. This results in artificially driving up the price of such commodities. A similar problem was caused by Enron when they deliberately created real and imaginary shortages during the 2000-2001 California energy crisis, in order to drive up prices and reap vast profits in the state’s newly deregulated energy market. Enron executives used various schemes to defraud officials running the state’s power grid, to manipulate energy supplies and literally loot the state treasury of billions of dollars. All this in the name of shareholder and personal profit. These executives are now all behind bars.

Now we have the Federal Government (you) bailing out these banks and mortgage companies. This is like paying off the bad debts of a gambling addict and then giving him a large financial cash infusion so that he can begin his nonsense all over again!

We are too dependent on the system and on others. We need to take more responsibility for our own lives and well-being. It is becoming increasingly dangerous to depend on a devious government or political system that is enslaved by profit and greed. People are encouraged to eat food out of a jar, a can or a take-out box. When was the last time you pulled your food out of the ground, washed the rich earth from it and then lovingly prepared a meal? It is time to start seriously thinking about growing your own food, my friends, if you haven’t already.

The United States just prints money whenever it needs it. There is no gold standard. They do not actually have the gold to back up the amount of money they choose to print. What is the difference in the government doing this or you writing a bad check without the proper funds in your bank account? I believe this is called fraud.

How can you print money without possessing gold, carry a trillion dollar trade deficit, fund two wars and talk about starting a third, bear the sub-prime mortgage collapse, and prop up bankrupt banks overwhelmed with bad debt and mismanagement, and still remain a solvent and viable financial entity? Welcome to America!

This collapse is long overdue. We can pray that a healthy and balanced restoration and renewal will come out of all this — a return to spiritual values and human virtue. If I am wrong about this prediction, then wonderful. But I am not the only one predicting such a thing. Others, using their own methods of prediction, are saying the same thing. We won’t have long to wait to find out.

What steps should you take? It is probably best to get out of the stock market entirely. Buy land, gold, precious metals and precious gemstones. This is real wealth in all times of crisis and it is inflation proof. Get rid of US dollars and buy gold or perhaps selected foreign currencies, such as the Euro. If you own land, grow food and drill a well so you can have your own water supply if possible. Drive an alternative fuel vehicle (I bought a horse myself). Remember, they are trying to keep you dependent on them. And look at the result. It is time for us to become as independent as possible.

Also bear in mind, these are cycles and which come and go. After collapse comes renewal. After winter comes the spring.