In honour of today’s Aries ingress (happy equinox!) I decided to take a look at the ingress as it hits Alberta. I just posted my delineation of Alberta’s natal chart yesterday, so this is a nice companion piece.
Here’s the chart – in Edmonton, the Sun entered Aries in the wee hours this morning, March 20, 2021 at 3:38am:
Because there’s a mutable sign (Sagittarius) on the Ascendant, this chart is good for the next six months, until the Libra ingress this fall.
The Sun is in the fifth house of this chart, signalling that this spring and summer, the provincial leader (premier Jason Kenney) is primarily focused on matters relating to children, arts, culture and sports. I think this certainly fits the current discussion happening around the pandemic’s impact on schools and child care – the latter of which was just headline news a couple days ago regarding a provincial report that showed how child care fees remain high but enrolment has dropped across Canada during the pandemic; Edmonton experienced one of the highest drops in the country – child care enrolment was down 43% over the last year. There are also lots of questions about Alberta’s arts and entertainment sector, whether or not we’ll be able to have our summer festivals resume this year or start having indoor arts/theatre/music performances anytime soon. The fifth house can also indicate food prices; the sextile to Pluto in the second house of provincial wealth means that food prices are undergoing an extreme transformation and will likely increase significantly over the coming months.
The Sun rules the ninth house of universities, law courts, international communications and shipping, signalling that this area is also a focus for Kenney and his government over the new few months. A news story two days ago said the Alberta government expects in-person classes at post-secondary institutions to resume this fall. I’m also reminded of a recent news story about the attack on Netflix show Bigfoot Family by the Canadian Energy Centre (aka the Alberta government’s “war room” to combat anti-oil “propaganda”) – that’s a perfect example of Alberta’s ninth house as it relates to our communications on an international level (i.e. we make sure the world knows we are a bunch of pro-oil rednecks and how dare you speak ill about our precious black gold! Seriously, the Canadian Energy Centre is more rancorous than France’s Champagne Bureau.)
The Moon is in the seventh house conjunct the North Node and Mars; it’s making a wide conjunction with the Descendant. The Moon reveals the area where public attention falls, Mars reveals a source of tension and conflict, and the seventh house is Alberta’s relationship with the federal government. So, this spring and summer, the provincial-federal relationship between Alberta and Ottawa will be at the forefront of most people’s minds and will be a source of ire (as it so often is). The seventh house is in Gemini, ruled by Mercury in the fourth house of land, the people, democracy and the opposition party (i.e. the NDP); Neptune (left-wing politics/collectivism) and Venus (women and children issues) are also present in the fourth house.
Put together, this means that this spring/summer, public attention (Moon) will be focused on Alberta’s relationship with the federal government (seventh house), which hinges on communications and travel (Mercury) and will probably be a source of conflict (Mars). There is a lot of pressure in Alberta from areas related to women and children’s issues (Venus in the fourth house) and social security (Neptune in the fourth house), particularly brought on by challenges from the provincial NDP.
There could be a power struggle in the next few months between Kenney’s UCP and Trudeau’s Liberals, and/or between the UCP and the NDP, particularly around who has jurisdiction in certain areas – child care, maybe, which also relates to the aforementioned Sun’s position in the fifth house. I think the federal government will be making some big changes soon in the area of child care, in response to the recent report and ongoing pressures in that sector. The federal government may try to step in and taker a bigger role in controlling the child care industry, which Alberta’s government will not receive well.
There may also be some kind of conflict relating to Alberta’s land itself, and/or its crops and mines. There will be pressures in the health care industry, especially a push for privatized health care and/or protection of privatized healthcare, which can be seen by Uranus’ position in the sixth house of public health, as Uranus signifies right-wing politics and individualism. Long-term care has come under fire during the pandemic and recently there was a call from lobbyists in Alberta to protect long-term care facilities (which are largely privatized) from COVID-19 lawsuits. This is an issue that was raised last year and will certainly coming up again in the next six months.
Saturn is in the third house of communications, media networks and inland transportation, making a trine to Mars in the seventh house. The third house is in Aquarius so Saturn is in rulership here. Actually, Saturn is the final dispositor of this chart, and is therefore the planet that gets to have the final say in all matters. In mundane astrology, Saturn rules elderly people, epidemics and the death rate, as well as farmers, miners and mineral industries. Since he is in the third house, expect a lot of communications about these topics over the next few months – entirely unsurprising given that we’re in a pandemic still, so news about COVID-19 will remain at the forefront of Alberta’s media throughout the spring and summer.
There will be more news about Alberta’s coal mining industry, as Saturn rules coal mines and is in the house of communication. Jupiter shares the third house with Saturn, and rules things like the judicial system, inquests, provincial wealth, bankers and religion. This bolsters support for the ongoing communications and provincial infrastructure (third house) projects related to coal mining (a source of provincial wealth), as well as possible inquests or legal action taken around the pandemic and the long-term care system (Saturn co-presence with Jupiter in the third house, trine the seventh house of Alberta’s relationship to the federal government). There may also be some kind of inquest or legal challenges with Rogers Communications’ purchase of Calgary-based Shaw Communications; regardless, this deal will result in expansion (Jupiter) of Alberta’s telecommunications industry through an increased 5G network at the same time that we experience a loss (Saturn) in this same area through the departure of an Alberta-based business.
Pluto is in the second house of Alberta’s provincial wealth and financial institutions, making a sextile to Venus in the fourth house and inconjunct (quincunx) the seventh house. I view Pluto as a signifier of oil and oil pipelines, and as Pluto is in the second house of Alberta’s provincial wealth, this could signal that there will be continued good news about higher oil prices which will positively impact Alberta’s economy. Pluto also indicates massive transformation, which will likely play out in Alberta’s continued focus on diversifying the provincial economy.
The second house is in Capricorn, ruled by Saturn in the third house of inland transportation and infrastructure, which might also have a positive impact on pipeline projects. The third house also rules neighbouring nations – i.e. the US, our only neighbouring nation – so maybe there will be more positive news on the pipeline front (bolstered by Jupiter’s continued presence in the third house).
Regarding the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline in particular, we need to look at the seventh house as that rules foreign relationships and affairs; I usually view this as the provincial government’s relationship with the federal government (as they can be considered “foreign” from an Albertan perspective), but it could also mean international relationships between Alberta and the US – although this relationship is usually moderated through the federal government. Mars’ position in the seventh house speaks to ongoing conflicts and tension here, possibly incendiary action or even military action. I don’t think we are going to war with the US (or the federal government) anytime soon, but it could suggest that there will be some pretty heated conflict with the US over the Keystone XL, especially because the Moon, ruler of the eighth house (i.e. foreign financial relations), is also in the seventh house conjunct Mars. This could end up just being the lawsuit that Kenney threatened against the US for the cancellation of KXL.
Strong prices for crude oil will put pressure on the Biden administration to revisit the executive order to pull the permit for Keystone XL, and this issue is likely to come to a head at some point in the next six months.
As always, there is so much more to say but I’m going to leave this off here. Again, happy equinox! Enjoy Aries season and all the new things that it brings.