Astrology of Now: People Power vs Corruption

Darth Vader - with his helmet and
his laser he is an avatar of Pluto

If you have paid a bribe anywhere in India, you can tell the world how much you paid, to whom and why. And you can do this anonymously. Write your report on this website, I Paid A Bribe.

I Paid A Bribe is only one year old, yet it's already had a huge impact. It's taken the people power of the internet and used it to expose the graft all over the country. Politicians, bureaucrats and police have been named and shamed.

The idea is brilliant in its simplicity. Corruption works through secrecy – and our complicity. Stop staying shtum.


But this is part of a worldwide trend: corruption is being exposed.

What's the astrology?

The revelations about corruption began with Pluto's move into Capricorn back in 2008. This is still the early part of his journey (2008-2023) and he is destroying, so that later we can rebuild.

Pluto is the destroyer, the transformer. But, like all the planets he works in many ways, and sometimes seems to rule things that are opposed, like crime and crime-busting, or debt and big big money, or just far removed, like corporations and sewers. But here is the power of astrology. These things have more in common than one might think.

One of the ways in which he works is to shine a laser-bright light into places we don't want to see. He is the lord of the underworld, of course, so he is showing us his domain.  


Capricorn is the sign of government and big corporations, of trans-national institutions, such as, oo say, the IMF. It is also associated directly with money and investment. So in fact, it has a lot in common with the planet Pluto already. Another astrologer (I'm sorry I forget who) has suggested that Pluto could be exalted in Capricorn because he seems to be behaving with even more force than usual.

Here are just a few of the dirty truths that have been revealed in the past three years.

Bankers were caught concealing debt. (And they are still getting away with it.)
The International Monetary Fund turned out to be run by a personally corrupt individual.
The Greeks have found out that their government lied to get them into the EU.
The Americans have realised that there's a "revolving door" between Wall Street and the White House.
In North Africa, Egyptians have known for years that their leaders were corrupt, but they've finally managed to show everyone else; and Tunisians and Libyans actually seem to have gotten rid of the blighters. 

The cruelty of Bashar al Asad's regime in Syria has been truly exposed.
Here in Blighty, the relationship between the press, the pols and the police has been exposed, as well as MPs expenses and bankers wages.

And the people? Uranus, the people power planet, is in the most militant, groundbreaking, action-oriented and brave sign of all, Aries. While the rest of us flop around moaning or thinking, Aries acts.

If you are involved in corrupt governance I'd suggest you watch your back – and your front. Revolution is not just in the Middle Eastern air.

Madrid, summer 2011
photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Here are a few examples of people power in action across the globe this year. What is different to previous demonstrations (say the anti-globalisation ones) is that these protesters had/have popular support.

India: I Paid A Bribe and a much wider anti-graft campaign fronted by Anna Hazare
Egypt and Tunisia: popular uprisings oust leaders (although it certainly is not over in Egypt at least.) Tahrir Square has been used as a rallying cry around the world by protesters, but they don't seem to have noticed that Egypt is still being ruled by a junta. See my piece on Tahrir here.
Spain: los Indignados have been demonstrating all summer against the government austerity measures
Greece: protests turned nasty in June 
Israel: almost 10% of the population took part in protests over the summer

And what happened on Wall Street this weekend? There was supposed to be a huge demonstration,  a day of rage against the financial corruption which has brought the country to its knees.

Unfortunately for the protesters, they chose the day that Pluto turned direct, September 17 and they've had less impact than they expected. It's interesting that the US protest does not seem to have the popular support of the European and Middle Eastern ones. Why not? Is the NYPD just more effective at nipping dissent in the bud?

It was not like that last time this transit took place, the Americans decided they'd had enough of paying taxes to a distant monarch – and created a whole new country. 

And then there was the build-up to the French Revolution, the years during which the extent of the greed and corruption of the French monarchy became unbearable. Modern day Marie-Antoinettes might want to take note.

But back to India, where we began. Last time Uranus was in these early degrees of Aries (1928-1930) Mahatma Ghandi was re-entering politics in India, spreading his idea of peaceful protest and non-co-operation. In 1930, he began the Salt March, which changed the shape of history. It took another 18 years for India to achieve independence, and it was hard, but it did happen. It was Ghandian ideas which in turn inspired Tahrir Square, which in turn triggered this year of protest.

We should pay attention to India and how they are managing people power there.