On Tuesday, June 8, a very rare astronomical event will occur, as Venus will make a pass across the front of the Sun. This transit will be visible to people in Europe, the Middle East, and most of Asia and Africa. It will be visible only in the eastern edge of the United States in the final stage of its transit. What will be seen is a black speck inching its way across the lower part of the Sun for about 6 hours. This is equivalent to an eclipse of the Sun by Venus, only the entire Sun will not blocked out.

The importance of this rare phenomenon in terms of human activity (and financial markets) is a matter of great speculation amongst astrologers worldwide. Anytime a planet crosses in front of another planet, the Sun, or moon, it is symbolic of a transformation involving the mundane dynamics associated with the planet being eclipsed, caused by the dynamics associated with the planet making the passage. In this case it is the Sun being "foreshadowed." The Sun represents people in positions of leadership in the world. It is symbolic of one’s "path in life." Venus has to do with the principle of relationships, as in partnerships, or attraction to others. Together they can imply a change of alliances in the world. Those one thought of as partners, or alliances, may be in store for a major change due to the entrance of new attractions, which can result in new alliances. People in positions of leadership may find that their loyalties are pulled in different directions than what they had committed to, or to whom they had committed to. On a very personal level, this can result in high profile divorces, separations, and changes of directions from old allies to new allies.

I am not certain how this will affect world stock markets, but I suspect there will be some impact in the long-term. After all, Venus also rules Taurus, the sign of wealth, money, assets, and even stocks. When this phenomenon of Venus passing the front of the Sun occurs, it does so in an unusual sequence. It happens in a pair of instances 8 years apart, due to the peculiar orbital pattern of Venus as seen from Earth (every 8 years, it goes retrograde in the same part of the zodiac). Then it does not happen again for several decades, when it appears twice in 8-year intervals again.

Perhaps if we review our knowledge history during the 8-year interval periods of this signature, we will gain some insight. It occurred, for instance, in 1631 and 1639, a time when the great nations of Europe were colonizing the Western Hemisphere. It was a period of intense religious and political conflict, leading to a rebellion in the English Parliament, and isolation by Japan from Western influence. It was also a period of the Scientific Revolution. The next instance was 1761 and 1769. This too was a period of tremendous rebellion, especially in the new colonies of America, but also in Europe where the anti-monarch republicanism took shape. It was also a period described as an industrial revolution. A look at a long-term chart of British stock prices would reveal that a 72-year cycle trough occurred in 1761. The next and last instance was in 1874 and 1882. This too was a time of great social and political rebellion. Karl Marx’s theories were gaining popularity, the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was passed in America, and President Garfield was assassinated in 1881. A possible 54-year Kondratieff Cycle low in the U.S. stock market occurred in 1877, following the Panic of 1873, just after the U.S. stock market made its all-time as of that time. The whole period of 1873 through 1884 was fraught with one economic depression after another, which covered all of the 8-year period between these two passages of Venus crossing the front of the Sun.

The next series of passages takes place this Tuesday, June 8, 2004. It will be followed next in June 2012. After that it will not occur again until 2117 and 2125. As we have seen in the past, things may get a little bit ugly, especially economically, during this period of 2004-2012. It can be a period of great rebellion. But it can also be a period of revolution in some aspects of human activity, perhaps ultimately leading to great social progress and scientific-intellectual breakthrough. I would think that in some ways, it is the end of one era and the start of another. But these possibilities are also suggested by other geocosmic patterns coming up, such as the wide T-square between Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto between 2008-2012, as each leaves a mutable sign and enters into cardinal signs. This hasn’t happened since the early 1930’s.

Shorter-term, we continue to move through the Venus retrograde cycle, May 17 through June 30. Many financial markets made a cycle low on May 17, and those lows continue to hold three weeks later. In many past instances, counter-trend rallies begun at Venus retrograde have lasted into a time band of 10 trading days surrounding the Venus direct period. So there is reason to think that may be the case this time with stock markets around the world, all of which made significant troughs within one day of May 17. The same may be said about foreign currencies vis-à-vis the Dollar too.

For this coming week, we note three important geocosmic signatures unfolding. The first, and most important to my work, is Uranus turning retrograde on Thursday, June 10. This is a Level 1 signature that has a 77% correlation to primary or greater cycles within 11 trading days, according to studies reported in The Ultimate Book on Stock Market Timing Volume 3: Geocosmic Correlations to Trading Cycles. Typically stock markets make sharp price swings within a very short amount time around this retrograde date. The very next day the Sun will be in opposition to Pluto, another Level 1 (strongest) signature, with a 67% correlation to primary or greater cycles within 10 trading days. This aspect may symbolize the conflict between the will of world leaders and that of those who would wish to wreak havoc and destruction. It could coincide with another terrorist threat or act, in which the lives of many humans are again put into danger. And finally, on June 12, Venus will form a soft trine to Neptune. This is virtually the opposite type of dynamic to the Sun-Pluto opposition. Whereas Sun-Pluto may represent a threat to safety and life, Venus-Neptune may represent the possibility of romance, love, and peace.

The midway point between these three signatures is Friday, June 11. Therefore we should expect another cycle top or bottom in many financial markets within three trading days of this date. Buckle up your belts. We may be in store for another wild week. It looks tense until the end of the week, but then maybe a breakthrough and a resolution by the weekend.

Disclaimer and statement of purpose: The purpose of this column is not to predict the future movement of various financial markets. However, that is the purpose of the MMA (Merriman Market Analyst) subscription services. This column is not a subscription service. It is a free service, except in those cases where a fee may be assessed to cover the cost of translating this column from English into a non-English language. This weekly report is written with the intent to educate the reader on the relationship between astrological factors and collective human activities as they are happening. In this regard, this report will oftentimes report what happened in various stock and financial markets throughout the world in the past week, and discuss that movement in light of the geocosmic signatures that were in effect. It will then identify the geocosmic factors that will be in effect in the next week, or even month, or even years, and the author’s understanding of how these signatures will likely affect human activity in the times to come. The author (Merriman) will do this from a perspective of a cycle’s analyst looking at the military, political, economic, and even financial markets of the world. It is possible that some forecasts will be made based on these factors. However, the primary goal is to both educate and alert the reader as to the psychological climate we are in, from an astrological perspective. The hope is that it will help the reader understand these psychological dynamics that underlie (or coincide with) the news events and hence financial markets of the day.

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