Let’s take a look at my predictions for 2012-13 and see what actually happened: Here’s what I predicted: -More uprisings and riots. There were riots in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Israel, Greece and Spain. -An escalation of natural disasters. There was an avalanche in Afghanistan, epic fires in Colorado, and a 7.7 earthquake off the east coast of British Columbia, Canada causing a tsunami in Hawaii. -Water issues worldwide. We saw widespread flooding in Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Romania, North Korea, Nigeria, the UK, Spain, a typhoon in the Philippines and Hurricane Sandy. -Rising unemployment into double digits in many countries. Spain and Greece are over 25% and an average of 11% in the 27 EU member states. US is reported at 8% but probably closer to 12%. -Governments taking more control over our privacy. On November 20th, the Senate rewrote a bill which now allows the feds to read private emails without a warrant. This law increases government access to emails and other digital files. This rewrite was done quietly and secretly. It now allows more than 22 agencies to access Americans’ email, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also gives the FBI and Homeland Security more authority to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge. I am expecting sneaky controls over our freedoms and our privacy to encroach on us gradually and without our being aware of it until it’s too late. -More QE. i.e. money printing. In September of 2012, the US embarked on QE3, another huge round of borrowing and money printing. -Pension plans going bankrupt. E.g. The US Postal Service is broke and cannot pay into their pension fund, teachers retirement funds have gone broke, public pensions in many countries are underfunded and in danger of going under. -More focus on banks and financial institutions, a tightening of their regulations, more bailouts, more greed and more fraudulent activities. And that’s exactly what’s happened. -Growth of new technology, mobile phones and social networking. Apple launched its IPhone 5 in September, Smartphones, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr and Pinterest have all seen accelerated growth. There were advances in Iphones, android phones and an upsurge in the use of mobile apps. -A rise in anti- immigration laws and regulations. Since 2010, when Arizona introduced draconian immigration laws, 35 other states have tried to introduce similar rulings. -Price of gold and silver continuing to rise. Whilst precious metals didn’t perform as well as I expected, they have still risen nearly 5% this year and it is only a matter of time before gold reaches over $3000 an ounce and silver is at $100 an ounce. 2013-2014 – Important Astrological Aspects -There is a great deal of Water activity with Saturn in Scorpio, Neptune in Pisces and Jupiter going into Cancer on June 25th making a Grand Trine in Water. -All three Mercury retrograde periods are in Water signs. -Intense Cardinal activity happening building up to the Grand Cross in December, one of the most powerful astrological aspects with Uranus in Aries, Pluto in Capricorn, Jupiter in Cancer and Mars in Libra. The ongoing square between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn is very much in force during 2013. Remember that Uranus rules uranium and Pluto rules plutonium so there is a likelihood of increased nuclear instability and nuclear accidents. This is going to be accentuated when Jupiter goes into Cancer at the end of June 2013 as Jupiter always increases and amplifies everything, so you can expect even stronger dissonance with respect to the economy, politics, weather changes especially earthquakes and volcanoes. The USA has Jupiter and Sun conjunct in Cancer (July 4th, 1776), so the second half of 2013 and the first half of 2014 is its Jupiter return. Expect to see issues around Homeland security, the safety of US citizens, and a search for belonging and security in general. The positive and negative issues will be highly polarised. It will be a year of opposites: war and peace, moving forwards and moving backwards, safety and vulnerability, balancing business and personal, home and work, emotional ups and downs, periods when a great deal is happening and periods that seem as though nothing is happening, holding onto the past and yet striving towards the future. The Cardinal signs signify that we need to be responsible for our own destiny and not rely on our governments to provide stability and security for our future. Let’s not forget the powerful Grand Trine in Water with Jupiter in Cancer, Neptune in Pisces and Saturn in Scorpio. This is particularly strong during July 2013 but lasts energetically until mid-2014. This will bring increased confidence especially by lawmakers and governments in our economic and political systems. There could even be an upswing in the economy and the US dollar could go up in value. If it does happen, it will probably be short-lived and by the middle of 2014 if there has been an improvement in the economy, it is likely to be followed by a sharp drop a year or so later. Neptune in Pisces for the next 14 years indicates more flooding, tsunamis and excess water especially in coastal areas. There could also be issues with water purity and contamination. On February 9th, Mars is conjunct to Neptune which could be very favourable. It could be an opportunity to achieve something you have been dreaming of. On 21st March, Mars goes into Aries and will be conjunct with Uranus. This is a combustible combination and could lead to explosions and sudden riots, upsets, surprises. It can also indicate war. On 21st July 2013, Mars conjuncts with Jupiter in Cancer which adds more power to the T-square with Uranus and Pluto. I expect this to bring more sudden changes with respect to governments, control issue, power, the economy, social issues. On December 7th, Mars goes into Libra which completes the Grand Cross with Uranus in Aries, Pluto in Capricorn and Jupiter in Cancer. This is extremely powerful and will be the beginning of even more vast changes. Mars usually stays in a sign for about 2 months, but this time it goes retrograde on March 1st 2014 and stays in Libra until July 26th 2014. So we can expect another 6 – 7 months of opposing energies where agreements are hard to find and where progress is restricted. This can be happening not only on the macro level, but also on the micro level in your own life. You may feel as though your life is not moving ahead, as if you are in a holding pattern and you don’t know what action to take. When you take action there may be little or no apparent results. Keep in mind that the earth is in the middle of all these opposing and squaring planets and you may find yourself trying to look forward and being pulled backwards, deciding to take a risk and then backing out of it, changing your mind frequently, your location, your job and your relationships. It will take a huge effort for you to break free of old, destructive habit patterns and to move into a new, more uncertain yet happier life. Old structures that are no longer working for you will be pulled down. You may feel lonely, isolated and abandoned, but try to remain strong and realise that the reason that this is happening is because subconsciously you wanted more for yourself in your life. The old relationships that were draining and not fulfilling, the job that you hated, the lack of purpose and direction you felt in your life-.all this had to change for you to be happy and feeling as though you were fulfilling your destiny on the planet. You will have the opportunity to move to a higher vibration, but to do that you will have to let go of the old and to be ready to move into the unknown and to have faith in the new. It will be a particularly powerful time for the Cardinal signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn (and this will apply if it is your Sun, Moon or ascendant sign), and also for all the water signs: Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. Summary of Predictions for 2013-2014: -Worsening global economic crisis with more demonstrations and civil unrest -Youth protesters will turn violent even though we have had mainly peaceful protests so far -Higher unemployment -Stock market earnings slide lower -Multiple investigations of banking corruption and fraud -Rising oil and food costs -More failures of large insurance companies -Extreme weather patterns from very hot to very cold -Gold and silver to be very volatile with even more price manipulation, sometimes going lower and then much higher -More power outages and for longer -Survival kits will become a necessity -Alternative power sources will become more mainstream – more use of green technologies: solar power plants, rooftop solar panels, wind farms, geothermal uses, hydrogen power plants -Greater paranormal activity – more reporting of visitations from other beings -Space exploration increasing and the uncovering of greater knowledge -More people power using Twitter, Facebook and other social media concerning customer service. For the first time ever the consumer will have the power when rating a restaurant, hotel, airline, computer, products and services in general -Increase in military threats especially in the Middle East and this could be very explosive towards the end of 2013 when Mars is square to Uranus -Despite the crisis, some industries will grow. E.g. certain medical areas such as: regenerative medicine growing new bones, cartilage etc. -Growth in certain food industries, catering, food technology -New types of restaurants and food outlets -Greater knowledge and research placed on nutrition and diet -Healing and health products become more prominent -Focus on locally grown food and its preservation -Advances in water purification techniques -Energy efficient housing construction market growing e.g. passive houses -Security businesses could see massive growth – physical and/or virtual -Breakthroughs in oceanography and our understanding of the sea -3D printing become more accessible and getting closer to becoming mainstream -Traditional newspapers becoming obsolete – new forms of media where we the people are the reporters, not the controlling few who sift the news and keep us uninformed I am anticipating that overall economically, times will get worse over the next few years. Some economists are forecasting an upswing in the economy from the middle of 2013. And indeed with the grand water trine and Jupiter in Cancer, this is possible for a brief time. However, we should not be misled into thinking that the crisis is behind us and that we can confidently invest with security. With Uranus strongly featuring for the next 6 years, we will have to learn to expect the unexpected. I didn’t expect gold and silver to drop as sharply as they have done over the last few weeks. However, markets never go up in a straight line. If they did, everyone would be able to make a fortune. I am anticipating greater volatility and uncertainty in the markets with wider swings from high to low than ever before. If you are a good trader during these times, you could make a fortune. However, you could also lose a fortune. But the opportunities will be there. The key through all this hardship is going to be compassion and love with people coming together and helping one another through the changes. We can choose to make this a pleasurable and joyful time or we can make it even more difficult for ourselves. The choice is ours. I vote for helping one another, looking out for different ways of doing things, thinking outside the box, sharing our knowledge and expertise, working together and creating a new, exciting and better future for us all.