The Extinction Rebellion group
(also known as XR) occupied a number of important locations across central
London on April 15 2019, including Parliament Square, Oxford Circus, Waterloo
Bridge and Marble Arch. At the time of writing, April 18, the protest is ongoing
and appears to be growing in numbers, despite police making over 400 arrests so
far.
This, in their own words,
is what the protest is about:
‘The Extinction Rebellion is
a necessity. Our political establishment has failed to protect its people from
pollution, prevent further mass extinction of species on earth and prevent the
possibility of human extinction in the near future. Therefore we must rebel to
protect the livelihood of citizens and our natural world, or risk losing
everything we cherish.’ source
The chart data for the
start of this action is April 15 2019, 11am London. The source is
one of XR’s posters advertising the action, as well as their website.
 |
| Chart for start of XR Protests - 15 April 2019, 11am, London |
The chart (above) is remarkable. The
Saturn-Pluto Conjunction sits exactly on the DC. The Nodes, sitting at the
midpoint of Saturn-Pluto, are Partile Conjunct the ASC-DC axis. Saturn-Pluto
hard aspects are associated with fear, even the threat of apocalypse or
‘extinction’. They are a warning sign that things will be forced to change if
we don’t take proactive action. Destruction of some kind occurs and is followed
by a necessary rebuilding process. What XR say
they want to achieve is “radical change in order to minimise the risk of human
extinction and ecological collapse” and in essence Saturn-Pluto is about
the transformation of socio-political structures and in Capricorn it’s about
the Earth itself and how we need to fundamentally change how we treat it, if we
want to preserve it for future generations.
The Cancer Ascendant
Conjunct North Node also suggests this need for action for mother earth. The
South Node, Saturn, Pluto and DC axis Conjunction certainly denotes the fear of
disaster if we don’t change the way we treat our planet. And when veteran
naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough is concurrently saying we face "irreversible damage to the natural world
and the collapse of our societies" it’s safe to assume
there’s something
in it.
A Venus-Mercury-Neptune Triple
Conjunction in Pisces is also angular, sitting across the MC. Like the DC, the
MC is also a public point. XR’s message is of non-violent civil disobedience.
This was also the impression I got from spending time at the Oxford Circus
occupation (where these photos were taken). As police arrested protesters one
by one, they neither fought nor complied, but allowed themselves to be carried
away to clapping and the chanting of we
love you from the gathered crowds.
That a pink boat is at the the centre of the protest emblazoned with the words TELL THE TRUTH is a nice translation of Venus-Mercury-Neptune in Pisces, as is its placement at a major transport crossroads (they would probably say that the earth itself is at a crossroads).
On the other hand, the
overall public perception seems to be that they are idealistic ‘hippies’ who will
never get their demands met. These
demands are that the Government “tell the truth” about the ecological emergency
and work towards change, that they act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to
net zero by 2025 and that they “create and be led
by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.”
Mars in Gemini also
Squares Neptune an applying aspect signifying idealistic action, tension and disappointment when
dreams meet reality, but also a certain charisma and the potential for this movement to become a phenomenon.
The Moon at 29 degrees 52
of Leo is telling us that things are urgent, time is running out to save our
home. Indeed, the logo of Extinction Rebellion is a stylised egg timer. Below
is a screenshot from the home page of their website.
Extinction Rebellion was
founded on 31st October 2018 and has quickly
grown into an international movement. On this date their website states, “we
assembled on Parliament Square in London to announce a Declaration of Rebellion
against the UK Government. We were expecting a couple of hundred people.
Instead, 1500 came to participate in peaceful civil disobedience”. 
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