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| US President Nixon and Saudi King Faisal in 1974 |
A tense situation prevailed in the Middle East between the Muslim Arab countries and the Jewish state of Israel after the Six Day war in 1967. The tension erupted in October 1973 with a brief war between the two sides. The war disrupted transportation in the USA and had negative repercussions for its economy. The crisis can be clearly explained by the period and transit influences of the SAMVA USA chart.
The October War of 1973
The October War or Yom Kippur War of
1973 began with a surprise attack of a coalition
of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel on October 6, 1973. The Arabs sought to reverse the strategic gains of the Israelis in the Six Day War of
1967. While the Arabs made initial gains, Israel soon reversed the situation and won the war by October 24, after surrounding Egypt's Third Army and bombing the Syrian army
near Damascus.
Embargo and its effects
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| The OPEC embargo of 1973 caused a recession in 1974 |
To punish the U.S. for providing support to Israel, the Arab
members of Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), led by
Saudi Arabia, decided to reduce oil production by 5% per month on October 17.
On October 19, President Richard Nixon authorised a major allocation of arms
supplies and $2.2 billion in appropriations for Israel. Saudi Arabia then declared
a full embargo against the United States. The embargo was later joined by other
OPEC members and extended against countries of Western Europe and Japan, causing
the 1973 energy crisis. The embargo resulted in a sharp rise in the oil price, which had been falling in real terms for quite some time. Nixon responded in November 1973 by approving the
Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act, which authorized federal controls over the
price, production and marketing of oil and gas. It was just one of many
government efforts to manage the effects of the embargo. By December 1973, gas
became an increasingly rare commodity with long lines forming at gas stations.
As supplies dwindled, many gas stations went out of business. In January 1974, consumers
began to realize that smaller, more energy-efficient cars were more desirable
than larger, gas-guzzling automobiles and trucks. Consumers also began to save
energy at home by moderating their use of hot water, heat and air-conditioning.
In February 1974, Nixon's Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, introduced
Project Independence, the first of many programs designed to make the U.S. less
dependent on foreign sources of oil and gas. By March 1974 Israel withdrew the
last of its troops from the west side of the Suez Canal, where upon OPEC agreed
to end its oil embargo.[1] However, by then the damage had been done and the US economy soon after slid into
recession, which lasted from mid 1974 to late 1975. The unemployment rate which stood at 4.9 percent of the labour force in 1973, reached 8.5 percent in 1975, before declining in subsequent years.
Astrology of the first oil crisis
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| Saturn and Ketu were conjunct in the 12th house. |
Mercury-Mercury period was operating, which has been
described in earlier articles, including 1972. Importantly, as Mercury rules the 3rd house of transportation and is placed in the 7th house of leisure and others, it involves Americans sense of freedom, including their ability to freely move about. Indeed the first oil crisis obstructed precisely this transportation element of life, revealing how the indications of the planet whose period is running come to the fore in the national life. Transit Saturn, which rules things mined from the ground, including oil, and also rules the 8th house of obstacle and endings, was conjunct
transit Ketu, the planet of separation and isolation, in Gemini and 12th house of losses and war. Meanwhile, transit Rahu was in Sagittarius and the 6th house of conflict and financial stability, explaining how an opposing power manipulated the oil dependency of the USA in order to squeese up the oil price. Meanwhile,
transit Jupiter as 6th lord of conflict was in Capricorn in aspect to natal 1st lord Moon, while passing over natal Mercury as 3rd lord of transportation at 12° Capricorn and 7th house in November
1973, explaining how conflict was harming transportation matters in the USA. These combined influences explain the gas supply shortages that negatively affected transportation in the
USA, but also represented a wealth transfer from the USA to the OPEC countries, both 12th and 6th house influences, but also explained by the affliction and bad placement of Saturn as 8th lord of easy gains. These slow moving malefics became stationary in conjunction around 4°-5° Gemini/Sagittarius
in January and February 1974, at the peak of the crisis. The nodes entered
Scorpio and Taurus in March 1974 as the crisis began to lift. The nodes then
became stationary at 26° Scorpio/Taurus in conjunction with natal 8th lord Saturn in
the summer of 1974, explaining the deepening economic recession. Saturn is an important indicator of the economy, in terms of describing employment conditions.
References
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