When will Hong Kong get better?

A question that I am frequently asked by friends in Hong Kong is: When will we be able to move out of this social and political predicament which has been going on for so many years and is rapidly deteriorating? I think the progressed chart of the city will shed some light.

Progressions, like transits, are a forecast technique in astrology, but a major difference between progressions and transits is that, transits are far more direct, with its effects more quickly felt, and they often manifest in the form of actual events. But progressions show a background influence which shows the gradual re-orientation of a person’s focus and this change may or may not have been precipitated by any concrete event. Significant re-orientations are indicated when planets, by progression, change signs, houses or go from direct to retrograde (or vice versa), etc.

For example, if a person's natal Sun is in Aries, when by progression the Sun moves into Taurus, she may experience a subtle shift in her life goal. Instead of focusing so much on the search for new challenges like before, as typical of Aries, she may become more content to let things stay as they are (Taurus). But this does not mean she will suddenly turn into a Taurean as if by birth. This only means when looking out for challenges, she may, for example, become more aware and appreciative of the wisdom in living in the here-and-now – than what she used to be.

The natal Sun of the Hong Kong SAR is in Cancer in the 4th house, indicating the goal of people living in this city is very much about finding a safe and stable shelter (hence the importance of housing). It also implies a strong nostalgic and sentimental urge, with fond memories of the past recalled as the “golden age”. I think this very much explains why the city’s colonial days are so often missed after the Handover in 1997.

Hong Kong's Sun will, by progression, enter the 5th house in May 2017 and will go further, into Leo in August 2019. For those who have been complaining about the lack of progress made by the city on many fronts may see the light at the end of the tunnel at last. These important progressions suggest the city will take on a more extroverted focus. Rather than constantly looking backwards and lamenting the loss of the "good old days", the city will take on a more buoyant and confident self-image, with the focus shifting towards the creation of new possibilities and the expression of a grand vision. A possible outcome of this is, the creative and entertainment industries and professions/businesses that aim at children are likely to be boosted further.

Venus is in Leo in the 5th house in Hong Kong's natal chart, suggesting the city expresses itself very much through its core values which are so often proudly proclaimed, but sometimes it also means expression for expression’s sake, rather than aiming at any practical purpose or outcome. The same applies to the community's handling of its relations to other cities or areas. With progressed Venus moving into the 6th house in February 2018 and into Virgo in May 2020, the way the city manifests its values will take on a more pragmatic tone, aiming more at productive outcomes and most importantly, there will be a greater willingness to consolidate the core values by seeking to achieve some concrete results first, however minor those may be. That would also suggest people are more ready to go into details, to perfecting the method of execution to make the whole process smoother and more efficient, rather than considering such things as too humble or unimportant to get bothered about (as is likely to be the case with Venus in Leo).

It is also good news that progressed Sun will conjoin natal Venus from December 2020 to February 2023. Especially around January 2022, there could be an alignment of the city’s sense of purpose with its core values.

On the whole, I am cautiously optimistic about the city’s future. If the Sun represents the central goal of the birth chart and the other planets are supposed to help in achieving that goal, a progressed Sun in Leo combined with a progressed Venus in Virgo seem to be a pretty good combination. This suggests a more self-assured identity, coupled with a greater readiness to be pragmatic in expressing what it holds dear. I think this sounds more likely to get the city move forward.

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Where on Earth? Astrocartography and relocation astrology

Have you ever been to a place where you feel particularly relaxed, excited or tense, even if you've never been there before? Many factors may account for this, like the scenery, traffic, culture, climate, people, etc, but it seems true that different people do experience different places differently. For example, while we may enjoy a particular holiday destination very much, our family or friends who are travelling with us may not.

The technique Astrocartography (ACG) was invented in the 1970s by the American astrologer Jim Lewis, showing literally where on Earth we will experience a particular aspect of our innate potential most acutely – be it pleasure, mental stimulation, eye-opening opportunities, competitiveness, discipline, etc by mapping our birth chart on the world atlas.

If we want to find out where we should consider moving to for, say, attending university (presumably for intellectual development? Or for the job prospects after graduation?), we can use the appropriate astrology computer programme to draw up our ACG by inputing detailed birth data. 

As an example, below shows the ACG of the US President Barack Obama (born on 4 August 1961, 7.24 pm, Honolulu in Hawaii):

Each of the coloured lines represents where Obama will experience the energy of a particular planet in his chart most intensely. For example, if he is looking for a place to promote his vision and optimism to the public, or to make an important speech or announcement, areas along the lines marked with Jupiter (the planet for personal vision, success and optimism) or Mercury (the planet for communications) should be considered – and in any case since the two planets are closely opposite to each other in his birth chart, if a place has got one planet prominent, it will be so for the other planet.

If we look closely at his ACG for North America, the town Springfield in Illinois where Obama declared candidacy for the 2008 presidential election fits the bill perfectly: Mercury is right on the IC, with the MC/Jupiter line not far off! An excellent location for articulating his grand, sweeping vision for the country and he did so by evoking the words and deeds of an historical figure that he clearly identified with - Abraham Lincoln.

To take an even more detailed look at how Obama is likely to experience his own energy in Springfield, we can draw up a relocation chart which uses the same procedure as in generating a birth chart – the only differences are, we relocate his birth place from Honolulu to Springfield and take into account the time zone difference:

As noted previously, Mercury and Jupiter are placed on the IC-MC axis. Another important feature is, Venus rules the relocated chart and this gives more emphasis to the watery grand trine formed by Venus, Neptune and Chiron already present in his birth chart. This suggests in Springfield, Obama’s outlook is coloured more by compassion for the under-privileged or those who feel dismayed at the state of things in society. In fact, in his speech he did talk about how families were struggling financially because of the economic meltdown, the war in Iraq and the rising healthcare costs.

Obama's case is good for illustrating the use of ACG and relocation astrology, for it shows how different parts of the birth chart are highlighted or activated in a location other than the birth place. If someone wants to move to somewhere else for a specific purpose, ACG and relocation charts are tools to show where he or she can start checking out first.

Want to get your own ACG and relocation chart? Click here!

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Astro Pastures website - http://www.astropastures.com

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