2012 Events

Considering the above, we move on to see what's specific for the year 2012. That's done simply by observing the positions of the planets, and the aspects they form.

Sticking to the order of the Houses, we see this:

Upholding Balance by Power

Saturn is in the 1st House of the 2012 world horoscope, approaching the end of Libra. This means that the public social debate is very much occupied with principles of justice and how they should be protected and enforced. Changes to our ethics and morals threaten to rock present foundations, whether they are welcome or not. There is much talk about enforcing the old values and upholding balance by power.

Saturn is rather slow, so it was in the same House in the 2011 world horoscope, although closer to the start of the House and in the middle of Libra. So, the debate about law and moral principles continues from that year, but in 2012 it threatens to create social unrest, maybe also a crisis.

We had a slightly similar situation in 1982 and 1983, when the cold war was still very present. In that period, Saturn was passing through the same part of the world horoscope.

The World Economy Constantly Shivering

As for the world economy, 2012 will be rather uneventful. Nothing of serious significance happens, but Scorpio in that House guarantees that we will still have great fears about the world finances and what they might cause. There's continued unrest in the economy, but no major crash. No prosperous solution either.

Everybody might not agree on it, but 2011 was a much better year for the world economy than 2012 will be. Both Venus and the moon were in the 2nd House of the 2011 world horoscope, so fortunes grew and many parts of the economy were blooming. It was still in Scorpio, so the threat was there, but actually 2011 was a prosperous year for the world economy.

Actually, the greatest threats to the world economy were between 1986 and 1998, when Pluto passed through the 2nd House. This period was also the one with the most drastic changes to the world economy. It's unlikely that the near future has anything more dramatic in store for us, regarding the world economy.

The Era of Communication

In the House of communication, 2012 has good things in store. Both Mercury and the North Node are in the 3rd House. This shows that new methods, techniques and habits regarding communication are introduced and growing. In society as a whole, this seems to be a major development, something signifying the year and its main events.

This goes for every kind of communication - travel, the Internet, language, and so on. Because of Sagittarius in this House, the scope is both nearby and distant communication - sort of making them alter: distant things approach, and nearby matters take off into the distance.

The development of communication has been a major ingredient in the world since the 14th century, when Pluto and Neptune had a conjunction in Gemini, the Zodiac sign of communication. Their next conjunction was in the same sign, at the end of the 19th century. It will continue to happen approximately every 500 years, and for several thousand years ahead it will be in Gemini.

That means the most revolutionary changes in society - since the 14th century - have all been about communication. That's where society progresses the most. At the first conjunction, book printing with types was introduced, at the second the radio was invented. Both were extreme advances in communication. More will come - some small part of it in 2012.