The Stock Market
Crash of
Robert Gover (born November 2, 1929)
grew up in an endowed orphanage
(Girard College in Philadelphia),
received a B.A. in Economics from the
University of Pittsburgh, worked as a
journalist, became a best-selling novelist
at age 30, lived most of his life in
California, and now lives in Rehoboth
Beach, Delaware. On the Run with Dick
and Jane is his ninth novel. His previous
book, Time and Money, explores economic
and planetary cyclical correlations. His
first novel, One Hundred Dollar
Misunderstanding, a satire on American
racism, remains a cult classic that helped
break down America's fear of four-letter
words and sexually explicit scenes, as well
as sensitizing Americans to sanctimonious
hypocrisy. He can be contacted at
gocylces@aol.com or
www.robertgover.com
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October 2008 &
Beyond
By
Robert Gover, USA.
I n various articles and my book Time and
Money: the Economy and the Planets, I
predicted a great depression to begin in
2008 and last till at least 2018 and probably
beyond. So I am not surprised that
worldwide stock markets are crashing as I
write this, in October 2008. The Dow ended
the week Friday, October 10 down 40% from
its top a year previous.
Throughout the world’s financial
community, panic reined. Members of the
G‐7 nations gathered the weekend of
October 11 and 12 in Washington to puzzle
over how to arrest the downward plunge of
stocks, reducing or wiping out the pensions
of uncounted millions and constricting
credit. The following Monday, October 13,
2008, the Dow leaped a record 936 points, the
biggest one‐day point gain since 1933, and
11.6%, the steepest percentage rise since 1939.
The behavior of stock markets so far
in October was called a “Black Swan” event,
comparable to winning the lottery twice in
the same week.
The public is learning such concepts
as “credit default swaps” a ruse to avoid
government insurance regulations, and the
trickeries of accounting which has created a
distorted system for decades.
My specialty is economic astrology, so
my interest is in comparing this current
crash with previous like events. I have spent
years finding planetary patterns that have
historically correlated with stock market crashes and economic depressions. If we become
aware of these patterns, we can know when the next period of economic distress is due to
hit. If we are aware that the Saturn‐Uranus opposition we’re now operating under demands
we change established ideologies and procedures, we may avoid the worst.

Since industrialization, there have been repeating cycles of booms and busts. In boom
times, people feel optimistic and get busy producing and consuming, creating prosperity.
Then, for no apparent reason, the boom time ends and we cycle into a period of pessimism.
One of the first indicators of pessimism is a stock market crash.
Some stock market crashes in the past have heralded recessions, depressions and great
depressions, so the number 1 question hanging now is, will this super‐erratic October 2008
stock market lead us into another?
Examining the three worst crashes of the 20th Century—1907, 1929 and 1987—only the
one of 1929 led into a great depression. Why? There are endless explanations offered by a
variety of experts, most of them quite logical. The explanation I offer here is astrological.
Astrology is not considered “logical” by modern science, yet anyone who has studied
astrology realizes that planetary influences affect us subtlely on an invisible level. For the
sake of this discussion, let’s call it the level of subconscious mind.

My research has led me to two hypotheses:

1) Every time the USA’s natal Mars‐Neptune square is afflicted by one or more of the
outermost planets, we enter a time when a stock market crash becomes possible, likely
or virtually certain.
2) Every time the USA’s Sun‐Saturn square is hit by the outermost planets in the
Cardinal Signs of Capricorn and Aries—forming a grand cross pattern with the USA’s
natal Sun‐Saturn square—the nation has suffered a great depression, and there have
been no exceptions to this “rule of thumb.”

It’s when afflictions to the US Mars‐Neptune square (causing crashes) have then
evolved into afflictions to the USA’s Sun‐Saturn square that crashes have led into great
depressions. It is this sequence of afflictions we are facing now.

Let’s examine the worst stock market crashes to illustrate.

W hen the Panic of 1907 hit, the USA’s Neptune was opposition transiting Uranus
in Pisces, and Pluto was conjunct the US Mars. The roughly 30‐year cycle of
Saturn in Capricorn preceded this crash, and because none of the other
outermost planets were in Aries, this crash was not followed by a great depression.
When the Crash of ’29 hit in late October, Saturn was in Sagittarius opposite, and
Jupiter in Gemini was conjunct the US Mars and square the US Neptune, and the New
Moon was conjunct the US Neptune. As Saturn then moved into Capricorn to square
Uranus in Aries, the Crash of ’29 led into the great depression of the 1930s.
When the Crash of 1987 hit, the planetary culprits were Saturn and Uranus conjunct
in Sagittarius, aided by Chiron in Gemini, conjunct the US Mars. What followed was a
conjunction in Capricorn of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, but because these planets did not
square another in Aries, no great depression. Pluto, was in Scorpio, forming a beneficent
sextile to the trio in Capricorn.

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 ‘Every time the USA’s natal Mars-Neptune When the Crash of 2008
turned down with grim
square is afflicted by one or more of the
determination under the Full
outermost planets, we enter a time when a Moon on Monday, September 15,
stock market crash becomes possible, likely or the US Mars‐Neptune square was
virtually certain.’
being hit by the Full Moon, a
Saturn‐Uranus opposition, and if
we expand the orb a bit, a grand
cross formed by Pluto in Sagittarius opposite the US Mars in Gemini. By 2010, Uranus will
have moved into Aries and Pluto into the mid range of Capricorn, forming the grand cross
pattern to the USA’s natal Sun‐Saturn square, to form the great depression grand cross.
In 1929, the US Sun‐Saturn square was also being hit by Uranus in Aries while Pluto
then was in Cancer, opposite Capricorn.
The now‐forming Uranus‐Pluto square is due to hit with full force from 2012 through
2015, but we can expect the overall economy to be in deep trouble by 2010 when a T‐square
will be formed by Saturn in Libra, Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries.
These transit‐to‐natal aspects do not have to be exact to be effective. And it often
happens that Pluto’s full effects aren’t felt till Pluto has moved on, releasing the exact
square, opposition or conjunction. Pluto’s effects are often most powerful in its waning
phase.

F rom an astrological perspective, the reason we are headed into a great depression
lasting from 2008 to at least 2018 and (depending how we respond) perhaps beyond, is
the upcoming square from Uranus in Aries to Pluto in Capricorn, creating another
grand cross pattern with the US Sun‐Saturn square.
There is another, longer planetary cycle we must factor into this forecast, and that is
Pluto’s roughly 248 year orbit around the Sun. For Pluto is, as I write this, in the final degrees of
Sagittarius, conjunct the Galactic Center. Its previous visit to this area of the heavens coincided with
the years leading up to the American Revolution. Prior to that, in the early 1500s it coincided with
a pandemic inadvertently brought by European explorers, which depopulated the Americas.
Pluto’s movement through the last 3 degrees of Sagittarius has a history of bringing
huge transformations. When we add the upcoming Uranus‐Pluto square and grand cross
with the US Sun‐Saturn square, the coming decade appears to be another major turning
point in human history, comparable to the early 1500s and 1760s.
Hard angles by Uranus
and Pluto—whenever and
Every time the USA’s Sun-Saturn square is hit
wherever they have formed—
have a history of bringing by the outermost planets in the Cardinal Signs of
revolution and fundamental Capricorn and Aries—forming a grand cross
change. And, because the present
pattern with the USA’s natal Sun-Saturn
Saturn‐Uranus opposition will
square—the nation has suffered a great
last well into 2010 and morph into
a T‐square with Pluto, we can depression, and there have been no exceptions to
expect the current crash of stock this “rule of thumb.”
prices and chaos to lead into
another great depression, this one likely to be worse than any in memory, owing to Pluto’s
lingering conjunct the Galactic Center.
What we are living through is a convergence of planetary cycles: 1) the 45‐year
Saturn‐Uranus opposition, 2) the 248‐year Pluto‐Galactic Center conjunction, and 3) the
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Uranus‐Pluto square and grand cross with US Sun‐Saturn square, which last coincided with
the great depression of the 1930s. By 2013‐2015, Uranus will have completed its 84‐year‐cycle
since 1929‐1933.
Note that there has been one major change in the world economy since previous
crashes: Today the biggest profits come from making money produce more money;
previously, profits came from investing money in making goods and services. This new
“money game” is a Ponzi Scheme. It’s cotton‐candy money that evaporates when stock
markets crash. This makes the economy even more vulnerable to that famous wrecking
crew, the Saturn‐Uranus opposition.
Those who do not believe in the potency of planetary cycles call themselves rational. I
have yet to meet a human being I can truly say is rational, but that’s another story.
Rationalists point to cause‐effect events leading to stock market crashes and great
depressions. From the astrological perspective, these cause‐effect events are manifestations
of planetary aspects acting on the invisible causal plane or subconscious realm. “As above,
so below,” as one ancient stargazer put it.
Now that modern rational science is venturing into the subatomic realm, we may live
to see the day when science will make a discovery: that what happens up there in the sky
correlates with what happens in the subatomic realm. This would be a rediscovery of “As
above, so below.”
Meanwhile, you can bet the farm that by the mid‐2000‐teens, much of the world will
be struggling through another great depression, and a time of massive transformation with
the high possibility of another world war.
The bigger the balloon of optimism preceding busts, the bigger and more long‐lasting
the succeeding bust is. The good news is, humanity has survived great depressions since
records have been kept, and found ways to improve economic conditions coming out of such
hard times.
Meanwhile, millions of hard working, play‐by‐the‐rules citizens of the USA, Europe
and elsewhere will probably lose all or part of their pensions in the present ongoing financial
collapse. This means the rules of the money game and/or the monetary system will have
change if we are to avoid the worst. .
Best possible scenario, the powers that be will make the changes necessary to avoid
massive starvation and homelessness.
In fact, this process appears to have already begun. The US government, after decades
of promoting so‐called “free‐market capitalism,” has suddenly done an ideological about‐face
by socializing the debt incurred by big corporations. This is being done to “save the capitalist
system.”
In fact it revolutionizes the system by “sovietizing” it. What scared 20th Century
capitalists about communism was the old Soviet Union’s ownership of banks and big
industry. If transplanted to the USA, they feared, it would mean spreading the wealth
horizontally. Well, now it is being transplanted to the G7 capitalist nations.
What is underway as I write this is an attempt to socialize the debt of these free‐
market ideologues without socializing their profits too. They want to keep big corporate
profits private while distributing debts to the public.
The logical next step is for government authorities to come out of their ideological
Trickle‐down trance and realize they can’t save their most generous campaign contributors
(the big bankers) without saving the people who make the big bankers rich, the vast
majority of workers and consumers. The vast majority needs to be saved in order to continue
supporting the wealthy few.
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 There is another problem with the present bailout of banks and big corporations. No
amount of such bailouts will overcome the reluctance of the majority of people to buy
money and consume products at any interest rate, especially if inflation and unemployment
continue to rise. And there will be more astounding surprises in store for the whole economy
as this series of Saturn‐Uranus oppositions make direct “hits”—in 2008 on Election Day
November 4, in 2009 on February 5 and September 15, and in 2010 on April 25 and July 26.
As Uranus’s square with Pluto continues to tighten, we can look for revolutionary
thinking to arise and prevail. Together, Uranus and Pluto will terminate what no longer
works and initiate the new and improved. The sensible thing for us humans to do is
cooperate with this process of economic transformation. The old ideology has clearly led us
to a funny‐money economy (the rich minority and the increasingly poor majority). Every
past great depression in US history has been preceded by a record disparity between the rich
few and the majority. What is needed is systemic change that will distribute wealth more
horizontally. Uranus looks out for the downtrodden.

T he biwheel chart below shows the USA’s birth on the inner wheel and Monday
September 15, 2008 Full Moon chart on the outer wheel. It was this Lunation that
triggered a more forceful plunge in already erratic stock markets. Notice that the
Lunation hit the Saturn‐Uranus opposition, which in turn was conjunct the USA’s natal
Neptune, square the USA’s natal Mars.

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The second biwheel chart is for the Crash of 1987. Again it was Saturn and Uranus
afflicting the US Mars‐Neptune square, this time with help from Chrion in Gemini.

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For the Crash of 1929, Saturn in Sagittarius opposite Jupiter in Gemini afflicted the US
Mars‐Neptune square. The crash this day was triggered by the Moon conjunct the US
Neptune. Why did this one lead into a great depression? Note Uranus in Aries opposite the
US Saturn and square the US Sun, the signature of great depressions. Also notice that Pluto
was conjunct the US Sun, while Mercury and Venue were conjunct the US Saturn.

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