How long will Covid last?

This post first appeared on my old website, 7 Jan 2022

Astrology is a tricky business, and these days astrologers resist ‘predictions’. Instead, we like to ‘forecast’ the astrological weather – identifying upcoming planetary interactions and speculating on how they may manifest. Most have the potential for both good and bad outcomes.

In 2020, the outcomes DID indeed look bad – astrologers were united in this – yet few were willing to stick their necks out to warn about a possible pandemic, despite the stars being fairly obvious (similar configurations occurred during the AIDS epidemic, the Spanish Flu and various plague outbreaks). The reason? In sunny 2019, it felt alarmist and negative to do so. No one would have believed us anyway. We would have been dismissed as woo-woo crackpots. 

In good times, people don’t want warnings. However during adversity, people are more enthusiastic about looking forward. We’re keen for some good astrological news. So now that we’re in the midst of blah, how long will Covid last?

The major planetary configurations of 2020 have already broken up and moved on. Without science, I think that the pandemic would have already nearly run its course. Millions would have died and nature would be satisfied. But we do have science, and this beautifully illustrates the ongoing philosophical debate of ‘fate vs free will’ – where does the impact of astrology begin and end?

Humans are always in charge of their response despite any event that befalls them. And now we are living a history of our own making. In a fabulous example of ‘fate versus free-will’ – humans have taken their fate and applied all of their intelligence to fight it, and as a result we’re now extending the outcomes of this tussle with nature.

This stretching of our fate somewhat defies the planets, which now makes it difficult to clearly forecast the ‘end’ of Covid. But I’ll try… 

Current planetary factors do describe the ongoing situation nicely…

Saturn/Uranus – this square aspect is still in play throughout 2022, despite peaking on Christmas Eve, 2021. Many of last year’s Freedom v. Restriction and Individual v. Government themes will continue and possibly re-intensity at the end of this year.

Pluto – Pluto was a major pandemic player. Until the beginning of March it’s being tickled by Venus, Mercury and Mars – which probably timeframes this current wave of panic, fear and feeling of weight around Omicron. Financial markets are tied into this.

Jupiter/Neptune in Pisces – many hoped that Jupiter (the lucky planet) would help end the pandemic once it moved into Pisces on December 28. Instead, that day was when my local covid figures doubled from 5,000-11,000 and they’ve not stopped since. Jupiter ‘expands’ everything it touches, so we might expect that numbers will remain bloated until May, when it shifts into Aries. The ‘lucky’ part? Omicron is a milder and more benign variant that is spreading immunity. 

On April 13, Jupiter joins Neptune – this is confusion, deception and vagueness. At that time, we can expect authorities to really have no grasp on what’s really going on, and there may be many untruths being bandied about. (Incidentally, this ‘water’ sign emphasis impacts weather, so expect oodles of water, everywhere).

So where does that leave us? 2022 is going to be a better, happier year than 2021. Lockdowns will not return in the same way, however scrambles around restrictions are likely to continue until Saturn leaves Aquarius in March 2023. This is also when Pluto initially moves signs. At that point, we can expect this pandemic to really start to piss off. But both planets later retrograde, so we are not truly free of this phase until the beginning of 2024.

So Covid is around for at least another year, if not two – it’s likely to ebb and flow, but shouldn’t have anymore scary ‘crunch’ points. But, it’s still a pandemic, and more people will die. Nature is having a really good try at solving our overpopulation. This pandemic is a humbling reminder of the powerlessness of humans, and the awe and respect we should have for our existence.

Remember that there’s always joy to be found even in the trickiest of times. Jupiter/Neptune also enables spiritual growth and insight. Wisdom and inspiration are freely available. Saturn/Uranus provides progressive ideas around ways to restructure our world, post pandemic. We can start investigating and planning for that right now – which sounds much more exciting.

Set goals for 2022 that align with these themes and try to enjoy the ride…