Astro Grabbies
Uranus, Pluto
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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& the Money Game
By
Robert Gover, USA
W hen I was a small boy growing
up in an orphanage, we played
a game at the dinner table
called “Grabbies.” If you could use your
fork to steal food from your neighbor’s
plate without your neighbor foiling your
attempt with his knife and without the
grownup authorities catching you, you got
to keep and eat it. Provided, that is, you
could stuff it into your mouth before
someone else stabbed it with his fork and
took it away from you. When the game of
Grabbies disintegrated into chaotic food
fights, no one got enough to eat.
What I call the money game works very
much like Grabbies. We all need money to
survive in the modern world, but because a
few are better at the game, a few wind up
with most of the money. We all need
money as much as we need food and
water, so the losers of the money game
must borrow from the winners to survive.
Because the object of the game is to
increase your wealth—measured in
money—you charge as much interest for
the loan of your money as you can get. If
the winners win big enough, the losers are
impoverished, usually due to usurious
practices leading to inflation. Then the
whole society disintegrates, bringing down
winners and losers alike.
It seems to be human nature in conflict
with common sense that creates this
dilemma between sustained economic
prosperity, and the self‐defeating culture
of money grabbies. And it’s by no means a
new problem.
Back in 594 BC, Solon of Athens dealt with this dilemma when he got laws passed enabling
borrowers to “shake off” debt they could not repay. This ended the practice of lenders selling
defaulting borrowers into slavery in foreign lands. Most borrowers back then were farmers.
When too many farmers were sold into slavery and shipped abroad, it caused food shortages
in Athens. By instituting what we now call “bankruptcy,” Solon saved Athens.
Chart 1

Usury is usually defined very narrowly as “charging excessive interest,” but there is no
agreement on what is excessive, and the USA’s entire monetary system is based on usury
more broadly defined. The social disintegration caused by usury is a process, not a single
event. The wealthiest in any society have more influence in shaping laws than the poor, and
thus we have come to assume, over the centuries, that Rich v. Poor is a fact of life as
immutable as gold. Thus, the
money grabbies game has the It’s worth noting that Uranus and Pluto were in
charm of the sacred. We all want sextile aspect back in 594 BC (see Chart #1)
to be rich. We speak of the rich as when Solon got the first bankruptcy laws passed in
being “up there,” closer to the gods. Athens. Uranus was also opposite Jupiter and
Thus, while we may agree that semi-sextile a conjunction of Saturn and Neptune.
society functions best and becomes
most prosperous when money is spread horizontally rather than vertically —that is, when
everyone, no matter how poor, has enough to live reasonably well—that commonsense
wisdom is defeated by our primitive urge to become winners in the money game, “masters
of the universe.” Even though we know, from history, that the money grabbies game is, in
the long run, the great destroyer of societies.
Can we find an astrological signature that will help us know when the present money game
will manifest its inevitable result?

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I have found astrological signatures for great depressions and stock market crashes, but the
astrology of monetary system collapses is harder to pin down. Usury is the mundane cause
of monetary collapse and the effects of usury manifest more gradually, over longer spans of
time than depressions and/or stock market collapses.
We can surmise from the time lengths that it is the outermost planets we should look to for
repeating patterns pertaining to monetary catastrophes brought on by usury. Usury,
although it happens more slowly, has destroyed more societies than invading armies.
It’s worth noting that Uranus and Pluto were in sextile aspect back in 594 BC (see Chart #1)
when Solon got the first
As this present Uranus-Pluto square develops, it
bankruptcy laws passed in Athens.
Uranus was also opposite Jupiter will form a grand cross pattern with the USA’s
and semi‐sextile a conjunction of natal Sun-Saturn square. This pattern formed by
Saturn and Neptune. the outermost planets has coincided with all four
For the collapse of the Roman great depressions in US history.
monetary system in 411, Uranus
was square a conjunction of Neptune and Pluto. For the crash of Tulip Mania in 1637,
Uranus was conjunct Jupiter with both square Saturn. For the crash of the South Seas
Bubble that scuttled British money in 1720, Uranus was conjunct Pluto.
So Uranus (innovation) and Pluto (secrecy, subterfuge) are leading candidates in a search
for planetary cycles having the most to do with monetary system collapses. Pluto is
symbolized as the god of Hades, that mystery from whence we emerge into this life and into
which we disappear when we die. In modern Western astrology, a badly aspected Pluto
indicates harmful conspiracy.
Chart 2

The financial structure of the USA today is founded on a form of usury defined in its
broadest sense. The Federal Reserve System controls the USA’s monetary system. What

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makes the Fed usurious is that it’s essentially a group of private bankers who conjure money
out of thin air, sell it to politicians, who then charge the debt to the public, taxpayers, at
ever‐compounding interest. I call the Fed “Pluto dominated” because most people believe it
is a government agency, but it’s not. It’s a small company of very private bankers.
Although these bankers were originally appointed by politicians, they now have the money
power to control which politicians remain in power and which are replaced by candidates
more friendly to the Fed’s mission. The Fed’s stated mission is to steady the economy, but
the unstated mission is to aid the winners of the money game, even when this loads an
impossible debt burden on the general population.
For money game winners who partake of the Fed’s control, this system is a magnificent
bonanza. Wars make the most money for these winners, since the government will spend
recklessly during wartime. Thus the present Iraq War, called “the $2 trillion war,” is leading
the USA toward monetary collapse, as signified by the steady drop in the dollar’s value
versus other currencies. In the late 1990s one dollar was equal to .85 euros. Now, one dollar
is equal to around 1.60 euros.
When the Fed was “born” on Dec. 23, 1913, (see Chart #2) Pluto was opposite the Sun while
Uranus was square the Moon. The bankers (Pluto) put one over on the government (Sun).
With Uranus square the Moon, the few people who understood what was happening were
frustrated in their attempts to rebel against it, and American society was the long‐range
loser. How this coup was planned and executed by the money game winners is detailed in
The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin.
Neptune was also prominently involved in the subterfuge of 1913, for the ruler of seas and
mists, inspirations and delusions, was opposite expansive Jupiter. It seemed for most of the
20th Century that the USA benefited tremendously from the creation of the Fed—but this,
we are now learning was a Neptunian delusion. What happened was the Fed created a
“credit‐card” economy. Americans lived on borrowed money, and when more money was
needed to repay past debts, more credit was created, and thus more inflation, a Ponzi scheme
that sank American society deeper and deeper into debt.
Chart 3

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Now (See Chart #3) Pluto has orbited around to a point opposite where it was when the Fed
was born, and the bill is coming due. Transiting Pluto is on the outer wheel of this biwheel
chart, up around noon. The Fed’s Pluto is down around 6 o’clock. For the statistics of this
present debt phenomenon, see “Grandfather Economic Reports” by Michael Hodges at
http://mwhodges.home.att.net/debt‐summary‐table.htm.
To summarize, collective debt in the USA has grown to the point where it overwhelms the
collective ability of Americans to repay it. Concurrently the dollar has devalued during the
20th Century so that what cost 1$ in 1900 cost $100 or even $150 by 2008. Americans have been
sold so much debt, many doubt the Fed can print new money fast enough to prevent a
massive default sometime in the not‐too‐distant future.
This, in turn, means the world’s monetary system is in danger, too, since the dollar arose
during the Nixon Administration to replace gold as the world’s basic or “preferred”
currency. This was a big score for the American money game winners, who rarely, if ever,
consider long‐range consequences. As the economist Maynard Keynes is famously quoted as
saying, “In the long run, we’re all dead.” Keynes seems to have forgotten the children,
grandchildren and great‐grandchildren, who will, hopefully, be very much alive.
What is called the Iraq War really began when the Iraqi Oil Ministry decided to sell their
oil for euros instead of dollars in November 2000. Before that time, Saddam Hussein was a
“good guy” in the eyes of the USA’s corporate‐controlled government. By invading Iraq,
the US reestablished the selling of Iraqi oil for dollars, another victory for the money game
winners. But now it’s Iran, Venezuela, Russia and others who are selling oil for euros and
other currencies. This means Americans money game losers must pay a premium at the gas
pump—the cost of exchanging devaluing dollars for euros. Worse, it means that most of
humanity views the US government with hostility and increasing numbers of people will do
whatever they can to bring down the USA’s military, the mightiest the world has ever
known, and the prop upon which the monetary system depends. “He who controls the
money, rules.”
Which brings us back to Uranus and Pluto, revolution and subterfuge. Uranus‐Pluto cycles
(conjunctions, oppositions and squares) have historically brought major social upheavals and
changes. And when such cycles have occurred conjunct, opposite or
square certain key planets in the USA’s nativity, the changes have
been the most dramatic and long lasting. (see “Grand Cross and
Great Depressions” by Robert Gover at
www.robertgover.com.)
Beginning this year, 2008, we have entered what could
become the most difficult period in the USA’s brief history.
As this present Uranus‐ Pluto square develops, it will form a
grand cross pattern with the USA’s natal Sun‐Saturn square.
This pattern formed by the outermost planets has coincided with all
four great depressions in US history. Most Americans believe the great depression of the
1930s was the only one, mainly because there are photos and movies of that period. Other
great depressions have dominated the decades of the 1780s, 1840s, and 1870s. All have
coincided with the grand cross pattern formed by the outermost planets to the USA’s Sun‐
Saturn square.
Each great depression seems unique, when we focus on the economic statistics and events of
each one’s time. In the causal realm of astrology, however, all great depressions in US
history have a remarkable sameness. We might say that all great depressions have both Yin
and Yang aspects. On the subtle Yin side, we have the same planetary pattern coinciding
with each, while on the overt Yang side, there is on‐going, never‐ending debate by
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economists as to what caused this one, and what caused that one. For example, the great
depression of the 1780s is generally believed to have been a byproduct of the Revolutionary
War. The root cause of the 1930s is endlessly debated. Like individuals suffering severe
depression, triggering causes of bad periods can be named and numbered, but without citing
a common cause for all. The commonality of all great depressions can be found by
examining the astrology involved.
Rationalists like to say that astrology is not scientific. Okay, but it is synchronistic.
Although no repeatable cause‐effect link has been found to explain astrology scientifically,
every time the grand cross has been formed by the four outermost planets with the USA’s
Sun‐Saturn square, it has synchronized with a great depression in the USA. Never has this
planetary pattern formed without coinciding with a great depression.
Chart 4

That is why we can look for the pits of the coming great depression to occur between 2014
and 2016 (see Chart #4). Although the great depression we are now moving into will impact
all nations to some degree, it will impact the USA most severely. I say that based on the past
history of Pluto in Capricorn square Uranus in Aries. And by impacting the US so severely,
it will impact the economies of other nations—all now tied tightly together by the multi‐
national corporate “New World Order”. It’s said than when the USA sneezes, the rest of
the world catches a cold.
Pluto takes about 248 years on average to circle the Zodiac. The last time it arrived in Capricorn,
the American Colonies were rebelling against their British rulers, and establishing the USA as a
separate nation. The new government took its money out of Bank of England control and put it
under the control of Congress. (Unfortunately, in 1913, Congress gave control of the nation’s
monetary system to a group of bankers now known as The Fed.)
Pluto’s previous entry into Capricorn was shortly after Columbus’ famous “discovery,” when
Spanish explorers unknowingly brought a pandemic that wiped out whole Native American
civilizations. Tons of gold and silver were exported from America to Europe—another
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major victory for winners of the money times what middle class workers make. The
game—resulting in rampant inflation in executive can afford to put $100 dollars of
Europe. The tremendous number of Europeans gasoline in the tank of his SUV and spend
who then migrated to America is evidence another $100 for lunch, while it’s becoming
that this huge influx of gold money did not impossible for his employees to afford the gas
benefit European societies. Pluto’s cyclical to commute to work.
arrival in late Sagittarius and early Capricorn So we have again cycled back to the
(where it is simultaneously conjunct the conundrum Solon dealt with in ancient
Galactic Center of the Milky Way) are Athens: the money game winners having won
something like hurricanes in that they blow so much there is not enough left over for the
away whatever is ripe to be blown away. In people who support them. American workers
the 1760s, the British Empire was blown out of who can’t pay their mortgages aren’t being
the 13 colonies that became the USA. In the sold into slavery in foreign lands, but
late 1490s and early 1500s, it was the ancient homelessness in the USA is not much better.
civilizations of the Western Hemisphere that When the money game winners get done
were blown away by invading Europeans. laughing at the predicament of the losers, they
Upcoming, what will be blown away? It will notice that their money no longer buys
seems to me what is ripe to fall is the the goods and services they need—because
contemporary dollar‐based world monetary workers can no longer afford to make or
system. The world’s money is no longer based provide these.
on anything tangible. It has become paper The question then will be whether to
decreed to be money by governments. “restructure” the traditional money game and
The ancient and enduring purpose of money is thereby perpetuate it, or declare one massive
to facilitate trade by providing a measurement default or bankruptcy, and begin the game
for value. But today, the distribution of anew.
money has become so vertical, the gap
between the rich few and the impoverished
many so impossibly huge, that money no
longer serves its basic purpose. Moreover,
winners of the money game make far more
money by causing money to reproduce itself
than by producing goods and services to enrich
their societies. Before the advent of coined
money about 3,000 years ago, domestic
animals and grain seeds were used as money,
and these forms of money did reproduce
themselves. But Aristotle warned that two
coins cannot copulate and produce a third
coin, and that the true use of money is to
facilitate trade. Now, cyber money and credit
card money—based on paper fiat money—
reproduce like rabbits on steroids.
The USA’s military‐industrial complex makes
money by the mega‐ton while bleeding true
wealth from American society. Weapons
made for war are either destroyed or become
obsolete.
Meanwhile, the money game winners are
triumphant. Successful corporate executive
money game winners in the US make 22,000

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