What Can We Take From The 2012 Olympics

On a warm summer night on August 12^th 2012 at 23.49, with the words of Jacques Rogge in his capacity as President of the International Olympics Committee, the London XXX Olympic Games was officially closed. After what has been described as a ‘rather eccentric’ East End musical knees-up, the closing ceremony burst into fireworks, song, parody, dance and no doubt, what could seem like complete randomness and chaos to the untrained eye. The trained eye was probably in squint mode with a few "Ahh!!" moments and rather more "Eww!" or "Err? "ones. The Games themselves were 'happy and glorious' and this final evening was a mixture of relief, euphoria and tinged with the sadness of goodbye.
Finally the Olympic flag came down and was passed over to Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and the beautiful flame was extinguished.

With my Moon (home) in the sign of the global traveller Sagittarius, I welcomed the world into my hometown. I joyfully opened my arms to embrace all the International traffic rushing through my home ground, whether digital, or actual, the constant streaming of excellence, individuals competing with their Nations hopes pinned to the flags on their backs striving and reaching for their personal bests. 

The party is over and many of us here in the U.K felt a strange sense of loss and protectiveness as we watched it extinguish - we were reluctant to ‘let our games go’ but as soon as the Mayor of Rio de Janario grasped the flag, the whistle for Brazil blew and the splendid Samba drums rolled – the Brazilian Olympian party has begun. Rio's 2016 Games will be the first time the Olympics has been staged in a South American country.

As one door closes another opens. The light is passed on through the chain, weaving it’s way through all the links. Hopefully for Brazil the chain will end with as much fun and gold medals as it did for Great Britain.

            
Here is the chart for the official end of the games in the UK:

The Moon, signifying the people, is Void-of-Course, just exactly as it was for the opening ceremony. Void is an arcane term for when the moon has finished its business in a sign and makes no further aspects to any other planets before it leaves for the next sign. It is not in its new country yet but in the airport ready to go. Usually during Void times astrologers advise to tie up loose ends, take time to sit with the ‘nothingness’, don’t push the door open to the new, stay a while longer with what seems ‘done’. 

It is in the moment of stillness, in the cessation of action, in the waiting that the action takes place. If you start or begin something new the likihood that “nothing will come of it” is high. All of this makes perfect sense for time of the ‘closing ceremony’, but the opening? This did seem strange (see Venus Aflame At Olympic Ceremony) but it happily transpired that the ‘nothing will come of it’ warning referred to the long list of pre- Olympic threats, security panics and harsh prognosis that thankfully did not transpire.

'The Beckham Boys In Blue'

The fact that the Games began and ended both in Void times is in itself noteworthy. The moon was in it's  waning 'dark' phase when the Games closed, normally a time when we may feel sad or brooding - it is a time of review and most certainly a time of closure. This Balsamic Moon time comes before the New Moon which soon enough will be the time to sow new seeds and boldly try new things. But for now, until the 17th August 2012, we must release, have a good clear out and let it all go.

Memory Tree at the Airport

Not long after the Games was completed and the U.K had signed over its responsibility for the Games, (Mars in Libra conjunct Saturn) once it had successfully relayed the baton to Brazil the Moon then moved into its new home, the Moon ruled sign of Cancer. The Moon, in a chart for a Country, signifies it’s people, and as a nation many of us felt a tug at our apron stings, as if we witnessed something we all loved leaving home. In true Cancerian style we are now settling into a much smaller world for us than it was 2 weeks ago, our visitors are leaving to go to their homes and Britain is regrouping back into its old and familiar ways.

Perhaps but not exactly – our values may have been subtly and fundamentally changed forever. These Games have become known as the 'friendly' Games and the 'glorious' Games but they have also been breaking boundaries as the 'Women's Games'. 

Women’s bodies were desired and admired, not just or not at all for the height of their heels but the distance they jumped, how far they threw, how fast or how long they ran, rowed, sailed, lifted weights, cycled, wrestled or boxed. Looking at the chart we see that Venus, the planet of desire and physical body, is moving into a position that is in direct line of the Pluto Uranus showdown (see Uranus v Pluto). Venus makes a sharp and powerful opposition with Pluto, and square to Uranus. The Venus opposition Pluto is power and transformative, working on our value system especially since it falls across the 2/8 axis, it fixates on what and how we desire. Uranus forms the apex of this opposition, squaring both ends of the axis. It is in the fire sign of Aries, sign of competition, muscle, winning, maleness, potency and new growth.This Arian Uranus is in the 12^th house of endings and closure just poised to break through and shake up our collective self-sabotage, shattering the beliefs which have held us rigid and imprisoned - so maybe just like the phoenix rising out of the flames, ridden in the closing ceremony by Darcy Bussell who herself has Venus in Aries, we will find new and unique ways to express our individuality and potential, free from old complexes and invisible structures which have held us bound.

The Midheaven, placed in the early degrees of Aquarius shows us calling out to the larger world to join together as one, but before we go we will shake rattle and roll with a party, and a musical tribute spanning decades of Brit rock every bit as eccentric as any self respecting Aquarian. The Aquarian theme was shown through the thousands of unpaid volunteers, called 'Game Makers' who vitally kept the cogs of the machine moving all 70,000 of them. 

The Sun is in the 4th house of Endings, receiving easy flowing energy from the Moon (the people), Saturn signifying the Establishment, the structures, the organisation, the architecture and Mars the competitors, the athletes themselves. Mars and Saturn flow from the 6th house, the zone of hard work and unstinting service, and it was acknowledged that by and large everyone worked hard and gave their all, competitors and all those who made the Games possible, especially those Games Makers. The Ascendant in early degrees of Gemini is wide-eyed and curiously expectant. The world is preparing for a new face of the games…..let the carnival roll…..See you in Rio!
           
credits: mail online & reuters  
posted by pippa ponton & jphibbs