As both a student of astrology and a member of a Hollywood union, I am inclined to analyze the current labor strikes through the lens of astrology. Astrology works best when taking history into consideration because just as the planets repeat their cycles in the sky, we often find that history repeats itself just as reliably here on Earth. 

The 1960 dual Hollywood strikes began with the writers on January 16th, 1960. SAG joined almost two months later on March 7th, 1960. The actors reached a deal first and ended their strike on April 18th 1960. The writers reached a deal on June 12th, 1960. By that timeline, SAG's strike lasted a little over a month and the WGA's lasted for approximately 6 months. The astrology of these current strikes suggest that we are likely to see a similar pattern playout this year.

Before we get into chart analysis, I want to take a moment to identify the major players in this story and the planets they are associated with. Mercury is a planet that is associated with communication and therefore is naturally representative of writers. Venus is a planet that is associated with the arts and is representative of people who are artists and actors. The Sun is associated with the patriarchy and authority figures so it can be representative of the studio CEO's here. Finally, Pluto is a planet that represents raw power and in the story of these labor strikes, it would be appropriate to associate it with the Plutocracy.  

The writers began their strike this year on May 2nd. On that day, Pluto stationed retrograde in Aquarius - a sign associated with technology and AI. While Mercury and the Sun met in a conjunction (known as a Mercury Cazimi) at 11° of Taurus - a sign associated with material resources and earthly goods. Note that this Cazimi happened while Mercury was retrograde. Retrogrades can often signify looking back and reevaluating things and the writers were doing just that through the process of negotiations. The fact that this Cazimi took place in the Venus ruled sign of Taurus indicates that the planet Venus will be a major player in the story of this strike. Additionally, Venus was in the Mercury ruled signed of Gemini on May 2nd, which means that Venus and Mercury (or in other words actors and writers) were in mutual reception. One other chart aspect to note on this day is that Jupiter was at 26° of Aries. We'll circle back to this last aspect point, later.

SAG-AFTRA began their strike on July 14th with Jupiter at 11° of Taurus. Jupiter is a planet of growth and expansion and can signify help from friends. Therefore it would make sense that Jupiter reaching the same sign and degree of the Mercury Cazimi that first ignited the writers strike against the studios, would signify that this strike would suddenly be getting bigger with the addition of actors. At this point in time, Venus is just days away from stationing retrograde in Leo on July 22nd. With Venus in retrograde we should expect Venusian subjects to be reevaluated. Venus will be under the beams of the Sun and combust for much of August with a Venus Cazimi happening on August 12th. During the weeks just before and after this Cazimi, Venus will not be visible in our skies, which means the Venusian themes that she represents, will also be obscured and unclear. 

Things will start to clear up however once Venus stations direct on September 3rd while the Sun is in Virgo (a Mercury ruled sign). One day later on September 4th, Jupiter will station retrograde in Taurus. Notably Venus and Jupiter will be Square each other - a good sign for the actors. Then two days after that, there will be another Mercury Cazimi on September 6th that will take place at 13° of Virgo. With those three astronomical events happening back to back to back, and considering the planets that are involved plus the history of the 1960 strikes, there is a strong indication here that SAG-AFTRA will likely reach a deal (Venus direct) around this time and end their strike (Jupiter retrograde). But what about the writers?

Remember that Pluto will have been retrograde this entire time since the writers' strike began. But it will finally station direct in Capricorn on October 10th. Nine days later on October 19th, there will be another Mercury Cazimi in Libra which will be ruled by Venus in Virgo - Venus and Mercury will again be in mutual reception here which will help Venus even though she is in her fall in Virgo. The Sun however is in fall in Libra and will be quite debilitated at this point in time having just experienced a solar eclipse days earlier on October 14th. And on the day of the Cazimi the Sun will also be conjunct the South Node which means that the Sun's light or in other words, its power, will be afflicted. Notably, Mercury will be direct this time around (unlike the Cazimi that happened on May 2nd when the writers strike first began). The fact that this Cazimi is happening in the sign of Libra helps to suggest that a balance and harmony is likely to take place and that Mercury will have the upper hand. And with Venus in the Mercurial sign of Virgo ruling the Cazimi, she is primed to be working out details and writing agreements. Now remember that the WGA strike began with Jupiter at 26° of Aries and this Cazimi on October 19th will take place at 26° of Libra, in direct opposition to the strike's natal Jupiter - another good sign. One last interesting transit takes place just a few days later on October 22nd when Venus lands on 13° of Virgo - the same sign and degree that the Mercury Cazimi on September 6th took place on. All these planetary events happening within a week and a half of each other seem to suggest that the writers will likely reach a deal and end their strike by mid to late October and they will be aided by the deal the actors struck the month before. This timeline does coincidentally align with the studio execs plan that was leaked to the press in terms of waiting until October to meaningfully resume negotiations with the writers.

If all this came to pass as outlined here, then likely the actors' strike will last about a month and a half, while the writers' strike could last 6 months, very similar to what occurred in 1960. I sincerely hope that I am wrong and that these strikes do not have to last this long, but I've found that the planets never fail to tell the true story behind events, regardless of whether the one doing the interpreting wants to believe that story or not.

To view a video of myself and my husband Jack Cusumano, a certified Hellenistic Astrologer, discuss these events and their transits in further depth, then click on the image below: