As early as 1994, financial astrologer Ray Merriman began persistently warning anyone within earshot that a huge stock market decline and financial crisis would upset the global economic applecart in 2008.  While there were other astrological factors to consider, Merriman says his prediction was largely based on the angular relationship between transiting Saturn and Uranus – a 180-degree opposition aspect that would be forming in the heavens at this time.

Financial astrologers view Saturn’s role as defender of the status quo. Among other things, antsy Uranus represents the irresistible urge to break away and try something new.   In the past, when this particular celestial standoff has occurred at the same time planet Pluto is transiting in one of what astrologer’s call the Cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, Cancer and Capricorn), the event has coincided with troubling news for the banking and investment communities.  Merriman started calling the pending aspect the “Cardinal Climax,” a phrase now commonly used by a growing legion of financial astrologers around the globe to describe this event.

Merriman admits he worried that “hard” or challenging aspects  between slow-moving Saturn,  Uranus and Pluto would be forming again in 2010 and 2014.  The expectation was that more bad news might be on the way, but the largest market intervention in world history by central bank policymakers nullified this possibility.  The Fed lowered interest rates and later began buying Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in an effort to stimulate spending and economic growth.  With help like this the stock market was able to soar to record highs.

“When you have more money buying securities than selling them, well, that makes the price go up.  Which, of course, was the Fed’s purpose,” he noted.

The author of nearly 50 books, Merriman writes the monthly Merriman Market Analyst newsletter (MMA Cycles) and both a weekly and daily forecast for more active traders.   His life work has been divided about evenly between his role as a professional astrologer and accomplishments achieved in the more pragmatic world of business and investments.  He appears equally at home in either milieu.

Merriman is a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) and passed both the Series 3 (Commodities) and Series 7 (Securities) exams while working as an analyst at E.F. Hutton in the 1980s.  He is a member of the National Futures Association (NFA) and served as an arbitrator in disputes for several years.  In his final Wall Street job he was Accounts Vice President of Retail Commodities Futures at Paine Webber.  Currently, he heads the Merriman Market Timing Academy (MMTA), a global enterprise that is training traders to integrate astrology with other market-timing tools.

On the astrology side, Merriman passed the American Federation of Astrologers (AFA) professional astrology exam in 1972.  His degree in psychology and subsequent graduate studies at Michigan State and Oakland University helped prepare him for a career as a consulting astrologer.  He describes serving as President of the International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR) between 1994 and 2000 – and again between 2002 and 2008 – as high points in his career.

In an interview with ANS he provided these insights:

ANS: How did it all get started for you?

Merriman: I started studying astrology in 1966 and passed the American Federation of Astrologers (AFA) professional astrology exam in 1972.  By 1977, I had written two well-received astrology books:  Evolutionary Astrology: The Journey of the Soul Through the Horoscope, and The Solar Return Book of Prediction.  The Solar Return book has become a standard in astrology with about 20 printings since it was first introduced.  Only 1,440 copies of Evolutionary Astrology were published and the book sold out in three years.  It was done in calligraphy – a beautiful book that will never be reprinted but sometimes is available on Amazon.com. 

ANS:  What are the most important things people should know about you?

Merriman:  Perhaps it’s that I love to write – every day.  I enjoy waking up and either researching something that interests me or writing about it in a way others can understand.  The financial markets -and life itself – are puzzles for me with parts scattered all around.  The challenge is to find the pieces that fit together.

ANS:  What do you regard as your most important achievements?

Merriman:  Professionally, I would say the authorship of nearly 50 books involving astrology – from the first books in 1977 through the completion of nine financial market-timing books in 2010.  The financial series started with The Gold Book: Geocosmic Correlations to Gold Price Cycle in 1982, and culminated with a five- volume series entitled The Ultimate Book of Stock Market Timing.  All together books in this series total about 1,600 pages.  I believe they helped make a difference by bringing astrology out from the belief that it is purely a form of entertainment or superstition to the idea that there is something of great value here for society.

As ISAR President I worked with a great group of people that challenged each other to build something big and great for astrology.  During my terms ISAR grew from probably the smallest national/international astrology organizations to one of the largest and most active.  Highlights included the creation of a certification program, a consulting skills program and a competency exam.  The organization initiated the ISAR online e-zine, which did wonders in bringing the membership together.  And we held several highly successful international conferences, each built around topics of interest to the worldwide astrology community.

ANS: At astrology conferences the number of attendees participating in programs dealing with financial astrology appears to have mushroomed in recent years.  What’s going on?

Merriman:  It works! Nothing is as consistently accurate in identifying reversal times in financial markets as astrology.  I think a few of us as financial astrologers have been able to convey that awareness to the trading community.  Astrology appeals to traders because it provides that extra edge all traders seek.  They want to learn more, and the way to do that is by attending conferences or workshops on the subject.

To give you an idea… I was amazed by how many people (40) signed up for my new two-year Merriman Market Timing Academy program that launched in April 2013 – because the program is not cheap ($20,000).  Both traders and other astrologers joined the initial program because they wanted to learn how financial astrology works.

ANS:  When did you decide to focus fulltime on financial astrology?

Merriman:  I started writing the MMA Cycles report as a purely gold and Silver report in 1981.  I had 35 subscribers when I released The Gold Book in November 1982.  Right after it came out I was invited to fly to Los Angeles for an interview with Bill Griffith and Leibe Geft of the Financial News Network (FNN).  I was their guest for an hour-long interview the next day on Money Talk.  When I returned to my office the next week I had over 1,000 letters and 350 new subscribers.   I had to quit my day job as an astrological consultant and, over the next six months, transitioned into a full time financial astrologer and market letter writer.

The MMA Cycles newsletter was expanded to cover first the stock market and then Treasuries, currencies, grains and crude oil – all by popular demand.  I became a hot commodity myself and was a frequent guest contributor on the FNN network and was quoted on investment topics in major business and financial publications, like Fortune and Forbes. 

ANS:  So the message is getting across?

Merriman: Traders love astrology and are the lifeblood of my company.   Every year I do an annual forecast book that is translated into several different languages and sells about 7,500 copies.  Subscriptions for daily, weekly and monthly reports vary between 800 to 1,000 at any given time.  And I’ve been invited to speak to large groups of bankers and international traders in Japan, London, Switzerland and other countries around the world.

ANS:  Historically speaking some important business tycoons like J.P. Morgan are alleged users of astrological services.  What about business people today?  Are they open or more reluctant users of astrology who’d rather not admit it when they do?

Merriman:  I would say that is mostly true.  They are private people who don’t want others to know where they get their information.  They are very results oriented and open to accepting astrology as a valuable timing tool and indicator of economic and political trends.  But they don’t want their involvement publicized.  I respect their desire for confidentiality.

ANS:  What advice do you have for investors in these troubling times?

Merriman:   Be nimble and flexible.  Learn to hedge your core positions when it appears that sudden and sharp declines may be setting up, for they will happen and they can hurt if you’re not ready.

Those looking at financial astrology as a resource need to understand that, like events on earth, the changing map of the heavens is never exactly the same.  Learning never ends. The relationship (between astrological alignments and the financial markets) is not necessarily a direct one because astrological factors can manifest in many ways and don‘t always translate into financial market moves.  However, in most cases, astrological timing is really valuable – especially for traders looking for at least short-term reversals in almost all financial markets.

In my opinion you cannot beat it with any other form of market timing analysis.

Astrology is a language of symbols. Astrological birth charts are maps of a person’s life purpose laid out in this coded language. A chart is derived from the arrangement of planets in the sky at the exact time you were born, from the vantage point of the exact place you were born. Symbols are abstract for a reason. Just as Egyptian hieroglyphics refer to concepts far more complex than a single word could convey, planetary glyphs and signs and the geometrical angles between planets are rich with layered meanings.

If you want the astrologer to do your chart, you make an appointment either to come into their office for the interpretation or to do it by phone. The astrologer will ask you to provide her with your date and place of birth; and, ideally, the hour and minute too. People who don’t know their exact time can still have a chart done; it will be less precise, but will still reveal a tremendous amount of information. I prefer giving and getting readings in person, especially the first time I’m meeting someone, because face-to-face more channels are available for intuitive information to flow. There is an occult (hidden) component to astrology that melds rote technique with something more mysterious. As we sit and have a cup of tea together, our conversation begins with the data on the page and quickly expands into the psycho-spiritual implications of that data. The chart becomes a conduit for psychic pick-up.

After your reading, most astrologers will give you the chart itself and a tape of the session.

What an astrologer can tell you?

Using your birth chart (which is generally what one starts with) astrologers can give you a nonjudgmental overview of who you are. The chart shows them your potential strengths, challenges and inborn talents; and areas where you tend to get stuck. Your astrologer will describe to you what the chart says about your inner resources, what you have to work with. The more spiritually inclined practitioner will speak in terms of a soul purpose. There are themes in the chart which suggest why each of us incarnated this time round. In a transit or progressions reading an astrologer can read the larger meaning of whatever is happening to you at the time. S/he can see what the chart says your Higher Self is trying to learn during this phase of your life, this month, this week, or even this particular day. What really motivates a job change, for instance. You may assume it is financial; she may look at your chart and see an inevitable emotional shift which would be occurring no matter what you were doing or how much money you were making.

In a chart comparison an astrologer can help you see whether your needs look anything like your new boyfriend’s needs. Astrology is very good at pinpointing a person’s wants, tastes, beliefs and desires; and contrasting them with another person’s. Themes underlying a relationship which might not be obvious on the surface are thus revealed. When you know where you fundamentally differ from someone, and where you are on the same wavelength, you have a lot of information to work with.

Astrology and the future

A common misconception is that modern astrology makes predictions. In fact, centuries ago astrologers did, and some schools of astrology still do; most notably in those societies such as India where the predominating world view follows a more fatalistic bent. It is psychology, however, rather than divination that underlies most contemporary astrology in the West. It is true that you may hear some very precise and accurate feedback from your astrologer over the course of your reading, due to the extra-sensory aspect of astrology that transcends geometry. Even the astrologer herself may be hard pressed to explain how she came up with the images she comes up with. She may see in your chart that a sudden shift towards elimination is upon you, for example, and the image of a garage sale may occur to her. She may suggest it to you, intending it as a metaphor, only to find you have an actual garage sale scheduled for next week.

The reason this happens is because everything in life is a symbol. Your life already chose the symbol of the garage sale, as an expression of that elimination theme — which was slated to be expressed, one way or another, during the period in question. The astrologer can see the meaning of the period in question, but only in thematic form. Your Higher Self chooses the perfect way to play it out.

What an astrologer cannot tell you

An astrologer can see trends in your chart, not particulars. She doesn’t need to know how you manifest your particular themes; she sees them in general form, which is the way it would be most useful for you to see them. That way you can begin to grasp the consistent tendencies which underlie your changing specifics. Especially if you are having your first reading, your astrologer’s imagery may be quite abstract. Not knowing you from Adam, she will be reading overall patterns, not trying to guess what form they take. The astrologer who gets the garage sale image while looking at your chart does not know whether you are downsizing your company or giving your old shoes away or weeding through your inner values. It would depend on what needed to happen in order to teach you the cosmic lesson at hand.

And that is what you really want to know. Consider, before you hasten to fill her in with back story, that you will get more out of your first reading by listening to the truth of your chart on this level.

The planets themselves have nothing to say about what you are going to do. They only say why you are going to do it. Knowing the why allows us to more consciously participate in what happens.

What about destiny?

Your birth chart is a coded map, not a list of literal events waiting to take place. Most astrologers believe that there is no such thing as “destiny” as apart from human will. So the wild card in all this is free choice, which gets more and more free the more conscious a person becomes. It may disappoint some to hear that no specific events are made to happen because heavenly bodies form certain angles in the sky. Nor do celestial cycles force us to understand anything; they do not have agency. They simply announce themes, which can, if read with discernment, become lessons for us. And they specify when those lessons are going to be taught.

Does the chart tell who we are most compatible with? To the extent that we attract what we are, it does. For example, each of us has our own version of ideal masculinity, expressed by the planet Mars. A chart with a bellicose Mars is more likely to incline one towards Marines, policemen and competitive athletes than is a chart with an introverted Mars.

But your chart does not really describe outer reality at all. It only describes the state of your own psyche. A self-aware person with a fiery Mars could manifest it as raw courage, and would tend to attract others who personified that quality.

An astrologer can help you understand your inner maleness (and we all have a Mars, men and women alike, whatever our sexual persuasion), in terms of its highest potential. Astrology’s goal is to re-acquaint you with your Mars’ strongest and finest qualities. This puts you back in touch with a part of your psyche that might have become estranged or under-used. Getting to know your Mars increases the likelihood that you will encounter male energy in this heightened form. Instead of bullies, you might begin to attract heroes.

The same goes for every other planet in your chart, each of which would then tend to be reflected back to you in a more creative way in the mirror of other people.

Can astrology tell when you will meet your soul mate?

Don’t ask your astrologer to tell you whether you will meet the love of your life this summer. Your Aunt Phyllis might know; your astrologer does not. An astrologer sees only what themes are being highlighted. If a new boyfriend would offer a teaching about one of them, a new boyfriend wouldn’t be ruled out. Certainly important emotional and psychological lessons show up in a person’s chart; and as we all know, the cosmos often uses relationships to great effect, to teach those kind of lessons. But if a boyfriend came in during such a transit, he would be coming in as a carrier of that theme, not necessarily to fulfill your picture of what a boyfriend should mean.

That said, in the same way that your astrologer might see that the workplace will be a hotspot for you this summer, or that old business with your father is due to surface, she might see your relationship arena activated. This will mean the issue is up. You may find yourself thinking about romance more, you may indeed meet someone who personifies it for you, you may become engrossed in a movie or a book or a song that plays it out.

So though your soul mate is not in the chart per se, the urge to find him might be (and because intention creates reality, this often amounts to the same thing). This urge will be stronger at certain times than at others; and that is definitely in the chart. Similarly, your spouse’s changes are not in your birth chart, but your attitude towards them is.

Simply put, there are no other people in your chart. But there are many indicators of your relationship karma and how it is developing. An astrologer might see, for example, an urgent need to be free from limitations in relationships. And if that attitude shift led to an actual shift in your marriage, it wouldn’t be surprising, would it?

But all the chart shows for sure is the inner event. That is what a good astrologer can help you understand and prepare for.

Why go to an astrologer?

Astrology reveals your life path in ciphered form and pinpoints where you are upon it. An astrologer can help you see the mythic meaning behind unarticulated urges and intense yearnings, as well as the everyday changes of mood and direction that may feel arbitrary, confusing and embarrassing to you otherwise. She can show you how these fit into the seasons of your lifetime as a whole. It is a perspective that allows one to live life with more grace.