My first thoughts about the astrology of Facebook’s new Libra currency were vaguely paranoid. I flashed back to an Aquarius teacher I had when I was 10. She had various themes – fluoride in the water eroding the Third Eye was one – but particularly warmed to the perils of a one-world currency.
An avowed atheist, she would nonetheless quote the bible when it came to the concept of currency. Then I recalled the long, mind-destroying hours spent with FB help, trying to convince them that an image of the planet Saturn could not be reasonably considered “a nude,” despite being “flesh-colored.” So, I’m out already, and I cannot imagine the regulatory privacy-data-legislation challenge this is going to entail.
But okay, it’s here, and it’s not so much a cryptocurrency as a new currency. And, though people on Twitter and Co hate the name Libra and are suggesting – for example – Capricoin, I think Libra is apt. It is already such an ambiguous subject. The prevailing opinions about it are polarized.
The Astrology Of Facebook’s New Libra Currency Is Hyper-Weird
To broadly summarize, there is:
(1) This is going to be the ultimate game-changer, goodbye fiat currency, and legacy financial systems. It will be liberating and empowering, completing the end of the dated system that failed in 2008. Libra is a revolutionary innovation that is the natural evolution of the artificially suppressed interest rates and central bank manipulation of the last decade. It’s blockchain; it’s cool, it won’t fluctuate like cryptocurrencies. The future is here, and it looks like fun.
(2) Libra is a fad, a toy for tech titans to reap yet more revenue from the masses. The tech is not that crash hot, and anyway, even if it were, the regulatory authorities are going to snap to and pass a heap of laws to preserve the status quo. And, also if they don’t, it won’t take off because people these days have more privacy concerns, not less. Would they trust that their private $$$ data shared to Libra and affiliates would not be shared? The real problem with it all is that reality is now outdoing Black Mirror.
Both stances are valid. Libra is the perfect name for this attempt at digital alchemy.
Libra Is The Perfect Name For This Attempt At Digital Alchemy
Where-ever you fall on it, it is another manifestation of the financial fuqery described in my Freak In About The Economy post. It’s so Uranus (weirdness, innovation) in Taurus (pentacles, assets, sense of financial security). And, as the Freak-In post talks about, it’s happening at the end of the Saturn-Pluto Neo-Liberalism cycle that began in 1982. To me, it feels like a fin de siecle flashpoint. That is, part of a whole host of weird developments and fast-moving trends occurring at the end of one era before another has begun. It comes in the context of currency wars with the USD and Yuan, as well as the deflating of an assets bubble that should never have been allowed to reinflate.
But that’s all Saturn-Pluto, Power & Society. Money itself has always been fluid and of fluctuating value. It’s mercurial.
Money Is Mercurial
It reminds me of Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon. Yes, we’re moving into cyber-punk territory lol. In that author’s Quicksilver, he depicts the heady blend of commerce, trade, currency, piracy, espionage, and prototype stock markets of the 18th Century. Viewed through these optics, alchemists were early hackers and digital money/multiple currencies merely the modern form of how it always has been.
“. . . if money is a science, then it is a dark science, darker than alchemy. It split away from Natural Philosophy millennia ago, and has gone on developing ever since, by its own rules.”
Remember that the ruler of currency is Mercury, Quicksilver itself. Mercury is the Magician. The astrology of Facebook’s new Libra currency reflects vast, epochal outer-planetary shifts. But for us, it is yet another cue to stay agile, well-informed, and clever. Fittingly, I am staying objectively neutral about Libra, even as I up my use of every magical tool at my disposal; the astro, the beats, the space management, and so on.
Thoughts?
The big thing in business systems right now is data analytics, big data blah blah. The value or price of this data is currently higher than the interest rate. Eg bank rate in Aus right now is around 1% so if I lend you a dollar I make a cent each year. If though I gave you an interest free $1 and tracked where you spent that, that data is possibly worth 2c. Also Facebook or whoever is giving you the interest free dollar will charge a transfer fee when you buy something, so let’s say that’s another couple of cents. So now Facebook is making 400% more profit than what the interest would be in a more traditional system.
I suppose what I’m saying above is that I don’t see any grand conspiracy or huge shift in facebooks power, it’s just another source of profit feeding into their core business, selling personal data to marketers of products and services.
Anyway it’s success will not just be based on the buyers wanting to spend Facebook $s it’s whether suppliers of product will accept this currency and whether it can be traded for other currencies. Eg If I’m GM what am I going to do with $100m Facebook $ ?
I just feel Libra will fizzle out like the crypto mob. But I could be wrong.
I’m offended on behalf of Librans…I mean, the visual design of facebook alone is appalling. And those tacky targeted ads…*Libran shudder*
I agree FB has always been ugly/sterile and lacks creativity. However, for businesses it’s good, I guess it looks clean and uniform but boring.
Just curious, how many of us here are on Facebook? Because I am not and can’t imagine being…I’m on Instagram tough which is another beast.
For those who don’t have bank account but have a Facebook account?
You have to deposit US$ Or whatever to buy Facebook dollars. Not sure how people without a bank acct can achieve that other than going to some money wiring service that charges a high fee. Maybe Facebook will set up teller machines for cash deposits ?
I took a course on social media a while past and the instructor stated the fact that for the upcoming generation, whose every life moment from baby pictures on has been posted on Facebook, privacy isn’t even in the top 20 values that they have. The concept doesn’t even register as something to consider. It’s the rest of us, Millenials to Gen X to baby boomers who are still freaking out about it. But when the upcoming generation takes over the workforce, privacy will be a quaint relic like chivalry or proper table settings.
Actually, I find that it is the opposite.
Gen Z kids are enormously aware of it, perhaps painfully so.
Like they viciously joke about corporations and FBI agents/Alexa spying on them on social media all the time, lol.
The TMI-ness/naïveté on SM is more the realm of older ppl, believe it or not.
The overexposure during childhood didn’t disinhibit them, au contraire, it made them even more protective of their own privacy, behind the layers of dripping self-deprecating sarcasm and memes.
They DO realize that FB/Twitter/IG makes them feel more depressed/socially awkward — more than usual garden variety teenage angst — but since it’s how everyone socializes these days…
Once something more interesting shows up, it’s a wrap for Facebook — the current Astro landscape tells me so. That bubble is about to pop.
Just like MySpace.
God, I wish I could CTRL + ALT + DEL Facebook out of existence myself.
ditto Gen Z’s I know really HATE the lack of privacy of FB. I see a backlash heading our way.
FB is on its last days…at least something cooler, much more hip will replace it and just fuddy-duddies/corporations will stay on FB, and that’s ok.
Interesting topic and one I did not know about. Facebook, a social media company, trying to create its own form of currency ..interesting. The article Iread said FB hopes it catches on outside of FB actually becoming a currency standard sort of speak. This article suggests they are doing it to “save face” basically but I’m not buying that, also considering it is coming from the NY Times, probably planted there as a distraction to the real reason.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/20/opinion/facebook-libra-cryptocurrency.html
In any event, FB does have some clout and the powers to be are really trying hard to change our current financial currency which I think will eventually happen especially now that Uranus is in Taurus, I just don’t know what it will be yet. Personally, I think we are moving towards a cardless system as tech integrates more into our lives. The Christians think it’s the mark of the beast but ultimately I think we are moving towards a single currency, that will be digital and will be accessed somehow implanted onto us or in a device we wear.
Correct it is not a crypto currency but a new currency. While it has a block chain, it does not operate as a block chain — open and non centralized.
it is a closed (not open system) that is as centralized as the Federal Reserve in existence. Several select chosen few can control the blockchain and have the power to change the inscriptions of the block chain, thereby changing its history.
Libra here
I just feel like your speaking in tongues
Fb invented a currency and called it Libra?
Yep. Weird, huh.
This is a bit confusing for Spanish speaking countries as the Spanish word for the Pound (British currency and weight) is libra. You’d of thunk that the FB semiotics team & think tank would have chosen another word & not the same one that the 2nd most spoken language on the planet has already allocated to British currency, no?? …. VERY ODD.
My suggestion is that everybody read “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism” by Shoshana Zuboff “as an act of digital self defence” (to quote Naomi Klein)
Exactly!!! Portuguese native here, also one of the most spoked languages in the world (Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, and the list goes on) and Libra is how we mention the English currency. It’s no different of having it named Euro. I am confused if this legal by the UE standards.
Ha yes, forgot about Portuguese – & in Italian the name for the British Pound is libbra.
So I just had to google & read that the pound sterling is the oldest surviving independent currency whose origins go back to continental Europe(!)… Hahaha – don’t tell the Brits! And that the name of the currency comes from the Latin words “poundus” meaning weight & the symbol comes from “libra” which refers to balance…. So that’s why this new FB currency has us Latin based language speaking people a bit confused – the Libra is already a currency you daft FB people! Talk about appropriation.
Gotta say… I don’t do social media so this is the first I’ve heard of it. I get the impression that companies don’t want us to save our money but invest it in their product to raise their company asset value.
The whole mobile phone, bank less currency thing is already available for those who want is—m-pesa. But it’s used in Africa by poor people, so Zuckerberg probably assumes it doesn’t matter. Going from a fiat currency issued by a territory-based empire to a fiat currency issued by a multinational corporation feels very cyberpunk, as others have noted. I’ve been toying with closing my Facebook account for ages. It’s the main way I stay in tough with my geographically dispersed family, so I’ve been reluctant. Maybe we can find a different platform or set up a family Slack or Discord.
So i’m finally reading my DNA download, i mean reading -absorbing, not perusing. Genius, at last i know what the trines, squares, conjunctions are and what they signify… even tho’ my put 3 not 8, only diff is Merc in Sagg not Scorp dammit as liked the idea of a sexy voice like Merc in Taurus…haha.
Missed the prequel ‘Freak in about the Economy’ you wrote and half way thro’ reading it had to stop and change brain lanes as i forget to eat when engrossed in learning but…
I WANT YOUR BRAIN 🙂
I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH.
Intelligence is the greatest aphrodisiac said Timmy Leary.
And your teacher at 10 yo was correct about fluoride
says Pegasus
whilst listening to Paragui’s ‘Ayahuasca” on Spotify and drifting up the Amazon, in and out of the stream of consciounsness.
x
why can’t it just be currency? Schmoney can be old world. Currency has got a current of of energy all in itself. Libra can be its sunsign. scales, venus, cardinal, uranian air. Some where I saw salary comes from celery salt, roman styles, that perplxed me, lets mari kondo that time, thank it and move on
On a lighter note: HAPPY WINTER, SUMMER SOLSTICE EVERYONE.
Longest night, shortest day and vice versa of the year.
I wonder what the Goddess thinks of this currency and name?
YES it’s Solstice and the ‘deep well spring of love present in all beings’ says a wisewoman and ‘time to let your darlings know how special they are’. Nice.
Doesn’t She laugh at the fumblings of men and government who pretend they are the authority on it all.
CURRENCY is a magic word, to me indicting the energy one uses in the exchange of goods and services and name being Libra rebalancing that energy perhaps?
Personally i used to like ironing $50 notes for the colour, green some how didn’t need straightening.
****sigh**** the end of money as we know/knew it.
A Busker i know is now homeless due to no cash being carried.
Ironing notes!! I remember doing that as a kid, what a lost memory!
I love green colour notes. That’s sad about your friend. The fact that you iron them makes me laugh.
The zeitgeist embraces the artisans but they forget the little things like a busker cheering up your day with a tune and a smile. It’s heart warming to reward them with coin. An act like that can set the tone for the day.
People need to take off the blinkers and think for themselves.
I live in a small town and like to help local business by carrying cash. They do appreciate it.
In the cold, dark gloom of the Winter Solstice,
In a warm candle lit room of the Winter Solstice,
Sits hope, peace and the turning of the Dark into the Light.
I wish you a warm Winter Solstice Gwendolyn.
Hope and Peace.
x
I don’t associate Libra with tampons. and find that the choice of name for this new currency interesting. I agree that a neo liberal era is coming to an end, don’t know if what will follow will be better or worse. world is in a very strange state of flux right now. i say as always hedge yr bets.
Flux for sure. Where’s Aeon when you need her.
This Libran won’t be touching it with a barge pole.
We are Facebook’s product. FB sells us to its customers, the advertisers.
There’s no imaginable way this is being introduced for our benefit. Count me out.
Also – freakin’ brilliant post, thank you!!
Mark Fuqerberg has a lot to answer for.
First tampons and now cryptocurrency. What did we lovely Librans do to deserve this!
We didn’t get angry enough
To me Libra, as a brand association, will always be a tampon.
Homogenous currency feels like the “ one Europe” experiment.
And it seems strange that a concept which would be targeting a younger demographic open to new ways of paying/investing etc is being launched by FB. A platform reputed to be more of a home for the old. ( us rickety folk over 40) and really a giant data mining sales/political influencing machine.
I think it is so f***ing dangerous and the climax of Hyper Capitalism. The news almost made me vomit. The Moguls are joining forces (Visa, Paypal, Facebook – a lot of companies are involved in this), they are makig up their own currency (it is NOT a cryptocurrency), selling it with sweet marketing (“ecologically friendly” as it cannot be mined) and the company Calibra will be based in Switzerland – so, no way to check their policies etc as they made sure, it is safe in the country with highest standard on protecting banks… This is the (new) emperors ensuring they can reign this planet without any control of elected governments, people or empathy/reason/humanity. Billionaires making sure to get even richer. Greed Central.
Yes, it is “that reality is now outdoing Black Mirror” !!
A week ago, I applied for a Post Graduate programme to study horticulture with the emphasis on innovative techniques, water preservation, phytotherapy and the like. After 15 years of media/film/marketing. I see this as my only choice: to get an education that makes me independent from consumerism.
I was hoping you’d do a blog on this. As soon as I saw the Zuckerberg post on FB announcing it, I got cold shivers up the spine. We’ve entered the realm of thought crime. FB is the biggest spying tool ever invented (so far) and now… deploying unhinged, trackable, and deletable spend tools.
Have we always been at war with Eurasia? If you want your Libra Latte Bucks, you’d better say Yes! Otherwise, your account will be mysteriously locked out, unfound, and be unable to be reset. The Customer service will stop looking and helping after a designated placatory time, and you’ll be left destitute, unable to sign in, share, like a status, or eat.
There’s a war on Truth and Journalism, and this is your shiny new distraction.
Fuq. That.
So well said. I concur. ✨
Me just woke up from arvo nap so still in between worlds.
Subconscious thoughts from Taurus Moon: oh no the banks crashed last Uranus in Taurus, pandemonium then depression. Is this how it will happen this time. Will the banks crash or will people lose money thru Libra or a combination of the two. Or a variation of this theme rising from uncertainty.
I don’t care how they pitch it this Taurus Moon don’t like it. My money just don’t feel safe.
Oh well a cup of coffee to restore equilibrium and grammar.
But my reptilian part of brain holds truth, non? At least for me. Emotion is true.
I also laughed at the name Libra (sorry Libran natives), in Australia we have a popular brand of sanitary products named Libra).
It also comforted me because it made the whole concept funny and less serious. It helps with denial.
I made the “eww” face when I heard it.
I know. LOL
They obviously didn’t do their cultural research when they came up with the name. How arrogant and stupid.
I was trying to turn face recognition off in f b and discovered 600 companies had my personal data and my settings are tight but apparently not tight enough (deactivation tremors). Wouldn’t it be good if default settings were complete privacy that you chose to unlock rather than vice versa? FB currency? Umm no! Rather keep it in the form of gold/silver jewelry, art or plants in the ground. Do I sound Taurus much?
Hmm… I wonder if they are going to limit Facebook marketplace to buying and selling in their currency only? That will be a way to suck a lot of people in, undoubtedly…
I read an article that stated millennials who grew up with their pics blasted over all social media do not care about privacy.
yet…think who benefits most from you being so public and it’s not you…
Was it from the same people who bought us Millenials don’t care about job security, back yards or getting reasonable interest on their savings? I feel like a lot of those articles are designed to assure people that s**t is normal, desirable even. Battery hens like actually not being able to turn around and high rise apartments are designed to crack at the foundations every now and then to adjust to tectonic vibe.
Thanks for the words of reason Mystic.
I initially read Anleifrs comment and felt depressed. Then thought thank god I don’t have children and I’ll be dead before it gets really bad.
When I was at school I was reprimanded for over generalizing. And when I do it now it always bites me in the bum.
But articles like this do have an agenda.
Everyone I know cares about private life privacy and carefully keeps their private life offline. They are aware and careful about what is public.
The only people that seem not affected are paid handsomely as influencers.
Bugger – I object to my Sun sign name being used for a frikkin’ FB currency.