Nuclear Boy, helping Japanese children understand the accident in Fekushima

Few days ago I found on You Tube this strange Japanese presentation for children, titled Nuclear Boy, trying to explain the nuclear accident in Fukushima ‘s reactors.

We are witnessing here a peculiarly Japanese way to handle problems. Hopefully it might help to appease the understandable anxiety of Japanese children.

The same day, in the morning, I had a conversation with a couple of young girls while traveling in the country school bus to work. They usually do not talk to me, often the only adult in the bus, and they surprised me by asking direct questions concerning the Japan’s earthquake and tsunami. They seemed anxious to discuss these events, after seeing the devastation in TV. They were looking for answers.

Perhaps we underestimate the impact such news have on children, when such terrible images are presented, over and over again, on television screens.

This cartoon clip is just one way to approach a very difficult topic. Children need to be informed without being spooked.

CHILE and HAITI, MIRROR IMAGES of TWO EARTHQUAKES, post 3

Picasso’s ‘Girl before a Mirror’

Continuing my study of the Chilean massive earthquake I have found some uncanny similarities between the Charts of this event and the Chart of the recent (January 12) Haiti’s disaster. Below are the Charts for the two events side by side, with their respective aspects and also their mutual aspects.

Click to enlarge

One similarity I have already discussed in my previous post, regards the positions of the Lunar Nodes, aligned to the Horizon in both localities at the time of the earthquakes: the Cancer South Node was rising near the Ascendant in Haiti, and setting near the Descendant in Chile. The opposite, of course, was true of the Capricorn North Node, rising in Chile and setting in Haiti. The difference here is that the North Node was also conjunct the Sun in Haiti, due to the closeness to the Solar Eclipse, which occurred only three days later, while in Chile the Nodes are closer to the Ascendant/Descendant axis. In both Charts however the prominent positions of the Nodes shows a strong link with the recent Eclipses (Lunar, on December 31, 2009, and Solar, on January 15, 2010). The Nodes reversed positions imply that the Ascendant-Descendant Signs are also mirroring each other.

And if this wasn’t enough of a coincidence, this mirror-image effect is then repeated in other ways: Saturn for a start, was conjunct the Mid-Heaven at the time of the Chile’s event and the Lower-Heaven during the Haiti’s earthquake, opposite and complementary Angles, implying that the Meridian axis was also mirrored from one Chart to the other: Aries was on the Mid-Heaven in Haiti and on the Lower-Heaven in Chile.The most remarkable thing here is that such positions last only a few minutes, in any given place, during the 24 hours rotation of the Earth on her axis!

Continuing with Saturn, this planet’s  important square aspect to transiting Pluto was closer to exactness during the Haiti’s event, active within one degree (0°56′, to be precise), while was separated by 02° during the Chile’s earthquake, therefore not as strong and destructive.

Talking about Pluto, this planet too occupies opposite and complementary places in the two Horoscopes, in the Sixth House in Haiti and the Twelfth in Chile. Very remarkable, both sectors traditionally considered particularly karmic in any Horoscope.

I also noticed that Mercury plays the part of the activator (role that befits the messenger of the Gods really well) in both the Haiti and Chile’s Horoscopes: in Haiti is closely conjunct Pluto in Capricorn and therefore in square to Saturn in Libra; while in Chile it is very close conjunct Neptune and Chiron in Aquarius and widely opposed by the Moon in Leo.

Another thing that can be considered remarkable is that the Sun during the day of the Haiti’s earthquake happened to be conjunct Venus in Capricorn, while it was conjunct Jupiter in Pisces during the Chilean event. So much so for the blissful and fortunate transits of the two traditional ‘Benefics’! Venus was also in aspect to Uranus in both Charts, sextile Uranus in Haiti and applying conjunct Uranus in Chile.

CHILE’S EARTHQUAKE, post 2

Sophie Anderson 1823-1903

In this second post about Chile’s earthquake I would like to study the chart of the event itself, calculated with the coordinates of the epicentre (35 S 50 – 72 W 43). Below is the Chart, for February 27, 3.34 am (Chile Day Light Saving Time), the time the massive earthquake struck:

Click to enlarge

As I pointed out in my previous post, the Nodes of the Moon are aligned here to the horizon at the time and place of the earthquake (the North Node in Capricorn on the Ascendant and the South Node in Cancer on the Descendant). In the recent big event in Haiti the Nodes were also aligned to the local horizon, but in the reverse order (South Node on Ascendant, North Node on Descendant).

The Lunar Nodes represent the axis of destiny in every Chart (person or event). When they are highlighted in transit they trigger important events that influence the destiny of a person, or, as in the case of a mundane Chart like this one, of many individuals.

The South Node (Cauda Draconis, the Dragon’s Tail) is traditionally considered more difficult, dealing with what of the past we need to move away from, in order to grow. The North Node (Caput Draconis, Dragon’s Head) is less difficult, dealing with the future and growth of consciousness. Certainly this last event in Chile, horrible as it has been, is not comparable to the devastation that occurred in Haiti, where the dead toll has risen to about 220.000. In this case then the Nodes have confirmed the nature traditionally ascribed to them.

There are many scientific and social reasons for the more confined effect of the Chilean earthquake, despite the fact that it has been estimated to be 500 times stronger than the Haiti’s one: the quake in Chile occurred 34 km underground, while the Haiti’s earthquake was much closer to the earth’s surface, a mere 13 km. Also in Haiti the epicenter was very close to the very populated city of Port-au-Prince, while the closest city to the Chilean epicenter was Concepcion, 115 km away. And Chile is a much more prosperous country than Haiti and also much better prepared for earthquakes, because in Chile these events are more frequent.

The transiting Moon in Leo, at the time of Chile’s quake, was in the local Eight House, the sector in every horoscope that deals with death and loss. And, in an Event Chart such as this, the Moon represents the common people, going about their everyday business. The Moon is also applying widely to an opposition to the three Planets conjunct in Aquarius, Mercury, Neptune and Chiron. Mercury has in fact reached the conjunction to Neptune and Chiron just on the day of the quake. The event happened under the sea’s floor (Neptune rules our Planet’s oceans) and caused a wide spread tsunami alert for countries as far away as Japan and Australia.

So it seems that Mercury, messenger of the Gods, acted as a catalyst for the release of the Neptunian and Chironic energies. The conjunction Neptune Chiron, still very close to exactness and remaining active until early next year, is one with great potential for healing, but also for unwarranted pain and suffering, on a massive scale. I did found also interesting that these three planets are all on the 26th degree of Aquarius, 90 degrees away (square or difficult angle) to Algol, the star depicted as the head of Medusa, the same that had such a connection with the Haiti’s event (post on Medusa and the Haiti’s earthquake).

To return to the transiting Moon in Leo, our Lady of the Night is also the apex of a Yod, a well known astrological configuration, called by some the Finger of God, with Venus and the Ascendant at the other angles (both 150 degrees, a quincunx aspect, away from the Moon) and in sextile aspect (60 degrees) to each other. Yods are said to represent crisis of self-awareness, when we need to repeat certain experiences in order to gather their spiritual essence. To me this configuration seems mainly positive and could be a symbol of the fact that the devastation could have been a lot worse if the people hadn’t been prepared by previous experiences and well equipped to deal with such emergencies.To be noted too is the fact that Venus is in positive aspect to the transiting Nodes (trine and sextile), another positive testimony. The Moon and the Eight House in Leo are ruled by the Sun (Ruler of Leo) in Pisces, enhancing the importance of the Eight House’s affairs in this Horoscope (for House tutorial, click here).

Another powerful and obvious influence in this Chart is the culmination of Saturn, here the most elevated planet of the lot, and ruling the whole Chart because Capricorn, Saturn’s own Sign, is on the Ascendant. Life is not easy when Saturn occupies this powerful angle. The limitations and restrictions imposed by the Lord of Karma come to the fore when Saturn happens to dominate the Horoscope in this way. Also the giant ringed planet exerts a more powerful pull while crossing any place’s meridian, as it has been proved by this event. Furthermore the Moon in the House of Death and Loss is in semi-square (45 degrees away from) to Saturn and the Mid-heaven to which Saturn is conjunct. And we shouldn’t forget that the square Saturn-Pluto, exact earlier this year, is still fairly active (only 2 degrees away from exactness) and due to become exact again this year (see my 2010 Forecasts articles). This is one of the most difficult transit of the whole year. Pluto, in the Chile’s earthquake Chart, is transiting the Twelfth House of Fate and Self-undoing, indicating hopelessness in the face of events more powerful than any individual or group. Acceptance of fate, building resilience and character are the hard-earned benefits of the close contact of these two difficult planetary energies.

Last, but certainly not least, the Sun is applying to a conjunction to transiting Jupiter, a yearly event, just on the day of the earthquake! Despite many controversies surrounding the subject, giant Jupiter is considered by many to have an extremely powerful effect on seismic and volcanic activities on our planet. The close conjunction (alignment in longitude along the earth’s ecliptic or orbit) seems to confirm the ancient astrological lore about Jupiter.

EARTHQUAKE IN CHILE, AN ASTROLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Chile’s Earthquake, February 27, 2010, 03.34 am, calculated for the epicentre’s coordinates

click to enlarge*****

The Chilean earthquake occurred the day before the Full Moon (at around 3.34 am, local Day Light Saving Time, on February 27, while the Moon became Full at 1.37 pm, the next day, February 28, 2010).

The death toll has risen, at the time of writing (Monday morning, Eastern Australian Time) to over 700, but many more people remain unaccounted for. It will take years to repair the widespread destruction of buildings and infrastructures.

This earthquake seems to confirm one of our ancient astrological tenets: that the phases of the Moon are linked to many phenomena on our blue planet, including the inception of powerful earth tremors. Many authors dispute in fact that it is not just Eclipses (always occurring either at New or Full Moon) that seem to trigger earthquakes (as in the case of the Haiti’s disaster), but also the common phases often bear the signatures of natural disasters, if other transits occurring around the time of the phase, concur with this possibility.This is the case for Chile, due to the planetary alignments (conjunctions) that happened on the same day: Mercury-Neptune-Chiron in Aquarius, and the Sun-Jupiter in Pisces.

All these Planets and the Sun were positioned in the midnight House of Chile’s Birth Chart, exerting a powerful pull on Chile from under the earth and sea, the Midnight or Fourth House indicating all that is below the earth and hidden from view. The approaching Full Moon has augmented even more the power of the planetary alignment during this 8.8 magnitude event, one of the most powerful ever recorded.

Below is the Earthquake’s Chart super-imposed on Chile’s Birth Chart (Independence from Spain, September 18, 1810, 09.26 am, Santiago).

click to enlarge

Notice how Pluto, at 05 degrees Capricorn, is forming a 90 degrees right angle with Chile Birth Chart’s Lunar Nodes, the axis of destiny in every chart. Pluto is often the harbinger of upheavals of all sorts, and sometimes mass deaths. And also how the transiting Moon in Leo has just past the Upper Meridian of the earthquake’s zone, the most elevated point at that latitude, this time of the year. The Moon then becomes very powerful, waxing near full, and the most elevated body in Chile’s Horoscope. The Moon rules Cancer that, in Chile’s Birth Chart, occupies the Eighth House of loss and death, the sector corresponding to Scorpio and Pluto.

As you can see the natal (Birth Chart) Moon of Chile was conjunct Jupiter. I find it very interesting that both the Moon and Jupiter were very active in transit at the time of the earthquake, as if their effect combined were part of the destiny of Chile. Jupiter is, after all, the Ruling Planet of Chile’s Birth Chart, with its Ascendant in Sagittarius. The Moon conjunct Jupiter becomes therefore a sort of co-ruler. Their combined power is a destiny maker for Chile.

The closest aspect (0 degree orb) is a trine between the transiting Jupiter in Pisces and Chiles’ Birth Venus in Scorpio (conjunct Uranus in the XII House), showing how there is no difference really between the traditionally positive and negative aspects, an angle with Jupiter always representing a tendency to expand and make everything bigger, for good or ill. The position of Venus and Uranus in the House of self-undoing (in Chile’s Birth Chart) indicates the tendency to be driven by events over which we have no conscious control. It is a very fated position and Jupiter acted like a trigger to activated it, in a sudden and explosive way (Uranus is also in the picture here in a big way, even if the aspect with Jupiter is not exact yet, because Venus works as a go-between them). Jupiter is also in square aspect to Chile’s Saturn in Sagittarius, a powerful applying aspect, between Angular Houses, the most active in any Horoscope. The importance of Saturn (the Earth Planet par excellence) is also undeniable in Chile’s Chart because is rising close to the Ascendant, covering even more ground because of its conjunction to Neptune (the Sea Planet).

There are many more close hits:

Transiting Uranus in Pisces was only 35 minutes in longitude past the opposition with Chile Birth Chart’s Sun in Virgo, an aspect that can occur only once in 84 years! Uranus is well-known for its destructive streak and the tendency to bring changes into our lives, to the willing and the unwilling alike. Applied to a National Chart this transit could bring about a revolution of some kind and the end of a stagnant and unproductive period.

The transiting Nodes are in semi-square and sesqui-square respectively to Chile’s Ascendant in Sagittarius and Mercury in Libra; these transits too are quite exact at the time of the earthquake, another signature for a destiny making moment for this nation.

Transiting Mars sextile (60 degrees distance) to Chile’s Jupiter and sesqui-square Chile’s Pluto; while Mercury was opposing Mars, on Chile’s Meridian axis!

One thing that impressed me in the Earthquake Chart itself is the fact that the Capricorn North Node of the Moon (squared by the transiting Pluto) is rising near the horizon at the time of the tremor, while the Cancer South Node is setting, the reversed picture of what occurred at the recent Haiti’s earthquake, when the South Node was rising just below the Ascendant, and the North Node was setting! If interested, below are links to the four posts I wrote for Haiti:

https://livingmoonastrology.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/haiti-cosmic-picture-of-an-earthquake/

https://livingmoonastrology.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/earthquake-in-haiti-post-2/

https://livingmoonastrology.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/haiti-eclipses-and-the-big-earthquake-post-3/

https://livingmoonastrology.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/medusa-and-the-haitis-earthquake-post-4/

More about the Chile’s Earthquake Chart in my next post.

PEOPLE and EVENTS TOUCHED BY MEDUSA

 

Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, an Algol event.

The Fixed Stars make a fascinating study. Their stories are the often broken and many times mended remains of the ancient myths, beliefs and rituals that were important, even vital to our ancestors. They still resonate with us because they contain archetypal material we can all recognize and identify with.

Here I have collected, from my own data base and various other sources (see bottom of page), a short list of people and events whose Horoscopes are somehow connected with Algol, the Gorgon Head’s Star, beta of constellation Perseus, the Star that has proven so significant in the Astrology of the Haiti’s earthquake.

For a summary of Medusa’s story and an explanation of this Star’s dark reputation please refer to my previous post.

The list talks for itself, in most cases there is no need of further explanation.

I feel however that a word of warning is necessary here. The presence of Algol-Medusa over the Sun, Moon, or any Planet or Angle in someone’s Natal or Progressed Chart, or in a Chart cast for a specific event (wedding, holiday departure, purchase of land, court hearing, surgery, etc.) is not by itself a sign of gloom and doom. The entire Chart conjures a picture that is always complex and multilayered, and, like any other factor in a Horoscope, Fixed Stars should never be considered in isolation. The Haiti’s earthquake is a great example of this, because many factors contributed to the tragic outcome, and Algol didn’t just appear in one Chart, but in three separate Charts related to the event, always on sensitive points and only allowing tight orbs.

What seems to have conjured up the Haiti’s tragedy are a combination of massive planetary alignments, the blend of Eclipses and Fixed Stars and other very special quirks of fate, like the Lunar Eclipse occurring on Haiti’s Solar Return Birthday and Haiti’s seventh Saturn Return since independence active right at this time.

I feel this precautionary note is necessary because there is a real risk through the use of Fixed Stars to generate superstition and fears. The language and imagery that are associated with some of these asterisms are often dramatic and ominous. The same is true however of a lot of old fashion Astrology, with its accent on good and bad aspects, benefic and malefic Planets etc.

Algol-Medusa is a power Star and one that many can indeed wear as a badge of honour and charisma, and not a mark of doom or a sign of wickedness. It is described by modern astrologers Bernadette Brady and Diana Rosenberg as: feminine wisdom, creative power, consuming passion, intense sexuality; confrontation and then assimilation of the  dark side of life and human nature.

I have considered squares and opposition from/to Algol/Medusa and not just conjunctions, as it is usually the rule with Fixed Stars, because they seem to be relevant in many cases. It is indeed possible, as Diana Rosenberg suggests, that other Stars are responsible for the effects we sometimes attributed to square and opposition from Algol. I included in this list also Capulus, the Star that represents the tip of Perseus’ Sword (the one that killed Medusa) because it is close to Algol and seems to be significant not just for the myth but for Astrology too.

 LIST OF INDIVIDUALS

Agatha Christie: Capulus conjunct Mid-Heaven.

Albert Einstein: Algol conjunct Pluto.

Albrecht Durer: Algol conjunct Mid-heaven.

Alistair Crowley, occultist: Capulus conjunct Pluto.

Anastasia Romanov: Algol conjunct South Node.

Arthur Rubenstein: Algol conjunct Neptune.

Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s religious leader: Algol conjunct Sun.

Azaria Chamberlain: Algol in wide conjunction with the Moon (one and half degrees).

Bob Dylan: Algol conjunct Uranus.

Bob Dylan, Algol conjunct Uranus.

Brian Jones (first Rolling Stone): Algol conjunct Uranus.

Carl Gustav Yung: Algol conjunct Pluto.

Cecil B. De Mill: Algol conjunct Jupiter.

Che Guevara: Capulus conjunct Sun.

Christine Keller, a call girl, who was implicated in one of the deepest political scandals of the 1960s, the Profumo affairs (from the name of the then British Defence Minister): Algol conjunct Moon and Jupiter.

Elvis Presley: Algol square Saturn.

Evita Peron: Algol conjunct Sun and Capulus conjunct Mars.

Ezra Pound: Algol conjunct Neptune.

Grace Kelly: Algol opposition Mars.

Frank Kafka: Algol conjunct Mars.

George Bernard Shaw: Algol conjunct Uranus.

George Gurdjieff: Algol conjunct Neptune.

Henry Fonda: Algol conjunct Sun.

Hirohito, emperor of Japan when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed: Algol square Mars and in wide conjunction to South Node.

Hugh Hefner: founder of the magazine Playboy: Algol opposition Saturn, a strange placement for a self-confessed hedonist!

Isadora Duncan, Algol conjunct Pluto.

Jean Paul Sartre: Algol conjunct Jupiter.

Jim Morrison: Algol conjunct Lower-Heaven.

John Calvin, Protestant reformer: Algol conjunct Moon.

John Lennon: Algol conjunct Uranus.

Joan of Ark, burnt at the stake: Algol conjunct Saturn.

Johnny Depp: Algol conjunct Venus.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy: Algol conjunct Jupiter.

Joseph Stalin: Algol conjunct Pluto.

Leonardo da Vinci: Algol conjunct Lower-Heaven.

Marshall Herff Applewhite, cult leader who convinced 39 of his followers to commit mass suicide: Algol conjunct Sun and Capulus conjunct the Moon (born just before New Moon). This is one striking example!

Mata Hari: Algol conjunct Pluto.

Mick Jagger: Algol conjunct Moon.

Natalie Wood: Algol conjunct South Node.

Oliver Cromwell: Algol conjunct Mercury.

Pablo Picasso: Algol conjunct Jupiter.

Patrick Swayze: Algol square Sun and opposition Mars.

Prince William: Algol conjunct Venus, same as his mum, and also conjunct Chiron.

Ramakrishna: Algol conjunct North Node.

Richard Nixon: Algol conjunct Saturn.

Robert Hoppenheimer, reluctant father of the atomic bomb: Algol conjunct Mercury.

Saddam Hussein: Mercury conjunct Capulus, the sword of Perseus, and one degree from Algol.

Salvador Dali: Mars conjunct Algol.

Steven King: Algol conjunct North Node and opposition Jupiter.

Ted Bundy, serial killer: Algol opposition Mercury, which was also conjunct Venus in Scorpio.

Thomas Watt Hamilton, serial killer: Algol opposition Moon, both square the Moon’s Nodes.

Vladimir Ilich Lenin: Algol conjunct Jupiter.

LIST OF EVENTS

Saint Bartholomew’s Massacre, August 24 1572: Algol opposition Mars.

Sinking of the Lusitania, May 8 1915: Algol conjunct Mercury.

San Francisco’s earthquake on April 18, 1906. Capulus conjunct Mars.

Bombardment of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, April 26 1937: Algol conjunct Mercury.

Picasso, with natal Jupiter on Algol, painted the famous Guernica soon after the event. The whole picture to me reveals the meaning and creative potential of Algol better than a lot of words.

Caracas’ earthquake on March 12, 1912: Algol opposition Uranus.

Tokyo’s earthquake on January 1 1855: Capulus conjunct North Node.

State of Israel: Capulus, Perseus’ sword, conjunct the Sun.

Port Arthur massacre: Algol conjunct Mid-Heaven and Mercury.

Great Sites on Fixed Stars, Eclipses etc.

Ed Tamplin’s

http://www.edtamplin.com/articles/earthquake%202005.htm

Diana Rosenberg’s

http://www.ye-stars.com/index.htm

Anne Wright’s

http://www.constellationsofwords.com/

Anton Grigoryev’s

http://www.antonblog.net/

Giuseppe Bezza’s:

http://cieloeterra.it/eng/eng.articoli.algol/eng.algol.html

For an astronomical view of Algol:

http://calgary.rasc.ca/algol_minima.htm

And to become aware of an amazing coincidence (top synchronicity in action) please look up these astronomical sites too, because they describe a phenomenon, defined as a Magnetic Loop, emanating from the Binary Star Algol. This has been discovered only recently and was made public on the 14th of January, as far as I know, two days after the Haiti’s earthquake!

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/070126_ns_demon_star.html

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/space/sc_space/storytext/starsspinhugemagneticloop/34773984/SIG=11rb8kcl4/*http://www.space.com/spacewatch/070126_ns_demon_star.html

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=8979

 

MEDUSA alias ALGOL, SAROS CYCLES, HAITI’s EARTHQUAKE, post 4

 THE SAROS CYCLES OF ECLIPSES

In this post I am again looking at the January 2010 Eclipses in their relation to the Haiti’s earthquake and its aftermath, but this time I’ll study each eclipse as one of a series.

All Eclipses are grouped under one specific number, known as their Saros number. This number indicates eclipses (Lunar or Solar) occurring around the same degree of the Zodiac. A Saros group begins with a particular eclipse, either Lunar or Solar. Other eclipses follow, at an interval of 18 years approximately, all falling around the same degree of longitude.

So, for instance, the Partial Lunar Eclipse of December 31 2009 belonged to the Saros number 115. This group of Lunar Eclipses began with one on April 21 1000 AD, 1010 years ago, the beginning of another Millennium.

The Eclipse that begins a series is said to give its colour, tone and vibration to the lot of them. Therefore it is very important to study the first Eclipse of a Saros series, especially when it is obviously linked to a major event, like the Haiti’s earthquake.

Below is the Chart of that ancient Eclipse, calculated for the Haiti coordinates in order to be relevant for that part of the world:

Click to enlarge

To a trained astrological eye this appears as a rather difficult Horoscope, interlaced by a Grand Cross in Fixed Signs (LINK to Aspects Tutorials), connecting The Sun in Taurus, conjunct the Ascendant, the Scorpio Moon, conjunct Pluto and the Descendant, Mars in Leo and also, in Haiti, the Aquarius Mid-Heaven and Leo Lower-Heaven, two very active angles in the Horoscope.

There is immense pent up energy in this configuration, with a strong tinge of violence and compulsion. Even without the eclipse this would have been a remarkable Full Moon! Sort of were-wolfish, passionate, deep, uncompromising, dangerous, wilful; suggesting war, blood, aggression, transformation, resentment, revengefulness, power struggles. To add to the intensity of this configuration Saturn is also transiting Taurus, the Sun Sign. This Sign is traditionally considered the most dangerous for seismic activities, because it is Earthy and because it is Fixed, resisting external pressure until something has to give. Both Taurus and its opposite-complementary Sign, Scorpio, were known as Violent Signs, and one of the reason was their connection to earth’s tremors.

 MEDUSA’S HEAD

The most interesting Saturn’s feature is not however its challenging position in Taurus, nor the fact that it didn’t form any exact aspect with the other celestial bodies at the time of the Eclipse, often a negative connotation. But it is rather the specific degree the Planet was on, the same, in 1000 AD, as the Star Algol, beta of Constellation Perseus. This Star is considered to be one of the most powerful and potentially dangerous in the whole pantheon of Stars.

This Saturn-conjunction with Algol could have been enough to consider the Star a significant character in this Lunar Eclipses’ series. But there is more.

Algol re-appears in a very prominent place not only in the Lunar Eclipse of December 31 2009 (conjunct the Ascendant in Haiti and perfectly square  transiting Jupiter), but also in the Solar Eclipse of January 15 2010 (conjunct the Descendant in Haiti and trine transiting Sun, Moon and Venus in Capricorn)!

Furthermore the present longitudes of Algol and Capulus, another Star belonging to the same constellation, are in opposition to Haiti Birth Chart’s Neptune, while Capulus was conjunct the Taurus Ascendant of the 1000 AD eclipse!

So it seems we need to look closely at this mysterious blinking object (a short period variable, orbiting with a dark companion that regularly eclipses it) and the constellation of Perseus to which these stars belong. They tell a marvellous and sorrowful story.

In the constellation of Perseus Algol represents the severed head of Medusa, dangling from the left hand of the Solar hero, who has just beheaded the monster. Capulus instead corresponds the point of the sword he has used to accomplish the deed, a phallic symbol of brute strength. From the region of Capulus every year in August sky-watchers can witness the Perseid meteor shower,  moving parallel to Perseus’ raised arm and sword, and crossing the path of Algol, the Gorgon’s head.

 

The name Algol derives from the Arab Ra’s al Ghul, (from which the English word Ghoul derives), “the Demon’s Head”, and in the picture below has the face of a bearded man, an incarnation of the Devil.

According to Greek mythology, the one I’ll refer to in this post, Medusa (name meaning Queen or Mistress) was originally a beautiful woman, one of the many granddaughters of the Earth Goddess Gaia. While worshipping in a temple of Athena, she was raped by the Ocean god Poseidon (alias Neptune). This ‘transgression’ was severely punished by Athena; so that, for no fault of her own, Medusa was transformed into a Gorgon. She still had the body of a woman, while her head was covered with writhing serpents, and her limbs became the claws of a bird of prey and turned into brass. What was more frightening about Medusa however was her stare: one look from her sorrowful eyes and a man would be for ever turned into stone.

A great number of females, Goddesses, Nymphs, Witches and a Princess are taking part in this story and being instrumental in getting rid of Medusa; only to make sure her powers will be preserved in the armour of Athena, beloved daughter of Zeus, the supreme patriarchal god.

The metamorphosis of fair Medusa into a hideous monster and her demise at the hands of Perseus, the male hero, has been explained by many as the mythical re-enactment of the destruction of the Goddess Cult of  Neolithic times. This occurred at the hands of Aryan and other warring tribes who worshipped male deities, and by 2000 BC had imposed their way of living and their religion on the native tribes of pre-historic Europe and the Middle East, worshipers of the Great Goddess since the dawn of time.

The cult of the One Mother Goddess was completely wiped out by around 600 BC, and survived only in myths and stories, while the power of the Godhead was gradually usurped by male deities. From them creation didn’t emerge spontaneously, like a baby from a mother womb and partaking of her substance, but was instead manufactured out of the elemental forces of chaos, where the ancient Goddess was soon relegated.

Medusa then is one incarnation amongst many of the Goddess creatrix, and Perseus one of her patriarchal slayers. The Goddess power is demonised in Medusa’s ugly person, as women lost their equality to men and their own powers of generation were demeaned and ultimately demonized.

We can discern a lot of ambivalence in the story of Medusa: for a start the legend of Medusa seems to be more ancient than the Perseus’ myth; the Goddess preceded the hero. Then Perseus succeeded in killing Medusa only through the help of Athena, herself a goddess, despite her  masculine temperament, who gave him the mirror shield to vanquish Medusa (a symbol for the need of self-reflection when we try do deal with our inner demons). Other divine females were active characters in the legend; like the three Graeae sisters (grey or old ones), the witches from whom he extolled the secret of the Gorgons’ hiding place, or the Hesperides Nymphs, guardians of the Golden Apples of Immortality  that grew in a grove at the edge of the world. They provided Perseus with Hades’ hat of invisibility without which he couldn’t have approached the Gorgons unseen.

Furthermore, at the end of the story, her severed head was amalgamated into the mirror shield of Athena, conferring on this warring and rather masculine Goddess some of the powers of the ancient Goddess. And Andromeda, the mythical damsel in distress, chained to a rock to be sacrificed to a Sea-Monster, enters the story too, when Perseus rescues her from sure death with the help of the winged horse Pegasus. This magical creature had sprang from the severed head of Medusa. Pegasus helped Perseus to escape the rightful rage of Medusa’s Gorgon sisters and eventually brought him and Andromeda home to safety. The winged horse represents all the beauty and power imprisoned in the Gorgon’s body, a symbol of transcendence and sublimation, liberated by the sword of Perseus. Eventually Pegasus was welcome into the Heavenly realms and chosen to pull Jupiter’s chariot.

Another proof of Medusa’s dual nature, at the same time divine and devilish, is that the very blood that gushed out of  her neck was separated into two streams, one carrying lethal poisons that could be used to kill, and the other healing substances by which men could be healed instead.

The Star associated with this myth has however mainly a bad reputation and no surprise: just the rightful wrath of poor Medusa should be enough to make it into a formidable force.

Many scholarly studies on the effect of this Star are available to Astrology’s adepts and all seem to show a difficult if not completely negative influence, in both Natal and Mundane Horoscopes. The Haiti’s earthquake can now be added to the many case histories of natural and man-made disasters touched by the blinking eye of this mysterious Star.

In my own experience of Algol, in the charts of clients and famous individuals, I can say that its effect is not consistently negative, but it is often connected with traumatic experiences, often early in life, without any obvious fault on the part of the individual.

Algol is at her strongest though only when there are other astrological signatures to confirm the possibility of traumas and severe difficulties. Together with the difficulties however come strong resilience, resourcefulness and survival skills. Both men and women can experience the power of Medusa when they begin valuing their darkness, their secret feelings, their inner truths, the mysteries of their own psyche, the feminine within.

It is an amazing feeling to experience the synchronicity between some Fixed Stars and the stories clients bring to a consultation, or those of famous people  or events one is studying (as in the case of Haiti).

Who can resist the thrill of discovering that lady Diana Spencer had Algol and Capulus (the head of Medusa and the sword Perseus used to cut it off) both conjunct her Venus? Shortly I will publish a list of events and also people who have a connection with Medusa and also with the Sword of Perseus (Capulus). It makes an interesting read.

After experiencing few of these meaningful coincidences I never fail now to look at my clients’ and friends aspects with the Fixed Stars, because the wealth of imagery they bring is worth the effort of learning something new and overcoming old prejudices.To just mention one of those coincidences: the transiting Moon is conjunct Medusa right now, as I’m ready to publish this post!

Scientifically oriented astrologers may find disagreeable working with Fixed Stars, because they seem to belong to an outdated and superstitious type of Astrology. To me the proof is in the pudding. Fixed Stars, in measure, work for me. I don’t stop and ask myself too many whys, or I would have to give up Astrology all together.

And here is the 1000 Lunar Eclipse around the 1804 Horoscope of Haiti’s Independence:

 

 

Click to enlarge

I have found valuable information on Medusa, and other subjects covered in this post, in:

the classical text by Richard Hinckley Allen, ‘Stars Names, their Lore and Meaning’, Dover Publications.

David Ovason ‘The Book of the Eclipse, Arrow Books, a really fascinating read about Eclipses, of course, but also Fixed Stars.

Bernadette Brady’s Visual Astrology Newsletter and articles.

Anne Baring and Jules Cashford’s The Myth of the Goddess, Evolution of an Image’, Arkana, a must read.

IF INTERESTED CHECK MY NEXT ARTICLE ON THE SOLAR ECLIPSE CHART OF JANUARY 15, 2010, WITH REFERENCE TO ITS SAROS NUMBER.

 

HAITI, ECLIPSES and the BIG EARTHQUAKE, post 3

There are many meaningful connections between these January 2010 Eclipses, the January 12 earthquake and Haiti’s Birth Chart of January  1804.

Arranging the four wheels together their many similarities become immediately apparent, while there are many more that unravel slowly as we really ‘look’.

In the picture below Haiti Birth Chart is the inner wheel, the Lunar Eclipse (December 31 2009) the second wheel from the centre, the Earthquake’s Chart the third wheel, and the Solar Eclipse (January 15) the outer wheel, in time sequence. All four Charts have been calculated with the coordinates and local time of Haiti.

 

Click picture to enlarge

While the similarity between the two Eclipses Charts and the Earthquake has to be expected, due to their closeness in time (just a couple of weeks, half a Moon’s cycle away from each other), it is indeed a strange coincidence that the Haiti’s Birth Chart (1804) should also show such a connection to these present events. The destiny of Haiti has been activated by these Eclipses, big time.

At the time of the Lunar Eclipse, symbolically opening the new year, the transiting Sun and Haiti’s own Sun were conjunct, meaning that Haiti was celebrating its birthday the day of the Eclipse, all birthday representing a new beginning. Because the Haiti’s Horoscope is cast for midnight, the Sun and the birthday transiting Sun are also conjunct the Lower Heaven, matrix of consciousness, from which emerges the umbilical cord of all existence and where fate is created. In the same position we have found Saturn at the moment the earthquake struck (see first post) and Jupiter during the Solar Eclipse of January 15. This is remarkable because the Lower-Heaven changes rapidly during the day and was in these positions only for a short time in each occasion. Also all these grouping around the Midnight point, the one below the horizon and under the Earth in all Horoscopes, conjure pictures of burial and underground places.

Between the Haiti’s Birth Charts and these Transits Charts a great number of celestial bodies are passing through Capricorn, confirming the ancient astrological tenets that Earth Signs are more likely to produce earth tremors than other Elements Signs, and that alignments in particular can disturb the balance in the gravitational field of the Earth, causing a great deal of pressure.

The celestial bodies involved in these multiple conjunctions, amongst all Charts considered, are: Pluto, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Chiron, the Sun, the Moon and the North Node.

A number of Planets transiting the Sign following Capricorn (the conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius, and Uranus in Pisces)  also add to the weight of the Earth alignment.

Let’s consider for instance  the outstanding example of transiting Pluto, conjunct Mars and Chiron in Haiti’s Birth Chart, Venus in the Lunar Eclipse Chart, Mercury and the Moon (wide orb) in the Earthquake’s Chart and still Mercury in the Solar Eclipse Chart, plus, of course, squaring the transiting Saturn as well as the Natal Saturn of Haiti. We can safely say that Pluto was prominent in transit on all three occasions. The transits of Pluto happen to transform things and people, to change things in a radical, sometimes violent way. This is the God of the Underworld demanding his share of the realm of life, eager to be acknowledged.

Looking a the transits from Saturn’s view point we notice the Lord of karma not only returned to Haiti’s birth position, but was also in square with Pluto, Mars-Chiron, Venus and Mercury between the three Transits Charts, apart from being conjunct Haiti’s Ascendant and square Haiti’s Meridian Axis (Mid-Heaven and Lower-heaven). So Saturn too was definitely prominent in transit on all three occasions. Saturn, in this instance wearing the ugly mask of the Grim Ripper he used to don in the Middle Ages, defines a karmic moment for Haiti, a grand scale reality check and  traumatic coming of age. While Saturn is conjunct the Ascendant of Haiti, thus manifesting in the sad face Haiti is now presenting to the world, is actually still transiting the Twelfth House, that sector in the Horoscope where unconscious forces beyond our control seem always ready to swallow us up. This is the place where the Ego-Egos of this world are not anymore in charge, but we found ourselves on a rudderless boat, guided by the wind of fate, if you believe in it, or by pure chance and cruel acts of Nature, if you don’t.

Another Planet very prominent in Transit is Neptune, who has reached the square to its own position in Haiti’s Birth Chart, a significant aspect, entailing the need for this country to find a new spiritual dimension and fresh ideals. Due to the fact that the Natal Sun of Haiti was in semi-square to Natal Neptune, the transiting Neptune is now in semi-square with Haiti’s Sun too. This means that the Natal Sun (as well as the Sun during the Lunar Eclipse) is now mid-point between the Natal and Transiting Neptune, another remarkable coincidence, reinforced by the fact that the Transiting Eclipsed Moon (January 1) was also in aspect to Haiti’s Natal Neptune (sesqui-square or 135 degrees); the transiting Eclipsed Sun (January 15) was in sextile aspect with the same; the transiting Neptune was in sesqui-square to Haiti Natal Ascendant; the Ascendant of the Lunar Eclipse’s Chart and the Mid-heaven at the time of the earthquake were in opposition to Natal Neptune (more about this in my next post when I’ll discuss the role of the Star Algol, Medusa’s head, in these amazing events)! Too many to mention them all really.

Neptune was the God of Oceans and Rivers to the ancient Greeks. He was often referred to as ‘the Earth’s Shaker’, acknowledging the power of this God (Planet) in unleashing earthquakes, especially those that originated underwater, near the coast or on islands. Neptune in the Haiti’s Midnight Chart is found in the Second House, affecting therefore the country’s sense of security and financial standing. These Transits then could awaken both the positive and negative sides of this Natal position of Neptune. Positively the world may wake up to the need of Haiti for help on all fronts, and not only in the face of this disaster. Negatively these Transits may exacerbate the tendency Haiti has always displayed to base its financial security on shaky, unreliable, unrealistic, if not down right unlawful grounds (slavery comes to mind, as well as the corruption of the many dictatorships that have governed the country since independence).

I would like to add here the role of the Mid-heaven in some of these Charts. In the Earthquake’s Chart the Transiting Mid-Heaven is in square to the Natal Mid-Heaven of Haiti and opposed its Natal Ascendant; while the Mid-Heaven of the Solar Eclipse is conjunct Haiti’s Natal Moon in Leo.

Mars is also remarkable during these recent Transits for Haiti, retrograding over the country’s Natal South Node (past karma), semi-square Saturn, in both its Natal and transiting incarnations, exactly sextile Uranus during the earthquake and, of course, as remarked before, also activated in its Natal position by both Pluto (conjunction) and Saturn (square).

Jupiter, a Planet which is often connected to earthquakes on Earth, due to its gigantic size and gravitational pull, can be seen in this Four-Wheels Chart as applying to the opposition to Haiti’s Natal Moon at the Lunar Eclipse, being exactly opposite the same during the earthquake, from under the Earth (Midnight point) and just separating from it at the Solar Eclipse, before entering Pisces. One could write a book on these Transits and Haiti!

In my next post on Haiti I’ll explore the connection of the January’s Eclipses to Haiti via their Saros number, the number given to each teclipse to identify the group they belong to (Lunar or Solar occurring around the same degree of the Zodiac). This link to ancient eclipses and to the Constellations of the Sidereal Zodiac  makes an intriguing and somewhat eerie astrological tale.

EARTHQUAKE in HAITI, post 2

 William Blake’s The great red dragon and the woman clothed with the sun

While the crisis in Haiti deepens, in this second post I would like to look further into the Astrology of this earthquake, the worst natural disaster in Haiti for the last 240 years.

1) First I’ll plot the Earthquake Horoscope over the Birth Chart of Haiti (January 1, 1804, Independence Day).

2) Secondly I’ll plot the January 2010 Lunar and Solar Eclipses on the Haiti’s Birth Chart, because they certainly have a lot to do with the January 12 earthquake.

3) Thirdly, I will consider the nature of these Eclipses, as it is revealed by their Saros series’ numbers which link them to past Eclipses, throwing an uncanny light on the event they have manifested in our time.

THE EARTHQUAKE AND HAITI’S BIRTH CHART

The Birth Chart that most astrologers adopt for Haiti is the one coinciding with the Republic’s independence from French colonization, in 1804.

Haiti was declared an independent Republic on the First of January 1804. The Time chosen is symbolical and it doesn’t coincide with a specific event, like a ceremony, an official opening or declaration, or even a speech. This Midnight Chart works really well with the Transits I have considered, as other astrologers have also found out.

Below is Haiti’s Midnight Horoscope.

Here is the Earthquake’s Chart (January 12, 2010, 4.53 pm), cast for the coordinates of Haiti.

And here is the Synastry of the two Charts.

 

 

When we compare the Horoscope of the moment the quake struck on January 12 with the Birth Chart of Haiti a clearer picture of the event seems to emerge. The are many signs that this is an important period in the growth of Haiti as an independent nation. The most obvious is the fact that Saturn, powerful in its retro station (that period when the planet slows down to a stand still, before starting to move backward in apparent motion) is actually sitting on top of Haiti’s own Saturn. So the earthquake was a sort of coming of age for Haiti, a proper Saturn’s Return! And, considering the position and aspect of Saturn in Haiti’s Birth Chart this is not a cruisy Saturn’s Return, but a rather difficult one (Saturn conjunct the Midnight point at birth, and in square, difficult angle, with both Mars and Chiron in the Birth Chart and also Pluto, Mercury, the Sun and MidHeaven in the Transits Charts). The 90 degrees angle with Chiron, the Planet of accidental wounding, was in fact absolutely exact on the day of the disaster.

A Return of Saturn occurs only once every thirty years, so a simple coincidence can be safely ruled out. Also Saturn is a very significant force in Haiti’s Chart and in the Earthquake Chart because it rules Capricorn where Sun and four Planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Chiron) were aligned at Haiti’s birth and where another great alignment is happening now (Mercury, Venus, Pluto, North Node and also the Moon the day of the Solar Eclipse, January 15). Amazing stuff!

Once we remember also that Saturn is lodged on the Midnight point in Haiti’s Birth Chart and in the Twelfth House in the Transits Chart, we can better visualize the powerful fate entailed in these cosmic events. The fact that this is just the second pass of the Saturn’s Return for Haiti (the first pass occurred in December 2009 and the second will be exact only at the end of August 2010) we can also see the repercussions of the present events on the country’s future. Other Transits indicating that the present situation is but the beginning of an ongoing process are those of Mars, because this Planet has also recently become retrograde and will re-form the same difficult Transits, on-off, until June 2010.

What is also very impressive in the Synastry between Haiti and the Earthquake’s Charts is the sheer number of nearly precise (partile) aspects happening on the day. I just list some of those again, in order of closeness, the closest one first:

Tr. Mars sextile Natal Uranus.

Tr. Saturn square Natal Chiron.

Tr. Midheaven square Natal Midheaven.

Tr. Neptune square natal Neptune.

Tr. Midheaven opposition Natal Ascendant.

Tr. Pluto square Natal Saturn.

Tr. Neptune semi-square Natal Sun.

Tr. Mercury sextile Natal Pluto.

Tr. North Node semi-square Natal Pluto, while Tr. South Node is sesqui-square the same.

Tr. Pluto conjunct Natal Mars.

Tr. MidHeaven square Natal Sun.

Tr. Jupiter opposition Natal Moon.

Tr. Chiron semi-square Natal Sun.

Tr. Neptune sesqui-square Natal Ascendant.

Tr. Pluto conjunct Natal Chiron.

Tr. Saturn conjunct Natal Saturn (Return).

Tr.Mars conjunct Natal South Node

(rising in the Earthquake’s Chart).

Tr. Ascendant square Natal Uranus.

 HAITI’S BIRTH CHART

AND THE JANUARY 2010 ECLIPSES

The meaningful connections become even more overwhelming when we study the interaction of the first Lunar and Solar Eclipses of 2010 with the Birth Chart of Haiti. Arranging the three wheels together their uncanny similarities becomes immediately apparent.

In the picture below Haiti Birth Chart is the inner wheel, the Lunar Eclipse (January 1, 2010) is the second wheel, the Earthquake is the third wheel, and the Solar Eclipse (January 15) the outer wheel. For an in-depth reading of these, please check my next post.

HAITI, COSMIC PICTURE OF AN EARTHQUAKE

For making an online donation to RED CROSS for the victims of Haiti’s earthquake, please click here.

 Please, help also the animal victims of natural disasters

WSPA:  World Society for the Protection of Animals

******

Today our hearts and thoughts fly to Haiti, a country cruelly devastated and in mourning. At the time of writing the death toll might add up to many thousands; while many others are grievously injured, psychologically traumatized and homeless.

In the face of such disasters we feel united and willing to help.

One way, for me, to come to term with such cruel blows of nature is to look at the astrological picture, because that provides me with a bird eye view of the situation that I would find otherwise difficult to obtain.

Astrologers have speculated for centuries about the planetary signatures and transits configurations that should point to earthquakes. As it is the habit of busy western thinkers, we have sought common denominators and recognizable patterns in those events. Articles and entire books have been written to establish proper astrological rules for earthquakes and other natural disasters. But, like people, earthquakes are individuals, each different from the other, each manifesting a different type of energy.

In my experience of looking at Earthquakes and Natural Disasters’ Charts the subjective feeling these Charts arise in me are archetypally right, even if often the Charts themselves don’t seem to strictly  adhere to the traditionally accepted rules. This one, I have to say, does both things: it feels right symbolically and also seem to confirm some of the traditional rules.

The Birth Chart of the event itself (the transits occurring at the precise moment and place) is necessary, of course, but it not sufficient to explain these phenomena astrologically. What mundane astrologers do as well is to plot the transits active at the moment of the earthquake around the Birth Chart of the place where the disaster occurred, and also connect the event with other astronomical events occurring around the same time, like Sun and Planets’ ingresses (entrance into new Signs), Lunations (Moon’s Phases) and especially Eclipses.

This quake, the biggest seismic event in Haiti since 1770, struck very close to the capital Port-au-Prince.

Below is the Horoscope of the event itself:

Haiti’s earthquake, January 12, 4,43 pm.

 

 

One of the most noticeable feature of this Horoscope is the position of the South Node of the Moon in the First House, the outward expression of that particular moment in time. This Lunar Node has to do with the karmic link that connect us to the past (of an individual or a country or community). The past then is powerful in the deployment of this Horoscope planetary energies. If this was a person’s Birth Chart we could say that the past is a vital ingredient in the person’s experience of life; a sense of destiny, often seen as negative karma, permeating his/her personality.

The Node in this prominent position also reminds us of the proximity of the Annular Solar Eclipse that will occur on New Moon day, January 15, 2010, only three days after the event. The Eclipse then is certainly astrologically linked to the Earthquake in Haiti. This confirms an ancient tenet of Astrology that connects Eclipses to natural disasters and earthquakes in particular.

The Cancer Ascendant is conjunct two major asterisms. The first is Sirius, the Great Dog at the heels of the hunter Orion, the most brilliant of all stars, with the power of making the mundane sacred. This star also entails the need for sacrificing individual needs to meet collective ones. The other star conjunct the Earthquake’s Ascendant is Canopus, the skipper of Argo Navis, the mythical ship which bore Theseus and his companions when they went in search of the Golden Fleece. It is a symbol of guidance,  an escort through life’s troubled waters, a path finder and innovator. In Egypt he was the one who steered the boat of the dead to their final destination.

Saturn, Lord of karma, a planet that should be powerful in times of collective suffering, is situated in another prominent position, conjunct the Midnight point of the Horoscope, exerting a strong pull from within the world’s psyche in that particular locality. To make this pull more powerful and, considering the nature of the event, more ominous, Saturn is in square (difficult angle) to Pluto and Mercury in Capricorn. The square with Pluto is one of most difficult affecting our world in the first half of 2010, suggesting great resistance to the radical changes Pluto in Capricorn is preparing for us. The stress of this aspect will definitely manifest in many concrete forms; an earthquake is just one of them. Mercury, also part of this picture, due to its conjunction to Pluto, acts as a sort of activator here, precipitating and accelerating events.

Pluto and Mercury are placed in the Sixth House in the Earthquake’s Chart, affecting Haiti’s health and its ability to heal itself; also its medical institutions, hospitals, clinics, medical supplies, doctors and nurses, and places of work. The position of this conjunction and its 90 degrees distance from Saturn indicates, in the face of this earthquake, not only death (Pluto) and the loss of many children (Mercury), but also disease and poverty, destruction of work-places, death of workers, destruction of many animals. It particularly describes the necessity for sacrifice and very hard work, for resourcefulness and courage.

Mercury here also suggests the intense broadcasting of this terrible event, via the net and all other media, making it into a very public darkly affair, arousing profound thoughts, thoughts of death and deep felt understanding.

Anticipating here an observation from my next post (that will deal with the effect of the earthquake and the eclipse on the Country Chart of Haiti) this Saturn-Mercury-Pluto connection becomes even more significant because transiting Pluto is conjunct Haiti’s Mars and Chiron, and transiting Saturn is conjunct (!!!) Haiti’s own Saturn. To add to this, transiting retro Mars is conjunct Haiti’s South Node (the karmic past again), one of the country’s eclipses’ point.

The Sun is conjunct Venus on the day, a traditionally positive aspects (perhaps it could have been even worse without this mild conjunction!). Both Sun and Venus are conjunct the North Node of the Moon (the Eclipse’s point) and in aspect to Uranus; while Uranus is also in aspect to the Nodes. All of this seems to indicate the possibility of sudden and unexpected events, unpredictability and suddenness being interwoven in the destiny of this day and moment (the Lunar Nodes).

Taken by itself this Chart is not better or worse than another cast around this astrological period. An earthquake prediction for this locality could have been hardly possible just by studying this Chart.

The possibility of major earthquakes is instead more compelling when we look at the Chart of the coming Annular Eclipse of the Sun, principally because of the heavy alignments of Planets all on one side of the Earth’s Horoscope, between the consecutive Signs of Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces (Mercury, Pluto, Moon, Venus, the Sun, Chiron, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus), leaving only Saturn and Mars, traditional malefics, away from the alignment. The gravitational pull on planet Earth would be humongous at the moment, the Solar Eclipse (further alignment of Sun, Earth and Moon) making it even more so. Earth Sign strong during an Eclipse are also traditionally considered more likely to manifest in earth’s tremors and major seismic activities.

Below is the Eclipse Chart, relocated in Haiti, on:

January 15, 2010, 02.11 am

 

 

 

 

Apart from the Moon’s position and the Solar Eclipse not much has changed in this Horoscope compared to the one cast for the exact moment of the Earthquake. Due to the fact that it is a different time of the day (early morning and not sunset) the Chart orientation to the cosmos (Houses) is however very different. Scorpio is rising in Haiti’s Eclipse Horoscope, making Mars retrograde in Leo the Ruling Planet of this Chart. This Mars is not forming any aspect at all, not a good sign in Astrology, because a Planet without aspects is supposedly somehow alienated from the rest of the solar family, often working alone as a free agent. Mars in this predicament could act with unassuaged violence, not having any other influence to attenuate the aggressive side of its nature.

Lacking planetary aspects Mars is instead connected with two Fixed Stars (sidereal constellations), being conjunct the Star Dubhe, alpha of the Great Bear constellation, a traditionally protective influence, also conveying however ‘the possible harshness of Mother Nature’ (according to Solar Fire Gold Fixed Stars’ Readings). Mars is also in Parallel of Declination with the Star Zosma, delta of constellation Leo, an asterism associated with victims and victimization.

The Scorpio Ascendant forms a Grand Trine with the North Node and Uranus, a configuration deemed sometimes ominous, especially in Mundane Charts, and particularly so during an Eclipse event. Like in the previous event Horoscope Uranus, Planet of sudden changes and upheaval, acquires power because of this connection with the Lunar Nodes and here also with the Ascendant.

In the Eclipse Chart the important place that was occupied by Saturn in the Earthquake Chart, the Midnight Point, is now taken by Jupiter on the last degree of Aquarius. A strong pull from the interior of the Earth (what the Midnight point, IC or cusp of the Fourth House represents in Astrology) is here exerted by Jupiter, the giant Planet of the Solar System, one of the traditional catalysts when it comes to natural disasters. Neptune and Chiron are also very close to the same point, adding their own gravitational pull to that of Jupiter.

More general information about the January Lunar and Solar Eclipses can also be found in my previous posts (Lunar, January 1 – Solar, January 15).