Stock Market Biggest Drop Ever, Sept. 29, 2008 plus Notes on Black Tuesday plus Robert Gober

Yesterday's Market was the biggest point loss ever. Dropped more than 700 points. More than half of that happened within minutes of the announcement that the House rejected the Fed's Bail Out Plan. Paulson and Pelosi, both Aries, wanted to move it ahead. The people said no.

The operative word used here yesterday is "Sink." This is how the Media describes the aspects that are influencing the "Drain" of the Horoscope which is the IC. There's an artist, Robert Gober who for years used images of Kitchen Sinks in his drawings and sculptures. Wish I could add the image. Sinks are a very powerful emotional image. It's amazing to see how something that never moves and is useful most of the time can attract such frightening experiences. An example of Artist as Prophet here? As a matter of fact I looked up his chart (Wiki says: Sept. 12, 1954 Wallhingford, CT) and Gober is having a Venus in Scorpio Return right now and has a singleton Pluto in Fire. You can see the intense emotionality. The Transiting Saturn-Uranus opposition is about to hit his Sun in Virgo which maybe opposes a Pisces Moon. He'll have to step up to Whirlpool imagery.

So for astro-sink imagery we have Chiron (Healer who can't heal his own wound), the North Node (Destiny) and Neptune (have to add a Water Planet) who are in conjunction in the sign of Aquarius at the bottom, the pit, the lowest spot, the drain hole of the Astrological Chart Wheel. Aquarius has to add the Shock Factor. Aquarius also rules the circulatory system. What is "Making the Medicine Go Down" so easily is the Trine from the 12th House Planets (More Water imagery of Sinking). 12th house is self-undoing and chronic problems. Mercury Retrograde wants to review that Bail Out Plan. The Bankers and the Government put us into this mess, let them back peddle a bit. I don't have a clue what the Bail Out plan says myself.

During ordinary times, Venus in Scorpio promises Sex. In extraordinary times, Venus in Scorpio promises all kinds of turmoil surrounding money and power plays. I remember listening to a Carolyn Myss audiobook where she explains that, as a general rule, Men Who Don't Make Enough Money Can Suffer Sexual Dysfunction. So, it's often connected. Venus has been unaspected by major aspects the last couple of days. Pluto has been a singleton in Fire.

The Opening Bell Chart has Venus conjunct the Ascendant in Scorpio. Banks in Crisis. Venus disposits to Pluto which is in the 2d House of Banking. I heard that the vote against accepting the Bail Out was at 1:45 and by 2:15 pm the Markets had tanked, dropping immediately about 400 points. They were already down hundreds of points for the day. At 2:00 pm Mars was conjunct the Libra Midheaven by 1 degree. Venus was up in the 10th House approaching conjunction to the Midheaven by 10 degrees (Bankers/Government). Pluto had just passed over the Ascendant by a couple of degrees. The Ascendant had just switched signs over an Aries Point and was at 3 Capricorn. Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, is the Brakes, Caution, Rejection, Government, Delay. This makes the Ruler of the Chart Saturn and Saturn had just moved into the 8th House.

And since Saturn is opposing Uranus right now, that puts Uranus into the 2d House. Shock-o-rama. Just the overtime money that the Media is making right now covering this mess would support the Iraq War for another 3 years. What recession? The World has gone crazy. Don't know if this is true but last night on Larry King I heard Suzy Orman say that the 700 Billion $ Bail Out is nothing compared with the Trillion $ lost in yesterday's market. We have to think big. Really really big. My brain's not that big, I have to admit.

Adding to the fuel was the New Moon in Libra (corrected from earlier error where I said the Sun & Moon were in Aquarius, woof) from the 11th House. (In the Washington DC chart the Sun-Moon was just past the MC and still in conjunction at 2:06pm when the Bailout bill officially failed according to USA Today cover). Sun and Moon are squared by Jupiter which makes the challenge from the square extra big. AT the time of that the Bail Out Plan was rejected, Jupiter in Capricorn was in the 1st House. It was almost as if Fund Managers world wide had planned the drop. Today the Markets were back up a really high amount, something like more than 400 points for the NYSE and almost 100 for the NASDAQ.

Comment about Saturn in yesterday's Opening Bell Chart. I don't know much about Declinations other than to look at them for out-of-bounds planets. I did notice that Saturn is a stand out here as it is the only planet to have a Northern Declination. All the rest of the planets have gone South. I suppose this creates a picture, along with Saturn being most elevated planet in the chart, up in its own 10th House. Government is highlighted. A presidential campaign would have been the normal prediction I guess. Saturn's opposition to Uranus is certainly putting an extra spin on that.

Today's chart for Tuesday, Sept. 30 puts the Moon in conjunction with Mars and Mercury Rx in the 12th House. This conjunction has only trines. Moon-Mars combinations are volatile. Sun at 8 Libra. Venus conjunct ASC. ASC 8 Scorpio. Pluto H2. I would have thought that the Moon-Mars combination would have brought great volatility. In this case it brought the Markets up in a huge leap. Perhaps the trine is an indicator for this.

The Sun will continue to approach a square to Jupiter which will be exact around Oct. 6-8 at 14 Libra/Capricorn. Interesting how the Mercury Retrograde is moving back to be in conjunction with the Sun at the same time. Jupiter will be in House 2 of this chart. It also rules the 2d House.

Sun-Mercury Rx will be trining the NN-Chiron-Neputue conjunction and Neptune will be conjunct the IC to the degree at 22 Aquarius.

Rising Sign will be Scorpio. Venus in Scorpio will still be in conjunction with the Ascendant but will have passed into the 1st House. She will be strongly aspecting most major factors in the chart (apex sextile to Jupiter-Saturn Trine, square to Nodes, Neptune, IC-MC, semi-sextile to Sun-Mercury Rx.)

On Oct. 6, 2008 the Opening Bell Chart will have an out-of-bounds Moon at 5 Capricorn and will be placed in the 2d House within conjunction of Pluto 29 Sagittarius. Jupiter will be in the 2d House at this point as well. The Moon may pass over it as well while the Markets are still open. That would set off the Sun-Mercury Rx as well.

Mercury Rx will still be in effect and so I now get the power of the Mercury Rx and don't know if this is the best time to promote finishing up a deal. Especially since it is squaring Jupiter which is a major indicator for money. But, Venus looks in a better situation to represent herself. Jupiter and Pluto and the Moon are in her House. At least one of her houses; she's a powerful planet.

+++++++++

Here are some notes I wrote down yesterday about Black Tuesday from The Great Depression, Oct. 29, 1929 9:30am..

Sun 6 Scorpio; ASC 12 Sagittarius; Moon 1 Libra; MC 2 Libra; NN 13 Taurus

Saturn, Uranus, Jupiter, Mercury & Venus on Angles.
Ruler Pluto in H8
Angular Saturn in H1 squaring Moon-MC on Libra Aries Point. Saturn is at 26 Sagittarius (Galactic Center, close to spot where Pluto is now)
Mercury 19 Libra conjunct Venus 12 Libra
Jupiter 16 Gemini conjunct DESC. Gemini is the Markets. Jupiter is now in H3 at Opening Bell.
Uranus is once again aspecting the IC with a wide conjunction. (9 Aries, IC 2 Aries).
Chiron 13 Taurus is conjunct NN 13 Taurus (H5) and opposing Mars 16 Scorpio & Sun 6 Scorpio.
Neptune 4 Virgo is a singleton in Earth.

Opening Bell - Monday, Sept. 29

Tomorrow's Stock Market Opening Bell chart shows a big emphasis on Fixed Signs and Jupiter. Fixed Signs are on all of the angles. There are no trines or sextiles to the angles, but if anyone can handle that energy well a Sun-Moon in Aquarius can. Chiron is within one degree conjunction of the IC and is conjunct the North Node and Neptune in Aquarius who are still hanging out in the 4th House. Aquarius is a very erratic and unpredictable sign and it is not comfortably placed in the 4th House of Housing, Real Estate and Security. But this combination can bring innovation or at least the ability to play and experiment with concepts which is what the Bankers are doing. Unfortunately Bankers are not the most generous people on earth and usually just have their own self interest at heart. They are digging themselves out.

Meanwhile, I'm mentioning the one thing I remember from the Stock Market class that I dropped out of half way through 15 years ago. The Teacher said that when investing always remember that "The Trend is Your Friend." That's two Aquarius Keywords. So, looking for Aquarius and Uranus in a chart could be the way to take advantage of this market. Aquarius is on the IC so opportunities are cropping up in Real Estate and probably in other 4th House businesses like Restaurants, Hotels, etc. Knitters who can design are probably doing pretty well right now by selling their stuff, especially if they use very tactile pleasing yarn. Rich people still have money to burn. These young Pluto in Libra kids are creating unbelievably beautiful knitting, that's for sure. What a relief after the Pluto in Leo and Virgo gunny sacks.

Where was I?

Oh, yeah. Uranus rules the 4th, heavily influenced by Chiron-NN-Neptune. (Weather, flooding, poisons, stiff jawed, bony assed, rich people from Connecticutt finally able to afford to buy water front property in California, argh).

I suppose I should say that Aquarius is unpredictable so anything can happen. I just can't believe that the politicians will let the Stock Market tank right before a major election (Jupiter-Saturn trine).

Pluto rules the chart and he's a singleton in Fire in the 2d House. The Sun and Moon are in conjunction in Libra in the 11th House. And Sun-Moon disposit to Venus which is still hanging out on the Ascendant at the Opening Bell. So, Venus is conjunct the Ascendant tomorrow but is otherwise unaspected. Venus in turn is in Scorpio and disposits to Pluto. An emotional cauldron. Venus rules Banking, Money, Values. Pluto rules Other People's Money, Investments, etc. Both stand out in this chart along with:

Sun and Moon are squaring Jupiter who is the ruler of the 2d House. This is a challenging aspect. It can represent huge sums of money. The Feds and Congress have worked all week-end and have agreed upon a deal.

I spent some time last week looking through Rex Bills for Rulerships that are relevant to this and noticed that Jupiter has some interesting rulerships.

Legislation, legislatures
part rulership of banks, banking, bankers: Jupiter, Venus, 2 Taurus, Sagittarius (Sun)
Liberals (Jupiter, Uranus)
conservatives: Saturn and dogmatic Conservatives (Taurus)
Civilians: Jupiter, Moon
Civilization: Jupiter
Financiers: Jupiter, Venus, Taurus (Sun, Saturn)
Finance, financial prospects & affairs: Jupiter 2, Taurus, Venus (7, Saturn)
Depositoris (Jupiter)
Department Heads (Jupiter, Uranus)
Regulations Jupiter (11)
Senate, Senators: 11, Aquarius, Jupiter (Neptune, 5)
Public's attitude toward the press: Gemini, H3
and
Press' attitude towards the public: (9)

Committees are ruled by (Mercury, Pluto). Gemini is on the 8th House cusp for this month. Jupiter is in the 3d House at opening bell right now. The Market really is heavily affected by Committees right now and also the Press. These rulerships are all shown very strongly in the chart. The Moon and Sun joining together in Aquarius in the 11th House and squaring Jupiter in the 3d House. Wow.

McDonald's Hamburger Has Its First Jupiter Return

Here's another incredible story I picked up from Kottke.org. A Nutritionist has written a blog post showing her 12 years old McDonald's Hamburger. It doesn't look a day over 3 seconds old.

http://bestwellnessconsultant.com/2008/09/23/1996-mcdonalds-hamburger-karen-hanrahan-best-of-mother-earth.aspx

12 years is slightly longer than a Jupiter Return. Wonder if the Burger is a Jupiter in Sagittarius Burger or a Jupiter in Capricorn Burger. I remember a Geriatics P.E. Instructor telling me that the Sadge's hold up really well. They have an amazing shelf life. Maybe there's the answer.

The Nutritionist has bought the Burger a 2008 Sibling. Doesn't look a day over 3 seconds as well. She assures us that this burger will look as good in 12 years as his older brother.

Tomorrow's Opening Bell - Friday Sept. 26, 2008

Well, there's no way I could have predicted what happened after I posted yesterday.

John McCain suspended his campaign in order to go to Washington to fix the financial crisis. I've heard that he wasn't even on the committee that deals with finance. I suppose that could be read into the chart with Moon-SN in Leo opposing Chiron-NN-Neptune over the IC-MC Axis in the Opening Bell chart today. Midheaven = President. The Moon would have been passing over McCain's Mars in Leo which is a very volatile and erratic influence. MercuryRx and Mars are on his Ascendant if he has Libra Rising. I think that Obama's Sun is conjunct McCain's Mars which sort of explains the whole weird thing.

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of House came out and said that the Bail Out was passed. She's an Aries Sun that trines Pluto so she can match the Sun-Pluto square that's in the sky right now. Transiting Mars and Mercury Rx are on her North Node in Libra which is better for negotiations than decision making. (using Astrotheme chart)

Since the Market has closed the BailOut is again off the tables. Monica from Astrology Mundo pointed out in her comment that the Bail Out might fall apart as a result of the Mercury Rx and voila! she was right.

Washington Mutual has been seized by the FDIC in the biggest bank failure ever. Last one was in 1984 according to whatever Yahoo article I read that in. Washington Mutual should have failed a long time ago. The customer's money is supposedly safe.

Tomorrow's chart for opening Bell still has Moon (Emotions, Public, Security) in Leo (Risks, Speculation, Creativity) on the last degree. It's up in the 10th House (Government, Authority). Saturn is also backing into the 10th House now at opening Bell. That's its natural house. It's all about Government and Business right now and how controlling things are going to get. Saturn in Virgo might be helpful in that it insist that the Devil and God and whatever else gets into the Details be analyzed and systematized. Good.

So I'm thinking that the Jupiter trine Saturn basically means that the influence of the upcoming elections is what's keeping the Markets from tanking. Jupiter plus Saturn is a political influence. Both planets rule social interaction on a civilized level. They represent everything the Greeks and Romans perfected. Well, the Greeks. The Romans took it over the top, in my opinion.

Meanwhile, the Sun and Pluto continue to square each other and to rule the ASC and MC of the chart. Uranus rules the IC. That's a good aspect for getting the earth to shift under one's feet. Sun has the hard aspect to Pluto and Uranus has the hard aspect to Saturn and neither is making a positive aspect to anything.

The ruler of the Descendant, Venus, meanwhile, is very strong. She is still chasing the Ascendant. Venus will be at the apex of a trine between Moon and Pluto tomorrow. There's talent amongst the women. Sarah Palin shoots wolves from Helicopters and I just want her to keep her mouth shut. Perhaps the influence of women will make a difference here. Most of the women politicians I'm thinking of aren't very good with money. That's odd because there are some really great women money managers.

Values and Diplomacy, Cold Hard Cash, Women, Banks, Investments. There are lots of discussions about how the Bail Out can be finagled to make some good money for Tax Payers. Astrology Mundo lists one example in Sweden.

Opening Bell for Tomorrow Thursday

Mercury has gone Retrograde now in Libra. Libra is ruled by Venus. Mercury and Venus combined ruled the Markets. This is just going to be an extra long transit through Libra for Mercury. Venus just keeps clinging to the Ascendant at Opening Bell. Now she rules the opposite 7th House.

I'm also basically senselessly babbling here but wanted to look at the chart.

I don't have any real knowledge of what Mercury Rx means. The descriptions I've read never make any sense. Mercury Rx, Void of Course Moon and what's the other one? oh yeah, Eclipses, are generally described in superstitious terms. You understand that these are good times to not do anything. You're just supposed to feel afraid, very afraid. It's not even guilt or paranoia, it's Fear. Fear helps you to see the other point of view so Fear has its purpose.

Retrogrades are said to bring back things from the past. I'm a Cancer Sun so I live in the past all the time. And guess Mercury Rx can't make the writing get any worse. So maybe this is why I just cant' catch on the transit.

Right now I've decided that Retrogrades are best thought through a literal description of what they are. They describe a very long transit over a certain set of points. Therefore they create frustration because they give a sense of not moving on. Mercury Retrograde is humbling. It is humbling because it brings up these spots where things have to be looked at over and over. Some people enjoy that. Most people want to move on. Mercury Rx is humbling because it is a reminder that Earth and Inhabitants of Earth are not the Centers of the Solar System. We spin around the Sun so we don't get the viewpoint in which to watch the planets, the Sun does. Our view of the orbits have these little blips where the planets look like they are moving backwards for a while. For the Sun things just really spin around. For earthlings there are these little periods of syncopation, blips in the harmonies. If you like Jazz, you like Syncopation. Retrogrades could be exciting and complex and mysterious, but, like Jazz, they are going to be rooted in difficulties of experience that don't make sense.

The Retrograde of Mercury right now is important because Gemini is now on the 8th House cusp. Mercury is ruling Debt, Bankruptcy, Insurance and what used to be called Investments. Warren Buffet just dumped 5 B in some company, I forget which one, in order to cheer people up. When you think about it, 5B will only pay for 5 days of fighting in Iraq. I hear the Space Station is going up on the Block in 2010, Warren, if you're still looking for swamp property.

What else Mercury Rx happened today? George Bush made a speech. ((((LOL))))) Cancer is now beginning to take over the 8th House and the ruler of Cancer is conjunct the Midheaven. MC = President and Moon = Cancer and Bush is a Cancer so the description is literal. The Moon in tomorrow's chart is conjunct the South Node in Leo as well. That's bad circus. It is opposing Chiron to the degree. That sounds unhappy. This will be the emotional humpday. Venus in Scorpio on the ASC. Moon in Leo on the MC. Chiron-NN-Neptune on the IC.

Okay back to Mercury. Mercury's conjunct Mars in the 12th House and trining Neptune which rules the 12th House within a degree or two. Confusion, Deception, Spaciness. Some sleeze. Some great art is being created right now somewhere on earth. They should bang the Bell with a dozen long stemmed Roses. Just give it up, Wall St.

There might also be a feeling of Denial about what's going on or a trust that things will turn out ok.

The heavy Mercury in Libra transit means that people will continue with Diplomacy. This could be good. 12th House means that they won't understand what each other is saying and probably will be missing parts of information and won't be telling the trust, but Saturn ruling the 3d House, if it doesn't get too depressed might balance that out. It might also push for solutions or wait too long. Saturn's about timing. Saturn's trining Jupiter which is ought to be a good thing. Good for building.

Mercury and Mars disposit to Venus and Venus has moved into Scorpio and is still conjunct the Ascendant. She's shrewd these days and she's sextiling Pluto in H2 which means that she's focused on the problem. Venus and Pluto together show really intense feelings so I guess this is appropriate. Venus also rules the 7th House which is empty. Most of the activity in this chart is on the left hand side of the chart which shows a sense of still being under control.

The 2d House has Sagittarius on the cusp and ruler Jupiter is in Capricorn in the 3d House. Jupiter is strongly connected with Saturn through a trine. If people keep talking they might be able to build a good solution?

The U.S. Pluto and its Progression in the U.S. Economy

Today's Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross sent me off on a meandering path concerning the U.S. Pluto in history. As mentioned in my last post, Terry interviewed NY Times writer Gretchen Morgenson about the U.S. Bailout of the Banks and Mortgage Companies.

The 1776 chart for the U.S. gives a natal Pluto which is Retrograde at the end of Capricorn at 28 Degrees. Progressed Pluto doesn't move very much at all so most Astrologers ignore it in people. But in Countries which have a longer lifespan it's movement can be better detected. Changes of Direction, either Direct or Retrograde can show big Changes. This change is very prominent in influence in the U.S. economic situation regarding investments.

The Federal Reserve Bank was created while Pluto was in the opposing Sign of Cancer so Pluto's Movement into a Cardinal Sign is going to be a big influence in the Country's economic situation. The Great Depression happened as Pluto was going through its opposition.

There are some theories that when a planet is placed at the end of a sign, it is essentially tired of the energy of that sign and just wants to move on. Being Retrograde, the U.S. natal Pluto has been in Capricorn at the end of that sign ever sincethe country was created in 1776. That's some pretty tired stuff as Capricorn already represents an old man. If you look on Wikipedia at the history of Recessions in the U.S. you sort of get the idea that the U.S. has a problem with money flow. Capricorn is wise, but it is cautious and generally afraid of falling down and breaking its hip.

I looked a little closer at the Retrograde Motion of Pluto for the July 4, 1776 chart of the U.S. First I looked at the transit. Pluto went Direct by transit on Oct. 8, 1776. This shows nothing very stand outish but I'm not knowledgeable about American History. I'm just noting the date for future reference. I found two letters reproduced on the Internet written on this date. One is by George Washington and one is by John Adams. Both were struggling with the Revolution, of course. And in particular they were struggling with money.

Next I looked at the year for when Pluto stationed Direct in the U.S. chart around 1872-73. Boy, was this a history lesson in Stock Market crashes. I don't have the exact date because of computer problems but there was a huge International Stock Market crash which began with the Viennese Stock Exchange on May 9, 1873. This lasted more than 20 years and is known as the "Victorian Depression." By coincidence I found this short article written by a Canadian Economist, Stephen S. Poloz, called "Remembering the Victorian Depression." Poloz was wondering if the U.S. was headed for another version of this depression. He doesn't think so. And, being Canadian, he was able to ask this question way back in May when the U.S. guys didn't have a clue we were even already in a recession: http://www.edc.ca/english/docs/ereports/commentary/publications_14616.htm.

This chart (Viennese Exchange Crash) has an outer planet t-square of an almost exact opposition between Saturn at 3 Aquarius and Uranus at 3 Leo. Neptune at 27 Aries is the apex planet. This t-square was made into a Grand Square opposing Mars 4 Scorpio Rx on the date of the crash. Sun, Pluto, and Venus Rx were all in conjunction to the Taurus North Node (25 Taurus). It's a very difficult chart to say the least. This crash obviously isn't related to the U.S. Pluto progression. I'm just adding this information because it's a huge crash which the U.S. Market followed later that year.

The United States depression, which is called "The Long Depression", followed on Sept. 18, 1873. At this point, the Railroad Industry ground to a halt after a long boom period precipitated by the end of the Civil War. A Pennsylvania banker, Jay Cooke & Company, went bankrupt on that date. On Sept. 20, the Stock Market was shut down and stayed shut for 10 days. This Depression is given an ending date of 1877.

There were several problems that occurred at once to cause the problems. The Coinage Act of 1873 turned the U.S. to the Gold Standard. This meant that Silver wasn't used anymore on the markets and this had a depressing effect on the Silver/Mining Industry. There was also a huge epidemic of disease in Horses in the year before which wiped out a lot of the Horse population. This affected transportation as well as the army who was fighting the Indians on foot. (Why didn't the Indians just win at that point, really...). I do remember reading Terry Lamb's prediction that the Saturn-Uranus opposition this year could bring a bad influenza so this could be problematic for us.

The chart for this date shows that Saturn was at 27 Capricorn Rx and was squaring Neptune at 28 Aries. This means that it was conjunct the U.S. natal Pluto. It was also one degree past and approaching the spot where Progressed Pluto was stationing direct.

There are some similarities to today's charts. Jupiter and Saturn were in reversed spots in Virgo and Capricorn. Pluto-NN of the 1873 chart are squaring the spot where Neptune-NN are today.

It's interesting that the 1870s were the point when the United States economy began to take off. This corresponds to the idea of a planet turning in direct motion. Worldwide, industrial production did really well. In the U.S. it increased fourfold. (I think my source for this is Wikipedia, sorry can't really remember). In the current U.S. production has dropped probably to almost nothing so we're definitely not on that same cycle.

So this Pluto spot is a sensitive point for any planet to hit. Jupiter will conjunct the U.S. Pluto in late December, 2008 into January, 2009. It doesn't appear that that Jupiter-Pluto connections are the best thing for the U.S. Economy but what do I know?

Uranus passed over natal Pluto in 1994-5 and Neptune passed over it in 1996. I'm probably the only to remember this but there had been a serious Real Estate bust from between 1990 and 1995 in California. The drop in home values was more extreme then than it is now. The Technology Boom began around that time as well. The passage of Uranus and Neptune over the U.S. Pluto was a good thing in these instances. The U.S. Savings & Loan crisis happened as these two were in conjunction around 1989-90.

The U.S. Pluto Return will be sometime around 2022.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Sept. 23, 2008

Is it the Week-end yet? Is it even Hump Day yet?

"Bailing Out." That term is used for sinking ships and for leaving relationships. Now it has new meaning which we apply to the people who hold our money in safe keeping. The Feds have proposed a 700 Billion Gazillion Dollar Fix-It Doohickie to the Bankers. Hell, we could stay in Iraq for 700 more days on that figure...

Where is all this damn money supposed to come from?

They're dropping Acid into the water supply, aren't they?

The Opening Bell Charts right now have shrewd Scorpio Rising and Courageous Leo Midheaven. Resources of Speculation/Risk and Investments/Taxes/Other People's Money is dominant. The rulers of these angles, Sun and Pluto are in challenging square aspect and are on the Aries Points.

Transiting Venus, natural ruler of Banking through Taurus/2d House is still rising over the Ascendant as the Market opens. What is different this week from last is that Venus and Pluto now rule the Ascendant and Descendant. Last week they were ruling each other's houses.

First I'd like to propose my own creative fix. Why don't they just fire all the Bankers who failed and let everyone's Grandparents take care of the till? There's nothing like years of experience and living on a fixed income for a few years to show a person how to manage money. Problem solved.

There is talk that some of the fix could actually come with reward in the way of high interest return for investors. That's great unless there's massive inflation coming up. But I think this idea is only part of the journalists and isn't part of the Feds' plan anyway.

Terry Gross gave another great interview on NPR today with a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the New York Times, Gretchen Morgenson which sort of "focused" (Pluto word) the problem for me. The problem is the money, of course. But, I was struck by how well Morgenson described Pluto's transition from Sagittarius to Capricorn. Lack of enforcement of regulations in the mortgage industry and the repeated lack of oversight is the Problem. Sagittarians are so much fun but they don't like setting the rules. They don't want to be the meanie. Morgenson used words like "No oversight" "Lax Lending" "Anything Goes" attitude towards dealing with money. Easy going Jupiter stuff. I was born to two Jupiter-Pluto people. They will try anything. It's a whole lot of fun but the Chapter 11s aren't.

Morgenson even said something like (can't quote verbatim because I was driving) "This inevitably leads to a Doom & Gloom situation." That's sounds like Pluto in Capricorn to me. This is just so typical of the passage of Pluto (Crisis, Emotions, Debt) from Sagittarius into Capricorn. You get the feeling that the transition from some signs to others signs is kind of fun, like from Scorpio to Sagittarius would be such a well deserved release. But some are awful. The transitition from Leo to Virgo did me in. Maybe it is the transition from Fire to Earth. It's the Crash and Burn part of the cycle.

It looks like what we need right now is for the people's interests to be taken into account. Morgenson's criticisms of the Feds are that The Feds want very limited oversight for how they bail the Financial System out. Since they are the ones who led the Markets into this mess and apparently didn't have a clue what was coming up, they should be held on very short leash, shouldn't they?

Tomorrow's Opening Bell will have Moon in Leo conjunct the Midheaven. Hopefully this will bring the American Public's well being into focus.

Terry Gross' interview with Gretchen Morgenson on Fresh Air is here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94928783

What We Need Is Confidence

I don't know what's going on in the Stock Market but I'm inspired to take the info from this wonderful Yahoo article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080923/pl_politico/13769

about how what the U.S. needs now is Confidence. And to see if this is what the U.S. has. (Answer: Progressed Sun just moved into Pisces).

Confidence.

Isn't there a song about "Confidence?" Let me check. Oh forget it. The one I was thinking about had Dick Van Dyck singing. No, wait, it was Julie Andrews singing in Sound of Music. Here are the Lyrics:

"I HAVE CONFIDENCE"

What would this day be like, I wonder
What will my future be, I wonder...

It could be so exciting
To be out in the world to be free
My heart should be wildly rejoicing
Oh what's the matter with me

I've always longed for adventure
To do the things I never dared
Now here I am facing adventure
Then why am I so scared

Captain with seven children...
What so fearsome about that

Oh I must stop these doubts all these worries
If I don't I just know I'll turn back
I must dream of the things I am seeking
I am seeking the courage I lack

The courage to serve them with reliance
Face my mistakes without defiance
Show them I'm worthy
And while I'll show them...I'll show me...so...

Let them bring on all their problems
I'll do better than my best
I have confidence they'll put me to the test
But I'll make them see I have confidence in me

Somehow I will impress them
I will be firm but kind
And all those children, heaven bless them
They will look up to me and mind me

With each step I am more certain
Everything will turn out fine
I have confidence the world can all be mine
They'll have to agree I have confidence in me

I have confidence in sunshine
I have confidence in rain
I have confidence that spring will come again
Besides which you see I have confidence in me

Strength doesn't lie in numbers
Strength doesn't lie in wealth
Strength lies in nights of peaceful slumbers
When you wake up, wake up!

It tells me all I trust I leave my heart to
All I trust becomes my own
I have confidence in confidence alone...

I have confidence in confidence alone!
Besides which you see I have confidence in me...

So we've got the Pluto in Leo generation right now fixing things. Both Pluto and Leo represent confidence. No problem with confidence with those two. This generation is beginning to retire now. So, we're relying on the Pluto in Virgo generation for Confidence. And Virgo isn't really known for confidence. Virgo follows Leo and has to clean up the Blind Confidence that this sign can exhibit with something a little more "real." If Virgo does like something it will just start picking it apart in order to create an absolutely perfect version with no flaws. Virgo doesn't do confidence. It doesn't give it, that's for sure. This is a quality that the Pluto in Leo generation might not understand and since I have 3 planets in Leo I understand the problem and apologize for my emotionally stingy generation, but, hey, someone's going to mop up these messes at some point. Adam Smith was a Virgo Pluto who wrote the Wealth of Nations while Pluto was in Capricorn. And I've heard that it's highly detailed and unbelievably cumbersome to read. Why can't somebody make a comic book version or a nice TV movie version?

So. I want to look at today's chart with Confidence in mind. We are hoping that everyone will have confidence and business will continue as usual. This is mighty hard to do because everyone is aware that if this plan fails we are heading into a Major Depression.

So what we want in particular is Confidence in the Credit Markets and Banking Industries. And it turns out Confidence is a tricky thing. I'd say that the Earth Signs exhibit the least amount of it just because realists tend to be pessimists. Or the reverse. Whatever. Fly in some Clouds. Bring in the clowns. Do something to set the Markets straight.

So I think we need Fire to be prominent in today's chart if we really want Confidence. Fire is enthusiasm and energy. It burns up the dead weight and moves on, no questions asked. Pluto is also confident but Pluto is tricky because it brings in crisis and makes you stick with things. Pluto will go down with the ship. I know, my Pluto friends are the only ones who still call me.

First off, we've got Pluto's placement. Pluto is in Sagittarius and moving into Capricorn. From a Pluto in Leo's point of view that's certain death. But to the Pluto in Virgo generation who wants to work in productivity and industry and all things earthy and material a constructive transit is perhaps about to form. A trine to the natal Pluto. The goods at the top might be able to trickle down. Virgo wants everyone to have a pleasant daily existence. Virgo wants health and hygiene and organic produce and unfortunately might also invent all kinds of cloned animals and biotech freaks because it's so caught up in the process without a sense of the end result. (I'm erasing the image I just wrote of a farm cow as created by Virgo alone and then had to erase it. )

I don't think the Pluto in Virgo generation is happy with the idea of Big Credit. If the problem persists with the Government then this is why. Virgo wants everyone to have their little plot and to produce their own. Anyway, I don't think the Pluto in Leo will ever be able to retire anyway.

Time is of the Essence

This morning through the road noise of my car I heard a wonderful English Financier being interviewed on PBS. He has a completely different idea of what the Fed should do with the Markets than what they are probably going to do. The one thing they all agree on is that "Speed is of the Essence" in making a Decision.

I pulled out Rex Bills and found that rulership of Speed is given to Mercury and Uranus (in parentheses). I would have included Mars but maybe Mars is related too much to rashness.

Decisions themselves are ruled by Uranus. I would have thought Saturn or Pluto.

Then by coincidence I surfed over to Jonah Lehrer's blog The Frontal Cortex and saw that he is discussing the neurology of what it takes to make a quick decision. He uses Football Quarterbacks as examples.

Link: http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2008/09/quarterbacks.php

Three and a half seconds: that's how long, on average, a quarterback has to make a decision about where to throw the ball. So, how does he make sense of his options in such a short amount of time, while a swarm of humongous, angry men attempt to pancake him?

I decided to look at the charts of great Football Quarterbacks who are listed by Lehrer along with some others to see if there is a strong connection between Mercury and Uranus which could account for their lightening quick decision making talents. It turns out there is a strong relationship in most of the charts. Mercury-Mars is also almost always present as well.

Then I decided to look at the charts of the Feds, Ben Bernanke, Henry Paulson, and Christopher Cox to see if the Stars have bestowed upon them this great gift of Instantaneous Decision Making Ability.

The Quarterbacks are listed below.

The Feds are listed below them.

Looks like the Fed needs desperately to hire some Quarterbacks.

Fran Tarkenton
b. Feb. 3, 1940 Richmond, VA

Mercury 16 Aquarius conjunct Sun and squaring Uranus 19 Taurus

Johnny Unitas
b. May 7, 1933 Pittsburgh, PA

Mercury 26 Aries conjunct Uranus 25 Aries square Pluto Cancer and trining Mars 5 Virgo

Joe Montana
b. June 11, 1956 New Eagle, PA

Mercury in Gemini sextile Uranus 1 Cancer and squaring Mars in Pisces

John Elway
b. June 28, 1960 Port Angeles, WA

Mercury 30 Cancer squaring Mars 7 Taurus
Uranus 19 Leo unaspected (major aspect)

Dan Marino
b. Sept. 15, 1961 Pittsburgh, PA

Mercury 16 Libra conjunct Mars and otherwise unaspected
Uranus?

Brett Favre
b. Oct. 10, 1969 Gulfport, Miss.

Mercury 1 Libra conjunct Uranus 6 Libra and Pluto 26 Virgo
squares Mars 13 Capricorn

Randall Cunningham
b. Mar. 27, 1963 10:50 pm Santa Barbara, CA

Mercury 5 Aries conjunct Sun Aries, trines Mars in Leo and inconjunct Uranus in Virgo

Joe Namath
b. May 31, 1943 9PM Beaver Falls, PA

Mercury 28 Taurus conjunct Uranus 5 Gemini, squares Neptune in Virgo and sextile Mars in Aries

Terry Bradshaw
b. Sept. 2, 1948 Shreveport, LA

Mercury 29 Virgo (H11) square Uranus 1 Cancer (H8), Aquarius is co-ruler of H3, Mercury is ruler of H11

Tom Brady
b. Aug. 3, 1977 San Mateo, CA

Mercury in Virgo sextiles Uranus in Scorpio and squares Mars in Gemini

Peyton Manning
b. Mar. 24, 1976 New Orleans

Mercury 27 Pisces squares Mars in CAncer. Uranus unaspected in Scorpio

*******

Ben Bernanke
b. Dec. 13, 1953 Augusta, GA

Mercury 5 Sagittarius conjunct Venus 11 Sagittarius
Uranus 23 Cancer conjunct SN and squares Mars-Neptune at 26 Libra

Henry Paulson
b. Mars. 28, 1946 Palm Beach, FL

Mercury 4 Aries conjunct Sun 8 Aries opposite Neptune 8 Libra and trines Pluto 10 Leo
Uranus 14 Gemini trines Neptune 8 Libra

Christopher Cox
b. Oct. 16, 1952 St. Paul, MN

Mercury 9 Scorpio unaspected
Uranus 19 Cancer squares Sun-Saturn-Neptune and trines Venus in Scorpio and sextiles Jupiter

Opening Bell - Sept. 22, 2008

Wish I had looked at this yesterday. The Chart for the Opening Bell for today's market.

The Sun is at 30 Virgo. That's an Aries Point (1 Libra). The Sun is apex to a t-square to the Moon at 5 Cancer which opposes Pluto at 29 Sagittarius. That's another Aries Point (1 Capricorn). They are in the Resources Houses. Actually the Moon is in the 9th House but very close to the 8th House. The Moon is out-of-bounds which could trigger just about anything emotional and related to security. The Sun and the Moon are the Vital Forces of the Chart along with the Rising Sign. Pluto rules the Rising Sign. All 3 are in harsh aspect with each other in the Resources Houses.

My computer was attacked by spyware this morning, no wonder. I suspect that this will be a lucrative time for Hackers to pick up personal information about people's accounts as they try to dump stocks. Try not to pay for anything with a credit card. Tomorrow the Sun will be right on 1 Libra and its only major aspect will be to Pluto. It will also be making a quindecile to Chiron.

On what might be a bright side, Sagittarius is now on the 2d House cusp and that might bring a bit more optimtimism. It might bring higher wisdom about the reality or it might add to the hysteria element or it might bring optimism. Sadge's ruler Jupiter is still in the 3d House of communications. So there are still talks going on. Venus conjunct the Ascendant brings negotiations. Pluto is in sextile to her and the Ascendant which is a positive influence. I don't know if the Fed will announce anything today. Tomorrow as the elements hit the Aries Points the real reaction may come.

Still beneficial, Jupiter is trining Saturn. But, Saturn is within orb of opposition to Uranus now (computer and internet problems). They are placed in H11 (Saturn in Virgo) and H5 (Uranus in Pisces).

2 Scorpio Rises and Venus is still in conjunction at 29 Scorpio. Venus-Mercury-Mars are still up in the 12th house of undoing trining the NN-Neptune-Chiron down in the 4th House (Security, Real Estate, Foundations, Denial).

Tomorrow the Opening Bell Moon will be at 19 Cancer in H9. It will be opposing Jupiter in the 3d and squaring Mercury-Mars at 23 Libra in H12. That doesn't sound like good news to me. The Moon will also be in a Yod pattern. There's a Moon-Saturn sextile from H9 to H11 that is inconjunct on either side to apex NN in H4. Yods are odd patterns. They shows elements that don't work together naturally and must find a way of living out of balance together. Some of the more subtle problems related to the financial system may have to be accepted.

"The 3 Horsemen of the Apocalypse"

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me this morning on NPR, or at least I think that's what show it was, referred to the 3 Feds in charge of saving the economy as "The 3 Horsemen of the Wall St. Apocalypse." This really is something straight out of Tolkien.

Anyway, here they are along with the Pluto-Nodal Axis transits that they are going through right now. This is the Pluto in Leo generation on overdrive. Paulson and Cox both have Mars out-of-bounds and Sun in conjunction (Cox) or opposition (Paulson) to Neptune. It's amazing they manage to stay in their saddles.

Henry Paulson, Secretary of Treasury
b. Mar. 28, 1946 Palm Beach, Florida

Sun 8 Aries; Moon Capricorn or Aquarius; NN 25 Gemini

t. Pluto conjunct n. South Node


Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Board Chairman
b. Dec. 13, 1953 Augusta, GA

Sun 22 Sagittarius; Moon Pisces or Aries; NN 25 Capricorn

t. SN 18 Leo conjunct n. Pluto 25 Leo
p. Sun 18 Aquarius & prog Venus 19 Aquarius conjunct t. NN 18 Aquarius-Chiron 17 Aquarius-Neputne 22 Aquarius

No out-of-bounds Mars but has Saturn unaspected in Scorpio. He's meant to do this, you can just tell.

Christopher Cox, SEC Chairman
b. Oct. 16, 1952 St. Paul, MN

Sun 24 Libra; NN 20 Aquarius; Moon Virgo or Libra

Has natal Grand Square of Pluto 23 Leo conjunct South Node 20 Leo square Jupiter Taurus opposing Venus 24 Scorpio.

Right now he's having a Nodal Return and t. Neptune-Chiron is opposing natal Pluto right over this.

Mars is out-of-bounds and conjunct Chiron in Capricorn. Apparently he went to a recital the day that Bear Stearns tanked and then went on vacation the next week (Sun conjunct Neptune-Saturn).

What Just Happened?

The Stock Market had a stellar couple of days. By coincidence a lot of Bloggers had screwed up accounts and couldn't post. Do you think it was Censorship? Well, I'm not losing and breaking things anymore. So, Thank you whoever fixed that little problem and please don't let it backslide into utter chaos in the future.

Anyway, I figure that nobody in his right mind would be buying Stocks under these conditions so this recent big gain must be part of the staging that are being worked in the back rooms of America. This is part of the special "Investor Confidence" clauses. Confidence is probably ruled by the Sun and Pluto and these planets happen to be ruling the Ascendant and Midheaven of the Opening Bell charts. So major Mortage and Insurance companies tanked last week (Lehman Bros., Merrill Lynch, AIG whoever the Hell they are). From what I gather this sudden barfing of the economy had to do with Jupiter and Pluto both going direct on Sept. 8 and Sept. 9, respectively. Virgo always suffers from indigestion so Saturn placed within that sign certainly isn't going to help. Hey, if a few more corrupt, neurotic, stupid, irresponsible little brats lost their jobs because of irresponsible selfish deals that they brokered, goodie goodie gum drops. Especially if I the Taxpayer don't have to really be responsible for all that rotten debt (wishful thinking).

These two haven't finished their performances though. Some big dates coming up in their orbits are around Nov. 27 when Pluto passes into Capricorn (Government control). Then on Dec. 31-Jan. 5, Jupiter will be at 29-30 Capricorn and will be conjunct the United States' natal Pluto.

The Good News comes for music lovers as Beethoven was a double Sagittarius born with a Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn.

This time around, the Sadge New Moon happens on/around Nov. 28 the day after Pluto enters Capricorn. I officially dub that "Ode to Joy Day." I've recommended this before and I'll recommend it again in case you want to prepare: great (and cheap) recordings of Beethoven's last Quartets performed by the Yale Quartet. (http://outthecometsass.blogspot.com/2007/05/why-its-good-to-be-alive-beethoven.html)

Beethoven was born during a Grand Outer Planet trine which shows an incredible natural attunement for the Harmony of the Spheres. Without that Grand Trine we'll probably end up with all kinds of ragtime piano players and a war will start over trying to get the ugly clanging to stop. Maybe Bjork will suddenly do a Broadway musical with some Brazilians and come up with something nice, though. Sagittarius does like its Broadway Musicals. Wow, you just never know.

No Growth in U.S. Economy

Ben Bernanke has now made a statement that he doesn't see any growth for the U.S. Economy in the near future. I decided to take a look at some things which represent Growth in the U.S. Chart. I use the Sagittarius Rising Chart. This one has 13 degree on the Ascendant, I think that's Sibley.

First off I looked at the Planets. Jupiter. Doi. Jupiter expands. The Moon rules Fertility. The Sun creates. Venus impels toward growth or destruction. Then I looked at the Progressions to see what kinds of stunted Retrogrades might be jamming the works.

The United States has Sun, Venus, and Jupiter in Cancer. That's a growth oriented situation.

Right now the Progressed Sun for the U.S. is at 4 Pisces trining the natal Venus and Jupiter at 4 and 6 Cancer respectively. Transiting Jupiter is in Capricorn opposing the United States Sun. And Progressed Jupiter has been Retrograde in Cancer since around 1905-6. If the U.S. has a Sagittarius Rising this is very important to look at because Jupiter is then the Chart Ruler. The timing of the Retrograde coincides with the 1907 Crash. Although there were many before it, that was the Crash that was the reason for the creation of the Federal Reserve Board as I was reminded yesterday by reading Monica's blog "Astrology Mundo." So this looks indicates heavy duty growth aspects. Of course, disease enjoys Growth as well.

So, then I thought what rules productivity because in my opinion the problem is not Growth but Productivity. We have turned into a Nation of Sheep. Not that there's anything wrong with Sheep, I just tried to make a dishcloth that had a sheep on it (didn't turn out) but they tend to follow along and graze all day. So I looked at Mars and Saturn. The U.S. has a conjunction of these two planets. The only thing these two might like is productivity. The conjunction is at the beginning of Virgo so the Country just had a Saturn Return. That can be a time of deep reckoning and being faced with big decisions.

Progressed Mars also moved into Retrograde around 2005-6 in Libra. Right now it is at 19 Libra Retrograde. That will eventually lead to great creativity but also heightened violence. On a current level this means that it's been hanging out on the Ascendant of the Opening Bell Chart for the NYSE. It has also been conjunct the Mercury-Venus-Mars conjunction in Libra. I was wondering how such a potentially nice aspect could have turned so much to its worst side. Maybe this is a reason, especially as its all been on the Ascendant of the Opening Bell Charts for the last couple of weeks.

The Progressions for the U.S. are actually pretty intense. The only planets that aren't Retrograde are Venus and Uranus. And Progressed Venus is conjunct (within 3 degrees) to Chiron in Aries at 18 Aries. That's opposing Progressed Mars Rx plus the Mercury-Venus-Mars conjunction.

The U.S. is born with a Mercury Retrograde and is now going through another Mercury Rx by Progression. This started sometime around 1993-94. Progressed Mercury is at 24 Aquarius. The extended trip through Aquarius was certainly good for becoming the center of the Technology Boom. Now prog. Mercury is being hit by the Neptune-Chiron-NN conjunction and is in the 4th House (Real Estate, Security, Mortgage) at Opening Bell.

So, here's the clinker, unrelated to what I've said so far. The natal U.S. Chart has a Mercury-Pluto opposition. Both planets are Retrograde. Mercury is at 25 Cancer Rx. Pluto is at 28 Capricorn Rx. Retrogrades make you really look deeply into whatever sign they're in. Cancer rules Real Estate and Capricorn rules Government. Mercury - Pluto is pretty sharp but also pretty paranoid and crisis oriented. And...

The Progressed Nodal Axis is now right on top of this opposition with 27 Cancer North Node. This means that Pluto is conjunct the South Node. Destiny come calling. Time of Trouble. Pluto represents crisis. But it also prunes and strips away dead weight so that all may prosper in the future. In gardening that's a good thing. In Economics I don't know why it can't be seen as a good thing. Tightening our big fat Sun-Venus-Jupiter in Cancer belts. At any rate transiting Jupiter will hit the Pluto-SN combination soon. As a Jupiter-Pluto conjunction (by transit) was involved in Cancer during the Great Depression this could certainly echo that energy.

If the Sagittarius Rising Chart were to be used one could see that the Progressed Moon and Progressed Ascendant are both at 1 Virgo. Virgo is another pruner. Don't get me going about how awful the transition is from Leo to Virgo in Progressions. I'm spending a lifetime finding this out. Leo just loves. Leo wants to create. All is well and simple. Then suddenly Leo realizes that his audience is snoring. That's when you know something's progressed into Virgo. And the lessons, although healthy, totally suck for the first 10 degrees.

Fresh Air Interview with Michael Greenberger

Here's a link to today's episode of Fresh Air with Terry Gross. She interviews Michael Greenberger a Law Professor about the failing economy.

Greenberg's bio. I can't find his Birth Info. Terry Gross was born in 1951:

Law professor Michael Greenberger explains how the recent turmoil on Wall Street could trigger a domino effect for economies around the world.

Greenberger is the director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland and the principal deputy associate attorney general at the Justice Department.

I was driving around and getting in and out of the car during the Interview but I heard Greenberger say something interesting about the American Economy:

"We privatize gains and We socialize Losses."

In AstroBlab that's sort of like saying:

"We Pluto Jupiter and We Uranus Saturn."

Well, at least we are blending aspects.

Great Interview. Greenberger's been sending out alerts for a while. Terry Gross says she has interviewed him before.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94686428

Stock Market Hell Ramblings for September 17, 2008

I made a promise to myself to carefully read every day's Stock Market Chart before it happens and then study it the next day to observe how a Crash happens in Astro-Micro-Management terms. My Mercury has progressed into Virgo, what can I say? I'm still not into editing anything but the details, whew, I'm loving the details. I'm seeing God and the Devil and the Details all in one pop.

Life is getting in the way now though and I haven't had time to edit what I write. Today I'm suddenly infested with fleas and I was so upset about that I dropped my one pair of glasses on the ground behind the car and then backed up over them. At least it wasn't somebody's kid.

So I have to go buy a pair of Goggles. So sad. I've lost my fancy French glasses. Maybe I'll get some Sarah Palin look alikes and pace back and forth in front the local chapter of the NRA to see if anyone will shoot me.

Yesterday's Stock Market report I titled Houdini's Hat. Pretty good, huh? Paragraphs and paragraphs of unbelievably incomprehensible English. For some weird reason the Market rose. The Banks like to stick some of the extra wads of cash that Ben Bernanke's given em back into the Markets I guess. Interesting that Taurus and Scorpio are trading rulerships of each other's houses at this time of year. Bad News, George Bush decided not to make another comment to the reporters about how things are still looking good. Maybe now he'll fly over Wall St. in Air Force One to inspect the damage from afar. Ben Bernanke supposedly had to take him out to lunch and plead. "No George, it's over. This is catastrophic. Don't listen to Dick anymore." So Pluto and Jupiter are still in the 3d house. That's communications and announcements.

The Moon has been in Aries keeping Pluto company in Fire. I think that's a good thing for Pluto. It's lonely up there. Pluto's always feeling isolated and being unaspected and singleton is really ripping his little lonely heart out. The Sun is still opposing Uranus and Uranus is a singleton and still swinging its bat around in all kinds of wrong directions.

Pluto will pass into the 2d House at Opening Bell within the next couple of days. Venus continues to stay in conjunction with the Ascendant. This is the Mercury-Venus conjunction from Hell. I had forgotten one of the main reasons for writing this blog was to study Market Crashes in preparation for the Big One. I remember that this Mercury-Venus conjunction was one of the indicators. But I had set the Opening Bell for 9 am for all the charts and had to pull them offline.

Mercury's Retrograde will keep him up in the 12th House for extra long. The Retrogrades are supposed to bring the past up for review. Everyone's certainly going to be looking back and trying to figure out how this could have been done differently. I suppose there will be background shenanigan's.

Isn't it odd how we picked two Candidates to run for President who didn't have a clue that the Markets were in trouble? Neither one of them has looked at this at all and now they're insulting each other about what the other doesn't know.

Oh well, off I go to get my Amelia Earharts. The Optical Stores in my area are so awful. Maybe it's best to run around blind. This is probably not the most P.C. thing to say but have you ever noticed how Blind people usually have wonderful personalities? I could use some of that. And the fleas? Oi.

I'm going to draw a life size picture of an Ostrich tonight because my head very much wants to be buried in the sand right now.

As always, I recommend following Ray Merriman's column "Market Week" at StarIQ.com for a genuine assessment of what's going on. And Monica's got some great ideas on her blog "Astrology Mundo."

Waiting For Ben Vereen

An eccentric recurring theme continues to run in my life which I don't really understand and so I thought I'd look into the Astrology of it for guidance. The thing is, I tend to meet people who are waiting for Ben Vereen. I really don't even know much about Ben Vereen except that he was wildly successful in the Broadway Musical Jesus Christ Superstar when I was a kid. The second part of the story though is that these people I meet who are waiting for Ben Vereen? They know he may not show, he doesn't show, but they just can't stop anticipating his arrival. I even remember seeing a movie on this theme called Waiting for Guffman. It's almost as if the Guffman movie makers were also waiting for Ben Vereen.

The first time I observed this interesting phenomenon was in High School. The Theater Department boasted a genius who could put on Broadway Musicals. He wrote them, he directed them, he sang in them, he danced, he orchestrated. Somebody somewhere told one of the theater majors that Ben Vereen was going to show up on Opening Night for the final production and since my best friend was in the play we all got really excited. All night we were glancing around in the audience and assuring ourselves of the reality that Ben Vereen couldn't possibly show up for a High School play. It didn't happen. Nobody was really crushed because nobody really thought he would show, but still.... It's the Ben Vereen phenomenon.

Then another time while driving across the country I went into a music store and the owner was really excited about Ben Vereen. I thought, uh oh. But there it was. Ben Vereen might move to town. He can play any instrument. Real Estate prices will go through the roof. Life will be perfect.

So, anyway, why is this? I grew up in California. Why don't I meet people who are waiting for any other celebrity? Some of today's young stars not only show up but put on a show.

I decided finally to look at Ben Vereen's chart for clues that would indicate a person who naturally creates huge amounts of anticipation in others. Someone who makes you wait. (That would be all musicians and theater people by the way or they wouldn't make it). Astrotheme doesn't have an Ascendant for Ben so I don't have a Descendant to understand Ben Vereen's relationship axis. I'm winging it anyway with only the planets. Turns out me and Ben have a double whammy Neptune-Vertex connection between our natals, so, I can take this one out there, way out there. Or at least this is why I am full of wonder over this subject. Vertex ties you in to people. This is it. I know people who wait for Ben Vereen. The Anticipation is almost, I say almost, as good as the performance. I bet when I die, if I get sent to Heaven (just supposing, not anything firm on that one), the first thing God will hand me a Ukelele and tell me to keep him entertained until Ben Vereen shows up.

Ben Vereen
b. 10/10/1946 Miami, FL

Sun 17 Libra; Moon Aries; NN 15 Gemini Rx

Ben Vereen may have been born on a Full Moon. Full Moon people do tend to have odd relationship issues. It's the pull of the opposition aspect. Ben Vereen's Nodal Axis is conjunct my Asc/Desc line. His South Node (mistake behaviors) is sitting right on my 7th House cusp. So I at least have more Synastry with Ben Vereen.

Two things come to mind when I think of a person who makes another person wait. First off, I think, "That person is lost." Then when they show up 3 hours later I think: "That person's head is always in the clouds. Good thing he/she is a talented artist type or I'd blow a fuse." That would be true of Ben Vereen. He has a wide conjunction of Sun to Neptune in Libra. Man is quite a poet but don't hand him the map.

Another reason why a person might make another person wait is that he promises more than he can deliver. He's a people pleaser or his thinking isn't realistic. We can see this once again in the Sun in Libra square Neptune. Libra Sun is always thinking about not making waves and spends his life learning to say no. Ben also has a conjunction/stellium of Jupiter-Mercury-Mars in Scorpio. Mercury rules the mind and here it is thinking great thoughts and planning great things, perhaps more than he can deliver. He's thinking he really will drive 3 hours, fly across country, whatever to show up. The planets in Scorpio might mean....

A third reason why a person might make another person wait is a passive way of dealing with power. Ben Vereen has 4 planets in Scorpio, the planet of subtle power. Mercury-Jupiter-Mars in Scorpio is squaring a natal conjunction of Saturn to Pluto in Leo. He doesn't realize that other people take him seriously. He may even have a complex about it. And the square would cause more problems than usual.

Saturn and Pluto are together in a person's chart when he has to channel a big message. These are the two task masters of the chart. Saturn literally rules Waiting as it rules all things having to do with Time. Mercury (communications) and Mars (drive) are hooked into delivering a powerful social message for his generation through this Saturn-Pluto-Jupiter aspect. I suppose that playing the role of Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar would probably fit that bill.

Bring Back Pluto

Hey Astronomers,

Bring back Pluto. Let him rejoin the Solar System. He's small but his magnetism is great. Little things matter. Just ask anyone who's working in Nanotechnology.

Humanity discovered Pluto (along with Clyde Tombaugh's help) in 1930 during the Great Depression. Now you drop him out of the Solar System and what happens? We're back to square one. The Financial Markets are on the skids. It took a lot for people to get to the point where they could see Pluto on both a technological level and on a spiritual level. It isn't easy trying to be the Higher Octave of Mars. Just try wanting to get your way and yet knowing that your survival is dependent on how well you get along with others. This is Pluto's first Task.

Pluto doesn't mess around. He rules Investments, Insurance, and, well, Sex and Death. It's no accident that Human Life Spans have extended so much since Pluto came into Human Awareness.

Alan Greenspan was calling the current Financial Crisis an event of the Century. That's because Pluto is opposing the spot where he was a Century ago. Plus, the Federal Reserve Bank was created during an opposition of Sun to Pluto. This opposition shows great power struggles and tests of will power. So you throw him out. You know how Pluto handles that? Revenge, baby. The Eagle's Eye and the Scorpion's Tale.

Back in the 19th and turn of the Century, the Bankers (ruled by opposite sign of Taurus) were out of control. Pluto controls from behind the scenes. Pluto's influence can't be measured by Science -- yet.

Tomorrow's Stock Market

Hey, I've been knitting and ripping all day so I was a little freaked when I got onto the World Wide Web and saw all this talk about the tanking Economy. Tomorrow's Stock Market? Why even look at the chart?

Doom & Gloom / Tomorrow's Stock Market Opening Ding Dong
Sept. 15, 2008 9:30 am New York, NY

Well, Sept. 15, it may not be the Mortgage Crisis so much as the fact that Estimated Taxes are due. That always get the Republicans into a futz. 3d Quarter Freak Out is coming up.

This chart has Libra Rising with chart ruler Venus conjunct the Ascendant and Mercury and Mars in Libra from up in the 12th House. There's strong emphasis in this chart on balancing. I have full faith in Ben Bernanke, he's such an adorable Sadge, he couldn't possibly screw up. So, don't screw up here Ben, we Love You With All Our Hearts. We need a Hero. Come on Baby, pull this Effer through, you can do it. I just heard Greenspan in an ABC interview and he was making a lot of sense and not sounding too positive at the same time. But he's not the Chairman, Ben, you are. And I'm a sucker for a cute Sadge.

So, here's the nasties. And I'm not talking sex. Pluto isn't in the 2d house yet. But it's now ruling the 2d House of Banking and Money. Pluto is still in the 3d House of Communications so let's hope that Bernanke and his Buds are yacking up a Storm and getting the Banks to cooperate. There's a Full Moon tomorrow with the Sun up in H11 and Moon in the Opposing 5th House conjunct Uranus. And Uranus is ruler of the 11th House. We're still Wishin, and Dreamin, and Hopin'. What are the words to that song? Forget it. The Resources of Risk, Creativity, Groups, Hopes, Wishes and Dreams are strong in the Opening Bell Charts for a couple more days at least. Pluto is squaring the Full Moon and Uranus. Pluto and Uranus don't really like each other's styles but one thing they both want is to create Change. So, it looks like something will change with the Bankers.

A second possibly difficult aspect is that Neptune in this chart is down in the 4th House of Real Estate and Home and is squaring the 2d-8th House cusps of the chart. Neptune is associated with the feeling of being victimized and sacrificed. Sometimes this is very lucrative. I looked up the charts of the World's Richest People and was amazed (and not really surprised) that so many were Pisces Suns.

The 8th House of Investments is empty at Opening Bell with Taurus on the cusp. As a matter of fact this is a Bowl Shape Chart with Moon and Saturn on the Boundaries. That sounds like something to do with Governmental Control. Since the Feds are telling the Bankers that they aren't going to cover their Asses I don't know how this plays out. Bowl Shapes (according to Bob Marks) show consciousness that the other half is missing.

On a positive note, Venus, ruler of the chart and of the the Banking Industry and of the 8th House in this chart is trining the North Node which is in the 4th House. Venus also rules Diplomacy. So, if we're Lucky, the Bankers will do some magic thinking and figure out a whole new angle to be corrupt and the Stock Market won't crash and all will be well. Mars is squaring Jupiter which sports a feisty, winning spirit. Sometimes the square can indicate that the fighting spirit crashes, though. Hopefully, a lot of this news coverage is pre-Full Moon stress and strain and the Banks won't fail tomorrow.

In Memoriam, 9/11

7 years ago today the United States was attacked. I don't know how to pay tribute to the innocent lives that have been lost as a result of that attack. Except I took a look at the Event Chart for that day and how it is aspected by today's planets.

The first attack happened at 8:46 am in New York City. This brings up a chart with Mercury at 15 Libra exactly conjunct the Ascendant. Right now there is a triple conjunction of Mercury-Venus-Mars conjunct this spot. The Secondary Progressed Moon from the original chart is also in conjunction with these planets from 12 Libra. Venus and Mercury working together can rule Markets. The Stock Market and Capitalism in general was a major reason for the Attacks. The U.S. Financial situation has gone down hill ever since.

7 years is a big deal in Astrological Cycles. It represents a major phase of maturation as it represents the first major challenging aspect to the two planets that rule Homeland and Government. These aspects are the first Saturn Square and the first Secondary Moon Square (which usually happens within 6 months or so). Saturn represents both extremes of Successes and Failures. It's good at this time to take a stern look at what is going wrong in order to fix the problems. It should be taken as an incentive to toss out old methods that don't work, to rebuild and fix what went wrong.

The original chart had a major outer planet opposition of Saturn at 15 Gemini to Pluto at 13 Sagittarius. Today Saturn squares that opposition from 13 Virgo. The Sun in Virgo is separating from its conjunction with Saturn and is opposed by Uranus. Uranus is within a degree conjunction of the Neptune of the natal chart.

Today's chart has an unaspected Pluto which is opposing the Gemini Moon of the Attack Chart to the degree. This represents the feelings that are most difficult to access. They are obvious reactions to Terrorism as they generally run so deep that they can't be expressed and have to just be accepted as that. Often they express themselves as controlling behaviors.

The original chart also had an opposition of Mars at 1 Capricorn to Moon at 29 Gemini. This is a very violent aspect and very strongly placed as the two planets are within conjunction of the Nodal Axis at 4 Cancer/Capricorn. As I said before, today's Pluto is at 29 Sagittarius and is directly opposing the Moon of the Attack event chart. This might be a very emotionally volatile time for the survivors. As Pluto reaches 1 Capricorn I hope we don't hear from Osama again unless he's in chains.

Today's Nodal Axis is layered loosely over the current Sun-Uranus opposition. Today's Neptune is within one degree conjunction of the event chart Uranus, planet of unexpected, shocking events.

And Neptune, where was Neptune? That's what everybody always want to know about Neptune. Here he's evasive and elusive and expressing himself aptly. In the Event chart, Neptune is unaspected at 7 Aquarius. And, as a matter of fact, the only planet from the Event chart that seems to be unaspected by today's transits is still Neptune. Osama who is a Pisces which is ruled by Neptune is still at large. And all Running mates for the President are going through major Neptune transits... and I'm going to shut up before I implode here.

UAL, Y'all

There was a really weird blip in the Stock Market on Monday. One can expect weird, random events with Sun opposing Uranus. A reporter who was researching United Airlines stories on the Internet pulled up an old bankruptcy story from 2002 and thought he had hit pay dirt because no one else knew about it. Turns out the Google search engine had attached the day's current date to the story from 2002. Oopsey. The Reporter reported his story and United Airlines' stock tanked. For about an hour it lost 75 percent of its value. It then went back up, almost, to its opening price. The speed at which this all occurred is unbelievable and of course has brought up all kinds of questions which need to be solved. With the Saturn-Pluto-Uranus t-square coming up, man, they better solve this Internet stuff fast. Talk about Computer Goofology transits. In this case, the Internet goofed. The Reporter goofed. What the Hell was going on with the 3d House? Answer: It was loaded with planets that were squaring the ASC.

I looked at the day's chart for the NYSE on Monday, Sept. 8, 2008 Opening Bell: 9:30am, New York, NY. Libra was rising with Mars-Mercury-Venus still in conjunction. Venus rules this chart and she is conjunct Mercury here. Rulers of the Markets are indicated somehow. Mercury rules reporters and is conjunct Mars to the degree. Mars rules Rash behavior. Mercury-Venus-Mars-ASC are squaring (challenges) Jupiter which rules Journalism and Publishing as well. Jupiter is placed in and rules the 3d House of Journalism. Mercury and Mars squaring Jupiter will indicate exaggerations, misquotes, misinformation, but generally a really, really good story.

Don't know if I could have seen this coming through foresight but, in hindsight, this seems like a very easy to read event astrologically. The Sun opposing Uranus indicates Technology as does Mars conjunct the ASC. The Moon was in Sagittarius and also in the 3d house approaching conjunction with Pluto. That adds emotions to the 3d/9th house element. Pluto rules the Masses. At the height of the frenzy, the Moon was within 1 degree conjunction of Pluto in the 3d House. Jupiter and Sagittarius and Uranus and Aquarius all indicate something to do with Airlines.

Perhaps the Sun-Saturn in Virgo conjunction was the saving grace here. Saturn rules Caution and Virgo quickly grasps mistakes.

There are a couple other things I looked at in this chart. On his excellent blog, Jonah Lehrer discusses the event as a Herd Mentality thing. I'm writing this without my Rex Bills book so the Keywords will be my own -- probably a good reason to skip these paragraphs. I assume that Herds and Herding would be related to Virgo on a literal basis as Virgo rules Farm Animals. This is interesting since I just said that I thought that Sun and Saturn in Virgo were the saving grace for the quick fix to the problem. Oh well, the Stars will indicate a trend, they often don't indicate in which direction the trend will move. Virgo's ruler, Mercury, is conjunct Venus-Mars and the Ascendant as said before.

Pluto would be involved as it rules the Masses. The Moon which rules the Public is conjunct Pluto here. Uranus might be involved as well as it rules large groups of people, maybe not in the negative way though.

The Sun in the opening day chart is in the 11th House and is opposing Uranus. Random, unexpected events with sudden turnarounds. Check out the stock price chart for United Airlines that day. I mean, really, where's the epicenter to that earthquake?

Second thing I noticed by looking at United Airlines' chart for Date of Incorporation. United Airlines (incorporated Dec. 30, 1968, Delaware) chart is lit up by all kinds of aspects. Jupiter has been passing over United's natal Sun. That should be great for an Airline.

Here are some interesting progressions. Progressed Mercury has been moving Retrograde since between the mid-late 1980s sometime (sorry about lack of computer program right now). What a bad situation for an Airline as Mercury rules transportation. United's progressed Sun is also approaching conjunction with natal Venus in Aquarius. This is also the spot where t. Neptune, North Node and Chiron are at this point. The prog. Sun will be in exact conjunction in about 4 years about the same time that Progressed Mercury stations Direct at 1 Aquarius. There should really be big changes for the Airline at that time.

Jonah Lehrer's blog: The Frontal Cortex. http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2008/09/herd_behavior.php

Indelibly On the Ball With Pluto

Don't expect a Plutonian to readily give up on Pluto's lowered rank in the Universe. Sun conjunct Pluto in Libra Blogger/Graphic Artist Jason Kottke bought his Son a new toy ball to play with. The Ball is adorned with all the Planets in the Universe but minus Pluto already. Grrrr. Not Good.

Kottke's extra upset that his Planet has been demoted and, in one of today's posts on the blog, he shows a photo of the Ball with Pluto drawn in extra big. Give an Artist a Sharpie and he can remedy most anything. And if Pluto's strong in his chart, he will.

http://kottke.org/08/09/bringing-pluto-back-to-the-solar-system

Father and Son Swept Away for a Night Off Florida Coast

You think you were suffering this last Sunday after too long a night? Just think how Walter and Chris Marino felt. Chris is a 12-year old boy who was vacationing with his family near Daytona Beach, Florida. He jumped into the ocean around 7:30 pm on Saturday Night and got stuck in a rip tide. His Father, Walter, jumped in to save him and got caught in the current as well. It was probably too dark for the Coast Guard to find them so they spent the entire night floating around out off the coast. The next morning they were rescued. Walter was found at 7:30 am about 8 miles off shore and Chris was found 2 hours later about a mile away. During the night they had become separated.

This is a Miracle Story and it's always good to understand what the chart of a Miracle looks like. I tend to think that the Uranus-Neptune mutual reception combined with Pluto in Sagittarius is bringing more than the average amounts of Miracle Stories but who knows? At any rate, when Chris first made his big splash on Saturday evening Pisces would have been rising. That describes the Ocean scenery perfectly. The ruler of the Chart, Neptune, is conjunct the North Node (Destiny) right now and up in its own 12th House.

Uranus, planet of Unexpected Events, was very close to the Ascendant, a singleton in Water Signs. It makes sense from looking at this chart as an Event that a Shock will come from the Water if Uranus is placed in challenging aspect. Here it is opposing the Sun-Saturn conjunction in Pisces. Saturn rules Fathers and it is conjunct the 7th House cusp. Whatever else it is, this event has definitely turned out to be a real Father-Son bonding project.

The Uranus to Sun-almost Saturn opposition seems to be key to this event as it is straddling the ASC-DESC Axis at the beginning of the event. It is in the opposite position of this Angle 12 hours later what the Father is first rescued.

So this put Uranus and Saturn on strong Angular Positions. Pluto, ruler of both the Underworld and of a Water Sign is angular up in the 10th house as well and unaspected. Pluto works from beneath the surface, you really have to watch out for the undertows that he creates. And the whole shape of this chart is lopsided into a bowl shape that's bound by the Uranus to Sun-Saturn opposition. Something had to fall over.

Also creating a problem was the Out-of-Bounds Moon this week-end. In the end, this is probably what saved these two men. The Moon was in Sagittarius and Sagittarius will take on an Adventure. Chris, the Son, as a 12 year old is probably just past his Jupiter Return so this may have been some sort of weird Astro Expression of his natal chart as Jupiter rules Sagittarius. Mars-Mercury and Venus were also in conjunction (placed in angular 7th House) and squaring Jupiter in Capricorn. If Chris has natal Jupiter in Capricorn it makes sense astrologically at least that he would celebrate his 1st Jupiter Return in some way with his Dad (Capricorn rules Fathers). That adds to the Adventurous, positive spirit that the Marinos exhibit. They say that the Lighthouse saved their lives because it gave them a point of reference and they knew they were still close to land. Perhaps the elevated placement of the Moon is symbolic of that.

When Walter (the Father) was picked up around 7:30 the next morning this chart was flip flopped almost as if the chart capsized on itself (or reverse-capsized). The bowl shape was covering the bottom half of the chart.

As rescue, The Moon was conjunct the IC and, along with the MC, was involved in both a Grand Square (square Sun-Saturn-ASC opposite Uranus-DESC) and a Kite/Grand Trine (Mars-Mercury-Venus trine North Node).

When Chris (the Son) was picked up two hours later (around 9:30 am) Mars (ruling boys) was conjunct the Ascendant. The whole time the Mercury-Venus-Mars conjunction was trining (protection) the Neptune-North Node conjunction. Looking at the chart, it almost looks as if Neptune, Lord of the Sea, was doing this on purpose. It's none of my business but I hope that this family seeks treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress immediately because this chart would certainly be a strong indicator that problems will embed themselves deeply in the psyche if not openly confronted as soon as possible. I read that Chris is Autistic. This Adventure could either help him or hurt him depending on how it is handled. He certainly has shown that he has strength and survival skills. With the Jupiter influence maybe he will go on to publish a book about his experience (with his Dad, of course).

http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Florida_Man_and_Son_Rescued_after_12_Hours_Overnight_in_Atlantic_Ocean_23885.html

Google's Chrome

Google launched a new browser called "Chrome" that is designed as a new model of browser better able to handle video and audio than the older browsers.

According to this link (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10030035-2.html) the Launch Date is September 2, 2008. The Official Press Conference to launch the browser was set to begin at 11:00 am in Mountain View, CA. I can't find the time that the Conference actually began to confirm the chart.

Sun 11 Virgo; ASC 3 Scorpio; Moon 17 Libra; NN 19 Aquarius; MC 8 Leo

Sun in Virgo on the 11th House cusp looks like a good chart for anything having to do with technology. This is improved by a trine to the Sun by Jupiter in the 3d House. 3d House and 9th House (ruled by Jupiter) would rule Web Browsing. There is a little bit of a problem in that Jupiter is in Capricorn, Capricorn is on the 3d House cusp and the Sun is conjunct Saturn. All of these Saturnian influences might indicate a slow launch that's not well received at first and is considered over authoritarian in some way. It might be slow. It might also have staying power.

It's interesting how many of the event charts I'm looking at right now seem to happen while Scorpio is rising. Don't know why that is. Scorpio is an assertive sign, secretive, controlling. It's ruler, Pluto is Retrograde in Sagittarius. The feeling I'm getting from looking at these charts is that people are trying to take one last stab at the Sagittarius Optimism before Pluto moves forward into Capricorn. Scorpio Rising would also have an natural affinity with the Sun-Saturn conjunction in Virgo so there is a low key flow of energy that can be created from these events. At this time of day the Sun-Saturn conjunction is also placed in the 11th House which is a good catalyst for making things happen.

The Chrome Launch chart has no planets in the 1st House and its bowl shaped chart also indicates that people don't know what to expect from this product, perhaps something is missing.

There's a lot of Neptunian energy in this chart. Neptune rules lack of boundaries. First there's an inner planet stellium in Libra hanging out over the 11th-12th house cusp. (Venus 4 Libra, Mercury 7 Libra, Mars 10 Libra, Moon 17 Libra). Venus-Mercury-Mars are up in the 11th House squaring the 3d House Jupiter. I'd imagine that would be a good set-up for the social and artistic aspects of using the web.

Moon in the 12th House might again show something low key or slow to launch, perhaps unreliable or not trust worthy. The trine to Neptune might enhance this. Would have been nice if the meeting had started an hour earlier with Moon (public) in the 1st house. People might trust it or at least go crazy over it. There are concerns that Google is keeping track of everything that is done on its Browser. With ruler Pluto in the 2d House the main motive is to make money.

Big Brother or Cyclops?

The U.S. Military just shot a Satellite into the air that they claim can spy on anything that's bigger than 16" in vivid detail. They'll have to aim it away from Angelina Jolie and onto Osama bin Laden, though, and I don't know if the U.S. Military is up to this task. Maybe our best chance of finding Osama is to pay The National Enquirer to send a bunch of paparazzi over to the Middle East. It'll take those guys about 2 minutes to track Osama ... Last thing we need is another blurry picture of a guy walking around in a Burka, that's for sure.

So, this Satellite gizmo. It's called Geo-Eye-1. How cute. Did Walt Disney name it?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080907/ap_on_sc/satellite_launch.

Geo-Eye 1 - Big Brother
Launched 9/5/2008 11:50 am Vandenburg Air Force Base, California

Pluto rules Spies. And the U.S. Military would make great Astrologers. They chose a chart that is ruled by Pluto with 19 Scorpio Rising. Pluto is placed in the 2d House and is trining the Leo Midheaven. Leo is ruled by the Sun and the Sun rules the Right Eye in humans.

This Satellite is only one Eye but I thought I'd try reading the chart in human terms, as if the thing had two eyes. Remember the story about Odysseus fighting the one-eyed man eating monster Cyclops.

As I already said, the Sun rules the Right Eye. In this chart it is placed in the 10th House of Government conjunct Saturn, natural ruler of the 10th House. The Sun also rules the Midheaven and the South Node. So this is a strong indicator of "Government Eye."

Sun-Saturn is opposing Uranus down in the 4th House. Uranus also rules the IC/4th House. We're all being digitized and tracked through technology. Neptune is conjunct the IC from the 3d House of Communications and is conjunct the North Node and Chiron (also in the 3d House). Neptune doesn't worry its head off about Boundaries or Ethics. (It's interesting that Neptune was the Father of the Cyclops and got revenge on Odysseus for putting out his Son's one eye. Don't know what that means but just thought I'd mention it because the IC/MC axis rule parents).

The Moon rules the Left Eye and it is placed in the 1st House at 6 Sagittarius. The Moon rules the 9th House which is Sagittarius' natural house. Sagittarius is the sign of Far-Sightedness. It is also the sign of International Affairs and Long Distance Travel and Legal Opinions. Those little cameras that are installed on many of the traffic lights and street corners across the Country at this point? This is a big 9th House version of those little 3d house doohickees.

The Moon in this chart squares Saturn. Perhaps this means that the Satellite will be cross-eyed? Wouldn't that be a hoot?

This chart shows the U.S. Government (Saturn-10th House) keeping Authoritarian Control. No mention of what exactly this Satellite will spy on, guess a little bit of everything. Evidently anything smaller than a breadbox can still manage to run around undetected. I seem to remember that Osama is over 6 feet tall.

Ooo Barracuda!!!

(Warning, this is brazen immature sarcastic gibberish in the way that good advice and honest insights always are).

This is just a coincidence, of course, but I swear to God the last week I've been hearing that old song from the 70s playing on muzac in stores everywhere. Then it turns out to be the old High School nickname for the new VP Candidate on the Republican Ticket.

"You lying so low in the weeds
I bet you gonna ambush me
Youd have me down down down on my knees
Now wouldn't you barracuda?"

Ooohhhhh, Barracooodah!"

Then it turns out that the new VP Candidate happens to have a Pregnant Teenage Daughter and she's from a town called Juneau. Same name, different spelling of last year's Comedy about a hip teenage girl who doesn't have an Abortion.

One thing you can say about Sarah Palin (well, everything's being said about her right now so I guess one more thing doesn't make a difference), she's hooked into the Trends. She's born under the sign of Trends -- Aquarius. Depending on her birth time she may even be a Double Aquarius. Aquarians are Mavericks so it's no wonder this is the reason why she was picked for this job.

And the Barracuda Part? She's born with Sun both in conjunction with and parallel to Mars and Saturn. That give one a Killer Jawbone. This conjunction is squaring Neptune, Lord of the Oceans, in Scorpio, Depths of the Sea, in her chart. Actually I seem to remember that Barracuda have abnormally large jaws, hard to remember, they were fished out of existence off the California Shores by the time I was born. Who cares about that anymore? Certainly not Sarah Palin who calls in Helicopters to shoot down wolves and advocates drilling for Oil. Palin is not into Environmentalism. Global Warming? A Pole Shift? Hey, Alaska can only benefit from both of those things. It's cold up there and, as it stands now, the Sun either never Rises nor Sets.

Anyway, the thing about the Pregnant Daughter which we're all supposed to ignore is that she is only 17 and she is now going to marry her boyfriend. This is a huge mistake. The divorce rates on such marriages are through the roof. The Republicans say they like straight talk but for some reason they're not talking straight here. And Mommy's already under investigation for firing an ex-brother-in-law during some Divorce proceedings as it is ... Doesn't this boyfriend have his own set of parents who care about his welfare? What's the matter with these people?

Weirdness of weirdness, Mommy wants to ban Sex Education in the schools. I suppose if kids don't have children to tie them down by Age 18 they'll most certainly leave the State.

Kind of weird how at the Convention last night people were screaming and holding up signs that read "Drill Now!" Gawd, the Republicans are just so full of innuendo these days.

Tell your kids to wait.

Then there's a problem with the new baby in the family. It's a mistake is to give birth to a baby with Down's Syndrome and then run for Vice President of the United States, especially on a platform that promotes Family Values. The baby is how old? Shouldn't Palin's answer have automatically been, "No, I can't leave my children right now, they need me." Okay, okay, so she's not a Soccer Mom, she just looks like one, and the media ran with it....

This blog shouldn't be written, of course. We all now know that the family's personal problems are nobody's business but their own. Bad bad bloggers. Bad media. Mean, so mean. But Mommy is being investigated for mixing personal power, family problems and other people's jobs. That's called a morally corrupt character. And she has barely ever been out of the State of Alaska. It's almost as if the Republicans decided to compete with Obama's lack of experience (which is their biggest criticism of him) by finding someone with even less experience.

Hey, this is straight talk. And I know it's crazy talk too. These are really crazy times. And unfortunately things can always get worse. And I'm very very afraid of that.

Performance Artist Protests Shark Fishing

26 year old performance artist, Alice Newstead was hung by huge fishing hooks in the window of a Cosmetics Store in London today. The hooks were pierced through her back while she posed for onlookers for 15 minutes.

This is the type of News we want to hear when Neptune, Lord of the Sea, and Chiron, Wounded Healer, are conjunct the North Node. Finally.

When Sharks are captured they are hung up on hooks alive while their fins are chopped off. They are then thrown back into the water alive to die a slow death.

I don't know exactly what indicates compassion for animals but I do know that most of the Vegans I'ves known have been Pisces and Libras so I always sort of assume that a strong Venus and Neptune are involved. Right now there is a conjunction of Mercury, Venus and Mars in Libra. The Moon was also in Libra at the time of the Performance and it was in the 12th House and trining Neptune which was conjunct the IC. All this emphasis on Venus and Neptune certainly indicates an artistic event. Interesting that this one occurred in a Beauty Shop as well (Venus & Mercury in Libra).

As is appropriate for anything having to do with Sharks, Scorpio was rising at noon. Hmm, Lunch Hour. I'm not sure when the performance actually occurred but this was the planned time. Newstead was painted blue and dressed in only a Mermaids tail. She has been pierced for other performances many times (I read 60 times somewhere) and said that this didn't hurt. Well, Neptune also rules Anesthesia and Denial...

The Protest aspects show up as well. Uranus and Pluto are squaring each other and both are Singletons (Water and Fire, respectively).

Real Social Good came out of the event. A London restaurant has declared that it will stop serving Shark Fin soup as a result of the event. The Sun is conjunct Saturn in Virgo today and trining Jupiter. This Trine was sextiling the Scorpio Ascendant from either side. A very good indicator of Success. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/hakkasan-drops-its-famed-pound40-shark-fin-soup-over-ethics-917895.html

Famous Eyebrows

They rise. They fall. They arch. They frown. Old women's thin out. Old men's bush out. Ew. So Scary. What are they?

Eyebrows.

Saw a fun list of the famous eyebrows of Beautiful Women in Style Magazine. (I think it was Style, maybe a different one). The magazine represented each Decade from 1920 onward by a famous actress whose eyebrows represent the trend. I thought I'd try to figure out what in the chart indicates whether or not you're known for your eyebrows. Haha. What a stupid subject. The astrology is impossible but I'm going to make some rash conclusions anyway.

Eyebrows are key indicators of human expression and emotion. The beauty magazines say that if you pluck and draw yours in just so your eyes will light up in a way that rich men will take you out to Dinner. They don't tell you that if you pluck all your eyebrows out they will never grow back in again.

So, here's the astrology to see if you have what it takes to draw on some nice ones.

Eyebrows are part of the forehead (Aries, Mars) and part of the eyes (Right Eye: Sun / Left Eye: Moon). It figures that with this combined rulership that part of the face would be most expressive.

After looking at the following charts I decided a couple of things help if you want to be known for your eyebrows. Masculine planets placed in tension spots in the horoscope will indicate distinctive eyebrows in women.

My supposition here is that Mars in strong contact with an Outer Planet and ASC (your appearance) and MC (how others perceive you) will indicate the personality of your eyebrows. This can be controlled (Capricorn), of course, by proper grooming (Virgo). Plucking, I'm sure is ruled by Mars and Grooming might be ruled by Virgo. Saturn involved will give a good sense of form for shaping and understanding one's facial structure. Uranus in aspect to Mars, Venus, ASC or MC will indicate a unique and distinctive person who stands out from the rest and sets the trends.

Mind you, I'm having fun here. Part of this might make sense, but mostly it's bullshit.

Greta Garbo represents the 30s. The magazine says her eyebrows were "reed thin, perfectly penciled." Greta was a Virgo. They excel at line-work at artists, why not with their eyebrows? They are also compulsive pluckers and hair pullers so I wonder if Greta may have simply turned a secret compulsion around to work on her behalf. And an entire generation followed, silly girls. Garbo's Mars was in Sagittarius, a masculine sign. It was apex to a t-square and squared her Sun to Pluto opposition. Mars is related to the Ascendant in that it disposes to Jupiter which is conjunct her Ascendant.

Ingrid Bergman represents the 40s. "Strong and flawlessly groomed." Here we have another Virgo lady who preens. Her Midheaven is the strong sign of Taurus, good earth bull. Bergman had Mars in Cancer conjunct Saturn and Pluto. This conjunction is in aspect to the rulers of her ASC and Midheaven.

Elizabeth Taylor represents the 50s. A bird of a much different feather here. "Expressive dark & romantic." Taylor was an expressive, romantic Pisces Sun, Virgo's alter ego. Her Mars is also in Pisces conjunct her Sun and Mercury and opposing her Neptune in Virgo. Groomed for Romance. Mars squares her Ascendant. Venus is conjunct Uranus in Taylor's chart and opposes her MC. All in all, an utterly exciting and alluring person, the eyebrows are just a part of the whole.

Sophia Loren represents the 60s. "Ultra Curvy." Another Virgo for Christ's sake. Are all Virgo women just drop dead gorgeous? Apparently the answer is yes. Loren's Mars is in Leo and opposes a conjunction of Moon-Saturn in Aquarius. But with magnetic Capricorn Rising and Scorpio MC, her massive amounts of reserve and self-control, though, are the real turn ons.

Brooke Shields represents the 70s. "Full Straight & Unbridled." Yeah, she was only 5 years old when she played the Prostitute. She must have a huge insurance policy taken out on those eyebrows. Shields is yet another Mutable Sign. She's a double Gemini (Sun & Moon) with a Virgo Rising. You're literally drawn to her because you want to pluck her eyebrows. Shields' Mars is in Virgo conjunct Pluto and Uranus that sits in the 12th House right above her Ascendant. This opposes Saturn. That's a really "straight and unbridled" aspect for sure, especially since the opposition is squared by her Sun. Shields also has a conjunction of Venus and Moon over her Midheaven which is super girly and balances out the intensity of that brow line.

Whitney Houston represents the 80s. "Bold & Statement Making." Houston is a Leo which is bold and statement making in itself. Her Mars is not very well placed, though, to hold up those eyebrows. Let's face it she is simply too talented to be known simply for her eyebrows. Houston's Mars is in Libra and opposes her Moon-Jupiter conjunction in Aries and so disposits to Mars. Mars is in aspect to the ruler of her Midheaven.

Kate Moss represents the 90s. "Slim & subtly shaded." Kate Moss is a Capricorn. They like understatement. They also tend to be all bones so I don't know why we're concentrating on her eyebrows. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn and Moss's Saturn is at 30 Gemini on the Cancer Point. She is known for her Form. Her personality, and thus her expression is more complex than the other ladies on this list. Moss's Mars is included in some difficult configurations which are challenging to blend astrowise. This could account for the subtle shading of her most expressive feature. Mars is apex of a Yod to her Neptune-Pluto sextile. Yods are configured of planets placed in signs that have nothing in common. Something is always a little out of whack for the owners of such aspects. On the other hand, the Neptune-Pluto sextile is spanning many generations at this point and I suppose that Mars in aspect to it would raise some eyebrows.

What I don't understand about this list is that Audrey Hepburn is left off. I remember seeing an interview of her saying that her career didn't take off until she created her "look." She specifically said that creating her eyebrows launched her career. (It helped that she was anorexic). Audrey's Mars was in Cancer within a 10 degree orb conjunction with Pluto. Her Mars was also squaring Uranus which is the ruler of her Ascendant. Uranus is in Aries which disposes back to Mars. Mars also sextiles her MC. She was self-invented. Well, with good bones and a charming personality.

Frida Kahlo is also left out. Kahlo is known for her incredible Unibrow. Kahlo's Mars is conjunct Uranus in Capricorn and opposing her Sun-Neptune conjunction. With Leo Rising, I guess she had enough confidence to pull that thing off.