Santa Barbara/Southern California Wildfires

The Full Moon conjunct Mars didn't bring about an Earthquake in California but it did bring a new Fire Storm. The Fire began slightly before 6 pm on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2009 and has been difficult to contain due to the dry brush and the Santa Ana winds, sort of what you could call dry Hurricane winds (slower than Hurricanes, though) which are normal for this time of year. California is known for her/his Earthquakes but the Fires and Mudslides are much more disastrous. The Native Americans used to intentionally set fires in order to clear the land and control when the fires would happen. Anyway, this particular fire started in Montecito which is a very wealthy area in the southern part of Santa Barbara and has now spread to other areas.

Montecito Wildfire
Nov. 13, 2009 Montecito, CA
Chart calculated for 5:50 pm PT

Sun 23 Scorpio; Moon 4 Gemini; ASC 10 Gemini; MC 19 Aquarius; NN 13 Aquarius

The stand out here is the approaching Full Moon. The Moon here is opposing Mars (29 Scorpio), This is a very volatile aspect and has just passed over the ASC/DESC line. Neptune, Chiron and the North Node are just passing over the Aquarius Midheaven. So the Bases (Angles) were loaded and aiming at the one empty angle at the bottom of the chart which indicates Home and Land. At this point Leo, a Fire Sign, was passing over this angle. The Sun is in a stressful spot approaching first a Full Moon which is an opposition to the Moon and also approaching conjunction with Mars, a Fire Planet. I wonder if the rulership of Air and Fire Signs over the angles is significant in Wildfires to describe times when Hotness and Dryness would be stronger influences.

The Saturn-Uranus opposition is just passing into the 4th and 10th Houses at this time and so would have been angular during the beginnings of the Fire. This really does look like an Earthquake Chart.

Pluto (Mass Destruction) is a singleton in Fire and is placed angularly in the 7th House. That's not really significant by itself but it is conjunct Venus and this "island" conjunction is unaspected to other planets by major aspect. Venus/Pluto could indicate destruction to a wealthier community.

I don't usually look at these but for some reason I plugged in some of the asteroids and found that Ceres, Vesta, and Venus were in a Grand Trine with Ceres in H4, Vesta in H11 and Venus in H7. Grand Trines make things flow really well and seem to show up somewhere in a chart. Vesta rules "the Home fires" and Ceres is in the 4th House of Home. This shows a female influence, as well. The Moon and Venus are both Out of Bounds and contraparallel which also indicates female energy. Probably the Fire was set by "Mother Nature", maybe set by an old Movie Star (Neptune-Chiron conjunct MC). I doubt it was arson, but I do wonder what all the female influence in the chart is. There is a spot in the earth in a Park around that area which is so hot it periodically sets off fires by itself, sort of connected with Geological/Earth stress. (I'm going blank on the name, I think it's Los Banos National Park?).