Mark Zuckerberg - Mars Synodic Cycles

Forbes Magazine recently named Mark Zuckerberg as the World's Youngest Billionaire. Zuckerberg is going to celebrate his 24th Birthday next month. Happy Jupiter Return year you little mutt. Zuckerberg is the creator & CEO of the online social website Facebook which he created from his dorm room while attending undergrad classes at Harvard. Can U Imagine?

Looking at his chart, I found a great example of someone born at the beginning of a Mars Synodic Year. (I discussed Synodic Years on a previous entry called something like "Baby's first Synodic Years.") I'm interested in finding out if these "Years" present themselves as Cycles in person's life. Synodic Years are created from the Sun's opposition to a planet that is in the middle of a Retrograde period. Humans on earth never experience Sun opposite Mercury and Venus because those planets never oppose the Sun, but all the other planets outside the Earth's orbit do.

The Mars Year cycle seems like it would create a person who is highly energetic, aggressive, youthful, creative, perhaps having problems with authority through the planet, signs, and houses involved. It makes sense that a person who rushes into his life, makes his first Billion during his first Uranus square would have gained some extra boost from Mars in his chart.

Mark Zuckerberg
b. May 14, 1984, Boca Raton, FL

Sun 25 Taurus; Moon in Scorpio; NN 7 Gemini

Zuckerberg's chart shape is one of those fascinating See-Saw/Butterfly shapes. There's a bundle of mostly personal planets here in Aries through Gemini opposing a bundle of mostly outer planets in Scorpio through Capricorn (all Rx too). I've read somewhere that this chart shape is sort of a balancing act type of aspect between the two sides. The individual is continually playing a tight rope dance with life and with others. In this chart, even the Nodes are connected in with this chart pattern.

Included in this opposition is a Full/or near Full Moon in the financial signs of Taurus (Sun) and Scorpio (Moon). One can see that he's got a natural affinity with the green stuff. Zuckerberg's Sun is opposite this Retrograde Mars which is conjunct Saturn in Scorpio. The Moon is definitely in Scorpio but I don't know how closely placed it is to this conjunction without a birth time.

What got my attention is, as I said before, is the fact that Zuckerberg has a Mars Retrograde that opposes his Sun. Sun and Mars are highly energetic & forceful when working together, relating through an opposition means that the energy is used through relationships, sort of seems good for a sparring match.

The Mars-Saturn Rx in Scorpio conjunction (Saturn doesn't oppose n.Sun), possibly conjunct the Moon brings in some strong influences from the parents as Saturn rules the Father and Moon the Mother. Zuckerberg's parents are both professionals, I believe his Father is a lawyer and his mother is a psychiatrist. These planets in the sign of Scorpio indicate that they are driven, hard working, and very psychologically penetrating, exacting people. Zuckerberg learned from them well. He also may suffer emotionally from not understanding when to apply force and when to use the brakes. (Certainly hope he doesn't drive a stick-shift.) It's extremely interesting that Zuckerman is basically a glorified Hacker who has learned how to balance (opposite, Butterfly chart) his extreme behavior into a successful, constructive form with the outside world (not without problems, mind you). Harvard actually suspended his Internet privileges when he hacked into the school records in order to create a student website. He's in similar legal straights now for another breach of privacy through the Facebook sight. In December I guess he gave a public apology. Pluto was conjunct his natal Neptune at 1 Capricorn and opposing transiting Mars Rx. Nasty transit on the Aries point which brings things into public arena.

His Nodal Axis is in Gemini/Sagittarius and presents a completely different life pattern. One can see these two converge in his early life. His progressed Sun and Venus pass over his North Node in Gemini. Meanwhile, his Nodal Axis passes backward over his natal Sun and Venus. This might be significant because they were both hitting each other as he created Facebook at Age 19 (time of Nodal Return). He literally could create the Resources (Taurus) for a school social network (Gemini).

One of the problems presented in his life though is that Zuckerberg doesn't seemed to have learned how to respect the privacy rights of others (planets in Scorpio) and sort of assumes that others want to have a huge open social network where everyone can get to know each other. He understands the Gemini Side of the World and is in denial of the Taurus/Scorpio side. This is also indicated by the Sun-Mars opposition as you will see when you read Bob Marks' description down below).

Magically, many people really do want such a network, and hence Zuckerberg's fabulous sudden wealth. His Facebook software took off like lightening on College campuses (Sagittarius South Node conjunct Uranus in Sagittarius) and spread to the older population after that. Asking permission just isn't his way of doing things, slows things down, not a Mars keyword.

Okay, so to look at the Synodic Mars Year to see if it influences. These happen on average every 2 years plus 1-2.5 months (779.7 days). Recently they've been occurring on odd number years. From eyeballing the dates it looks like Mars goes retrograde for about a month, opposes the Sun and then continues the Retrograde for another month, then begins to move forward. It's not completely finished its the damage until it returns to the spot where it began its retrograde which seems to take another couple of months.

July 29, 2003 - Nov. 9, 2003 / Mars Retrograde beginning at 11 Pisces.
Sun opposite Mars Rx on Aug. 28-29, 2003 at 5-6 Virgo-Pisces.
Mars D at 1 Pisces on Sept. 27, 2003

Oct. 2, 2005 - Feb. 5, 2006 / Mars Rx beginning at 24 Taurus
Sun opposite Mars Rx on Nov. 7-8, 2005 at 15-16 Scorpio
Mars D at 9 Taurus on Dec. 10, 2005

This Sun-Mars Rx was involved in a Grand Square aspect to the Saturn-Neptune opposition that was happening at the time. This squares Zuckerberg's Venus-Saturn opposition from Taurus to Scorpio. But Saturn was helped at the same time because it was involved in a Grand Trine with the NN and Mercury.

Nov. 15, 2007 - Apr. 7, 2008 / Mars Rx beginning at 13 Cancer
Sun opposite Mars on Dec. 25, 2007 at 3 Capricorn-Cancer
Mars D at 25 Gemini on Jan. 31, 2008

My analysis of the Mars Synodic Cycle isn't very good because I don't have enough dates to really compare against Zuckerberg's life. It sort of looks like he created Facebook close to a Mars opposition. He found investors during a trine to the Sun-Mars opposition. So perhaps it's a strong cycle to watch, perhaps not. I'd like to compare the oppositions to when Zuckerberg gets in trouble with authority, which is a strong marker of Sun-Mars oppositions. From Bob Marks' description from www.bobmarksastrologer.com:

Mars Aspecting the Sun: Whatever squares or opposes the Sun frequently shows traits that we reject, that we don’t even want to believe we have. But we do have them. Mars is anger and energy. One woman with a stressful aspect between the Sun and Mars had a violent father who beat her mother in front of the kids. She always wondered why her boyfriends were abusive. I asked her if she also had no energy. She replied "How did you know?". You cannot cut off the "bad" traits of a planet and keep the good. It’s a package deal. Jung was right in this case. She told herself that she wasn’t going to be like that violent Mars, so she attracted it from the outside. And since she rejected her Mars function, she also cut off her own energy. In other cases, the Mars seems to take over, and the person has an explosive temper. Stress aspects between the Sun and Mars can also tend to be defiant of authority if the Mars influence predominates. Once you learn to deal with this combination, however, the energy can seem never ending.

I don't have the Date that Zuckerberg hacked into the Student Records at Harvard in order to create his first Student Directory. I think they said it was in his Sophomore year.

He created Facebook from his Dorm Room at Harvard on Feb. 4, 2004. He was 19 and just past his first Nodal Return (7 Gemini). The Nodes then passed over his natal Chiron, Sun and Venus in Taurus. Facebook's "birth date" had a Leo Full Moon from 16 Aquarius-Leo. This squares his Sun-Mars opposition plus the transiting Nodes. Leo and Aquarius are rulers of Entrepreneurship and are very social so this is appropriate. As for Mars aspects, transiting Mars was at 2 Taurus so was almost opposing natal Mars but not quite. His Sun-Mars Synodic Cycle was almost halfway through. T.Mars was conjunct his natal Mercury at 30 Aries and opposing Pluto at 1 Scorpio. (The Mercury in Aries opposite Pluto in Scorpio shows how sharp and shrewd his mind really is).

Zuckerberg moved across Country to Palo Alto, CA in the Summer of 2004 with his roommate and some friends. They meant to stay only the Summer, but found an investor to back the company and stayed in Palo Alto. One would expect a Sun-Mars person to drop out of college. It's interesting that Zuckerberg's prog. Sun and Venus were in the social, networking sign of Gemini opposing his natal Uranus of computers, high tech. Venus = Money and Uranus = suddenness so I suppose this is a good aspect for asking for investor money. I took lousy notes but do remember reading somewhere that Zuckerberg was offered millions of dollars by his investors and while driving to meet friends to celebrate some guy pulled a gun on him at a Gas Station. Would be interesting to check that date for sure for Mars-Pluto influences.

Mars passed through Cancer, Leo and Virgo that Summer (2004) and ended mid-September with a nice conjunction of Sun-Mars-Jupiter-Mercury in Virgo which would have trined Zuckerberg's Taurus-Scorpio opposition.

Facebook ran into problems (always having to do with privacy issues and copyright laws) after it launched its Newsfeed on Sept. 5, 2006. This program was criticized for giving personal information over to cyberstalkers. The Saturn-Neptune opposition was in a t-square to Jupiter in Scorpio at the time which was right on top of Zuckerberg's natal Saturn-Moon-Mars in Scorpio stellium.

During the launch, Zuckerberg's first Uranus square was exact to the degree from Sagittarius (n.) to Pisces(t.). His progressed Sun and Venus were still within aspect to this square, so he could expect sudden and unpredictable events both good and bad. Mars was in an interesting aspect. It was at the end of Virgo conjunct the South Node and trining/sextiling Zuckerberg's natal Sun/Mars. It seems to have presented a test for his natural aggressiveness tendencies. You just want to go ahead and do whatever you want to do during a trine.

You can really see the Mars-Saturn conjunction in Scorpio pulling on each other in this chart. Zuckerberg seems to always get caught. The oppositions from the Sun just really put the spotlight on him and the Mars energy wants to keep jumping the fences. He's certainly learning about privacy issues through it seems all the Fixed Sign energies. He keeps insisting that openness and sharing are the way that society must exist on a larger scale. Hopefully he will figure out a way to make that happen without the evil element. He's so young, he probably hasn't weened off the Tolkien Trilogy yet.

I've Been Caught

The Onion has found my blog. I feel so exposed.

Here's a link describing the research that was done in order to find the One True Asshole in the Blogosphere!

http://www.theonion.com/content/radio_news/researchers_discover_massive

(found at kottke.org)

California Dams on the (Hans) Brink(er) of Disaster

California has a Virgo Sun so I suppose that it's to be expected that the State is going through a massive review of its Dams while Saturn is transiting through the sign of Virgo. Saturn rules Dams. (Rex Bills).

An article in today's San Francisco Examiner says that eight of the 19 dams that serve the Bay Area are at high risk of killing people and other destructive behaviors if they were to break. ("Grand Jury's warning not heeded, only one of 19 county dams has emergency action plan one month after deadline" by Katie Worth, examiner.com). With all the droughts the reservoirs aren't filled to capacity. It's a good time to get in there and plug up the holes with our thumbs.

According to Bills "breakage" is ruled by Mars (Saturn, Uranus).
"Repairs" are ruled by Uranus.
Something caught my eye, (Neptune) rules "Resilience."
At any rate, some of the biggest dams are built right on fault lines, so you get the picture.

The article lists the dams that are in the worst shape and the years they were built. I can't seem to find exact dates; the years given conflict with other sources like the USGS. I hoped to find which ones have a stressed out Saturn placement right now to see if they actually in trouble. They've all survived two major earthquakes and they were mostly built while Pluto and Neptune were in Taurus so you know they were built to withstand an Aryan invasion, let alone a couple of earthquakes and old age. Saturn-Pluto-Uranus years seem to just indicate that people will be in the mood for building Dams I guess because many of these dams have difficult aspects of those planets built in.

The Spenser Lake dam, built in or around 1888 was built during a Fixed Saturn-Uranus-Pluto t-square (apex Pluto in Gemini). Uranus is inconjunct the conjunction of Neptune-Pluto in Taurus.

The Crocker Lake Dam, built in or around 1890, a year which has a Thor's Hammer with Neptune-Pluto in Gemini squaring Saturn in Virgo aspecting apex Jupiter in Capricorn.

Here's a list of Dams in California which includes their size and year built. The year mentioned are not exact in this list, necessarily: http://damsafety.water.ca.gov/docs/Juris%20(N-S)10-07.pdf

Here's a list of the biggest. They worry me more because they were built in the mid-60s while Uranus and Pluto were opposing Saturn in Mutable Signs.

Nacimiento Dam - San Luis Obispo County - 1957
New Bullards Bar Dam - Yuba County - 1970
New Exchequer Dam - Mariposa County - 1967
O'Shaughnessy Dam - Tuolumne - 1972
Orouilee Dam - Butte Country - 1968
San Antonio Dam - Monterey County - 1965

Earthquakes in Reno, NV

Reno, NV is being deluged by earthquakes. These aren't big earthquakes but they have been occuring consistently since the end of February and are increasing in size. Today the residents of Reno were notified to be "on alert." I looked up Reno's natal chart and the astrology is just totally amazing. Uranus and Pluto rules earthquakes, toss Mars, Saturn and the Nodal Axis in there and shake well. (Sorry, sick joke).

According to Wikipedia Reno officially became a city on May 13, 1868.

Sun 24 Taurus; Moon Aquarius; NN 2 Virgo Rx

Transiting Saturn, of course, is conjunct Reno's Virgo North Node. Transiting Pluto is trining it. This is complicated by the fact that Reno's natal Saturn is at 4 Sagittarius squaring its Nodal Axis. Also complicating this is the fact that Reno has been going through a Nodal Opposition transit. 25 Aquarius is kind of a wide orb but then one notices that the progressed North Node for Reno is at 26 Leo which shrinks the orb significantly.

Uranus in Reno's chart is at 11 Cancer conjunct Venus in Cancer squaring Jupiter and Neptune in Aries.

Reno has 3 planets in Aries, Jupiter-Neptune and Mars. Mars is in its own sign here so extra strong. It's only aspect is a trine to the North Node so it is receiving the energy from all that Saturn-Node transit action.

Progressed Mars is at 10 Cancer right on top of Uranus and Venus. Transiting Mars has been passing over this pair as well! And Uranus-Venus is also being squared by the progressed Sun at 8 Libra. The transiting Sun was opposing prog. Sun last month, the exact date was a month ago on Mar. 27.

This is too much information, sorry. Just imagine Uranus and Mars and the Sun and Saturn and the Nodes connected to each other with scary Red Lines. Neptune is also involved. Wonder if Lake Tahoe which is nearby is somehow being affected.

I think I read that a series of small earthquakes like this is called a "mogul earthquake swarm." The first one was Feb. 28, 2008 at 23:07. Scorpio rises in this chart and guess what? Aquarius is on the IC at 23 degrees. This means that the Nodal Axis is crossing the IC/MC line along with Saturn and Neptune. Pluto is in the 2d house opposite Mars in the 8th House.

Shark Attack - Solana Beach

A rare event, a Great White Shark killed a male swimmer off the coast of Northern San Diego County on Friday. I had just been reading about how in comparison with other tragics forms of death, there are very few Shark killings. The victim was a retired veterinarian, Dr. David Martin. I send my condolences to Dr. Martin's family and friends.

April 25, 2008 7:00 am, slightly after, Solana Beach, CA

In this chart, Taurus was rising. The Sun is in Taurus in the 12th House. Rex Bills says that Veterinarians are ruled by Mercury, Virgo (H12). Venus is the ruler of this chart and it is placed in the 12th House along with Mercury and the Sun so I suppose the Ascendant in this chart could indicate the Victim.

Scorpio is on the Descendant. Rex doesn't give a rulership for Sharks but I suspect that Scorpio and Pluto might be considered a ruler. While looking at this chart, though, I'm really struck by how the Aquarius Glyph looks like a Shark's mouth.

Pluto is at 2 Capricorn and is conjunct the Moon by a degree. It is placed in the 8th house. This, of course, is the house of Death and Murder but is also (imo) the House of intense interactions with Nature. This is certainly an appropriate aspect for something that attacks you from underneath while you are swimming out in the Ocean. Great White Sharks attack by sneaking up under their victims.

The crazy stuff comes because the Moon is out of bounds at 27 degrees, 25 minutes. Moon-Pluto is in an Earth Grand Trine aspect with Planets in the other 2 water houses. It's a literal description of being circled by a shark out in the waters. Saturn is at Virgo in the 4th house and the Sun is at 6 Taurus in the 12th house of hidden enemies/victims/veterinarians (weird combination, huh? 12th house is a complicated location in the chart).

Neptune at 24 Aquarius conjunct the North Node 25 Aquarius might somehow be contributing. The experts say that they think that this was a case of mistaken identity, that the shark figured the swimmer was a seal.

Something kind of interesting is that the only other confirmed Shark Attack Fatality off of San Diego waters happened on June 14, 1959 in La Jolla. At this point Saturn and Pluto were at the same points that they are now but in reverse order, i.e. Pluto in Virgo and Saturn in Capricorn trining at first degrees. A 33 year old man, Robert Pamperin, was fishing for abalone and the Shark lunged at his feet and swallowed him whole.

A woman kayaker was also found mauled by what apparently was a Shark on June 24, 1995. This isn't a confirmed death because it isn't known if she drowned first or if she was attacked.

Crazy Pills

Really interesting article on the History of Psychiatry in the United States that separates the phases that the Industry has gone through into 3 distinct epochs. The industry is barely 100 years old. (from the Wilson Quarterly: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=wq.essay&essay_id=400008.)

Psychiatry is an industry that deals with extremes of human behavior so I suppose one shouldn't be shocked at the extreme behaviors that are used to treat it. Thorazine took over from the Shock Treatments and Lobotomies of the mid 20th century. It was invented in France and accepted for use on Dec. 11, 1950. (Sun-Chiron-Venus in Sagittarius squaring the Pisces NN-Virgo SN). Created originally for some other completely unrelated ill (I think it was considered an antihistimine) the Doctors began to notice that it made a person not care about a damn thing. How else can you deal with that entire huge generation who suffered from Pluto in Cancer? Thorazine, baby. No more caring. This is also the generation that created all the Divorces. Thorazine accepted by the FDA in 1957. Pluto at the very last degrees of Leo just chompin at the bit to get into Virgo where it could take over the World with Magic Bullets.

Next biggee was Valium. Valium created by a Polish Doctor, Dr. Leo Sternbach in 1956 as Librium. He manipulated it into a pill that was 2 1/2 times stronger and named it Valium. Approved by the U.S. in May, 1963. Between 1969 and 1982 Valium became the top selling pharmaceutical. Sales peaked in 1978. Pluto was just about finished with its passage through Libra so the Pluto in Cancer people were just about all finished up with their Pluto squares. Pluto passed into Scorpio in 1983-84 just as Valium sales sank.

The Rolling Stones wrote a song about Valium called "Mother's Little Helper." It's really fun to look at the astrology, especially the Cancer Mommy influence, in mind.

The Frankenstein:

Dr. Leo Sternbach
b. May 7, 1908 Opatija, Croatia

Sun 17 Taurus; Moon Cancer or Leo; NN 7 Cancer

Sternbach's Sun is both conjunct his Mercury in Taurus and parallel it. These two trine his Uranus 17 Capricorn to the degree as well. Very sharp mind. Sun-Mercury-Pluto are all in parallel here.

The rest of his chart shows how he used his brilliance. North Node in Cancer conjunct Neptune (drugs) in Cancer on one side. And conjunct a wide conjunction/stellium over the Gemini-Cancer Cusp of Venus in Cancer-Pluto & Mars in Gemini. The Dude handled all the compulsions and boredoms of the most Anxious (Gemini) Mommies (Cancer) in the World.

When Valium hit the market in May, 1963 Sternbach was close to a Nodal Return in Cancer. I can only find that the Drug came out in May, which means that he would have been having his Solar Return at this time. Best stuff is his progressions. 5 planets and the North Node all bundled up in the sign of Cancer. Both his progressed Mercury and prog. Venus were Retrograde which seems to indicate that his effect on all things Cancerian might come with complications. His progressed Moon may have been going through its return in Cancer as well (can't tell for sure what sign as don't have birth time).

Most interesting, of course, is that Sternbach's progressed Sun was conjunct his Neptune-NN conjunction in Cancer. And transiting Neptune was in Scorpio opposite his natal Sun-Mercury. This is one of the few people I've studied who benefitted from a double, let alone single, whammy transit aspect of Sun to Neptune. Most of us just wake up 3 years later and wonder what just happened. Neptune's tendency to bring on addiction is really too much. The Good Doc literally projected those nasty transits onto an entire generation of parents (Nodal Axis: Cancer-Capricorn). This generation was already competing with the Pluto in Gemini's who still hadn't recovered from prohibition, like they really needed to chase the pills down with their cocktails.

As far as the transits go, Uranus had just moved into Virgo (anxiety) and was in wide conjunction with Pluto in Virgo (anxiety). Saturn (depression) was still not quite in Pisces (drugs, addiction, escapism) yet, but ... the Show will soon begin.

The Rolling Stones wrote their song about the drug in 1965 and recorded it in the studio between Dec. 5-8, 1965, London (?). This is right as the Saturn-Chiron in Pisces opposite Uranus-Pluto in Virgo opposition was within degrees of being exact. On Dec. 5, the Sun was in Sagittarius, the Moon was at the beginning of Taurus where it stayed during most of the recording. On Dec. 8 it passed over the North Node in Gemini and became the Full Moon. The Sun-Moon and Nodal Axes were squaring the Saturn-Chiron to Uranus-Pluto axes!

Here are the 5 different types of Psych Drugs, one would assume that there would be more. I guess most were discovered when developed to treat other problems. Somebody really needs to force the psych people to read some French novels so they can learn more about human nature. This is kind of a limiting selection.

anxiolytics, anti-anxiety
anti-depressants
stimulants, depression
anti-psychotics
mood stabilizers

History of the best sellers of the industry. http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/15-10/st_infoporn

1st put out by Bayer: Luminal, 1912 for anxiety (Pluto in Gemini)

The first Anti-depressant, Benzedrine, came onto the Market during the, yes, Great Depression in 1936.

Thorazine, an anti-psychotic, took the paddles away from the ElectroShock and InsulinShock Docs. Dec. 11, 1950, France. Marketed starting in 1957.

Valium, May 1963, Uranus moves into Virgo. Top selling med 1969-1982, peaked in 1978.

Lithium - for all the Mommy's who took too much Valium mid 1970s

1987 Prozac - Ended Talk Therapy, Pluto in Scorpio, Grand conjunction of Saturn-Uranus-Neptune in Capricorn.

1991 Zoloft - Best Selling anti-D in 2002

1997 Seroquel - Best-selling anti-P

2002 Lexapro - current Best- selling anti-D. Benefited from intense marketing probably associated with the Saturn-Pluto opposition in Gemini-Sagg.

Is Global Warming Reversible?

Can't remember where I just read this, but somebody on the Internet somewhere said that Al Gore has now said that Global Warming will be considered irreversible if Carbon emissions are not contained before 2014. Don't know if he actually said what we ought to do about it, just sounded the alarm.

So I looked up the word "Reversible" in Rex Bills.

Reversion, reversing, reversal: Uranus, Saturn, (Pluto)

Sounds like the t-square coming up. Pluto in Capricorn will be the Apex. Cancer will be the empty leg.

Saturn rules Carbon. It also rules Permanence. Uranus and Pluto both rule transformation and transmutation.

Crap, they're going to shut down all the fun Jupiter & Neptunian stuff. Disneyland is probably a total gas-guzzler.

Cascadia Earthquake of 1700

Geologist Brian Atwater, along with a number of other Geologists, have conjectured that there was a huge 8.7 - 9.2 Earthquake off the West Coast of the United States in the year 1700. They've been able to determine down to an hour when this earthquake happened with the help of notes written in Japan that describe a Tsunami that was experienced all the way at the other side of the Pacific Ocean. Atwater has written about this in his book called The Orphan Tsunami of 1700 (haven't read it). The epicenter was offshore of Lincoln City, Oregon.

Cascadia Earthquake, 8.7 - 9.2
Jan. 26, 1700 9pm Lincoln City, Oregon (offshore)

Sun 8 Aquarius; ASC 24 Virgo; Moon 26 Aries; 23 Gemini MC; NN 15 Virgo

The angles in this chart aren't exactly as spectacular as I would hope. The Ascendant, however, is right at the midpoint of a Mars-Pluto square and Uranus is in the 10th house. These planets rule earthquakes and they both are involved in major aspect to Mars in Scorpio so this looks like a real rattler from an astrological perspective.

If you move the earthquake time back an hour you can have the Nodes crossing the Ascendant/Descendant line. If you move it forward slightly more than an hour to around 10:30pm, you can get both Uranus and Pluto elevated into the 10th house together.

Mars in Scorpio (depositing to Pluto, mass destruction) is involved in two significant configurations. It's involved in both a Water Grand Trine (created a tsunami) and is apex to a t-square.

The Water Grand Trine in this chart is Mars 7 Scorpio-Uranus 8 Cancer Rx-Saturn 2 Pisces.

The t-square has apex Mars in Scorpio squaring the Sun in Aquarius which opposes Pluto in Leo. These planets disposit to each other (mars: Pluto: Sun) and then to Uranus.

Uranus is slightly Out of bounds at 23 degrees 37.

The ruler of the IC is Jupiter and Jupiter is placed in the 4th House in Capricorn. It is conjunct Venus and is trining the North Node. This makes me think that maybe the earthquake happened about an hour or so later when Libra would have been rising -- it would make sense to have the ruler of the chart in the 4th house.

This is all conjectural. I doubt many people or animals or trees or mountains for that matter survived this thing. The Moon was in Aries in the 8th House which gives it a connection to both Mars and Pluto.

ADDITION ABOUT THE ECLIPSES:

There were 5 Eclipses in 1700, two of them were Total Lunar Eclipses on the Virgo/Pisces axis. This follows along with what I found that there seems to be more than the usual 4 eclipses during a year when there is a big earthquake, but there were no Total Eclipses in 1699.

The next Eclipse was a Partial Solar on Feb. 19, 1700 :49 UT, Sun c. Moon at 1 Pisces in H4. This is probably too late in time but it's interesting that Uranus rules the IC of this chart and Scorpio Rises with Mars in the 1st house unaspected in major aspect to other planets. The Sun-Moon and Saturn were in conjunction at the beginning of Pisces in the 4th house. This was followed by a Total Lunar Eclipse on Mar. 5, 1700.

Just for kickers I looked up Brian Atwater's chart to see if it relates to this earthquake chart, hehehe... This is just too much.

Brian Atwater
Sept. 18, 1951 New Britain, Conn.

Sun 26 Virgo; Moon Taurus; NN 10 Pisces

Atwater was born during the Uranus Return of the earthquake and Pluto was also in Leo conjunct Mars to the degree (10 degree orb difference -- Atwater's Pluto-Mars is at 21 Leo, Cascadia's Pluto is at 11 Leo).

Atwater's Uranus is trining his Nodal Axis showing that Uranian activities will be related to his destiny. His Nodal Axis is the reverse of the earthquake's. His Sun is conjunct the time that he chose for the earthquake. He has a Saturn-Jupiter opposition which would cross the early Libra Rising that I personally choose for this earthquake.

Please also see an excellent article written by Robert Wilkinson in his blog Aquarius Papers about a large amount of earthquakes that have been happening in this area this month: http://www.aquariuspapers.com/astrology/2008/04/earth-changes-i.html.

Let Freedom Ring!!!!

Today's Primary in Pennsylvania ought to be a doozy. I wonder if it'll get us any closer to finding our Fearless Leader. Well the two contenders have had a couple of solid weeks of baby kissing in Pennsylvania. I have to say that I saw some video of Obama holding a baby (and it was a White Baby too) and he was absolutely breathtakingly sweet looking. At any rate, going into tomorrow's election, Hillary's been looking fabulously airbrushed (Botox?) and Barack's sort of looking like he needs a cigarette. No, at this point, he looks like he needs a joint. After Bush the term "May the Best Man Win" just doesn't apply to the Democratic system, so I still can't think about choosing a President without my hands flying up in the air in automatic reflexive despair.

And so I decided to look at Pennsylvania's chart. What does Pennsylvania want?

Pennsylvania admitted to the Union
Dec. 12, 1787 Harrisburg, PA

Sun 21 Sagittarius; Moon Capricorn?; NN 27 Sagittarius

(It's interesting to look up the dates that the States were first admitted, the early ones were Sagg's and Capricorns; then it went downhill from there.)

Pennsylvania's Sun is conjunct its North Node in Sagittarius and opposes its Jupiter-SN in Gemini. That's plenty of Sagittarius. Opinionated People Pleasers; a Freedom Loving State.

Adding to love of Independence, Pennsylvania's got Saturn and Pluto in Aquarius. By the People, For the People, and of the People.

Plus, Pennsylvania was born with an Outer Planet Grand Trine in Air (mental): Jupiter 22 Gemini trine Saturn 25 Aquarius trine Neptune 21 Libra. Ah, I'm such a sucker for the Neptune in Libra generations. They didn't care that the Bell was broken, they hung it up anyway. That was my favorite history lesson in 2d grade.

I guess maybe they got into Coal after the Sun progressed into Capricorn? The State has a Capricorn Moon as well, oh well...

What's so funny, and I wish I could show this to Obama, but his gun wielding comment, he was so right. Mars conjunct Uranus in Cancer. That's some heavy duty Patriots, baby. And nothing spells "Independence" like -- owning your own.

So is the The Hanging Chad mightier than than the Smith & Wesson? Look at the Action on that Mars-Uranus conjunction: Pennsylvania will be having its Mars Return and its Progressed Sun is at 28 Cancer conjunct that natal Mars-Uranus conjunction. In Cancer this firecracker combo disposes to the Moon and the Moon is in Scorpio and Hillary's a Scorpio so...does this mean that she will win by a Landslide? Not sure when the Polls close but the Moon will have passed into Sagittarius by then at 2 degrees and 7 Scorpio will be Rising. Her natal Sun at 3 Scorpio will be just passing over the Ascendant. Obama's Neptune will be close to that same place.

What was Annie Oakley's sign anyway?

Progressed Mercury at 18 Leo conjunct progressed Venus at 25 Leo. That hooks into Hillary's natal Thor's Hammer triangle which I talked about before. It's conjunct her natal Saturn and squaring her natal Mercury-Venus conjunction in Scorpio and both aspect apex Moon. In Barack's Chart? (I'm on first name basis with these guys) the P.Mercury-Venus is conjunct his natal Part of Fortune, Lilith and Uranus and North Node.

So, the Pennsylvanians, they like their Women. They've got an unaspected Venus in Capricorn. And except for a trine to Chiron, Pluto is also unaspected. But Venus and Pluto and the Sagg NN are parallel which is like saying that they are a very powerful influence in Pennsylvania's chart and they work together. I think it means that they like the underdog!

Full Moon Leads to Huge #'s of Shootings in Chicago

Chicago has had 31 shootings this Week-end so far. The murders sound mostly gang related, but there were other types of shootings as well. Ages of the victims range from 14 to 65. I know it's a Full Moon from 1 Taurus Sun opposing 1 Scorpio Moon and was wondering if this would indicate more violence than usual. Mars is still out of bounds (I'm having trouble with my computer program but I think this will end finally next week).

Chicago, Il
Mar. 4, 1837

I was wondering if this affected Chicago's natal chart in a significant way. Wowzah. Like a charm. Somebody needs to set up a Database to alert Police in different cities.

Chicago's Nodes are at 3 Taurus (NN) and 3 Scorpio! Not only that but they are squaring an opposition of Mars-Jupiter in Leo to Neptune and probably its Moon in Aquarius.

The article (http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6091849) says that there is now a lot of talk about the need for Gun Control in Chicago. Saturn and Pluto are the Planets that indicate control and they were in a Grand Trine/Kite figure with the Full Moon and Mercury. It's a little late for those who were murdered but something good might come out of this anyway.

Chicago's prog. Mars (at 19 Libra0 is also pulling out of an opposition to Chicago's natal Pluto at 15 Aries. That could explain Chicago's high violence rate (much higher than New York or Los Angeles) which might subside on its own. Either way, Chicago is due for a huge change as its progressed Sun is conjunct prog. Jupiter at 30 Leo. That's Leo's last degree so the Sun will move into Virgo next year. Virgo rules Police.

Epicenter in Illinois

The Midwest had a Big Un. Well, Big for them. 5.2 Earthquake this morning centered 6 miles outside of a town called West Salem in Illinois.

5.2 Earthquake, Illinois
Apr. 18, 2008 4:37 am West Salem (6 miles away)

Uranus is conjunct the Pisces Ascendant. So this really brings out the Uranus-Neptune mutual reception as Neptune right now is conjunct the North Node in Aquarius (H12).

The Angles are loaded in conformity with what we expect for an earthquake, but interestingly the 4th House is empty. Sun in Aries conjunct Mercury in Taurus. This is connected to an Earth Grand Trine with Pluto in the 10th House (angle) and Saturn in Virgo in the 6th House.

In California we tend to have our earthquakes at commute time. So rude to have one so early in the morning. Guess all those Mid-Westerners were already up and out milking the cows, though.

Hope nobody was hurt, just some broken bottles of gin lying strewn on the floor of a liquor store. Just when you need a drink the most...

Gene Simmon's Tongue

This is not in keeping with my promise to myself that I won't discuss people I don't like or can't stand but I'm going to attempt herewith to explain why the Hell Kiss Rocker Gene Simmons has such a God-Damned long tongue. He just stuck that thing out on some TV show I was watching the other night and I had nightmares all night (not all were necessarily bad nightmare either which is even scarier).

Gene Simmons
b. Aug. 25, 1949 8:55 PM Haifa, Israel

Sun 3 Virgo; ASC 12 Aries; Moon 25 Virgo; MC 7 Capricorn; NN 19 Aries

Wow, at first look it's kind of difficult to explain this. The guy is a double Virgo. He actually has 5 planets in the 6th House (Virgo's House) as well. I've read that Earth Signs have a strong liking for Rock Music so I suppose this fits well with his profession, but let's face it, if Simmons came to you for a reading you'd tell him to go into computers. I've seen Astrologers do this to the poor Double Virgos many a time. The Virgo also suggests an insecure, perhaps cold nature with loveability issues. Business and making money is probably much easier for him, he probably sees things in terms of their marketability long before he sees them for their loveability. (I can't spell loveability, is it even a real word, oh well, p. Venus Rx, what do I know?)

Simmon's chart shape is difficult to determine. All the planets are held within a wide bowl shape bounded by Uranus in Cancer and Jupiter in Capricorn. But, the rest of his planets are contained down in the lower right hand side of the chart between the IC/Uranus and Neptune/DESC with Jupiter acting maybe as a Handle to all this energy up in the 10th House in Capricorn/Career/Parents. Rock Star Introvert with cruddy childhood hiding behind that outfit, interesting.

So, now, what about that tongue? According to Rex Bills, the Tongue is ruled by Venus and Mercury. Venus in Simmons chart is in its own sign of Libra, not of Taurus. It is conjunct the South Node and Descendant. Probably some creepy past life story about how his tongue was cut out in a previous life. Bleh. Simmon's Mercury is in Virgo conjunct his Moon in the 6th House. Gawd, I'm getting another bad past life image of Simmon's as a cow getting his tongue cut out while still alive. Could also have been a woman being silenced into servitude.

Enough about Past Life visions. I don't indulge myself often in these, only for Rock Stars because they're sort of asking for it.

The Ascendant rules the person's appearance. Here it is Aries with a conjunction from the North Node and Lilith. There's going to be aggressiveness, even rudeness and vengefulness, but a whole lot of energy to the physical body. The Midheaven rules what a person is known for. Here it is represented by Capricorn, sign of ambition, Father, God and the Devil. Purty dang good for the Astrobabble, huh? Simmons is known as a "Tongue wagging demon." (There are kind interpretations for these aspects as well, but we're looking for an explanation for that thing that hangs out of Gene Simmon's mouth).

I think the tongue question begins to find an answer through Jupiter as Jupiter rules Largeness in Size. Jupiter is up there in the 10th house which shows what you're known for. Who cared what Simmons was singing? People don't pay all that money to listen to I-V-I chord progressions all night, after all. Jupiter's influence here is magnified by it's opposition to the chart ruler, Mars in Cancer. This brings a great ability for exaggeration and flamboyance. He pushes the limits in his behavior. The Discerning Virgo planets really know how to channel this stuff.

I checked Rex Bills for what might rule Length. He gives "lengthening" to Uranus in parenthesis, almost as if he knew that Gene Simmons would show up someday. Uranus is opposing Simmons' Midheaven (again, what you're known for). Uranus squares Simmons' Ascendant (appearance) and also squares his Nodal Axis-Descendant and Venus & Neptune. It's almost as if the weirder he acts the more alluring he is. It would make sense if a person who has a strong connection between the Rising Sign and the Nodal Axis can make it through life fairly easily just through their personality.

So, did Simmons have Plastic Surgery on that thing or what? Well, Mars rules Surgery and it rules the Ascendant. I assume that Pluto rules Plastic Surgery and Simmons' Pluto trines his Ascendant. So, the indicators are there for a successful surgery at any rate. With Mars in Cancer in the 4th house, though, I tend to think that this is a Genetic trait. I tend to think that if Simmons were going to go to the Plastic Surgeon and ask to have something like that done he would have asked for one that was forked.

A Skeptic Who I Kinda Like

The Skeptics are usually kind of annoying because they blather on about Sun Signs and don't bother to learn anything about Astrology, but the article linked to below is actually very interesting. It was written in 1978 by Paul R. Thagard. "Why Astrology Is A Pseudoscience."

www.cavehill.uwi.edu/bnccde/ph29a/thagard.html

Thagard discounts the arguments that Astrology is "Magical" and therefore Scientific because he explains that Chemistry and Medicine started out that way as well. He says that another Skeptical argument is that Astrology is based on a psychological need that people have to get quick answers to their problems. Can't remember what that argument is but half the undergrads in College right now are psych majors so obviously this is true. Thagard argues another point and says that Astrology is testable and mentions Gauquelin's studies.

One of the big problems with Astrology is, Thagard says, the Precession of the Equinoxes. The Vedic Astrologers use the planets in their real spots and the Western Astrologers don't. Can't argue with that. I'm pretty concerned about this as well so I can't argue with Thagard's argument. He also says that Astrologers ** are conservative ** and don't try to improve their systems so the study is antiquated. (TeeHee, I lo--00000-ve this argument). He says that Psychology has pretty much replaced Astrology. Well, he wrote this back in 1978 and psychology and psychiatry have had a lot more time to turn in on themselves at this point. Just try asking your local neighborhood shrink how Serotonin works. Fumes will come out the back of his neck but he won't give you an answer.

Thagard brings up many other good points about why Astrology is a pseudoscience. It sure would be great to see what he thinks now, if anything, since Science has sort of shifted into thinking that it can't explain everything. I personally don't think that most Astrologers think of themselves as Scientists which is why Astrology can easily be thought of as a PseudoScience. Who says Astrologers need to be Scientists? I mean, the paycheck sure would be awesome. But Astrologers tend to gain their insights from direct observation with a system that views people from a much broader perspective of Life than psychology does certainly. It would be difficult for me to say what an Astrologer looks for in a person's chart as there seems to be many branches of study at this point. This is one of the problems with the profession that Thagard talks about. But, trained Astrologers look at these maps of what a person is born with and what he is becoming and how he got there. So few really know how to really read the maps, and even fewer will admit it. And, well, Westerners are reading the wrong maps because of the Precession problem. Perhaps if Astrologers stopped trying to turn their conferences into pseudo Love Fests and Psychobabble huddles, they could get together and decide to fix the maps.

Paul Thagard is a Canadian Philosopher, Psychologist, Scientist. I can't find his Birthdate. His writing is very clear and easy to read and researched. (Mercury-Pluto trine?). List of links to articles written by Thagard. http://cogsci.uwaterloo.ca/Articles/Pages/Coherence.html.

Man Trapped in an Elevator

Here's a link to a video of a man, Nicholas White, who was trapped in an elevator for 41 hours. White was taking a cigarette break from his job at BusinessWeek on a Friday night. When he got into the elevator to go back up to his office the elevator jammed. No one answered his calls, buzzings and yells for help until almost two days later on Sunday afternoon. The Security Cameras filmed him but the Guards apparently never watched the Monitors. The New Yorker has published an article and the video here: http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/2008/04/21/080421_elevators.

The date given for the beginning of White's fiasco is Oct. 15, 1999, McGraw Hill Building, New York, NY. Turns out this is a great chart to look at for signs of claustrophobia.

The video says that White went for a cigarette break at 11pm. I don't know what time he tried to return to his desk. At 11 pm Cancer was Rising. So, the Moon was ruling at this point. The Moon here was in its Fall in Capricorn where it remained for the entire 41 hours that White was trapped. At this point it was in the 6th house conjunct Mars in Sagittarius. Sounds like a good Cigarette break indicator as well an emotionally agitating moment. Talk about pulling an all-nighter during the workaholic Capricorn Moon.

Rex Bills says that Elevators are ruled by Uranus, Mercury, and the 3d House.

The 3d House of Elevators for the 11 pm chart contained Venus in Virgo which was in a Grand Earth Trine with the Moon in Capricorn and Jupiter in Taurus. Earth Signs can indicate either being stable or being stuck. Venus in Virgo (sign of Work) is also squaring a conjunction of Pluto and Chiron in Sagittarius. Am not sure what that means except that Virgo is the sign indicating one's job and Sagittarius rules Publishers. Venus-Pluto and Chiron together in difficult aspect could show an extremely emotionally charged scene about which one can do nothing.

There was at this point an "almost Fixed Grand Square" with Mercury in Scorpio opposite Saturn in Taurus squared by the Nodes in Leo/Aquarius with Uranus conjunct the South Node in Aquarius. Interesting that in this group, Mercury is the only planet here that isn't Retrograde. Usually Mercury Rx gets the blame for this type of problem. Uranus is in its own sign.

There's a heavy Fixed Sign emphasis of the Outer Planets on this date. Jupiter and Saturn are in Taurus and Uranus and Neptune are in Aquarius. Fixed Signs might indicate "Being Stuck" as they are stubborn and sometimes known for their "tenacity". Planets with a Grand Square emphasise this. This Grand Square was also in the Fixed Houses at 11 pm and would have hit the Angles about 2 hours later. Uranus was strongest because it was in its own sign. Unfortunately it was also conjunct the South Node and Retrograde.

When White was released 41 hours later (I came up with Oct. 17, 1999 at 4 pm), 30 Aquarius was rising, so the Uranus-South Node conjunction and the rest of the "almost Grand Square" had just passed above the Horizon. The Moon was still in Capricorn but was in conjunction with Neptune over the 12th house cusp of Prisons. Rex Bills says rulership for claustropohia is Uranus and Neptune. Both these planets were in Aquarius (ruler of elevators) in the 12th house of Prisons as White was released.

What's interesting here is that 8 Guards should have found White and didn't notice him. Jupiter was at 1 Taurus opposing the Libra Sun (wide orb). As Taurus rules Values, I guess an interpretation for this aspect here could be low self value through the neglect of others. The articles say that White was 34 years old at the time so was maybe born around 1965, the time of the huge outer planet t-square between Uranus, Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter, the Nodes and Chiron.

Money Crisis Lasting 10 Years?

According to a spokesperson for J.P. Morgan, it takes 10 years to get over a Financial Crisis:

"We had the NASDAQ, we had LTCM, we had the various forms of emerging-market crises in the '90s, we had the real estate crisis of 20 years ago: In most of these the direct impact on the behavior of the parties involved lasted more than 10 years," Loeys told Reuters in a telephone interview. "It looks like it takes a generation for the memory to fade and for the same mistakes to be made again."
--http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080414/credit_jpmorgan.html

10 years is about half of a Nodal Cycle so I guess this makes sense. Once the North Node hits the South Node the World tumbles all over itself in total confusion and a new crisis emerges -- or something like that. This means that it's close to always the same guilty pair of Nodes. Right now we're on the Le0-Aquarius axis but last year we were on the Virgo-Pisces axis. The Moon rules the Memory and the Past so it makes sense that its Nodal Cycle will affect/erase the Memory. That would be the emotional attachment to Memory I suppose. The Moon also rules feelings of Security.

11 years is a Sun Spot Cycle. That could indicate serious Ego Damage. We're apparently at the beginning of what is said to be a hum-dinger coming up.

Uranus squares itself every 21 years so 10.5 years is a semi-square, hard aspect. This rules Cycles (maybe, my guess) and Risk Taking Business Abilities and Shock.

The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction cycle is 20+ years also. This rules Business and Worldly Social Affairs. Those two are trining right now so those two are non-financial panicky, although politics is known to tank the Markets. It's an election year right now and the Corporations who own the U.S. Government at any rate can't let the Markets tank until a Democrat gets into office.

Thank God for the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction cycle, happens every 13 years. Lucky 13. Comes along and makes ya feel Lucky again. Actually, the Great Depression was marked by one of these in Cancer.

Pesticide Absorption Rates on Skin

The Skin on the Body is ruled by Saturn and Capricorn as it creates a boundary between you and the outside world. But, the skin absorbs different substances differently at different spots on your body. Guess that's Capricorn's eternal attempt to pacify its opposite sign of absorbent, watery Cancer. According to Rex Bills, Absorption is ruled by Neptune.

The most absorbent spot on the body belongs to Pluto. It's the Genital Area. That's ruled by Scorpio & Pluto. Now that Pluto is in Capricorn, wonder if some Health issues will arise in the Skin and Bones. Considering the inflation of the price of food we will all be skin and bones but I'm already expecting lots of skin cancer due to Global Warming and Skincare products that are hyperabsorbent (also Botox).

I've found an interesting article about Pesticide Toxicity that shows the different absorption rates of pesticides by the skin in different parts of the body. It's listed at the bottom of this entry. The URL was so long it literally went off the computer screen.

The palm of the hand and the forearm aren't very absorbent while the Genital Area and the Armpits are extremely absorbent. So, if a person handles pesticides with his hands then grabs his crotch (or goes to the bathroom without washing his hands before) he will suffer greater poisoning than if he drinks the stuff! They definitely need to add sinks with those porta-potties they put out in the fields with the farmworkers, that's for sure. (http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/FactSheet/Pesticide/fs54.farmexposure.cfm).

Pesticide that is inhaled is extremely absorbent because it passes straight into the blood through the lungs.

Genitals are Scorpio. Armpits are ruled by Cancer. Upper Lungs are ruled by Gemini and lower Lungs are ruled by Cancer. Skin is ruled by Saturn and Capricorn, and it's interesting how the areas of the body ruled by the Water Signs are so much more absorbent. Neptune/Pisces doesn't follow along as the skin on the feet are not very absorbent.

Here's a list of areas ranging from least absorbent to most absorbent. The meanings of the numbers? There's a picture of a little man with arrows pointing to all his most vulnerable spots. Wish I could add that but still don't know how to add pictures. Maybe if I took a Blogger for Idiots books and stuck it in my ... armpits ... I would finally be able to absorb the information. On the other hand, you can probably drink your Soda through your ... armpits. (These are stupid jokes, I know, just thinking of all the possibilities).

Forearm 1.0

Palm of Hand 1.3
Ball of Foot 1.6
Abdomen 2.1
Scalp 3.7
Forehead 4.2
Ear Canal 5.4
Armpits around 7.5
Genital Area 11.8

"Routes of Exposure" from "Signs & Symptoms of Pesticide Poisoning" by Larry D. Schulze, Clyde L. Ogg, and Edward F. Vitzthum for the University of Nebraska Extension EC97-2505. From a website called www. headlice.org.

To See A World...

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

A Robin Redbreast in a Cage
Puts all Heaven in a Rage.
A dove house fill’d with doves and pigeons
Shudders Hell thro’ all its regions.
A Dog starv’d at his Master’s Gate
Predicts the ruin of the State.
A Horse misus’d upon the Road
Calls to Heaven for Human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted Hare
A fiber from the Brain does tear.

He who shall train the Horse to War
Shall never pass the Polar Bar.
The Beggar’s Dog and Widow’s Cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.
The Gnat that sings his Summer song
Poison gets from Slander’s tongue.
The poison of the Snake and Newt
Is the sweat of Envy’s Foot.

A truth that’s told with bad intent
Beats all the Lies you can invent.
It is right it should be so;
Man was made for Joy and Woe;
And when this we rightly know
Thro’ the World we safely go.

Every Night and every Morn
Some to Misery are Born.
Every Morn and every Night
Some are Born to sweet delight.
Some are Born to sweet delight,
Some are Born to Endless Night.

--William Blake

Google Earth Brings the News Anywhere on Earth

According to this article, http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2008/04/all-news-thats-fit-to-print-on-map-new.html, you can now find the News for any spot on Earth just by clicking the map. I'm thinking that this would be great practice tool for making Astrological predictions, or at least, to check how transits might actually work.

An Astrologer on Noel Tyl's forum, Dean Bensics, can predict areas of stress through reading Ingress Charts. I guess he makes an Astrolocality Map of the Ingress Chart for Washington, am not real clear on that.

Business Cycle Link

From the National Bureau of Economic Research, here's a link to U.S. Business Cycles Expansions and Contractions:

http://www.nber.org/cycles.html.

Dates and everything.

England's Geniuses

60 Minutes has done a number of segments on Savant personalities and tonight they just happened to list 2 men on their site who were both born in England in 1979. Hmm, 1979, that's when I visited England. The Sun never came out and there were a lot of punk rockers a la David Bowie running around. Can only imagine what they must have been pissing into the waters. OK, enough of public health investigations with OTCA, back to the geniuses.

Derek Paravicini is blind and has learning disabilities. In most areas of his life he's considered to be mentally at the level of a 3 year old, yet he can remember and play all the music he's ever heard and is a brilliant pianist.

Daniel Tammet is a genius in Math and also has a brilliant memory. Unlike Derek Paravicini he is not disabled and has written a book about his remarkable abilities.

Both men were born while Saturn was conjunct the North Node in Virgo and they are both having their Saturn Returns conjunct the South Node right now.

Chiron in 1979 was in Taurus and both men have Sun, Mercury, Jupiter, & Uranus in strong aspect to each other. Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus all show Mental Powers. Here they are conjunct the Sun (power) and in Fixed Signs which seems to combine Scorpionic Focus with Uranian Intuitive Brilliance (can't think of the word I'm looking for, sorry).

Interesting how the Pianist/Performer, Derek, is a Leo Sun and the Mathematician, Daniel, is an Aquarius -- a little Sun Sign fun.

Daniel Tammet
b. Jan. 31, 1979 London, England

Sun 12 Aquarius; Moon in Pisces or Aries; NN 18 Virgo

Sun conjunct Mars 9 Aquarius-Mercury 5 Aquarius opposite Jupiter 4 Leo Rx and squaring Chiron 6 Taurus.

North Node 18 Virgo conjunct Saturn 13 Virgo squaring Neptune 20 Sagittarius.

Derek Paravicini
b. July 26, 1979 (somewhere in...) England, Surrey maybe?

Sun 3 Leo; Moon Leo or Virgo; NN 9 Virgo

Sun conjunct Mercury 12 Leo Rx-Jupiter 17 Leo opposing Uranus 17 Scorpio and squaring Chiron 14 Taurus.

NN 9 Virgo conjunct Saturn 12 Virgo.

Steve Martin on Flower Power

From his memoir Born Standing Up, Steve Martin gives the World's Greatest Description of Aquarius:

What we discussed was the new zeitgeist. I don't know how it got to this bedroom in Aspen, but it was creeping everywhere simultaneously. I didn't yet know its name but found out later it was called Flower Power, and I was excited to learn that we were now living in the Age of Aquarius, an age when at least astrologically, the world would be taken over by macrame. Anticorporate, individual, and freak-based, it proposed that all we had to do was love each other and there would be no more wars or strife. Nothing could have been newer or more appealing. The vast numbers of us who changed our thoughts and lives for this belief proved that, yes, it is possible to fool all of the people some of the time. The word "love" was being tossed around as though only we insiders knew its definition. But any new social philosophy is good for creativity. New music was springing up, new graphics, twisted and swirled as if on LSD, and an older generation was being glacially inched aside to make room for the freshly weaned new one.

--p. 85-86

Pat Steir

Pat Steir is an Abstract artist in New York who is known for her huge canvases of dripped paint. Her paintings evoke imagery of Water and Land. So, I was sort of surprised to see that she's an Aries Sun which is in conjunction to the degree of her South Node and Jupiter in Aries. I suppose you could say that Steir's paintings are "Ariesian" in that they are so direct. There's absolutely no distinction between the content, the paint, the philosophy, and the technique. Somehow Steir can drip paint on to a canvas and create exceptional beauty.

My introduction to Steir was through a video about artists. The video was filmed some time in the 90s and Steir was bemoaning the fact that clients were at that time paying more for labor than for inspiration so I guess her works weren't as marketable at that point. I wanted to look at her chart for indicators of ease and not wanting to labor over something just because I was so taken aback by her frankness and lack of ego. For this I would expect a strong Venusian contact and that's definitely here. Steir's Venus is in Gemini conjunct Mars (creativity) to the degree. It's also relating to Pluto in multiple ways. Venus here is out-of-bounds. And it's squaring and is parallel to Pluto which is also out-of-bounds. An extremely artistic, emotionally intimate nature. Her Taurus Moon also disposes to Venus. All this indicates a very tactile nature. You can tell she must really enjoy watching the flow of that paint.

Steir's Venus went Retrograde by Progression around 1997. I wonder if this is about the time that she made the video that I saw.

The Mars and Venus conjunction is also remarkable because these planets together rule both her Nodal Axis and her Aries Sun and Taurus Moon! This perhaps shows how Steir works from such an intuitive and well synthesized vision.

As one would expect Steir's Neptune is strong. It's opposition to Mercury in Pisces forms the Boundary Opposition to a Bowl Shaped Chart. Mercury, as a matter of fact, is a singleton in Water. Pretty interesting because, as I said before, Water and Wateriness is such a strong subject matter in Steir's paintings. Mercury and Neptune have many connections with each other in the same way that Venus and Pluto do in Steir's chart. Mercury disposes to Neptune as it's in Pisces. Also, the two are in Mutual Reception.

Pretty interesting is the Saturn-Pluto square. This can show more of a need for control than I would expect from Steir. Maybe there is a lot of control necessary to create these paintings, I don't know. Making things look easy is the signature of great artists. This pair together certainly gives a lot of drive to work and to have a career. It can also give a great sense of scale and mass which Steir's work certainly has.

Maybe this is too much infomation, but I will also note that Steir was born while Uranus was in Taurus trining Neptune in Virgo. A great signature for Abstraction. Uranus may be in conjunction with Steir's Moon.

The Earthquake That China Predicted

In 1975 China successfully predicted that an earthquake would occur and managed to evacuate a million people. Ninety percent of the buildings and other structures were damaged but no lives were lost. I'm not sure if they've managed to repeat this amazing feat.

7.3 Earthquake that China Predicted
Feb. 4, 1975 Haicheng 19:36 LT

Sun 16 Aquarius; 9 Virgo Rising; 8 Gemini MC; Moon 30 Scorpio; NN 8 Sagittarius

Mercury rules the ASC and MC in this chart. It is placed in Aquarius, the sign of intuitive knowing & prediction (especially through technology and science), but it is Retrograde. Maybe this had a dampening effect on the Shock & Surprise aspect of Aquarius? The Sun is also in Aquarius. I think that this sign is often associated along with Mercury of thing Man-Made. Here it could indicate Man's ability to understand Nature. This is particularly interesting to think about because Uranus, which rules Aquarius, also rules Earthquakes.

Interesting to note about this earthquake is that one of the warning signs that Scientists used were the behaviors of animals. They noticed that animals starting acting bizarrely about 5 1/2 hours before the earthquake. This could be indicated by multiple aspects: Mercury and Sun in the 6th House of Pets, Jupiter in the 7th House of Partners in Pisces (sign of Large Animals) and Neptune (sign of Large Animals) in Sagittarius (Humans w/animals) conjunct the North Node and IC in Sagittarius. Unaspected Jupiter brings more Luck to an endeavor.

Pluto was in the 2d House just about to move into the 1st House. It rules major disasters and mass destruction (when badly placed). Pluto is apex to a t-square here to an opposition of Mars in Capricorn and Saturn in Cancer. As Saturn and Capricorn are the signs of WARNINGS, maybe, just maybe this had something to do with the Scientists' abilities. It's interesting to notice that Mars is Out-of-bounds, something which didn't happen in the Hayward Fault Earthquakes (which I thought was odd). Since we are currently experiencing an out-of-bound Mars in Cancer/Gemini that was opposing Pluto I'm aware of the feeling of tension and unease associated with this aspect. This would help in predictions.

Also interesting is the fact that the Nodes are layered over the IC/MC line and Neptune is conjunct the NN/IC. This is a visionary aspect. Also seems to be a major predictor (the Nodes at least) of Earthquakes when the Nodes are crossing an angle.

Venus is conjunct the Descendant from the 6th House and is trining Uranus in Scorpio (H2) and Saturn in Cancer (H11). Perhaps this is also an indicator of the success of the earthquake prediction in saving so many lives. H11 would be associated with Earthquakes through Aquarius rulership and H2 associated with Earth through Taurus rulership.

Fears Ranked

The List below is perfect for the trine between Pluto in Capricorn (double whammy fears) to Saturn in Virgo (ranking and listing and worrying).

It's called "Fears: Ranked from Childhood through Parenthood" written by Jan Pettit.

http://www.spinelessbooks.com/namredef/pettit/index.html.

(found at Kottke.org)

Back Trouble

I was thinking that Pluto in Capricorn would be associated with Pains in the Back as Capricorn rules the Bones. But the Spine is equally ruled by the Sun/Leo as it is by Saturn and the Back is ruled by Leo and the Sun. It is fitting that the Pluto in Leo Generation is now hitting the point where they're going to all be suffering from Old Age complaints. I don't know many people in my own Generation, the Pluto in Virgo's, who aren't obsessed with everything having to do with the body. I'm probably the only slob in my Generation and so my back is already giving out.

Basic Rex Bills Rulerships:

Back Sun, Leo, H5
Lower Back: Libra, H7, Venus
Upper Back: Leo, H5, Sun
Spine & Spinal Column, Curvature of Spine: Leo, Sun (Neptune)
Dorsal Region of Spine: Sun, Leo
Lumbar Region of Spine: Libra
Sacral Region: Sagittarius
Flexibility: Venus, Mercury, Neptune
Inflexibility, Old Age and Bones: Saturn
Inflammations: Mars, Aries (Sun, Leo)

Thought I'd take a quick look at different types of Back Problems and maybe find some rulerships for them. The quotes given are from an exercise book called "The Total Back Book" by Jennifer Sutcliffe. She gives exercises on how to deal with each problem. The exercises she gives are really interesting in that they simulate the condition or the opposite condition. For lower back pain you stretch the upper back, for osteoarthritis an old age complaint you bend into and out of the fetal position and for scoliosis you stretch into different twisting postures.

Sciatica: Pain from the Lower Back to the Foot due to a pinch in the Sciatic Nerve in the lower back. "This problem aries when an inflamed facet joint, interverrtebral disk, or a bony spur pinches the sciatic nerve as it leaves the spine." Bills Rulership for Sciatic Nerves: Sagittarius, H9. Sciatica: Sagittarius (Moon, Uranus, Saturn)

Osteoarthritis: Mostly due to Aging but can also occur early on due to an injury or deformity. Affects the cartilage and bone of weight-bearing joints. Bills Rulership for Arthritis: Saturn (Pluto)

Scoliosis: A sideways bend in the spine. Affects about 2 percent of the population. The spine forms a C or S shape when viewed from the back. A minor bend is caused either by a difference in length of the legs or by useruse of the muscles on one side. The book doesn't talk about major bends. Some children develop this. Some people require surgery. This condition if left untreated can lead to osteoarthritis and sciatica. The exercises for this involve stretches that twist the body. I recently developed this and have found a great exercise video (Pilates Yoga: Figure 8 Toning Kit with DVD by GoldenEarth.com) that combines Yoga and Pilates stretches and exercises with a twisty band. Don't do back bends, I can definitely say that they don't help. I also like the basic stretch exercises that Elaine Petrone suggests, they align and stretch major portions of the body and are easy to do. The first one aligns the knees with the feet which I've found to make a big difference. Really cool. Bills Rulerships: Curvature of Spine Sun, Leo (Neptune). No mention specifically of Scoliosis. Hunchbacks: Uranus, Saturn (Pluto)

Osteoporosis: "The bones lose their mineral content, become fragile, and can fracture easily. The main bones affected tend to be in the forearm, wrist, hip, and spine. Certain weight-bearing exercises can help prevent this." "Osteoporosis causes the vertebrae to shrink, which can reduce a person's height by as much as 6 inches. I fthis occurs particularly in the thoracic spine, it can result in an exaggerated curve known as a "dowager's hump." There's a great nutritionist which I'll have to add when I can remember her name. One of her major points is that sugar when eaten with calcium turns the body extremely acidic and causes all kinds of problems for the bones. Never combine milk products with sugary treats, even fruit with yogurt. Our society is full of this but I've noticed a big difference when I follow this rule. No Rex Bills Rulership: Shrinkage: Saturn (Neptune). Losses: Saturn, H8, H12, (Pluto).

Information on the toxic mixture of eating Sugar and Calcium together: Nancy Appleton, http://www.nancyappleton.com/

Why am I giving health tips? So obnoxious. Pluto in Virgo weirdness; my advice is very good though, hehehe. Exercises given for osteoporosis are Walking and Jumping and Jump roping.

Oh, and here is another recommendation. Check out the work of Meir Schneider. His major theme is working with helping people to see better but he works with the whole body. I went to a talk of his and he showed us how the whole body is affected when one part goes out of whack. For example, he had us do something to notice how stiff our necks were. Then he passed out tennis balls and told us to roll our feet over the balls putting as much pressure as possible on the ball. Then he had us repeat the neck exercise and our necks were much looser, no creaking, etc. Really wild.

Waiting for Earthquakes

"Tectonic Time Bomb" is what the newspapers and scientists say that the Hayward Earthquake Fault is. Yes, California is due for anothing Big One on one of its many Fault Lines. The Hayward Earthquake Fault passes through the East Bay in Northern California. It rocks every 140-160 years and 2008 is the 140th anniversary of the last major earthquake. As this is a very densely populated area this is cause for big concern. I think I read that only about 5 percent of the properties are insured.

So, I immediately thought of Uranus and how Uranus must be connected to earthquakes along with Mars, Saturn and Pluto.

A big t-square is coming up between Saturn-Pluto and Uranus I figured that the USGS has finally got their Astrology right. If ever a combination of planets could indicate a time bomb it would be these 3 working together in difficult aspect. But then I looked at the list of earthquakes in California and none happened in the mid-60s when the last Saturn-Uranus-Pluto event occurred. There were also no major earthquakes on any fault-line in the early 1930s when when another major t-square between those planets happened. This was for all of California, not just the Hayward Quake. There was a big 7.3 up in Northern California on Jan 31, 1922 which happened while Pluto was in Cancer squaring Saturn and Chiron and the NN in Libra and trining Uranus in Pisces.

I read somewhere that Uranus & Pluto conjunctions happen every 140 years, the last one happened in 1965-66. This can't be true because Pluto's orbit is so elliptical, the cycle would vary according to what sign Pluto was in. I also read that Uranus and Neptune conjunctions happen about every 172 years, the last one was in 1993. Alone, Uranus' cycle is 84 years; Neptune's is 165 years and Pluto's is 248 years. I've mentioned the big Outer Planet aspects of the 4 largest earthquakes that happened on the Hayward fault in the 19th century down below. I'm not really sure how the Geologists know that the cycle is quickening from 160 years to 140 years.

One thing I noticed was that there does seem to be a predominance of outer planets in Cardinal Signs. There are some scary looking charts coming up at the end of 2010 and into 2011 where Pluto will be conjunct the North Node in Capricorn and Jupiter will be in conjunction with Uranus. Saturn will oppose Uranus off and on from Sept. of this year in mutable and then into the early Cardinal Signs. There's going to be some major t-square action Sept. 2010. Mars and Venus will be in difficult minor aspect to Uranus at the end of Sept.-beginning of October. That's Earthquake Season so maybe something to panic about. Mars and Mercury will then square Uranus at the end of November of that year. This is probably even more to worry about.

I suppose any date during these transits where Mars and the Moon are squaring either Uranus, Pluto or the Nodes is cause for concern.

Here's a link to a very nice YouTube Video presentation from freedailyhoroscope.org about the Peru Earthquake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6ZB_Wd6ZBM

According to this video, signs to look for in upcoming earthquakes: Planets and Nodes on Angles, New or Full Moon, Many planets on one side of the chart that pulls the energy lopsided.

What I've noticed in a list of the 4 biggest earthquakes on the Hayward fault back in the 19th century are things which are indicated by time of day. This is totally useless information for trying to predict anything because these aspects happen every day. With a lot of squares they are just more likely to happen, I guess:

Uranus/Aquarius either conjunct or ruling the IC
No Out-of-Bounds Planets
Planets and Moon's Nodes on Angles.
Saturn's Angular in 3 out of 4 of the charts

Here's some rough notes. The broadest indicators are squares between Mars and Uranus and possibly the Nodes. And also interesting is the fact that there are no out-of-bounds Planets in any of these charts. That sort of surprised me. The pull on the earth is maybe stronger when the planets are down low in the sky. Saturn tends to be angular. If we want mass destruction, Pluto must be prominent. 2d House Pluto seems to bring material damage on a large scale.

5.8 1864 South Hayward Area 121.9 Long., 37.6 Lat. May 21, 1864 2:01 GMT

Angles: Mars 24 Pisces conjunct 28 Pisces ASC
Uranus 23 Gemini conunct 30 Gemini IC

NN 19 Scorpio conjunct Jupiter-Moon in Scorpio opposite SN Taurus conjunct Pluto-Venus in Taurus
Mars square Uranus right on the ASC/IC:

Mars 25 Pisces conjunct 28 Pisces Rising trines NN

NN conjunct Jupiter; opposite Venus-Pluto; trine Mars-ASC

Outer Planet Aspects?:
Neptune 8 Aries (H1) opposite Saturn 12 Libra (H7)
Jupiter in Scorpio conjunct NN opposite Pluto-SN

6.8 - 7.0 1868 Oct. 21, 1868 7:53 am Local Time Long. 122.10, Lat. 37.70 Hayward

Planets on 3 of the Angles: Mercury 22 Scorpio conjunct 18 Scorpio ASC; Pluto 17 Taurus conjunct 18 Taurus DESC; NN 24 Leo conjunct 27 Leo MC; Aquarius IC

Mars 11 Leo square Pluto 17 Taurus

18 Scorpio conjunct Mercury 22 Scorpio opposite Pluto 17 Taurus
squares
NN 24 Leo conjunct MC 27 Leo opposite IC 27 Aquarius (ruled by Uranus)

Moon 19 Capricorn opposite Urnaus 18 Cancer (H8) squaring Neptune 16 Aries
EXPANDS OUT INTO KITE GRAND TRINE: Moon=Venus Virgo trine Pluto Taurus?????

Outer Planet Aspects?
Jupiter Aries trine Saturn in Sagittarius
Uranus in Cancer square Neptune in Aries, sextile Pluto in Taurus, inconjunct Saturn in Sagittarius


5.8 1870 Apr. 2, 1870 19:48 GMT 122.3, 37.9 Berkeley

Most planets in H 5, 6 & 7: DESC is 27 Aries.
5 Planets in Aries, 3 planets in Taurus
House 6: Mars, Sun, Neptune in Aries
House 7: Moon 2 Taurus; Pluto 17 Taurus, Jupiter 22 Taurus

Sun 13 Aries conjunct Mars 9 Aries conjunct Neptune 20 Aries squaring Uranus 18 Cancer-NN 25 Cancer

Aquarius on IC

Outer Planet Aspects?
Uranus conjunct NN in Cancer square Neptune in Aries
Jupiter conjunct Pluto in Taurus

5.6 1889 July 31, 1889 12:47 GMT 122.2, 37.8 East Oakland, Alameda County

Most planets in H8, 9 & 10.
Neptune c. Pluto in Gemini plus Venus in H8
NN-Chiron-Mars in Cancer
Mercury-Sun-MC-Saturn in Leo

Saturn angular (H10) 22 Leo c. MC 19 Leo

Aquarius on IC

NN 12 Cancer trine 6 Scorpio Rising

Sun 9 Leo

NN 12 Cancer conjunct Chiron 17 Cancer conjunct Mars 26 Cancer
SQUARES Uranus 19 Libra (H12)

Neptune 5 Gemini conjunct Pluto 7 Gemini

Outer Planet Aspects:
Neptune conjunct Pluto in Gemini

I looked ahead and the aspects really do look bad, like the World is due for some shaking up. The Nodes are now in Aquarius (sign of Earthquakes). This makes things extra vulnerable when they pass over the Angles, especially the IC/MC I suppose because the IC rules the ground. This happens early in the morning in the Fall. And late in the afternoon during the Spring. I assume that Sun-up and Sun-set brings gravitational stresses. The North Node will move into Capricorn in August, 2009. This might affect the Mountain Regions, especially when it begins to hit Pluto and the big outer planet t-square in June, 2010. These events should get kind of noisy, like explosions. Maybe the conjunction of Jupiter to Uranus will make the earthquakes happen offshore. That makes for tsunamis, especially if the Moon is involved.

Eclipses: I've noticed something about the eclipses too. Hopefully I'll try to look at the actual charts of the eclipses themselves. (I'd have to print the charts out and actually concentrate in order to handle that much info so it's probably not going to happen, harhar) I've noticed that there seems to be a larger amount of eclipses during a year when there is a big earthquake. There are 4-6 eclipses per year and big Earthquake years seem to have a higher amount. Here's what I've counted (and don't count on my ability to count accurately). I don't know anything about Sun spot activity but know that predictions are supposed to bring some doozy activity in the electrical systems on earth:

• South Hayward, 1864: 6 eclipses including no total eclipses
• Hayward, 1968: 6 eclipses including 1 Total Solar
• Berkeley, 1870: 6 eclipses including 2 Total Solar, 1 Total Lunar
• East Oakland, 1889: 5 eclipses in 1888, 5 eclipses in 1889, 5 eclipses in 1890
• 2008: 4 eclipses
  
• 2009: 6 eclipses
• 2010: 4 eclipses
• 2011: 6 eclipses
• 2012: 4 eclipses
  

As far as pinning down dates, it's a long tedious project. I need to find software that just lists aspects rather than playing with the animation feature. I've noticed that the Fall looks vulnerable from here on up to 2010. The end of June also shows a lot of stress in the next few years.

• end of June 2008: Mars conjunct Saturn & SN with Uranus unaspect. Tense, but probably not bad enough.

• Middle Oct. 2008: Saturn in Virgo opposite Uranus in Pisces trining Mars in Scorpio. Mars square NN Aquarius conjunct Neptune-Chiron

• Feb. 23, 2009: 7 planets in Aquarius. All planets in one tight bundle with SAturn in Virgo as Handle opposing Uranus in Pisces.

• June 23, 2009 Sun in Cancer opposite Pluto squaring Uranus. Mars 17 Taurus c. Venus 18 Taurus inc. Pluto and trining Saturn in Virgo.

• Aug. 21-23, 2009. North Node moves into Capricorn. T-square apex Mars 29 Gemini squaring Uranus in Pisces opposite Mercury-Saturn in Virgo. Mars opposite Pluto.

• Aug. 29, 2009. Moon c. Pluto opposite Mars in Cancer squaring Saturn opposite Uranus.

• Beginning Oct. 7, 2009: Mars in Cancer conjunct SN. Plus the Pluto-Uranus-Saturn mess.

• Apr., 2010 Jupiter conjunct Uranus opposite Saturn.

• June 25, 2010. Grand Square. Saturn in Virgo opposite Jupiter-Uranus squaring Pluto-NN opposite Sun-Mercury.

• Sept. 30, 2010. Mars-Venus in Scorpio inc. Jupiter-Uranus in Pisces. Pluto-NN in Capricorn squaring Jupiter squaring Sun-Saturn in Libra.
• 2011. Pluto conjunct NN square Jupiter-Uranus in Pisces at the beginning of the year.
• NN moves into Sagittarius in March
• April. 1: Mars in Pisces conjunct Uranus 2 Aries squaring NN 27 Sagittarius
• April 7: Pluto squares Mars-Uranus in Aries. Sun conjunct Jupiter opposite Saturn.
• April 11: t-square with apex Pluto squaring SAturn opposite Mars-Uranus.
• April through May and beginning of June are ugly as Hell.
  
• Oct. Uranus in Aries squaring Pluto in Capricorn. Maybe it won't even matter any more if something happens.
  

The Fixed Signs and Men's Brains

Here's a link to an article called "Money, Sex Link Found in Brain: Study looks at Male Risk-Taking" by Seth Borenstein:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/04/national/a150934D57.DTL

True to Astrological Theory that says that if one House is triggered then all the other houses in the same Quality (Cardinal, Fixed or Mutable) can be triggered. This study says that men whose brains were scanned showed a higher Risk-Taking (5th House, 11th House) behavior with their Money (2d House, 8th House) when aroused Sexually (8th House, baby). These are the Fixed Signs that together rule "Resources."

I've said this before: When the Stock Market opens at 9:30 am in New York, the Sun is always in the 11th House (Risk, Independence, Entrepreneurs). When the Stock Market closes at 4 pm the Sun is always in the 8th House (Other people's money, Sex). The Investors in the Days of Yore knew what they were doing by starting the day off late. If the Stock Market were to open at 8 am the Sun would be in the 12th House which is the last sign of the Zodiac, sensitive, ethereal, and a bit lost. The Market would crash immediately. This is actually what happens on West Coast time.

Women weren't tested because the Researchers couldn't think up a picture of a man that would be mutually stimulating to 15 different women in order to complete the scans. At's right, Girls. Keep em guessing....

Drive By Shooting - Hwy 80

On Thursday Night there was a drive by shooting on Freeway I-80 in Pinole, CA. A 25 year old woman was shot multiple times and killed on the scene. Her boyfriend who was sitting in the passenger seat was shot but has survived. Other passengers sitting in the back seat were unharmed as the car crashed in the fast lane of the Freeway.

The News was pondering possible motives for the shooting. They want to know if it was a random crime of road rage or gang-related. I thought I'd check out the 8th house of the chart.

Drive By Shooting on Freeway, two people shot, one killed

Apr. 3, 2008 9:15 pm
Pinole, CA

Sun 15 Aries; 6 Scorpio Rising; Moon 19 Pisces

The ruler of the Chart is Pluto which rules Murderers, Stalkers, Sexual Jealousy, Rage, Secrets. Pluto is the 2d house in Capricorn. Money as motive?

The Ruler of the Descendant is Venus which rules Love, Women, Jealousy, etc. Venus is Pisces in the 5th House of Fun, Children, Love affairs. Venus is conjunct the Moon, Uranus in Pisces and Mercury in Aries. The News said that the group in the Victim's car had been bowling. Perhaps this stellium in the 5th house just describes that they were having a fun night out playing games.

There are multiple indicators for Rage here. Venus and Pluto, rulers of 1st and 7th Houses are in square aspect. This could indicate some secret jealousy or love affair between the killers and the victims, but it certainly shows extreme emotions. On top of that, the Sun here is squaring Mars (shooting) in the 9th House and Jupiter in the 3d house. 3d & 9th Houses rule transportation. Sun-Mars-Pluto is very violent. The Sun rules the Midheaven. This all shows Road Rage. Mars in Sagittarius could indicate that the killers were out "hunting" or "stalking."

Neptune and NN in Aquarius in the 4th house could show that Drugs and Gangs is at the root of the problem.

The 8th House of murder and motives is empty. Gemini is on the cusp and ruler Mercury is in the 5th House conjunct the ruler of the Descendant. Gemini rules siblings, communications, neighbors. It also rules driving. It might also describe a random event.

The victims may have been picked because they were having fun (stellium in 5th hosue) and this brought up a competitive or jealous streak in the killers. There could be a secret love connection or that they knew each other through neighborhood activities, elementary school, or through siblings.

This is the 2d shooting this week on this freeway. I checked to see if Pinole's chart is hooked in. It sure is.

Pinole
Incorporated Jun. 25, 1903 Pinole, CA

Sun 3 Cancer, Moon Cancer, NN 14 Libra

Sun conjunct Moon and Neptune 4 -12 degrees Cancer squaring Mars-NN 9-13 Libra. This is hit by this frigging out of bounds Mars which was at 13 Cancer at the time of the shootings. Also, t.Pluto is opposing the natal Sun-Neptune at 4 Cancer.

Hope the News tells if the Police find the motive.

Child Molestation

This blog is about Lawrence Lessig, one of the Guardian's Top 100 Intellectuals of the World. Lessig is a world famous lawyer and professor known for his work in Copyright Law on the Internet. He has now announced his intention to unearth corruption in Politics. This is a Quality Guy. Lessig is also a Victim of Child Molestation. He was victimized at Age 14 (not sure about how long this continued as he went to a normal High School) while attending a Boy's Choir School in New Jersey. His story is extremely interesting because he actually confronted his abuser, sued the school, and then prosecuted the school later on behalf of other victims. He only opened up about his own story later on. I found an article that gives a lot of dates so I'd like to take a look at his chart:

The story is here in New York Magazine in an Article called "The Choirboy" by John Heilemann, May 21, 2005: http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/features/12061/. This article also tells the story of the man who Lessig represented who has suffered long term because of the abuse. I can't find his birth date.

Although he was groped beforehand, Lessig says he was actually raped on his 14th Birthday. This was meant to be a "Birthday Present" from his molester, the Choir Director, and continued pretty much until he left the school in order to attend regular High School. This, of course, was a Solar Return for Lessig so potent for the entire year.

The 14th year is associated astrologically with the first Saturn opposition. Sometimes this transit comes earlier, in Lessie's case it was just approaching and was promising to be significant in some way as Lessie has a wide conjunction of Saturn to Jupiter. Saturn's influence is reflected in Lessie's own words about the molestation. He said he had a "14-year olds exaggerated sense of his own maturity. "I felt I could handle it," he says. "That everything was under control." So he stayed silent, managed (Saturn keyword), and was actually promoted in stature to head choir boy.

Also from the article: "Now, in his ninth-grade year, Lessig was named head boy, which made him “in charge of taking care of the kids,” he says. “There was no proctor when I was head boy; I was discipline. And there were kids who were real shits—it was a Lord of the Flies–like experience.” I've listed some of the more major aspects below for the Solar Return chart and you can the Lord of the Flies influences big time.

Lessig's natal chart has Saturn in Capricorn conjunct Jupiter in Aquarius. Saturn here is in its own sign which emphasizes an extra feeling of maturity. Jupiter, of course, exaggerates everything it touches, and in Aquarius, well, anything goes, the more shocking the better. The two working together are thought to bring social prominence of some kind. (Barack Obama was born a couple of months after Lessig.) When transiting Jupiter and Saturn come together in the sky every 20 years, they are thought to bring about big changes in social, legal, political arenas and this is the emphasis on which Lessig has based his life, not his molestation which is a personal, intimate activity.

Lawrence Lessig
b. June 3, 1961 Rapid City, South Dakota

Sun 13 Gemini; Moon Aquarius; NN 1 Virgo

Selected to attend the exclusive school at Age 10, Lessig has a natal Venus in Aries. As Venus rules the voice and Aries rules boys it seems that this is perfect for showing talent as a Soprano lead in a Boys' Choir. A leading voice, whether through music or through law.

Significant in a different way, Progressed Mercury (Thinking, Communication, Early Education) went Rx around 10 Cancer within a year after starting at the school, 1971-72. Mercury is prominent in Lessig's natal chart as it is Out-of-bounds at 7 Cancer and is involved in a Grand Trine with Neptune in Scorpio and Chiron in Pisces. He developed a natural ability to escape and go elsewhere when stressed out. That's also a really interesting combination considering his areas of Law are involved with Intellectual Theft and Political Corruption.

With his Gemini Sun and Aquarius Moon Lessig would have been able to view what was happening from a more mental standpoint. If the two are trining (not known due to lack of birth time) this perhaps explains Lessig's strength to overcome the abuse. Internally his Ego and Unconscious work in harmony, good basic internal structure to protect against negative outside influences. Their Air influence maybe channel the emotional feelings into talents and good fortune through his Grand Water Trine. Talking about what happened to him would not have been easy, however. Lessig still hadn't told his parents what had happened even while he was working as a Lawyer on the case. This really illustrates Noel Tyl's interpretation of Grand Trines well, where the figure sort of shows energies that the person hold within himself, maybe becomes problematic if he bottles them up.

Lessig's first Molestation occurred in the Fall of 8th Grade. He was groped while watching TV 3 years after beginning at the school. He had been told by other boys about the Choir Master's behaviors shortly after attending the school.

Lessig was first raped on his 14th Birthday, June 3, 1975, Princeton, NJ.

This is shown perfectly by the astrology.

• The Moon was conjunct Mars at 10 Aries opposite Pluto in Libra. Violence, Force.

• There was a transiting T-square of Uranus opposite Saturn squaring Venus with apex Venus 28 Cancer. This layers over his natal Venus-Saturn square and creates a Grand Square figure (n.Venus 29 Aries square n. Saturn 30 Capricorn). So there's some connection to ambition here. He perhaps did feel "chosen." The transiting Venus-Saturn Square echoes the natal one. This would have been such a confusing aspect for anyone to go through let alone an adoloscent boy being stalked by a predator who was encouraging success.

• In addition, t.Neptune was opposing Lessig's natal Sun from 11 Sagittarius. Confusion to Ego, Victimization, Not knowing, unfortunately in this case emphasizes one's artistic and musical talents and vulnerabilities.

• And also, there was a Nodal Square (one degree orb). Lessig's Natal Node is conjunct n. Pluto in Virgo and natal Uranus in Leo so Nodal transits would really be charged for him. Natal conjunction of Mars to Uranus has progressed at time of first rape so that Mars is conjunct Uranus within a degree. Aggression plus Shock and Excitement.
  

• Finally, Saturn approaching 1st opposition to natal Saturn. This next year Lessig was made Head Boy of the School and was in charge of the other boys. He also lived in the room next to the Choir Master and sort of became his Live-in lover. A lot of prestige as Saturn opposes natal Saturn-Jupiter conjunction.

I was interested in trying to understand the transits of when Lessig was "available" astrologically to speak out. Since he's a Lawyer, speaking out ought to come naturally to him. But in his chart it's involved in a Grand Water Trine with Neptune. He wouldn't speak if things were not safe, especially as Mercury is in security conscious Cancer.

Lessig left the school and graduated from a normal High School. At Age 17 he joined the Board for the School. He was first approached in Fall of 1981 when he was 20 by other victims and didn't want to speak out. There was a conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn in Libra which reflects his natal Jupiter-Saturn conjunction (widely trining natal position). This shows an ambitious time. Also, Jupiter & Saturn were conjunct Pluto. Certainly a time to remain silent. This was probably the last thing he would have been able to do at this point. At this point Jupiter, Saturn & Pluto were all in a stellium in Libra together. This reflects the natal Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in his natal chart. His life was full of success and he probably didn't want to allow, probably didn't even feel the hurt from the past. He did later sue the school and receive a settlement, but the records were kept sealed. He maybe had a subconscious desire to go into Law because of the crime committed but, perhaps back in those days it wasn't even considered that much of a crime.

He was next approached I believe in 2001 when he was 43. The transits here are interesting. This is again after the next Jupiter-Saturn conjunction that occurred in Taurus in 2000. Transiting Pluto was opposing his natal Sun and was about to going through the Saturn-Pluto opposition starting in that year, right on his natal Sun. He was past his transiting Pluto square which would have included his Nodal Axis and Uranus.

When the Law Suit began at the end of November in 2004, Lessig was well past his Pluto square and was experiencing his Neptune square and Uranus opposition. These hit hard spots on his natal chart. What an excellent time to speak out on behalf of Humanity and Victims. These are the generational planets. The whole rest of the world was willing to deal with the issues involved (finally). Transiting Neptune was conjunct natal Jupiter. Jupiter is connected to the Law and Lessig was working on the case in Defense of the other victims while still not telling the outside world, even his parents about what had happened to him. Very Neptunian, Water.

Also, the School had won the original argument based on a Law called the Charitable (Neptune) Immunity (Uranus) Act!! This claimed that the school claimed it wasn't responsible for the behavior of its employees towards the children in attendance!! The New Jersey Supreme Court decided to override the earlier decision on. Aug. 8, 2006. The Sun and Saturn were in conjunction and opposing a conjunction of Neptune-Moon in Aquarius. This all happened on top of Lessig's natal Mars in Leo. His progressed Venus was conjunct natal Sun in Gemini. I suppose Venus' relation to Law and Justice really rings true here. Also, t.Jupiter (Law) conjunct natal Neptune (this was a big Victory for Lessig, but also triggered that Grand Trine. He had literally been outed publicly in the Supreme Court in the middle of the trial).

The Governor had signed a Law into effect already in January of that same year stating that Charitable Institutions can be sued by victims of gross misconduct. New Jersey was the 48th State to sign this into effect. Pluto, of course, was nearing its last degrees of Sagittarius and had almost completed its "transformation" of Schools and Religious Institutions.

Mercury's progression is very interesting in this regard. As I said before it had gone into Retrograde the year after he had gone to the school and it moved backward through Cancer until it stationed direct sometime 1996-97. P.Mercury then was within 2 degrees conjunction of his natal Mercury when he finally opened up about his own situation. As he's said to be very shy I'm going to remove his name from this blog. The article will link to him but there's no reason for his name to come up. I don't think there are enough studies of Child Molestation in Astrology so I am going to go ahead and hit the publish button.