Los Angeles "Station" Wildfire

Found a source for the beginning so the humungous Station Wildfire in Los Angeles (listed below) which has been determined to be set by arsonists. Amazingly, the highly volatile t-square of Mercury-Mars-Pluto is crossing the angles of the charts at this time. Apex Mercury 1 Libra is squaring the Mars-Pluto opposition from 1 Cancer to 1 Capricorn is conjunct the 28 Sagittarius Ascendant-Gemini Descendant. At any rate, Mars on the Descendant will show a criminal in the midst. Pluto on the Ascendant will show perhaps show intention. Uranus is very widely filling in the other end of the t-square from the 3d house. If that were the case the event could have been partially an accident. The Sagittarius Ascendant could indicate strong opinions, indicatinig anything from a sports enthusiast to an educator to a lawyer to a clergyman to a person from a foreign land so this doesn't help much. The strong Mercury influence could indicate a motorist. The Mercury-Mars square shows young people, probably male.

There are many elements in this chart that indicate unusual volatility. To add to the idea of "volatility" in this chart, the rising sign is firey Sagittarius, the sign most connected with rapid growth and anything large scale. And there is a double whammy Moon-Mars connection. Both planets are out-of-bounds and in the signs of their fall. This means that they stand out in the chart by being in signs in which they don't function well and their influence is somehow extreme. When working together they can show extremely angry emotions and insanity. At any rate, it is very interesting that the chart shows strong intent for this eventand it turns out that the fire was intentionally set. I can't understand pyromania at all so I tend to assume that things like this are accidents.

It's interesting that there are a total of 4 planets in this chart on the first degree of a sign. That's the 3 mentioned above plus Venus at 1 Leo which is placed in the 7th House, very close to conjunction with the 8th House cusp. Could "Arson" somehow be connected with planets crossing over into new signs? Sparking, Ignition? The Cardinal Sign t-square already addresses this idea. I wonder if a female could also be involved, or some kind of crazy relationship problem?

It seems that Grand Trines are often involved in disasters that are difficult to contain. The potential for ease of growth is just too difficult to control. Perhaps I'll call Grand Trines the Roller Derby Queens of Weather events indicators? In this case the Grand Trine is involved in a Kite figure. The linking planet here is Uranus in Pisces in the 3d house that opposes Mercury Libra (H9). I read on another astrology site the insight that many communications towers for Los Angeles were at risk, as well as the Mount Wilson Observatory.

A couple of my relatives are buried in a cemetery in that area so perhaps they are the cause?

Station Fire, Los Angeles, CA
Aug. 26, 2009 3:30 pm near U.S. Forest Service Ranger Station Highway 2, Mount Wilson

Sun 4 Virgo; Moon 28 Scorpio; ASC 28 Sagittarius; MC 16 Libra; NN 29 Capricorn

(source: http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=377)

Incredible Time Lapse Photography of the Los Angeles Wildfire.








http://gizmodo.com/5352814/five-shocking-time+lapse-videos-of-the-los-angeles-wildfire

Land Ahoy in Water World

Looks like a big outer (and inner) Kite pattern coming up over the Summer of 2013. On June 23, 2013 the Sun 3 Cancer will be conjunct Jupiter 30 Gemini (with Lilith wedged between so somebody's gonna get tossed off the gang plank). This will oppose Pluto 11 Capricorn conjunct Moon Capricorn. And the Sun-Jupiter conjunction will be in a Grand Trine with Saturn 5 Scorpio and Neptune 6 Pisces.

What? That's an awesome aspect for an artist or an empire.

This is right between the Eclipse sets. There will be 3 in Spring and 2 in Oct-November. None will be total.

Hmmm, what could it mean? The Earth will have lined up with the Galactic Center in 2012 and then this.

Happy Belated Bobmas to Ravelry!!

An insane amount of my time has been spent on a Knitting Website Community called Ravelry. I've been staying up until 2 am compulsively looking at 300 versions of how knitters have made a certain sweater pattern, or at what 2000 knitters have made with one skein of yarn. You can read their notes and thoughts about each project. Knitters take incredible care in giving very generous help with other knitters who can't get their SSP's and Knit2Tog's straight. I don't know, I'm still trying to figure out how to hold the yarn.

At any rate, Ravelry is celebrating its 2d Birthday and the home page has been sporting a celebretory video featuring the Website mascot and amazing Black & White Beast Dog named Bob. The owner/creator of the website Jess/"Frecklegirl" and her husband Casey and the other Ravelry crew celebrate the Moment of coming up with the Idea with an annual "Bobmas" named, of course, after Bob.

It's just too great that they know the date for this because the Astrology is really incredible.

Idea for Ravelry Knitting Community/Website.
dreamed up on Apr. 11, 2005 in the evening at some point , Boston, MA?

Talk about Wildfire! The Sun (Creative Expression) was conjunct Venus (Arts) and the North Node (Destiny) in Aries. This was squaring Saturn in Cancer (Practicality and Building anything having to do with Home and Comfort and Nurturing).

A Sun-Venus-NN conjunction shows great creativity and popularity and a desire to create beautiful things and the aspect to Saturn shows the practical drive and hard work needed to bring it forth into reality. This chart also has a conjunction of Mars to Neptune in Aquarius which is another great creative aspect, especially in relation to anything having to do with the Internet.

(Sun 23 Aries conjunct Venus (Arts, Women) 26 Aries conjunct North Node (Destiny) 23 Aries squaring Saturn (Practical Applications) 21 Cancer)

I wasn't hooked in at the time but it looks like the Internet was full of Knitters who were blogging about what they were making. The idea was to bring/organize everyone together into one place.

It looks like Frecklegirl posted the idea on her blog the next night
Apr. 12, 2005 8:45 pm Boston, MA?

This was about as fortuitous a moment for making this announcement as she could have chosen. Mercury (Announcements) stationed Direct that day at 2 Aries. The Aries Point of the chart is great for anything having to do with success in the world. The Astrology is just incredible!

Secondly, the Sun-Venus-NN conjunction, was further highlighted by an Eclipse Series. Frecklegirl had her Revelation sandwiched between a Solar Eclipse on Apr. 8 and a Lunar Eclipse on Apr. 24. That's practically Biblical! This means that the Moon was first in conjunction with the Sun-Venus-NN conjunction and then was in Opposition to it.

If the Birthdate given on Frecklegirl's profile is correct then she would be a Libra Sun and her Solar Return in 2005 would also have been sandwiched between a set of Solar-Lunar Eclipses! What better energy to bring people together than a strong Aries/Libra Eclipse Series. The only time I've ever really seen the Eclipses work their magic is in bringing forth great creative ventures, especially when they hook in to a person's Solar Return chart the way they do here.

Thirdly, this chart has two Grand Trines (Fire and Air). These are very positive for successful ventures. The grand trines are almost set out in a Star of David formation in the chart. If anything, Frecklegirl/Jess and Casey have to be aware that the success might be too much for them and they need to ask for help at the proper moments in order to maintain the momentum. Scorpio is Rising in this chart and chart ruler Pluto is in the 2d House (money) trining the Sun-Venus in the 6th House of Crafts and Leo (Arts) Midheaven (How the World Views the Matter). The Mars-Neptune conjunction is conjunct the IC, or opposite side of the Midheaven and is in an unbelievably positive trine to Juipter in Libra and the Moon in Gemini.

I wonder what Bob's sign is. He's some sort of breed, black and white and he has Marty Feldman eyes and is full of charm. I suspect he's maybe an Aries Moon. He just looks very inspired.

There's only one other successful website that I've looked at the astrology of and that one is also run by a Libra Sun, Jason Kottke. It's one of the oldest blogs on the web at this point, Kottke.org. I can't remember the astrology but it also was stand-out.

Ban Against Short Selling

Short Selling is where an Investor is anticipating a decrease in the market and buys Stocks with money he/she doesn't have. Explained here:

http://www.investopedia.com/university/shortselling/shortselling1.asp

The SEC today has extended a Ban it placed on Short Selling in something like 800 financial companies so that they couldn't make things worse than they already are. The original Ban went into effect on September 18, 2008 and can by law only be kept in effect until Oct. 17.

I looked back at the Sept. 18 Opening Bell Chart to see what may have indicated the idea of authorities doing something to keep monkeys under control.

Sept. 18 was the day that the Moon in Taurus made an Earth Grand Trine to Jupiter (H3) and Saturn (H11). What a great use of a Grand Trine. The G.T. relates to the chart strongly as the Moon (Public) disposits to Venus which conjunct the ASC. Jupiter disposits to Saturn from its 3d House position in this chart. In addition, Capricorn (Controls like Bans, Cautionary Measures, Gvmt. & Authorities) was intercepted in the 3d House. Government (Saturn) containing the Monkeys/Traders/Short Sellers (H3, Containment indicated by the Grand Trine and the Interception in the 3d House of Trading/Selling). I'd definitely give Mercury Rulership of Short Selling to Mercury, 3d House. The upcoming Mercury Retrograde couldn't hurt with this as well although the Short Sellers are probably watching this market and feeling very repressed.

Good work to whomever (whoever?) timed this. The SEC must have an Astrologer. Speaking of Monkeys, I wonder what they did with the media that day.

The Feds did this just before Scorpio began to Rise on the Ascendant at Opening Bell. It was at 29 Libra. Pluto had just begun to stick in the 2d house of Money on that day as well and was squaring the Sun.

The Head of the SEC is Christopher Cox who is a Libra Sun. I briefly mentioned him in the post on the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. His Libra Sun is conjunct Saturn & Neptune. He's apparently very intuitive. Neptune-NN is opposing his natal Pluto. That's the "psycicist" transit vibe on the planet. But, he's probably going through serious black outs right now.

Panda Baby Boom in China

Four Mommie Pandas at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center gave birth this week-end to four Tiny Baby Panda Bears, So Cute. I've got my face all puckered up into Cutsey Cutsey Coo Face. Yahoo gave their Birth Times so how can I resist looking at the charts?.

This means that all the Newborns have an Earth Grand Trine between Jupiter in Capricorn, Mars in Virgo and Moon in Taurus. While the Moon stays in Taurus for all of their births, Mercury changes signs from Cancer to Leo. It is conjunct the Leo Sun the whole time and is unaspected by Ptolomaic aspect to other planets for most of the charts. Venus, of course, is conjunct the South Node in Leo opposing Neptune-Chiron-North Node in Aquarius. These babies will pull out all the stops on the Charm Factor.

I haven't looked too closely but there are some amazing comparisons between these Pandas' births and the Earthquake that happened in China on May 12, 2008. At least one of the Mothers was evacuated from the Panda Center which was very close to the Epicenter.

• There was a mutual reception between Venus and the Moon on these dates. Since the Moon shifts quickly most of the aspects aren't exact, but still I think it's interesting. Venus was at 15 Taurus and the Moon was in Leo. Degree, 24 Degrees?

• The Sun was also at 22 Taurus so there really is a strong connection here between the Earthquake Sun and the Babies' Moon.

• Even Mars is connected. It is opposing Uranus in the baby Panda's charts and the two planets were trining in the Earthquake Chart. Mars and Uranus are definitely connected with earthquakes. Also, Mars was at 1 Leo in the Earthquake Chart. This is right where the unaspected Sun-Mercury conjunction is for the Pandas.

All these babies are Leos born during a Taurus Moon while a Grand Trine was formed between Mars-Jupiter-Moon. That means, obviously, that they're very lovable and playful. With Leo Sun and Taurus Moon they are very generous and kind little souls, though, so that helps too. But they will be Fixed in their ways and stubborn at times.

First there was a set of girl twins who were born to a Mommy whose name translates to "Magic Luck." The first was born at 5:24pm and has Sagittarius Rising with Pluto conjunct the Ascendant. She's got other Scorpio aspects. I think this girl is a people pleaser. She will have very good taste. Her little Sister will be more serious but very wise. She was born at 6:16 pm and has Capricorn Rising, but with Jupiter in the first house which will keep up her weight (sometimes Capricorn can be too skinny and we don't want that).

At 7:51 pm a Panda whose name translates to "Success" gave birth to a Boy with 2 Aquarius Rising. This Baby has the Neptune-Venus plus Nodal Axis running across the 1st-7th House. Very photogenic.

At 6:55 am on Sunday, July 27 (this morning) another baby was born. This one has 12 Leo Rising with Venus 18 Leo opposing Neptune along the Nodal Axis. She will be quite a Looker and always very well groomed. She will enjoy arranging the Eucalyptus leaves in her environment. Eucalyptus leaves? Eu, Do I have them mixed up with Koalas?

Notice that the last two Babies have Fixed Sign Ascendants which hooks them into the Earthquake Charts as well.

The Birdman of Alcatraz

I love it when I start obsessing over a person and then discover that their charts reflect some current transits in the sky. Yesterday something tripped off my memory and I was thinking about one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, Birdman of Alcatraz. Scary child. I think my sense of what true Justice is aged about 9,000 years after watching that movie. And, you have to admit the acting was great.

As I write this "the Birdman" would be celebrating his Saturn Return in Virgo and would be due to celebrate his Jupiter Return in Capricorn this year as well. Pluto is passing back and forth over his South Node. I haven't got a clue how to interpret this, but I can go off in my imagination here. I have no idea whether reincarnation happens but this would certainly seem like a portal opening in time for the same kind of soul to re-enter.

Robert Stroud, Birdman of Alcatraz
b. Jan 28, 1890 Seattle, Washington (time from Astrotheme 10:00 pm)

Sun 10 Aquarius; ASC 5 Libra; Moon 26 Taurus; MC 6 Cancer; NN 2 Cancer

The Birdman, Robert Franklin Stroud, was a murderer. Just as he was approaching his first Nodal Return (t.Pluto c. n. North Node too) he killed a guy who had abused his girlfriend. Apparently he was hanging out with the wrong crowd and considering his natal chart had a Mars in Scorpio - Moon in Taurus opposition, it was only a matter of time when his temper would be tested beyond what it could handle.

After entering into jail, Stroud couldn't handle the abuse from the guards and was attacking them as well. Eventually he ended up on Death Row for killing a guard. And, Lucky Guy, his Mother and others were on the outside fighting to get him off. His Mother actually contacted the President, can't remember which one. He was born during the Pluto-Neptune conjunction in Gemini of the 1880s and this conjunction was featured prominentally in Stroud's natal chart. If the Astrotheme birth time is correct, it was conjunct his Sun and involved in a Grand Trine with a Libra Ascendant and a conjunction of Sun-Venus-Mercury Rx in Aquarius. At the time of the murder, his progressed Sun and Venus were conjunct at 29 Aquarius and squaring his natal Moon-Pluto. They then would have passed over into Pisces, sign which rules Imprisonment.

Birdman was sentenced to 12 years for committing his first crime and then had a few problems with guards in jail. He attacked the first one, then killed the second one and was moved around and eventually put into Solitary confinement on Death Row where his only contact with life was with birds that hung out in the barred window of his cell. He made cages for the birds and learned so much about them he wrote books on them. His Mother kept fighting on his behalf to keep him off of death row. Hollywood found him and made a movie about him.

The story is really really strange. The Astrology makes sense when you think of the strangeness because Stroud was an Aquarian. Whether or not he actually did have a Libra Rising in trine with his other planets, a Grand Air Trine for a guy who understands Birds really well just makes a whole lot of sense. The self-containment of the Grand Trine aspect actually found a constructive outlet in jail. It also brought the good luck connected with having constant attention for his incarceration. The whole Neptune-Pluto in Gemini generation certainly would understand the story of a guy who writes books while isolated in a jail.

Stroud murdered his Girlfriend's abuser, Jan. 18, 1909 in Cordova, Alaska. The Astrolocality lines show an interesting set-up as his Moon-Neptune-Pluto MC lines run through Alaska where he committed his first murder. The island of Alcatraz, where he found his connection with birds and eventually his Fame was closest to his Nodal Axis MC line. And surprisingly, his Nodal Axis is located in his natal chart at 2 Cancer-Capricorn and his Midheaven-IC Axis (assuming chart time is correct) at 6 Cancer-Capricorn. He became famous on this line at any rate in part for the place (IC, Cancer) where he lived. The circumstances were unusual, but as I said, he was Sun-Venus-Mercury in Aquarius. He also may have had a 1st house Uranus which strengthens the tendency for unusual circumstances.

One major anger management problem indicated in Stroud's chart is his Moon - Mars in Scorpio opposition. Mars squares his natal Sun-Mercury in Aquarius. That all makes for a flash temper. If he has a Libra Rising his story seems classic for the problems of that Rising Sign. He was trying to help his lover and instead buried himself into one catastrophic interaction after another until it finally finds redemption in going inward. I've just looked at a study of U.S. Presidents who have a predominance of Libra Risings. One can certainly see this same kind of struggle in taking on that job. Just remember back to Bill Clinton's days.

There are a lot of unbelievable interesting transits that connect to Stroud's natal chart, namely through Neptune, Chiron and Mars. It's interesting that the first murder was committed while Neptune was conjunct his natal Chiron-Lilith conjunction in Cancer. How about going to jail (Neptune) while defending your prostitute (Lilith) girlfriend's (Lilith, Cancer) problems? Of course, the progressed Sun-Venus conjunction squaring natal Moon-Pluto-Neptune didn't help. Nor did the Pluto-North Node conjunction (within orb of his Nodal Return). This murder would have held extra relevance for Stroud as it happened on Jan. 18, 1909 and so probably was linked into his Solar Return chart for the year.

The Birdman movie debuted July 3, 1962. This is an interesting Solar Return year for Stroud as there was a huge line-up of planets in Aquarius on his Sun that year. T. Pluto was just approaching his 12th House cusp opposing Jupiter-Chiron on his 6th House cusp (assuming Astrotheme chart time is correct). Jupiter-Pluto aspects are known to bring fame when working together in a chart. What better way to become famous than as being some kind of Francis of Assisi of the Federal Jail System in a Major Motion Picture? That's so many Neptunian/Pisces themes it makes my head spin.

Stroud died in 1963. Pluto was exactly conjunct the 12th house cusp of the Astrotheme chart.

James Byrd, Jr. and Jesse Jackson

Today's News has an article that looks back on a racial beating/murder that happened in Jasper, Texas 10 years ago. 3 White Guys picked up a Black Man in their Ford Truck, chained him down, beat him, maybe slit his throat, then dragged him by the ankle for 3 miles while his body parts tore off, one by one. The Victim's name was James Byrd, Jr. The murderers have been put in jail, two are on death row. Their names are John William King, Lawrence Russell Brewer, Shawn Allen Berry. I can find Mr. Byrd's birth date but I can't find the birth dates of the murderers. Why is that?

link to article here: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iqy3nIU4RvYvkISr1XK_KatcGJcgD914P4BO0

James Byrd, Jr.
b. May 2, 1949

Sun 12 Taurus; Moon Gemini or Cancer; NN 26 Aries

Date of Murder
June 7, 1998 early morning hours (I used 3 am) Jasper, TX

I was hoping this would be a simple post about how awful Chiron Returns are because James Byrd, Jr. was 49 years old at the time that he died. It certainly is a lesson about Chiron but not the Return. Natally Byrd's Chiron is in Sagittarius and Chiron was still in Scorpio at the time of his Murder.

Chiron's presence, however, is very strong in both event and natal charts. It is conjunct the Moon on the day of the murder, to the degree at 3 am. Byrd's natal Chiron was being hit by a Pluto conjunction (within a degree) which was squaring the Nodal Axis. Chiron is opposite Mercury in Gemini in Byrd's natal chart. Without a birth time I don't have a placement for the Moon and Angles in Byrd's chart, but, this is the only Opposition in Byrd's Chart. As oppositions encourage a person to learn balance, relationships and how to play opposite others, this may have been a problem for Byrd in his life otherwise. The influence of this opposition certainly begins to stand out in his life.

I just wrote a blog where I talked, or rather rambled incoherently, about a researcher who has found that language differences may be the root of racist tendencies. I equated this with Gemini influences in the chart. And I have no idea how the influence works. It seems to work in good, bad, and ugly ways in only the way that Gemini can. At any rate, Chiron is the Wound and the Teacher and Mercury is placed in Byrd's natal chart in its own sign of Gemini so it's interesting that lasting lessons through Racism are a gift that Mr. Byrd passed on. His Siblings (Gemini) set up a Foundation for Racial Healing (Chiron) and today's articles say that conditions in the town are improved (Although I read on that there has since been another similar incident).

By coincidence, the Murder occurred while the Sun was in Gemini conjunct Mercury and Mars. The conjunction had cycled past Byrd's natal Mercury but these 3 planets were parallel to each other at 22 degrees plus declination. Byrd's natal Mercury is parallel these planets as well. Guess that shows some kind of relationship.

The transits show an uneven triangle shape (Trine-Square-Inconjunct, can't remember the name and I'm too lazy to look it up, sorry). The Sun-Mercury-Mars conjunction was was inconjunct the Moon-Chiron in Scorpio conjunction and trining Uranus in Aquarius. This is a violent combination. The murderers had been out most of the night driving around and knocking down their neighbor's mailboxes for the Hell of it. The chain that was used to drag Mr. Byrd was originally intended to pull mailboxes out of the ground. Well, along with a few other choice words, pulling mailboxes out of the ground certainly could be one of the less noble Mars-Mercury in Gemini manifestations. So is I guess picking up a man who is walking home from a baby shower, I guess.

Byrd's chart was really getting pounded by the outer planets as well. Everyone his age was going through these but these planets were hitting his personal planets so affecting him personally. For one, T.Neptune was conjunct natal Jupiter in Aquarius. This squares his natal Mars and certainly could show bad judgment. Byrd had problems with drugs . Another aspect, Uranus was opposing natal Pluto in Leo. This opposition squares his natal Sun-Venus conjunction. That's a major violent aspect.

One part of the newspaper story really struck me and that was how his family reacted. His siblings, either brother or sister or both, has since set up the James Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing. This, of course, would be the Chiron/Mercury influence. Those Pluto aspects, especially the conjunction of t.Pluto to n.Chiron shows Fame through the Death, and use of the Death to further healing in the environment and through the siblings (opposition to Mercury in Gemini).

What I didn't get while I read this was, why did they turn around and do this? With all that fear and rage that they must have been feeling, how did they not only show forgiveness but manage to organize such a thing? The answer, at least in part, was:

Jesse Jackson
b. Oct. 8, 1941 2:15 pm Greenville, SC

Sun 16 Libra; ASC 26 Capricorn; Moon 24 Taurus; MC 16 Scorpio; NN 27 Virgo

Wow.

(Just give me a moment).

So, this guy. I've always been kind of critical of Jackson. He's been so grumpy and firey lately and he sort of shows disrespect to others. But, no wonder. Jackson immediately went down to the community and gave the sermon at Byrd's funeral. He's been acting as a buffer for when all these psychotic, senseless crimes happen. He's been personally witnessing and trying to change these incredibly hurt people to keep them from getting revenge.

Most of Jackson's planets are on the right side of his chart showing that he's mostly influenced by others. He is also a Libra Sun so this is his natural expressive tendency.

The rest of the indicators that I'm looking at show how he can and will confront really difficult situations. This is a person who wants to confront the problems in the world.

His chart ruler is Saturn which is placed in the 4th house of family and environment. This shows that he comes from a background of poverty. His Saturn is conjunct his Moon and Uranus which brings in community and caring, a struggle to build a bridge between the past and the future. The Moon and Saturn in practical and kind Taurus will find a need and fill it. He's literally been building and rebuilding the community. And Taurus is a stubborn sign.

This Moon-Saturn-Uranus conjunction finds a lot of expression in the chart through strong aspect patterns with other planets. It is part of a Grand Trine to Jackson's Capricorn ASC and his Neptune in Virgo. Uranus is also part of a Mystic Rectangle opposing Venus in Scorpio and sextile/trine Pluto in Leo and Capricorn ASC. The conjunction also trines his North Node.

And there are indicators of struggles in personal relationships with Pluto in the 7th House. Pluto can force one to see into conspiracies, that's for sure. But with the Capricorn Rising there is wisdom to want to seek alternatives to Plutonian problems like revenge and deep rage.

Jackson's chart is my second find of a Sun-Mars Rx opposition. He was born under what I've been calling a Mars Synodic Year. (I now think that isn't a real term, or the proper term, but if I've made mistakes with that I'm leaving them because they seem to give some valuable information, at least for now). The other chart with this aspect was Mark Zuckerberg's, the kid who built Facebook while barely out of the crib. I thought that perhaps it showed a tendency for early success as Mars is related to Youth. Jackson has been driven from early on as well. There's is a strong identity with youth and forcefulness and how to handle forcefulness. It would be a perfect aspect for a Civil Rights Activist.

Jackson's Mars Rx is interesting to watch with regards to the Progressions. Natally, Mars is in Aries, the sign that it rules. With Mars opposing the Libra Sun, one can see a very primal need to lead others into better relationship with each other. Maybe also a problem with being a push-me-pull- you. Jackson's progressed Mars went direct in April, 1974. He took on more and more leadership roles in the Civil Rights Movement and then in Government roles. He ran for the Presidency twice and working as a "Shadow Senator" in Washington DC. (Don't know what that means).

This year, Jackson's Mars has returned to his Birth degree. This is extremely interesting as the United States may elect its first African American President. The thing which Jackson has worked so hard for has a very good chance of manifesting.

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.

The Day that James Hansen Shook the World

EDIT: (8/28/09) James Hansen's Birthday on Wikipedia is listed as Mar. 29, 1941 Denison, Iowa.

It's been 20 years since climatologist James Hansen, Director of NASA's Goddard Institute, made his announcement to the Committee on Energy & Natural Resources that he was 99% sure that Global Warming was a genuine danger to the Earth.

This was in 1988. Since then the World has been in non-stop debate over the reality of his announcement and now that Pluto (Crisis) has hit the spot where Saturn (Bureaucracy) and Uranus (Shock) were at the time of Hansen's announcement we are finally coming around to believing the guy. Neptune (disbelief) was already about 10 degrees ahead of Saturn and Uranus when Hansen made his announcement. I can hardly wait to see what happens to the Glaciers once Pluto hits that spot.

On the bright side, maybe Global Warming will reverse itself. Pluto, after all, rules transformation and change. From the looks of things it might be more realistic to believe that Hell will freeze over.

This announcement was made on June 23, 1988, Washington, DC. Saturn & Uranus were just at the end of Sagittarius showing some nice action very close to the Capricorn Aries Point -- a very public presentation of conflict with the slowness of one's government to act (Capricorn).

Too bad these Scientists never pay attention to the Astrologers because that was not a great day for making an announcement. 6 planets were Retrograde and, of course, Mercury was among them in its own sign of Gemini. And, it was conjunct Retrograde Venus! Mercury represents the Messenger and Venus represents the Debaters and both weren't working properly due to the Rx's. Although people panicked, nobody believed Hansen, especially not the Politicians and the business people. Everyone's been debating, and talking, and pondering both sides of the argument and then Blammo! Huge chunks of Glaciers just started breaking apart at the poles.

I checked the Secondary Progressions for this event to see when these planets came out of Retrograde (by Progression) to see if there was a correlation with acceptance of Hansen's announcement. Mercury stationed direct almost immediately in 1989-90 at 19 Gemini. Venus turned direct around 1999-2000 at 14 Gemini.

Interesting that this conjunction, in both the "event" chart and the progressed chart were hit almost directly by the Saturn-Pluto opposition transit in 2001-2 (think 9/11). This coincides with how long it took for the politicians, i.e. Big Business (Saturn-Pluto opposition) to catch on. I think that it took a couple more years for Bush to come around.

The event chart for Hansen's announcement has a conjunction of Mars (Alarm) to the North Node (Destiny) in Pisces. Pisces and Aquarius seem to be the signs most connected with atmospheric conditions. Unfortunately, Pisces being the last sign of the Zodiac, is sort of the Dooms-day sign. Hansen should have waited until the NN was in Aquarius and Mercury was blasting full steam ahead. The Thomas Edisons would have immediately come out of the woodwork to invent a solution.

It's interesting that Mars (planet of fire) was conjunct the Pisces North Node ("Doomsday" via "Poisoned" "Atmosphere" -- Pisces keywords) on the day that "Global Warming" become a serious "Danger." Also, this was the date that Politicians began to dispute the Scientists' warnings (Virgo South Node?).

I've found a problem with regards to birth data for James Hansen. It used to be listed in sources as Mar. 19, 1941 (Dension, Iowa) and now is listed on Wikipedia for Mar. 29, 1941. I'm sure he'd be broken hearted that I won't be able to babble on much about his chart.

The Pisces chart sure is interesting considering that people have been constantly complaining that Hansen is a Doomsday'er. Pisces is the last sign of the Wheel and those Sun signs can be a tad more attuned to the possibilities that the World will end.

If this is the correct birth date, Hansen's Pisces Sun would be opposite its ruler Neptune. This conjunction would be layered over the Nodal Axis of his chart: Libra North Node and Aries South Node. The March 29 birth date would still keep this Sun-Neptune opposition within orb of conjunction with his Nodes. One can see the struggle of his Libra North Node to get his message across in a diplomatic way. Geronimo had the same North Node.

Hansen was born during a Grand Conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn-Uranus in Taurus. And this conjunction is part of a Grand Earth Trine to Neptune in Virgo and Mars in Capricorn. How appropriate for someone who wants to save the Earth. (But, however, Dick Cheney has a Grand Earth Trine too so maybe it also applies to those who want to destroy the Earth. Maybe that interpretation doesn't apply...).

The first alarm was sounded in 1958 when a Scientist working in Hawaii began to measure rising CO2 in the air. Pluto was just entering into Virgo that year and Jupiter and Neptune entered Scorpio. Interesting the correlation with Science, Research, Clinical Proof, and Confrontation.

D.B. Cooper, Hijacker

The FBI is bringing up a Cold File of a Hijacker from the 70s. A guy in a business suit and a trench coat got on to a plane flying from Portland, Oregon to Seattle Washington on Nov. 24, 1971. No mention of when the plane took off but at around 3pm, the guy, who's smoking cigarettes and drinking bourbon and is kinda quiet and sort of looks like Vladimir Putin but without the Oboe player lips, hands a note to the Stewardess telling her that he's got a bomb on board the plane, he's hijacking the plane, he wants $200,000 and 4 parachutes. So, she's like Omigod Omigod Omigod all the way up to the cockpit. And the story goes on, it's on Wikipedia and all over the news, very amusing. Glad I wasn't there.

The plane lands in Seattle and lets the passengers and some of the crew off and then takes off again from Seattle at 7:38pm heading towards Reno, NV. The guy tells everyone to go into the cockpit and he jumps out the back with the money and 2 of the parachutes and leaves his JC Penney tie behind. I bet he remembered to bring his cigarettes, you know how it is. This guy has got on a business suit and loafers and it's storming outside. Wikipedia has an animated picture of him jumping out the back but with no parachute. It's really cute and totally bizarre and no one ever found him.

A kid found some of the money in Washington on Feb. 10, 1980 and now the FBI has found his DNA on the JC Penney tie he left behind. Was it a clip-on? I seem to remember a clip on, that's kind of tacky. According to the Wikipedia article multiple guys have admitted to being this "D.B. Cooper" not his real name, or Dan. The FBI got a new guy who's determined to figure who this guy was after all this time. That sounds fishy and I really wonder why they give a shit.

Anyway, we're having a Nodal Return for the time of the event with North Node in Aquarius. Aquarius rules Aviation so that's optimum for a good hijacker story. The aspects were great for taking an Airplane flight. The Sun in Sagittarius, Moon in Aquarius, North Node in Aquarius. Those are all optimum aspects for flying the Friendly Skies. Thing is the Sun was exactly conjunct Neptune (escape) and opposite Saturn. It's interesting that the FBI brings the case back to our attention just as we're having a Nodal Return in Aquarius. The Node for this event was involved in an Air Grand Trine with Saturn and Pluto. When Dan or D.B. or whatever his name was notified the stewardess of the Hijacking at 3pm the North Node was straight overhead conjunct the Midheaven.

This is probably too much information but it's interesting to note that 5 planets were in Sagittarius. This includes an exact conjunction of Sun to Neptune which opposing Saturn right over the H2-H8 cusp. That's a really great set of aspects for either getting away with a crime or committing suicide. 1 degree Taurus was rising. The chart ruler, Venus, plus the other Sagg planets were in the 8th house. Guess those are lucky indicators for asking for other people's money.

It seems that the jump was around 8:13pm. Nobody really knows where the Hijacker jumped but some say at Woodland, Washington. This gives a 28 Cancer Rising with chart ruler, Moon, still in Aquarius but now in the 8th House. The Sagg Planets have moved to mostly the 5th House (risk). And the Grand Trine is set up so that Pluto is conjunct the IC with Uranus in the 4th also. I take that to mean that the guy was flattened like a pancake. But Mars was in Pisces in the 9th House. I have no idea what rules parachutes but anything including Pisces helps for making an escape.

For comparison, it's interesting to regress back to 1924 when Duane L. Weber was born in Dayton, Ohio. He's one of the guys who confessed to the crime on his death bed. In Nov, 1924 there were two Grand Trines. Those are good indicators for getting away with stuff in life. One of the Grand Trines is in Water and includes Saturn trine Pluto trine Uranus. Uranus at this point was in Pisces conjunct the Mars of the Hijacking chart. The other Grand Trine is in Fire and includes a conjunction of Neptune to the North Node in Leo to Chiron in Aries and Jupiter in Sagittarius. So there would be a Nodal Opposition, a Jupiter Return in Sagittarius no less and a Grand Trine including Saturn and Pluto to compare against the Event Chart! Plus, the Neptune conjunctions! Wish they'd give his birthdate.

I figured from the pictures and stuff that it's just some nut pretending he's James Bond, like a publicity stunt or something. Diamonds are Forever was released the next month, I checked.

Lewis & Clark

The upcoming election is reminding me of the last long trip I took in which I drove across the United States and seemed to be constantly crossing paths with the two Presidential Candidates, Bush and Kerry. There were Security and Media Helicopters flying over me and my "rig" a lot of the time. Meanwhile, on the ground I kept ending up on the path of the Lewis & Clark trail. Maybe the little green dots on my Rand McNally just naturally send you on the Lewis & Clark trail, I suppose that makes sense. This was the 200th Anniversary of the trek which is recorded as the first non-Native American trek all the way across the Continent. Wikipedia says some Canadian did it 10 years before this. Why don't we know about this? Don't the Canadians have P.R. persons? At any rate, I got to pass many of the pig farms, corvette conventions, Wal-Marts and Indian Medicine Wheels that Meriwether and Bill got to pass.

What am I talking about here? Oh yeah, briefly looked at the charts of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Turns out they were both Leos born while Pluto was in Capricorn and both had Earth Grand Trines between the 3 outer planets. That seems like the perfect aspect for two Generals to have who were the first non-Native Americans to cross the Land. Their progressed Suns were in conjunction with the Grand Trine during their expedition.

Both Lewis & Clark had planets predominantly in Earth and Fire signs. Clark had nothing in Air and Lewis had singleton Uranus in Air. The little Water they had were in Cancer with Clark's singleton Mercury conjunct Lewis' Venus. That's a pleasant combination for two Leo Generals to have who need to bark orders. At least they could do it kindly to each other. When the expedition began the transiting South Node was conjunct this synastry conjunction.

Meriwether Lewis
b. Aug. 18, 1774 Charlottesville, VA

Sun 26 Leo; Moon Capricorn NN 14 Virgo

*********

William Clark
b. Aug. 1, 1770 Not sure where

Sun 20 Leo; Moon Sagittarius; NN 4 Sagittarius

*********

Began trip, Aug. 21, 1803 11:00 am Pittsburgh, PA

Began Return trip, Mar. 23, 1806

Return to St. Louis, MO, Sept. 23, 1806

*********

Lewis' Sun in Leo with Moon in Capricorn is the signature for a General. Same as Napolean, even with the Grand Trine. Lewis' Grand Trine was really huge and may have included his Moon which may have been conjunct Pluto in Capricorn. Pluto trines Jupiter 16 Taurus (and also Uranus at 2 Gemini) on one side and a conjunction of Saturn-Neptune in Virgo on the other side.

In 1803 when the expedition started, Lewis' progressed Sun was at 25 Virgo conjunct his natal Saturn-Neptune. His progressed Mercury was conjunct natal North Node at 14 Virgo. And his progressed Venus was at 28 Leo just passed n. conjunction of Sun-Mercury. Great aspects for taking a long walk across the Country.

Clark's Sun in Leo with Sagittarius Moon and North Node is great for an Adventurer. His Moon may also have been conjunct his Jupiter at 15 Sagittarius Rx. His Progressed Sun was at 12 Virgo conjunct his Natal Venus-Neptune conjunction and hooking into his Grand Trine (Pluto in Capricorn trine Neptune-Venus in Virgo trine Uranus in Taurus).

The chart for the trip, stated on Wikipedia as having been begun at 11:00 am shows Sun at 8 Virgo, 13 Scorpio Rising with Neptune in the 1st House and the Nodal Axis conjunct the MC-IC axis also conjunct Venus at the MC and Moon at the IC. They were guided by Sacagewea during this trip and sent a live Prairie Dog to Thomas Jefferson. A really nifty aspect in this chart is the unaspected conjunction in Libra of Mars, Jupiter and Uranus in the 11th House ((by Ptolomaic aspect, many minor aspects). This seems to express the unbounded optimism and sense of adventure that would be necessary for setting out to unknown places.

Whatcha Readin?

Just heard an interview on NPR, don't know what show it was. A woman was interviewing a Literary Critic about Beowulf which has just come out in a movie. If I didn't have a cold I would have gone to see it this week-end. This Critic is totally fascinating; his name is Michael Dirda and he's just published a book called Classics for Pleasure. It appears that he can bring all this old dead stuff back to life. So I had to look ...... you know the drill ....

Michael Dirda
b. Nov. 6, 1948 Lorain, Ohio // This is probably not his real birth date; the chart is really fascinating nevertheless.

Sun 15 Scorpio; Moon Capricorn or Aquarius, probably Capricorn; NN 5 Taurus

So Dirda said that he reads or writes about Literature for 8 hours a day, just like a normal job. He says that he reads slowly and mouths the words while he reads. He's read absolutely everything. And he says that he has abnormally good memory retention for what he reads.

Dirda has Sun in Scorpio squaring Pluto so this shows a focused, driven character. Scorpio's good for bringing old dead literature back to life. This is a guy who can finish a book. Imagine that. Capricorn Moon in combination with that Plutonian stuff shows a whole lot of determination and strong self motivated work ethic. This is somebody who wants to understand a story at its deepest level. In the Corporate World this is called understanding the Bottom Line and Talking Brass Tacks. In the intellectual world it means that he understands story structure and will dig to understand human motivation.

When Dirda speaks he has a calm friendly voice. His Mercury is in Libra very well placed trining Uranus at 1 Cancer and sextiling Jupiter. That shows all systems "Go" in the brains department. Jupiter's at 29 Sagittarius opposite Uranus here, both on Aries Points which brings his mental prowess before the public. I think that Uranus has more to do with Memory than it's given credit for and here in Cancer, the sign that rules the past it must be pretty powerful. Mercury might be squaring his Moon which might in turn be out of bounds. I have no idea how that affects one's Memory. I'd imagine that one would enjoy the challenge of holding on to as much as one could mentally with this aspect. The out of bounds part would just emphasize these qualities.

Two more things are really cool about Dirda's chart. For one, his Mars and Jupiter are both in Sagittarius. They are not in conjunction but they are Parallel. And they are contraparallel to Uranus in Cancer and Pluto in Leo. I've never seen so many planets in Parallel/Contraparallel to each other. If you think of Mars-Jupiter-Uranus and Pluto all in conjunction with each other you certainly envision a powerhouse of a person. Someone who can accomplish something on a massive scale. And this guy has read everything. I mean everything. Interesting that he's read all the Epic Literatures. And he brings it down to human level like describing how the Icelandic Sagas are Northern Europe's versions of Spaghetti Westerns. Who wouldn't want to look into that? I mean, this is what Scholars are supposed to be able to do. He can even fake like he's not a snob, I guess that's the Libra Mercury and Uranus.

Then the next cool thing are Dirda's current Return Transits. He's got a wide, out of element Grand Trine between North Node in Taurus and Jupiter in Sagittarius and Saturn in Virgo. Right now he's going through both his Jupiter and Saturn Returns so the whole thing is set off like a pinwheel. I suppose you'd have to know what houses they're in to guess what that means. Something with career? Probably everyone in the Universe heard him being interviewed tonight. I mean, the Martians, everyone. And we're all going out to buy penguin editions of the Norse Myths tomorrow. Really, he said there's a character in there who never smiles except when he's about to go into battle. Clint Eastwood is probably going to make a movie... I'm so excited.

The Mars Effect

The Mars Effect is Astrology's most reliable argument for validity. It was first discussed by Michel Gauquelin in a book that he published in 1955 called The Influence of the Stars. Gauquelin was a French Statistician/Scientist who also studied Astrology. He found that the placement of Mars in the charts of professional Athletes often showed up just above the Horizon or at the top of the Chart near the Midheaven. Gauquelin found similar evidence that the Moon was similarly related in the charts of writers but this work hasn't been replicated.

I thought I'd take a look at Gauquelin's own personal Mars placement to see if there were any signatures for why he might be so in tune with Mars. He was a professional athlete himself.

Michel Gauquelin
b. Nov. 13, 1928 10:15 pm Paris, France

Sun 22 Scorpio; ASC 16 Leo; Moon 8 Sagittarius; MC 2 Taurus; NN 1 Gemini Rx

First of all, I have to point out the nice Minor (Earth and Fire) Grand Trine here.

Neptune (Astrologer) in Virgo (Statistics) (H1)
trine Jupiter in H10 (Scholar) in Taurus-Taurus (Numbers) MC
trine Venus in Sagittarius (Scholar/worked with Wife Francoise) (Ruler of MC).

Now for Mars. First I'd like to point out that the Midheaven is what you're known for. Gauquelin's MC is at the beginning of Taurus. If you move it over just a skosh it'll end up in Aries, ruled by Mars. I know that this is the chart of a World Renowned Astrologer and one never monkeys around with such a thing, but still, wouldn't it be great if we could just say that the Mars Effect Guy had an Aries Midheaven? Ah, come on....

At any rate, Gauquelin was born with a really wild Mars. It's placed, no wonder, in the 11th House conjunct a 12th house Pluto, pretty much where he found the Mars in the Athletes' charts that he studied. Mars is at 10 Cancer Retrograde and it's out-of-bounds which further magnifies its power here. Mars in Cancer alone is an emotionally volatile aspect, shared by many brilliant artists who seem to have a great intuitive talent. (Somebody pointed out once that Mozart and Brahms both shared Mars in Cancer and Moon in Sagittarius, for example). This placement would certainly give great Will Power as well as Psychic Attunement.

Gauquelin spent his whole life with Mars Retrograde by Progression because it was stationing when he was born. So, Mars In Cancer and conjunct Pluto. That's combustible enough but combined with the Retrograde and Out-of-Bounds. No wonder he worked out his problems through physical exercise, there's an emotional (Cancer) need for an outlet for this Physical (Mars) Power (Pluto). It also supplies the drive to be the Man who found the one link between science and astrology through athleticism.

Unfortunately the emotional side of these aspects had the final say. Gauquelin committed Suicide in May, 1991. Pluto and the Sun were running sort of a Tri-fecta in his chart:

T.Pluto was in Scorpio conjunct his Sun. And this was trining t. South Node and natal Pluto. The Transiting Sun was conjunct his North Node. As the Sun rules his Chart and Pluto rules his Sun this is a triple whammy on the signs that were most important to him. (Neptune at that point was conjunct the North Node along with Uranus which really drives it all Home).
There are some Moon aspects as well: Prog. Moon in Pisces squaring n. Saturn. T. Moon c. Ascendant.

And, of course, as one should expect, t.Mars was rising over his Ascendant in his 12th House; Gauquelin was just past his Mars Return. Mars came out of progression in Gauquelin's chart in 2002-3. This seems to correspond with the rise of interest in Statistics along with computer and internet usage in Astrology.

The Goddess Lakshmi

Lakshmi Tatma is India's latest Goddess. She's a little 2-year girl who was born connected to a twin body that only partly formed. Lakshmi has two sets of arms and legs and today has started going through an operation to have the limbs removed. The last report I read has said that the limbs are already successfully removed and her pelvis bones were currently under reconstruction.

The Doctors are working in 8 hour shifts starting at 7am today and expect that the operation could last as long as 40 hours. They began to anesthetize Lakshmi at 7am just as the Scorpio Sun was rising over the Scorpio Ascendant. (12th House Sun is a great placement for going under anesthesia, I just went through it myself.) I used the animation feature on Solar fire to forward the clock ahead in 8 hour increments and it turns out that the Grand Water Trine that is currently happening between the Sun, Mars in Cancer and Uranus in Pisces rotates around so that one of these planets is always placed just above the Horizon in this spot. Mars rules Surgery/Cutting and Uranus rules Individuality/Independence so this seems like a really great aspect for gaining freedom from one's co-joined twin while also receiving protection (Grand Trine).

Lakshmi was born in a rural town in Northern India and is thought to be Divine like the 4-armed Indian Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth. I've actually read that she was born on the Celebration Day for Lakshmi which is the 3d day of the Diwali Festival. Lakshmi is celebrated on the New Moon of a day during October or November, so well, I had to check.... (I can't find her official birth date)

Lakshmi Tatma
November 1, 2005, Bihar, India

Sun 9 Scorpio; Moon Libra or Scorpio; NN 14 Aries

I'm not going to interpret a chart when I don't have any idea of whether it is accurate or not. But, um, well, the chart for this date shows a Sun-Jupiter conjunction trining Uranus and you can see what a cute little charmer she is from the photos of her on the Internet. If this were Lakshmi's birth date she is would be going through her Solar and Lunar Return right now. This birth chart would include a Grand Square that pits an opposition of Sun opposite Mars against the beginnings of the Saturn-Neptune opposition back in 2005.

The Saturn-Neptune opposition gave up the Ghost with its last Rx pass back in June and now today's chart has the beginnings of the Saturn-Uranus opposition. Saturn rules the bones, the Sun rules the Spine. Saturn opposition Neptune shows the bones being held in captivity in a way. Lakshmi hasn't been able to walk because of interference from the unnecessary limbs. Uranus rules the circulatory system and the nervous system. Connected with the Grand Trine to Sun and Mars hopefully this is an indicator of a successful operation to free up her spine. Saturn is conjunct the Virgo South Node which should be fortunate for bones, healing, reconstruction.

When Lakshmi wakes up it will be her special "Celebration Day" as the Diwali Festival has now once again begun in India and the New Moon is coming up on Nov. 9. If enough of us pray, the operation will be successful and Modern Medicine will once again have worked a Miracle.

The Shuttle's Bad Joints

The NASA Shuttle Mission has been encountering some problems with installation of its new solar panels. Astrologers will say this is a Mercury Retrograde thing and at this point I agree. This Discovery Shuttle (STS-120) was launched during Mercury Retrograde and has discovered a problem with the joint that will keep the Solar Panels facing the Sun. This Joint was installed right after Mercury went Retrograde last time. Joints, according to Rex Bills, is ruled by Saturn and although Bills is talking about joints in humans I don't see why this can't be applied to Space Stations.

From the Wikipedia article I think I've discovered that the original joint was installed on the Space Station on June 17, 2007. This is a day after Mercury went Retrograde when it was at 12 Cancer. Mercury is not only Retrograde here but unaspected in the chart for this Space Walk (listed on Wikipedia as starting at 16:25 UTC). This was the flight (STS-117) where the computers all started to conk out right before Mercury went Retrograde and the Return was delayed due to weather. Saturn was also at its last pass through the opposition to Neptune and they were both at 22 degrees Leo and Aquarius respectively. The opposition was conjunct the MC/IC with Saturn at the top of the chart. And also, there's this damn Grand Trine between Saturn, Pluto in Sagittarius-Mars in Aries that keeps coming up in my blogs lately.

These dates are roughly coordinating with the "Protective Pit Bull" blog. completely different situations but similar story about how there's more news. This might be due to Mercury Retrograde or due to the fact that t. Mars hit the spot where the Mercury retrograde was. In the Pit Bull story, a woman was attacked by a man on the door step of her home. Her Pit Bull attacked the man in turn and the man ran off. The only evidence was the DNA from the blood on the Pit Bull's face which actually located the man who arrested last week.

In this case, NASA sent its Shuttle up on June 8 and let Mercury go Rx in the middle of the trip. Everything wrong, the flight full of problems. Now, on this trip, they are finding out what went wrong during that trip and I guess now there are new problems. Mercury is once again Retrograde. It was at 25 Libra during the Space Walk when they found the problem

During a space walk on Oct. 28 (begin time 9:32 UTC), one of the Astronauts found that the Joint is scraping off metal shavings which will limit its ability to rotate. Saturn is at 7 Virgo c. the South Node at 6 Virgo. Saturn rules Construction. Once I worked with a guy who did a funny skit on how he didn't even think of trying to repair simple problems at his home because they always ended up in all day calamities where parts don't fit right and one thing just leads to another and soon your entire week-end is wrecked. If the North Node were in Virgo instead of in Pisces things might be different.

Also on the shuttle, Mars was at 11 Cancer conjunct within a Degree the spot where Mercury was during installation. This was what happened in that Pit Bull Story. The woman's assailant was caught when Mars hit the Mercury spot of the attack.

Also, The Moon was close to the spot in Gemini where the Sun was during installation (Sun 18 Gemini / Moon 9 Gemini) and squaring both Saturn and Uranus.

At any rate, I just read that the Solar Panels are now ripped. Time to take another trip to the Home Depot to get them replaced.

Girl 27 - Patricia Douglas

A new documentary called Girl 27 has been released about a Scandal and Cover-Up at the old MGM Studios. In 1937, a girl was raped at a party given by the Studio. She pressed charges but the Studio ran a smear campaign against her in order to cover their name. The Court dismissed the case in favor of the studio.

MGM had hired about 130 young girls for "a project," dressed them up like Cow girls and drove them out to a Barn. They had no idea they were going to a party let alone being prostituted. About 300 Salesmen walked in, got progressively drunker and eventually 2 girls were raped. One of them, 20-year old Patricia Douglas was beaten until her eyes were swollen shut. After having her Reputation destroyed by a front page article in the newspaper, she was destroyed. She married something like 3 times in 5 years and eventually became almost a recluse.

Then, weird thing, a reporter investigating a completely different story came across the news stories and eventually decided to investigate her story. At the time of the party/rape, Mars was Retrograde at 3 Sagittarius. It continued in Retrograde by Secondary Progression until 1990 when it Stationed Direct at 18 Scorpio. The Reporter, David Stenn, came across the Story shortly after that while researching a different story and officially decided to investigate it in September, 1993. Stenn spent 10 years working on this story eventually publishing an article in Vanity Fair magazine called "It Happened One Night...at MGM." He then made the DVD using an Interview with the Victim. He says she died the day after he called her (Nov. 10, 2003) to tell her that people were mailing him sympathetic responses to her story. Her reply: "Thank You. I can go now." She was 85 or 86 years old and had sat in Silence for 65 years, got retribution and died. This is so Scorpio. The Rape, the Power Struggle, the Confrontation, the Big Corporate Studio, Impotence, Silence, Research, the Vindication, the Death.

The Transits for the day of Patricia Douglas' Death are absolutely amazing to compare against the Event Chart of the Party.

For one, the Sun was at 18 Scorpio. This is the same degree that Mars was at when it came out of Retrograde in 1990. This Sun also was opposing the Sun of the Event chart. The Nodal Axis was layered over them, NN to Event Chart Sun in Taurus (Conjunct Merc Rx-Uranus) and SN to Death Chart Sun in Scorpio.

Second, transiting Pluto was conjunct the 16 Sagittarius North Node of the Event Chart.

Transiting Jupiter was conjunct the 8th House Neptune of the Event Chart. There's more but I'll stop here.

Another thing that interests me is a comparison with the Chart that I looked at on yesterday's blog called "Protective Pit Bull." Both charts have a Grand Trine between Mars-Saturn-Pluto. The planets are not in the same signs but are in the same houses (Times I'm using are probably accurate within 1/2 hour)! Mars in the 11th House trining Pluto in the 7th with Saturn in the 3d house. This is an extremely busy Event Chart with lots of aspects, 2 Grand Trines and a Grand Square but Mars has no challenging aspects, only these trines.

The Date of the "Party:"
May 5, 1937 Hollywood, CA

Girls showed up at Studio at 4pm for Make-Up and Costumes and driven to Party
7pm - Salesmen show up and begin drinking heavily and grabbing the Girls
10pm - David Ross, Age 36, and a couple of other guys grab Patricia Douglas, pin her down and pour booze down her throat. Ross eventually drags her outside and beats and rapes her.
11:30pm - Patricia Ross comes stumbling back to the Party beaten and raped.

Case dismissed by Court Feb. 9, 1938

Sept. 1993 Writer David Stenn decides to investigate Patricia Douglas's case.

Vanity Fair Article published: April 2003

Patricia Douglas dies Nov. 11, 2003, Las Vegas, CA

Link to Article: http://www.vanityfair.com/fame/features/2003/04/mgm200304

Protective Pit Bull

Looks aren't everything and neither is reputation. Here's a story of a Pit Bull named Maya who saved her Mom from an attacker. True to her breed, Maya's head looks like the Rock of Gibraltar and her instincts are to kill at a moment's notice. Sometimes that's a very good thing. http://www.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_7285789.

The crime happened on June 17, 2007 "as the Sun was rising". All Angular Houses are strongly populated in this chart. The Out-of-Bounds Moon was in Cancer (Home, Emotion) squaring Mars in Aries (Attacks, Assaults, Impulse). Both planets were in their own signs so their influence was very strong. Bob Marks says that Mars-Moon are one of the most prominent signatures for a violent attack.

(Just as an aside, this crime scene chart looks a lot like Goya's natal chart: Out of Bounds Cancer Moon, Saturn c. IC, etc. Think of his paintings, wish I knew how to add pictures)

The Sun in Gemini is in the First House opposing Pluto in the 7th of open enemies. Since this was the woman's Birthday Party, she's got to be symbolized the Gemini Sun and her Attacker by the 7th House Pluto. The Solar Return being similar to the Event chart also puts a lot of emphasis on this particular woman for the Attack.

There was no usable evidence left for the Police to work with at the 31-year old woman's home after a man jumped out from the bushes as she was returning home (Saturn c. IC opposite Neptune) from her Birthday Party (Solar Return). The Woman, being a Gemini, immediately thought to tell the man that her husband was coming home but he started strangling her anyway. Alas, Mercury was retrograde at the time.

The man tried to strangle her and at this point, Maya, the woman's pet, lunged at him and bit him. Mars rules Bites. Uranus rules Flashes and the color White. The woman describes seeing Maya run out like a "White Flash." Uranus was squaring Jupiter-DESC in Sagittarius.

The woman did manage to enact her Sun opposite Pluto Solar Return aspect in a most effective way. She said: "That's when I grabbed him...where the sun doesn't shine."

He ran off. Neptune c. MC.

The police didn't have much to work with trying to locate the man but they did find a spot of blood on Maya's face. Bills says that (Moon) can represent "Visual Evidence." Mars in Aries (Bites) squaring Moon in Cancer (Visual Evidence).

"Blood, in General" is ruled by Jupiter, Sagittarius, Leo and Aquarius. Jupiter was strongly placed in its own sign of Sagittarius right on the Descendant at 5 am. There is, of course, a strong element of Luck that contributed to being able to find the attacker and Jupiter can only be held responsible for that. The article doesn't say what time the attack was, just before Dawn. Saturn in Leo was right on the IC opposite Neptune in Aquarius on the MC. All signs that potentially rule Blood were on the Angles.

As for rulerships of Dogs, Dogs are ruled by Mercury, Virgo and Jupiter. There's another aspect in the sky at the time of the attack that needs to be noted. This wild Mars in Aries was in a Protective Grand Trine with Saturn-IC (home) and Pluto in H7 (Partner). A Grand Trine between Mars and the two control freak planets, that's the ultimate Don't Mess With Texas aspect, IMO.

In the end, it was the Evidence that came back to bite the Attacker. Easly was located through DNA Evidence (Rex Bills doesn't give Rulership but I suppose that Saturn on the IC might be partly responsible). Last week, t.Mars was nearing conjunction with the Mercury of the Crime Event Chart. Mercury is Retrograde almost as if trying to move back toward Mars. Mercury was also Retrograde at the time of the crime and they say that Mercury Retrogrades will bring the past back to you. As a matter of fact, Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto have barely moved forward at all due to Retrogrades. The Sky almost seems to have been holding things still for this Woman in order to get even with her Attacker (Sun opposite Pluto (Getting Even) and then Pluto trining Saturn( Time))

Since it was her Birthday, the Victim's chart is probably some time near June 16-17, 1976. This means that she has a conjunction of Uranus to her North Node in Scorpio trining natal Sun-Venus in Gemini. She's probably experienced a few of these types of criminal/sexual surprises in her life.

Southern California Fires

From CNN I've come up with a list of the Fires that are ravaging Southern California, when and where they started and how much under control they are. Hope it's accurate, am a little short on time. I'm from San Diego and have heard that people are packing up to evacuate who rarely have to worry about this type of thing.

The charts are interesting in that there are so few negative aspects. This is an example of the bad side of the Grand Trine Aspect, the situation is perfect for letting things spin out of control. The Nodal Axis is prominent on the MC/IC axis. Also it is aspected by Venus and Saturn on the SN end and Uranus on the NN end. There is also the square between Jupiter and Uranus.

Malibu Fires:

The 1st Fire was the Ranch Fire. The Angles are going Ape Face.
ASC 29 Gemini.
Ruler is Retrograde in Scorpio conjunct the Sun in Libra in H5. Mercury disposes to Pluto which is conjunct the Descendant.
Sun-Mercury is in a Grand Trine to Mars 9 Cancer in H1 and Uranus 16 Pisces c. MC 10 Pisces c. NN 6 Pisces.
Therefore the Nodal Axis is hanging over the MC/IC axis with Saturn 6 Virgo c. SN 6 Virgo c. Venus 12 Virgo c. IC 10 Virgo.
The Moon was at 20 Aquarius c. Neptune also at 20 Aquarius in the 9th House. They dispose to Uranus. (Surprise, Unexpected events).

Canyon Fire: began Oct. 21 4:50am PT , Malibu Canyon

Buckweed Fire: began Oct. 21 12:55 pm PT, NorthEastern Los Angeles

Ranch Fire: began Oct. 20 9:42 pm PT, near Castaic



Santiago Fire: began Oct. 21 6:00 pm PT, Irvine, CA

26 Aries Rising.
Ruled by Mars 9 Cancer just past conjunction with 16 Cancer IC.
The rest of the Angles not heavily populated except for:
Sun 29 Libra conjunct DES conjunct Mercury 3 Scorpio.
The Nodal Axis with planets crossing the H6 and H12 cusps.


San Diego Fires:

These began the next day and have an upside down version of the Malibu Fires.

30 Scorpio Ascendant.
Ruler of Chart is Pluto in H1 with Jupiter. (Mass Destruction)
The Nodal Axis: Uranus and NN conjunct the Pisces IC. Saturn-SN-Venus conjunct the MC.
Mars in H8 in Grand Trine to Sun in Libra-Mercury in Scorpio in H11 and NN in H3 conjunct IC cusp.

Harris Fire: began Oct. 21 9:30am PT, Potrero

Witch Fire: began Oct. 21 noon PT, between Romona & Santa Ysabel

Down to a sunless sea

"Kubla Khan," written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in an opium-induced dream, is one of the great Lyric poems of the English language. One of the articles linked by Wikipedia calls it a "Metaphor for Opulence."

"Lyricism" is ruled by Venus and "Opulence" is ruled by Jupiter, so says Rex Bills. This hooks into Coleridge's chart sweetly as both planets rule major parts of his chart: Venus rules his Sun and Jupiter rules his Ascenant/Chart. In addition Coleridge had a Leo Moon and every Leo Moon I've personally known has actually lived in a "Pleasure Dome". Opium and Dreams are ruled by Neptune, Pisces, and H12. Coleridge's progressed Sun and Mercury had just moved into his 12th House when he wrote the poem in the Fall of 1797 or Spring of 1798.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
b. Oct. 21, 1772 10:45 am Ottery St. Mary, England

Sun 29 Libra; ASC 13 Sagittarius; Moon 21 Leo; MC 13 Libra; NN 20 Libra

Coleridge was born during a Grand Earth Trine of Outer Planets (like Beethoven and Rembrandt). This is Capricorn Pluto trine Uranus in Taurus trine Neptune in Virgo. Nobody ever really discusses Earth Sign's roles in creativity very much but it is evidently quite remarkable. Either way, Coleridge is a Pluto in Capricorn Baby so he'll be having a Pluto Return. Maybe it's a good time for the rest of us to invest in poppy field real estate.

Neptune, one of the first places one looks for Poets, Artists and Dreams, is in Coleridge's 9th House of exotic, long distance travel and conjunct Saturn and Venus in Virgo (he's having a Return of those two planets as I write this). Venus rules the Arts and Saturn-Neptune in aspect together is known for bestowing ability to give form to spirit. Uranus (instant enlightenment) was transiting over this conjunction at the time that Coleridge wrote "Kubla Kahn." I guess whatever your methods of 9th house travel, whether via Virgin Atlantic or Opium Pipe, you're gonna be flyin on all propellers with an aspect like this.

Coleridge's Mercury was conjunct his Libra NN in his 10th House. Of course, that's perfect for a poet. His Sun in Libra was also in his 10th house. At the point that he wrote "Kubla Khan" his progressed Venus, ruler of Libra was a couple of degrees away from his Libra MC. All this Libra/Venus emphasis is just mind boggling to me but makes perfect sense.

Coleridge's Solar Return Chart for the year that he wrote about Xanadu is also very interesting. In the Natal Chart, the Nodes were transiting over his natal ASC-DESC axis squared by t. Uranus and the natal conjunction of Neptune-Saturn-Venus. They were of extra strength because they were hitting this Angle.

Then, in Coleridge's Solar Return Chart, the Nodes were layered over the other angle, the MC/IC axis. They were involved in a Mystic Rectangle trining/sextiling an opposition of Retrograde Mercury in Libra opposite Retrograde Jupiter.

That's RETROGRADE Mercury opposite RETROGRADE Jupiter. And they say nothing good comes out of a Retrograde Mercury....tsk, tsk.

There's more.... Where's his Moon & Pluto?

Oh well, forget about Moon & Pluto, drink from the River of Lethe and come drift away down the River of Alph... Here's the first stanza of the poem. Enjoy:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground

With walls and towers were girdled round:

And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

The Most Trusted Name...

I'm trying to figure out where I'm picking up all this Spyware while surfing (Internet, not Ocean) and I'm using the technique you use when you suspect you have a food allergy. Stayed off of CNN yesterday and ended up with a lot less Spyware. Have done a couple of Google searches and have found people bitching all over the place about trying to get CNN's spyware off their hardware. It really likes to embed itself and evades the Spyware programs.

Then, by coincidence, I flipped back onto CNN, just rolls off the fingers, this morning, lured on by a headline about "the Lady who Died in Police Custody in the Phoenix Airport," and there in Big & Bold CNN is chastising Google for photographing unknowing victims from their Satellites. Well, I appreciate that story, but isn't this a little like the pot calling the kettle black? Had to look up CNN's chart, a Gemini.... hmmmm, that could be a Gemini trait.

CNN, Cable News Network
b. June 1, 1980 5 pm EST Atlanta, GA or New York, NY?

Sun 12 Gemini; ASC 27 Libra; Moon 18 Capricorn; MC 29 Cancer; NN 23 Leo

Sun in Gemini, Moon in Capricorn, isn't that the Sun/Moon combo of the English guy who invented the Internet? I mean, well, (blush), he invented the Internet after Al Gore...

This is a great chart for a News Channel. Air Sun and Rising can stick to the facts better than others. North Node in Leo in the 10th House, Leadership in Entertainment, not afraid to take a risk. The Chart Ruler is conjunct Mercury (communication) in the 9th House of International Affairs and Journalism.

Moon is in the 3d House, Public communication. Moon is in a Grand Trine with Chiron 16 Taurus and Mars-Saturn in Virgo (Excellent for critical, precise news reporting).

Mercury is conjunct Venus to the Degree at 2 Cancer in the 9th House of Journalism. Venus is Retrograde so maybe CNN has a complex that they're just a boring, unlovable News Channel, that's why their graphics give you epileptic fits. This conjunction is extra strong because Mercury and Venus are Parallel each other and Out of Bounds. They dispose to the 3d house Moon. And they trine the Asc. In addition to these natural News Reporter aspects Sagittarius rules the 3d house cusp and Gemini rules the 9th house cusp. You couldn't find a better chart for a Journalist.

Now here comes the Down & Dirty. CNN's Sun is in the 8th House. Wow, that's great for Research and Investigation (and putting spyware on people's computers). The Sun is trining Pluto which reinforces this (puts more spyware on people's computers, God only knows what kind of subliminal advertising they're pulling the viewer's through their visuals, well, I guess epilepsy and probably ADHD are enough just from what you really can see). Things here start to get squirrelly. Pluto is in the 12th House. This means, of course, there is strong empathy for the downtrodden. But there are also hidden agendas. Pluto squaring the Capricorn Moon means that there could be a little strong arming with regards to things like Marketing. CNN knows it wouldn't hurt anybody. But, if you're the Most Trusted Name in News, you are free to experiment with embedding those cookies all over people's hard drives and nobody's the worse for wear. Neptune is another planet to look at for Spyware type issues as it prefers behind the scenes ways of understanding people. Neptune here is in the 2d house of Values and Money and trining the North Node. That adds the Glamour/Attractiveness element. Pluto has been passing over it which means that there could be confusion about how to keep the Channel afloat financially.

Here are some rough notes about CNN's rise. According to Wikipedia, the "Watershed Year" was 1991 when the first Gulf War happened and CNN's coverage was most viewed. This was the Jupiter Return year. Go Bears! CNN's progressed chart was having a New Moon, meaning that p.Moon was conjunct p. Sun and also p. Venus conjunct the natal Mercury-Venus in 9th house. T. Uranus-Neptune-NN conjunct n. Moon (H3) (Truth & Appeal in Television communication). T. Pluto c. n. Uranus (motivation to uncover Truth). Lots of Major Influences.

On 9/11 CNN brought the first coverage. I watched Larry King for the next year solid because he never let up on the coverage and I couldn't get enough. Prog. Sun and t.NN were conjunct that 9th House Mercury-Venus. The Prog. Moon was in the 1st House (Reflection of Public Emotion) and t.Saturn was conjunct the n.IC (Reality Check at Foundation of the Chart/Life).