The Pulitzer Prize and the Mars Rx

Just as mars in Virgo stations direct the Pulitzer prizes are announced and lo behold two categories don't receive any awards. Mars in Virgo is so critical that during this extended retrograde period nobody could see fit to give any awards for editorial writing or fiction. Virgo rules editing, so, basically, all attempts at editing last year were edited out. Virgo lacks drama and gets a little bogged down in details so the lack of a fiction award isn't all that surprising. Virgo loves horror and I think that's the only subject that it could Overlook typos on. Virgo is actually strongly associated with writing because it rules editing and perfecting the details, you do want to have some in your chart.

It's also good to pay attention to the fact that people my age are probably now starting to give out the awards and we were born at the beginning of the Pluto in Virgo generation. Not only has the mars Rx been affecting our natal plutos, but Neptune-Chiron has been opposing. That's wipeOut, thank you Noel tyl. And Pluto in Capricorn is training so our earth stinginess is running on full fire. I hate us right now. Actually I've never really liked us very much except for the organic farmers.

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

Back to School in the Silicon Valley

Wow, CNN isn't even mentioning this story, but yesterday a 17-year old boy went into a local high school near the Silicon Valley, California and started setting off bombs. Rich politically correct liberals always know how to suppress their own news. All talk; no walk -- or actually more accurate description in this area: no talk; pill the brat.

So, yesterday morning I was looking at the current transits, a Grand Square involving Mars, Saturn, Pluto and Uranus, and Sun opposing Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune in Pisces, and I was thinking, why isn't the world blowing up today? Well, I guess that Athens is burning down. That's as bad as it gets. And certain gun carrying jerks in New Hampshire and Arizona ought to spontaneously combust on their own and they are running around on all fours, free as birds. This morning I found a couple of local WOW stories in the papers so in a really sick way I am vindicated.

If the article I'm reading is correct, a kid named, get this, Alex Youshock, went to his old High School armed with 10 pipe bombs, a sword and a chainsaw. Two of the pipe bombs went off before one of the teachers jumped him and tackled him to the ground. Nobody was hurt, but, geez, that was ballsy of the teacher. That's a grand square of Mars-Saturn-Uranus and Pluto for you, especially since earthquake season in this area doesn't start until next month, I guess.

First Day of School at Hillsdale High
Aug. 24, 2009 8am San Mateo, CA

Sun 2 Virgo; Moon 28 Libra; ASC 19 Virgo; MC 17 Gemini; NN 29 Capricorn

The Bases (i.e. Angles) are loaded in this chart with the Grand Square. As with all subject matter on the first day of school this is bonehead astrology. First of all, Mars is up in the 10th house in Gemini. Mars in Gemini? Kid blows up school, or tries to, nobody was injured and only two of the bombs actually went off. Mars is opposing Pluto down in the 4th House which is at the prominent Capricorn Point. That's mean and violent. Very bad timing to have these two opposing each other on the angles at opening bell. Freddie's back.

Meanwhile, Mercury and Saturn are in conjunction with the Virgo Ascendant from the 1st House (29 and 23 Virgo respectively). Uranus is opposing from the 7th House. With a last name like Youshock I suppose in this case the bomber is represented by Shock-Jock Uranus in the 7th House.

Mercury, ruler of lower education, rules both the Virgo Ascendant and the Gemini Midheaven. It is super strong right after 8 am because it is rising over the Ascendant. Mars in Gemini, Kid blows up School.

The Sun and Moon are also heavily afflicted in this chart. The Sun is at 2 Virgo opposing the Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune in Aquarius conjunction from the 12th-6th Houses.

The Moon (H2) is squaring Venus and the Nodal Axis (H11 and H5).

That's pretty crazy. Would be difficult to figure out a motive because it would look like there are multiple problems. Looks like there's a bad female influence here. With Pluto in H4, family secrets. Either way, with Virgo rising conjunct Saturn this boy can look forward to years and years of straight jackets, electro-shock and pills courtesy of the Dispensaries at Stanford.

Also in the paper is a report that the area had its 3d suicide of the year by a teenager. A 14 year old girl (Saturn opposition) walked onto the tracks in front of a commuter train. The pros are confirming that this is kind of like a localized epidemic. You thought the swine flu was bad, you should see how rich liberals treat their kids, more Virgo/Pisces.

I suppose that the Palo Alto area would suffer more than most when Pluto hits Capricorn, since the area is filled with repressed control freaks obsessed with their own career tracks. These kids would rather do anything than face getting a "B" in AP Chem.

(And nobody's reporting it, shame on you CNN).

Johannes Mehserle, BART Police Shooter

Johannes Mehserle is the ex-Oakland BART Train police officer who killed a hand cuffed man in the back on New Year's Day. I wrote about the incident a few days ago. Mehserle has been charged with Murder and has surrendered to Oakland Police.

Can't vouch for its accuracy, but Mahalo.com and a SFGate.com article have listed a birth date for Mehserle. The chart is really incredible from an Astrological point of view. According to that website and the article which is available at this link:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/06/BAK61540MH.DTL:

Johannes Mehserle
b. Jan 5, 1981 (no place given)(probably wrong birth date so maybe scroll down and read about the similarity between this incident and the Stanford Prison Experiment).

Sun 16 Capricorn; Moon most likely Capricorn; NN 11 Leo

If this is correct, Mehserle was 3 degrees away from his Solar Return. And the Solar Return would involve a conjunction of the Sun to Mars and Pluto. According to the SFGate article, the shooting happened, Mehserle's wife gave birth to a Son and Mehserle had a Birthday. Wow. Mars can indicate violence, but it can also indicate having a Son.

If this birth date is correct, Mehserle is a Double Capricorn. On bad days this can indicate an overbearing streak and authoritarian attitude. On the other end of the Capricorn spectrum, this can indicate a heavy Karmic side involving intense lessons concerning guilt and shame, difficult lessons. Capricorns tend to have to play by the rules because they often can't get away much. The Leo North Node could repeat the Bossiness theme and Mars conjunct South Node could further emphasize this along with an impulsive streak that acts before it thinks.

Chiron squares the Nodes and Mars. This indicates some kind of wounding wound up in one's destiny with fighting and aggression. The Mars energy and the Saturn energy in this chart seem to have found a common ground in the police profession but in this case they are bringing out each other's bad side.

Mehserle's chart has two conjunctions which are exact to the degree: Venus-Neptune in Sagittarius and Jupiter-Saturn in Libra. These are pretty friendly aspects overall. The Venus-Neptune could get carried away especially in Sagittarius. Mehserle may have had a little bit of a hang over from too much partying the night before. The (natal) Jupiter-Saturn conjunction is conjunct the 12th house cusp to the degree of the event chart (Placidus). Jupiter-Saturn represents Society on a Social Level and its placement in Libra, sign of Diplomacy and Peace Making, is pretty bizarre. 12th House, though, represents Self-Undoing, Institutions like Jail and Martyrdom so perhaps this particular event seems to have brought out a streak of this. Mehserle's refusal to speak infuriated the public which has evolved into rioting on at least two occasions. 12th House often simply can't explain its actions.

Mehserle is caught in a lot of Cyclic Return activity. He is probably just past his 2dary Progressed Lunar Return and is heading in to his Saturn Return. This is significant since both his Sun and Moon disposit to Saturn. He is also going through his Nodal Opposition, a time of extreme confusion and having one's world turned upside down. If this is a true birth date this chart is really amazing because the Nodal Axis for the event was crossing the IC/MC axis which represents opposition between the Public and Authority. Interesting that these points are represented by the Moon and Saturn in one's chart as well. And the chart shows someone with strong Saturn-Moon contacts.

If Mehserle were born early in the day his Moon would have been getting hit by the Sun-Mars-Pluto transiting conjunction on the Aries Point. That's a highly emotional aspect. Bob Marks, who has done extensive research on the astrology of murderers, has pointed out the significance of Mars-Moon combination in violence. (www.bobmarksastrologer.com) He has also found how common Capricorn Moon is in murderers (which isn't the best news for those of us who have the natal aspect ourselves.)

I've listened to Malcolm Gladwell's book (either Tipping Point or Blink, can't remember) where Gladwell discusses research that has examined a sort of Mars-Moon-Pluto hormone effect in police officers which can lead to brutality. There's a chemical reaction that can happen which causes them to go into some sort of brutality mode if not checked. Astrology sure would have been useful to the police department in this case because Mehserle was in line to completely lose it around these dates.

Also interesting is the mutual Venus-Neptune conjunctions between the natal chart and the event chart. The conjunction in the natal chart is in Sagittarius and is in Aquarius in the event chart in the 4th house. Venus in the event chart rules the 7th House so I associated it with the Victim, Oscar Grant, but it certainly looks like the killer is indicated as well. These aren't planets I would associate with committing police brutality unless it's through some sort of gas or inaudible, invisible vibe. What's even more interesting is the fact that they both square the Uranus placement of the other. Mehserle's natal Venus-Neptune is apex to a t-square of the Saturn-Uranus opposition. One possible explanation could be the amount of video filming that was done at the event and the Internet "conviction" by the public.

The natal chart shows an unaspected Uranus in Scorpio indicating that for Mehserle, impulse and shock run deep and can bring on crises. Uranus is in a sign for 7 years so this is a generational planet showing general social consciousness. in this chart the Uranus energy can't flow with the rest of the planets of the chart so sudden crises could tend to ball up for this guy (if this is his chart). Progressed Mars is now squaring this Uranus which heightens the volatility and impulsiveness for Mehserle over the next few years. His nervous system will be under assault something which a double Capricorn already would struggle with due to deep perceptual abilities and difficult self-expression. Hopefully, he is not living with the rest of the prisoners in the jail.

By some sort of coincidence I was reminded here of the Stanford Prison Experiment which I studied on this blog a while back. This case for me seems to be about uncontrollable rage and police brutality rather than racism and this is what the Stanford experiment was about. A psychologist at Stanford University hired ordinary men to conduct a study on behaviors that occurred within a prison environment. Half were assigned roles as prisoners and half were assigned roles as prison guards and they all knew they were play acting their roles. Within a day the prisoners were rioting. The experiment, originally planned to last 14 days, was ended after 6 because the prison guards abused their authoritarian roles and became abusive.

I compared the charts between the New Year's incident and didn't find any significant similarities at first. But, I did find similarities between Mehserle's supposed birth chart and the Stanford experiment transits. The Leo-Aquarius nodal axis shows up in his natal chart and the Stanford Prison Experiment which took place between Aug. 14 and Aug. 20, 1971.

The NN for the Stanford Prison Experiment was at 15 Aquarius conjunct Mars 17 Aquarius Rx. This Nodal Axis is on the IC/MC of The BART Station shooting with NN at 10 Aquarius.
And Mehserle's Nodal Axis was on top of this. And he was going through his Nodal Opposition.

To add fuel to the fire, so to speak, Mehserle's natal Mars is at 5 Aquarius conjunct his South Node is at 11 Aquarius (NN at 11 Leo) which adds the violent streak.

(The Sun was conjunct Venus in the Stanford Prison Experiment and this was passing over the South Node at the time of the Stanford Prison Experiment.)

I talked about Mehserle's "alleged" (might as well use that word) volatile Uranus in Scorpio at 29 degrees. In alignment with that point, there was a huge transit aspect during The Stanford Prison experiment with Jupiter 30 Capricorn conjunct Neptune 1 Sagittarius and opposing Saturn at 6 Gemini. The Moon was in Taurus and passing through Gemini during the beginning days of the experiment so was setting off those points.

(If the Stanford Prison Experiment had been conducted during a Jupiter-Neptune trine maybe the prisoners would have gotten along.)

At any rate, going even further, way too far probably, down the line, we can look at the publication date for The Lord of the Flies. This book deals with the same type of brutality. It was published in 1954 while the NN was in Capricorn. This means that it was probably being written 1-2 years before while the NN was in Aquarius. Good time to observe the behaviors of people abusing authority in mass group settings, I guess.

In conclusion, all I can say is, boy, the Police really need to pay attention to Mars transits.

Unarmed Man Shot in Back by Oakland Police

On New Years Eve/Day a white police officer shot and killed an African American man in the back after the man had been handcuffed and was lying face down on the ground. The victim had been pulled off of a commuter BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train for being involved in a fight. It is not known why the police officer shot the man but the incident was filmed on several cell phones and the African American community along with most of the world is claiming that the reason is racism.

On Jan. 7 protesters went to the Fruitvale Bart Station where the incident ocurred to protest the shooting. Subsequently a riot broke out. The police officer involved has resigned, it is said, in order to avoid questioning from officials.

Police respond to fighting on Bart Train in Oakland, CA around 2:15am on 1/1/09.

Sun 12 Capricorn (H3); Moon 5 Pisces (H4); ASC 5 Scorpio; MC 11 Leo; NN 10 Aquarius

Astrologically this looks like a clear example of the Sun-Mars-Pluto stellium in action. This isn't a good time to provoke Adrenaline in others. These planets were right on the 3d House of Public Transportation. This indicates violence involving all things 3d housian. A Bart train station is certainly that. It would also rule catching the crime on a cell phone. What's extra special about this chart is for the time of the incident these planets were ruling the angles. Pluto rules the chart and the Sun rules the Midheaven. Mars is stand out in this chart because it is out of bounds. It rules the 6th House of Policemen. The Sun rules the Back and all planets disposit to Capricorn which rules the Spine (and subsequently, the back). The Sun in this chart has only a wide conjunction to Mars and is otherwise unaspected (by Ptolomaic aspect). Both Sun and Mars are Fire planets and this chart lacks planets in Fire signs so there is going to be problem with impulsiveness in actions.

The Nodal Axis here is crossing the IC/MC line. This can show a situation between the Authorities and the General Public.

I'll play Devil's advocate here and mention this: what the video footage doesn't show is any audio so its impossible to know what the victim was saying to the policeman which might possibly have caused him to lose his mind. The Fruitvale Bart station is not the friendliest place on earth at any time of day. It would be a total Hell Hole in the middle of the night and these guys had rap sheets and were drunk and fighting. I'm very aware that African Americans are accused all the time of committing crimes that they are innocent of, but it would be ironic if the last words out of the victim's mouth had actually been racist themselves considering the degree of reaction from the black community. The event chart may actually show this as Rex Bills gives tentative rulership of "irony" to Mars. (An Hispanic policewoman was discussed on the news for having killed an Hispanic man during an incident because she accidentally pulled out her gun instead of her taser. She is back at work so there is some cross racism going on here.) It's also ironic to watch the video where it appears that an almost all white police crew was sent in to deal with what looked like an all black fight. That's asking for trouble at any time.

I don't have an exact time for the shooting but it looks like the Nodal Axis was passing over the IC/MC axis with the North Node on the IC (endings). The Sun would also rule the South Node. The Node is conjunct Chiron (unhealed wounds). Taurus is on the Descendant. This would indicate that Pluto and Venus rule Killer (ASC) and the Victim (DESC).

Venus which is conjunct Neptune (drinking?, martyrdom) and the Moon (more water so lots of drinking, emotions, hysteria) in the 4th House. This appears to describe the Victim who was unarmed, restrained and facing his back to the police officer. Neptune rules Victims and Institutions and 4th House rules end of life situations.

I already talked about the women who fought off their attackers with this Mars-Pluto versus Venus-Neptune conjunction. This is a tragic version of these two working at the same time.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oakland-shooting9-2009jan09,0,7674813.story
http://cbs5.com/local/BART.shooting.police.2.898502.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/12/BAMF1585T4.DTL&tsp=1

Rioting in Oakland at Fruitvale Station beginning peacefully at 3pm on 1/7/09. Transiting Mercury was at 6 Aquarius within one degree conjunction of 7 Aquarius IC of the shooting event chart. The cell phone (Mercury) videos had been surfacing on the Internet all week.

The Moon which rules Public Reactions is at 5 degrees Gemini by 7pm. This is the first square to the event chart Moon. Venus, which rules DESC of the event chart, was conjunct the Moon (Public reaction) of the event chart within a degree.

The Police officer was 27 year old Johannes Mehserle.

The Victim was 22 year old Oscar Grant. May His Soul Rest in Peace. May Justice be served if he was murdered because of hatred.

Women Attacking Their Attackers in the YooHoo

Two awesome twin stories about women thwarting attacks by men by grabbing them .... where it counts. Both stories are from yesterday, Tuesday Dec. 30, 2008. The coincidence seems to good. There must be something to glean from the astrology.

Both attacks occurred on the West Coast between Northern California and Oregon so the area must be signficant in some way. Right now most of the planets are in the signs of Capricorn and Aquarius. The biggee right now is Pluto on the Aries Point conjunct Mars. Wanna ... play ball? The Sun is at 10 degrees Capricorn, Mars is at 3 degrees and Pluto is at 2 degrees Capricorn. Mars and Pluto together will indicate violence and attacks. Pluto is the higher octave of Mars and both planets represent willfulness. Pluto rules the genitals, tee hee. What's interesting is that there are two other connections between lower and higher octave planets. A conjunction of Mercury to Jupiter at the end of Capricorn. There's also a conjunction of Venus 26 degrees to Neptune 23 degrees Aquarius that's conjunct with Chiron 19 Aquarius. Astrologers love to underestimate Neptune which is annoying but this is a good example.

Two things really stand out in these charts. As I've already said, there's three innies hanging with three outies that represent the same energy in a higher octave. Mars represents the Male energy and Venus is the female energy. And Mercury-Jupiter is the capacity to think straight and scream bloody murder whilst under duress. The influence of the Mars and Venus stelliums is amplified because they are sort of Island aspects. They don't share major aspects with other planets. They do aspect each other with a lot of minor aspects (which would be a good exercise to study later on sometime). The Mercury-Jupiter conjunction is in a trine with Saturn in Virgo.

All these planets disposit to the Saturn-Uranus opposition. Don't know what time the attacks were, news reports only say "Morning." During much of the morning the Saturn - Uranus opposition was crossing over the 1st and 7th Houses. These, of course, are the houses that represent Attacker and Victim. Neither Saturn nor Uranus does well in the roles of Victim so it's really interesting how both stories show the victims turning the tables on the attackers. Uranus rules the 1st house and disposits to Neptune (which is possibly conjunct the Ascendant). The Sun rules the 7th House and is just past the Mars-Pluto conjunction (rage). Perhaps the men were reacting to something that they suppressed from a couple of days before when the aspect was exact. If Mars-Pluto tries to suppress an energy it will blow up eventually, ask me how I know.

At 10:00 am Aquarius was rising in both spots and the Venus-Neptune-Chiron conjunction was just passing over the Ascendant. Step aside Daddy, Mamma's in charge. There were reinforcement aspects on the 1st House in this chart. Ruler Uranus was placed in the 1st House and was opposing Saturn in the 7th. Also, Pisces was completely intercepted in the 1st House so it would be significant if its ruler, Neptune really was passing over the Ascendant at the time of the attacks. And, to repeat, it is conjunct Venus, symbol for women.

Troutdale, Oregon. This is such a cool story, well, not for the poor woman. An 88 year old woman was attacked in her home by a naked man who entered through the door. He grabbed her and shoved her face in a chair and she reached around and grabbed and squeezed. The Man, get this, named Michael Dick, ran off whining. He was caught. His age is given at 46. Here's the story: http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_123008_news_naked_robber.210ee85e.html.

Berkeley, California. A woman shopping at the Whole Foods was grabbed in the parking lot by a man.He punched her in the face. He aimed his gun at her and she grabbed his hand and tried to aim the gun down shoot off his yoohoo. When he kept trying to carjack her Van, she grabbed some scissors and started stabbing him in the face and throat. Then he ran off and tried to steal another car. He's thought to be between Age 40-50. http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=6578422.

Bah Humbug!

Scrooge. The Grinch. Bernie Madoff. My StepMother. Christmas: The Real Story.

Bah Humbug.

Well, first off let me state that I'm on my way to hide in a movie theater all day. I thought that I was going to hide at home and knit hats. But suddenly the inspiration is gone and the neighbors are booming their stereos so I'll go out to a darkened room with other pathetic types like myself who will probably be masturbating. I've heard that Bedbugs have taken over the movie theaters so I'll probably come out of that place with some real fine presents.

T. Pluto-Mars and the Sun are in conjunction with my natal Saturn in the 7th House and all week I've been experiencing the most unpleasant relations with people. A woman pushed in front of me at the check out line and I just started laying into her as only a Mercury in Leo with Gemini Rising and a Capricorn Moon can. I simply couldn't believe she didn't have any reaction. Turns out she didn't speak English and she was trying to get in line with her husband. (tee hee, blush). I gotta lay low, real quiet like but quiet isn't going to happen.

It's kind of one of those years where we really have to think about the materialistic side of Christmas what with all the Economists tanking the Economy and the Crooks getting caught. They're saying it's the slowest shopping season in 4 decades. I don't know how they got this number but the news said that the last time Christmas was this slow it was 1969. Teehee, where do they come up with this info anyway?

I may just be making this up but it seems like I'm seeing a lot of dirty people walking around with stuff crammed into plastic bags and I'm realizing that I'm in no position to help them. And there's all these stories of the criminals getting caught. Bernard Madoff's kids turned him in. I guess they wanted to avoid another Family holiday. That's 50B. The Bankers have managed to continue to screw the Taxpayers. They refuse to tell us what they're doing with the dough we are giving them. But, still, check your credit card statement. That's 750 B. Some Manager of a huge Electronics store in the area where I live has been caught bilking the company for Millions as well. The Capricorn Energy. You let that hoof step into one bad crack in the side of the Mountain you're climbing and blammo, you're down the hill. All the Sadge optimism in the world isn't going to compensate for what a jerk you've been. Well, actually my StepMother and StepSister and Brother are still at large, cashing in on my inheritance. But everyone knows, all's fair in Love, War, and the Combination of both which is Divorce.

So, upshot is: I'm thinking a lot about Ebenezer Scrooge. Can't really say what his sign is. He's Charles Dickens' character from a Christmas Carol. A greedy Banker or Landlord or something. Turns out Dickens published A Christmas Carol in 1843 while Neptune was in Aquarius conjunct Jupiter and conjunct Dickens' natal Sun at 18 Aquarius. Voila. The Neptune's Return to Aquarius and we're in the same damn boat. Only difference is that Dickens, a good Aquarius, has been replaced in modern society by Dick Cheney, a bad Aquarius. I guess it's a sign that blames others better than apologizes for its own mistakes.

Like magic, The Scrooge Character seems to have been born of Dicken's Saturn Return as he was around 31 years old when it was published. His natal Saturn is in the 4th House in Capricorn. So, the Capricornian fall from power, or in this case the extreme wisdom that a few of the best Capricorns have access to brings the rise and the ability to transcend the rise and distribute back down to the masses. Such a Saturn-Uranus story. And, hey, those two are in their big aspect to each other in the signs of Virgo and Pisces, the two signs that I'd personally associate with Tiny Tim more than any others.

I wonder if a writer's strongest characters come to them when they are going through major transits to their 7th House cusp as that rules Partnerships. At one point I had a list of artists and their muses to see what kind of an association there is but somehow lost track of it. I think I resented that all the artists were men and all the muses were women.

Natally Dickens has a conjunction of Venus to Pluto on his Pisces Descendant which squares his natal Moon-Neptune conjunction in Sagittarius. This is a very strong angular square as it brings Moon-Neptune and Venus-Pluto into prominence with Dicken's Angles, these planets oppose/square his natal Virgo Ascendant and Gemini Midheaven. Those are both ruled by Mercury, the planet of the writer. By interesting coincidence, Dicken's progressed Sun was at 20 Pisces which would have just passed over his Venus-Pluto-Descendant.

Venus Pluto conjunctions have a natural affinity in some way with money as both planets rule the Money Houses. On the Descendant in Pisces, which has a natural affinity for the downtrodden and weak, of course Dickens would have understood the power and even better the transformational power that the Rich have in society. In Dickens' chart transiting Pluto had stayed in conjunction with progressed Venus. And progressed Mars would have just passed in to Taurus in the 8th House, sign of the Banker.

I can personally tell you that with Pluto transiting through the 7th House you become very aware of how selfish and power hungry other people are. Dickens would have had this aspect during his entire childhood. By interesting coincidence his progressed Venus travelled along side of transitsing Pluto for the entire time. By the time of his Saturn REturn, when he would have written "The Christmas Carol" the two were in the 8th House of Other People's money. And progressed Mars was just changing signs and was on 1 degree Taurus, the sign of Money, Bankers, Values (and, in many cases, basic Good Will and Kindness)

At any rate, with the New Moon conjunct Mars and Pluto, I strongly recommend avoiding the Shopping Malls this week-end. Yeah, I know we need to show our patriotism by going out shopping, but there will be some real screwballs out there. And they will own guns. And they will have good aim. Sun-Mars and Pluto represent the Human Will which can swing to great heights and to great depths. With the Moon and Capricorn, one should just try to not depend on the kindness of others, though. Keep busy, don't stay in one place for too long, and pray to get through the week in one piece.

A little Neptune in Aquarius Wisdom from Tiny Tim: "God Bless Us, Every One."

Charles Dickens
b. Feb. 7, 1812 7:50 pm Portsmouth England (from Astrotheme)

Sun 18 Aquarius; ASC 19 Virgo; Moon 13 Sagittarius; MC 16 Gemini; NN 10 Virgo

Monday's Stock Market - 4th Biggest Crash

On the old PBS show headed by Louis Rukeyser, I once remember hearing a financial analyst say that you have to organize a company so that a Monkey can run it -- because eventually a Monkey will run it. That's pretty much what's happened to America. The Shit has risen to the top. I sort of worry that this is the negative side of the Pluto in Leo generation putting on the Circus and the Pluto in Virgo Generation passively letting them do it. Hopefully, President Elect Obama will show a different side of what Pluto in Virgo can do. As anybody who's ever been to a Faith Healer (or Psychologist) knows, telling people to change is a waste of everybody's time and is much different from actually lighting the fires under people's asses. I always like working for Leo's, though, because they're good at this singular talent, the lighting of the whatsits, so Obama's got an Astrological advantage...

So, back to the theme of the Monkey House. The Stock Market suffered its 4th greatest loss ever on Monday. (Drop around 680 points). Chalk this up to the conjunction of Venus-Jupiter and the Moon. These are all planets that overdo. The local yarn store said that they had the best year ever so there really was shopping fervor. Knitters of America may be holding up the economy with their sheer compulsive shopping behaviors.

Astrologers usually think sweet nothing about this Venus-Jupiter-Moon combo. Har. The Drop doesn't seem like a big deal at this point because this is just old news. Financial experts sapping last bits in weird moves. The Market had risen a lot the week before in order to artificially get America out there shopping over the long Thanksgiving Week-end. This is to show faith in American Retail.

Right now, prudent Capricorn is rising in the Opening Bell Charts. That's a restrictive influence. Anyone who doesn't spend foolishly or at least knows how to stomp all over others in order to get what he/she wants in life, will fare much better than those who bulk up their credit cards.

Ruler of the chart Saturn is in the 8th House of Investments as the Market opens. That doubles the restrictive side and is just downright depressing. The opposition to unpredictable Uranus in the 2d house just showcases the erratic and unpredictable influences. Saturn and Uranus working together sort of know what they are doing. They want to keep things steely and dry-eyed. Interesting to see them working together in a sextile/trine with goopy, uncontrollable Moon-Venus-Jupiter in this way. It seems I keep hearing analysts say that the True Value of the Stock Market is around 8100 or 8200 points. It seems they all know this.

Pluto, ruler of Investments and Crises and all kinds of related stuff, is now up in the 12th House. On Monday he was unaspected by major aspects which he seems to be doing a whole lot these days. He's unaspected a lot these days. (That is about to end with a bang.)

The Interesting part about Monday's Fall was that the Recession was officially announced. (Sun conjunct Mercury and Mars in Sagittarius). Apparently the country has been in a Recession since last December. Interesting that this is when that nasty long-term opposition (almost 6 months?) from Mars to Pluto was. Mars has now come half circle and is about to pass over Pluto right on the Aries Point. This will happen the last couple of weeks this Month. The Sun will be in conjunction with Mars in Sagittarius. This will square the Saturn-Uranus opposition on/around December 14. Then the Sun and Mars will pass over into Capricorn and hit Pluto. And the Moon will be in conjunction with that set as well. This will happen on the 26th.

So, anyway, this upcoming Sun-Mars-Pluto thing on the first degree(s) of Capricorn could be a real drag. I wish I could put plugs in women's uteruses so that we don't have to live with all the little school shooters who will be born on this day. Or at least we could build special families to raise the kids so that they can be raised in controlled environments without too much stress, an emphasis on ethics, creativity, nutrition and exercise. Because this is a strong willed combination, sometimes a bit volatile, a lot of creativity and drive that needs to be focused.

At any rate, anyone thinking of going to after Christmas Sales, bring your Bazookas -- everyone else will. It's self-defense. Hopefully the last 2 weeks of December won't bring any extra geological problems or terrorist attacks. Everyone needs to be on their best behavior. Bake the local cops a quiche or something, they may be busy. Anything with sugar will send them over the top as well.

What I'm really worrying about is when Saturn moves in to the 6th House of the Opening Bell charts. That's when the Lay-offs begin.

Dave Freeman

On August 17 of this year Dave Freeman died from a head injury caused by a fall in his home. Dave Freeman is the advertising executive who back in 1999 published the book "One Hundred Things to Do Before You Die." He was only 47 years old.

Dave Freeman
b. Feb. 21, 1961 Whittier, CA

Sun 3 Pisces; Moon Taurus; NN 7 Virgo

RIP, Dave Freeman. My condolences to Dave's family.

With Pisces Sun and Pluto conjunct the Nodal Axis in his chart one would expect Freeman to have a strong awareness of the impermanence of things. With North Node in Virgo it's very interesting that Freeman became Famous (Pluto, Sun) for making a List (Virgo, n.Mercury Rx c. Sun) of what he wanted (Pluto) to do with the rest of his life. One certainly can suspect that this awareness came about as a result of his Pluto Square which would have occurred about 2 years before he published the book in 1999. His natal Retrograde Mercury would be a bit unhappy about not being able to complete his list.

Freeman's chart was under siege by planets that rule accidents on the date of his Death. His natal Mars is at 2 Cancer and was being transited by a wide Grand Square transit of t. Mars (30 Virgo), t.Uranus (22 Pisces) and t. Pluto (28 Sagittarius). Mars rules the Head and Mars in challenging combination with Uranus and Pluto can certainly bring Accidents. Interesting that Mars is at the Aries Point of Cancer. Mars rushes to do everything and is very Restless especially in Cancer which rules the Home. Cancer also rules Long Overseas Travel. The Aries Point will bring these qualities out into public view.

Freeman was also approaching his Jupiter Return, a cycle which occurs about every 12 years. Jupiter also rules Long Distance travel and in Freeman's chart it is conjunct Saturn on the same degree in Capricorn.

There are other key aspects as well concering natal Uranus and Pluto which amplifies the effect of the Grand Square transit of these planets for Freeman in particular. For one thing, Freeman had a natal conjunction of Pluto (death) to his North Node (Destiny). He would have had a stronger awareness that things won't last than other people. His natal Sun-Mercury Rx-Chiron conjunction were conjunct his South Node at the other end of the opposition. Natal Uranus in Leo was being aspected by the Nodal Axis, Neptune and Chiron.

There's also an interesting story told by Freeman's progressed Venus. One of Venus keywords is "Leisure." I noticed Freeman's Progressed Sun had been passing over his Natal Venus in recent years. P.Sun passing over it would indicate that one must stop and smell the Roses. However, the aspect was in the sign of Aries which must also move on to the next thing, always looking for new experience. Perhaps it indicates that this person wouldn't want retirement to come late in life. Progressed Venus is interesting to watch in this regard. It went Retrograde (by Progression) back around 1987 right on the last degree of Aries and had moved back into conjunction with natal Sun and Venus (few degrees separation) this Summer.

Obituary from Los Angeles Times says that Freeman was born on Feb. 21, 1961 in Whittier, California. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-freeman26-2008aug26,0,639371.story.

Hepatitis Outbreak - Medical Malpractice in Las Vegas

At the end of February (I believe on the 28th) a major story was announced over the news that 40,000 patients of an Endoscopy Clinic in Las Vegas, NV had been notified that they could possibly have been infected with Blood born illnesses due to unsafe injection practices related to the administration of anesthesia during their procedures. Since that time the story has gone completely silent. The Doctor in charge is said to have ordered the Nurses to reuse vials of anesthesia on different patients, a practice widely known to be unsafe. This is said to be the largest Public Health notification procedure in the entire country.

The Government Offices in charge of the investigation determined that this practice had probably been going on since March, 2004 by comparing the amount of patients treated with anesthesia compared with the amount of vials purchased. Dr. Dipak Desai, the Doctor in Charge, had actually served on the state's Medical Board and is heavily involved in the state Governor's political campaign. I suppose this is the reason for the media's silence. Meanwhile I read somewhere that legislation was passed in Nevada over the last 2 or 3 years that puts a cap on Medical Malpractice suits at $50,000 per patient. If this is true, man, what a freak show. And, I repeat, the media is ignoring it!!

Interesting article on the Health Department's investigation from the the Las Vegas Sun. "How Hepatitis Probe Led to Clinic" by Marshall Allen, Mar. 2, 2008. http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/mar/02/probe-led-quickly-quickly-clinic/

This article says that last December the Health Department noticed a rise in Hepatitis C patients in the county. During their routine interviews they asked whether the patient had had any medical procedures performed and the Clinic's name came up repeatedly. They began their inspection of the Clinic on Jan. 10, 2008 and almost immediately found that the nurses were contaminating the patients.

The Astrology is very interesting. Jupiter had been in Sagittarius, sign that rules the Liver. Jupiter was in conjunction with Pluto (large crowds) in Sagittarius in December when the patients had been diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Then Jupiter passed into Capricorn at the end of December. Capricorn rules both Guilt and Government. If you've been doing something wrong, Saturn comes along and bites ya in the ass, so to speak. Jupiter and Pluto working together like to do things in a big way. Pluto, of course, rules the rectum, and I suppose plays a big part in rulership of Endoscopy Clinics, especially ones located on Shadow Lane in Las Vegas, NV, hehe.

In addition, Saturn had moved into Virgo, sign of Public Health, on Sept. 2, 2007. Six??? of the infections have been traced back to procedures performed on Sept. 21, 2007. Another case has been traced back to a procedure done on July 25, 2007.

And also, The South Node has been traveling through Virgo, sign of Public Health, from June 22, 2006 to mid Dec., 2007 so it changed signs into Aquarius around the time that the patients were diagnosed. The South Node has been in conjunction with Saturn since then. In this case, this literally talks about foul play in Public Health. Interesting that Pisces rules anesthesia and the vials of Anesthesia were the source of the contamination.

The astrology for Sept. 21, 2007 is interesting to look at since that has been determined as a major date of infection. Infection is ruled by Mars. Mars here is in Gemini opposite Pluto and squared by apex Sun in Virgo. Mars and Pluto in harsh aspect together. What a day to go for an Endoscopic procedure in the first place, oi. I've mentioned before in the entry I did on the recent Salmonella scare the prominence of Mutable Signs in those Public Health outbreaks. It certainly shows up here as well. The North Node on this date was at 7 Pisces with South Node just opposite in Virgo conjunct Saturn at 3 Virgo. Good old Saturn, it catches the guilty ones every time. And sometimes it catches the innocent ones as well, just ask anyone going through a Saturn Return.

There was a set of Virgo/Pisces Eclipses around this time describing the Health/Anesthesia theme. The Total Lunar Eclipse of Aug. 28 had Sun at 5 Virgo opposite Moon in Pisces conjunct the Nodal Axis. The Partial Solar Eclipse of Sept. 11 had a conjunction of Sun and Moon at 19 Virgo. Mars in Gemini in both charts is opposing first Jupiter, then Pluto.

The Mars oppositions are echoing the first set of Eclipses in 2004 when the shenanigans began. All charts have Mars in Gemini. On Apr. 19, 2004 there was a Partial Solar Eclipse that contained an opposition of Pluto to a conjunction of Venus-Mars in Gemini. On May, 4, 2004 there was a Total Lunar Eclipse that contained the same opposition with orb tighter to Mars.

Keep the Drs. away from your butt hole during heavy Mars-Pluto transits. Boy, I should check what date Katie Couric had her procedure done.

All Eclipses involved had major challenging aspects between Jupiter and Uranus in Mutable signs (Jupiter in Virgo in 2004, in Sagittarius in 2007 with Uranus in Pisces). Jupiter and Uranus acting together are known to create too much optimism.

I can't find Dr. Desai's birth information. Just love these Doctors who have no concern for health.

Gone With the Wind

Yesterday was a blast, literally. During the day the Stock Market gave up the rest of its fancy 400 plus points gain of 2 days before. It did this even after Bernanke bailed out a bank, something which I have now read hasn't been done since the Great Depression. Some economists and commentators have begun to tell everyone to bail. All this while Taurus rises as the Stock Market opens. The Sun-Moon and Pluto were in t-square in the Resource Houses in yesterday's chart (Moon in H2, Pluto in H8 and Sun in H11). The missing leg was the 5th House and let me tell you, this slide was NO FUN. I was literally walking down the Street humming "Send in the Clowns." The Moon was approaching conjunction with Mars (turbulent emotions). And Venus was opposing Saturn. Otherwise there were some real nice trines. Those who sold knowing that they are safe, and those who are in denial and figuring this is another blip.

I don't know what I'm talking about here. For guidance read Ray Merriman's column.

So that's not all. Last night I turn on the TV to watch my boyfriend Larry King and some guy's standing outside of the CNN headquarters and it looks like the Civil War has broken out. People had been sitting in their rooms in the hotel across the street and the windows literally blasted out of the rooms! Crap was scattered all over the street. People were roaming around in their bathrobes crying. Two Basketball games had been interupted with around 18,000 fans at one Dome and around 16,000 fans at another Dome. They were roaming around. Unfortunately two people died and many more were injured.

I can't imagine. A 200 foot wide storm pounding through the downtown of a major city going around 130 mph!

There was apparently only a 8 minute warning. The Storm Prediction Center had announced a "slight risk" (2 percent chance) that Atlanta would be hit by a tornado at 9 pm. The warning came at 9:26pm. The Tornado came at 9:45 pm. Wait, that's more than an 8 minute warning. Hmmm, well, around that time. CNN must have been my source, hehehehe.

So, surprise! The Sun is still conjunct Uranus, planet of Sudden events. The only square in this chart is from the Sun to Pluto (planet of mass destruction).

Libra was Rising somewhere and Cardinal Signs were on all the angles.

And so a biggee here is the conjunction of Moon to Mars in Cancer. They are both still out of bounds and opposing Pluto, more volatility. People birthing babies right now had better be prepared to parent these kids very very carefully because this is going to be a big group of toddlers swinging bats otherwise. I'm staying way the hell out of Wal-Mart for the next couple of years.

In this chart, this volatile combo are in the Mystic Rectangle sextiling/trining the Venus-Saturn opposition. You've got a violent water opposition playing happy with a stuffy earth opposition and the Sun-Uranus & Pluto screaming Surprise all the while! I guess that's good turbo. Don't really see the mysticism in the Mystic Rectangle though.

And then we see how it's connected with Atlanta's chart:

Atlanta, GA
inc. Dec. 29, 1847

Sun 8 Capricorn, Moon probably Libra, NN 5 Libra

So, Atlanta's a Cardinal sign town. One can see right away that the transiting opposition of Moon-Mars to Pluto is harshly aspect Atlanta's Sun, NN and possibly Moon. It's hooked right in. Atlanta's under other major aspects right now.

The Surprise element seems to come from Atlanta's progressed Sun which is at 17 Gemini squaring t.Uranus at 19 Pisces-t.Sun 25 Pisces.

The t. North Node is conjunct Atlanta's natal Neptune at 29 Aquarius. Atlanta is approaching it's Neptune Return.

And Atlanta is going through a Saturn opposition. (Natal Saturn at 9 Pisces) Saturn is the planet of preparation and warning so I was hoping to find it vulnerable and was not disappointed here.

Spy Satellite Launched

Ooooooooooo

AHHHHH

The Military just announced a successful launch of a Super Secret Spy Satellite that was blasted off the California Coast early this morning. I just had to know if Pluto (Spying, Sabotage) and Neptune (Illusion) were prominent in the chart.

Spy Satellite Launched / Where and Why We Do Not Know
Mar. 13, 2008 3:02 am Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Yay! The Military doesn't know what it's doing in Iraq but it sure is awesome talented at picking charts to launch secret missiles. The Sun here is in Pisces conjunct Uranus right over the 3d House cusp. That's great for communications and technology which can express itself through Illusion and Deception. The Sun is also sextiling Jupiter in the 1st House which strengthens the success of the launch. This will be an effective aid in International Affairs which, frankly, we're going to need when that Pluto-Uranus-Saturn t-square hits. The Internet might go kablooey big time.

But, here's the best part about this chart, exactly what I wanted to find. Pluto (Spies) is conjunct the Ascendant by 2 degrees. It's 2 degrees rising off the cusp from the 12th house. Sneaky, very sneaky. And it's opposite Mars which is conjunct the Descendant to the Degree. This shows that we're being very provocative and pissing everyone off with our power tripping which we're blaming on them, and, in this case, we might have more power.

Ruler of the Chart, Saturn, is in the 8th House of, guess what?, Spies! It's opposing Mercury and the North Node in Aquarius and involved in a Mystic Rectangle with the Pluto-Mars/ASC-DESC oppositions.

The Moon is in Gemini conjunct the 6th House cusp which shows Data Collection. The Moon's only aspect is a square to Saturn Rx which shows that maybe some of the technology is already out-of-date. There's a strong need to be prepared.

The huge cluster of planets in Aquarius and Pisces is mainly in the 2d House of Values, Money, Voice, & Banking. Wonder who we're spying on. Well, Neptune in H2, that's Oil in the Money House, sounds like something we might be interested in. They can't tell us who they're spying on. Oh, well, let's guess. (Let's assume it's not us). Cancer on the DESC with Mars conjunct Cusp. Mars and Moon are Out-of-Bounds and Parallel. Some underdeveloped or very young Country who's very emotionally threatening.

I wonder if they'll get some good stills of certain Dictators in the shower. That's an ugly thought.

More Shootings

This never-ending Mars-Pluto opposition have worked more misery. Mars has not only been retrograding over the Gemini-Cancer cusp but it has been out-of-bounds. Add the emotional lunacy that can come with last month's Eclipses and everyone's losing it.

Two young men have been shot to death in the Mountain View, CA area. Mountain View is the headquarters of Google so this seems a bit out of place. The area used to be considered seedy and so there are still remnants of that but mostly it's a place where you can't buy a 2 bedroom shack for less than $600,000 due to the Tech Industry.

In case anyone is interested the information for the murders are:

Feb. 7, 2008,around 7:00pm. Jeffrey Johnson, Age 20 Shot in a parking lot. 3 Suspects have been identified and one has been apprehended.

A second shooting victim went to a local hospital for treatment around 7:30pm. Survived.

Feb. 26, 2008, 6:15pm, Mountain View, CA. Jose Merales, Age 17 shot.

It seems that maybe these Murders are related. They both happened around the same time at night so have early Virgo Rising with Saturn just passing over the Ascendant. Sagittarius is on the IC and Gemini is on the MC. These murders were committed on the streets and the shots were fired from cars which seems to represent the Gemini-Sagittarius axis.

The first shooting happened the day of the Solar Eclipse, just hours after it was exact. Saturn was opposing the Moon and both were hanging out over both the ASC-DESC axis and the Nodal Axis. Mercury rules both charts. Here it was retrograde in Aquarius in a stellium in the 6th-7th Houses in these charts. This heavy emphasis on the houses opposite the first shows that the behaviors were reactions to previous actions of others (whatever that means). They were socially motivated. It will be interesting to hopefully find out if these are completely unrelated murders.

Sometimes the first Eclipse will call for an answer response at the 2d Eclipse, or so I've been told. Here the 2d shooting happened 5 days after the Total Lunar Eclipse on the 21st. In this 2d shooting chart, Mercury was out of Retrograde and conjunct Venus still in the 6th House.

Pluto was in the 4th House opposing Mars in the 10th House. There's some issue concerning turf which leads to violence. The second chart has a Scorpio Moon in the 3d house so this also suggests a revenge motive, maybe over a sibling. In the 2d chart, Mercury is conjunct Venus to the degree so perhaps a female was involved. It's in the 6th House so I don't think that Romance is involved.

Mars rules the 8th House of Murder in both charts but the house is empty. Mars, of course, rules boys and aggression.

The stellium in Aquarius and Pisces might suggest gangs (groups) and drugs. But the Saturn opposition to the Moon and Sun right over the ASC & DESC which directly shows the Killer and Victim might indicate racial or cultural tensions. Of course, I'm saying this because I've seen that one person has a Hispanic name and the other one doesn't so my insight is not necessarily astrologically based.

Hopefully there will be news once the murders are solved which I'll try to post here. The police say they have located 3 suspects in the first shooting and have apprehended one.

Sylvan Tomkins

I've briefly talked about the writer Malcolm Gladwell. Mostly I was talking about the Virgo-ness of the topics of his books, The Tipping Point and Blink. Well, I finally got an audiobook version of Blink because it was remaindered at Borders. It was so good I managed to drive down to Palm Springs and back so that I didn't have to get out of the car. Now something's wrong with my car. I must have been blinking too much while I was driving.

Anyway, where was I, oh yeah. Blink discusses researchers's findings concerning the quickness of human perception. Often our perceptions are more accurate when based on first impressions. This isn't always true as in the case of police officers who tend to make stupid judgments about people while their adrenaline is running. That's what all these police brutality cases are about and the departments have found to make up rules that might help deter the rage thing. Anyway, other researchers have found that by watching a couple talk for just 10 or 15 minutes they can tell with 80 percent accuracy whether or not the relationship will last.

One interesting topic mentioned in the book is the face reading work of Paul Ekman. Paul Ekman has labeled human facial expressions according to muscle numbers on the face. He has learned how to discern a person's feelings by looking at facial expressions and he has figured out a way to teach these ideas to others. The guy who inspired him is really fascinating also. This is the guy whose chart I'm looking at because I couldn't find Ekman's birthdate.

This other guy, a psychologist who worked at Princeton, is Silvan Tomkins. Biographical information on him isn't easy to find but I did locate one story about Tomkins' first job. Can't remember what it was, but this job involved determining which horse would win a race at the track by looking at the expression on the horse's face. My Mother used to do the same thing so I know some people can do this. Even more amazing when they can get paid to do it. So. You can see, for a psychologist, Tomkins was a pretty cool guy. This also leads me to believe that Silvan Tomkins had a Scorpio Rising. These people have laser visions into the motives and behaviors of others, doesn't matter how many legs they stand on either.

Silvan Tomkins
b. June 4, 1911 Philadelphia, PA

Sun 13 Gemini; Moon 23 Virgo; NN 10 Taurus

Here the Sun and most likely the Moon placement are ruled by Mercury. Mercury is quick and observant. You might feel insulted by a Mercury person but you won't really feel judged. They just point out your faults and move on to other topics, no doomsday motives really, although it still feels that way.

The North Node in Tomkins' chart is in Taurus, sign of the alphabet. He was able to "name" the feelings and emotions into a new vocabulary. I found a blog that explains his theories very well: http://neighborhoodofgod.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html.

Tomkins' Mercury was in Taurus as well conjunct Saturn. His thinking would have been much slower paced and methodical than his perceptions which are shown in the other inner planet aspects.

Tomkins' inner planets are each connected with a different outer planet energy. Mercury-Saturn is sort of a Scientist aspect, organized and determined. Venus here is conjunct its upper octave equivalent Neptune in the sign of Cancer. Desire plus empathy in the sign of the emotions, feelings. This would also account for "Psychic knowing." Mars here is square its upper octave equivalent, Pluto. Mars is at 1 Aries right on the Aries Point and it's a singleton in Fire. This is the inspiration point in the chart (my opinion) and explains Tomkins amazing ability to zero straight in what others were feeling. Mars also has rulership over "The Face." And it indicates little boys. Tomkins developed his theories by taking time off from work after his son was born and just watching his face react to the world.

The following is the list of Tomkins' 9 universal emotional affects as described in "The Neighborhood of God" link listed above. According to that blog Tomkins felt that the nerves of the face were tied to the emotional affects and came across even in a baby's face.

Interest to Excitement
Enjoyment to Joy
Surprise to Startle
Fear to Terror
Distress to Anguish
Anger to Rage
Dismmell (??) to Disgust
Shame to Humiliation

The Lane Bryant Shooting

Along with the unbelievable rash of School Shootings/Suicides this last week there is still an awful tragedy that I hope won't be forgotten. This was the mass execution style shootings of 6 women in a Lane Bryant store in the Tinley Park area of Chicago, Il. The Shooter as far as I know is still running around loose. Someday I hope to know how to read Horary Charts well enough to try to locate these freaks but for now I'm stuck with just trying to read the Event Charts which is challenge enough.

First off, Mars (aggression, violence) is going through an extremely long transit over the cusp of end of Gemini and beginning of Cancer. This brings in the Cancer Aries Point which is a public point. Mars in Cancer is a very emotionally volatile aspect when under stress and currently it is very much under stress. First it is opposing Pluto (death, power). Next it is out of bounds which magnifies its influence. It is also opposing and disposits to the Moon (emotions, irrational, subconscious behaviors, women) which is also out-of-bounds in Sagittarius in this chart.

I wanted to look at this chart, of course, to see how Venus is aspected as Venus rules Women and Dress Shops. And, without intending to insult any Rubensian type lovelies, it is conjunct Jupiter, the planet of expansiveness. Venus conjunct Jupiter would certainly indicate a Rubeneque type of woman. Here the two planets are not only in conjunction, they are parallel to each other (aspect similar to a conjunction) and they are also in conjunction with and parallel to the Midheaven. This could just describe the event without explaining the shooter's motives, but it could also indicate that he has some sort of fetish or deep hatred for larger size women. In connection with the Midheaven it would seem that this is connected to one of his parents. I personally read MC as symbolizing the Father but it can also symbolize the Mother.

Earlier in the morning Aries was rising. I can't get the story straight from what I've read about what happened but I think he had entered the store and was talking to the women. Then he drew a gun and herded them in to the back room. Two women walked in while this was happening and were also abducted. The Killer had brought Duct tape and bound them and threw clothes over their faces before he shot them. He had fondled one of them and when one of the women somehow managed to call 911, that's when he supposedly shot them.

I've listed a timeline of changes in some locations in the chart. Am not sure when the store actually opened. Early on Aries rules the chart with ruler Mars in the 3d house in Gemini. If this indicates the killer then he possibly lives in the neighborhood or has a brother or uncle who lives in the neighborhood. Mars deposits to Mercury which is conjunct Neptune-NN-Sun in the 11th house. This explains how he was able to vanish out into the crowd as Neptune is great for elusive behaviors. This stellium may indicate a drug problem, living out a fantasy or gang related motives also. I know, I'm giving too many alternatives here. I don't think that robbery was the only motive here. This guy was trying to prove himself.

At all times from when the store would have opened to the time when the women were found, Venus was very prominent ruling one end of the ASC-DESC axis. First it rules the Libra Descendant and then it rules the Taurus Ascendant. It also crosses over the Midheaven. So women and dress shops are heavily influencing this chart.

At 10:12 the Rising Sign changes to Taurus and Aries is intercepted in the 12th House for awhile. 12th house is one of the rulers of bondage so this may have been when the women were bound up. This may also have been when the guy totally snapped. Venus at this point rules the chart. The killer may have felt his "manhood" at stake with the women in control. Mars moves into the 2d house, Venus's house and house of money and banking and also self-worth.

By 10:35 both Pluto and the Moon were in the 8th House of Murder (and sex and psychopathic behaviors) and were opposing Mars. This is an extremely violent indicator, especially because both Mars and the Moon were out-of-bounds. The Sun here is also parallel Pluto (murder) and just at 10:43 am when the police were called, the Sun squared the Ascendant.

The Murderer has been indentified by the one surviving victim. I hope he will be caught. My condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims.

6 Victims, 5 dead, 1 survivor.

At 9:00 am
30 Pisces Rising, Ruler Neptune conjunct Mercury Rx in H12.
with Mars conjunct the IC and opposing Pluto, 30 Sagg MC, Moon 21 Sagg.

At 9:30am
13 Aries Rising
ruler Mars in H3
ruler of Descendant, Venus, is in H10

At 9:47 am
Venus 12 Capricorn conjunct Jupiter 11 Capricorn conjunct the Capricorn MC

10:12 am
0 Taurus Rising
Mars moves into 2d House

10:35 am
Pluto moves into H8 along with Moon

10:43 am
13 Taurus Rising, Sun squares Ascendant from H10
Aries intercepted in 12th House
Mars in H2, doesn't rule any houses at this point, this is the time that help was dispatched.

Venus was both conjunct and parallel both Jupiter and the Midheaven in Capricorn passing as this crime was being committed. As Lane Bryant is a plus size store for women this fits very well. Until 10:12 Venus ruled the 7th House of Libra. After that time Venus ruled the Taurus Ascendant.

Both Mars and the Moon were out-of bounds showing completely out of control emotional problems.

Sun conjunct Mercury Rx-Neptune-Chiron-NN in Aquarius

At 10:33am Pluto passed backwards into the 8th house of Death and the Sun began to square the Ascendant. The Sun was parallel Pluto.

Mercury Rx c. Neptune at 22 Aquarius

There were 4 shootings in schools this last week that I've read about. Unbelievable:

Yesterday's Shooting in Illinois. Feb. 14, 3:00 pm

Feb. 8, 8:30am. Louisiana Technical College, Baton Rouge, LA A woman shot 2 nursing students.

Feb. 11, 9:00am. Memphis, Tenn. Shooting in a High School Gym. (an additional shooting in Memphis last week)

Feb. 12, (early). Oxnard, CA. 15 year old Jr.High School Student.

Swiss Art Thefts

I always said the perfect vehicle to own is an unmarked White Van. You can do anything at all if you own an unmarked White Van. You could be a plumber or an electrician or a Soccer Mom or the FBI or... you could use it to rob a Museum. You look official and yet you blend in. At any rate, that's the Getaway car of choice that was used in Sunday's robbery of 4 Impressionist masterworks.

I hope this isn't a foreshadow of Pluto in Capricorn in a negative sense. On one hand I can see how Capricorn's appreciation of Tradition will bring a heightened interest in Classical Artworks, but it also makes sense that it will show a heightened interest in organized crime, especially in combination with all the other outer planets in very social outer planet signs. This seems to be playing itself out in Switzerland last week where the two major Art Thefts took place.

Last Wednesday two Picassos were stolen from an exhibit in a town called Pfaffikon and on Sunday 4 masterworks were stolen from a museum in Zurich. To get this out of the way: Picasso was a Scorpio. Monet was a Scorpio, van Gogh was an Aries, Cezanne was a Capricorn and Degas was a Cancer. That right there shows an interest in Artists whose expressiveness (Sun Signs) represents either Pluto or Cardinal Signs.

The never-ending Mars-Pluto opposition is strongly represented in the event charts for these crimes and seem to have been set off by this month's eclispes. The charts for both robberies show most planets contained within Pluto at 1 Capricorn and Uranus in Pisces. Mars here is going through its long retrograde visit to the cusp between Gemini & Cancer. Mars is out-of-bounds and opposing Pluto and trining the Sun-Mercury-Neptune conjunction. Just a total invitation for people to stick guns in each others' faces I guess. In addition, Pluto is also on the Aries point and conjunct the Vertex in these charts which adds to the sinister feeling of this Pluto.

The Mars-Pluto opposition also hooks into Switzerland's chart where there is a stellium of NN-Sun-Mercury-Venus-Mars at the end of Virgo and beginning of Libra. This opposes the SN-Saturn conjunction in Pisces. The current Mars-Pluto opposition squares these aspects. Switzerland from Liz Greene at Astrodienst: Sept. 12, 1848, 11:12 am Bern.

The first robbery happened just before the Solar Eclipse on Feb. 6, Wednesday. This was an Aquarius New Moon with Mercury, Neptune, Chiron, and North Node also in Aquarius. Negative Aquarius motto: The Gang's all here.

The robbers are now thought to have locked themselves into the first Exhibit Building before closing and then as they left later on that evening set off the alarm. Sunday's heist was more brazen. It was committed during daylight around 4:30 pm before the gallery closed. 3 men walked in, one guy pulled the gun and told the employees and patrons to get down on the floor and his buddies pulled the 4 paintings off the wall in one room. At this point, the Sun, Mercury and Neptune were not only in conjunction in Aquarius but parallel to each other. And they were trining that Mars.

Leo was Rising around this time so the Sun rules the chart. That accounts for the dramatic daylight timing of the crime I suppose. It is placed in the 7th house of both event charts with the North Node right on the 8th House. The Moon was in Aries in the 9th House of International Affairs. Since one of the men spoke with a Slavic accent the authorities are assuming that the criminals are part of a Balkan organized Crime ring.

It will be interesting to see if these crooks will try another robbery before the Lunar Eclipse on Feb. 21. I suppose the Leo-Aquarius ASC-DESC axis might describe something about the criminals.

1st Robbery:
Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008, Pfaffikon, Switzerland, after closing

2d Robbery:
Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008, Zurich, Switzerland, around 4:30pm

Bride Dies in Husband's Arms during 1st Wedding Dance

This is a tragic story. A bride in Florida, Kim Sjostrom, passed out in her Husband's arms during their first dance at their Wedding. She suffered a heart attack and was unable to be revived. The date was Jan. 19, 2008, Davies, Florida. (http://www.wpbf.com/news/15269770/detail.html). The couple had met 3 years before to the day. I don't have Kim Sjostrom's birth date but wanted to see what kind of astrology this might show.

First thing that stands out is the Mars-Pluto connection in both the Date of the couple's Meeting and in their Marriage. Probably not the best combination for a marriage due to its volatility.

When Kim met her future husband on Jan 19, 2005 Mars was at 18 Sagittarius conjunct Pluto at 24 Sagittarius. On the Wedding Date Pluto was at 30 Sagittarius so Mrs. Efkarpides was probably going through her natal Pluto Square.

This energy repeats for the Wedding. Pluto was opposite Mars at 25 Gemini conjunct the Moon at 24 Gemini and was amplified by a conjunction to Venus at 25 Sagittarius and Jupiter at 8 Capricorn. This is a very stressful & emotional combination, kind of like too much of a good thing.
I don't know what time Mrs. Efkarpides passed away but this opposition was passing over the ASC-DESC line of Marriage right before 4:00 pm. It was also connected with North Node conjunct Neptune which were just passing into the 8th House (death).

What also stands out is Kim's age, 36 years old, which indicates something to do with an upcoming Nodal Return. If Mrs. Efkarpides' perhaps indicates weakness in the Heart. During her childhood she was a Poster child (Leo) for Diabetes and a 1st grade teacher (Leo) which shows that she was very connected with her Leo South Node. In 1972, Pluto was just passing into Libra (the planet of marriage) and for a while was in a Grand Trine with the North Node and with Saturn in Taurus. This means nothing because I don't have her birth information and probably doesn't apply to her chart at all but I'm mentioning it anyway. At any rate, when the couple met, Pluto, Saturn and the North Node were once again figured together in a triangle shape including a trine, opposition and inconjunct. Saturn, Pluto and North Node are all connected with "Fate" and "Karma" which probably means nothing but there does seem to be an unreasonable amount of either one of these in their marriage (South Node for their meeting was in Libra (marriage). They were not in aspect on the date of their marriage.

I'm very sorry for Teddy Efkarpides' loss. May his wife's soul Rest in Peace.