The Return of the Ring

Okay so this ain't no JRR Tolkien blog post, my precioussssssssss.

And it ain't no Mahler song. (Rhinelegendchen from Des Knaben Wunderhorn)

But it's still a story about a really cool married couple, a ring. And, well, eh, a toilet.

In case I messed up the link:

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/couple-finds-engagement-ring-missing-years/article_111a0fdf-1262-5554-bdd8-392853769679.html

Terry and Donna Claver have been married more than 38 years up in Billings, Montana. I don't have their birth dates and I don't have their wedding date but this particular story from their marriage sounds like a Nodal Cycly thing to me.

Terry proposed after the couple had gone on only 3 dates back in August, 1973. About a year and a half into the marriage, Donna was very very pregnant. While in the bathroom she took her engagement ring off to put some lotion on and watched as the ring fell into the toilet bowl. The couple did what they could to try to fish the thing out, but to no avail. A few years later they moved to a bigger house. This house was sold many times over and eventually bought by a group of hunters. This past Fall, the toilet froze up and broke so, by coincidence, just as the hunters were visiting their little one room cabin and removing the toilet, Terry the husband of our miracle story was across the street working on the neighbor's house. Terry asked for the toilet. The hunters handed it over. And when Terry got back to his shop he took a sledge hammer to the porcelain and released the engagement ring for once and for all. The story of how he used it to propose to Donna is really cute and is explained in the newspaper story linked to above.

Well, what do we expect from the Astrology? Rings go on the hand and fingers and hands are ruled by the sign of Gemini and its ruler Mercury. Marriage is ruled by Venus through her rulership of the sign of Libra. Venus also rules jewelry through the sign of Taurus. The ring was made of a pink sapphire. Sapphires are ruled by the sign of Virgo and Virgo's ruler, Mercury.

So, we see a lot of Mercury and Venus imagery. And here we go. This probably won't make sense.

Don't know the exact date that Terry reclaimed the engagement ring. But on Nov. 10 Mercury, ruler of fingers and rings, was in conjunction with Venus, ruler of marriage and Jewelry, at 10 Sagittarius. They were in conjunction with the North Node which was at 16 Sagittarius. I'm not sure what the significance of the sign of Sagittarius is except that Sagittarius is considered lucky and also a little clumsy. Sagittarius rules Hunters, so maybe that's the connection. I don't know what rules toilets freezing up and cracking. I think we'll just give chalk that one up to Global Warming weirdness, or maybe the weather in Billings, Montana. This transit of Mercury through Sagittarius is more significant than others because it is very long due to Mercury's Retrograde on Nov. 21. And also Merucry has had a very long conjunction transit with the North Node which rules the idea of events having to do with one's Destiny and Life Path.

Retrogrades are said to bring things back to you from the past. I've found that Uranus can as well because he rules circulatory systems and inexplicable events but don't know how other astrobuffs would feel about that.

Wish I had the exact dates. There might be a lot going on with these charts which explains this amazing event. It helps that Jupiter is passing through Taurus because Taurus, as said before, rules cash and possessions. It seems that Donna gave up on the ring but Terry continued to wish he could get it back. That's a Taurusy kind of thing.

It looks possibly like some interesting stuff through progressions in the charts. Again, I don't have the exact dates so this is very very fictitious.

In August, 1973, when the ring was bought, Mars was at 2 Taurus. This brings us back to Taurus thing. Taurus rules objects so a ring would be considered partly under its rulership. If the Aug. 15 is progressed forward from 1973 to 2011 to about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving (I used the date Nov. 10) then we notice that prog. Mars is now Retrograde. It stationed back in 2007-8. Transiting Jupiter is hanging over that point right now. Maybe that's when the Hunters bought the house. Jupiter represents luck, and also clumsiness and all kinds of accidents that occur like this.

Also interesting is that t. Neptune stationed Direct at 5 Sagittarius in August, 1975. (exact date: Aug. 17). I'm using what I'm assuming is the purchase date for the ring. Not the date that it went down the drain.

Prog. Neptune took roughly (very roughly) 2 years to come out of Rx by progression. The outer planets move extremely slowly by transit and almost not at by progression. The ring was lost during Donna's first pregnancy because she set it down on the toilet lid and it slid into the toilet where it jammed at the base.

So, the Mars and Neptune progressions probably don't have anything to do with anything. I just mentioned them because I'm always interested in seeing what planets do when changing direction whether by transit or by progression. It does seem that perhaps Neptune st r and Mars coming out of Rx by progression might be connected, but who knows.

During Aug, 1973 there was also a Venus-Pluto conjunction. The love vibes were very intense. Venus was either at the end of Virgo or beginning of Libra. Pluto was at 2 Libra. Venus rules marriage and Pluto partially rules plumbing as it rules anything that moves under ground. Venus also rules Love and Pluto rules Sexual attraction -- a minor part of this 38 year old marriage, I'm sure.

Pluto was at 3 Libra and Saturn was at 2 Cancer so they were in a close square. So, right off the bat we see that the marriage was due for a revamp during the past couple of years because these two planets were again squaring each other over other beginning Cardinal sign degrees.

Cancer is actually the other sign/planet which rule plumbing as it is a water sign and rules the home and anything that "drains" from the home.

Mercury Goes Retro in Virgo

The current Mercury Retrograde is in Virgo and I'm sort of passively been collecting really weird stories about things that are happening. I'm leaving out the Islamic Center that's setting up near Ground Zero and the Florida Preacher who's threatening to burn a Koran in retaliation. That's not Virgo, that's some sort of Jupiter or Moon thing and I hate organized religion so I can't really discuss that because it just doesn't make sense. What we're talking about here is the other stuff that's happening. Virgo stuff. The Mayberry RFD school of good old wholesome weirdness. "Space Outs" in every sense of the word. Either way, Mercury is strong in its own sign here.

First off, the Arizona Governor Jan Brewer goofed up her debate by spacing out. Debate? Spacing Out? Tip of the tongue? Blank out? Turns out this is not only a Mercury Retrograde for her, but a Mercury Return as well.

Brewer's got a natal Sun-Neptune conjunction in Libra so she may naturally have space outs anyway. And with this conjunction squaring natal Saturn in Cancer she gets caught in embarrassing and lonely situations. And right now transiting Saturn is right on top of her natal Sun-Neptune conjunction. And Saturn is in a major t-square with Jupiter c. Uranus and Pluto c. NN.

So, Brewer is at the center of some really difficult struggles as Brewer decided to take on the illegal immigration problem. And, of course, the Mercurial Media had a field day attacking Brewer when they could be discussing the reality of what it's actually like to be living in a community that's heavily affected by illegal immigrants. Duh.

Interesting connection linking Brewer's progressed chart with that of her predecessor, Janet Napolitano. Brewer wasn't elected to the Governor position. She moved into it when Janet Napolitano went to the White House. Just happens that Brewer's progressed Sun is in Sagittarius in conjunction with Napolitano's natal Sun. And her progressed Venus is conjunct Napolitano's natal Venus. How's that for some astrological switcherooni's? It's gotta mean something. She's sort of carrying out the dirty work for Napolitano with all that Saturn influence? Maybe it just means that both women are named "Jan."

Then there was the wild story about the two teenage boys up in Montana who decided to enjoy their Summer by purchasing some pot. Stupid sillies misdialed the number to their supplier and ended up texting the Sheriff. The Sheriff tracked them down in a shopping mall somewhere. The Mercury in Virgo Rx imagery is all there. The mis-dialed text message. The medicinals. I don't know, are Shopping Malls Virgonian? It's sort of a back to school theme I guess.

Today adds a Virgo New Moon to the mix and maxed out the weirdness. Two rocks from Outer Space on completely different orbits cruised between the Sun and the Moon only 11 hours apart. The larger one passed by just as Mercury Rx was rising over the Horizon, New York time at any rate. This was just when the Virgo New Moon was exact at 16 Virgo and just about to rise over the Ascendant as well. The smaller asteroid passed through just as Mercury Rx, Sun and Moon were passing into the opposite 7th House. Story here: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/asteroids-passing-near-earth-telescopes-100908.html.

That sounds planned, doesn't it? Sort of makes me want to believe in God. A precision passage of rocks in orbit. Virgo is an earth sign after all. If it had been up to a Gemini Mercury Rx, the rocks would have collided with at least 10 telephone poles.

Another Mercury in Virgo Rx situation is the Whooping Cough epidemic in California, anything contagious is related to Mercury through its Gemini rulership, and Mercury in Virgo is perhaps helping to bring a public health problem into reality here. My Doctor told me a year ago to get a vaccination so there has been concern for quite a while yet nobody has done anything about it until now (because the illegal immigrants are the source and the Mercurial media refuses to carry news about their impact on society). Oh yeah, and the squirrels in my area, Mercurial little creatures, have apparently been almost gassed out of existence. I saw a couple of survivors hanging out in the middle of the street looking like they were hoping someone would just run them over. They didn't even really look like squirrels, their tails were almost hairless and they were roaming around dazed. Since then I've noticed very few squirrels. Reason for this is perhaps because a squirrel was found with bubonic plague in a campground somewhere. That might be overkill.

I suppose the biggest Virgo Mercury problem is faced by the Pakistani's who have suffered huge floods. Talk about a break in one's daily rituals and a major public health catastrophe. A ninth of the country is misplaced from their homes and livelihoods. Hopefully the Retrograde in Virgo will actually help to slow down or to contain the potential public health threats involved. The Virgo New Moon hopefully will. Of course, the media has elected not to cover this event with their usual hysteria and so-called "compassion."

Of Dame Edna Born

Was listening to an interview with everyone's favorite Australian Lady, Dame Edna, and really, really, really started to wonder about her astrological chart. I also wondered about her "alter ego" Barry Humphries, chart as well. It turns out that Dame Edna is a Sadge. No wonder she's so charming, and so much fun.

I assumed that Dame Edna would have a Leo Moon, but I was wrong. To my personal (well, heh) delight, the Dame actually has a Capricorn Moon. Well, we Capricorn Moons certainly do make a good spoof of the female ego, don't we? The control thing; The "Mature Woman" who leaves her invalid husband behind in order to go after her career, jet-setting around the world, confidante to the Queen (in her own mind at any rate).

Well.... the astrologers like to tell us Capricorn Moons that life gets better after we get older (b.s. interpretation) ... Edna's thriving I guess because she has the charming Sadge Sun and North Node to fall back on.

Humphries himself has the zany Aquarius Sun, perfect signature to play an "alter ego" since opposite sign Leo rules the Ego proper. His natal Moon is in Aries. Mom was a spitfire? Interesting that Dame Edna was first "born" in 1955 when Humphries progressed Moon was probably in Capricorn, he must have been really depressed that year to the point that he had to do something about it.

Humphries has a loaded 12th house with Sun, NN, Saturn and Venus in that house. Great for an actor who escapes into other characters. His Saturn is conjunct his North Node to the degree and it's interesting that his Wikipedia entry says that his absent, strict Father was his inspiration for wanting to escape into other characters during childhood.

One would want to take a look at Humphries' natal Venus, of course, to understand his ideas about women, and art. His Venus is in Aquarius and unaspected and retrograde. That means that weird women are a strong signature for him. At any rate, tt's no surprise that he is involved with Arts and Comedy and the Unusual and with Shock. When he was younger he performed as a Dada-ist. That certainly embraces the unusual.

Onward to the Mommy story. It's connected with Humphries' natal Rx Venus, so prominent in his natal chart, which went direct around 1942 by progression when Humphries was around the age of 8. During the same age his progressed Mercury stationed Rx. I went back to Wikipedia to find out if any significant changes in psychology would show up around that time. Wikipedia says that his Mother threw away all his books when he was 9 years old! Mercury = Books! Rx equals being held back and forced to stew in the juices of the planet for a while longer than other folks.

Rather than turning to sports, or whatever, as Aries Moon Mom probably would have preferred after tossing out all her sons' precious books, Humphries became a voracious reader and turned to all kinds of Mercurial antics. His natal Mercury is in his first house of personality conjunct Mars in Pisces and is opposing Neptune. Humphries also suffered from Neptune's flip-side problem and turned to drinking early on. He was sent to Rehab in the early 1970s when his parents found him passed out face down in a gutter. His progressed Mercury had stationed Direct back in the mid-60s. It passed into Aries around 1991.

Right now Dame Edna herself is close to celebrating a New Moon in Aquarius by Progression. This means that her Sun (and possibly Moon) is at 22 Aquarius and is going to be in conjunction with her "Alter Egos" natal Sun in about 6 years. No walker for this old lady, her mind will stay sharp as a tack.

Barbara Brennan

Right now, I'm listening to a cassette of some lectures that Barbara Brennan gave back in the early 1990s. Brennan has been one of the leaders in the Intuitive Healing movement and it's always inspirational to listen to such inspiration and I'm in need of inspiration right now. When I'm listening to recordings in the car the speaker must compete not only for my undivided attention (impossible) but must also speak over the road noise. Fortunately my player goes into auto rewind mode and I have to let a single tape run a few times through before I can begin to even listen. In addition to that I self-profess that although I have from time to time been involved in a healing I have no natural ability for any kind of healing class as I'm a very jealous, resentful & bitter person (and justly so, the stories I could tell). At any rate, I'm no Barbara Brennan and will never hope to be. I still like to expose myself to these styles of existence because they are definitely among the best that the World has to offer. And, of course, I have the Gemini Rising and the 3d House Mercury so I'm perpetually curious about just about everything. And while listening to the tapes I was obsessively itching with that burning question, "What's her sign?" I forced myself to finish at least 2 tapes before looking it up. I knew that Uranus and Neptune would have to be prominent, those are the signs of a miracle worker, but I was detecting a Taurus tinge of something... (Uranus and Neptune right, Taurus ... well, maybe not).

Without a birth time it's impossible to know what Barbara Brennan is astrologically. The noontime chart for her birth date is so close to the Aquarius/Pisces cusp that it's impossible to say whether she's an Aquarius Sun or a Pisces Sun. If born in Wisconsin (I'm not sure of birth place) the Sun passed into Pisces between 7am and 8am!

And it's the same thing with her Moon! At noon her Moon is placed at 5 Pisces! She might have a new Moon in Aquarius. Or she might have a New Moon in Pisces. Or she might be an Aquarius Sun with Pisces Moon just like Dick Cheney. Wouldn't that be weird and a major reason to quit astrology!!!

Barbara Brennan
b. Feb. 19, 1939 Oklahoma (please see note posted by Anonymous down below)

Sun Aquarius or Pisces; Moon Aquarius or Pisces; NN 13 Scorpio

Well, anyway. These two signs rule Intuitive abilities and Psychic Abilities so I suppose the chart is right on track either way.

The rulers of both signs are set off prominently in Brennan's natal chart as well. Neptune is unaspected at 23 Virgo, which gives great prominence into the combined areas of Psyche and Health. And Uranus is a singleton in the Fixed Sign, in Taurus, and conjunct Brennan's South Node in Taurus. Her North Node is in Scorpio, showing a destiny which wants to delve deep into the cosmic goo.

I read an interview with Brennan (and, sorry, lost the link) in which she describes that she had been working as a Physicist for NASA when in the early 70's two things led her into the woo-woo. The first was watching civil rights riots from a roof top in Washington DC. Talk about an out of body experience. The second was a car accident which led her to seek alternative forms of healing. (That will literally throw you out of your body). The riots and the car accident seemed very Uranus/Mars so I had to look at the progressions to see if these planets were connected with her transformation. And the findings were very interesting.

First off, transiting Pluto would have passed over her natal Neptune in Virgo a couple of years before, in the late 60s. So she may have been having an ego wipe out of some sort. These two are meant to create a great psychic awareness. They can, in Noel Tyl's apt terms, also bring an Ego Wipe Out. Basically most people won't "go there" unless there is some serious loosening up.

Secondly, she would have been just past her Saturn Return in Aries (there's some Mars action) in the early 70s. That's a time in life when one evaluates one's accomplishments and decides on the next course of action.

The progressions that come right after this are very powerful. Brennan's progressed Sun passed into Aries around 1970 and was squaring her progressed Mars in first degrees of Capricorn. This square stayed in effect all through the early 70s. So there's the Mars stuff: the riots, and the car accident. This square (challenge) happened on the Aries Points which indicates events that will lead to coming before the public.

Another relevant progression is Progressed Mercury which was slowly changing direction and turning Retrograde from 1971 to 1973. It was in the sign of Aries as well and it was conjunct Brennan's natal Saturn. Mercury literally rules cars. Saturn rules breaks. Saturn in Aries is not well placed. It combines Saturn with the energy of Mars, a combination which has been referred to as trying to drive with the brakes on. How interesting what a difficult Mercury, Mars, Saturn conbination can bring out of a Uranus and/or Neptunian type of person.

It's really interesting to observe that an Rx Mercury was taking place as Brennan's new career took off because normally this is considered to have a difficult effect on communications. She may have sort of gave up on the verbal, day to day stuff and found that it led to something bigger. Retrogrades can be very creative (or frustrating) and make a person rework and rethink things. On the other hand, she describes in that interview how she actually switched from studying Outer Space to Studying Inner Space. This transfer from Outer to Inner is perfectly described by a strong progression over the Aries Point where the end of the Astrological Wheel swings around to meet the Beginning. The Ouroboros is the ancient symbol for a healer as well!

So, just for fun, I also had to look at Brennan's chart to see what it's going to be doing for the 2012 thing. I just get really curious about these kinds of thing. I mean, if, like, you know ahead of time that the Space Ship is going to carry some of us off, you know it's going to have Barbara Brennan on it. I mean, she's practically Sigourney Weaver in that regard.

Will Barbara Brennan be ready for 2012? (tsk, tsk, stupid question). Will she fight the Alien? Will she save the cat?

Well, on 12/21/2012 we have transiting Sun at 1 Capricorn squaring t.Uranus at 5 Aries. This is layered on top of the same spot as where Brennan's progressed Sun-Mars square was when she began her life's work as a healer! Most of the rest of her chart is receiving a conjunction or opposition transit as well.

Pretty amazing. What's Ridley Scott's phone #? We've got a new pitch for him.

Why God Created Mercury Retrograde

First there was the Word....

Then there were the Geminis who could figure out what to do with the word. Sort of make it interesting, pep it up, stick a hook on it so as to reel in a crowd....

And the Geminis got so Clever with their words that God said: Let's throw em a curveball.

Hence, God said: Let There Be Mercury Retrograde.

And as proof of how much fun Mercury Retrograde can be I present you with this:

The Knitting World's Own Yarn Harlot.

Yarn Harlot is a Gemini. She's funny. She's witty. Of course she writes the top knitting blog on the web. She's got manual dexterity and knits like a fiend. And in today's blog The Yarn Harlot is talking about going through a Mercury Retrograde.

Yarn Harlot's real name is Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

(I think I may have figured out how to link.)

http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2009/05/19/thanks_a_lot_mercury.html

Message In A Bottle

Yahoo has an interesting story of a guy who found an old Bottle with a Message in it while walking around on the beach in North Carolina with his 3 year old daughter. The Message said to contact a Fire Station in New Jersey if found. Since then, Mark Ciarmello of Downingtown, PA has contacted the North Haledon Fire Department. Nobody knows for sure who tossed the message into the ocean but it is assumed that the guys did it as a joke during a fishing trip off the coast. The Yahoo story even talks about the guy who everbody figures must have tossed the bottle. At any rate, whoever tossed the bottle into the message was kind enough to date it so I had to take a look to see if there were any Astro Clues. The Astrology is really amazing.

Message Put Into Bottle and Tossed Into Dah Bright Blue Sea
Aug. 17, 1969 off New Jersey Coast; Barnigan Ridge, NJ

Sun 25 Leo; Moon Libra; NN 22 Pisces

Bottle Found in North Carolina Sand Dunes, "Outer Banks"
October, 2008 (I used October 15 because I don't have an exact date and that's the middle of the month)

This gives a 39 year time span which is too long for a Nodal Return. But the North Node is in a water sign, Pisces, which rules the Ocean.

Ruler of Pisces, Neptune, is squaring the Sun on this day which adds to the Ocean imagery. The bottle is very close to approaching it's Neptune square. (Event Neptune is 26 Scorpio. October Neptune is 22 Aquarius.) And, of course, Neptune was in conjunction with the North Node and Chiron in October.

On top of that Mercury, ruler of messages, is strong in its own sign of Virgo and is opposing the North Node. It is conjunct Pluto and the South Node which certainly gives a Fated theme to the story. As a matter of fact, Mercury is aspecting the two planets that with the strongest survival skills, conjunct to Pluto and trining Saturn.

October (of this year, 2008) was the beginning of the Saturn-Uranus opposition and Lo! Behold! transiting Saturn was at 17 Virgo conjunct the Event Mercury 17 Virgo, Pluto 24 Virgo, South Node 22 Virgo. Transiting Uranus, planet of Return Cycles, was conjunct the North Node in Pisces.

The Progressed Chart for the Event is also really incredible. The bottle was tossed during a conjunction of Uranus 2 Libra and Jupiter 6 Libra. That's a festive combo. Jupiter and Uranus together in that sign show that the beer was very much enjoyed.

The Progressed Mercury for the Event Chart is currently very close to this pair at 10 Libra and it is Retrograde. The Mercury Retrograde is very significant and are said to bring back messages and people from the past. The Progressed Mercury Rx is a very long lasting event so this would not be significant by itself if not transiting Mercury had also been in Retrograde from Oct. 1-16 at 21 to 8 degrees of Libra. I wish I knew what day the bottle was found. It would be really incredible if it had been found in the beginning of October instead of the last part while transiting Mercury RX was in conjunction with Progressed Mercury Rx.

As the Moon was also in Libra that day and the Moon likely represents Bottles (I'll have to double check that with Rex Bills) it would be triply interesting if the prog. and t. Retrograde Mercury's were in conjunction with the time that the bottle was tossed. The Noontime chart gives a middle Libra degree so it's very possible if the men were fishing in the morning.

One last thing. The part about the Firemen throwing the bottle is represented here. Mars represents Firemen. Mars was at 12 Sagittarius. That's a Fire Planet in a Fire Sign. Mars is also special in this chart as he is out of bounds at 25 degrees 22' 58". That certainly indicates a long distance toss. 400 miles and 39 year long throw. Sagittarius rules long distance. And Mars indicates physical strength.

This is so much fun. It goes on and on, even without the birth dates of the people involved. There were 3 Lunar Eclipses in 1969. The one closest to the event was on Aug. 27, 1969. It was the last Eclipse of Saros 108. Someday, maybe that will have some meaning...

John McCain and Mercury Retrograde

Mercury stationed Retrograde at 24 degrees Libra on Sept. 24 and will Station Direct on Wednesday at 8 degrees Libra. I've already looked at how it has affected the alleged U.S. natal chart by tripping off a t-square of Sun-Saturn-Chiron. It doesn't seem to have affected Barack Obama's campaign but it sure seems to have affected John McCain's behavior which has been erratic and ahem, Mercurial.

McCain "suspended his campaign" in order to go to Washington to work on the Economic problems. This was unusual and he did it abruptly. At last week's debate he used the phrase "My Friends" something like 22 times which showed that he's very stressed and is a babbling Mercurial guffaw. He stood David Letterman up and has been the butt of non-stop jokes on that show. Well, he would have received that treatment either way. This morning I read an announcement that McCain will now appear on Letterman's show on Thursday, the day after Mercury turns direct. He was shown as his old self again over the week-end correcting an old white woman with serious bed head issues about some racist thoughts she was having concerning Obama's character.

Today, as well, the NCGR weekly bulletin came up with an interesting new tidbit about McCain's birthtime. Retrogrades are supposed to bring up old issues for review. The post comes from Pat Tagliatello over at Astrodatabank who was notifiied that some old newspapers have found birth announcements for McCain which indicate that the commonly used birthtimes of 9 am and 11 am are incorrect. The announcement says that McCain was born in the afternoon. This is interesting because a birth after 3pm would move his Moon into Aquarius. Astrologers will start to say nice things about him if that's true.

From the newsletter:

Shelley Jordan has kindly sent me an article from the Panama American newspaper dated August 31, 1936. Page four of the newspaper carries a birth announcement that says, "Lt. and Mrs. John S. McCain, Jr. of the Submarine Base are the parents of a son born Saturday afternoon at the Submarine Base Hospital." Although his mother is on record as giving two different times for his birth (9 AM and 11 AM), this article points to a time between 12 noon and perhaps 5 PM. Mothers' memories as we know from experience are often faulty; and sometimes newspapers make mistakes or are vague as this one is. In the absence of a birth certificate or other official record, his birth time is considered unreliable.

If you haven't already seen them, here are the two links (the first to the newspaper announcement) that Shelley sent me:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/mccain_announcement_041708.pdf and
http://americanpowerblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/mccain-birth-eligibility-remains.html

Sincerely yours,
Pat Taglilatello

NOT PART OF THE QUOTE, I just can't figure out how to undo the quote thingee:

Taking a look at his natal Mercury shows how important Mercury's influence is in McCain's chart. He has natal Mercury at 3 Libra, very close to an Aries Point. It is also the only planet squaring his Nodal Axis which is right on the Aries Points with North Node at 1 Capricorn. His Mercurial Qualities come out into public very readily.

McCain's natal Mercury is not Retrograde but it is at 3 Libra so one can see that it has also been receiving an extended visit from the Retrograde Mercury in Libra transit.

One knitting blogger who I follow said that his behavior seemed like some sort of PTSD. I thought the same thing. McCain's progressed chart may also indicate this as it shows similar Mercury Retrograde activity as at the time that McCain was held as a POW in Vietnam. Mercury rules the nerves and thinking processes and is known for moving in all directions at once when under stress. McCain was tortured to the point that he tried to commit suicide. His arms, ruled by Mercury, are permanently damaged because of what was done to him.

John McCain
b. Aug. 29, 1936 ((( 9:00am ????)))) Cocosolo, Panama

John McCain's natal Mercury is at 3 Libra and squares his Nodal Axis at 1 Capricorn (NN) / 1 Cancer (SN). So, this lends a strong Mercurial influence to his Destiny in life.

(((For the record, McCain's current Progressed Mercury is at 13 Scorpio. And McCain's current Solar Arc Mercury (Solar Arc doesn't go Retrograde) is at 14 Sagittarius.))))

This month transiting Mercury went Retrograde on Sept. 24, 2008 at 23 Libra. It will station Direct on Oct. 16, 2008 at 8 Libra. Keep this 8 Libra degree in your mind as you read this. This point is very important in McCain's Mercurial History.

McCain's prog. Mercury had gone Retrograde sometime around 1956 in his 12th House while it was conjunct his chart ruler Venus, which is natally in the 12th House. (House placement may no longer apply.). 12th House rules prisons and imprisonment.

McCain was captured by the North Vietnamese on Oct. 6, 1967 and was sent to the "Hanoi Hilton" where he endured extreme torture for about 6-7 years. The worst of the torture was in August, 1968.

At the time of capture, prog. Mercury was at 9 Libra Retrograde (remember this week's position of Mercury Station Direct at 7 Libra) and conjunct Prog. Sun at 7 Libra. The rest of his chart was going ape-face crazy as well but I'm trying to concentrate on Mercury here. With the work I'm doing on cycles I've been seeing how much a repeat cycle like this will influence a person down the road.

The whole time McCain was imprisoned Mercury was Retrograde and at one point was conjunct the progressed Sun in the 12th House (again, house placement may no longer apply) further emphasizing the prison theme. It also places huge amounts of stress on McCain for anything happening at early degrees Libra.

Mercury was conjunct within to a degree of its natal position when McCain was released on Mar. 14, 1973 and was conjunct to the degree with transiting Pluto at 4 Libra.

Right now, through the Retrograde, McCain's Mercury is having an extra long Return.

The theme of Pluto-Mercury-Nodes related to McCain's release date from the POW camps is repeating itself for McCain. When Mercury stations Direct this week it will be at 8 Libra. That's within wide conjunction to his natal Mercury and also wide square to his natal Nodal Axis. Transiting Pluto is at 29 Sagittarius conjunct his North Node and squaring his natal Mercury which repeats the Mercury-Pluto-Node aspect of his release date from prison.

McCain's progressed Mercury went out of Rx around 1977 at 2 Libra while it was conjunct the transiting North Node. This is the year that McCain entered Politics. This was his "real entry into the world of politics and beginning of my second career as a public servant." McCain's marriage was falling apart at this time. He met his current wife Cindy in 1979 and divorced his first wife in 1980. His wife said that he turning 40 and acting like a 25 year old. That's middle age of course but is also a very Mercurial behavior.

Isaac Cline and the Galveston Hurricane, Sept. 8, 1900

We're having another Heat Wave here in California this week. Half the State is on fire and it's only June. Usually the really bad fire season starts in the Fall. I think we're literally running out of Fire Men because they're so exhausted.

So, I've picked up another book in the Library bookstore (which I haven't read yet, just can't resist looking at the astrology). It's called Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson. Larson is writing post Hurricane Katrina and has found a great angle from which to tell the story of this parallel but even more devastating Hurricane story. It's about the chief meteorologist, Isaac Cline, who kept denying that Galveston was due for a huge Hurricane. Apparently Cline had a major turning point moment on Sept. 8, 1900 when the ocean and the winds blew his pregnant wife away and devastated his town. FEMA trailors didn't even exist in those days. I read somewhere that they threatened to shoot any man who wouldn't help bury the rotting bodies and so the men all got stinking drunk in order to tolerate the carnage.

I had to look at Cline's chart. I mean, we all do stupid things but this guy got caught and on a big level. The book says that it is a story of great human arrogance being wiped out by the great forces of Nature. Yeah, whatever. In the end, the storm still would have hit. It's just a little disconcerting because people were expecting the storm, except the Weatherman.

Isaac Cline - hope I have correct birth date, found only one source and Wikipedia disagrees with the year
b. Oct. 13, 1861 Monroe Country, Tennessee (I used Nashville for town).

Sun 21 Libra; Moon Aquarius or Pisces; NN 9 Capricorn

I'm tending to associate Chiron with these kinds of intense moments where a person really has to question himself. Am tired of using the words "wounding" and "healer" for Chiron, but they certainly would apply here. Cline's Chiron is in Aquarius trining his Libra Sun so it is strongly aspected in his chart and works in shocking, inconsistent ways. Chiron may also be conjunct Cline's Moon in Aquarius but without a birth time, who knows? Either way, I'd expect the guy to be very intelligent and cerebral with the Air emphasis. If he had a Pisces Moon, then that's another story, he should have just become a poet. His Sun is also trining Uranus in Gemini. With all this air influence I can see how he would enjoy watching the clouds and the lightning. I might even expect him to be pretty intuitive as a forecaster.

So, what went wrong?

You always want Neptune to be strong too in a forecaster's chart, but in positive aspect. In Cline's chart Neptune is on the last degree of Pisces in Retrograde. This means that it is placed in its own sign and is also on the Aries Point. He came before the public as, well, the guy who didn't know. Well, Neptunian issues are really complicated that way... And this is the spot where the Astrological Wheel both ends and begins.

So, what went wrong?

The Outer Planets are figured very strongly with each other in Cline's chart showing perhaps that his life was to be connected with major events of his generation. Maybe it's unfortunate that Neptune isn't included, bound into the circuitry with these planets. Cline had a natal conjunction of Jupiter 17 Virgo conjunct Saturn 18 Virgo. This is a social aspect and shows that he may have been good with adminrataive duties and policies. The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction trines Pluto at 10 Taurus and squares Uranus at 17 Gemini Rx. I read that as just meaning that he was part of a generation that could really change the world. People can learn from your mistakes after all...

Here's what went wrong.... (my opinion, of course, take it for what it's worth)

The interesting influence to me is Cline's Progressed Mercury. Cline's natal Mercury was in Scorpio at 14 degrees. It was opposing Pluto which emphasizes the Plutonian side. His thinking was very sharp and shrewd and based on gut instinct generally. Too much Confidence in one's thinking can be a problem with this placement. He is said to have come across as a bit of a snob.

But Cline's Mercury was even more Plutonian due to the fact that his Secondary Progressed Mercury never left Scorpio. It went Rx just before entering Sagittarius. And, if I've calculated correctly, it was conjunct its natal position within a degree when the storm hit. That would indicate a turning point in the old cognition center of the horoscope (my opinion). This indicates that he was due for a change in his thinking. But, man o man, this was punishment. Pluto doesn't make it easy.

This is a Plutonian Mercury more than any Plutonian Mercury seen before on Earth. It seems to be a major trigger for why he would have to experience such a Crisis. Cline experienced the event on more layers than anyone else around him. He was the expert who was supposed to know more than anyone and protect them and he completely failed. He lost everything including his wife. His children I guess were saved. He lost his house and possessions. He lost his credibility but one wonders what happened on his insides. When they say that Scorpio is a deep sign, they aren't kidding. Other people don't have to exist on these levels all at once. (I seem to remember that the guy who got fired for the Katrina fiasco was a Scorpio Sun, don't remember his name)

The Astrology for the Day of the Galveston Hurricane was pretty nasty. Just as the Storm hit the town around 9 pm there was a Full Moon: Sun in Virgo opposite Moon in Pisces. These two were within wide orb of a square to the Nodes (Sagittarius North Node conjunct Uranus and Jupiter). They were also involved in a wide Grand Square to Uranus in Sagittarius and Pluto 18 Gemini.

A t-square between Sun and Moon squared by apex Pluto seems to bring big Crises. But, Pluto was close to the South Node and Uranus and Jupiter were conjunct the Sagittarius North Node. This could be expected to be huge. Hurricanes seem to follow astrology more clearly than earthquakes.

At 9 pm, Aries was Rising. Ruler Mars was a singleton in Water in the Sign of Cancer and in the 4th House approaching the IC representing turbulence in the home, environment. Guess the strong Mars to Cancer aspects translates out into "One if by Land; Armaggedon if by Sea?" No planets were Retrograde this day, Nature was just coming at em full force. Interesting how most of the planets were in Mutable Signs. There was absolutely nothing in place astrowise to put the breaks on at that point.

Pluto as I already said was squaring the Sun and Moon (event chart). It was placed in the 2d House (does that seem common in these devastating natural disasters) of the 9 pm chart and ruled the 8th House of Death and Destruction and really really big Insurance company crises. This square was layered right over Cline's chart. Pluto was conjunct his natal Uranus and the Sun & Mercury were conjunct his natal Jupiter-Saturn (reputation???) in Virgo.

(mmm, do we have a transit of these planets coming up?)

There were a couple of other big Progressions for Cline that might indicate that he was somehow due for a big change in his life as p.Sun and p.Mars were on the verge of changing signs. His Progressed Sun was at 30 Scorpio exactly conjunct his natal Venus. I know that Scorpio rules Death and Venus rules the Wife, but this is just a little too creepy for me because his pregnant wife didn't survive. I certainly never would allow that into a forecast myself. Cline's progressed Mars was also at 30 Libra about to move into Scorpio. I'd have to read the book to know how that turned out for him. Who can read all these books? This one looks extra interesting I have to admit. I'm very curious about what happens when prog. Mars moves over the Libra-Scorpio cusp. Oh wow, I've just flipped to page 267. Turns out they struck oil in Texas on Jan 10, 1901, just 4 months after this storm. (Beaumont, Texas).

This is what it says on the inside book jacket, which sounds very similar to the conditions today:

That August, a strange, prolonged heat wave gripped the nation and killed scores of people in New York and Chicago. Odd things seemed to happen everywhere: A plague of crickets engulfed Waco. The Bering Glacier began to shrink. Rain fell on Galveston with greater intensity than anyone could remember. Far away, in Africa, immense thunderstorms blossomed over the city of Dakar, and great currents of wind converged. A wave of atmospheric turbulence slipped from the coast of western Africa. Most such waves faded quickly. This one did not.

Waking From a Dream

Is anybody having good dreams these days?

I'm such a light sleeper I rarely drop down into the type of sleep that you need to have a really good dream. This morning I had one of those great moments where I overslept and a loud noise woke me suddenly. I had been dreaming something, of course I can't remember what, and then I had that feeling of rising really quickly from the bottom of the ocean to the surface while waking.

I checked the chart. The first time I woke this morning was 6:30 am. Gemini was rising at the exact degree of my birth chart. Ruler Mercury was in Gemini in the first house trining Neptune-Chiron-NN-Moon right at the Midheaven. It was too early so I rolled over and went back to sleep.

When I woke from the dream slightly after 8:36 am, Mercury was in the 12th House of Dreams and still trining that huge stellium. Neptune was in the 9th House and the Moon was in the 8th House. Uranus was just past the Midheaven and squaring Mercury.

Mercury went Retrograde at 8:48. Neptune quickly followed going Rx at 9:14 am. It had just joined the Moon in the 8th House.

E. (Edward) Lorenz, Father of the Butterfly Effect

Edward Lorenz was the Mathematician/Meteorologist known as the Father of the Chaos theory and the Discoverer of the Butterfly effect theory. He recently passed away on April 16, 2008 at the age of 90.

He is of particular interest to me as he worked with the ideas of Prediction. He said that the Weather can't be predicted more than about 3 weeks in advance. Having no scientific leanings I can't pretend to understand his theories. But, I think I now understand why people become so much more famous after their deaths. It's because only Obituary Writers can finally reduce a person's life's work down into a readable, understandable summary so the more humbly endowed can try to understand.

From the San Jose Mercury News' obituary: "Edward N. Lorenz, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology meteorologist whose efforts to use computers to increase the precision of weather forecasts inadvertently led to the discovery of chaos theory and demonstrated that precise long-range forecasts are impossible, died of cancer Wednesday at his home in Cambridge, Mass."

Lorenz's chart is very similar to the Cyclone which just hit Burma, at least the Uranus & Neptune parts of it so I suppose those planets might really have a strong influence on Weather. Obviously they are strong rulers for chaos, prediction techniques and progressive, abstract thinking.

Edward N. Lorenz
b. May 23, 1917 West Harford, Connecticut

Sun 2 Gemini; Moon Gemini or Cancer; NN 12 Capricorn

Although he didn't have stelliums in Aquarius or Pisces like I expected to find (Uranus in Aquarius, Chiron in Pisces), Lorenz' chart brings the Uranus-Neptune influence straight into focus. His chart is a bowl shape bounded by those two planets, Uranus very strong in its own sign of Aquarius is the boundary planet on one side and Neptune in Leo is on the other. They aren't in opposition to each other. Neptune is conjunct Saturn as well over the Cancer-Leo cusp so there is a strong outer planet boundary on this Bowl Shape.

Most of Lorenz's planets are clumped between Mars in Taurus and Neptune in Leo with Uranus hanging outside of the configuration sort of acting as a funnel for the energy. Makes sense for a pioneer in the maths and sciences and innovation.

According to Rex Bills, Atmospheric conditions are ruled by (H3). Interesting that Lorenz' Sun is in the sign that rules the 3d house. Gemini is an Air Sign. Lorenz made a "mathematical model of the way air moves around in the atmosphere." Also interesting, Lorenz was born with Gemini's ruler, Mercury in Rx at 22 Taurus. Mercury is conjunct Jupiter to the degree and is squaring Uranus. Mercury stationed direct out of Retrograde when Lorenz would have been around 5 or 6 years old. This held it in the conjunction with Jupiter and Mars throughout his Childhood which must have had some sort of really strong effect on the development of his thinking processes. Mars and Jupiter and Uranus (which held with the square) are all planets which I associate with speed and performance, tools necessary for becoming a forecastor. Taurus is sometimes considered to slow the communications processes down but it also may have been responsible for his early interest in the Natural world.

In 1960 when Lorenz figured out his Butterfly effect, p. Mercury had moved into conjunction with p.Sun and Pluto in Cancer. These ideas became what is known as the Butterfly effect where even small actions such as the flap of a Seagull's wing can have an effect on someting completely different on the other side of the earth. He eventually presented a paper in 1972 called "Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?" (Bills give rulership of Butterflies to Mercury, Gemini (Neptune)) There are different stories about who actually came up with the naming of the Butterfly effect.

During this time, the progressed Sun was passing over Lorenz's natal South Node-Pluto conjunction (which also maybe includes Moon in Cancer). Certainly he was meeting with his destiny at a very deep, profound level of existence. Emotionally, I wonder what state he was in though.

Also interesting, Lorenz's progressed Venus was exactly conjunct his natal Neptune in Leo and was about to pass out into the empty half of his chart. I think this is a great astrological metaphor for understanding the nature of chaos and unpredicability that would later be known as "the Butterfly effect." Both Neptune and Venus understand the importance of each small thing and the interrelatedness of all things.

Lorenz found that predications can't be made through linear thinking (like astrology). He initially created a model with 12 variables (like astrology, just a coincidence, I'm going overboard here) and eventually reduced them down to 3 variables.

Lorenz first developed a simple nonlinear model of the atmosphere that considered only 12 variables and tuned it to display nonperiodic behaviour. He then showed that the linear method did not yield perfect predictions of this behaviour and since perfect predictions could be made by forecasting with the exact equations, he had demonstrated that the linear method could be beaten. (from www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries...)

According to one obituary, Lorenz's office was a chaotic mess.
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1895916/Professor-Edward-Lorenz.html

Mercury Rx Story and the Department of Defense

Stories like these make me so happy that I'm an insignificant person whose life doesn't matter...

What happens when the U.S. Defense Dept. goes through a Mercury Retrograde?

Well, in 2006 the Defense Department (Defense Logistics Agency) made a mistake while filling out an order for Helicopter Batteries to be sent to Taiwan. They sent fuses for nuclear missiles instead. The fuses had already accidentally been stored in a declassified storage facility. The Taiwanese notified the United States after opening the fuses that it hadn't received Helicopter Batteries but it took more than a year for the U.S. to figure out what they had sent.

The closest dates for the goofs I can find are in the article quoted below from Yahoo. I was pretty curious to see what Mercury was up to; if it was Retrograde and what signs it was in. Aries and Scorpio are the signs associated with weaponry due to their rulership from Mars, God of War. Mercury is the sign of Clerical work. Mercury Retrograde is the sign of Clerical Work gone on mental vacation. Mercury was in Aries when the Fuses were misshelved and it was probably in Scorpio when they were sent. It also may have been in Retrograde motion both times!

When the Fuses were mistakenly sent to the declassified storage unit in Utah in March, 2005, Mercury was in Aries. It went Retrograde at 15 Aries on March 20.

Additionally, Mercury would have been conjunct the North Node in Aries and squaring Saturn in Cancer indicated a stronger than usual influence, long term effect on Governmental procedures. Saturn came out of Retrograde around the same time that Mercury went Rx. Venus also went Retrograde at 1 Aries on March 23. Overall, the planets were jumbled and not moving real quickly at this point in time which seems to have been reflected in the brains of the people who work with Nuclear Warheads in the U.S. Military.

Right on cue it turns out, the Fall of 2006 was pretty much marked by a long Mercury in Scorpio transit due to a Retrograde. Mercury was in Scorpio from Oct. 3, 2006 to Dec. 8, 2006. It went Retrograde on Oct. 29 at 26 degrees Scorpio and stationed Direct on Nov. 18 at 10 degrees Scorpio.

The Taiwanese are said to have immediately noticed that they hadn't received the Helicopter Batteries that they ordered and it took more than a year for the Defense Department to figure out what they had sent. I don't know if the latter can really be explained through Astrology.

The fuses fit in the nose cone atop the warhead of a Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile. Although they contain no nuclear material, they are used to ignite the trigger of a Mark-12 nuclear weapon, officials said.

"It is the electrical firing mechanism that allows the rest of the system to detonate," said Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne.

Wynne said the 22-inch long needle nose component does not look like a helicopter battery.

The sequence of errors began in March 2005 when the fuses were shipped as surplus articles from F.E. Warren Air Base in Wyoming to Hill Air Force Base in Utah.

Even though they were classified items, Wynne said they apparently were put in an unclassified logistics facility at Hill Air Force Base.

"In fall 2006 is when DLA (the Defense Logistics Agency) picked them out of the warehouse in fulfillment of the FMS (foreign military sales) order and shipped them to the Republic of China, Taiwan," Wynne said.

Henry said "fairly early on" the Taiwanese communicated that what they had received was not the helicopter batteries that they had ordered.

"We, on our side, thought we were talking about different sorts of batteries. There was an effort to resolve and to reimburse them," he said.

"It wasn't until this past week that we became aware that they had something akin to a nose cone assembly, at which time elements in the field worked that for a couple of days to get resolution," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080325/pl_afp/ustaiwandefensemissiles

Mike the Headless Chicken

Happy Easter! Here's a story to think about as you bite the heads off all those PEEPS that landed in your Easter Basket! It's also an incredible Miracle Story.

Mike was a Chicken who was born in Fruita, Colorado in April, 1945. On Sept. 10, 1945, Mike was supposed to be dinner for his Family but when the farmer knocked off his head with the axe he missed Mike's brain stem and jugular vein so Mike didn't die. The Farmer found him the next morning sleeping with what was left of his neck tucked under his wing. The Farmer figured it was a Miracle and continued to feed Mike straight through the hole in his neck. Mike lived for 18 more months.

As it is said that he was 5 1/2 months old at the time of his beheading I assume Mike was born close to the beginning of April. This puts the Sun in Aries, the sign which rules the Head so it is quite an interesting coincidence that Mike's story is all about his head.

Also very interesting are the placements of Mercury and Venus. They were in conjunction for the entire beginning of April, 1945 and Retrograde in Aries for most of that time. Venus actually started out at the beginning of the month in Taurus, sign of the Neck, and moved back into Aries by April 8. Mercury was in Aries the whole time and went Retrograde on April 3. So, Mike lost his Voice, but somehow found a bigger audience. Medical Experts and Audiences paid a lot of money (Venus) to see the bird with no head.

The Mercury-Venus conjunction is also really interesting because Mike's story is connected with so many colloquial turns of phrase, something I might associate with Mercury-Venus. "Going for the Jugular," for example. And, of course, "Running around like a Chicken with its Head cut off."

When Mike's unfortunate experience occurred, on Sept. 10, 1945, there were many indicators in the Stars that something would go wrong with Dinner. Mars, sign of the Axe, was in Cancer, sign of Food, and in conjunction with the North node in Cancer (Destiny with Dinner). Saturn was also in Cancer, unaspected. That's a sure sign of Starvation, along with the Moon in Scorpio which would rather diet anyway. The true clinker here is the Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron conjunction in Libra that was squaring the Mars-NN. I always associate Libra and Pisces with vegetarianism. They just can't think to eat another living being. And apparently the farmer couldn't think to do Mike in once he saw what a will Mike had to live. If the bird can live without his head then maybe best to let the Miracle live. It's also interesting to think of the sign Libra here. Mike immediately became the Farmer's friend and partner in business. One wonders if the Farmer was a Libra.

Mike and the Farmer were on the Road when Mike died 18 months later. Now this really was tragic. Mike choked in a Motel Room in Phoenix and the Farmer had forgotten to bring the syringes he used to clear Mike's throat. 18 Months of living without a head. That's seems like a Sun-Venus cycle but I can't find the astrology.

Mike,

May you Eternally Rest in Peace,

You Miracle Bird.

I found out about Mike's story at http://www.christophercoppola.com/.
Mar 14 Pt. 1, "The Other Side of CRC: The Mean One"
and Mar. 15, 2008 "Mike the Headless Chicken."

In the first video filmmaker Christopher Coppola satirizes a pretentious movie star who's hired to do a documentary about Mike.

The 2 Dudes Who Measured the Meter

I've been taking a bunch of notes and need to try to crank them out. This one is about two French Astronomers who were chosen to determine the length of the Meter by measuring the distance between the Equator and a Pole. The Distance would be divided by one ten-million would be the length of a Meter. Both Guys started out from Paris. One Guy went North and the other Guy went South and betweenst the twos of them they figured out the length and it was deemed that this would become the Meter. I'm American, we're all feet here, left-feet at that. The idea that measurements can be made related to the size of the World rather than some old Roman's smelly foot is beyond my comprehension. Anyway, it turns out that the measurements may be off, the story reads like a prequel to Wayne's World or Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Here's the Guys. Remember, the Virgo went North. The Leo went South.

Pierre-Francois-Andrew Mechan
b. Aug. 16, 1744 Laon, France

Sun 24 Leo; Moon Scorpio or Sagittarius; NN 24 Aries

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre
b. Sept. 16 (book says 16th, Wiki says 19th), 1749 Amiens, France

Sun 24 Virgo; Moon Scorpio; NN 17 Capricorn

The book that I haven't read is The Measure of All Things by Ken Adler. It's about how the Leo fudged his Data in order to make it work with the Virgo's Data and then didn't tell anyone. He supposedly goes a little crazy and then dies. He's a famous astronomer who discovered a bunch of comets, Hencke, for example, which was just in the news. Anyway, the two presented their work and the Virgo discovered the Leo's Errors after the Leo had died. You're supposed to read through the whole book in order to find out if the Virgo admitted the mistake or not. I assume that he didn't because Virgos are pretty practical people and they had worked for 7 years sailing around trying to gather the data. The Leo was in Spain just as War broke out and was thrown in jail for awhile because they thought he was a spy. Things just went wrong a whole lot and the Guys just wanted to get the damn project over with.

The whole story was kept under wraps until the writer, Ken Adler started reading their correspondence and realized, after 200 years, what had gone on.

It's interesting to check their charts first for trying to understand how the error could happen. The expeditions occurred between May 1792 and 1799.

The Virgo being a Virgo sorted out his calculations without a hitch. It's just that he had to decide later on what to do with the Leo's bogus calculations. The Leo got all snarled up, hence the Drama, when things didn't work he just used his Leonine creativity to fix them. And incidentally it turns out that his numbers weren't that far off and were for some reason more accurate than the mathematical figures would have been (I don't understand the reason).

Around the time that they were working on the project both Men's Mercury's went Retrograde by Progression during their 7 year voyages. Good old Merc Retrograde, I can see how that might not be the best situation for measuring the entire Globe. The Leo's Rx - 1796-97 and the Virgo's - 1797-8. Things just sort of don't go quite right during Mercury Retro, and the progression lasts for a really long time. The transits and natal Mercury's also flesh out the picture here. The poor Leo's progressed Mercury in Scorpio was hit by transiting Neptune in 1795. This accounts for his inability to think clearly but also the accuracy of his "creativity" and also why he decided to "fudge" the answers anyway and also maybe why he went insane from the guilt of what he had done. During these years the Leo's progressed Sun was passing over his South Node as well. Too busy to discover the Comets to spend time interpreting what that means I guess.

Both Men were born during Neptune-Pluto trines which fully explains their interest in Astronomy. Anything involving far-sightedness, like staring at the Heavens and surveying long distances, would come under these two planets working well together. The Virgo had the Trine very nicely aspected in a Kite Pattern with a Grand Trine of Neptune in Cancer trine Pluto in Scorpio trine Jupiter in Pisces. Sun was conjunct Mercury and opposing Jupiter. And Mercury is on the Aries point. This is a pretty sweet Kite. His Sun (will) and Mercury (thinking) could directly focus the energies of his Generation.

The Leo had the pizazz. His Neptune-Pluto trine was less spectacular. Mars in Cancer was conjunct his Neptune and Saturn was aspecting with a sextile. Mars and Neptune have charisma. Mars in Cancer gets pretty emotional when things don't go well and be less able to deal with a Mercury Rx progression. In 1801, right around the time that his nerves were getting the best of him, transiting Neptune hit his natal Pluto.

So, the part about the Secret that is buried for 200 years certainly seems like a Neptune-Pluto manifestation. Plus, the Leo's Mars-Pluto conjunction was opposing the Virgo's Mars-North Node. So it was on the Virgo's South Node. It was the Virgo's life lesson to learn how to balance his impulsiveness (Mars) with his coworker's.

Jim Kramer

There's this financial guru on the TV named Jim Kramer who I swear can stop a speeding bullet with his bare tongue. Kramer is one of those uptight East Coast guys who looks like he's 10 seconds due for a Heart Attack. We on the West Coast simply can't understand what keeps these people going. On the other hand, this guy has so much power. I had to take a look at his Mercury to see what's going on with his Mind and his Communications Skills. The Market keeps tanking and when it does I've learned to turn on Kramer and instantly feel better (I think he's on CSNBC around 7 or 7:30pm, you can't miss him if you're flipping through channels). Today I watched the Stocks that he recommended last night and all of them did better than the general market so I think a lot of people are buying what he says to buy. Sometimes I get the feeling that Jim Kramer is one of the main reasons why the Stock Market isn't standing around with its pants dropped down to its ankles -- or least that hasn't happened yet.

Jim Kramer
b. Feb. 10, 1955 Wyndmoor, PA

Sun 22 Aquarius; Moon Virgo or Libra; NN 5 Capricorn

Kramer has Mercury Rx at 26 Aquarius giving him ability to see a broad market view, airy intellectual combination that helps to give a broad market view. I'm sort of surprised by the Rx Mercury because that can sometimes give confidence problems regarding communications but this means that he got the nasty progression out of the way when he was a kid and Mercury in an Air sign is simply not going to take this too personally. It might be the reason, though, why Kramer speaks out the truth to the public about what realistically goes on in the Markets. He feels like a bit of an outsider and wants to help others not to be victimized.

Kramer's Mercury is pretty spectacular by aspect. It is conjunct his natal Sun which blends communications skills with ego. Then it is sextile Mars in Aries. God, is this guy an Aries Mars or what? Dude's style is direct and forceful. He has a real talent for forcefully telling people the truth, his expression is direct and forceful and he can see the bigger picture. With Venus (Money, Values) conjunct North Node (Destiny, etc.) in Capricorn his interests are related to matters professional and corporate. He's also born on a Nodal Return (within a couple of degrees) of the Federal Reserve Bank.

So, back to this guy's Big Lovable Golden Mouth. His Sun-Mercury conjunction sextile Mars is involved together in two big configurations. I know a lot of astrologers with a lot more knowledge and talent than I have say this means nothing. But, still, that's a whole lot of planetary energy working together. Also, when a planet transits over one point it is lighting up a whole big portion of the chart at the same time. This guy is an Aquarius, he likes to light up like a pinball machine.

First configuration is a Mystic Rectangle. This blends two oppositions (balancing, relations, opposites) with two sextiles (talent) and two trines (ease). It's supposed to be an easier configuration. It brings a lot of easy aspects together. With no squares maybe there's not enough tension for some but often if the rest of the chart dictates it can get alot of aspects to work together toward some sort of magical mystical harmony. That's a bullshit interpretation but it seems to hold true here. Sun-Mercury is opposite Pluto in Leo which can lend focus to one's thought and power plays to one's ego needs. Perfect for dealing with the Stock Market. Mars is opposite Neptune in Libra. He's addicted to this stuff. He's even written a book called "Confessions of a Street Addict." He may also have a real addiction. He certainly has the charisma promised by this aspect.

The Second configuration is a Trapezoid Shape. Sun-Mercury sextile Mars is square (challenge) on both sides to a conjunction of Jupiter-Uranus in Cancer trine Saturn in Scorpio. How to interpret this? Ugh. Well Jupiter-Uranus trine Saturn is a major outer planet aspect showing bliss and happiness along with a little paranoia. Loves maybe the challenge of working with fear. Would be interesting how this aspect is placed in the chart. The Sun-Mercury and Mars are energized to express this to his peers and the public.

No birth time so no Ascendant or Moon placement. The noontime placement of the Moon is in Libra. It would make sense that this guy would have a lot of air. He keeps his emotional distance while flailing all over the place and making it all seem like a game. With regards to his Heart, I'm sorry I just don't handle the tension well. I've literally told East Coast people (strangers) over the phone to go to the Doctor and get their hearts checked. This Moon placement also squares the Venus-NN in Capricorn placement. That would show concern for the public's interest.

Within a couple of years, there will be a conjunction of Neptune-Chiron and NN on his Sun-Mercury. If his health holds up, he may do something even more concerned with helping others. Since he will also be going through his Neptune trine at the same time, I think feelings of confusion will somehow balance out into constructive activities. Neptunians do remarkably well with money regardless of how much they whine.

Mike Huckabee's Mercury

There's something so mesmerizing about listening to Republican Candidate Mike Huckabee speak. I only remember feeling this kind of hypnotic fascination while listening to Radio Personality Art Bell talk back in 1997. I was going through a really difficult time in my life and I had sublet a cabin up in the Sonoma Mountains and the only radio stations that came through were the ones that played Coast to Coast all night long. I fell asleep many nights listening to Art Bell saying that the World was coming to an end. Art Bell has a Mercury-Neptune square.

So, when I hear Huckabee's voice, I'm wondering what's going on with his Mercury. There's nothing the Born Agains would like more than to have one of theirs in the Presidential Office during the Second Coming. 2012 -- Woo Hoo.

Mike Huckabee
b. Aug. 24, 1955 Hope, Arkansas

Sun 1 Virgo; Moon Scorpio or Sagittarius; NN 24 Sagittarius

Huckabee's Mercury is in its own sign of Virgo and squaring his Nodes so his Communication Style is closely linked with his Destiny. Its only other aspect is a sextile to Saturn. So he has a talent for speaking with very focus and concentration in a down to earth point of view in the words of the common man. But there's a whole lot driving those innocent Virgo words in this chart.

So where's all this magnetism coming from? Well, Huckabee's got 5 planets in Leo so whatever he's got he's going to flaunt.

And it looks like both Neptune and Pluto transits/progressions are influencing the matter.

First of all, Pluto. Natally, Pluto has a very strong willed conjunction with Mars and Venus in Leo and the Sun in Virgo. When he decides he wants something he gets it. Adding to this extremely energetic combo is his chart shape which is possibly one of those bunker busting Bundle Shapes bound within a trine of Uranus and the Moon (maybe, don't know about Moon's placement due to lack of birthtime).

He's played the transiting Pluto game very well. As it was approaching his Sagittarius North Node he started a Health Regimen and lost something like 110 pounds. This is a great feat for anyone, but especially for Huckabee because his progressed Sun is in Libra who functions much better and with confidence if looking beautiful. He's also budgeted Arkansas into the Black, another great feat. Pluto, right now, is trining Huckabee's natal mambo conjunction of Sun-Venus-Mars in Leo. Pluto likes Power and Fame.

The Neptune connection is coming mainly through Progressed Mercury and Sun. Just as Huckabee went into Politics his progressed Mercury (Secondary) went retrograde at 29 Libra at that time. It was conjunct his natal Neptune is at 27 Libra so here is the Mercury-Neptune connection extended over years and years. It is really interesting that he switched from Religion to Politics during this progression, one would think the opposite would happen.

Neptune is strongly pronounced in Huckabee's chart because it is a singleton planet both in Air and as a Cardinal Sign. As Mercury progressed back over it Huckabee became Governor by means of the Blackwater Scandal (Neptunian). P.Mercury is now progressed back into middle Libra just as Huckabee's progressed Sun approaches his natal Neptune (currently p.Sun is at 23 Libra). The conjunction should be exact right at the moment of the Second Coming. Gawd.

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.

Snafu. Mercury goes direct today. And Blogger really needs this. Apparently no one, me included, can type in the Title field.

The Open Secret

Yesterday's News contained the story about how the CIA is airing its Dirty Laundry and disclosing all the gnarly plots it has cooked up from time to time in the past. Most notable is an attempt to kill Fidel Castro in 1960. The CIA chose yesterday to hang its stinky underpants on the line. How come?

I began to wonder if this is not a Mercury Retrograde thing. All those intelligent, intuitive folks at "The Agency" instinctually know when to let loose a silencer and get away before others smell it. They know when to hand a bunch of trashy information over to the Press in order to clear their names. And probably a Mercury Retrograde would be a good time to do this in order to avoid an hysterical reaction. People are simply just too discombobulated to respond with anything but "yeah, so what?" And, as a matter of fact, almost all of the planets are retrograde right now. Remember the TB Man story? Yeah -- neither do I. Basically all the lights are out, planets moving in slow motion. So that was my beginning question and it looks like a good idea, an interesting slant to Mercury Retrograde. Confess all your goofs during Merc Retro and ye shall be forgiven, or at least forgotten really quickly.

Then, I needed to know if the CIA has a natal retrograde Mercury. No. It has no Retrograde planets at all, not even a Node.

Then I read about the CIA on Wikipedia. It's sort of the agency that everyone snickers about as being an Open Secret. Everyone knows that the CIA doesn't do anything openly. What kind of "signs" can get away with this? They staffed the original office with Nazi agents to whom they not only gave immunity from war crimes, but well-paying jobs! How American.

Central Intelligence Agency
est. July 26, 1947 (National Security Act). Signed by Harry S. Truman

Sun 3 Leo; Moon probably in Scorpio; NN 1 Gemini

Notable aspects:

Gemini NN sextile Leo Sun and trine Neptune in Libra
Sun in Leo unaspected to any other planets, squaring Chiron 3 Virgo
Mars 18 Gemini c. Uranus 25 Gemini, no Ptolomaic aspects so even more volatile than usual
Saturn 12 Leo c. Pluto 13 Leo square Jupiter 18 Scorpio and sextiling Neptune 9 Libra
The Whole chart's like an H-Bomb until you look at the Daisies:
Mercury 18 Cancer c. Venus 23 Cancer trining Jupiter in Scorpio and possibly Moon.
No Retrograde Planets.
No Planets in Earth.
Planets all on one side of chart bounded by Moon-Jupiter inconjunct Mars-Uranus

The CIA was "activated" on Sept. 18, 1947, a day after it's Director was sworn into office:

Sun 25 Virgo; Moon once again in Scorpio (so James Bondian); NN 26 Taurus

Notable Aspects:

Sun 25 Virgo c. Venus 29 Virgo
Mercury 11 Libra c. Neptune 10 Libra
NN 26 Taurus with Jupiter conjunct SN in Scorpio.
2d Lunar Return in Scorpio after the signing.
Saturn 18 Leo c. Pluto 15 Leo
Mars 23 Cancer. If the office opened at 9am, Mars would have been exactly c. the MC.

So, why the Disclosure now? Well, the CIA has just had its Saturn Return and t.Saturn is triningt. Pluto. Those planets are in conjunction in the natal charts so really respond well to their own big transits. The CIA's Progressed Sun just changed signs from Virgo to Libra and is still conjunct progressed Venus which is applying to conjunction with natal Neptune by 2 degrees. The CIA is just one big Sun-Venus aspect. Since Venus rules the 7th house of "Open Enemies" I suppose it makes a lot of sense that this planets could possibly rule the idea of "Open Secrets." Scorpio's the natural ruler of Spying, but I think we need to take a better look at Venus. It rules the Taurus North Node as well.

When the plot to assassinate Castro was hatched the progressed Sun and t.Uranus were conjunct natal Saturn-Pluto. Progressed Mars was conjunct n. Uranus. And, if using a 9 am time for the chart, t. Pluto and the t. NN would have been passing over the Virgo Ascendant that year. That's a trigger happy combination of aspects!

When the plot was first revealed by a reporter in 1971 the CIA was going through its Jupiter return. Remember, Jupiter (right/wrong, publishing) is in Scorpio (spies, murder, assassination, covert operations) in the natal chart and even conjunct the South Node of the chart for the first day of business (2d chart mentioned). South Node represents a chart's sore spot, behavior to stay away, past life guffaws if you will (I was going to say BoZo NoNo's but I think I used that in yesterday's blog). Prog. Mercury (the media) was conjunct the natal Saturn-Pluto conjunction. T. Saturn was conjunct the natal NN.